Computer Repair

Routers are devices that link several wired or wireless networks together. Routers are usually used as Internet Protocol (IP) wired or wireless router, an IP router (DSL/ADSL, cable) connects your local area network (LAN) to the wide area network (WAN) of the Internet. Sometimes the router provided by the ISP is low-quality, or you want to purchase for some reason.

Choosing a good router for your home network can be difficult. Before you make that decision, you should consider your ISP and what kind of connection you have. So the question is ‘Which is the best router?’

How composite is your wireless home network? It’s crucial to know how many wireless devices you have. Wireless device are laptops, Ipads, IPods, Iphones, tablet computers, smart phones, PS3, etc. If you plan HD video streaming, you may need a Dual Band N Router, because this can work on 2.4 GHz and 5GHz frequencies at the same time, and double the available wireless bandwidth. A router that has this alternative offers load balancing, for offers you could establish your network to manage video streaming on one frequency, and use the other frequency for other coincidental web activities to avoid any disturbance or problem.

Routers have several types of Standards: Standard 11n (N), which works at 5GHz frequency and Standard 11b and g (B/G), which works at 5GHz frequency. B/G is an old technology and today N technology is favored as it is backwards compatible to B/G and can communicate to any B/G wireless devices. If you want to use the N router mode, your wireless devices will have to be compatible with N technology too. Nevertheless, your old B/G wireless devices can only communicate at the lowest Mode of your router, which is the B/G.

How big your house is and how many rooms do you have? You probably want to use an Access Point (AP), a router with Bridging or Repeating functionality. Make sure to read the technical information of the router to check that the router that you will be purchasing has this alternative. The AP, Bridge or Repeater Router is planned for users looking to establish a wireless network or to link several wired devices to an existing wireless network. Enlarge your wireless network continuously to cover big areas and enhance performance.

Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPV6) compatibility – The advanced routers will have this characteristic ready so that each IPV6 device in your network will act with the router when it becomes actual. Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPV4) will be obsolete but not inevitably stop working. Network Card and other devices will have to be IPV6 amenable in order for them to link and operate with your router.

Security – The wireless security aspect of the router is very important wireless network. Check out that it uses WPA2 encryption, which is the best network encryption nowadays. WEP and WPA encryption have both been hacked and they aren’t secure anymore.

Other factors to think:

Some advanced routers have gigabit Ethernet ports for quicker transfer rate if you choose to do file sharing in your network. The wired network devices must have gigabit network adapters to use gigabit ports.

Parental Control – You may want to control browsing on certain sites for children.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) – You may transfer, upload, and download files by using an internet.

Hotspot – You may create a Wi-Fi Hotspot, this is normal use for coffee bars.

Guest Zone – You can make separate SSID (wireless network name) for your guests to keep them apart from your own SSID.

Warranties – Manufacturers always offer a warranty package together with their devices. The length and terms of these warranties vary widely.

Size and Style – Routers can be placed in a visible central area of the house. Buying a fashionable router can make this a pleasing addition to the decor. Routers are available in several size and shape.

By Steve Kovach, Business Insider

(CNN) — I’ve been a Mac user for about 11 years. And since I made the switch, I never thought the day would come when I’d say this:

I’m excited for the next version of Windows.

This fall, Microsoft will launch Windows 8, a radical redesign from the Windows you’ve grown accustomed to since Windows 95 made its debut 17 years ago.

Windows 8 has been reimagined from the ground up, and it’s built to run on both the traditional desktop and touchscreen tablets. At first glance, you’ll notice the classic Start menu is gone, replaced by a gorgeous tile layout full of your favorite apps and files. Microsoft calls this the “Metro” interface. Imagine it as a blown-up version of the Windows Phone 7 interface used on several smartphones now.

Those little tiles provide live updates with news, sports, weather, Twitter mentions and Facebook updates without you even having to open the app. In one quick glance, you can get all the information you need. It’s not the same old Windows.

And that’s what makes me so excited to try the final version of Windows 8 this fall. In a very un-Microsoft move, the company created the most radical redesign of the desktop in well over a decade.

