Useful Tips in Making a Website

It can be a scary task for the people who are new to the world of website designing to build their own website. With the certain keys and steps to be followed, you can simply make it into a simpler process. Before jumping in with it, it is very much important to do proper research. This is a one way of saving your time and money.

One of the essential things for you to remember in getting your own site online is the following: website building tool, domain name and the web host. You can actually make a unique website from a simple text editor but on the other hand, you need to know and understand HTML or the Hyper Text Markup Language.

In addition, there is some of the website building tools that are designed especially to the people without knowledge on HTML. This is through the so-called “what you see is what you get editors”. You create the pages you want and this editor will automatically convert what you are doing into HTML. To find a domain is an easier process. You need to find first a domain that is free and register it with a domain name. You don’t need to worry about this, for there are many companies who can help you to do it quickly and straightforward. Finding domain name ends with .com, .org or .net. And the web hosts are the companies that you are paying for to host your website. This is for the reason that every site must be stored in a one powerful server or a powerful computer and this is the way wherein your visitors can get over your spot for they can be directed into your site because of the server.

In addition, these are some of the significant things that you need to know more in trying to make your website a compelling site.

* Make sure that your website will load fast.
* It should have a layout that is clear and pleasant to the eyes
* Always use colors that the visitors will be interested in.
* Make sure to have a FAQs page for your site.
* Provide information to the visitors that are relevant and easy to understand.
* Keep you site on the basics: it should be open and light
* write the contents that are original, bold and short
* Establish trust with the visitors coming in and out
* Keep in mind the way your visitor will feel, try to envision them by giving a thought as what they are looking into.

Website development is something that you should not just take for granted especially if you are starting your own business. If you want to learn more about website development and want more tips, check out http://getdesigndashboard.com

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An Introduction to Computer Forensics

When you hear of computer forensics, the first thing that pops to mind might be a Crime Scene Investigator, pulling the plastic sheet off of a computer and inspecting for signs of a struggle. Nobody really ever talked about forensics in daily life until they started making those scientifically accurate prime time cop shows, so of course, simple word association generally leads us to forensic sciences being “Something cops do, right?”

Incidentally, the science behind computer forensics really isn’t much different from the science between crime scene forensics. In both instances, the forensics team or expert is looking for a trail of evidence. In either case, the investigator looks at what has happened, determines how it happened, and from that, deducts who might be responsible.

The major difference between the two is that, while an investigator on the scene of a robbery or a violent crime is looking for physical evidence, the computer forensics investigator is looking for digital evidence.

Interestingly, where physical evidence can often be misleading, confusing, ambiguous, and difficult to put together without the help of witness statements, digital evidence tends to present itself in a much more direct manner.

A computer keeps logs of pretty much everything that has been done with it. For example, besides your browser history, there’s also your temporary internet folder, where information from the web is stored on your computer. So, say an employee is watching YouTube all day when they’re supposed to be working. Even if they’re smart enough to clear the browser history, the temporary internet files may still hold the evidence that will earn them a warning.

That’s only a very simple example, of course. Computer forensics addresses everything from computer crime to employee misconduct, to such mundane tasks as figuring out why your virus scanner isn’t working.

The point is that everything you do on a computer leaves a mark. Deleting a file from your hard drive is not same thing as deleting all the evidence that it was ever there. Just as every room in your house holds some DNA evidence, be it a hair, saliva, or a toenail clipping, no matter how well you vacuum and shampoo your carpets, there will be some evidence that this is your home. The same goes with computers. You can’t do anything on a computer without a computer expert being able to figure out exactly what you’ve been up to.

One issue that many find confusing with regards to computer forensics … how legal is it, really?

This depends on the context. Here’s all you need to know if you’re considering hiring a computer forensics team, but aren’t sure if you can:

If you suspect an employee of breaking company policy or even breaking the law with a computer that belongs to the company, you do have the right to take a look at the computer they’ve been working any time you like.

It gets a little trickier when an employee is working on their own computer. This isn’t a dead end, but it may be a little trickier. Luckily, you don’t always have to look at their computer to find evidence of what they’ve done on their computer. In any case, go ahead and call your forensics people, and they should be able to advise you on how far you can go to gather the evidence you need in order to take action.

