April 02, 2009
There is no doubt that our society and even our world is becoming both more intimate and more separate at the same time. Where people once had conversations face to face on a daily basis, they are now locked in to their technology so much that face time h
There is no doubt that our society and even our world is becoming both more intimate and more separate at the same time. Where people once had conversations face to face on a daily basis, they are now locked in to their technology so much that face time has to be penciled in to date books. At the same time when people are logging on they are having conversations with many people that they would not have approached on the street or even had the opportunity to cross paths with because they live on the opposite side of the world. This duality of modern technology is doing many interesting things to the ways in which people communicate and the ways in which our society functions as a whole.
The globalization of technology and culture has not only estranged many to their own way of life because of negative business arrangements, but it has also allowed for much more barrier less communication. Today people's of most cultures can meet and speak to each other through the internet and have meaningful dialogue. This is generally true but in some cases this communication has become something not only helpful but essential when the barrier of distance separates those who feel a strong need to speak to those they love or care for dearly.
Video conferencing has changed the way in which people are able to act as if they are not separate from those whom they love. With video conferencing cameras people are able to meet face to face with their loved ones and never miss a moment or a body motion. A phone conversation gives you what you want to hear and pictures are a snapshot, but video conferencing allows you to be in the room with the person while you talk. Though we will never be able to get beyond the fact that we are separate from one another more and more due to the high demand of jobs and careers, what we can learn early on while in college is how we can maintain our personal relationships with this very technology that demands so much of our time.
Posted by juliusp at 08:11 AM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2009
Going back to school
There are a lot of older people in some of my classes. In my biology class for instance there are three guys I think that are probably over 40 years old. I think it is really neat that they can afford and have the time to come back to school and get a degree in something that they want to pursue in order to get a job that they love.
As good as this scenario is though, there are so many people that are looking into continuing their education and going back to school for whatever reason and that really isn't an option for them. I know a few people who decided to go back to school and they still have jobs and children and responsibilities that stand in the way of being able to go to and from a classroom daily. That's why elearning has become so popular in the past few years.
The growth of elearning is tremendous and has helped parents and older adults especially (as well as younger adults) continue their education. The U.S. Dept. of Education has put a huge focus on elearning and it is turning to everyone's benefit.
Another popular thing for those who want to stay in their current job while at the same time move up the ranks for instance is online computer training. Online training allows a company to certify its employees or even renew an old certification. It also allows them to train for newer technology or procedures. There are a lot of people that have been with companies for years and the employers want to keep them with that company but they also need to make sure that they are up to date with the technology of today.
There was a turning point about ten years ago or so where a lot of companies switched to more technology based work and a lot of the workers needed to be trained and had to adapt to this change. Online training helps them do so while still being employed at the same time.
We have so many resources now and opportunities and it is up to us as employees or potential employees to take that next step and prepare ourselves for a job position. Once we get that job we also need to continue to stay on our toes and keep updated with everything going on to keep moving forward.
Posted by juliusp at 08:54 AM | Comments (0)
February 27, 2009
Going Green
I remember a few years ago when people started the going green hype and everyone thought that they were crazy and that it was just a trend and it would fade away soon. People would have t-shirts and their reusable bags when they went grocery shopping and we thought that it would last about two months.
But now, being eco friendly and ‘going green' is bigger than ever. Everyone is finding ways now to protect the earth and their bodies as well. By car pooling, shopping organically and even building homes with solar panel roof tops, this is definitely not a fad.
In my political science class we have to do a project about a certain topic and spend the whole semester focusing on that one topic and reading article after article about it and writing journals about what we have learned. I chose international environmental concerns for my topic (it was one on the list) and I have found a lot of stuff that I had already known, but also a lot that is new. One of the articles I read was about green hosting. This type of web hosting helps to prevent thousands of pounds of green house emissions. I seriously had no idea about this.
I think that it's a really good thing that people are becoming more eco friendly and conscious. Because it doesn't just help the earth, it is also healthier for us as people. With less people driving and more car pooling there is less pollution for us and for the environment. And when people are eating organic foods it helps both as well.
I think a lot of people are skeptical about things like global warming and why we need to be eco conscious because they aren't seeing immediate harm or damage being done. But if we focus on the fact that we are helping ourselves and each other as well as the earth, those people may come around and start helping out too. It is hard to see when the consequences may be really far in the future and not affect us directly, but when we know that what we are doing to help the earth will also help out ourselves, our friends, our family and our community (and even our wallets most of the time, people love that) then it is something that we may consider doing more often or at least trying.
