Cyber Crimes

With the explosion of the Internet the floodgates to information were opened.Educators, entrepreneurs, students, etc. all were jostling to make the most of this wonderful opportunity which broke down the barriers of geography, language, distance. These obsolete factors that prevented the free flow of information are all gone.
It is hardly surprising that the less than lawful segments of society are also having their share of 'fun'. They have found numerous uses of the Internet in order to facilitate their 'interest' taking optimum advantages that cyber space provides in order to increase their various interests.
The strangest aspect of it is that none of the most common crimes such as spamming are even illegal. This is due to the lack of a proper internationally adhered framework for international law with regards to what are Internet crimes and a practical working model of how they are to be dealt with. A real solution is needed instead of the demarcated laws that differ between countries and even their own provinces.
There are various crimes that repeatedly plague the millions of Internet users each year. The most common ones are Hacking, Virus programming, Credit card fraud, Spamming, Personal privacy rights violations and other illicit crimes. Spamming is undoubtedly the most common of all cyber crimes. There are a ludicrous number of victims estimated at 90 per cent of all Internet users being affected by it.
Spamming is when someone, who has an email account, receives a large number of emails or subscriptions from various Internet companies. The amazing thing about spamming as a crime is that it is actually encouraged by some consumers. It is basically a wide variety of pointless junk mail. The few who actually open these unwanted mails are the ones that further fuel the belief in the Internet world that spamming 'is alright'. It is seen as a proper marketing tool by most companies that operate in cyber space.
Their argument is simple: If the recipients don't want to receive any further mails they should follow the instructions at 'the end' of the email. They seem to totally discount the fact that haggard recipients must at least skim through the entire email before attempting to unsubscribe. This doesn't include the long arduous process of unsubscribing to the sender. Spamming is also the reason why children are heavily restricted in their use of the Internet. Parents are growing increasingly afraid of children opening their Internet inboxes only to discover cores of unwanted junk mail. There are also numerous instances of Pornographic emails being ferried into the mail boxes of the underage. These illicit acts are done through the use of innocuous misleading titles.
Through spamming and other Internet crimes the personal privacy rights of millions of Internet users are compromised in an instant. Spammers often use the services of each other to increasingly bombard helpless Internet users with undesired correspondence.
What happens is simple: If a cyber user logs on to an educational site and wishes to subscribe to a newsletter about birds, the site owners will often 'share' that information with a chosen few partners, who will share it with their own chosen few partners and so on.
What started of as a simple request for a particular newsletter results in a bombardment of intercontinental email bombs. It wouldn't even be surprising if the flood of emails would permanently put the person off from birds for good. This sharing of personal information is completely unjustified and in many cases illegal. However, in this case the world does not lack far behind Pakistan in apathy for these petty acts of untrustworthiness. Since people in general have a wide range of interest it is hardly surprising that inboxes are largely filled to brim with junk mail that happens to take into account the personal details entrusted by the user to another. If someone's information is online it simply isn't safe. Be it personal or business in nature the risks are the same.
That is a lesson learned by the great and the gullible. One of cyber spaces own pioneer was attacked. His name is Bill Gates. The then CEO & Chairman of Microsoft, Mr Gates' credit card details were splashed onto the Internet. The man who is quoted to be the richest man on the planet was even not able to prevent his own personal as well as credit card details from being promulgated online. Obviously most people don't share this sort of information too openly. They generally take the information, steal other people's hard earned money and live their cyber lives as if an honest 'business' dealing had just occurred. There are no real measurable figures as to how much money is stolen this way over the years as in many cases the victims either don't notice it or feel as thought they are incapable of doing anything about it.
Moreover, most of those who are robbed are generally middle aged and have little or no understanding of cyber crimes. In numerous cases confused victims say that they believe that they had 'paid' a service charge. Hmm.... I suppose in a way they did. There are a number of sites that are not appropriate for children and adults of a decent disposition. Besides this, a lot of children must beware of people who would try to lure them into doing something wrong.
Children must avoid giving personal information and meeting people, who they meet online, in person. But if meeting them is imperative it is important that they are accompanied by a grown -up. This would help children avoid unnecessary risk.Besides this, it would be best if youngsters only chat with people they know. Hacking obviously is another real cyber crime which more or less encapsulates obtaining personal information.
This crime hasn't really been made easier specially with web sites that cater to hackers. These distribute information on hacking, popular techniques, hacking programs etc. These 'helpful' sites are then used as an instrument for learning the ways of this particular cyber crime. Hacker's primary objective is to cause havoc and damage all throughout cyber space and the financial world.
Of course, Viruses like the 'I Love you' virus and the 'Blaster' virus all act as prime examples of this sort of damage. The first viruses were programming errors. Nowadays it's almost as if any viruses created without the intention of doing so is unforgivable... specially in the eyes of a web criminal. These are crimes that bring fame and generally interesting stories to mind.
Several years ago, legend has it, that a young Russian hacker on his 133 mega-hertz computer by-passed the security system of the main MSN web site. He proceeded to shut down the site for an estimated three days. After using his Internet service provider (ISP) to locate him Microsoft punished him for causing them millions of dollars of damage both in reputation and money. They gave him a job.

