Tell M3 M0re

lesson 7: Opening a Table and Learning to Navigate Records

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:28:00 GMT

Opening an Existing Table in Datasheet View

Tables are created and maintained in the Tables tab of the Objects palette in Microsoft Access. The Contact Management database contains four tables: Calls, Contact Types, Contacts, and Switchboard Items. We will discuss the Contacts table in this lesson.

A table opened in Datasheet View resembles a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. It is used to input records into the database and will be discussed in this lesson.

To Open an Existing Table (Contacts) from the Tables Object:

Open the Contact Management database.
In the database window, click on the Tables tab from the Object palette.

(If the database window is not displayed, then choose WindowContact Management: Database from the menu bar.)
To open the table in Datasheet View, double-click the Contacts table in the right window pane.

(You could also either click once on the Contacts form and then click the Open button, or you could right-click on the Contacts form and select Open from the shortcut menu.
Using the Status Area to Navigate through the Records in a Table
The Datasheet View looks like an Excel spreadsheet. It consists of columns and rows. Field names -- Contact ID, First Name, Last Name, Dear, Address, City, State, etc. -- appear as column headings. Records represent rows with data input into the fields. The number of rows that appear in the table will equal the number of records that have been added to the table. One blank row always appears as the last row of the database. This blank row is used to add a new record the table.

The status area in the lower left area of the window indicates the number of records in the table as well as the record number displayed in the window.

To Navigate Using the Status Area:
- Click the arrows in the status area to move to the first record, previous record, next record, or last record in the table.
- The new record button displays a blank row into which information for a new record can be added to the table.
- Displaying Records by Scrolling Through the Table
  The vertical scroll bar is located along the right edge of the screen and can be used to move up or down the table if the total number of records exceed the records shown on the screen. Similarly, the horizontal scroll bar located at the bottom of the screen can be used to move left or right across the window if the fields in a table exceed the number of fields displayed on the screen.
  
  Using the Vertical Scroll Bar:
  - Click the up or down arrows in the scroll bar to move up or down through the table records.
  Using the Horizontal Scroll Bar:
  - Click the left or right arrows in the scroll bar to move left or right through the fields in a table.

Using the Keyboard to Navigate Table Records

Another way to navigate records in a table is to scroll up and down one screen at a time using the PageUp and PageDown keys on the keyboard. Other keys also provide shortcuts to move through fields and records, including:

Key:	Selects the:
Tab	Next field to the right
Shift + Tab	Next field to the left
End	Last field of the record
Home	First field of the record
Down Arrow	Same field in the next record
Up Arrow	Same field in the previous record
Page Down	Next screen of table records
Page Up	Previous screen of table records
Ctrl + End	Last field of the last record in the table
Ctrl + Home	First field in the first record in the table

The Record Selector

The Record Selector located to the left of each record in Datasheet View identifies the operation being performed against a selected record at any given time.

The Record Selector can display any of the following symbols:

indicates the current record. The record is saved with the information displayed on the screen.
indicates the selected record is being edited and the changes have not yet been saved.
indicates a blank record into which information for a new record can be added to the table.

A blank record row always appears as the last row in a table. You must add new table records using this

row

lesson 6: Using a Wizard to Create the Contact Management Database

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:23:00 GMT

Launching the Database Wizard

The Contact Management database was created using the Microsoft Access Database Wizard. We will briefly review the steps involved in creating this database.
Microsoft Access 2003 is equipped with a database wizard that can be used to create any of ten simple databases: Asset Tracking, Contact Management, Event Management, Expenses, Inventory Control, Ledger, Order Entry, Resource Scheduling, Service Call Management, and Time and Billing.
In this lesson we will briefly review the steps involved in creating the Contact Management database.

How the Contact Management Database was Created Using the Database Wizard:

Choose FileNew from the menu bar.
Click once on the Databases tab near the top of the New window.
If the Templates window does not show, you may need to select On my computer from the task pane on the right side of your screen.
Click once to select on the Contact Management icon.
Click the OK button to launch the wizard.
Specify the location where the database will be saved.

Verifying the Intent of the Contact Management Database

The first screen of the wizard verifies the type of information that will be stored in the Contact Management database: Contact information and Call information.

Click the Next button to continue.

Selecting the Tables and Fields to be included in the Contact Management Database

The second screen of the wizard identifies the tables to be created. Three tables were created: Contact information, Call information, and Contact Types.
Click on any table to display the fields contained to it in the Fields in the table column. Click on a different table and other fields used by that table will replace the ones displayed for the table selected.

Accept all other default field selections by leaving those checkboxes marked by a check.
Click the Next button to continue.

Defining the Format of the Screen Display

The third screen asks the question, What style would you like for screen displays? Microsoft Access provides ten different screen displays for your use. A thumbnail picture is also provided for each format listed.

Click through the different format options displayed on the screen -- Blends, Blueprint, Expedition, etc. -- to display a picture of each format on the left side of the wizard screen. Highlight the desired format -- the Contact Management database used the Standard format -- to be used.
Click the Next button to continue.

Defining the Format of the Report Display

The third screen asks the question, What style would you like for printed reports? Microsoft Access provides six different report displays for your use. A thumbnail picture is also provided for each format listed.

Click through the different format options displayed on the screen -- Bold, Casual, Compact, etc. -- to display a picture of each format on the left side of the wizard screen. Highlight the desired format -- the Contact Management database used the Corporate format -- to be used.
Click the Next button to continue.

Naming the Database

The next step is to assign a name to the database.

Assign a name to the database by typing a file name in the What would you like the title of the database to be field.
Click the Next button to continue.

Finishing the Wizard

The final step asks whether the database being created is to be opened after it is built by the wizard? It has no bearing whatsoever on the actual building of the database. If you don't want to open the new database at this point then you can always return to it later and open it in Microsoft Access.

Leave or remove the checkmark that appears in the checkbox associated with the Yes, start the database prompt.
Click the Finish button to initiate the database build.

lesson 5:Getting to know the Contact Management database

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:14:00 GMT

Download the Contact Management Database

The Contact Management database used in this course can be downloaded from the GCFLearnFree.org® Web site and installed on your computer.
GCFLearnFree.org's Access 2003 lessons all use examples from the Contact Management Database. However, if you'd rather work with another existing database, you should have little problem following our lessons.

To Download the Contact Management Database:

Click the link, and download and save the Contact Management database (992k).

(Note, you must have an open connection to the Internet in order to download the database).
The following dialog box appears:
Click the Save button.
You are prompted to save the database in some location on your computer. You will want to save the database in the c:\My Documents folder.
Click the Save button to download the database.

Open the Contact Management database

Now that you've downloaded the Contact Management database, let us open and become familiar with it. We will briefly discuss how it was created and look at some of its database components.
If properly downloaded, the Contact Management database will be present in the c:\My Documents folder on your computer. It is recommended that you do not move the database from this location until after you have completed the Access 2003 course.

To Open the Contact Management database:

Open Microsoft Access by selecting its associated icon on the Windows desktop.
Choose File Open from the menu bar.
The Look In box in Microsoft Access 2003 defaults to the c:\My Documents when the application is first opened.

If the My Documents folder does not appear in the Look In box, then click in the Look In drop-down box, and locate and select the My Documents folder.
Select the Contact Management.mdb file.
Click the Open button to open the Contact Management database.

The main Contact Management database screen appears on your computer screen:

Reviewing the Contact Management Tables

Tables are found in the database Object called Tables. The Contact Management database contains four tables: Calls, Contact Types, Contacts, and Switchboard Items.

Reviewing the Contact Management Forms

Forms are found in the database Object called Forms. The Contact Management database has seven forms that are used as both menus and data entry screens. These forms are Call Details Subform, Call Listing Subform, Calls, Contact Types, Contacts, Report Date Range, and Switchboard. You can define additional forms to meet your data entry needs.

Reviewing the Contact Management Reports

Reports are found in the database Object called Reports. The Contact Management database has two reports defined to it: Alphabetical Contact Listing and Weekly Call Summary reports. You can define additional reports in the database depending on your reporting needs.

lesson 4:Database Tables

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:09:00 GMT

The core component of a database is a table. Data is defined and stored in a table. Multiple tables -- each consisting of different types of data -- can be created in a database.

Each row in the database is called a record. The entry for John Smith is called a record. The entry for Martha Tompkins is also a record. Each row or record is made up of columns or fields -- L.Name, F.Name, Phone, Address, City, State, Zip -- which contain a particular piece of information.

L.Name F.Name Phone Address City State Zip

Smith John 919.555.6320 100 Paramount Parkway Morrisville NC 27560

Tompkins Martha 919.555.6427 97 Hummingbird Court Cary NC 27513

Field Properties

Every table contains a number of columns called fields or datatypes. Fields are unique pieces of information that make up the information in a table. Tables usually contain multiple fields.
In a previous example we mentioned that a table might consist of the fields: Last Name, First Name, Phone, Address, City, State, and Zip. Each field has unique properties. Some contain characters. Others contain numbers. These Field Properties are defined when the table is created.

In a Contact Management database, a list of names -- those contacts to whom you have sent resumes or have met through your personal network -- might be maintained in a table, along with address, phone number, and other personal information.

Understanding Table Relationships

Databases can be simple -- consisting of a single table -- or made up of many different tables. If you were to convert your resume into a database, for example, you might have a table that contains your name and personal mailing address. We might call this the Contact_Information table.

Your work experience is a different kind of information. Instead of identifying who you are or where you live, it identifies the companies you worked for, their addresses, your job title, and responsibilities. Because this set of information is independent from the contact information, we might instead create a second table called the Work_Experience table.
The same is true of your educational background. It has no direct bearing on your contact information or the companies where you worked. A third table might be created called the Education table to save this kind of data.
The database contains three tables, each independent of the other, and all containing different types of information. The database needs a way to connect these three tables.

Primary Keys

Every table in Microsoft Access must have at least one field that uniquely identifies each record in the table. This field is known as a primary key. This primary key essentially opens the door to the table and allows you to retrieve information from the table.
The primary key is the mechanism by which you relate different tables and combine information for viewing (query) or printing (report).

Challenge!

Let us pretend that you are going to start your own home business. You are going to need to prepare a database for your business and the first step is to design a table that will contain a list of all your contacts that may one day be your clients or suppliers.
Let us assume that a database table called Business Contacts contains all the fields listed in the first column of the following chart. The chart also contains four other columns:

Text, Numbers or Both -- should the field accept data entry input in the form of text, numbers, or both?
Field Size -- the number of spaces you think the field should have.
Required Entry -- should the field be required entry (the record cannot be added to the database without the information) or optional entry (a record can be added without entry in the field)
Allow Duplicates -- should the database allow duplicate entries for the field (e.g., can several people in the database share the same zip code)?

Practice designing fields by filling out the following table.

	Text, Numbers, or Both?	Field Size	Required Entry?	Allow Duplicates?
First Name
Last Name
Company
Company Type
Address
City
State
Zip Code
Contact Id
Title
Work phone
Fax Number

lesson 3: Identifying the basic parts of the Access window

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:06:00 GMT

Launching Microsoft Access from the Windows Desktop

Microsoft Access is launched from the Windows desktop in a manner similar to that used to launch Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. You can launch Microsoft Access either from the desktop shortcut or from the Start program.

To open Microsoft Access using the desktop shortcut:

Double-click the Microsoft Access shortcut icon on the Windows desktop.

To open Microsoft Access using the Start program:

Click the Start button located in the lower left corner of the Windows screen.
Click the Programs option on the Start menu.
Click the Microsoft Access selection.

(If Access does not appear, then click the double down areas immediately below the Microsoft PowerPoint entry and locate Access from a complete list of software installed on your computer.
The Main Access Window
When you open Microsoft Access, many items you see are standard in most Microsoft software programs like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Menu bar

The Menu bar displays all the menus available for use in Access 2003. The contents of any menu can be displayed by clicking on the menu with the left mouse button.

The Main Access Window (continued)
Toolbar
The pictured buttons in the toolbar are quick and easy shortcuts to specific actions. For example, if you want to save a spreadsheet using the menus then you would first click File and then click Save. Using the toolbar to perform this save operation actually saves you a click. Click the save button once to save the spreadsheet.

Some commands in the menus have pictures or icons associated with them. These pictures may also appear as shortcuts in the Toolbar.

The Database window
Database Toolbar

The Database toolbar presents operations that can be performed against different database objects, including buttons to open an object, design an object, create a new object and delete an object.

Left Pane

Database objects are created and opened by choosing any of the buttons listed in the left pane of the database window.

Right Pane

Any of the first four options -- Tables, Queries, Forms, or Reports -- opens additional choices related to that selection in the right pane.

Choosing the Tables button, for example, displays at least three options in the right pane: 1) Create a table in Design view, 2) Create a table by using wizard, and 3) Create table by entering data. It also shows any objects that you created in the database.

Challenge!
- Display the contents of the File, Edit, View, Insert, Tools, Window, and Help menus in the main Access menu bar. As each menu is displayed, you may want to write down all the contents listed under each.
- Identify the operation performed by each button in the main Access toolbar.
- Some buttons in the toolbar also appear alongside options listed in a menu. For each button in the main Access toolbar, identify the menu where that operation can be performed.

lesson 2 : Database Concepts

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:58:00 GMT

What is a Database?

A database is a collection of information organized and presented to serve a specific purpose. Database programs are created using a program like Microsoft Access 2003.

A Microsoft Access database is made up of several components including:
Tables
Forms
Queries
Reports

These components are called database objects. One or more of these objects are formed when a database is created. These components are stored in a single database file.

What is a Table?

Data is stored in one or more tables. Separate tables are usually created for specific topics, such as products or suppliers. Tables can be related to one another to access the different types of information. Because data is stored only once -- you probably would not save the same information in two different tables -- your database becomes more efficient.
The columns and rows in an Access table resemble an Excel spreadsheet. Tables organize data into columns (called fields) and rows (called records). A record is comprised of one or more fields, depending on the number of fields defined to the table.

Individual fields in an address book table might consist of name, street address, city, state, zip code, and phone number. A single record is an entry that uses all these fields, such as your brother or sister's contact
information.

What is a Query?

A query lets you find and retrieve information from one or more tables based on a set of search conditions you define (e.g., certain fields in one or more tables). The results can be displayed in a manner of your choosing. Queries can be created using a wizard or developed from scratch in the Query Design view.

What is a Form?

An online form can be created to view, input or change information in one or more tables. In this course, we will see how forms are used as both menus and as data entry forms to database tables. Forms can retrieve data from one or more tables, and display the output on the screen.

What is a Report?

A report is an effective way to analyze and present data in a printed format using a specific layout. You have control over the size and appearance of information printed on the report, similar to formatting you perform in a Microsoft Word document.

Challenge!

The best way to understand databases is to learn how to view the world and the things in it, and then think of structures that best serve to organize this information.
For example, think of your music collection in terms of a database. The database might be called music collection. What tables might be in this database?

Do you have both CDs and tapes, or just tapes? Could this media type be an example?
Do you listen to different styles of music? Could music style be a table?
Do you listen to different musical artists? Could musical artists be a table?
Do you have more than one recording for any artist? Could specific recordings be a table?

Here is your challenge:

Using the questions above, outline a structure using those questions for which you answered "yes" (or any other questions that you might think of).
List at least five items from your collection that could go into each category created in step #1. If your music collection is not large enough to list five items in each category, then think of artists that you know about and use this information as if you owned it.
After completing step #2, the database has some information defined to it. What report might you want to print that tells you about some part of the information in the database?

This step, looking at the information to be categorized, is the first step toward designing a database

lesson1 : Introduction to Databases

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:36:00 GMT

Organizing Our World
The world generates an enormous amount of data from virtually every imaginable aspect of living -- credit cards, store merchandise, telephone systems, web sites, etc. Years ago this was a manual effort to track and report against this information. Today, computer systems and databases manage this information. Databases simplify our lives.
Think of an address book you might buy in a pharmacy. In it, you will write all your important contacts -- friends, family, relatives, companies, recruiters, and other people in your network. The address book contains all the data you need to contact anyone at any time.

Organizing Our World (continued)
Now what if you needed to pull out those contacts that represent family members? Perhaps another family member might want this information. You would have to flip through all the pages of the address book and write down the exact same information onto another piece of paper, or perhaps even another address book. This is time-consuming. Contact records are duplicated. A change to one phone number means it has to be changed in two or more places: in the address book and anywhere else where you recorded the information.