Really, computer forensics is simply the art of finding a trail of evidence on computers, simple as that. You never know when you’ll need such services, so it’s a good idea to keep them in mind in case you ever do.

Pure Hacking helps protect your Internet security by providing world-class penetration testing and ethical hacking risk management services. For a free consultation, please visit Ethical Hacking.

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Data Forensics

Data forensics is one of the sub branches of computer forensics. It is essential to establish legal evidences as found in computers and its storage media. Its primary goal is to give a clear explanation of a digital artifact’s state. Digital artifacts include storage devices, computer systems or electronic documents.

Data forensics are employed for a couple of reasons. It is a significant portion of data recovery for either hardware or software failures. It also helps analyze how an attacker was able to break-in to a system. It is also important to gather information about an employee that a certain organization wants to terminate. Alongside all these reasons, different steps are followed in the database forensics process.

There are several steps involved in the entire forensics process. These are as follows:

• Preparation of the investigator. An investigator must have an ample background of the subject matter. He should be trained enough to know the facets of the process. He validates all data needed by the courts basing on generated reports. Since there are many tools to choose from, the investigator should determine the appropriate tool to be applied for the case.

• Collection of data. The data are gathered in the form of digital evidences. Data forensics make use of tools such as computers, hard drives, CD-ROMs and even cellular phones or digital cameras. The data should be carefully handled to assure that no changes are made. Documentation and the use of reliable tools will help secure the collected data for forensics use.

• Examination. There are two ways by which data are examined. Traditionally, the dead data analysis is employed. This is one method where investigations are performed on hard drives or any data at rest. Currently, the live data analysis is also used. This is helpful when the attacker does not make use of the computer’s hard drive. This is also important if the person makes use of cryptographic storage devices where data intervention may no longer be seen once the computer shuts-off.

Once the data are gathered and examined, the data forensics investigator may report the incident to management or to whoever needs the data. Following these steps require careful scrutiny of the scenario. This will ensure that all legal actions will be imposed on the attacker. In like manner, it will help dictate the punishment to be given to the offender.

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RecoverMyPc will give you the Secure Data Recovery that you need. Use our free Online Picture Recovery Tool, Free Software, Software Coupons, and Great Articles to read.

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DES and 3DES

Data Encryption Standard (DES) data are encrypted in 64-bit blocks using a 56-bit key. The DES algorithm takes the input through a series of transformations: initial permutation; a complex function, which involves both permutation and substitution operations and depends on a key input; a simple permutation function that switches the two halves of the data; the function is applied again; and a permutation function that is the inverse of the initial permutation takes place. There are five “modes of operation” that have been defined in order to apply DES to a variety of applications. They are Electronic Codebook, Cipher Block Chaining, Cipher Feedback, Output Feedback Counter, and Counter (Cryptography Concepts, 2005).

Triple DES or 3DES involves repeating the DES algorithm three times on the plaintext, using two or three different keys to produce the ciphertext. As stated in the article DES is dead. Long live…Well, um, What, “First it encrypts, then it decrypts and finally it encrypts again” (Moskowitz, 1999). Three DES is now used because it is very resistant to cryptanalysis, serving as an alternative to add security against the potential vulnerability of DES to brute-force attack. Triple DES has been adopted for use in the key management standards ANSI X 9.17 and ISO 8732, along with a number of Internet-based applications, such as PGP and S/MIME (AES, Ciphers, and Confidentiality, 2005). The picture below shows the triple encryption process, as well as show the middle portion of 3DES as a decryption rather than an encryption making it more secure.

A nonce and key distribution center (KDC) shares a secret key or “master” key between each party on a network. The KDC is responsible for generating nonce and keys to be used for a short time over a connection between two parties, known as session keys, and for distributing those keys using the master keys to protect the distribution. The following steps occur:

1. A issues request to the KDC for a session key with B. The message includes the identity of A and B, as well as a unique identifier for the transaction, a nonce, which may include a random number or a counter.

2. The KDC replies with a message encrypted using Ka. Thus, only A can read the message and knows the message originated at the KDC. The message includes:

• The one-time session key, Ks, to be used for the session.
• The original request message, including the nonce, to enable A to match this response with the appropriate request.

In addition, the message includes two items intended for B:

• The one-time session key, Ks.
• An identifier of A, IDA.

