Thursday, November 27, 2008

Hero Honda launches CHROME karizma

Hero Honda, the world's largest two wheeler manufacturer, on Thursday presented its 15 millionth bike - a special 'All Chrome' Karizma to Hero Honda Brand Ambassador and superstar Hrithik Roshan.
The keys to this very special bike were handed over to Hrithik Roshan by Pawan Munjal, managing director, Hero Honda Motors Ltd at a special function organised in the capital on Thursday.
Speaking on this momentous occasion Munjal, said, "The Hero Honda family is elated to have achieved the landmark figure of 15 million motorcycles in the shortest ever time-span.
"To celebrate this occasion, our R&D team has created a very special 15 millionth motorcycle - the customised all-chrome Karizma, a very stylish bike that truly befits our brand ambassador and style icon Hrithik Roshan."
He further added, "This achievement is a reflection of the success of our vehicles, which truly offer customers a combination of the most advanced technology, latest innovative designs and unmatched fuel-efficiency.
"We are very pleased that Hero Honda has been successful in setting new benchmarks for the global two-wheeler industry. This year, Hero Honda will be launching 8 exciting new products to consolidate our market leadership."
Hero Honda achieved the cumulative figure of 15 million two-wheelers in March 2006, in the shortest span of 21 years. The company has recently announced its third plant in Jaipur with an investment of Rs 320 crore (Rs 3.2 billion) and will be commissioned in a year. Capacity expansion of 900,000 units has also been undertaken in the company's existing plants with an investment of Rs 141 crore (Rs 1.41 billion).

Connecting Computers over an Intranet

In some corporate internetworks, the departmental data is so sensitive that the department's LAN is physically disconnected from the rest of the corporate internetwork. Although this protects the department's confidential information, it creates information accessibility problems for those users not physically connected to the separate LAN. VPNs allow the department's LAN to be physically connected to the corporate internetwork but separated by a VPN server. The VPN server is not acting as a router between the corporate internetwork and the department LAN. A router would connect the two networks, allowing everyone access to the sensitive LAN. By using a VPN, the network administrator can ensure that only those users on the corporate internetwork who have appropriate credentials (based on a need-to-know policy within the company) can establish a VPN with the VPN server and gain access to the protected resources of the department. Additionally, all communication across the VPN can be encrypted for data confidentiality. Those users who do not have the proper credentials cannot view the department LAN.

Connecting Networks Over the Internet

There are two methods for using VPNs to connect local area networks at remote sites:Using dedicated lines to connect a branch office to a corporate LAN. Rather than using an expensive long-haul dedicated circuit between the branch office and the corporate hub, both the branch office and the corporate hub routers can use a local dedicated circuit and local ISP to connect to the Internet. The VPN software uses the local ISP connections and the Internet to create a virtual private network between the branch office router and corporate hub router.Using a dial-up line to connect a branch office to a corporate LAN. Rather than having a router at the branch office make a long distance (or 1-800) call to a corporate or outsourced NAS, the router at the branch office can call the local ISP. The VPN software uses the connection to the local ISP to create a VPN between the branch office router and the corporate hub router across the Internet.In both cases, the facilities that connect the branch office and corporate offices to the Internet are local. The corporate hub router that acts as a VPN server must be connected to a local ISP with a dedicated line. This VPN server must be listening 24 hours a day for incoming VPN traffic.

Virtual Private Networking

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) allow users to rely on the Internet as a secure pipeline to their corporate Local Area Network (LAN). Users who are travelling can dial into almost any local Internet Service Provider (ISP), then set up a VPN session to connect to their LAN over the Internet. With VPNs, companies can significantly reduce long-distance dial-up charges, and mobile employees have an inexpensive method of remaining connected to LANs for extended periods.Configuring Windows 2000 Profession to connect to a VPN is significantly easier with the new Network Connections Wizard. Users enter the VPN server name and Windows 2000 Professional automatically configures the device and adds the appropriate networking services?everything a user needs to get connected in about one minute.In addition to supporting today?s most common VPN protocol, Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) Windows 2000 Professional supports new, more secure ways of creating virtual connections such as Layer-2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) and IP Security (IPSec), allowing users to connect to corporate networks with confidence.

Transport Layer Security

Transport Layer Security (TLS) and its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), are cryptographic protocols that provide secure communications on the Internet for such things as web browsing, e-mail, Internet faxing, instant messaging and other data transfers. There are slight differences between SSL and TLS, but the protocol remains substantially the same. The TLS protocol allows applications to communicate across a network in a way designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering, and message forgery. TLS provides endpoint authentication and communications privacy over the Internet using cryptography. Typically, only the server is authenticated (i.e., its identity is ensured) while the client remains unauthenticated; this means that the end user (whether an individual or an application, such as a Web browser) can be sure with whom they are communicating. The next level of security?in which both ends of the "conversation" are sure with whom they are communicating?is known as mutual authentication. Mutual authentication requires public key infrastructure (PKI) deployment to clients unless TLS-PSK or TLS-SRP are used, which provide strong mutual authentication without needing to deploy a PKI.TLS involves three basic phases:1. Peer negotiation for algorithm support 2. Public key exchange and certificate-based authentication 3. Symmetric cipher encryptionDuring the first phase, the client and server negotiate cipher suites, which combine one cipher from each of the following:1. Public-key cryptography: RSA, Diffie-Hellman, DSA 2. Symmetric ciphers: RC2, RC4, IDEA, DES, Triple DES, AES or Camellia 3. Cryptographic hash function: MD2, MD4, MD5 or SHA.

What is Domain Name System (DNS)?

• DNS server is computers that translate the domain name of another computer into an IP address a vice versa on request.
• A set of servers called domain name servers (DNS) maps the human-readable names to the IP addresses. These servers are simple databases that map names to IP addresses, and they are distributed all over the Internet.
• There are two kind of computer address: IP address(192.168.46.34), domain name(www.abc.com)
• The browser contacts a DNS server to get the IP address. A DNS server would start its search for an IP address by contacting one of the root DNS servers. DNS is the primary system used to resolve host names on the Internet.
• The Domain Name System was first introduced in 1984.
• With DNS, the host names reside in a database that can be distributed among multiple servers
• The name system is based on hierarchical names in a tree-type directory structure.
• Domain names follow a format of domain name system.
• The Internet Network Information Center (InterNIC) controls the top-level domains.

What is TELNET?

IP address are entered manuallyIP address could be entered incorrectlyCommunication and network issue can resultFrequent computer move increase administrative effortIP address are supplied automaticallyCorrect configuration information is ensuredClient configuration is updated automaticallyA common source of network problem is eliminated.

The term telnet also refers to software which implements the client part of the protocol. TELNET clients have been available on most Unix systems for many years and are available for virtually all platforms. Most network equipment and OSs with a TCP/IP stack support some kind of TELNET service server for their remote configuration (including ones based on Windows NT). Recently, Secure Shell has begun to dominate remote access for Unix-based machines."To telnet" is also used as a verb meaning to establish or use a TELNET or other interactive TCP connection, as in, "To change your password, telnet to the server and run the passwd command". Most often, a user will be telneting to a unix-like server system or a simple network device such as a switch. For example, a user might "telnet in from home to check his mail at school". In doing so, he would be using a telnet client to connect from his computer to one of his servers. Once the connection is established, he would then log in with his account information and execute operating system commands remotely on that computer, such as ls or cd. On many systems, the client may also be used to make interactive raw-TCP sessions, even when that option is not available, telnet sessions are equivalent to raw TCP as long as byte 255 never appears in the data.

Introduction to wi-fi

Wi-Fi is more analogous to the traditional Ethernet network and requires configuration to set up shared resources, transmit files, set up audio links (for example, headsets and hands-free devices). It uses the same radio frequencies as Bluetooth, but with higher power output resulting in a stronger connection.Wi-Fi is sometimes called "wireless Ethernet." Although this description is inaccurate, it provides an indication of its relative strengths and weaknesses. Wi-Fi requires more setup, but is better suited for operating full-scale networks because it enables a faster connection, better range from the base station, and better security than Bluetooth.A Wi-Fi enabled device such as a PC, cell phone or PDA can connect to the Internet when within range of a wireless network connected to the Internet. The area covered by one or several interconnected access points is called a hotspot. Hotspots can cover as little as a single room with wireless-opaque walls or as much as many square miles covered by overlapping access points. Wi-Fi can also be used to create a mesh network. Both architectures are used in community networks.Wi-Fi also allows connectivity in peer-to-peer (wireless ad-hoc network) mode, which enables devices to connect directly with each other. This connectivity mode is useful in consumer electronics and gaming applications.When the technology was first commercialized there were many problems because consumers could not be sure that products from different vendors would work together. The Wi-Fi Alliance began as a community to solve this issue so as to address the needs of the end user and allow the technology to mature. The Alliance created the branding Wi-Fi CERTIFIED to show consumers that products are interoperable with other products displaying the same branding.Many consumer devices use Wi-Fi. Amongst others, personal computers can network to each other and connect to the Internet, mobile computers can connect to the Internet from any Wi-Fi hotspot, and digital cameras can transfer images wirelessly.