Over time, your address book will become old and worn. The records in it will be crossed out and changed as people move from one place to another, or change their phone number. You need a new address book. And then you need to rewrite all that information again in a brand new book.
It's a lot of work.
What you need is a database.

What is a relational database?
A database maintains order and structure in our lives. It is easy to maintain. It manages information and then shares it with other tables and databases.
Many entries in your address book will undoubtedly contain identical information -- name, address, city, state, zip code, and phone number. This information might be written into a table called the Contacts table.
You may want to structure your address book so that family members are separated from companies called during an employment search, for example. These categories -- family, friend, relative, company -- might appear in a second table called Contact Types.
Maybe you want write notes for certain calls. This is useful during an employment search. Information pertaining to a telephone call -- date, time, and notes, for example -- might be saved to a third table called Calls.

What is a relational database? (continued)
The information contained in any one table might in and of itself tell us very little. The Contact Types table, for example, provides relatively little information that stands on its own: Family, Friends, Relatives, Companies, Recruiters and Network.
However, if you could relate this table to the Contacts table -- name, address, and phone -- then you could separate contacts by category. The Contact Types table becomes useful, therefore, when related to another table.

Similarly, by relating the Calls table with the Contacts table you can relate specific phone calls to specific people.

The power of a relational database is twofold: 1) information is managed in separate tables to make maintenance easier, 2) data can be combined by relating different tables.

Real world examples of database applications
Databases play an enormous role in nearly every aspect of our lives. Think of the amount of credit card transactions that take place during a given day, from receiving authorization at the point-of-sale, to applying the purchase to your credit card, to the store receiving payment from the credit card company. There are many stores, many banks, and many credit cards involved. Databases are all around you. You only need to learn how to view the world in terms of databases.
Think of your favorite department store. Chances are the one you shop at is just one of several in the chain. And these stores are probably located in different states. Databases manage this information.
Inside the store there are different departments: Ladies', Men's, and Electronics, to name a few. Within Electronics, there are different categories called classes and these might be represented by radios, televisions, CDs, and DVDs. More databases.
And within any given class -- CDs, for example -- there are subclasses like jazz, rock, country, and classical. Within rock there are bands and within bands there are recordings.
Get the idea? Even more databases.
This structure categorizes different kinds of information at nearly every level of the store. It is essential to maintaining order and accuracy.

Real world examples of database applications (continued)
How do these databases work together? Well, everything in retail begins with the product or item. Each item has a barcode that uniquely identifies it. These items are defined in an Item database and associated with a specific department defined in a Department database.
When a buyer decides to purchase some products for sale in a store, he or she creates an order in a Purchase Order database, pulling the individual items to buy from the Item database. The order might then be transferred to Communications databases that electronically transmit the order to the vendor, and also to an Accounts Payable database to pay for the merchandise.
Trucks deliver merchandise to the store (don't forget the vendor has their own databases that tells what they shipped), where the products received are input into a Receiving database. The received quantities are then matched against the original Order database to make sure that all products ordered were received.
An Inventory database might tell the sales clerk which items to move to the selling floor because the shelves are bare, and what other items might be stored in the stockroom. For items moved to the selling floor, a Shelf Planning database might tell the clerk exactly where to place the product on the shelf.
When you shop and take items to the checkout counter, the cash register will lookup the price of each item in the Price Lookup database. Want to pay by check or credit card? Databases are used to ensure that sufficient funds are available in the account.
Every item sold in the store needs to be removed from inventory so that it can be re-ordered. This adjustment might be made in the Inventory table to alert the buyer that a certain amount of items need to be ordered to refresh the store's inventory.
Many things happen and many databases are used to make sure the products you want make their way from the manufacturer to the stores and then into your homes.

Challenge!
The next time you are in a restaurant, a supermarket, or just driving through a stop light, think of what is going on around you, and try to see what goes on behind the scenes as if everything supporting it is managed by a database.
Here are some examples:

A restaurant needs to buy food to make menu items. The menu is structured in some manner. The restaurant has to pay bills. Customers have to pay for meals.

The supermarket is stocked with items. Items are ordered, shipped, and stocked in the store. The supermarket has bills to pay. The cash register looks up prices. The customer pays for products.

Streets are built in towns. Traffic lights are installed at intersections. How do these lights work? Do they all turn red at the same time? Do they all turn green at the same time?

Now think of your home and view it in terms of a database. For example, you buy products. How is your checkbook managed? There are different rooms in your house. What are they and what is contained in each? You develop dinner throughout the week. Is there a menu driving what you have or do you eat certain dishes on certain nights?
Come up with two different aspects of home living and think about whether or not it can be supported by a database. This is not to say that we are going to create a database for it; only to think of a structure or organization behind some process.

Android runs 52% of smartphones sold

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:32:00 GMT

The smartphone market continues to grow worldwide, with Google's Android now the platform of choice for more than half of those sold

Samsung Asia CEO Gregory Lee with the Galaxy Note Android phone. Samsung is the world leader in smartphone sales, according to Gartner. Photograph: Beawiharta/Reuters

The smartphone market grew by 42% year-on-year in the third quarter to reach 115.2m units, with Google's Android operating system running more than half those sold, according to data from the research company Gartner.

The overall mobile market grew by just 5.6% worldwide, to 440.5m units, as smartphones grew further to hit a record 26% of the total sold.

Smartphones also continued their pattern of outselling PCs, which first happened in the fourth quarter of 2010; the gap between smartphone and PC sales is now widening steadily.

The success of Android, which powered 52.5% of handsets shipped – compared to 25.3% a year before – just three years after its launch indicates that the open platform, which allows handset makers to install it without paying a licensing fee, has been a roaring success for adoption.

The figures from Gartner suggest that 218m Android handsets have been sold since the first went on sale in the fourth quarter of 2008.

In total, more than 1bn smartphones have been sold since the first quarter of 2007, according to Gartner's figures from the past four years.

The explosion in smartphone usage has principally come from Android handsets which have seen strong sales growth, especially in China.

Yet sales in the third quarter did not accelerate as quickly in other regions, said Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner.

"Demand for smartphones stalled in advanced markets such as Western Europe and the US as many users waited for new flagship devices featuring new versions of the key operating systems," she said. "Slowdowns also occurred in Latin America and the Middle East and Africa."

Gartner said that Samsung was the leader in smartphone sales, pegging its shipments at 24m – less than the 27.8m suggested in October by Strategy Analytics, and close to that suggested by rival research firm IDC, which put the figure at 23.6m more recently.

Apple saw its share pushed down marginally from 16.6% in the third quarter of 2010 to 15% in 2011 even though sales rose from 13.4m to 17.3m, as purchases stalled in the expectation of an improved iPhone model – which did not arrive until October, pushing those sales into the fourth quarter.

Carolina Milanesi, Gartner's smartphone analyst, said: "Brazil, Mexico, Russia and China represented 16% of Apple's third-quarter sales, confirming that the iPhone has a role to play in emerging markets."

BlackBerry maker RIM saw further erosion of its share from 15.4% a year ago to 11% as sales remained almost flat at 12.7m.

"Android benefited from more mass-market offerings, a weaker competitive environment and the lack of exciting new products on alternative operating systems such as Windows Phone 7 and RIM," said Cozza.

"Apple's iOS market share suffered from delayed purchases as consumers waited for the new iPhone. Continued pressure is impacting RIM's performance, and its smartphone share reached its lowest point so far in the US market, where it dropped to 10%."

But Gartner expects sales to grow more rapidly in the fourth quarter, as roughly 20m extra handsets are sitting in wholesale and retail channels ahead of the expected Christmas rush in sales.

"Some consumers held off upgrading in the third quarter because they were waiting for promotions on other new high-end models that were launched in the run-up to the fourth quarter holiday season," Cozza said.

"Other consumers were waiting for a rumored new iPhone and associated price cuts on older iPhone models; this affected US sales particularly."

Nokia's Symbian, which the company has said will be phased out, nevertheless sold 19.5m handsets, more than Apple achieved, but its market share halved.

Microsoft's Windows Phone platform, only launched in October 2010, shipped on just 1.7m handsets – a fall from the second quarter, when Gartner says it shipped on 1.72m devices.

Some of the fall may be due to some customers waiting for Nokia handsets to ship with Windows Phone, which has begun this month in the UK and a number of countries. US and Canadian shipments of Nokia phones with Microsoft's OS are not due to start until 2012.

Apple recalls iPods over safety fears

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:31:00 GMT

First-generation nanos' batteries could catch fire, leading to Apple offering a free replacement to customers

Apple have recalled the first-generation iPod nano over fears its battery may catch fire. Photograph: Paul Sakuma/AP

Want a brand new iPod nano for free? Apple has them on offer if you are one of the millions of people who bought a first-generation iPod nano between September 2005 and December 2006 – and, crucially, if you can still find it.

Apple has issued a recall on the first-generation iPod nano, the device which pushed the digital music player's sales into the stratosphere at the end of 2005, over fears that the battery could catch fire.

The recall amounts to a free replacement offer which could cost the company millions of pounds – depending on how many people still have the ageing products in their possession.

The company is offering a replacement scheme for the devices, which will now be between five and six years old. The recall affects the slimline iPod nano model sold between September 2005, when it was first introduced, and December 2006.

During that period, Apple sold just over 60m iPods in total, according to the company's official figures, although it is not clear how many of those were the nano model. During the same period, the company was also selling its second-generation iPod shuffle and the "classic" iPod with a hard drive. Apple declined to say how many iPod nanos are affected, but added that no other devices are included in the recall.

Owners of the first-generation iPod nano will be able to get them replaced for free with a current model once they have provided their model to Apple, either through a store or via a courier.

Apple says the problem "has been traced to a single battery supplier that produced batteries with a manufacturing defect. While the possibility of an incident is rare, the likelihood increases as the battery ages." Owners are recommended to stop using the device and get the free replacement.

The iPod nano's introduction in September 2005 by Steve Jobs saw sales of the company's music player rise sharply. During its first quarter, iPod sales increased from 8.7m in the third quarter of the year to more than 14m, and they never fell below 8m in any succeeding quarter until the second quarter of this year as the category fell out of favour with buyers in favour of the iPhone and iPad.

The nano recall is one of a number of device recalls over battery issues that Apple and other companies including Sony and Dell have had to make in recent years. Normally the problem has related to laptop batteries: Sony, which provides lithium-ion batteries for a number of manufacturers, issued a recall in 2008 which affected Toshiba, HP and Dell laptops.

Apple computer sales grow faster than PC sales for five years - but why?

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:28:00 GMT

Apple CEO Steve Jobs shows off the MacBook Air in January 2008. These sold well too. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

What is Apple doing right in the PC market? And what, exactly, did it do wrong in the first quarter of 2006?

Those are the two questions that occur in looking at some of the numbers pushed out by Charles Wolf, an analyst at Needham. He's posted an investment note on Apple which points out that Apple's Mac shipments have grown faster than the PC market for the past 20 quarters (that's five years in normal money).

Apple computer sales growth since 2007 Q1. Data sources: Apple, Gartner

He's also noted that in the first quarter of this year, when Mac shipments grew by 27.7% while the PC market shrank by 1.2% year-on-year (by IDC's numbers; Gartner's show a 0.94% fall) Mac shipment growth occurred in "every single regional market". In Europe, they grew 10% against a PC market down 17.5%; in Asia up 69.4% (v PC market up 8.8%); in Japan, up 21.1% (PCs down 16.1%). All figures are IDC data, and all year-on-year.

Slice it another way, and shipments to business were up by 66% (while the overall market grew 4.5%); to government by 155.6% (v 2.3%); to the home market by 21.6% (v a 6.5% shrinkage).

OK, but what's behind it? Why are all these home users, business users, government users getting Macs? One argument is that with Apple, you're starting from a small base, so any increase is going to look dramatic. And yet something is going on. My analysis of Apple's sales figures and the numbers from Gartner and IDC shows that in the second quarter of 2010, Apple hit 4% of the whole PC market for the first time in more than ten years; it hasn't happened since 1998, and I can't find the time before that when it was true.

In fact, my own analysis shows that if it hadn't been for a stumble in the first quarter of 2006, that figure would be 26 quarters, going all the way back to the fourth calendar quarter of 2004, when Apple emerged from 10 straight quarters in which it grew less fast than the market - or in other words, its market share of all computers shipped shrank.

Yes, but why?

According to Wolf, "shipment growth has resulted solely from an outward shift in the demand curve rather than from a relative reduction in Mac prices." We translate from analyst-ese: people aren't buying them because they're cheap, because (relatively) they're not: you can get cheaper computers, as pretty much anyone knows, and as Microsoft harped on about with its "Laptop hunter" adverts in March 2009 - which, if you've forgotten, were about people trying to get value for money in buying a laptop. Much good those did, by the way - Apple's share of the computer market, where three-quarters of its sales are laptops, kept growing from 3.35% to break through that 4% barrier.

Apple computer market share since 1999. Data source: Apple, Gartner

OK, so what's Wolf think is doing it?

"The key drivers of the growth in Mac shipments over the past five years have been the halo effects emanating from the iPod and iPhone," Wolf says. "The Apple Stores have played an important supporting role in providing convenient destinations and support resources for Windows users new to the Mac."

This is what has also been called "the halo effect", where one Apple product purchase leads on to others.

And he thinks that will get bigger: "The iPhone is competing in the mobile phone market, one measured in billions of units rather than the portable music player market, one measured in millions of units. Of course, theiPad is waiting in the wings."

You might have thought that the iPad had already been quite busy, having been on sale for more than a year, but perhaps not.

Is it that simple, though? It seems odd if the "halo effect" from iPhones and iPods is feeding through to business and government sales as well - the latter is notoriously indifferent to those outside trivia.

One argument is that the increase in Mac sales (in the last quarter, at just under 5m, a level it has been nudging for the past three quarters) is due to governments and businesses getting interested in developing apps for those iPhones, so they're buying one to be able to run the iPhone Software Development Kit. And home users? Quite probably they are the ones who are trading up (or as Wolf puts it, exerting an outward shift in the demand curve).

That's the best we have - what's your explanation? And what did Apple get wrong in the first quarter of 2006 to make its sales dip below the rate of growth of the rest of the market?

appel hestory 2

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:26:00 GMT

On April 1, 1976, the Apple computer was born. Steven Wozniak, a high school drop-out who worked for Hewlett-Packard, dabbled in computer-design and created what would become the Apple I. His high school buddy Steven Jobs, also a drop-out, worked for Atari and convinced him that the two should form a company to market the new computer, which eventually took off in 1977 with the Apple II. By 1980, the Apple III was released and their company employed several thousand workers. [image: Jobs and Wozniak]

So begins the rocky, but enormously successful, story of the most revolutionary computer in history. The early Mac’s user-friendly interface, with such features as the trash can, windows, drag-and-drop file moveability, and plug-in-and-play compatibility, predated by far the efforts of those developing the PC. Bill Gates’ admonitions to his R&D people to “Make it like the Mac!”* can only be construed as the highest compliment. Even today’s Mac G4, with its velocity engine and 128-bit-wide architecture, smokes the fastest PC, as proven in side-by-side tests performing complex processing operations in Photoshop with enormous files. In addition, the Mac has been determined to be a more productive and economical platform in all aspects of the computing world.**

* Barbarians Led by Bill Gates, by Jennifer Edstrom and Marlin Eller; Henry Holt and Company, Inc., New York, NY 1998.
** Norris and Wong is a San Francisco based technology consulting firm specializing in personal computer productivity enhancement. They develop custom applications on both Macs and PCs for an exclusive clientele. Their very detailed study compared Macs and Windows in regards to: 1) Adding and removing applications, 2) Reorganizing the desktop for convenience, 3) Hard disk space management, 4) Adding and upgrading hardware components, 5) Backing up files, 6) Troubleshooting system conflicts and other problems, and 7) Recovery from system failures. In EVERY CASE, the Macintosh had MAJOR advantages. They conclude "These differences will translate into significant FINANCIAL SAVINGS and PRODUCTIVITY benefits for Macintosh users."