These are encrypted with the master key that the KDC shares with B. They are sent to B to establish connection and prove A’s identity.

3. A stores the session key for use in the upcoming session and forwards to B the information that originated at the KDC for B. This information is protected from eavesdropping, because it is encrypted by the master key, Kb. B knows the session key, A’s identity, and that the information originated at the KDC.

4. B then sends a nonce, N2, to A, using a newly minted session key for encryption.

5. Using the session key, A responds with f(N2), where f is a function that performs some transformation on N2 (e.g., adding one) (Stallings, 2003 pgs 214-15).

In conclusion, the above explained how DES works, why 3DES is now used, why the middle portion of 3DES is a decryption rather than an encryption, and explain a nonce and a key distribution center.

Works Cited

Moskowitz, Robert. (1999). DES is dead. Long Live… well, um, what? Network Computing, vol. 10 issue 6. Retrieved October 22, 2005, from, EBSCO Host Research Databas

Stallings, William. (2003). Cryptography and Network Security: Principles and Practice. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
Joshua Maluchnik, M.I.T., MCP/MCTS
Account Executive
Tranztec Solutions, Inc.
http://www.tranztec.com

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Satellite Radio – How Does it Work?

A satellite radio, also known as a subscription radio, is a satellite communicated digital radio signal, enveloping a larger geographical scope than normal radio signals.

Satellite radio provides a valid option to terrestrial radio in certain countries, particularly the United States. Mobile services, including Sirius, XM, and Worldspace, provide the functionality for listeners to rove an entire country allowing them to tune in to the same audio programming wherever they travel.

Satellite Radio services are typically payment based and provided by business based organizations. The different services are proprietary signals, needing specific hardware for decoding and playback. Providers typically supply a selection of news, weather, sports, and music, with the music channels commonly free from advertising. In regions with a comparatively elevated populace, it is simpler and cost effective to contact the mass of the population with normal broadcasts. Consequently in the UK and several countries, the current development of radio services is focused on Digital Audio Broadcasting services or HD Radio, as opposed to satellite radio.

Currently, Sirius and XM both offer in excess of 100 channels of uninterrupted, unambiguous music without commercial intermission. Satellite radio is comparable to the dedicated radio channels offered on digital cable and satellite TV.

Lately, the regard of AM radio stations has diminished in support of the clarified FM stations. As the clarity of satellite radio is superior than that created on the FM range, it’s reasonable to speculate whether normal radio will before long become outdated.

Programmers assemble playlists for specialist channels, loading them with suitable music. Yet this opening action in the broadcast procedure diverges from normal radio, where a DJ chooses and plays tracks.

The playlists are uploaded to computers, which then assign them to orbiting satellites. The music is then communicated to listeners on terra firma. Since obstacles such as large buildings and natural structures can deteriorate the signal, satellite radio providers activate a quantity of global repeaters, which improve the airwaves and strengthen the signal.

Local repeaters comparable to boosters permit signal accessibility even though the sight of the satellite is jammed, for instance, by buildings in a city. Main tunnels can too have repeaters. This process furthermore allows local programming to be transmitted such as traffic and weather in most key urban areas.

Similar to the cable-available radio, satellite broadcasts are characterized into music type. Satellite radio also presents channels devoted to comedy, sports, news, chat, and leisure. There are in addition weather and traffic channels accessible for chief U.S. cities.

In conjunction with the clarity of sound and the nonexistence of adverts, satellite radio is unrestricted. The FCC doesn’t compel convention on the content broadcast through this medium, consequently, as with cable TV, each topic is open for debate without prohibition.

Two Way Radio Communications Satellite Radios, Codan, Barrett.

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Portable Solar Power Systems

What is a Laptop Portable Power Pack?

Laptop Portable Power pack is a kit which contains certain accessories which will act as a power charger when connected to your electronic devices. All devices such as Mobile phones, Laptops, PDAs, MP3 players can be charged in an easy plug and play manner.

Why Laptop Portable Power?
In this competitive world, work on the go is the mandate. Professionals are increasingly interested in proving their worthiness in the workplace. One of the best ways to prove it is to work anytime, anywhere. One of the greatest threats of these mobile workers is losing battery power in their mobile devices, PDAs or Laptops. This is bound to happen only at the most inappropriate of moments, losing a laptop power when you are about to close a deal, about to email a presentation etc. Fortunately, mobile workers have a variety of options for portable power.

