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X-Men Origins: Wolverine [Eng/2009/Repack] | PC Game | Genre: Action / 3D / 3rd Person
Developer: Raven Software / Amaze Entertainment | Publisher: Activision Language: Multi4 |3.31 Gb

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is an epic action-adventure featuring a true-to-character Wolverine gameplay experience that takes gamers through and beyond the movie's storyline.

Set in a variety of vivid real-world locales, the title challenges players to hone their animal instinct as they uncover hidden dangers, hunt and destroy enemies, and take on seemingly insurmountable situations while discovering the truth about Wolverine’s tragic past. With razor-sharp adamantium claws unsheathed, the future X-Man enacts lightning-quick combat, evasive maneuvers, in-depth combo attacks, and an array of brutal finishing moves.

Wolverine doesn't just deliver massive damage, either, he also takes it, thanks to his mutant regenerative power that heals him in real time right before the player's eyes.

Uncage Wolverine's tragic past and discover how the ultimate weapon was created. Unleash the razor sharp adamantium claws, feral instincts and mutant regeneration power of the world's fiercest hero. Visceral combat. Pure rage. Epic battles. Take on the impossible in your hunt to uncover the secrets of Weapon X - then exact your revenge.

System Requirements:
• OS: Windows XP Sp2/Vista Sp1
• Processor: Pentium D@2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800 +
• Memory: 1 GB for XP / 2 GB for Vista
• Hard Drive: 8 GB Free
• Video Memory: 256 MB (Shader Model 3.0 +)
• Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
• DirectX: 9.0c
• Keyboard & Mouse
• DVD Rom Drive

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Recently, mobile technology has become increasingly sophisticated with the new components, the better chips, and a faster processors. But there’s one part of Laptop or Netbook which is the “Achilles heel” - the battery.

Operating systems, modern graphics, and various other advanced application rapacious spend your laptop battery every day. The average laptop battery life remains in the range of 3 - 4 hours. Of course, this is still a problem for workers who often travel long distance.

Most effective way at this time is to bring some spare batteries in your trip. But, beside this there are at least a few tricks that can help you to save laptop batteries a long time.

1. Laptop HD defragmentation - Regular defragmentation can help you manage the data to be more efficient and make the hard drive (HD) a little faster to access the data. When HD works quickly, the more you can spare of laptop battery energy.

2. Turn off High Power Applications - Immediately turn off the background process that is not important. Watch energy use through the Windows Task Manager [Ctrl + Alt + Del]. If you are not using the internet, then your laptop is safe to turn off programs that are not that important to work on the taskbar, such as antivirus and firewall. Run - msconfig - Tab: Startup and remove n the programs that you do not want to launch your laptop and reboot once.

3. Suspend the Scheduled Tasks - This process can be defragmentation or virus scan, but make sure you schedule an activity at the time you are near the power source. If not, delay or combine alternately between them, to find the time and place to fill the battery.

4. Unplug External Tools - Tools that use the USB can spent battery power. After use, do not
forget to pull out all the external equipment such as mouse, PC card, Wi-Fi, an external speaker, Bluetooth, and even an iPod or iPhone.

5. Clear Drive CD / DVD - Do not leave a CD / DVD any left in the laptop if it is not used.

6. Use Local Hardware Equipment - Try not to use an external DVD or other equipment

7. Remove lights - LCD laptop screen is also one of a battery waster. Configure light level to the lowest level that you can still see by using the Function or use the Display Settings in Control Panel.

8. Turn off Voters - Turn off the speaker and avoid the use of multimedia software. Sound scheme also spent laptop battery.

9. Do not Use a Screensaver

10. Visit the Power Options - Know energy management / power through the application “Power Options” in Control Panel. Both XP and Vista have this advanced feature to turn off components such as monitors and / or HD after specific intervals. “Max Battery” in the Power schemes can be chosen to maximize battery life time.

11. Use classic style GUI - On Vista, click on the “Desktop - Preferences - Color View - Appearance - Appearance Classic and Basic Windows graphical interface.” On XP, “Display Properties - Theme - Windows Classic”. Linux and Mac have a better system in this case to maintain the battery.

12. Hibernate is Better of Sleep - On the Stand By mode (or Sleep Mode), the computer will shut off and the HD display but the memory remains active while the CPU slowed. This is of course the battery. Meanwhile, hibernate is better because laptop save all of the conditions and the last off the total to save energy.

13. Do not run a lot of programs simultaneously - Working with many programs, of course, require more energy. We recommend using only one or two programs you really need at the same time.

14. Use More RAM - A large capacity RAM can reduce the burden of virtual memory that directly lead to effects on the HD and also lead to spent laptop battery life.

15. Maintain Hygiene of Your Laptop - Laptops with the dirty air ventilation will be greater heat and with that spent battery (ventilator always work). Clean the air vents on a regular basis to maintain the temperature remains the minimum. Leave the area around the ventilation as much as possible open or empty for easy air circulation.

16. Avoid Places with High Temperature - As much as possible avoid direct sunlight or other heat places.

17. Avoid Memory Effect - The battery type Li-Ion does not have this problem. This problem may increase for the battery type Ni-MH. This can be prevented with a charge when the battery is completely empty.

18. Update Software and Drivers - Usually, the drivers and the latest software is designed to work more efficiently than the previous version.

