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The Week in Technology
Google will discontinue selling the Nexus One, their Google Android Phone, on their website; instead opting to partner with cell phone carriers in order to sell their phones inside brick and mortar stores. Google had originally planned to sell the Nexus One through their web store without a service plan, however, the search engine giant stated that customers want hands-on experience before buying a phone, and the ability to select a service plan during the ordering process. T-Mobile had quickly adopted the Nexus One when it was released, however, Verizon and Sprint refused the Nexus One in favor of the HTC EVo 4G and HTC Incredible.
As you may have noticed from my past reports on Facebook security, the popular social networking website is one of the most regular targets for hackers, scammers and phishers. In response to the increase in recent attacks, Facebook will begin to release new security features in an effort to protect their users. New security features include suspicious login detection, which will monitor users login locations and alert the user if there is an attempted login from an unusual location, and registered devices, which will allow users to restrict access by only allowing registered computers and mobile devices to login to their account.
One of the biggest complaints regarding Wikipedia is that it is unreliable. Why? In allowing millions of users access to editing a gigantic encyclopedia, people are bound to hold a bias and write about what they believe, instead of what is truth. Well, Wikipedia made a move this last week which might allow for some of that bias to disappear from their database. Wikipedia is currently looking into developing an innovative method of increasing the accuracy of the public policy and political articles in its online encyclopedia, with the assistance of The Stanton Foundation. As the Wikipedia Press Release stated, "The Wikipedia Public Policy Initiative will recruit Wikipedia volunteers to work with public policy professors and students to identify topic areas for improvement, and work to make them better." The project is set to begin in Fall 2010 and continue through Summer 2011.
Define it with Google
Need a quick word definition? Go to Google and type "define:" (without the quotes) followed by the word. So, if you want to know what "gigabyte" means, just type in "define: gigabyte" (again, without quotes) and hit the Search Button. You'll get a list drawn from several sites. Check it out!
How to Create a Local Area Network Connection and Share Files across Multiple Computers
Do you use multiple computers at your workplace? Don't you think it would be a good idea to create a Local area network connection (LAN) between them so that you can quickly copy files, folders and documents from one computer to another. Let's learn how!
To create a Local area network connection between two computers, you will need the following things:
1. An Ethernet Cable
2. Network drivers and adapters
Following are the steps involved to create a local Area Network connection between multiple computers using the Windows XP or Vista Operating system.
1. Plug in one end of the Ethernet cable to the Ethernet port of Computer1. Next, plug in another end of the Ethernet cable to the Ethernet port of computer2.
2. In computer 1, click Start Menu, right click "My Computer" and choose "Properties"
3. If you are using Windows Vista: In the Computer name, domain and Workgroup settings, choose "Change Settings".
If You are Using Windows XP: Navigate to the "Computer Name" tab as shown below:
4. Click "Change" and enter a assign unique Workgroup name to computer1 as shown below:
5. Click "OK" and you are done setting up the first computer. Now carry out the exact same settings for Computer2. The Workgroup settings of Computer name must match exactly with the Workgroup settings of Computer2.
6. Once both the computers are assigned the same Workgroup name and the ethernet cable is connected, restart both the computers.
7. After a reboot, both computers will detect the workgroup settings automatically and now you are ready to share files, folders and documents across computers using LAN.
Sharing Files in a Local Area Network
Following are the steps involved to share files among the two computers connected in a local area network:
1. Copy a file or folder in computer 1 and click "Network" from the start menu. If your computer is on Windows XP, click "My Network places" from the start menu.
2. In the Network window, you will see a shared folder icon as shown below:
3. This is your second computer, which is showing in the Network window. Double click the icon and browse to "Shared docs > Docs" folder and paste the file which you copied in step1.
4.To get access to this file on your other computer, go to "My Network places" and open the "Shared docs" folder. You would see the file which you copied in the above step.
That concludes the tutorial on setting up a local area network connection on two windows computer. You can now share files, documents and folders and do not require any software or router to do the job.
Windows 7 Action Center
The Windows 7 Action Center is responsible for letting you know what's going on behind the scenes, but it can get a little invasive at times. I mean, how much work is one expected to get done if there are little windows constantly popping up in the corner to let you know about various security and maintenance happenings?
So let's turn 'em off!
Hit Start, and in the Search Box type "Action Center". Hit Enter or click on the result that appears at the top of your Start Menu.
From here, click Change Action Center Settings.
In the windows shown below you can choose which security and maintenance message appear. Just un-check anything you don't deem necessary and click OK.