T-commerce (m-commerce and e-commerce)

Shorthand for television based commerce, t-commerce, is the latest buzzword to hit the digital scenario. Experts say that enhanced television viewing, in the recent years, has the potential to evolve into the platform for the next-generation of online viewers. In the United States, advertisers are closely tracking the development of this nascent market. An estimated $50 billion per year is currently spent on TV advertisements in that country.
Critics, however, caution against too much of premature excitement in this field. They are of the opinion that this fledgling market is yet to mature.
It has been seen that increasing TV viewing currently appeals to viewers who access a handful of fairly predictable applications, such as Web surfing, weather, networked games, episodic TV spots, pay-per-view movies and gambling.
Increased television watchers tend to be the early adopters who embrace new technologies. In the years to come, don't be amazed, if you see consumers interacting simultaneously with their separate (but co-located) TVs and PCs.
Researches have found out that 52 percent of the people in the 12 to 24 age group who own a computer also keep televisions in the same room as their PCs. What's more, the vast majority (69 percent) listens to music online while 25 percent watch TV as they surf the Web.
People, all over the world, are paying less and less attention to traditional TV ads. But it will take at least another three to four years before most consumers are accessing a single screen to view integrated interactive programming and advertising via broadband or advanced digital cable systems.
In the US, t-commerce is beginning to gather momentum with HyperTV entering into a 24-hour-a-day, 7-days-per-week partnership with MTV Networks and Fox to provide t-commerce services. Over time, the company expects to evolve into a broadband-single-screen-oriented experience.
Studies reveal that nowadays people watching TV only want to interact for a few types of content right now. This includes content related to information/news, entertainment and quizzes.
It will take an evolution in access devices to really spur the t-commerce business. Set-top boxes, as they exist today, are merely placeholders for next-generation enhanced/interactive devices.
The t-commerce paradigm has the potential to change your TV set into a powerful business tool enabling you to transact business over television. The concept is yet to evolve fully. We are expected to see the change in another three to four years.

Build Your Own Dotcom

Even the most attractive of websites won't serve the purpose if it has no traffic. Therefore, after uploading/publishing it, the most important task is to promote the website. Try to advertise your site in magazines and newspapers if your budget permits. Have your website registered with the world's top search engines and directories on the internet. There are more than 4000 search engines and directories available on the internet that provide promotional services. Many of them charge from $ 10 to $ 100.

It always feels good to have your presence felt on the World Wide Web, and there is nothing like having a personal homepage to express yourself. Here, in this article, we briefly look into all the necessary tools, one by one, that help you understand and master the art of creating a homepage/website.

Name availability

When you first decide to create a website, your mind is brimming with ideas. You feel like stuffing your pages with heaps of interesting information. But then you would like to name your domain (address) after a focal theme - perhaps, a name, a concept, a product or a service. Let's say we want our URL (Uniform resource locator) to be like, but for that we have to first check if the domain is available on the net.

So how to check? Simply, just go online; open your browser and type the desired address and press Enter. If this site already exists it would appear in the browser canvas, if not then a "Site Not Found" message pops up. Another way to find is by visiting a domain registration authority's website, such as, formerly . Visit this site and use whose link to check the name availability. Whose search is more useful because it provides details about registrant, technical person, billing contact as well as details about hosting servers? Usually a name registration body offers ".com", ".net", ".org", ".edu", ".mil", ".gov" suffixes. If you want a ".pk" website, visit. So if the site record is not present on these websites, it would show a "not found message" and invite you to register for it.

Hiring the webspace

Before you decide how much space is required to build a site, you need to do your homework thoroughly. Work out all the needs and wants for the desired site. Various services are being offered by web hosting companies, some of these are offered in different packages. The cheapest may only have some basic services. However, If you are designing the website yourself, you must carefully choose the services from the ones mentioned below:

1. E-mail accounts

2. Auto responders

3. Multiple FTP accounts

4. Access history/log

5. True FTP

6. No hidden charges

7. Web-based FTP

8. Dedicated IP address

9. Frontpage extensions

10. PHP support

11. Cold fusion support

12. ASP support

13. JSP support

14. CGI support/ own cgi-bin directory

15. Shell account

16. Reselling space

17. SSL

18. SSI

19. Real audio/video support

But if you are hiring some professional developers' services, you should still straighten out all the necessary details to avoid any future hitches. Web space rent range from $1 to $250 per month, depending on the services included in the package. Today $10 per month package is enough for most static sites which fulfils almost all requirements of a client. A good $10 service is offered by Softcomca providing most services, with fastest access. You may find about other web hosting companies through any search engine.

Webspace and domain name

Today, most hosting companies offer both services at a single spot, for example softcomca. However, you are not under any obligation to use both, webspace and domain name, services from the one company. You may also use domain name and web space individually. In some cases, you do not have any plans to build a website and just want to reserve the domain name for the future use; or you may already have registered a domain name with insufficient space and want to buy some space for that domain; or you want to change the hosting company of your existing domain name.

Purchasing domain and webspace has never been so easier as it is now. All you need to do is just fill up a form, and pay through credit card and you're done!

Planning the design

You should plan to design your site before registration process. Even the testing phase comes before the site is formally launched. Due to advancement in web designing we have divided it in two parts for more convenience:

Front-end tools: There are several useful tools available to create web pages, like Frontpage 2000, Dreamweaver, Flash (interactive animation purpose only) and many others used to create front-end documents.

Back-end tools:<>

Serious website development is not a joke of jeddy and also not a single handed job. It is a team work; at least three members must be in the team to run and create a "website mix" and publish it to the dot com.

• Website developer/webmaster

• Website designer

• Website programmer

Website developer/webmaster: A key person who handles all the website related matters. He is responsible for web page layout design (front-end), he should command have over using control panel of the site. He should also know how to handle SSI and SSL (server side includes and secure server layer). Most professional webmaster are perfect in running all kinds of CGI applications, different web servers, fault tolerance, etc.

Website designer: It is basically a designer's job who is responsible for creatively design graphics, illustrations and animations. He also develops graphical layout of website, creating buttons and themes for the entire site and assist webmasters.

Website programmer: Must be a qualified programmer with good skills in at least one of the server side programming, such as ASP or JSP, etc. He should also be able to handle all the server side requirements like creating search engine for the website; hit counter, manipulate with text or graphics; submit form applications; control database connectivity; develop e-commerce applications like credit card handling and shopping cart, etc.

