How to Disable Delete Browser History in Internet Explorer

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Do people who use your computer seem to have a tendency of deleting their browsing history so that you cannot see what they have been up to? This article will walk you through disabling their ability to clear the history in Internet Explorer.

Steps

Open the Group Policy Editor. This is where the options to disable various features of Internet Explorer reside, as well as a number of other options that affect the workings of Windows.
1. Click on your start button on the task bar at the bottom of your screen.
2. Select Run... from the Start Menu.
3. In the "Open:" box type gpedit.msc.
4. Click OK to open the Group Policy Editor.
Select User Configuration on the left hand side of the resulting window.
Double-click on Administrative Templates on the right hand section of the window.
Double-click, this time on Windows Components.
Double-click on Internet Explorer.
In the resulting list of options locate and select Disable changing Temporary Internet files settings.
1. Right-click the item and choose Properties;
2. On the Properties pane, select Enable and click OK;
Locate and select Disable changing history settings;
1. Right-click the item and choose Properties;
2. On the Properties pane select Enabled and click on OK;
Exit the Group Policy Editor. People who use the computer will no longer be able to clear their internet history in Internet Explorer.

Tips

Set the individuals you are attempting to monitor as regular users on the computer - any administrator will be able to open gpedit.msc and undo your changes.
Ensure that there are no other browsers installed on the computer, as they might be used to circumvent your settings.
Ensure that no one in your house knows how to boot the computer to a USB pen drive or Linux Live CD.

Warnings

These settings will not affect browsers other than Internet Explorer, such as Firefox or Google Chrome.
Clearing your history through the browser is not a fail-safe method. Your history is still stored inside internal windows files and can be retrieved with a little bit of scripting. Deleting the file "index.dat" located in C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ is the only real way to completely remove your internet history.
Always be up front with whoever you allow onto your computer. If you don't trust someone, don't let them use your computer.

Related wikiHows

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Disable Delete Browser History in Internet Explorer. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Just what is Google Friend Connect?

By now, you have noticed Blogger follower gadgets get converted over to Friend Connect gadgets.
Just what is friend connect?

Google says that Friend Connect is aservice lets webmasters add social features to their sites.
Friend Connect makes it easy for anyone to sign in to a website using an existing account from Google, Yahoo, AOL, or OpenID. Similarly, you can choose to either establish a new profile or use profiles and friend sources from other social networks that have opened up their services, like Plaxo and orkut.

What developers do like about Friend Connect is that it can be customized to your layout and can be placed somewhere other than your sidebar. Watch for further integrations on the way.

To get you started;

How to Build a Computer

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Branded computers can offer both value and performance, the parts used can be powerful and not very expensive, and you can switch on and start work. Yet parts are often short-spec in one place or another. Sadly you'll often get a performance "bottleneck" such as a slow graphics card, only a basic amount of memory, or a slimline motherboard with too few upgrade slots. Luckily, computers are surprisingly easy to build. If you can afford the time to plan and build your own machine, you can design a system more targeted toward your own use.

