Remote Control an Apple Mac from a Windows PC and vice-versa
Want to use your Mac from a PC or vice-versa ? Get Yuuguu.
Yuuguu is a free computer screen sharing software cum IM client that's available both on Mac and the Windows platform.
Wondering why another screen sharing app when we already have Microsoft Tahiti or the popular Crossloop ? The answer is simple - Yuuguu is a cross-platform product meaning the participants may be on Mac or Windows computers but they can still share screens and chat together. CrossLoop and Tahiti are currently available only for Windows PC's
The Yuuguu screen sharing client interface resembles Google Talk - you add friends, invite them to your desktop or vice-versa and can even IM them during the screen-sharing session.
The whole process is very non-geeky and you need not make any adjustments to your Firewall or unblock any ports.
What's missing - No annotation tools or cursor highlights. And it is not possible to share a specific application, you'll have to share your entire desktop with all the running applications.
Blocking access to undesirable Web sites through the use of Internet protocol filters has been a common government tactic since commercial Internet access first became available here in 1995. China and Saudi Arabia are believed to extend greater censorship over the net than any other country in the world under the pretext of information control.
Most of the blacklisted sites in Saudi Arabia are either sexually explicit or about religion, women, health, drugs and pop culture. They even block access to websites about bathing suits. So if you want to buy something to swim in, they seem to treat that as if it were pornographic in Saudi Arabia.
In China, webites containing sexually explicit content were among those blocked, but they also included sites on sensitive topics such as Tibet, Taiwan, and dissident activity. China also blocks access to Google News, Typepad and Blogger hosted blogs.
But what if an innocent website is accidentally blocked by your ISP or your government. There are always legitimate reasons to visit these blocked websites. We have listed a few methods to help you access blocked websites in school, college, office or at home.
Approach 1: There are websites Anonymizer who fetch the blocked site/ page from their servers and display it to you. As far as the service provider is concerned you are viewing a page from Anonymizer and not the blocked site.
Approach 2: To access the blocked Web site. type the IP number instead of the URL in the address bar. But if the ISP software maps the IP address to the web server (reverse DNS lookup), the website will remain blocked.
Approach 3: Use a URL redirection service like tinyurl.com or snipurl.com. These domain forward services sometimes work as the address in the the url box remain the redirect url and do not change to the banned site.
Approach 4: Use Google Mobile Search. Google display the normal HTML pages as if you are viewing them on a mobile phone. During the translation, Google removes the javascript content and CSS scripts and breaks a longer page into several smaller pages. View this website in Google Mobile
Approach 5: Enter the URL in Google or Yahoo search and then visit the cached copy of the page. To retrieve the page more quickly from Google's cache, click "Cached Text Only" while the browser is loading the page from cache.
Approach 6: A recent Oreilly story on accessing blocked websites suggested an approach to access restricted web sites using Google language tools service as a proxy server. Basically, you have Google translate your page from English to English (or whatever language you like). Assuming that Google isn’t blacklisted in your country or school, you should be able to access any site with this method. Visit this site via Google Proxy
Approach 7:Anonymous Surfing Surf the internet via a proxy server. A proxy server (or proxies) is a normal computer that hides the identity of computers on its network from the Internet. Which means that only the address of the proxy server is visible to the world and not of those computers that are using it to browse the Internet. Just visit the proxy server website with your Web browser and enter a URL (website address) in the form provided.
Update: China appears to have moved beyond simply blocking access to a Web site with IP filters and may now be employing packet filters to scan individual packets for undesirable information, said Duncan Clark, managing director at telecommunication analyst BDA China Co. Ltd.
This section provides a basic introduction to the technologies that underlie the Internet. It was written with the novice end-user in mind and is not intended to be a comprehensive survey of all Internet-based technologies. Subsections provide a short overview of each topic. This section is a basic primer on the relevant technologies. For those who desire a deeper understanding of the concepts covered here, we include links to additional information. 1. What does broadband mean? "Broadband" is the general term used to refer to high-speed network connections. In this context, Internet connections via cable modem and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) are frequently referred to as broadband Internet connections. "Bandwidth" is the term used to describe the relative speed of a network connection -- for example, most current dial-up modems can support a bandwidth of 56 kbps (thousand bits per second). There is no set bandwidth threshold required for a connection to be referred to as "broadband", but it is typical for connections in excess of 1 Megabit per second (Mbps) to be so named. 2. What is cable modem access? A cable modem allows a single computer (or network of computers) to connect to the Internet via the cable TV network. The cable modem usually has an Ethernet LAN (Local Area Network) connection to the computer, and is capable of speeds in excess of 5 Mbps. Typical speeds tend to be lower than the maximum, however, since cable providers turn entire neighborhoods into LANs which share the same bandwidth. Because of this "shared-medium" topology, cable modem users may experience somewhat slower network access during periods of peak demand, and may be more susceptible to risks such as packet sniffing and unprotected windows shares than users with other types of connectivity. (See the "Computer security risks to home users" section of this document.) 3. What is DSL access? Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) Internet connectivity, unlike cable modem-based service, provides the user with dedicated bandwidth. However, the maximum bandwidth available to DSL users is usually lower than the maximum cable modem rate because of differences in their respective network technologies. Also, the "dedicated bandwidth" is only dedicated between your home and the DSL provider's central office -- the providers offer little or no guarantee of bandwidth all the way across the Internet. DSL access is not as susceptible to packet sniffing as cable modem access, but many of the other security risks we'll cover apply to both DSL and cable modem access. (See the "Computer security risks to home users" section of this document.) 4. How are broadband services different from traditional dial-up services? Traditional dial-up Internet services are sometimes referred to as "dial-on-demand" services. That is, your computer only connects to the Internet when it has something to send, such as email or a request to load a web page. Once there is no more data to be sent, or after a certain amount of idle time, the computer disconnects the call. Also, in most cases each call connects to a pool of modems at the ISP, and since the modem IP addresses are dynamically assigned, your computer is usually assigned a different IP address on each call. As a result, it is more difficult (not impossible, just difficult) for an attacker to take advantage of vulnerable network services to take control of your computer. Broadband services are referred to as "always-on" services because there is no call setup when your computer has something to send. The computer is always on the network, ready to send or receive data through its network interface card (NIC). Since the connection is always up, your computer’s IP address will change less frequently (if at all), thus making it more of a fixed target for attack. What’s more, many broadband service providers use well-known IP addresses for home users. So while an attacker may not be able to single out your specific computer as belonging to you, they may at least be able to know that your service providers’ broadband customers are within a certain address range, thereby making your computer a more likely target than it might have been otherwise. The table below shows a brief comparison of traditional dial-up and broadband services.
