1. Fun Twitter Tools

    March 31, 2010 by admin

    Twitter is here to stay. That is a fact that cannot be disputed. Nevertheless, how it evolves and sustains itself is something that cannot be envisioned yet. With Twitter CEO Evan Williams announcing the launch of the @anywhere service promulgation of Twitter, practically anyone connected to the web will have access to Twitter without necessarily going to its website. This practically guarantees its continued popularity with people around the world.

    The fun side of Twitter is still there, although online businesses, gurus, news and marketing seem to be the prominent force that prevails at the moment. So here are some fun tools you can use with Twitter and although some of these have nothing to do with Twitter, they function in the same way.

    Cursebird - A nifty little tool that gives you a list of people who are cursing and swearing currently on Twitter. It actually gives you results in real time and gives you statistics on the usage of these cuss words. You can even enter a particular person’s Twitter name and see their “curse statistics” as well.

    Twitoria - This app will help you figure out all the inactive users on your Twitter lists. All you have to do is enter your Twitter name and specify how far back in time you want to filter the results.

    Secrettweet - This website enables you to leave anonymous “Tweets”. You can also comment on your Tweets and other people’s Tweets anonymously. However, if you wish to, you can link your comments to your real Twitter account and have them appear there as well.
    twtTrip - A potentially useful and fun tool. It shows all the people who will be travelling to a destination at the same time so that they can, if they so wish, co-ordinate with each other either a place to meet or make traveling arrangements, etc. Unfortunately, this does not link up with Twitter for some odd reason.

    Twe2 - If you’ve been disappointed with Twitter stopping alerts to mobile phones, then Twe2 will be your fix. Twe2 will send you your direct messages and replies via SMS. The service supports itself by attaching little ads at the bottom of the SMS but that is a small price to pay for the convenience offered.

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  2. The Mysterious Green Light on the Motherboard

    March 27, 2010 by admin

    Opening up a PC is a task for those who know what they are doing. In the event that you have opened up the casing and just glanced inside, you might have noticed a strange green light on the motherboard. The mystery behind this little green LED light is actually quite simple.

    To understand this mystery we have to start with the first rule of messing with PC hardware - Unplug the computer. These days even this measure is not enough to protect you as the capacitors found in the power supply are quite capable of holding a strong charge for long time after the computer is switched off. In case you forget to unplug the cable or if for some reason the power supply is still sending electricity to the motherboard, there has to be a mechanism to inform you of this fact. The mechanism is the little green light.

    Therefore the main purpose of the green light (sometimes found in amber or red colors as well) is to function as a safety device. It can also be used to troubleshoot power issues as it is an indicator of whether power is coming through to the motherboard or not.

    When you do have to fix something on your motherboard, you should take the following precautions.

    1. At the back of the computer and on/off switch is located on the power supply. Shift this to the off position.
    2. Unplug the power cable from the wall socket or UPS system if it is connected to one.
    3. Disconnect the power cable that runs from the power supply to the motherboard.

    This final step will ensure that no live power is coming through to the motherboard and it is safe to touch. Always remember to de-static yourself before touching any components to avoid damaging them.

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  3. Get Rid of Piggybacking Spyware

    by admin

    Although the thought of software taking a piggyback ride on another sounds funny, the results of downloading and using such software are not.
    Piggybacking occurs in two forms, malicious and non-malicious. The non-malicious kind comes along with “decent” software. For example, reputed software providers like Adobe include an already pre-selected option to install a web toolbar within one of their product installations. If you are not closely watching the install process and blindly hitting “next”, the toolbar will be installed. While this may annoy you later, the toolbar can be uninstalled and to be fair, you did have the option of not installing it. The main thing here is that the intent of the company is not malicious in nature, but is geared towards self or product promotion.

    When it comes to the malicious kind of piggybacking, you will not be made aware of its presence. Most often, it comes through free games or tools that you find from unknown vendors. Once inside your system they can do whatever task they were designed to like throwing out pop-up windows, redirecting websites, steal your information, etc. In short, it can cause havoc and that is something you do not want.