19. Use the Right Adapter - Make sure that you use to adapter for your of the original specification or match. The wrong type can lead to overload and damage the battery and your laptop.

20. Trim Laptops - If you don’t use laptop some time, make sure that the laptop is 40% filled, pull the battery, and store in some dark place.

Source : detectorpro

A considerable portion of my consulting time has recently revolved around the optimization of corporate blogs (or the addition of blogs to revamped sites). As usual, I find a pattern emerging in the strategies that need attention and the pitfalls that must be avoided. So, rather than charging $400 an hour to give advice on the subject, I thought it would be valuable to share many of the most common pieces of advice here on the blog (business part of Rand fights with open source Rand, but loses, as usual).

1. Choose the Right Blog Software (or Custom Build)
The right blog CMS makes a big difference. If you want to set yourself apart, I recommend creating a custom blog solution - one that can be completely customized to your users. In most cases, WordPress, Blogger, MovableType or Typepad will suffice, but building from scratch allows you to be very creative with functionality and formatting. The best CMS is something that's easy for the writer(s) to use and brings together the features that allow the blog to flourish. Think about how you want comments, archiving, sub-pages, categorization, multiple feeds and user accounts to operate in order to narrow down your choices. OpenSourceCMS is a very good tool to help you select a software if you go that route.

2. Host Your Blog Directly on Your Domain
Hosting your blog on a different domain from your primary site is one of the worst mistakes you can make. A blog on your domain can attract links, attention, publicity, trust and search rankings - by keeping the blog on a separate domain, you shoot yourself in the foot. From worst to best, your options are - Hosted (on a solution like Blogspot or Wordpress), on a unique domain (at least you can 301 it in the future), on a subdomain (these can be treated as unique from the primary domain by the engines) and as a sub-section of the primary domain (in a subfolder or page - this is the best solution).

3. Write Title Tags with Two Audiences in Mind
First and foremost, you're writing a title tag for the people who will visit your site or have a subscription to your feed. Title tags that are short, snappy, on-topic and catchy are imperative. You also want to think about search engines when you title your posts, since the engines can help to drive traffic to your blog. A great way to do this is to write the post and the title first, then run a few searches at Overture, WordTracker & KeywordDiscovery to see if there is a phrasing or ordering that can better help you to target "searched for" terms.

4. Participate at Related Forums & Blogs
Whatever industry or niche you're in, there are bloggers, forums and an online community that's already active. Depending on the specificity of your focus, you may need to think one or two levels broader than your own content to find a large community, but with the size of the participatory web today, even the highly specialized content areas receive attention. A great way to find out who these people are is to use Technorati to conduct searches, then sort by number of links (authority). Del.icio.us tags are also very useful in this process, as are straight searches at the engines (Ask.com's blog search in particular is of very good quality).

5. Tag Your Content
Technorati is the first place that you should be tagging posts. I actually recommend having the tags right on your page, pointing to the Technorati searches that you're targeting. There are other good places to ping - del.icio.us and Flickr being the two most obvious (the only other one is Blogmarks, which is much smaller). Tagging content can also be valuable to help give you a "bump" towards getting traffic from big sites like Reddit, Digg & StumbleUpon (which requires that you download the toolbar, but trust me - it's worth it). You DO NOT want to submit every post to these sites, but that one out of twenty (see tactic #18) is worth your while.

6. Launch Without Comments (and Add Them Later)
There's something sad about a blog with 0 comments on every post. It feels dead, empty and unpopular. Luckily, there's an easy solution - don't offer the ability to post comments on the blog and no one will know that you only get 20 uniques a day. Once you're upwards of 100 RSS subscribers and/or 750 unique visitors per day, you can open up the comments and see light activity. Comments are often how tech-savvy new visitors judge the popularity of a site (and thus, its worth), so play to your strengths and keep your obscurity private.

7. Don't Jump on the Bandwagon
Some memes are worthy of being talked about by every blogger in the space, but most aren't. Just because there's huge news in your industry or niche DOES NOT mean you need to be covering it, or even mentioning it (though it can be valuable to link to it as an aside, just to integrate a shared experience into your unique content). Many of the best blogs online DO talk about the big trends - this is because they're already popular, established and are counted on to be a source of news for the community. If you're launching a new blog, you need to show people in your space that you can offer something unique, different and valuable - not just the same story from your point of view. This is less important in spaces where there are very few bloggers and little online coverage and much more in spaces that are overwhelmed with blogs (like search, or anything else tech-related).

8. Link Intelligently
When you link out in your blog posts, use convention where applicable and creativity when warranted, but be aware of how the links you serve are part of the content you provide. Not every issue you discuss or site you mention needs a link, but there's a fine line between overlinking and underlinking. The best advice I can give is to think of the post from the standpoint of a relatively uninformed reader. If you mention Wikipedia, everyone is familiar and no link is required. If you mention a specific page at Wikipedia, a link is necessary and important. Also, be aware that quoting other bloggers or online sources (or even discussing their ideas) without linking to them is considered bad etiquette and can earn you scorn that could cost you links from those sources in the future. It's almost always better to be over-generous with links than under-generous. And link condoms? Only use them when you're linking to something you find truly distasteful or have serious apprehension about.