It’s incredibly functional, too. A beta version Windows 8 is available as a free consumer preview, and I’ve been using it for the last few weeks. Right now, there are only a handful of prototype tablets that run Windows 8, so I’ve been using it on a laptop instead.

However, since the Metro interface is designed more for touch than a mouse cursor, there’s a bit of a learning curve with Windows 8. Scrolling through the Start screen can get confusing on a keyboard until you learn all the shortcuts.

But once you do, the experience is incredible, unlike any operating system I’ve ever used. It’s the perfect hybrid of old and new. While Apple attempts slowly to merge its mobile operating system into the desktop with new iPhone-like features, Microsoft made a bold move and jumped ahead to the future where most computing takes place on touch-friendly smartphones and tablets.

It’s enough to make an Apple fan like me drool.

But what if you’re worried you won’t be able to catch on to the new look in Windows 8?

The classic Windows is still there in Windows 8. Microsoft hid it behind the Metro interface. That means you get the same old taskbar, Start menu and desktop full of icons for your favorite apps. It’s a great way to ease the transition. Plus, some apps such as Excel and Powerpoint just work better on the classic desktop.

Of course, it’s far too early to tell if Microsoft’s gamble with Windows 8 will pay off. Consumers have been slow to adopt Windows Phones, and Windows 8 is essentially just a blown-up version of that.

But if Microsoft can get me this pumped up over a new product, then it must be doing something right.

This ought to outrage a few people, I know I’m not giving up my private things up, even for work.

By MANUEL VALDES and SHANNON MCFARLAND | Associated Press – 7 hrs ago

SEATTLE (AP) — When Justin Bassett interviewed for a new job, he expected the usual questions about experience and references. So he was astonished when the interviewer asked for something else: his Facebook username and password.

Bassett, a New York City statistician, had just finished answering a few character questions when the interviewer turned to her computer to search for his Facebook page. But she couldn’t see his private profile. She turned back and asked him to hand over his login information.

Bassett refused and withdrew his application, saying he didn’t want to work for a company that would seek such personal information. But as the job market steadily improves, other job candidates are confronting the same question from prospective employers, and some of them cannot afford to say no.

In their efforts to vet applicants, some companies and government agencies are going beyond merely glancing at a person’s social networking profiles and instead asking to log in as the user to have a look around.

“It’s akin to requiring someone’s house keys,” said Orin Kerr, a George Washington University law professor and former federal prosecutor who calls it “an egregious privacy violation.”

Questions have been raised about the legality of the practice, which is also the focus of proposed legislation in Illinois and Maryland that would forbid public agencies from asking for access to social networks.

Since the rise of social networking, it has become common for managers to review publically available Facebook profiles, Twitter accounts and other sites to learn more about job candidates. But many users, especially on Facebook, have their profiles set to private, making them available only to selected people or certain networks.

Companies that don’t ask for passwords have taken other steps — such as asking applicants to friend human resource managers or to log in to a company computer during an interview. Once employed, some workers have been required to sign non-disparagement agreements that ban them from talking negatively about an employer on social media.

Asking for a candidate’s password is more prevalent among public agencies, especially those seeking to fill law enforcement positions such as police officers or 911 dispatchers.

Back in 2010, Robert Collins was returning to his job as a security guard at the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services after taking a leave following his mother’s death. During a reinstatement interview, he was asked for his login and password, purportedly so the agency could check for any gang affiliations. He was stunned by the request but complied.

“I needed my job to feed my family. I had to,” he recalled,

After the ACLU complained about the practice, the agency amended its policy, asking instead for job applicants to log in during interviews.

“To me, that’s still invasive. I can appreciate the desire to learn more about the applicant, but it’s still a violation of people’s personal privacy,” said Collins, whose case inspired Maryland’s legislation.

Until last year, the city of Bozeman, Mont., had a long-standing policy of asking job applicants for passwords to their email addresses, social-networking websites and other online accounts.

And since 2006, the McLean County, Ill., sheriff’s office has been one of several Illinois sheriff’s departments that ask applicants to sign into social media sites to be screened.

