Thanks to Dana Lee for permission to use this Photo.
Have you seen the recent commercials from Verizon Wireless touting their wireless service, contrasting their service with the seemingly restrictive confinement of WIFI. This is part of a battle for wireless dominance. WIFI is the current wireless standard leader. If you have a laptop, chances are you have some sort of WIFI router device in your home to provide WIFI access for it and other devices in your house such as the newest IPOD release. You have probably utilized the WIFI offerings of a local coffee shop or hotel (I couldn’t imagine staying in a hotel today that didn’t offer WIFI or at least Ethernet network access). If you download a free program called NetStumbler and install it on a computer that has a wireless card, you can discover wireless access points wherever you are. The program makes a sound every time a new WIFI point is discovered. Driving around with your laptop running NetStumbler can make your computer sound like a video game as it will sound off repeatedly like a machine gun as it find the plethora of WIFE points in the area.
The problem with WIFI is that it is spotty and not predictable. WIFI has a limited range and many WIFI hotspots are now guarded with security such as WPA, disallowing public access. This has created a demand for a more streamlined wireless standard that offers blanket coverage.
One option is the cell phone companies such as Verizon. These services can offer as much as much as 3.5 Gig of network throughput, putting WIFI to shame. WIMAX is another option in which metropolitan areas can offer blanket coverage throughout the area with speeds up to 4 Gig. Both of these offerings work on some sort of subscription plan which can cost as much as $60 a month. Unlike WIFI, each and every device must have a separate subscription, making these alternatives very expensive. Over a dozen metropolitan WIMAX projects have been dismantled over the past year due to higher than predicted costs and a shortage of willing subscribers. WIFI has also fired back with the new 802.11n WIFI standard this year which offers greater throughput and coverage than its WIFI predecessors. The battle has just begun for wireless dominance…
If you are purchasing a PC today over $700, chances are the specs include a dual core processor. Multi-core processors have been thetrend for several years. A dual core processor is a CPU with twoseparate cores on the same die, each with its own cache. It’s the equivalent of getting two microprocessors in one. A typical server today has at least two dual core processors. Quad cores are also very popular too. The organization that I work for typically uses dual quad core processors for any of the servers that will be carrying a processing load such as a database server, email server or a virtual host.
But as you can surmise, it’s not stopping at quad core. Intel will be releasing a six core processor later this year. AMD will be releasing theirs early next year. These will be strictly targeted at the server market since desktop software can barely fully utilize dual core processing. And if 6 isn’t enough, both companies plan on releasing a 12 core processor sometime in 2010.
Thanks to conskeptical for permission to use this Photo.
Have you ever wanted to revisit a link that was fifty or more characters long and was impossible to remember? Have you tried to tell someone about a site with an extensively elongated URL? A great example is the link for a specific link on YouTube.
If you access such a site from the same computer all the time you can simply save that site as a favorite in your browser. But what if you want to access the site from any computer you want? Here is a great website to help you do just that,
This is a nasty link that only someone with a photographic memory could possibly remember. Simply go to tinyurl.com and paste in the link. Then assign it an easy to remember name such as
win2008book_i_want
And save it. You would then access the link by simply typing
You have to type in unique names that no one else has used before because each link has to be unique. Most easy links such as www.tinyurl.com/Brad are already used. Of course, like most technological tools, this site poses a security risk to organizations as well as a great benefit. People who use computers at organizations that utilize web filtering, such as schools and businesses, can create personal custom links for websites that are filtered by the organization, allowing them full access to these sites. For this reason, Tiny Url is sometimes blocked by organizations to prevent this. I recommend that you try it out for yourself…
Johnny Lee is a brilliant technologist who’s become a YouTube star through his amazing demonstration of Wii remote hacks. After watching this video, you’ll never look at your Wii the same again. I love this video because Lee once again proves how integral human creativity and ingenuity are to the process of technological innovation. In this case, a relatively unknown guy like Lee on center stage at the famed TED conference, reinventing the very essence of what an already popular technology’s applications can ultimately be. These hacks are insane. Don’t miss this one…
Thanks to Sherrie G. for permission to use this Photo.
A few days ago I purchased a new computer. The computer has a 4 gig hard drive — not much space for many programs. Well, I downloaded the updates or SP2 service pack the second day that I owned the computer. As we may see the hard drive is not built for that much data. Long story short; the hard drives capacity was reached.
Here is the solution: Re-install the software after a format and new partition. Well, the computer is small and has no CD drive. So, what to do? I thought that I could try to copy the software to a memory card and or an external hard drive and install from there. Guess what? The software was installed but the format was not in existence. The new installation files were copied right on top of the already full hard drive. Two other times the files were installed to the memory card and external hard drive.
After all this trouble the hard drive (c:/) did not register. Even better, the computer asked me what OS I wanted to load! I did make a selection but I had no luck. At that point I was without a functioning computer.
The problem: The programming or software on today’s memory cards and external hard drives are not always set to handle these installation problems. What we need is a solution to this problem. I have heard from other students that there is software for this situation, but it must not be an every day item. I have not seen much . . . to talk about.
Finally, I just paid for the external CD drive and I was back in business. Two things: 1. Attempting something new with available resources can lead to win, lose, or newly gained insight into a problematic situation. 2. Attempting something new can very much so be devistating to our equipment.
