The Radiance of Knowing

It wasn’t too long ago when only a couple of manufacturers produced laptops for gaming. Sure they were never manufactured in large quantities but resellers did produce a lot of profit on them. They were the type of notebook computer everyone craved but the one they just couldn’t purchase. They the the most revolutionary technology and basically the best laptops. They most likely weren’t huge sellers though because I reckon the large number of us buy laptops that we can effortlessly afford. As of late it seems bigger manufacturers are all getting into the market really quickly and things are shifting.

These are certainly high margin products for the international manufacturers and they are aware of it. These manufacturers have possibly been losing a bit of cash on cheap systems so this should be a welcomed opportunity. Convincing prospects to buy laptops is pretty simple for bigger manufacturers. I bet littler resellers are really distressed about this. I express this due to the fact that the technology which was once exclusive and overpriced is now mainstream. Local companies can’t actually leverage a brand name as the bigger companies could. With that these portables are in addition perceived to be the best laptops already, even though they actually are not. I guess that local businesses could still have an opportunity. People like the ability to customise because they can specify what is most valuable to them. Typically this kind of customer is in the know in regards to the tech specs and can easily compare specifications. In my view I think people worry more about the speed instead of appearance.

As a likely prospect myself this is in fact all a good situation for me. Better technology will be increasingly affordable in the future for numerous gamers because it will act to push prices down even more. I write that a little hesitatingly though because the laptops business is a really fast moving area. I think technology is becoming increasingly better but the latest laptops will typically be over priced. As the gaming notebook market becomes over crowded with global companies, the majority will utilize a wait and see tactic.

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I guess you haven’t heard of NokiaLand before? The naming NokiaLand has to do with the worlds big-gest handset manufacturer Nokia and Finland, the country it comes from.

Nokia

Nokia has not always been a world leader in cell phones, digital technologies, telecommunications networks, wireless data solutions and high tech gadgets like the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. Some 100 years ago the company was manufacturing paper, toilet paper, galoshes, tires and raincoats.

Finland

Thanks to Nokia Finland has become one of the fastest-growing and most prosperous economies in Europe. And Nokia phones have a dominant market position on its home market. This is why Finland is sometimes referred to as NokiaLand.

In the 1980s Finland was best known for its paper and pulp industries and long dark winters. At the same time Nokia made the decision to shift its company focus from timber, tires, and rubber boots to mobile phones. Good move - today the company sells more phones than any other company in the world.

The Nokia success story had an enormous impact on the finnish economy. Nokia increased the finnish GDP by more than 1.5 percent in 1999 alone. In 2004 Nokia’s share of the Finnish GDP was 3.5 percent and accounted for almost a quarter of Finnish exports in 2003. Last year more than 20 000 people were employed by Nokia in Finland which is roughly 2 percent of the people in the Finnish business sector. Also several tiny companies such as Perlos have grown into large ones as Nokia subcontractors.

As Nokia’s profits grew, the Nokia share price increased and this also created a large number of new very rich households in NokiaLand - thanks to Nokia.

The President

Believe it or not there was a secret plan some 5 years ago in NokiaLand to put Jorma Ollila, CEO of Nokia as president of Finland. This did not work out, but if it had we surely would have had our NokiaLand. The story was revealed when Sauli Niinist published his memoirs this summer. He writes that he had asked Jorma Ollila, the chief executive of Nokia, to run for president in the 2000 presidential election. According to Mr Niinist, Mr Ollila pondered over the matter when Niinist made him the offer in the spring of 1999. As we all know Mr Ollila didn’t go for it!

Nicolas Fogelholm is from NokiaLand (Finland) and writes nokia news www.about-nokia.com/ and is webmaster for the online community at www.nokiainfo.net/.

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Why compact discs get damaged. Compact discs are all plastic. Compact discs are even not sensitive to magnetic fields as in case floppy disks, which never used to retain data when even a slight magnetic field is crossed with floppies. Then what is the reason why CDs get corrupted?

CDs work on the principle of reflection of light. CD drives have a built in laser that is used to read data. When laser is focused on to the CD the beam get reflected to a point when there is some data on that are i.e. 0 or 1 the points where light beam lands back is different which symbolizes the bit value.

When something on the CD breaks the path of the laser light, something like dust particle or something else like a FINGER PRINT!!!. Finger prints are nothing but natural oil from skin that sticks to the surface in contact with the skin in a pattern of skin cells. This oil or say fingerprint helps in refraction of light and loss of data to the reading source i.e. laser.

