Hardware budgets are feeling the pinch of our tepid economy, and many companies are making employees use their laptops longer. If you are starting to tell your folks to keep plugging along with their laptops for four or five years instead of just three, you might be running into an unexpected expense: dead laptop batteries.

Well, to be fair, your laptop’s batteries probably aren’t completely dead. But since Lithium Ion batteries tend to lose about 20% of their capacity each year, a typical three-year-old laptop might only get about an hour or so on a charge, which might not even get your folks through an entire meeting. Here are four simple tips to forestall the day that you need to replace those batteries:

Keep it cool. Heat is the primary killer of batteries. Tell your employees to be careful not to let their laptops overheat. One common way that happens is packing a running laptop into a backpack or briefcase. If the laptop fails to go to sleep (and let’s face it — sleep glitches are common), then the laptop can get crazy hot in an enclosed space. You can almost smell the loss of battery longevity.

Recondition your battery regularly. Most laptop manufacturers (except Apple) don’t generally tell you about this, but a simple process known as reconditioning (or occasionally, recalibrating) can breathe new life into your laptop battery and add capacity back. To do that, turn off your screen saver and any other power management tools which put your PC to sleep. Fully charge the laptop, and then let it run all the way down — right until it powers down due to lack of juice. Then charge it back up again and restore your power management stuff. Do this every few months (such as three times a year).

Remove it when you’re not using it. When you leave your laptop plugged in at your desk all day every day, the battery never gets a chance to discharge and recharge — which is critical to its long-term health. Thankfully, there’s a simple solution: Remove the battery. As long as your laptop is connected to AC power, the battery isn’t necessary; it’ll run without it. Just remember to pop it back in before you take your laptop on the go.

Start with a super-sized battery. When you purchase your next round of laptops, upgrade to the extended-life battery. Not only will it give you significantly longer runtime to start with — great for road warriors and anyone else who works away from the office a lot — but the inevitable loss of battery life will have a less pronounced effect. The added cost of the larger batteries is worth the investment, because they end up lasting significantly longer.

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An optical mouse uses a light-emitting diode and photodiodes to detect movement relative to the underlying surface, unlike wheeled mice which use a set of one rolling ball and two chopper wheels for motion detection.

Early optical Mice

Early optical mice, first demonstrated by two independent inventors in 1980, came in two different varieties:

Some, such as those invented by Steve Kirsch of MIT and Mouse Systems Corporation, used an infrared LED and a four-quadrant infrared sensor to detect grid lines printed with infrared absorbing ink on a special metallic surface. Predictive algorithms in the CPU of the mouse calculated the speed and direction over the grid.

Others, invented by Richard F. Lyon and sold by Xerox, used a 16-pixel visible-light image sensor with integrated motion detection on the same chip and tracked the motion of light dots in a dark field of a printed paper or similar mouse pad.

These two mouse types had very different behaviors, as the Kirsch mouse used an x-y coordinate system embedded in the pad, and would not work correctly when the pad was rotated, while the Lyon mouse used the x-y coordinate system of the mouse body, as mechanical mice do.
Modern Optical Mice

Modern surface-independent optical mice work by using an optoelectronic sensor (essentially, a tiny low-resolution video camera) to take successive images of the surface on which the mouse operates. As computing power grew cheaper, it became possible to embed more powerful special-purpose image-processing chips in the mouse itself. This advance enabled the mouse to detect relative motion on a wide variety of surfaces, translating the movement of the mouse into the movement of the cursor and eliminating the need for a special mouse-pad.

The first commercially successful optical computer mouse was the Microsoft IntelliMouse® with IntelliEye™, introduced in 1999 using technology developed by Hewlett-Packard. It worked on almost any surface, and represented a welcome improvement over mechanical mice, which would pick up dirt, track capriciously, invite rough handling, and need to be taken apart and cleaned. Instead the reliable performance of the IntelliMouse® allowed relaxed grips which also were less likely to cause repetitive strain injury. Other manufacturers soon followed Microsoft’s lead using components manufactured by the HP spin-off Agilent Technologies, and over the next several years mechanical mice became obsolete.

The technology underlying the modern optical computer mouse is known as digital image correlation, a technology pioneered by the defense industry for tracking military targets. Optical mice use image sensors to image naturally occurring texture in materials such as wood, cloth, mouse pads and Formica. These surfaces, when lit at a grazing angle by a light emitting diode, cast distinct shadows that resemble a hilly terrain lit at sunset. Images of these surfaces are captured in continuous succession and compared with each other to determine how far the mouse has moved.

To understand how optical mice work, imagine two photographs of the same object except slightly offset from each other. Place both photographs on a light table to make them transparent, and slide one across the other until their images line up. The amount that the edges of one photograph overhang the other represents the offset between the images, and in the case of an optical computer mouse the distance it has moved.

Optical mice capture one thousand successive images or more per second. Depending on how fast the mouse is moving, each image will be offset from the previous one by a fraction of a pixel or as many as several pixels. Optical mice mathematically process these images using cross correlation to calculate how much each successive image is offset from the previous one.

An optical mouse might use an image sensor having an 18 x 18 pixel array of monochromatic pixels. Its sensor would normally share the same ASIC as that used for storing and processing the images. One refinement would be accelerating the correlation process by using information from previous motions, and another refinement would be preventing deadbands when moving slowly by adding interpolation or frame-skipping.

