Unfortunately I had to spend this afternoon recovering my laptop from a virus. A website I frequent inadvertently hosted a malicious advertisement which exploited my up to date Firefox browser and had its way with my hard drive. Just as I take a breath of relief and try to open my internet browser, I am immediately baffled by it’s response.

Windows Vista asking which program to open an .exe executable with. It’s one and only suggestion was notepad. Somehow, I don’t think opening Firefox with notepad is going to work out very well. As a temporary solution you can tell Windows Vista to open the .exe with the program you are trying to run. For example, when it asked me what program it should use to open the Firefox .exe I navigated to Mozilla Firefox folder and pointed it towards the Firefox.exe. It froze for a moment and asked me to save the firefox.exe file, but after I cancelled that it worked fine.

For a long term solution to Windows Vista not being able to open .exe executables you only need to make a simple registry change. The problem is usually caused by a virus so after you’ve fixed the problem you might want to consider updating you definitions and running a scan, just to be on the safe side.

To fix the problem :

1.       Open Regedit from the Windows folder (you will need to tell it to open with itself).

2.       Find the key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT exefile shell open command

3.       Double click on the Default value on the right hand side

4.       Delete the current value and replace it with: “%1″ %*

5.       Set default to: exefile

6.       Exit Regedit

Windows Vista should now be able to open .exe executables again. I bet that was something you haven’t seen before.

Just yesterday, I was creating a document for a client. I researched on the Internet and found the perfect chart to illustrate what I was explaining. The chart had been included in a PDF file, which I found I wasn’t able to copy just the chart and paste it into my document. Geez, what could I possibly do to make a ho hum document sing?

I tried all the traditional methods like ‘alt+prtscr’ and ’select all’ and was totally dissatisfied with either method. Then it dawned on me — I could use Jing to make a document sing!

So what is Jing, and what are its capabilities?

Overview

According to Wikipedia, you can use Jing as a software application to take a picture or video of your own computer’s screen and then upload it to the Web, FTP, computer, or clipboard.

So let’s look at this versatile application a little closer. What are some of its capabilities that make a document sing?

Capabilities

Screencast

One of the most frequent needs I have from Jing is to include a snapshot of a screenshot that might demonstrate how to log into a system or perform a process. Especially when answering a customer inquiry in a ticket system where your responses were all in text format, it was impossible to include a screenshot — until now that is. Jing not only allows you to copy the screenshot, it allows you to highlight sections, use an arrow to point, and put a text note for explanation. Let’s see if I can demonstrate this to you.

Let’s say I want to explain to someone how to sign into Gmail.

• Click this link
• Type in your Username
• Type in your Password
• Click on the button that says “Sign in”

To see the actual screenshot, just click on the link below:

http://screencast.com/t/MTIxNDY3ZWU

Copy

Now say a virtual assistant had a document that they wanted to really make sing and wanted to include an image. It couldn’t be easier! Just capture your image of either the whole window or a part of a window, click copy, and then click paste. Shazam! Check out my copy below:

Save

Okay, I did my screencast and perhaps copied the image into my document. But I want to use the image again. Is that possible? You bet it is. All a virtual assistant needs to do is click save, and save it into a folder where you can find it again.

Edit in Snagit

Now, I won’t get into it now other than if you are really interested in using Jing to make a document sing, you can actually do a screen caste and paste it into Snagit. What is Snagit? I won’t get into it here as Wikipedia describes it best. Why not check it out and see what it can do for your business?

As I’ve mentioned many times, a virtual assistant has to use every available resource available to them in order to provide the best quality and most efficient tools to enhance documents. So why not check into Jing? I can’t tell you how many times a day I use it. A virtual assistant can make a document sing with Jing. Are you still not convinced? Why not check out more features on Jing’s site.

*****

Pam Lokker is a skillful writer and proficient virtual assistant. Borlok Virtual Assistants is the place to get global expert VA services with quality and on-time delivery.

Stop! Click Here! to read more about Content Crooner.