When CDs don’t run the reason is because something is interrupting the laser to read the shinny side of the CD. But I have important data what should I do now?

Most of the times it is because of dust or fingerprints, you need to clean the CD.
You can clean your CDs with plain water or a bit soapy water. And it is better to clean the CDs after some time. But this doesn’t mean you should start putting your CDs in dishwasher or washing machine every week.

All you need to do is to wipe the shinny side of the CD with a clean moist cloth and try running it again make sure the CD is dry before you run it.

People say about using all different sorts of things to clean CDs like toothpastes, wax polish etc. but I would recommend you to buy some CD cleaning kit. But if you still want to go try, do let me know the results.

And one thing I must add is that DVD work on the same principle and are bit more sensitive to dust and fingerprints. You can also use the above mentioned procedure for DVDs. But you need to be careful with DVDs

Edgar Lee is a VOIP consultant in VOIP singapore (www.voip.com.sg). A Singapore company that has extensive experiences in cutting-edge IT solutions, VOIP singapore is your trusted partner when your organization needs VoIP, IP PA System, Systems Integration, Computer Telephony, Voicemail, or even specialized solutions such as Call Accounting software and SIP Servers.
This article may be reprinted in its original form as long as the resource box is left intact and the links live and the article is not to be modified in any way.

Submitted with Article Distributor.

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With so many different ways today to find information online, it can sometimes be hard to know where to go to first. I want to look at the major and most effective ways to find information online.

The biggest and most commonly used method is to use a search engine such as : Google, Yahoo, or Msn. All three of these search engines offer similar features. Text search, Image search, Local search, Product search, are a few of the services they offer. It used to be only a few years ago where Google dominated the Search Engine market. Due largely to the fact that their search technology was the most advanced. Because of the huge investment other companies have put into their search technology, it’s getting harder and harder every day to say which one is really the best. With this in mind I think it comes down more now to which company do you prefer or which layout you like the most.

Another method used to find information is through what is called a Web Directory. Web directories will usually either be relative or general:

Relative - A relative web directory will contain information and links to websites that are all to do with one topic. An example would be a Weight Loss directory that contains only information and links to sites that have something to do with Weight Loss.

General - A general web directory is a site that will contain links and information to do with all types of categories. It will usually be arranged topically to allow ease of use in finding exactly what you want. The biggest and one of the most used directories is dmoz.org, which contains links and information to thousands of different sites, all arranged into categories.

I would recommend checking out a few of these sites, and really trying them out for yourself to see which one will be suit your needs. I’ve found that each site can be used most effectively in different situations. Happy information finding!
Feel free to reprint this article as long as you keep the following caption and author biography in tact with all hyperlinks.

Ryan Fyfe is the owner and operator of Web Design Calgary. He is also actively involved in: Enter Inside. Which is a great web directory and information center for all types of topics.

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© Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Pay-per-click,” by far the most popular form of online advertising, recently came under fire as charges of rampant “click fraud” gather steam on the Web.

Google and Yahoo! earn the majority of their money through sales of advertising to tens-of-thousands of online merchants, companies, and professional.

In fact, some estimate that 99% of all Google’s revenue comes from advertising sales. Unfortunately, allegations of click fraud may well rain on Google’s otherwise sunny parade and cause a whole scale revamping of current online advertising practices.

Pay-per-click advertising does exactly what it sounds: advertisers pay for each click on their ad, usually mixed in among search engine results or displayed on relevant websites.

“Click fraud” occurs when, for whatever reason, an ad gets clicked by someone or something (usually an automated “bot” that simulates clicks) with no intention of ever buying anything from the advertiser.

The sole intention of click fraud is to simply drain an advertiser’s budget and leave them with nothing to show but an empty wallet.

Who commits click fraud?

Usually an unscrupulous competitor who wants to break a rival’s bank, online “vandals” who get their kicks causing other people grief, or search engine advertising affiliates who want to earn fat commissions by racking up piles of bogus clicks.

Regardless of who does it or why, click fraud appears to be a growing problem search engines hope stays under their advertising clients’ radar.

This problem isn’t exactly news to the search engine giants.

In fact, on page 60 of their 3rd quarter Report for 2004, Google admits that they have “regularly refunded revenue” to advertisers that was “attributed to click-through fraud.”