What is Wi-Fi?

DHCP allows you to manage IP address allocation from a central location. You con configure a DHCP server to allocate IP addresses either for a single subnet or for multiple subnets. The DHCP server can assign client IP address configuration data to clients automatically. A lease is the length of time for which a DHCP client can use a dynamically assigned IP address configuration. Before the lease time expires, the client must either renew the lease or obtain a new lease form DHCP.DHCP managers the assignment and release of the IP address configuration data by leasing the IP address configuration to the client. The DHCP lease specifies how long the client can use the IP configuration data before returning it to the DHCP server and then renewing the data. The process of assigning IP address configuration data is known as the DHCP lease generation process. The process of renewing the IP address configuration data is known as the DHCP lease renewal process.The first time a DHCP client is added to the network, that client request IP address configuration data form a DHCP server. When the DHCP server receives the client request, the server selects an IP address form a range of addresses that the administrator has defined in its scope. The DHCP server offers this IP address configuration data to the DHCP client. If the client accepts the offer, the DHCP server leases the IP address to the client for a specified period of time. The client then uses the IP address configuration data to access the network.DHCP uses a four-step process to lease IP addressing information to DHCP clients. The four steps are named after the DHCP packet types:1. DHCP discover2. DHCP offer3. DHCP request4. DHCP acknowledgement or DHCP negative acknowledgement.DNS is a name resolution service. DNS resolves human-friendly addresses (such as www.microsoft.com) in to IP addresses (such as 192.168.0.1). Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical distributed database that contains mappings of DNS host name to IP addresses. DNS enables user access to maps the alphanumeric host name to the numeric IP address. DNS also enables the system discovery of network services, such as e-mail server and domain controllers in the Microsoft? Active Directory? directory service.DNS is the foundation of the internet naming scheme, and it is also the foundation of an organization's Active Directory domain naming scheme. Without DNS, you would have to locate the IP Address of resources to access those resources. Because resource IP address can change, it would be difficult to maintain an accurate list of IP addresses and matching resources. DNS allows users to focus on alphanumeric names, which remain relatively constant in an organization, rather than on IP addresses.With DNS, the host name reside in a database that can be distributed among multiple servers, decreasing the load on any one server and providing the ability to administer this naming system on a per-domain name basis. DNS supports hierarchical names and allows registration of various data types in addition to the host name to IP address mapping that is used in the Hosts files. Because the DNS database is distributed, its size is unlimited, and performance does not degrade much when server are added.

What is Bluetooth?

Bluetooth is a radio standard and communications protocol primarily designed for low power consumption, with a short range (power-class-dependent: 1 meter, 10 meters, 100 m)[1] based on low-cost transceiver microchips in each device. Bluetooth lets these devices communicate with each other when they are in range. The devices use a radio communications system, so they do not have to be in line of sight of each other, and can even be in other rooms, as long as the received transmission is powerful enough. Bluetooth is implemented in a variety of new products such as phones, printers, modems, and headsets. Bluetooth is acceptable for situations when two or more devices are in proximity to each other and don't require high bandwidth. Bluetooth is most commonly used with phones and hand-held computing devices, either using a Bluetooth headset or transferring files from phones/PDAs to computers.Bluetooth also simplifies the discovery and setup of services. Bluetooth devices advertise all services they provide. This makes the utility of the service that much more accessible, without the need to worry about network addresses, permissions and all the other considerations that go with typical networks.More prevalent applications of Bluetooth include:Wireless control of and communication between a cell phone and a hands-free headset or car kit. This was one of the earliest applications to become popular.Wireless networking between PCs in a confined space and where little bandwidth is required.Wireless communications with PC input and output devices, the most common being the mouse, keyboard and printer.Transfer of files between devices with OBEX.Transfer of contact details, calendar appointments, and reminders between devices with OBEX.Replacement of traditional wired serial communications in test equipment, GPS receivers, medical equipment and traffic control devices.For controls where infrared was traditionally used.Sending small advertisements from Bluetooth enabled advertising hoardings to other, discoverable, Bluetooth devices.Seventh-generation game consoles-Nintendo Wii[2], Sony PlayStation 3-use Bluetooth for their respective wireless controllers.Remote management of sex toys (see Bluedildonics, Teledildonics, Related articles [3][4][5][6])Purchasing goods from a vending machine, common in Japan [1]Receiving commercial advertisements ("spam") via a kiosk, e.g. at a movie theatre or lobby .

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Honda CBF Stunner motorcycle

Honda’s new motorcycle CBF Stunner unveiled its new 125 cc sports bike, the CBF Stunner, for the Indian market.CBF Stunner motorcycles will be available in three vresions - Self Disc Alloy (Price Rs 51,655), Self Drum Alloy (Price: Rs 49,820) and Kick Drum Alloy (Price: Rs 47,070). At this point, Honda will offer the Stunner CBF in red, black, metallic silver and yellow colours.Lookswise, you could call it a mini-Karizma. It looks like a well-put together package for sure. We think it looks the best in yellow, the bright colour nicely contrasting with the matte black handlebars and black front fairing.
Basic specifications of the Honda Stunner CBF are as follows:
125cc, 11 bhpKerb Weight: 129 kgWheelbase: 1271mmFuel tank capacity: 10 litres
Tubeless tryesFront 80/100-17 and Rear: 100/90-77Front Brakes: 240mm Disc or 130mm DrumRear Brake: 130mm drum
Starting: Kickstart / Electric
5 speed transmissionTrip meter
Honda claims acceleration figures of 0-60 kmph at 5.2 seconds for the CBF Stunner. Take it with a pinch of salt, the motorcycle weighs 129 kg, and even the iconic Yamaha RX 100 could not do that. It will be good, we are sure though.

Honda intends to sell 10 lakh motorcycles during 2008-2009 fiscal year, out of which the company expects 80,000 to be CBF Stunner motorcycles. Honda has priced the Stunner CBF bike between Rs 47,070 and Rs 51,655 (Ex-Showroom, Delhi).
Apart from the CBF Stunner, the company also has lined up measures to roll out two more new motorcycle models in 2008. Plus, there is an 800 cc motorcycle from Honda in the pipeline for India, though details are sketchy at this moment. We hear the 800 cc motorcycle would be priced above Rs 10 lakh, and that is real close the just-launched Suzuki Hayabusa.
Honda had posted sales figures of of 9.07 lakh units in the previous fiscal, aims at selling as many as 3 lakh motorcycles and 7 lakh scooters this fiscal.
The bike major which had plans to come up with a new manufacturing facility seems to have put such plans in the backburner and is focusing on improving sales. The company currently boasts of a production capacity of 1.2 million units.

VoIP Gateways:

Gateways have become a central, yet complex, component in most state-of-the-art VoIP systems. Although they’ve been around for years, VoIP gateways remain something of a mystery. What, exactly, are these devices gateways to? Do they lead the way into a data network, a voice network, telephones, network management or outright confusion? In a way, they actually open the door to all of these areas. That's because VoIP gateways have become a central, yet complex, component in most state-of-the-art VoIP systems.VoIP gateways act as VoIP network translators and mediators. Perhaps most importantly, they translate calls placed through the public switched telephone network (PSTN) - the "regular" telephone system - into digital data packets that are compatible with an enterprise's VoIP system. VoIP gateways can also help direct VoIP calls to specific users with the assistance of built-in routing tables. Additionally, the units can translate between different VoIP protocols, such as H.323 and SIP, enabling compatibility between various VoIP systems and devices.Given all of these benefits, it's easy to see why VoIP gateways are highly recommended for virtually any VoIP implementation. Yet this hasn't always been the case. In VoIP's early days, system designers often "VoIP-enabled" switches and routers to handle key gateway tasks. But as VoIP networks grew larger and more sophisticated, and as end users began demanding higher quality and more reliable service, most designers began specifying standalone VoIP gateways for their systems.