Posted by juliusp at 09:55 AM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2009
LEARNING MORE ABOUT WEB HOSTING AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU
When you are trying to set up your own website for the first time, there are some things that you should know. I just did it, and sometimes the terminology can drive you mad, but what you need to know is that although some things sound really complicated they are actually not so, once you understand the internet world and all the words and what they mean. For example, I thought I knew what I wanted to do, however I really didn't know what I was doing when it came to web hosting or even what is was. When I saw this term, I really didn't know what it meant, so the first thing I did was look up the meaning. Basically, web hosting is the company that gives you the space on their server so that your website can be seen all over the world. This obviously is important, because the more your site is seen, the more money you can potentially make. There are many different types of web hosts, some are free and some are more expensive and which one you choose basically has to do with what you will be doing with the space provided to you. If you are just starting out, then the most important thing that you need to know about your web hosting choice is the providers reliability of access. This basically means how often they are down. A good reliable web host will provide up time of about ninety nine percent or higher. For you this means that customers should pretty much be able to access your site and get the pages in quickly in accurately to insure that they have a smooth shopping experience with you. There are really only two ways to find out if the web host is providing you with good uptime. They are to either speak to people who are already using this web hosting service, and find out about their personal experiences, or to actually try out the service yourself and make sure that you can access your site at all hours of the day and night and that the pages are loading quickly and correctly. Now some web hosts may provide you with a trial period, while others are even free, and therefore trying them out won't cost you at all.
Either way, you want to make sure that you are choosing the right web host. Doing this will insure that you will have an effective site, bringing in the most potential business that it can.
Posted by juliusp at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)
January 23, 2009
THE SECURITY CAMERA AT THE DOOR
I couldn't believe it when I arrived at my sister's house over the holidays. They had installed an alarm monitoring system and a security camera at the door so that they could see who I was before answering. Don't get me wrong, my sister and her husband have 4 kids, they live in a really nice neighborhood and they are already in a gated community. One would think that they are probably safe enough, however, they said that there had been a lot of break ins in the area and many different suggestions in their local news paper listed as security news. They said the paper said that you shouldn't think that just because you live in a nice area, or in a gated community that means that you don't need to be concerned about your family's security. As a matter of fact, they felt it was quite the opposite. If you live in a high end neighborhood or a gated community then you are actually more likely to become a target, because thieves want more bang for their buck, meaning that if they are going to risk breaking in someplace, that they want it to be somewhere where they think they can get the most money out of the deal.
Well, my sister said that her concern really wasn't for her stuff, she said that is what insurance is for. She said that lately she was having to work late, and so the kids were home all alone in the afternoons and early evening and she wanted to know that they were safe when she wasn't there. Now she said since they installed the new alarm system, they all feel much safer and more secure. She said she especially notices it with her younger kids, they just seem more free to go anywhere in the house even at night when they used to be scared. She says it has brought a more peaceful feeling to her whole family and that it is nice to know that they are safe all the time, even when they sleep.
Posted by juliusp at 02:15 PM | Comments (0)
January 02, 2009
VIRUS REMOVAL IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF SYSTEM MAINTENANCE
Recently my computer starting shutting down my monitor and I really didn't know why. At first I thought it was just a problem with the monitor so I put a different monitor on the thing and it kept doing the same thing. I knew something was wrong and thought that perhaps my computer had a virus. I decided to look in the yellow pages for someone who works on computers and see if they could help me. I brought the computer over and dropped it off to the guy right away. I didn't want to spend too much time without my computer. I use it for everything, and I really don't function well without it. The guy said that he would look at it that afternoon and when I heard from him the following morning, he said that the computer was not shutting down either of his monitors, so he really didn't see the problem. I asked him if he would go through and look into putting some good anti virus program in for me. He said that he had gone through and done some virus removal on my computer and said that the computer virus removal program that I did have in my computer was not working, which honestly I already knew, but I really didn't know what to do with it, so I just left it on there and continued using it to at least run scans and clean out what was in there. He said that he wasn't sure that he had removed all the viruses, but that he would install something called Cyberdefender. I really didn't know what this was, so I decided to pull out my laptop and looked it up and found a Cyberdefender virus removal review which gave me some good solid information about this program and what it would do for me. It offered, spyware and adware detection and removal, virus protection, spam killer, intrusion control and scam shield. According to my computer guy this was the best thing on the market to help not only protect my computer, but also to help me block out and clean out just about anything.