Chief Deputy Rusty Thomas defended the practice, saying applicants have a right to refuse. But no one has ever done so. Thomas said that “speaks well of the people we have apply.”

When asked what sort of material would jeopardize job prospects, Thomas said “it depends on the situation” but could include “inappropriate pictures or relationships with people who are underage, illegal behavior.”

In Spotsylvania County, Va., the sheriff’s department asks applicants to friend background investigators for jobs at the 911 dispatch center and for law enforcement positions.

“In the past, we’ve talked to friends and neighbors, but a lot of times we found that applicants interact more through social media sites than they do with real friends,” said Capt. Mike Harvey. “Their virtual friends will know more about them than a person living 30 yards away from them.”

Harvey said investigators look for any “derogatory” behavior that could damage the agency’s reputation.

E. Chandlee Bryan, a career coach and co-author of the book “The Twitter Job Search Guide,” said job seekers should always be aware of what’s on their social media sites and assume someone is going to look at it.

Bryan said she is troubled by companies asking for logins, but she feels it’s not a violation if an employer asks to see a Facebook profile through a friend request. And she’s not troubled by non-disparagement agreements.

“I think that when you work for a company, they are essentially supporting you in exchange for your work. I think if you’re dissatisfied, you should go to them and not on a social media site,” she said.

More companies are also using third-party applications to scour Facebook profiles, Bryan said. One app called BeKnown can sometimes access personal profiles, short of wall messages, if a job seeker allows it.

Sears is one of the companies using apps. An applicant has the option of logging into the Sears job site through Facebook by allowing a third-party application to draw information from the profile, such as friend lists.

Sears Holdings Inc. spokeswoman Kim Freely said using a Facebook profile to apply allows Sears to be updated on the applicant’s work history.

The company assumes “that people keep their social profiles updated to the minute, which allows us to consider them for other jobs in the future or for ones that they may not realize are available currently,” she said.

Giving out Facebook login information violates the social network’s terms of service. But those terms have no real legal weight, and experts say the legality of asking for such information remains murky.

The Department of Justice regards it as a federal crime to enter a social networking site in violation of the terms of service, but during recent congressional testimony, the agency said such violations would not be prosecuted.

But Lori Andrews, law professor at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law specializing in Internet privacy, is concerned about the pressure placed on applicants, even if they voluntarily provide access to social sites.

“Volunteering is coercion if you need a job,” Andrews said.

Neither Facebook nor Twitter responded to repeated requests for comment.

In New York, Bassett considered himself lucky that he was able to turn down the consulting gig at a lobbying firm.

“I think asking for account login credentials is regressive,” he said. “If you need to put food on the table for your three kids, you can’t afford to stand up for your belief.”

___

McFarland reported from Springfield, Ill.

___

Manuel Valdes can be reached at https://twitter.com/ByManuelValdes .

Shannon McFarland can be reached at https://twitter.com/shanmcf .

By Tecca | Today in Tech – Fri, Mar 16, 2012..

Android’s old school security measure proves to be super effective

If you’re dubious about Android’s pattern lock ability to safeguard the contents of your phone or tablet, know this: it has recently proven to be a tough nut to crack even for the FBI. The feds had to serve Google a warrant to unlock the phone of a pimp suspected of violating his parole.

The suspect, Dante Dears, used to run an operation in San Diego called Pimpin’ Hoes Daily (PHD) until he was convicted and locked up in 2005. When he got out in 2009, authorities tethered him to a GPS monitor so he couldn’t go on the streets to continue what he used to do. But Dears found a way to outwit his parole officers — he used an Android phone to run his business from the comforts of his own home.

The FBI, having suspected that he’s been behind a prostitution ring all this time even without leaving his house, sent a source to monitor his actions. In spite of the fact that the source had seen him using the phone in his house for as long as six hours at a time, Dears denied that the phone was his. He refused to draw the pattern needed to go through Android’s security measure, even though his parole conditions stated that he couldn’t lock any of his digital files.

[Image credit: Robert Bejil]

(Source)

This article was written by Mariella Moon and originally appeared on Tecca

Pimpin aint easy!!