Steps

Read and follow How to Choose Components for Building a Computer. The more preparation, research and careful selection of parts you do (and making it), the less proportion of your life you will spend making the darn thing work.
Open the case.
Attach the PSU (power supply unit) to the inside of the case, following the instructions included with the case (some cases might have this step completed).
Identify the power leads.
Identify the front panel leads.
Locate the motherboard. Place it on top of its antistatic bag.
Observe the missing pins in the processor and match these with the socket on the motherboard.
Insert the processor into the motherboard. Carefully open the CPU's socket and carefully insert the processor (no force needed). If it doesn't slip right in, or it feels like you have to push, it is probably misaligned. Close the socket and ensure the CPU is secure. Some sockets have small arms while others have complex assemblies to open and close the socket.
Apply good thermal paste to the CPU. Use no more than a rice sized amount and spread it in a thin layer over the entire processor surface (or if this is an older Athlon series without the protective cover, only apply to the chip in the center of the processor board). Adding too much thermal paste will slow the transfer of heat, making it more difficult to cool the CPU quickly.
Attach the heat sink. This varies from heat sink to heat sink, so read the instructions. Here is the procedure for the cooling device in this example:
- Push the fixing clip through the cooler and clip on the short end onto the processor socket.
- Use the tool to push the other end of the clip to the other side of the processor socket.
- If you have an adjustable speed fan for the CPU cooler then the fan should be fitted to the case after the motherboard has been installed.
Insert the RAM in the proper slots by opening the slots and pushing the RAM in until the little handles can lock it into position. Note how the RAM and slots are keyed--line them up so they will fit in properly.
Your motherboard should come with its own IO backplate (former). It is unlikely that your case will have an appropriate backplate for your motherboard. Take out the one that came with your case (this sometimes takes a bit of force). Sometimes they have screws to hold them in place, but most are held in only by friction. Pop it out be pressing on the bracket from rear side of the case.
Knock out any tabs covering IO components up on the motherboard's former.
Insert the motherboard former into the case.
Find some standoffs (e.g. metal jack screw standoff #4-40) that raise the motherboard just off the case surface, also some screws (e.g. #4-40 x 3/16" long) that fit in the spacers to screw the motherboard to the case.
The number of spacers required will be determined by the number of shielded holes in the motherboard. Position the motherboard to discover where to screw in the standoffs.
Screw the standoffs in the case at the relevant positions and place the motherboard on top ensuring that the ports fit snugly into the former.
Screw the motherboard on to the standoffs. It helps to hold on to the heatsink.
Attach the video card (if you have one) and any other PCI cards into the motherboard. Be sure to secure them into place via the proper screws.
At this point it is a good idea to connect the case connectors. These tend to be located together on the motherboard near the front of the case. The order in which these are connected will depend on which is easiest physically. Normally top left to bottom right is easiest.~ Soft power switch (motherboard power switch). It does not matter which way around this is connected~ Reset switch, again it does not matter which way around this is connected~ LED hard disk indicator (sometimes called power LED)~ Sleep message indicator (if the case supports this)~ Internal speaker connection
If you have a front audio panel then remove any jumpers that are installed on the motherboard connector and connect the front audio panel lead. Normally there will be a blank pin so that there is only one way of connecting the lead. Make sure you match up the right connectors, as they will be either AC97 of HDAudio. Assume AC97 when in doubt.
Similarly, locate the front panel USB connector(s) (these are additions to the rear USB connectors) and connect the USB lead(s). There is usually only one way in which these can be connected.
Decide where you want to install the various drives (floppy drive, DVD drive, hard disk).
Remove the front cover. There are normally cleats that can be squeezed by hand to release the front cover from the chassis.
Remove any metal barriers that are in the way between the drive and the front cover. Normally these are loosely moulded to the metal interior and can be removed by judicious wiggling until the barrier snaps off.
Configure the jumpers on the CD/DVD/hard drives. If you are using IDE drives and putting them on the same channel, then you should configure the hard drive as master and the CD/DVD drive as slave; this will make boot-ups faster and prevent issues in the future. Otherwise, check the jumper on the DVD drive to ensure that it is set as Master if this will be the first drive on one of the Extended IDE (E-IDE) channels.
Insert the DVD drive and floppy drive in through the front of the case. Some cases will have their own fascias that sit in front of the drives.
Install the front cover back on to the chassis.
A button on the fascia impinges on the drive button to transfer the action when operating of the drive. Use suitable fixing screws for each drive, normally 4 per drive to fix the drive into the cages built into the case. Ensure that the drives are flush up against the front of the case so that there is good positive action when using the buttons on the front of the case.
Install the hard disk. For IDE drives, check the jumper. If this drive is the master (first hard disk with the bootable operating system) then the jumper should be set to master or Cable Select (CS). If the jumper is set to CS then the first connector on the IDE ribbon cable must be used for this drive. For SATA drives, it doesn't matter which end of the cable you use for the drive, and there are no jumpers to set. When installing the drive ensure that two screw holes can be used on each side to attach the drive to the chassis.
Connect the IDE or SATA cable to the DVD ROM drive. For IDE, the blue end connects to the motherboard and the red strip connects to the right handside at the back of the drive. Blips in the plastic surround help you get the cable connected the right way round. Check the jumper of the drive. This should be set to master if it is the first drive on this IDE bus. The optical drives and the hard disks must be installed on separate IDE buses. When installing the IDE cable to the motherboard you may need to support the motherboard with your fingers to avoid bending it too much. It is simple for SATA: simply connect the drive to the motherboard.
Untangle the power leads with the various connectors and select the leads which do not contain the small floppy disk power lead. Install one of these power leads into the DVD drive.
For legacy operating systems and optical drives, locate the DVD ROM audio lead and connect this to the DVD drive. Find the location on the motherboard for the DVD audio lead and connect it. Newer drives play audio digitally through their regular data connection.
If your computer has a floppy drive, connect the floppy drive ribbon cable. The twist goes at the floppy drive end and the red stripe (pin 1) goes to the left at the back of the floppy drive. There is normally a blip in the plastic surround that corresponds with a gap on the motherboard and floppy drive connections. The twist in the cable identifies it as floppy drive A:, while no twist designates it as the second floppy drive, B:.
If you connected a floppy drive, the small floppy power cable is installed next. There is only one way round that this can be installed too.
Install the IDE or SATA cable for the hard disk. The blue end connects to the motherboard and the red strip connects to the right handside at the back of the hard disk. Blips in the plastic surround help you get the cable connected the right way round. For SATA, use either side of the cable for either connection.
Connect the motherboard power leads. There are various types of motherboard power connectors. Older ATX motherboards will have a 20-pin connector and possibly a separate 4-pin 12V connector, while newer motherboards will have a 24-pin connector and a separate 6 or 8-pin 12V connector. Legacy computers may have two or more in-line connectors.
Connect case fans if you have them. Most fans will come with their own adapters for plugging into the motherboard or directly attaching to the power supply.
Install the CPU cooler (heatsink or heatsink with fan assembly). You may need to remove screws or retainers that hold the slot blanks in place. Some cooler simply clip to the motherboard's plastic housing or clip through holes in the motherboard.
Connect the CPU cooler's fan to the motherboard.
Ensure screws are used to hold in the PCI slot covers.
Put the case back together and connect only a keyboard, mouse, and monitor to the computer. Once the operating system and drives are installed, connect the other peripherals you have.

Software Installation

Plug in your computer. Turn on the computer and immediately open the CD drive. Put the CD for your operating system in the drive and close it. Restart your computer by pressing the power button until it shuts off and then push the power button again to turn the computer back on. Don't forget to turn your monitor on.
Check your motherboard manual for keys to use to start the "boot sequence" or "CMOS settings", or sometimes "BIOS settings". Click this button when the motherboard splash screen appears. Set your computer's CD/DVD drive as the first boot option. You may have to reboot your computer for these settings to take effect.
Follow the instructions to install your operating system. With most operating systems, this will include: Formatting the hard drive, configuring the boot loader, configuring the operating system, and finally installing the operating system. Once the operating system is installed, you're ready to go!