The invention of the modern optical mouse at HP was made more likely by a succession of related projects during the 1990s at its central research laboratory. In 1992 John Ertel, William Holland, Kent Vincent, Rueiming Jamp and Richard Baldwin were awarded US Patent 5,149,980 for measuring paper advance in a printer by correlating images of paper fibers. In 1998 Travis N. Blalock, Richard A. Baumgartner, Thomas Hornak, and Mark T. Smith were awarded US Patent 5,729,008 for tracking motion in a hand-held scanner by correlating images of paper fibers and document features, a technology commercialized in 1998 with the HP 920 Capshare handheld scanner. In 2002 Gary Gordon, Derek Knee, Rajeev Badyal and Jason Hartlove were awarded US Patent 6,433,780 for the modern optical computer mouse using image correlation.
Laser Mice

The laser mouse uses an infrared laser diode instead of a LED to illuminate the surface beneath their sensor. As early as 1998, Sun Microsystems provided a laser mouse with their Sun SPARCstation servers and workstations. However, laser mice did not enter the mainstream market until 2004, when Paul Machin at Logitech, in partnership with Agilent Technologies, introduced its MX 1000 laser mouse. This mouse uses a small infrared laser instead of an LED and has significantly increased the resolution of the image taken by the mouse. The laser enables around 20 times more surface tracking power to the surface features used for navigation compared to conventional optical mice, via interference effects.

Glass laser (or glaser) mice have the same capability of a laser mouse but can also be used on top of mirror or transparent glass with few problems.

In August 2009, Logitech introduced mice with two lasers, to track on glass and glossy surfaces better; they dubbed them “dark field” mice.
LED Color

The color of the optical mouse’s light-emitting diodes can vary, but red is most common, as red diodes are inexpensive and silicon is very sensitive to red light. Other colors are sometimes used, such as the blue LED of the V-Mouse VM-101 illustrated at right.
Power

Manufacturers often engineer their optical mice—especially battery-powered wireless models—to save power when possible. In order to do this, the mouse dims or blinks the laser or LED when in standby mode (each mouse has a different standby time). This function may also increase the laser / LED life. Mice designed specifically for gamers, such as the Logitech G5 or the Razer Copperhead, often lack this feature in an attempt to reduce latency and to improve responsiveness.

A typical implementation in Logitech mice has four power states, where the sensor is pulsed at different rates per second:
- 1500: full on condition for accurate response while moving, illumination appears bright.
- 100: fallback active condition while not moving, illumination appears dull.
- 10: standby
- 2: sleep state

Some other mice turn the sensor fully off in the sleep state, requiring a button click to wake.

Optical mice utilizing infrared elements (LEDs or lasers) offer substantial increases in battery life. Some Logitech mice, such as the V450 848 nm laser mouse, are capable of functioning on two AA batteries for a full year, due to the low power requirements of the infrared laser.
Optical Versus Mechanical Mice

Unlike mechanical mice, which can become clogged with lint, optical mice have no rolling parts; therefore, they do not require maintenance other than removing debris that might collect under the light emitter. However, they generally cannot track on glossy and transparent surfaces, including some mouse-pads, sometimes causing the cursor to drift unpredictably during operation. Mice with less image-processing power also have problems tracking fast movement, though high-end mice can track at 2 m/s (80 inches per second) and faster.

Some models of laser mice can track on glossy and transparent surfaces, and have a much higher sensitivity than either their mechanical or optical counterparts but are more expensive than their LED based or mechanical counterparts.

As of 2006, mechanical mice have lower average power demands than their optical counterparts. In practice this is only significant when the mouse is either used with a battery-powered computer, such as a notebook model, or is a battery-powered wireless mouse.

Optical models will outperform mechanical mice on uneven, slick, soft, sticky, or loose surfaces, and generally in mobile situations lacking mouse pads. Because optical mice render movement based on an image which the LED (or infrared diode) illuminates, use with multicolored mouse pads may result in unreliable performance; however, laser mice do not suffer these problems and will track on such surfaces. The advent of affordable high-speed, low-resolution cameras and the integrated logic in optical mice provides an ideal laboratory for experimentation on next-generation input-devices. Experimenters can obtain low-cost components simply by taking apart a working mouse and changing the optics or by writing new software.

The Basic Idea

Webcams, like most things, range from simple to complex. If you understand the essence of a simple Webcam setup, increasing the complexity is only a matter of adding functionality through software, custom code and/or equipment connections.
A simple Webcam setup consists of a digital camera attached to your computer, typically through the USB port. The camera part of the Webcam setup is just a digital camera — there’s really nothing special going on there. The “Webcam” nature of the camera comes with the software. Webcam software “grabs a frame” from the digital camera at a preset interval (for example, the software might grab a still image from the camera once every 30 seconds) and transfers it to another location for viewing. If you’re interested in using your Webcam for streaming video, you’ll want a Webcam system with a high frame rate. Frame rate indicates the number of pictures the software can grab and transfer in one second. For streaming video, you need a minimum rate of at least 15 frames per second (fps), and 30 fps is ideal. To achieve high frame rates, you need a high-speed Internet connection.

Once it captures a frame, the software broadcasts the image over your Internet connection. There are several broadcast methods. Using the most common method, the software turns that image into a JPEG file and uploads it to a Web server using File Transfer Protocol (FTP). You can easily place a JPEG image on any Web page (for information on creating Web pages and adding JPEG images, see How Web Pages Work).

If you don’t have your own Web server, lots of companies offer you a free place to upload your images, saving you the trouble of having to set up and maintain a Web server or a hosted Web site.

This is the simplest possible Webcam. Let’s see what you need to make it happen.