Information and Communication Technology

Today the Information and Communication Technology becoming more broaden & advanced, and provides all the users with a broad perspective on the nature of technology, how to use and apply a variety of technologies, and the impact of information and communication technologies on themselves and on society. Adopting the facility that has been given by the technology is not intended to stand alone, but rather to be adopting and extending all over the world on the public level should be far better. What technology is using people from different part of the world is different on their understanding because of their level of difference in country development and technology implementation. VoIP (Voice over IP) is the top most popular and burning communication technology for the upcoming decades. So, let’s talk about it.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

How Nanotechnology Will Work

In the early 20th century, Henry Ford built a car manufacturing plant on a 2,000-acre tract of land along the Rouge River in Michigan. Built to mass-produce automobiles more efficiently, the Rouge housed the equipment for developing each phase of a car, including blast furnaces, a steel mill and a glass plant. More than 90 miles of railroad track and conveyor belts kept Ford's car assembly line running. The Rouge model was lauded as the most efficient method of production at a time when bigger meant better. The size of Ford's assembly plant would look strange to those born and raised in the 21st century. In the next 50 years, machines will get increasingly smaller -- so small that thousands of these tiny machines would fit into the period at the end of this sentence. Within a few decades, we will use these nanomachines to manufacture consumer goods at the molecular level, piecing together one atom or molecule at a time to make baseballs, telephones and cars. This is the goal of nanotechnology. As televisions, airplanes and computers revolutionized the world in the last century, scientists claim that nanotechnology will have an even more profound effect on the next century. Nanotechnology is an umbrella term that covers many areas of research dealing with objects that are measured in nanometers. A nanometer (nm) is a billionth of a meter, or a millionth of a millimeter.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Web-based scripting (PHP)

PHP is used to create the dynamic web pages essential for carrying out the requirements of this project. Data collected from various users is inserted into the database using the PHP scripts. PHP enables the administrator to access and administer the database. The code for network configuration, noise generation, call generation and playing the voice files are also included into the overall PHP script. So in the whole the PHP scripts drive the whole VIPER implementation.

The Future of Home Networking

Home networking is really just beginning to hit its stride. Many of the homes being built today include Cat 5 wiring as part of the basic infrastructure. Highly specialized networking products that are proprietary in nature (like IBM's HomeDirector) are also available options. A lot of companies are focusing significant resources on developing new networking technology. HomePlug is working on increasing the data rate of power-line networking. HomeRF is working on a SWAP version 2 specification that will greatly increase the speed of wireless networking. Another wireless standard, HiperLAN2, is based on the upcoming IEEE 802.11a specification and promises speeds up to 54 Mbps in the 5-GHz range! One thing is for sure, home networks will continue to improve and grow.

Proxy Servers and DMZ

A function that is often combined with a firewall is a proxy server. The proxy server is used to access Web pages by the other computers. When another computer requests a Web page, it is retrieved by the proxy server and then sent to the requesting computer. The net effect of this action is that the remote computer hosting the Web page never comes into direct contact with anything on your home network, other than the proxy server. Proxy servers can also make your Internet access work more efficiently. If you access a page on a Web site, it is cached (stored) on the proxy server. This means that the next time you go back to that page, it normally doesn't have to load again from the Web site. Instead it loads instantaneously from the proxy server. There are times that you may want remote users to have access to items on your network. Some examples are:
• Web site
• Online business
• FTP download and upload area In cases like this, you may want to create a DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). Although this sounds pretty serious, it really is just an area that is outside the firewall. Think of DMZ as the front yard of your house. It belongs to you and you may put some things there, but you would put anything valuable inside the house where it can be properly secured. Setting up a DMZ is very easy. If you have multiple computers, you can choose to simply place one of the computers between the Internet connection and the firewall. Most of the software firewalls available will allow you to designate a directory on the gateway computer as a DMZ. Once you have a firewall in place, you should test it. A great way to do this is to go to www.grc.com and try their free Shields Up! security test. You will get immediate feedback on just how secure your system is!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Configuring Virtual Memory

Take Windows 98 as an example of a typical operating system that has virtual memory. Windows 98 has an intelligent virtual memory manager that uses a default setting to help Windows allocate hard drive space for virtual memory as needed. For most circumstances, this should meet your needs, but you may want to manually configure virtual memory, especially if you have more than one physical hard drive or speed-critical applications. To do this, open the "Control Panel" window and double-click on the "System" icon. The system dialog window will open. Click on the "Performance" tab and then click on the "Virtual Memory" button. Click on the option that says, "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings." This will make the options below that statement become active. Click on the drop-down list beside "Hard disk:" to select the hard drive that you wish to configure virtual memory for. Remember that a good rule of thumb is to equally split virtual memory between the physical hard disks you have. In the "Minimum:" box, enter the smallest amount of hard drive space you wish to use for virtual memory on the hard disk specified. The amounts are in megabytes. For the "C:" drive, the minimum should be 2 megabytes. The "Maximum:" figure can be anything you like, but one possible upper limit is twice physical RAM space. Windows default is normally 12 megabytes above the amount of physical RAM in your computer. To put the new settings into effect, close the dialog box and restart your computer. The amount of hard drive space you allocate for virtual memory is important. If you allocate too little, you will get "Out of Memory" errors. If you find that you need to keep increasing the size of the virtual memory, you probably are also finding that your system is sluggish and accesses the hard drive constantly. In that case, you should consider buying more RAM to keep the ratio between RAM and virtual memory about 2:1. Some applications enjoy having lots of virtual memory space but do not access it very much. In that case, large paging files work well. One trick that can improve the performance of virtual memory (especially when large amounts of virtual memory are needed) is to make the minimum and maximum sizes of the virtual memory file identical. This forces the operating system to allocate the entire paging file when you start the machine. That keeps the paging file from having to grow while programs are running, which improves performance. Many video applications recommend this technique to avoid pauses while reading or writing video information between hard disk and tape. Another factor in the performance of virtual memory is the location of the pagefile. If your system has multiple physical hard drives (not multiple drive letters, but actual drives), you can spread the work among them by making smaller pagefiles on each drive. This simple modification will significantly speed up any system that makes heavy use of virtual memory.

What is Virtual Memory

Most computers today have something like 32 or 64 megabytes of RAM available for the CPU to use (see How RAM Works for details on RAM). Unfortunately, that amount of RAM is not enough to run all of the programs that most users expect to run at once.
For example, if you load the operating system, an e-mail program, a Web browser and word processor into RAM simultaneously, 32 megabytes is not enough to hold it all. If there were no such thing as virtual memory, then once you filled up the available RAM your computer would have to say, "Sorry, you can not load any more applications. Please close another application to load a new one." With virtual memory, what the computer can do is look at RAM for areas that have not been used recently and copy them onto the hard disk. This frees up space in RAM to load the new application.

Because this copying happens automatically, you don't even know it is happening, and it makes your computer feel like is has unlimited RAM space even though it only has 32 megabytes installed. Because hard disk space is so much cheaper than RAM chips, it also has a nice economic benefit.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Aigo Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP5 player

Recently Aigo Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP5 player (PMP) has been released by Aigo. The other name is MP5-MK3510 as well. This MP5-MK3510 has a 4.3-inch display with resolution having 480 x 272 pixels. It also has functionality for image viewing, integrated ebook supports , FM tuner and also supports AVI, FLV, RM, RMVB, MPG, MPEG, FLV, DAT video files and MP3, FLAC, WMA, APE with BBE and SRS file formats.
It has an excellent battery life which shall give you ariound 10 hours of continuous audio playback and around 4 hours of video playback. It ahs a weight of 185 gms and other stats as 133mm x 87mm x 154 mm.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Network monitoring

This portion of network monitoring is concerned with observing and analyzing the status and behavior of the end system, intermediate systems and sub networks that make up the configuration to be managed.

Major design areas of network monitoring:
1. Access to monitored informations.
2. Design of monitoring mechanism.
3. Application of monitored information

Network monitoring Architecture - Informations:
The information that should be available for network monitoring can be classified as
- Static
- Dynamic
- Statistical

Static information characterizes the current configuration and the elements in the current configuration such as number and identification of ports on a router. This information will change only infrequently.
Dynamic information is related to events in the network, such as a change of state of a protocol machine or the transmission of a packet on a network.
Statistical information may be derived from dynamic information, such as the average number of packets transmitted per unit time by an end system.