With the advancements in the field of computing, laptop portable power has become an essential one for mobile workers as they so much depend on their systems. With the laptop portable power pack, you can charge your laptop and work with full battery for up to 96 hours!!!
How does a Laptop Portable Power Pack work?

Laptop Portable Power Pack generates power by two essential methods

  • With the help of Photovoltaic cells by utilizing the solar light energy
  • With the help of a battery inside the pack which is re-chargeable

The battery pack is just chargeable like any other electronic device. When you are all set to go, you can just carry your power pack and use it whenever you need. With a lot of effort taken for clean energy, many organisations like Google are progressing towards it. In the near future, solar power will be key thing. Moreover, our solar power pack acts like a portable power generator when placed in sunlight.

If you are a social networking geek and love nature, you definitely want to carry your laptop when you go to every place. And this Laptop Portable power pack can be a perfect companion for you on a beach where you can just fall in love with your environment and your laptop. Sounds pretty fascinating right?

Laptop portable power will become one of the essential assets of any mobile worker and will be the perfect companion for any traveler and nature lover. Even adventurers hiking in mountains would be fascinated with this pack. So, let’s start generating and consuming power wherever we go.

Portable Solar Power Systems Power your electronic devices using the power of the sun!

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What is a Power Monkey?

Portable power kits are small and used used to re-charge all your hand-held devices such as IPods, PDAs, Mobile Phones and Laptops. The power pack is compatible with all standard mobile phones and it can charge mobile phones for 96 hours, 40 hours for iPods, 5 hours for PSPs, 48 hours for PDAs and a whopping 1600 hours for digital cameras.

Imagine if you are out on vacation and sitting on a beach Bahamas Islands. Your most preferred companion has just played its last tune. What would be worse than that? What if you have a Power Monkey portable charger which will re-charge your iPod and you get back to your style again. All your electronic handheld devices such as PSPs, PDAs, and iPods will run out of charge often at the terrible moment. With the portable pack, you can just keep rocking on and on.

Moreover, the funky little charger is small, agile and trendy. You can just carry it wherever you go. Simply charge it up and plug it whenever needed. It comes with 60% of charge when you buy it. You can use it right away.

The portable charging devices are just like another electronic device. You just need to charge it with the mains supplied along with the charger. Power Monkey has two LEDs which are used to indicate the status of the device.

  • LED flashes red when the power pack is out of charge and it will stay on red when charging
  • LED flashes and stays in green when fully charged and read to rock
  • Device Charging LED
  • LED flashes red when all charge is drained to the device which means it needs charging
  • LED flashes green when the Power Monkey drains the charge to the device
  • You can also turn this gadget into solar mode. This pack does not need charging. The Photovoltaic cells in the solar pack will convert the light energy from the sun into electrical energy instantaneously. When exposed to sunlight, you can just connect your solar power pack and enjoy your day

Many organisations are taking steps towards achieving a world with clean energy. It is the responsibility of all individual humans to contribute towards that. With solar power, you utilise light energy for generating power. Hence, you minimise the use of electricity in your day to day life. It is true that Electricity Saved is twice Electricity generated. And saving is a pleasure when it rocks your life.

Portable Power Packs Charge your Mobile Phones, Laptops, PDAs, Blackberries, Games Consoles without the need for batteries or power for 96 hours!

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Computer Repair Business

If you have been considering setting up a small business within your home and you happen to be good with computers, you might want to consider running a computer repair business out of your home. There are many things that you can do when it comes to computer repairs, and two of the most popular are software applications and hardware repair and or instillation. People today rely heavily on their computers as a means to keep in touch with friends and family, and some people much like you are running a small business from their home. If these machines go down, someone is going to need to fix them for these people why not you?

Fixing Machines

A computer repair business from your home can actually be a very profitable company. There are many things that people look forward to what it comes to their computer; if their machine breaks they are going to need help. This is where you can come into the picture, and you will have the opportunity to making a lot of money. If the people that run a small business from home bring you their machine, you can expect that they are going to pay you handsomely to get them back on the field. Every day that they are down, is essentially money lost. This is why you have a chance of making an excellent income. Some simple tools and a bit of space in your home are all that it really requires today.