9. Invite Guest Bloggers
Asking a well known personality in your niche to contribute a short blog on their subject of expertise is a great way to grow the value and reach of your blog. You not only flatter the person by acknowledging their celebrity, you nearly guarantee yourself a link or at least an association with a brand that can earn you readers. Just be sure that you really are getting a quality post from someone that's as close to universally popular and admired as possible (unless you want to start playing the drama linkbait game, which I personally abhor). If you're already somewhat popular, it can often be valuable to look outside your space and bring in guest authors who have a very unique angle or subject matter to help spice up your focus. One note about guest bloggers - make sure they agree to have their work edited by you before it's posted. A disagreement on this subject after the fact can have negative ramifications.

10. Eschew Advertising (Until You're Popular)
I hate AdSense on blogs. Usually, I ignore it, but I also cast a sharp eye towards the quality of the posts and professionalism of the content when I see AdSense. That's not to say that contextual advertising can't work well in some blogs, but it needs to be well integrated into the design and layout to help defer criticism. Don't get me wrong - it's unfair to judge a blog by its cover (or, in this case, its ads), but spend a lot of time surfing blogs and you'll have the same impression - low quality blogs run AdSense and many high quality ones don't. I always recommend that whether personal or professional, you wait until your blog has achieved a level of success before you start advertising. Ads, whether they're sponsorships, banners, contextual or other, tend to have a direct, negative impact on the number of readers who subscribe, add to favorites and link - you definitely don't want that limitation while you're still trying to get established.

11. Go Beyond Text in Your Posts
Blogs that contain nothing but line after line of text are more difficult to read and less consistently interesting than those that offer images, interactive elements, the occasional multimedia content and some clever charts & graphs. Even if you're having a tough time with non-text content, think about how you can format the text using blockquotes, indentation, bullet points, etc. to create a more visually appealing and digestible block of content.

12. Cover Topics that Need Attention
In every niche, there are certain topics and questions that are frequently asked or pondered, but rarely have definitive answers. While this recommendation applies to nearly every content-based site, it's particularly easy to leverage with a blog. If everyone in the online Nascar forums is wondering about the components and cost of an average Nascar vehicle - give it to them. If the online stock trading industry is rife with questions about the best performing stocks after a terrorist threat, your path is clear. Spend the time and effort to research, document and deliver and you're virtually guaranteed link-worthy content that will attract new visitors and subscribers.

13. Pay Attention to Your Analytics
Visitor tracking software can tell you which posts your audience likes best, which ones don't get viewed and how the search engines are delivering traffic. Use these clues to react and improve your strategies. Feedburner is great for RSS and I'm a personal fan of Indextools. Consider adding action tracking to your blog, so you can see what sources of traffic are bringing the best quality visitors (in terms of time spent on the site, # of page views, etc). I particularly like having the "register" link tagged for analytics so I can see what percentage of visitors from each source is interested enough to want to leave a comment or create an account.

14. Use a Human Voice
Charisma is a valuable quality, both online and off. Through a blog, it's most often judged by the voice you present to your users. People like empathy, compassion, authority and honesty. Keep these in the forefront of your mind when writing and you'll be in a good position to succeed. It's also critical that you maintain a level of humility in your blogging and stick to your roots. When users start to feel that a blog is taking itself too seriously or losing the characteristics that made it unique, they start to seek new places for content. We've certainly made mistakes (even recently) that have cost us some fans - be cautious to control not only what you say, but how you say it. Lastly - if there's a hot button issue that has you posting emotionally, temper it by letting the post sit in draft mode for an hour or two, re-reading it and considering any revisions. With the advent of feeds, once you publish, there's no going back.

15. Archive Effectively
The best archives are carefully organized into subjects and date ranges. For search traffic (particularly long tail terms), it can be best to offer the full content of every post in a category on the archive pages, but from a usability standpoint, just linking to each post is far better (possibly with a very short snippet). Balance these two issues and make the decision based on your goals. A last note on archiving - pagination in blogging can be harmful to search traffic, rather than beneficial (as you provide constantly changing, duplicate content pages). Pagination is great for users who scroll to the bottom and want to see more, though, so consider putting a "noindex" in the meta tag or in the robots.txt file to keep spiders where they belong - in the well-organized archive system.

16. Implement Smart URLs
The best URL structure for blogs is, in my opinion, as short as possible while still containing enough information to make an educated guess about the content you'll find on the page. I don't like the 10 hyphen, lengthy blog titles that are the byproduct of many CMS plugins, but they are certainly better than any dynamic parameters in the URL. Yes - I know I'm not walking the talk here, and hopefully it's something we can fix in the near future. To those who say that one dynamic parameter in the URL doesn't hurt, I'd take issue - just re-writing a ?ID=450 to /450 has improved search traffic considerably on several blogs we've worked with.

17. Reveal as Much as Possible
The blogosphere is in love with the idea of an open source world on the web. Sharing vast stores of what might ordinarily be considered private information is the rule, rather than the exception. If you can offer content that's usually private - trade secrets, pricing, contract issues, and even the occasional harmless rumor, your blog can benefit. Make a decision about what's off-limits and how far you can go and then push right up to that limit in order to see the best possible effects. Your community will reward you with links and traffic.