Dial-up Broadband Connection type Dial on demand Always on IP address Changes on each call Static or infrequently changing Relative connection speed Low High Remote control potential Computer must be dialed in to control remotely Computer is always connected, so remote control can occur anytime ISP-provided security Little or none Little or none 5. How is broadband access different from the network I use at work? Corporate and government networks are typically protected by many layers of security, ranging from network firewalls to encryption. In addition, they usually have support staff who maintain the security and availability of these network connections. Although your ISP is responsible for maintaining the services they provide to you, you probably won’t have dedicated staff on hand to manage and operate your home network. You are ultimately responsible for your own computers. As a result, it is up to you to take reasonable precautions to secure your computers from accidental or intentional misuse. 6. What is a protocol? A protocol is a well-defined specification that allows computers to communicate across a network. In a way, protocols define the "grammar" that computers can use to "talk" to each other. 7. What is IP? IP stands for "Internet Protocol". It can be thought of as the common language of computers on the Internet. There are a number of detailed descriptions of IP given elsewhere, so we won't cover it in detail in this document. However, it is important to know a few things about IP in order to understand how to secure your computer. Here we’ll cover IP addresses, static vs. dynamic addressing, NAT, and TCP and UDP Ports. An overview of TCP/IP can be found in the TCP/IP Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) at: htp://www.faqs.org/faqs/internet/tcp-ip/tcp-ip-faq/part1/ and http://www.faqs.org/faq s/internet/tcp-ip/tcp-ip-faq/part2/ 8. What is an IP address? IP addresses are analogous to telephone numbers – when you want to call someone on the telephone, you must first know their telephone number. Similarly, when a computer on the Internet needs to send data to another computer, it must first know its IP address. IP addresses are typically shown as four numbers separated by decimal points, or “dots�. For example, 10.24.254.3 and 192.168.62.231 are IP addresses. If you need to make a telephone call but you only know the person’s name, you can look them up in the telephone directory (or call directory services) to get their telephone number. On the Internet, that directory is called the Domain Name System, or DNS for short. If you know the name of a server, say www.cert.org, and you type this into your web browser, your computer will then go ask its DNS server what the numeric IP address is that is associated with that name. Every computer on the Internet has an IP address associated with it that uniquely identifies it. However, that address may change over time, especially if the computer is * dialing into an Internet Service Provider (ISP) * connected behind a network firewall * connected to a broadband service using dynamic IP addressing. 9. What are static and dynamic addressing? Static IP addressing occurs when an ISP permanently assigns one or more IP addresses for each user. These addresses do not change over time. However, if a static address is assigned but not in use, it is effectively wasted. Since ISPs have a limited number of addresses allocated to them, they sometimes need to make more efficient use of their addresses. Dynamic IP addressing allows the ISP to efficiently utilize their address space. Using dynamic IP addressing, the IP addresses of individual user computers may change over time. If a dynamic address is not in use, it can be automatically reassigned to another computer as needed. 10. What is NAT? Network Address Translation (NAT) provides a way to hide the IP addresses of a private network from the Internet while still allowing computers on that network to access the Internet. NAT can be used in many different ways, but one method frequently used by home users is called "masquerading". Using NAT masquerading, one or more devices on a LAN can be made to appear as a single IP address to the outside Internet. This allows for multiple computers in a home network to use a single cable modem or DSL connection without requiring the ISP to provide more than one IP address to the user. Using this method, the ISP-assigned IP address can be either static or dynamic. Most network firewalls support NAT masquerading.
11. What are TCP and UDP Ports? TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol) are both protocols that use IP. Whereas IP allows two computers to talk to each other across the Internet, TCP and UDP allow individual applications (also known as "services") on those computers to talk to each other. In the same way that a telephone number or physical mail box might be associated with more than one person, a computer might have multiple applications (e.g. email, file services, web services) running on the same IP address. Ports allow a computer to differentiate services such as email data from web data. A port is simply a number associated with each application that uniquely identifies that service on that computer. Both TCP and UDP use ports to identify services. Some common port numbers are 80 for web (HTTP), 25 for email (SMTP), and 53 for Dmain Name System (DNS). 12. What is a firewall? The Firewalls FAQ (htp://www.faqs.org/faqs/firewalls-faq/) defines a firewall as "a system or group of systems that enforces an access control policy between two networks." In the context of home networks, a firewall typically takes one of two forms: * Software firewall - specialized software running on an individual computer, or * Network firewall - a dedicated device designed to protect one or more computers. Both types of firewall allow the user to define access policies for inbound connections to the computers they are protecting. Many also provide the ability to control what services (ports) the protected computers are able to access on the Internet (outbound access). Most firewalls intended for home use come with pre-configured security policies from which the user chooses, and some allow the user to customize these policies for their specific needs. More information on firewalls can be found in the Additional resources section of this document. 13. What does antivirus software do? There are a variety of antivirus software packages that operate in many different ways, depending on how the vendor chose to implement their software. What they have in common, though, is that they all look for patterns in the files or memory of your computer that indicate the possible presence of a known virus. Antivirus packages know what to look for through the use of virus profiles (sometimes called "signatures") provided by the vendor. New viruses are discovered daily. The effectiveness of antivirus software is dependent on having the latest virus profiles installed on your computer so that it can look for recently discovered viruses. It is important to keep these profiles up to date.
Like any average user, I was under the impression that my emails are relatively secure and could only be viewed by the recipient. Imagine my surprise, when I discovered that all emails whether by Yahoo/Gmail or by local ISPs are sent similar to the open postcard which can be read by the postmen, the staff at the post office who come in contact with the postcard, and the post office will retain a copy of all my personal and business mails.
The irony was that the intended recipient would need a password to get access to the email whereas most of the people /computers involved in the email delivery system gets a free copy!
It may be argued, that given the volume of emails, who will have time to peep into ones mails. But I would not want to leave my house door wide open giving the thieves GET IN MY HOUSE FREE CARD. Nor would I want my competitors to get hands on my pricing or quotations or my company’s system administrator to get a copy of my new job offer. Thats what happens when we use Yahoo/MSN/Gmail and other similar mail servers. (Although they do offer other great services, but not sufficient privacy.)
I came across two interesting FREE mail servers which promises us PGP encryption security. (they claim to be one of the best in the world) They are www.s-mail.comand www.hushmail.com . They are not rich in graphics, free storage space and features like those of Yahoo,Gmail etc., but offer us good privacy. Hushmail also has secure “type chat” but no voice chat. There would be much wider and better choices available on the net. Do let us all know if any of you have come up with a better secure FREE mail servers.
If you do intend to use Hushmail.com, do make sure you select a long passPHRASE of atleast seven words, as oppose to the usual passWORD. Because it uses individual passPHRASE to base its encryption for your email account.
My intention in this mail to let all laymen’s like me, know how their emails are being processed, and can exercise due diligence depending on their own privacy requirement.
I was reading a forum post by Willie Crawford who is one of my favorite Internet marketers. Willie brought up a point that Google may favor ranking domains that have longer registration periods. His source, a domain name registrar, stated the following:
"As part of Google's recent patent application, Google made apparent its efforts to wipe out search engine spam, stating:
'Valuable (legitimate) domains are often paid for several years in advance, while doorway (illegitimate) domains rarely are used for more than a year. Therefore, the date when a domain expires in the future can be used as a factor in predicting the legitimacy of a domain and, thus, the documents associated therewith.'
Domains registered for longer periods give the indication, true or not, that their owner is legitimate. Google uses a domain's length of registration when indexing and ranking a Web site for inclusion in their organic search results.
To prove to everyone that your site is the real deal, register for more than one year and increase your chances of boosting your search ranking on Google."
Some domain name registrars are inclined to promote this position because it may motivate their customers to increase the terms of their domain registration, thereby increasing the profits of the registrar.
That being said, I can also understand Google and other search engines considering the term of a domain registration as a small part of their algorithm used to determine free rankings of a website in their search engine. It is the job of every search engine to provide the most relevant search results possible and it is often the website owners who have a long-term mindset that are providing the most value to their visitors.
Aside from the search engines, I do know that some website visitors also check how long a domain is registered as part of their own personal due diligence to decide if they want to do business with a company or not. Think about it... If you are providing a service and your potential customer goes to http://www.whois.net and finds out that your domain expires in less than a year, they might think you're a "fly-by-night" company that won't be there when they need you and decide not to do business with you.
All in all, I believe it's important to have a long-term mindset when building your Internet business. If it helps you even slightly to get a better search engine ranking or increase the trust that potential customers have in your website, registering a domain name for a few extra years is a sound investment.
Inspired by this insight myself, I just added 5 additional years of registration do my Dotcomology.com domain which is now currently set to expire in the year 2012. I plan to be around until then and hopefully much longer. What about you?
Stone Evans is the author of "Dotcomology - The Science of Making Money Online" and he wants you to know that you shouldn't pay a dime for any ebook, marketing course, software program or anything else until you've read the groundbreaking document you can download free at: http://www.Dotcomology.com
Business Process Management or BPM, is the practice of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of any organization by automating the organization's business processes. BPM used to be also know as Business Process Reengineering (BPR).
Many companies have business processes that are unique to its business model. Since these processes tend to evolve over time as the business reacts to market conditions, the BPM solution you choose must be easily adaptable to the new conditions and requirements and continue to be a perfect fit for the company.
In order to use BPM effectively, organizations must stop focusing exclusively on data and data management, and adopt a process-oriented approach that makes no distinction between work done by a human and a computer.
The idea of BPM is to bring processes, people and information together.
Dynamic infrastructure requires separation of flows, business rules and services.
Identifying the business processes is relatively easy. Breaking down the barriers between business areas, and finding owners for the processes is difficult.
BPM not only involves managing business processes within the enterprise but also involves real-time integration of the processes of a company with those of its suppliers, business partners, and customers.
BPM involves looking at automation horizontally instead of vertically.
Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) is essential for measurement of BPM impact.
