Understanding GSM/GPRS/3G/EDGE/

GSM / GPRS / 3G / EDGE/Wi Fi

It can be confusing trying to understand the differences between the various mobile connectivity options listed in the specifications of smartphones and touted by the mobile networks such as smart, globe , sun and other telco as the best way to connect to the internet. In this guide we will try to summarise these technologies and point out the advantages and disadvantages of each technology.

GSM

GSM (Global system for mobile communications) is the standard by which the vast majority of mobile handsets work in other countries and is becoming dominant in other parts of the world with over 2 billion people currently using the system. When you purchase a mobile or smartphone it is important to understand what frequencies are used by each technology because manufacturers and networks have a tendency to quote these figures with little explanation as to what they mean.

The majority of GSM networks use 900MHz and 1800MHz but in the US the 850MHz and 1900Mhz are prominent. If these are quoted the phone will be classed as a tri-band phone and can be used in Europe, the US and many other territories (provided your SIM is enabled).

Most GSM phones are primarily used for voice but can be used for mobile internet access via the GPRS Core Network.

GPRS

GPRS is a system used to transmit data at speeds of up to 60 kbits per second and is a battery friendly way to send and receive emails and to browse the internet but in these days of broadband connectivity it will be seen as slow by some. To set up GPRS connections on your smartphone you will need to obtain specific information from your mobile provider to input into your phone. Most are happy to provide this information and some manufacturers such as Nokia offer pre-configured files that you can install onto your phone for your network.

GPRS is a tried and tested system and is therefore very reliable for standard mobile data use and will suit people with moderate data needs. Once you have the required settings in place you can use the network whenever you like and it requires no further adjustment as it works in the background of your internet enabled applications.

EDGE

EDGE (Exchanged Data rates for GSM Evolution) is a recent development based on the GPRS system and has been classified as a '3G' standard due to the fact that it can run at up to 473.6 kbits per second. If a smartphone is EDGE compliant it can be used for heavy mobile data transmission such as receiving large email attachments and browsing complex web pages at great speed. To use EDGE cell sites must be modified to accept transmissions of this type so coverage can be patchy in certain areas- it is a technology well worth having built in to any smartphone though.

3G

3G was initially marketed as a way to make video calls on the mobile network but is also a highly efficient way of browsing the internet and communicating on your smartphone using voice over IP and by email and instant messaging. Most UK and some European networks now have 3G networks and with speeds similar to EDGE it is fast becoming a common way to connect while on the road.

In areas where 3G coverage is poor the handset will constantly try to find a 3G signal and this can have a dramatic affect on battery life. Some phones handle constant 3G enablement well but some can have their battery life reduced by up to 50% so it is worth checking that your potential purchase is able to cope with this. At this time though 3G has good coverage and enables high speed internet access from your phone and is fast becoming a standard for mobile connectivity.

HSDPA

HSDPA (High speed Downlink Packet Access) is a technology based on the 3G network which can support speeds of up to 7.2 mbits per second. In reality you will most likely get a top speed of around 3 mbits but this is useful for mobile TV streaming and other high end data transmissions. To use HSDPA your phone must be able to support the technology and of course you will need to be located within range of a cell site that has been upgraded to offer the service.

The key to all of these technologies is to understand what your typical usage will be and which of the above suit your needs. It could also be worth future proofing your needs because well connected devices often cost little more than phones with basic connectivity.

Wi Fi

A way to get Internet access, the term Wi Fi is a play upon the decades-old term HiFi that describes the type of output generated by quality musical hardware, Wi Fi stands for Wireless Fidelity and is used to define any of the wireless technology in the IEEE 802.11 specification - including (but not necessarily limited to) the wireless protocols 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g. The Wi-Fi Alliance is the body responsible for promoting the term and its association with various wireless technology standards. A Wi Fi hotspot is defined as any location in which 802.11 (wireless) technology both exists and is available for use to consumers. In some cases the wireless access is free, and in others, wireless carriers charge for Wi Fi usage. Generally, the most common usage of Wi Fi technology is for laptop users to gain Internet access in locations such as airports, coffee shops, and so on, where Wi Fi technology can be used to help consumers in their pursuit of work-based or recreational Internet usage. You must be using a computer or PDA that has Wi Fi connectivity already working. Most portable computers can add Wi Fi using an adapter that plugs into a PC card slot or USB port.
You should be able to sign up with the provider at the location. Many providers will display instructions when browser software opens on a WiFi-enabled computer. If you don't have an account, simply start your computer and make sure your Wi Fi card is plugged on. Then, open a browser.