What You Need

In order to create a simple Webcam, you need three things:

•A camera of some sort connected to your computer
•A piece of software that can grab a frame from the camera periodically
•A way to broadcast your images on the Web

If you have your own Web server and Web site, you already have a way to post your Webcam images on the Web. At its most basic, a Web server is simply a piece of hardware that has the ability to deliver Web-based content to a Web browser. For some people, their home computer serves as their Web server. If that’s the case, a camera, a piece of software and your PC are all that you need. If you want to use a Web server that’s hosted elsewhere (for example, if you’re paying an ASP to host your Web server), you also need:
•The ability to move frames from your computer to the Web server, typically by File Transfer Protocol (FTP). For most Web servers, this is no problem; but occasionally, a hosting company will have policies in place that make this difficult.

•A relatively consistent connection between your computer and the Internet. A modem connection to an ISP is fine if it is something that you keep connected most of the time, which implies that you have a dedicated phone line for your computer. If you have something like a cable modem that is connected all the time, that’s perfect.
If you don’t have a Web server or a Web site, and you don’t want one, you can simply have someone else maintain your Webcam images. Lots of Webcam software comes complete with Web-based image access. They usually offer different access options, including remote access, which utilizes UDP protocol to transfer your Webcam images directly from your computer to another computer. This can be done:

•via Web browser, in which case the software itself establishes its own HTTP server so anyone using a Web browser can access the Webcam images on your PC
•via traditional FTP upload to a remote Web server
By using this type of service, you avoid having to host and/or maintain your own Web site. If you are using one of these services and you want the image to refresh itself constantly, you need a relatively consistent connection between your computer and the Internet. If your connection is not consistent, it won’t hurt anything. It just means that the image won’t always be up to date.

Setting It Up

In order to experiment with Webcams and go through the process of setting one up, HowStuffWorks got itself a Webcam. To set it up, here is what we did:

1.We went down to the local computer warehouse and bought the Intel Pro Video PC Camera.

2.We installed the software for the camera on a Windows XP machine.
3.We went to the Web site www.webcam32.com and downloaded a program called Webcam32. This is a popular software package for Webcams. You can get a free demo version or pay $39.95 for the full version. We went ahead and paid for a registered copy. (The complete user’s manual for this product is available on the Web site. Check it out to see the wide array of features available on today’s Webcam software.)

4.We installed Webcam32. It was a very easy installation.
5.After entering the address of the FTP site and a couple of other pieces of information, the Webcam showed its first signs of life!

6.We pointed the camera out the window.
7.We then tuned the software a bit to reduce the file size of the images and to enable the temporary-file copying feature.

There are many different features you can experiment with in Webcam32: streaming video, chat, captions, AVI files and different resolutions and compression ratios, to name a few. Webcam32 also supports the AutoCam feature, which allows you to create a Web page for your Webcam for free on the company’s server. The software makes it simple.
As you can see, setting up a basic Webcam is extremely easy. If nothing else, the setup described here is a fun, inexpensive and simple way to experiment with a Webcam and see what you can do with one of your own!

Advanced Features

Once you manage the simple system, you can look into other Webcam features and settings like:

•Motion sensing – The Webcam takes a new picture when it detects motion.
•Image archiving – You can create an archive that saves all of your Webcam images or only certain images at pre-set intervals.
•Video messaging – Some instant messenger programs support Webcam video.
•Advanced connections – Use wired or wireless methods to connect your home-theater A/V equipment to your Webcam.
•Automation – Robotic cameras let you set a series of pan/tilt positions and program frame-capture settings based on the position of the camera.
•Streaming media – For professional applications, a Webcam setup can use MPEG4 compression to achieve true streaming audio and video (this is the compression system used in most of the popular PC-based media players).
•Custom coding – Import your own computer code to tell the Webcam what to do.

One example of custom coding is a set of commands that makes a Webcam image automatically refresh. The simple Webcam system we’ve set up in this article produces a static image. Users have to refresh the image manually (by pushing the Refresh button in the browser) if they want to see any changes. There are three different techniques you can use to create automatic refreshing:

•You can add a meta tag to the HTML for the page so that the page refreshes at some frequency. The tag to add is:

<meta http-equiv=”refresh” content=”30″>

The “30″ is the number of seconds between each refresh and can be set to anything you like. The entire page will reload every 30 seconds, so it is beneficial to keep the page short.

•You can add a Java applet to your site. The Webcam32 and Java Applets page explains how to obtain and install the free applet. The applet is a program that automatically fetches the image periodically. The advantage is that only the image refreshes, not the entire page. Most browsers support Java applets, so most of your viewers will have no problem.

•You can use JavaScript, as demonstrated on The JavaScript Source: Refresh (look at the source code on this page). You can also check out How Java Works for a detailed look at Java programming.

Webcam Networking

One problem with using a camera hooked to a computer via a USB cable is the limited cable length. What if the room you want to capture is at the other end of the house, or outside? In that case, you need to purchase a camera with external connections. You have a few options:

•You can place a standard camera anywhere in the house and run a video cable with RCA jacks on it from the camera to the computer. There are all sorts of places on the Web that sell small pinhole video cameras, either on their own or embedded in things like clocks and smoke detectors. You can find small security cameras for less than $100. (Click here to use the HowStuffWorks search engine to search for security cameras.)

•You can avoid the cable by using a radio link (X10: XRay Vision is one example of this type of product), an Ethernet connection or a WiFi setup. If you already have a home network, connecting an external Webcam to your computer probably won’t require any additional networking.