Examples of BPM tasks that your organization performs that should be automated include:
Expense Reports Travel Requests
Purchase Orders Human Resource Management
New Accounts and Credit Authorizations Sales Orders
Project Management Software Change Management
The following example illustrates the power of BPM:
When a B2B partner needs some inventory, he can log into the web site and order required inventory. An email will be generated and sent to the supervisor responsible for the partner's inventory. The supervisor can click on the link in the email, login to the site and approve the inventory. The partner will be notified of the allocation and the inventory will be shipped.
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It is a process or methodology used to learn more about customers' needs and behaviors in order to develop stronger relationships with them. There are many technological components to CRM, but thinking about CRM in primarily technological terms is a mistake. The more useful way to think about CRM is as a process that will help bring together lots of pieces of information about customers, sales, marketing effectiveness, responsiveness and market trends.
A Portal CMS is a CMS that is built to serve as a news aggregator or community based system. Portals tend to focus on posting news stories, with automatic linking from introductory text to full stories. Most allow for readers to rank and comment on the stories they read, and make provisions for non-administrators to post items of interest.
The short answer - a DMS is a Document Management System.
The long answer - a DMS is a system that seperates the content from the web site.
Content in this case can be a PDF file, a Word file, Excel, and any other native format. The system is a container for these documents.
The benefits include being able to retrieve these documents easily and without losing its original format. More sophisticated systems allow for fulltext searches, cataloging by topic or interest, and access controlled by user and group permissions.
Top-posting: Writing the message above the original text, when one replies to an email or a post in a newsgroup. Bottom-posting: The opposite of top-posting. Now the new message is placed below the original text.
We are fanatic Usenet-readers. As a result we are often annoyed by people who keep top-posting. This is considered as not good 'Net etiquette'. The majority of Usenet-users prefer bottom-posting. In addition to bottom-posting, it is customary to leave out non-relevant parts of the message with regard to the reply, and to put the reply directly beneath the quoted relevant parts. If you want to know more about writing new posts. Check out this site: http://www.xs4all.nl/~hanb/documents/quotingguide.html
Below you can find our arguments why bottom-posting is better than top-posting.
Because it is proper Usenet Etiquette. Check out the following URL: http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1855.html . It is a little outdated but still has a lot of valid points. Let us quote something from this site:
If you are sending a reply to a message or a posting be sure you summarize the original at the top of the message, or include just enough text of the original to give a context. This will make sure readers understand when they start to read your response. Since NetNews, especially, is proliferated by distributing the postings from one host to another, it is possible to see a response to a message before seeing the original. Giving context helps everyone. But do not include the entire original!
We use a good news reader like Forte Agent. Good newsreaders like Agent put the signature by default at the end of the post, which is the Usenet convention. Microsoft Outlook Express however has some serious bugs. Let us quote someone we know:
"The day Microsoft makes something that doesn't suck is probably the day they start making vacuum cleaners." -Ernst Jan Plugge
We are programmers ourselves, and we know it is very easy to implement to put a signature at the end of the post instead of putting it directly above the post you are replying to and can not change the position. Forte Agent has as a feature that reply to a post it will remove the signature (recognizable by '-- ', note the extra space) and everything below it, so it will remove a part of the original message. This is good Usenet practice so Agent is not faulty. Outlook Express on the other hand is faulty, check this bugreport regarding the Usenet signature delimiter.
Top-posting makes posts incomprehensible. Firstly: In normal conversations, one does not answer to something that has not yet been said. So it is unclear to reply to the top, whilst the original message is at the bottom. Secondly: In western society a book is normally read from top to bottom. Top-posting forces one to stray from this convention: Reading some at the top, skipping to the bottom to read the question, and going back to the top to continue. This annoyance increases even more than linear with the number of top-posts in the message. If someone replies to a thread and you forgot what the thread was all about, or that thread was incomplete for some reasons, it will be quite tiresome to rapidly understand what the thread was all about, due to bad posting and irrelevant text which has not been removed.
To prevent hideously long posts with a minimal account of new text, it is good Usenet practice to remove the non-relevant parts and optionally summarize the relevant parts of the original post, with regard to one's reply. Top-posting inevitably leads to long posts, because most top-posters leave the original message intact. All these long posts not only clutter up discussions, but they also clutter up the server space.
Top-posting makes it hard for bottom-posters to reply to the relevant parts: it not possible to answer within the original message. Bottom-posting does not make top-posting any harder.
Some people will argue that quoting looks bad due line wrapping. This can simply be dealt with by dropping Outlook Express as a start, and using only linewidths of 65 - 70 characters. Otherwise one has do it manually, and that can be tiresome.
A reason given by stubborn top-posters: they don't like to scroll to read the new message. We like to disagree here, because we always have to scroll down to see the original message and after that to scroll back up, just to see to what they are replying to. As a result you have to scroll twice as much when reading a top-poster's message. As a counterargument they say (believe us they do): "You can check the previous message in the discussion". This is even more tiresome than scrolling and with the unreliable nature of Usenet (and even email is inevitably unreliable), the previous message in the discussion can be simply unavailable.
Some newsgroups have strict conventions concerning posting in their charter. As an example we can tell you that in most Dutch newsgroups, you will be warned, killfiled or maybe even flamed, if you fail to follow Usenet conventions or if you do not quote according to the quoting guidelines. In general: it is better to practice the guidelines, if one does not want to get flamed in a newsgroup one just subscribed to.
We can conclude that there are no good reasons we know of for top-posting. The most top-posts originate from the minimal work people spend on making posts. We think that one should be proud of one's post, that is it contains relevant content, well-formed sentences and no irrelevant 'bullsh*t', before uploading to your newsserver. If the majority of the group will adhere to this convention, the group will be nicer, tidier and easier to read.
As a final remark we want to bring non-quoting into mind. This means that the original content of an email or Usenet post is completely removed. It makes it very hard for a reader to find out to what and whom one is replying. This phenomenon can be partly attributed to wrong settings of news- and email-clients, and partly to people who want to start with clean replies.
It may interest you to know that before 1991 web hosting as you know it today did not exist.
Then again, you probably wouldn’t recognize the internet before 1991, either. But to look at the history of website hosting, you have to look at the history of the internet itself. The internet may be the greatest media advancement since radio and television, but the internet as we know it today is powered by nearly 50 million websites forming its central nervous system.
Without websites, where could you go when you when you went online?
The Early Days
The original concept of the internet has been attributed to J.C.R. Licklider in August of 1962 at MIT. Licklider wrote a series of articles where he envisioned a “Galactic Network” concept based on the idea of a series of globally interconnected computers where resources and information could be accessed from any site.
Sound familiar?
Licklider was soon to head up ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency), the Computer Sciences program at MIT. There he would convince his successors the importance of his ideas about computer networking.
Interestingly enough, ARPA was developed by the military at the same time as NASA to find a way for the Americans to catch up to the U.S.S.R. in the space race after the launch of Sputnik. The early work on computer networking revolved around a concept known as “packet switching”, based on the idea that network data could be sent through phone lines as tiny packages instead of the traditional solid circuit lines of the day.
That way, the connections would only be used as long as there were packets of information running through them, freeing up space on the line or “bandwidth” for more computer activity. Later, while working on a way to allow telecommunications systems survive a nuclear war, Paul Baran would develop the actual “Hot Potato” design of networking that would lay the foundation for what would one day be the internet. The next step was to get the computers to actually talk to each other.
Is There Anybody Out There?
In 1965, Lawrence G. Roberts and Thomas Merril connected the TX-2 computer located in Massachusetts with the Q-32 computer in California via a dial-up telephone line supplied by AT&T and the first computer network was born. However, the computers were agonizingly slow, communicating at a steady 2.4 kbps.
The lack of speed convinced Roberts and Merril that the solid circuit-switching of the AT&T phone system was terribly inadequate and Baran’s packet switching method was the only way to go. Amazingly, it was soon discovered that the same work on packet theory had been taking place in three separate places simultaneously without any of the researchers aware of each other.
In 1966 Roberts unveiled his plans for “ARPANET”, the first wide-area network ever developed. In 1969, those ideas turned into a reality when they successfully linked computers at UCLA, The Stanford Research Institute, The University of California Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah. Each computer was a “host” or node in the connection, making them all able to interact with one another. Over the next 2 years, they would add 19 more hosts and 13 nodes to their little network.
The internet was a healthy baby, but it still had a lot of growing to do.
You’ve Got Mail!