If so, you’ve probably done one of the following:

• Play FarmVille

• Use flash

• Use Internet Explorer

• All of the above

Why does this happen?

Sadly, internet browsers crash all the time. It happens in all internet browsers. It’s not their fault! Well, sometimes it’s Internet Explorer’s fault… just kidding, but not really.

The number one cause of internet browsers crashing is due to flash plugins. For those of you who do not know what flash plugins are, they can be games or videos that are embedded in a website using flash. 

Luckily, some internet browsers, such as Safari, have been updated to let the plugin crash without crashing your entire browser. Hopefully more browsers adopt this feature, as flash can crash quite a bit, especially if you are playing FarmVille a lot.

What does FarmVille have to do with this?

It’s because FarmVille is such a graphically intense game, with loads of content — and it’s written in flash, which likes to crash more times than it doesn’t. 

I’m not saying to quit playing FarmVille and uninstall flash, I’m just letting you know that it’s normal for these crashes to occur if you play a lot of FarmVille (or any other games written in flash). 

How can I solve this?

Make a smaller farm! Just kidding. But try to have less applications running in the background, as your internet browser will be using up a lot of your RAM & CPU power. 

In January 2009 the iPad was introduced to the world, the latest product in the extremely popular range of Apple products. The iPad is a revolutionary piece of equipment. The tablet computer is hoped to be made available for public release in March 2009.

The iPad at only half an inch thin is a product which Apple had been trying to create for years. Finally on the 27th January 2009 the director of Apple Inc. Steve Jobs showcased it. The tablet runs off the iPhone OS, which allows the tablet to be compatible with over 140,000 apps currently in the iStore. The technological device uses an LED-backlight with an LCD screen; it makes use of the popular virtual keyboard to allow data entry.

The iPad allows users to experience print, photo, video, audio, internet browsing and many other multimedia functions.

It uses Safari as a method of safe and secure internet browsing for the user. The touch-screen capabilities of the device allows websites to be experienced at a whole new level, with the ability to zoom on top and scroll with a simple flick of a finger.

Image via CrunchBase

The device welcomes photo users to view their collections on a high quality screen showing crisp pictures. The software allows editing direct from the screen as well as importing pictures via the separate camera connection kit.

As expected the iPad integrates seamlessly with iTunes and thus the iStore.

The tablet is likely to come in three versions; 16GB, 32GB or the 64GB version with prices starting at $499 from Apple direct.

The device offers a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, a microphone, speaker, a docking port and SIM capabilities with the 3G version. It also offers an Accelerometer, digital compass, an ambient light sensor and GPS capabilities with the 3G version.

The tablet is likely to revolutionise the business market due to the iPad allowing you to have a compact computer, with iPod and iPhone features built in.

Before: I took this picture in my bathroom by setting up a cellphone camera on timer.

And after. I added the shatters as a layer on top of the picture itself and lowered the opacity so that i could erase everywhere except the mirror. I then used the stamp tool to create the shattered look in the mirror. After that, I uploaded it onto Picnik and used the Boost effect to create the high contrast look.

I was hoping that this might spark some interest or maybe answer some questions, posing as almost an extremely concise little tutorial for those searching for one.

I’m rating this article as medium in terms of difficulty, it will assume that you know the basics of PHP including what variables are, etc….

The first line on your new database connection string is fairly simple it tells the script where to look for the database and what username and password to use to connect.

for example;

$dbconnection = mysql_connect(”server”, “username”, “password”);

Hopefully this line is fairly self explainatory. To create a new database connection to a MySQL server, you need to create a new variable.

The mysql_connect function is a standard function when PHP is compiled with MySQL support.

“server” is a text based element allowing you to put your MySQL server name. “localhost” is the most commonly used servername, as it is used to connect to the server which the script is stored on.

“username” is the text based element allowing you to put the username for the database you wish to connect to.

“password” is the text based element allowing you to put the password for the database you wish to connect to.