This article by no means attempts to relate the lengthy history of Apple’s development. For that, please visit Glenn Sanford’s wonderful and encyclopedic Apple History site [click to see a sample page from his website]. What you will find here are computer models that have been some of the more revolutionary highlights of Apple’s output.

	1976 • Apple I Based on the MOStek 6502 chip, the Apple I included only the circuit board. A tape-interface was sold separately, but you had to build the case. Initial cost: $666.66.
	1983 • Lisa The first personal computer to use a GUI (Graphical User Interface). It contained a Motorola 68000 Processor running at 5 Mhz, 1 MB of RAM, two 5.25" 871k floppy drives, an external 5 MB hard drive, and a built-in 12" 720 x 360 monochrome monitor. Initial cost: $9,995.
	1983 • Apple //e One of the most successful Apple computers ever. It used the 65C02 processor, running at 1.02 Mhz, and came with 64K of RAM, 32K ROM, BASIC (an assembly language interface), and several other hard-coded options. Initial cost: $1,395.
	1984 • Mac 128k The first affordable computer to include a GUI, and using the new 8 MHz Motorola 68000 chip. It came in a small beige case with a built-in black and white monitor, a keyboard, mouse, and a floppy drive that took 400k 3.5" disks—the first personal computer to do so. Initial cost: $2,495.
	1989 • Portable Apple's first attempt at a more easily portable Macintosh. It had a bay for a 3.5" half-height drive, and could support up to two Super Drives. Its active matrix screen (later backlit) made it incredibly expensive. Initial cost: $6,500.
	1993 • Color Classic Identical to the Classic II, except for a color screen, a larger ROM, and a restyled case. Also released as the Performa 250. Initial cost: $1,390.
	1997 • Power Mac 9600 The 9600 was built to make its insides more easily accessable. It ran on 233, 200, or dual 200 Mhz 604e's. Initial cost: $4,700 for the dual 200Mhz configuration, $4,200 for the single 233Mhz, and $3,700 for the single 200 Mhz.
	1998 • Power Book G3 The G3 Series was available with a variety of built-to-order options including a 233, 250, or 292 Mhz PPC750 processor and either a 12" passive-matrix screen, a 13.3" TFT Active Matrix screen, or an incredible 14.1" TFT Active Matrix Screen. All models included two RAM slots which used industry standard RAM modules (the same used in most IBM Thinkpads), hardware 2D and 3D Graphics acceleration, a VGA port, 4Mbps IrDA, 2 PC-card slots (CardBus compliant—a powerbook first), and the 13.3" and 14.1" models included an S-Video output. The G3 Series had two drive bays, either of which could hold a battery or a wide array of 3.5" expansion devices, such as floppy or zip modules. The right drive bay could also accommodate larger 5.25" devices. Initial cost: $2,299 for 233 Mhz with no floppy drive and a 12" screen, and $7,000, fully loaded.
	1999 • G4 Based on the Unified Motherboard Architecture, the G4 AGP used the MPC 7400 chip, AGP-based graphics, AirPort compatibility, a faster memory bus, DVD-ROM or RAM standard, an internal FireWire port, 2 separate USB buses for a combined 24 Mbs, a 2X (133 Mhz) AGP slot, and up to 1.5 GB of RAM. The G4 AGP also introduced the new professional color, "graphite." Initial cost: $2499 for the 450 Mhz with a 20GB hard drive and 128 MB of RAM, and $3499 for the 500 Mhz configuration with a 27 GB hard drive and 256 MB of RAM (both included internal Zip drives).
	2000 • G4 Cube Housed in an 8x8x8 cube, the G4 Cube combined elegance and power, trading expandability for its diminutive size. There were no PCI slots, and while the Graphics was fit into an 2x AGP slot, there wasn't room for full-length AGP cards. It contained three RAM slots, an AirPort slot, two USB and FireWire ports, a 450Mhz G4 processor, a 20 GB hard drive, a 56k modem, 64 MB of RAM, Apple's Pro Mouse, and came with an external USB amplifier and a set of Harman Kardon speakers. Initial cost: $1799, and $2299 for the 500 Mhz G4 with a 30 GB hard drive and 128 MB of RAM.
	2001 • Titanium G4 Powerbook Based on a new low-power G4 chip, the PPC 7410, the PowerBook G4 sported a stylish new Titanium enclosure, which was only 1" thick (.7" thinner than its predecessor, the PowerBook G3 with FireWire). The PB G4 had a fixed, 6x slot-load DVD-ROM drive instead of a removable drive bay, a single battery bay, a wide-aspect 15.2" screen with a native resolution of 1152x768. Initial cost: $2,599 for the 400 Mhz model w/128 MB of RAM and a 10GB hard drive, and $3,499 for the 500 Mhz model w/256 MB of RAM and a 20GB hard drive.
	2002 • Flat-panel iMac Using a 15- or 17-inch LCD screen, G4 processor, and the CD-RW/DVD-R Super Drive, the iMac's Flat Panel screen easily rotates and changes angles. The 10.6" semi-spherical base houses the rest of the computer. Initial cost: $1299 for a 700Mhz G4 Processor, 128 MB of RAM, a 40 GB ATA-66 hard drive with CD-RW; $1499 for the 700 Mhz model, with 256 MB of RAM, a 40 GB hard drive, and a CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo Drive; and $1799 for the 800 Mhz model, with 256 MB of RAM, a 60 GB hard drive, and the CD-RW/DVD-R SuperDrive. Gateway is already copying this model.
	UPDATES: 2003 • G5 The PowerMac G5 was Apple's long-awaited fifth generation PowerPC-based machine. In an important move, Apple decided to break with Motorola, and used an IBM-designed processor. Motorola had been chronically delayed for both processor design and shipment, and was at least a year away from its fifth-generation PowerPC CPU. Apple and IBM had worked closely together for nearly a year of the PowerPC 970 Processor (publicly referred to as the G5), and the 64-bit PowerMac G5 represented a huge leap forward in both processor and machine design. Housed in an innovative new Aluminum enclosure, the PowerMac G5 was the first 64-bit consumer-level desktop computer ever sold. It featured either a single 1.6 or 1.8 Ghz processor, or dual 2.0 Ghz processors. It included a variety of motherboard enhancements, including PCI-X slots, and 8X AGP slot, a Serial-ATA bus, and up to 8 GB of RAM. Most impressive of all was the front-side bus speed, which was increased to half of the processor speed-up to 1.0 Ghz. This represented a more than six-fold improvement over the previous PowerMac G4 model.
	2004 • Xserve G5 The Xserve G5 brought the architectural improvements of the PowerMac G5 to the Xserve line. In addition to adding single or dual 2.0 GHz PowerPC 970FX processors, the Xserve G5 included dramatically faster data and memory buses, more and faster RAM, FireWire 800 and USB 2.0, Serial ATA and PCI-X support. Perhaps the most obvious change to the Xserve G5 was the incorporation of the PowerMac G5's cooling system, which resulted in one less drive bay, removed for ventilation. The Xserve G5 was available in two configurations: a single 2.0 GHz processor model with 512 MB of RAM for $2,999 and a dual 2.0 GHz processor model with 1 GB of RAM for $3,999. A Cluster Node configuration of the Xserve G5 was also available. In January 2005, the high-end model was speed-bumped to dual 2.3 GHz processors, and the low-end model was upgraded to 1 GB of RAM. Both models now shipped with Combo CD-RW/DVD-ROM drives, with a SuperDrive available BTO. The Xserve RAID also received an upgrade: it now had support for up to 14 250 GB drive modules, each on a separate ATA-100 bus, for a total of 3.5 terrabytes of possible storage.
	2004 • iMac G5 The iMac G5 brought G5 muscle to Apple's consumer desktop line. Housed in a completely new enclosure reminiscent of Apple's Cinema Display line, the iMac G5 was a marvel of miniaturization. The case was only two inches thick, yet housed a machine considerably faster and more advanced than its G4-based predecessor. In addition to a 64-bit G5 processor, the iMac G5 also included a much faster memory bus, better graphics for the low-end model, twice the hard drive space for the high-end model, and a new audio port which doubled as an optical digital audio output. The iMac G5 was initially available in three configurations: 17" LCD/1.6 Mhz/80 GB hard drive/256 MB of RAM/Combo drive/$1299, 17" LCD/1.8 Mhz/80 GB hard drive/256 MB of RAM/SuperDrive/$1499, and 20" LCD/1.8 Mhz/160 GB hard drive/256 MB of RAM/SuperDrive/$1899.
	2004 • Flat-panel iMac The Mac mini represented Apple's first real foray into the low-end consumer market, and Apple's first monitor-less consumer Mac in more than six years. Based around the basic motherboard design of the eMac (USB 2.0), the Mac mini packed an impressive feature set into a very small package, just two inches tall and 6.5 inches wide and deep. The rectangular case was reminiscent of the failed G4 Cube, the mistakes of which Apple seemed determined not to repeat with the mini. The basic idea was simple: let current PC owners spend $500 to replace their PC, while continuing to use their existing monitor and USB peripherals. While Airport Extreme and Bluetooth were available as BTO options, they were not included in either stock configuration, nor were a keyboard or mouse. The mini also lacked a sound-input jack, a feature present in Apple's entire lineup at the time. To keep the size small, Apple used a 2.5" laptop hard drive, and included a single RAM slot. The Mac mini shipped in two configurations. The low-end 1.25 GHz model, with a 40 GB hard drive, was $499, while the high-end 1.42 GHz model, with an 80 GB hard drive, was $599. Both models shipped with 256 MB of RAM.

apple history

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:22:00 GMT

Saturday, 24 September 2011

Holy Moly! I could list all the models I'm adding, but it's basically 2010 and 2011. My newish-job at Twitter keeps me pretty busy, but I've been hacking away as time allows, and am finally up to date, with a number of small corrections as well. Thanks to all the folks who have emailed to check in and make sure I'm still here. I intend to keep the site up, running, and mostly current for the forceable future, though I'll probably continue to be a few months behind most of the time.

I've also been working on a larger structural update to the site, which didn't make the cut for this release, but I hope to get out by the end of the year (along with whatever new machines get released in the interim). I've added a follow button to the site navigation for the @apple_history Twitter account, from which I will tweet when ever I make up an update in the future.

Wednesday, 9 June 2010

Added the new MacBook and MacBook Pro models, added the iPhone 4. Fixed a few typos.

Monday, 8 February 2010

fixed a typo and the price list for the iMac (Late 2009), and added the Mac mini (Late 2009), which I had mostly added already.

Saturday, 6 February 2010

Happy (one month after) New Year! Added the Late 2009 models and the iPad. Made more smallish, not all that apparent under-the-hood changes.

Tuesday, 29 September 2009

Within hours of launching the comparison feature I managed to break it in attempt to fix bookmarking (which had been broken for comparison pages). Both work now. Thanks Matthias!

Sunday, 27 September 2009

Boy oh boy, it's been a while, hasn't it? Nearly a year! Thanks/Sorry to all those who wrote in to ask if I was dead, and even more thanks to those of you who didn't! I'm not dead, I haven't forgotten about or given up on the site, and I do intend to bring it up to date and improve it over time.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way: the site has been updated with all the 2009 models, and has had some major under-the-hood renovations to increase stability, scalability, and to aid in future feature enhancements.

As proof that all that pretty much invisible under-the-hood work was worth something, I've added a new feature, which allows you to compare up to four models side by side. Every model page now has a pull-down menu listing all other models, and a "compare" button. Once you get past the initial annoyance at the list being so darn long, it's easy as pie! You can add a model to the comparison with the same pull-down menu, and you can remove a model by clicking "REMOVE." I intend, at some point, to come up with something better than a 340-item pull down menu, but I had to get the update out before 2010.

In addition to yet another round of corrections, I've also updated a bunch of the images for older models, thanks to the very generous folks at Old Computers (a really great collection of 70's and 80's computers) and Todo Apple Blog. I figure We've got a few weeks before the site goes out of date again, so enjoy!

Friday, 17 April 2009

Made some significant structural improvements under the hood, and made a few spec corrections. I'm hoping to have time to catch on new models sometime soonish.

Tuesday, 25 November 2008

Added new MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air. Made a few small corrections. Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, 13 October 2008

Just in time to be out of date again tomorrow, I finally managed to find the time to get the site updated. In addition to a round of generally corrections and minor site-tweaks, I added the following models, in no particular order: iPod nano (3G and 4G), iPod classic (6G and 6.5G), iPod touch (1G and 2G), iPhone 3G, MacBook (Late 2007, Early 2008), MacBook Pro (Early 2008), iMac (Early 2008), MacBook Air, Mac Pro (Early 2008), Xserve (Early 2008).

Phew!

I'll try to find some time later this week to add the various new MacBooks everyone expects tomorrow, and in general I'm going to try to make more, smaller updates, rather than giant, monolythinc ones that take me two full days of work to put together. I know you've heard it all before, but I mean it this time.

Honest.

That said, life keeps me awfully busy these days, so please do keep in mind that while I will always add new models eventually, it might take a while. In the meantime, have a look at the 250-odd gallery entries, and see if that won't keep you busy.

Friday, 8 August 2008

I had planned to make content updates today, but I ended up working on the guts of the site instead, and ran out of time. I've made a number of under-the-hood changes to improve query performance and to make future updates easier. I've also added a few small features:

Family name is now included in the miscellaneous specs for each model.
There has been confusion about what exactly is meant by "Data Path", so I've been a little more explicit, and now list "Data Path Width" and "Address Width" separately. The former is the width of the data bus, the latter is with width of the address-space.
I've added an "AKA" section for models that were released under several names. Hopefully this will help with the cognitive disconnect that comes from clicking on one machine name and getting another.

I hope to get the site caught up in the next week or so.

Sunday, 2 September 2007

The long weekend finally gave me a free day to work on the site, and I think we're all caught up now. Added two revisions each of iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini. Also added the Intel Xserve, the Apple TV and the iPhone. Assuming the various iPod rumors are true, I'll try to add new iPods next weekend, after they have been properly announced.

Saturday, 10 February 2007

No, I haven't stopped updating the site, but I have been extremely busy with my "real" job over the past few months. I do plan on adding the various missing new models at some point, when things quiet down. In the meantime, take a deep breath, look at the Apple ][e or the Mac TV to calm yourself down, and then go look at the current apple machines on Apple'swebsite.

Sunday, 17 September 2006

Added the new iPod nano and shuffle, new iMac, Mac Pro, updated the iPod video and the mac mini, made a few minor corrections. I haven't forgotten the Xeon-based Xserve, I'm just waiting until it actually ships to include specs.

Saturday, 24 June 2006

Added the U2 iPod video, made a few small corrections, added del.icio.us links to all pages.

Sunday, 21 May 2006

Added the new MacBook, made a few smallish corrections and additions. Thanks to all of those who have contacted me in the past week to wish the site a happy 10th birthday.

Monday, 8 May 2006

Added the 17" MBP, made a few corrections. On Sunday, apple-history.com quietly celebrated its 10th anniversary. Thanks to all who have supported the site, and thanks to all of you who helped me to keep it accurate. Here's to the next 10 years!

Sunday, 23 April 2006

Added OS 10.4.6 as the max OS for tiger-capable machines. Made few more under-the-hood performance improvements. Added a note in the FAQ about the Pippen. Added an RSS feed of recent changes (so you can find out immediately when I update the site twice a year). Added some code to catch old, broken links from when the site was a flat html site and forward them to the appropriate place.

Friday, 21 April 2006

tweaked the scripts that generate the machine pages for performance.

Monday, 17 April 2006

tweaked the script that generates the navigation for performance. fixed a couple of small php bugs.

Sunday, 16 April 2006

made a few small corrections, added some reader notes to the apple II and lisa pages.

Thursday, 13 April 2006

Everything seems to have settled down. If you used the contact form yesterday, please do it again today. Thanks!

Wednesday, 12 April 2006

www.apple-history.com is transitioning to a new host, and there have been a variety of DNS problems all day. email sent through the contact form likely was not received, and mail is still down at the moment. I expect it to get worked out in the next 24 hours, so please try again in a day or so if you need to use the contact form. Thanks.

Sunday, 26 March 2006

Added the Intel Mac mini, made a few minor corrections.