Paano na kung may facebook noon pa?

Just for fun.
I got this funny page from ate Juliet`s email..It`s alittle bit funny and i think he mean no offence for our heros when he made up this one..It was just for fun..How about friendster account?
Click picture to enlarge...

Facebook ni Rizal

Close up pix
KKK facebook

Facebook ng Katipunero

Give Gratitude a Chance

By Francis Kong

Trouble. There’s always trouble.

That’s what the work place is all about. You deal with trouble all the time.

Difficult customers, backbiting office mates, unreasonable bosses, fighting fires all the time. Sucks your energy and makes you feel like you are being punished for something you did not do. But pause for a while. Take a deep breadth. And take time to look at it the way business consultant Robert Updegraff sees it. Updegraff says: “You ought to be glad for the troubles on your job because they provide about half your income. If it were not for the things that go wrong, the difficult people with whom you deal, and the problems of your working day, someone could be found to handle your job for half of what you are being paid. So start looking for more troubles. Learn to handle them cheerfully and with good judgment, as opportunities rather than irritations, and you will find yourself getting ahead at a surprising rate. For there are plenty of big jobs waiting for people who are not afraid of troubles.

If you look long enough and hard enough, you will always find something to bellyache about. Some people complain all the time it is as if complaining is their chief purpose in life and they think they can get rewarded by doing it. Maybe… it is because they have not given gratitude a chance.

Gratitude is always an option. The great Bible commentator Mathew Henry inspires us with his words because Henry made gratitude his option. When the famous scholar was robbed and his possessions forcibly removed from him, he wrote this in his diary: “Let me be thankful first, because I was never robbed before; second, because, although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, although they took my all, it was not much and fourthly, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.”

Gratitude should be your option.

Thankfulness should be your default emotion and pretty soon you will be giving thanks, learning from and growing in character as a result of the problems and challenges of the situation.

So, here is my take on this.

* Somebody backbiting you? You must be doing something right in order for some people to be doing something wrong against you. Be thankful.
* Somebody sending anonymous text messages spreading false lies against you? You must be famous because this is what celebrities and well know personalities eat for breakfast every day. Smile. You’re famous!
* Somebody sending anonymous mail or brown envelopes to important people everywhere containing documents with trump up charges against you? Wow! You must be doing something effective so that some people would go to the length of doing such cowardly things. Be grateful!

You should be grateful you are not the one doing the wrongs against anyone, you are not the one sending text messages and sending mail maligning people.

So chill out. Focus on what you do and let the Eternal One who sees everything and knows everything keep score. Meanwhile, allow trouble and challenges in your life to transform you into a better person. Stronger in character, more compassionate in dealing with erring people and draw closer to God who is your Rock and your Refuge.

Give gratitude a chance and be amazed at what it can do for you!

Oops andMistakes by Francis Kong

Oops! and Mistakes!

By Francis Kong

One day an extremely upset newspaper subscriber stormed into a newspaper office waving the current edition, asking to see “whoever wrote the obituary column”.

When referred to a young reporter, he stormed, “You can see I’m very much alive, and you’ve put me in the obituary column! I demand a retraction!”

Replied the reporter, “I never retract a story but I tell you what I’ll do. I’ll put you in the birth column and give you a fresh start.”

I certainly have.

Some people will never admit their mistakes and worst, some people will never want to correct their mistakes the proper way.

Have you ever committed mistakes in your life?

You’re probably thinking, “What a stupid question, of course I have.”

Well now that you have admitted you’re committing mistakes from time to time, how do you deal with your mistakes?

Mistakes that offend others, you have to be big and courageous enough to admit your mistake and make amends. But mistakes that you have done to yourself… think through them and learn from them. Mistakes are experiences in life that teach us lessons and make us wiser over time but the key thing here is that we have to learn from them.

When people say, “Experience is the best teacher….” I smile because I know this is not true. Only evaluated experience is the best teacher. As a people, we keep on making the same mistakes year in and year out because we have never taken the time to evaluate the experience, learn from it and resolve to correct it.

Smart people learn from their mistakes. But here is another thing to consider.

Smarter people learn from the mistakes of others.

Somebody says mistakes are mistakes but it’s a question of perspectives and it depends on how you really look at it.