Once you have done this line, you will have established a connection to the MySQL database server, but it still doesn’t know which database you wish to use. You need to tell it this in another line of code.

To do this you need to use a syntax similar to;

$dbselect = mysql_select_db(”database”);

This again is relatively straightforward. You need to set another variable in this case $dbselect.

Again the mysql_select_db function is a standard function when PHP is compiled with MySQL support.

“database” is the name of the database you wish to connect to.

Well it’s as simple as that really. Combine those two lines together like I’ve done below and you will be able to query your database from within your PHP applications.

$dbconnection = mysql_connect(”server”, “username”, “password”);
$dbselect = mysql_select_db(”database”);

So there you have it! A simple connection to your database from within a PHP application.

Wordpress for Android

If you have a wordpress blog and want to write new posts, edit content, moderate comments, run multiple blogs, get comment notifications and so on while mobile than this is the app for you. This app is relatively new, and is only in version 1 at this time, yet promises great things to keep your blog updated while on the go. This app is totally free and open source. There are also versions of it for Blackberry and Iphone as well.

Google Maps for Android

Once you have Google Maps with you, no matter where you go, you wont be able to figure out how you ever got along without it. In my opinion Google Maps is simply the best mobile mapping app that is available today. Its well worth the download, and best of all this app is free.

NPR New App for Android

NPR has become the first United States radio broadcaster to release a radio App for the Android. The NPR app for Android allows audio backgrounding, so that users can listen to audio and then move between applications as the audio continues to play. NPR app users can listen to programs while they read news at the same time. The app offers NPR’s top 10-30 topics of the day arranged for easy selection by the listener. The App also offers extensive bookmarking capability. For right now, unfortunately, the app doesn’t offer live streaming – but word is that capability is forthcoming in 2010. A great app, and open source as well.

Google Sky Map for Android

While this app is only available in beta – it still rated a mention here. Google Sky Map app allows you to take your Andriod phone, point it at the sky, and using your phone’s internal orientation sensors, it will produce a map of the night’s sky right on your phone. The app offers the names and locations of planets, stars, constellations, and so on. To me, this app really shows what the capability of the new generation of portable phones has to offer. A great free app to add to your phone.

Twidroid

Twidroid is a wonderful twitter client app for android.  There are two versions of this app offered, a free and pay, version. For most people the free version will offer more than enough features. If you want to use twitter while on the go, this is definitely an app that I would recommend. Features of the app include a basic full featured twitter client, with postings and direct messages, viewing of user profiles, and so much more.

While my list of Andriod apps is by no means total, hopefully you will find some interesting apps mentioned above to add to your phone. Mobile phones are, more or less, defined by the apps which are available to run on them. The more useful apps you have, the more useful your phone can become.

Image by Todd Barnard via Flickr

Why was I disappointed? I was thinking with the webcams in many laptops, netbooks and even desktop PCs that often  go unused, a device like the iPad would be perfect for having video chats. In hind sight, perhaps holding a device with a camera while you are conversing is not such a good idea. Apple probably had great reasons for leaving the camera out; time will tell if they decide to include a webcam in future generations of the iPad. I had also hoped that the device would be closer to a laptop than the iPhone, but Apple was once again far brighter than I am on the subject. With 75,000,000 iPhone and iPod Touches shipped worldwide, that is 75,000,000 users that can already use an iPad — brilliant!

Among the pundits, are those who find the iPad a very nice device, and still others who can only complain about the device. I would like to focus on a few of the criticisms I have frequently read that make no sense to me. Ultimately, the iPad will not be for everyone — some will want to use it and others will want more from the device . I think that the two camps can peacefully coexist, but the proselytization of one camp over the other is not necessary. It’s not a holy war; it’s consumption versus production.

One of the frequent complaints I read is that the iPad does not support Adobe’s Flash software. For years, I have found Adobe Flash a hindrance to surfing the web. I have my choice of browsers, which for the most part can view all web sites equally — that’s why we have standards — but to view certain web sites, I have to use a Flash plug-in. Flash makes for another avenue of attack when viewing web pages. Granted, there are many avenues of attack without Flash, but why add another?

