Tuesday, December 30

Satellite Internet Service Is It Right For You?

There are many rural areas where DSL (direct subscriber line) or cable Internet service is not available. If you live in one of those areas and want fast, reliable, high-speed Internet service, satellite Internet is what you're looking for.

Though not as fast as DSL or cable Internet service, satellite Internet service is much faster than 56K dialup service, and is available to anyone in the United States who has a clear view of the southern sky.

Satellite Internet Service Features

* Satellite Internet service is up to 10 times faster than dialup service, so you can surf the web and download files in a fraction of the time it takes with dialup.

* Satellite Internet service is always on, so you don't have to wait to connect to the Internet.

* Satellite Internet service is separate from your phone line, so you can surf the Internet and talk on the phone at the same time, plus you won't miss any telephone calls.

Satellite Internet Compared to DSL and Cable

To give you an idea of the differences between high-speed services, here's a comparison of satellite TV service from DirecWay, versus DSL and Cable service from EarthLink. For more information on these services click on the links below.

Speed

* Satellite Internet service: Up to 10 times faster than dialup service (700 Kbps download speed and 128 Kbps upload speed.

* DSL Internet service: Up to 70 times faster than dialup service (up to 3 Mps download speed and 128 upload speed).

* Cable Internet service: Up to 100 times faster than dialup service (up to 5 Mps download speed and 384 Kbps upload speed.

Monthly Service Fee

* Satellite Internet service: From $59.99 per month.

* DSL Internet service: $19.95 for the first six months, then $39.95 thereafter.

* Cable Internet service: $29.95 for the first 6 months, then $41.95 thereafter.

Equipment Cost

* Satellite Internet service: $499.98.

* DSL Internet service: Free.

* Cable Internet service: Free.

Installation

* Satellite Internet service: Free.

* DSL Internet service: Do it yourself or pay an installer.

* Cable Internet service: Free.

Activation Fee

* Satellite Internet service: None.

* DSL Internet service: None.

* Cable Internet service: None.

Email Accounts

* Satellite Internet service: 5 accounts.

* DSL Internet service: 8 accounts.

* Cable Internet service: 8 accounts.

Virus, Spam, and Spyware Protection:

* Satellite Internet service: Yes.

* DSL Internet service: Yes.

* Cable Internet Service: Yes.

Customer Service

* Satellite Internet service: 24/7 toll-free telephone and Internet service.

* DSL Internet service: 24/7 toll free-telephone and Internet service.

* Cable Internet Service: 24/7 toll free-telephone and Internet service.

DirecWay Satellite Internet Service

DirecWay is the largest and most reliable satellite Internet service. Most other satellite TV providers are actually DirecWay affiliates, meaning they use DirecWay's equipment and satellites, but offer different services.

DirecWay offers two satellite Internet plans:

Plan A -- You pay $99.99 per month for 15 months, then $59.99 per month thereafter.

Plan B -- You pay $499.98 for your equipment and installation, then $59.99 per month for service.

Bottom Line

Because DSL and cable Internet services are faster and cheaper than satellite service, I recommend clicking on the links below to see if they are available in your area.

If not, then satellite is the way to go if you want high-speed Internet service.

Click on the following link for more information on satellite Internet service, or these links for ordering information and the latest offers from DISH Network satellite Internet service or DIRECTV satellite Internet service.

Brian Stevens is the senior editor for TheSatelliteTVGuide.com and has written extensively on satellite Internet service.

Sunday, December 28

What is a Web Directory?

Do you have a website and are looking for more traffic? If so you don?t have to despair trying to figure out how you will direct traffic to your site because there is a tried and true way to increase your traffic in no time! The best method to get more traffic is with one way links. You may have heard of reciprocal links in the past, but that requires you to host a link on your site as well. With one way links there is a link to your site, but you don?t have to host a link as well! You might be wondering how you can possibly get other sites to host a link to your site without you having to host a link back, but fortunately it is not only possible but really easy with web directories!

One Way Links and Web Directories

Website directories are simply directories that focus on compiling links to other websites and then categorizing them. There are thousands of web directories on the Web that will allow you as a website owner to submit your website information and link to have included in the web directory. Then, a human will review the submission to approve it for the web directory. Then, your site will have a new one way link in the web directory that will help you reach more people and ultimately get more traffic. Since there are so many web directories you can spend a lot of time submitting your information in order to receive those important one way links. Or else you could hire someone to do it for you. Amazingly, there are many online companies that focus on submitting your link to website directories and since they already know the web directories and how to go about the process they can do it fast and cheap!

Since there are so many directories out there and you want as many links as possible then this might be the best bet for you. Trying to link your site with all of the web directories on the web will take a lot of your time and you won?t be able to focus on other projects or business. Of course, if you have a lot of free time then you can visit all of the web directories you want to submit your website to get a one way link. That is completely up to you, just know there are companies that offer this service for a very reasonable rate.

Some of the most famous web directories are Yahoo! Directory, Open Directory Project, as well as LookSmart, so you will want to start with these. Of course, there are plenty of other web directories to choose from and you might need to do a little online research to figure out which ones are best. Just remember, if you want more traffic for your website start placing some one way links to your site in web directories and watch the visitors come.