Friday, 17 February 2006

Phew! Added the iPod video, the iMac G5 (iSight), the iMac (Early 2006), The PowerBook G4 (Dual-Layer SD), the dual-core PowerMac G5 and the MacBook Pro. Also noted the addition of the 1GB iPod nano and the iPod shuffle price drops, and made a number of small corrections.

I started a new job in August, and it takes up quite a bit of my time, and keeping up with Apple product announcements has been difficult. I expect the next few months to be very interesting, and will try to stay on top of things as Apple moves the rest of its line to Intel. Thanks for being patient.

Saturday, 1 October 2005

Oops. Added the eMac speed-bump from May. made a few small corrections. Waiting for an official announcement on apple's site to add the upgraded mac minis.

Saturday, 24 September 2005

Added the iPod nano, made a few corrections.

Saturday, 30 July 2005

It took longer than I expected, but I finally found the time to update the PHP/MySQL back-end of the site. While not much has changed on the client-side, there have been significant changes "under the hood." The new backend is significantly optimized, and should use many fewer database resources. What does this mean to you? Probably not a lot, but it means that the I can continue to host the site without resorting to getting my own dedicated server.

There are some small UI improvements as well: Every page now has a "bookmark this page" link, which if bookmarked will result in the entire UI being loaded (as opposed to just the main content frame) when that bookmark is used. Specs are now broken down by category, which should make them easier to read. The site download is once again available as well. Of course, I've also added all machines announced since the last update, and made a bunch of minor corrections as well.

Thanks again for your patience during the past few months. Finishing school took up a lot more of my time than I had hoped it would. Hopefully the new back-end will make more frequent updates more plausible for me. I found a job. Thanks to those who helped out.

Wednesday, 11 May 2005

Had some server trouble today. Apparently the site was using too many resources to run MySQL queries, so my host disabled my account. We're back up and running, but for now I'm using the flat version of the site used on mirrors and for the site download. As a result, many of the little UI featuers--such as different ordering of the machine list, the site download, and (notably) the noframes option--are missing until I can figure out how to better optimize the SQL code. I'm in my last quarter of school, and am as busy as ever, so it will probably be at least a few weeks. (And yes, I know I'm behind on the latest models.)

I appreciate your patience as I get this squared away. The site will be up in its current (hobbled) form until I can figure out the next move.

Monday, 24 January 2005

Added the Mac mini and iPod shuffle. Made a few corrections. Updated the Xserve G5.

In other news, I'll be graduating from UC Davis with a BS in Computer Science and Engineering in June, and am looking for fulltime employment as a Software Engineer in the SF Bay Area. If you are interested, please have a look at my contact me here. Thanks!

Tuesday, 23 November 2004

Added the photo and U2 ipods, the semi-recent iBooks and single 1.8 GHz G5, and the not-really-at-all-recent iMac G5. Also made a variety of small corrections. Apple seems to insist on releasing products just after I've made an update, and with a PowerBook revision imminent (No G5 yet, please don't ask me when this will happen), this trend seems likely to continue. I do my best to keep up, but am usually pretty swamped with real-life work. As always, I will update the site when there is time, usually 3-4 times a year. Just keep repeating my new mantra to yourself: "It's a history site. Not a current events site."

Tuesday, 10 August 2004

Big update! In addition to adding bringing the site up to date with new PowerBooks, iBooks, PowerMacs and eMacs, I've finally gotten around to adding both Newtons and iPods. I've also added a reverse-chronological view option to the "by date" listing, and made a few other under-the-hood changes.

As usual, things are going to get busy for me in the Fall. I should be able to add an update for the upcoming iMacs in September, but past that I probably won't make a large update until January. Thanks to all the readers who continue to support this site!

Tuesday, 4 May 2004

Hi all. I'm aware of the recent PowerBook and iBook updates, and plan to add them just as soon as I have time. At the moment it's looking like the first real chance I'll have to update the site will be sometime in early to mid june.

In the meantime if you need something to read, cruise on over to Threebase, a new Technology/Education/Culture weblog by my friend and colleague, Noah Kravitz. It's updated daily, and is a good read.

Thursday, 12 February 2004

I had a free night, so I decided to bring the site up to date. The iBook G4s have been added, along with the Xserve G5s. Updates to the PowerMac G5, iMac and eMac line have also been noted.

With the advent of several new income sources for the site, I am no longer requesting donations. Thanks to all those who helped keep the site afloat the past few years. I couldn't have done it without you!

Saturday, 7 February 2004

No, I haven't died, and I haven't stopped maintaining the site. I've just been incredibly busy the past few months. Unfortunately it looks as though I will continue to be just as busy if not more so for at least the next month. Rest assured, as soon as my schedule permits I will bring the site up to date. In the meantime, keep in mind that it is, after all, a history site and not one devoted to current events... (or at least that's what I keep telling myself.)

Saturday, 20 September 2003

I've added the new PowerBooks, the semi-new iMacs, the not-so-new G5, and the really-not-new-at-all eMacs. Made a few corrections.

The site lasted all summer without any bandwidth problems, and is averaging 55 GB/month of bandwidth consumption. The site is currently getting an average of 62,000 unique visits a month, about 2,000 a day. When I first launched this site, I had a CGI-counter that I checked religiously several times a day. I got maybe 100 hits in the first week. It's been a fun ride. Thanks everyone!

Tuesday, 17 June 2003

I've added the (not so) new Xserves and iBooks. Made a few minor corrections.

We had some server trouble last month, as our then current host went out of business. I've moved to a more stable host, and bandwidth trouble should be a thing of the past. Thanks for your patience.

Thursday, 6 February 2003

Yep. The IIgs is missing. The IIplus too. blame it on growing pains. Enter 150+ entries into a new database, and I guess entropy takes over... We seem to be timing out quite a bit. please try to use a mirror site if possible.

Wednesday, 5 February 2003

Welcome to the new site! Lots and lots of changes:

Complete Redesign: I've redesigned the site, using as few images as possible, to reduce load time. I've also reduced the odds of getting sued by Apple for using their UI.
Frames: I'm using frames as the default interface again, because I think it's the best way to display all the information of the site. However, I know many people hate frames as much as the infamousblink tag, so I've given a noframes option as well, although this will take a bit longer to display and load.
PHP/MySQL backend: The site now runs off of a database, allowing me to make updates and minor UI tweaks much more easily.
Customization: If your browser accepts cookies, the site will remember your frames preference, the way you last sorted the machines, and what page you were last on.
Navigation: You can now get to any page of the site from any other page of the site. For this reason, I have removed the "quickjump" menu.
Sorting options: Since "by name" and "by family" seemed about the same to me, I replaced "by name" with "by processor". This seems a lot more handy to me.
Performas: All performas are now listed, although the links point to the machines they are based on. Alternate names for machines, such as LC, are also listed.
FAQ: the FAQ has been updated with more wacky questions
The links on the bibliography page have been sanitized.
(finally) the website is up to date!

I've done my best to thoroughly test this new design, but I'm sure there will be unanticipated problems. Please use the contact form to let me know if you find them.

I really aim to keep more current in this (still sort of) new year, and this redesign, particularly the back-end improvements, should help me do that. In the meantime, if you happen to have come into a huge windfall of cash, feel free to make a donation.

Wednesday, 8 May 2002

We had some image trouble today. Apple recently added a bandwidth constraint to its itools homepage area, which had been hosting all of the images for the site. I've repointed these images to other hosts. hopefully it will work. I have every intention of adding the new PowerBooks, the eMac, and the upcoming rackmount servers. I hope to have time to get to it by early June.

Thursday, 11 April 2002

apple-history.com came in 3rd place in Low End Mac's "Rest of the Mac Web" survey, and will likely "graduate" to the "Best of the Mac Web" survey later this year as a result! Thanks to all those who gave us a favorable rating!

Tuesday, 26 March 2002

Please rate apple-history.com highly in Low End Mac's "Rest of the Mac Web" survey! If apple-history.com is in the Top 5, we will be listed in the next "Best of the Mac Web" survey in six months. (one vote per person, please)

Monday, 11 March 2002

We're having unprecedented access rates this morning, and would just like to remind everyone to please use mirror sites if possible. This will help improve the experience for all, as the main site won't be so flooded with requests that it can't handle any of them... Thanks.

Monday, 11 February 2002

I've added the new iMac, the 14" iBook, and the new PowerMacs, along with another round of minor corrections. The New Zealand mirror has gone bye-bye, but we've added a mirror inHong Kong, thanks to Eric Ho!

Thursday, 7 February 2002

apple-history.com has moved to a new host, and had some growing pains earlier today. Most problems have been fixed. If you tried to use the contact form in the past 24 hours, it's probably a good idea to try it again. It was broken for much of the day, and will be broken on most of the mirror sites for another day or so. But it works on the main site.

I'm retiring some email addresses, as they have been spammed up. From now on, any email sent to webmaster, comments, corrections or permission@apple-history.com will be ignored. Please use the feedback form on the contact/faq page to contact us.

Thursday, 24 January 2002

apple-history.com was down for several hours yesterday because we reached our bandwidth cap of 12 GB/month. I have added another 3 GB, which should get us through the end of the month. This has been a record month, with nearly 100,000 unique hosts served. The site has appeared in both MacWorld and MacDesign magazine, and was used as a source for the recent Time magazine article.

Thanks to everyone who has registered during this month! I hope to make an update with the new iMacs fairly soon.

Sunday, 9 December 2001

apple-history.com finished 5th in Low End Mac's Rest of the Web survey. Thanks to everyone who gave the site high marks!

Thursday, 29 November 2001

apple-history.com was listed in the January 2002 issue of MacWorld magazine! (shameless plug) Please vote for apple-history.com in Low End Mac's Rest of the Web survey!

Monday, 29 October 2001

Yikes. Time flies when you're working to hard. I've finally managed to add the latest iMacs, G4s, iBooks and PowerBooks, and made a few minor corrections.

Before I get a zillion emails (however well-deserved they might be) about how I don't have the iPod on the site, I should point out that at the moment I include only Apple-brandedcomputers on the site. There are no Newtons, no clones, no printers or monitors, no peripherals (I had to draw the line somewhere.). I hope to add the Newtons and the iPod sometime in the near future, but in the meantime, it'll just be computers.

Monday, 25 June 2001

I have finally added the new iBook, and made a few minor corrections.

Tuesday, 10 April 2001

I have managed to survive the "slashdot effect". With nearly 20,000 unique visitors, and over 2 million individual file requests, yesterday saw the heaviest traffic this site has ever had. The site got as many hits as it did in all of March. A big thanks to everyone who was kind enough to register yesterday!

Monday, 9 April 2001

I've been slashdotted! Since I've already gotten more comments this morning than I usually get in several days, I'm assuming traffic is pretty high... Please use the mirrors if you can!Shameless plug: Please don't forget to register!

Monday, 5 March 2001

Thanks to Charles Downs for a very favorable review of the site!

Wednesday, 28 February 2001

I've added the new iMacs, and updated the G4 Cube entry. I Also Made a few minor spec changes. I'm pleased to announce two new mirror sites: in Germany,www.theyopy.de/applehistory, and in New Zealand apple-history.macstuff.co.nz! [11/30/2002: both links dead]

Tuesday, 30 January 2001

I've tweeked the UI a little bit to reduce load time and bandwidth. The main site was down for a few hours, as we maxed out our bandwidth for the month. We've transfered over 12 GB in the last two weeks! I've worked out a way to make sure that if we max out our bandwidth in the future, we just pay more, instead of the site going down... I've also moved the movies and most of the images to a seperate server. As always, please use one of our mirrors if possible.

Wednesday, 24 January 2001

Thanks to all of you who have already helped to support apple-history.com! I've added a 1984 entry to the gallery, with the infamous commercial in several formats.

Thursday, 18 January 2001

Another day, another redesign... This design addresses a number of user comments on the former OS-X-like design. In particular I have replaced the blue background with a more muted white, and slimmed the whole design down quite a bit. It should load quite a bit faster as well. I have also finally added the not-so-new-anymore iBooks, as well as the newPowerMacs and the PowerBook G4.

I have also moved the site to a new host. As many of you know, I had a deal with my previous host, Reprahduce. In exchange for a banner add on all of my pages, they hosted the site for free.

For a variety of reasons, I have decided to move the site to a different host, and to use this as an opportunity to get rid of the banner altogether. I have never liked it, as it look up quite a bit of space, and compromised somewhat the design of the site. Unfortunately, hosting the site still costs money, and I've been trying to figure out a good way to cover my expenses. And here it is: I am making the site shareware. If you use the site a whole lot (like once or twice a day), or if you enjoyed it and want to help me out, you can make a donation. The cost is a mere $5. I can't offer much in return, but I'll put you on my mailing list, so you'll be among the first to know when I've made an update.

For more info on how to support the site, click here. I'd rather not ask for money from anyone, but even more I'd rather not have banner ads cluttering up the site. I hope you feel the same way.

Wednesday, 3 January 2001

Things have been quite busy, and I still haven't been able to add the not-new-anymore iBooks. I'm holding off now on an update until after MacWorld SF, because I expect some new stuff will come out then. Thanks to Davide Puppo, there is now an Italian translation of the site! My apologies for not linking this up sooner. I will add it to the mirrors page when I make my next update. The German mirror seems to have gone down.

Friday, 11 August 2000

Welcome to the new site! With Mac OS X Beta fast approaching, a redesign was bound to happen... Please let me know what you think of the new look. I've added a pulldown menu to every page that lists the models alphabetically, and I've added several new sorting options in the Gallery (By Date, By Name, and By Family). I've also, of course, added the new machines announced at MacWorld New York. The guestbook has gone the way of the Mac IIfx, as it was just to combersome to manage. Also the awards section has been combined with the mirrors and translations section. The Contact/FAQ section is now accessable via the blue button on the lower right of the nav bar. A new mirror has been added! Thanks to Stefan Trost, there is now a mirror of the site in Germany at: http://apple-history.trostweb.de [11/30/2002: link dead]

Monday, 20 March 2000

No content updates, but I added the "QuickJump" menu above, which goes straight to the gallery entry of your choice. Enjoy! [11/30/2002: the quickjump has been axed]

Friday, 10 March 2000

Apologies for the late update! Work has been extremely busy, and looks as though it will remain so for many months. Expect future updates to appear somewhere around a month after new products are announced. Added the new PowerBook, the iBook SE, and the renewed G4s. Also added Matt Garrison's updated Newton Book-formatted site download. (This brings it up to date with November's update)

Tuesday, 16 November 1999

The new iMacs have been added, and the G4s have been altered to reflect the recent 50 MHz "speed dump". I'm happy to announce that a mirror site in Norway has been set up, thanks to to hard work of Sverre Sørensen! The mirror runs atop an AppleShare IP Server, and is located at: http://applehistory.norhost.net/.

Thursday, 23 September 1999

A long overdue update! I've added the iBook, and the G4s. Also made a number of small corrections. The big news is that the site is now available in Newton Book format! (and there was much rejoicing...) Matt Garrison has spent countless hours translating the site into Newton Books for all Newton models. They are available on the Site Download page. Some might ask how I can justify have my site available as a Newton Book, but not having info on Newtons in the Gallery. The answer is that I can't, so in the next month or so I expect to add all newton models. [11/30/2002: still planning on Newton support one of these days...]

I want to take this time to thank everyone for their continued support of this site. I've been much more busy lately than I ever have in my life, and there have been a few moments lately when I've considered throwing in the towel with this site. Continued reader support has kept me (and the site) going, and for that I am extremely grateful.

Friday, 18 June 1999

Added new the PowerBook G3, made a number of small corrections. Look for a few big additions in the next month!

Monday, 12 April 1999

All '040 Macs now show the correct Max System Software (8.1), and a few minor back-end changes have been made. Also, the Rev. D iMacs have been added. Expect a few more additions after the next round of Apple announcements on the 19th.

Sunday, 14 March 1999

Thanks to everyone who emailed their Blue G3 Machine IDs. Thanks to Christopher Jennings, we now have an answer to the puzzle (and in retrospect, we feel pretty silly). Apparently all future Macs based on the "New World" ROM in RAM scheme, will return the same Machine ID. This is because They all share the same standard 1 MB ROM chip. This allows Apple to more effectively mass-produce the ROM chips, saving quite a bit of money. An Apple Developer Tech Note explains this in more detail... I made some updates to several items in the gallery.

