Security Software

One of the best security software programs that I have used is McAfee. I have been using it for years and am very happy to post that I have not received any virus's since using it. McAfee offers many different versions of their software from personal home use to large business. I use the home and home office version. They offer useful links that offer many free tools as well as a full virus definition for most all up to date virus's.

McAfee also has 24/7 online support if you are having problems. If you are experiencing product issues or have questions about your account, McAfee Technical Support & Customer Service is ready to assist. McAfee offers 24-hour online access to award-winning support solutions such as our McAfee Virtual Technician, extensive FAQ Knowledgebase, and automated Solution Wizards. These services are always available free of charge, resolve the most common issues, and assure your products are up-to-date and actively protecting what you value.

I have personally used the Technical Support when trying to re-load my McAfee on an old computer. An online assistant did a live chat and took the controls of my computer and corrected my issues in as little as 20 minutes. Not only was it convenient, but Customer Support went above and beyond to make sure that I was satisfied. I even received a follow up email to make sure that my problem had been resolved. In today's internet you must have your computer protected or you will lose what you value the most, your data. I hope this has been helpful and you check into McAfee Security. I am glad that I did.

HOTSPOT (Wi-Fi) - MICHELLE R WILSON

Hotspot (Wi-Fi)
The term HotSpot was promoted by Nokia Mobile Phones, after five years Brett Stewart first proposed the concept at NetWorld+Interop conference in 1993.

HotSpot Network provides a reliable wireless Internet connection with broadband speed, so it's great for everything from checking your email to instant messaging to watching videos or listening to music.
HotSpot Network gives you online communication access that lets you choose how you want to stay close. Whether you are using Wi-Fi on your phone or laptop it keeps you connected.
With the broadband speeds of the HotSpot Network, you spend your time communicating, not waiting. It makes connecting simple and consistent, no matter which location you're using.
Hotspots are often found at restaurants, train stations, airport, libraries, hotel, hospital, coffee shop and bookstores. Many public places also utilize Hotspots.


There are hotspots which operate in two way;

• Public Network with a Wi-Fi router is easy to create a free HotSpot. Private users of wireless routers can turn off their authentication requirement. The disadvantage is that access to the router cannot be controlled. Some of the authenticated user does not secure the data transmission or prevent packet sniffe from allowing people to see traffic on the network. Some vendors offer virtual private network (VPN) as a secure option. This solution is expensive. Also it may be not be secure as only the connection between the networks is shielded and the network itself is not always the case.


• This Closed public networks use a HotSpot Management System to control the HotSpot. The software runs on the router itself or an external computer. With this type of software, operators can authorize only specific users to access the Internet and they often associate the free access to a menu or a purchase limit. This is often done by a Service Level Agreement.
  

WWW-Sheila Schmitt

When you hear the term World Wide Web or the Web most people think Internet. I know I did. During my research of the web I found this not to be true. The World Wide Web and the Internet work together. An interesting fact the Internet has be around longer than the Web.

The Internet provides the framework for the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web was designed to make links to information from anywhere. The World Wide Web was introduce in the early nineties by Time Berners-Lee from the CERN (European Counsil for Nuclear Research) laboratories in Switzerland. After the World Wide Web was introduced; it growth was fast because CERN provided World Wide Web technology and program code free to anyone to use or make changes.
The Web has transformed Internet from just share documents to be able to shop, do business , pay bill , attend college and entertainment.

It is hard to believe that the Internet and the web have are been around since the nineties. But this technology has changed the world in such as short time. I found it very interesting that the web technology and programs code was given free. I wonder if there was a fee charge would the Internet and world wide web grow as fast as it did. I remember when all this was happening you could never up with the improvement and advancement of technology. Every year or two you need to by a new computer.

Internet Browser- Courtney Renner

A web browser or Internet browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content. Hyperlinks present in resources enable users to easily navigate their browsers to related resources. Although browsers are primarily intended to access the World Wide Web, they can also be used to access information provided by Web servers in private networks or files in file systems. Some browsers can also be used to save information resources to file systems.

Web browsers range in features from minimal, text-based user interfaces with bare-bones support for HTML to rich user interfaces supporting a wide variety of file formats and protocols. All major web browsers allow the user to open multiple information resources at the same time, either in different browser windows or in different tabs of the same window. Major browsers also include pop-up blockers to prevent unwanted windows from "popping up" without the user's consent.

Most web browsers can display a list of web pages that the user has bookmarked so that the user can quickly return to them. Bookmarks are also called "Favorites" in Internet Explorer. In addition, all major web browsers have some form of built-in web feed aggregator. In Mozilla Firefox, web feeds are formatted as "live bookmarks" and behave like a folder of bookmarks corresponding to recent entries in the feed.In Opera, a more traditional feed reader is included which stores and displays the contents of the feed. Most browsers can be extended via plug-ins, downloadable components that provide additional features.

