Useful Internet Based Tools

Limewire is a file-sharing application that lets you download songs, games, movies. I like Limewire because I can download songs and make my own CD with the songs I download. I just burn them to a CD.
http://limewire2009.freedownioad.us/?tid=uw&gclid=COa5q8LQo5oCFQubnAod3y6b8w
Free Download Manager lets you retrieve files a lot faster than you normally get them. Also, it lets you resume your broken download so that you don't need to start it from the beginning after an interruption. It lets you resume unfinished download from the moment when it was interrupted. It lets you connect to the Internet at a set time, download the files you want, launch any program, then disconnect or shut down your computer when it's done.
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/
Opera 9.64 is an Internet Browser with a pop-up blocker, multiple-windows navigation, mouse gestures, keyboard shortcuts, e-mail client with Spam filter, and integrated search all for user security and speed. http://www.opera.com/
Jing is a program that instantly captures and shares images and video from your computer to anywhere. You can then share them with your friends and family over the Internet, email, or even IM them.http://www.jingproject.com/
Myxer is an online application that lets you download ring tones for free to your phone. You don't have to pay for ring tones. Your phone has to be compatible in order for you to be able to receive the ring tones.http://www.myxer.com/

TextFlow

TextFlow is the latest Web-based word processor from Swedish company Nordic River, that merges multiple versions of the same document into a single version with suggested changes arranged side by side. Users can merge documents edited using TextFlow with ones written using Microsoft Word. The software recognizes changes you make to sentences and those made to entire paragraphs or sections of a document, and it can also track when a paragraph has been moved to a different section. With TextFlow, it assigns a different color to text from each version of the document and organizes the changes on a single page. Then the user can select which version to keep by moving their mouse over a suggested change and clicking to accept or reject it.



http://www.textflow.com/

Facebook

Facebook is a popular social network where you can create a profile page and forge online links with friends and acquaintances. It's a website where you can find your friends and also meet people. Millions of people are using Facebook. I joined Facebook and I've found alot of my friends from high school that I haven't seen since I've graduated. I was amazed that alot of my classmates were on Facebook.



http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/facebook_inc/index.html?inline=nyt-org

Koobface Worm

Facebook has partnered with Microsoft to combat the Koobface virus. Facebook is a very popular social networking website. It is free for users.
Koobface is a virus that spreads through malicious Web links and affects Facebook and MySpace users running unpatched versions of Windows. Once your computer is infected, it steals social networking logon information to create spam messages and sends them to your friends on Facebook or MySpace. It wants you to download files so it can continue infecting other computers through social networking.
Microsoft teamed up with Facebook to add Koobface to its Malicious Software Removal Tool to remove Koobface from nearly 200,000 times from over 133,677 computers in more than 140 different locales around the world, said Jeff Williams, a principal group program manager for the Microsoft Malware Protection Center.
As Williams notes, Koobface is highly polymorphic, meaning that it's constantly changing to look like something else. So far, he said, there have been more than 20,000 Koobface variants. This, incidentally, is why signature-based malware detection alone is no longer sufficient to protect computers.
So if you don't trust the site then don't download it. Make sure you run virus scans to protect your computer from viruses.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/vulnerabilities/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216403016&subSection=Cybercrime

Presto

Presto is a new beta product from Linux vendor Xandros. It runs pretty much on any x86-based system. Presto was built for boot-up speed. It boots up real quick so you don't have to wait for everything to load up.
It takes Presto just 15.3 seconds to get to a loaded desktop. Presto installs on top of Microsoft Windows and lets users choose to quickly boot into the lightweight Linux Presto OS instead of Windows. Presto comes with several applications pre-installed on it such as, Firefox, the Skype client, Pidgin instant messaging application, RealPlayer, the OpenOffice.org productivity suite, and a PDF viewer.
In Presto, users can access Web browsers, instant messaging, Skype and many other applications, while still being able to access the files and folders located in the underlying Windows system.
http://lifehacker.com/5175680/presto-loads-a-streamlined-desktop-in-15-seconds

Broadband 500-Mbit/s over Copper lines

Broadband is refered to as high-speed Internet. Broadband is the key driver of economic growth. It is changing how we communicate with each other. It is much way more faster than dial-up, which is ridiculously slow.
Ericsson is paving the way for Super Broadband DSL. It has 500-Mbit/s transmission rates over copper cable by using new crosstalk cancellation VDSL2 based modems. It's data rate is 20 times faster than ADSL2. Crosstalk cancellation reduces noise that comes from the cable, therefore improving VDSL2's performance. You wont have to worry about a lot of crosstalk as you would with ADSL2.
Ericsson says, this VDSL2 technology will be cost-effective for very high speed services such as HDTV and will also help faster rollout of 4G broadband mobile phone services when used for backhaul of mobile base stations. You will be able to transmit and receive data more quickly.

http://www.gizmag.com/ericsson-vdsl2-500mbits/11296/

Cyberbanking

Cyberbanking is the process of using the Internet to perform banking functions. Instead of taking a trip to the bank, you can do it all online without even leaving the comfort of your home. It's faster and easier to do online banking. No waiting in long lines at the bank. I've always hated to stand in those long lines at the bank. Cyberbanking lets you pay your bills, check your account balance, transfer funds among accounts, and even lets you know if your checks have cleared.
Some people are skeptical of paying their bills or using their credit cards online for fear of hackers or security breach. Banks are trying to tighten the loop hole so no one can get your information. All financial information that you exchange with your bank, including account numbers and passwords, is encrypted before it goes out on a phone line or the Internet. Their browsers indicate that they are in secure, encrypted mode by displaying a lock icon.
Most banks will cover any losses you may encounter if someone hacks into your account.
Cyberbanking is becoming more and more popular among people today. It is convenient for most people that don't have transportation to get to the bank.