Article supplied by Ian Walsh, owner of Villas2u - Orlando Villas as well as editor of the Categorized Web Directory and Directoree Website Directory. Want to know more about one-way links? Visit http://www.categorizedweb.com or http://www.directoree.net

Friday, December 26

The UK Broadband Revolution Continues

Who would have thought two years ago that we would be able to get broadband for free? Those were the days when it cost on average ?25 for a 512k (per second) connection. Broadband was reserved for ?cyber geeks?. The rest of us were happy enough with our super slow dialup connection.

A broadband revolution has been sweeping the nation ever since. Broadband speeds have increased dramatically and prices have plummeted. Now 512k is considered slow. Anything under 2Mb (per second) won?t do. The ?cyber geeks? are really moving into the fast lane, with download speeds of up to 24Mb available.

Prices for broadband fell significantly during 2005 and continue to do so. This led to more people signing up to broadband as it became more affordable. This, in turn, lead to more companies offering cut price broadband to attract those customers, which led to even more customers becoming interested. And the cycle continued. About 80,000 per week now sign up to a broadband package in the UK.

It has gone so far that you can now get broadband for free. If anyone mentioned free broadband 2 years ago, they would have been branded as being insane. Now it is a reality with TalkTalk offering free broadband to its Talk3 customers and Orange to its mobile customers. Cynics argue that it is not free, as you have to buy another service to get it. But even then, it is a damn good deal.

So where is the market going to go?

The rapidly changing world of telecommunications is going to force many of the smaller players out of the market. They simply will not be able to survive as margins are squeezed. Even the big players are finding the going tough. Telecom giant Cable and Wireless announced this week that it is broadband subsidiary, Bulldog, will no longer be offering broadband to residential customers.

Packages that include 2, 3 or even 4 products will become commonplace. Broadband providers have realised that they cannot make enough money from broadband alone to survive. So they are bundling broadband with other products, such as home phone, digital television and mobile. Market leaders such as TalkTalk, NTL and Telewest have been doing this for some time.

Broadband speeds will continue to rise as the technology moves forwards. This will lead to broadband becoming the centre of home communications. Your digital TV and home phone will be transmitted over a broadband connection.

The world of broadband has certainly come along way in the past 2 years, from a geeks product to mass market. The next 2 years will just as interesting, as broadband becomes the main communications platform in your home.

Tony George is the editor of http://www.StellarDeals.co.uk StellarDeals.co.uk is a free and impartial comparision service for broadband, home phone and digital television products. StellarDeals.co.uk will help you decide on the best package for you.

Wednesday, December 24

What are Your Internet Connection Solutions?

Of primary concern to all internet users is their actual connection to the internet.

A user needs to look at all the factors and weigh the benefits and costs

  • Reliability - is the connection available 24/7, or do you get a busy signal?

  • Speed - at what speeds can a user upload and download files?

  • Costs - what are the setup and monthly costs for the internet connection service?

  • Support - is support available 24/7 and is it free or is there a cost associated with it?

  • Availability - is the desired service available at your location?

    Available options with good and bad features include:

    Local dial up with phone company (local isp) - While this many times is the simplest, often times, they are the most costly and support can be an issue. Speeds are typically the slowest at 26k to 56k connection speeds.

    Software file compression- If you only have 26k dialup isp connections available to you or you want to speed up your DSL connections, this is an important option you should take a look at. With this type of software you can increase your internet connection speeds by as much as five times for very little money. Popular software products that accomplish this are ActiveSpeed, PropelAccelerator, Dr. Speed, and SuperSpeeder, Highly recommended solution to increasing your browsing experience.

    Local dial up with national firm - This is by far the most popular with companies like AOL, People PC, Juno, EarthLink, and Netzero providing this service to millions of users. These certainly are the most cost effective and provide excellent 24/7 support. With the high speed upgrade options you can approach 112 k speeds. If the company has a local or toll free number available in your area, then this alternative provides the lowest cost isp internet connection.

    Cable connection - If cable TV is available in your area, many firms also provide an internet connection for an additional fee. Requires special cable modem. Speeds are anywhere from 512k to 10Mps.

    DSL or digital service line - Many local phone companies are providing this service to selected areas. Requires installation of DSL modem on your computer and speeds typically are from 512k to 9Mps. The distance from the local hub also affects your speed. You will pay 2 to 3 times the costs of basic dial up.

    Broadband - Is a term loosely thrown around that is applied to a DSL, cable, wireless, or satellite internet connections. Technically broadband is a minimum of 1.5Mbs but is used to market products with bandwidth as low as 512k. When you hear the term broadband used, think like health food, an undefined marketing catch word.

    Wireless internet connection - This option is available in limited area's and requires a wireless modem on your computer. Speeds typically are 2Mbps and this is a flexible approach as you do not need to be hardwired or plugged in. Available in many metro area's.

    Satellite internet connection - This is the perfect solution for remote area's if you require a high speed internet connection. Upload and download speeds are different and in some cases you can only download via satellite and are required to upload via dial up. This is the most expensive alternative, but you can get service basically anywhere in the world. Speeds starting at 500k are available. Contact Directway for dependable and fast satellite internet connections.