Collection and storing of monitored information:
Static information is typically generated by the element involved.
- Dynamic information is generated, collected and stored by the network element responsible for the underlying events or by the remote monitor.
- Statistical information can be generated by any system that has access to underlying synamic information.

Corvette XL 3D model

Corvette lowpoly 3d model, textured with bitmaps. Comes with diffuse and normal map for bump.

Suzuki A-Star car launched

The A-Star concept car is a hatchback powered by a 1-litre petrol engine, to be made well within all emission regulations of the Euro 5 norms and a carbon dioxide emission lower than those of European competitors. The A-Star has a prominent front grille, angular headlights, and thin-strip tail-lights flowing onto the rear door. The A-Star is the fifth world car launched by Suzuki after the Swift, Grand Vitara, SX4 and Splash.


The A-Star has been jointly designed by Maruti Suzuki and Suzuki Motor Corporation. The design is mainly European with some Indian accents. Designed by two Indians, Saurabh Singh and Kumar Gogu, at Maruti Suzuki India's research and development team, the A-Star has a design that derives its inspiration from an elephant's trunk, its eyes and curves of flower petals.

The Suzuki launch coincided with the unveiling of other car makers’ vehicles at the Pragati Maidan. While General Motors launched its premier sports utility vehicle, Chevrolet Captiva, expected to take on the Honda CR-V and Mitsubishi Pajero, German giant Volkswagen said that it would introduce new models including Jetta and Phaeton in 2008.

Quick Specs:
Powertrain: Font engined, front wheel drive 1.0L engine

Tyres: 205/45 R17

Transmission: 5 speed manual

Length: 3580mm

Width: 1680mmHeight: 1400mm

Wheelbase: 2360mm

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Listening to Live365 Broadcasts

To hear any Live365 Internet radio broadcast, listeners should download Live365’s Player365, a browser plug-in that enables any browser to play Live365 audio. Other players are also supported by Live365, but Player365 provides the best results of Live365 broadcasts. Live365’s directory of more than 30,000 Internet radio stations provides portal-like access to programming in numerous genres, including music, talk and news. Internet radio broadcasts available on Live365 originate from 70 countries and are heard by listeners in more than 100 countries. Live365’s directory of Internet broadcasters lists individuals, as well as commercial and public radio stations, organizations (civic, religious, educational, political, governmental and social) and businesses. A unique feature that Live365 offers listeners is a preset function, similar to presets on car radios. After signing in to Live365, listeners can select and save stations so that they can be found again easily in the future. Internet Radio CommunityLive365 offers chat rooms and message boards for increased interaction between Internet radio broadcasters and listeners. Both communities cover a variety of musical genres, as well as hot new topics and forums for Internet radio broadcasters to exchange ideas on technical and promotional topics.

What is Live365?

Live365 is revolutionizing the way that Internet radio is broadcast. For broadcasters, Live365 offers a suite of software tools and provides bandwidth and storage space on its servers. For listeners, Live365 provides a way for them to sort through broadcasts and set preference options. Live365 also brings together the broadcasters and listeners in online communities, such as message boards and chat rooms. The company makes entry into the world of Internet radio fast and simple. Live365.com’s Internet Broadcasting ToolsLive365 offers several broadcasting methods for its broadcasters, ranging from live feed from their computers to stored feed from audio files that broadcasters have uploaded to Live365’s servers. The company also offers relayed broadcasts that originate on another site but can be listed in Live365’s broadcast directory. Live365 offers two main broadcasting services:
• Broadcast365 is a commercial service for organizations, educational institutions, business, government or other groups that want to host broadcasts from their Web sites. The service creates a customized play list that pops up in the user's browser window. From the organization's Web site, users can choose from the play list and listen to an Internet radio broadcast. Sites are included in Live365’s directory, providing access to listeners in 100 countries. Broadcast365 customers also have access to listener data. Broadcast365 comes in basic and premium versions at varying prices to meet the needs of different organizations.
• Studio365 is for individuals who want to create a personal Internet radio station. This suite of tools gives broadcasters the opportunity to create and stream a 24-hour broadcast. It also provides the bandwidth and storage on Live365’s servers so there's no need for a continuous Internet connection. Broadcasters can create and upload MP3 files using Studio365-Loader, a software application that allows a broadcaster to upload MP3 files into an individualized music library. The broadcaster can access the files for an Internet radio broadcast. Versions of Studio365-Live allow broadcasters to broadcast live from their computer. Broadcasters can change play lists live on the air, add live voice between songs, or broadcast live talk shows or news. Live365 also provides legal support regarding royalty payments and fees. For all programs transmitted to the public exclusively via the Live365.com Web site, Live365.com has paid the necessary royalties and fees on behalf of its Internet broadcasters. Live365.com secures all U.S. musical composition sound recording performance royalties through its licenses with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) and the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC). Live365 also provides other legal guidelines and advice for its broadcasters in keeping with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, recent legislation enacted by the U.S. Congress.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Cowon O2 PMP is coming out In the Japanese Market


The new Cowon O2 PMP (Portable Media Player) has an excellent 4.3-inch touch screen and various memory options: 8GB/16GB/32GB/ of memory. It also has an electronic-dictionary and microSD card slot. The Cowon O2 PMP is also compatible with players like DivX, XviD, WM9, MPEG4, H .264 for videos and MP3, AC3, ACC, WMA, FLAG, OGG for audio files.

Regarding price, it is expected to be available for:
1. 8GB PMP player to be out for 240€.
2. 16GB PMP player to be out for 280€.
3. 32GB PMP player to be out for 350€.

Google is taking questions via IPhone


Hey IPhone Lovers.... Thats a great news for you. The Giant Google is about to release a new application for iPhone that will allow you to make a search through voice. For that you will need to speak the search term inside the application to get the search results. For a minute, you might feel why this move by Google!! The only reason I can make out is that this application will be convenient while you are on the move lets say driving or maybe you want to give some rest to your fingers by not pecking out your search query on the Apple IPhone's keyboard.

This free application is expected to be out this Friday through Apple iTunes store. The users are required to place the phone to their ear and ask the question like "Who is the best batsmen in the world?" The application will encode the sound to a digital stream and sent to Google's servers which will decode the digital stream again to the words spoken and then pass them on to the Google search engine.

Now the most important thing is : whether the results are displayed quickly or not. As expected, the results will be displayed in few seconds only on the fast wireless network and may also include local search information taking advantage of IPhone feature which can determine the location of the user. Moreover, Google executives are claiming that the search results will be accurate enough to be useful who wants o avoid typing their search queries on the Apple IPhone's touch screen virtual keyboard.

Just like other Google products, this application is available to consumers for no extra money and the Giant is planning to make this application for other phones as well.

Genetic Engineering info

Genetic engineering, genetic modification (GM) and gene splicing are terms for the process of manipulating genes, usually outside the organism's natural reproductive process.

It involves the isolation, manipulation and reintroduction of DNA into cells or model organisms, usually to express a protein. The aim is to introduce new characteristics or attributes physiologically or physically, such as making a crop resistant to a herbicide, introducing a novel trait, or producing a new protein or enzyme, along with altering the organism to produce more of certain traits.

Examples can include the production of human insulin through the use of modified bacteria, the production of erythropoietin in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells, and the production of new types of experimental mice such as the OncoMouse (cancer mouse) for research, through genetic redesign.

Since a protein is specified by a segment of DNA called a gene, future versions of that protein can be modified by changing the gene's underlying DNA. One way to do this is to isolate the piece of DNA containing the gene, precisely cut the gene out, and then reintroduce (splice) the gene into a different DNA segment.

Since a protein is specified by a segment of DNA called a gene, future versions of that protein can be modified by changing the gene's underlying DNA. One way to do this is to isolate the piece of DNA containing the gene, precisely cut the gene out, and then reintroduce (splice) the gene into a different DNA segment. Daniel Nathans and Hamilton Smith received the 1978 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their isolation of restriction endonucleases, which are able to cut DNA at specific sites. Together with ligase, which can join fragments of DNA together, restriction enzymes formed the initial basis of recombinant DNA technology.

Ichthyosaurs

chthyosaurs 3d model - .max, .obj and .3ds - 6MB

The word Ichthyosaurs is derived from Greek word - meaning "Fish Lizard". Ichthyosaurs lived some 90 million years ago during the Mesozoic era.
This is a high resolution model of Ichthyosaurs with high resolution texture.

