Top All-in-One Security Suites

Symantec's suite is a solid performer and easy to use. Kaspersky's and BitDefender's suites are the fastest to respond to new malware outbreaks, while McAfee offers lots of extra features.

PC World Staff

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1 Symantec Norton Internet Security 2008 • Price for use on up to three PCs: $70
• PCW Rating: 84 Very Good
• Performance: Very Good
• Design: Very Good
• Features: Superior

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Norton offers solid performance, including the best behavior-based protection against unknown threats.
(Last Rated: November 29, 2007)
Full Review • Test Report

2 Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0 • Price for use on up to three PCs: $80
• PCW Rating: 82 Very Good
• Performance: Very Good
• Design: Superior
• Features: Very Good

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This top-tier security suite scans slowly, but it responds quickly to new outbreaks and has a nice design.
(Last Rated: November 29, 2007)
Full Review • Test Report

3 McAfee Internet Security Suite • Price for use on up to three PCs: $70
• PCW Rating: 80 Very Good
• Performance: Good
• Design: Very Good
• Features: Superior
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Its ample features include a backup program and antispam plug-ins, but threat detection could be better.
(Last Rated: November 29, 2007)
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4 BitDefender Internet Security 2008 • Price for use on up to three PCs: $50
• PCW Rating: 79 Good
• Performance: Good
• Design: Good
• Features: Good

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Excellent performer is best for experts who don’t need guidance regarding security extras and pop-up alerts.
(Last Rated: November 29, 2007)
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5 Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 • Price for use on up to three PCs: $50
• PCW Rating: 77 Good
• Performance: Good
• Design: Fair
• Features: Very Good

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A good feature set and malware disinfection are offset by below-average detection and interface bugs.
(Last Rated: November 29, 2007)
Full Review • Test Report

6 Avira Premium Security Suite 7.06.00.168 • Price for use on up to three PCs: $87
• PCW Rating: 73 Good
• Performance: Very Good
• Design: Very Good
• Features: Poor
Vendor's Web Site
Great threat detection is offset by a lack of features typical of a security suite.
(Last Rated: November 29, 2007)
Full Review • Test Report

7 Checkpoint ZoneAlarm Internet SecuritySuite 7.1 • Price for use on up to three PCs: $60
• PCW Rating: 72 Good
• Performance: Good
• Design: Very Good
• Features: Poor

Manufacturer's Pricing
The firewall is better than most, but you'll want to pair it with your choice of antivirus program due to anemic settings and speed.
(Last Rated: November 29, 2007)
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8 CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2008 • Price for use on up to three PCs: $70
• PCW Rating: 72 Good
• Performance: Fair
• Design: Good
• Features: Good

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This easy-to-use security suite lacks sufficient protection to stop many of today's threats. Don't use it.
(Last Rated: November 29, 2007)
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Antivirus Developers Team to Set Test Standards

As malware gets more aggressive, security software companies seek to set standards for products and evaluations.

Peter Sayer, IDG News Service
Antivirus software companies and software testers created a new organization Monday with the goal of providing consistent information about the effectiveness of antivirus products.

The distribution of malware -- including viruses, worms, Trojan Horses, and Web sites exploiting weaknesses in Internet browsers -- is now being driven by organized crime for financial gain, and poses an ever more serious threat.

Anti-malware software developers have developed methods to block these threats, but traditional antivirus tests are becoming irrelevant because they don't take such methods into account, according to Stuart Taylor of anti-malware software vendor Sophos.

Last year, developers of antivirus software called into question a batch of antivirus tests conducted by independent organizations when showed their products failing to detect many security threats. At a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, last May, representatives of F-Secure, Panda Software and Symantec decided to design a new testing plan.

The creation of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) is one of the fruits of that work. It brings together around 40 developers and testers of anti-malware tools, with the aim of hosting discussions about testing, publicizing testing standards, and providing tools and resources for such testing.

Organizations present at the inaugural meeting included antivirus software testers such as AV-Comparatives and AV-Test.org, and antivirus software developers including BitDefender, F-Secure, Kaspersky Lab, McAfee, Sophos, Symantec, Trend Micro and Panda Software, which hosted the meeting. IBM and Microsoft also attended.

FBI Suspects Chinese Hackers Damaged Darfur Site

The FBI is looking into a China-based hack of servers at the Save Darfur Coalition.

Robert McMillan, IDG News Service
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into a possible China connection in the hack of a nonprofit group created to draw attention to the ongoing genocide in western Sudan's Darfur region.

The Save Darfur Coalition called in the FBI earlier this week after discovering that someone had gained unauthorized access to its e-mail and Web server, according to Allyn Brooks-LaSure, a spokesman with the group.

Brooks-LaSure doesn't know who is behind the attacks, but he said the Internet Protocol addresses of the computers that had hacked his organization were from China. "Someone in Beijing is trying to send us a message," he said.

The hackers seemed to be primarily interested in gathering data on his group, Brooks-LaSure said. Save Darfur has been trying to get China to pressure Sudan's government into stopping the mass killings in Darfur's ongoing civil war. China is one of Sudan's largest trading partners.

Computers in China have been the source of many attacks in recent years, although security experts say that sometimes China-based machines are simply used as jumping-off points for attackers who actually reside in other countries such as the U.S. or Russia.

Groups that work with Save Darfur may have also been hit, Brooks-LaSure said. Some partner organizations have been the subject of very targeted e-mail attacks over the past few weeks that have tried to trick workers into opening malicious documents or visiting malicious Web sites. These are both common ways of installing unauthorized software on a victim's computer.

This type of targeted e-mail attack was recently employed by attackers looking to infect people on a pro-Tibet mailing list. Victims who opened what appeared to be a statement of solidarity for the people of Tibet were secretly hit with attack code that exploited a flaw in Adobe's Acrobat software, said security researchers at F-Secure in a blog posting.

"It looked like it was coming from the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO). However, the e-mail headers were forged and the mail was coming from somewhere else altogether," wrote F-Secure.

Many pro-Tibet organizations have been targeted with these types of attacks in recent months, the company added. "This is not an isolated incident. Far from it," the company said. "These e-mails have been sent to mailing lists, private forums and directly to persons working inside pro-Tibet groups. Some individuals have received targeted attacks like this several times a month."

A similar type of attack was used last month to infect computers at a committee working on security at the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, according to security vendor MessageLabs.

Members of that committee were infected by a malicious Microsoft Word document that they then forwarded to other organizations, according to MessageLabs researcher Maksym Schipka. In that case, "the bad guys did not have to hack into the good guy's mail server, all they had to do was persuade them that the document was something interesting so that the good guys themselves would forward it on," he said.

It is not clear that there is any connection between the attack reported by MessageLabs and that reported by Save Darfur.

When contacted Friday regarding the Save Darfur incident, FBI Spokeswoman Debbie Weierman confirmed that the law enforcement agency was "looking into the matter."

Restored Computer Hardware

Author: Carolyn Clayton

Hardware is an aspect of your computer that doesn’t require the need to be changed that often, unlike software. So if your hardware shouldn’t need to be changed that often you want to make sure that when you purchase it you are buying a piece of hardware that will last.

Hardware is an aspect of your computer that doesn’t require the need to be changed that often, unlike software. So if your hardware shouldn’t need to be changed that often you want to make sure that when you purchase it you are buying a piece of hardware that will last.

A lot of people overlook the need and responsibility of PC hardware and instead concentrate primarily on software. Without the correct hardware your PC will fail to function correctly.

The term hardware can be fixed to many aspects of your computer, with the main aspect being your motherboard. The motherboard is classed as the heart of your computer; its main purpose is to provide electrical and logical connections. Without a motherboard your computer will not be able to function. Components such as external storage, controllers for video display and sound are attached to the motherboard via edge connectors and cables.

The central processing unit (CPU) is also found on the motherboard and acts as another important piece of computer hardware. The CPU performs most of the calculations which enables a computer to function. The CPU and the motherboard are found within the tower of your computer as is the computer fan, needed to keep your computer at a safe temperature and your power supply, which is obviously needed to ensure your computer has power to function. Along with all of these you will also find your computers sound card and graphics card within your computer tower. Your graphics card, also known as a video display controller, is important to your computer as it is what enables you to get a good resolution and without one you would not be able to watch videos, play games or even clearly see flash images on websites.