    About The Author

    Ray LaFoy has been providing professional web and software development services since 1999. Living in Montana, he has made a career of excelling in marketing.

    http://BroadBandQuick.com

    http://www.ExpertHelpNow.com

    Copyright 2004 - All rights reserved worldwide

  • Monday, December 22

    Using your High Speed Broadband to the Full

    As the price of broadband has come down in recent years, its availability is far spread, with more and more people choosing to make the switch to a sophisticated technology, that can cope with the demands of modern living. In order for you to get full value for money and usage, here are some advantages on getting connected to broadband over dial-up.

    1. You can download software, and transfer files quickly, such as, email photos from the digital camera, or send home movies from your camcorder to friends and family etc.

    2. With a high speed connection, you can play games online, against other people in real time, via gaming websites. This can be done on the PC or games consoles such as PSP, PS2, Xbox etc.

    3. One of the best aspects of broadband is that you can now easily watch thousands of web cams set up all around the world, so you can see what?s going on anywhere you want. If your friends or family have a web cam at home, this could provide an excellent and FREE way of communicating with loved ones around the world.

    4. Watch live web casts, internet tv and short films online.

    5. You can now watch music videos at a much better quality than before, with high speed downloads, you can watch the latest videos from your favourite bands and artists.

    6. Music downloads are now a doddle, and you can now order singles and albums, which are cheaper than buying it at your local store. Total convenience.

    7. One of the latest innovations is VOIP. This, in a nutshell, allows you to use the internet connection to make and receive phone calls. With technology currently developing, this will gain in popularity and eventually bring prices down for current call charges.

    8. Listen to a selection of streaming radio stations for free, whilst you surf the web, and not have any interference.

    There are so many other uses for ADSL broadband in the home and at work, that being without it can have you missing out on some of the greatest innovations of this era.

    Nick Singh runs a website committed to serving customers in finding the best deal on getting a cheap broadband connection. For a comparison of the best ISP?s go to http://www.cheap-broadband-in-the-uk.com.

    Sunday, December 21

    Seeyin K. has sent you "Go Home Improvement." on iList

    Hey there!

    Seeyin K. thought you might be interested in the listing "Go Home Improvement." on iList, a free classifieds service. You can view the listing on iList at

    http://ilist.com/go/idru

    where you can also respond to the listing.

    ---
    This email was sent on behalf of Seeyin K. by iList and is not unsolicited.
    To remove yourself from receiving future iList promotion emails from this user, visit http://ilist.com/go/idvf

    Seeyin K. has sent you "Go Home Improvement." on iList

    Hey there!

    Seeyin K. thought you might be interested in the listing "Go Home Improvement." on iList, a free classifieds service. You can view the listing on iList at

    http://ilist.com/go/idru

    where you can also respond to the listing.

    ---
    This email was sent on behalf of Seeyin K. by iList and is not unsolicited.
    To remove yourself from receiving future iList promotion emails from this user, visit http://ilist.com/go/idtl

    Seeyin K. has sent you "Idea Home Decor" on iList

    Hey there!

    Seeyin K. thought you might be interested in the listing "Idea Home Decor" on iList, a free classifieds service. You can view the listing on iList at

    http://ilist.com/go/iame

    where you can also respond to the listing.

    ---
    This email was sent on behalf of Seeyin K. by iList and is not unsolicited.
    To remove yourself from receiving future iList promotion emails from this user, visit http://ilist.com/go/idrq

    Saturday, December 20

    Broadband Will it Affect Your Online Marketing Future?

    The coming age of general Broadband use bearing down upon us, minute by minute, is going to leave many changes in its wake. Some will be welcome; others will demand all we can do, just to keep up!

    Of course, items like high quality graphics, streaming video and movies on demand will be commonplace. On the other hand, Broadband spells the end of most common text-only websites. Let's face it: the consumer wants more! Offering a good deal with high quality service won't do it anymore.

    Websites that cater to the newfound appetite for quality audio and video content will get the sale. Obviously, that makes perfect sense! It brings to mind an experience I had while learning Photoshop. I purchased a very big manual and it took me three weeks just to get my feet wet. A good friend bought a video tutorial and arrived at my level of skill in two days!

    There are many other things audio and video can explain better and in much shorter time than text, as in the example above. We're not talking just innovation; but also, the very deep and long-lasting impact the technology is going to produce.

    I was reading an informative article written by Darrin Coe, titled The Internet Consumer Exposed. It's a piece compiled from larger studies of the habits and lifestyles of Internet centered consumers. By the conclusions reached in the item, it does appear the consumer will smile upon the coming Broadband changes. Here is Darrin's website: http://dcoe1.tripod.com/exposed1/

    There are some Marketers actively staking out their Broadband future. One that comes to mind is Jim Edwards. Jim is also a well known writer and syndicated newspaper columnist and - not to mention - a very pleasant person.

    A week or so ago, I received an email from Jim inviting me to witness the birth of his new multimedia Newsletter I Gotta tell You. I was speechless! Very seldom do we get to watch one of the early events giving birth to a revolution! It is content delivery that's light years away and will only get better and better. Good work Jim!

