Privacy Policies

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Dandeslater

I have never taken the time to really read a Privacy Policy for any company that I do business with online. Does anyone? Well, some people do. Occasionally, students do, as that is exactly how I came about this research. I was recently introduced to a few Privacy Policies for known businesses by way of the instructions of an exercise that I was compelled to complete in a course that I have enrolled. The businesses that I researched were Walmart, Dell and Barnes & Noble. It turned out to be a very interesting assignment. I was quite unaware of some of the information that is gathered by these companies (though not very surprised). And, when I went about searching for ways to “opt out” of their information gathering, I found out that the only way to accomplish it would be to completely secure your web browser to the point of impairing your online experience. However, you are able to “opt out” of communications addressed to you. Also, all three of the companies “Privacy Policies” are much more like one another than they are different, so I felt it made for a good baseline for judging other companies as well.

Information collected by these companies is used to enhance your shopping experience. It is collected by the way of “cookies” and “web beacons” and includes IP address, browser type, language, all web pages viewed, links clicked and products viewed, web sites that you clicked from and even those that you click to. (Walmart, 2011) If you decide to purchase a product then more personal information is collected including your email address, billing address, credit card information and telephone number.(barnesandnoble.com LLC) And, occasionally, they even ask you to provide your social security number. (Dell, 2010)

These three companies state in their policies that they reasonably secure your information. However, they also state that they cannot promise security during the exchange of information. And, I could not find that any of them use a privacy guarantee solution such as “Truste.” Additionally, giving me an uneasy feeling, all three companies share your information with their business partners which include other entities owned by the companies, credit card companies and law enforcement. Finally, we agree to these policies and practices simply by visiting their sites and doing business with them.

Having done this research, I will surf the internet with a new, more critical approach, as I don’t believe that online companies take sufficient responsibilities to secure our data. I don’t think that a guarantee is too much to ask for.

Works Cited

barnesandnoble.com LLC. (n.d.). Barnes & Noble Privacy Policy. Retrieved January 22, 2012, from BarnsandNobile.com: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/help/cds2.asp?PID=25560#q1

Dell. (2010, December 30). Dell Terms of Sale, License Agreement & Policies. Retrieved January 22, 2012, from Dell.com: http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/policy/en/policy?c=us&l=en&s=gen&~section=000#5

Walmart. (2011, March 24). Walmart Privacy Policy – Highlights. Retrieved January 23, 2012, from WalmartStores.com: http://walmartstores.com/PrivacySecurity/9243.aspx#howWeUseYourInfo

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Jacksonville ISP Survey

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Dandeslater

This is a summary of a survey that I completed as an end of chapter exercise in “Discovering the Internet” (Shelly, 2010)

I completed this survey on 1/16/2012 after interviewing five people regarding their Internet Service Providers. Of the five people that I surveyed, two of them use Clear (formerly Clearwire), two of them use Comcast, and one uses AT&T UVerse. I was surprised to discovered that more of the people surveyed used a provider other than Comcast for their internet service. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that most people are quite happy with their particular provider as all surveyed said that they were satisfied.

All five of the interviewees said that their configuration was easy to set up with the UVerse client commenting that AT&T set hers up for her. Four people had to contact technical support at some point; one by email and three by telephone, and all were pleased with quick and satisfactory resolutions. Only one person had billing difficulties and actually cancelled her account and was later happily reinstated with Clear at a reduced rate.

When asked about what they were most satisfied with, three of the interviewees commented on their connection speed, two decidedly replied “cost” and the UVerse customer loved AT&T’s technical support and customer service. When asked what they were most dis-satisfied with, they all commented that there was not anything with which they were not satisfied though the UVerse customer did say that “it could be faster.” All in all, it seems that most everyone is pretty happy with their choice in Internet Service Providers.

As an afterword, I also use Comcast as my home internet provider and Clear as my mobile internet provider and although I wish that Comcast was a bit less expensive, I am also quite happy with both services.