One last hardware feature of importance that is kept within your computer tower is the computers hard drive. The hard drive is the storage area of your computer system. All your programmes and applications as well as images, music, video and all forms of media that is on your computer are stored within your computers hard drive.

All of the previously mentioned hardware is stored in the tower of your computer but there are aspects of computer hardware that are visible on your computer such as removable media in the form of a CD drive, DVD drive, floppy disc and USB ports.

When it comes to buying these pieces of computer hardware most people head straight to the biggest brand store and pay over expensive prices for hardware that you could have got a lot cheaper from another avenue. If you are looking to buy computer hardware there are a number of options open to you rather than just buying new. For example there are computer fairs that are held, which sell all forms of computer hardware at very reasonable prices; if you know what you are looking for you will be able to find a great deal at a computer fair. However if you would prefer buying from a retailer have you considered buying used hardware? Please don’t be put off by the term used what is meant by this is you would be buying new hardware that has been returned by customers and restored by the retailer. Dell is a prime example of a store that frequently sells hardware that has been returned and has been repaired to new standards.

All of the equipment is new and only has minor issues such as a slight dent. Retailers such as Dell sell restored equipment within their store and also do so over the Internet on sites such as eBay. All of this equipment comes at a discounted price with around 10-40% being taken off the original price depending on the level of interest. So next time you require to purchase computer equipment, shop around instead of just settling for a high price.

About Author

Helen is the web master of Article Alley, home of all your Computer Hardware Article needs.Please feel free to republish this article providing this resource box remains intact with a working hyperlink to our site.

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-carolyn-clayton-1268.html

Choosing Your Web Host

It isn’t easy trying to choose the correct and best web hosting plan to best suit your needs. Even though there are so many web-hosting companies out there, some thought and careful consideration should be implemented.

It isn’t easy trying to choose the correct and best web hosting plan to best suit your needs. Even though there are so many web-hosting companies out there, some thought and careful consideration should be implemented. Two things you don’t want are:

You don’t want to end up having to pay for extra features that you realise afterwards you needed.

You don’t want your sites not showing up on the Internet due to excessive downtime by your hosting providers servers.

When choosing your web host you also need to consider your requirements. You will need to consider:

How many websites will you need?
How much disk space and bandwidth do you need?
What extras will you need eg email with auto-responders included?
How much do you want to spend on web hosting?

You should compare at least 5 hosting providers to see what they are offering. Here’s what you should look for.

A reasonable price for your needs - usually a monthly fee.

Disk space and Bandwidth allowance – is your site or sites going to have audio, video or downloadable material?

How Many Domains – look for unlimited.

Sub Domains – look for unlimited.

Does it have an in-built Website Builder? Comes in very handy if you don’t know much about building websites.

24/7 email and phone support – this is important. Not everyone has this.

At least a 99.5% uptime 99.9% is best

Free set-up – no hidden charges.

Unlimited email accounts allowed.

FTP accounts.

Auto-responders included – you don’t want to pay extra to add on an auto-responder later.

Compare all other special features even though you believe you may not need them like

CGI.
FrontPage.
Streaming Audio and Video.
Hotlink protection.
Web stats.


When choosing a web host it’s important you take your time to compare hosting plans before you make the decision. There are some out there that are absolutely useless at web hosting, remember that anyone can become a web host. Your best bet is to go with a company that has been around a few years. Search for online reviews on the company you are considering.

If you are considering a new web host I would recommend you include http://www.hostgator.bloggers.guide.com in your list of 5 web hosts to compare. – Visit the link. Go to “WEBHOSTING” Take a look at the plans – and when you make the comparison you’ll find that they will come out on top.

About Author

David O Connell – Are You Looking for the perfect web host? Here they are http://www.hostgator.bloggers-guide.com
How to Start and Maintain Successful Revenue pulling Blogs – www.bloggers-guide.com

Don’t Hold Yourself Back From Success

Author: Noah St Jhon
You are not holding yourself back from success because you don't know "how to succeed". You are holding yourself back from the success you are capable of, because you have more Subconscious Why-Not-To's of Success than Conscious Why-To's of Success.

Every human being wants to succeed – on the Conscious level.

But because you have Subconscious Why-Not-To's of Success hidden beneath the surface of your mind, it's like you are running a race with a giant rubber band around your waist going back to the start line. This causes what I call The Roller Coaster Effect: let's say one month, you make a lot of money. What invariably happens? That's when the fear sets in!

So you then do something that outwardly doesn't make any sense, but now that you know how your mind operates, makes perfect sense: you stop doing what works.

When you get to the top of the roller coaster, you feel the feeling referred to as "the fear of success." But a feeling is merely a result of something inside you – the way you perceive the situation. If you were to change your perception, you would change that feeling. And you would never experience the so-called "fear of success" ever again.

A feeling is a result, not a cause. And what causes the so-called "fear of success" or "foot on the brake syndrome"? Your inner, hidden, Subconscious Why-Not-To's of Success.

You are not holding yourself back from success because you don't know "how to succeed". You are holding yourself back from the success you are capable of, because you have more Subconscious Why-Not-To's of Success than Conscious Why-To's of Success.

Now, traditional success programs teach you "how to succeed". And that's a good thing, right? I mean, if you want to do something, it's good to know how to do it. And we all want to succeed, right?

So all we would need to do is learn "how to succeed" and we'll all be successful.

About Author

On the night of October 20, 1997, a 30-year-old religious studies major named Noah St. John had an epiphany that changed his life. While attending a seminar, he suddenly realized the real, hidden reason so many smart, talented, motivated people stop themselves from success – and saw it had nothing to do with goal-setting, "motivation" or anything being taught in traditional success literature. That very night, with no formal education in business, Noah decided to form a company to teach people around the world the simple steps that remove the hidden barriers to success. Find out more at http://www.successclinic.com.

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-noah-st-jhon-8379.html

Crystal Reports and the Business World

Author: Carolyn Clayton
Designed for presentation quality, crystal reports is a proven, world standard solution that helps you to design, manage and deliver reports via the web as well as embedded in applications.

Designed for presentation quality, crystal reports is a proven, world standard solution that helps you to design, manage and deliver reports via the web as well as embedded in applications. It is a business intelligence application and was designed to generate reports from a wide range of data sources.

This leading software means users can arrange the data needed to complete a report in whichever format suits their business best. When the report is completed it can be saved as a file with an RPT extension, which means the report can be re-run at any time by re-opening the RPT file and refreshing the data within it by doing this it will demonstrate if any updates have been made. The report can then be previewed on the computer, printed or exported to a different file format such as PDF, Excel or a text document.

Whoever initially designed the report has the control and ability to open the report in the report designer in order to make changes and variations of the report. These variations can be saved as RPT files by modifying the file name. Crystal Reports are bundled with ActiveX controls, which when embedded in GUI, can provide alternative interfaces. This feature allows reports to be deconstructed into their base objects.

Crystal Reports software helps customers to create flexible and feature rich reports. The powerful report design allows you to create highly formatted and interactive professional reports. It gives you the ability to design within the leading .NET and Java development tools. The flexible application development tool also allows cross platform support from Java, .NET and COM. As well as this HTML is also generated directly by crystal reports, allowing your focus to be on application business logic rather than having to hand code.

The report management and delivery features of crystal reports also means that reports can easily be published to the web and allows you to centralise the management of operational reporting. These three features; the powerful report design, the flexible application development and the report management/delivery features are the main aspects of crystal reports. They compose the three main and beneficial features.

This impressive feature rich application has set the standard for business reporting software with over five million copies of the software already sold and its no surprise as this advanced reporting software allows you to make quick but informed decisions, which can lead your business to increased profitability. It is also flexible in what it can produce:

•Standard reports
•Cross tabulation reports
•Mailing labels
•OLAP cube reports
•Charts
•Comma separated value files
•Excel files

Crystal reports can significantly improve the way in which reports are produced within your business. They give you highly informed information across all aspects of your business and can dramatically increase business decisions thanks to up-to-date information that is quick and easy to find within the well presented, documented and structured reports that crystal reporting software brings you. This advanced software could be exactly what your business has been looking for.