    Here is Jim's Newsletter: http://www.igottatellyou.com/

    Another application that's blazing a trail into Broadband is the Instant Video Generator sold by Armand Morin, Alex Mandossian and Rick Raddatz. Though they claim it works as well with a dial up connection, I can see it carving out a big chunk of the Broadband market. I've gone to the website and viewed a few presentations. It does seem to work quite well! The buffering is almost instantaneous and the quality very good. Here is the website: http://instantvideogenerator.com

    Conclusion

    Start taking the necessary steps to get on the multimedia bandwagon or suffer the same fate as the dinosaurs! Broadband dominance will become an inescapable reality of the very near future. As Stark Trek's Borg say: Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated!

    About the Author:

    Francisco Aloy is the author of Yes, I Want to Start My Internet Business Without Being SCAMMED!. He has an online business catering to the needs of the Newbie Net Entrepreneur. Visit his site to see more of Mr. Aloy's articles. http://www.newbie-business-guide.com

    Thursday, December 18

    A Cheap Alternative To Broadband?

    Are you a dial-up user looking for a faster connection, but don't like Broadband prices? If so, you should take a look at a new service called OnSpeed, which has received rave reviews in Internet technology publications.

    What OnSpeed does is to re-route web pages and email via its own servers, compressing the data on the fly prior to sending it onwards to your PC. A small program then decompresses the data, so that you can view it in the normal way via your browser or email client.

    In my own dial-up tests, with a modem running at a nominal 49kb/s I appeared to get speeds close to that of my normal broadband connection of 598 kb/s - very impressive. Image quality is often reduced but the compression for this can be improved, though with an adverse effect on the speed of course.

    Some file types like MP3 also cannot yet be compressed. The company is working on these issues however and expects to find solutions soon.

    Unfortunately I was unable to use email in my tests, due to a 'port' conflict with a spam filter that I was using. The standard advice on the OnSpeed site for such cases is to disable the offending program. Not a constructive approach - to say the least - so I hope that the relevant instructions will be changed soon.

    More significantly, the problem persisted even when I switched off the OnSpeed application on my PC; in the end I had to remove the program to get the spam filter working again. I expect that this fault can be resolved, but clearly there are issues in this area that need to be addressed.

    The software is easy to install, and is available for Mac as well as Windows PCs. On the whole the service is surprisingly good, and a lot cheaper than broadband. Unlike other 'speed-up' techniques that tweak your computer's settings but result in little noticeable improvement, OnSpeed really works.

    I can recommend OnSpeed for dial-up users who can't justify the expense of broadband, or who are not located close enough to a suitable exchange. OnSpeed is also stated to be great for mobile or PDA users, as GPRS (wireless) speeds can be boosted by as much as 8 times. It even helps with broadband if you can only get a reduced service in your area.

    My overall rating is 4/5 - very good, but the email support needs to be improved.

    If you want further details of OnSpeed, please visit http://www.On-Speed.net. There is a 14 day money-back guarantee, so you can try the service without any risk.

    Copyright ? Richard Prosser 2004

    Richard is a software developer and entrepreneur, and may be contacted via the 'Article Tips' site given below. This article may be published without permission, but only in its entirety.

    Free email course: Drive 'Hot' Prospects To Your Site For Free! http://www.ArticleTips.com

    Tuesday, December 16

    Bandwidth

    The term bandwidth is very common these days, especially because its technology affects almost all aspects of our lives. You use bandwidth when you connect to the internet, when you use the telephone, when you watch television, and in many other activities. But what exactly is bandwidth? Read on to find out and see how it can change your life.

    Bandwidth defined

    The term ?bandwidth? refers to the amount of data or information that can be transmitted over a network in a given time, or, in much simpler terms, is a measure of how much ?stuff? is sent through any connection. Information sent can take many forms depending on the channel.

    How bandwidth affects you

    Bandwidth in internet terms is usually expressed in either bits per second (bps), kilobits per second (kbps), or megabits per second (mbps). The higher the bandwidth of your connection, the faster you can upload and download data from the internet. Dial-up connections are low speed at only about 50+ kbps, while better cable connections go from 500 kbps and up. Whether you need a connection that has bigger bandwidth depends on your purposes for using the internet. If you only use the net for text-based research purposes, you don?t need much bandwidth. A whole page of English text is only about 16,000 bits, so if your modem can move about 57,000 bits per second, you are more than covered. You may need higher bandwidth if you upload or download full-motion and full-screen video, which, depending on compression, requires roughly 10,000,000 bits-per-second. It is wise to subscribe to a high-bandwidth connection if you use the internet for pictures, graphics, music and videos.

    The telephones use bandwidth, too ? in fact, a bandwidth of about 3,000 ?cycles per second? (cps) is required for voice transmission. The bandwidth required for television broadcasting is even higher at about 6 million cps, and satellite system prevent interference by spreading television signals using bandwidth of as little as 17.5 MHz to a as much as 72 MHz.

    Bandwidth provides detailed information on Bandwidth, Bandwidth Tests, Bandwidth Management, Bandwidth Meters and more. Bandwidth is affiliated with Colocation Hosting.

    Monday, December 15

    CNN Partner Hotel Specials

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    Sunday, December 14

    Just What Is Optical Carrier (OC) Bandwidth?

    Ever wonder just what the heck was an OC48? Not surprisingly many network engineers and IT managers aren't up to speed (no pun intended) on just what OC really means...and what all is available to enahnce their company's applications within this bandwidth category.