In 1971 Roy Tomlinson wrote the first basic e-mail program, and it was quickly broadened by Lawrence G. Roberts. With this, researchers could finally send and receive messages over their network.
This would prove to be the biggest development in the internet’s short history; e-mail use has become the backbone of internet communications and is used by hundreds of millions of people every day to connect with each other.
When the researchers integrated the popular program into ARPANET, they made several design modifications before deciding on the “@” symbol for e-mail addresses.
The ‘70s also saw the birth of TELENET, the first commercial version of an internet provider, as well as several other networks. Also, TCP was officially split into TCP/IP in an attempt to unify all of the budding networks that were springing up in North America and around the globe.
TCP/IP stands for Transmissions Control Protocol and Internet Protocol. TCP is the host to host connection used by computers and IP passes the individual packets of information between computers.
The internet was growing, but it was still a very different animal than what we know today.
Coming of Age
The eighties saw rapid growth and development in the computer sciences field. Specifically, the TCP/IP format was first used to tie the ARPANET system to several other networks. The format allowed the networks to access each other while operating individually. Officially, it was the first definition of the term “Internet”, meaning a series of networks linked together by the TCP/IP format.
With all of these new networks and the growth of the old networks, it became necessary for scientists to be able to disseminate between the various sources and institutions. In 1984 the introduction of the Domain Name System, or DNS, became a standard for computers to be able to differentiate themselves from one another. Six domains were introduced: edu (Education), gov (Government), mil (Military), com (Commercial), net (Network Resources), and org (Organization). On March 15, 1985, Symbolics.com became the first registered domain name.
Welcome to the World Wide Web
1991 was an important year in the development of the internet. Already an entity in its own right, it was about to get a lot bigger. It started with the National Science Foundation (NSF) when they decided it was time to lift commercial restrictions on the web. This in turn opened the internet up to limitless commercial possibilities. Electronic commerce was born, and with it came companies who were starting to think there might be a future in website hosting services.
Later that year, the folks at CERN unleashed the World Wide Web (www) onto the world, which incorporated Tim Berner-Lee’s new HTML computer Language. HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language, and uses specifications for Uniform Resource Locators URLs).
Aside from giving the world a mouthful of new abbreviations to memorize, it also became the universal standard for locating website addresses.
The internet was no longer simply a playground for universities and computer enthusiasts. With each new addition to its format, it became easier to use and easier to explain. At the same time, it grew in complexity. The business world saw the potential of the medium and seized on their chance.
Website hosting, once expensive and complicated, is now cheap and only somewhat complicated. It began with large companies renting out extra space on their servers and has now become big business in itself. There are at least as many companies that offer web hosting as there are companies that provide internet service.
As computers continue to evolve, the internet itself evolves. And with each new change come new changes to the way the business of website hosting is packaged to potential customers.
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and is a standard application protocol that uses the Internet’s TCP/IP protocol to transfer files from one computer to another.
FTP is a very common process today. FTP is commonly used to transfer web pages from the creator’s computer to the server where the web site is situated. Also FTP is used to download programs and files to your computer from a server.
How do I use FTP?
To use FTP you will need to install FTP software on your computer. There are many freely available FTP programs on the Internet such as, FTP explorer (http://www.ftpx.com) and Smart FTP (http://www.smartftp.com).
How do I connect with FTP?
Follow the steps below to connect to a server, to upload files using FTP Explorer:
Open FTP Explorer.
Click on the connect button on the toolbar or select connect from the Tools menu.
In the Profile Name text, enter a name to give your FTP connection.
In the Host Address text box enter the address of the server you are connecting to (this can either be the DNS entry or the IP Address).
Enter the Port number that the server accepts FTP connections on (the default port for FTP is 21).
Tick the Use PASV option, if your computer is behind a firewall, which does not allow external FTP connections.
Tick the Use Firewall option if your computer is located behind a firewall.
Either enter a user name for the FTP login or tick the Anonymous option (the anonymous option will only work if the server is set up to allow anonymous FTP connections – if this is selected go to step 10).
Enter the user’s password in the Password text box.
In the Initial path text box, enter the path on the server, where you want your connection to start at – this is optional.
In the Attempts text box enter the number of times to try the FTP connection if fails, you will need to have at least 1 in this text box.
In the Download path you can specify the path on your computer where to save the files downloaded from the server – this is optional, you can specify this later if you like.
To establish the connection with the server click on the Connect button.
How do I upload files using FTP?
Once you have established your connection with the server the next step is to upload your files to the server. The following describes how to do this:
Go to the path on the server where you want to upload your files to.
In the Tools menu click on the Upload button.
Select the file or files that you want to upload (to select more than one file hold down the CTRL key).
NOTE: You can also upload files by dragging and dropping them to the directory/folder on the server.
Click on the Open button. Your file will now be uploaded to the server. (You will see this uploading process in the dialog box.)
How do I download files using FTP?
You can also use FTP to download files to your computer from a server. The following describes how to download a file.
Make sure you are connected to the server.
Go to the file that you want to download.
Right click on the file and select Download To..
Select the path on your computer where you want the file to be saved to.
The file will now be downloaded to your computer. (You will see this downloading process happening in the dialog box.)
How do I end my connection?
You can end the connection by simply clicking on the Disconnect button on the tool bar or by clicking on Disconnect from the Tools menu.
When you're searching through the Internet you will find endless amounts of information, about everything, and all at your fingertips. The Internet is the largest source of knowledge in the world. Why is this? Because anyone can get their information on there. All you need is a web site and a resource generous web hosting company.
Many people think that getting their website on the Internet is an expensive venture, fortunately though, this need not necessarily be true; if you find the right web host, the benefits of having a web site will definitely outweigh the costs.
There are many different ways to benefit from having a web site, whether it is for personal gain, or to aid your business success. Those who have their own personal websites generally use them to further an interest or a hobby; having a web site is a great way to share and exchange knowledge with others. Businesses on the other hand use a website to promote and market their goods and services, while cutting back on such expenses as postage, couriers and advertising, etc.
These are but a few key benefits of owning a website:
Increased awareness of products and services - Businesses can now greatly expand their markets, no need to constrain the focus to only the local scene, but by using the Internet, businesses can venture into international and regional markets, with greater ease. This dynamically changes the nature and the marketing activities of some businesses, possibly encouraging the business to expand the diversity of its products and services, to meet these new markets. Websites, in their nature, allow hundreds and thousands of items to be on view 24/7; thus encouraging wider viewing, and extended trading hours.
Freedom - With the freedom of being able to post your information on your website, hence on the Internet, at any time of the day; available information of all variations is increasing at a huge rate. The freedom to browse anywhere and interact with anyone is enough to tempt the smallest of businesses and the most introverted of people to get on the Net; hence Net users are increasing in numbers, at an alarming rate, approximately 50,000 per day. Businesses are buzzing on the Net, they have found a way to compete on an even field, with even the largest of corporations; and within a daily increasing customer marketplace.
Cost advantage - Net businesses are extremely aware of how they can profit by being on the Internet; they can advertise their products and services without the huge costs, and delays of printing, publishing and distribution. The market is a global one, which adds greater value to the costs outlaid for promotion and marketing; compared to the limits of offline. E- commerce facilities can be incorporated into the website, transforming 2D screen visuals into user reactive models, for example, consumers can order their products and services online, greatly reducing administration expenses. Reduction of telephone calls to potential customers; follow ups by email; newsletters digitally made, promoted by email or downloadable from the website, with reduction of distribution costs; less promotional material sent out, printed and wasted; extended trading hours without a human presence; are just a few ways to cut costs.
The current opinion is that any business not on the Internet now or in the near future is not only missing out on the rewards of this new and vibrant industry, but is adding itself to the list of "the forgotten".Don't waste time scratching your head wondering what the Internet can do to benefit your business, you will be left behind; instead, think about how you can take advantage of this new and cheap form of industry awareness. Look for a web designer, or web developer, get a quote, and tell them what you need.
Capturing your video for streaming ... by Russell Shaw
In last month's column, I discussed some tips for you to shoot great outdoor video suitable for encoding into streaming media content for your site.
Regardless of the type of video you have taken, your next step will be to transfer the content from your digital video camera to your computer for editing, and then encoding.