Website promotion

Even the most attractive of websites won't serve the purpose if it has no traffic. Therefore, after uploading/publishing the website, the most important task is to promote the website. Try to advertise your site in magazines and newspapers if your budget permits have your website registered with the world's top search engines and directories on the internet. There are more than 4000 search engines and directories available on the internet that provides promotional services. Many of them charge from $ 10 to $ 100. It is also suggested that you should visit download.cnet.com and search using "promotional software" as keyword, you will find useful software and you may not need to visit or get help from any site like www.submit-it.com which would save you money and time. Now it is your choice which way you want to promote your website.

How to Design a Website

It seems as if anyonecan make a web page these days, but to create something extraordinary requires creative thinking, loads of time, hard work and knowledge of the art of development. Interestingly, there is no hard and fast rule as to how you go about creating your websites. However, few useful tips and guidelines always come in handy.

Gone are the days when people thought of attracting millions of people to their websites without any additional advertisements; web was young back then. It's all together a different ball game now. Today the web is all about competition and marketing. This medium has emerged as a best source for promoting your brand and products. It is no longer about just building a business website, rather it is about providing people a reason to visit your web page frequently.

A business website is a passive form of marketing, providing you with a signboard on which you can market your products and/or services. For that purpose a website should be used in conjunction with several active forms of marketing. So before you put yourself to task, read through theseguidelines that will help you a long way in building a good business site.

Purpose for development: The concept and the purpose of creating a website should always be very clear in your mind.A business website can be created with the motive of attracting a new business or service customers, or to share specialized knowledge; to pursue personal interests, or promote a viewpoint, project, candidate, etc. In fact a website can simply be created to make a connection with other people or networks.

Define your goals: Goals are more measurable than purpose, and will give you a clearer target. Write out a "mission statement". Until you clearly know your destination, you can't develop a good road map, and you'll end up all over the place.

Identify your target audience: Understanding your goals and your audience will form the foundation for all your design decisions, the tone of your site, its structure, its graphic design, its content. You need to know what your visitors would be doing on your site and what your site has in store for them. In order to attract them you need to know about their interests by collecting visotors' personal data, such as age, culture, education, etc. If you have have all this, you are already ahead of 80 per cent of the mishmash out there!

Setting tone for site: For a most effective website you should decide on an overall tone for your pages. This will not only guide the style of your content, but also your design and graphic decisions as well. You should expect a search engine to look different from Disney World's website. Not only content wise but also in terms of animation, interactivity and the tone of the site which should be determined by your purpose (sell, convince, entertain, inform, etc.), your subject (serious, fun, technological, etc.), and your audience.

This mission statement, in other words, will help you determine the following important components which will serve your designing purpose effectively:

- Colour scheme: Should it shout or whisper? Reflect liveliness, prestige, serenity? Wild psychedelics or conservative monotones?

- Graphics: You will find out whether your graphics, typography, and "gimmicks," should follow goofy entertaining style or a nature retreat?

- Mood: Make your site a visual metaphor for your message and audience mood"funky" or "conservative."

- Design elements: It also helps you determine your consistent design elements, such as logo, background, navigation buttons, etc.

Page layout and design: People read web pages differently from hardcopy print material. They "scan" and take "bites" they don't like to scroll. A designer should make sure to provide bite-sized sections prominently marked and separated, and the sections should be consistent across the site (that is on each page, a consistent design and layout format should be followed with similar items at the relevant place.)

It is rather suggested to develop each web page just a few screens long with white spaces, and decent graphics to put across important ideas. The paragraphs should designed be explicitly with lists or tables on suitable positions. It is recommended to design for 640x480 monitors so it doesn't scroll sideways.

Backgrounds: A white background increases readability and makes the page elements stand out. Coloured and patterned backgrounds can enhance a moods. For serious website which is aimed at larger group of audience, make sure you don't compromise on readability factor, even at lower resolutions.

If you use a background image, and have changed text colour to be seen against it, set the background colour to match the image, to assure that "no image loading" users can still see your text.

Logo: Design a logo for your site, which is an identifying graphic that symbolizes your company or message. On the main page, try a larger version of this logo, maybe as part of a title banner across the top. On sub-pages, try a smaller version, let the pervasive presence of the logo integrates your site.

Navigation aids: This includes elements, such as buttons, bars, image maps, etc. These should be identical in look and placement across all the pages, and provide users a way to get around your site with out being confusing or getting lost, and at least go up to the home or index page, back to the previous page when appropriate, ahead to the next page, perhaps to other "main" pages.

Place anavigation bar of buttons or text links on every page in the same place, or put it in an unchanging frame. This might be one of the few valid uses for frames. Perhaps you can also use an image map. Don't forget to provide text alternatives for "no image loading" users.

Always provide a way out for users to know where they are. Navigation bars, maps, logo and title size all can indicate the level of the page and how it relates to others.

Web publishing: This differs from writing for print. Web publishing allows you to conveniently andcheaply make widely available accurate, up-to-date, dynamic information, in an entertaining as well as informative way. But you can not just translate printed material directly to effective web pages.

Inverted pyramid structure: Provide links to allow the user to choose if they want more background or detail. Novices will want links to basic explanations, advanced users might want more complex background. Remember if you have a multi-page site that visitors may not start at the beginning, make sure your pages can stand alone, and that you provide easy navigation and links.

Put as much content towards the top of a hierarchy as is possible and provide useful content on each page seen by your audience (with the possible exception of an opening 'splash' screen.)

The Web is dynamic: Keeping your material up-to-date is a must. Highlight new stuff, and/or feature it on your home page in a "What's new" area.

Links: Write as if there were no links, but just meaningful text. Not "click here for info on our training programs," but "our training programs have something for everyone" with the words "our training programs" a link to your catalogue of programs.

Use standard link colours when possible; if you change the colours or use complicated tricks to avoid underlining, you'll confuse users. Make it easy for your visitors to send you comments, with "mail-to" links and/or a "feedback" form. Listen to them. Then always respond!