    So....here's a quick run down to set you straight.

    The OC (optical carrier...fiber optic based broadband network )hierarchy goes as follows, starting with a T3/DS3 electrical carrier and then on to an OC-1:

    DS3 (Electrical) = 44.736mbits/sec = 28 T1s/DS1s

    STS1 (Electrical) = (1) DS3 @ 44.736mbits/sec with SONET (Synchronous Optical NET) overhead = 51.840mbits/sec

    OC-1 (Optical) = (1) STS1 on Optical facilities

    OC-3 = (3) OC-1s = 155.52mbits/sec

    OC-9 = (9) OC-1s (not commonly used) = 466.56mbits/sec

    OC-12 = (12) OC-1s or (4) OC-3s = 622.08mbits/sec

    OC-18 = (18) OC-1s (not commonly used) = 933.12mbits/sec

    OC-24 = (24) OC-1s (not commonly used) = 1.244gbits/sec

    OC-36 = (36) OC-1s (not commonly used) = 1.866gbits/sec

    OC-48 = (48) OC-1s or (4) OC-12s or (16) OC-3s = 2.488gbits/sec

    OC-192= (192) OC-1s or (4) OC-48s or (16) OC-12s or (64) OC-3s = 9.953gbits/sec

    The reason for the stair-stepping of the OC Hierarchy is due to the fact that the next available level of multiplexing ('muxing) of lower-level circuits is usually 4: (4) OC-3s = (1) OC-12, and (4) OC-48s = (1) OC-192.

    This muxing scheme is usually dictated by the equipment manufacturers and is pretty much an adopted standard in the Telecom industry - hence the lack of the lesser-common bandwidth aggregations like OC-9, OC-18, etc. The only exception is the OC-3, which was needed to allow the upper-level hierarchy to work.

    Hope this tidbit of info helps the network design decisions for your business now....and in the future!

    Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications....including DS3-Bandwidth.com and Business-VoIP-Solution.com. Michael also authors Broadband Nation where you're always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips, insights, and ramblings for the masses.

    Friday, December 12

    Tim BernersLee: The Man Who 'Invented' The Internet

    While working as an independent consultant at CERN (a nuclear research laboratory close to Geneva) in 1980, Tim Berners-Lee developed an innovative way of storing information in a program named Enquire.

    Many of the fundamental concepts in this program were later used in the development of a global hypertext system - popularly known as the Internet or the World Wide Web.

    The WWW was developed to increase the ease with which people could exchange information. This became a reality with the introduction of the first WYSWIG (What You See Is What You Get) hypertext web browser which was written by Tim Berners-Lee.

    The advantage of the WWW over previous systems was the lack of a need for a centralized server. In short, this meant that it was just as easy to retrieve, as well as link to, a document that was down the hall as across the world.

    This was a huge breakthrough in computing science.

    The Web and the first web server were released to the hypertext communities in mid 1991, after being released within CERN in late 1990. In order to achieve a coherent standard for the WWW, specifications for URLs, HTML and HTTP were published.

    The universality forced by these specifications, the non-dependence on a central server and decision by Berners-Lee not to profit from the WWW led to a high level of adoption of the technology between 1991-94. A ten fold increase in annual traffic was recorded on the first Web server during this period.

    With the advent of the Web, a number of spin-off technologies have emerged. A vast array of server side, client side and database languages have been created to fulfill needs of businesses and individuals.

    There are two types of programming languages used on the WWW: client-side and server-side.

    A client-side language is executed in the users' browser and is not dependent upon the Web server. Client-side programming is done almost exclusively with JavaScript.

    A server-side language executes on the Web server. In recent years server-side programming has become more popular than client-side programming because it is independent of the type of browser that the surfer is using. Programmers refer to this as being 'cross-platform'. Perl, PHP, ASP and JSP are popular client-side programming languages.

    Databases have been developed to allow for 'dynamic' websites.

    Dynamic websites allow for a high level of personalization when retrieving information.

    Whenever you type in values in a form on a web page - whether those values are for a user id and password, the characteristics of your ideal partner or an author's name - it's a 'dynamic' web site. That is just a way of saying that there is a database being used to run the website.

    Popular databases used include MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle.

    An area of the WWW that Berners-Lee has direct involvement is in his role as the Director of the World Wide Web Consortium (WC3) which has existed since 1994.

    The aim of the WC3 is to achieve coherent standards between all companies using web technologies such as HTML, CSS and XML. Prior to the creation of the standards detailed by the WC3, companies used different standards, which led to potential incompatibilities. The WC3 remedied this by creating an open forum - allowing companies to agree on core standards for WWW technologies.

    The future of Berners-Lee's influence on modern computing is in the context of the Semantic Web. 'Semantic' means 'meaning'.

    A semantic web is one where elements that appear in a document hold some meaning that can be automatically processed by a machine in some form of data gathering. Currently, documents on the WWW written in HTML hold no meaning ? they're presentation based.

    Tim Berners-Lee laid the conceptual foundation for the World Wide Web. It was his initial idea to create a way where information could be freely and easily exchanged. The standards associated with it and the lack of reliance upon a central server, gave the Web a cross platform advantage and independence, which led to its meteoric rise in popularity.