18. Only One Post in Twenty Can Be Linkbait
Not every post is worthy of making it to the top of Digg, Del.icio.us/popular or even a mention at some other blogs in your space. Trying to over-market every post you write will result in pushback and ultimately lead to negative opinions about your efforts. The less popular your blog is, the harder it will be to build excitement around a post, but the process of linkbait has always been trial and error - build, test, refine and re-build. Keep creating great ideas and bolstering them with lots of solid, everyday content and you'll eventually be big enough to where one out of every 20-40 posts really does become linkbait.

19. Make Effective Use of High Traffic Days
If you do have linkbait, whether by design or by accident, make sure to capitalize. When you hit the front page of Digg, Reddit, Boing Boing, or, on a smaller scale, attract a couple hundred visitors from a bigger blog or site in your space, you need to put your best foot forward. Make sure to follow up on a high traffic time period with 2-3 high quality posts that show off your skills as a writer, your depth of understanding and let visitors know that this is content they should be sticking around to see more of. Nothing kills the potential linkbait "bump" faster than a blog whose content doesn't update for 48 hours after they've received a huge influx of visitors.

20. Create Expectations and Fulfill Them
When you're writing for your audience, your content focus, post timing and areas of interest will all become associated with your personal style. If you vary widely from that style, you risk alienating folks who've come to know you and rely on you for specific data. Thus, if you build a blog around the idea of being an analytical expert in your field, don't ignore the latest release of industry figures only to chat about an emotional issue - deliver what your readers expect of you and crunch the numbers. This applies equally well to post frequency - if your blog regularly churns out 2 posts a day, having two weeks with only 4 posts is going to have an adverse impact on traffic. That's not to say you can't take a vacation, but you need to schedule it wisely and be prepared to lose RSS subscribers and regulars. It's not fair, but it's the truth. We lose visitors every time I attend an SES conference and drop to one post every two days (note - guest bloggers and time-release posts can help here, too).

21. Build a Brand
Possibly one of the most important aspects of all in blogging is brand-building. As Zefrank noted, to be a great brand, you need to be a brand that people want to associate themselves with and a brand that people feel they derive value from being a member. Exclusivity, insider jokes, emails with regulars, the occasional cat post and references to your previous experiences can be off putting for new readers, but they're solid gold for keeping your loyal base feeling good about their brand experience with you. Be careful to stick to your brand - once you have a definition that people like and are comfortable with, it's very hard to break that mold without severe repercussions. If you're building a new blog, or building a low-traffic one, I highly recommend writing down the goals of your brand and the attributes of its identity to help remind you as you write.

Best of luck to all you bloggers out there. It's an increasingly crowded field to play in, but these strategies should help to give you an edge over the competition. As always, if you've got additions or disagreements, I'd love to hear them.

p.s. Note to self - starting long blog entries at 11:30pm is not conducive to a good night's sleep. At least Angela got kicked off Project Runway tonight.

Source : SEOmoz

Beethoven:The Nine Symphonies - Barenboim / Berliner Staatskapelle [BOX SET]

Tracklist:
1 - Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Berlin State Choir
Conducted by Daniel Barenboim

2 - Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Berlin State Choir
Conducted by Daniel Barenboim

3 - Symphony No. 3 in E flat major ("Eroica"), Op. 55
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Berlin State Choir
Conducted by Daniel Barenboim

4 - Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Berlin State Choir
Conducted by Daniel Barenboim

5 - Symphony No. 5 in C minor ("Fate"), Op. 67
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Berlin State Choir
Conducted by Daniel Barenboim

6 - Symphony No. 6 in F major ("Pastoral"), Op. 68
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Berlin State Choir
Conducted by Daniel Barenboim

7 - Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Berlin State Choir
Conducted by Daniel Barenboim

8 - Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Berlin State Choir
Conducted by Daniel Barenboim

9 - Symphony No. 9 in D minor ("Choral"), Op. 125
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Berlin State Choir
with Robert Gambill, Soile Isokoski, Rosemarie Lang, Rene Pape
Conducted by Daniel Barenboim

download link :
part 1
part2
part 3
part 4
part 5
part 6
part 7

BOSTON (Reuters) - A malicious software program known as Conficker that many feared would wreak havoc on April 1 is slowly being activated, weeks after being dismissed as a false alarm, security experts said.

Conficker, also known as Downadup or Kido, is quietly turning thousands of personal computers into servers of e-mail spam and installing spyware, they said.

The worm started spreading late last year, infecting millions of computers and turning them into "slaves" that respond to commands sent from a remote server that effectively controls an army of computers known as a botnet.



Its unidentified creators started using those machines for criminal purposes in recent weeks by loading more malicious software onto a small percentage of computers under their control, said Vincent Weafer, a vice president with Symantec Security Response, the research arm of the world's largest security software maker, Symantec Corp.

"Expect this to be long-term, slowly changing," he said of the worm. "It's not going to be fast, aggressive."

Conficker installs a second virus, known as Waledac, that sends out e-mail spam without knowledge of the PC's owner, along with a fake anti-spyware program, Weafer said.

The Waledac virus recruits the PCs into a second botnet that has existed for several years and specializes in distributing e-mail spam.

"This is probably one of the most sophisticated botnets on the planet. The guys behind this are very professional. They absolutely know what they are doing," said Paul Ferguson, a senior researcher with Trend Micro Inc, the world's third-largest security software maker.