Well, I got my computer back that day, and I am so happy that my computer is protected again and is running better than it has in months. I never realized how many viruses come into your computer just from general use, but at least now I know that my computer is secure and protected.
Posted by juliusp at 08:34 AM | Comments (0)
November 28, 2008
COMPUTER, LAPTOP, TECHNOLOGY CHANGING THE WORLD
It is really amazing to me how much the price of computers has gone down over the past few years. This is a booming industry and these days computers and laptop computers are relatively inexpensive and therefore are becoming a household item.
I remember my very first computer. I got it because it was the in thing and I got a really good deal back then on it, which I think was about $1500. It was basic, but I could see that the computers were becoming more and more popular and increasingly more necessary. I taught myself to use it, simply by trial and error. I couldn't get AOL in my area so I had Earthlink, which honestly is a good thing, but back then I was disappointed, because AOL was all the rage. With Earthlink, however, you had to learn to type in the website pages and stuff, so I think that in the long run it gave me a better understanding of the computer, computer language, and how the whole thing worked. When I would get caught up and couldn't figure my way out, or the computer would freeze, I would simply shut the whole thing down and start it up again or reboot the whole system, and start over. Probably wasn't the best thing to do, however, I didn't have someone to teach me, so I just kept poking away at the thing until I got what I wanted out of it.
Now it seems that just about everyone has a computer, and now most people, especially students have a laptop, which is a great thing for a student, a computer that you can carry around with you everywhere. Even notebooks have become very popular and even though they have lcd screens I don't really care for the current notebooks, as they are just a bit too small for my liking, but that is just a personal preference.
Even though it was only a few years back, it is really difficult for me to imagine life without computers. I do just about everything on mine. It is my dictionary, thesaurus, set of encyclopedias, typewriter, phone book, maps, and shopping catalog. A computer serves so many purposes all at once, I know that now that I have had one and know how to use it, I could never again survive without one.
Posted by juliusp at 03:22 PM | Comments (0)
November 05, 2008
LEARNING MORE ABOUT DEDICATED SERVERS
I didn't know anything about dedicated servers, but I wanted to learn more after my father got one at work and it made a world of difference in their internet connection. I asked my parents about it, but they really didn't know much about it, just that it worked much better than it had before and that it was relatively inexpensive for the amount of improvement that it had made. When I got home, I went online to find out more about a dedicated server, and what I found was very interesting.
A dedicated server is a type of internet hosting service where the client leases an entire server not part of a server as is done with other types of internet companies. This is more effective and allows for a better speed of connection and more control over the network itself. This allows a company to have more access to the network and also allows the company to control content and layout on their own server. It is really great for companies, especially if they don't feel that they are getting the most out of their current internet server connections. With 24 hour a day service provided with companies like http://www.alentus.com/dedicated-hosting/server.asp the installation and set up is a breeze and working with a dedicated server on a regular basis you will find that you get the very best customer service and technical support available. They want your internet experience to be the very best that it can be, and their representatives are there all the time to help answer any problems and questions that may arise, although usually these are limited after you have the system set in place the way you want it. It is still nice to know, however, that they are there if you need them. There are not many companies out there that provide you with the best internet server and the best customer service all in one great package, but trust me Alentus does. Try out this company and you will be so impressed you will be a customer of their's for years to come.
Posted by juliusp at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)
October 27, 2008
Home alarms becoming more high tech
Someone told me recently about getting a wireless home alarm so I went online to look into it further and I found information about them on alarmsystemstore.com. There were two types of wireless home alarms on the website and both were about two to three hundred dollars. This seems like a really small cost to pay for your safety or the safety of your family.