About Author

Helen is the web master for Synergy Technology, home to your Crystal Report needs.

Please feel free to republish this article providing this resource box remains intact with a working hyperlink to our site.

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-carolyn-clayton-1268.html

Features of Online Computer Support

Author: Samuel4u5

Computers have become common thing of utility in homes and offices around the world. But most people don't know much about the way to handle computer complexities. They are not well acquainted with the right troubleshooting process. The situation creates a need to call expert computer technicians.

Computers have become common thing of utility in homes and offices around the world. But most people don't know much about the way to handle computer complexities. They are not well acquainted with the right troubleshooting process. The situation creates a need to call expert computer technicians.

Calling a technician for computer repair is not always easy. You could spend hours just waiting to get to a technician. You may also need to take appointments week ago and then keep waiting for your turn. Well! The name that has emerged as a boon for computer enthusiasts is computer support. It does not let you down at the time you require immediate solutions for your nasty PC errors.

What attracts computer users towards availing online computer support is its 24x7 availability, which is nowhere else to found. You can a comprehensive array of services with computer support providers. Whether it's about PC optimization, troubleshooting PC problems, antivirus installation, increasing speed of the Internet, or any other, you are always welcomed by these resources.

Another aspect offered by computer support technicians is their matchless expertise. These people are either Microsoft Certified Experts or experienced computer engineers. They hold in-depth knowledge about PC and its related problems. Apart from buying any computer services from these online resources you may consult them for any tech help. Unlike any physical computer repair shop, online computer help techs do not charge you until they resolve your PC problem.

Searching for any good online computer support vendor is no difficult. Search them on the Internet by entering keywords such as online computer support, PC repair, instant PC help, Computer optimization, and alike. Although, there is no dearth of good Online Tech Support vendors but you must check its reputation before opting for any. Also, see for the scope of service.

About Author

Samuel John is an Online Technical Support Executive for Iyogi who provides detailed information on Computer Support, Online Technical Support, PC Repair Services, Computer Repair, 24/7 Support, Spyware Removal, Install Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware etc.

Article
Source: http://www.1888articles.com

Domain name is your online corporate identity

Author: Phillip

If you have not yet purchased a domain name for your enterprise or company, then register a domain name at the earliest. A good and simple domain name helps in magnetizing web traffic towards your website. The daily scores speak that more than 23 thousand domain names are purchased every day and around 25 million ".com" domains have already been registered till date.

If you have not yet purchased a domain name for your enterprise or company, then register a domain name at the earliest. A good and simple domain name helps in magnetizing web traffic towards your website. The daily scores speak that more than 23 thousand domain names are purchased every day and around 25 million ".com" domains have already been registered till date.

So, it is better to register a good domain name soon otherwise it will become harder to find decent domain names in the coming days. Day by day increasing scarcity of good domain names have made them red hot commodities in the online market and are being sold like hot cakes.

Millions of people access Internet daily and the potential customers would be able to reach you via your Internet domain name. It is a personal identity of your company or organization on the World Wide Web. It can be compared to a personal address through which your business partners, customers, buyers and sellers can contact you directly. It is necessary to choose the Internet domain name for your company’s website with diligence since this is the signifier of your corporate identity on the web. A domain name is related to the IP address of the computer on the Internet and helps buyers, sellers, customers and business clients to access your company’s website on the Internet. So, one can say that a domain name is a pathway to the website of any company. That is why; a domain name should be unique and easy to remember. So, the company or organization should try keeping a short and simple domain name.

Before you buy domain name, you need to conduct a domain name check in order to avoid confusion and duplicity. A domain name check ensures the availability of the domain name that you have selected for your website. You will be provided with the list of domain names by the domain registering company and depending on the availability of the desired domain name, you can then register it.

A domain name is the most valuable corporate identity for the presence of your business on web. It is a kind of marketing tool that helps in simplifying your advertising of your company’s goods and services globally.

One can buy domain name for a specific period of time, such as for a year or two, depending upon one’s specific needs. One can even extend the time period of the existing domain name after the expiry of the allotted time frame. Domain names can be registered via the domain name registration companies like icann registrar that maintains a unique collection and database of domain names corresponding to the respective IP address.

After you have bought a domain name, your personal data cab be displayed on your website, including your name and contact information. This can be accessed through WHOIS database. This implies that your personal data is visible to all users. icann registrar provides you an additional service of hiding your data if you wish to keep it personal. You can also avail the facility of domain name transfer, so that you can transfer your domain to any other registrar in the future, lest you have to stick with one registrar till the registration lasts.

It is necessary for you to protect your domain name registration. After you have registered domain name, you have to hire the services of a website hosting company. The web host or web server is a platform for constructing and creating web pages for your website. If you are searching for cost effective domain name registration services, you can log on to www.netearthone.com. It offers you cost-effective and flexible domain name registration and website hosting services.

So, if you are looking for making a strong impact of your company on the Internet, grab a compelling domain name that can help you in taking your online business soar new heights.

For more information about domain name registration, website hosting, domain name check log on to http://www.netearthone.com

About Author

Phillip is an internet marketer.

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com

Types of Web Hosting

Web hosting companies offer a variety of web hosting solutions, depending on your needs. It is important to understand the different solutions that are available so as to make an informed decision.

Web hosting companies offer a variety of web hosting solutions, depending on your needs. It is important to understand the different solutions that are available so as to make an informed decision. Below are some of the more common types of web hosting:

1. Shared Web Hosting: (also called virtual hosting). This is the most common form of web hosting as it is very cost effective, making it affordable and efficient. The cost will depend on the number of clients sharing the server. In this form of web hosting, you will be sharing one server with a number of your hosting company’s clients. It is common that each website should have their own domain name, even though a server is being shared by many. Although administrators of the hosting company will use server software to confine any errors so as to prevent other users from being affected, there remains the remains the possibility of problems occurring and all the websites on the server going down.
2. Dedicated Web Hosting: Unlike shared web hosting, dedicated web hosting allows you to rent an entire server yourself and thereby, have access to all of its resources to allow you to host one or more websites. If your website is one of high traffic, creating complex web based applications and requires a high degree of uptime; this would be the favored web hosting solution for you. It is a very expensive option but it is in turn very powerful and secure, with almost unlimited software solutions. Hosting packages of this nature are often customized to suit the needs of the customer with regard to bandwidth, memory and storage space required.
3. Server Co-Location: This option makes it possible to custom-build your own server and places it in a provider’s data centre. In other words, it allows you to position your own web server on the premises of a service provider. Under this option, you would purchase a server and then supply it to the host. This allows websites that are very customized and specialized to function at peak performance.
4. Reseller Web Hosting: This solution is perfect for entrepreneurs and businesses that wish to host on behalf of their customers. Here you would contract with a hosting company to sell their server space under your brand name.
5. Free Web Hosting: This would be the ideal option if you are not able or do not wish to spend money to host your website. Candidates for this solution are usually small sites with low traffic. It is often the case that you will not be able to use your own domain name and will be obliged to use that which is provided for you by your hosting company. Such domain name is often difficult to remember and type, and is not very professional.
   

Tucson Business: VoIP is it better than Traditional Telecommunications ?

Author: Keith D Gill
The arrival of VOIP has changed the landscape of telecommunications for everyone in the industry. The quality of the new internet technology, when it is good, is far superior to land line calls.

VoIP is Better, Cheaper, less resource intensive, and still presently tax free (although I see that changing in the near future)

The arrival of VoIP has changed the landscape of telecommunications for everyone in the industry. The quality of the new internet technology, when it is good, is far superior to land line calls. When it’s bad it has more to do with the lack of control of VoIP packets traversing the public Internet to deliver it’s service.

Vonage, Lingo, Packet 8, and XO communications are huge, highly marketed VoIP providers focusing both on the residential market and commercial business market. These companies suffer a lot of abuse talking about voice quality and over all quality of service in general. Although some of this abuse may be justified due to poor infrastructure planning most of the quality of service issues are due to relying on the public internet to deliver it’s voice packets. No one can predict what will happen to a VoIP voice packet once it leaves the controlled enviroment of the providers network and ventures out into the wild west of the uncontrolled public internet.