"Video capture is one of the most system-intensive tasks you can demand of a personal computer," notes a file on leading video editing software program Adobe Premiere's site at www.adobe.com/support/techguides/premiere/performance/main.html. "Getting professional results depends on the performance and capacity of all of the components of your system working together to pass frames from the video-capture card to the processor and hard disk. Your system is only as fast as its slowest component."
To ensure the most efficient transfer between your video camera and your PC, you will need to be aware of several rules of thumb. Some of these will require you to have:
A video-capture card robust enough to capture video at the appropriate frame rate and size for the Internet.
An IEEE 1394 connector for the actual transfer of the video content from your video camera to your computer.
An IEEE 1394 port on your PC, to receive the video content as it is being transferred.
A hard disk with a spin rate fast enough to store captured video frames as soon as they are handed off from the video card.
A system with enough processor speed to handle the transfer of your video data, as well as with enough memory to handle the video transfer, as well as smoothly conduct the video editing and encoding tasks.
A hard disk with enough free space to store your "raw" video content prior to its being edited and encoded.
Now, I will present these issues in detail, and review some recommended capabilities:
Understanding Capture Cards
With the appropriate video capture software, the video feed you are attempting to transfer will be recognized and accepted by your PC.
Video capture cards are necessary for this purpose. ViewCast Corp.'s Osprey-210, which costs around $200.00 with a connecting cable included, is one of the most popular. The card itself inserts into an available PCI slot or port, and comes with a set of drivers.
You may not need to go that route, however. Most video-editing software has built-in video capture capabilities that work in tandem with IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports.
If you use Windows XP, the bundled-in Windows Movie Maker application also has built-in video capturing and editing.
Abobe Premiere has some recommendations for smooth video transfer. Predictably, the more frames per second that need to be moved, the higher the necessary transfer rate. Television station newsroom edit bays often aim for the NTSC video standard rate of 29.97 frames per second and an eventual display of 720 by 480 pixels for digital video. Many streaming content creators are satisfied with 15 frames per second and 320x 240 resolution.
The Magic of IEEE 1394
Your digital camera contains an IEEE 1394 connector port. If your PC or notebook computer is three years old or newer, it should as well. You will simply need to obtain a cable to connect both ports.
The cable itself is a piece of cake. Decent 3 to 6-foot IEEE 1394 cables are available at most computer and electrical supply stores. Typically, they cost between $10 and $25.
For older PCs you will need a IEEE 1394 adapter card, which will plug in to one of your PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) slots. I don't wish to be a snob, but if your PC is too hold to have a built-in IEEE 1394 connector port, it probably is not robust enough to handle the demands of video transfer, editing, and encoding.
What is IEEE 1394? As you may know, it is a standard for fast transfer of digital data between enabled devices. Historically referred to as "FireWire," IEEE 1394 enables transfer between as many as 63 devices at speeds of 400 megabits per second. IEEE itself stands for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, which has blessed the standard.
According to the 1394 Trade Association, "the IEEE 1394 multimedia connection enables simple, low-cost, high-bandwidth isochronous (real-time) data interfacing between computers, peripherals, and consumer electronics products such as camcorders, VCRs, printers, PCs, TVs, and digital cameras. With IEEE 1394-compatible products and systems, users can transfer video or still images from a camera or camcorder to a printer, PC, or television, with no image degradation."
With that understood, all you need to do is connect the camcorder to your PC, make sure that your camcorder is switched on, and then launch your capture software. Most such software has a set of graphical controls that can control your hooked-up camcorder remotely. When I perform transfer tasks, I prefer "batch capture." This lets me transfer all the video content I wish in one fell swoop. After transfer, the video is parked on my hard drive, ready for the editing and encoding tasks ahead.
A Matter Of Spin
You Say You Want 7200 Revolutions? All hard drives spin. This process involves "platters," which store data in sectors for retrieval. With transfer of large digital video files, your hard disk must spin fast enough to store the captured video frames as soon as they arrive from the video card. Once you start editing your stored video, your hard drive must be powerful enough to "seek" and then retrieve the various video content elements quickly.
In terms of the user experience, Internet-delivered streaming video does not have as high an expectation of quality as television. If you envision streaming your content, you will not need to adhere to NTSC video standards. Yet regardless of the medium you intend to deliver your streams in, your hard drive should run at 7200 revolutions per minute or more.
Fortunately, most newer hard drives already have 7200 rpm capabilities. You probably will have more than enough spin power to handle the video transfer.
If your hard disk is not up to the job, two things can happen: both of them, bad. During the transfer stage, frames will not get transferred and will drop out. The result will be discontinuous source video. If "seek" time is too slow, pulling together various sections of a clip during the editing process will be arduous.
Watch Your Processor Speed
Video capture and editing will place major demands on your computer's system. Not only are these processes resource-intensive, but unless you have a workstation or PC specifically devoted to this job, you may well be performing these tasks with other functions running in the background. Many is the time I have been video editing on my system, with Microsoft Word and Outlook Express running in the background.
The best guide to minimum processor speed and other requirements will be the editing and encoding software vendor recommendations on the applicable download page or product box. Adobe Premiere stipulates a minimum 500 megabyte processor speed, but suggests a minimum 800 megabyte rate for real-time preview -- the ability to watch video as you edit it.
The real need for speed comes in the streaming video encoding process Windows Media Encoder 9 stipulates that a dual 2 GHz or higher processor, such as an Intel Xeon or AMD Athlon MP, is best for high-end, video.
Most video editing and encoding products counsel 256 megabytes or more of RAM. Unless you are transferring, editing and encoding on a relic, you should be OK there.
Space Is The Place
Digital video is one big storage hog. You are looking at several factors here. Most video editing programs require several hundred megabytes of storage space. Adobe Premiere 6.5 recommends that you have 600 megabytes free and at the ready.
That's just for starters. Streaming video software such as Windows Media Encoder 9 will cost you about another 10 megabytes of storage just to download it.
Those old MB's will really start adding up once you start storing transferred, raw .avi files on your PC. Ulead Video Studio computes the ratio as high as 13 gigabytes for each hour of digital video transferred and stored at maximum preview quality. My own stored .avi files take up a small fraction of that, but at acceptable minimum you are still looking at several tens of megabytes per minute.
In these days of 140 gigabyte-and-more hard drives, 13 gigs do not sound like a lot. Keep in mind, though, that as you acquire digital video skill, your storage requirements will increase exponentially. That's not even counting all the other stuff on your PC.
Of course you could delete the raw files you have edited and encoded, but I would advise against it. Keeping the source material around in handy, stored form is prudent. You may never know when you need it.
Finally, you will want to ensure that your computer will be able to energetically retrieve your video. Retrieval of large files works best when they are stored in sizable, contiguous blocks on your hard drive. If these blocks are not available, your hard drive will store elements of these files wherever it has room for them. In such cases, you would be looking at the limitations of a fragmented hard disk. If the problem is severe enough, the frame rate at which clips are captured can degrade, and elements can drop out. You already know the answer: run your built-in or added-in defrag utility as often as necessary.
From the Tools menu on the top menu bar of your Outlook program and click Accounts. Step 2: Click Add and then Mail on the top right side of the dialogue box. Step 3: Type in your Display Name. This is the name that will appear in the From field on your outgoing messages. Then click Next. Step 4: Type in your email address. This is the address people will use to send you an email. It will look similar to yourname@yourdomainname.com. Then click Next. Step 5: Select POP3 as your incoming mail server. Then type in your Incoming and Outgoing Mail Server names. Incoming Mail Server name: mail.yourdomain.com (replace .com with .net, .org or whatever extension your domain name uses) Outgoing Mail Server name: smtpout.secureserver.net
Note: Your hosti will tell you exactly what your incoming and outgoing mail servers are. Then click Next. Step 6: Type in your email address as your account name. Type in the password that you used when you set up your email account. Then click Next. Step 7: Choose the method you use to connect to the Internet. If you use a local ISP to connect, select Connect using my phone line. If you are connected to a local area network (LAN) that is connected to the Internet, select Connect using my local area network (LAN). If you are connecting through a third party dialer select I will establish my Internet connection manually. Then click Next. Step 8: If you chose to make your Internet connection either through a LAN or to establish your connection manually, click Finish. If you chose to make your Internet connection through your local ISP, select the name of that connection in the text box, or select Create a new dialup connection. Then click Next. Step 9: If you found your Internet connection in the text box on the previous page, click Finish. If you are creating a new dialup account, complete the information required in the Internet Connection Wizard. Then click Finish. Step 10: Click on the new account name and then click Properties. Step 11: Click on the Servers tab. Step 12: In the Outgoing Mail Server section, check the box My server requires authentication. Then click Settings. Step 13: Select Log on using. Type in your SMTP account name and password. Click OK. Then click OK in the next window. *These instructions are for Outlook 2000.
