Why Wipe Free Disk Space?

Why Wipe Free Disk Space?

By: Sam Miller

Computers have found very many applications in todayÂ's world, in almost every field of human activity. Offices, schools, libraries, and other organizations that need to keep track of and organize huge masses of information have found that computers perform this task admirably. Scientists and engineers have been able to leverage the massive computing power now available to help solve problems once thought unsolvable, and to develop new technologies through simulation. Writers, visual artists, and even musical composers have also found that computers can provide new and exciting ways for them to practice their respective crafts.

Because of this, it has also become quite important to look at the different ways of storing digital data. Digital data here refers to that information stored in methods that make it accessible to computers, such as on hard disks or compact discs (CDÂ's). Apart from increasing the amount of data that could be stored on a particular digital storage device, discussions of data security have also arisen.

Computers have been made to handle confidential information, which is meant to be protected from unauthorized access. Password protection is now an option with most programs that work with digital files, and so is of course keeping the computers in question physically secure. Sometimes, however, it may become necessary to delete certain files in such a manner as to leave no traces on the medium.

This is where the disk wiping or file shredding operation comes in. These processes are distinguished from ordinary deletion by the fact that they are more permanent. The data disposed of using either of these two processes are much more difficult to recover than data merely deleted. This is so because when a file is deleted, it is actually not removed from the hard disk. Instead, what happens is just that it is marked Â"deletedÂ", and the space it occupies on the disk surface is marked Â"availableÂ".

In other words, the file information remains on the hard disk, available for curious eyes to recover and view. In the file shredding operation, the area on the hard disk where the file is stored is actually overwritten with random data. This helps to mask any traces that the file has left on the hard disk, and makes recovering the shredded fileÂ's information virtually impossible.

A disk wipe is simply the same operation, but performed over the entire area of the hard disk, to more or less permanently delete all data on the disk.

Some programs have the function of wiping free disk space. This may seem useless, at first encounter, but it actually does have its own uses. Some programs such as word processors or spreadsheets may create temporary files that hold information. Also, previously deleted files that have not yet been wiped are still on the disk, available for recovery. By wiping the free disk space, these temporary files are removed, and the previously deleted files become gone for good. Wiping free disk space would be a useful habit to form, to help guard against the unintentional recovery of deleted data, thought lost.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_3992.shtml

Beginning In Photography: Choosing A Camera

Beginning In Photography: Choosing A Camera

By: Mark Eden

YouÂ've been snapping away with your nifty little point and shoot camera for a while now and youÂ've discovered you really like taking pictures and want to get more creative and have more control over your photos. Naturally the next step is to upgrade to an SLR camera. But which one? There is a ridiculous number of products out there with all sorts of buttons and dials that do this or that. This article attempts to give a brief overview of the things that are actually important when considering which camera to buy.

Firstly, letÂ's dispel one of the most common myths associated with upgrading equipment. Buying a new camera will not make you a better photographer. Repeat: it will NOT make you a better photographer. Not instantly, not in 2 years time, not in 10 years. What will make you a better photographer is you. Your willingness to learn and develop your skills. Sure a high end camera will give you more control over your image making, but thatÂ's just it; its you controlling the camera, and therefore the end image. Ok, now that weÂ're on the same track, a few things to think about.

How many megapixels do I need?

We are going to assume that you are looking at digital cameras here, although I should point out that there are some excellent film cameras around at much less expense. So donÂ't discount film altogether (itÂ's not dead just yet!). But to answer the question, we first need to answer another: What do you want to do with your photos? If you only want to post your photos on the web, e-mail them or make small prints to put in a photo album, the resolution you need for this is quite low. To give you an idea, a camera with 2 megapixels will create an image that can make a good quality 6 x 4 print (standard photo album size). Most entry level SLR cameras start at around 6 megapixels. Therefore if this is all you want to do with your images, the amount of megapixels does not need to be a major concern. If, however, you want to make large sized prints, you may need a higher resolution camera. While entry level SLRÂ's often produce very good quality prints up to a certain size, more pixels gives you the freedom of being able to enlarge even further. While image software programs can increase the size of your photos they will lose some quality. Starting with a larger image means that fewer pixels are added by the program and less quality is lost.

Is brand important?

Not as important as some would have you think. While photographers will continue to debate the Nikon vs Canon issue, my belief is that it is a moot point. Both companies produce some excellent products and some pretty ordinary ones. What should be foremost in your mind is build quality. How many plastic parts does the camera have versus metal ones? Metal parts can be replaced, while plastic parts are usually set into a mould and cannot be. Potentially this could mean the difference between having to buy a new part or a new camera a few years down the track. Check how the camera feels in your hand. If it feels solid and sturdy, it probably is. Quality between brands doesnÂ't differ greatly until you get into the higher end cameras. This is where Nikon and Canon come to the fore and other brands that donÂ't target this market drop off. However if you decide you donÂ't need a higher end camera, donÂ't discount other brands.