Installing Software

With a computer repair business you are going to encounter clients that are looking for tune ups or even software upgrades. This is something that has the potential to be very lucrative for you, as you can find the software at wholesale cost and install it retail and charge labor. This will bring you a good deal of money from this area of the business, as there are many people that look to have their machines current and up to date with their programs. With so many different programs on the market, you should not be surprised to find some people that simply want you to fully load their machines with programs. This is because it can be a time consuming affair to load a program on a computer, some people simply do not have the time or the patience.

Great For Your Own Machine

If you are running a computer repair business from your home, you will actually have an easy time not only working on your own machine but acquiring great software for it as well. You will meet many people along the way, and chances are someone will come to you with great contacts. This will help push your business further, and you can actually see even more growth than you had originally anticipated. This will be great for you and the small business that you started, as you will then see that you may have to hire someone to help you in the growing company.

Roger Barnes writes home business, work from home and related articles for the Home Business Selection website at http://www.homebusinessselection.com

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The Role of a Network Consultancy

Whether you are setting up a new company or you are just getting ready for the next step in your business’s progression, you will find that one resource that you need to think about is a network consultancy. A network consultancy is essentially a business that gives you the most effective and advantageous network set up for your business and then after the network is set up, it will maintain it for you. The truth of the matter is that there really is an art to setting up a computer network and if you are in a place where this resource is necessary, you can get a lot of important work taken care of in one fell swoop.

The first point that you should realize when it comes to computer consultancy is that it provides you with a great deal of experience at your disposal. Computer consultancies have a great deal of stock set in how much experience they have in setting up a network that is efficient, effective and gives you the resources that you need and this is something that can take years of work to figure out. Networking may seem rather simple at first, but the truth of the matter is that there are many different resources that need to come into play at once. There are enough factors that are competing for resources that having a computer consultancy on hand is quite advantageous.

Another point that you will discover is that a computer consultancy firm can provide a great deal of relief when it comes to helping out your IT department. Your IT department has a lot going on and if you are just getting a computer network setup, you will find that the IT staffs is already going to be under a number of different stressors. Make sure that you consider what duties your IT department is already shouldering and whether adding computer networking to the mix is going to be something that they welcome. In many cases, you will find that your IT department may not even be set up for network installation and maintenance. This is not something that you want to necessarily integrate into your own staff, so consider how a network consultancy can help you.

Remember that at the end of the day, your computer networking is something that should be rock solid. In this day and age, your business can effectively grind to a halt if your computer networking goes down and this is not something that you want networking amateurs working on. With a good network consultancy firm working on your behalf, you will find that you are in a great place to move forward and to get your work taken care of. You will get the benefit of working with professionals who have a lot of experience behind them.

Networking is something quite complex and the truth is that it is growing more complex by the day. Take some time to consider the good that a networking consultancy firm can do for you and really get the most out of your business contacts.

Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who writes for a number of UK businesses. For information about IT Networks, he recommends Prodec Networks, a leading Network Supplier.

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How to Send a Secret Message

Introduction -

The term Steganography as well cryptography was derived from the Greek language. Cryptography is essentially the art of secret writing and the goal is to maintain the secrecy of the message even if it is visible. Steganography, means covered writing, and is a long-practiced form of hiding information. It should not be seen as a replacement for cryptography but rather as a complement to it.

Cryptography is used to conceal the content of a message, while steganography is used to conceal the existence of a message.

The technology behind effective Steganography is quite complex and involves serious mathematical computations. Computers and technology make this an easy task and make this art of deception a serious threat to the security of

information. The strength of a steganographic algorithm depends on its ability to successfully withstand attacks. Companies with important and sensitive information, and relying on the security and integrity of their intellectual property, could be at significant risk.

Steganography under various media -

Steganography includes a vast array of techniques for hiding messages in a variety of media. Among these methods are invisible inks, covert channels, digital signatures, microdots, and spread-spectrum communications. New age technology helps steganography to use various mediums like – text, images, sound, signals, and more.

Steganography in Text -

This process involves using steganography within text, i.e. documents or emails. This process is used to counteract the wide scale piracy or illegal distribution of documents, wherein infringers make identical copies of documents without paying royalties to the original author.