Alarm systems seem like almost a necessity now but for people (like me) that know nothing about technology, it may be hard to find out what kind of alarm system is right for you family and home. So I looked into how to make that decision. The first thing that you have to do is go around your house and find out how many doors and windows you have and where you would want keypads located (normally by doors) some people like to have them outside of the bedrooms as well. When you have a wireless alarm system your home will be equipped with sensors so you will need to decide which doorways if not all these sensors will protect. Another thing that you need to decide is if you want your home to be monitored 24 hours every day or if you want it to vary. At my house we only turn our alarm on when we go on vacation or if my dad is out of town, my friend's parents though keep their alarm on all the time (we live in the same subdivision so it really just depends on how safe you feel or getting yourself into the habit or routine). A lot of things that people don't think about when they have a 24 hour monitoring system are pets moving around the house of children getting up to go to the bathroom. It really is important when deciding whether or not to get wireless sensors in the rooms of your home, to consider yours and your family's lifestyle and habits. When picking alarm you also need to have someone come to your home for a consult and talk to you about wires (or going wireless if they are too long) and also different options like panic buttons, fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.
Overall choosing to have an alarm system in your home if a choice left up to you and your family, however if you do not get a system that fits you and your family's lifestyle well enough it could become a bother instead. So make sure to really research and look into your different options to better suit your needs and keep yourself protected.
Posted by juliusp at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)
October 07, 2008
Value of Microsoft Certification
There are many reasons to get a Microsoft certification. By gaining a certification you are showing that you are familiar with Microsoft products and using them in your everyday life as well as career settings. By knowing more you can achieve more. By being Microsoft certified you are able to reach out to more people with the same background as you and network.
There are steps that you can follow to gain a Microsoft certification. The first step is to decide which certification would be right for you, your personal life and your career, whether it be with office, visual studio or even windows, you can tailor your certification to your personal and business needs. The second step in gaining your certification is to get hands on experience with the Microsoft products. The more you know, the better off you are, after you have personally familiarized yourself with the materials you will be working with, getting an instructor to further help you would bring you to step number three. Training sessions with an instructor can help to strengthen your skills and better prepare you for the exam. Then, you should familiarize yourself with what will be on the exam. There are several review guides out there that can give you a good idea of what o expect and help you gage how ready you are and what you still may need to learn. For step number five, like any other exam you should take a practice one. This way you can get through the stress of the exam and know exactly what to expect when you see the real one. Finally you need to take the required exam to get your certification. While this may seem stressful, imagine what you will be gaining from becoming Microsoft certified.
I feel like they stressed this is high school a lot but after that people don't realize that it still applies in real life and throughout your adult hood and career life. We are told that everyone will have a good GPA now a days and that you need something that is going to make you stand out. That seems to be the case now when applying for a job. In the world today everyone has experience, everyone has a great GPA and graduates from college but anything that you can have that sets you apart will help. Being certified in anything, especially something like Microsoft sets you apart and shows your potential employer that you took the initiative to go above and beyond.
Posted by juliusp at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)
September 27, 2008
Using free teleconference services
I just came across the most incredible free conferencing service available on the web. The company is called Rondee and they provide you with a free conference call service that is by far the best thing I have ever experienced. I know that you are probably thinking to yourself, I can get three way calling or conference calling on my phone already. Well, this service is so much more amazing, this is like the mega free teleconference service and that is right let me state again that it is FREE. Not only that but you can have a conference call of up to 100 people and you can schedule a time and date for it, so you can plan it a week in advance with plenty of time to let everybody know before the call date.
Well, I will be honest with you, I was a little skeptical that it was going to be all it said that it was, so I decided that it would be a great way to get a group of students together about the volunteer club that we have been wanting to start on campus. I set up a time and date on Rondee, which was a very simple process and then I e-mailed and text messaged everyone with the info about the conference call meeting that we were going to have. At first I was a little bit concerned that having that many people on the phone at once was going to be difficult, but quite honestly we ran the it very similar to a meeting and we had 22 people join in on the conference call. It was a great way to get everyone together and brainstorm ideas. Just because we are all on the same campus, it is still difficult to coordinate schedules and find a convenient time and place for everyone to meet. This way we even had 2 people who were on their breaks from work, one girl who was home for her Mom's birthday, and at least 3 students who were admittedly at home in their pajamas. What a great way to get everyone to connect and without having to inconvenience anyone! Our conference call lasted about 25 minutes and I was really surprised at how much we were able to accomplish. The clarity of the call was amazing and I assure you that this conference call service is going to become the new wave of phone service in the very near future. I know we will be using them again.
