The Lava Bot

David Filo and Jerry Yang, both candidates for Doctorates in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, were trying to find ways to keep track of their activities in the Internet, as well as communicate with each other. But the more they sought to find solutions, the more they veered away from their dissertations. Their venture led to the core concept and foundation of Yahoo!

Yahoo! initially started as “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web.” They eventually changed the site’s name to Yahoo! because they liked the unsophisticated character of the expression.

Founded in 1994 and officially incorporated on March 1, 1995, Yahoo! has become one of the world’s most successful Internet and media companies, through its wide range of services such as e-mail, news, and online search services. As their attention was needed on their online business, both men have since not returned to Stanford to finish their doctorates.

After realizing its potential, Yahoo!’s founders hired Tim Koogle, a senior employee of Motorola, as the company’s first CEO. The move to get Koogle was a good one. Timothy Koogle, holder of three different engineering degrees, an experienced technology expert, and a business-minded person, drove the company to its early successes.

Ever the seasoned veteran, Koogle did not make all decisions by himself. He utilized both co-founders - David being the computer wizard and Jerry with superb marketing skills. This effectively transformed the three of them into one well-oiled team.

Today, Koogle’s net worth has reached $200 million and has Bill Gates for a neighbor. All these are achievements of a former mechanic from Virginia.

For more information on Jamie Gorelick, check out the Leaders in Technology site.

The New York Times recently did a profile on Jamie Gorelick.

You can learn more about Jamie Gorelick and her work for the federal government.

Filed by admin at 1:00 pm under Advertising, Tech + More
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Having used VoIP problem free for for ages I was perplexed as to why out of nowhere I had been having lots of issues. The quality of sound has gone right down and latency issues have increased significantly. Users on VoIP online forums in the US and other countries, such as Germany and Mexico, have been noting similar issues since last year. For a while VoIP might seem like a great deal for the average person, entrenched interests in the telecommunication industry view it differently - and are doing something about it.

Consultation

Well aware of what has happened elsewhere the United Kingdom telecoms regulator Ofcom took the decisive action in February of announcing that it will look at the growing Voice over IP market and report next month on whether new laws are needed to protect it. The consultation document says: “VoIP service providers have expressed concern that their ability to provide a reliable service may be impacted by internet access providers (ISPs) selectively degrading or blocking their VoIP traffic.”

Ofcom says it has no proof this is occurring in the UK; only about half a million customers use it. But the prediction is for that to go up by 3m in the next six months.

And VoIP barring happens in other countries, often those where there is still only a single telecoms company. In Saudi Arabia, for instance national carrier Saudi Telecom is using software from US supplier Narus to block all Voice over IP phone calls.

Telcos in the United States and other countries are reluctant to have their bandwidth used by traffic from which they earn no revenue and have been challenged over similar alleged incidents of internet telephony blocking. Blocking internet telephony traffic is complicated but does not break the law and barring precise types of internet traffic is going up.

The European based VoIP giant Skype now owned by the pre-eminent auction site eBay has been particularly controversial. Skype is used by over 75m people. But increasingly a lot of people do not want Skype on their network.

Skype is seen by many to pose a potential security threat because it opens an encrypted tunnel out of the network and forms supernodes that sit on a network and set up internet telephony calls. There is big debate about how much bandwidth such supernodes eat up. There have been warnings that in supernode mode, Skype may even saturate a 100 Mbps line.

Filed by admin at 5:22 pm under Tech + More, Telecommunication + More
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I remember an era where laptops for gaming were an uncommon breed. The systems were sold in tiny numbers but each one had a significant profit margin. I am pretty sure people would have loved to have had one however could not seriously justify it. I believe you could say they were the best laptop computers about, at least speed wise. Even though they did get everyone thrilled I do not think they sold well because not many people really buy laptop computers that are above the average point. The global brands have lately begun taking advantage of enormous opportunities in gaming notebooks, so that is all altering.

They know there is revenue to be earned here. They could direct the market. Its certainly a great way to higher profits. Persuading purchasers to buy laptop computers is kinda easy for bigger companies. I am pretty confident that littler retailers will be forced to reduce their prices for them to compete. Now gaming portables will no longer be thought of as a specialist market. I guess the ignorant automatically feel secure by buying from a manufacturer they are aware of.

The excitement being created regarding the latest brand name gaming notebook computers is making people see them to be the best laptop computers ever. I still reckon that littler retailers will gain some inspiration from this. People like to be able to customize because they can choose what’s most valuable to them. These buyers have the technical literacy and will analyse which products are best. If choosing specifications and design, these people typically pick the former.