All About Broadband Technologies

By Prof B.S. Chowdhry & Khalil-ur-Rehman Laghari
The major characteristics of a telecommunication system is unquestionably its information carrying capacity. The explosive growth of internet traffic, deregulation and the increasing demand of user/industry are putting pressure on our customers to increase the capacity of their network. The internet is getting more elaborate by the day. Web pages are swarming with animation, downloadable movies and music abound. The phone modems used by most people to get internet access have reached the limits of their performance, necessitating new technologies to allow users to surf the internet without having to wait minutes (or hours) for a page or file to download.

These new technologies are collectively known as broadband. They comprise a variety of different systems, but they all have one major goal: to increase the rate a user can send and receive data, and thus make the internet (and other online activities, like videoconferencing) easier and faster to use. . In this article, we'll explain a few of the more important bits of jargon, but for the most part, we'll concentrate on making sure that you know exactly what you need to choose the broadband service that's right for you.

If you access the net from home, you've probably been using what's known as a dial-up connection; in other words, you dial a telephone number on your computer, hear a series of weird sounds, and end up surfing the net about a minute later. Sometimes you get busy signals, or the connection speed suddenly drops to a snail's pace, or somebody in the house picks up the phone and cuts your connection right in the middle of an important download. Depending on your service provider, you might even have to carefully limit the amount of time you spend online, or else pay extra hourly fees.

The first advantage of broadband is that it generally avoids the hassles associated with dia-lup connections. With most forms of broadband, you can surf the 'net freely, without worrying about tying up your phone line or using up a precious allotment of hours.

The second and for many, the more important advantage of broadband is speed: lots of it. If you've sat around twiddling your thumbs while waiting for a web page to download, you know how annoying a slow connection is. With broadband, those aggravations are reduced or even eliminated. Not only will web surfing be faster in general, allowing you to hop from web page to web page almost as fast as you can click your mouse, but the speed of broadband opens up a host of other possibilities for both home and business users.

Streaming media are movies and music that can be viewed on your computer without first saving them to your hard drive, much like the way you've always been able to watch a television show without having to record it on a VCR first. Downloading a streaming video on a antenna; the signal can fade in and out, and even at its optimal performance, it's not the best. But a broadband connection, being fast and steady, can play streaming videos with much better video quality. Computer gamers can also play online against opponents around the world, without lag or slowdown, or the worry that a family member's important phone call will interrupt a vital shoot'em-up tournament.

Some broadband connections allow video conferencing. While video conferencing is now possible using multiple ISDN lines and costly equipment, the expense is far out of the budget of most small-business and home users. The speed and cost of broadband brings this once-rare capability within reach of the average consumer.

Broadband types

There exist five major categories of broadband service. Each one has its own advantages and disadvantages, and some are notably better overall than others. Here we cover each technology briefly:

Cable modem: Currently, the most popular form of broadband, cable modem service, uses the same cables that carry cable TV signals to carry data. You can get cable modem service as a stand-alone service or as an add-on to your current cable TV service. You can watch cable TV and use your cable broadband connection at the same time with no loss of quality. Cable modem system is easy to set up and maintain. This service is certainly agood choice for LAN setup with a small number of users.

The main disadvantage of the cable is that the speed of the system is dependent on the number of people who are online at the same time. It is to say that if a large number of people in your neighbourhood are using the services at the same time, your connection speed may drop considerably. Cable modem performance can undergo significant fluctuations. At its best, it's the fastest of all consumer-level broadband services; but at its worst, it's almost as slow as a dialup service.

DSL: It stands for Digital Subscriber Line. It's fast, reliable, and uses standard copper phone lines to carry data. You don't need a second phone line to use most consumer DSL services, and you can talk on your phone while using DSL connection to access the internet. There are many varieties, but the most important are ADSL and SDSL. ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is designed for residential and small-business use. Most home internet users receive (download) far more information from the internet than they send (upload). ADSL provides a higher download speed than upload speed; therefore, it is ideal for home internet users. In most cases, the upload speed of ADSL is still faster than a regular analog (phone) modem.

SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is designed for business users who need to both upload and download large amounts of data, as in the case of video conferencing or running a web server.

The main disadvantage of DSL is that its speed is dependent on your physical distance from the phone company's nearest central switch known as a Central Office. The farther you are from the switch, the slower your average connection speed will be. Your home or business will have to pass a loop qualification test run by your phone company before you can have DSL installed. Also, DSL setup can be complex; in many cases, separate visits from the broadband provider and your phone company will be required.

DSL is a good choice if you're close to the phone company's central switch, the phone lines are up to the specifications, and you have a reliable high-speed connection. While it is not yet as widely available as cable modem service, DSL is often a viable alternative often preferable to cable modem.

Satellite: Satellite broadband uses a dish on your roof to send and receive data from satellites orbiting the Earth. The same dish may be used for satellite TV. The main advantage of satellite internet access over the other forms of broadband technology is its immediate availability. Thus, in places where cable modem, DSL and ISDN connections may be unavailable, you can still get a broadband connection, literally from out of the clear blue sky.

There are downsides, though. The performance of a satellite broadband connection is degraded by bad weather, local interference, or a misaligned dish. Also, because of the way the satellite data transfer works, satellite service is not well suited to applications that require constant transmission of small data packets; these include online gaming, web page hosting, video conferencing, and multiple small file downloads.

Some satellite providers who have not upgraded to two-way satellite communication equipment also require the use of a phone modem connection to send data to the broadband provider; this results in additional costs and slower speed. However, the monthly costs are usually reasonable, the equipment is often discounted or free, and most importantly, you can get satellite almost anywhere. Satellite isn't as fast or reliable as DSL or cable, but if it's your only choice, it's definitely better than dial-up.

ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network is relatively old technology whose main advantages are wide availability and reliability. ISDN uses standard copper phone lines to transmit data. ISDN for the home user essentially splits your existing phone line into two channels, which can be used to make a phone call and surf the internet at 64kbps, or the channels can be combined for internet access at twice the speed of one channel at 128kbps.

