Discount Computers

In November 2003, Toronto police arrested a man in an upscale
residential neighborhood. They noticed his car driving slowly
the wrong way down a one-way street. Upon stopping the car, the
police discovered the driver naked from the waist down. What was
he doing? He was using his laptop to download and watch “kiddie”
porn from the Internet! How? He was connecting to the internet
using unprotected wireless systems in the houses near the road!
Here is the problem, if someone were to access the Internet and
download illegal material, then disconnect and drive off; it
would look like the homeowner did the downloading. How hard
would it be to convince the FBI that you were a victim? This is
not the only time this has happened. In a recent interview,
attorney Joseph Burton, of Duane Morris Law Firm, said, “Is it
possible a home owner can be liable for a lack of security on a
wireless network? Yes, if they are negligent in setting up
security.” (Richard Shim, CNET News.com). According to research
by the World Wide War Drive over 228,537 wireless access points
were detected. Over 62% were totally open and unprotected! In
San Antonio Texas, the percentage of unprotected networks is
slightly higher. Some wireless access points can extend their
coverage over 300 feet from the unit. Sure, the farther away,
the slower the connection, but even one mbps is faster than a
dialup connection. Add that to being untraceable and you have a
pervert’s heaven! Having a wireless network connection is a
great thing; the freedom it gives you is priceless. With a few
precautions, you can secure your wireless connection and surf
the World Wide Web from the comfort of your easy chair, bed or
backyard. Conducting a casual site survey around your home will
tell you a lot about your vulnerability. Do you live right up on
the road? How far from your home, are your neighbors? How far
does your signal carry from the wireless unit? After answering
these questions, you can proceed to securing the wireless
network itself. Unfortunately, consumer routers are shipped wide
open. That is they have no preconfigured security. You, the
homeowner, will have to configure the security setting yourself.
Your wireless router and network interface card (NIC) are the
parts that actually talk to each other. Each of them has a MAC
address. This is a unique number assigned to every NIC made,
worldwide. Using this MAC address, you set the router security
to talk only to certain other MAC addresses. Therefore, if you
have two laptops in your network, you add both MAC addresses to
your router security setup and any other MAC addresses are
blocked. This security setup works well for keeping the average
wireless user out of your system, but a competent hacker can
bypass it. A technique called spoofing allows the hacker’s
computer to pretend to be one of your laptops and trick the
system into letting him in. To prevent this you would need to
add additional layers of security. Keep in mind though, every
additional layer of security adds to the burden of your network.
It slows things down. Litigation seems to be a national past
time these days. Protect yourself and your family by taking some
of the precautions listed above. If you feel you need the extra
protection offered by WEP or another encryption scheme contact
your locate computer technician and have him configure it for
you. This is an especially important decision for those who run
their own business and use wireless products. How angry would
your customer’s be if someone stole their information off your
network and used it to open accounts in their name? Identity
Theft is only one possible outcome, if your network contains
patient data you could be in violation of the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Then you would be
dealing with the federal government! Take the time to protect
yourself and your family. Security does take a little time, but
it could save you many problems down the road.

About the author:
SA Secure, a San Antonio Texas company specializing in desktop
support and help desk services for small to medium businesses.
Our goal is to provide an alternative to maintaining an
expensive in-house IT staff or relying on many different
individual computer repair technicians. Our services allow you
to obtain an expert level of cost effective technical support
without the need to maintain technicians on-site.

Computer games can be categorized mainly into PC games that are
played in your computer after installation using the CDs that
contain the software, downloadable pc games, and the online
games. Many websites provide you with the downloadable version
of the PC games.

Category based on permission to use

The games can be categorized based on licenses. Some of the
games are free and they can be downloaded on the internet free.
Some pc games are free downloadable games but are shareware.
Shareware games have limitations in the features. Some of the
shareware can be used for only 30 days time and some are limited
by the number of times that software is used. Trial versions of
the software are also available which are time limited or
feature limited.