Works Cited

Shelly, N. R. (2010). ISP Survey. In H. A. Gary B. Shelly, Discovering the Internet (p. 32). Boston: Course Technology, Cengage Learning.

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Upgrading and Repairing PCs (20th Edition)

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Dandeslater

Upgrading and Repairing PCs (20th Edition)

Upgrading and Repairing PCs (20th Edition)

“…a comprehensive resource for PC enthusiasts and professionals alike. Packed with the latest speeds and feeds, you’ll want to keep this book on-hand as an authoritative technology reference.”

–Chris Angelini, Managing Editor, Tom’s Hardware

For 20 years, Upgrading and Repairing PCs has been the world’s #1 guide to PC hardware: the single source for reliable information on troubleshooting and fixing problems, adding hardware, optimizing performance, and building new PCs. Now, better than ever, this 20th Edition offers beefed-up coverage of the newest hardware innovations and maintenance techniques, plus more than 90 minutes of new DVD video.

Scott Mueller delivers practical answers about PC processors, motherboards, buses, BIOSes, memory, storage, video, audio, I/O, input devices, networks, Internet connectivity, power, and much more. You’ll find the industry’s best coverage of diagnostics, testing, and repair–plus cutting-edge discussions of improving performance via overclocking and other techniques.

Mueller has taught thousands of professionals in person and millions more through his books and videos–nobody knows more about keeping PCs running perfectly. Whether you’re a professional technician, a small business owner trying to save money, or a home PC enthusiast, this is the only PC hardware book you need!

NEW IN THIS EDITION

  • The newest processors, including Intel’s 2nd generation Core i3, i5, i7 plus the Atom, and AMD’s new VISION series CPUs
  • 3TB (and larger) disks, 4K sectoring, partition alignment, faster SATA disk interfaces, and SSD (Solid State Drive) hard drive replacements
  • New firmware innovations, from full UEFI BIOS support to built-in motherboard flash BIOS upgrade utilities
  • Integrated video and audio, including 5.1/7.1 surround sound, HDMI, and DisplayPort connections
  • Updated PCI Express and Power Supply specifications for powering high-end video cards
  • Emerging interfaces such as USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt
  • Updated coverage of building PCs from scratch–from choosing and assembling hardware through BIOS setup and troubleshooting

ON THE DVD

Get more than 90 minutes of up-to-the minute, studio quality how-to videos–all playable on your DVD player or computer! In this edition, Scott Mueller offers true insider information about several of the key components in a PC, including hard disk drives, power supplies, motherboards, and more.

You will see hard drives completely dissected–even see an open hard drive in operation–so you can observe exactly what happens under the covers. One of the most common causes of failure in modern motherboards, power supplies, and many other PC components are bad capacitors–otherwise known as the capacitor plague. Mueller will show several real-world examples of this “disease,” so you can easily identify and perhaps even repair the problem. Finally, because external hard drives are now commonly used for supplementary storage and backups, you’ll find a complete discussion of several alternatives on the market. This includes tips and tricks for building or assembling your own flexible, high performance and highly reliable external storage drives, with several examples shown. This DVD also contains the complete 19th edition of this book in printable form, plus extensive technical reference material, a comprehensive glossary, and more!

List Price: $ 59.99

Price: $ 30.68

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Comparing IPv4 to IPv6 Addressing

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Dandeslater

The most apparent problem that IPv6 was designed to solve was the limited number of IP addresses available with the IPv4 protocol. Conventions see us likely running out of the just over 4 Billion IP addresses offered by IPv4 before too much longer. IPv6 solves that with creating more IP addresses than can ordinarily be comprehended. An approximate number of IP addresses created by the IPv6 protocol is around three hundred forty trillian, trillian, trillian (Jenson, 2011).

Instead of the familiar IPv4 four octets creating 32 bit IP addresses, e.g. 192.168.2.1, the new IPv6 protocol will incorporate eight, sixteen bit fields. Also significantly different, it will utilize hexadecimal numbers as opposed to the traditional decimal numbers. An example of a new address may look like this: 3ff2:0:0:0:100:f6ee:fe39:54db or may also be written by dropping multiple fields of zeros and using double colons, e.g. 3ff2::100:f6ee:fe39:54db(Opus One).