ISDN is slower than the other newer forms of broadband. However, it is often the only choice for many users whose cable and phone companies haven't yet implemented local cable or DSL service.

ISDN also offers some advantages over satellite. For instance, ISDN is good for use by networked computers, online gamers, and web-page hosts; these are areas in which satellite's performance lags. ISDN lines are often used by businesses because their speed is reliable and constant. Its speed doesn't fluctuate as a result of bad weather, location, or cable modem activity in nearby buildings.

ISDN hardware is often complex and not easy for the novice to set up, and even basic ISDN service is more expensive than other forms of broadband. However, if neither cable nor DSL are available and suitable, ISDN is a viable, butexpensive alternative to get a broadband connection.

Wireless: Wireless broadband (also known as fixed wireless to distinguish it from the mobile wireless system used by some pagers and mobile phones) is a new technology that uses an antenna placed on or in your building to send and receive data. The data is transmitted via your city's wireless network, which consists of antenna towers placed three to five miles apart. No phone or copper wire is required for implementing this technology. It's the fastest internet connectivity solution in the world. It's speed can range from 64kbps to 100Mbps. It is bi-directional unlike satellite and eliminates the need for dedicated phone line, thereby reducing your cost while providing high speed data rate.

As you might have guessed, this means that if your home or building isn't in a city with wireless service, you won't be able to get fixed wireless broadband. Currently, fixed wireless broadband service is very limited; however, the service areas are expanding quickly. If you can get wireless, you're getting an excellent broadband connection. The connection speed is not limited by your distance from the wireless antenna or by the number of wireless users in your area. Wireless is a little more expensive than ADSL or cable, but the advantages are probably worth it.

Availability of service

Some broadband services aren't yet widely available. Since broadband systems use new technology, some providers haven't gotten around to implementing service in small towns and rural areas. If you live in a large metropolis, you have a good chance of having several choices for broadband service. In less-populated areas, you may be more limited, but even if you're alone out in the middle of a desert, you can still get a broadband connection via satellite.

Installation ease

Once it's working, broadband is refreshingly easy to use; in most cases, if your computer and modem are on, so is your internet connection. However, actually getting the broadband equipment set up can be difficult for casual computer users, and almost impossible for novices. Luckily, many providers lower or even waive the cost of a professional installation, but if you do find yourself having to install a network card (a small circuit board with a phone-jack-like plug) in your computer, you can always get help from your provider's technical support line. It's uncommon for a provider not to offer 24x7 support for users with problems; after all, an unhappy customer often becomes a competitor's customer.

Your computer doesn't need to be the latest and greatest to run broadband; most computers sold within the last five years should be quite capable of supporting a broadband connection. You will definitely want to check your system specifications, though, just to be sure. If you are not sure what the differences are between USB, PCI and a loaf of sliced bread, most broadband providers and support sites have customer service reps as well as quick online tutorials that will get you up to speed on the basic attributes of your computer.

Reliability

Current broadband systems are mostly "piggybacked" on existing technology; that is, they aren't so much a whole new car as they are a set of new tires on some old wheels. As such, they do sometimes run into problems related to the basic structure they're built on. Also, keep in mind that sometimes, popular websites can get bogged down, making even the fastest connection run like molasses. Still, broadband at its worst is still usually better than dial-up at its best.

Security issues

Broadband is relatively new technology, and like most new technologies, it brings along a whole new set of problems. These days, most information sent to and from your computer is encrypted using special security codes that make it very hard for someone to read your personal messages. However, even if someone can't intercept your love letters, they can use your broadband connection to break into your computer and play havoc with your files and even your hardware. This vulnerability is inherent to the always-on nature of many broadband systems, and has been a problem for businesses for some time.

However, don't let this scare you off, though; when properly set up and used, broadband is just as safe as talking to someone on the phone. Most businesses use a kind of software program called a firewall to protect their computers; much like a physical firewall, a computer firewall is a sturdy barrier against outside attack. Firewall software is available for home use, and in fact, many providers include or suggest specific firewalls when you install their software. Take some time to learn about security requirements and protection; a few hours during the learning stages can save you a lot of headaches later on.

As with any new product, competition is fierce. As more broadband choices become available, prices may drop, and more promotions and free extras will be offered. You'll have more providers to choose from, and you'll probably even be able to upgrade your current broadband service to something newer and better later on.

The growth of the internet demands high-speed connections. Many flashy web sites with complex graphics are designed with broadband connection speeds in mind. Consumers are demanding faster ways to get the data they need, whether it's for personal entertainment or for work. Broadband technologies are the best way to get the most mileage out of the information superhighway.-Dawn

Prof B. S. Chowdhry is chairman, department of electronic & telecommunication engineering, MUET, Jamshoro, and Khalil-ur-Rehman Laghari is a freelance writer doing a project on "wireless broadband networks" under the supervision of Prof Chowdhry.

ASP.NET Introduction

ASP .NET Introduction
ASP .NET is the latest version of Microsoft's Active Server Pages technology (ASP),containing the new and Enhanced features in order to strengthen the programmers and Developers ,which they dont find in classic ASP.

What you should already know

Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following:

(i) WWW, HTML and the basics of building Web pages
(ii) Scripting languages like JavaScript or VBScript
(iii) The basics of server side scripting

What is ASP?

ASP is a server side scripting technology that enables scripts (embedded in web pages) to be executed by an Internet server.

· ASP is a Microsoft Technology
· ASP stands for Active Server Pages
· ASP is a program that runs inside IIS
· IIS stands for Internet Information Server
· IIS comes as a free component with Windows 2000
· IIS is also a part of the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack
· The Option Pack can be downloaded from Microsoft
· PWS is a smaller - but fully functional - version of IIS
· PWS can be found on your Windows 95/98 CD

What is an ASP File?