Email Tutorials
Top Five Questions to Ask Your Web Hosting Company
Each day many new and existing webmasters either launch a new web site for the first time, or transfer their web site to a new web hosting provider. In preparation for this important process, there are five important questions that should be asked prior to signing on with a new web hosting company.
1. Do you have a trial period or money-back guarantee?
Okay, so that’s technically two questions. The point is, no matter how much homework you do, or how much research stands behind your decision – it’s still possible to make a mistake. Also – the company could change policies or services, or management – prices can go up, call wait times for support can spike, and things can just generally go bad. With the assurance of a trial period or money-back guarantee, you won’t end up paying over and over again for that bad decision.
2. How does your customer service and technical support system work?
I don’t care how smart you are, how much programming you know, or how many web sites you’ve set up in the past – you are gonna have to call support eventually. There are just too many weird little things that can derail a web site or email. Many reside on the web hosting company’s side. To figure out what’s up – you need to get in contact with them. So…will it be by email only, during the hours of 8:00 am to 5:00 pm eastern standard time or via a toll free phone line that is available 24x7? Make certain you understand when support is available – and how you actually reach someone with real knowledge, not just a “knowledge base” or “canned” response.
3. Can I view a sample site that is hosted on the same server that my web site will be on?
Sure, the main company web site has nearly 100% uptime. That’s because they have their web site on a separate server than their customers. Viewing an actual customer site potentially tells you many things about the web hosting company and their web hosting services. You can check the load times of their pages easily by using a tool like Alertra (www.alertra.com). You can also send the webmaster of the site a nice email asking about their experiences with the hosting company.
4. Will you waive set up fees or give me some other special incentives to sign up with you today?
In the highly competitive business of web hosting services, each customer sign up is precious. You will often see special offers listed on the company’s web site or in advertisements. Unknown to each buyer is the fact that sales people are often given “extra special offers” to close sales of customers that are right on the edge of buying, but are resisting. The special offers are designed to close the sale. Make sure that you ask for each and every special offer they can give you. You have nothing to lose, and you may find that the offer that’s being given today is fairly generous.
IMGiant Instant Messenger (13.9 MB) is a new instant messaging client that lets you unify all your screen names from AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, and IRC in one tabbed chat window. Includes a xml/rss ticker feed. Freeware for all Windows versions.
Several months ago, I published an article on cool tools that are also frëe. We all enjoy discovering frëe resources that genuinely merit value, don't we?
Thanks to everyone who wrote and sent me your own cool tools. We'll keep publishing articles as long as you keep sending me your own ideas! We'll combine and categorize them into one very helpful list.
Here's Part 2 of our Cool Tools that are also Free. You'll find Part 1 in the SiteProNews Archives
We know the importance of link popularity (the number and quality of inbound links pointing to our Web site). Equally important is link reputation - what those inbound links say about our Web site. In other words, link reputation is what is written in the link text, or the clickable text, pointing to our Web site. With this frëe link reputation tool, you can learn what other sites are saying about your Web site.
Wow. This tool really brings back "fond" memories when I had my very own Trojan horse clomping around inside my computer system. (A word of advice: please get a firewall!)
The Trojan Scanner at Information Exchange scans your system for 85 known Trojans. You'll hold your breath as it runs its scan, or at least I did. You'll also find a WhoIs Lookup, a Server-Check, and other cool tools.
The W3C offers a suite of validators that you can use, such as a W3C markup validator, a CSS validator, an XML validator, a log validator, and some that I've never heard of!
As you know, it's important to be in compliance with W3C standards, and these tools and validators will help you to accomplish just that.
Dynamic Drive offers original dynamic scripts (DHTML) and a JavaScript code library, including calendars, mouseover images, DHTML games, scrollers, etc.
Many domains have DNS problems. This handy site will help you find those problems and fix them by providing a DNS report for your domain.
Everything You Want to Know about a URL (and I do mean everything). URLinfo is a "tool for handling Web pages," and it includes 107 tools that you can use to dig for information on a URL. You'll be there for hours, so grab a sandwich and a cup of coffee and get ready! There are more nooks and crannies to this site than you can possibly imagine.
Doesn't take much explanation on this one, does it? If you ever need to know your IP address, this neat little online tool will answer the question for you.
Frëe Report on How to Measure the Effectiveness of Your Online Marketing Campaigns (by Marshall Sponder)
This frëe downloadable report is a phenomenal study in how to measure the traffďc to your Web site. Too many times, Web site owners work and work on increasing their traffďc, then stop way too short by forgetting about studying that traffďc.
This PDF download takes you several steps further in helping you understand the value of analyzing the traffďc to your online business.
Sign up for John Alexander's audio tutorial offering tips for doing keyword research using Wordtracker. Two audio tips are sent out by e-mail once a week, and they're approximately 2-3 minutes in length.
These tips are worth their weight in gold as they open your creative mind to researching keywords.
By far, the best chart to show the relationships between the search engines and directories is Bruce Clay's. He does a tremendous job of keeping it up to date, and you can even download a copy as a PDF.
Again, thanks to all of you who shared these "cool tools" with me. Be sure and send me your list, and I'll add them to the next article. Thanks so much! ( robin@searchengineworkshops.com)
2) Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition is a lightweight, easy-to-use and easy-to-learn development tool focused exclusively on Web development. It's from Microsoft and it's free. http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/express/vwd/
3) What about a free HTML Editor such as Frontpage or Dreamweaver ? Not yet as powerful but very good. It's also free, (open source) download NVU at http://www.nvu.com. There is a Windows and a Linux version. Everybody should be happy.
The Domain Name System: A Non-Technical Explanation
What is the Domain Name System?
The Domain Name System (DNS) helps users to find their way around the Internet. Every computer on the Internet has a unique address just like a telephone number which is a rather complicated string of numbers. It is called its "IP address" (IP stands for "Internet Protocol").
But it is hard to remember everyone's IP address. The DNS makes it easier by allowing a familiar string of letters (the "domain name") to be used instead of the arcane IP address. So instead of typing 192.0.34.65, you can type www.icann.org. It is a "mnemonic" device that makes addresses easier to remember.
Translating the name into the IP address is called "resolving the domain name." The goal of the DNS is for any Internet user any place in the world to reach a specific website IP address by entering its domain name. Domain names are also used for reaching e-mail addresses and for other Internet applications.
What is universal resolvability and why is it important to users?
Think of the phone system . . . when you dial a number, it rings at a particular location because there is a central numbering plan that ensures that each telephone number is unique. The DNS works in a similar way. If telephone numbers or domain names were not globally unique, phone calls or e-mail intended for one person might go to someone else with the same number or domain name. Without uniqueness, both systems would be unpredictable and therefore unreliable.
Ensuring predictable results from any place on the Internet is called "universal resolvability." It is a critical design feature of the DNS, one that makes the Internet the helpful, global resource that it is today. Without it, the same domain name might map to different Internet locations under different circumstances, which would only cause confusion.
When you send an e-mail to your Aunt Sally, do you care who receives it?
Do you care if it goes to your Uncle Juan instead? Wait a minute do you have an Uncle Juan? Then whose Uncle Juan received it? Do you care if it reaches Aunt Sally if you send it from work but my Uncle Juan if you send it from home?
Of course you care who receives it . . . that's why you wrote it in the first place. Whether you're doing business or sending personal correspondence, you want to be certain that your message gets to the intended addressee.
If at any point the DNS must make a choice between two identical domain names with different IP addresses, the DNS would not function. It would not know how to resolve the domain name. When a DNS computer queries another computer and asks, "are you the intended recipient of this message?", "yes" and "no" are acceptable answers, but "maybe" is not.
Where does ICANN come in?
This is where ICANN comes in . . . ICANN is responsible for managing and coordinating the DNS to ensure universal resolvability.
ICANN is the global, non-profit, private-sector coordinating body acting in the public interest. ICANN ensures that the DNS continues to function effectively by overseeing the distribution of unique numeric IP addresses and domain names. Among its other responsibilities, ICANN oversees the processes and systems that ensure that each domain name maps to the correct IP address.