    In turn, its popularity spawned and popularized many different programming languages, databases, markup standards, servers - as well as - viruses and worms.

    However, while Tim Berners-Lee is the 'father' of the Internet, its development over the years is a result of the efforts of an extraordinary number of individuals. There is little question that 500 or 1,000 years from now, historians will look at the invention of the Internet as one of those rare, seminal historical events - much like Gutenberg's printing press.

    If you found this article educational, please visit my blog Creative And Unique Gift Ideas. There's nothing educational about it but it is a lot of fun!

    Wednesday, December 10

    Beta Testing First Mobile Internet Satellite Broadband Part III

    Back in 1999 when we beta tested the first wireless mobile office with satellite broadband Internet we had something that no one lese had. Today you can buy these systems for $5,500 fully installed on any RV. We probably had $10,000 in the first system and we had mobile satellite number 34. Today there are thousands of systems out there. Continuing the beta testing story of the first broadband satellite internet system.

    It appears the Canadian based companies for obvious reasons are gaining fast while the US companies were hampered by the FCC in the last few years, forcing communications to move out of the country, yet the customer bases will be here and many of these companies will have 50K subscribers in no time, and the US mighty powerhouses will end up with all the technology and hardware through acquisitions or set up new systems in the coming years with higher capabilities. But do not count out the GM Hughes Team, Craig McCaw (he is a lifer when it comes to passion of the industry) and of course Lockheed and Microsoft. Teledesic, and the other recent alliances and projects prove that the world will be more than united and on the same page it will be doing so in real time. Expect the human rights violations of yesterday to disappear in all nations, religion to be put in check and knowledge to be the universal truth. I would like to thank; John Kettlewell, Jon Haugan, Steven Genuser, Stacy, Allen, Steve Ford WB8IMY, Michael Tavern, Frank Morring, Kim Komando and a few other writers, researchers and industry insiders for all the data in our research. We have scoured over 20 magazines for the last year for bits and pieces of the puzzle and personally visited all kinds of people around the US for this input.

    We at WashGuys are sitting on the latest and greatest technologies on this Planet. We will always be on the leading edge of anything that makes us great. And when we say us, we mean all of the US, but of course this costs the big bucks and we like out electronic toys, but it is not for everyone. Okay back to the talk. TracNet is another purely Internet Based satellite service and has download speeds of 400kbps, but since it is not directly two way it?s upload speed is 14.4 Mbps on a cell phone or at 9600 through the satellite, bummer, but it works no matter where you are in the US. Truck drivers like this one a lot. It also works about 100 miles from the coastline in a boat and is good on yachts. Many high-end motor homes have this system too. TrackNet uses the 802.11b wireless standard WiFi; this is at 11Mbps, same as an Ethernet network. The cool thing about this system is you can be outside on the grass in a park doing you work as long as you have the server in your car with the Trac net antenna set up. Of course you need some space for all this but the size of this technology is getting smaller and the price is coming down too. Right now this system costs about $6K. It uses the ExpressVu Bell Satellite and it requires a 14-inch antenna. Let me know if you want to see what the dome looks like. This will cost an additional $3,000. Cost is $ .99 per minute and after 900 minutes it is only $ .79 per minute. MotoSat System, 12Kbs on down load and 1.28Kbs on uplink all satellite, no cell phones unlimited use for $79 per month. Hell you can even watch TV on the damn thing.

    Got to love the diehards from GM Hughes Spin off. What?s the catch? A 39 inch antenna, not exactly transportable or brief-casable. DataStorm it is called. Our WashGuy Command Center antenna is 42 inches high and 39 inches across in an ellipse shape. We believe the next wave of technology is where it is at however and predict this to be in place where WiFi is sitting on top of every billboard in the US for uplink and the antennas are 5 inches high and self tracking the downlink from the satellite and with this technology and user codes each company can help America track terrorists and once a terrorist is coded like a whale that has been tagged, you always know where he is. When will this be? Not long. Give it three, maybe four years or so tops, five if the FCC does not see it?s obvious value.

    Another system, which may enter the market, is GE Capitals Americom Communications Unit. Our founder met the president of Americom once, about 8 years ago, interesting guy. Societe Europeene Des Satellite (SES) added these satellites to its 28 owned and 13 satellites that it has an interest in. Why? To have a piece at the broadband seamless global conductivity market. This was talked about in April 2 issue of Aviation Week and Space technology. This means that SES will also control AsiaSat and Embratel?s Brazil StarOne. Other articles to tell the history of this whole thing are; Nov 13 2000 AW&SPT and AW&SPT of July 24,2000. SES maybe the most profitable in the entire sector due to the contract backlogs of 6.4 Billion as of June 2001. So now what will they do with others entering the markets? It appears GE was smart to sell and now needs to get back into the game somehow. I see the coming of a new age. Where information, innovation, security, safety, will change the world. And just imagine the power it will give to all the research going on in the World. Very cool. Car Wash Guys are in close contact with these technologies so we can put a small antenna on every until and address the entire company and every crew in it every morning of everything going on by way of satellite video conferencing. WOW, we are almost here.

    And that is the story of our Beta Test Project and we are glad to be a part of Communications History and we have now tested the satellite system in every city in the United States over 10,000 people. Think about it.