· An ASP file is just the same as an HTML file
· An ASP file can contain text, HTML, XML and scripts
· Scripts in an ASP file are executed on the server
· An ASP file has the file extension ".asp"

How Does it Work?

· When a browser requests an HTML file, the server returns the file
· When a browser requests an ASP file, IIS passes the request to ASP
· ASP engine reads the file, line by line, and executes the scripts in the file
· Finally, the ASP file is returned to the browser as plain HTML
Before you study ASP .NET, it would help to have a basic understanding of Microsoft's ASP technology.

What is ASP+?

ASP+ is the same as ASP .NET.
ASP+ is just an early name used by Microsoft when they developed ASP .NET.

What is ASP .NET?

ASP 3.0 is the latest version of ASP, but there will never be an ASP 4.0 version. ASP .NET is the next generation ASP, but it's not an upgraded version of ASP. ASP .NET is an entirely new paradigm for server-side ASP scripting. ASP .NET is a part of the new .NET (dot net) Framework. Microsoft spent three years rewriting ASP .NET from the ground up, and ASP .NET is not fully backward compatible with ASP 3.0. You can read more about the differences between ASP and ASP

.NET Framework

The .NET Framework is the infrastructure for the new Microsoft .NET Platform.
The .NET Framework is a common environment for building, deploying, and running Web applications and Web Services.
The .NET Framework contains a common language runtime and common class libraries - like ADO .NET, ASP .NET and Windows Forms - to provide advanced standard services that can be integrated into a variety of computer systems.
The .NET Framework provides a feature-rich application environment, simplified development and easy integration between a number of different development languages.
The .NET Framework is language neutral. Currently it supports C++, C#, Visual Basic, and Java Script (The Microsoft version of JavaScript).
Microsoft's Visual Studio.NET is a common development environment for the new .NET Framework.

Making Your Email Secure

When people think of the Internet they normally refer to the Web, but studies suggest that the percentage of people using e-mail is much larger than the ones surfing the web.

E-mail is infiltrating all parts of our society, replacing paper office memos, helping colleagues keep in touch, and letting people share their thoughts and emotions around the globe. As more and more people are relying on e-mail as a means of communication, more e-mail content is requiring privacy. There always have been propriety ways to encrypt and secure electronic communication, but until recently there has been no standard solution that can work with a variety of e-mail clients. The S/MIME (Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension) in one program that aims to answer these queries.

Why vulnerable?

S/MIME is not Internet specific standards, but it is most useful for Internet e-mail. On a private network, the sender connects directly to the sever. On the Internet, message bounces from place to place until they reach their destination. This means there are many more opportunities to temper with an Internet e-mail message.

Not all Internet communications has this characteristic. When you browse the Web, you directly connect to each server you visit. Because of this, Web communication can be made secure by securing the channel, the connection between your computer and the server. But Internet e-mail can pass through several severs before reaching its destination; so securing the channel is impossible. Instead, the message itself must be secured.

There are three types of e-mail security violations, snooping, tampering and forgery. Encryption techniques are used to protect against all these. Snooping means reading your private e-mail without authorization. Traditional single-key encryption can't stop snoopers. In single key encryption the same key is used both to encrypt the message and to decrypt it. This is unworkable for e-mail communication, because there is no safe way to transmit the key. It's unsafe to send the key unencrypted, and it's inconvenient to deliver keys manually to e-mail recipients who might be halfway around the world. One way to transmit a key safely is to use a technique called dual-key or asymmetric encryption, which has separate keys for encryption and decrypting. People's public keys are used to encrypt the message send to them, and they use their private keys to decrypt these messages. The two keys are mathematically related, but the private key cannot be derived from the public key, so the public key can be freely distributed. The private key need never leave the owner's computer. To send an encrypted message, you obtain the recipient's public key and encrypt the message using this key. Since decryption requires the associated private key, only the recipient will be able to read the message.

S/MIME protects against tampering, the second type of security violation, with a technique similar to a checksum. A harsh algorithm condenses the message contents into a unique digest, and then the digest is encrypted and sent along with the message. The recipient's S/MIME program decrypts the message and does its own computation of the digest. If the two match, then the message has arrived intact. If they don't, someone has tempered with the message and the S/MIME program will alert the recipient of this.

Signing and Trust

S/MIME protects against the third type of security violation, forgery. By signing or encrypting with a private key. A single public key is called a certificate and is sent along with the message. The simplest example of this is a self-signed certificate, a public signed by its associated private key. If the recipient can successfully decrypt the certificate with the sender's public key that confirms that the sender's private key was used to create the certificate.

But anyone can create a key pair, so this doesn't prove much. If this is the first time you have received a message from a certain person, then the public key is not your database and you can't verify it. So how do you know that the e-mail address isn't spoofed and the person really is who he or she claims to be?

A more secure type of certificate is one signed by a third party. But anyone can sign a public key, so simply having a certificate signed by a third party isn't proof of identity unless the signer is known and trusted. To this end, there are companies that set themselves up as certificate authorities, verifying the identity of the person holding the public key before signing it.

Even this isn't a perfect solution, however, lets say I work for a small company called XYZ. It has an internal e-mail system and acts as a certificate authority for its employees. But when I send you e-mail, how do you know that XYZ can be trusted to verify my identity, and how do you know that it really is XYZ that signed my public key if you don't have XYZ's public key in your database?

S/MIME addresses this problem by means of a trust hierarchy, also called a chain of trust. To reassure you, I also included XYZ's certificate, the public key of XYZ signed by yet another certificate authority. If the second signer is a service that you know and that you trust, then you can accept my certificate as valid. If the highest level of the chain of trust is known and trusted, then the certificate can be trusted.