HTML5 is the next generation of web standards that will make things like Adobe’s Flash plug-in obsolete. Today, there are numerous browsers that can already view certain aspects of HTML5 and make web sites much more interactive without the need for plug-ins. I have begun using the new mobile Google Voice web site, which is built on HTML5 programming, on my iPhone and can tell you that it can do some amazing things. Using simple coding without the need for additional plug-ins, performance is increased, surface area of attack is maintained at a basic level, and web standards are maintained. After all, we are going to use an iPad to “hold the Internet in your hands as you surf it” (per Scott Forstall, Apple’s Senior Vice President of iPhone Software).

To me, that’s the biggest benefit of the iPad — holding it in my hands. I like to read in bed. Unfortunately for me, I like to read Internet news in bed, thereby necessitating some form of computer to surf the Internet to read news. I have been using tablet PCs for many years to accomplish this, and while functional, using a 4 pound laptop to read in bed is not very comfortable. Along came netbooks, which promised to give me a similar experience to a laptop, but in a lighter and less expensive package. Yet, you can’t fold most netbooks in a slate fashion, like I can with tablet PCs, and their weight, while about half most tablet PCs still left something to be desired.

The argument for netbooks against an iPad is that you can use the netbook to produce content, whereas, an iPad is for consuming content. So now, it’s more important to be a producer of content rather than a consumer of content? That’s the “geek” argument? There will always be more consumers than producers — that’s how a market system works. Apple was looking for a way to get into the hands of the masses, hence the iPad, a device for consuming media, and the low starting price, under $500. Steve Jobs took a jab at netbooks in his keynote address, and maybe he overtly targeted them for a reason, but the reality is, netbooks and the iPad are not similar devices.

Image via CrunchBase

As regular notebook computers continue to decline in price, the netbook market will continue to be squeezed into an ever smaller niche, whereas the iPad has created a new niche for itself with lots of room to grow. The iPad is an innovative device that may turn the computing industry on its ear, given time. For now, the iPad is a new gadget that will surely invite many computer aficionados, amateurs, novices and experts alike, to join the Apple world and surf the web from the other side.

Avast

Avast is one of the best known free anti-virus protection programs out there. Avast offers an advanced Anti-virus and anti-spy-ware engine, along with a new avast! Intelligent Scanner. One of the unique features of Avast is that it offers a Silent/Gaming Mode, so that anti-virus warnings don’t interrupt any gaming that you have going on. Beyond all that Avast offers constant virus updates, and even protects against root-kits with real time anti-root kit protection.

AVG

AVG free anti-virus is certainly one of the most popular anti virus protection programs available, with over 110 million active users. AVG has supported free anti-virus for a very long time, so it is a safe bet that if you choose this as your free anti-virus, that it will be around for some time to come. The AVG free software offers basic anti-virus protection, along with free link scanning – so that it provides some measure of protection for your web surfing against malicious sites.

Microsoft Security Essentials

Last but certainly not least in my roundup is Microsoft Security Essentials. This is free anti-virus provided directly by Microsoft. With the large numbers of viruses and malware that is out there, Microsoft finally decided to step up and to try to provide some good basic free anti-virus to users of windows. While the software doesn’t offer anything this is earth shattering – it does give simple basic anti-virus protection, which is worlds better than going with no protection at all.

No matter which software you select, installing any of the above packages will help to prevent some very unfortunate virus infections. Try a few packages and see which of the above is most compatible with your computer set up, and take a positive action to protect your computer’s security.

Cover via Amazon

Executive Summary

Darkness, what does this word mean to you?  Darkness would have been our surroundings had electricity not been invented. Darkness could have been part of our daily routine had technology not advanced. Darkness is not a term of our life’s description, thanks to the innovations over the last hundred years. Nicholas Carr, gives insight into the progression of both electricity and technology in his book The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google. The objective of the book was to compare the advancements of both utilities and give the reader an understanding of the future in technology.