Posted by juliusp at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
September 08, 2008
telephony trends
We truly live in the information technology age. With times changing so quickly it is difficult for the mind to keep up with all the new phone technology info available out there in the world. One of the latest telephony trends is by far what I believe to be one of the most brilliant, aside from the cell phone, which of course in itself is a wonderful thing. The latest thing that I am completely impressed with is the voip phone technology. Now if you haven't heard about voip, you probably have. Voip is the system by which your home telephone line uses your high speed computer internet connection by which to function. This new technology is allowing people to switch from a home phone carrier which can run for about $100 per month and switch to an all inclusive service that will provide you everything you need, call waiting, call forwarding, local service, and long distance for one low price of about $20 per month. This savings is incredible, and it is hard to believe that there are no hidden charges or extras. You get it all for only one low price and that includes unlimited long distance and local calling. It is about time. It always seems that when new technology hits the market, it winds up costing us more, but it is nice to know that someone has found a way to bring us home phone service for a super reasonable rate. All I can figure is that whoever did this was as tired as I am of paying through the nose for a service that you don't even use very much.
Since I switched to Voip, I have been very happy with the service. The reception is clear and you wouldn't even know that you weren't talking on a land line phone. Some people are concerned that the reception goes in and out on these phones like it can on a cell, but this doesn't happen. Also, the bills are really as low as they claim, and the savings of about $800 per year makes this by far the best deal we have seen in years. Plus it is really simple to install and doesn't tie up your computer at all. It plugs in like it were a second computer which is nice because you can talk on the phone and be on the computer at the same time. If you haven't made the switch yet, do it today. You have nothing to lose, but lots of money to gain.
Posted by juliusp at 08:39 AM | Comments (0)
August 08, 2008
Detroit internet access
I arrived today in Detroit to do my last little bit of research here at the university and I have got a lot to do before classes start up again in the fall. I am here to do some independent
music therapy research with a couple of guys that I met at a conference last year. We are doing this all as a part of a much bigger focusing mission to try and eventually, when I graduate, start up some kind of a mind-body health clinic in this area. They are two guys that really know the area quite well and so I am basically just here to do some observations and to get trained by them on using this machine they use for distressing called The Life-Vessel. While I am here I will be subletting a bedroom in the city with high-speed Detroit internet access and a shared kitchen until I have to go back. I haven't met the residents because right now I am in a café sending out emails to all of the people who need to know that I have arrived. Until my ride gets here I will write a little bit about what kinds of research I have been doing.
The research that I doing is all part of the major that I have created around the mind-body connection and the many different aspects of what we all know as consciousness. I hope to, as I said, eventually set up a clinic where we use these types of machines and therapies in conjunction with close observation in order to try to make connections about various aspects of our physical circumstance. My fascination with the body and the effectiveness of alternative styles of healing has led me to really want to get to the bottom of the question of our consciousness. It is really exciting to find myself here, so far from home and school, trying my best to make that dream a reality in any way that I can. This is the way that my vision of the future seems to really be flowing and I think that I will get to see all of my dreams realized short of actually answering that question because I don't know if there is an answer.
Posted by juliusp at 12:34 PM | Comments (0)
Detroit phone service
I just got back in to town a week ago and today my internet finally got hooked up again so I need to vent a little bit. I have not had a very good summer so far at all. I left town here a day after I finished my last final and went to visit my parents for a little while back home. Then from there I had to fly to Detroit to go to an internship that my father got me which he said would look great on an internship and I don't disagree. The job was an amazing experience in business and taught me a great deal about the inner workings of a financial institution. It was outside of the workplace that I had some big problems. TO give some frame, finding cheap Detroit phone service seemed to be the easiest part of my whole summer so far.
The problems really began right after I got off the plane. I waited in the terminal for about two hours talking to people and walking miles of steps to find that my luggage had been lost somewhere. The said they would let me know when they found it and so I gave them my cell phone number to reach me. I left the airport and went to my place, which was super tiny, and I just tried to sleep for the night. The next morning I got up and went to check my cell phone far any messages from the airline and realized that I had forgotten my phone in the taxi. I never did get it back. So now I have no phone and no clothes so I had to go out and buy some nice clothes with the little money I had and then go to work. As I said the work was great but after a week of working I was really sort of bored when I went home. I am not usually the kind of person who likes having free time because it just makes me feel like I am not doing something to better myself.
Now that I am back in town I have plenty of things to do here and I am grateful for the experience. Though I still haven't gotten my bags back I am really glad I had that experience and now that I have three weeks to recover before class starts again.