He said Conficker's authors likely installed a spam engine and another malicious software program on tens of thousands of computers since April 7.

He said the worm will stop distributing the software on infected PCs on May 3 but more attacks will likely follow.

"We expect to see a different component or a whole new twist to the way this botnet does business," said Ferguson, a member of The Conficker Working Group, an international alliance of companies fighting the worm.

Researchers had feared the network controlled by the Conficker worm might be deployed on April 1 since the worm surfaced last year because it was programed to increase communication attempts from that date.

The security industry formed the task force to fight the worm, bringing widespread attention that experts said probably scared off the criminals who command the slave computers.

The task force initially thwarted the worm using the Internet's traffic control system to block access to servers that control the slave computers.

Viruses that turn PCs into slaves exploit weaknesses in Microsoft's Windows operating system. The Conficker worm is especially tricky because it can evade corporate firewalls by passing from an infected machine onto a USB memory stick, then onto another PC.


Source: reuters

Cable is the medium through which information usually moves from one network device to another. There are several types of cable which are commonly used with LANs. In some cases, a network will utilize only one type of cable, other networks will use a variety of cable types. The type of cable chosen for a network is related to the network's topology, protocol, and size. Understanding the characteristics of different types of cable and how they relate to other aspects of a network is necessary for the development of a successful network.

The following sections discuss the types of cables used in networks and other related topics.

* Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable
* Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable
* Coaxial Cable
* Fiber Optic Cable
* Wireless LANs
* Cable Installation Guides



Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable

Twisted pair cabling comes in two varieties: shielded and unshielded. Unshielded twisted pair (UTP) is the most popular and is generally the best option for school networks.



The quality of UTP may vary from telephone-grade wire to extremely high-speed cable. The cable has four pairs of wires inside the jacket. Each pair is twisted with a different number of twists per inch to help eliminate interference from adjacent pairs and other electrical devices. The tighter the twisting, the higher the supported transmission rate and the greater the cost per foot. The EIA/TIA (Electronic Industry Association/Telecommunication Industry Association) has established standards of UTP and rated five categories of wire.
Categories of Unshielded Twisted Pair
Type Use
Category 1 Voice Only (Telephone Wire)
Category 2 Data to 4 Mbps (LocalTalk)
Category 3 Data to 10 Mbps (Ethernet)
Category 4 Data to 20 Mbps (16 Mbps Token Ring)
Category 5 Data to 100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet)

Buy the best cable you can afford; most schools purchase Category 3 or Category 5. If you are designing a 10 Mbps Ethernet network and are considering the cost savings of buying Category 3 wire instead of Category 5, remember that the Category 5 cable will provide more "room to grow" as transmission technologies increase. Both Category 3 and Category 5 UTP have a maximum segment length of 100 meters. In Florida, Category 5 cable is required for retrofit grants. 10BaseT refers to the specifications for unshielded twisted pair cable (Category 3, 4, or 5) carrying Ethernet signals. Category 6 is relatively new and is used for gigabit connections.
Unshielded Twisted Pair Connector

The standard connector for unshielded twisted pair cabling is an RJ-45 connector. This is a plastic connector that looks like a large telephone-style connector. A slot allows the RJ-45 to be inserted only one way. RJ stands for Registered Jack, implying that the connector follows a standard borrowed from the telephone industry. This standard designates which wire goes with each pin inside the connector.



Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable

A disadvantage of UTP is that it may be susceptible to radio and electrical frequency interference. Shielded twisted pair (STP) is suitable for environments with electrical interference; however, the extra shielding can make the cables quite bulky. Shielded twisted pair is often used on networks using Token Ring topology.
Coaxial Cable

Coaxial cabling has a single copper conductor at its center. A plastic layer provides insulation between the center conductor and a braided metal shield. The metal shield helps to block any outside interference from fluorescent lights, motors, and other computers.



Although coaxial cabling is difficult to install, it is highly resistant to signal interference. In addition, it can support greater cable lengths between network devices than twisted pair cable. The two types of coaxial cabling are thick coaxial and thin coaxial.

Thin coaxial cable is also referred to as thinnet. 10Base2 refers to the specifications for thin coaxial cable carrying Ethernet signals. The 2 refers to the approximate maximum segment length being 200 meters. In actual fact the maximum segment length is 185 meters. Thin coaxial cable is popular in school networks, especially linear bus networks.

Thick coaxial cable is also referred to as thicknet. 10Base5 refers to the specifications for thick coaxial cable carrying Ethernet signals. The 5 refers to the maximum segment length being 500 meters. Thick coaxial cable has an extra protective plastic cover that helps keep moisture away from the center conductor. This makes thick coaxial a great choice when running longer lengths in a linear bus network. One disadvantage of thick coaxial is that it does not bend easily and is difficult to install.
Coaxial Cable Connectors

The most common type of connector used with coaxial cables is the Bayone-Neill-Concelman (BNC) connector. Different types of adapters are available for BNC connectors, including a T-connector, barrel connector, and terminator. Connectors on the cable are the weakest points in any network. To help avoid problems with your network, always use the BNC connectors that crimp, rather than screw, onto the cable.