The new IPv6 protocol also does away with the familiar classes of networks, which in turn changes the way we perform our sub-netting. To provide a slight over-simplification of the matter: with IPv6, we will now identify our networks with the first three 16 bit fields and call it the “site ID.” Then we will provide the network a “sub ID” (which more or less extends the “network ID” for larger companies) and then reserve the last four 16 bit fields for the “interface ID” referring to the individual nodes or “hosts.” So, although it appears to be somewhat more complicated, we can compare the first four fields of the IPv6 address with the Network ID and the last four fields with the host ID (Oracle).

Works Cited

 BIBLIOGRAPHY Jenson, B. (2011, June 16). Ipv6 Facts | IPv6 News. Retrieved November 9, 2011, from IPv6 vs IPv4.com: http://www.ipv6vsipv4.com/

Opus One. (n.d.). What does an IPv6 address look like? Retrieved November 8, 2011, from http://www.opus1.com: http://www.opus1.com/ipv6/whatdoesanaddresslooklike.html

Oracle. (n.d.). System Administration Guide: IP Services. Retrieved November 8, 2011, from Oracle.com: http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E19963-01/html/821-1453/ipv6-overview-10.html

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How Computers Work (9th Edition)

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Dandeslater

How Computers Work (9th Edition)

How Computers Work (9th Edition)

Having sold more than 2 million copies over its lifetime, How Computers Work is the definitive illustrated guide to the world of PCs and technology. In this new edition, you’ll find detailed information not just about every last component of hardware found inside your PC, but also in-depth explanations about home networking, the Internet, PC security, and even how cell phone networks operate. Whether you’re interested in how the latest graphics cards power today’s most demanding games or how a digital camera turns light into data, you’ll find your answers right here.

Ron White is a former executive editor and columnist for PC Computing, where he developed the visual concept behind How Computers Work. Founder of one of the

earliest PC user groups, he has been writing about computers for 25 years and is known for building wildly extreme computers.

Timothy Edward Downs is an award-winning magazine designer, illustrator, and photographer. He has directed and designed several national consumer, business, technology, and

lifestyle magazines, always infusing a sense of “how it works” into every project.

A full-color, illustrated adventure into the wonders of TECHNOLOOGY

This full-color, fully illustrated guide to the world of technology assumes nothing and explains everything. Only the accomplished Ron White and award-winning Tim Downs have the unique ability to meld descriptive text with one-of-a-kind visuals to fully explain how the electronic gear we depend on every day is made possible. In addition to all the content you’ve come to expect from prior editions, this newly revised edition includes all-new coverage of topics such as:

•    How tablet PCs put the power of a PC quite literally in your hands

•    How Windows Vista makes your Windows desktop translucent and makes your PC more secure

•    How advances in optical disc technology such as dual-layer DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-Ray discs continue to push the envelope

•    How Apple’s new iPhone is revolutionizing what cell phones can do

•    How BitTorrent technology enables anyone to share information with everyone

For a decade, How Computers Work has helped newbies understand new technology, while at the same time hackers and IT pros have treasured it for the depth of knowledge it contains. This is the perfect book about computing to capture your imagination, delight your eyes, and expand your mind, no matter what your technical level!

Category: General Computing

Covers:    PCs/Hardware

User Level:    Beginning–Intermediate

Updated to include all the recent developments to the PC and complete with a CD-ROM, the third edition of How Computers Work is like a cool science museum in a book. But make no mistake–this is not a book for children. How Computers Workaims to teach readers about all the intricacies held within the machine, and it’s a daunting task. The author, Ron White, doesn’t dumb down his material; instead he provides thorough and substantive definitions. The pages of fun and colorful graphics ease the tension, though, and bring the abstract concepts–the difference between RAM and ROM, for example–into real life.