What did I gain, well; I understand that from a situation like this I can see what problems non-techs may have when they work with today’s computers. Although, I will be able to walk away from this task knowing that I can create software that is built for the common man or woman. I think it is a policy in today’s computer companies to think about the problems that can arise with software before it is sent out to the public. The main problem is the company that produced this computer did not realize that a 4 gig hard drive is not enough for today’s world. Solution: Do not allow the software to update, if it does the millions of customers out there will suffer the same fate that I did. Easy solutions for head-acking problemes!
Has anyone emailed you a Microsoft Word file or excel file made in Office XP that you weren’t able to open with your copy of Office 2003 or 2000? That’s because 2007 saves Word and Excel files in a custom file type by default. Word 2007 saves in the .docx format for instance.
Excel 2007 saves in the .xlsx format by default. If this has happened to you there are two options. One of course is to install Office 2007 on your computer. The far lesser expensive alternative is to download and install the Microsoft 2007 conversion tool which allows earlier versions of Office to open 2007 files. Note that this is a read only tool. You cannot create 2007 files with it. Office 2007 does allow you to save files in the format of earlier versions. If you anticipate emailing any files created with Office 2007, you should do this so that your recipients can open them guaranteed. You can download the conversion tool by clicking here.
There are other alternatives to Microsoft Office. I have written about OpenOffice before, the most popular open source office suite. It is totally free and many of its components, such as the word processing and spreadsheet components, have an identical look as Office 2003. It is ideal for students. You can research it further and download it here.
Another alternative is Google Apps. Google Apps, which was heralded early on has not caught on as was anticipated. It is a web based application which means that nothing is installed on your computer.
This means that you can work on your files from anywhere since you can also save your files on a personal storage space of your own on a Google server. You can also save your files to your local computer or media as well. You can access Google Apps here.
Thanks to David K for permission to use this Photo.
Back in 2000, we were constantly told that the world was running out of IP addresses. This was because IPV4, the IP standard we use for IP addresses only has so many mathematical combinations, thus there is a defined limit to the number of IP addresses that can be utilized. Due to the wide spread use of IP in the world, a usage rate far beyond what the creators of IP ever visualized; the IT world was stressing out as to how to address the problem. The solution was a new standard called IPV6 which introduced more bits into the addressing scheme. In turn, millions of additional mathematical combinations were created, resulting in an equal number of additional IP addresses.
Unfortunately, IPV6 is more complicated than its predecessor, requiring a degree of training for networking professionals. We were told back then that IPV6 would be implemented by the middle of the decade and alleviate the crisis.
Well guess what? It’s 2008 and the world hasn’t run out of IP addresses which is why IPV6 is barely used in the industry today. This is because of the wide popularity of NAT, Network Address Translation, which is used by most organizations that have a WAN presence.
For those unfamiliar with NAT, Network Address Translation allows a single device, such as a router to act as an agent between the Internet (or “public network”) and a local (or “private”) network. This means that only a single, unique IP address is required to represent an entire group of computers. This isn’t to say that IPV6 will wither on the vine. As of right now, government offices are required to transition to IPV6 within the next couple of years and other organizations are planning such an implementation in the future, but IPV4 is and will continue to be alive and well for some time to come.
Thanks to 3ep Media for permission to use this Photo.
I received a couple messages yesterday from student bloggers who were having difficulty embedding videos on their blog. In the spirit of open community resources, I’d like to provide you with the same wordpress plugin that I’ve found very easy to install and quite reliable. Here it is. Let me know how it works out for your blog!
Blip.tv is regarded as “the world’s leading videoblogging and podcasting service,” but it’s their community based ethos and collaborative principles that really persuaded our Ashworth University Student Life team to deveop our own television channel through this incredible company. Blip.tv’s video publishing, sharing, and syndication features make it easy for anyone to get their message heard in the increasingly crowded online video marketplace. We here at Ashworth University would like to thank Blip.tv for their outstanding service. We’d also like to encourage you to check out our Ashworth University Television channel on Blip.tv. If you are a video content creator and would like to work with Ashworth University, please feel free to contact me at the following email address to discuss the possibilities. Thank You!
Thanks to Jamie Hladky for permission to use this Photo.
You have to learn how to crawl before you learn how to walk, but once you learn a foundation of IT skills in Ashworth University’s information technology programs and anchor yourself in the IT labor force, here are the ten hottest tech skill sets you should aim to learn in the next five years according to Tech Republic.
Voice over IP - sales of pure IP PBX systems for the first quarter of 2007 increased 76% over the first quarter of the previous year
Unified Communications - the convergence of different communications technologies, such as e-mail, voicemail, text messaging, and fax
Hybrid Networks – Networks are no longer all Windows or all Linux, they are a hodgepodge of different systems and IT pros need to learn more than one of them.
Wireless Technologies – everything’s going wireless it seems.
Remote User Support – with more employees working off-site today, help support personnel must provide remote support to anywhere.
Mobile User Support – more and more organizations are providing blackberries and other smart portable devices for their employees that must be supported.
Software-as-a-Service – or SaaS as it is referred to in technical articles. With the popularity of Web 2.0, the trend is to now provide software applications over the Internet rather than installing them on each and every computer.
Virtualization – With the dominance of VMWare and the soon to be released 2008 Virtual Application from Microsoft, virtualization is THE buzzword today along with its countless benefits.
IPv6 – Although this standard has not grown in popularity as of yet, mostly because the wide usage of NAT has allowed us to not run out of IP addresses on the Internet as fast as predicted, this standard is going to come about within the next five years.
Security - A skill set that will probably always be in the top 10.
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