What about features?

Cameras come with all sorts of different modes and features. Some of them seem to be included for no other reason than to be a selling point for that particular model. It takes a little research to discern which are actually going to be useful. There are, however, some that you should factor into your considerations. Firstly, what mode settings does the camera have? Many entry level SLRÂ's have similar settings to point and shoot cameras. I.e. Portrait, landscape, low light etc. While these make things easy, the point of moving up to an SLR camera is to gain more control over your photos. You will never gain the control you want without learning how to use a camera in full manual mode.

Other features, such as a built if flash or cable release socket, may be important to you depending on the type of photography you want to do. If you like to shoot portraits, a built in flash can be a huge help in lighting shadows. If you are interested in landscape photography, you will at some point want to set you camera up on a tripod to capture a low light scene. Using a cable release allows you to press the shutter without actually touching the camera, removing the camera shake that blurs a picture.

One final consideration.

This is possibly the most important of all. Make sure the camera you choose is comfortable and easy to use. Check that you can reach all the buttons easily while shooting and that the dial and menu configurations are logical. This allows you to learn your gear easily so that you can concentrate on the most important thing: taking pictures.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_3975.shtml

How Can You Protect Your PC From The Attack Of Virus?

How Can You Protect Your PC From The Attack Of Virus?

By: RAJDEEP KAUR

If you find a virus in your system and can establish precisely what it is, it is a time to remove it from your system. Having procedures in place to detect viruses is important is a plan for how you will remove what ever you find.

you must remember that the majority of virus alarms turn out to be false alarms, and are the result of some user , software ,or hardware error , proceed with your detection assuming that although it may be a virus , it just as likely to be something else , so note all symptoms carefully and see what the combination point to.

If the problem turn out to be a virus, it is still important not to panic. You need a cool head to minimize further damage and to remove the virus as cleanly and efficiently as possible, donÂ't just get out your copy of FORMAT or FDISK and start formatting the hard disk.

Using an Anti-Virus Product

Most antivirus products offer virus removal capabilities. Usually these functions are built into the scanner, giving you the option to remove a virus from a file the moment it is detected in the file. Removal of some viruses is fairly straightforward for antivirus products can remove some viruses, but canÂ't remove very many. When choosing a product, ask whether the product can remove all common removable viruses.

Some viruses canÂ't be removed, no matter how clever the author of the antivirus software. This is because the virus has overwritten some of your original program, effectively erasing it. Without knowledge of what was supposed to be where the virus Â"sat downÂ" all an antivirus product can do is offer to delete the entire program.

Virus Detection Strategy

If the virus is detected in the memory, but not in any file, and if the virus detected is an extremely rare virus, ask yourself whether another scanner that leaves in memory the scan string it was using can produce a false alarm when another scanner runs.

If the virus is detected in only one program on your hard disk , ask your self how often you have used this program ,If you have used it several times in the past , then any virus it has had an opportunity to infect other files, if it has not done so yet, it probably a false alarm , donÂ't delete the single program in which the virus was reported and donÂ't attempt removal, instead , reboot from an uninfected , write protected floppy disk and run another scanner to determine if it too finds something in this file . If it doesnÂ't assume that it is a false alarm.

If the virus is detected in several programs you use commonly, you almost certainly have an infection. Do not attempt to remove the virus product yet! You may cause irreparable harm to your files.

Protecting computers from viruses

Simply, do not give out your email address to widely, and never access a floppy disk given by someone you donÂ't know. Plus there is a load of antivirus software available which can help detect and clean out viruses, but then remember, virus programmers are driven

By the desire to stay ahead of this kind of software.

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS

There are three things one can do to prevent viral infection in a computer system. These are:-

1) limited sharing of software
2) limited transitivity
3) limited functionality

One can limit sharing by limiting information flow so as to form a post office set of communicating information domains in a network system , in such a system , a virus will spread only to those domains which are in the transitive flow path from its initial source.

In a system with unlimited sharing by limited information paths, limited transitivity may have an effect if users do not use all available paths, but since there is always a direct path between any two user , there s always the possibilities of infection . as an example , in a system , with transitivity limited to a distance of 1, it is safe to share information with any user you trust without having to worry about whether the user has wrongly trusted another user.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_3952.shtml

How To Avoid The Google Sandbox

How To Avoid The Google Sandbox

By: Pete Moret

There still is a lot of discussion going on wether the Google Sandbox exists or not. Some say it exists, some say it doesn't. Just pretend it does exist, how is it possible that some SEO's don't get hit by the sandbox filter?