Monitoring your home and sharing images via the Web are only a couple of the things you can do with your Webcam. There are any number of ways to make use of a camera that’s connected to your computer. You can get software that will let you make video phone calls with a friend who also has a Webcam. You can hold a video-conferencing session with business associates on the other side of the world. You can conduct a video interview and broadcast it live on your blog. Some Webcam software will even deliver images directly to your Web-enabled PDA or smartphone. Other products let you connect your camcorder to your Webcam setup so you can let everybody watch your vacation footage via the Internet. The possibilities are endless.

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The cd-rom is an external support for memory, with superior characteristics than floppy disk drives. Cd-rom stands for Compact Disk Read Only Memory and has special facilities, because of the updated fabrication techniques and the way of organizing and data accessing.

The stocking and data accessing is easily obtained using high speeds optical techniques, that’s why the number of mechanical components is little and the reliability is high.

Cd-rom history began in 1980, when this activity domain started to grow as a result of collaboration between Philips and Sony. Before that, each of them tried to provide a solution, but after the collaboration start, they set the standards of cd-rom (in 1982).

Cd-rom and audio CD are similar, only they have to deal some differences. The base is the same, also the reading principle, the physical format and the capacity. The differences are in the field of informational contents, and also in the hardware that reads and writes.

An audio CD can be easily read by the hardware of a CD-ROM.

The main performances of a CD-ROM:

- stocking capacity;

- access time;

- transfer rate;

- working speed.

The stocking capacity

A CD-ROM has a 650 MB capacity, much more than the diskette, but less than the HDD.

The access time

The access time is the time that occurs between the read or write request and the starting operation. This is defined as in the HDD case (<20ms), only that cd-rom access time is greater: between 100ms and 400ms, maybe less than 100ms. The great access time is the explanation of the fact that every accessing needs to get the CD to a certain rotation speed. The HDD has a constant rotation speed.

The CD-ROM reading head is a little bit heavier than the HDD’s one, because it contains lots of components: the laser, the photo cell etc.)

The transfer rate

This is the amount of information that is transferred in a second. It can be between 150KB and >3000KB (at the modern units). The transfer rate depends on the access time and the working speed of CD unit.

CD-ROM

The working speed

This is the parameter that directly influences the transfer rate and the access time. The working speed is set according to the first type of CD-ROM unit, which was named single speed and which has a transfer rate of 150 KB/sec. After that the 2x, 4x and so on came out.

The CD-ROM is superior to the diskette, but also has some disadvantages. It permits only the reading operation. For a writing operation, you must have a CD-writer unit.

The stocking capacity of a CD-ROM is sometimes not enough. Many programs or games have greater dimensions. There are encyclopedias or applications that need four or five CDs. This is not a problem anymore, because another support came out, the DVD – the next step from the CD-ROM.

DVD-ROM

The DVD-ROM technology has already replaced some of the video cassettes. A DVD looks exactly like the usual CD, only that the points containing binary information (0 and 1) are little, and the space between them is smaller. That is why a DVD can stock 4,7GB of information.

On a DVD you can use the both sides for your information, so you gain another 4,7 GB of information.

The future promises a disk with many inside layers to stock as many as 15GB.

The DVD-ROM is better, because you can add segments of information and has a better quality of video and sound than the CD-ROM.

To read the DVD-ROM you need a DVD-ROM unit that looks exactly like the CD-ROM unit. It has two lasers: one for the CDs and the other for DVDs.

The great capacity of DVD is important for stocking pictures and sound with a high quality. The Hollywood actually has an important role from the beginning of DVDs, because they started to release movies on DVD support, not only on video cassettes. mportant role from the beggininng.sound with a great qualityound than the CD-ROM

You need a Video-DVD decoding device to view the Video-DVDs. This device works simultaneously with the video device of your PC. A stronger PC doesn’t need a separate device to fulfill these needs, because the whole activity is set by the processor.

You can write information on a DVD-ROM, or you can even erase it. This happens when you need to free space on your HDD.

The DVD history starts in 1990 when the Japanese corporation – Sony – collaborated with Philips to create a new digital disk (Digital Versatile Disk) with a greater capacity. Other corporation didn’t agree with the standard set by those two, trying to find a better standard. Sony and Philips agreed and opted to licentiate the results of the global corporation.

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Function keys are that row of keys along the top of your keyboard labeled F1 through F10 (or F12, depending on the keyboard). These keys have flexible definitions and can be redefined by an application or operating system. Function keys typically carry out popular or repetitive tasks, saving you from having to type (or remember) several commands or keystrokes.

The Function Keys And You
In Microsoft Windows, key functions vary from application to application. There is, however, some common functionality between programs. Common function key tasks include:

F1: The F1 key is almost universally used to access help files. By pressing WINDOWS KEY + F1, you can access the Windows help and support center.
F2: The F2 key is used to rename the selected file or object.
F3: The F3 key is often used to access the search function of an application. On the desktop, F3 will call up the detailed Search Results window.
F4: Typing ALT + F4 will close the currently active program.
F5: This key will refresh the contents of a dialog box (e.g., Save As). In most browsers, F5 will refresh the currently displayed Web page.
F7: Sometimes used to call the Spell Check function of an application. Microsoft Word and Open Office both support this command.
F10: The F10 key makes a program’s Menu Bar active. SHIFT + F10 will display an item’s shortcut menu-the equivalent of right clicking on an item.
F11: This key is used in most browser programs to switch into full-screen mode

A Trick with Windows Function Keys
Windows doesn’t use all of the function keys. You can take advantage of this by assigning a program to an “empty” function key. F8, F9 and F12 are good candidates. To assign a function key, follow these steps:

Right click on the program’s shortcut, either on the desktop or in the Start menu.
Click on the Shortcut tab.
Click on the Shortcut Key text box.
Press the function key you want to assign to the program. The function key name will appear in the text box.
Click Apply or Ok and close the dialog box.