http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5344/is_200709/ai_n21295173

HyperSpace - Shortening Your Laptop's Boot Time

If you're tired of waiting for your laptop to boot up, then try downloading the software "HyperSpace". HyperSpace is a software that boots a version of Linux very quickly to give you a desktop you can use to connect to a network. It lets you boot your laptop almost as soon as you hit the power switch.
HyperSpace comes in two versions, HyperSpace Hybrid for standard laptops and HyperSpace Dual for netbooks. Hybrid lets you run both Windows and HyperSpace at the same time. Dual requires you to boot one or the other. The system requirements are strict, and the product works on a limited range of notebook computers.
You can't use a virtual private network (VPN) with HyperSpace, so you'll be able to get to your mail only if it is accessible through a Web browser






http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT6226385607.html

Silverlight 2

Microsoft released Silverlight 2 which was designed to be an improvement in the way developers and designers build applications on the Web. It has a wide range of new features and tools that enable designers and developers to provide more secure user experiences.
Silverlight 2 also has a rich Internet application that enables you to search the database for content and metadata so you can access movie reviews, watch high-quality movie trailers, and you can also rent or buy movies from their new MovieLink application.
Silverlight 2 also supports a variety of programming languages such as JavaScript, Visual Basic, and C+. With Silverlight 2 you can view media coverage on your Web Browser. People watched the Olympic coverage using Silverlight 2.
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Application-Development/Microsoft-Delivers-Silverlight-2/

Conficker worm infects more than a million PCs

No one wants their computer to get infected by a virus or worm. Everyday people's computer are infected with viruses and worms. If your computer is infected it can steal your data, spread spam or commit other routine cybercrimes. A computer worm can run itself and it also can spread without a host program.
A nasty worm named "Conficker" has infected at least a million Pc's. The Conficker worm spreads itself to other computers and prevents itself from being removed from your computer. It also can make a copy of itself on any device plugged into a USB port, which in turns, when you go to plug that device in another computer, that computer is infected also, therefore spreading more infections.
Why would anyone want to do such a thing. People don't have anything better to do these days. Can't they find something better to do with their lives. Always be careful of what you download on your computer. If you are not sure of the site then don't download. If you are not sure who sent you an email, don't open it.Take precautions to safeguard your computer. Run regularly scheduled antivirus scans on your computer.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/technologylive/computers/

Web Application On Call

Ditech is trying to come up with a way to talk to someone on a cell phone and accesss applications all at the same time without taking the handset away from your ears. You can be talking on the phone with someone and you want to know what movie is playing, you can accesss a voice service by saying certain keywords, like movie, and it will return a result while you are talking to that person.
They only problem I see with that is that sometimes when you use the voice service, it don't always hear the words correctly. You can say a word and it hears something else. Also, I would be skeptical of my privacy. Will it safeguard my privacy?




http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/22166/page1/
http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/22166/page2/

Microsoft's ViFi Project

Microsoft in alliance with University of Massachusetts and the University of Washington has developed a new technology called Vi-Fi, which stands for Vehicle Wi-Fi. When you lose your signal strength while traveling, Vi-Fi eliminates the problem of hopping from one Wi-Fi wireless access point to another. You wont have to worry about losing your connection. You can stay connected and you will not lose your data. This system will provide users with on-the-go internet access more cheaply than existing cellular broadband systems.

According to the article on how Vi-fi works, "In normal WiFi, even if other base stations are in range of a WiFi-equipped computer or smart phone, only one base station will send data to the computer, and only as long as it is in range. Move beyond that base station’s range and the computer must establish a new connection from scratch with another station. With ViFi, the computer nominates one base station as an anchor. Data is sent back and forth between the computer and the Internet via this base station while other bases within range of both the anchor and the computer listen in. If these satellites detect that a computer did not receive data meant for it because it moved out of range of its anchor station or because of interference, they will relay data between the anchor and the computer. This prevents data being lost and connections disrupted as the computer picks a new base station to be its anchor. This process can be repeated over and over as the computer moves around."
I'm sure they will come up with a much more simplier way than this as they always do.

http://discovermagazine.com/2009/feb/28-prepare-for-truly-mobile-wifi

http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/wireless/microsoft-develops-vi-fi-vehicle-wi-fi-voip-while-driving-baby.asp

IBM Layoffs in RTP

IBM in Research Triangle Park in Raleigh laid off about 1,200 of their employees. Due to the recession, they had to layoff employees. The economy is at a bad time right now and a lot of people are out of jobs as a result of it. If you've been at a company for a number of years, and all of a sudden the company is talking about laying off employees and your job might be the one being cut, how do you swallow that pill? You've worked all those many years at that company and you say to yourself, "What am I gonna do now?"
No one wants to face that dilemma. I know I wouldn't. You've gotta think about the future and how you are gonna pay your bills and feed you family. I hope I never have to encounter that ordeal. Maybe this recession wont last to long. http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1383626.html

Hi,





My name is Barbara. This is my second semester back at ECC. I work full-time at Pizza Hut and I am pursuing an Associate's degree in Networking.