Consider the following:

• If a barber makes a mistake, it’s a new style…
• If a driver makes a mistake, it is an accident…
• If an engineer makes a mistake, It is a new venture…
• If parents make a mistake, it is a new generation…
• If a politician makes a mistake, it is a new law…
• If a scientist makes a mistake, it is a new invention…
• If a tailor makes a mistake, it is a new fashion…
• If a teacher makes a mistake, it is a new theory…
• If our boss makes a mistake, it is our mistake……
• If an employee makes a mistake, It is a “MISTAKE”

I have committed a lot of mistakes in my life and some of them not very smart but most of them offered lessons I have learned from and has helped me a lot in my life and career today.

Some people cuss and some people curse when they make a mistakes but most people say: “oops!”

I do. But there are people I am sure you would not want to hear say “oops! From:”

1. Your surgeon.

2. Your dentist.

3. Your nurse.

4. Your hairdresser.

5. Your mechanic.

6. Your tax accountant.

7. The computer tech person.

8. The house painter, plumber or electrician.

9. The pilot.

You know you are growing and you know you are learning if you are making new mistakes. The key word here is “NEW.” But if you are committing the same kind of mistakes then YOU ARE THE MISTAKE!

Learn from the mistakes of others – you can never live long enough to make them all yourself.

CICERO, the Roman statesman and philosopher, wrote the following some 2,000 years ago: THE SIX FATAL MISTAKES OF MAN:

1. The delusion that personal gain is made by crushing others;
2. The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected;
3. Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it;
4. Refusing to set aside trivial preferences;
5. Neglecting development and refinement of the mind, and not acquiring the habit reading and studying;
6. Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

Welcome mistakes. They are our friends but they should also be our teachers.

Accept them and do not defend them.

Elbert Hubbard says it best: “The greatest mistake a man can make is to be afraid to make one.”

FAD 2.0 is dead

FAD 2.0 also known as Fleshasiadaily.com was been closed or possibly been hacked.
The very controversial Philippine Blog Flesh Daily Asia 2.0 is on the TV news for the past weeks because of the so-called 'Hayden Kho S-ex Videos Scandal'
According to the police reports, this blog is the responsible for uploading the sex videos on the net.
Its main uploader JB Zabarte was been in the news lately. His house was raided by NBI agents in violation of i think obscenity law or whatever.
This is in relation to Hayden Kho`s Video that was in the news for the past month. FAD 2.0 was known for its uploaded videos and pics of celebrities. It was i think the original uploader of katrina-hayden kho and other hayden kho videos.
Wil FAD 2.0 return? We do not know...

Office 2010

leaked version of Microsoft office 2010 Technical preview on Torrent trackers. There are many new features which came packed with this version to be noticed if you have tried hands on it after downloading. Let’s take a sneak-peak of all the new improvements and features in this thorough review and analysis of Office 2010.

First noticeable thing is that performance has improved a lot compared to Office 2007. Just as with Windows 7, Office 2010 not only requires the same resources as requested Office 2007 to run, but the same resources to work better than its predecessor. And now there are 64-bit versions also helpful when using an operating system of this kind.

Image Editing and Management

This is a new utility included in Word to make screenshots. It works in a way very similar to the “cuts” already included in Windows to begin using Word is minimized and let us select the desktop area to capture. But it comes with an interesting advantage, by taken screenshot is saved in the gallery, regardless of whether the use or not, and stays there even after closing Word without saving changes. Thus it is easy to find an image within this “Gallery captures” for inclusion in a document.

It has incorporated several tools to make a simple image editing in Word. For example, applying artistic effects to images can be very interesting . We also have a powerful tool to eliminate the background of the photos (which would be an evolution of the tool “to define transparency“), whose results are so good that almost seem out of professional retouching tools such as Photoshop.

Interface improvements

Something we can see that Microsoft has done is to create a consistent appearance for all applications. They have eliminated all traces of the interface for Office 2003 (except for minor utilities, such as Picture Manager, or the gallery, which follow exactly the same), and the Ribbon has been implemented in all applications of the suite.

But mainly, I think Office 2010 wins in many parameters with the new behavior of the “Office Button”. Now this button displays a menu with options, but it shows a box that holds all the options window that allows us to quickly perform actions such as selecting a template for a new document, change metadata, or print a file, all without having to open new windows and from an extremely user-friendly.

Button behavior on MS Word

Office Button in Outlook allows us to perform tasks with few clicks in Office 2007/2003 which required a huge amount of navigating menus and dialog boxes, such as adding a new email account or set up automatic responses. Also, thanks to the implementation of the Ribbon, the Outlook interface is much easier to customize according to our needs.