All of this is really favourable from the customers standpoint. It will force prices to slip and make the latest technology less expensive for the market. I write that with a feeling of uncertainty however. I am not confident if the whole price of notebooks will drop but new portables are usually at particular price points. I think we’ll have to see if this saturation produces any significant positives for gamers.

In my opinion these guys http://www.rizeon.com/gaming_laptops/page.php are selling laptops for gaming at good prices.

Filed by admin at 8:14 pm under Tech + More
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Impact of Radio Frequency Identification Technology

The Environment consist of the all elements that are outside the system under consideration, and which it must take as given .The environment also include all the external impositions and constraints other than those imposed by the ownership.

The External environment cannot be ignored otherwise they will cause messy in the information System, in soft engineering mode of enquiry it emphasize a process of enquiry without forgetting external environment factors

The success of an organisation introducing RFID technology into its business depends strongly on a proper analysis of the environment it is operating in, a careful analysis of the environment should be carried out.

Economic impacts

In the retail Industry and manufacturing sector it is difficult to imagine a time when items flowing through a warehouse or distribution center were not automatically sorted using bar code labels. It is possible, however, to imagine how that process could be improved with RFID tags. In this application, RFID tags make a good process better (with the economic impact depending on how “good” the performance of the current bar code system is):

Beyond pure cost reduction, RFID-enabled sorting supports supply chain processes that are currently difficult or impossible with bar code technology. Higher data capacity in RFID tags allows more detailed and flexible sorting. Sophisticated customers sometimes specify detailed palletizing criteria for each order to facilitate cross-docking at their distribution centers. An order encompassing one pallet of facial tissue, another of bathroom tissue, and one of paper towels might require reconfiguration so that the customer receives three pallets, each with a mix of products and each destined for a different store. Data on an RFID tag could include not only to which outbound dock a pallet of towels should be transported, but also how it should be stacked before delivery. It is even conceivable to embed in a pallet tag the destination, contents, and stacking configuration of the pallet for use by the customer. If store conditions change between the time an order is shipped and when it is received, the customer could write different destination information into the pallet tag, or use the stacking information to automatically break and repack the pallet.

Hewlett Packard (HP) was an early adopter of RFID technology and has used the technology to gain supply chain efficiencies. He said that HP began RFID testing in 2002 and has been tagging pallets and cases in response to the Wal-Mart mandate. RFID benefits that have since accrued to HP include the elimination of manual processes for inventory control, decreasing inventory control time, and realization of downstream benefits in areas such as product returns and retirement.

There are also negative impacts, example the issue of Job cuts. If chain stores started to invest in this technology to process purchases, sidelining human check-out operators, then those employees may find themselves out of jobs, and this will have a negative impact towards economy as many people will be unemployed.

Global impact

Now that global standards are emerging in the design and implementation of RFID, businesses that implement RFID will find their products more acceptable globally and supply chain of their products will expand

Social Impacts

Any new technology has social consequences. These are usually seen as side-effects to the actual goals of the technology, and may not be visible for many years after the deployment of the technology. When the social impact of the technology is recognized late in the life-cycle of the technology, it is difficult and costly to make the changes that will mitigate these negative effects. It is therefore preferable to anticipate the social impacts and build safeguards into products early in the development thus saving money and development time.

A primary social concern regarding the use of RFID technology is that of privacy. As RFID tags are added to consumer goods or to items that will be associated with individuals such as identify cards or records, RFID has the potential to allow the tracking of the location and activity of individuals, and the creation of records of this tracking in databases, all without the individual’s knowledge.

The scary part of the use of RFID tag is that products bought with an RFID tag on it could all be traced specifically to the buyer just with the help of the tiny chip inside. Many people are already thinking this could potentially become a “Big Brother” problem.

RFID is not only the harbinger of heavy personal surveillance. It may bring an end to civilisation. The end of supermarket check-outs and their staff may seem ideal for some, but for me it sounds like hell on earth. One of the joys of being a human being with an active mind is the ability to engage others in conversation. An environment which encourages customers to shop quickly and avoid interaction with others further atomises society. We already spend a great deal of our time `entertained’ by television or video games, avoiding contact with the real world. An end to supermarket staff would only increase our hermit-like status, acclimatising us to a world where real people are not important.

