Protecting your computer from viruses

With the prevalence of viruses today, it is important for any computer accessing the Internet to have protection against viruses. In addition to safe operating procedures, there are many different programs which can help you to protect your computer. Viruses can come from many different sources, so you must be aware to protect yourself from getting a virus from any source. Remember that virus scanners can only catch the known viruses, so do not rely solely on virus protection software. Viruses may take months before they are discovered and solutions are found.

Some hints for preventing virus infections:

Don'ts

• Never use storage media from an untrustworthy source
• Never download files from a site or person that you do not trust
• Never open an email that looks unusual or suspicious
• Never open an email attachment from a person you do not know
• Never open an email attachment that looks unusual or suspicious

Do's

• Disable preview screens when using email
• Scan storage media (e.g., USB drives) before using them
• Use a real-time virus scanner or frequently check your system with an online virus scanner
• When using a real-time virus scanner, download virus updates every week
• Backup important files often
• Use personal firewall software to prevent unauthorized Internet access to and from your computer
• Use of the RTF (Rich Text Format) file format preserves document content and formatting AND reduces the spread of viruses. The Word .doc format has been a popular target for those creating viruses.

How does a Search Engine work?

What is a search engine?

Basically, a search engine is a software program that searches for sites based on the words that you designate as search terms. Search engines look through their own databases of information in order to find what it is that you are looking for.

How Do Search Engines Work?

Please note: search engines are not simple. They include incredibly detailed processes and methodologies, and are updated all the time. This is a bare bones look at how search engines work to retrieve your search results. All search engines go by this basic process when conducting search processes, but because there are differences in search engines, there are bound to be different results depending on which engine you use.

1. The searcher types a query into a search engine.
2. Search engine software quickly sorts through literally millions of pages in its database to find matches to this query.
3. The search engine's results are ranked in order of relevancy.

What is E-Learning?

E-learning is to classroom learning as cell phones are to a pay phone at the bus station.

At least it is in some ways. For instance, e-learning allows you to learn anywhere and usually at any time, as long as you have a properly configured computer. Cell phones allow you to communicate any time and usually anywhere, as long as you have a properly configured phone.

E-learning can be CD-ROM-based, Network-based, Intranet-based or Internet-based. It can include text, video, audio, animation and virtual environments. It can be a very rich learning experience that can even surpass the level of training you might experience in a crowded classroom. It's self-paced, hands-on learning.

The quality of the electronic-based training, as in every form of training, is in its content and its delivery. E-learning can suffer from many of the same pitfalls as classroom training, such as boring slides, monotonous speech, and little opportunity for interaction. The beauty of e-learning, however, is that new software allows the creation of very effective learning environments that can engulf you in the material.

E-Commerce

E-Commerce is Like Any Other Business, Except ...

Developing a business over the Internet requires many of the same major activities as starting any other business. You should do some basic business planning. After all, you need a product. You may need funding to get your business going. You need customers. You need to market products to your customers. You need strong customer service. You need to manage purchases by customers, finances, staff and other resources.

Not All Products Are Very Compatible to Sales Over the Internet

But there are some features unique to e-commerce. Not all products are real compatible to be sold over the Internet. For example, they may require a lot of face-to-face selling. They may cost a lot to ship (a primary practice in e-commerce is that customers buy products, and you ship the products to them). You need to make sure that, because your product may be advertised to the world, that you remain in control of your ideas, or "intellectual property".

You Need an Online "Store"

Basically, you need an "online store" to be an "e-tailer". (Don't fret. You may be able to outsource, or hire, a current store to work with you.) Your store will need a "merchant" account, or the ability to process your customers' credit card transactions over the Internet. This includes needing a "secure server", or that your online store be on a computer system that ensures that customers' credit card numbers cannot readily be read by people who are not supposed to read these numbers. You'll probably need some kind of online order form that customers can complete, in order to purchase your products. You may even want your the processing of customers' order to include processing the customers' credit card numbers right away while they're still online and connected to your Website.

Let's read on to understand the very basics of e-commerce.

Obviously, You Need a Website

You need to design and promote a Website. You'll need access to expertise that can regularly design and maintain this Website for you -- and it will require ongoing attention. Fortunately, there is a great deal of free information available to help you with this design and promotion.

Social Media

One day, I watched another classmate of mine write the word “Popular” over and over again on her English folder. I was by no means the most popular kid at school, but I’d learned that the more you strove to gain admittance into the exclusive clique, the faster the entire herd of cool kids galloped away over the horizon. I predicted that she would be left in a swirling cloud of dust wondering how all her careful observation and practiced imitation backfired.

Begging for acceptance is the most direct route to rejection. That time and energy would be better spent learning how to love oneself and encouraging others to do the same.

Why is it that people who are comfortable in their own skin never have a shortage of friends? They give other people the freedom to drop all pretense and facades and simply be themselves. That kind of confidence is magnetic.