Technology has evolved to a point where anyone can take advantage of the innovations created, and make use of options available. For example, Carr explains how Edison invented the light bulb and the grid system which is how the Internet is assessable today. Scientists have created computer and coding systems for these computers to operate. Today, all we have to do is use these tools that have been set for us, to innovate and make our future easier.

People like Shawn Fanning creator of Napster, Steve Jobs with Apple, Bill Gates with Microsoft, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen with YouTube, and Larry Page and Sergey Brin founders of Google have all become innovators of our time. There are many more multimillion dollar companies that began in garages, by ordinary citizens that had an idea to make a task more efficient.

Image via Wikipedia

Creating a web page is simple, and opening a business simply takes courage. Combining these ideas is the new way to become successful. Of course, hard work and dedication are always needed to have a prosperous business, but the consumer market is vast thanks to the Internet. Many businesses that operate via the Internet, need not have an actual inventory, but simply operate as median, shipping products from manufacturers to customers.

There have been questions of whether computing innovations are taking away potential jobs, but in reality, job opportunities are endless if one can simply utilize the Internet. Just recently, I have learned to program in several different languages. Programming is very simple to do, and can actually be learned by purchasing a book, and practicing. I have created two sets of software to make my studying habits easier. This simple way of thinking, enables more innovations to arise.

            In conclusion, the advances in technology have given opportunities to those with access to the Internet, it is up to the users to take advantage of it. Many scientists believe that computing will continue to surpass all expectations and become a tool, no one can live without.

The Top Ten Things to be Learned

1.      Everyone should be as innovative as possible.

2.     Understanding small businesses can succeed through the help of the Internet is useful.

3.     To become successful, one should utilize innovations and inventions of the past.

4.     The Internet is a tool for us to use, don’t be afraid to use it.

5.     Think of the future and build on it.

6.     Learn from others; allowing you to make less mistakes.

7.     When sales begin to decline, change your strategy.

8.     Average people do amazing things.

9.     Money is available; you just have to have the right idea.

10. A great education will not guarantee success, a great mind will.

Full Summary – The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google

Darkness, what does this word mean to you?  Darkness would have been our surroundings had electricity not been invented. Darkness could have been part of our daily routine had technology not advanced. Darkness is not a term of our life’s description, thanks to the innovations over the last hundred years. Nicholas Carr, gives insight into the progression of both electricity and technology in his book The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google. The objective of the book was to compare the advancements of both utilities and give the reader an understanding of the future in technology.

Many believe that electricity is an invention that stands alone; however, Carr believes that electricity is a derivative of technology. Carr claims that technology actually began its advancement when the first waterwheel was invented by Henry Burden in 1851. This waterwheel, which was stationed off of the Wynantskill River, stood about sixty foot tall, weighed nearly 250 tons and produced approximately 500 horsepower of energy. Not only did Burden invent the waterwheel, but he also invented the cultivator and later went on to invent the Burden Horseshoe Machine. This horseshoe machine turned bars of iron into finished shoes at the rate of one per second. Burden also created a design for a steamboat which reflects the ferries and cruise ships used today.

One of the most known inventors that aided the development of electricity is Thomas Edison. The strides toward Edison’s inventions began when he was camping in the summer of 1878 when he witnessed a crew of workers struggling with manual drills. Edison asked, “Why cannot the power of yonder river be transmitted to these men by electricity?” Electricity at that time had not been harnessed on anything but small scale tasks. Edison quickly turned the idea of helping the crew he saw while camping, into the idea of powering cities. Edison eventually set up the Edison Electric Light Company to provide electricity to homes and offices of New York City. He then began to fulfill this promise of lighting homes and offices across American, not by lighting each town individually, but by devising a grid that would allow all those offices and homes to be connected together.