Video

Tips

Stick the license number sticker on the side of the PC for future reference.
Each power supply cable will only fit in the correct orientation, but pressure will still be needed to push the cables in. If using a newer power supply with a 8-pin EPS 12V connector and a PCI Express 8-pin connector, don't attempt to force the cables into place.
Use zip ties to carefully bundle all of the cables, and route them to prevent them from blocking the airflow. If possible, avoid using IDE components such as hard drives and optical drives, as the standard ribbon cable will block airflow.
Don't leave the hardware on your floor for days while you figure out what you should do, as this may lead to electrostatic discharge which can damage or ruin computer components(it only takes about 10 volts to kill some computer parts). When not attached to the motherboard and case, all components should be left in their anti-static bags. An alternative to this is placing the items on a non-conductive surface, such as a wood or glass table or desk.
If you put the computer system together and it does not work, take out everything except the power supply, motherboard, RAM, and processor cooler (and video card if not using an on-board video card). Ensure that it works by viewing your BIOS start up screen. Turn it off, then plug in your hard drives and verify that it works. Turn it off, then plug in your CD-ROM and ensure that it works. Turn it off, and continue to plug in each additional peripheral until everything is plugged in and working. The idea here is to put in the minimum components to get it to power up, then add one at a time so you know what component is causing the problem.
It may be very helpful to request the assistance of a friend who is familiar with building computers. At the very least, ask for their opinions on the parts you plan to use.

Warnings

Do not use force to insert any component into any slot or socket. The tolerances of newer hardware components may be narrow, but everything should still fit without the need to apply too much force. Memory modules are among the few types of components that may require a bit of pressure to install. Before installing your memory modules, make sure they match the memory slots by comparing the notches.
Do not force cable connections. Fortunately, cables at the back of a computer will only fit onto their intended connector. All cables, except for coaxial and some laptop power connections, will only connect when they are in the same orientation as their connector. For example, DVI and VGA video cables have a trapezoidal connector, not a rectangular one.
If you are unsure about any aspect of the construction of your computer, DO NOT try "winging" it, either ask for someone who knows what they're doing to "spot" you while you build or hire a professional to do it for you.
Avoid electrostatic discharge when installing components. Wear a static wristband or regularly ground yourself by touching a metal part of the case before handling components. Read the Related wikiHow on How to Avoid Destroying a Computer With Electrostatic Discharge for additional information.
Double-check all connections before switching on the computer for the first time.
When plugging in CPUs and PATA (IDE) devices, be gentle. If you bend a pin, use tweezers or a narrow needle-nose pliers to straighten it. If you break a pin, on a CPU or CPU socket, your hardware will no longer function correctly. If you break a pin on an IDE connector, you have a 7 in 40 chance that you've broken a ground pin, which may not be critical to a device's functionality.

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

Data Network Resource - Original source of images and content, shared with permission.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Build a Computer. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Put the Date and Time 0n to Your Site

Want to show what the current date is?
Easy.
Simply copy and post the following code into an HTML Gadget in your blogger layouts tab.
Thanks to Javascript Kit.

How to Understand Copyright Basics

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Have you ever uploaded an image or a video to a website, only for it to be deleted because of copyright issues? While some areas of copyright law can be complicated enough to cause copyright lawyers sleepless nights, the basics are very simple. Armed with some simple principles, you can save yourself from running afoul of copyright law.

Steps

Understand the scope of copyright law. It does protect literary works, paintings, photographs, drawings, films, music (and its lyrics), choreography, sculptures and many other things. It generally doesn't protect the underlying ideas, and it does not protect facts. For example, copyright doesn't prevent you from expressing in your own words ideas and facts found in a book or journal you read (but you should always give appropriate credit to the sources in which you found them; it is common courtesy to do so, and not doing so could be plagiarism).
Understand that nearly everything on the Internet, and everywhere else, is copyrighted, by default. "I found it on the Internet" is not a defense against copyright infringement; works on the Internet are as copyrightable as any other kind of work. Nor is "it didn't say it was copyrighted". In nearly all jurisdictions (including the United States, and all other Berne Convention signatories), it is not necessary for a work to have an explicit copyright notice for it to be copyrighted.[1] It is also not necessary for copyright in a work to be registered; this simply makes it easier to be compensated in court. Without an explicit dedication to the public domain, assume that it is still under copyright.There is a quirk in the United States' implementation of the Berne Convention: works first published before 1978 without a copyright notice may be public domain in the United States.[2]
Understand the difference between copyrights, trademarks, and other forms of "intellectual property." The term "intellectual property" itself, and the kind of thinking it encourages, has led to these very different things being confused with each other.[3] Trademarks, for example, forbid using certain words, marks, symbols, and so on within certain contexts, to protect consumers from misrepresentation. Copyright would not prevent you from, for example, writing some new text editor software and calling it "Microsoft Text Editor", but trademark law would.
Understand that one does not get a copyright without some creativity. If ever you wonder whether a certain action would infringe on the copyright of someone else, the question to ask is: is this a creative work on my count, or am I simply drawing from the creativity of someone else? Lunches, as any economist would tell you, are not free. Some examples:
- Scanning something yourself does not, by itself, give you a new copyright over anything. You cannot scan a photograph from, say, a magazine and then put it on the Internet; the copyright would still reside with the author of the work. The flip-side of this is that scanning a work which is in the public domain would not, in many jurisdictions, give you the copyright over the resulting scan.
- Taking a screenshot of a video or a computer program does not generate a new copyright. The copyright in the resulting screenshot would still be held by the copyright holder of the original video or computer program.
- Some non-creative things are not copyrightable, for example, a plain text logo in a generic font. Neither are simple geometric shapes. But don't rely on this unless you are certain.
Learn about the public domain laws for your jurisdiction. "Public domain" is short-hand for "uncopyrighted", not "publicly distributed". A work can be out of copyright due to age, by the nature of authorship, or other reasons. In the United States, all works authored by a federal government (not state government!) employee during the course of their official duties are public domain, as are all works published before 1923. Works first created in the European Union will usually be copyrighted until 70 years after the death of the author.
Understand what "fair use" is, and what it isn't. Called "fair dealing" in many jurisdictions, fair use is simply a guarantee that copyright laws do not infringe freedom of speech and make critical commentary impossible. It permits, for example, limited quoting of copyrighted material. In some jurisdictions, it would allow creating a copy for personal use (such as a backup). It is not a blank cheque granting you a right to do anything at all and call it "fair use". Fair use is an extremely complex body of case law; it is often very difficult for non-lawyers to tell in advance whether or not a certain use will be considered fair use in court. If in doubt, seek permission first.[4]
Understand the law about derivative works as pertains to fiction. It was said above that "ideas cannot be copyrighted". However, fictional characters,[5] story-lines, and settings[6] can be copyrighted (insofar as they are original). This means that fan-fiction, drawings of characters from copyrighted works, and so on are all technically copyright infringements. Sometimes copyright holders turn a blind eye to this sort of thing, but unless it has been explicitly authorised, don't count on this being the case.