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The cyber threat is no longer limited to your office network and work persona. Adversaries realize that targets are typically more vulnerable when operating from their home network since there is less rigor associated with the
protection, monitoring, and maintenance of most home networks. Home users need to maintain a basic level of network defense and hygiene for both themselves and their family members when accessing the Internet.

Host-Based Recommendations

Windows Host OS

1. Migrate to a Modern OS and Hardware Platform
Both Windows 7 and Vista provide substantial security enhancements over earlier Windows workstation operating systems such as XP. Many of these security features are enabled by default and help prevent many common attack
vectors. In addition, implementing the 64-bit mode of the OS on a 64-bit hardware platform substantially increases the effort of an adversary to attain a system or root compromise. For any Windows-based OS, verify that Windows Update is configured to provide updates automatically.

2. Install a Comprehensive Host-Based Security Suite
A comprehensive host-based security suite provides support for anti-virus, anti-phishing, safe browsing, Host-based Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS), and firewall capabilities. These services work collaboratively to provide a layered defense against most common threats. Several security suites today provide access to a cloud-based reputation service for leveraging corporate knowledge and history of malware and domains. Remember to enable any
automated update service within the suite to keep signatures up-to-date.

3. Limit Use of the Administrator Account
The first account that is typically created when configuring a Windows host for the first time is the local administrator account. A nonprivileged “user” account should be created and used for the bulk of activities conducted on the host to include web browsing, email access, and document creation/editing. The privileged administrator account should only be used to install updates or software, and reconfigure the host as needed. Browsing the web or reading email as an administrator provides an effective means for an adversary to gain persistence on your host. Within Vista or Windows 7, administrative credentials can be easily accessed by right clicking on any application, selecting the “Run as Administrator” option, then providing the appropriate administrator password. Furthermore, all passwords associated with accounts on the host should be at least 10 characters long and be complex (include upper case, lower case, numbers, special characters).

4. Use a Web Browser with Sandboxing Capabilities
Several currently available third party web browsers now provide a sandboxing capability that can contain malware during execution thereby insulating the host operating system from exploitation. Most of these web browsers also provide a feature to auto-update or at least notify you when updates are available for download. Also, promising approaches that move the web browser into a virtual machine (VM) are starting to appear on the market but are not yet ready for mass consumer use.
5. Update to a PDF Reader with Sandboxing Capabilities
A sandbox provides protection from malicious code that may be contained in a PDF file. PDF files have become a popular technique for delivering malicious executables. Several commercial and open source PDF readers now provide sandboxing capabilities as well as block execution of embedded URLs (website links) by default.
6. Migrate to Microsoft Office 2007 or Later
If using Microsoft Office products for email, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, or database applications, upgrade to Office 2007 or later and its XML format for storing documents. By default, the XML file formats do not execute embedded code when opened within Office 2007 or later products thereby protecting the user from malicious code delivered via Office documents. The Office 2010 suite also provides “Protected View” mode which opens documents in read-only mode thereby potentially minimizing the impact of a malicious file.
7. Keep Application Software Up-to-Date
Most home users do not have the time or patience to verify that all applications installed on their workstation are fully patched and upto- date. Since many applications do not have an automated update feature, attackers frequently
target these applications as a means to exploit a targeted host. Several products exist in the market which will quickly survey the software installed on your workstation and indicate which applications have reached end-of-life,
require a patch, or need updating. For some products, a link is conveniently provided in the report to download the latest update or patch.
8. Implement Full Disk Encryption (FDE) on Laptops
Windows 7 Ultimate as well as Vista Enterprise and Ultimate provide support for Bitlocker Full Disk Encryption (FDE) natively within the OS. For other versions of Windows, third party FDE products are available that will help prevent data disclosure in the event that a laptop is lost or stolen.
Apple Host OS
1. Maintain an Up-to-Date OS
Configure any Mac OS X system to automatically check for updates. When notified of an available update, provide privileged credentials in order to install the update. The Apple iPad should be kept up-to-date as well and requires a physical connection (e.g., USB) to a host running iTunes in order to receive its updates. A good practice is to connect the iPad to an iTunes host at least once a month or just prior to any travel where the iPad will be used.
2. Keep Third Party Application Software Up-to-Date
Periodically check key applications for updates. Several of these third party applications may have options to automatically check for updates. Legacy applications may require some research to determine their status.
3. Limit Use of the Privileged (Administrator Account)
The first account that is typically created when configuring a Mac host for the first time is the local administrator account. A non-privileged “user” account should be created and used for the bulk of activities conducted on the host
to include web browsing, email access, and document creation/editing. The privileged administrator account should only be used to install updates or software, and reconfigure the host as needed. Browsing the web or reading email as an administrator provides an effective means for an adversary to gain persistence on your host.
4. Enable Data Protection on the iPad
The data protection feature on the iPad enhances hardware encryption by protecting the hardware encryption keys with a pass code. The pass code can be enabled by selecting “Settings,” then “General”, and finally “Pass
code.” After the pass code is set, the “Data protection is enabled” icon should be visible at the bottom of the screen. For iPads that have been upgraded from iOS 3, follow the instructions at: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4175.
5. Implement FileVault on Mac OS Laptops
In the event that a Mac laptop is lost or stolen, FileVault (available in Mac OS X, v10.3 and later) can be used to encrypt the contents of a user’s home directory to prevent data loss.
Network Recommendations
1. Home Network Design
The Internet Service Provider (ISP) may provide a cable modem with routing and wireless capabilities as part of the consumer contract. To maximize the home user’s administration control over the routing and wireless device, deploy a separate personally-owned routing device (a) that connects to the ISP provided router/cable modem. Figure 1 depicts a typical home network configuration that provides the home user with the network infrastructure to
support multiple systems as well as wireless networking and IP telephony services (b).