Fiber Optic Cable

Fiber optic cabling consists of a center glass core surrounded by several layers of protective materials. It transmits light rather than electronic signals eliminating the problem of electrical interference. This makes it ideal for certain environments that contain a large amount of electrical interference. It has also made it the standard for connecting networks between buildings, due to its immunity to the effects of moisture and lighting.

Fiber optic cable has the ability to transmit signals over much longer distances than coaxial and twisted pair. It also has the capability to carry information at vastly greater speeds. This capacity broadens communication possibilities to include services such as video conferencing and interactive services. The cost of fiber optic cabling is comparable to copper cabling; however, it is more difficult to install and modify. 10BaseF refers to the specifications for fiber optic cable carrying Ethernet signals.



Facts about fiber optic cables:

* Outer insulating jacket is made of Teflon or PVC.
* Kevlar fiber helps to strengthen the cable and prevent breakage.
* A plastic coating is used to cushion the fiber center.
* Center (core) is made of glass or plastic fibers.

Fiber Optic Connector

The most common connector used with fiber optic cable is an ST connector. It is barrel shaped, similar to a BNC connector. A newer connector, the SC, is becoming more popular. It has a squared face and is easier to connect in a confined space.
Ethernet Cable Summary
Specification Cable Type Maximum length
10BaseT Unshielded Twisted Pair 100 meters
10Base2 Thin Coaxial 185 meters
10Base5 Thick Coaxial 500 meters
10BaseF Fiber Optic 2000 meters
100BaseT Unshielded Twisted Pair 100 meters
100BaseTX Unshielded Twisted Pair 220 meters

Wireless LANs

Not all networks are connected with cabling; some networks are wireless. Wireless LANs use high frequency radio signals, infrared light beams, or lasers to communicate between the workstations and the file server or hubs. Each workstation and file server on a wireless network has some sort of transceiver/antenna to send and receive the data. Information is relayed between transceivers as if they were physically connected. For longer distance, wireless communications can also take place through cellular telephone technology, microwave transmission, or by satellite.

Wireless networks are great for allowing laptop computers or remote computers to connect to the LAN. Wireless networks are also beneficial in older buildings where it may be difficult or impossible to install cables.

The two most common types of infrared communications used in schools are line-of-sight and scattered broadcast. Line-of-sight communication means that there must be an unblocked direct line between the workstation and the transceiver. If a person walks within the line-of-sight while there is a transmission, the information would need to be sent again. This kind of obstruction can slow down the wireless network.

Scattered infrared communication is a broadcast of infrared transmissions sent out in multiple directions that bounces off walls and ceilings until it eventually hits the receiver. Networking communications with laser are virtually the same as line-of-sight infrared networks.

Wireless LANs have several disadvantages. They provide poor security, and are susceptible to interference from lights and electronic devices. They are also slower than LANs using cabling.
Installing Cable - Some Guidelines

When running cable, it is best to follow a few simple rules:

* Always use more cable than you need. Leave plenty of slack.
* Test every part of a network as you install it. Even if it is brand new, it may have problems that will be difficult to isolate later.
* Stay at least 3 feet away from fluorescent light boxes and other sources of electrical interference.
* If it is necessary to run cable across the floor, cover the cable with cable protectors.
* Label both ends of each cable.
* Use cable ties (not tape) to keep cables in the same location together.

How many times have you downloaded an app that could supposedly solve all of your computer problems absolutely free of cost? Now ask yourself how many times that app actually did what it was supposed to, or better yet how many times that app was actually free? More often than not your answer is going to be zero.

Unfortunately for all of us, most software providers use gimmicks to sucker consumers in to purchasing their enterprise security apps: Sure, they'll keep your computer virus free for 30 days, but after that you'll need a subscription. Otherwise they'll just scan your registry for bugs but won't fix them for you. Frankly, we're tired of that.

To keep your computer safe (and save some cash while doing it) we've assembled a list of 103 free security apps for Mac, Windows and Linux. By the end of the article you should have enough resources to secure even the most naïve system, for free!

Spyware
The biggest enemy of the internet user today is spyware. How many computers have you seen rendered useless because of 20 IE toolbars and 15 apps running in the background? To keep your computer running at full performance you need a spyware scanner.

1. Ad-Aware SE Personal [Windows] – Popular, comprehensive spyware removal tool. Maintains a large blacklisted spyware database and identifies malicious program code for the best possible detection.
2. Spyware Terminator [Windows] – Monitors all running processes in real time and determines their integrity. If spyware is found, moves the files to a quarantined section of the hard drive or deletes the files on system start-up.
3. Spybot - Search & Destory [Windows] – Uses deep scanning techniques to cleanse your system of the most obscure forms of spyware. Allows you to blacklist certain types of spyware in order to prevent it from showing up on your system again.
4. Winpooch [Windows] – Intercepts programs in real time via API hooking; determines the integrity of the program and shuts out spyware and Trojan horses from writing in a system directory, connecting to the internet, or doing anything harmful to the computer.
5. SpywareBlaster [Windows] – Prevents the installation of ActiveX based spyware, blocks tracking cookies and restricts the actions of malicious websites.
6. Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner [Windows] – Scans your computer for the more popular types of spyware usually found bundled with software packages and removes the malicious content.
7. Windows Defender [Windows] – Microsoft's solution for protecting your computer from spyware and popups.
8. MalWhere [Windows] – Displays detailed information about the processes running on your computer including those that run at start up. Investigates suspicious processes and let's you know when malicious code is being executed. Does not require a spyware definition updating.
9. Trend Micro Anti-Spyware for the Web [Web: Windows] – Online based spyware detection and removal tookit. Perfect solution for non tech savvy users.
10. Zebra scanner [Mac] – Scans files for hidden agendas (e.g. a trojan disguised as an MP3 or image.) Notifies the user of the scanned files integrity. Does not contain a method for disinfecting the computer.