Google further states that if they don’t find a way to deal with this problem “these types of fraudulent activities could hurt our brand.”

Bottom line for Google and Yahoo! (which owns Overture, the Web’s largest pay-per-click search engine): as word of click fraud spreads across the Web, they must act quickly to calm the nerves of advertisers who could well abandon them over doubts about the veracity of their advertising charges.

The search engines all claim to carry measures that identify and detect click fraud, but details about how they do it and to what extent remain sketchy.

They claim revealing details about security would compromise their efforts and give the perpetrators a leg up on circumventing their defenses.

This sounds good, but affords little comfort to advertisers who feel caught between losing out on their best traffic sources and paying for advertising that won’t result in revenue.

One way to protect your business against click fraud is to closely monitor your website statistics.

Look for an unusually high number or regular pattern of clicks from the same IP address.

If you need help, enlist the aid of your hosting provider to aid you in spotting suspicious trends in your website traffic.

Also, a number of services such as ClickSentinel.com have sprung up online to help advertisers spot and quickly analyze and compile the data necessary to effectively dispute fraudulent click charges with the search engines.

About the Author

Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to use fr^e articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate links…

Simple “Traffic Machine” brings Thousands of NEW visitors to your website for weeks, even months… without spending a dime on advertising! ==> http://www.turnwordsintotraffic.com

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Good fortune allowed me the opportunity to run out and purchase
an affordable High Definition TV recently. This HDTV’s only
claim to fame is that the tuner is built in and it reads and
delivers the 1080i resolution that defines “HD.” Naturally, it’s
reverse compatible with the old 480p and 720p resolution
standards but I didn’t have to worry about that, right?

I’ll refrain from specifying what I got in detail, only to tell
you that it rocks! It’s the smartest $750 you can spend in
visual entertainment with a 30-inch diagonal and a perfectly
flat Cathode Ray Tube that happens to be a pithy 16-inches. The
manufacturer has labeled this a, “SlimFit” model and rightly so.
(At 120 pounds, it’s still a team lift, however.)

I get the thing upstairs, unpack it, go through the first time
set up and auto program to my new TV’s content. The happy
surprise is that there are hidden channels your new HD tuner
decodes for you! After almost cutting myself on razor-sharp
pictures broadcast in proper 1080i HD resolution, I think, “now
I’ll have some REAL fun and see a DVD like I’ve never seen it
before.”

In went the goofy adventure of Captain Sparrow, “The Curse of
The Black Pearl.” The kid in me wanted to play with the new
toy… I was totally silent as I watched the opening scenes in
horror: Letter box’s black-line haters haven’t seen anything
yet. All of our beloved DVD’s are lacking 100% in the HD
category; THEY DON’T MAKE HD DVD’s! It is the next big sell!

Remember your record albums? Yeah. Remember buying them on tape?
Uh-huh. Remember buying them AGAIN on CD. Yup. Remember seeing
that movie you loved in the theater? Uh-huh. Remember buying the
DVD version. Your next vivid memory will be cursing your DVD
collection for looking awful on your next TV which may well be
properly HD compatible meaning loaded with 1080i resolution that
your DVD can’t keep up with.

Briefly, here’s the current method to watch that DVD on a proper
HD TV. The TV probably has five settings: 16:9, Panorama, Zoom
1, Zoom 2 and 3:4 picture settings. The first is the HD
standard, lovely; and the last is the standard that’s phasing
out. Everything in the middle is a fatherless child. Standard
set shows on 16:9 look stretched left and right. Standard set
shows on your 16:9 screen set to 3:4 get the black lines to the
left and right. Your standard DVD in letterbox format get black
lines EVERYWHERE: Top, bottom, left and right. The picture is
ridiculously small. But mighty sharp!

Your only option? Set the TV to display at Zoom 1 which takes
the DVD’s 720i and forces 1.5 pixels on your HDTV to try,
fruitlessly, to display 1 pixel from the DVD. The result is a
jittery, dancing image that will gray any video-phile’s hair
halfway into the first film. As holidays and birthdays arrive,
take care not to build that glorious DVD collection you’ve
always wanted. Change is coming, like it always does. You’ve
been warned.

