Archive for the ‘software’ Category
User Interface Design of Digital Technology
Friday, April 27th, 2007Personal exposure and experience with using any technology is a definite asset; however, it is not by any means a prerequisite in the business environment. There are many technologies that we use on a daily basis without understanding how to create the technology. Good examples are our automobiles, televisions, and digital video recorders.
Using Computer Clock Skew to Crack Anonymity Networks
Friday, December 29th, 2006At the recent Chaos Communications Congress, Steven J. Murdoch, a researcher in the security group at the University of Cambridge, discussed how clock skew can be used to facilitate a digital attack against anonymity networks. Clock skew, the tendency for a computer’s clock to become less precise when heated, can reduce the efficacy of anonymizers, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Tor network.
What Affects Website and E-mail Performance?
Saturday, November 25th, 2006Podcasting in America: 2006
Thursday, November 23rd, 2006A podcast is a digital multimedia file that is distributed via the internet. Podcast listeners/viewers may download individual podcast files or subscribe to a subscription feed that automates the downloading of podcast episodes. Podcasts may be played on a personal computer; however, the inherent portability of the medium encourages use of a mobile playback device, such as a portable MP3 player.
Who Registers a Domain and Who Hosts Websites & Email
Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006Web sites must be hosted on a computer that is connected to the Internet. Domains, the alphanumeric names given to Web sites, must be registered and assigned to the site. Otherwise, it we be much more difficult to locate Web sites and practically impossible to address e-mail messages.
Listen to the podcast at Internet Archive.
Creating Standard-Format Web Pages using Cascading Style Sheets
Saturday, November 18th, 2006I use Macromedia HomeSite to create new and to edit complex pages. Even though the product has a WYSIWYG option, I prefer to edit in the standard text mode, using the preview mode to check the layout of my code. I specifically encourage novice designers to refrain from using Microsoft FrontPage and other solely WYSIWYG design applications, as each of them inserts extraneous code into the page that is not in keeping with the W3 HTML standard. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3) is the standards body for Web content development.
Listen to the podcast at Internet Archive.
Securely Erasing Sensitive Data
Friday, November 10th, 2006Norton Ghost and DriveImage XML for System Backup
Friday, November 10th, 2006I prefer to use Norton Ghost, which guarantees me the ability to reconstruct my primary partition (C: drive), in the event of a system failure or software corruption.
Wireless Security and Connection Confirmation
Friday, November 10th, 2006I am occassionally asked how to secure wireless networks and to confirm that machines are connected through the network. The two tools at our disposal are wireless encryption and the ping command. Wireless encryption comes in two versions, WEP and WPA.
Listen to the podcast at Internet Archive.
System Performance: To Install or Not to Install
Friday, November 10th, 2006As a rule of thumb, installing and uninstalling software applications does slow down a Microsoft Windows system, because the system registry becomes more complex. However, some utility products carry a low system footprint, and I judge, offer specific value that cannot be obtained through the applications included with Microsoft Windows, thereby outweighing a minor reduction in system performance.
Listen to the podcast at Internet Archive.
Keeping Data Secure and Duplicated
Friday, November 10th, 2006Norton Ghost Easily Backs up Microsoft Windows Partitions
Friday, November 10th, 2006I keep each of my systems backed up using Norton Ghost. I duplicate the Norton Ghost backup images on the server, a portable hard disk, and DVD. With Norton Ghost, I can easily restore my primary Microsoft Windows partition (C: drive), in the event of any problem. I have never had to rebuild a primary partition since I began using Norton Ghost, about 12 years ago. It has saved my hide countless times!
Keeping Microsoft Windows XP System Registry in Tune
Friday, November 10th, 2006Flash Memory Has Limited Lifecycle
Friday, November 10th, 2006Flash memory devices have a write-erase life cycle of between 100,000 and 1,000,000 sets. I never thought of flash memory as being limited to the number of times a section of the media could be reused; I assumed that the media would be similar to hard disks, which fail mechanically before the media loses its ability to store and retrieve data.
Computer-Mediated Faxing
Friday, November 10th, 2006What is a Fully-Secured Computer?
Friday, November 10th, 2006The only fully-secured computer is one that is turned off. It is impossible to guarantee total security, especially once a computer is connected to a network, including the Internet. The best for which an IT manager (or an individual user) may hope is that the installed antivirus, antispam, and firewall applications are stronger than the attacks the computer receives.
Listen to the podcast at Internet Archive.
