Posts for 'Computers & Internet' Category

It is amazing how many people; both casual Internet "surfers" and online marketers choose to ignore computer internet security. Perhaps it is simply due to ignorance as to how widespread and dangerous computer viruses are or that they are simply "too cheap" to invest in quality internet security products. Then again it could be a matter of their naive belief that "it will never happen to me". Whatever the reason, with some computer industry reports claiming nearly 5,000 "new" computer viruses being discovered each year, whether you are a casual Internet surfer or a serious online marketer, you cannot afford not to take computer virus threats very seriously!

Just imagine logging into your computer one fine day to check your bank account or PayPal account only to find all your funds are gone! Your hard earned money, either from your traditional job or online business (perhaps both) have been stolen. Yes, there are viruses out there that are capable of gathering sensitive data (passwords, credit card information, etc.) from your computer without your knowledge and sending it back to the criminals that wrote the virus programs. Good-bye savings! So it is well worth your while to invest in the best internet security software that you can afford.

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Computers and teens, somehow inseparable the duo seems to have become. It's not a surprise really, given the exciting new world a computer and the internet can open up for a teen. From games to software, from emailing to earning money online, to flashy attractive screensavers to gadgets that enhance their experience online the teens seem to know it all now. It goes without a doubt then that freebies play an important role here too.

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A fish cannot live without water. A tree cannot grow without sunlight. A baby cannot mature without food. In the same way, true democracy cannot flourish without a free media. Free media are not only important, but essential to our democratic society because free media give citizens the voice to speak out, the eyes to see what goes on, the ears to hear what people say and the knowledge to take action.

One of the most prevalent and easily accessed forms of media is the Internet. Anyone can use Internet forums or Web sites such as Blogger.com to speak out and express their ideas and opinions on current issues. E-mail loops and news sites are also available to those who wish to be heard. In addition to the Internet, newspapers are another heavily used form of media.

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Apple's clone-making nemesis has lifted its game with Blu-ray drives and hardcore graphics cards - and is rumoured to be looking at Mac clone laptops.Psystar, the company that raised the ire of Cupertino's finest when it released its Open Computer, shipping with Apples' OS X operating system, has now announced an even higher-spec machine.

Its Open Computer and Open Computer Pro models, which start at US$555 ($940), like Apple's machines, run Intel Core2Duo processors of various performance levels.

But the Psystar machines can now be upgraded with Blu-ray burners for US$310 ($524), according to the Psystar website.More powerful graphics cards can be added - a 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9800GT (or two) can be added at US$200 each. There are also upgrades to add super-fast 10,000rpm SATA drives for primary or extra storage.

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Given Google's reputation as a trend setter on the web, I expected great things from its first mobile phone - especially since it is emerging more than a year after Apple launched the enormously popular iPhone.

And while it's far from perfect, the G1 powered by Google's Android operating system is packed with plenty of consumer-oriented features that may even make iPhone fans take notice.Made by Taiwan's HTC Corp, the G1 is being released October 22 by T-Mobile in the US and will cost $US179 with a two-year contract.

(There are no details available yet about any planned launch of the phone in Australia.)The device, about the size as the iPhone but plumper, will be available in black or bronze. It sports a large touch screen, and the lower smidgen of the device is angled - the curvature seemed more stylistic than functional to me - and sports four buttons and a trackball.

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It's taken the computer industry a little while to fully embrace the charms of the under-sized Netbook, although with big players such as Dell and Lenovo on board, as well as major retails like Best Buy and Amazon, these small laptops are more popular now then anyone could have anticipated.

We've even finally come to an industry wide agreement on what to call these products, which were originally dubbed mini-notes, sub-notebooks, mini-laptops, etc., before we all settled on "Netbook."

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Proving necessity is the mother of all invention, Google’s mobile team has developed an iPhone interface for Google Translate.

Allen Hutchison, a software engineer at Google, said that while planning a holiday in Europe he was frustrated that Google Translate didn’t work well on the iPhone and teamed up with a fellow Google engineer, David Singleton, to create a new iPhone interface for the translator.

He says Google Translate for iPhone is optimised for speed, supports all existing Google Translate language pairs and uses a client-side data store on the iPhone to hang onto past translations to keep them at hand, even if not connected to the internet.

The software interface was written using the AJAX Language API.“I tried an early version of this interface out on my trip and it was great – although my pronunciation wasn't,” Hutchison said in his mobile blog.

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A defiant China stood firm on controversies swirling around the Olympics on Thursday, hitting back at the United States over human rights criticism and insisting Internet censorship would remain.

China's communist rulers responded sternly to critics following a storm of bad publicity this week surrounding their decision to renege on a pledge of allowing unfettered Internet access to foreign reporters covering the Games.

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LiveStreaming video service Mogulus will announce a new round of financing later today. The size of the investment won’t be disclosed, although we’ve heard from a source that it is in the $10 million range. But far more important than the amount of capital raised is the investor. Gannett, a $4 billion company which owns USA Today and other news and media properties, funded the round.

Mogulus, like competitors Ustream and Justin.tv, allow anyone with a camera, computer and Internet connection to live stream to the Internet, reducing huge overhead costs for remote coverage (you don’t need things like satellite uplinks).

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 new study has revealed that web sites of banks and financial institutions are not safe. They can be easily hacked by the hackers and important data can be stolen by them. This is a warning for security of computers and networks of industries and corporate sector. Online banking and other online practices are vulnerable to data theft and other security issues. The study was released this week from the University of Michigan.

More than 75 percent of the Web sites of more than 200 financial institutions were found to have at least one design flaw, according to a study released by the University of Michigan. Atul Prakash, a professor in the university's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and two doctoral students examined the Web sites of 214 financial institutions. They have found that data on some websites is on risk and virus attack is possible on them.

The flow and lay out of most of the sites is not as good as it should be. There are many insecure login boxes and links. An attacker can easily change the address and phone number that is very useful for any firm. Almost 30 percent websites allows customers to go out of the domain of bank. The report finds 536 computer intrusion incidents with an average loss of $30,000 in the second quarter of 2007.