At this point, light bulbs still had not been invented. Edison was testing electricity by using an arc lamp which worked much like today’s light bulb, by sending a naked current across a gap between two charged iron rods. The lighting produced by these arc lamps were so bright that they were not able to be used in rooms or enclosed spaces. Within two years, Edison had invented the “Edison light bulb”. Eventually, Edison had created generating stations that allowed sections of towns and plants to produce electricity which would soon span across America lighting homes and offices through the grid system.

The Internet evolved much the same as electricity did, through a grid system; therefore, computing is considered a utility just as electricity has for many years. Economists consider both electricity and the Internet GPTs or general purpose technologies, which is a platform for other tools or applications. Both utilities have enormous efficiency over a great distance using a network-like grid, and most importantly, they both achieve scale economies of central supply.

Businesses have invested trillions of dollars in technological advancements, and have housed systems on-site, in their own plants and offices and have maintained them with their own staffs of technicians. However, businesses are making a change towards connecting to the grid and taking advantage of those benefits. Instead of purchasing more hardware and software to add to their collection, they are utilizing the Internet’s capabilities.

There are many types of free software that is offered on the Internet, and these sites allow those with accounts to save their information and return to work at anytime. This allows companies the savings of not investing in additional memory devices or software, since offers on the Internet are equivalent to those which the business would purchase.  Because of this idea of Internet hosting equivalence, sales will soon be impacted for many businesses such as Microsoft, Dell, Oracle, IBM and many others as computing becomes more centralized.

Much like the inventions that led to the harness of electricity, there have been several innovations to exemplify the utility of computing. The first invention that impacted computing was by Samuel F. B. Morse in 1845, when he constructed the telegraph system that allowed information to be communicated instantaneously across great distances.

Next was Herman Hollenth’s creation of the punch card tabular in the 1880s, which responded to the imbalance between technologies processing matter and energy and processing information. 

Then, in 1959,  when America Airlines President, Cyrus Rowlett Smith, launched a project to build a system that would automate the making of flight reservations and the issuing of tickets. This system, called Sabre, used two IBM’s mainframe computers and sixteen data-storage devices along with more than 1,000 terminals for ticket agents, was built by about 200 technicians in approximately five years. The system was introduced in 1965 and processed about 40000 reservations and 20000 tickets a day.

Soon after, Bank of America unveiled the Electronic Recording Machine Accounting (ERMA) computer in 1960 and within two years had approximately thirty-two of these ERMAs processing about five million checking and savings accounts.

The innovation and movement towards hosting online came about in the 1980s when personal computer owners purchased modems and connected to phone lines to use central databases like CompuServe and Prodigy.

In the 1990s, fiber optic lines were ran and when the web was first accessible, users went and browsed to read information much like looking at a magazine as Carr put it. If those users wanted to work, they closed the web and launched programs that were on their hard drives like Word.

            These innovations helped to create business opportunities on the web. Many entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the innovations the web has to offer, and those that access the web every day. One of the first companies to lead the revolution towards the Internet was America Online when it popularized the online community soon after Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in the 1990s. With the boost of web surfing, Microsoft formed the Internet Explorer browser in the 1995.

Many have heard of the company, Napster, which was created in 1999 by Shawn Fanning, an eighteen year old college dropout. Napster allowed people to share music over the Internet by scanning their hard drive for those that installed the software and allowing others to download the shared music. By 2001, Napster had over twenty-six million users that spent more than ten million hours a month exchanging music. This music sharing proved that the Internet could allow computer to communicate over a network successfully. The only problem with Napster’s music sharing was that this service was illegal.

Image via CrunchBase

Another company on the cutting edge of technological advancement is Apple. Apple introduced the iMac in Paris in 2004, which resembles a flat television. The commercial advertisement used the slogan, “Where did the computer go?” Basically, the iMac is introducing a new interface that will replace our computer in the near future. This new computer said to simply be an interface that users will use to access the Internet. A ‘personal computer’ will simply be terminal to the Internet, and users will not need the drivers that are used today. Hard drives and other input devices will be an object of the past for personal computers. All information will be available online which will increase mobility.  The functionality of the iPhone is a perfect example of what the future computer may resemble. Applications will allow users to access almost everything on the Internet at the ease of a push on the screen.