  1. Line-Shift coding: In this method, text lines are vertically shifted to encode the document uniquely.
  2. Word-Shift coding: In this method, codewords are coded into a document by shifting the horizontal locations of words within text lines, while maintaining a natural spacing appearance.
  3. Feature coding: In feature coding, certain text features are altered, or not altered, depending on the codeword. For example, one could encode bits into text by extending or shortening the vertical end lines of letters such as p, q, y, etc.

Steganography in Images -

This process involves exploiting the Human Visual System (HVS). Image steganography is being increasingly used due to the development of powerful graphical computers and the increasing softwares over the internet.

  1. Image Compression: Image compression helps in reducing the file size by compressing it to a certain extent. Two kinds of image compression are lossless and lossy compression.
  2. Image Encoding techniques: This technique involves in hiding the secret information within the image. It can be done in many ways, like encoding every bit of information in the image or encoding only in the noisy areas of the image.

Steganography in Audio -

This form of steganography is very sensitive to handle, as it involves exploiting the Human Auditory System (HAS). We call it sensitive, because the HAS posses a large dynamic range but a small differential range. The following are the methods of this type of steganography -

  1. Phase Coding – This process involves substituting the phase of an initial audio segment with a reference phase that represents the data.
  2. Low bit encoding – This process is similar to image encoding, wherein binary data is stored in the audio files.
  3. Spread Spectrum – In this process, the encoded data is spread across the frequency of the audio data.
  4. Echo Data Hiding – Echo data hiding embeds data into a host signal by introducing an echo.

Conclusion -

There are so many components to this form of deception, which are increasingly used either for safeguarding some valuable data or for destroying it. The thing with white collar crimes is that criminals don’t necessarily “look” like criminals and they often proceed for years without being caught. This article aims to make people aware of this form of deception and the threat it poses to digital security.

The author is a technology trainer and consultant who helps businesses build their online brand. His key passion apart from writing articles is Web 2.0 technologies and re-creating value for living. If you feel Sameer can be of any help to you, please send an email

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Life is Unpredictable, Your Data Shouldn’t Be!

With the arrival of various internet based applications which allow people to express themselves, the web has definitely become democratic. But using the same for carrying out personal or malicious activities, and that too using your office computer can land you in deep trouble.

A senior executive at a marketing firm was accused by his boss of passing on vital company data to a competing firm, he denied it. “But we have the proof”, his boss told him and showed it to him, as clear as daylight. The executive resigned immediately. It’s a fact of life in the 21st century workplace; the boss may well be watching you, especially if you use a office computer. Improper computer use can also spell legal trouble. Downloading pirated music or movies onto a work computer can prompt a copyright-infringement suit. Viewing pornography or sending sexually suggestive emails can lead to sexual harassment claims. Thus, an employer can use special software to monitor everything – it’s as if a camera is watching your computer.

Companies are using two types of spying software: network-based programs that monitor all traffic passing through a system, and programs that sit directly on an employee’s desktop. What can such software do? They can track and block the websites a user tries to visit and log his or her every keystroke. The boss can see screen shots of what the employees do on Yahoo! He can see what they’re typing, whether it’s resumes or business-related stuff. Such program even keeps track of songs that employees download to their iPod. In the American and European countries, one in four companies reports firing someone for improper email use. Such software works without being identified, even by an anti-virus program.

There are plenty of valid reasons for companies to monitor their worker’s computer use.

1. Productivity: A recent survey found that employees on average wasted at least two hours a day-much of it online-doing things other than work.

2. Security: Porn, gambling and gaming sites, for example, can harbour viruses and other malicious programs that load onto a computer secretly and allow outsiders to damage a network or make off with sensitive information.

3. Companies also have competitive reasons to keep tabs on workers.

4. Employee attrition: With young employees who may have quickly changing loyalties, more and more companies see the need to spy.

5. Reputation Management: Companies want to be sure that there employee’s defamatory work does not harm the company’s global reputation.

Implementing all these policies may be beneficial for the companies, but the employees always feel pressurised. They feel paralysed, if their every activity from composing the weekly report to emails is tracked. And who hasn’t opened his email to find a message from a friend passing along a goofy YouTube clip or an off-colour joke. If it does get a laugh, it’s probably passed along to a few more people. And this can seriously land the employee who first circulated such content within the company.