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DefensePro Proven to Offer Comprehensive href="http://www.radware.com/content/solutions/application-securi
ty/Default.asp" rel="nofollow"> Application Security and Performance
Capabilities at High Throughput Speeds

Helping organizations secure, optimize and ensure performance
for mission critical applications, Radware (NASDAQ: RDWR) the
leading provider of Intelligent Application Switching solutions,
announced that recent independent tests by The Tolly Group
confirm that DefensePro offers comprehensive href="http://www.radware.com/content/products/apsolute_os/default
.asp" rel="nofollow"> Intrusion Prevention Switch (IPS) capabilities.
Results showed that DefensePro not only provides standard IPS
capabilities to isolate, block and prevent attacks at 2.5 Gbps
throughput, but also offers advanced security intelligence
features such as attack isolation, traffic shaping,
bi-directional SSL inspection, Denial of Service Protection,
Mass Mailing Protection and protection against Evasion
Techniques, that ensure application performance and reliability
even while the network is under attack.

Realizing that application security involves more than strictly
blocking malicious content, Radware enlisted The Tolly Group to
conduct a series of real-world tests that examined the
DefensePro 3000’s ability to thwart attacks and still ensure the
availability and performance of mission critical applications.
In standard IPS performance tests, Radware solutions were proven
to secure mission critical applications in real time across
high-speed and high capacity environments. Recognition was noted
to Radware on the company’s integration of Intrusion Prevention
and Denial of Service protection in one device as well as the
ability to mitigate SSL-based attacks and SMTP mass mailing
attacks.

“To guarantee both network security and application performance
and reliability, an IPS solution needs to go beyond just
blocking or preventing attacks,” said Assaf Ronen, VP R&D of
Radware. “Advanced security features like bandwidth management
and attack isolation should be a requirement in any IPS
solution, so that organizations can ensure end-to-end security
and performance of their mission critical applications - even
while in the throes of an attack. The Tolly Group’s tests
confirmed that DefensePro’s advanced security features can block
all manner of attacks while leaving these mission-critical
applications unaffected.”

The Tolly Group tests underscored the unique capabilities of
DefensePro 3000 and concluded that:

DefensePro blocked application attacks at an unmatched speed of
2.5 Gigabits per second by identifying and mitigating protocol
and traffic anomalies in real-time.

DefensePro’s unique bandwidth management capability was able to
isolate attacks by dynamically managing bandwidth to stop
propagation across users and resources while ensuring complete
continuity and performance of all secure traffic to proactively
control impact and limit damage.

DefensePro prevented DoS/DDoS attacks and SYN floods,
safeguarding against illicit traffic patterns and hacking.
DefensePro also leveraged a wide range of DoS protection
capabilities including packet-based attacks, TCP, UDP and ICMP
flood protection and DHCP flood protection.

“DefensePro ranks among the strongest providers of IPS solutions
we have reviewed before,” stated Kevin Tolly, president/CEO of
The Tolly Group. “With features like bandwidth management, SSL
and evasion attack capabilities and multi-segment protection,
Radware provides a solid package of cost effective application
security and performance for organizations.”

Radware (NASDAQ:RDWR) is the Global Leader in Intelligent
Application Switching, enabling the full availability, maximum
performance and complete security of all mission critical
networked applications while dramatically cutting operating and
scaling costs.

Radware’s integrated Application Security , Application
Infrastructure and End-to-End Connectivity solutions are
deployed by over 2,500 enterprises and carriers worldwide.
Radware offers the broadest product line in the industry meeting
application needs at every critical point across the network
including Web and Application Servers, Firewalls, VPNs, ISP
links, Anti-Virus Gateways and Cache.

The Tolly Group, an independent testing and strategic consulting
organization based in Boca Raton, FL., offers a full range of
services designed to furnish both the vendor and end-user
communities with authoritative and unbiased information.
Additionally, The Tolly Group is recognized worldwide for its
expertise in assessing leading-edge technologies. For more
information on The Tolly Group’s services.

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For over 20 years, Kvichak Marine has been recognized as a
worldwide leader in the design and construction of high quality,
hardworking aluminum vessels. Kvichak vessels are on the job and
meeting the rigorous demands of the sea everyday.

Whether it is fisheries patrol or firefighting; transporting
passengers or transporting pilots — Kvichak constructs vessels
that have been proven reliable and durable on any mission.

Kvichak Marine Industries, was founded in 1981 by three friends,
Brian Thomas, Keith Whittemore, and Jim Meckley. The name
Kvichak (pronounced Kwee-jack) comes from the Kvichak River in
Bristol Bay, Alaska. Today, Kvichak has 100 employees operating
out of a 35,000 square foot facility on the Lake Washington Ship
Canal, in Seattle, Washington. As the company has grown, so has
its presence in the market. The company’s niche market is
vessels from 40 feet to 100 feet characterized by increasing
complexity. The ETO ERP Manufacturing Solution is Encompix.