VoIP works best when the service is delivered over a private network without having to traverse the public internet. Simply Bits in Tucson AZ has built out the largest privately owned VoIP and broadband network in southern Arizona.

Simply Bits is able to deliver its VoIP service to all businesses in southern AZ without having to have the VoIP voice packets traverse the public internet. What this equates to is VoIP the way it is supposed to be… Superior voice quality, with far more versatility, features and less overall cost than traditional telecommunications legacy copper line solutions.

The traditional telephone communication companies have been locked in a time warp. Many of the older companies still have a small bandwidth of only 300 to 3400 hertz and a limited dynamic range of around 50 to 60 decibels (compare that to a typical hi-fi sound system that spans 18,000 to 20,000 hertz with a dynamic range of around 100 decibels).

VoIP may force these leopards to change their spots. The typical bandwidth spans over 50 to 7000 hertz, but it can extend as high as 14k hertz. The dynamic range is also good. If the providers ever get VoIP service to a consistent delivery, there is no doubt that the quality will win out even the biggest skeptics.

Legacy, copper wire business telecom solutions are inherently inferior for one simple reason. A single point of failure because it has to use a physical "wire".

Wires are good for mending fences and straightening teeth.

In this day and age a wire in the ground or in the air supplying Voice and Data services to a business with mission critical applications is out-dated and borderline reckless.

Sometimes a wire in the ground is just begging to be inadvertently cut...This usually happens at the worst time possible...Like in the middle of credit card transactions during the busy holiday season...

Can you really afford to depend on an out-dated copper wire?

VoIP is "virtual" and delivered via an ethernet connection. It runs over the bandwidth connection that you run your internal network on that gives you access to the internet.

VoIP and traditional telecommunications are worlds apart when it comes to sound. Traditional calls are like using a hand held FM radio compared to the VOIP which is more like a large hi-fi system.

VoIP still has a ways to go before it dominates the telecommunications industry. When it is good, it is the best thing available to subscribers. The problem is that it is not always good when it is delivered via the public internet as it’s backbone (someithing Simply Bits of Tucson AZ has eliminated). When VoIP voice packets are delivered via the public internet and the quality of service is bad,.. it is bad, and you wouldn’t want to be on an important phone call, that’s for sure.

Find out why Simply Bits of Tucson has solved this problem and can deliver VoIP the way it is meant to be....A superior solution.

Call Keith with Simply Bits for your Free no obligation VoIP demo 520-545-7287

About Author

The arrival of VOIP has changed the landscape of telecommunications for everyone in the industry.InternetThe quality of the new internet technology, http://www.TucsonBusinessBroadband.comwhen it is good, is far superior to land line calls. When it’s bad it has more to do with the lack of control of VoIP packets traversing the public Internet to deliver it’s service.

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com

Satellite Internet Is Another Option For Accessing The Internet

Author: Robert Thomson
When you need the Internet and you live in a rural part of town, you can now have the Internet, which may not have been available before. Find out how.

Satellite internet is another way for computer users to access the Internet if they do not have access to cable or DSL. Dial up is so out dated and slow that people are looking for alternatives ways to access the Internet. With the availability of the satellite high-speed broadband connection, many people in rural areas are now able to access the World Wide Web. This was not possible for many people until a few years ago when satellite started offering high-speed Internet connections to their customers. You might remember that Direct TV offered satellite television first and soon after offered its customers Hugesnet, which has a satellite high-speed broadband connection.

Although Hugesnet and Direct TV are two different companies, they work together to bring customers one solution to the high costs of cable and DSL. With DSL, you need a telephone line and with cable, you need to have their specified service package for television in order to get the Internet. Both of these options are expensive for the average user. With Hugesnet and Direct TV, you get the service you need in one package and do not need a telephone in the home or any specific TV packages.

The high-speed broadband connection is faster than cable or DSL and costs about the same when you compare prices to additional services you need with cable and DSL. Although the start up cost might be a little more, you will still save more money in the first year by having Hugesnet satellite Internet. You need the larger dish that needs to point into the southern hemisphere without obstructions to have Direct TV and Hugesnet. The nice thing is that sometimes they offer free installation. This is true for existing customers as well, where as cable only offers the specials to new customers.

If you need an Internet connection, you will find that Hugesnet satellite Internet gives you everything you need. You get faster speeds, which means your download and upload times are faster. If you download large files or music files, you want something that delivers the speed. High-speed Internet not only delivers the speed, but it delivers alternatives to slow connections you have with cable and DSL. Your Internet is always connected. You just have to open your browser and you are ready to go. With DSL, you have to sign into an account and then wait to connect.

When you need the Internet and you live in a rural part of town, you can now have the Internet, which may not have been available before. You have your television and Internet needs all with one dish. The advantages of having the satellite Internet outweigh the start up cost, which some might consider a disadvantage. Your connection is always secure and you have no worries of losing your connection as you do with cable or DSL. If you need an Internet connection and Direct TV, you can have a technician come to your home to access your needs before signing any agreements. Just another service you do not receive from cable or DSL.

About Author

Read more about Hughesnet broadband satellite or if you run a home business you might be interested in Hughesnet proplus.

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-robert-thomson-5539.html

How to prepare yourself towards budget web hosting plans

Author: Web Hosting Geeks

Many people would prefer to opt for a budget web hosting plan. But one must be prepared to handle its own consequences. A budget web hosting plan comes with a small risk which every customer who buys such plans should be made aware of.

Many people would prefer to opt for a budget web hosting plan. But one must be prepared to handle its own consequences. A budget web hosting plan comes with a small risk which every customer who buys such plans should be made aware of.

Many budget web hosting providers have their own secret way of doing business and this is reflected on their over all performance of the company. Hence, it is very important for a customer to find out the various types of facilities and benefits involved with the web hosting package which he intends to purchase.

With regard to budget web hosting, you must be aware of certain tactics which budget web hosting providers use. Before you sign up, you must know what your web host is about and how it operates. Following are certain insights that you should be aware of:

1. About those budget web hosting companies that have no experience:
   There are many budget web hosts on the website that may not be in the market for too long. In other words, they may have little or no experience at all. It may so happen that you might land up in purchasing a web hosting service that is brand new and inexperienced. I would not prefer this step. In fact, find a web host that has many years experience and they are proud of their service and growth involved as a web hosting company. So, go for budget web hosting providers which are experienced holders.
2. Check their level of support:
   You want to opt for a budget web host where you want to pay less and at the same time get all the benefits that an expensive web host would provide. One of theses benefits would be that you want 24/7 support system. Well, some budget web hosts will claim to offer 24/7 support and when the actual time comes, they don’t actually support. Also, there are some budget web hosts that also do not offer any information about their level of support. Hence, before you actually sign any agreements with a budget web hosting provider, check by your own self whether they answer the phone at 4AM on weekdays on anytime on weekends. In other words look out whether they are in a position to answer your phone or not. Based on the outcome, you must then take a decision of whether you should sign up with the hosting provider or keep searching for a better one.
3. Read the SLA:
   Go through the service level agreement that is provided by the budget web hosting provider. If they do not support a SLA then you must not go for this web host. Look out for someone better. Even if a budget web hosting provider has a service level agreement but does not have a strong agreement that contains what will happen and the type of service you will happen and the type of service you will receive, in case you need to say good bye to the present web hosting provider. You must have a budget web hosting provider who has a clear service level agreement which will help you to tackle issues which might arise after you have purchased the web hosting plan. At that time, you will know exactly how to move on, based on the service level agreement which was shown to you at the time of signing up the budget web hosting package. Based on the service level agreement, you will know how a particular situation can be handled before entering into the agreement.
4. Check for their nature of business:
   There are many budget web hosts companies who claim to be web host companies but in actual they offer a variety of other business where web hosting is one of the products that they are dealing with. You should prefer to opt for a budget web hosting provider who only focuses on web hosting. You can be sure on this by asking them about the same, before you sign any agreements with them. You can ask them to explain their kind of business they are into and where their revenue comes from. On this basis, you will be able to decide whether this budget web hosting provider is not for you or whether this web hosting provider is suitable for you

About Author

Web Hosting Geeks provides independent customer reviews of the top web hosting providers, host uptime statistics, best web hosting awards, tutorials, articles and more. For more information about web hosting visit WebHostingGeeks.com

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-web-hosting-geeks-8961.html

Talking about various features in a web hosting package – ( Part 2)

Author: Web Hosting Geeks
In my previous article, I have already made you familiar with some features which normally a web hosting company would deal with. I am now going to mention some few more features so that you get a better understanding about the entire web hosting package.