The book has incredible depth, explaining everything you could want to know about your computer, with each piece of hardware being given full treatment over two to five pages. (Macintosh and UNIX users should be aware, though, that the book’s model is the “Wintel,” a Windows PC with an Intel microprocessor.) The book is well-structured and can easily be used as a reference resource beyond the first reading. –Jennifer Buckendorff

List Price: $ 34.99

Price: $ 18.55

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IT Trends

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Dandeslater

I recently took a Myers-Briggs type personality test and one thing about the results really got my attention. I learned that I would rather spend my time thinking about theNetwork Equipmentpossibilities of the future than reminiscing about the past. So, in that spirit, I am very excited and eager to research IT computer trends.

Based on the way IT has been changing over the past couple of years, I believe that we will continue to see an increase in certain popular technologies. Cloud computing has been expanding since before the term was coined and will continue to grow, exponentially, with more cloud services. Witnessing the proliferation of touch screens in the mobile market, I would say that touch screen computing is gaining more and more popularity and it will continue to grow. I don’t believe that tablet sales have plateaued quite yet and with the excitement surrounding flexible screens (Cashmore, 2011) we will see those popular devices continue to boom.

I dare say that there are also some possible trends that are more ominous than exciting. The push for more legislation concerning piracy and other uses of the net suggest a web censorship which will reduce the significant freedom we’ve enjoyed to date. The introduction of HTML5 which allows developers to create richer and more dynamic web pages (Cashmore, 2011) is a wonderful thing but with it comes a bigger potential for malware threats (McArdle, 2011). And then there’s the eventual death of the PC giving way to stronger laptops or “Ultra-books.” Mobile computing is becoming a way of life.

Oh, and one more thing…. Windows 8 is coming.

Works Cited

Cashmore, P. (2011, December 19). The Top 10 tech trends for 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2012, from CNN Tech: http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/19/tech/innovation/top-tech-trends-2012/index.html

McArdle, R. (2011, November 30). HTML5 – The Ugly. Retrieved January 18, 2012, from MalWare Blog: http://blog.trendmicro.com/html5-the-ugly/

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Norton Internet Security 2012 3User [Download]

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Dandeslater

Norton Internet Security 2012 3User [Download]

Norton Internet Security 2012 3User [Download]

  • Norton Protection System: Provides industry-leading security with four unique layers of powerful protection proven to proactively stop online threats before they can infect your computer.
  • Insight: Stops new online threats before they can cause you trouble by checking where files came from and how long they have been around.
  • Download Insight 2.0: Protects you from dangerous applications before you install them by telling you if they are harmful or unstable.
  • Norton Safe Web: Proactively protects you while you surf the Web by warning of and blocking unsafe and fake websites right in your search results
  • Norton Management: is cloud based so you can download, install, transfer, update or renew Norton products from anywhere right over the internet.
  • Network mapping and monitoring; antispam; smart firewall
  • Online identity protection; parental controls management
  • Social network protection; browser protection; phishing protection
  • Stops viruses and spyware before they reach your computer
  • Superior protection with fast scan speeds and low impact on PC performance

Norton Internet Security delivers powerful protection that’s proven to stop online threats before they can do any damage and without disrupting your work or play.

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Website support. View larger.
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ID safe login page. View larger.
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ID safe setup page. View larger.

Norton Internet Security 2012

Stop viruses, spyware, online identity theft, and more with the powerful protection of Norton Internet Security.

Able to quickly detect and eliminate online threats, Norton Internet Security uses four unique layers of protection to prevent threats from ever reaching your computer, without slowing you down. Plus it gives you easy access to Norton Online Family so you can protect your kids from online dangers.

The result? Superior protection with fast scan speeds and low impact on your PC’s performance. So you can surf, shop, bank, and socialize online without worry, annoying slowdowns, or interruptions.