Tips

Follow the spirit of the law, rather than the letter. Not only is this good form, it works in your favour: chances are slim that any "loophole" you find is not something that hasn't been done to death in the courts already. If it has not, chances are much better that a court would rule against you.
The Wikimedia Commons maintain an extensive summary of public domain legislation from all over the world.

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

Ivan Hoffman (2001). Fair Use: Further Issues.
Michael D. Scott. Scott on Information Technology Law. Aspen Publishers. ISBN 0735565244.
Richard Stim (2007). Patent, Copyright, & Trademark. Nolo. ISBN 1413306462.

↑ Stim 2005, p. 257. "[T]he Berne Convention [...] specifies that no formalities—such as copyright notice—are necessary for gaining [copyright] protection."

↑ Scott §2.42[E]. "A work published prior to January 1, 1978 [...] without the prescribed copyright notice or with a defective notice was injected into the public domain, and the author lost all copyright protection."

↑ As Richard Stallman says, "Non-lawyers who hear one term applied to these various laws tend to assume they are based on a common principle, and function similarly. Nothing could be further from the case. These laws originated separately, evolved differently, cover different activities, have different rules, and raise different public policy issues."

↑ Hoffman, Fair Use: Further issues. "Fair use is at best an "iffy" defense and there is virtually no way that anyone can say, in advance, whether the defense will be successful. Thus, in any instance, the best and most advisable course of action is to license materials."

↑ Stim 2007, p. 205.

↑ To quote Chilling Effects, "What if these worlds were elaborately filled with details? [...] [N]ormal plots like boy-meets-girl cannot be copyrighted [...] but the more detailed the plot is, the more it becomes protectible expression."

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Understand Copyright Basics. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Official Gmail Blog: Tip: Manage several email accounts with Multiple Inboxes

Are you a Gmail user?
Seems as if they keep making it easier to use.

They recently launched Multiple Inboxes, an experimental feature in Gmail Labs that you can use to customize the different "inboxes" you see in one view when you log into Gmail.

According to their blog, if you forward all your work or school email to Gmail, you can use Multiple Inboxes to see your two accounts separately within the same browser window. Here's how:

1. Turn on Multiple Inboxes from the Labs tab under Settings.
2. Set up a filter to auto-archive all mail sent to your work or school address.
3. Customize one of your multiple inboxes to show mail sent to your other address. To do this, go to the Multiple Inboxes tab under Settings and set up one of the panes to search for mail sent to your other address.

4. (Optional) Use a "custom from" address so that replies will be sent from Gmail but as if they're from your other account. This way, your coworkers or classmates won't know the difference.

I use Multiple Inboxes to keep track of email sent to my college alumni address which I forward to Gmail. I used to filter, label, and auto-archive all these messages (my alumni frisbee team listserve gets tons of mail), but found that I rarely looked at the relevant labels. Now with a separate "inbox" I can see them easily without cluttering my primary inbox.

Official Gmail Blog: Tip: Manage several email accounts with Multiple Inboxes

On GuardOnline- Keeping Kids Safe Online

Quick Facts

Your kids’ personal information and privacy are valuable — to you, to them, and to marketers. Fortunately, there are ways you can safeguard that privacy when your kids are online.

Check out sites your kids visit, and see what kind of information the sites ask for or allow kids to post.
Talk to your child about the risks and benefits of disclosing certain information, especially in a public forum.
Take a look at the privacy policy, which should say what the site does with the information it collects. Then you can decide how you feel about it.
Ask questions. If you’re not clear on a site’s practices or policies, ask about them.
Be selective with your permission. In many cases, websites need your okay before they’re allowed to collect personal information from your kids.
Know your rights. For example, as a parent, you have the right to have a site delete any personal information it has about your child.
Report a website. If you think a site has collected or disclosed information from your kids or marketed to them in a way that violates the law, report it to the FTC.

Whether to study or socialize, play games or learn something new, it’s likely your kids are spending time online. And as a parent, chances are that you’re spending time thinking about ways to make sure they make smart and safe choices when they do. Among the many choices they’re faced with online is how to deal with their personal information.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act – COPPA – gives parents control over what information websites can collect from their kids. Any website for kids under 13, or any general site that collects personal information from kids it knows are under 13, is required to comply with COPPA. The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, enforces this law.