The most prominent certificate authority today is VeriSign. A VeriSign public key is readily available and is preloaded into most S/MIME programs, so its easy to verify a VeriSign signature. It offers two classes of individual certificate. The class 1 certificate verifies only the applicant's e-mail address. Class 2 certificate cost more and verifies the applicants mailing address as well as the e-mail address. You must enter private information to enable VeriSign to verify your identity, so the information must be transmitted over s secure connection. It cannot be sent through unsecured e-mail.

Portability

When using S/MIME, you need a means of securely transporting your private key between different computers or e-mail programs. Otherwise, the key pair that you use at work won't be usable on your notebook or home computer, and encrypted e-mail that you pick up from another machine will be unreadable. Also, if you change e-mail programs, you will have to get a new key pair and make sure everyone sending you e-mail uses it unless you have a way to export your private key from the old program and import the key into the new one.

The solution to this problem will eventually be Microsoft's PFX standard, which the company submitted as PKCS#12, or the 12th standard in the PKCS (Public Key Cryptography Standards) suite. So far only two vendors, Microsoft and Netscape have implemented PFX for importing and exporting private key.

Design consideration

The S/MIME specification is limited to consideration such as which hash algorithm to use and which symmetric cipher must be supported. It does not address design considerations. Because such issues are not spelled out, products can conform with the S/MIME specification but not meet the security goals of S/MIME.

For example, for the chain of trust method to work, as S/MIME program must have some sort of certificate management system that can set the trust level for certification and certificate authorities. If a certificate is compromised, you must have a way to mark it as not trusted. If a certificate authority is compromised, the certificate management system must be able to cascade the not trusted status down to all certificates signed by the authority. Thus a certificate management system is crucial for implementing S/MIME's chain of trust features, but not all S/MIME products have one.

Another important design consideration is the ability to associate multiple certificates with an e-mail address. Its common for people using S/MIME today to have multiple certificates. For example, a consultant may have a separate certificate for each company she works for. Not every S/MIME program offers the basic capability. Netscape Messenger allows only one certificate per person. It is also common to have multiple aliases for the same e-mail address, for example, scender@ud.com and scender@mail.ud.com. S/MIME programs, including Messenger and Outlook Express, accept only the e-mail address in the certificate as valid. You can explicitly accept a certificate that's invalid because of a name mismatch, but you can't encrypt a reply to the message unless you edit the address to match the certificate. The authors of the S/MIME specification are working on a solution that will allow multiple e-mail addresses to be associated with a certificate.

Interoperability

As mentioned earlier, S/MIME uses a hybrid approach for message encryption. The message is encrypted with a symmetric cipher, and then the symmetric key is encrypted with an asymmetric cipher for secure transmission. The strength of any encryption method is determined by the length of the key, the longer the key, the stronger the encryption.

The S/MIME specification mandates that all vendors must support at least one common symmetric encryption method. In version1 of the S/MIME specifications, this method was the RC2 algorithm with a 40-bit key. In Version 2 of the S/MIME specification, finalized later, the common encryption to Triple Des, an algorithm that uses a 178-bit key.

Vendors are free to use encryption even stronger then Triple DES if they want, and this creates a challenge for S/MIME products: how to know what type of encryption to use with a given recipient. A fairly recent addition to the S/MIME specification, called authenticated attributes, provides a way to exchange this information automatically. Only the Microsoft and Netscape products implement this method.

All S/MIME products available today support RC2-40 encryption, but not all products default to RC2-40. So even if all the products perfectly implemented every encryption algorithm, confusion over which algorithm to use could itself cause interoperability problems. Infect, not all S/MIME programs implement every encryption algorithm perfectly.

The spinning wheel

With its strong vendor backing, S/MIME will eventually deliver on its promise of broad scale e-mail security. But the specification itself is still very much in flux, and that creates interoperability problems. Also, vendors are still learning what features are necessary in a good S/MIME product. Many of the S/MIME products available today lack crucial features or suffer from design flaws. Once the S/MIME specification is finalized and the system is better understood, the market should start to see easy-to-use products that interoperate flawlessly.

Clear Unwanted Entries from the Start Menu's Run..

Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT).
1)Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ RunMRU\.
2)Delete all of the values that you dont want in this key (everything in the right pane, except for (Default)).
3)Close the Registry Editor when finished. You'll probably have to refresh the Desktop or restart Windows for this change to take effect.

Classic Start Menu Style

Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT).
Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Uninstall
Remove any unwanted keys under "Uninstall."

Check IP at command prompt

Did you know you can view it even faster (without opening all the way to cmd or command.com? Just type "cmd /k ipconfig" in the run box (Start button, run).

You can also put cmd /k ipconfig in a text file and give it a .bat extension to make a batch script so you just need to click on the file to execute it instead of going to the start menu.

Change XP Boot Screen

If you would like to change your boot up screen follow the directions below. These instructions assume that you have a place to download the boot screen from the net. If you would like to download a boot screen, visit http://www.themexp.org

1. Backup (copy) the file %windir%\system32\ntoskrnl.exe (most likely C:\windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe - the boot screen)
2. Download the .zip to your computer (important: make sure to get the right version, XP or XP SP1)
3. Extract ntoskrnl.exe to a directory other than %windir%\system32 (most likely C:\windows\system32)
4. Reboot your computer into Safe Mode (hit F8 before the boot screen) or into true DOS (from a boot disk)
5. Overwrite the file %windir%\system32\ntoskrnl.exe (which should have been backed up) with the extracted exe
6. Reboot your computer as you normally would

Change web browser icon in the Start menu

To change the web browser icon in the Windows XP Start menu:

1. Click on "Start" and go to "Run..."
2. In the run dialog type "regedit"
3. Go to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\" by expanding the appropriate branches of the tree.
4. Select the web browser that you are currently using.
5. You can now modify the (default) key and rename the shortcut to whatever you want.
6. To change the icon expand the selected client and click on "DefaultIcon".
7. Change the (default) key to point to the icon file of your choice by double-clicking it. If you are going to use a file with multiple icons inside you should specify with a comma after the target the index number. (eg. C:\icons.exe, 2)
8. Reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.