Antivirus
Perhaps the ultimate definition of computer security is the effectiveness of your antivirus. Antivirus software keeps the most problematic forms of malware from corrupting your computer.

1. McAfee AVERT Stinger [Windows] – Tool used to remove specific current popular viruses and worms. Make sure to download the version of Stinger pertaining to the virus found on your machine.
2. PC Tools AntiVirus [Windows] – Comprehensive virus scanning suite offering protection from malicious internet software, email attachments and boot sector viruses. Includes real time virus scanning.
3. Clam AntiVirus [Linux] – Extremely popular antivirus solution for UNIX based machines. Includes real time virus scanning and a virus definition database updated multiple times per day.
4. AVScan [Linux] – A front-end for Clam AntiVirus.
5. ClamXav [Mac] – Uses ClamAV engine to scan files for viruses.
6. AVG Anti-Virus [Windows, Linux] – Effective virus scanning suite. Requires regular virus definition updates.
7. Avast Home Edition [Windows, Linux] – Complete antivirus suite including real time scanning, email protection, internet traffic filtering, a firewall and more.
8. Housecall [Web: Windows, Linux, Mac] – Web based scanner that detects and removes viruses, worms, trojans and spyware. Also points out system vulnerabilities and offers advice on obtaining security patches.
9. Symantec Security Check [Web] – Simple antivirus solution that searches your computer for various forms of malware and deletes them. Offers a secondary scan to measure the vulnerability of your computer.

Rootkit
Rootkits are about the nastiest forms of malware around. To keep your computer (and your privacy) safe, you'll need an app to scan for rootkits.

1. Sophos Anti-Rootkit [Windows] – Removes complex rootkits and various types of malware running in a hidden state from personal and network computers.
2. Rootkit Hunter [Mac] – Searches for popular UNIX and Mac rootkits and removes them.
3. chkrootkit [Linux] – The definitive solution for finding and removing rootkits from Linux machines.

Firewall
A well regarded firewall with a strict rule set is the first line of defense against intruders. Keep hackers from sneaking malware onto your system in the first place with these freebie firewall solutions.

1. ZoneAlarm [Windows] – Popular, comprehensive firewall suite including a highly customizable rule set and a very effective warning system letting you know when your computer is at risk. Be sure to select "I only want basic ZoneAlarm protection" from the download screen (otherwise you'll end up with a trial version.)
2. VisualZone [Windows] – Analyzes ZoneAlarm information including intrusion types and methods of entry. Allows you to gain a clear view of your system's vulnerabilities.
3. PC Tools Firewall Plus [Windows] – User friendly firewall that monitors the applications connecting to the network. Uses a simple rule set to prevent malware from infecting your computer.
4. Firestarter [Linux] – Real time firewall that monitors all of the open ports and active network connections on your computer. Allows you to specify a very strict rule set.
5. Firewall Builder [Linux] – Useful tool for assembling a firewall rule set or policy for popular UNIX based firewalls including iptables, ipfilter, etc.
6. TuxGuardian [Linux] – Verifies the integrity of applications trying to gain access to the network. Useful for preventing viruses, trojans, spyware, etc. from spreading throughout the network.
7. HardWall Firewall [Linux] – Iptables based script that performs detailed packet inspection and filtering to keep your computer free from malicious traffic.
8. BullDog [Linux] – Complex firewall for advanced users.
9. PeerGuardian [Windows, Linux, Mac] – Blocks IPs from accessing your network. Especially useful for protecting your privacy when using peer to peer software.

Network
With an insecure network not only will you be vulnerable to the perils of the internet, everyone connected to your network will too. Meaning instead of having one computer down due to a nasty virus, you could have hundreds. These freebie apps will help you manage the challenge of keeping your network safe.

1. SoftPerfect Network Scanner [Windows] – Displays information about the configuration of your network.
2. SecureRDP [Windows] – Allows you to monitor and reject the incoming RDP connections to your server.
3. Colasoft Packet Player [Windows] – Capture packets and trace their route through your network. Extremely useful for finding bottlenecks and vulnerable points.
4. DomainScan Light [Windows] – Monitor open ports, connected devices, changes made to your network.
5. SmoothWall [Linux] – Firewall, IDS and VPN system for home users and networks.
6. Nagios [Linux] – Comprehensive web based tool equipped with virtually every imaginable feature for knowing exactly what's going on in your network.
7. nLive Core [Linux] – Monitors the traffic that traverses your network via packet inspection and filtering.
8. Network Mapper [Windows, Linux, Mac] – Uses packets passing through the network to find out what hosts are available, what services they're offering, what operating system they're running and what type of packet filtration/firewall they're using.
9. Wireshark [Windows, Linux, Mac] – Powerful tool for capturing network protocol data for analysis. Contains more than 25 methods for reading packets making it useful for a wide array of networks.
10. Nessus [Windows, Linux, Mac] – Industry leading open source network vulnerability scanner. Highly scalable and very thorough.
11. dSniff Control [Mac] – Tool used to test the security of your network. Tries various sniffing and spoofing exploits to gain information about your network.
12. Flame [Mac] – Simple tool used to breakdown the status and events taking place in your network.
13. Server Admin Tools [Mac] – Apple's solution for securing and monitoring a network.