Political Impacts

Politics is a factor that should be considered when an organisation is deploying RFID technology. Issue like privacy will definitely lead various governments to formulate policies and legislation could get in the way of a positive use of RFID technology. It will also led to laws like consumer private protection act being amended to cover more privacy issues of consumers

Technical Impact

Technology is essential for competitive advantage, and is a major driver of globalization. RFID technology has many advantages over the traditional ways of tracking and identifying products in a retail environment.
RFID will have a massive impact on the technical side, as the company will need to change the whole infrastructure and capability of their information system will need to be expanded to accommodate RFID transmission data

Impact of RFID on IS Strategy/planning (IT Strategy)

The issues surrounding the hardware implementation of RFID concern the types of tags you are going to use, the environment they are going to be used in and how readers need to be configured. The hardware side concerns number and location of readers, a not inconsiderable investment in some instances. If a store deploys smart shelving, then it will require that short-range readers be deployed to all shelves to be covered. Then they need the infrastructure to transmit data capture to the relevant back-end systems. Such infrastructure could be wired Ethernet or wireless 802.11 to reduce the cabling costs.

To realize the benefits of RFID, IT will need to upgrade its infrastructure in a number of areas, and the interfaces with the business will have to be closer than ever before. There are three areas that will be needed to be addressed: data management, network and end-user device management, and a new category for many IT organizations, sensor management. In addition, tying all these together and integrating them with legacy systems will require a new level of systems integration capabilities.

Data Management

The amount of new data generated from RFID will be enormous. Today’s systems and supporting data infrastructure often focus on the latest status or end state of a product, asset or person. To support RFID, this data model must be expanded to capture additional information around and about events: the state before, during and after each step; the people and assets involved; the conditions at the time; and key measurements and metrics.
IT will need to decide whether to integrate this additional information into the existing corporate data infrastructure or develop a separate management structure. Business-rule definition and data analysis capabilities must be upgraded, as data and events need to be analyzed as close to real time as possible to provide the intelligence and monitoring necessary to make processes more efficient and avoid or quickly correct mistakes and problems.

Depending on the industry and the business operations affected, the IT organization may find itself pushed toward a more decentralized computing and data management infrastructure than it would otherwise have planned. Finally, data security, privacy and storage will pose new challenges due to the volumes and real-time sensitivities involved, particularly with human track-and-trace applications.

Network and End-User Device Management

A great variety of data extracts and information views will need to be made available throughout RFID-impacted operations. As often as not, the end users of this information won’t be at desktop computers, but mobile, requiring deployment of wireless LANs and other remote connections in areas not being addressed today.

In addition, information views will be need to be constructed assuming that a handheld computer, device or even a cell phone will be the recipient’s platform of choice for receiving information and providing updates. These compact platforms will require new thinking in how to process a great deal of data in ways that provide essential information to the user yet doesn’t filter it excessively, in a readily useable format. For location data, geographical information systems can play an important role in graphically depicting large volumes of information in a concise manner.

Sensor Management

IT organizations will need a new set of capabilities and skill sets to manage the proliferation of RFID readers and tags and to understand the processes within which they operate. To effectively provide sensor management, IT needs to ensure that standards are set for tags, readers and how they are deployed.

Different applications may require different standards on dimensions such as system frequency, read range, passive vs. active tag power, accuracy, reliability, placement, polling frequency and environmental conditions.
Maintaining and repairing readers will also be a new capability, and the speed of repair will become an important metric. Also, certain applications will require multiple readers near one another, sometimes resulting in conflicts and troubleshooting delays.

In repair situations, it will be important to have a backup or contingency process in place to ensure uninterrupted operations. IT is the logical entity to take the lead in designing and implementing such processes. IT professionals will need to become much more proficient in business operations then they have been historically. RFID will push IT into many corners of the business where before it may have only been involved peripherally.

Systems Integration

The challenge of tying all the piece parts of RFID together in a smooth and reliable manner will perhaps be the greatest challenge for IT organizations. In many ways, deploying RFID is like deploying a whole new IT infrastructure, with new data sources, processing mechanisms, recipients, network capabilities implemented where none were previously needed and a new category of devices to communicate with and manage.
That doesn’t mean legacy systems won’t be involved. On the contrary, many RFID applications will need sophisticated interfaces and other operations support systems. For example, hospitals will need to interface their RFID systems with legacy hospital information systems, picture-archiving and communications systems, electronic medical record systems and computerized physician order-entry systems.

Perhaps most important, a new level of business-process understanding will be required, and deep operational ties will be needed between IT and the business. IT professionals must fully understand the technology and the business operations to which it will be applied; they no longer have the luxury of being at the periphery of how the business operates.

Potential problems involving RFID (Risk assessment)

Risk is the situation where there are several possible outcomes and the probability of their occurrence is unknown. In deciding on the course of action in strategic management there is an attempt to assess the risk involved, that is the outcome of the alternatives.

All courses of actions carry risks; even doing nothing is a risk.
According to Tim Hannagan in his book of Mastering Strategic Management 2002, he explains the risk analysis checklist which can be used when assessing the risk. The risk analysis checklist will involve the following:

Life cycle- Questions of growth and decline in terms of products and service sectors

Substitutes-To the product and service offerings.