Wednesday, 17 February 1999

We're tracking something interesting: According to one reader, the Machine ("Gestalt") ID of the new Blue G3 is 406. This is the same ID as that of the Rev A, B & C iMacs. This has some interesting implications if it is true, because Apple usually gives different IDs for even slightly different motherboards (UMA anyone?). Can anyone confirm this? (You can find the Machine ID by running "Apple System Profiler" in your Apple Menu.)

Tuesday, 16 February 1999

www.apple-history.com has been selected as the MacMadness Site of the Week! [11/30/2002: link dead]

Thursday, 11 February 1999

Many Thanks to the MacResource Page, MacNN, and iMacWorld for links earlier this week! www.apple-history.com was quoted in this month's episode of Macohesion, a monthly Quicktime Streaming radio show by Michael Piziak.

Wednesday, 10 February 1999

The Site Download is now available. added a new Apple I pic, fixed a few broken links. Quicktime movies are available only on the main server. Because of their size, I cannot place them on the mirror sites. I believe they are all linked absolutely on the site, but please let me know if you find a broken link.

Tuesday, 9 February 1999

Thanks to Takashi Noguchi, there is now a Japanese translation of the history page, alongside the Swedish one. Made a few cosmetic retouches, including a slight change to the stylesheet. The Site Download really will be available soon, probably Tuesday.

Saturday, 6 February 1999

The Dutch Mirror is back up. The Site Download option should be available in the next few days. (I have to stuff the whole site and put it up over my modest 33.6 kbps connection...)

Friday, 5 February 1999

It's been a while, but we think it's worth the wait! In addition to numerous updates and error-fixes, the site has had a huge facelift. We think the new design is nice without being too flashy. It may take a while to load up the first time, but after that download times should decrease.

We've added a Contact/FAQ page, which you should look at before sending us email. We've also made a number of back-end changes that should make future updates easier. In the process of reworking the site, we decided to get rid of LiveOpinions. There just wasn't enough public interest in the 'boards to put any more time into maintaining them. We hope you like the new site design, and if you have any comments on it, please, email us!

Wednesday, 14 October 1998

In Honor of Apple's fourth consecutive profitable quarter, I have made significant updates to every entry on the site. All entries have been checked against Apple's Spec Database, and now include measurements, weight, and system software info. I have also made small cosmetic changes across the site.

Sunday, 11 October 1998

I fixed up the main pages a bit, and added the new Reprahduce ad. A big update is in the works that will add more specs to all models, and updates to the G3 and PowerBook G3 pages. I am also planning to rewrite the conclusion and parts of the history. check back in a week or so for these updates!

Friday, 7 August 1998

You may notice that there are a fair number of missing pieces of information, listed as ?? in the gallery. The only way I can fill this missing information in, is with your help! I have found all I can, and need you to help make this site even better! please send any corrections and information !-- link:?page=contact -->my way. Specifically, I need HD sizes for many of the entries. Thanks!.

I have made a few smal changes, including lightening the background image.

Tuesday, 4 August 1998

I have made significant changes to the gallery: all entries now contain a list of stats, and should have considerably more information than they have up till now. I have also added the 10 or so servers to the list of machines. Also I have made minor updates to the history and bibliography pages.

Tuesday, 14 July 1998

I had to have hand surgury again on friday, so I can't type too well at the moment, but I pleasw check back soon, as there will be an important update as soon as my hand can type it. (in the next two weeks.)

Friday, 3 July 1998

I am pleased to announce that thanks to the arduous effort of Christophe Gravereau there is now a fully-functional French Translation of this site! To reduce the clutter of the banner, I have made a Mirrors/Translations page. This allows for a smaller header.

Monday, 18 May 1998

I am finished with my school work, and have finally been able to update the site with all the recent events. I have added entries for the Color Classic II, the PowerBook 550, the G3 All-in-One, the new PowerBook G3, and the iMac (these can all be found in the Gallery). I have also updated the History page to reflect the last few months' events. I am working on a "commercials" page, which will contain links to all commercials mentioned on this site, and many more. It will probably take me several months to get my act together and do it, though. [11/30/2002: I never did get my act together...]

Sunday, 10 May 1998

I apologize for the delay in making a very important update! I am in the middle of finals, and have several more large papers to write. I should be able to update the site at the end of next week, with an update to the history page, to the conclusion, and five new entries in the gallery. Thanks to all those who sent me p550 and CCII info, It has been a great help.

I got a job teaching computers at Saint Ann's School, in NYC, and plan to maintain this page as long as possible. (right now possible looks like several years at least.) Look for new french and korean translations soon.

Tuesday, 7 April 1998

I'm waiting for the G3-AIO to ship before listing it on the site (also I need official pricing info). I finally got around to fixing the misspelling of Bose on the 20th Ann. Mac. I'm still looking for CC II and p550 specs if anyone has them. On a side note, I'm graduating from Brown this May and am looking for a job in the New York City area doing either Graphic Design, Website design, or something Mac and/or Internet related. My resume is available here. If you are interested, please email me.

Tuesday, 31 March 1998

Thanks to the generous effort of Ton van der Bruggen, we now have a mirror site in the Netherlands! This should be somewhat faster for those of you connecting from Europe. Look for a Korean and a French Translation sometime soon. Added a page for the LC III+ and the LC 580. The G3 "All in One" has been announced! I'll have it in the gallery as soon as Apple posts more info. I need specs on the Color Classic II, which was never released in the US. please email me if you have such specs and/or a picture. I would also like specs on the PowerBook 550, which wasn't realeased here either... Thanks!

Wednesday, 18 March 1998

I've updated many pages of the Gallery to reflect recent speed-bumps (G3) and discontinuations (4400, 8600, 20th Anniversary, etc..). I have also added a link on the History page to Johan Ohlsson's Swedish translation. [11/30/2002: link dead]

Thursday, 19 February 1998

I am pleased to announce that Reprahduce, the excellent IPP that serves www.apple-history.com, will be advertising on the site. This will help to make the financial load of maintaining this site more managable.

I have updated the g3 entry in the Gallery to reflect the new configurations offered. The Site Download option is available again.

I wanted to take a moment plug LiveOpinions just one more time. Although it hasn't really gone anywhere yet, I truly believe it could be a great place for ongoing discussion of Apple's history and future. But only with your help. So please, have a look, and help me make this site even better. Thanks.

Tuesday, 27 January 1998

www.apple-history.com is now hosted on a 100% Macintosh server! I have moved everything over to Reprahduce's excellent G3 servers, which give me more bandwidth per day andway more room. In the process, however, I ran into a few problems. my email is a little messed up although that should get fixed reasonably soon. Also the guestbook, liveopinions and site download pages have been broken. both the guestbook and liveopinions' previous incarnations were written in perl, which I can't run on reprahduce's mac server. however, I have found nice mac alternatives written in WebSiphon, and am in the process of putting them together. LiveOpinions shoudl be much richer and more robust than it was before. thanks for your patience, I should have everything worked out in the next few days...

Saturday, 24 January 1998

I'm moving the site over to a new server, and this will cause problems with the domain name for a few days. please use apple-history.pair.com until I get it moved over. after that apple-history.com will be the only way to get to the site. thanks for your patience.

Tuesday, 20 January 1998

I'm temporarily taking 1984 off the site, due to disk quota issues. I'm moving to a new server in the next month that will allow me to have many more movies locally mirrored. sorry for the inconvenience!

Saturday, 3 January 1998

Having just had hand surgery, and with a lot of time on my hands, (no pun intended) I decided to redesign the site just one more time. I think I've found a way to dispense with frames for most of the site. The "Gallery" (where all the machines are) retains a frames interface, as I saw no other good way to do it. tell me what you think!

Wednesday, 24 December 1997

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Merry Festivus! (Happy Hollidays) I am pleased to announce that "A History of Apple Computers" can now be found at: http://www.apple-history.com! Older addresses will also work, but please bookmark this new address. My email address has also changed to reflect the new domain. you can contact me here.

Saturday, 15 November 1997

I apologize (again) for taking so long to bring this update! I was going to make a big update after MacWorld Boston, but by the time I was seriously getting around to it, there was already a big buzz about Novermber 10th. So I figured I'd wait until the big day, and get the G3's in here too. I have also added the 2400 and the twentieth anniversary mac.

structurally, I've made a few changes too. All of the pages now have "next" and "previous" buttons for easier navigation, and I added a scrolling menu as well. (look above) These changes should make the site easier to get around. I've also changed many of the pictures, replacing old b/w scans with nicer looking color scans. I'm still missing a few, but I should have them all in color sometime soon. Thanks to Matt Garrison for the Apple III pic!

Friday, 17 October 1997

Thanks to AppleLinks.com for such a nice review! I realize that I have been again somewhat lax in updating the site lately, but I'm waiting for this whole mess to blow over a bit before I document it. I want to make sure I understand exactly what's going on before it appears here. Remember that this is a history site, and not a current events one. thanks.

Wednesday, 23 July 1997

I finally got around to fixing the Guestbook problem, and The Australian mirror is back up and looking good!

Friday, 11 July 1997

I know I've been lagging, but I finally managed to finish this long overdue update! There have been some fairly large structural changes to the site this time around: each machine now has its own page. I think this should speed up load-time significantly. Also I have coded image size information into all the images on the site, which should speed things up further.

I also ditched the table-based Interface. I realize that it was a more browser-friendly design, but it added 10 kB to every single file, and I noticed an very noticable increase in load time. so back to frames. there is a non-frames front end to the site, but it's just much to have two wholey independant sites. so the non-frames site uses all the same pages except for the front-end. What this means is that if you don't like or can't use frames, you will probably have to use the back button an awfull lot. Sorry, it's the best I can do.

If you do like frames, then have a blast! I'm really happy with the way the site looks now. I made all the computer pictures transparent gif's which makes things look real pretty.

I also brought most of the Quicktime movies that I've linked to in the past on to this server. This should allow everybody (with a good connection) to see the 1984 commercial!

aside from that, I fixed a few entries, added a few machines, and updated the Amelio portion of the history to reflect his recent resignation.

Oh yeah! and the Australian mirror has finally been updated and all fixed up.

Monday, 17 February 1997

Completely overhalled the site. The site is all non-frames now, as I got a number of complaints about it. It should still be easy to navigate around, and It should load up slightly faster as well. It is also more aesthetically consistent, and I added more informative title information, so you always know exactly where you are. You'll find that "the list" as I like to call it will be to your left at all times. Updated information to include the buyout of NeXT and the new Powermacs, Performas and Powerbooks. I am thinking about adding the Newtons in the near future, (it's about time after all) but I'm afraid that peripherals are simply beyond the scope of this sight. Clones, on the other hand, may not be.... (stay tuned) I will definately be adding a threaded discussion group of some kind for the Opinions page (which I finally got around to updating as well) in the semi-near future. would people be interested in this? Let me know.

Saturday, 1 February 1997

Thanks so much to the MacWorld Online Community Center for their kind words!

Friday, 31 January 1997

Fixed a few little things, renamed the Centris 610/650 entries so that they more obviously included the Quadra versions. I'm studying in London for the semester, and internet access is a little more difficult, so updates will be few. I will try to make a major update in a month or so, to include the upcoming macs, and the recent *very* interestiong business with NeXT, and the return of Jobs. (so keep coming back!) Several readers have noted that the opinions page would be better as a threaded discussion n. I agree and am looking into it. (I would like to use WebX, but I don't have $600 to shell out for it.) Again, and sort of threaded discussion won't be up until at least June. Access is just too slow here. Both German and Spanish mirrors are in the works, and I'm looking into why the Australian mirror hasn't been responding lately. (I have yet to make the 12/13 update to the site) Take Care, and keep the comments (good and bad) coming! --glen

Friday, 13 December 1996

I am extremely pleased to announce that, thanks to Vincent Motte, we now have a fully-translated French Mirror Site! Added entry for Performa 4400, fixed entries for the Quadra 700, Centris/Quadra 610/650, MacTV, and PowerBook 145. Changed a few minor things here and there.

Thursday, 31 October 1996

Added yet another new title pic. I think I'm gonna keep this one.

Wednesday, 30 October 1996

Thanks to The Macintosh Resource Page, MacCentral, The O'Grady PowerPage, MacintoshOS.com, MacFixit, @ Home Mac, and Digital Apple for mentioning this site today! Changed the interface so that it no longer requires a specific window size (should still take up most or all of a 640x480 screen). Fixed information for the Quadra 700, the PB 180, PB 150 and finally fixed the wrong-century date on the Opinions page. Speacking of opinions, SEND YOURS IN!

Tuesday, 29 October 1996

Thanks to the Evangelist for all its help!

Brightened up the interface, added new title pic, moved "What's New" to the title page, moved bibliography and links to a separate page, added recent "Opinions" posts, added info on the PB1400, and the Performa 6360 and 5260, changed entries to the Portable and the Mac Plus, spellchecked everything _again_, (I think I got 'em all this time), updated mirror site. It's been a busy day!

Sunday, 25 August 1996

Added Apple II Plus pic, added Guestbook. (main site only)

Saturday, 24 August 1996

Fixed some IIvx info. Fixed a few typos.

Friday, 23 August 1996

Had my wisdom teeth out. In the hopes of making this site a bit more interactive, I replaced the Comments page with a brand, spanking new Opinions page. Updated information on the Apple II Plus, the Apple III (Added pic), the Lisa, the Apple IIgs, and the PB 5300.

Thursday, 15 August 1996

I've gone Phishin' for the weekend, so I won't be able to update this page or respond to emails until Sunday. (don't let that stop you) Upon return there are a number of small things I intend to fix. I want to make this site even better, so please send me suggestions for the site

Monday, 12 August 1996

Added pic of IIgs, better pic of classic II. Fixed a few links. Fixed PB 520/540 dates. Fixed Apple IIe dates.

Spruced up the interface, made it look a bit less "dark". The frames page should load a tiny bit faster. Fixed targets in the frames conclusion page. Fixed the color of the linked text in the non frames title page. I'm still trying to think of a way to make this site more dynamic, and to keep people coming back. (the site is a bit of a one-shot deal at the moment) If you have ideas please send them my way.

Saturday, 10 August 1996

I am pleased to announce that an Australian mirror site has been added! Thanks to Eis.net for making this site more accessible! Added the new PowerMacs, and the Performa 6400. Rewrote Amelio's entry. added a few new pictures, including a better IIsi shot and a IIcx/ci pic.

Sunday, 4 August 1996

MacintoshOS.com has informed me that since the page has moved to a faster server, they will no longer be mirroring it. If they have not already taken it off their servers they soon will. (so make sure to update your bookmarks to the new location!) Fixed bad links in the no-frames section. Made changes to several entries including the IIc, Mac IIcx and Portable, Quadra 660AV, 800, and 840AV, the PowerBook 100, 190, 540/c, and 5300, and the Mac 5400 LC. Lightened the background you're looking at. In the next week or so I intend to add entries for the new machines Apple has just released. Also, the Australian mirror site is coming along.

Thursday, 1 August 1996

Moved main page to new site. Made significant alterations to the frames layout to make it work better at 640x480, and with the default Netscape window size. Got rid of annoying configuration pages. Added links to get from frames to no frames, and vice-versa. Fixed no-frames pages' links to reflect addition of comments and what's new pages. Added link to new mirror in Australia.

Monday, 29 July 1996

The main site of the History of Apple pages will be moving to a much faster server in the next week or so, which will have its own domain name (The MacintoshOS.com mirror will stay right where it is). More details when I have them. Also look for an Australian mirror site sometime soon.

Wednesday, 17 July 1996

(my birthday) Fixed all the "moniter" misspellings (sp?). Fixed Sculley dates in no-frames introduction links. Fixed information about the IIgs, and the 165/c. updated macintoshOS.com's mirror.

Thursday, 11 July 1996

I Added the comments page and the very page you are now viewing. I Also lightened the backgrounds a bit, to improve text readability, and added a picture of the LISA. I'm taking Fridays off from now on, so I should be able to update the page more regularly. Future changes will include entries for various system software components, (i.e. system 7, Quicktime, OpenDoc, etc...) and I will eventually fix all the links in the no frames pages to reflect the addition of the two new pages.

Monday, 20 May 1996

Fixed most of the typos. mirror site should be up RSN.