In the last 30 years, Microsoft has had sales of nearly fifty billion dollars, annual profits of nearly twelve billion, and thirty billion of cash in the bank! With many innovations of word processing to web browsing, Microsoft was an important leader in popularizing the Internet. However, on June 15, 2006, Bill Gates announced that he would be stepping down from his managerial role at Microsoft, and he retired in 2008. The book explains that this “marks a turning point in the brief but tumultuous history of computing, and the future of computing belongs to the new utilitarians.”

Another business owner, Marc Benioff founder of Salesforce.com created a site that offered software-as-a-service. In 2002, the firm’s sales reached fifty million dollars. By 2007, the sales hit a record of 500 million dollars. Salesforce.com offered companies the chance to have a no maintenance software hosting. The company simply logged onto the Internet and visited Salesforce.com to begin working. Upgrades and maintenance was performed by the site itself. The cost for companies was a mere fifty bucks a month. Today, many other companies have used Benioff’s idea of virtual business. From ordering pizza online to purchasing clothing, shopping online has grown in popularity and has coined the term convenience. For the most part, anything can be purchased online and shipped right to a consumer’s door.

The Internet has opened a chance for online communities and game development to popularize. Second Life, an online game, is a three dimensional world that uses avatars to maneuver within the society. This game is unlike any other, meaning there is no winning or losing, there just exists. The book explains that players become citizens and within the society; they do whatever they want from scrolling down the street, to flying through the air. They speak to other players, shop for clothing, take classes or business conferences, dance at nightclubs, and even have sex afterwards. This idea of living virtually has found its way into many homes across America. If an Internet user is not addicted to a game such as Second Life, he or she has at least viewed a video on the notorious site, YouTube.

A company that is continuing to lead our innovations in technology is Google. Google has taken an important position in the advancement of technology, especially in terms of the Internet. The process that Google uses to send a user’s requests to its database, acquire the request, and return the user with the appropriate information, is an intricate process. The process begins when a user enters a key word into the search engine. This key word or data is sent to a database of billions of web pages at one of Google’s many sites around the world. Once the data is received at the database facility, servers sort through these web pages and find several thousand web pages that are most relevant to the data the user requested. These web pages are arranged according to relevance and sent back to the user. This extraordinary transition is used by way of cables; however, the most amazing part of this process is the time it takes for the search to complete. This entire process is complete in a matter of seconds.

Google purchased thirty acres of land owned by a government agency along the banks of the Columbia River in The Dallas, Oregon area for nearly two million dollars. Two warehouses, each about the size of a football field, occupy the site. These warehouses are data-processing plants that hold tens of thousands of computers working together as a single machine. According to the book, “dozens of other server farms are in covert locations around the world.” Altogether, Google’s warehouses have nearly a half million computers. Each center has clusters of custom-built server computers which are homemade PCs with cheap microprocessors and hard drives that were purchased from manufacturers. These machines run a free version of the Linux operating system that Google’s engineers modified. The software that links the servers in a cluster, and the numerous clusters in all the centers has been kept secret. What is known is that in the database is a copy of practically the entire Internet, and using the spidering and creeping approach, Google updates the database link by link. If and when one microprocessor stops working, the system knows to route around the failing machine. Experts say there is no match for Google’s computing system. To add to Google’s advantage over other search engines and businesses using the Internet, Google purchased YouTube on October 9, 2006.

Image via CrunchBase

YouTube began in a garage located in Silicon Valley by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Yawad Karem. These three guys wanted to have a simple file-sharing site, where users could had a free way to store, share and view short homemade videos. A phase was ready in May 2005 where they were rewarded with a $3.5 million dollars from a venture capital firm to begin their final product. By December, YouTube site was official. Ten months later, YouTube sold to Google for approximately $1.65 billion dollars, making their sixty employees worth about 27.5 million dollars according to market value. When Google purchases YouTube, 100 million video clips were being viewed, and approximately 65,000 new videos were being uploaded every day.