Environment factors-such as changing legal, social and economic pressure

Operational issues-in terms of capital resources, staff competencies and management skills

Critical Success factors-identifying exactly what is required for the success of the organization

Evaluation of the worst -case situations, contingency plans and consequences of strategic decisions

Ethical and pollution issues-and their effect on the organization

Therefore, the following are possible risk to be taken into consideration before deploying the RFID Technology

Risks for privacy-the debate over RFID technology touches upon many controversial policy issues. At its most fundamental, widespread use of RFID tags could enable corporations to track every move consumers make. Corporations which compile the data transmitted by the tags could determine which products a consumer purchases, how often products are used, and even where the product - and by extension the consumer - travels. By aggregating data to form consumer profiles, corporations could make inferential assumptions about a consumer’s income, health, lifestyle, buying habits, and travels. This information could be sold to governments to create dossiers of individual citizens, or simply sold to other corporations for marketing purposes. While the ability of RFID readers to collect data from tags once a consumer has left a store or moved beyond the readers’ range is currently limited, many consumer groups and privacy advocates note that RFID technology is quickly advancing, while measures to protect individual privacy by limiting the amount and type of information corporations can collect about consumers is lacking.

Skills shortage -a lack of qualified RFID integrators has hindered adoption of the technology for many companies. Organisations are already challenged, because many of the skills required for successful RFID implementations are not typically associated with IT staffing. A survey carried out earlier this year by global IT trade association CompTIA of its members found that 80% of companies do not believe there are sufficient numbers of professionals skilled in RFID available for hire. In addition, 53% of companies said this will have a negative impact on the adoption of RFID technology in the next few years.

Network breakdown and software failure- this can be the result of overload (not enough bandwidth), component failure, virus attack, power surge etc. It has the effect of bring down the operation of updating databases with information read from tags. If this happens the company may lose data regarding stock of the products.

Malicious users - There as been many talks about RFID privacy but little is time is devoted to issues like criminal gangs developing devices that could read the contents of RFID tags by just walking past you. Thousands of credit cards information could be obtained in this manner.

To reconcile negative impact of consequences (Conclusion)

There are two general areas where work needs to be done to assure that RFID can be employed without having a negative impact on individual privacy. The first is in the development of the technology itself. With privacy protection as a stated goal, engineering decisions can fulfill that goal. Techniques like encryption, system security, and the ability to easily turn off or “kill” an RFID tag can be made part of the RFID standard. All of these are possible today, but some are considered to be extra features rather than basic capabilities.

The second area is in business practices. Engineering alone cannot solve social problems; ethical practices and education of employees and consumers are effective tools when dealing with the impact of technology on society. Prior to the implementation of any RFID system that may be associated with individuals; a business must study all areas where such an implementation could have an effect on privacy. Relevant laws and statues must be considered, as well as industry or company policies. A statement of principles relating to privacy, the use of RFID, and the use of any databases of consumer information associated with the ID system can both guide industry and provide an opening dialogue with consumers. This work has begun in some areas: the American Association of Publishers has adopted a privacy statement on RFID in coordination with the American Library Association; the Federal Drug Administration’s Compliance Guide for RFID use in pharmaceuticals contains requirements relating to privacy. These early efforts will inform others. The essential message is that now is the time to address the privacy issues related to RFID, before the technology matures, before systems and applications are developed, and before business practices are in place. With early planning and the development of industry-wide best practices, RFID can create efficiencies in the supply chain and gain consumer confidence.

The company should also make sure that they have enough skilled labor in the process of implementing the RFID Project, also software and hardware requirements should be taken into consideration as well as the cost analysis before implementation of RFID.

http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopic/mobile/story

Filed by admin at 4:23 pm under Tech + More
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How can we, as individuals, participate in waste
management? Because some of us are so overwhelmed
with Earth’s problems, we feel that our contributions have
no real consequence in the end. For others, social barriers
can be an issue. A lady we once knew confessed that she
did not want to be seen buying used items or being
concerned with power use. She was worried people would
see her as cheap - a scrooge - when the family was so
affluent. Yet, she was very careful to be seen with recycling
bins out on the curb on pick-up day, because that was
thought to be the thing to do socially. Now is a good time to
put an end to these negative thoughts and feelings of false
pride. Waste reduction is not about ego - it is about the
health of the planet and of our nation.

Communities would be wise to look at Nova Scotia’s waste
reduction success and try to emulate it in their area. With the
highest waste reduction rates in Canada, Nova Scotia has
reduced landfill contributions by 46% - saving about $31
million per year - simply by making the most of the organic
and recyclable materials. Curbside recycling service (Blue
Box) is available to 99% of its residents and 76% now enjoy
curbside organic service (a.k.a. Green Box).