(later) A faster mirror site [11/30/02: link now dead] is now available, thanks to MacintoshOS.com. If you're visiting by a high speed connection, you should notice a difference. (I can't at 28.8 though)

Tuesday, 14 May 1996

The Apple IIgs runs at 10 MHz, not 1. I'll fix that in a while. (this notice was all I had time for) Several people have complained that the blue text in the contents page is unreadable, I'm trying to find a color that satisfies everybody, and doesn't look gross. Any suggestions are welcome. If there are links to other history sites that you know of, please send them to me. Only one more final to go.

Monday, 13 May 1996

The "no frames" option now works. I am aware of the profuse spelling errors in this document, but have not had the time to fix them yet. I am in the middle of finals, and won't be able to for several days. To the nice fellow with the SparcStation 2: I'm working on it.

Bluetooth Players

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:47:00 GMT

Bluetooth Chip Manufacturers Bluetooth chips are being manufactured by the likes of VLSI, owned since June 2^nd1999 by Philips. In October 1999, Motorola acquired Digianswer, an early Bluetooth adopter, to boost its Bluetooth and HomeRF portfolio. VLSI has supplied Bluetooth chips to Ericsson for its wirefree Headset reviewed below Lucent Technologies Microelectronics Group (see below), Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) and others also manufacture Bluetooth chip solutions.
Ericsson Bluetooth Headset Ericsson has unveiled the Bluetooth Headset (available on the market in mid 2000), a headset that connects to a mobile phone by a radio link instead of a cable. It is the first ever handsfree accessory to incorporate Bluetooth technology, the future industry standard for wireless communication between devices. The Ericsson Bluetooth Headset is a lightweight, wireless mobile phone headset, with a built-in Bluetooth radio chip that acts as a connector between the headset and the Bluetooth plug on the Ericsson phone. Weighing 20 grams (0.75 oz.), the Bluetooth Headset sits comfortably on either ear and can be used with Ericsson T28, T28 WORLD and R320 cellular phones.
Lucent Technologies Lucent Technologies Microelectronics Group has announced its first integrated Bluetooth chipset solution, designed to enable wireless information sharing between personal communications devices and speed end products to market through simplified development and certification. Lucent's new solution consists of a single-chip radio subsystem and a baseband controller, complete with protocol software. The W7400 is available with a Lucent-supplied software protocol stack. Samples and development tools for the W7400 will be available in March 2000, with production starting in 3Q 2000. Interference Issue Possible interference between different wireless data standards that do not require federal licensing agreements could delay Bluetooth products from coming to market. According to Cahners Business Information, the 2.4-GHz radio frequency broadcast on an Industrial and Scientific Network, or ISN, already carries traffic from various industrial communication devices and Bluetooth signals could interfere with ISN traffic. There are also concerns about use of Bluetooth on airplanes. While cell phones and pagers are usually turned off in flight, Bluetooth has been designed to maintain uninterrupted connections even while in motion, while the devices are still in their carrying cases, or even if the devices aren't turned on.

What is Bluetooth?

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:46:00 GMT

Bluetooth is an alliance between mobile communications and mobile computing companies to develop a short-range communications standard allowing wireless data communications at ranges of about 10 meters.
Bluetooth will encompass both a standard communications interface and a low-cost computer chip. It is a cross between the DECT (Digital European Cordless Telephone) and iRDA (infra Red Data Association) technologies. Bluetooth was conceived by Ericsson, but founded by Nokia, Ericsson, IBM, Intel and Toshiba. The Bluetooth Interest Group has since been joined by hundreds of companies including One2One; a UK mobile network operator, Motorola, Qualcomm, Compaq, Dell, 3Com Palm, VLSI, Xircom, Psion Dacom and Lucent. Bluetooth does NOT involve mobile network transactions- its spectrum is freely available to use in the unlicensed spectrum area (at 2.45 gigahertz). Data transmission speeds using Bluetooth are expected to be between 720 kbps and one megabit per second (Mbps).
Bluetooth will facilitate wireless Local Area Networks in which networks of different handheld computing terminals and mobile terminals can communicate and exchange data, even on the move and when there is no line-of-sight between those terminals. Bluetooth will mean that if users have several (Bluetooth-enabled) portable terminals, they can nonetheless use them with all the advantages of an integrated smart phone, without having to re-enter data or find the most recent versions on different terminals. This kind of synchronization and exchange of data are Bluetooth’s major applications, as are electronic commerce applications such as electronically paying for parking meters, bus tickets, shopping, movies and so on. Smart offices are envisaged in which an employee with a Bluetooth device is automatically checked in when entering the building and this triggers a series of actions such as lights and PCs being switched on. The Bluetooth partners see one of its main advantages as being that it does not need to be set up- Bluetooth runs in the background and line of sight is not even needed for the machines to automatically initiate and trigger processes. Such proactive intelligence could turn out to be a nuisance rather than a convenience for Bluetooth users unless it is under the control of the device owner(s). Indeed, the Bluetooth standard does incorporate these kinds of control mechanisms, since each device is assigned a unique 12 byte address and to connect to that device, its address must be known. There will also be an enquiry feature so to search for other Bluetooth-enabled devices within range. The Bluetooth specification was outlined in early 1999, with Bluetooth-enabled mobile terminals such as laptops, smart phones, handheld computers and so on likely to be first available by the industry conference "Telecom 99" in Geneva, Switzerland. Commercial Bluetooth terminals are expected to be available in the year 2000. In one negative prediction for Bluetooth, the September 1998 issue of "Wired" magazine listed Bluetooth at position one in its "Hype List" which aims at "Deflating this month’s overblown memes". It commented that "This wireless LAN technology overcomes infrared’s line-of-sight limitations, but Bluetooth’s true application, much less its market potential, won’t emerge until there’s a critical mass of RF-chip PCs, handhelds, and phones. And even then, people looking to move data between gadgets might find it hard to sever their emotional connection to the entrenched wireline option." Bluetooth was given a life expectancy of 24 months. Whilst it is true to say that other similar ideas to network electronic terminals and household appliances have come and gone in the past, such as Novel NetWare, Bluetooth does have the backing of a lot of market leading mobile phone and modem manufacturers. Others have failed because they have not been able to achieve a critical mass of wired appliances when licensing their technology. See http://www.bluetooth.com

The battle for 4G advantage

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:44:00 GMT

The race to the next of mobile standards is gathering pace in Japan. "If you ask DoCoMo, they will tell you they have a 4G lab," says Bengt Nordstrom, chief strategy officer at inCode. But research is still in the very early stages.

Specification work for 3G LTE(long-term evolution) - also known as Super 3G- is under way, says Nordstrom. That will deliver a new core network architecture and air interface. "[Japanese operators] are investing heavily in that," DoCoMo in particular.

"DoCoMo is currently at the stage of testing the components and technologies that will constitute the 4G system," says spokesperson Miki Nakajima McCants. "DoCoMo is playing a leading role in research on the proposed 4G access system, but we are not yet at the developmet stage, nor are we collaborating with other operators."

Japan is making sure it is at the forefront of development of LTE and 4G, says Gavin Patterson, analyst at Informa. He points out that historically Asian vendors suffered from Japan's decision to adopt the proprietary PDC standard for 2G mobile services.

"[There's] only going to be one 4G standard," says Patterson, which means one key concern will be marrying legacy GSM with legacy CDMA.

"4G is considered by the industry to be the enhancement of radio network bandwidth," syas Hideo Okinaka, VP technical standars, at KDDI. "We do not ignore the importance of 4G in this definition, but we do not think a single radio interface meets any of [the] market requirements in the future."

KDDI is focusing on the Ultra3G initiative it announced in June 2005. Central to this is a transport core network based on IP version 6 and an IMS/MMD-based service control platform. KDDI is working to introduce Revision A by the end of this year.

"Initially we will use EV-Do Rev.A as a means to enhance reverse link bandwidth and capacity (154 kilobits per second to 1.3 Mbps)," says KKDI's Okinaka.

"The battle in Japan between KDDI and DoCoMo is already along technical lines," says Informa's Patterson.

If KDDI does not offer Revision A, subscribers might migrate to DoCoMo, and vice versa. There's not much they can do except "keep upgrading their network systems," says Patterson.

What is 4G?

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:42:00 GMT

In a Cutt Newsletter (2004) issue it is mentioned that while current 3G services are working to enable transactional wireless communications like location-based services, wireless shopping, personal services, email and multimedia data transfer, these are at much lower speeds compared to the 100 MBPS to 1 GBPS of 4G.

As demand builds for high-quality, streaming video and audio, only 4G systems will be able to accommodate growing consumer and business expectations. Japan, China and South Korea plan to work together with developing new technologies like fourth-generation mobile phones says Japanese local papers.

Ongoing talks have been underway for the last several months to discuss how to work together in the best possible way including

those for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and future Internet systems, said an official at the telecommunications ministry.

A 4G orientated meeting was held in Seoul in March with officials from the above countries, where they agreed to share information and work together on developing 4G mobile phones.

In Eliza Evans and others (2004) the implications of 4G network are discussed in detail. They predict that if implemented, the projected 4G technology may facilitate a true IP cellular network. 4G mobile phone technology supports Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) and promises faster communication speeds (100 megabits per second), capacity and diverse usage formats. These formats would provide richer content and support for other public networks such as optical fibre and wireless local area networks.

4G is currently only an ideal. Still, some companies are incorporating new technological advances into cellular technology, something that some companies are calling “3.5G.” 3.5G technology, the convergence of cellular and wireless LAN technologies, has led to a handset that makes calls using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) when a 802.11 network is available (for example, when at home or at the office), then switches to a 3G cellular network when mobile.

Someday 4G networks may replace all existing 2.5G and 3G networks, perhaps even before a full deployment of 3G. Multiple 3G standards are springing up that would make it difficult for 3G devices to be truly global. A strong need exists to combine both the wireless (LAN) concept and cell or base station wide area network design. 4G is seen as the solution that will bridge that gap and thereby provide a much more robust network.

Table 2, lists down the comparison between 3G and the upcoming 4G networks.

Wi-Fi Security tips for Home networks

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:40:00 GMT

Hopefully we've scared you into resolving to do something about security on your wireless network (and on the wired one too!). To make the process as painless as possible, we've created a list of steps to follow. No network is completely secure, but after you've implemented the recommendations here, wireless hackers will likely choose an easier target. These steps apply to both home and small office networks that have a standard wireless router, and possibly one or more roaming access points.

Top 10 Security Tips for Home Wi-Fi Networks

Change your router's access name and password.
Don't let users piggyback onto your Wi-Fi net -- turn off peer-to-peer connections.
Stop broadcasting your router's network ID.
Approve all wireless network users in advance.
Turn on wireless data encryption.
Periodically check router logs for rogue users.
Use a strong firewall.
Password-protect your computers and files.
Put your wireless network on its own subnet.
Turn off wireless cards and routers when not in use.

1. Change your router's name and password. This is always the first line of defense. It's easy for attackers to find out what the default name and password are for various manufacturers. Many also default to using the standard 192.168.1 or 2 subnet internally and give the router itself the IP address of 192.168.1.1 or 192.16.2.1. You should make sure you rename the router, assign a strong password for accessing the router configuration software, and consider changing the IP addressing to a different internal subnet like 192.168.12 or 192.168.83 (you can use any number from 1 to 254 in most cases).

2. Enable infrastructure mode only on all access points and clients on the network. Disable the "ad-hoc" mode, which lets clients set up peer-to-peer networks and could allow rogue users to connect to your network through a legitimate wireless client.

3. Disable SSID broadcast. The SSID (Service Set Identifier) is essentially the network name for the wireless portion. A wireless access point (AP) or router in open network mode will periodically broadcast a beacon signal (usually about 10 times each second) which announces to the world that the network is live and ready to go. The beacon also includes data such as the signal strength and functional capabilities of the AP as well as the SSID. With broadcasting off, wireless clients must first know the SSID before they can connect.

For home networks, this broadcast information is not necessary. You can simply type in the SSID in your wireless client's setup dialog once, and it will be remembered in future connections. Experienced hackers can still find such "closed" networks, but at least you will not be openly inviting them.

In public-access hotspots or large company Wi-Fi nets, it may be still be necessary to broadcast the SSID so that as wireless clients enter the network they are automatically notified of what the SSID is so they can try to establish a connection. There are other precautions to take in these cases, as we'll see later on.

4. Turn on the MAC addressing filter in your wireless router. Most Wi-Fi gateways let you restrict access to known MAC (Media Access Control) addresses. Each network device (such as a computer, Wi-Fi card, or printer) has a unique MAC address, and by allowing access only to pre-defined MAC addresses you greatly reduce the risk of rogue clients connecting with or perusing your network resources. This takes the closed network concept a step further.

Sound foolproof? Not quite. Even if your SSID isn't broadcast and you restrict access to known MAC addresses, your wireless network may still be detected and compromised. Hackers can capture the wireless data packets as they travel from your access point to your wireless client or vice versa. The captured packets may reveal both the SSID and the MAC addresses of client devices communicating with the network. Once a MAC address is known a malicious user can "spoof" the MAC address of the attacking system to make a computer look like it's one of the accepted systems and allow it to connect. So you should still take additional precautions.

5. Enable WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) or WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption. Encryption is the next step in the wireless security ladder. WEP is the original Wi-Fi encryption scheme, and comes in several flavors -- 40-, 64-, and 128-bit. However, its underlying algorithm is flawed and subject to relatively easy cracking. Without going into the gory technical details, if you want to test your WEP connection to see how easy it is to capture packets and decode the key, you can use a tool like AirSnort. The longer 128-bit encryption keys require transmitting more data, but don't offer significantly better protection than 40- or 64-bit encryption, and significantly reduce performance.

Taking all of that into consideration, WEP is still better than nothing. The lock on your front door is also fairly easy for a professional thief to pick but it doesn't stop you from turning the key when you leave the house. Even flawed security will keep out opportunistic hackers (the kind who look for cars with keys in the ignition), so it's worth adding that extra layer of protection.

After the weaknesses of WEP were uncovered wireless equipment manufacturers rushed to create WPA, which improves upon WEP while also being compatible with most older equipment so that customers could upgrade via a firmware update.

WPA builds on WEP encryption by scrambling the key and integrity-checking it to ensure it hasn't been tampered with. Additionally, it allows authentication using public key infrastructure (PKI) encryption, rather than relying on MAC address filtering. As we've already mentioned, MAC address filtering can be easily bypassed by sniffing the wireless traffic and picking MAC addresses up from the packets.

Late last year, a third encryption standard, WPA2, was released, conforming to the 802.11i standard. WPA2 is basically similar to WPA, with the added security of the strong AES encryption protocol, required by some businesses and government agencies.

WPA and WPA2 place an even bigger drag on wireless performance than WEP, and requires that ALL devices on the wireless net be set to WPA -- clients, the wireless router or access point, and any other relays or access points in between.

No matter which encryption type you use, change your key as often as you can. It takes recording a certain amount of traffic to give crackers enough data to decode a key, so many businesses change keys on a regular schedule, presumably thwarting even determined hackers. Also, passwords do get written down and can fall into the wrong hands.

For more on WPA encryption check out NetGear's excellent primer What's New in Security: WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access). The Wi-Fi Alliance also has an information page on WPA2

6. Check frequently for rogue access points or clients attached to the network. Most Wi-Fi gateways have a status screen that shows the MAC addresses of all clients currently connected to the network, and some have logging capabilities that will keep track of wireless connections. If you spot unknown clients attached for lengths of time (not just passing by), change your WEP or WPA code, and scout around for where they might be located.

Another way to monitor your network is with a packet sniffer like the free Ethereal. Packet sniffers show you all the traffic that's zipping around your net, and you'll see things like plain text messages and passwords flashing by heedlessly. It shockingly illustrates the weaknesses of common protocols like telnet, ftp, AIM and others. You'll not only find out if unauthorized people are using your network, you'll also see what THEY see when they are snooping around.

Rogue clients aren't the only thing to look for, however. Rogue access points are dangerous as well, although more of a concern in public areas than in the home. Rogue access points are designed to mimic your regular wireless access point, and capture data sent through them. You can use a utility like NetStumbler or iStumbler for Mac to see them. See the page on protecting yourself at Wi-Fi hotspots for more details.