Thanks to COPPA, sites have to get a parent’s permission if they want to collect or share your kids’ personal information, with only a few exceptions. That goes for information sites ask for up-front, and information your kids choose to post about themselves. Personal information includes your child’s full name, address, email address, or cell phone number.

Under COPPA, sites also have to post privacy policies that give details about what kind of information they collect from kids — and what they might do with it (say, to send a weekly newsletter, direct advertising to them, or give the information to other companies). If a site plans to share the child’s information with another company, the privacy policy must say what that company will do with it. Links to the policies should be in places where they’re easy to spot.

What Can You Do?

Your kids’ personal information and privacy are valuable — to you, to them, and to marketers. Here’s how to help protect your kids’ personal information when they’re online.

Check out sites your kids visit. If a site requires users to register, see what kind of information it asks for and whether you’re comfortable with what they tell you. If the site allows kids to post information about themselves, talk to your child about the risks and benefits of disclosing certain information in a public forum. You also can see whether the site appears to be following the most basic COPPA requirements, like clearly posting its privacy policy for parents and asking for parental consent before kids can participate.

Take a look at the privacy policy. Just because a site has a privacy policy doesn’t mean it keeps personal information private. The policy should tell you what the site does with the information it collects; then, you can decide how you feel about it. Remember, if the policy says there are no limits to what it collects or who gets to see it, there are no limits.

Ask questions. If you’re not clear on a site’s practices or policies, ask about them. If the site falls under COPPA, the privacy policy has to include contact information for the site manager.

Be selective with your permission. In many cases, websites need your okay before they’re allowed to collect personal information from your kids. They may ask for your permission in a number of ways, including by email or postal mail. Or, you may give your consent by allowing them to charge your credit card. In addition to considering when to give your permission, consider how much consent you want to give — in many cases, it’s not all or none. You might be able to give the company permission to collect some personal information from your child, but say no to having that information passed along to another marketer.

Know your rights. As a parent, you have the right to have a site delete any personal information it has about your child. Some sites will let you see the information they’ve collected. But first, they’ll need to make sure you really are the parent, either by requiring a signed form or an email with a digital signature, for example, or by verifying a charge made to your credit card. You also have a right to take back your consent and have any information collected from your child deleted.

Report a website. If you think a site has collected or disclosed information from your kids or marketed to them in a way that violates the law, report it to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint or 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357).

More Tips For Parents

Talk, and talk often. Make sure your kids know what information should be private, and what information might be appropriate for sharing. When they give out their personal information, they give up control of who can reach them, whether it’s with a marketing message or something more personal. On the other hand, sharing some personal information may allow them to participate in certain activities or to get emails about promotions and events they’re interested in.

Depending on what they do online, also remind your kids that once they post information online, they can’t take it back. Even if they delete the information from a site, older versions may exist on other people's computers and be circulated online.

Know what sites your kids go to. Talk with your kids about the sites they like to visit. Do some exploring on your own to get to know how the sites work and what privacy settings and controls they offer.

Make agreements. Be sure your kids know what your family has decided is okay — and not okay — to divulge online. Consider writing down a list of the rules your family has agreed on, and posting them where everyone can see them.

Let your kids know you’ll keep an eye on the sites they visit. One option is to check your browser history and temporary files, though keep in mind that older kids may know how to delete these files or keep them from getting recorded. If you’d like more controls, check to see what privacy settings your browser offers or consider software that offers a range of controls. Visit the GetNetWise website to learn more.

Know how your kids get online. Kids may get online using your family computer or someone else’s, as well as through cell phones and game consoles. Know what limits you can place on your child's cell phone — some companies have plans that limit downloads, Internet access, and texting on cell phones; other plans allow kids to use those features at certain times of day. Check out what parental controls are available on the gaming consoles your kids use, as well.

How to Test for Bandwidth Limiting by Your ISP

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Doing some downloading or uploading on your "high-speed" internet connection and notice that the speed seems to drop off? Bandwidth is a measure of the speed of data transmission over a network or the internet (often represented in Kbit/s or Mbit/s). Bandwidth throttling happens when any server attempts to limit the amount of bandwidth that a given service may use. The common example is Internet Service Providers limiting the bandwidth usage of common BitTorrent clients on their network.[1] Let's examine how you can tell if your internet service provider is throttling your speed.

Steps

Measurement Lab Method (Windows)
Google recently released M-Lab which is a multi-functional internet performance measurement tool.

Visit http://www.measurementlab.net/.
Open the test selector by clicking "Test Your Internet Connection".
Select one of the available tests.
- Network Diagnostic Tool: tests speed and looks for common issues that can cause a slow down.
- Glasnost: tests to see if BitTorrent specifically is being throttled.
- Network Path and Application Diagnosis: similar to the Network Diagnostic Tool with a smaller ranger of search functions. ("Last mile connection issues")
- DiffProbe (Coming Soon): will test to see if your ISP is using different priorities for different types of traffic.
- NANO (Coming Soon): used to determine if your ISP is placing limits on only some users and not others.
Follow the on-screen instructions to complete each individual test. (Please note: some of the tests are hosted on third party websites.)

Switzerland Method (Mac / Windows / Unix / Linux)
Switzerland is an open source application created by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, named as such because it promotes Net-Neutrality.

Visit http://www.eff.org/testyourisp/switzerland to read about the project.
Download the software from Source Forge
1. Click on the latest release.
2. Select the file format you would like to download. (Either .zip or .tgz)
Extract the files from the zip or tgz archive and follow the instructions contained within the INSTALL.txt file specific to your platform.