Volkswagen Bora

Volkswagen Bora 3d model - .max, .obj and .3ds - 6.3MB

Volkswagen Bora or VW Jetta, the name depends on model and country was introduced in 1979 by Volkswagen. This is the fourth generation model of Volkswagen Bora.

Highly detailed and neatly textured 3d model comes with standard materials for 3dsmax 8 and finalrender materials for 3dsmax 2009.

Creating a Virtual Stink

Can you imagine a world with no smells? Think of some of the smells that you would never be able to enjoy, like homemade cookies, flowers or that scent that follows a summer rain. Smell adds so much to our experiences. Of course, without smell there is also no taste, since our sense of taste is almost completely dependent on our sense of smell. This world without smell exists on the Internet -- but that is about to change. You will soon have your choice of two computer peripheral devices that will make your nose as involved in your Web experience as your eyes and ears. Let's take a look at these devices.

Cellular Telephone Basics

Cell and Sector TerminologyWith cellular radio we use a simple hexagon to represent a complex object: the geographical area covered by cellular radio antennas. These areas are called cells. Using this shape let us picture the cellular idea, because on a map it only approximates the covered area. Why a hexagon and not a circle to represent cells?
When showing a cellular system we want to depict an area totally covered by radio, without any gaps. Any cellular system will have gaps in coverage, but the hexagonal shape lets us more neatly visualize, in theory, how the system is laid out. Notice how the circles below would leave gaps in our layout. Still, why hexagons and not triangles or rhomboids? Read the text below and we'll come to that discussion in just a bit.
Notice the illustration below. The middle circles represent cell sites. This is where the base station radio equipment and their antennas are located. A cell site gives radio coverage to a cell. Do you understand the difference between these two terms? The cell site is a location or a point, the cell is a wide geographical area. Okay?
Most cells have been split into sectors or individual areas to make them more efficient and to let them to carry more calls. Antennas transmit inward to each cell. That's very important to remember. They cover a portion or a sector of each cell, not the whole thing. Antennas from other cell sites cover the other portions. The covered area, if you look closely, resembles a sort of rhomboid, as you'll see in the diagram after this one. The cell site equipment provides each sector with its own set of channels. In this example, just below , the cell site transmits and receives on three different sets of channels, one for each part or sector of the three cells it covers.
Is this discussion clear or still muddy? Skip ahead if you understand cells and sectors or come back if you get hung up on the terms at some later point. For most of us, let's go through this again, this time from another point of view. Mark provides the diagram and makes some key points here:"Most people see the cell as the blue hexagon, being defined by the tower in the center, with the antennae pointing in the directions indicated by the arrows. In reality, the cell is the red hexagon, with the towers at the corners, as you depict it above and I illustrate it below. The confusion comes from not realizing that a cell is a geographic area, not a point. We use the terms 'cell' (the coverage area) and 'cell site' (the base station location) interchangeably, but they are not the same thing.
WFI's Mark goes on to talk about cells and sectors and the kind of antennas needed: "These days most cells are divided into sectors. Typically three but you might see just two or rarely six. Six sectored sites have been touted as a Great Thing by manufacturers such as Hughes and Motorola who want to sell you more equipment. In practice six sectors sites have been more trouble than they're worth. So, typically, you have three antenna per sector or 'face'. You'll have one antenna for the voice transmit channel, one antenna for the set up or control channel, and two antennas to receive. Or you may duplex one of the transmits onto a receive. By sectorising you gain better control of interference issues. That is, you're transmitting in one direction instead of broadcasting all around, like with an omnidirectional antenna, so you can tighten up your frequency re-use"
"This is a large point of confusion with, I think, most RF or radio frequency engineers, so you'll see it written about incorrectly. While at AirTouch, I had the good fortune to work for a few months with a consultant who was retired from Bell Labs. He was one of the engineers who worked on cellular in the 60s and 70s. We had a few discussions on this at AirTouch, and many of the engineers still didn't get it. And, of course, I had access to Dr. Lee frequently during my years there. It doesn't get much more authoritative than the guys who developed the stuff!"Jim Harless, a regular contributor, recently checked in regarding six sector cells. He agrees with Mark about the early days, that six sector cells in AMPS did not work out. He notes that "At Metawave (link now dead) I've been actively involved in converting some busy CDMA cells to 6-sector using our smart antenna platform. Although our technology is vendor specific, you can't use it with all equipment, it actually works quite well, regardless of the added number of pilots and increase in soft handoffs. In short, six sector simply allows carriers to populate the cell with more channel elements. Also, they are looking for improved cell performance, which we have been able to provide. By the way, I think the reason early CDMA papers had inflated capacity numbers were because they had six sector cells in mind."Mark says "I don't recall any discussion of anything like that. But Qualcomm knew next to nothing about a commercial mobile radio environment. They had been strictly military contractors. So they had a lot to learn, and I think they made some bad assumptions early on. I think they just underestimated the noise levels that would exist in the real world. I do know for sure that the 'other carrier jammer' problem caught them completely by surprise. That's what we encountered when mobiles would drive next to a competitors site and get knocked off the air. They had to re-design the phone.Now, what about those hexagon shaped cell sites?Mark van der Hoek says the answer has to do with frequency planning and vehicle traffic. "After much experimenting and calculating, the Bell team came up with the solution that the honeybee has known about all along -- the hex system. Using 3 sectored sites, major roads could be served by one dominant sector, and a frequency re-use pattern of 7 could be applied that would allow the most efficient re-use of the available channels."
A cell cluster. Note how neatly seven hexagon shaped cells fit together. Try that with a triangle. Clusters of four and twelve are also possible but frequency re-use patterns based on seven are most common.Mark continues, "Cellular pioneers knew most sites would be in cities using a road system based on a grid. Site arrangement must allow efficient frequency planning. If sites with the same channels are located too closely together, there will be interference. So what configuration of antennas will best serve those city streeets?""If we use 4 sectors, with a box shape for cells, we either have all of the antennas pointing along most of the streets, or we have them offset from the streets. Having the borders of the sites or sectors pointing along the streets will cause too many handoffs between cells and sectors -- the signal will vary continously and the mobile will 'ping-pong' from one sector to another. This puts too much load on the system and increases the probablity of dropped calls. The streets need to be served by ONE dominant sector."Do you understand that? Imagine the dots below are a road. If you have two sectors facing the same way, even if they are some distance apart, you'll have the problems Mark just discussed. You need them to be offset.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

RAID

For general consumer use, SCSI has not achieved the same mass appeal as IDE. The expectation regarding SCSI was that the ability to add a large number of devices would outweigh the complexity of the interface. But that was before alternative technologies like Universal Serial Bus (USB) and FireWire (IEEE 1394) came into play. In fact, the only mainstream desktop computer standardized on SCSI was the Apple Macintosh, and that was because of a design mistake. The original Mac was a closed system, which means that there were no expansion slots or other means to easily add extra components. As the Mac grew in popularity, users began to clamor for some way to upgrade their system. Apple decided to add a built-in SCSI controller with an external SCSI port as a way to enable expansion of the system. Until recently, virtually every Mac has contained onboard SCSI. But with the rise of USB and Firewire, Apple has finally removed SCSI as a standard feature on most of its systems. Where you commonly see SCSI is on servers and workstation computers. The main reason for this is RAID. Redundant array of independent disks (RAID) uses a series of hard drives to increase performance, provide fault tolerance or both. The hard drives are connected together and treated as a single logical entity. Basically, this means that the computer sees the series of drives as one big drive, which can be formatted and partitioned just like a normal drive. Performance is enhanced because of striping, which means that more than one hard drive can be writing or reading information at the same time. The SCSI RAID controller determines which drive gets which chunk of data and sends the appropriate data to the appropriate drive. While that drive is writing the data, the controller sends another chunk of data to the next drive or reads a chunk of data from another drive. Simultaneous data transfers allow for faster performance. Fault tolerance, the ability to maintain data integrity in the event of a crash or failure, is achieved in a couple of ways. The first is called mirroring. Basically, mirroring makes an exact duplicate of the data stored on one hard drive to a second hard drive. A RAID controller can be set to automatically send two hard drives the exact same data. To avoid potential complications, both drives should be exactly the same size. Mirroring can be an expensive type of fault tolerance since it requires that you have twice as much storage space as you have data. The more popular method of fault tolerance is parity. Parity requires a minimum of three hard drives, but will work with several more. What happens is that data is written sequentially to each drive in the series, except the last one. The last drive stores a number that represents the sum of the data on the other drives. For more information on RAID and fault tolerance, check out this page.
Digital video is another prime example of the right time to use SCSI. Because of the demanding storage and speed requirements of full-motion, uncompressed video, most video workstations use a SCSI RAID with extremely fast SCSI hard drives.