It seems that technology will continue to creep unabashedly into the workplace. So, if you blog, forward naughty email, flirt, chat or search for a new job, just remember that it’s safest to use your own computer for any of that in the comfort of your home.

The author is a technology trainer and consultant who helps businesses build their online brand. His key passion apart from writing articles is Web 2.0 technologies and re-creating value for living. If you feel Sameer can be of any help to you, please send an email

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How to Synchronise Your Windows PC to a Time Server

Do you regularly need to correct the time on your PC? The answer is probably “Yes!”. This is because computers have very poor time-keeping hardware. Often, the system clock in a regular PC can drift by minutes each day. However, help is at hand. It is very easy to synchronise the time on your Microsoft Windows computer with one of the most accurate clocks in the world. This article describes how to configure your Windows system to synchronise it’s internal system time with an Internet based ‘atomic time’ reference.

PC’s utilise an internal hardware real-time clock to maintain time. Generally, this hardware clock circuit utilises very low-cost components. This results in poor time-keeping performance. It is not unusual for a computer to loose minutes each day. There are hardware solutions available, which can improve timekeeping, such as more precision crystal oscillators. However, modifying PC’s at board level is not an option for most users. Additionally, accurate time-keeping hardware can be prohibitively expensive. Ideally, a software solution to maintain accurate time is required. This is where the Network Time Protocol (NTP) comes in.

NTP is one of the oldest Internet protocols still in regular use today. Dr David Mills of the University of Dellaware invented it over 25 years ago. He recognised the need to synchronise time critical processes across the Internet. The Network Time Protocol allows client computers to synchronise to an accurate time reference over the Internet. NTP uses the UDP (User Datagram Protocol) over IP (Internet Protocol) to request time from an accurate time reference. It then waits for and accepts a response from the server before updating it’s internal system time with the supplied reference time.

There are many NTP Servers residing on the Internet. Government or educational institutions generally maintain them. A NTP server obtains highly accurate time from an external time reference such as GPS or Radio and maintains this time internally. It then distributes the precise time to network time clients.

The latest Microsoft Windows operating systems, such as XP and Vista, incorporate a SNTP (Simple Network Time Protocol) client. This client can easily be used to synchronise to an Internet or locally based NTP server. The client is configured from the time and date properties applet in the control panel, or by double clicking on the time in the system tray. One of the time properties tabs is labelled ‘Internet time’. On this tab is a field called “Server” which accepts either the IP address or domain name of a NTP time server. Click the “Update Now” button and Windows will attempt to synchronise with the selected time reference. Ensure that the “Automatically Synchronise with an Internet Time Source” option is ticked and Windows will periodically update time from the reference automatically, thus keeping your system clock accurate.

If synchronisation fails then ensure that the supplied IP address or domain name of the NTP server is correct. Alternatively, it may be your firewall that is preventing communication with the time server. NTP operates on UDP port 123, so you must ensure that this port is left open on your firewall. The Windows firewall can be accessed from the Control Panel. To open NTP port 123, open the Windows Security Centre and select ‘Manage Security Settings for Windows Firewall’. From the Windows Firewall applet select the ‘Exceptions’ tab. Click ‘Add Port’ to add an exception to the firewall. Enter a name for the exception, such as ‘NTP port’, and port number ’123′ and check UDP. Click OK to accept the settings. If you have a separate combined firewall and ADSL router, you may need to refer to your manufacturers documentation to find out how to open a port on the firewall.

To conclude, most computers keep extremely poor time. For many applications that rely on accurate time stamps, this can be entirely unacceptable. However, by utilising the Network Time Protocol, everyone can ensure that their computers system time is kept in sync with the most accurate clock in the world!

Please visit TimeTools website for more information and articles on NTP servers, network time synchronisation and time server solutions.

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Quick Diagnosis of a Dead Laptop LCD Display

If you own a laptop computer, sooner or later you are going to be faced with a computer that has a display that has gone dark typically in one of two scenarios. In the most common case the LCD screen is damaged because of some physical event that caused the screen to be cracked or broken. Laptops do not take kindly to being dropped, especially when the case is opened and the accident occurs. In the second case there no physical damage and a malfunction in the video,power or control circuitry has caused the display to malfunction.