What goes on behind the scenes?
Behind the scenes, the story becomes a little more complicated.
In an Internet address such as icann.org the .org part is known as a Top Level Domain, or TLD. So-called "TLD registry" organizations house online databases that contain information about the domain names in that TLD. The .org registry database, for example, contains the Internet whereabouts or IP address of icann.org. So in trying to find the Internet address of icann.org your computer must first find the .org registry database. How is this done?
At the heart of the DNS are 13 special computers, called root servers. They are coordinated by ICANN and are distributed around the world. All 13 contain the same vital information this is to spread the workload and back each other up.
Why are these root servers so important? The root servers contain the IP addresses of all the TLD registries both the global registries such as .com, .org, etc. and the 244 country-specific registries such as .fr (France), .cn (China), etc. This is critical information. If the information is not 100% correct or if it is ambiguous, it might not be possible to locate a key registry on the Internet. In DNS parlance, the information must be unique and authentic. Let us look at how this information is used.
Scattered across the Internet are thousands of computers called "Domain Name Resolvers" or just plain "resolvers" - that routinely download and copy the information contained in the root servers. These resolvers are located strategically with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or institutional networks. They are used to respond to a user's request to resolve a domain name that is, to find the corresponding IP address.
So what happens to a user's request to reach our familiar friend at icann.org? The request is forwarded to a local resolver. The resolver splits the request into its component parts. It knows where to find the .org registry remember, it had copied that information from a root server beforehand so it forwards the request over to the .org registry to find the IP address of icann.org. This answer is forwarded back to the user's computer. And we're done. It's that simple! The domain name icann.org has been "resolved"!
Why do we need the resolvers? Why not use the root servers directly? After all, they contain essentially the same information. The answer is for reasons of performance. The root servers could not handle hundreds of billions of requests a day! It would slow users down.
If you are still with the story, you are already wondering about more complicated names with more parts such as www.icann.org. Well, the DNS is a hierarchical system. First, the resolver finds the IP address for the .org registry, queries that registry to find the IP address for icann.org, then queries a local computer at that address to find the final IP address for www.icann.org. Just what you would expect.
It is important to remember the central and critical role played by the root servers that store information about the unique, authoritative root. Confusion would result if there were two TLDs with the same name: which one did the user intend? The beauty of the Internet architecture is that it ensures there is a unique, authoritative root, so that there is no chance of ambiguity.
What about "alternate roots?" How do they fit into this picture?
Anyone can create a root system similar to the unique authoritative root managed by ICANN. Many people and entities have. Some of these are purely private (inside a single corporation, for example) and are insulated from having any effect on the DNS. Some, however, overlap the authoritative global DNS root by incorporating the unique, authoritative root information, and then adding new pseudo-TLDs that have not resulted from the consensus-driven process by which official new TLDs are created through ICANN. The alternate root operators persuade some users to have their resolvers "point" to their alternate root instead of the authoritative root. Others (New.net is a recent example) also create browser plug-ins and other software workarounds to accomplish similar effects. The one uniform fact about all these efforts is that these pseudo-TLDs are not included in the authoritative root managed by ICANN and, thus, are not resolvable by the vast majority of Internet users.
Why do alternate roots create a problem?
There are many potential problems caused by these unofficial, alternate root efforts to exploit the stability and reach of the authoritative root. These efforts are often promoted by those unwilling to abide by the consensus policies established by the Internet community, policies designed to ensure the continued stability and utility of the DNS.
For example:
First, the names of some of these pseudo-TLDs could overlap TLD names in the authoritative root or those that appear in other alternate roots. Our familiar friend icann.org could appear in two different roots. Your e-mail to Aunt Sally could end up with my Uncle Juan.
Second, the unknowing users might not be linked to one of these alternate roots and not be able to reach these pseudo-TLD addresses at all. Your e-mail to Aunt Sally could end up as a dead-letter.
Third, those purchasing domain names in these pseudo-TLDs may not be aware of these and other consequences of the lack of universal resolvability. Or they may be under the impression that they are experiencing universal resolvability when in fact they are not. They may be very upset to learn that the names they registered are also being used by others, or that a new TLD in the authoritative root will not include those names.
These problems are not significant so long as these alternate roots remain very small, that is, house few domain names with little potential for conflict. But if they should ever attract many users, the problems would become much more serious, and could affect the stability and reliability of the DNS itself. Users would lose confidence in the utility of the Internet.
In Short . . . . . .
Just as there is a single root for telephone numbers internationally, there must be a single authoritative root for the Internet, administered in the public interest.
This has got to be one of my favorite cool tools. It analyzes a Web page and lets you know if the Web page is focused on you or on your customers. After all, shouldn't our Web pages be written for our customers . . . not ourselves?
This site has three different tools that are really cool. One is a Search Engine Spider Simulator, which displays exactly what a spider would see when it visits your page. Another frëe tool is the Google Backlink Checker, which lets you know who's linking to your site and what link text they're using. The last tool is the Similar Page Checker. We all know that "duplicate content" is a no no. This neat tool will determine the similarity between two pages.
My favorite tool on this page is the Link Popularity-Check. Enter your URL and up to three comparison URLs, and the site will let you know what your link popularity is in AllTheWeb, AltaVista, Google, Inktomi, and MSN. It also compares your site's link popularity to other URLs you listed as well as other sites on the Net. The Search Engine Saturation tool determines how many pages a given search engine has in its index for your Web site. You can compare your site to five other sites with this tool. Finally, the Keyword Verification Tool checks to see if your page is in the top three pages of a search engine's results for a certain keyword or keyword phrase.
This very cool tool lets you find out how secure your Web site is. When I first used it, it found more holes in the security of my Web site than the laws allows, and I promptly changed to a different hostĂŻng company!
Gibson Research Corporation offers a really neat (and frëe) tool for checking the security of your computer: ShieldsUp. Scroll down on the page to the Hot Spots area, where you'll find the link to ShieldsUp. Be sure to go through each of the checks in the ShieldsUp section (File Sharing, Common Ports, etc.).
Clïck on Single Page, and the frëe service will analyze your Web page based on document structure, image syntax, table analysis, browser support, verify hyperlinks, and much more.
GifBot will compress your GIF, JPEG, and animated GIF images by decreasing the file size without sacrificing the quality of the image. So, your pages load faster!
This online service allows you to test Web pages to help expose and repair barriers to accessibility and encourage compliance with existing accessibility guidelines. It's very important to make sure your Web pages are accessible for those who surf the Internet with disabilities.
Have you ever been to a Web site and not been able to scroll to the bottom of the page? The scroll bar is there, but you can't get down that far to scroll. It's not a pleasant experience. At the Screen Size Tester, you can test your Web pages in different screen resolutions so that you can be assured that all of your visitors can view your site in its entirety.
Anti-Spam and Security Fix for FormMail.pl ScrĂŻpt
"Formmail.pl, one of the most-used perl scripts on the Web, is designed to send data entered into a Web-form to an e-mail address. This scrĂŻpt could be exploited by a malicious user who could use Formmail as a sp@m server. If you use this scrĂŻpt, spammers may be able to use it to send sp@m freely using your server's resources." This site offers a patched version that prevents the scrĂŻpt from being used by spammers.
Though also not a tool, this handy list is something that we should all be aware of. For example, don't use horizontal scrolling!
Again, thanks to all of you who shared these wonderfully helpful tools with me. If I missed any (which I'm sure I did), please let me know (robin@searchengineworkshops.com). Part 2 of this articles provides additional cool tools that are also frëe.
If Google ran the world, my guess is that they'd do a pretty good job. They seem to be everywhere, always growing and expanding, coming up with new ways to be the dominant player in the search arena.
Google's latest invention (or should I say re-invention?) is email. Yes, I know what you're thinking: "Big Deal. Frëe email accounts are a dime a dozen." While that may be true for your everyday email providers like Yahoo and Hotmail, it's definitely not the case with Google's new Gmail.
Gmail is web-based email on steroids. To start with, you're given over 1,000 MB of storage, which means you can keep messages for years without ever hitting your delete key and still have plenty of room. In fact, Google encourages you not to delete messages; they would rather you "archive" them, but we'll get to that in a minute.