In my previous article, I have already made you familiar with some features which normally a web hosting company would deal with. I am now going to mention some few more features so that you get a better understanding about the entire web hosting package which you have purchased from a web hosting company. The features are as follows:

1. Customer service or customer support:
   Whether you are an expert or a newbie in web hosting, it is essential to have a web host which provides good customer support system. Some of them would prefer to search quick answer without seeking staff. So, if there is huge database, normally it’s searchable. Some web hosting providers come up with a video tutorial facility in order to guide the person step by step in setting up a new account. Good for beginners. If a person is not interested to find the answer of a big pool of database, in that case, he can get the direct answer from someone who knows it. Direct customer support can come in the form of email support, phone support and web chat support.
2. Reliability and uptime commitment:
   You must choose a web hosting provider which is reliable from the uptime point of view. Imagine a situation where your visitors come in contact with your website and suddenly notice that it’s not accessible. In such a case you will definitely lose credibility and you could even lose a sale. If your web hosting provider cannot provide 99% uptime then it time to quit and move on to some who is genuinely reliable. A good web hosting provider will know how to minimize downtime with the help of a good management systems implementation. It is very essential from a web hosting provider to install a redundant back-up system. I mean that if there is any interruption of internet connection, at that time, the alternate internet connection will be in force. There are also sophisticated software being used in order to monitor the uptime of the concerned web host.
3. Using efficient network facility:
   The web server setup and local area networks play an important role in dealing with the speed of data transfer. However, how fast your website gets displayed also depends on the type of network connections. There are so many web hosting providers who still use internet connection through T1 or T3 connections. The top Web hosting companies use optical carrier lines. Usually a T1 line will offer data transfer rate of 1.5 mbps while a T3 type of connection can offer data transfer at a rate of 43 mbps. It all depends on the capabilities of a web hosting provider which is in the form of features that are incorporated within the hosting package.
4. Popularity to survive as a host:
   A web hosting company must be popular in the eyes of the customer. A web hosting company might have the best feature offered and unbeatable customer support and also reliability intact but without a good marketing plan, the company may not survive. These days, there is a lot of competition In the market and a web hosting provider should have sufficient members and also a steady growth of new members in order to survive in this highly competitive industry.

About Author

Web Hosting Geeks provides independent customer reviews of the top web hosting providers, host uptime statistics, best web hosting awards, tutorials, articles and more. For more information about web hosting visit WebHostingGeeks.com.

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-web-hosting-geeks-8961.html

Small Business Web Hosting Advice

Author: David O Connell
For small businesses, a web host that ensures 99% uptime, offers at least 5GB bandwidth each month and one that offers various reports and statistics about the site is essential for the survival.

For small businesses, a web host that ensures 99% uptime, offers at least 5GB bandwidth each month and one that offers various reports and statistics about the site is essential for the survival of the business. As the Internet continues to grow, increased competition, new marketing methods and ensuring excellent quality service to customers are all obstacles that business owners must face in order to turn a profit.

When looking for a web host for your small business, keep in mind the following as these features can make running your business a little easier.

Web Hosting and Web Design in One:
If you have little web design experience, but can't afford to hire a professional web designer, you may have to invest in web design software or subscribe to a web host that offers design templates and more so you can create a website yourself. Many web hosts offer easy to use web site templates, decorative accents and the ability to upload CSS style sheets if you want to create an original look to your site.

For those who are on a strict budget or those who don't have the time to learn HTML code or web design software, the convenience of using the tools provided by a web host are difficult to pass up. Once you design your site, you can easily upload files and make your site go live.

Easy to Use Control Panels:
Control panels and other administrative tools make it easy for you to update your site, upload files, manage email accounts and help you analyze where the majority of your web traffic is coming from. Choosing a web host that includes a control panel that's easy to use will save you time and allow you to have more control over your website.

Encryption and Internet Security:
Having the ability to encrypt certain areas of your site such as customer purchasing histories and order pages is one way to increase the security of your web page. Internet security options such as email and virus protection can help protect information you don't want to be seen by those other than yourself, business partners or employees.

Investing in a web host that provides these security measures and more will make using your site safer for customers and allow you to protect email addresses, credit card numbers and other sensitive information from those who may want to steal it.

File Backup:
Some web hosts offer free daily file backup while others charge a separate fee. Depending on the number of new pages you add, download or want to save each day, this may be a good option for your business.

Even though most people backup their personal files kept on their computer, file backup for your email accounts and other areas should be a priority as well.

When choosing a web host, determine your needs first so you can find a host that will provide enough storage, disk space and bandwidth so your business will be adequately supported.
Hope the above helps some bit. If you need a superior affordable personal or business web host I have to recommend the hostgator link below.

About Author

David O Connell: Looking for the perfect web host? http://www.hostgator.bloggers-guide.com

How to get free targeted traffic to any website www.traffic-supersurge.com

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-david-o-connell-7035.html

31 Risk in Offshore IT Outsourcing Contracts: Or Buying Promises

Author: Robert Thomson
No matter how much due diligence you attempt, making a decision on contracting with an onshore or offshore IT service provider is much like buying promises.

No matter how much due diligence you attempt, making a decision on contracting with an onshore or offshore IT service provider is much like buying promises. To some extent you are going to have to trust in your selected partner to be committed to providing your company with the high quality services that they have promised. Your lawyers will surely not agree but offshore contracts are only worth the integrity of the company that you are contracting with. Dun & Bradstreet does not include this metric (integrity) in corporate profiles yet and it is not on a credit report either. One of my partners in Brazil would often tell me “Henry we are highly motivated for this opportunity”, but I did not fully understand the value of that statement until we got into the trenches together.

Here are a few of the promises you are accepting or questions you may have doubts about when signing that offshore IT staff augmentation or support contract:

1. Will I really get the hours I am paying for?
2. Is my intellectual property and information secure?
3. Am I really going to be provided with qualified professionals?
4. Will billing rates go up after I train the new team in my business?
5. Can I reach this vendor when I need immediate support?
6. Will this vendor work with me when the going gets rough?
7. Is this a stable country politically, socially, and economically?
8. Are currency exchange rates an issue?
9. Is this a safe country for business travel?
10. Is this vendor’s location in a safe part of town?
11. What is the cost of business travel to this location?
12. What is the cost for offshore professionals from there to travel to the U.S.?
13. Can professionals at this location get a U.S. passport and visa for U.S. visits?
14. Are U.S. contracts legally binding in this country?
15. How long does it take to get a visa and passport for team members to make training and onsite orientation trips to my location?
16. What will it cost for visas and passports for your offshore team?
17. Will the offshore team have someone full time who is experienced in managing offshore projects?
18. Is this a stable company, i.e. good credit and strong experienced management?
19. Does this vendor’s company have the interpersonal skills to work with my company?
20. Does this offshore vendor have executive management that speak English and will be responsive and share your since of urgency?
21. Are this vendor’s team management and executive management going to be available in your workday time zone on short notice when you need them?
22. Can this vendor grow with your companies needs?
23. Do they have commercial liability insurance, errors and omissions insurance?
24. Can they buy commercial liability insurance in their country?
25. Will they work in your workday time zone?
26. Does this company have a secure network infrastructure?
27. Is their network infrastructure professionally designed and firewall protected?
28. Is their facility physically secure?
29. Are extreme weather conditions a factor affecting travel, security, or work schedules in this country?
30. Does this location pose natural disaster risk to your business?
31. Is this vendor going to be flexible as your needs change?