Special thanks to Dan Ciuperca for helping me to change the email icon in the Start menu.

Change the start button name

Navigate to your windows or winnt directory.
Make a copy of explorer.exe put it somewhere safe. make another copy name it explorer1.exe, put it in the windows directory.
Download a version of a Hex editor on a freeware site.
Open up explorer1.exe in the Hex editor .
Search for strings named Start
Heres some help with the offsets:
Windows 98
Offset: 0x00028D6E - 0x00028D76
Windows NT4
Offset: 0x00028BEE - 0x00028BF6
Windows ME
Offset: 0x00033DDE - 0x00033DE6
Windows 2000
Offset: 0x0003860E - 0x00038616
Windows XP (Enhanced Start Menu)
Offset: 0x000412B6 - 0x000412BE
Windows XP (Classic Start Menu)
Offset: 0x0004158A - 0x00041592
Windows XP SP1 (Enhanced Start Menu)
Offset: 0x0004208E - 0x00042096
Windows XP SP1 (Classic Start Menu)
Offset: 0x0004259A - 0x000425A2
start will be just before this:

There was an internal error and one of the windows you were using has been closed.".

now rename start to another five letter word of your choice like Help

save the modified explorer1.exe
open up regedit, you are looking for this key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]

search for the value named Shell and make it equal to explorer1.exe.

restart for changes to take place.

alternatively, close all apps, fire up task manager and end the process explorer.exe, start new traske explorer1.exe and there you go.

if PC dont boot, slave off , navigate to your windows delete explorer1.exe and rename explorer.exe to explorer1.exe, plug back into your PC and there you go back to normal, i assure you it works great!

enjoy regards...

Change Start Button Text

The start button is the most clicked on button in all of Windows. If you are going to customize windows, why not customize the start button. It is possible to change the text of the start button through the use of a hex editor which is a special program that allows you to edit files that were already compiled.

To get started, all you need is a hex editor which you can dowload for free on the web. If you do not have a hex editor, visit download.com and preform a search for hex editor and you will find several.Â

Once you have the hex editor downloaded and installed, just open up explorer.exe which is found in the windows directory in the program. Then go to the following offsets and you will see the text S T A R T. Just modify the letters to what ever you wish and save the file and you are set to go. Make sure that you leave the spaces between the letters and you only overwrite the five letters.Â

The file offsets for XP are: 000412b6 - 000412bf and 0004158a - 00041593

This method has a few limitations though, you can only use exactly 5 letters. If you want to us somthing with more than five letters, below is another guide that will also change the start menu text. It is from tweakersguide.com but it was in German so here's my rough translation.

First of all you will need to download a exe editor - Resource Hacker and Hacker 2.0 are avaliable from www.downloads.com and are adequate for the task in hand.

The first 3 steps stop the file we are going to tamper with from being restored automatically when windows restarts

1) with notepad or a text editor open the file c:\windows\system32\restore\filelist.xml (you might need to change it's properites from read only first by right clicking on the file and selecting properties, then remove the tich from the read only checkbox)

2) add the following line to the first section to exclude explorer.exe from the protected file list
- %windir%explorer.exe

3) save the file (and apply the read only properties back if you wish)

The next 2 steps actually modify the explorer.exe file that is the windows shell so back it up first if you are uncertain what you are doing (to back up the file, open a cmd window and type -
copy c:\windows\explorer.exe c:\windows\explorer.bak)

4) Open the file c:\windows\explorer.exe with your exe editor and edit the text in following lines

String Table > 37 > 1033
String Table > 38 > 1033

You just edit the text inside the "Start" to what ever you want and compile if necessary (depends on your exe editor - you will if you use ResHack)

5) save the file as (file > save as) explorer.xp (back up this file to another disk if you want to save a bit of hassle after you recover the machine next time)

Now you need to copy the file you've modified best way I've found to do this is to boot to safe mode command prompt although it's been suggested that you can stop the explorer.exe process with Task Manager, copy the fie in a cmd prompt then restart the process again - that worked for me but the origional returned after a restart. The next 3 steps describe how you copy the file

6) restart the machine and start tapping F8 to get the start menu - choose safe mode with command prompt

7) log on as Administrator and you'll be presented with a cmd prompt

8) To copy the modified file just type
copy c:\windows\explorer.xp c:\windows\explorer.exe
assuming that's where you saved it to with your exe editor)

9) Restart Machine and VOILA!

Happy Tweaking

Source: www.smilepk.org

Change Log On Screen Colors

Microsoft includes three default "shell styles" with the Windows XP Luna theme: Homestead, Metallic, and NormalColor.

You can see these three styles in the "Welcome to Windows" and "Log On to Windows" screens during logon.

To change the style, open regedit and go to: HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\ThemeManager
Change the "ColorName" key value to either "Homestead" or "Metallic". "Homestead" will show the title bars in an olive color. "Metallic" will show them in a silver color.

Log off or reboot to see the change.

Note: this will only work on the original Ctrl+Alt+Del log on screen, not the new Welcome screen.

Change Search and Run icons in Start Menu

It was impossible to get an Icon Package / Theme that would change ALL the icons in the Start Manu. The Typical Problem would arise with the Search and Run icons (I have disabled the rest...)

A small search in the registry and I managed to identify the "keys" that control the default icons.

To change them you need to get in the registry, and that can be done by going to Start > Run (or WinKey+R) and typing "regedit" (yes, without the quotes...)

"Search"
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f0-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\DefaultIcon

"Run"
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f3-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\DefaultIcon

You can edit each one by double clicking on the respective file.

Hope you enjoy!...

P.S. The easiest way to find the keys, is to go to the CLSID directory, go Edit > Find and search for the name by pasting the {.....} value.

Source: www.smilepk.org