If you ever want to turn them back on, just repeat the steps and re-check the items!
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Q:
I have heard that there is a way to shut down the computer right from the desktop. Is that true?
A:
Yes, it's true; and you can do it to reboot, log off, hibernate, and stand by, as well! Here's how:
Let's start with the desktop shortcut for shutting down the computer.
1. Right-click on an empty area on the desktop. You'll see a menu. In the menu, select New, and then Shortcut.
2. Click on Shortcut. The "Create Shortcut" Wizard will pop up.
3. Where it asks you to type the location of the item, type the following:
shutdown -s -t 00
4. Click on Next and a screen will ask you what you would like to name your shortcut. Name it anything. I named mine – don't be shocked – "Shut Down". Now click Finish.
Done! Except…it doesn't look like the real Shutdown button; the icon is different.
Now this may be all you need, but I am very picky about things and I want it to look like the real shut down button. Thus I have to change the icon. To do this:
1. Right click your new shutdown shortcut and choose Properties.
2. Select the "Change Icon" button in the Shortcut section.
3. A box of icons will pop up. You can choose any one of them for your icon (I chose the icon for – Surprise! - Shutdown)
Now – I mentioned that you can Log off, Reboot, Hibernate, and Standby the same way. Here is a chart of what you type in when the "Create Shortcut" Wizard pops up.
Here's what I ended up with on my desktop:
A word about the icons:
I couldn't find one for Reboot or Stand By (Windows icons), so I Google'd them (i.e. Windows XP reboot icon) and found some in Images.
However, to save you some time, here are the links to each (courtesy of Icon Archive):
Reboot Icon
Stand By Icon
These are in various sizes. I used size 64x64 for mine.
And you know, I didn't think it would make that much of a difference in time and hassle, but it did. The other night I had to shut down really quickly and didn't want to because I was working on something so I just clicked on Hibernate on my desktop and it was all good.
Pretty cool, huh? Try it; it really is useful!
Q:
Since so many people I know are on Facebook, I decided to join. Now I don't know what to put on my profile page. Can you help?
A:
I know what you mean. It's hard to decide what's important and what's not.
All the people I know love Facebook. A couple of my friends use it to promote their own personal web sites. Basically, the question to ask yourself is this: What do I want people to see when they visit me?
For instance, let's say you are a photographer. You might want to create a profile geared exclusively towards photography and not include a lot of details about your personal life. Or let's say you have a thoroughbred German Shepherd. You may want to have your profile reflect your interest in breeding dogs, maybe upload some pictures of your dog, offer tips on how to take care of a dog, etc. Or maybe you are like most everyone I know and just want to put your personal information on your page and look interesting.
Whichever route you choose, there are some basic tips that may help. Keep in mind that these are tips that will help with any social networking site, not just Facebook.
1. Create a profile that is simple and easy to read. If you clutter up your page with a lot of stuff, then you run the risk of having people jump on your page and then jump right back off. People on the internet surf fast and if have a ton of text and huge pictures that take a long time to load, then they are going to go on to someone else. On the other hand, the information you put on your profile page should be descriptive enough for others that have the same interests that you have can catch that right away. Use significant phrases in your descriptions that reflect your interests. This makes it a lot easier for people that share the things that are most important to find you.
2. "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." I don't know who said that, but it is so true! There are a couple of easy ways to do it. You can make a good first impression just by having a nice layout. You can find tons of free layouts all over the internet; depending on the site they may have custom layouts that you can choose from. Get on Google and type in Free Facebook Layouts and you'll easily find something to express your artistic side. Another thing that you should do is make sure that the things expressed by you or someone that wrote on your page are things that can be read by anybody; you don't want somebody to get a bad first impression of you because someone left something nasty or mean on your page.
3. I should have put this first: Decide on exactly what you want to say! If you want to present the "real" you (well, within reason), then include hobbies, any qualities you want to brag about, interests that you would like to share with someone, etc. Think of your page, pick one main idea or interest, and focus on that. Try not to have a "rambling" page; everything that is on your page should pertain to whatever it is you want to focus on.
4. Be careful of who you add as a "friend" or contact. Make sure to add only those that like what you like, like to do what you do, etc. People will be checking out your "friends" as well. If they go to one of your "friends' pages and that person is – well – not exactly the type of person they would have anything to do with - they may never come back to your page again. Impressions, impressions…
Okay, there you go. These are just some basic tips to get your started. Once you do, you will learn to fine-tune your page and get it exactly how you want it.
Happy Social Networking!