First of all, let me explain to you what the Google sandbox is. The sandbox filter is a filter that Google uses on keywords with high search volume and high competition. The whole mindset of the filter is that new website go in some sort of quarantine so they don't rank high in the search engine result pages of Google. This quarantine could take from several months to a year. This was originally introduced to block out spam websites. Before the sandbox filter was born, as a spammer you could make a website, spam Google with it, get banned, and instantly make another website and get your original ranking in Google back again. But with another domainname. And because Google isn't really fast in giving penalties and bans it takes a couple of months before the new domains get caught. This was easy money making in those days! But not anymore, because now the Google Sandbox filter will solve the problem!

But that doesn't mean we're really stuck to that filter. We are optimizing for search engines, and the sandbox is part of that, so there is a solution.

Only new domains trigger the sandbox filter. So a solution may be to buy an old domain name, or if you already have one, use an old domain name. But this is often really expensive and it doesn't always fit your needs. But there is a solution for that: DeletedDomains.com. On this website are domains that come available the same day. Just search the age of some of the domains with the Archive.org wayback machine, and if you find an old domain, you can buy it at a hosting company for as little as 15 bucks. You can also take a look in Google to see if the website on the domain is still indexed in Google, that fastens up the process a bit. It doesn't matter what domain you choose, the only thing you have to do is to 301 redirect the domain to your main domain. Then you have to hope your old domain get's indexed again so Google will know that the domain moved permanently to the new location. This will give you all the linklove of the old domain and you get the age of that domain. So you can easily build your website and gain high rankings without any sandbox restrictions.

There is another way that I used. I had bought a domain, but didn't use it at the time I bought it. I had plans for it but for the future. So I put a page on the domain, with a few backlinks to get it indexed, and a year later I started using the domain for real. But I could begin right away because the domain was already a year old!

This last one isn't really a way to avoid the sandbox but it happens a lot that you buy domains to use in the future. It isn't hard to get like 20 backlinks to it just to be out of the sandbox at the time you really want to start your website.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4004.shtml

Internet Is A Gold Mine For Mesothelioma Lawyers

Internet Is A Gold Mine For Mesothelioma Lawyers

By: Sam Gurgis

One man's misery can be another man's fortune. This seems to be the case with the mesothelioma victims on the one hand and mesothelioma lawyers on the other. An online feeding frenzy is currently taking place. The average mesothelioma case today is settled at around 1 million dollars, and that figure jumps to 6 million dollars when the lawsuit goes to the courts. With such enormous money to be made, legal firms are hungry for a slice of the action, and are shelling out big money for online visitors. The result is that search engines and other sites that can supply them with those visitors are racking up huge revenue.

It works like this. In the sponsored listings of search engines, clicks (visitors) are auctioned off to the highest bidder. When someone searches Â"mesotheliomaÂ", the highest-bidding law firms appear. With the keen competition, these firms are paying as much as $100 per mesothelioma-related visitor to their web site. ThatÂ's $100 every time someone just clicks on their ad - and a lot of the clicks are from competitors. Less than one in ten visitors may actually submit an inquiry about the services of the legal firm. And only a fraction of the inquiries convert into clients. Therefore, it is costing lawyers tens of thousands of dollars in advertising to secure a single client.

There is something truly obscene about this situation. But, it is inevitable that while there is huge money to be made from litigation, lawyers and publishers will continue to hustle for their slice of the action. You can even find these vultures on YouTube making an undignified pitch for business. If only a portion of the money could be directed to cancer research. Perhaps these legal firms and others who profit from this horrendous disease should consider donating a portion of their gains to research organizations. By doing so, they may appear a little more genuine and less like vultures.

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer linked to asbestos exposure. In fact, 70% to 80% of mesothelioma cases are caused by a history of exposure to asbestos. It can take decades for the symptoms to appear. Each year, approximately 2,000 to 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma are reported. In the past 20 years, the number of reported cases has increased significantly. Although it can take up to 50 years for symptoms to manifest, mesothelioma patients experience a host of symptoms. These include shortness of breath, or a wheezing and hacking cough, which often lead to chest or abdominal pain. In the more serious cases, individuals may have bowel blockages, anaemia, a bloody cough, and jaundice. It is extremely difficult to secure accurate statistics about how many individuals suffer from mesothelioma because in the early stages, the symptoms are quite similar to various other conditions. This often leads to a misdiagnosis of the disease. In addition, when an accurate diagnosis is finally made, the disease has typically already progressed to a more advanced stage.