Testing Blog

Hot Spots - Eric Howard

Hot Spots - Eric Howard

A hotspot is a site that offers Internet access over a wireless local area network through the use of a router connected to a link to an Internet service provider. Hotspots typically use Wi-Fi technology for the wireless network. Hotspots may be found in coffee shops and various other public establishments throughout much of North America and Europe. The public can use a laptop, Wi-Fi phone, or other suitable portable device to access the wireless connection (usually Wi-Fi) provided. Of the estimated 150 million laptops, 14 million PDAs, and other emerging Wi-Fi devices sold per year for the last few years, most include the Wi-Fi feature.

For venues that have broadband Internet access, offering wireless access is as simple as purchasing one AP, in conjunction with a router and connecting the AP to the Internet connection. A single wireless router combining these functions may suffice.

Free hotspots operate in two ways, uing an open public network is the easiest way to create a free HotSpot. All that is needed is a Wi-Fi router, private users of wireless routers can turn off their authentication requirements, thus opening their connection, intentionally or not, for sharing by anyone in range. The disadvantage is that access to the router cannot be controlled. Closed public networks use a HotSpot Management System to control the HotSpot. This software runs on the router itself or an external computer. With this software, operators can authorize only specific users to access the Internet, and they often associate the free access to a menu or to a purchase limit. Operators are also now able to limit each user's available bandwidth - each user is therefore restricted to a certain speed to ensure that everyone gets a good quality service. Often this is done through Service Level Agreements.

Wi-Fi Rose Marx

Wi-Fi - Rose Marx
Wi-Fi Alliance or Wi-Fi as most people know it is trademarked. It is used to brand products belonging to the class of wireless local area network (WLAN). IEEE 802.11 is the most commonly used WLAN technology used today. Wi-Fi devices are frequently installed in video game consoles, MP3 players and other electronic items. Devices with Wi-Fi capability are able to connect to the internet when they are within the range of a wireless network.
Wi-Fi is available for home use, but most commonly is used in public places of commerce as an incentive to draw and keep customers. It is also offered at some hotels, airports, Amtrak and a variety of other public places. Panera Bread and Starbucks are two more popular establishments that offer Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi Internet Connection is also available via cellular networks at a cost.
The first wireless internet network was built in Pittsburgh, PA at the campus of Carnegie Mellon University.

On a side note, American Hi-Fi is a semi popular music band from the early 2000's, Flavor of the Weak (not misspelled) probably being the best known song from them.

File Compression - Glenn Caillouet

Researching file compression, I have learned there are hundreds of different compressed file types. They range from very rare to very common file types, with .zip, .sitx, .7z, .rar, and .gz as the most common types used. Along with the many file types, there are many different utility programs for compressing files. These same utility programs are used to decompress the files, so the files can be used. On PCs the most common methods are Utility-based file compression, which means compressing one or more files into one compress file (sometimes called archive).

The advantage of compressing files is they use less storage space on hard drives. If you need to download many files, they can be compressed together into one file. Compressed files will download faster and more data can be stored on removable media. Creating compressed files does not change or delete the original file. Also, when the file is compressed and then decompressed, it restores it back like the original file.

Cloud Computing - Sue Schefke

An interesting web site I came across http://www.cloudcomputingdefined.com/ provides this
easy- to-understand definition of Cloud Computing:

• The storing and accessing of applications and computer data often through a Web browser rather than running installed software on your personal computer or office server.

• Internet-based computing whereby information, IT resources, and software applications are provided to computers and mobile devices on-demand.

• Using the Internet to access web-based applications, web services, and IT infrastructure as a service.

The Internet is the “cloud” which provides a means of accessing the infrastructure we need to use Google mail, or post to a blog, or use a drop box. We don’t have to, purchase a server, install software, or hire an IT Specialist to use these services. Businesses are relying more and more on “cloud computing” because it satisfies their technology needs without requiring that they invest in hardware, software, or technical personnel. They are able to process credit cards, handle their accounting needs, pay their employees, provide training, and carry out many other business activities.

“Cloud” services are provided by many companies, including Google, Microsoft, and Amazon (just to name a few). They maintain the hardware and software and infrastructure, and charge for usage of their services either through a subscription, based on actual usage, or sometimes for free. These services are provided via the Internet and are gaining in popularity because of their ease of use and cost effectiveness. To learn more about “cloud computing” visit Microsoft’s Cloud.

Lab 2 - Virtualization - Rick McClure

Virtualization of systems has been a big topic with the government for a number of years.  Since I work for a government contractor, we have had to become very familiar with the capabilities and limitations of different vendors products.  The most used product I have worked with over the last couple of years was developed by VMWare.  What I liked about this product from the beginning was that it ran on Red Hat Linux, which has come to be recognized as one of the most secure platforms available.  Our customers are very security conscious, so this is a choice that makes them feel better also.

What has impressed me even more though is the ability to run completely separate operating systems on one platform, and have them all working at the same time.  This is a quality assurance testers dream come true!  VMWare has really come through in supplying this need for us, while minimizing the amount of hardware we need to do our work. We have some applications that were developed to run specifically in a Solaris environment, which creates executable documents that are used in a windows environment, so this allows us to have both environments running at the same time, on the same system.  Less hardware, more space, less on the electric bill, happier boss!

Testing

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Just reviewing and testing the Blog out.

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