Posted by juliusp at 12:34 PM | Comments (0)
August 07, 2008
search marketing
Business executives are more often than ever hopping online to find the things that they need. Being that this method takes less time, it is a common practice among the top business executives in the world. Having a good online marketing campaign is extremely important for this reason. A recent poll amongst top executives shows that:
* 67% of C-level executives say the Internet is their most important source of business information.
* Senior executives research competitors and industry trends online daily.
Of the C-level executives polled the following results were tallied:
* 54 percent conduct online researches
* 34 percent say they go to the Web first to find information on a product or service
* 86 percent use search engines
Among search engines it is no surprise that business to business (B2B) searches are more often preformed on Google than on any other engine. Executives actually have a higher preference for using Google than even the average consumer.
For the average company this means that online marketing strategies must be geared toward attracting the business executives from other companies. Going about this is pretty simple.
First, understand how executives search. Do some search query (keyword) analysis. In general, executives are interested in broad, strategic topics, and tend to focus on information such as industry research, market trends, competitive insights, new capabilities, and future predictions.
Second, B2B marketers must make sure that your company is visible when these types of searches are conducted.
Third, make sure your search marketing is targeting the specific audience you desire and that your message is relevant. Does your search listing—paid or organic—include strategic information and a compelling call to action that would appeal to an executive?
Having these ideas in mind when beginning your online marketing campaign will help you make the most of your advertising dollars. Audience specific online marketing will produce the results you want much more quickly than just throwing out a whole bunch of random ads will. Gearing advertising directly at your target audience will give you the benefits you want, and will get you more bang for your advertising buck!
Posted by juliusp at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)
June 22, 2008
search engine optimization
My father recently wanted more exposure for his business and decided to go onto one of these sites that allow you to buy a domain name and build your own website real cheap. He did a really nice layout and the pages looked great. Then I guess he thought that was all he needed to do, so he kept checking his web site, but no one was looking. He didn’t understand after weeks of having his site up why he was still not getting any traffic and that’s when he called me. I told him I wasn’t really sure why he wasn’t getting any exposure, but that I would talk to a friend I have that runs an online business and see what he did. His business was booming.
When I called him, he informed me about SEO Services and PPC Management Services, and I said you better back up you are losing me. Apparently, what he was trying to tell me was that these company’s give your site the exposure it needs and draw the traffic into your site. He told me that without hiring one of the companies to provide these services then your site will always stay hidden. He said that SEO which means search engine optimization is an important process of improving the amount and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" search results for targeted keywords. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results or the higher it "ranks", the more searchers will visit that site. He also told me about PPC Management which means pay per click management. This is an advertising model used on search engines and content websites and blogs, where advertisers only pay when a user actually clicks on an ad to visit the advertiser's website. Advertisers bid on keywords they predict their target audience will use as search terms when they are looking for a product or service. When a user types a keyword query matching the advertiser's keyword list, or views a page with relevant content, the advertiser's ad may be shown. Again, this is just another important way to gain attention on the web.
My friend told me, and then I told my father, the only way to really get your website rolling is to hire one of these companies asap. He said the sooner you get it rolling the better the results will be. I gave my father the information and he called the reputable company that my friend has been using for years and they assured him his business will be picking up soon.
Posted by juliusp at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2008
security audit
With new technologies come new challenges. This has been true of many different new inventions in the past. Take, for example, the automobile. Once car production was more stabilized and became affordable for the majority of the population, a host of new issues cropped up. Some were directly related to automobiles, such as improved engine designs, safety features, and vehicle types. Others were subsidiary consequences of a population that was more mobile than any other generation in history: interstate freeways, traffic systems, new zoning systems that started to create urban sprawl, and the classic American road trip with a camper.
Nowadays, we take certain things for granted, such as seat belts and air bags. But this was not always the case. It took many years of testing and the unfortunate, but necessary impetus of traffic accidents to push for automobile safety standards.
With the advent of the internet, the same is becoming true of websites. The websites of the 1990s are slow, plain, and uninteresting compared to the flashy sites of today. Even today’s websites are much more lively than ones only several years ago thanks to new technologies such as AJAX, which is a combination of snappy new programming tools that help make websites more interactive and creative. But as with the automobile, internet innovation brings with it security risks.
This is why it’s so important to conduct a regular security audit to check for loopholes in your website and detect parts that are vulnerable to hackers. You could use a web application scanner that will make sure that website access points open to the public, like online shopping carts and comment pages, are secure from hackers who want to do much more than buy a product or leave a comment. The same goes for AJAX. AJAX application security is just as crucial, since hackers can turn this wonderful technology into unlawful gain.