    Lance Winslow

    Monday, December 8

    New ISP Ten Tips for ISP Shopping

    Looking for a new Internet Service Provider (ISP) but don't know which one to choose? Though difficult, it's something we all must do every once and a while. This article will make your ISP shopping experience much easier.

    Before signing up for an ISP, ask yourself these questions:

    1. Do I need dial-up or broadband? If you use the Internet for more than three hours a week, you should get broadband. Generally, the lowest speed broadband is the same price or only a little more than dial-up and significantly faster.

    2. If I'm going to use broadband, how will I get it?
    There are a variety of ways to get broadband Internet. The two most common and probably the best are through a phone line (DSL) or a cable line (cable). Less common ways to get broadband are through WISPs (wireless Internet Service Providers) or via your satellite dish if your satellite TV provider offers it. WISPs and satellite Internet are generally used in rural areas and are more expensive than DSL and cable broadband. Some areas now have fiber optic broadband, such as Verizon FiOS. Fiber optic Internet offers speeds much faster than typical broadband and is the best choice if available.

    3. What ISPs are available in my area?
    Gather a list of all available ISPs in your area.

    4. What download speed do I need?
    If you use your Internet infrequently, you can probably get away with a 256 kbit download speed. For online gaming (and I do not mean games like Internet Checkers), the faster connection you can get, the better. If you plan on setting up a home network and having more than one PC on the Internet at the same time, make sure you have at least a 1.5 mbit download speed. There is no need to get Internet faster than 1.5 mbit unless you share your Internet with others on a home network, download large files frequently, or play online games.

    Note: Note that Internet speeds are measured in kilobits and file sizes are measured in kilobytes or megabits and megabytes if the number is 1000 kilobits or kilobytes or more. There is a huge different between bits and bytes! In fact, One kilobyte is equal to 8 kilobits! For example, a 3 mbit (3000 kbit) broadband connection will only yield a download speed of 384 kilobytes at the most.

    5. What upload speed do I need?
    You're upload speed is less important than your download speed. You should only pay attention to how fast your upload speed is if you use bittorrent, upload files to the Internet frequently, play online games, or plan on running any kind of server, such as a game server or web server. Upload speeds are often much slower than download speeds and like with download speeds, the higher they are, the faster they will perform. Upload speeds are measured in kilobits and megabits respectively.

    6. Do I want to run a game or web server?
    If you want to run a server, you will need a dedicated IP and your ISP must allow servers. Read your ISP's terms of service to make sure they allow customers to run servers.

    7. Are there any limits to my Internet connection?
    Make sure there aren't any limits on your Internet you don't know about, such as a monthly download limit.

    8. What ISP is the best?
    Search the Internet for reviews about your local ISPs. I personally recommend Dslreports.com for ISP reviews.

    9. Cost and Features
    Weigh the cost and features of each potential ISP. Which has the best value for the money? Does one ISP have a feature you really need? Can you get more speed for the same price with another ISP? Do I need to pay extra for a modem? Are there any termination fees?

    10. Choose an ISP
    After completing steps 1-9, it's time to choose an ISP! Sign up, set up your new Internet connection, relax, and have fun on the web!

    Daniel Foster is the owner of PC Fastlane, a great place to find computer help, interesting articles, tech news, a list of over 160 free PC games, and more. http://www.pcfastlane.com

    Saturday, December 6

    seeyinkui wants to keep up with you on Twitter

    To find out more about Twitter, visit the link below:

    http://twitter.com/i/20cf124f82bc28fdf60e6fbf9d8aeed8fec54c79

    Thanks,
    -The Twitter Team

    About Twitter

    Twitter is a unique approach to communication and networking based on the simple concept of status. What are you doing? What are your friends doing—right now? With Twitter, you may answer this question over SMS or the Web and the responses are shared between contacts.

    This message was sent by a Twitter user who entered your email address. If you'd prefer not to receive emails when other people invite you to Twitter, click here:
    http://twitter.com/i/optout/fac61152cef9a55edfcb987fa18d25b1143918e5

    How to Test Your DSL and Cable Internet Connection Speed

    There are two measured elements that determine your internet connection speed. They are: The download rate, and the upload rate of data measured in bits per seconds. Usually, it is expressed in Kilobits per second.

    A bit is the smallest piece of data that can be stored in a computer. The bit can be either 0 or 1. The byte is eight bits. Example of a byte and bits are the following:

    bit= 0 or 1

    byte=8 bits

    1 byte=10011101 (eight bits)

    A single charcter needs one byte or eight bits to be stored in a computer. So, when the data rate is 1 byte/sec, that means one character per second is the rate at which data is transferred through your connection.

    This is very slow, and only intended for an example. In order to browse the internet, you must have at least a dial up access with a 56kb/s modem, in order to get a meaningful and practical result.

    There are different types of internet connection. First they introduced the dialup connection using your phone line, then the broadband was introduced.

    The broadband internet connections are DSL, Cable, or Satellite internet services. They are widely used and expanding due to the high bandwith.

    When you get an internet service, your provider states that your speed will be a certain numbers. They usually give you a good idea, but not an exact one. The common asked questions among internet users is:

    How do I know what is my connection speed, and if I am getting what I was promised?.

    If there anyway I can test my connection, and do I need to buy expensive software to test it?.