Online Games

Online games are those that are played online. The user who is
playing the online games should have an internet connection in
his PC. You should be aware that your internet bill is on the
rise during the time you play the online games. Yahoo games are
one among the popular online games. Many websites provide you
online games. Some of the sites require you to become a member
to play these online games. Some charge you on per game basis
for playing.

PC Games

PC Games are those that require an installation through a CD to
play the pc games. Some of the games even require the CD to be
present in the CD drive to play the game. These software CDs are
to be purchased by the user. There are many pc games available
like Tomb Raider that requires you to purchase the CD. Most of
the games that contain Car races and Motorbike races require the
software to be installed through the CD bought by you.

Downloadable PC Games

These games can be downloaded from the internet and can be
installed in your computer. Most of the free game downloads are
small enough to be downloaded from the internet. There websites
like www.download.com that can be searched for free game
downloads. A good search engine would give you thousands of
links to free downloadable games.

What you need in your PC to play these games?

Most of the games can be played without any additional hardware.
If you are having the latest configuration of the PC, which has
the software pre-installed in your computer, then you might not
need any additional software to be installed. Some of the online
games require you to install plug-ins to run the online games.
Plug-in is additional software that is required to run an
application in your computer. You will be provided appropriate
links to download the plug-ins required by your browser or your
computer. You need to check the system requirements for the
computer games that is downloaded or installed in your system
and install them before you start playing the game.

For more information, visit http://www.ComputerGamesInfo.com

About the author:
None

You turn on your computer, and it doesn’t look quite right.
Maybe your icons have changed, or the background picture is
wrong. Some options are disabled. Even worse, you may not be
able to boot your computer up at all. Guess what – it’s probably
got a virus.

In today’s online world, protecting your computer from all the
nasty things online is vital. Viruses can cause obvious issues,
as described above, but they can also run silently in the
background, propagating themselves across your computer and
transferring on to the computers of people you know. Mostly, you
only know you have a virus when substantial damage has already
been done.

Some common signs of a virus include:

-Programs working erratically -Computer locks up -Greyed out
options -The browser home page has changed -Icons have changed
-Difficulties starting up the computer

There is a solution! Antivirus software is readily available,
and the good ones are very efficient at dealing with viruses in
all their many and varied mutations. Basically, if you’re
online, you need this type of software.

So which one do you choose? For starters, be careful of using
something free off the internet, particularly if it’s one you’ve
never heard of. Sometimes these programs are a way of implanting
more viruses on your computer. Some of the better known brands
give you the option of doing a free scan online, which is
useful, but not a long term solution.

It’s really important to choose well-known antivirus software.
Ask friends, or someone computer savvy, for their
recommendations. It may be worth visiting a computer store and
buying it there, rather than online – after all, if they’ve gone
to the trouble of stocking it, it’s most likely an established
and trusted product.

There are plenty of good brands available, far too numerous to
list here, but some of the best known are from McAfee, Norton
and Trend. Check out the support available to you – can you
contact someone if you have trouble installing the software?

Most importantly, make sure there’s an easy way to update the
software on a regular basis (preferably as part of the purchase
cost!). For example, my antivirus software pops up a little box
every time an upgrade is available. I click okay, and it’s
automatically downloaded to my computer. Viruses change and
develop at an alarming rate, so it’s vital to keep your
antivirus software up to date.

Finally, the all-important backup! The word “backup” tends to
produce the same glassy eyed response as the word “budget”, but
it really is an essential part of being online. Regularly backup
your important files to CD or DVD. If you’re a business user, an
automated and frequent backup process is vital. Once a virus has
destroyed your computer, it’s too late.

Being online is wonderful, but don’t let it become a nightmare.
Antivirus software will play a vital role in keeping your online
experience a positive one.

Copyright Felicity Walker

About the author:
Keeping her computer running smoothly is a priority for the
author! To find out more, check out http://www.antiviruszon
eonline.com for more information.