Not only had Google purchased assets like YouTube, but Google has many applications including Gmail, Google Documents, iGoogle, Google Earth and so much more.  Google Earth is one application that has encountered a lot of controversy.  One opposition to the idea of Google Earth is the military. In 2003, the department of defense declared an objective to “fight the net” with Information Operations Roadmap. In 2004, a war on junk email was launched to stop the robot networks or bot-nets. Spammers would use bot-net to send millions of messages simultaneously and because they funneled through email programs of average citizens, they slipped past spam filters. According to the book, 10%-25% of all computers on the Internet are infected with bot-net viruses. Zombie networks are responsible for 80% of all spam. Bot-net can embed in the hard drive and records keystrokes and gather all personal data.

In 2006, a bot-net was intercepted that contained credit card numbers and passwords for bank accounts which came from 800 personal computers over only a month. 225,000 personal computers are infected with bot-net viruses every day.

May 2, 2006, American blog publishing firm Six Apart was a victim of DDOS, distributed denial of services, within minutes of attack, servers crashed, causing the blogs of ten million of its customers to vanish from the Internet. The attack was not aimed at Six Apart but at an Israeli firm named Blue Security. Blue Security was the center of attack because it sold a service to combat spam. The bot-net got so bad that Blue Security surrendered on May 17 stating, “We cannot take the responsibility for an ever escalating cyber war through our continued operations.” They closed down their business and its CEO went into hiding.

People can be found by information they post on the Internet even if their real names are not used. The vast majority of Americans can be identified by name and address using only the zip code, birthday, and gender. This was found by the case of Thelma Arnold when AOL released its database information to the public. Each of its users was given a random number, and Thelma’s was 4417749. These numbers tracked the keywords searched in the AOL engine. Within hours of searching, Thelma’s name and address was easily linked to the number AOL had given her information.

In conclusion, the book discussed the future of computing. The main discussion was with Google founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, about their dream of what their search engine will do in the coming years. According to Page and Brin, artificial intelligence is the main goal of those behind the future of Google. Google wants to link the human brain with the computer to share its search engine. The author also spoke about advancements Microsoft and other Computer Scientists want for the future of computing. In 2004, Microsoft was developing technology that will turn skin into a new kind of electrical conduit or bus that can be used to connect a network of devices coupled to a single body.

According to Carr, in 2020, Google’s dream may come true. In 1961, when computer scientist were just beginning to get computers to communicate with one another, John McCarthy, an expert in networking, stated, “computing may someday be organized as a public utility, just as the telephone system is organized as a public utility.” Today, computer programmers are trying to create a new language to replace HTML to allow computer to read and see data on its own. The idea of the human brain linking to the computer may come by making the people more machines like instead of the machine more human like.

Personal Commentary

            Reading The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google, made me realize how much money is being invested in computing. This book also helped me to realize the business opportunities that are available for anyone willing to take advantage of the network. These opportunities were taken by average citizens that later became multimillionaires by simply pursuing an idea. Finally, I have learned that people all over the world are utterly addicted to the Internet. People find virtual life more interesting than the life they live in. Social networking sites, dating sites, and three dimensional games are booming, because society is becoming addicted to the idea of hiding behind a computer.

            “I’ll apply what I’ve learned in this book in my career by becoming a computer scientist. I am minoring in Computer Science, but after reading this book, I have realized that computing is something I want to take advantage of. I have found a niche for programming, and I have always wanted to have my own business. Maybe I can combine these two ideas and launch a Web based business.

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Contact Info: To contact the author of this summary/review, please email Amira Makke at amira.makke@selu.edu.

David C. Wyld (dwyld@selu.edu) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Business, can be viewed at http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/. He also has a book summary/review blog that is a collection of his students’ works at http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/.