These principles hold true in virtual communities like Facebook and Twitter.

Behind the profiles, pictures, videos, notes, posts, and avatars are people just like you and me. Networking sites are built around relationships-people interacting with other people, and the same etiquette that governs face-to-face interactions carries over to these online communities. The social graces or personality traits that enable some people to navigate conversations, parties, and meetings with ease will also attract people online.

Have a personality, but don’t come on too strong. People who promote themselves to the excess will encounter lots of closed doors. People who share too much may find people ignoring their spam. People who never respond to messages, add friends, or update content will frustrate and ultimately alienate their online friends. These blunders undermine meaningful connections with others.

Before you slander your ex-girlfriend, complain about your boss, or write a lewd or profane account of the weekend’s indiscretions, consider the immediate and long-term consequences of your actions.

As the book of Proverbs says, “Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.”

Social media are social. Treat people online how you would treat them in person-how you want to be treated.

Where is the Web going?

Well this is my very first post for dear Mr. Abel's class. What fascinated me was how the internet evolved from Web 1.0 to 2.0 and is now moving on to 3.0! Correct me if I'm wrong but what I gathered so far from class is that:

Web 1.0 was about reading, Web 2.0 is about writing

Web 1.0 was about companies, Web 2.0 is about communities

Web 1.0 was about home pages, Web 2.0 is about blogs

Web 1.0 was about portals, Web 2.0 is about RSS

Web 1.0 was about taxonomy, Web 2.0 is about tags

Web 1.0 was about wires, Web 2.0 is about wireless

Web 1.0 was about owning, Web 2.0 is about sharing

Web 1.0 was about Netscape, Web 2.0 is about Google

Web 1.0 was about dialup, Web 2.0 is about broadband

Web 1.0 was about hardware costs, Web 2.0 is about bandwidth costs

Web 1.0 was about control, Web 2.0 is about freedom and liberty

Web 1.0 was about taking, Web 2.0 is about giving

Web 1.0 was about pushing (publish information), Web 2.0 is about pulling (aggregation)

Web 1.0 was about mass-customization, Web 2.0 is about personalisation

Web 1.0 was about adoption, Web 2.0 is about adaptation

A Comparison of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0

The amount of accomplishments that have been made in addition to the structure is surprising. Web 1.0 began as a place for businesses to broadcast information to people. Now, many years later, it has become a place for people to offer up information as well.

It is this integration of people and the Web that is the heart of the Web 2.0 creation. In the beginning, people read what others wrote and they were comfortable with the knowledge. But, over time, these same people decided they wanted to be a part of the information superhighway.

Families began creating home pages to keep in touch with members many miles away. AOL was the hottest Internet service provider in the nation and Netscape was a thing of beauty. Now, times have moved forward and these concepts have faded amidst a blurringly large amount of information, data and words.

There are simply too many words on the Internet. Too much information all gathered under one preface: www. Moving from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 has nothing to do with programmers and data engineers, it has to do with people all gathering together to become a part of one large communities.

No longer will humans sit back and merely listen to the news they are fed, they will blog, forum post and comment to everyone they know, how they feel about that news. No longer will people need to keep track of web addresses; RSS feeds will live on computer screens. The new Web is and will be, the “Digital Natives” gift to the future generations.

The differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 are numerous, interfaces are more friendly, informations are more global, people are more connected and datas are more easily searched. With time, Web 2.0 will become commonplace, but for now, relish the new and exciting nature of community togetherness.

Web 3.0

Web 2.0 services are now the commoditized platform, not the final product. In a world where a social network, wiki, or social bookmarking service can be built for free and in an instant, what’s next?

Web 2.0 services like digg and YouTube evolve into Web 3.0 services with an additional layer of individual excellence and focus. As an example, funnyordie.com leverages all the standard YouTube Web 2.0 feature sets like syndication and social networking, while adding a layer of talent and trust to them.

A version of digg where experts check the validity of claims, corrected errors, and restated headlines to be more accurate would be the Web 3.0 version. However, I’m not sure if the digg community will embrace that any time soon.

Wikipedia, considered a Web 1.5 service, is experiencing the start of the Web 3.0 movement by locking pages down as they reach completion, and (at least in their German version) requiring edits to flow through trusted experts.

Also of note, is what Web 3.0 leaves behind. Web 3.0 throttles the “wisdom of the crowds” from turning into the “madness of the mobs” we’ve seen all to often, by balancing it with a respect of experts. Web 3.0 leaves behind the cowardly anonymous contributors and the selfish blackhat SEOs that have polluted and diminished so many communities.

Web 3.0 is a return to what was great about media and technology before Web 2.0: recognizing talent and expertise, the ownership of ones words, and fairness. It’s time to evolve, shall we?