Robot Suits to Help Humans

There has been alot of hype on the robot suit that can help humans lift 20 times their current muscle strength.  I remember picking up 400 lb ammo boxes when I loaded AH-1S Cobras (The Army’s attack helicopter prior to the Apache)  lifting these several times a day during a gunnery exercise left my 18 year old back sore.  I wish I had one of these.

Read the CNN article on this amazing device.  Now if they could just work out the 30 minute battery. Amazingly, Japan has developed a suit that looks better and last 2 hours….

  (HAL)

Did the idea come from Aliens with Sigourney Weaver? 

Loader from the movie Aliens.

Gas Prices - Increase you MPG

 

• Keep your engine tuned
• Check your air filter
• Check your tire pressure
• Use recommended oil
• Use recommended fuel
• drive sensibly
• Remove excess weight 1% savings per 100lbs
• Use the cruise control
• Use O/D (Overdrive)
• Avoid idling
• commute
• combine trips with a neighbor
• Choose a more efficient vehicle
• 

Picture shown from www.aptera.com  (under $25,000 100+ mpg)

http://www.fueleconomy.gov./feg/drive.shtml  (Information in this article)

 

Microsoft Needs to Cleanup their Website

Earlier this month, I along with millions of other Microsoft trainers were asked to renew their Microsoft Certified Trainer credentials.  Microsoft’s links were down or timing out.  I have noticed over the past year that the website is harder to navigate and links (support, informative and other ) that are missing or down.  As of today, I still battle the renewal of this certification (time is running out).  Hopefully someone at Microsoft will get control of this and correct it.

My Assistant IT manager, Mike Miller, along with a dozen or so students noticed that obtaining your MCP was a little challenging but ‘getting’ into the website and actually receiving the information was a complex process.  You would think the ‘Live’ login would be easy (it was suppose to simplify things) but its not.  I alone had to get three access codes (which you are suppose to only have to do once).  Emails now go unanswered and disappear into the vast internet. 

Sometimes technology only makes things more complex…

 

Online Backup Website by HP

HP Upline is a data storage service that lets you put your data in a more secure, online headquarters location. Automatic backup makes securing data simple, not just one time, but as often as you choose. And with any Internet connection you can easily access, share, manipulate and store your data from anywhere.

Three plans – Home/Home Office, Family and Professional – all offer unlimited storage and features tailored to meet your needs, whether you are protecting data for yourself, your family or a small business.

Home
1 User
Unlimited storage for less than $4.99/month

Automatic Backup
1-click restore
Access from anywhere
Share with friends 

Family
3 Users
Unlimited storage for less than $6.99/month
Great for multi-PC families
Automatic Backup
1-click restore
Access from anywhere
Share with friends

Professional
3-100 Users
Unlimited storage for less than $8.99/month
Ideal for business
Automatic Backup
1-click restore
Access from anywhere
Share large files
Management dashboard
Priority Support

What about Security?

HP uses high-level technology to safeguard data before, during and after transmission:

• 448-bit implementation of Blowfish encryption algorithm (widely regarded as one of the top three algorithms available) encrypts data before transmission.
• 128-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption, which is used by banks and online trading and financial companies to transmit highly confidential information, helps ensure that data is protected during transmission over the Internet.
• A patent-pending proprietary algorithm that uses a unique shredder-dresser process secures files at the data center.

HP Upline

PDF to Word Converter

Link

I’m always looking for this….

Wireless Electricity

Cool Concept.   Weird that I found out from a UK site.  I’d be the first to get electrocuted.

Link Stolen Data 200 Million Records

Over 200 million records….. stolen or lost….

http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/ChronDataBreaches.htm

Hopefully IT Personnel are training themselves and staff on how to protect their data. 

Classroom Computer Monitor or Child Monitor

I recently discovered iTALC.  It’s freeware for Windows that allows you to monitor a classroom full of computers.  You can send text messages to the screen, take remote control, take screen shots, shutdown the computers, turn on the computers, etc.  With a million computers, thank goodness for two of our best interns Bart and Gary.  They installed the software on the instructor’s computer and put a small software client on the other machines and instantly, remote monitoring of a classroom.   This is a GREAT idea for parents and grandparents who continually ask me about how they can watch their children on the internet.   Link

Network Monitor - Free

The Dude network monitor is a new application by MikroTik which can dramatically improve the way you manage your network environment. It will automatically scan all devices within specified subnets, draw and layout a map of your networks, monitor services of your devices and alert you in case some service has problems.  You just can’t beat free.  Use a jpg or gif background of your facility or a map of your area and let The Dude Network Monitor find and label your computers.  Link  We ran this on our network and now see all 300+ computers, APs, printers and switches. 