    You can avoid this type of software by not running pirated software, downloading from disreputable sites, avoiding music sharing programs, etc. Even if you do not do these things, running a virus scanner and a spyware scanner regularly on your computer will help you. But remember, prevention is the best cure.

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  4. Connecting a Laptop to a TV

    March 19, 2010 by admin

    There are various reasons as to why users would want to connect their Laptops to their TVs. Doing so is not really a difficult task, but it does require a basic knowledge about ports and cables. If you have to hook up your laptop and TV, then the first thing to do would be to check the types of connections available on your devices.

    RCA - These connections are typically found on older laptop models. RCA connectors are round sockets which are color coded. Yellow is Composite Video, Red is Audio-right and White is Audio-left. You will find similar connectors on the back of your TV. Purchasing a three pronged RCA cable will enable you to make the connection.

    S-Video - Like RCA, this too is an analog cable albeit a more advanced one. The connector is circular and accommodates a four pin cable. However this does not transmit sound; so RCA or Headphone connectors have to be used to extract sound. An S-video cable has a four pin head at one and a RCA jack at the other end.

    VGA - These 15 pin connectors need a converter before a TV will recognize the signal. Typically the cable will travel from the laptop to a PC-to-TV converter which will be connected by another cable to the TV. Once again, audio is not part of this method so alternative audio transference needs to be arranged.

    DVI - Found on Apple computers, DVI is a rectangular connector featuring 24 pins. A converter is usually supplied by the company which enables connection with the TV.

    HDMI - Smaller than DVI connectors, it is an all-in-one cable that features Audio and Video. Most new TVs contain one or more HDMI ports, so all that is needed is just one simple cable.

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  5. Computer Rental as an Alternative to Purchasing

    by admin

    Renting a computer is an option that works for a select few. Anyone who wishes to own a computer should not consider this option as the rental cost in the long run will be greater than the cost purchasing a computer. For example, assume that a computer costs $1000 and rental costs $50 a month. If you go for the rental option, at the end of one and a half years you would have paid for the cost of the computer, and if you continue using the machine you are wasting your money. So it would have been better if you had purchased the computer in the first place.

    However, rentals do make sense for other entities. Startup offices that do not possess the capital to purchase several machines can resort to rentals to keep their initial costs down. For them it also means that part replacements and maintenance are taken care of by the supplier and upgrades cost only a small amount.

    For businesses that require computers at trade fairs or conventions, rentals can be a cost saving measure. These types of events are few and far between; therefore purchasing a large number of computers for just such an event cannot be justified.

    Travelers are another group of people who can look to the option of renting. If they do not wish to carry a laptop or do not possess one, then renting a computer at the location they are staying in makes sense.

    As you can see, renting computers is a short term solution. It is meant to be a stop-gap solution so it should not be used in the long term. Doing so will only lead to a loss financially, unless very specific conditions are laid out in the initial agreement with the supplier.

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  6. The Basics of IPV6

    March 13, 2010 by admin

    TCP/IP is the protocol used for communication on the internet. IPV4 is the version of the protocol that is currently in use. You may be surprised to learn that this protocol has been in service from a time before the internet. In computer tech terms, that is a very long time.
    The time has finally come for this protocol to be laid to rest finally and for another better version to take over. IPV6 will completely take over from IPV4 soon, due to certain limitations that have started to emerge in the latter over the past few years.

    Primarily, address space limitations will be solved by the introduction of the new standard. This will provide over a billion x billion addresses for each square meter of Earth, which makes it formidable indeed. It also has improved security features such as authenticity of the origin of data, end-to end data encryption, improved measures against IP spoofing and eavesdropping, etc. The new protocol will also make mobile networking better as well as improving real-time communication.

    However, move from IPV4 to IPV6 will take some time. Businesses have to see the “need” before they make the switch, as they have invested heavily in the existing technology. The cost of moving to this new protocol, the cost of training, and the lack of a killer app to motivate users are the basic barriers. But nevertheless, the benefits offered by IPV6 will eventually outweigh the issues. Therefore, we will see IPV6 implementations slowly gathering momentum in the very near future.