7. Use a strong firewall. The steps we've discussed so far focus on securing the wireless network, but once your wireless data reaches the access point, it becomes part of the wired net, and subject to any attacks or snooping that might come in through your broadband gateway (or from other users on your local wired net). Furthermore, WEP and WPA encryption only apply to data in the air, as soon as it passes through the Wi-Fi gateway, data is decrypted.

Most home networking routers come with built-in firewall capabilities. The firewall is usually a basic port-blocking or packet-filtering firewall which lets you permit or deny incoming traffic on certain ports. The typical configuration is to block ALL incoming ports by default and then allow you to open ports for specific purposes. Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewalls take things to a higher level still by actually examining network traffic for suspect activities and reporting attacks and intrusions.

Unless you are running a Web or FTP server you shouldn't need any of the ports open, but some peer-to-peer file sharing networks and online games require communication over certain ports. Worms like MSBlast and Nachi were aimed at the Windows SMB (Server Message Block) and NetBIOS ports that are intended for directory, file and printer sharing across the network. Having your computer respond to NetBIOS inquiries can also give away valuable information that an attacker may use to gain access to your system or network. It is especially recommended that you block TCP ports 135, 137, 138, 139 and 445 from external access and that you disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP to prevent such attacks or leaks of pertinent information.

You can also use a personal firewall like Zone Alarm Pro or Norton Personal Firewall that runs on your computer in addition to the network firewall. Personal firewalls provide an extra layer of security against outside hackers, as well as safeguard against snooping from within the local network. See the page on protecting yourself at public hotspots for more on personal firewalls.

8. Password your data. Often overlooked in a home environment, passwords provide another layer of security for your private data. You can generally password-protect and/or encrypt your computer, certain folders, or even specific files. Make sure your passwords are not easily guessed or written on a sticky note on the front of your monitor.

Whenever possible, try to place private, confidential or otherwise sensitive documents in special folders that only you or those designated by you have access to. Older OSes like Windows 95 and 98 don't have password-protection capability built-in, but Windows 2000, Windows XP and Mac OS X all make it a relatively simple matter.

In general, the longer the password the longer it will take someone to find it using password-cracking programs. Use words that aren't in the dictionary and that contain combinations of lower-case and upper-case letters, numbers and special characters. And change them if you have any reason to suspect they might have been violated, such as by a keystroke-capture program. (Most businesses require changing things like email passwords regularly.) If you are curious to see how easily your password can be cracked, check out tools like @Stake LC4 or Cain & Abel.

9. Separate your wired and wireless nets. If you're a network pro and have a small office network, consider doing a couple more things: change the default community names that ship with network management tools like SNMP so they can't be easily guessed; and put wireless access points on separate subnets with firewalls between them and the main network.

10. Turn off wireless devices when not in use. The final word of advice for home wireless networks is "Turn it off!" While it may seem like a pain, you'll sleep easier knowing that since your gateway, computer, laptop etc. are not turned on, no one can access them. Use a power strip to plug in all your devices, and just flip one switch when you get to work. In multiple-user households, you'll probably want to leave the broadband gateway on 24/7, but you can still turn off your own PC. A computer that isn't connected can't be hacked or compromised from the network. If you rely on dial-up Internet access this is not as big a concern

Wi-Fi Security tips for public hotspots

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:40:00 GMT

Wi-Fi hotspots present a special set of security issues, notably unknown computers sharing the same local network with you. Unlike home or office networks, most public hotspots in hotels and cafes broadcast their SSIDs, lack WEP or WPA encryption, and don't bother with MAC address filtering. After all, turning on any of these functions would negate the "public" aspect of hotspots.

That said, even if they used closed networks and encryption, making customers go through hoops to get connected, there would still be no way to tell a "legitimate" client from a "malicious" one out to hack other customers' data. Anyone with a credit card can sign up for hotspot service.

So what can you do to protect yourself at a public hotspot? Plenty...

Top 10 Security Tips for Public Hotspots

Make sure you're connected to a legitimate access point.
Encrypt files before transferring or emailing them.
Use a virtual private network (VPN).
Use a personal firewall.
Use anti-virus software.
Update your operating system regularly.
Be aware of people around you.
Use Web-based email that employs secure http (https).
Turn off file sharing.
Password-protect your computer and important files.

1. Make sure you're connected to a legitimate access point! This first step is probably the least obvious, but one of the most important. Rogue access points in public areas have been springing up that have the same SSID as what you'd expect (such as "Wayport" or "tmobile"), but really connect directly to hijackers' databases to collect the passwords and usernames you use to sign in. Even worse, they can collect credit card data from people who sign up for new accounts.

So don't connect in places where there is no sign for a legitimate provider, and check the list of available SSIDs to make sure you are connected to the right one. Don't set your wireless card to connect automatically to any available network. Turn off the ad-hoc mode (which lets other clients connect directly to you!). And turn off your Wi-Fi card entirely as soon as you are done.

2. Encrypt sensitive data. As you beam emails from your laptop to the wireless access point and back, or as you enter your username and password to check your bank account balances someone nearby can be intercepting those packets of data as they fly by. Much of the information -- even information that you might think should be encrypted -- is sent in clear text. That means that the person intercepting those packets may be able to read your emails or learn your passwords.

While data sent to and from secure Web sites (those starting with https:) is generally protected, you can also use encryption in other contexts. If you are sending a sensitive file via email, for example, encrypt it first with a password. Most file compression programs, such as Allume's StuffIt Deluxe, offer encryption, and there are numerous freeware and shareware encryption programs as well.

3. Use a Virtual Private Network. One of the best ways to protect your data when using a public wireless network or hotspot is to use a virtual private network (VPN), such as JiWire SpotLock. A VPN establishes a private network across the public network by creating a tunnel between the two endpoints so that nobody in between can intercept the data. Many companies allow remote users to connect to corporate networks as long as they use VPN. This keeps the users' communications just as secure as if they were sitting at a desk in the building.

If you don't have a corporate VPN, you can be secure at any hotspot using JiWire SpotLock. SpotLock's IPSec VPN is supported by almost all wireless routers, both public and private, and SpotLock also includes full Wi-Fi connection management.

4. Use a personal firewall. When you connect to a public wireless network you are joining a local network with other unknown computers. Having these computers on the same IP subnet makes them more dangerous than machines elsewhere on the Internet. Machines in your network and subnet range are able to more easily capture traffic between your computer and the wireless access point or attempt to connect with your computer and access your files and folders.

To protect your computer you should run a personal firewall program. There are many excellent choices. Some, such as Zone Labs ZoneAlarm, Kerio's Personal Firewall, and the built-in Windows XP Firewall are available for free for home or personal use. You should not install them on your corporate laptop, however, without purchasing the proper licensing or consulting your IT manager. Security software vendors such as Symantec and McAfee also make commercial personal firewall products.

A personal firewall will help you restrict the traffic allowed in and out of your computer. This protects you not only from attacks that originate outside of your network, but also those from other computers on the same network. Personal firewall software generally monitors both incoming and outgoing traffic, as well as applications trying to interact with other system processes or with the operating system. Should your computer somehow become compromised with a Trojan horse or backdoor program, a personal firewall application should flag the unusual communication attempts and alert you. Make sure you take the time to familiarize yourself with the product you choose and configure it properly to get the maximum protection without getting in the way of legitimate traffic and applications.

5. Use anti-virus software. When you are on your home network or even on your company network you can operate with a fair assurance that the other machines on the network with you are at least as protected as yours is against viruses and other malicious code. When you connect to a public network you have no such assurance. Suddenly it is more important than ever to have antivirus software installed.

Of course, antivirus software is only as good as its last update. If you updated your antivirus software a month ago there are probably at least 10 and maybe 50 or more new viruses, worms and other malware that you aren't protected against. Make a special effort to go to the vendor's Web site and download the latest update any time you hear about a new high-risk or fast-spreading threat, and take advantage of the auto-update features now found in most such programs.

6. Keep your OS and apps up to date. It seems that almost every week there's a new "security patch" for various parts of the Windows operating system or Office programs. And it's not just Microsoft. Apple has its own fair share of security updates, as do most utility and business software vendors. Most of the malicious viruses and worms that have plagued users recently spread through email, so be especially cautious about opening attachments.

Windows users should enable Automatic Updates or visit the Windows Update site to scan your system and identify patches you may be missing. Mac OS users should enable the automatic Software Update feature in System Preferences; and Linux/UNIX users can visit sites such asBugtraq or subscribe to receive bulletins and alerts from the Department of Homeland Security'sUS-CERT.

7. Be aware of people around you. When you're at an ATM, you make sure noone can see you type your PIN. Be just as careful about typing in your name and password at a Starbucks. You pay big bucks for your T-Mobile access!

8. Use Web-based email when you're connecting at a public hotspot, instead of Outlook, Eudora, or Apple Mail. Most ISPs these days let you send and receive email via a Web interface as well as downloading it into your email program. These Web sites generally use secure sockets layer (SSL) or other security protocols, which protect your data while it's being transmitted.

9. Make sure file sharing is off! On home networks, file sharing is frequently used to copy files back and forth between computers. On a public network, this is the last thing you want to have on, for obvious reasons. If necessary, put a sticky note on the edge of your computer screen reminding you to turn it off before you close your laptop. Just don't write your passwords on the same sticky note...

10. Use passwords for personal data. Our final tip: use strong passwords for sensitive files and folders, as well as for access to your computer as a whole. This is especially important for mobile warriors whose laptops are attractive theft targets. Consider keeping your most important data on an encrypted USB keychain storage device, so even if you lose your portable, you won't lose your presentation or email folder.

What is WiFi?

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:39:00 GMT


If you have a network in your home or office, there are several different ways to connect the computers on your network together. The article How Home Networking Works covers all of the basic networking principles. WiFi is the wireless way to handle networking. It is also known as 802.11 networking and wireless networking. The big advantage of WiFi is its simplicity. You can connect computers anywhere in your home or office without the need for wires. The computers connect to the network using radio signals, and computers can be up to 100 feet or so apart.In this article, we will discuss two different aspects of WiFi. First we will discuss the basic technology that makes WiFi networking possible.
Then we will discuss the hardware you need to create a WiFi network, and help you understand how to set up and access a WiFi hotspot in your home. The Walkie-Talkie Network If you want to understand wireless networking at its simplest level, think about a pair of $5 walkie-talkies that you might purchase at Wal-Mart. These are small radios that can transmit and receive radio signals. When you talk into a Walkie-Talkie, your voice is picked up by a microphone, encoded onto a radio frequency and transmitted with the antenna. Another walkie-talkie can receive the transmission with its antenna, decode your voice from the radio signal and drive a speaker. Simple walkie-talkies like this transmit at a signal strength of about 0.25 watts, and they can transmit about 500 to 1,000 feet. Let's imagine that you want to connect two computers together in a network using walkie-talkie technology: You would equip each computer with a walkie-talkie. You would give each computer a way to set whether it wants to transmit or receive. You would give the computer a way to turn its binary 1s and 0s into two different beeps that the walkie-talkie could transmit and receive and convert back and forth between beeps and 1s/0s. This would actually work. The only problem would be that the data rate would be very slow. A $5 walkie-talkie is designed to handle the human voice (and it's a pretty scratchy rendition at that), so you would not be able to send very much data this way. Maybe 1,000 bits per second. WiFi's Radio Technology The radios used in WiFi are not so different from the radios used in $5 walkie-talkies. They have the ability to transmit and receive. They have the ability to convert 1s and 0s into radio waves and then back into 1s and 0s. There are three big differences between WiFi radios and Walkie-talkies: WiFi radios that work with the 802.11b and 802.11g standards transmit at 2.4 GHz, while those that comply with the 802.11a standard transmit at 5 GHz. Normal walkie-talkies normally operate at 49 MHz. The higher frequency allows higher data rates. WiFi radios use much more efficient coding techniques that also contribute to the much higher data rates. For 802.11a and 802.11g, the technique is known as orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). For 802.11b, it is called Complementary Code Keying (CCK). See this page for details. The radios used for WiFi have the ability to change frequencies. 802.11b cards can transmit directly on any of three bands, or they can split the available radio bandwidth into dozens of channels and frequency hop rapidly between them. The advantage of frequency hopping is that it is much more immune to interference and can allow dozens of WiFi cards to talk simultaneously without interfering with each other. Because they are transmitting at much higher frequencies than a Walkie-Talkie, and because of the encoding techniques, WiFi radios can handle a lot more data per second. 802.11b can handle up to 11 megabits per second (although 7 megabits per second is more typical, and 802.11b may fall back as low as 1 or 2 megabits per second if there is a lot of interference). 802.11a and 802.11g can handle up to 54 megabits per second (although 30 megabits per second is more typical). You might be wondering where the funny 802.11 nomenclature comes from. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) creates standards, and they number these standards in unique ways. The 802.11 standard covers wireless networks. The a, b and g notations identify different flavors of the 802.11 standard: 802.11b was the first version to reach the marketplace. It is the slowest and least expensive of the three. As mentioned above, 802.11b transmits at 2.4 GHz and can handle up to 11 megabits per second. 802.11a was next. It operates at 5 GHz and can handle up to 54 megabits per second. 802.11g is a mix of both worlds. It operates at 2.4Ghz (giving it the cost advantage of 802.11b) but it has the 54 megabits per second speed of 802.11a. Fortunately, all of this radio technology is hidden in a WiFi card and is completely invisible. WiFi, in fact, is one of the easiest technologies that you will ever use. Adding WiFi to a Computer One of the best things about WiFi is how simple it is. Many new laptops already come with a WiFi card built in -- in many cases you don't have to do anything to start using WiFi. It is also easy to add a WiFi card to an older laptop or a desktop PC. Here's what you do: Buy a 802.11a, 802.11b or 802.11g network card. 802.11g has the advantage of higher speeds and good interoperability on 802.11b equipment. For a laptop, this card will normally be a PCMCIA card that you slide into a PCMCIA slot on your laptop. Or you can buy a small external adapter and plug it into a USB port. For a desktop machine, you can buy a PCI card that you install inside the machine, or a small external adapter that you connect to the computer with a USB cable. Install the card Install the drivers for the card Find an 802.11 hotspot Access the hotspot. A hotspot is a connection point for a WiFi network. It is a small box that is hardwired into the Internet. The box contains an 802.11 radio that can simultaneously talk to up to 100 or so 802.11 cards. There are many WiFi hotspots now available in public places like restaurants, hotels, libraries and airports. You can also create your own hotspot in your home, as we will see in a later section. Configuring WiFi On the newest machines, an 802.11 card will automatically connect with an 802.11 hotspot and a network connection will be established. As soon as you turn on your machine, it will connect and you will be able to browse the Web, send email, etc. using WiFi. On older machines you often have to go through this simple 3-step process to connect to a hotspot: Access the software for the 802.11 card -- normally there is an icon for the card down in the system tray at the bottom right of the screen. Click the "Search button" in the software. The card will search for all of the available hotspots in the area and show you a list. Double-click on one of the hotspots to connect to it. On ancient 802.11 equipment, there is no automatic search feature. You have to find what is known as the SSID of the hotspot (usually a short word of 10 characters or less) as well as the channel number (an integer between 1 and 11) and type these two pieces of information in manually. All the search feature is doing is grabbing these two pieces of information from the radio signals generated by the hotspot and displaying them for you. WiFi Security WiFi hotspots can be open or secure. If a hotspot is open, then anyone with a WiFi card can access the hotspot. If it is secure, then the user needs to know a WEP key to connect. WEP stands for Wired Equivalent Privacy, and it is an encryption system for the data that 802.11 sends through the air. WEP has two variations: 64-bit encryption (really 40-bit) and 128-bit encryption (really 104-bit). 40-bit encryption was the original standard but was found to be easily broken (see this page for an explanation). 128-bit encryption is more secure and is what most people use if they enable WEP. For a casual user, any hotspot that is using WEP is inaccessible unless you know the WEP key. If you are setting up a hotspot in your home, you may want to create and use a 128-bit WEP key to prevent the neighbors from casually eavesdropping on your network. Whether at home or on the road, you need to know the WEP key, and then enter it into the WiFi card's software, to gain access to the network. Setting Up a Hotspot in Your Home It is very easy to set up a WiFi hotspot in your own home. You can do it in one of two ways: If you already have several computers hooked together on an Ethernet network and want to add a wireless hotspot to the mix, you can purchase a Wireless Access Point and plug it into the Ethernet network. If you are setting up a network in your home for the first time, or if you are upgrading, you can buy a Wireless Access Point Router. This is a single box that contains: 1) a port to connect to your cable modem or DSL modem, 2) a router, 3) an Ethernet hub, 4) a firewall and 5) a wireless access point. You can connect the computers in your home to this box either with traditional Ethernet cables or with wireless cards. Either way, once you turn your Wireless Access Point on, you will have a WiFi hotspot in your house. In a typical home, your new hotspot will provide coverage for about 100 feet (30.5 meters) in all directions, although walls and floors do cut down on the range. Even so, you should get good coverage throughout a typical home. For a large home, you can buy inexpensive signal boosters to increase the range of the Hotspot. If you are setting up your 802.11 network from scratch, you will have to choose between 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g. 802.11b is slightly less expensive, but it is the slowest of the three options. For home use, 802.11g costs just a little more, but is up to 5 times faster. If you will be doing a lot of file transfers between computers in your home, 802.11g is definitely the way to go. Configuring a New Hotspot in your Home Most wireless access points come with default values built-in. Once you plug them in, they start working with these default values in 90 percent of the cases. However, you may want to change things. You normally get to set three things on your access point: The SSID -- it will normally default to the manufacturer's name (e.g. "Linksys" or "Netgear"). You can set it to any word or phrase you like. The channel -- normally it will default to channel 6. However, if a nearby neighbor is also using an access point and it is set to channel 6, there can be interference. Choose any other channel between 1 and 11. An easy way to see if your neighbors have access points is to use the search feature that comes with your wireless card. The WEP key -- The default is to disable WEP. If you want to turn it on, you have to enter a WEP key and turn on 128-bit encryption. Access points come with simple instructions for changing these three values. Normally you do it with a Web browser. Once it is configured properly, you can use your new hotspot to access the Internet from anywhere in your home. For more information on wireless networking and related topics, check out the links on the following page.

