The following are a list of my favorite Windows keyboard shortcuts. Sadly, some of them are not available on MAC which makes things more time consuming!
The Home Key: It allows you to jump to the first of the line and saves you a lot of time instead of scrolling.
The End Key: It is the exact opposite of the Home key, it allows you to jump to the very end of the line without using the arrows to move to the end.
Ctrl-C: The very common copy keys. They allow you to copy the text you have highlighted and use ctrl-v to paste it anywhere!
I have just setup the
Contact Us Form to use Ajax instead of your typical form. As readers may recall, about a month ago I
took on Ajax and decided to start learning it.
By using Ajax, data is transfered in small amounts behind the scenes so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded. Only a small section of the website is actually reloaded. Therefore, less data is transfered when the end user or website visitor is viewing the site.
Ajax is an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML.
An iframe used to be used to ensure that the entire website does not have to be reloaded however iframes did not always work with search engines as they could not read the information within an iframe.
With Ajax, the data can be read with no problems.
Ajax is web application model Google is using when you type in a search term on their website (also known as Google Suggest). While typing in letters, Google supplies the user with suggestions as to what to search for as they are typing it in.
Another example is the
Google Maps feature. Google Maps also uses Ajax so the website does not need to be reloaded.
Other examples of where Ajax is being used at is
A9.com (Amazon's search engine),
Flickr and
gmail.
Welcome to Web 2.0.
ajax [June 07 2007, 0 Comments]I am starting to learn Ajax programming and a client informed me yesterday some history on where Ajax comes from. Ajax was also a
greek hero.
Mod_rewrite is an amazing apache module and really helps when promoting your site.
Instead of using www.yourname.com/index.php?show=pictures you can setup urls like www.yourname.com/pictures which will show the same result as index.php?show=pictures.
This is accomplished by using mod rewrite. Heres an example:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^([A-Za-z]+)/?$ http://www.yourname.com/index.php?show=$1
If your looking for a small scale onsite backup system then Futureshop has a
good
solution. The
Comstar Platinum 250GB 3.5" External Hard Drive is a great system to use.
That being said, nothing beats an
offsite backup system as it adds offsite backups to the equation as well.
Eastlink is now blocking port 1025, our former unofficial outgoing mail server for server 3. We have changed this server port to 1075.
After talking with Eastlink, they block all users from port 1025 due to it being considered a dangerous port to leave open. Therefore, if your ISP blocks you from using an external mail server on port 25, you are free to change your
outgoing mail server port to 1075 and it will work.
Today's computer users are more at risk then ever before. With virus's, crackers and spyware expanding just as fast as computers things must be done to help protect your computer.
There is a ever expanding list of computer virus' that do more harm then ever before. But the most effective virus' aren't always the ones that do most damage to a single computer. For instance a self-replicating virus can pass itself on to multiple users without anyone ever knowing. We have virus's out there that will send emails through your email account automatically. But not all the time is it easy to track.
For instance a email generated from a virus could very easily adjust the sender information to make it look like it came from someone else, or at the same time it could just use the infected computers owner first and last name. To prevent this it is best to keep your computer software upgraded. For instance, Microsoft is constantly releasing updates to their Office programs. By keeping your software up to date it makes it more difficult for a email virus to exploit the needed information to replicate. And at the end of the day the best security function is to have a lot of preventive measures setup. Of course Anti-Virus software is always suggested however try and avoid the big name brands such as Norton or McAffe as they can create bigger issues then virus's. They can also create more problems then needed. For instance Norton makes changes to a users Microsoft Outlook settings which in the end can cause your email to stop working, as the intentions may be good by Norton it can lead to bigger problems down the road.
A good example of a good antivirus program is AVG's Free Anti-virus download available at http://free.grisoft.com
By avoiding using anti-virus software you only increase the chance of your computer becoming infected and the possibility of your computer helping spread virus's & spam instead of stopping it.
Another major piece of software for computers is software called Firewall's. A firewall creates a wall between your computer and all traffic coming into your computer and going out. While not all wall's are perfect it is important to keep your firewall software up to date so you have the best patches on potential holes. But by installing a firewall doesn't mean your computer is safe. There is no software available that will guarantee your computer is 100% secured from outside intruders.
The main purpose to the firewall is to make it as hard as possible for someone to be able to gain access to your computer. A cracker (most commonly referred to as a hacker) will spend hours trying to break into a computer system however if the cracker continues to fail to make any progress eventually he/she will give up unless they are trying to enter into something such as the Pentagon. Therefore a cracker will not spend days trying to gain access to a random users computer. Instead they will usually move onto another user.
Norton Internet security is an example of a firewall however as with Norton Antivirus by installing Norton software you can simple create more problems, therefore I would highly suggest something like ZoneAlarm. ZoneAlarm alerts you everytime something on your computer tries to pass information through your NIC card. It also allows you to give certain software permission to access the internet or your local network automatically without prompting a request everytime. ZoneAlarm does the same with incoming connections as well. It shows connection requests that have been denied automatically but will also prompt you to allow certain types of connections such as Remote Desktop connections. The good thing about ZoneAlarm is that it provides suggestions on what to do with each request.
Lastly another important piece of software is Anti-Spyware software. Spyware is more of a newer thing then Virus'. By installing anti-spyware software you setup a monitoring system that tracks any additional bugs that are attached to software that you download or install. For instance, by downloading something off the web you could be downloading a bit more then your aware of. For instance Bonzi software released BonziBUDDY which appeared to be just smart software that helped you browse along the web and do basic computer functions. Little did users know that the software actually tracked their information and sent it back to Bonzi software. The software would then serve ads on your screen depending on the information you inputted into your computer creating highly targeted marketing. While BonziBUDDY is one example there are many other possible spyware programs you can download unintentionally. With software today it could very easily track your credit card numbers you input into a computer or other personal details which could be used against you in such instances are identity theft.
Good programs to help combant Spyware are Microsoft's new Windows Defender and Ad-Aware.
Ways to keep your children and teens safer when using social networking sites:
● Discuss the dangers and future repercussions with your child.
● Enter into a safe-computing contract with your child about his or her use of these sites and computer use in general.
● Enable computer Internet filtering features if they are available from your Internet service.
● Install monitoring software or keystroke capture devices on your family computer that will help monitor your child's Internet activity.
● Know each of your child's passwords, screen names and all account information.
● Put the computer in a family area of the household and do not permit private usage.
● Monitor what your child's friends are posting regarding your child's identity. Often children and their friends have accounts linked to one another, so it's not just your child's profile and information you need to worry about.
● Know what other access your child has to computers and devices such as cell phones and personal data assistants or PDAs.
● Report all inappropriate non-criminal behaviour to the site through their reporting procedures.
● Report criminal behaviour to the appropriate law-enforcement agency including the cyber tip line at www.cybertipline.ca
Ways for children and teens to stay safer when using social networking sites:
● Never post your personal information, such as cell phone number, address, or the name of your school.
● Be aware information you give out in blogs could also put you at risk of victimization. People looking to harm you could use the information you post to gain your trust.
● Never give out your password to anyone other than your parent or guardian.
● Only add people as friends to your site if you know them in real life.
● Never meet in personwith anyone you first "met" on a social networking site. Some people may not be who they say they are.
● Remember posting information about your friends could put them at risk. Protect your friends by not posting any names, ages, phone numbers, school names, or locations.