In the case of the cracked or physically damaged screen you need to determine if there is other damage to the laptop. The best way to do this is to plug in an external monitor using the video output connector at the rear of the laptop case. If the external monitor works and you see that your applications function then you know that you are looking at a LCD screen repair, and in the event you don’t repair the laptop you can still recover your data. Even if you elect not to repair the laptop this kind of failure is the best of a bad situation because the laptops still functions and you can still recover your data.

If the Laptop screen hasn’t been physically damaged, but the screen is still blank, you should still connect an external monitor as described above and determine if the rest of the laptop is functional. In the case where the screen is blank and an external monitor doesn’t work a more expensive diagnosis and repair scenario will probably be your only option.

It is always best to take these basic steps before you get a repair person involved. You should think through your repair options before you are confronted with a potentially costly repair decision.

The author is a computer industry professional in the service and repair industry. His career dates back to the early 1960′s and the early solid state large scale super computers. He has managed services organizations responsible for service of large PC networks and manged repair center operations. He has served on service industry councils of IBM, HP and Compaq. His website http://www.finestlaptops.com is focused on providing information on, and sources for cheap laptop computers.

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Data Recovery Equipment

Today, computers are an integral and indispensable part of the IT world. No matter what your line may be, finance, education, business consulting and investigation, IT information security, or else. In fact, most people always take it for granted. You should never brag your computer can be failure-free.

The foremost use of computer is data storage. All the data is stored on a physical disk named hard disk drive which is a magnetic layer. And it is more likely to be stricken by a wide variety of reasons, such as a partition lost, system can not access, human mistake (accidental reformatting, deletion), file corruption, power surge, and virus attack, to the worst, these physical level failures typically are head crash, platter scratch, and motor failures caused by overwriting, physical damages, natural disasters, etc.

Sometimes a hard drive has been stricken dead or not working at all without any warning signs, but some other times there may be some clues that something is going bad or amiss. Such changes in performance or sudden blue screens are telltale signs that the hard drive may be on its way to collapse. The most obvious and common sign are clicking, squealing, scraping or grinding noises.

The computer become more involved in our daily life, so the danger of data loss also surfaces.

As most of us have already experienced data loss, it could be frustrated and traumatic, when you finally find your critical data are not able to recover. As a matter of fact, logical failures as I previously mentioned, a data recovery software program can simply work out, but speaking of physical failures, No! Those drives with minor physical failures will need a special equipment to repair hard drive itself or recover data.

Why data recovery software will stop there? The ordinary user-level repeated-read access method that is used by imaging software bring a risk of damaging the disk and head, making data lost irretrievable. Also the software skips bad sectors directly in order not to get hang (freeze). Even so it gets hang most of the time in case the drive has lost of bad sectors. Plus, there is no guarantee that all the data will be extracted as much as possible, though days or weeks of time wasted on imaging bad drives. That’s why you should avoid it at all cost.

A unique data recovery equipment known as Data Compass is mostly used among experts and practitioners worldwide, where traditional tools can not reach the height. Data Compass reads data of each sector physically byte-to-byte, including good and bad, and copy to a good disk using its data extraction software and hardware. “Shadow Disk” technology allows Data Compass to maximally avoid further damage to the drive, and ensure the data is not lost from repeated recovery attempts.

Technically speaking, it is hard to figure out how exactly the data can be recovered. It all depends. In most cases, data will be able to recover as long as the parts of hard drive are not severely damaged, otherwise you should swap its components then like platters, heads, and a spindle motor, for example.

A current tool named “hard drive head/platter exchange professional” used for drive disassembling and head/platter exchange will be replaced by the vendor soon. The change is made for optimization reason, and the new product is a better enhancement; plus, the new platter exchanger allows users to work on hard drive with spacers between platters.

If you have known much about data recovery and if you have a craving for this field, you should start your own business with a right equipment and then you can be an expert. Of course, it is not easy to find a proper option from current data recovery equipments with sky-high price in economy hard times. It is even worse when comes to new versions of software to products you are possessing, vendors will charge every time. In this case, free of charge upgrade service is the way to go.

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To learn much more about hard drive data recovery solutions, please visit salvationdata.com where you can get more free information on specialized data recovery equipment and firmware repair tools.

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