With better management of organic and recyclable waste,
we will find we do not have to put the trash out as often
because the odors and volume are greatly decreased. As a
fiscal incentive, many garbage collection companies offer
discounts to homes with reduced waste.

We can also help the waste management industry run more
efficiently. For instance, when only full garbage bags and
Blue or Green boxes are put out on the curb, the garbage
truck does not have to stop as often and burn fossil fuels
inefficiently while idling. (Incidentally, vehicle idling is
responsible for 3% of the air pollution problem.) Similarly, by
collapsing boxes before recycling we are ensuring that
space is used more efficiently, thereby reducing the number
of bins needed for transporting materials.

Recycling, alone, has a huge impact on the environment. A
study of a 100-unit apartment building practicing maximum
recycling found it would save 21.93 thirty-foot trees, 26.86
cubic yards of landfill space, 8,389 kilowatts of electricity,
and 77.4 pounds of air pollution in just one year!
So you see, these seemingly small choices and efforts
towards waste management really do make a difference.

– Written by Dave and Lillian Brummet based on the
concept of their new book Trash Talk. The book offers useful
solutions for the individual to reduce waste and better
manage resources. A guide for anyone concerned about his
or her impact on the environment.

Filed by admin at 11:46 am under Tech + More
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Encompix, (www.encompix.com), the leading ETO (Engineer-to-Order) ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) leader is now offering CorVu Training. These are task oriented sessions and designed to train a user on a specific business functions.

CorVu Report Writer : Monday, Aug. 22 - Tuesday, Aug.23, 2005

This class teaches the participant how to build reports using the Report Writer module. This course is a prerequisite to the Power User course and teaches the participant how to build more advanced reports beyond the capabilities of Quick Reports available in the Graphical Analysis module.
This class will be delivered over the web, one session per day.

CorVu Administrator: Tuesday, Aug. 30 - Wednesday Aug. 31, 2005

This class teaches the CorVu Administrator how to set up users, establish user security within CorVu, manage the Knowledge Library, define security groups, define virtual databases/tables/columns, establish picklists and many other essential elements of running CorVu within the Encompix environment.

CorVu Power User: Tuesday, Sept. 6 - Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005

This class teaches the participant advanced CorVu techniques, specialty graphic functions, complex conditions and advanced reporting techniques. You also will learn how to use the formula editor to build unique formulas. Prior participants who took this class long after taking the Intro class reported that they wished they had taken it much earlier, as many of the techniques are very helpful for building better queries.

According to ETO Institute (www.etoinstitute.org) spokesperson, Thomas R. Cutler, “Encompix continues to take the leadership role in technology solutions for the Engineer-to-Order manufacturing sector.”
Encompix has filled the manufacturing software requirements of Engineer-to-Order companies since 1992. The company name reflects the commitment to developing business application solutions that encompass the complex areas of project-based and job-based manufacturing. Encompix provides ETO manufacturers with a competitive advantage by improving bottom line results.

Encompix
www.encompix.com
Roger Meloy
513-733-0066

###

About the Author

Professional Marketing Firm

Filed by admin at 10:57 pm under Tech + More
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Analyzing link popularity and its evolution one can suspect that another step further into its evolution for better search results might be on the drawing board on some of the most important search engines. If not, it will probably be soon. However this will not come as happy news for many website owners that have invested a lot of their time and effort, not to mention money, mostly, if not solely, in link exchanges for the purpose of increasing their link popularity. Link exchange service providers won’t be too happy either.

What could be this next big step? - you may be asking yourself

Before I answer this question you need to understand how I came up to this conclusion in the first place in order to fully understand it.

In order to provide their users better quality search results and keep their own resources from getting exhausted, search engines needed to put a stop, or at least slow down the use of doorway pages and link farms, among other techniques that they now consider spam. As a penalty they either lower their rank or in the worst of cases, ban them completely.

Search engine technology is becoming more complex and sophisticated every day due to advances in technology and also because since they are receiving an ever increasing amount of listing requests they need to keep up with this demand. Due to the large amount of these requests and their bulging data bases they need to get even more discriminating than ever before when they rank a web page. Ranking determines in the search results which are the most relevant and important pages to show first, second, third and so on, up to the last page. A page will be “rewarded” because of its relevancy to the search term in a query (inquire) and importance will be according to some factors including amount of content pages and most importantly, link popularity.

Link popularity used to be determined by how popular your website was or how many back links it had. Not anymore. Now you have to add “relevant” to the link equation.