Benefits:

Stop viruses, spyware, and online identity theft with powerful virus protection
  • Superior protection from online threats
  • Four different layers of smart protection proactively detect and eliminate threats before they reach your computer
  • Identifies and stops new threats faster than other less-sophisticated security software
Browse, shop, bank, and socialize online without worry
  • Scans email and instant messages for viruses, suspicious links, infected attachments, and other dangers before you open them
  • Identifies safe websites, proactively blocks unsafe sites, and stops online threats
  • Prevents cybercriminals from hacking into your PC and swiping your information when you use wireless networks
Enjoy your favorite online activities safely, without annoying slowdowns or disruptions
  • Powerful virus protection, without slowing you down
  • Runs in the background, so it won’t interrupt your work or play
  • Won’t swallow up your computer’s memory and hard-disk space
Keep your kids safe online with award-winning Norton Online Family
  • Parental-controls management lets you easily access, set up, and run Norton Online Family right from within your Norton Control Center
  • Tracks which websites your kids’ visit, so you know what they’re up to online, and lets you block inappropriate sites
  • Keeps an eye on your kids’ social network activities and who they’re chatting with online, so you can spot potential dangers
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Main user-interface page. View larger.
Get up and running fast with quick setup and easy-to-use features
  • Installs in less than a minute with a single mouse click
  • Proactively tells you if files and applications are safe or may slow down or crash your computer
  • Improved customizable Control Center now lets you choose between a simple or a detailed view for accessing program controls and Web-based Norton services
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Download insight. View larger.
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Main UI page–advanced. View larger.
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File insight: trusted. View larger.
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Main UI page–safe Web. View larger.
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File insight: suspicious. View larger.
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Help page. View larger.
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General settings. View larger.

Features:

Exclusive & Improved! Norton Protection System: Provides industry-leading security with four unique layers of powerful protection proven to proactively stop online threats before they can infect your computer.

Exclusive & Improved! Insight:Stops new online threats before they can cause you trouble by checking where files came from and how long they’ve been around.

Improved! Download Insight 2.0:Protects you from dangerous applications before you install them by telling you if they are harmful or unstable.

Improved! Norton Safe Web:Proactively protects you while you surf the Web by warning of and blocking unsafe and fake websites right in your search results.

New! Norton Management:is cloud based so you can download, install, transfer, update or renew Norton products from anywhere right over the internet.

Exclusive! Parental Controls Management:Lets you track your kids’ online activities through award-winning Norton Online Family so you can help protect them from online dangers.

Improved! Network Threat Protection:Detects threats as they travel over a network and eliminates them before they can reach your computer.

Improved! Browser Protection:Proactively protects you by checking for and blocking online threats as your browser loads, to stop online threats before they can do damage.

Exclusive & Improved! SONAR 4 Behavioral Protection:Monitors your computer for suspicious behavior to more quickly and accurately detect new threats and stop them in their tracks.

New! Norton Safe Web for Facebook:Scans your News Feed for dangerous downloads and links to unsafe websites and warns you and your Facebook friends about them.

Free 24×7 Support: Offers you expert help and answers by phone, email, live chat, or online whenever you need them. (Not available in every country.)

Key Technologies:
  • Online identity protection
  • Antivirus
  • Antispyware
  • Parental controls management
  • Social network protection
  • Browser protection
  • Phishing protection
  • Network mapping and monitoring
  • Antispam
  • Smart firewall
Protects against:
  • Online identity theft
  • Viruses
  • Spyware
  • Inappropriate websites & content for kids
  • Social network threats
  • Infected and unsafe websites
  • Phishing
  • Cybercriminals
  • Spam
  • Dangerous downloads

List Price: $ 69.99

Price: $ 25.20

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The Magnetic Properties of a Hard Drive Platter

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Dandeslater

One of the components of a Hard disk Drive (HDD) is the platter. HDDs usually have

inside hard drive

A hard drive has read/write heads on both sides of each platter.

several platters mounted on a single spindle. The platter is made of aluminum or ceramic and glass (non-magnetic) and is coated with a magnetic, granular layer, normally a cobalt based alloy (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2011). The hard drive is electronically organized into blocks of sectors and is addressed using their designated logical block addresses (LBA) (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2011).