Freedom of the Airwaves

Radio broadcasting began in the early ‘20s, but it wasn’t until the introduction of the transistor radio in 1954 that radio became available in mobile situations. Internet radio is in much the same place. Until the 21st century, the only way to obtain radio broadcasts over the Internet was through your PC. That will soon change, as wireless connectivity will feed Internet broadcasts to car radios, PDAs and cell phones. The next generation of wireless devices will greatly expand the reach and convenience of Internet radio. Uses and AdvantagesTraditional radio station broadcasts are limited by two factors:
• the power of the station’s transmitter (typically 100 miles)
• the available broadcast spectrum (you might get a couple of dozen radio stations locally) Internet radio has no geographic limitations, so a broadcaster in Kuala Lumpor can be heard in Kansas on the Internet. The potential for Internet radio is as vast as cyberspace itself (for example, Live365 offers more than 30,000 Internet radio broadcasts). In comparison to traditional radio, Internet radio is not limited to audio. An Internet radio broadcast can be accompanied by photos or graphics, text and links, as well as interactivity, such as message boards and chat rooms. This advancement allows a listener to do more than listen. In the example at the beginning of this article, a listener who hears an ad for a computer printer ordered that printer through a link on the Internet radio broadcast Web site. The relationship between advertisers and consumers becomes more interactive and intimate on Internet radio broadcasts. This expanded media capability could also be used in other ways. For example, with Internet radio, you could conduct training or education and provide links to documents and payment options. You could also have interactivity with the trainer or educator and other information on the Internet radio broadcast site. Internet radio programming offers a wide spectrum of broadcast genres, particularly in music. Broadcast radio is increasingly controlled by smaller numbers of media conglomerates (such as Cox, Jefferson-Pilot and Bonneville). In some ways, this has led to more mainstreaming of the programming on broadcast radio, as stations often try to reach the largest possible audience in order to charge the highest possible rates to advertisers. Internet radio, on the other hand, offers the opportunity to expand the types of available programming. The cost of getting “on the air” is less for an Internet broadcaster (see the next section, "Creating an Internet Radio Station"), and Internet radio can appeal to “micro-communities” of listeners focused on special music or interests.

How Internet Radio Works

A college student in Wisconsin listens to a disc jockey in Jamaica play the latest rapso (calypso rap) music. A children’s advocacy group unites its geographically diverse members via private broadcast. A radio listener hears an ad for a computer printer and places an order immediately using the same medium on which he heard the ad. All of this is possible with Internet radio, the latest technological innovation in radio broadcasting since the business began in the early 1920s. Internet radio has been around since the late 1990s. Traditional radio broadcasters have used the Internet to simulcast their programming. But, Internet radio is undergoing a revolution that will expand its reach from your desktop computer to access broadcasts anywhere, anytime, and expand its programming from traditional broadcasters to individuals, organizations and government. In this edition of stuff.dewsoftoverseas.com, we’ll explore the Internet radio revolution in terms of equipment, transmission, programming and the alterations in the listener/broadcaster relationship. We’ll also look at Live365, a company that is revolutionizing the way Internet radio works, and the company's own Internet radio broadcasting tools.

A college student in Wisconsin listens to a disc jockey in Jamaica play the latest rapso (calypso rap) music. A children’s advocacy group unites its geographically diverse members via private broadcast. A radio listener hears an ad for a computer printer and places an order immediately using the same medium on which he heard the ad. All of this is possible with Internet radio, the latest technological innovation in radio broadcasting since the business began in the early 1920s.
Internet radio has been around since the late 1990s. Traditional radio broadcasters have used the Internet to simulcast their programming. But, Internet radio is undergoing a revolution that will expand its reach from your desktop computer to access broadcasts anywhere, anytime, and expand its programming from traditional broadcasters to individuals, organizations and government.

WorldSpace

So far, WorldSpace has been the leader in the satellite radio industry. It put two of its three satellites, AfriStar and AsiaStar, in geostationary orbit before either of the other two companies launched one. AfriStar and AsiaStar were launched in October 1998 and March 2000, respectively. AmeriStar, which will offer service to South America and parts of Mexico, is not yet scheduled for launch. Each satellite transmits three signal beams, carrying more than 40 channels of programming, to three overlapping coverage areas of about 5.4 million square miles (14 million square km) each. Each of the WorldSpace satellites' three beams can deliver over 50 channels of crystal clear audio and multimedia programming via the 1,467- to 1,492-megahertz (MHz) segment of the L-Band spectrum, which is allocated for digital audio broadcasting. The United States is not currently part of WorldSpace's coverage area. The company has invested in XM Radio and has an agreement with XM to share any technological developments. WorldSpace is going beyond one nation and eyeing world domination of the radio market. That might be overstating the company's intent a bit, but WorldSpace does plan to reach the corners of our world that most radio stations cannot. There are millions of people living in WorldSpace's projected listening area who cannot pick up a signal from a conventional radio station. WorldSpace says it has a potential audience of about 4.6 billion listeners spanning five continents. WorldSpace broadcasters uplink their signal to one of the three satellites through a centralized hub site or an individual feeder link station located within the global uplink beam. The satellite then transmits the signal in one, two or all three beams on each satellite. Receivers on the ground then pick up the signal and provide CD-quality sound through a detachable antenna. WorldSpace satellite receivers are capable of receiving data at a rate of 128 kilobits per second (Kbps). The receivers use the proprietary StarMan chipset, manufactured by STMicroelectronics, to receive digital signals from the satellites.

Sirius Satellite Radio

Unlike XM, Sirius does not use GEO satellites. Instead, its three SS/L-1300 satellites form an inclined elliptical satellite constellation. Sirius says the elliptical path of its satellite constellation ensures that each satellite spends about 16 hours a day over the continental United States, with at least one satellite over the country at all times. Sirius completed its three-satellite constellation on November 30, 2000. A fourth satellite will remain on the ground, ready to be launched if any of the three active satellites encounter transmission problems. The Sirius system is similar to that of XM. Programs are beamed to one of the three Sirius satellites, which then transmits the signal to the ground, where your radio receiver picks up one of the channels within the signal. Signals are also be beamed to ground repeaters for listeners in urban areas where the satellite signal can be interrupted. While XM offers both car and portable radios, Sirius is concentrating on the car radio market. The Sirius receiver includes two parts -- the antenna module and the receiver module. The antenna module picks up signals from the ground repeaters or the satellite, amplifies the signal and filters out any interference. The signal is then passed on to the receiver module. Inside the receiver module is a chipset consisting of eight chips. The chipset converts the signals from 2.3 gigahertz (GHz) to a lower intermediate frequency. Sirius also offers an adapter that allows conventional car radios to receive satellite signals.

Web Development

One of the great debilitators in online business is simply the perceived (or real) lack of time. Business owners are used to moving forward. An online web presence can make them feel tied to an office chair learning skills they aren’t sure they want to know.

It’s not uncommon for those who deal in full time web design to have individuals contact them for a site design, but have absolutely no idea what they want. Furthermore when the designer questions them the response might be, “I don’t know, just make it look nice.”

Let’s not forget the core values or mission of the business. Many business owners have no idea how to answer those kinds of questions. They may stare blankly for a moment or two and there’s no more time for further deep thought so they go back to action – without answers.

In many cases it is possible to answer some of the questions needed, but it may require taking time away from a familiar setting. It may also require more time than you think you want to give.

If you can get to a place of concentrated contemplation you are likely to find yourself stripping ideas to their core to find out what your business is trying to accomplish and what your ultimate goals might be.

As with almost any project you can turn frustration around if you will just take the time to come to terms with your vision.

Sometimes we spend so much time ‘doing’ we never stop to ask the question, “Why?”

This process can be a bit like taking a bus that drives around the park. You keep looking at the flowers and the park bench and long to sit in the quiet shade of a tree and just absorb the calming atmosphere. You know they will have a positive effect on you, but for some reason you just can’t seem to find the energy to get off the bus.