figure 1

2. Implement WPA2 on Wireless Network
The wireless network should be protected using Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) instead of
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy). Using current technology, WEP encryption can be broken in minutes (if not seconds) by an attacker, which afterwards allows the attacker to view all traffic passed on the wireless network. It is important to note that older client systems and access points may not support WPA2 and will require a software or hardware upgrade. When researching for suitable replacement devices, ensure that the device is WPA2-Personal certified.
3. Limit Administration to Internal Network
Administration of home networking devicesshould be from the internal-facing network. When given the option, external remote administration should be disabled for network devices. Disabling remote administration
prevents an attacker from changing and possibly compromising the home network.
4. Implement an Alternate DNS Provider
The Domain Name Servers (DNS) provided by the ISP typically don’t provide enhanced security services such as the blocking and blacklisting of dangerous and infected web sites. Consider using either open source or commercial DNS providers to enhance web browsing security.
5. Implement Strong Passwords on all Network Devices
In addition to a strong and complex password on the wireless access point, a strong password
needs to be implemented on any network device that can be managed via a web interface. For instance, many network printers on the market today can be managed via a web interface to configure services, determine job status, and enable features such as email alerts and logging.
Operational Security (OPSEC)/Internet Behavior Recommendations
1. Traveling with Personal Mobile Devices
Many establishments (e.g., coffee shops, hotels, airports, etc.) offer wireless hotspots or kiosks for customers to access the Internet. Since the underlying infrastructure is unknown and security is often lax, these hotspots and
kiosks are susceptible to adversarial activity. The following options are recommended for those with a need to access the Internet while traveling:

a. Mobile devices (e.g., laptops, smart phones) should
utilize the cellular network (e.g., mobile Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G
services) to connect to the Internet instead of wireless
hotspots. This option often requires a service plan with a
cellular provider.
b. Regardless of the underlying network, users can setup
tunnels to a trusted VPN service provider. This option can
protect all traffic between the mobile device and the VPN
gateway from most malicious activities such as monitoring.
c. If using a hotspot is the only option for accessing
the Internet, then limit activities to web browsing. Avoid
accessing services that require user credentials or entering
personal information.
Whenever possible, maintain physical control over mobile devices while traveling. All portable devices are subject to physical attack given access and sufficient time. If a laptop must be left behind in a hotel room, the laptop should be powered down and have Full Disk Encryption enabled as discussed above.

2. Exchanging Home and Work Content Government maintained hosts are generally configured more securely and also have an enterprise infrastructure in place (email filtering, web content filtering, IDS, etc. ) for preventing
and detecting malicious content. Since many users do not exercise the same level of security on their home systems (e.g., limiting the use of administrative credentials), home systems are generally easier to compromise. The forwarding of content (e.g., emails or documents) from home systems to work systems either via email or removable media may put work systems at an increased risk of compromise. For those interactions that are solicited and expected, have the contact send any work-related correspondence to your work email account.
3. Storage of Personal Information on the Internet
Personal information which has traditionally been stored on a local computing device is steadily moving to the Internet cloud. Examples of information typically stored in the cloud include webmail, financial information, and personal information posted to social networking sites. Information in the cloud is difficult to remove and governed by the privacy policies and security of the hosting site. Individuals who post information to these webbased services should ask themselves “Who will have access to the information I am posting?” and “What controls do I have over how this information is stored and displayed?” before proceeding. Internet users should also be aware of personal information already published online by periodically searching for their personal information using popular Internet
search engines.
4. Use of Social Networking Sites
Social networking sites are an incredibly convenient and efficient means for sharing personal information with family and friends. This convenience also brings some level of risk; therefore, social network users should be cognizant of what personal data is shared and who has access to this data. Users should think twice about posting information such as address, phone number, place of employment, and other personal information that can be used to target or harass you. If available, consider limiting access to posted personal data to “friends only” and attempt to verify any new sharing requests either by phone or in person. When receiving content (such as third-party applications) from friends or new acquaintances, be wary that many recent attacks have leveraged the ease with which content is generally accepted within the social network community. This content appears to provide a new capability, when in fact there is some malicious component that is rarely apparent to the typical user. Also, several social networking
sites now provide a feature to opt-out of exposing your personal information to Internet search engines. A good recommendation is to periodically review the security policies and settings available from your social network
provider to determine if new features are available to protect your personal information.
5. Enable the Use of SSL Encryption
Application encryption (also called SSL or TLS) over the Internet protects the confidentiality of sensitive information while in transit. SSL also prevents people who can see your traffic (for example at a public WiFi hotspot) from being able to impersonate you when logging into web based applications (webmail, social networking sites, etc.). Whenever possible, web-based applications such as browsers should be set to force the use of SSL. Financial institutions rely heavily on the use of SSL to protect financial transactions while in transit. Many popular applications such as Facebook and Gmail have options to force all communication to use SSL by default. Most web browsers provide some indication that SSL is enabled, typically a lock symbol either next to the URL for the web page or within the status bar
along the bottom of the browser.
6. Email Best Practices
Personal email accounts, either web-based or local to your host, are common attack targets. The following recommendations will help reduce your exposure to email-based threats:
a. In order to limit exposure both at work and home,
consider using different usernames for home and work
email addresses. Unique usernames make it more difficult
for someone targeting your work account to also target you
via your personal accounts.
b. Setting out-of-office messages on personal email
accounts is not recommended, as this can confirm to
spammers that your email address is legitimate and also
provide awareness to unknown parties as to your activities.
c. Always use secure email protocols if possible when
accessing email, particularly if using a wireless network.
Secure email protocols include Secure IMAP and Secure
POP3. These protocols, or “always use SSL” for web-based
email, can be configured in the options for most email
clients. Secure email prevents others from reading email
while in transit between your computer and the mail server.
d. Unsolicited emails containing attachments or links
should be considered suspicious. If the identity of the
sender can’t be verified, consider deleting the email without
opening. For those emails with embedded links, open your
browser and navigate to the web site either by its wellknown
web address or search for the site using a common
search engine. Be wary of an email requesting personal
information such as a password or social security number.
Any web service that you currently conduct business with
should already have this information.