Other New Features

Translation Tool now comes pre-installed (and before we could only use them after you have installed an add-on for Windows Live Translator), new SmartArt templates that have been added, and new animations and transitions in PowerPoint. In addition, we have Word 2010 that allows us to save files directly to SharePoint sites, and there is native support for open and save documents in ODF format, along with the ability to export documents to PDF (without installing any add-on ).

Also, the context menus for editing applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc) are now more powerful and incorporating the Live Preview technology previously only available if used in the Ribbon. This technology allows us to see the results of the edit option to just put your mouse over them. For example, now simply move the mouse over buttons as “Paste and preserve format” and “Paste text only” to see the difference between the two, or move the mouse over different types of bullets to see how the text is each. Furthermore, the context menu will become semi-transparent while using the Live Preview, to see clearly how the document with each option.

Protected Mode – Security feature that works every time you open a document downloaded from Internet. What it does is lock the file so that we can not do any work without first edition we have explicitly allowed (something similar to what Windows Vista / 7 with the files you have downloaded from the web).

Source:blogsolute

Battle of the Browsers

Serving as a window to your online world, the web browser has become one of -- if not -- the most important pieces of computer software used on a daily basis.

Not only are browsers used to access websites for information and e-commerce, but for many, it's a conduit to entertainment (such as streaming videos or online games), communication (including web mail sites) and social networking with friends (be it Facebook, MySpace and Twitter).

At this point in time, there are five major browsers to choose from: Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Mozilla's Firefox, Apple's Safari, Google's Chrome and the self-titled browser from Opera. All of them are free to use, they work with most operating systems and enjoy frequent updates to fix problems or add new features.

Deciding which one to go with, however, boils down to personal preference -- or in some cases, laziness, if the web browser was already installed on your PC and you don't care to change it.

If you're reading this article then you already have a browser, but those curious as to what the "other guys" are offering should read on for a brief look at each of the big players in this space, and consider our pros and cons for each after spending a week with all five.

Internet Explorer 8 (microsoft.com/ie8)

Launched in 1995, Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) web browser successfully battled against the almighty Netscape graphical browser -- and it didn't hurt IE shipped with every version of the Windows operating system -- and has maintained its commanding market share over the years.

Available in 25 languages, the newest version, 8, is much faster than past IE browsers, and includes some handy tools that speed up your surfing. This includes: a "Favorites" bar for one-click access to your most visited web sites; "accelerators," which help you search for something quickly via a pull-down menu; and the ability to highlight a word or phrase and immediately look up its definition, translate it, email it, map it, and so on.

While it still has a ways to go, it's also more secure than past versions of IE, which have been plagued with security vulnerabilities.

Pros: Most websites and plugs-ins work well with IE. Faster speeds and handy time-saving tools. Compatibility View helps see older websites easier. Available in multiple languages. Built into Windows.

Cons: Security holes still found. Market share leader means more susceptible to attacks. Some crashing.

Mozilla Firefox 3.5 (mozilla.com/firefox)

Since its fall 2004 release, Mozilla's Firefox has grown to become a serious contender to IE, and second place overall in the browser wars.

The latest release of this lean and fast browser has added a few new bells and whistles, including "Tear Off Tabs" (a feature that, like Apple's Safari, lets you drag and drop tabs into a separate browser window), a private browsing option that destroys any history left by the surfer (catching up to Microsoft and Google's browsers) and an interesting addition called "location-aware browsing," where a website can prompt for your location to help serve you better (such as recommending a pizza restaurant in your neighborhood if you're craving a slice).

As with past versions, Firefox is easy to develop for and has an active development community that creates plug-ins and "extensions" for the browser -- often letting Firefox users do neat things inside the browser not found in competing software (check out a few at addons.mozilla.org).

Pros: Newest version is roughly 3x faster than Firfox 3.0. Tabbed browsing works well. Convenient features, including location-aware browsing. Vibrant and passionate development community.

Cons: Some bugs and security issues that requires "patching."

Opera 10 (opera.com)

Fast and secure are the two priorities for Opera Software, the company that launched its first commercial open-source web browser in 1996.

This lean download -- a mere 5.36MB in size for the Windows version (five times smaller than Microsoft's IE8) -- does indeed run fast and smoothly, and supports multiple operating systems (and mobile phones). Integrated malware protection and strong encryption help protect the surfer from the ills of the Internet.