No matter how much time on money you spend developing a clam tight contract with an offshore outsourcing provider you never want to have to consider international litigation or international arbitration for contract disputes. Unless your needs are well defined and static, which I have never seen, the requirements better be very general in that contract or they will need review and changes before the ink gets dry.

In any offshore project establishing good relationships are key to clear communications. Vision TRE has been nurturing relationships with our offshore partner locations in Brazil and Panama for years. We have business relationships in South and Central America that have been proven dependable over the years. Integrity, trust, mutual cultural respect, and a shared since of urgency make these relationships valuable to any company that contract with us to establish an offshore team.

About Author

William is President and Chief Consultant at Vision TRE, Inc. www.visiontre.com. Vision TRE provides offshore IT staff augmentation services out of Brazil and Panama. Mr. Johns can be reached at 770-621-7702 or henry@visiontre.net

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-robert-thomson-5539.html

Feds Check Out Antivirus Patent Claims

Trend Micro has convinced the trade commission to look into whether competitors are infringing on its patents.

Grant Gross, IDG News Service
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has voted to investigate claims by Trend Micro of competitors' patent infringement involving antivirus products.

Trend Micro filed a trade complaint Nov. 21 against fellow cybersecurity vendors Barracuda Networks of Campbell, California; Panda Software International, based in Spain; and Panda Distribution of Glendale, California.

Trend Micro's complaint accuses the three companies of infringing its patent for virus detection and removal apparatus for computer networks. The technology "represents a dramatic departure from the traditional antivirus methods of safeguarding individual computers," the company says in its complaint.

The Trend Micro complaint accuses Barracuda of importing antivirus software that infringes its patent. The complaint says Barracuda uses code from the open-source antivirus product ClamAV, which is written in part in Europe and Australia. Barracuda also imports hardware components, the complaint says.

Panda's products also contain code imported into the U.S., the Trend Micro complaint says.

A Barracuda spokeswoman said the complaint is curious. "It is interesting that the ITC has decided to take up an investigation, given Barracuda Networks manufactures all of its products in the United States and does not import anything of significance," said Kylie Heintz.

A Panda representative didn't immediately respond to a request for comments.

The ITC case will be referred to an administrative law judge, who will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing. The judge will make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930. That initial determination is subject to commission review.

The ITC will make a final determination in the investigation at the earliest practicable time, the commission said in a news release. Within 45 days, the ITC will set a target date for completing the investigation.

Free Antivirus

Alwil Avast 4 Home Edition: VB100 and ICSA certified, on-access and on-demand scanning, e-mail scanning for Outlook and POP3/SMTP, automatic updates, e-mail technical support, 7.1MB.

Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus System: VB100 and ICSA certified, on-access and on-demand scanning, e-mail scanning for Outlook and Outlook Express, automatic updates, 5.7MB.
H+BEDV Datentechnik AntiVir Personal Edition: ICSA certified, on-access and on-demand scanning but no e-mail scanning, automatic updates (after fairly significant configuration effort), 3.8MB.

Softwin BitDefender Free Edition Version 7: Uses same scanning engine as the VB100- and ICSA-certified Standard Edition, on-access and on-demand scanning but no e-mail scanning, automatic updates, 8.8MB.

Send your questions and tips to nettips@spanbauer.com. We pay $50 for published items. You'll find more Internet Tips here. Scott Spanbauer is a contributing editor for PC Worl

Online Computer Training For Free

Author: Ian Traynor
So you're on a tight budget and at the same time you want some computer training, right? Nowadays there are a lot of options for people seeking better themselves through various training programs and certification classes. However, some of them just can’t afford to make some of these options possi

So you're on a tight budget and at the same time you want some computer training, right? Nowadays there are a lot of options for people seeking better themselves through various training programs and certification classes. However, some of them just can’t afford to make some of these options possible due to not enough cash flow. That is where free online computer training comes in to picture. Where else can you go and get enough information to teach yourself all about computers? You can learn from the most difficult HTML (hyper-text mark up language, used to build websites) to as simple as how to tear down and rebuild a CPU (central processing unit)?

If you can just plug into a free online computer training system or a set of resources available in almost all places, you can literally teach yourself almost anything. There are a variety of ways to go about this process, so let's start from the beginning. The very first thing you need to determine on your own what exactly you want to learn from your free online computer training, before you ever embark on your online adventure. Pick out your base subject, and then you can get started researching online sources for free training. For our examples, let's take the subject of HTML and see where we can get some free online computer training to learn HTML.

As the part of first step, let's get on a major search engine like Yahoo or Google and do a search for the term 'free HTML training' or 'free online computer training'. You will find quite a few results coming up in reference to these terms, but don't be fooled. Most of these won't really have free training, maybe just a free sample class or maximum two. Some of these won't even have anything free at all, they either buy an advertising slot or they develop their website in a way to show up higher in the results to get your attention. Remember, what you are looking for is a site that is truly going to give you free online computer training.

Sometimes you can see that the best results for free online computer training can come in the form of free forums or bulletin boards. For all those who are really new to the Internet, let's talk about them for a minute. Forums and bulletin boards are web pages that allow visitors to sign up as 'users', usually for free. Once you are registered with these sights, you can then post and respond to others on the forums or boards and ask questions. The specialty of these resources is that there are hundreds of websites out there covering almost all topics that can be imagined, especially the one’s dealing with computers. So for all those who are searching for an online free computer training this works like crazy. They also contain a great wealth of information from other users who have answered in return to the questions generally asked on the boards.

Another such website which contains one such free online computer training is e-zines and newsletters. You can as well do another research for the search term ‘free online computer training’ in conjunction with terms like e-zines and newsletters. Don’t worry as most of these too are free and you can subscribe for them either for a long or short time depending on what kind of materials are provided in the due course. Overall it can be said that where there is a will, there is a way, especially when it comes to free online computer training.

About Author

Ian Traynor has been involved with computers since the 1980s. Since then, he has continually been involved in computer training, both receiving training and delivering training. He has brought together a collection of his articles on computer training in one of his websites: http://www.computertrainingsecrets.com

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-ian-traynor-5341.html

Where to find free TV on the Web

There's lots of TV programming available on the Internet if you want to pay. But did you know about these free sites?

January 23, 2008 (Computerworld) -- Video is all over the Web, and no wonder. With the advent of superfast broadband connections running at over 5Mbit/sec., widescreen monitors that have finally replaced the boxy CRTs of the past and a plethora of fresh and funny content, there's a perfect storm for video to gain even more momentum.

Like Napster did for music, site likes YouTube.com take "video on demand" to another level. Most of the video content is free for the taking and instantly accessible, although it usually consists of short commercial clips or "funny at the moment" viral videos.

Apple iTunes, Veoh.com, Amazon Unbox and others actually offer real TV shows -- for a price.
Meanwhile, the television industry is still trying to figure out how to deal with Web streaming, with the Writers Guild of America striking recently -- mostly over rebroadcast royalties.

Adding fuel to the fire: Besides well-known commercial ventures such as Unbox, there are several alternative methods of obtaining the best shows for free. And I'm not talking about BitTorrent or anything like that. Sure, torrents have been around for a while, but they require you to download a client, search for links and share your bandwidth.

It turns out, for every Amazon Unbox, there are 10 more sites that allow you to stream or download shows for free. There is an ongoing debate about the legality of Web sites using contributed video and other content, and experts disagree on much of the language of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which in part addresses the issue. To date, no definitive court decisions have settled the matter, either.

Joost

With some licensed content (e.g., Comedy Central shows and a few Paramount Pictures movies) and a plethora of YouTube-like videos, Joost is intended as a television version of Skype. The selection is skin deep and a mile wide: There are videos of young women doing yoga, an Australian food channel and short animated clips that were likely created for an art school credit.

Hulu

This NBC Universal and News Corp joint venture is still in beta (and access is limited), but Hulu promises to feature full-length episodes akin to the new NBC Direct service. Shows like 24 and The Office will be hallmarks, as long as the service gets off the ground before the reruns start.

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TV Freeload

TV Freeload is not technically a streaming site or even a torrent distributor. Instead, the site points you to links that allow you to download the latest shows, such as Bionic Woman, Entourage and Weeds. Hosts are usually legitimate file storage such as MegaUpload.com and FileFactory.com, which both have strict policies regarding copyright infringement.