What’s next? How about “link exchanges are not and will not be taken into account for increasing or even influencing link popularity”? Why not? What’s wrong with an innocent link exchange? ….you may be asking yourself.

Link exchanges - How innocent are them in reality?

Link exchanges are done for two basic reasons: traffic and link popularity. Naturally there is nothing wrong with getting visitors from other websites you exchange links with and vice versa. Also, if other websites recommend your website by linking to it, that makes your site popular. That means that your website is, at the very least, worth looking at. BUT can you honestly say that your website is popular because other websites have links pointing to your site and as a fair exchange you are ALSO linking to them? Are both you and them really linking to each other because your website and theirs have great or excellent content? You know very well that the answer is a resounding NO.

If you look at this in an objective way you can realize that your website have been made popular by artificial means, by “plotting” with other websites to get an advantage and not by the real value of your website’s content. And here is where the whole problem resides.

If other websites link to your website and they are not asking for a link in return that means that your website must have something that they consider valuable. This is true link popularity. But if you have to return the favor in order to keep your link in their sites, they do not consider your website of much value, just their link in your site. However for now this is being considered link popularity… but for how much longer?

If search engines want to show in their search results websites that are relevant and also popular for their own true value - they will still need to check to see how many back links they have and disregard those that are also getting a link back to them. These links cannot prove that these websites are linking to a specific site because they think that it has good or excellent content but because they want to take advantage of this search engine algorithm loophole. They will still get the traffic from the link exchanges but not the popularity status from them.

If this come to pass, and I believe that it will, sooner or latter, there will be many websites affected by this. Only those that get prepared will not suffer the consequences and will actually gain a lot from the change.

Who is to gain the most from this next step in the link popularity saga? The web searcher since he or she will be able to find a lot of content that other websites truly consider to be very valuable. As a side effect, website owners will see the need to make their websites more professional and with more and better content in order to gain popularity by getting linked from other sites..

People who may still want to trick the search engines instead of doing the right thing, will make arrangements with other websites in order to try to hide their link exchange schemes. Website A will link to B. B will link to C and C will link to A, closing the loop. When search engines begin spotting this and not taking them into account for link popularity, these websites will turn around and will probably make a bigger loop with ABCDE and F in order to keep from being spotted. However the more websites they introduce into this loop, more will be the risk of getting the loop broken somewhere and eventually disappearing completely. Eventually it will be much easier and less complex to simply make better websites and forget about cheating the search engines in order to gain link popularity.

If search engines want to offer optimum search results, they will have to make some radical changes that will affect many people in Internet related Industries in one way or another. When this come to pass there will be some winners (those that were prepared) but also some losers…

Start preparing now

If you want to be prepared for these changes you must start getting your one way links soon for your site, which, by the way, are more permanent than links from link exchanges. How can you get one way links?

1- Add your URL to the directories, under the category related to your topic. Better yet, to those directories that specialize in your topic.
2- Invite your visitors to link to your website. They will if they want to show your content to their visitors.
3- Send e-mails to other websites with similar characteristics as yours and invite them to link to your site.
4- Post a free link demand in the Link Popularity Directory and invite other webmasters browsing this directory to link to your website. Just let them know what kind of content you have. If they are interested, they will link to you.
5- Go to linkpopularitydirectory.com and get more tips on how you can get even more one way links for your website.

About the author:

This article was submitted by the Link Popularity Directory team.
http://linkpopularitydirectory.com

Filed by admin at 1:47 am under Tech + More
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There are many people, who heared about the security tools, available for data protection. But it is not an easy issue to understand to those who are not software literate. In this article we will look at this issue in order to understand that.

With the growth of information technologies, people own a lot of professional or personal information, which has both a financial and emotional value. As people get vulnerable to numerous security threats, they become more and more aware of the ways they could overcome their vulnerability. And this security concern is common to all people, especially when it comes to lose something they possess. This is why the security products, available on the IT security market, are more and more commonly expanded in Europe and USA.

Among many people who rely on different kinds of digital assets in their businesses and private life, there are some whose main concern is how to protect them. There are also people who think that it is too far for them to make a decision on purchasing existing security products, because they do not have any special knowledge in security. Here we would like to come up with the data, which would help you to get a start in considering the ways you could protect your information.

At first look, it seems that the security products market is so sophisticated, that without any professional knowledge it is not possible to understand what kind of products you need. You may think that it is so much complicated to be able to analyze what solutions exist, what for they may be used and which one is right for you to purchase.

These questions and the solutions to them may seem vague to people with excellence in other areas, but with no knowledge in the IT security. By giving the answers to these and other related questions, we will help you define your needs and decide which data protection and access control solutions will best suit your needs.
1. What is the security software for and how can it help people?
While the security products industry is largely expanding in the world, there are more and more areas where it can be used. The Dekart Company has committed itself to developing solutions that can be easily deployed and used by people.