Tips

There are other more complicated methods of testing for bandwidth throttling that may provide greater insight into exactly what is happening for the technically savvy. A quick search of your favorite search engine for "Bandwidth Throttling" should get you on your way to discovering them.
If this is something that you are passionate about, you may consider joining one of the various Net-Neutrality groups around the internet. Again, a quick search of your favorite search engine for "Net Neutrality" will return some great resources and groups to help you get involved in fighting things like ISP Throttling.

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

↑ http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/01/16/a-diy-test-for-your-broadband-providers-net-neutrality/

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Test for Bandwidth Limiting by Your ISP. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Get customer feedback, email marketing and surveys

Mircorsoft offers $250.000 for info.....

Have you had it with losers who infiltrate the internet with worms, Trojans, and viruses?

So has Mircorsoft.

Microsoft Corp. in a partnership with technology friends, has issued a global response to the Conficker (aka Downadup) worm.

Microsoft and friends have coordinated a response designed to disable domains targeted by Conficker. Microsoft also announced a $250,000 reward for information that results in the arrest and conviction of those responsible for illegally launching the Conficker malicious code on the Internet.

“As part of Microsoft’s ongoing security efforts, we constantly look for ways to use a diverse set of tools and develop methodologies to protect our customers,” said George Stathakopoulos, general manager of the Trustworthy Computing Group at Microsoft. “By combining our expertise with that of the broader community we can expand the boundaries of defense to better protect people worldwide.”

“The best way to defeat potential botnets like Conficker/Downadup is by the security and Domain Name System communities working together,” said Greg Rattray, chief Internet security advisor at ICANN. “ICANN represents a community that’s all about coordinating those kinds of efforts to keep the Internet globally secure and stable.”

“Microsoft’s approach combines technology innovation and effective cross-sector partnerships to help protect people from cybercriminals,” Stathakopoulos said. “We hope these efforts help to contain the threat posed by Conficker, as well as hold those who illegally launch malware accountable.”

More information about how to protect yourself from Conficker can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/conficker. Customers interested in learning more about staying safe online can visit http://www.microsoft.com/protect.

Microsoft’s reward offer stems from the company’s recognition that the Conficker worm is a criminal attack. Individuals with information about the Conficker worm should contact their international law enforcement agencies.

Official Gmail Blog: Four changes to Gmail contacts

Official Gmail Blog: Four changes to Gmail contacts

Over the past few days we've made a lot of small changes to Gmail's contact manager which, combined, should make it easier to organize the contacts you want and get rid of some of the cruft. Here's a quick summary:

1. Contact merge (and an important caveat about auto-complete)
Many of you may have seen Monday's blog post about Google Sync which mentioned contact merge. Nothing had been annoying me more than seeing several copies of "Jeff Jones" on my iPhone — only one of which actually contained his phone number. I now have one "Jeff Jones" which contains all of his contact information. To do this, select the contacts you want to merge and then click "Merge these..." as shown below:

Now that you can sync your contacts to a variety of devices, being able to merge contacts is more important than ever. Please note that as we mentioned on Monday, there's a known issue with merging contacts that affects address auto-complete, making merged addresses sometimes come up in a suboptimal order (e.g. auto-complete may bring up your friend's work address first even though you usually email their Gmail address). We're working on fixing this so the email address you use the most for any given contact will always come up first.

2. All Contacts
Instead of Suggested Contacts, you'll now see a group called All Contacts which, as the name would suggest, is where all of your contacts live and thus a good view for merging duplicate contacts. You can still see suggested contacts by clicking the "View Suggestions" button from My Contacts. From there, you can select frequently emailed contacts to add to My Contacts.

3. Remove people from My Contacts
You can finally move contacts out of the My Contacts group — especially useful if you're planning to sync your contact list to your phone. Prune the contacts you don't want synced to your phone from My Contacts (click "Groups" and then "Remove from My Contacts"), and they won't get synced.

4. Search across all contact fields
We've heard you loud and clear, and contact search now works much better: instead of just searching contact names and email addresses, it now includes phone numbers, notes fields, and mailing addresses as well. So, if you're visiting the Bay Area and looking for friends to catch up with, you could try typing "650" or "415" in the contact manager search box.

Celebrating Valentines Day Online

Send an e-card
http://www.123greetings.com/

American Greetings

Send Flowers

US CERT Bulletins for Feb

Mozilla Releases Firefox Updates

added February 4, 2009 at 08:57 am

Mozilla has released Firefox 3.0.6 to address multiple vulnerabilities. Exploitation of these vulnerabilities may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code, obtain sensitive information, or conduct cross-site scripting attacks. As described in the Mozilla Foundation Security Advisories, some of these vulnerabilities may also affect Thunderbird and SeaMonkey.

US-CERT encourages users to do the following to help mitigate the risks:

Review the Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory.

Update to Firefox 3.0.6.

IRS Stimulus Package Phishing Scam

added February 6, 2009 at 10:03 am | updated February 6, 2009 at 02:43 pm

US-CERT is aware of public reports indicating that phishing scams are circulating via fraudulent U.S. Internal Revenue Service emails offering users stimulus package payments. These emails include text that attempts to convince users to follow a link to a website or to complete an attached document. The website and document request the user to provide personal information.

Users receiving the fraudulent email messages are encouraged to send the email message and the website URL to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.

US-CERT encourages users to do the following to help mitigate the risks:

Do not follow unsolicited web links received in email messages.

Refer to the Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams (pdf) document for more information on avoiding email scams.