When most people think of engineer-to-order manufacturers, they
think of machine tools and other large, complex industrial
equipment. While searching for a new ERP system, Kvichak Marine,
a Seattle- based boat builder, discovered the term “engineer-to-
order” and soon realized that the description fit their business
exactly. Although not faced with the same economic issues,
Kvichak has the same characteristics as other ETO manufactures:
to estimate, design, build, and deliver on-time and on-budget.

Encompix (www.encompix.com) has filled the manufacturing
software requirements of Engineer-to-Order companies since 1992.
The company name reflects the commitment to developing business
application solutions that encompass the complex areas of
project-based and job-based manufacturing. Encompix provides ETO
manufacturers with a competitive advantage by improving
bottom-line results.

Encompix www.encompix.com Roger Meloy 513-733-0066

# # #

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When you earned your CCNA, you thought you learned everything there is to know about RIP. Close, but not quite! There are some additional details you need to know to pass the BSCI exam and get one step closer to the CCNP exam, and one of those involves RIP update packet authentication.

You’re familiar with some advantages of using RIPv2 over RIPv1, support for VLSM chief among them. But one advantage that you’re not introduced to in your CCNA studies is the ability to configure routing update packet authentication.

You have two options, clear text and MD5. Clear text is just that - a clear text password that is visible by anyone who can pick a packet off the wire. If you’re going to go to the trouble of configuring update authentication, you should use MD5. The MD stands for “Message Digest”, and this is the algorithm that produces the hash value for the password that will be contained in the update packets.

Not only must the routers agree on the password, they must agree on the authentication method. If one router sends an MD5-hashed password to another router that is configured for clear-text authentication, the update will not be accepted. debug ip rip is a great command for troubleshooting authenticated updates.

R1, R2, and R3 are running RIP over a frame relay cloud. Here is how RIP authentication would be configured on these three routers.

R1#conf t

R1(config)#key chain RIP

< The key chain can have any name. >

R1(config-keychain)#key 1

< Key chains can have multiple keys. Number them carefully when using multiples. >

R1(config-keychain-key)#key-string CISCO

< This is the text string the key will use for authentication. >

R1(config)#int s0

R1(config-if)#ip rip authentication mode text

< The interface will use clear-text mode. >

R1(config-if)#ip rip authentication key-chain RIP

< The interface is using key chain RIP, configured earlier. >

R2#conf t

R2(config)#key chain RIP

R2(config-keychain)#key 1

R2(config-keychain-key)#key-string CISCO

R2(config)#int s0.123

R2(config-subif)#ip rip authentication mode text

R2(config-subif)#ip rip authentication key-chain RIP

R3#conf t

R3(config)#key chain RIP

R3(config-keychain)#key 1

R3(config-keychain-key)#key-string CISCO

R3(config)#int s0.31

R3(config-subif)#ip rip authentication mode text

R3(config-subif)#ip rip authentication key-chain RIP

To use MD5 authentication rather than clear-text, simply replace the word “text” in the ip rip authentication mode command with md5.

Here’s what a successfully authentication RIPv2 packet looks like, courtesy of debug ip rip. Clear-text authentication is in effect and the password is “cisco”.

3d04h: RIP: received packet with text authentication cisco

3d04h: RIP: received v2 update from 150.1.1.3 on Ethernet0

3d04h: 100.0.0.0/8 via 0.0.0.0 in 1 hops

3d04h: 150.1.2.0/24 via 0.0.0.0 in 1 hops

Here’s what it looks like when the remote device is set for MD5 authentication and the local router is set for clear-text. You’ll also see this message if the password itself is incorrect.

3d04h: RIP: ignored v2 packet from 150.1.1.3 (invalid authentication)

“Debug ip rip” may be a simple command as compared to the debugs for other protocols. but it’s also a very powerful debug. Start using debugs as early as possible in your Cisco studies to learn how router commands really work!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of free CCNP and CCNA tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages.

For a FREE copy of his latest e-books, “How To Pass The CCNA” and “How To Pass The CCNP”, just visit the website! You can also get FREE CCNA and CCNP exam questions every day! Pass the CCNP exam with The Bryant Advantage!