Writing occurs when data flows from the HDD cache and through the actuator arm to the write element of the head. The free sectors are concurrently identified and the write arm moves to the free sectors (seek time). When the arm locates the determined sectors, electrical impulses pass through the write element creating magnetic fields that alter the magnetic orientation of the bit regions. Reading occurs with a similar process, but with the read element of the head which detects the magnetic orientation of the bit regions  (IBM Corporation).

Works Cited

IBM Corporation. (n.d.). Did you ever wonder how your hard disk drive works? Retrieved October 15, 2011, from IBM Research: http://www.research.ibm.com/research/gmr/basics.html

Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (2011, September 29). Disk storage. Retrieved October 15, 2011, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_storage

Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (2011, September 22). Hard disk platter. Retrieved October 15, 2011, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_platter

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How a CD Drive Works

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Dandeslater

“The fundamental job of the CD drive is to focus the laser on the track of bumps. The laser CD Drivebeam passes through the polycarbonate layer, reflects off the aluminum layer and hits an opto-electronic device that detects changes in light. The bumps reflect light differently than the “lands” (the rest of the aluminum layer), and the opto-electronic sensor detects that change in reflectivity. The electronics in the drive interpret the changes in reflectivity in order to read the bits that make up the bytes.”  (Brain)

Initially, the preferred method of writing to CDs was the constant linear velocity (CLV) mode requiring the spindle motor to adjust its speed depending upon where the writing was being done on the disc. With CLV, The spindle motor of a CD Rom drive does not spin at a constant speed. But, when manufacturers attempted to acquire faster speeds for their devices, the speeds at which the spindles had to turn were stressing the components and different methods had to be found. (Bennet)

To solve the problems caused by the limitations of the hardware, manufacturers began using the constant angular velocity (CAV) mode and CD writing speeds were adjusted accordingly. Regardless of the mode used, the actuator arm moves the head over the disc from inner to outer track in at an even speed. With the CLV mode the amount of data per track is the same between inner and outer whereas with the newer CAV mode the amount of data on the outer tracks is greater than that of the inner tracks.  (Bennet) The only change in the speed in which the actuator arm moves is during the drive’s seek time.

Works Cited

Bennet, H. (n.d.). Technology: Q&A. Retrieved October 25, 2011, from Osta.org: http://www.osta.org/technology/cdqa5.htm

Brain, M. (n.d.). How CDs Work. Retrieved October 22, 2011, from HowStuffWorks: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cd5.htm

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SRAM vs SDRAM

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Dandeslater

SRAM (Static random-access memory) vs SDRAM (Synchronous dynamic random-access memory)

What are the differences between SRAM and SDRAM?

SRAM refers to a type of memory. Because it is “static” it is faster and more reliable than SDRAM. It is called “static” because it does not have to be refreshed like dynamic random-access memory (DRAM.) SRAM access times are very fast because it doesn’t need to pause between cycle times. It is very expensive memory and is used as memory cache. (QuinStreet Inc.)

SDRAM refers to a type of memory. Since it is “dynamic,” it needs frequent refreshing. It is slower than SRAM because it refers to the microprocessor clock before responding thus synchronizing to the system bus. (F., 2009) requiring a pause between cycles. SDRAM  also supports ”pipelining,” meaning that instructions that a chip can receive new data before the previous instructions have been written. (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 2011)

Both SRAM and SDRAM are volatile and loose data when power is removed.

Works Cited

F., I. (2009, December 18). Difference Between SRAM and SDRAM. Retrieved October 4, 2011, from DifferenceBetween.net: http://www.differencebetween.net/object/difference-between-sram-and-sdram/

QuinStreet Inc. (n.d.). SRAM. Retrieved October 4, 2011, from Webopedia: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/SRAM.html

Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (2011, September 26). Synchronous dynamic random-access memory. Retrieved October 4, 2011, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronous_dynamic_random-access_memory

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