Refer to the Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks (pdf) document for more information on social engineering attacks.

Review the How to Report and Identify Phishing, E-mail Scams and Bogus IRS Web Sites document on the IRS website.

BlackBerry Security Advisory

added February 10, 2009 at 03:39 pm

Research In Motion has released a Security Advisory to address a vulnerability in the BlackBerry Application Web Loader ActiveX control. By convincing a user to view a specially crafted HTML document, an attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user. The attacker could also cause Internet Explorer to crash.

US-CERT encourages users to review BlackBerry Security Advisory KB16248 and apply the resolution or implement the workaround listed in the document to help mitigate the risk.

Microsoft Releases February Security Bulletin Summary

added February 10, 2009 at 03:37 pm

Microsoft has released updates to address vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, Exchange Server, and SQL Server as part of the Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for February 2009. These vulnerabilities may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code.

US-CERT encourages users and administrators to review the bulletins and follow best-practice security policies to determine which updates should be applied.

Do you use star ratings?

Star ratings can be good and can be not so good for your site.
Interaction can be a good idea to draw your readers in.
On the downside, do you want people to interact.
Also, I've seen this gadget react funny on occasion.

Google says that the Star Ratings feature, readers can easily rate your posts — or the things you post about — from one star to five stars with a single click, right from the post footer.

Think of Star Ratings as a mini-poll for each of your posts. If you blog about fashion, food, crafts, quotes, or art we think this will be particularly useful to you.

To enable Star Ratings, log it to http://draft.blogger.com/ and go to your Layouts page. From there, click the “Edit” link for the Blog Posts page element and then check the “Show Star Ratings” checkbox.

You can customize the location of the stars within the post by dragging the preview around in the “Arrange Items” box.

Additional Notes

This is a Layouts-only feature. If you’re using a Classic template you’ll need to upgrade to Layouts to add Star Ratings.
The star ratings widget should blend seamlessly with most solid-colored blog backgrounds (one exception is Rounders, where the edges of the widget will be visible via a color change). The text and background colors for the ratings are taken from the following skin variables:
- Foreground: textcolor, textColor
- Backrgound: mainBgColor, bgcolor
If you have customized your blog widget’s template you may not see the Star Ratings. You will need to either reset your blog widget’s template or copy the Star Ratings code from a fresh template.

Remembering Technorati

Technorati Ranking relates to the number of sources that point to your blog relative to other blogs. The more sources referencing your blog, the higher the Technorati ranking. The Technorati Ranking for a blog is displaying in URL Search results, Blog search results, and is displayed in the account profile for all claimed blogs.

Technorati Authority is the number of blogs linking to a website in the last six months. The higher the number, the more Technorati Authority the blog has.

It is important to note that they measure the number of blogs, rather than the number of links. So, if a blog links to your blog many times, it still only count as +1 toward your authority. Of course, new links mean the +1 will last another 180 days.

Whether or not you intend to use the service as a bookmarking tool, the fact is, if you want more hits, you’d better network for some links and favorites.

Unbelievable, I have never signed up fr the service, so today I will.
The sign-up is painless. They simply want to know your name and whether or not you are human.

Once you sign up, they will ask you to claim your site. This is a good idea if you want to assure that your links all count. They will also ask to claim your open ID. Both of these items are optional.

What to do after you sign up
Visit the support forum.

Frequently Asked Questions

Check these out

Sticky: How do I get indexed? or better indexed?
Sticky: What does Claiming my blog do for me?
Sticky: Blog Claim has changed. What’s different?
Sticky: I’m not getting my verification, password reset or other emails from Technorati
Sticky: Most recent posts not indexed AND “Last Pinged” date IS NOT updating?
Sticky: When I try to find my blog in Blog Search, get “Sorry, we can’t find that blog”
What is Authority?
Why is my Link Count Widget not showing reactions?
Getting the “The claim code was not found on your blog” message?
Getting the “This URL has been flagged by our systems” message immediately?
Why is my Authority not changing at all when it should be?
Can I make the Profile Image Size smaller?
Can I change the way the Technorati Widget looks in my blog?
Is there a way to pull a list of all the blogs are linking to my blog?

Last call for Gmail Stickers.

If you haven't sent in your self-addressed stamped envelope yet, it's not too late. Just make sure it's postmarked by February 14th, 2009 and sent to:

Send me some Gmail stickers already
P.O. Box 391420
Mountain View, CA 94039-1420

Last December, the folks at Gmail introduced us to Gmail stickers.

There's the standard Gmail m-velope -- dressed up in glitter. One of three bookplate style stickers you can stick on anything from the inside of a favorite book to your laptop or your skateboard. (Trading with friends is encouraged -- we realize the unicorn isn't for everyone.) And there's a sheet of keyboard shortcut stickers intended as a tool to help people learn Gmail's shortcuts. The adhesive is a bit more removable than standard stickiness, so you can take them off once you've trained your fingers.

So how do you get your stickers? We may be all about speedy electronic communication, but this time we're going old school with snail mail. Just send a self-addressed stamped envelope (along with a note if you're so inclined) to:

Send me some Gmail stickers already
P.O. Box 391420
Mountain View, CA 94039-1420

Make sure to include enough postage to return a sticker pack via U.S. mail. It's less than one ounce, so a standard $0.42 stamp will do if you're in the United States; enclose an international reply coupon (IRC) if you're outside of the U.S. And be sure to send your envelope in soon -- one per person please.

How to make someone leave your site

It's hard enough to get people to visit your site.
You have to also think about keeping them there and making them want to return. The last thing you want to do is make your visitors leave for good.