Temporary Files
What websites have you been visiting? What's that, too embarrassed to say? Don't worry, we've got you covered. Simply use one of these apps to delete all of your temporary files and clean up the trail you left behind.

1. HijackThis [Windows] – Scans your computers browser, registry and operating system settings to generate a report of the state of your computer. Allows you to select which software and settings to delete.
2. Zappit System Cleaner [Windows] – Cleans up the footprints you leave when using the computer including: temporary files, recent documents, search and run commands, auto complete internet forms and history and more.
3. CCleaner [Windows] – A system optimization and privacy tool that cleans up the registry, temporary files, cookies, web history and cache and more.
4. WinXPatch [Windows] – A tool used to perform several security upgrades to the default installation and registry.
5. Advanced WindowsCare v2 Personal [Windows] – Cleans up temporary files and the registry to maximize your privacy. Also doubles as a spyware remover.
6. EasyCleaner [Windows] – A comprehensive tool for cleaning up the registry and deleting your footprints on the computer. Includes software to manage programs at start up and free up disk space.
7. CleanCache [Windows] – Deletes the temporary files you leave behind when you surf the internet.
8. xpy [Windows] – Improves the general security of your system by reconfiguring some of the default computer settings.
9. Cookie Eraser [Windows] – A tool to help you identify and erase the unnecessary cookies on your computer.
10. Yet Another System Utility [Mac] – Clears the cache, browser history and other areas where you might have left a footprint while using the computer.

Wireless
Securing your WiFi network is easier than it sounds. By taking a few extra minutes to install a few of the following apps, you'll have your WiFi network on lockdown in no time.

1. Kismet [Linux, Mac] – Very popular wireless network detector, sniffer, and IDS.
2. AirSnare [Windows] – Wireless IDS that alerts you when an unfriendly MAC address is trying to access your network.
3. myWIFIzone [Windows] – Acts as a gateway to block people from accessing your WiFi connection without receiving permission from you first.
4. iOpus Private Internet Gateway [Windows] – Creates a secure tunnel that encrypts your inbound and outbound WiFi communications. Protects your privacy on public networks.
5. LucidLink WiFi Client [Windows] – Simplifies the process of securely connecting to a WiFi network, and warns you when you're connecting to an insecure network.
6. AirTrafficControl [Mac] – Monitors your WiFi connection for quality and security.

Encryption
Encryption is a must for the most sensitive types of data. After all, we all know what happens when a password or credit card number winds up in the wrong persons hands. That's why we recommend you check out a few of the following encryption apps.

1. Pastor [Mac] – Simple tool used to securely store all of your usernames and passwords.
2. Access Manager [Windows] – Stores all of your sensitive passwords and personal information into one secure file.
3. RememberMe [Windows] – Stores your usernames and passwords in an 128-bit AES encrypted file.
4. Kruptos 2 [Windows] – Integrates into windows right click menus to encrypt and archives files easily.
5. Crypt4Free [Windows] – Uses Blowfish and DESX encryption to protect your files and create encrypted messages for instant messaging and email clients.
6. PicSecret [Web, Mac] – Neat feature that allows you to send encrypted messages disguised as ordinary pictures.
7. GNU Privacy Guard [Windows, Linux, Mac] – A command line based encryption tool using multiple encryption algorithms including OpenPGP, AES, SHA-1, and more.
8. TrueCrypt [Windows, Linux] – Creates virtual encrypted drives.

Miscellaneous
Here are few apps that simply didn't fit into the categories above. Although they might be unclassified, they all offer a great deal of functionality when it comes to overall system security.

1. Active Security Monitor [Windows] – Uses a proven system to determine if a user's system is secure or not.
2. PreView 1.0 [Windows] – Rates your computer on how vulnerable it is.
3. PC Security Test [Windows] – Determines the vulnerability of your computer by subjecting it to simulated attacks and malware.
4. PCPal [Windows] – Detects security vulnerabilities in your system and advises you on how to reduce their risks.
5. Simple File Shredder [Windows] – Securely and permanently delete files on your computer.
6. BCWipe [Windows] – Permanently deletes files off of your computer.
7. Permanent Eraser [Mac] – Permanently delete files from your hard drive.
8. S3 Change Explorer [Windows] – Graphically keeps track of the changes made on your system. Useful for determining if a user or file is making unwanted changes to sensitive files.
9. Process Monitor [Windows] – Microsoft's solution for monitoring all of the processes running on your computer. Useful for identifying malware instances.
10. Check Failed Password Attempts [Mac] – Tool used to scan for failed attempts logging into the administrator account.
11. CheckMate [Mac] – Compares checksums of critical files to determine their integrity before you download them. By comparing checksums you'll know if you're getting the right files, or something infected with malware.
12. Checksum Validator [Mac] – A very simple checksums comparison tool.

source :itsecurity