At FileFactory.com, for example, you can click a link to report a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) violation, but a FileFactory representative told me the site has no system to search for and police copyrighted content. Posters can keep changing the URL for hosted shows, and TV Freeload is probably not culpable for the links.

Graboid

Similar to Joost or Kazaa, Graboid is a Windows program with built-in streaming. The client lets you search for shows like Prison Break and browse through a list of channels, like a local Fox Network affiliate. Graboid isn't linking to a streaming site (like allyourchannels.com) or merely directing you to downloadable content (like TV Freeload). It's streaming the actual content.

The site claims that Graboid has the best "speed, selection and quality" and does boast a wide selection of network affiliate channels. However, according to Rob Enderle at the Enderle Group in San Jose, regional affiliates usually don't license content for broadcast outside of a geographic area because of local advertising agreements. (Graboid itself has a Legal FAQ, but the page was blank at the time of this report. It also has a Copyright Policy page. Graboid offers high-definition and other shows if you sign up for a Gold ($12.97 per month) or Premium ($24.97 per month) membership.

TVU

Another downloadable client, TVU provides hundreds of TV streams, most of them not recognizable network channels. You can watch Fox News, Spike and ABC News and a few affiliates, plus old science fiction movies and a few sports channels.

Both Graboid and TVU work like independent TV stations that rebroadcast streams -- they aren't actually hosting content. Still, according to Will Rodger, director of public policy at the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) in Washington, any rebroadcasts of network shows requires a licensing agreement. "It is not OK to send programming out to the public Internet that has not been licensed for such purposes," says Rodger. "Anyone distributing entire, copyrighted works has to have the permission of the copyright holder."

"The DMCA gives the MPAA and [the Recording Industry Association of America] broad latitude over who you can hang," says Enderle. "There's an ongoing effort to legitimize network and content owner involvement in copyright over streaming."

John Brandon is a freelance writer and book author who worked as an IT manager for 10 years.

Starting a Business Blog

Written by Mark White

When you start to put a Business Blog together, there is one aspect which is often overlooked in the excitement (yes, excitement!) of creating your new blog. This is the planning phase - a critical element which you need to spend time on before diving in and writing your first post.
In this planning phase, you should identify what you are looking to achieve with your blog and who you are writing for. The result of this will allow you to be much more focused in the content of your posts and help you to align them much more closely with the requirements of those who will be reading them.

You should therefore make sure that you have the answer to three key questions:

1. What is the Blog looking to achieve?You need to able to clearly identify why you want to start the Business Blog. Are you looking to use it as the focal point for a network of contacts for your company, or perhaps to position yourself as an expert in your field or promote a particular service / product using 'educational marketing' as part of a soft sell approach. You might be looking to use it as the development area for a new product and in the process create a group of evangelists for it, or perhaps it will have an internal communications focus, either for the company as a whole or specific teams within it. All of these are perfect goals for your blog (or blogs), but you will need to identify and focus on the one that you want to achieve in order to make it really successful.

2. Who is the Blog aimed at?You need to decide who is the target audience for your Business Blog, just as you do with your products or services, and consequently who you are writing for. This will dictate the content of your posts and also the way in which you write them - two elements which will influence how you are perceived by your readers. You might be looking to demonstrate your in depth knowledge of your niche to prospective partners, create an interactive relationship with clients or motivate internal staff. Each will require a different approach to both what you write and how you present it.

3. What results are you looking for?You should also be clear as to what results you want to achieve with the Business Blog. While a blog is certainly not a direct sales tool, there are nevertheless many ways in which you can measure its direct effectiveness. These might include number of visitors, subscribers to your RSS feed, sign ups to a newsletter, contacts initiated or clients achieved through a contact form on your Blog etc. By identifying the results you want, you will be able to measure how successful you have been and make changes accordingly.

By spending time on this part of the set up of your Business Blog, you will reap the rewards later. You will ensure that the blog maintains its focus in terms of its content and, as a consequence, provide your readers with what they are looking for and you with a successful blog for your business.

About the Author

"Emarketing" Mark White is an emarketing consultant and business blogging specialist working primarily with companies in the UK. For information, advice or a free email course on successful Business Blogging for marketing and business development, visit Better Business Blogging. Stand out from the Crowd and Develop your Reputation Online.

McAfee steps up online safety education drive

To help educate internet users about the potential dangers of the online world, security firm McAfee has created a free 10-step internet safety plan.

Available through the McAfee Advice Center, the ebook is broken into separate sections each aimed at providing safety guidelines for various age groups and experience levels, including kids, teens, parents, teachers and community groups.

In conjunction with the guidelines, there is also a quiz aimed at that challenges teens' knowledge of online risks and their ability to stay safe from spyware, spam, scams and identity theft.
"The days when people went online only to gather information and send email have changed," said Todd Gebhart, senior vice president and general manager of Consumer, Mobile and Small Business for McAfee.

"Cyberspace is an exciting environment full of opportunity, but it is also increasingly risky, with numerous threats emerging daily. Parents need to be on guard whenever their children venture online, so we've developed some simple steps to help ensure that young people's online experiences are safe and pleasant."

According to recent research, teens and kids are known to engage in risky online behaviour. For example, while 51 per cent of teens have downloaded music, the search term 'digital music' often leads to drive-by download sites that can populate a computer with spyware, viruses and exploits without users' knowledge. In addition, 45 per cent of young people said someone they've never met in person has asked them for personal information online.

The guidelines also include a section on how to save chat session logs, block users, report intruders and it provides recommendations for age-appropriate browsers and search engines, among other tips.

McAfee hopes that its new ebook will help families work together to set boundaries and create a list of rules to follow.

Sourse : VNUNET

Filtering the Internet

Author: Carolyn Clayton
Surveys from the past few years demonstrate that 48% of large companies blame their worst security threats on employees who use the Internet for personal reasons. In 2001 60.7% of employees stated that they visit web sites for personal use with 51% of employees spending time checking email, online chat, shopping and checking their finances.

Surveys from the past few years demonstrate that 48% of large companies blame their worst security threats on employees who use the Internet for personal reasons. In 2001 60.7% of employees stated that they visit web sites for personal use with 51% of employees spending time checking email, online chat, shopping and checking their finances.

Every year many working days are lost due to numerous hours being spent on web sites that have nothing to do with the job that people are meant to be doing. Using working time to browse Internet sites for personal use takes away productivity and uses up company bandwidth when things are downloaded. It is a problem that is growing across companies of all size and companies that are across numerous countries.

Many businesses are now taking action to prevent their employees from gaining access to sites that are not relevant to the work that they are meant to be doing. This is known as web filtering or content filtering. The way in which this works is web site requests are sent through filtering software. This software requires all website pages to go through an Internet control point such as a firewall, proxy server or caching device. These immediately inspect each web site request to determine whether it should be blocked or allowed.

Filtering software works in conjunction with a master database of approximately three or four million web sites. These websites all contain content that is deemed unsuitable for the workplace. These sites include adult sites, gambling and the downloading of mp3’s as well as stopping the ability to shop online. New sites are added to this database daily so that as the Internet grows your web filtering software stays up-to-date with the latest sites that need to be restricted from working hours.

Site blocking/content filtering only focuses on HTTP based web traffic, leaving other applications such as instant messaging and email as a continuing security risk and a waste of employee time. The best way to deal with instant messaging services is by deleting them off every computer and then having the site that they are downloaded from blocked.

When it comes to web filtering there is often a lot of controversy surrounding it as many people disprove of filtering moral and political view points. The Internet was created without the aid of filtering leaving it censorship free so should it be left this way? Many argue that it should however without some form of restriction people would end up gaining assess to sites that could affect their lives in the worst way. In the case of stopping employees getting on to certain sites it is done so that employees will get on with their work rather than wasting company time browsing sites that have nothing to do with their job.

Content blocking software was created to protect people i.e. children from viewing content that is unsuitable for them, it was not brought into practice to restrict free speech or to stop open mindedness and for businesses it is just to ensure success. All of these instants demonstrate that restricting assess to sites is done so in a positive productive way rather than a negative one.