It seems to me there are some sites that are misguided or rarely guided that could benefit from the process of self-evaluation. These sites may look nice, but there is a sense of disconnection that may not be easy to identify, but it’s fairly obvious to visitors.

Creative energy is at a minimum while business owners simply tackle what seem to be the most urgent details.

As more people gravitate to online business there needs to be a shift in the thinking of how one goes about doing business online. In many ways it can’t be approached in the same way a traditional business is developed, yet that is typically the way many new web commerce ventures choose to tackle the subject.

You may discover your business will be more successful if you take some time for rigorous reflection. The time set aside can be a bit like an architect that takes the time to develop plans for a new building. You wouldn’t expect the architect to simply tell a construction crew to, “Go out there and build – something.”

Work at ‘building’ your online business in a comprehensive way. Your effort can develop a firm foundation for long-term success.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The Internet: Computer Network Hierarchy

Every computer that is connected to the Internet is part of a network, even the one in your home. For example, you may use a modem and dial a local number to connect to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). At work, you may be part of a local area network (LAN), but you most likely still connect to the Internet using an ISP that your company has contracted with. When you connect to your ISP, you become part of their network. The ISP may then connect to a larger network and become part of their network. The Internet is simply a network of networks.

Most large communications companies have their own dedicated backbones connecting various regions. In each region, the company has a Point of Presence (POP). The POP is a place for local users to access the company's network, often through a local phone number or dedicated line. The amazing thing here is that there is no overall controlling network. Instead, there are several high-level networks connecting to each other through Network Access Points or NAPs.


Monday, November 10, 2008

Windows XP Tips

Disabling Display of Drives in My Computer

This is trick you can play on your geek friend. To disable the display of local or networked drives when you click My Computer go to :

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Now in the right pane create a new DWORD item and name it NoDrives. Now modify it’s value and set it to 3FFFFFF (Hexadecimal) Now press F5 to refresh. When you click on My Computer, no drives will be shown. To enable display of drives in My Computer, simply delete this DWORD item. It’s .reg file is as follows:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]

“NoDrives”=dword:03ffffff

WWBan Shutdowns

This is a neat trick you can play on that lamer that has a huge ego, in this section I teach you, how to disable the Shut Down option in the Shut Down Dialog Box. This trick involves editing the registry, so please make backups. Launch regedit.exe and go to :

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

In the right pane look for the NoClose Key. If it is not already there then create it by right clicking in the right pane and selecting New > String Value.(Name it NoCloseKey ) Now once you see the NoCloseKey in the right pane, right click on it and select Modify. Then Type 1 in the Value Data Box.

Doing the above on a Win98 system disables the Shut Down option in the Shut Down Dialog Box. But on a Win95 machine if the value of NoCloseKey is set to 1 then click on the Start > Shut Down button displays the following error message:

This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.

You can enable the shut down option by changing the value of NoCloseKey to 0 or simply deleting the particular entry i.e. deleting NoCloseKey.

Instead of performing the above difficult to remember process, simply save the following with an extension of .reg and add it’s contents to the registry by double clicking on it.


Change Internet Explorer’s Caption

Don’t like the caption of Internet Explorer caption? Want to change it? Open the registry editor and go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.

In the right pane create a new String Value names Window Title (Note the space between Window and Title). Right click on this newly created String Value and select Modify. Type in the new caption you want to be displayed. Restart for the settings to take place.

Exiting Windows the Cool and Quick Way

Normally it takes lot of time just Shutting down Windows, you have to move your mouse to the Start Button, click on it, move it again over Shut Down, click, then move it over the necessary option and click, then move the cursor over the OK button and once again (you guessed it) click.This whole process can be shortened by creating shortcuts on the Desktop which will shut down Windows at the click of a button. Start by creating a new shortcut( right click and select New> Shortcut). Then in the command line box, type (without the quotes.)

‘C:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec’

This Shortcut on clicking will restart Windows immediately without any Warning. To create a Shortcut to Restarting Windows, type the following in the Command Line box:

‘c:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows’

This Shortcut on clicking will shut down Windows immediately without any Warning.

Disable MS-DOS Prompt

To disable the MS-DOS command prompt in Windows 95/98/Me open the registry and navigate to either [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\

Software\Microsoft\Windows\

CurrentVersion\Policies\

WinOldApp] or [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\

Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WinOldApp] and then either modify or create a new DWORD value named Disabled and set the value data to 1. Now exit the registry, and restart your computer for the change to take effect.

New Informations

Convert To Basic And Dynamic Disks In Windows Xp

Windows XP Professional supports two types of disk storage: basic and dynamic. Basic disk storage uses partition-oriented disks. A basic disk contains basic volumes (primary partitions, extended partitions, and logical drives).

Dynamic disk storage uses volume-oriented disks, and includes features that basic disks do not, such as the ability to create volumes that span multiple disks (spanned and striped volumes).

General Notes

Before you change a basic disk to a dynamic disk, note these items:

You must have at least 1 megabyte (MB) of free space on any master boot record (MBR) disk that you want to convert. This space is automatically reserved when the partition or volume is created in Microsoft Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional. However, it may not be available on partitions or volumes that are created in other operating systems.

When you convert to a dynamic disk, the existing partitions or logical drives on the basic disk are converted to simple volumes on the dynamic disk.

After you convert to a dynamic disk, the dynamic volumes cannot be changed back to partitions. You must first delete all dynamic volumes on the disk, and then convert the dynamic disk back to a basic disk. If you want to keep your data, you must first back up or move the data to another volume.

After you convert to a dynamic disk, local access to the dynamic disk is limited to Windows XP Professional and Windows 2000.

If your disk contains multiple installations of Windows XP Professional or Windows 2000, do not convert to a dynamic disk. The conversion operation removes partition entries for all partitions on the disk with the exception of the system and boot volumes for the current operating system.

Dynamic disks are not supported on portable computers or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.

Before you change a dynamic disk back to a basic disk, note that all existing volumes must be deleted from the disk before you can convert it back to a basic disk. If you want to keep your data, back up the data, or move your data to another volume.

How to Convert a Basic Disk to a Dynamic Disk

To convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk:

1) Log on as Administrator or as a member of the Administrators group.

2) Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

3) Click Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.

4) In the left pane, click Disk Management.

5) In the lower-right pane, right-click the basic disk that you want to convert, and then click Convert to Dynamic Disk.

NOTE:You must right-click the gray area that contains the disk title on the left side of the Details pane. For example, right-click Disk 0.

6) Select the check box that is next to the disk that you want to convert (if it is not already selected), and then clickOK.

7) Click Details if you want to view the list of volumes in the disk.

8 ) Click Convert.

9) Click Yes when you are prompted to convert, and then click OK.

How to Convert a Dynamic Disk to a Basic Disk

To change a dynamic disk back to a basic disk:

1) Back up all the data on all the volumes on the disk you want to convert to a basic disk.

2) Log on as Administrator or as a member of the Administrators group.

3) Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

4) Click Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.

5) In the left pane, click Disk Management.

6) Right-click a volume on the dynamic disk that you want to change to a basic disk, and then click Delete Volume.

7) Click Yes when you are prompted to delete the volume.

8 ) Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each volume on the dynamic disk.

9) After you have deleted all the volumes on the dynamic disk, right-click the dynamic disk that you want to change to a basic disk, and then click Convert to Basic Disk.