Most of the digital assets, available on the market, are designed with the option for the security hardware installation. The PCs and many mobile devices that can be connected to PCs (like mobile phones) and that may have an increased need for security, are technically available now to be protected.

From another point of view, there are products, which can be of real help in protecting important data (like hard disk encryption and file encryption software, brought to you by Dekart). These products can protect any type of data for any kind of people, who are interested in protection of their business information, scientific researches, as well as personal information. This type of protection ensures that no data will be accessed and viewed by unauthorized malicious users, even if your computer is lost or stolen or if there are many people who can access it.

The security products have another large area of usage. When there is the need to control access to the office computers, Dekart offers its smart card and biometric authentication solutions. The state-of-the-art biometric identification improves the security of login procedures, thus ensuring that no third party will access critically important information.
Users now can also protect and encrypt their email correspondence using Dekart digital certification service in combination with the smart card and biometric authentication.

There are different hardware devices used to provide two- and three-factor authentication to secure access to the information. Dekart offers the flexibility to choose between different vendors’ smart cards, tokens, biometric devices and even USB flash drives to satisfy users’ security needs.

The types of the Hardware Keys (USB tokens and Smart cards)
Dekart Software uses the following types of Hardware Keys to generate secret cryptographic keys and store users’ private data:

1. USB (universal serial bus) tokens are smaller token-style cards that plug directly into the USB port of a computer. The USB-compatible ports are being built into many PCs (i.e., desktops and laptops) and many mobile devices that connect with PCs (i.e., PDAs and mobile phones), as this is the simplest type of reader to connect

2. Smart cards are conventional credit card-shaped contact cards
The Smart Card device contains the cryptographic chip. The use of credit-card size Smart Cards has successfully been adopted by a number of European companies, with a particularly high level of acceptance in Germany and France. However, high hardware deployment costs and the lack of application standards associated with Smart Cards have proved to be significant barriers to their widespread use, especially in the US.

USB Token solution is different from traditional smart card solutions in that it does not require a reader infrastructure, helping to make it less expensive for organizations to deploy and easier for users to adopt.
Dekart has developed the following utilities for managing and deploying the smart cards or tokens used with Dekart applications:

1. Dekart Key Manager Utility can help determining the memory usage of the card, performing backups and duplicating the data stored on the hardware keys.

2. Key Formatting utility or Corporate Key formatting utility allows formatting the smart cards or tokens to be used with Dekart software.
What to consider before purchasing a smart card or USB token?

1. Define all of your anticipated present and future card usage requirements

2. Define the memory requirements for each certificate or application. Here is a sample of Smart Card memory usage:

Free space - 5K
Your custom application -1,5 K
Smart Card logon certificate -2,5 K
Smart card vendor applications - 8K
Windows for Smart Cards Operating system -15K

3. Making a decision on which present and future applications are required. It is important to preview the future applications needed, as it is important to leave an extra storage space on the chip.

4. Test smart cards and smart card readers to verify compatibility before deploying them in your production environment.

In conclusion, there are few things important to understand:

1. It is important to remember that there are different types of hardware and software available for them.

2. It is suggested to understand specific needs of the buyer and the variety of existing products in order to make the best purchasing decision.

For more information about the products designed to protect your confidential information, please, visit www.dekart.com

Ceban Liuba
Born in 1974 in Ukraine (former USSR)
Now lives in Moldova

Since 1998 works on Internet
Since 2004 works in the IT security Software Company as a Technical Writer

Filed by admin at 2:44 pm under Tech + More
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Have you heard the buzz about VOIP (Voice Over Internt Protocol)? Basically, it’s like communicating over the phone without a phone. Instead you plug your microphone into your computer log on to a website and “boom” you’re talking baby. You may be saying “Hasn’t this been around for a while?”, and you’d be right. But with the advances recently made with regard to broadband technology this once “nice to have” product available to everyone. No long distance charges, no entry fees, no codes to remember and even better, with the better services, you can share applications and web browsers.

The ease and convenience of unlimited global calling from your computer. In addition to voice communication, you can send and receive group or private text messages. When you make a presentation to a group, everyone can see the same visual on their own screen.

VOIP technology is turning telephone technology upside down! VOIP will soon become the preferred method of communication in today’s world. This technology allows sales managers to conduct meetings with full audio-visual interaction from the safety and comfort of their office or home. Uses are limited only by your imagination.