When you send someone an email and he replies and then you reply, Google calls this a "conversation." Similar to a "threaded discussion board," these conversations are grouped together for easier searching. If you open an email, any responses to it are "stacked" on top. Pretty cool!
The contacts from your pre-existing Yahoo, Outlook or other email accounts can be imported into Gmail quite easily.
Now let's talk about that dirty word, "Sp.m." Gmail has its own built-in filter and includes a button that enables you to report any junk mail you didn't request to Google directly. Because of possible viruses, HTML images are automatically disabled but can be viewed by clicking on a separate button. Also, for this reason .exe files are not allowed to be sent or received by Gmail account users. This could pose a problem for marketers who attach .exe ebooks to Gmail users.
Unlike other email programs that allow you to create folders to hold emails you wish to file, Google uses what is called "labels." One email conversation can have more then one label attached to it, making it easy to find when searching on a specific topic later.
When you're done with a message, clicking on the "archive" button will take it out of your Inbox and put it into what Google calls "All Mail." This is a holding ground for all emails you have sent or received, so you don't have to delete them, but it still removes them from your Inbox. When you need to do a search for a past message, you would want to clĂŻck into "All Mail" first.
So what does all this great email search technology cost? Are you ready? It's frëe -- but you will be exposed to text ads from Google's Adsense Program in the side border of your emails. All messages are scanned for their main theme and related text ads are shown within the emails content. Of course, this has many privacy advocates in an uproar. But why should it? The messages are not read by a human; it's all an automated machine process. The way I see it is, if it bothers you, don't use it. Gmail is not forcing itself on anyone and last time I checked it was still a frëe country.
But, before you go rushing over to Google to sign up I have to tell you this service is still not available to the public. Sort of like a private club currently while they're in the testing phase, you'll have to be "invited" by a current Gmail user or you can buy your way in. If you do a search on Ebay you may find an account or two for sale. There's also a website dedicated to Gmail account sharing at GmailSwap.com.
Remember, once you get an account, failure to log in for 9 months or more will cause you to losë it. Compared to Hotmail's 30 days, this is something I can live with. Google is also working on rolling out POP3 support so you can use your account from within your current email application and possibly add on an antivirus scanning feature by licensing an existing virus protection technology.
Anytime a new service or application pops onto the Net, hacks and software add-ons aren't far behind. Below are some software additions that will enhance your life as a Gmail user:
1) POP Goes the Gmail: Enables you to read your Gmail from any POP3 account. Go to Jaybe.org.
3) Gmail Drive: Uses your Gmail account for additional storage. This software creates a virtual file system around your email account. It literally adds another drive onto your computer. You can drag files or folders and have them sent and saved to your Gmail account. Only works with IE 5.0 or higher.
4) Hide the Ads: This hack is for the Firefox Browser and actually hides the text ads that Gmail displays within each message. For install info, see... DigitalMediaMinute.com
6) Gmail Notifier: Downloadable software for Windows 2000 or XP. This icon sits in your Window tray and alerts you when a new Gmail message arrives in your in box.
8) PS Gmail: If you already have a POP Email account, use this service to chëck your Gmail account too. 15 day fully functional trial- Cost is $7.90. Go to http://windohs.net/psgmail/
So there you have the "skinny" on Google's new Gmail. The two biggest benefits I can see are the searching and storage capabilities. These two factors alone outperform any other web based email program out there today.
By combining Google's powerful search functions with email, you'll won't ever have to say "So where did I put that message?"
About The Author Merle of WebSiteTrafficPlan.com offers a F-r-e-e ebook and an e-course that will teach you how to promote and market your website. Grab your copy today at WebSiteTrafficPlan.com.
The past year saw immense growth in the search sector. Search is bïgger today than it was twelve months ago in every respect. With the Internet becoming a largër part of people's lives and broadband access becoming the norm around the world, 2004 was the year that big business fully recognized the full impact of search.
The search sector drives web-traffic by providing each web user with the dynamic roadmaps and signposts that make the web usable. This fact has finally become staggeringly obvious to anyone with an interest in the web. That these roadmaps are self-generating and are increasingly influenced by the interests of the individual user makes search the most powerful medium in the world. The largest of the search firms have found a stable business model in paid contextually delivered advertising that promotes growth while providing unequaled opportunities for advertisers.
Sensing the enormous potentials, investors piled monëy into a sector that was super-heated by interest surrounding Google's IPO. Eighteen months of mega-money funding set the stage for the influx of innovative features and tools each of the major players introduced recently. The presence of so much monëy has also sparked grassroots innovation seeing an increasing number of formal start-ups and home-baked software design enthusiasts produce an array of search related tools and products. Today, nearly every digital product can be searched in one way or another. Among the greatest developments of the year was the expansion of search engine databases to include a variety of file formats previously inaccessible to search engine spiders.
Investmënt in the growth of the search industry coincides with vast improvements in US home Internet access options that until recently acted as a long-term construction-zone on the information super-highway.
Broadband access in the US has crossed the 50% mark. The introduction of affordable high-speed access for US consumers is one of the most important milestones in the development of the Internet. According to Nielsen/NetRatings, as of October, 53% of US home Internet users have broadband access. While the general behaviors of American Internet users have not yet changed, the increasing number of high-speed users allows the delivery of a wider array of information directly to home users. From interactive appliances to the replacement of traditional print media to altering social interaction, broadband access changes the way people do things. Now that the majority of American Internet users have high-speed home access, the Internet can start to meet much more of its actual potential.
For most of the western world, high-speed home access has been a reality for several years. LĂ«gal bickering amongst the American cable and telephone cabals had delayed introduction of affordable services to most US consumers until this year. Now that the most obvious digital divide between the US and the rest of the wired world has been bridged, software and entertainment producers can begin to exploit personal digital distribution of their products. The adoption of high-speed access by US home users will have a major, positive impact on the business of search as US users will almost certainly imitate the actions of users in other areas that have had broadband access for years.
The difference is measured in time. Whenever it is easier or faster to find information on the Internet than it is to make a telephone call or send a fax, broadband users will always tend towards using the Net. For most US home Internet users, it could take between 45 - 90 seconds to connect to the net using dial-up. With broadband, the connection between the Internet and the home computer is nevër severed. Assuming most businesses have useful websites, finding detailed information about a local business or event is almost always faster online than on the telephone. Printed telephone directories will be used less, as will telephones in general.
It won't be long before Hollywood and Brollywood deliver feature films via the Internet directly to home consumers. We already see the music industry moving towards digital distribution of their products, following the lead of the online gaming industry that has been widely enjoyed by users with high-speed access. As a matter of fact, there are several search tools that find information from television shows by scanning the closed-caption commentary included with many programs. Blinkx TV(beta) captures and indexes video and audio streams directly from television and radio broadcasters to make news, sports and entertainment clips available. Microsoft XP Media Center and TiVo products are both based on the assumption that broadband connection will be the global standard.
Regardless of where the web is going and the role the search sector is going to play in it, most individuals and businesses rely on the frëe, organic listings. Those listings will remain an important focus for the search engines as they will continue to provide the primary interactive point between home-user and the search engines. The impact of organic placements will obviously be enhanced by the growth of the search sector however once the user follows a link from the organic SERPs, they will likely encounter a great deal of paid-advertising, everywhere else they go. Repetition is the key to memory and competitive advertisers should note the seemingly unlïmited power of paid-contextual advertising, especially for Google's AdWords program. When users don't encounter AdWords, they almost certainly encounter advertising from Overture, AskJeeves, FindWhat/Espotting, and others as they all have their plans for 2005.
2005 is going to be an extremely intense year. If things are quiet and peaceful in your universe over the next few weeks (and here's hoping it is), take a break and read as much as you possibly can. If you have the time to explore, mess around with the new tools and features. Take some professional development time to learn a bit about XML, RSS, FLASH and PHP. Ask your family and friends about their search habits. You may be surprised at the new sophistication that is shaping up. The future, at least as the search sector is concerned is going to be very friendly and increasingly informative. Now that the web is going to become faster for its largest population, it is also going to be increasingly interesting.
About The Author Jim Hedger is a writer, speaker and search engine marketing expert based in Victoria BC. Jim works with a limited group of clients and provides consultancy services to StepForth Search Engine Placement. He has worked as an SEO for over 5 years and welcomes the opportunĂŻty to share his experience through interviews, articles and speaking engagements. Other articles by Jim Hedger can be found at http://news.stepforth.com.