Your Business Computer is Not Secure

A small checklist you can go over to see if your business is secure:

•Do you use Windows XP Home Edition?     If yes, you should be using Win XP Pro.  (Open source is great-Linux)Home does not allow for proper file sharing and other features.
Fact-Windows XP is NOT a server
•Is your partition on your harddrive NTFS?  If not, it should be…if you don’t know, right click your ‘c’ drive and go to properties.
•Do you use the computer for personal use?  If yes, you are inviting malware, spyware and viruses to your computer
•Are your employees using the company computer for personal use?  see above
•Do you get all of your patches and updates for Windows and all third party software (i.e., Quicktime, Office..)? If not, you should be.  Don’t be fooled by going to Microsoft’s update site and then not getting updates for all of the other software on your computer.  Hackers often use third party vulnerabilities to get into your comptuer.
•Are you using complex passwords and changing them frequently?  Th3PaZzw0Rd$ should be changed.
•Are you sharing a folder on a drive?  If so, is it limited to specific users?  If you are using Windows XP home, the whole world can get into the folder.
•Are you using a router (with or without wireless)?  If so, did you change the default password and if it has wireless, did you implement WPA?  Most routers are not true firewalls.  Don’t let this be a false sense of protection.
•Are you using a hardware firewall?  Software firewalls are a good secondary defense.  Secondary. You need a hardware firewall if you are in business.
•Are you training your staff not to be social engineered?   Employees give out information to anyone who seems trustworthy.
•Do you backup off site daily? Log off everytime you leave your computer? ……

These are just a few very basic tips.  Have someone look at your network set-up.  Not your cousin Ed who took a class or setup his own wireless network at home.  Call a true professional  and ask for a penatration test and a security evaluation.

Handle Multiple Network Locations

This piece of software (freeware) helps you connect to different networks.  If you have a static number at home and a dynamic network at work, it allows you two clicks to change your preferred network. NetsetMan

Password Protect a Folder in Windows

MyLockBox is a software security program that helps you protect folders on your computer.  This freeware offers a way to simplify the security of a folder on your Windows computer.  With more and more laptops being stolen, and more confidential documents on your computer, this is an excellent way to help protect your documents.

Internet Speed - Modify Your Hosts File

DNS caching happens on your computer regardless of the operating system.  What does this mean?  Every website has a static ip address.  Example:  74.125.47.99 is www.Google.com.   Your computer travels out your modem/router and goes to your DNS servers where the friendly name (i.e. www.google.com) is converted to an ip address where your computer is “routed” to its destination

How do you find out?  Simply “ping” the website and look for the numbers.  Even if you get a “Requested Time Out”, you will see the ip address. 

Now, find your hosts file by looking in the directories listed below and enter the ip address followed by the web address.

-Where Your Hosts File is Located-

Linux/Unix	/etc/hosts
Windows 3.1/95/98/ME	c:\windows\hosts
Windows NT/2000/XP Pro	c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\hosts or c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
Windows XP Home	c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
Netware	SYS:ETC/HOSTS
Apple	System Folder:Preferences and in the System Folder itself

-Sample Entry- (open with your text editor “notepad” or “vi”)

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a ‘#’ symbol.
#
# For example:
#
#      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
#       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host

127.0.0.1       localhost
74.125.47.99    www.Google.com

Note the above example is an example of how you can use the hosts file for your benefit.  Speeding up your surfing while bypassing your DNS servers.  Below is an example of how you can protect your system.  Simply download the files and add your good ip to urls (like the Google exampe above).  This will help protect you against ads, malware, etc.

http://www.hosts-file.net/?s=Download

(Remember that you need to look through the file to make sure you have valid links - example  if your website has

127.0.0.1  www.yourfavorite.com  then you will not be able to go to the website.  You will need to enter a valid ip address by ping the website.  You may also see websites that may be offensive in the hosts file.  These entries have 127.0.0.1 in them and prevent your computer from going to these sites.

Important Read!

NOTE: Large hosts files can slow your system down IF YOU LEAVE the DNS Client in your Services option enabled.  This is found under the control panel under Administrative Tools. The DNS client caches previous DNS requests into memory including the HOSTS file can cause a slowdown. This service is unnecessary and can be disabled.

Digital Picture Frames that Steal Your Identity

You can’t make this up.  Evidently, the Chinese have workers who load a trogan virus on digital picture frames.  The trojan which is advanced, can then jump to your computer and steal your identity (limited for now).  Now if manufacturers don’t have quality standards, viruses can get in through hardware.  Several months ago the Chinese were loading viruses on Seagate computers.  Seagate article.

Deborah Gage’s article; “Trojan Horse probing defenses– New virus is smart, aggressive and blocks antivirus protection at will“, published in the San Fransisco Chronicle, Friday, Feb. 15th. 2008. Business Section.

Now that is scary!