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  7. Choosing a Virus Scanner - The Basics

    by admin

    It is surprising that many users do not bother with virus scanners until they have been infected. Actually many users do not even know that they have been infected and continue using their PCs without a virus scanner, blissfully unaware of the havoc these viruses are wreaking.
    Viruses come in many forms and this is just a few of them in general. There is the destructive type which will harm or destroy files on a computer. There is the invasive type which steals your personal information (like credit card details, etc) and there is also the hidden type which uses your PC as a “cover” to commit attack on other computers connected to the internet or network you are on.

    So you can see why it is important to be protected. When choosing a virus scanner you should look for one that scans “online”. This simply means that the scanner scans every file whenever it is accessed. This will give you a fair amount of protection. The next thing to look for is the addition of a firewall. This will let you set rules and control the incoming and outgoing connections to your computer.

    Another important feature should be a virus database update feature. New viruses hit the internet on a daily and sometimes hourly basis, so it is important that your virus scanner database is up-to-date so that the scanner knows what to look for. Ideally the update service should happen automatically so that you don’t have to remember to update it.

    Apart from this, price is a very important factor. Not all expensive virus scanners are great and not all free virus scanners are bad. So before you go and make your purchase, do a lot of research and figure out which virus scanner is the best for your needs. This will ensure you get the best deal and the best protection that you deserve.

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  8. USB or eSata?

    March 6, 2010 by admin

    One major grouse of any computer user is the lack of storage space. As hard drives grow in size, files also seem to grow exponentially. It is hard to imagine a time when 1.44 MB floppy disks allowed a user to carry around multiple files.

    As users run out of storage space and physical space within the computer casing itself, they often find themselves turning to external storage devices. The reason why this was always a second choice is that external devices are always more expensive than internal devices. However, with mobility and sharing becoming priorities, the trend is changing. Users are shifting more and more towards portable devices and that brings them to the question, “Which technology should I choose?”

    We will briefly examine two methods which are appealing to users.

    USB 2.0 - This is currently THE most popular technology for external storage devices. This is because every single computer manufacturer has included USB technology in their computers. Therefore, making a storage device that uses this technology was a surefire winner. The only drawback is that as fast as USB 2.0 is, in this day and age even that speed of 30-35 MB/s is a little slow with the huge files that are being transferred. While the world waits for USB 3.0 (with transfers up to 400 MB/s), there is another alternative.

    eSata - Simply put, eSata is just the external version of a Sata drive that sits inside a computer. This makes it one of the fastest external storage devices with transfer rates up to 300 MB/s. One of the disadvantages is that the cable length can only go up to a maximum 2 m, less than half of the length supported by USB.

    The choice is really up to the user; neither technology can be put down and therefore the deciding factor will always boil down to cost.

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  9. A Short Introduction to Biometrics

    March 5, 2010 by admin

    Through the ages, verification of a person’s identity has always been an issue. Many different methods have been used over time, each replacing the previous one when loopholes were found. As successive technologies “fail”, security breaches and transaction fraud grows in numbers and in magnitude. This is why researchers are trying to perfect security systems that are based on Biometrics.

    Biometric analysis is used with the aid of computer algorithms to detect a person’s voice, signature, face, iris, retina, finger print and even hand geometry. In very high security situations all of these aspects could be examined, but in most other situations as few as two or three of these are examined.

    The reason why this form of security is becoming popular is that it is very difficult to crack. All aspects other than the signature and perhaps voice is very difficult to reproduce and therefore almost impossible to crack. In an age where privacy is becoming a rare commodity and personal information is being publicly disseminated, protecting what is left is an absolute priority.

    Biometrics was once found exclusively within secure government agencies and installations. But as the cost of manufacturing detection devices comes down it is finding its way into the public domain as well. Many laptop manufacturers are already shipping units that have fingerprint scanners as alternatives to passwords. Offices have widely adopted fingerprint scanners to replace employee work login times.

    As the technology grows and improves, it will only be a matter of time before we do away with remembering a multitude of passwords and carrying documentation to prove who we are.

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