Prevention is part of the effort to make people want to be on your site. Prevention of them never wanting to leave it.

Here are some factors to keep in mind.

Slow Loading Pages
Would you want to wait around for a page to load?
Keep file sizes that are embedded into your site small. Some of the worst culprits are the ads that you display.

How annoying is it to have Audio or Video that Starts Automatically?

Enough said.

Navigation that is easy
It doesn't have to be fancy just easily accessible.

Advertisements that are in your face.
Be subtle with your advertisements. One of the biggest turn-offs as well as discredits to your site, is loud and too obvious advertisements.

Overall look of the site

Is it readable- fonts etc?
Is it clean and well laid out?
How up to date are you in posting?
Are your colors working?

You should be on the re-evaluation scheme of things every six months with updates to your site as needed to refresh.

How to Take A Good Picture On Your Camera Phone

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

The modern camera phone has been called "a credible candidate for the title of Most Convenient Tool for image capture."[1] Whether it be a random, spur-of-the-moment snapshot or well-thought-out compositions, a camera phone is a valuable tool for photography. Often, the most inspiring pictures occur in everyday life when you do not have a standard camera with you; the phone that you are carrying in your pocket will take infinitely better photos than the SLR that was too heavy and awkward to carry with you. And, if you know their limitations, it is possible to take great, memorable pictures on your camera phone.

Steps

Ignore everything written below. If following the steps below stops you from capturing a great moment, then take the picture. The technical and compositional minutiae do not matter. The most important thing in the world is that you take a picture that you will remember. With that said...
Pick your subject carefully, bearing in mind the usual limitations of camera phones. To wit:
- Avoid subjects in low light, at least if you want them to be consistently lit. The small sensors in camera phones cannot run at high ISO speeds (i.e. high sensitivity to light, permitting indoor photos without a flash) without introducing large amounts of noise. In most circumstances, this precludes indoor photos other than in the best-lit places.
- Avoid bright reflections, and other "hot-spots". This will either force the camera to under-expose the rest of the shot, or cause the camera to blow out the highlights on the brightest parts of the shot. The latter is worse, since it is sometimes possible to extract details from parts of the image that are too dark, but impossible to recover blown highlights (since there is no detail therein to extract). On the other hand, this can be used to artistic ends, such as with bright light streaming through a window.
- Avoid anything that requires tight focusing. Due to their very short focal lengths (the distance between a camera's optical elements and the sensor, again, owing to their small sensors), camera phones excel at shots where nearly all of a scene is in focus. However, this (and their typically weak auto-focus mechanisms) usually precludes focusing on objects very close to the phone, or having a very shallow depth of field to get a blurred background effect (which can, with varying degrees of authenticity, be faked in software later anyway).
- Avoid "mirror shots", as well as arm-length shots taken by yourself. Aside from them being clichèd, they require taking photos indoors (see above), and mirrors also often end up confusing auto-focus mechanisms. Get outside and get someone to take the photo for you.
Set your phone to its highest picture quality and resolution. You might end up taking a good enough shot that you want to print it out; you won't be able to do this if you only have a low-resolution version of the photo.
Turn off picture frames. A normally great shot may be ruined by a cheesy frame or background; if you really must have one, add the frame afterwards.
Turn off any other effects. These include black-and-white, sepia tones, inverted colours, and so on. These aren't as necessarily as cheesy-looking as frames and have their place; nonetheless, these things are much better done in photo editing software afterwards than on board the phone. You may find, for example, that when you view your photo on a large screen that the colours in your scene are far too good to lose to black-and-white.
Set the white balance, if your phone supports it. The human eye usually adjusts for lighting, and so white appears white in any kind of lighting.[2] A camera, however, will see that a given subject is redder than normal under normal incandescent household lighting. Better camera phones will give you the option to adjust the camera for this. If you have such an option, use it. If you're not sure what setting to use, experiment.
Use your flash judiciously. If you find yourself using a flash because your whole scene is insufficiently lit, you're probably taking photographs indoors in poor light. Don't do this, and go back to the first step; a scene lit entirely by your flash will look un-natural, since on a camera phone it is not typically possible to aim the flash anything but directly ahead (i.e. you can't bounce it off ceilings or walls, as with dedicated flash guns for SLR cameras). On the other hand, a flash is a good option for filling in shadows in harsh sunlight.
Frame your shot. Make sure that everything you want in the shot is in the picture, and ready to be captured. Some phones show the entire viewfinder, meaning that what is on the screen is exactly what will be captured in the image. Other phones, however, only show what is in the middle of the image, but will capture more than the viewfinder shows. Err on the side of putting too much empty space into your picture; you can always crop it later.
Finally, take the picture. Keep your hand steady as you press the shutter button. After you take the picture, keep the phone in position to allow the picture to be recorded. If you move immediately after pressing the shutter button, often times you will just get a blur!
Save the picture to your phone, if desired, copy it to your computer for any post-processing, and show it to your friends!

Video

Tips

The steadier you keep the phone as you are taking the picture, the sharper the image will be.
Make sure your phone has enough free memory to keep taking pictures. If your phone is full, download some of the pictures from the phone to save room. Most mobile phones nowadays support MicroSD or other memory cards that allow the phone's capacity to be raised. Even something as small as a 1GB MicroSD card can hold hundreds more pictures.

Things You'll Need

A phone with an integrated camera with free memory space.
A photographic subject

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

↑ From a review of the Sony Ericsson K800i.

↑ For a fuller explanation, and examples, see Ken Rockwell's page on the subject.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Take A Good Picture On Your Camera Phone. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.