About Author

Helen is the web master for MySpamBin, home of all your Web Filtering software.

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Google's Stake in Search Engine Optimization

Companies that provide services for improving Web sites' search-engine rankings and running effective search-engine ad campaigns have a new competitor: Google.

Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service

Companies that provide services for improving Web sites' search-engine rankings and running effective search-engine ad campaigns have a new competitor: Google.

Bundled in the DoubleClick acquisition came Performics, which provides search-engine marketing (SEM) and search-engine optimization (SEO) services.

This has created concern for SEM and SEO service providers, which now face Google, a key partner, also as a rival.

"It puts us in the awkward position of competing with Google's own [SEM/SEO] agency for client accounts," said Lance Loveday, CEO of Closed Loop Marketing, an SEO and SEM firm.

Background
Over the past seven years, as Google's popularity with advertisers and end users has boomed, so has the SEM and SEO business. Marketers began spending significant amounts to advertise on search engines, primarily Google, and they realized that they needed help from SEM firms to design, fine-tune and track the effectiveness of those campaigns. At the same time, those marketers recognized that they also had to make sure that their companies' Web sites ranked well on search engines when users entered keywords relevant to their businesses, which is what SEO service providers specialize in.

Before the DoubleClick acquisition, SEM and SEO firms saw themselves as providers of complementary services to Google, but now that Performics is part of Google, things have changed.

For starters, there is a concern that Performics will get special access to inside information about Google's search-engine algorithms, allowing Performics to provide SEO services that are more effective that its competitors'.

Then there is the worry that Google will push its in-house Performics SEM services at highly discounted prices, or maybe even free, in direct competition with SEM service providers.

Due to these and other clash points, SEM and SEO providers say their relationship with Google will inevitably get strained. This will likely be bad for Google, considering that SEM providers have a lot of influence over how their clients allocate their search advertising budget.

Taking your business towards online (Part 1)

Author: Web Hosting Geeks
You are already into some kind of business and now you want to reach out to people, at large. You are also aware about the competition and the demand for your product. So, the best way to make your business expand is by taking it online.

You are already into some kind of business and now you want to reach out to people, at large. You are also aware about the competition and the demand for your product. So, the best way to make your business expand is by taking it online. In other words, you have to be in touch with modern technology by using the internet. It is very important to take your business online. In this article, I am going to speak about getting online customers. The information is as follows:

1) Have a business related blog:
Yes, your business needs a blog. Normally, we all think that a blog is fit only for teenagers who have nothing else to do. This statement is true but I must also add here by saying that you can also use a blog for business applications too. Physically, it becomes difficult to attend to several customers in a small space at any given period of time. However, a blog will enable you to interact with multitudes of customers without any physical space constrains. All your potential customers will be found interacting through your online blog.

Blogs are good at connecting people. In this world, if you have the attitude of building relationship, you will then enjoy to see how building relationships takes place on your blog. With a blog, you get the opportunity to build new relationships with potential customers and you can also connect with current customers. Now, before you think of launching your own blog, you must be mentally prepared to get ready towards getting your business to a certain level of transparency. In other words, your postings on the blog will reflect on who you are , what you value and what you provide. Also, if your blog supports connecting then there is a higher level of transparency that is going to be involved. In other words, if interaction takes place between you and your potential customers through the blog, then you will see both, negative as well as positive feedback being exchanged over the blog and this builds more trust and also deepens the customer relationship. But the second type of interaction may not be liked by all blog owners. In other words, you must be willing to take criticism as it comes.

2) You must have fresh content on your blog:
Search engines get attracted towards blogs. Keep your blog with fresh content and see that it is quality based. Links can be incorporated within your pages of your blog and also use other types of marketing strategies which will boost your business, online. You must also see that you get traffic from popular search engines like Google, so that your readership increases. People in large numbers will then visit your blog and thus your visitors will turn into potential customers. You must also have an attitude towards marketing your business while you are sleep. In other words, you must market your business oriented website by getting it listed in web directories and search engines. It can act as silent partner which is simple to understand and easy to navigate. If this feature is incorporated in your blog, then it becomes easy for a visitor to relate with your blog.

Once the customer is satisfied with the information placed on the blog, then he will never hesitate to visit you again. Thus, having a business oriented blog is highly recommended in order to increase your business and also to keep your customer interactive and happy.

About Author

Web Hosting Geeks provides independent customer reviews of the top web hosting providers, host uptime statistics, best web hosting awards, tutorials, articles and more. For more information about web hosting visit WebHostingGeeks.com

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-web-hosting-geeks-8961.html

Where to host your website?

It is common to see almost everyone owning a website of some kind or the other. Are you one of them? It is challenging enough to design a website and fill in all the relevant content in it, but your job is left incomplete because you still need to know where to host your website.

It is common to see almost everyone owning a website of some kind or the other. Are you one of them? It is challenging enough to design a website and fill in all the relevant content in it, but your job is left incomplete because you still need to know where to host your website. Well, if you are one of them who want to know where exactly to host your website then in that case this article is made just for you.

It is a normal practice for a newbie webmaster to go for a free hosting plan. Free hosting plans are easy to setup and above all its free of charge. But, one must be aware of the fact that free hosting have their own limitations.

Mostly, free hosts do not offer features such as FTP access, CGI-BIN, a personal domain name etc. You are given a sub domain name and this will limit your website’s growing potential. In free hosting plans, you are compelled to run banners or pop-up ads on your website. This can create a sort of an obstruction and can disturb the visitors.

These advertisements might irritate the visitors, as a result of which many of them will skip to some other website. Also, most free hosts come up with a limited bandwidth facility. In the case of big traffic, you are likely to exceed the allotted bandwidth and thus your website will be temporarily disabled.

However, I am of the opinion that people who are new to web hosting and want to get a feel of how it works can definitely opt for a free web. A free web host facility is also recommended for those who are planning to host a personal website or a website that is likely to generate revenue.

Now, let us talk about paid web hosting. You will easy find web hosting companies on the internet that charge money for their services. There are various types of paid web hosts which are as follows:

1) “Budget” web host:
This type of web host claims to offer you hosting facility for as less as $1 per month. You need to be very caution with this type of web hosting companies. They even claim to offer 24/7 e-mail support and mostly it turns out to be the other way around. Your emails may never get answered and even if they get answered, mostly they are in generic forum which is useless to you. They rarely have their own web servers and they often tend to resell space on someone else’s web servers and they have no control about the same. Sometimes your website will be down for several days and the company may even not bother to inform you about the situation. However, I must say that all budget web hosts are not bad. I would recommend “Dollarhosting.com”

2) “Mid-range web host:
The word “Mid-range” refers to the price range. These types of web host offer prices and services that fall within the capacity of website owners. Normally, a mid-range web host would normally come up with a package ranging from $5 to $8 per month and they provide facilities such as CGI-BIN, a lot of email addresses, FTP support, statistics of visitor facility and many such others.


A mid-range web host package plan comes with a limited monthly bandwidth package but the limit is set at a higher level and most websites will never reach that limit. It all depends on the level of downloads made and the decent traffic that is seen with regard to a concerned website. If you exceed the limit, your website gets temporarily shut down or you will have to pay bandwidth overage charges. Usually, a mid-range type of web hosting company offers excellent uptime/reliability. In fact, many businesses are running successfully on a mid-range web hosting type.

3) High-end web hosts:
Well, high-end web hosts are meant for those websites which require “high-end” web hosting solutions. Websites which are extremely popular and receive a lot of traffic must choose high-end web hosts. If you require a 100% uptime host then you must choose high-end web hosts. Business related websites often rely on high-end web hosts. The price range for a high-end web hosting facility changes but one can expect it to be in the range of $50 per month to several hundred dollars per month. High-end web hosts offer reliability, bandwidth and all the necessary facility which is required to run a successful web site.

Based on the above mentioned types of web hosts that exist, you can decide accordingly, where to host your website.

About Author

Web Hosting Geeks provides independent customer reviews of the top web hosting providers, host uptime statistics, best web hosting awards, tutorials, articles and more. For more information about web hosting visit www.WebHostingGeeks.com.

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-web-hosting-geeks-8961.html