Here are a few of the uses we have discovered VOIP applications being used for:

One-On-One Tutoring
Online Computer Classes
Communicating with kids in college
Business Teleconferencing
Board Meetings
Blueprint review
International calling (no extra cost)
Establishing online communities
Supporting International Downlines (no long distance charges)
Online Church Services

And the list goes on…There are several service providers and the best by far that we have discovered is ICon Communicator by Madison Dynamics Incorporated. The voice clarity is incredible and the options available set it apart from the rest, and price is more than reasonable, starting at $9.97 a month. You can review their service offer at www.MDIVOIP.com. Other capable providers are Go To Meeting and Intranets.

About the Author

Yvette McDonald has been an IT Analyst for 14 years and has designed an programmed on platforms from the AS/400 to the Internet.

Filed by admin at 6:05 pm under Tech + More
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Satellite Dish Installed in Apartments, Condos or Townhouses.
Living in an apartment, townhouse or Condo without Satellite TV
is like going to the Super Bowl Blindfolded!

The BIG game is about to start and there you in your apartment
with all your friends starring at your beautiful T V when the
picture goes blank. What happened? You hurriedly check all the
connections to see if they are tight and functioning. You check
the lights to see if the electricity has gone off. Every thing
is working fine but still no picture. The game starts in a few
minutes, you run to the phone and call the Apartment manager,
“My T V just went blank” you scream, ” What’s going on, the game
is about to start and I have all my friends here to watch it.”
“The cable company has had an accident and the cable has been
cut” he answers. “Won’t have it fixed for a few hours” “Maybe
you could watch the game with John in #115, he has Satellite
Dish.”

Do you know that Apartment, Condo and Townhouse dwellers can
install a Satellite Dish to provide all the great advantages of
Satellite TV? The FCC says you can in Rule 47 C.F.R. Section
1.4000. Here is what they say:

………………………………………………………..
…………………………………..

As directed by Congress in Section 207 of the Telecommunications
Act of 1996, the Federal Communications Commission adopted the
Over-the-Air Reception Devices (”OTARD”) rule concerning
governmental and nongovernmental restrictions on viewers’
ability to receive video programming signals from direct
broadcast satellites (”DBS”), broadband radio service providers
(formerly multichannel multipoint distribution service or MMDS),
and television broadcast stations (”TVBS”).

The rule (47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000) has been in effect since
October 1996, and it prohibits restrictions that impair the
installation, maintenance or use of antennas used to receive
video programming. The rule applies to video antennas including
direct-to-home satellite dishes that are less than one meter
(39.37″) in diameter (or of any size in Alaska), TV antennas,
and wireless cable antennas. The rule prohibits most
restrictions that: (1) unreasonably delay or prevent
installation, maintenance or use; (2) unreasonably increase the
cost of installation, maintenance or use; or (3) preclude
reception of an acceptable quality signal.

Effective January 22, 1999, the Commission amended the rule so
that it also applies to rental property where the renter has an
exclusive use area, such as a balcony or patio.

On October 25, 2000, the Commission further amended the rule so
that it applies to customer-end antennas that receive and
transmit fixed wireless signals. This amendment became effective
on May 25, 2001.

The rule applies to individuals who place antennas that meet
size limitations on property that they own or rent and that is
within their exclusive use or control, including condominium
owners and cooperative owners, and tenants who have an area
where they have exclusive use, such as a balcony or patio, in
which to install the antenna.

The rule applies to antenna users who live in a multiple
dwelling unit building, such as a condominium or apartment
building, if the antenna user has an exclusive use area in which
to install the antenna. “Exclusive use” means an area of the
property that only you, and persons you permit, may enter and
use to the exclusion of other residents. For example, your
condominium or apartment may include a balcony, terrace, deck or
patio that only you can use, and the rule applies to these
areas. The rule does not apply to common areas, such as the
roof, the hallways, the walkways or the exterior walls of a
condominium or apartment building. Restrictions on antennas
installed in these common areas are not covered by the
Commission’s rule. For example, the rule would not apply to
restrictions that prevent drilling through the exterior wall of
a condominium or rental unit and thus restrictions may prohibit
installation that requires such drilling.

………………………………………………………..
……………………………………

Satellite Dish Reception is without a doubt has become very
popular but many people have thought that they could not use it
because they live in a Multi Unit facility. However, as long as
they confirm to the FCC rule concerning the installation of
Satellite Dishes, they too can enjoy the benefits of Satellite
TV. I would certainly discuss the issue with the Management of
the complex but you certainly have the right to install a
Satellite Dish within certain restrictions as per the FCC Rule.

Satellite Dish reception is unbelievable. Talk to the Satellite
Dish Supplier for specifics.

Filed by admin at 7:26 pm under Tech + More
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