A security audit could be a good habit for a website owner to have. It’s sort of like a yearly physical exam for your website, to check for weak points where hackers can gain access to your website details, as well as information of your users or clients. A web application scanner could be especially useful for those vulnerable pages that use touchy info such as credit card information. And with your flashy AJAX use for your website, you should also have AJAX application security to make sure that this great new technology doesn’t become a Trojan horse to your website.
Posted by juliusp at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)
May 29, 2008
data recovery
Last month my life ended... Fortunately is was temporary...
Yeah yeah ok, something was wrong - but it's wasn't any of the usual suspects: I still had my girlfriend (at least I think I did), I hadn't been thrown off my course (yet), I'm still as good looking as ever (smile)...
The reason that life was not so good is due to my f**king laptop computer, or to be more specific - something inside it called a hard disk. I've got lots of cool stuff on my computer: movies, tunes, pictures, questionable web content.... and lots of boring stuff: coursework, more coursework... etc.
And how did this happen ? Well, I dropped my laptop off my desk onto a carpeted floor. When I picked it up the thing had frozen. So I rebooted, and it said the hard disk was not recognised. And this is how it has stayed ever since.
Ok, I may not be a techie but I had just realised how important the little flatish thing inside my laptop that says 'Seagate' was... and now I can't get to my files.
When something on your computer breaks (eg. a mouse or keyboard), you simply go and buy a new one. But when a hard disk breaks, simply buying a new one means you lose all the data that was on your old one.
So how do you get the data off ?? If the problem is not something simple, then the answer is that you require the services of a data recovery company: but make sure you get a good one.
Google data recovery and you'll get loads of companies - and the prices are odd: some charge $199, others will charge $1199... apparently for the same thing. So, I duely sent off my hard disk and $199. I then waited for my recovered data to arrive, which it didn't.
'What's the problem ?' I asked, 'Why can't you recover it ?'. I was told that the hard drive had a type of problem that they couldn't fix & recommended that I send it off to another (three times more expensive) data recovery RAID company that could recover the data. I asked for my hard disk to be returned. Two weeks later it arrived in a poorly packaged envelope. I then sent it to the recommended data recovery company.
A few days latter I got a call from them saying the data had been recovered successfully... Phew I thought, but what was the problem ? Something called 'bad media' - apparently down to the surface that holds the data being 'unstable'. I'm on shakey technical ground already so I'll leave it there. $799 later I have my files back, but I had to get a good company who knew what they were doing for it to happen... And the moral? Don't drop your laptop I guess.
Posted by juliusp at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)
May 19, 2008
security cameras
Recently on a trip to a local Walmart my children kept pointing out to me all the little black bubbles on the ceiling. I feel like an idiot that I never really noticed them before. I was trying to explain to them that they were security cameras and that they were used to monitor people and make sure that they weren’t stealing. Well, my 12 year old started trying to find places that he could stand that the surveillance cameras could not see him. He would say mom look that camera can’t see me, and my daughter would quickly point out another camera that could. It was hard for me to believe, however, we literally discovered that there was no place in our local Walmart store that the security system could not see us, even in the parking lot.
Now I do realize that surveillance security is a necessary thing, but I kind of felt like a rat in a maze, when we realized that from the time we entered the Walmart parking lot until the time we left it was completely documented by Walmart. I know that Walmart is a hot spot for people to try and rip stuff off, but it was rather frightening to me the excessive amount of cameras in this place. If you think about it, maybe Orson Wells wasn’t so far off base, when he spoke of big brother watching us everywhere that we go. These days there are cameras at many traffic lights and all over the place. I realize that in this day of the sue happy people, that documentation is necessary, but we are now in a place, where everything we do is being watched. It is hard to believe that anyone can get away with anything with the way things are structured and yet somehow they can. Even the school buses our kids ride on have video surveillance to document any suspicious or illegal behaviors on the trips to and from school. Although, some documentation of these things is a necessary precaution, I am not sure that we are not trading our rights to privacy in order to protect us from the evil in our society.
I guess if I think about it, I would definitely would be glad for the complete camera surveillance at Walmart if my child were to go missing there. It could definitely provide information that could help the police and possibly lead to finding a missing child. With how many different cameras they have running in that store, how would they ever find the documented information that they need quickly?
Posted by juliusp at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)