Popular features include tabbed browsing (the first major browser to offer this feature in late 2001), integrated spell checker, "speed dial" access to your favorite websites, page zooming and mouse gestures (example: hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse to the right to go back a web page).

Also embedded in Opera 10 is a new technology called Opera Unite, that turns your web browser into a web server so you can do neat things like share files with friends via the browser window.

Pros: Lean and fast. Secure. Mouse gestures and other extra features in Opera (including Opera Unite) are handy additions.

Cons: Doesn't fare as well on heavy multimedia sites. Not as much plug-in support than IE and Firefox.

Apple Safari 4 (apple.com/safari)

Released as a free upgrade to the Mac OS X operating system in 2003, many Apple computer users have embraced the elegant-looking Safari as their browser of choice, and have since won over many Windows users, too. Plus, its install base on 40+ million iPhones and iPod touch devices has helped with its success.

While its claim as "the world's fastest browser" isn't substantiated on every website we tested it on (IE8 and Opera, for example, beat it out on certain sites), Apple's Safari is a speedy web browser with smooth and reliable performance; it crashed the least out of the five browsers in our testing (not even once).

While other browsers offer a similar feature, we like Safari's Top Sites, that shows you a graphical thumbnail of the websites you visit frequently. Attractive "Cover Flow"-like horizontal image gliding with bookmarked and tabbed thumbnails, resembles the iTunes feature and helps make website viewing a more visual experience.

Pros: Good looking. Fast. Reliable. Minimalist design.

Cons: Close button on left side. Not much mouse functionality (e.g. middle button). No status bar. Not all plug-ins supported.

Google Chrome (chrome.google.com)

The newest player in the highly competitive browser space is Google, which launched a public beta version of its Windows browser in September of 2008.

This lean and fast open-source browser fuses a minimalist design with many features to make your web surfing experience an easier one. For example, leveraging its experience as the world's biggest search engine, you can type a query right in the address bar (for both search results and relevant web pages) and includes auto-complete options.

Along with "stealth" privacy options for anonymous browsing, Google Chrome offers handy keyboard shortcuts to speed up surfing, one-click bookmarks (the little star) and quick tabbed browsing with thumbnail previews of most-visited sites.

In July 2009, Google announced it would create a Google Chrome operating system, based on the browser, designed for netbooks. This direct aim at Microsoft will be available in late 2010.

Pros: Clean and fast. Some nice features like shortcuts. Available in 50 languages.

Cons: Lack of add-ons; not all websites/plug-ins are supported. No support for Macs.

Source: Marc Saltzman

cyber attacks that paralyzed major South Korean and U.S. government Web sites

An updated version of the MyDoom virus is responsible for a large DDOS (distributed denial of service) attack that took down major U.S. Web sites over the weekend and South Korean Web sites on Wednesday, according to Korean computer security company AhnLab.

When it was discovered in January 2004, MyDoom quickly became the fastest-spreading e-mail worm in Internet history. Once a PC was infected with MyDoom, it would harvest e-mail addresses and e-mails itself out repeatedly. Early variants MyDoom were coded to conduct DDOS attacks against other Web sites within certain time periods.

The latest MyDoom variants seen by AhnLab also include a downloader that can bring other malicious code into the compromised PC, a feature also present in earlier versions of the malware. An additional file contains details of Web site to be attacked.

It lists 13 South Korean Web sites and 23 U.S. sites, according to a Korean blogger who analyzed the source code. Most of the sites on the list are those reported to have been attacked or are still under attack.

Source: yahoo news

So what is the so called DDOS?

A denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) or distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS attack) is an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users. Although the means to carry out, motives for, and targets of a DoS attack may vary, it generally consists of the concerted efforts of a person or persons to prevent an Internet site or service from functioning efficiently or at all, temporarily or indefinitely. Perpetrators of DoS attacks typically target sites or services hosted on high-profile web servers such as banks, credit card payment gateways, and even root nameservers.

One common method of attack involves saturating the target (victim) machine with external communications requests, such that it cannot respond to legitimate traffic, or responds so slowly as to be rendered effectively unavailable. In general terms, DoS attacks are implemented by either forcing the targeted computer(s) to reset, or consuming its resources so that it can no longer provide its intended service or obstructing the communication media between the intended users and the victim so that they can no longer communicate adequately.

Diassembled DDOS code

DDOS sampletools used by some unethical hackers..

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