NOTE:You must right-click the gray area that contains the disk title on the left side of the Details pane. For example, right-click Disk 1.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

SMC SMCWGBR14-N Barricade N router

The good: Decent throughput; long range; compact and practical design; USB port for print serving; intuitive Web interface makes setup and maintenance a snap; while not exactly lifetime, the warranty is generous. The bad: USB port is on the front, no support for 5.0Ghz frequency. The bottom line: With a fair price, decent performance, and dead-simple setup, the SMC SMCWGBR14-N Barricade N router is about as well-rounded a Draft N router as you'll find. It also boasts impressive range and a smart design. We strongly recommend it for general home use.Price range: $132.99 - $154.99You may not be familiar with SMC, but you should if you're shopping for a Draft N router. The company's SMCWGBR14-N Barricade N router finished at or above the average of the group of recent Draft N 2.0 routers we've tested while exhibiting impressive range. It also boasts a generous set of features, a practical design, and an always-appreciated intuitive Web interface. In short, we strongly recommend this router for home users looking to setup an .11n network. The only feature we wish were present is the ability to broadcast at the 5GHz frequency; it operates only on the crowded 2.4GHz band.The SMC Barricade N router provides nearly the same features as the D-Link GamerLounge DGL-4500; the SMC router doesn't include anything akin to the D-Link's GameFuel technology for prioritizing bandwidth for games (and the D-Link supports either 2.4GHz or 5GHz), but it can generally be found online for $30 to $40 less at around $140. We prefer the design of the SMC Barricade N router and found it to provide a more reliable signal. While the Netgear WNR854T RangeMax remains a favorite of ours for general home use, the SMC Barricade N router serves up additional features including a USB port and Wi-Fi Protected Setup, while delivering better range than the RangeMax.  Device type: Wireless router  Network standard: 802.11n (draft 2.0), 802.11b/g  Bandwidth: 2.4GHz  OSes supported: Linux; Mac OS and Windows Security options: WEP; WPA; WPA2  Features: Four Gigabit LAN ports; one Gigabit WAN port; Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS); DHCP support; NAT firewall with Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI); USB 2.0 multifunction print server.  Notable design features: Compact case with the antennas placed on the side away from the network ports.  Support: 24-7 toll-free phone support; e-mail support form; FAQs; knowledge base; driver and software downloads. The SMC ships in very economical package. Inside, you'll find only the bare necessities: the router itself, a base for positioning it vertically, a power cord, an Ethernet cable, and a CD that contains an electronic version of the manual along with an installation guide. In fact, we found the Quick Installation Guide is a little bit too economical: two letter-size pages of setup information with illustrations in 15 different languages. While we could have used a magnifying glass to read the small print, we experienced no problems during the simple, four-step installation process. We got the router up and running within a few minutes. The design of the SMC is similar to that of the LevelOne N_One: straightforward and practical. The three antennas are placed on the side of the device, away from the network ports that are located on the back. On the front are the status LEDs, each marked by a tiny icon indicating the corresponding port's connection status. There's also a LED showing the status of the WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) push-button features. WPS is a feature that makes adding other wireless clients a simple, painless process. This LED lights up when the WPS button on top of the router is pressed, indicating the four-minute window when other WPS-enabled devices are automatically added to the network by the router. The SMC's design does have one minor shortcoming: The USB print server port is located on the front. We'd rather see this port on the back, since a printer is generally permanently connected to this port. Having a USB cable coming out from the front of the router only adds to the cable clutter on your desk. A front-mounted USB port would be perfect if it were for Windows Connect Now (WCN), a feature that allows for adding wireless clients to the router using a USB thumb drive. Alas, the SMC doesn't support this feature. Once set up, the router can be configured via a Web-based interface that resembles that of the D-Link GamerLounge DGL-4500, which we found to be among the best. All sections are well organized and intuitive, with great response. Most changes can be applied instantly without restarting. One difference between these two otherwise very similar routers: the D-Link uses WCN while the SMC uses WPS Push Button as the primary method of quickly and securely adding wireless clients to the network. The two routers differed in performance, however, with the advantage slightly leaning toward the SMC. In labs testing, the SMC scored 83.7Mbps in our short-range maximum throughput test, which was imperceptibly faster than the D-Link while trailing the Netgear WNR854T RangeMax by roughly the same minuscule amount. On our mixed mode test, where the router was set up to work with both 802.11n and legacy 802.11g clients at the same time, the SMC's score was 52.4Mbps; less impressive but still faster than that of the D-Link and in the middle of the pack. On our long-range test, the SMC again scored toward the top of the pack when broadcasting its signal at 200 feet. In all, the SMC offers more than acceptable throughput, particularly if you don't have older wireless devices on your network. In anecdotal testing, the SMC was able to maintain its signal over long ranges. In our test environment, which has a lot of walls and other interference, we were still able pick up stable signals from the router at 300 feet, an impressive distance. By comparison, the Netgear WNR854T RangeMax started to drop its signal at around 270 feet. SMC backs the SMCWGBR14-N Barricade N with a generous lifetime warranty, provided you register the product within 30 days of purchase. The only catch is that the lifetime warranty lasts only as long as the product is an "active" SMC product, meaning that it hasn't been replaced with a newer model. Given the lifespan of a router, we think this arrangement is preferable to the industry standard one-year warranty. The company's Web site is as intuitive as the router's Web interface, where you can find firmware, manual downloads, and FAQ pages, as well as contact SMC support by e-mail. Toll-free phone support is available 24-7; we dialed the number listed and quickly got hold of a representative who was helpful and patient. All in all, we had a very pleasant experience with the company's technical support.

If you try to access a blocked Web site, this message pops up

The Belkin router comes with a six-month free trial for its parental-control Web-content-filtering service, which will appeal to families. (After the trial ends, the basic service costs about $25 per year.) Based on software developed by a company called Cerberian, the filtering service lets you easily shield youngsters from inappropriate Web material without installing additional software on each networked computer. How does that work? The router sends every Web page request to Belkin's database of 2.5 million approved family-oriented sites. If the material fails to pass muster, a warning screen pops up, and the user is denied access to the site. If the site isn't on Belkin's list, it triggers an automatic appraisal process, which takes several seconds to complete.The filter generally worked well in day-to-day use and blocked some disturbing material, although if Belkin's server is down, you're out of luck. A software update that will be available in the coming months will solve this problem by storing the list directly on your PC. Like all filtering software, however, it also blocks innocuous sites, such as one for breast cancer research and another on anatomy. Of course, you can also override the warning and create your own policies. For a one-time fee of $10, you can upgrade the service to keep a list of all sites visited from your network.Overall, the Belkin 54g wireless cable/DSL gateway router was a top performer among early 802.11g products both in g-only and mixed (802.11b and 802.11g) environments. It also exhibited excellent range on our tests.The Belkin 54g delivered 19.1Mbps of throughput in 802.11g mode on CNET Labs' tests. That's about 20 percent faster than the Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G broadband router, but it's only marginally faster than the Apple AirPort Extreme. When we moved 5 feet away from the router, however, the Belkin 54g occasionally demonstrated inconsistent behavior, and its throughput dropped off dramatically. At 25 feet, its speed fell to 12.5Mbps, slower than both the Linksys and the Apple. At 75 feet, however, it regained its advantage over its competitors with an impressive 7.1Mpbs of throughput.In mixed-mode tests using 802.11b clients, the router scored a top speed of 7.7Mbps, faster than its two peers. It also managed to maintain its lead at distances of up to 75 feet. The Belkin 54g worked flawlessly with two 802.11g PC Cards from other vendors and connected without incident to five different 802.11b radios.For practical throughput tests, CNET Labs uses NetIQ's Chariot 4.3 software with Chariot 4.4 Endpoints as its benchmark. For wireless testing, the clients and routers are set up to transmit at various distances from the access point and to automatically select the best transmit speed. All tests are run with Chariot software using TCP and are run in our CNET offices over channel 11. Our tests indicate the range that you can expect in a typical office environment, but the range in your own home or office may differ. You may be able to achieve better performance in situations where you can establish a clear line of sight. For more details on how we test networking devices.With its limited lifetime warranty and toll-free, 24/7 phone support, Belkin puts other companies to shame. The included 96-page manual offers good setup instructions, with a troubleshooting section and some information on getting the router to work with Macintosh computers. However, if you need additional help, the Belkin Web site offers only the very basics. For example, you'll find firmware updates and manuals but no searchable knowledge base, setup tips, or online chat rooms. The company says that it plans to revamp its support site, but it could offer no firm launch date.

The main setup page of the Web-based configuration tool puts many of the router's important settings right at your fingertips

The main setup page of the Web-based configuration tool puts many of the router's important settings right at your fingertips.Like the first round of 802.11g devices from D-Link, Linksys, and Netgear, the router supports 64- and 128-bit WEP encryption but not the more secure 256-bit protection available on some 802.11a products. The router's NAT-based firewall uses stateful packet inspection to identify common hacker attacks, such as IP spoofing, land attack, ping of death (PoD), denial of service (DoS), Smurf attack, TCP null scan, and UDP flooding. In addition, the system supports port forwarding and IP or MAC address filtering. For sensitive applications that require unfettered access to the Web, such as online gaming or videoconferencing, you can designate one client as a DMZ host.On the downside, you can't use the router to bridge two wireless networks or extend one beyond the reach of network cabling as you can with the Apple AirPort Extreme. Nor can you adjust the transmission power, the beacon interval, the RTS threshold, the fragmentation length, or the DTIM interval, making it a nonstarter for sophisticated network administrators.