How To Steal Wi-Fi

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:30:00 GMT

When I moved into a new neighborhood last week, I expected the usual hassles. Then I found out I'd have to wait more than a month for a DSL line. I started convulsing. If I don't have Net access for even one day, I can't do my job. So, what was I supposed to do? There's an Internet café on the next block, but they close early. I had no choice—it was time to start sneaking on to my neighbors' home networks.

Every techie I know says that you shouldn't use other people's networks without permission. Every techie I know does it anyway. If you're going to steal—no, let's say borrow—your neighbor's Wi-Fi access, you might as well do it right. Step one: Lose the guilt. The FCC told me that they don't know of any federal or state laws that make it illegal to log on to an open network. Using someone's connection to check your e-mail isn't like hacking into their bank account. It's more like you're borrowing a cup of sugar. (Unless you hog their bandwidth by watching lots of streaming video—that's like hijacking a sugar truck.)

In the end, it's your neighbor's Internet service provider—not your neighbor—who will pay for the added traffic, and the ISP has already factored a small amount of line-sharing into their price plan. It is true that your surfing could cause the folks next door to break their service contract—many broadband providers do specifically forbid home customers from sharing a connection. But let's deal with those abstract ethical issues later—you have important mail to answer!

If you want to find a Wi-Fi network,don't start by looking on the sidewalk for chalk marks. "Warchalking," a technique for writing symbols in public places to alert neighbors to nearby wireless access points, is a cool concept that's been undermined by the fact that no one has ever used it. The best method to find some free wireless is to treat your laptop like a cell phone. Since Wi-Fi and cell phone signals travel on a similar radio frequency, the same tricks you use for getting a better phone connection might work on your computer. Sit near a window, since Wi-Fi signals travel better through glass than through solid walls. Stay away from metal objects. Pay close attention to your laptop's orientation—rotating your machine just a few degrees could help you pick up a network that you couldn't see before. Raise your laptop over your head, put it flat on the floor, tilt it sideways while leaning halfway out the window—get out the divining rod if you have to. You might get a reputation for being some sick laptop yoga freak, but isn't free Internet worth it?

If you live downtown or in a suburb where the houses are close together, a few minutes of laptop gymnastics will probably reveal several Wi-Fi networks. Certain names are a giveaway that a network probably won't be password-protected. Look for "linksys," "default," "Wireless," "NETGEAR," "belkin54g," and "Apple Network 0273df." These are the default network names for the most popular wireless routers. If a network owner hasn't taken the time to change the default name, that's a good clue that they probably won't have a password either. You should also look for signs of hacker culture. Since hackers love giving away Net access, an all-lowercase name like "hackdojo" is most likely an invitation to log on. On the other hand, a name in all caps is typically a network under corporate lockdown.

If you do get prompted for a password, try "public"—that's the default on many of Apple's AirPort units. You can also try common passwords like "admin," "password," and "1234"—or just check out this exhaustive list of default passwords. You should also try using the name of the network in the password space. A generic password could mean that the network's owner didn't have the sense to pick something less obvious or that they've decided to welcome outsiders. But who cares? You're in. And again, there's no specific law barring you from guessing the password, as long as you don't crack an encrypted network and read other people's transmissions.

You can tell that you've successfully joined a wireless network when your laptop's IP address changes as it's assigned a local number by the network's router. To watch it happen on a PC, keep the Network control panel in Windows open; if you have an Apple notebook, look at the Network section of the System Preferences program. (And if you're running Linux, I don't need to tell you where to look.) Once your laptop has an IP address, your next hurdle is getting DNS to work. DNS stands for Domain Name Service—it's what translates Internet domains like "slate.com" into IP addresses like 207.46.141.216. On most networks, DNS works automatically. But if you get a browser error like "Cannot find server," go back to your network menus and configure your laptop to use a public name server—144.162.120.230 in Dallas, for instance.

Once DNS is working, you should be good to go. While you should be able to surf the Web with no problems, you may have trouble sending mail from Outlook or other desktop programs because of restrictions on e-mail routing that have been set up to stop spammers. If you have problems, just use a Web-based mail service like Hotmail or Gmailinstead.

Keep in mind that the neighbors may not be thrilled that you're sharing the line. One guy next door to my new building shut off his network the day after I moved in, probably because he got spooked by all those blinking LEDs on his router. Even neighbors who are happy to share may see you in a different light if they check their router's URL logs and find a few hundred hits on porn sites. While your browsing will show up under an anonymous address, the short range of Wi-Fi means that they'll at least be able to figure out that one of the laptop owners within 100 feet of their living room is a stuffed animal fetishist. (As a San Franciscan, I need to point out that a stuffed animal fetish is perfectly normal. It's your neighbors who have the problem.)

Since everyone isn't as eager to share their network as I am, it's only fair to explain that there's an incredibly easy way to keep neighbors and drive-by geeks off your network. All you have to do is set a password that isn't as obvious as "1234." There's an eye-glazing list of Wi-Fi security measures you can implement to block overachieving Russian teens from monitoring your keystrokes, but in real life the only people sniffing your wireless signal are jerks like me who need a place to log on until the phone company wires the apartment. An unguessable password sends as clear a message as a shot of Mace: Go find a Starbucks, creep.

what is Essembly

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:17:00 GMT

Essembly is a non-partisan political social networking website that allows its users to connect with one another based on political opinions, participate in unmoderated discussion, and organize for political action. It was founded in 2005 by Joe Green, a Harvard graduate and college roommate of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the collegiate social-networking site Facebook. Essembly differentiates itself from other social-networking sites by actively promoting intelligent discussion and debate while remaining (as the site's "About Us" page claims) "fiercely non-partisan." A July 2006 Newsweek article put the number of registered users at over 17,000^[1]

After its launch in 2005, Essembly membership was offered by invitation only, as the website was still in closed beta. In May 2006, Essembly opened membership to the public (to anyone with a valid email address), and began to run advertisements on Facebook. As of September 2006, Essembly remains in public beta, the staff of Essembly has, on the whole, moved on to a new venture called Project Agape. This has resulted in intermittent user support and server crashes, as well as some bitterness by many of the long-time users.^[who?]

On January 30, 2010 Essembly stopped working. After being alerted to the problem by a long-time Essembly user, Joe Green restored the site by Valentine Day. However, since May, 2010 the site has been down.

Wireless Home Networking For Dummies

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Mon, 7 Nov 2011 23:46:00 GMT

Wireless Home Networking For Dummies by Danny Briere , Pat Hurley , Edward Ferris
W i l e y | English | 2010 | ISBN: 0470877251 | 384 pages | PDF | 4,4 MB

Share stuff safely and wirelessly on Windows PCs or Mac OS X machines

Why go wireless? It's easy, convenient, inexpensive, and, with the emergence of new industry standards, better than ever! These experts know what you should look for (and look out for). They'll walk you through the pros and cons of the different standards, planning and installing your network, setting up security, and getting the most from your investment.

Discover how to:

• Choose the right networking equipment

• Integrate Bluetooth into your network

• Work with servers, gateways, routers, and switches

• Protect your network from intruders

• Understand 802.11n

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Data Mining: Concepts, Models, Methods, and Algorithms

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Mon, 7 Nov 2011 23:43:00 GMT

Data Mining: Concepts, Models, Methods, and Algorithms By Mehmed Kantardzic

Publisher: Wiley-IEEE Press; 2 edition 2011 | 552 Pages | ISBN: 0470890452 | EPUB | 9 MB

Now updated—the systematic introductory guide to modern analysis of large data setsAs data sets continue to grow in size and complexity, there has been an inevitable move towards indirect, automatic, and intelligent data analysis in which the analyst works via more complex and sophisticated software tools. This book reviews state-of-the-art methodologies and techniques for analyzing enormous quantities of raw data in high-dimensional data spaces to extract new information for decision-making.

This Second Edition of Data Mining: Concepts, Models, Methods, and Algorithms discusses data mining principles and then describes representative state-of-the-art methods and algorithms originating from different disciplines such as statistics, machine learning, neural networks, fuzzy logic, and evolutionary computation. Detailed algorithms are provided with necessary explanations and illustrative examples, and questions and exercises for practice at the end of each chapter. This new edition features the following new techniques/methodologies:

• Support Vector Machines (SVM)—developed based on statistical learning theory, they have a large potential for applications in predictive data mining

• Kohonen Maps (Self-Organizing Maps – SOM)—one of very applicative neural-networks-based methodologies for descriptive data mining and multi-dimensional data visualizations

• DBSCAN, BIRCH, and distributed DBSCAN clustering algorithms—representatives of an important class of density-based clustering methodologies

• Bayesian Networks (BN) methodology often used for causality modeling

• Algorithms for measuring Betweeness and Centrality parameters in graphs, important for applications in mining large social networks

• CART algorithm and Gini index in building decision trees

• Bagging & Boosting approaches to ensemble-learning methodologies, with details of AdaBoost algorithm

• Relief algorithm, one of the core feature selection algorithms inspired by instance-based learning

• PageRank algorithm for mining and authority ranking of web pages

• Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) for text mining and measuring semantic similarities between text-based documents

• New sections on temporal, spatial, web, text, parallel, and distributed data mining

• More emphasis on business, privacy, security, and legal aspects of data mining technology

This text offers guidance on how and when to use a particular software tool (with the companion data sets) from among the hundreds offered when faced with a data set to mine. This allows analysts to create and perform their own data mining experiments using their knowledge of the methodologies and techniques provided. The book emphasizes the selection of appropriate methodologies and data analysis software, as well as parameter tuning. These critically important, qualitative decisions can only be made with the deeper understanding of parameter meaning and its role in the technique that is offered here.

This volume is primarily intended as a data-mining textbook for computer science, computer engineering, and computer information systems majors at the graduate level. Senior students at the undergraduate level and with the appropriate background can also successfully comprehend all topics presented here.

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Active networking

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Mon, 7 Nov 2011 22:21:00 GMT

Active networking is a communication pattern that allows packets flowing through a telecommunications network to

dynamically modify the operation of the network.

How it works

Active network architecture is composed of execution environments (similar to a unix shell that can execute active packets), a node operating system capable of supporting one or more execution environments. It also consists of active hardware, capable of routing or switching as well as executing code within active packets. This differs from the traditional network architecture which seeks robustness and stability by attempting to remove complexity and the ability to change its fundamental operation from underlying network components. Network processors are one means of implementing active networking concepts. Active networks have also been implemented as overlay networks.

What does it offer?

Active networking allows the possibility of highly tailored and rapid "real-time" changes to the underlying network operation. This enables such ideas as sending code along with packets of information allowing the data to change its form (code) to match the channel characteristics. The smallest program that can generate a sequence of data can be found in the definition of Kolmogorov complexity. The use of real-time genetic algorithms within the network to compose network services is also enabled by active networking.

Fundamental challenges

Active network research addresses the nature of how best to incorporate extremely dynamic capability within networks^[1].

In order to do this, active network research must address the problem of optimally allocating computation versus communication within communication networks^[2]. A similar problem related to the compression of code as a measure of complexity is addressed via algorithmic information theory.

Wireless Andrew

elgoog.ar@gmail.com (مدونة فارس نت) — Mon, 7 Nov 2011 22:19:00 GMT

Wireless Andrew was the first campus-wide wireless Internet network. Built in 1993^[1], it was located on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University at its Pittsburgh campus before Wi-Fi branding originated.^[2] ^[3]

Wireless Andrew is a 2-megabit-per-second wireless local area network connected through access points to the wired Andrew network, a high-speed Ethernet backbone linking buildings across the Carnegie Mellon campus. Wireless Andrew consists of 100 access points covering six buildings on the Carnegie Mellon campus. The university tested the current setup with over 40 mobile units before allowing general use by researchers and students in February 1997. ^[4]

Tell M3 M0re

lesson 7: Opening a Table and Learning to Navigate Records

Opening an Existing Table in Datasheet View

To Open an Existing Table (Contacts) from the Tables Object:

Using the Status Area to Navigate through the Records in a Table

To Navigate Using the Status Area:

Displaying Records by Scrolling Through the Table

Using the Vertical Scroll Bar:

Using the Horizontal Scroll Bar:

Using the Keyboard to Navigate Table Records

The Record Selector

lesson 6: Using a Wizard to Create the Contact Management Database

Launching the Database Wizard

How the Contact Management Database was Created Using the Database Wizard:

Verifying the Intent of the Contact Management Database

Selecting the Tables and Fields to be included in the Contact Management Database

Defining the Format of the Screen Display

Defining the Format of the Report Display

Naming the Database

Finishing the Wizard

lesson 5:Getting to know the Contact Management database

Download the Contact Management Database

To Download the Contact Management Database:

Open the Contact Management database

To Open the Contact Management database:

Reviewing the Contact Management Tables

Reviewing the Contact Management Forms

Reviewing the Contact Management Reports

lesson 4:Database Tables

Field Properties

Understanding Table Relationships

Primary Keys

Challenge!

lesson 3: Identifying the basic parts of the Access window

Launching Microsoft Access from the Windows Desktop

To open Microsoft Access using the desktop shortcut:

To open Microsoft Access using the Start program:

The Main Access Window

Menu bar

The Main Access Window (continued)

Toolbar

The Database window

Database Toolbar

Left Pane

Right Pane

Challenge!

lesson 2 : Database Concepts

What is a Database?

What is a Table?

What is a Query?

What is a Form?

What is a Report?

Challenge!

lesson1 : Introduction to Databases

Organizing Our World

Organizing Our World (continued)

What is a relational database?

What is a relational database? (continued)

Real world examples of database applications

Real world examples of database applications (continued)

Challenge!

Android runs 52% of smartphones sold

Apple recalls iPods over safety fears

Apple computer sales grow faster than PC sales for five years - but why?

appel hestory 2

apple history

Saturday, 24 September 2011

Wednesday, 9 June 2010

Monday, 8 February 2010

Saturday, 6 February 2010

Tuesday, 29 September 2009

Sunday, 27 September 2009

Friday, 17 April 2009

Tuesday, 25 November 2008

Monday, 13 October 2008

Friday, 8 August 2008

Sunday, 2 September 2007

Saturday, 10 February 2007

Sunday, 17 September 2006

Saturday, 24 June 2006