With the renovation craze that has occurred in the past 2 or 3 decades in countries such as Australia and the US, it is expected that the high rates of diagnosis will continue for decades to come. And as long as there is money to be made from this disease, the vultures will also be around.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_3958.shtml

Beware of this Domain Appraisal Scam

Beware of this Domain Appraisal Scam

By: Brian Holland

I recently received several e mails from domain sellers who had fallen victim to a domain appraisal scam. The scam starts with a mail the seller receives concerning a domain they own and the scammer showing interest in buying it.

The scammers find information about their targets on Ebay and on Whois.

In the first mail they tell you that they are a new player wanting to invest money in the domain market as a side business and inquire how much you want for the domain.

Next step is the mail in which they accept your asking price for the domain. The scammers tell you that they want you to get the domain appraised as they donÂ't want to make a bad investment. The scammers want the appraisal from a certain manual appraisal website which they believe to be a good one, ofcourse this appraisal website is part of the scam. This appraisal website gives a highly inflated appraisal value and asks a high fee for it ( up to over a hundred dollars) as they know you need the appraisal to sell the domain.

The end of this story is that once you have mailed your appraisal you never hear from your buyers again. leaving you one hundred dollars poorer and an absolutely useless appraisal richer. This is a very cunningly operated scam and to show you how such a scam mail looks i give you a real example of such an email below.

Email 1:

Hello,

We Â've found your domain name listed for sale..

If you are still interested in selling please send your quote and I will

consider it with my partners.

Main direction of our business is software development and technical

support.

Domain names is not our business but a new way to earn on reselling. We are

going to buy domains to resell them at higher prices since we have a large

database of clients interested in good domains.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Regards,


Email 2:

You want 13,500 USD. Ok.

Do you sell domain with a web site or just the name?

If itÂ's just the name itÂ's ok. A web site is not necessary.

Have you had your domains appraised already? Can you show me your valuation certificates? As far as I know itÂ's a common practice to show appraisal of domain name (even without traffic and web site) before doing business.

Without an appraisal I risk to overpay. In other words I wonÂ't be able to make a profit on reselling this name. ItÂ's very important for you and me to know the current market value of your domains.

Of course, we must be sure that you are engaging an appraisal company with REAL manual service. I heard many appraisal companies often made inaccurate auto-generated appraisals. I will only accept appraisals from independent sources I trust. To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal companies in a forum. (they now give you a link of a forum you have to check out)

Just check this posting.

If the appraisal comes higher you can adjust your asking price accordingly. I also hope you can give me 10 discount of the appraised value.

After I get an appraisal from you weÂ'll continue our negotiations.

How do you prefer to get paid: Escrow.com, PayPal.com check or wire?

Hope we can come to an agreement fast.

Looking forward to your reply.



So if you ever get an email like this, you know what to do. Scrap it. Just remember this wise saying that if something sounds too good to be true it probably is.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_3997.shtml

Video Streaming – Who Needs Television?

Video Streaming – Who Needs Television?

By: Scott Lindsay

It was a satisfying feeling when I happened upon a website recently that told me that a band I have always enjoyed are back together after they disbanded a few years ago.

This group had been performing for 30 years to capacity crowds. Then came their farewell concert tour and everyone thought they would only hear about this group in the context of history and decade specific countdown shows.

Today two of the original members are touring on a limited basis. The overall feel of the band is a little different than the original band, but it is compelling enough to reconnect with the career of this new, yet classic, band.

How do I know this? Did I read about it?

No! This information came in the form of a fifteen-minute video stream with the two principle artists in the band. They spoke candidly about the reformation of the group and the new simplified sound and direction. They spoke of the emotional difficulties they experienced when the group went their separate ways and how a one time performance promised by the duo set the stage for a new album, tour and renewed life for this respected band. Stats counters indicated I wasnÂ't alone in my enthusiasm for this new career wrinkle.

Video streams react to an on-demand generation. You can visit the websites of news organizations and watch video streams of the news you want to see. In some cases this is viewed as an extension to television news coverage, but for some this is an on-demand replacement for television newscasts. Even newspapers are responding to the on demand world and placing supporting video streaming on their websites for those interested in a more personal take on the morning news.

Forbes.com and a host of other websites provide comprehensive news coverage through video streaming and their marketing strategy is to let it be known that this coverage is news on demand and online. These companies are not seeking terrestrial stations to send their video streams to, they are relying consistently on online video streams – and their success continues to grow.