    The answer is simple. There are two ways to test your internet connection speed:

    1- The manual simple calculation test that you can do yourself without any software or third party services.

    2- You can find a service that lets you run a test through their servers, and get your numbers displayed at their webpage.

    1-The manual method:

    Since I mentioned that the connection speed consist of two numbers, the download and upload speed. So, what you do is download from the internet any free software, and watch the result box with the result that show the size of the file and how many seconds it tool to download.

    When you are done recording the download speed, upload a file of a specific size (1 Mb, 2 Mb), and time your watch when you start. When the file is uploaded, check your watch and record the time it took for the task. Then divide your file size by the seconds it took.

    If you file was 2 Mb. that took 5 minutes to upload, then your upload speed is 2 Mb./300 sec. or 6.826 Kbits/sec.You can run the above test couple times, and then take the average for a better result.

    2-The automated test at a third party service:

    This is my preferred one, where you get to a website where the test is done for you. It is done using a script installed on their server, and letting you download and upload to their server a test file (invisible to you). Then, the result is displayed on their webpage. You just have to register for free using your email. It is free. This is a website address where they offer you a free internet connection test:

    http://www.visualware.com.

    In summary, don't settle for numbers given to you by your services, do the tests whenever you can. You enjoy it, and feel that you are getting your money worth. This is because some servcies charges you 35 dollars or more for a high speed internet service.

    Thanks,
    George Chamoun

    I have created an Ebook about troubleshooting procedures for DSL, or Cable connection problems. You can get it for free by right clicking the link and saving to your computer:

    http://www.ebookfreestore.com/software/ComputerEbook.pdf

    Thursday, December 4

    Broadband Deals Spread Throughout Europe

    From gas suppliers, to mobile phone companies, the EU is not afraid of anyone ? not even the mighty Miscrosoft, one of the largest companies in the world. Research has revealed that the broadband industry in Europe, however, has nothing to fear.

    Europeans are signing up for Broadband Deals faster than ever before. High-speed Internet services are growing in popularity because intense competition from broadband providers is continually driving the product?s exposure in the marketplace to new highs, and prices to new lows.

    As a result, it is estimated that up to 8 million UK households will have broadband by 2008. Overall, the rate at which people are signing up to broadband providers is constantly increasing, thanks largely to the high level of competition in the telecoms industry. It seems the EU is right ? competition is good for consumers.

    This feverish competition is forcing telcos to mount aggressive marketing campaigns in order to make consumers aware of their broadband services. At the same time, broadband access has improved on a geographical basis as well as a technical basis, making it available to a larger pool of potential customers. Some telcos are also advertising very high broadband speeds to attract power users. The competition has also led to telcos lowering prices in a bid to undercut rivals.

    Because of the real competition between telcos offering broadband, the EU has not interfered on a trade practices level. It has, however, issued a ruling that mobile phone and broadband access is not to become a right for all European citizens. Currently there is a universal service obligation that covers fixed landline telecoms that exists to ensure that every European has access to landline service if they want it. According to the EU, this obligation will not be extended to cover broadband and mobile phone services.

    This is of little concern to broadband providers. In some European countries the consumer broadband market is growing by 10% a year. While this is expected to peak in a few years time, there is still a lot of money to be made for the telcos in the immediate future. With the number of online services increasing each year, and film and television programmes soon to be legally streamed into every household with a fast enough broadband deal, the market still has plenty of life left in it.

    Let?s hope the competition continues, and our monthly broadband bills do not mimic our ever-increasing gas bills.

    Broadband-is-cheap contains up-to-date news, information, and Cheap Broadband deals from the UK broadband market.

    Tuesday, December 2

    How to Secure your DSl / Cable Internet Connection Against Malicious Attacks

    Securing your Windows Xp computer is done by achieving two main tasks.

    The first, is to prevent unauthorized users sitting at your computer and logging in through your keyboard.

    The second, is to prevent access to your computer through your internet connection. Preventing unauthorized users is done by controlling your user accounts management.

    This is done by creating one account beside the administrator account. This way, you end up with one administrator account for managing the whole system, and another user account for using all the time you are not managing your system.

    Once you install Windows Xp operating systems, you create a user account beside the administrator account. This new account user ID and password is only known to you, the administrator. By doing this, you disallow anyone from using your computer by sitting at your keyboard.

    The second task is to prevent unauthorized internet access from the outside world. Your computer internet connection is the main source of all kinds of attacks that will damage different programs installed on your computer.

    Attacks from the Internet can be of different forms. Their effects can vary from slowing down you machine to producing annoying messages. Today with the high speed Internet access, you get bombarded with problems much more when you were using dial-up connection.

    There is certain measures you can take to stop the Internet attacks through your high speed connection. I recommend you do four things:

    a-Install an Adware / Spyware removal program on your computer.

    b-Install an Antivirus program.

    c-Install a Pop-Up blocker program.

    d-Install a Firewall, software or hardware.

    In Summary, there are many numbers of ways your computer can be attacked, and result in damages of many sorts. However, There are only few ways of protecting your computer, which makes it easy for every computer owner to secure their computer.

    Thanks,
    George Chamoun

    For more about steps to secure your home computer, get my free e-books at http://www.ebookfreestore.com