7. Password Management
Ensure that passwords and challenge responses are properly protected since they provide access to large amounts of personal and financial information. Passwords should be strong, unique for each account, and difficult to guess. A strong password should be at least 10 characters long and contain multiple character types (lowercase, uppercase, numbers, and special characters). A unique password should be used for each account to prevent an attacker from gaining access to multiple accounts if any one password is compromised. Disable the feature that allows programs to remember passwords and automatically enter them when required. Additionally, many online sites make use of password recovery or challenge questions. The answers to these questions should be something that no one else would know or find from Internet searches or public records. To prevent an attacker from leveraging personal information about yourself to answer challenge questions, consider providing a false answer to a fact-based question, assuming the response is unique and memorable.
8. Photo/GPS Integration
Many phones and some new point-and-shoot cameras embed the GPS coordinates for a particular location within a photo when taken. Care should be taken to limit exposure of these photos on the Internet, ensure these photos can only be seen by a trusted audience, or use a third-party tool to remove the coordinates before uploading to the Internet. These coordinates can be used to profile the habits and places frequented for a particular individual, as well as provide near-real time notifications of an individual’s location when uploaded directly from a smart phone. Some
services such as Facebook automatically strip out the GPS coordinates in order to protect the privacy of their users.

Enhanced ProtectionRecommendations
The following recommendations require a higher level of administrative skills to implement and maintain on home networks than the previous recommendations. These recommendations provide additional layers of security but may impact your web browsing experience or require some iteration to adjust settings to the appropriate thresholds.
1. Enhanced Wireless Router Configuration Settings
Additional protections can be applied to the wireless network to limit access. The following security mechanisms do not protect against the experienced attacker, but are very effective against a less experienced attacker.
a. MAC address or hardware address filtering enables the
wireless access point to only allow authorized systems to
associate with the wireless network. The hardware address
for all authorized hosts must be configured on the wireless
access point.
b. Limiting the transmit power of the wireless access
point will reduce the area of operation (signal strength)
of the wireless network. This capability curtails the home
wireless network from extending beyond the borders of a
home (e.g., parking lot or adjacent building).
c. SSID cloaking is a means to hide the SSID, the
name of a wireless network, from the wireless medium.
This technique is often used to prevent the detection of
wireless networks by war drivers. It is important to note
that enabling this capability prevents client systems from
finding the wireless network. Instead, the wireless settings
must be manually configured on all client systems.
d. Reducing the dynamic IP address pool or configuring
static IP addresses is another mechanism to limit access
to the wireless network. This provides an additional layer
of protection to MAC address filtering and prevents rogue
systems from connecting to the wireless network.
2. Disable Scripting Within the Web Browser
If using third party web browsers such as Firefox or Chrome, use NoScript (Firefox) or NotScript
(Chrome) to prevent the execution of scripts from untrusted domains. Disabling scripting can cause usability issues, but is an effective technique to reduce web bourne attacks.
3. Enable Data Execution Prevention (DEP) for all Programs
By default, DEP is only enabled for essential Windows programs and services. Some third party or legacy applications may not be compatible with DEP, and could possibly crash when run with DEP enabled. Any program that requires DEP to execute can be manually added to the DEP exemption list, but this requires some technical expertise.

See the full article from zdnet here>>

The first thing that you will want to do when adding a new video card to your computer is shut your computer down and make sure anything that you have connected is disconnected but leave the computer plugged into the surge protector. You will then want to remove the cover and put on the grounding cover. You will then want to remove the video card that you have already installed onto your computer. You will then want to install the new video card into a slot in which it will fit. Make sure that you install the card gently but firmly.

Once you have inserted the video card you will then want to make sure that you install the cover and screws back onto your computer. After that is completed you will then want to reconnect your monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Once you have plugged everything back in you will then need to boot your computer back up. When you turn the computer back on if the monitor is working properly then you have installed the video card correctly.

From there you will need to make sure that you adjust all of the monitor settings to your liking as well as download any drivers and software that you might need for the type of video card in which you have installed. After you have completed this you will then need to reboot your computer to ensure that you have completed everything properly. It is a very simple process to complete and can really make it seem like you have just purchased a new monitor.

source: http://www.web-tech-rus.org/adding-a-new-video-card-to-your-computer.html

Most people use a laptop almost every day now. They have become so affordable that most people have a few around the house or one for their school work while away at college. For the most part, things are fine with your laptop. One problem that does occur is that the heat from the bottom of the laptop has hurt people. Find out what type of damage your laptop can cause you and what you can do to prevent it.