News reporters who once had a place on terrestrial television are now finding uncommon success in online news reporting. Elaborate sets are designed (or created through the use of green screens). These online video streams bring the same newsmakers you might find on regular television into your home and on your time.

Many of these video streams are made possible through the sale of typical video advertising that precedes the actual video clip, which makes the end product free to the online user.

The growth of video streams is impacting national and international news, business forecasts, entertainment and music.

What may be the most surprising is those who may have wanted to share information via television in the past are now more than content to take their message directly to the people and allow them to watch at their convenience. Many are wondering why they would want to make video available any other way.

Many visual consumers are inclined to agree with the sentiment.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4005.shtml

E! True ZX Games Story: Lode Runner

E! True ZX Games Story: Lode Runner

By: Mikhail Zhilkin

Eighties was the marvelous time of innovative game concepts, and this is what we at ZX Games (http://www.zxgames.com) really love and have passion for. We are not really sure what that time was all about, but somehow a single person could come up with a brilliant idea and turn it into a game selling millions of copies.

Developing a game today is a whole different thing. We really do not welcome the idea of having a huge team of developers and writers and animators and etc to create one complex game that will need some time to grow on you and yet will not be original. Simplicity and minimalism is what distinguishes a good game; ingenious thinking is what marks a bright mind.

Today's featured game is Lode Runner. Released in 1983, it's amazing that the game still sells and people buy it everyday. Can you imagine this? Not a day passes by without having at least one person interested in purchasing Lode Runner...

* Game Inventor: Douglas E. Smith
* Occupation at the time of invention: student, major in Physics
* Location at the time of invention: University of Washington, Seattle

Douglas Smith lived in Renton, Washington before going to Seattle to get into the Computer Science Department at the University. However, as irony would have it, the future inventor of Lode Runner failed twice to qualify for Computer Sciences and had to settle on Physics major. Eventually Douglas dropped out of the University in the wake of Lode RunnerÂ's success and became a millionaire.

The earliest version of Lode Runner was written in Fortran on the UniversityÂ's VAX 1. It was called Kong because of its similarities to Donkey Kong. Since developing video games was not authorized use of the UniversityÂ's resources, the game was known as graph until its completion. Running graph on the University machine required the user entering a secret password. This password became common knowledge among students, and soon it was reported that around 80 of the total man-hours to the development of the Fortran version and 0 royalties on gross sales. One of the others offered him $100,000 flat. He made the right choice and picked Broderbund. Later Douglas blamed Sirius for leaking a copy of Miner, which was widely distributed in southern California.

Broderbund gave him the advance with no strings attached other than he could not market it elsewhere. To get the royalties, Douglas would have to complete the game with four major points:

1. Animation
2. Sound Effects
3. New Title Page
4. 150 Levels

With new incentive, Douglas worked around the clock, dropping his classes for the quarter (Spring, 1983). At that time he only had about 30 levels and it is said that he was not creative enough to think of another 120. So he let the neighborhood kids come over and design new levels with Douglas' screen editor. He paid the kids on a per level basis for every one that ended up in the final release.

Broderbund had an ex-Walt Disney animator working in-house. For a cut of the profits, he would design a nice title page. Douglas took him up on his offer.

The game's snakes were tuned into running stick figures, because Douglas could not come up with proper animation and simply borrowed the four-frame running man sequence from Broderbund's Choplifter game (hence, the name Bungelings).

The game was ready by Summer of 1983 under the Lode Runner title.

Douglas offered James Bratsanos a flat payment for his role in the development of the Fortran version. James was surprised to receive anything at all, and accepted.

Douglas' royalties started pouring in. He broke Choplifter's Broderbund record of $77,000 in one month royalties. Rumors go around that Douglas grossed $2 millions in total royalties. Although he had to pay a substantial part of the income as taxes to the government, with the net profit he was able to buy a Porche 911 Carrera, a Bayliner Speedboat and a house in Issaquah, Washington.

However, soon with the money going out fast, Douglas realized that he did not have enough to retire on. He started his own company called QAD. The name stood for Quick And Dirty. Unfortunately we do not know what the company was about. What we know is that Douglas did not have much luck with it. So, soon he undertook a new venture named Ralph. Ralph was to become a new video game for the Apple II microcomputer. However the project quickly became overdue and eventually failed. Douglas decided to go back doing what he was best at, and that is making new and improved versions of Lode Runner.

If you have any idea where Douglas E. Smith is now and what he is up to these days, please share this information with us at mail@zxgames.com. As a reward, we will give you any of our games free of charge...

..or just play our remake of Lode Runner (http://www.zxgames.com/en/loderunner.shtml), which is as close to the original as possible and needs no emulators to run.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_3926.shtml