New Year, New Technological Expectations

Happy New Year, everyone. At last, the turmoil 2008 brought to the world has ended and this time, 2009 kicks in. This year might bring better economic stance or the other way around, but one thing you can never leave behind are the expectations for this year.

The year 2009 surely promises change. Sounds familiar with a speech of a US presidential candidate, ey, but this is what many expect. I expect changes, too. And to focus on the theme of our blog, I decided to post my expectations from 2009 with regard to technological innovations and everything else under the sun. Here goes the few.

• Microsoft Advancement. Lets face it, Vista's great interface and design did not cover up for the errors, bugs and incompatibilities it brought. But this year promises great hope for Microsoft. The new OS they're developing, known as Windows 7 for the moment, has great potential. I have read online, and few of my friends that has tried the beta version actually liked it. (I haven't had the chance to try it) It may bring hope and shed new light for the falling giant.

• Blu-ray Affordability. Let's face it. It gives a new definition to our movie experience at home. As far as I know, no major problems has occurred.(Speaking of problems, I was shocked by the leap year bug of Microsoft Zune! Nah, goodluck Microsoft.) One major problem of Blu-ray players is, well, they eat too much of your budget. Well, ehem...

• Smarter Technology Movies. Being a big fan of movies, I cannot help it but wish more for the movie industry.This year had Wall-e and Iron Man, but other than those, nothing was set on stone.

• Internet Availability. Yes, internet has been more accessible last year compared from other previous year, but I want more. It would really be great if the World Wide Web goes cheaper so that many more will enjoy its wonders. I hope stronger connection between different culture.(Shocking as it is, many countries does not have access to the internet.)

I still have many hopes for the new year. But while we enjoy the innovations this year, lets not forget what good things the previous year have given to us.

Thanks to the readers of this blog. Though there aren't that much of you and you get here so random, I owe you everything. This week, this blog gained a PageRank of 2, and it couldn't have happened without you. Thanks to YOU, thanks 2008 and welcome 2009! :)

Translate Dot Google Dot Com

Language has always been a barrier in all of us. From the start of the time until the modern age, we are4 still divide by how we speak. But since the technological innovations are being created every minute and communication has become more accessible, we can never deny serious efforts and inventions to erase the gap between all of humanity around the world.

And honestly, I can't help it but laugh at the desperate efforts of the few. Don't misunderstand me, this post is not meant to insult the innovations made by Google, but rather, it is to praise them for this great achievement. It is a great effort of bridging all of us. But you also cannot deny that, damn!, they make me laugh.

Yup, I am talking about Translate.Google.Com!
If you have time, go ahead and try it. And just for curiosity, educational and testing (or any other kinds of) purposes, I decided to try it to the universal sentence we all love to type in our grade school. Check it out.

English:
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog near the bank of the river.

Español:
El rápido zorro marrón saltó sobre el perro perezoso cerca de la orilla del río.

Français:
Le renard brun rapide sauté par dessus le chien paresseux près de la rive de la rivière.

Filipino:
Ang mabilis na brown soro kumuha ng higit sa mga tamad na aso malapit sa bangko ng ilog.

日本語:
クイックブラウンフォックスは、川の銀行の近くの怠惰な犬を飛び越えた。

中國:
有緣千里來相會附近的河岸。

Deutsch
Der flinke rote Fuchs sprang über den faulen Hund in der Nähe der Ufer des Flusses.

العربية:
الثعلب البني السريع قفز فوق الكلب الكسول بالقرب من ضفة النهر.

Italiano:
La volpe veloce marrone saltato oltre il cane pigro vicino alla riva del fiume.

I am not saying anything like I understand all these languages, but I'm quite sure it contains a lot of errors. lol!

But as I have stated before, I admire this effort of Google to bring everyone on the world closer. A little more time, this would be perfect.

Internet and Data Security Terms and Meanings

I was browsing the internet today and I found this very valuable resource. Just thinking of sharing it.

Internet Security is always an issue, not only to large corporations but also to individual users. It builds the confidence between business partnerships and and keeps your properties protected. also, Internet Security is a big part to one's overall security strategy and business solutions.

But the problem nowadays is that most of us is not knowledgeable of even the most common terms that internet security gives. I found this great site, Internet and Data Security Guide, which defines most of these terminologies that is very clear and concise. The following are just a few from the site:

Anti-spyware - An Anti Spyware software is similar to an Anti Virus, but it works on programs that don't try to take over your system, but instead pop up ads and unwanted messages.

Anti-virus - Software to deal with programs like computer viruses, worms, trojan horses and spyware. These programs are all characterised as being unwanted software that install themselves on your computer through deception.
In order to prevent damage by viruses and worms, users typically install antivirus software, which runs in the background on the computer, detecting any suspicious software and preventing it from running.

Authentication - The process for verifying that someone or something is who or what it claims to be. In private and public computer networks (including the Internet), authentication is generally done with passwords.

CSIA - The Cyber Security Industry Alliance is an international public policy advocacy group dedicated to ensuring the privacy, reliability and integrity of information systems.

Certificate - An encrypted file containing user or server identification information, which is used to verify identity and to help establish a security-enhanced link.

Cookie - A small data file that is stored on a user's local computer for record-keeping purposes and which contains information about the user that is pertinent to a Web site, such as user preferences.

Cracking - Finding a password by trying many combinations and words.

Cryptography - The practice and study of hiding information.

Decryption - The process of converting encrypted data back into its original form.

Email filter - Software that scans incoming email for spam or other unwanted material and filters it accordingly.

Encryption - The process of converting data into cipher text to prevent it from being understood by an unauthorized party.

Firewall - A firewall blocks any unauthorized ports on your computer, thus restricting unfettered access.

Hacker - Illegally breaking into systems or writing viruses and other malware.

Information security - The art and science of protecting computers and data from misuse.

Internet Security - The prevention of unauthorized access and/or damage to computer systems via internet access.

Malware - Malware can be classified as trojans with a limited payload and are often not detected by most antivirus software. They may require the use of other software designed to detect other classes of malware, including spyware

Password - A password is a secret word or phrase that gives a user access to a particular program or system.

Phishing - Phishing is when you receive an email that looks like it's from your bank, Paypal, or another site you use, and asking you to login to confirm your information.
The way this works is the attacker sets up a web site which mimics the target site, say a fake bank site, and then sends this phishing email to thousands of people, until one bites.
Then when the person tries to login, his login information is gathered by the bad guys and used to steal information or money.
The most basic rule is to never click a link in an email, never download from an untrusted source, and always type in the address of your financial sites to access them.

Spam - Unsolicited e-mail. Also known as junk e-mail.

Spyware - Software that runs on a computer without the explicit permission of its user. It often gathers private information from a user's computer and sends this data over the Internet back to the software manufacturer.

Trojan horses - Programs that conceal their true purpose or include a hidden functionality that a user would not want.

Viruses - Programs that can slow down system performance and cause strange system behavior and in many cases do serious harm to computers, either as deliberate, malicious damage or as unintentional side effects.

Worms - Programs characterised by having the ability to replicate themselves and viruses are similar except that they achieve this by adding their code onto third party software.
Once a virus or worm has infected a computer, it would typically infect other programs (in the case of viruses) and other computers.

I know that I listed a lot, but these terms are just the few that one needs to be informed of. So if you have time, go ahead and check it out. ^_^x


DISCLAIMER: The following definition was given by RuleWorks.co.uk and all credits goes to them. I do not guarantee that the content will be available by the time this post is read.