Your laptop’s heat can end up leaving you hurt. Some people have been burned on their thighs where they have worked on their laptop. Sometimes it burns the clothing into the skin and becomes a severe medical emergency. At other times people have been mildly burned over time when working with a laptop on their lap. These burns are seen after many months of use changing the color of the skin. Both of these types of burns are dangerous, What can you do to prevent it?

Never use your laptop in your lap. There is too much heat especially from the high powered laptops of today. Buy a cooling pad that you can use to protect yourself from the heat. The cooling pad does two things. First it will provide your legs with a cool and safe surface away from the laptop. Secondly, it has fans in it that will lower the temperature of the laptop inside and out.

Get a can of compressed air and dust out the vents in your laptop. These vents get plugged full of dust making it harder for the system to stay cool. Spray this air in the laptop when off from time to time and get rid of that dust helping your system stay cooler.

Add more RAM to your computer. This will help take some of the load off the CPU. You will not only have more speed but your computer will also produce a little less heat.

Monitor the core temperature of your computer while you are using it. There are many free CPU temperature tools. When you realize that it’s getting too hot, shut the computer off or move to a table where it will be safer to use.

source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Important-Laptop-Heat-Warning—How-Heat-Can-Hurt-You-And-What-To-Do&id=5201067

The hard drive is a device that is used for reading/writing digital data. It is a general section of every computer. The HDD keeps all the information we have. The hard drive might basically be separated into 2 general pieces – the mechanic one and the electronic one.

The mechanical part of the hard drive contains the following: plates, heads, spindle, arm and slider. The plates of the hard disk drive are produced from aluminum alloy or from glass. They are very smooth and are manufactured in special areas with no dust. In order to achieve the magnetic covering they are wrapped with cobalt alloy. On the plates is stored all the digital information.

The plates are being rotated with a very high speed by the spindle. It uses 12 volts. Ordinary hard disks (their plates) are rotating with a pace of 7200 RPM (revolutions per minute).

The plates have numberless very microscopic sectors which include a number of even tinyer bits of data – every bit is 0 or 1. When the digital data is being written or read the small bits are accessed by the also so tiny head. The head is being floated just above the correct bit by an arm and slider which are pretty precise. There are truly complex systems that command this operation and secure the accurate spot.

The read/write operation is very complicated. The most easy explanation is that the head and all the bits of information are magnets. When the head is right overhead a bit, and the data needs to be changed, the microscopic magnet bits shift their direction of their magnetic poles.

The electronic part is getting increasingly complicated with the years. It includes now a its own memory, separate processor and its own software. The electronics of the HDD manage the spinning of the spindle, the movement of the arm and the exact positioning, controlling the write/read process and even others.

The electronics also contain the HDD’s cache. This is chip of pretty fast memory that plays the role of a buffer between the information on the plates and the random access memory of the PC.

This is pretty much what the HDD is. There are also portable hard drives (also external hard drive) and they operate by the same rules. They just have divers interface for creating communication with the PC.

source: http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Does-the-Hard-Disk-Function?&id=5173215

NAS is an acronym for Network-attached storage. It actually represents a storage system for hard drives and can include different things within it, like configuration of RAID. When used in along side LAN IP, NAS can be configured to send different applications to network users spread across different workstations. NAS typically has its own set of programs for configuring file locations to different network attached equipment. This storage system is often included as a part of a more complete solution like SAN.

NAS is so different from other forms of storage systems that different kinds of programs and OS that run on NAS serves limited purposes like data access, data’s functionality, and supervision of different functionalities. A typical NAS unit doesn’t limit clients to a single FTP. NAS systems typically incorporate one or more hard drives that are set into superfluous, and logical of storage containers or RAIDs. With NAS at your disposal, your responsibility of sharing several files across servers on a network is fully eliminated. This could also mean deployment through commercial embedded units or through those systems that run NAS programs.

Contrary to a NAS system, RAID represents a system that is developed by combining several lower end hard drives to form a single storage device of larger magnitude. The device is known to provide superior performance, reliability and storage capacity, at least as compared to other forms of storage systems. There are six distinct levels that have been developed in RAID, as agreed upon by numerous manufacturers world wide. The levels range from 0 to 5. Other combinations too are included in these levels including level 10 and level 6.

In Level 0, data that is spread across different disks is striped without parity or redundancy. Maximum data transfer takes place in this level. This level is also known to handle large files in a good way. However, Spare drives are not so useful at this level. Level 1 is known to duplicate data across several disks. It effectively means that data can retrieved from a drive even if it is absent in another drive. This level is ideally suited for smaller applications. In Level 2, data is interleaved across many disks. All this while, parity information will be created using a code. This code is useful in detecting the error and the region where it has occurred.

In Levels 3 and 4 too, data is striped across multiple drives. While the former is implemented at BYTE level, the latter is done at BLOCK level. These two levels are responsible for combining the performance that is seen in RAID 0. These two levels are ideal for large transfer sizes. Striping of parity information and data at BLOCK levels spread across many drives is seen in Level 5.

RAIDs work at different levels as per the levels mentioned above. They can be implemented in software or hardware. While the software versions of RAID make use of computer’s memory and CPU for its functions, the hardware versions make use of either internal or external RAID boards for its functioning.

source: http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Is-a-NAS,-and-How-Does-RAID-Work?&id=5204661