Plug and play equipment or hardware solves the problem of driver installation, re-starting routines, and generally speaking, “hassle”, for those who are not technically proficient.

If your computer supports “Plug and Play”, then, as the name suggests, you simply plug it in and play. For people who are “word perfect”, plug and play might sound somewhat misleading. Peripherals, such as your mouse, keyboard, monitors, scanners, network adaptors, or printers are included in this.

This long awaited technology is made possible via your U.S.B. port. U.S.B. is an abbreviation for UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS. Using this port, your computer detects such peripherals, and after detection, configuration is automatic, in so far as you have no further input.

Prior to “plug n play”, you would have to insert a floppy disc or cd, to supply and install the necessary software or “driver”. To put it simply, your computer cannot see or indeed smell or intuitively know what a device, its properties, requirements and priorities are.

Most computers have two USB ports, usually situated on the back of your unit. A U.S.B. “hub” will effectively increase this number. Basically, it is like an electrical adaptor which allows up to seven devices to be connected to it. If you are a big “gadget” fan, you can simply plug another hub into the first one, and so on.

U.S.B. is classified as Serial communication, as opposed to parallel communication.

This means that it transmits data/info/signal, if you like, one “bit” at a time. Conversely, it receives it in a similar fashion. This is done or executed, in one wire or cable.

Did you ever notice the “big” or “wide” ends on your cables? These cables are parallel and transmit/receive data/info/signals, many “bits” at a time. Therefore, parallel communication needs many cables/wires and consequently more connections, at its port.

U.S.B. ports and cables are smaller. Just pop around to the back of your P.C., and you will immediately notice the difference. On the machine that I am currently working on, I noticed that the printer has both types of ports and that the parallel port and cabling is the option that the technician used. The serial option would have worked just the same, at this level, where transmission speeds are of little relevance.

In summary, Plug ‘n Play is welcomed and embraced by everyone and is a major step towards “user-friendly” computing.

About The Author

Seamus Dolly is the webmaster of http://www.CountControl.com His background is in engineering and analogue electronics. His studies include A+, Net+ and Server+.

seamus@countcontrol.com

Are stacks of papers, mail, newspapers, and growing “to do” lists cluttering your home? Has it been months since you’ve seen your countertops or have you completely forgotten what your countertops look like? Paper clutter includes bills, warranties, cards, mail, memos, sticky notes, lists, letters, advertising flyers, school papers, etc. If any or all of these items are cluttering your home and countertops, follow the simple ideas below to organize your papers and gain control over the clutter.

Mail: the general and well known rule for reducing stacks of mail is to handle it only once.

• Choose an area for sorting mail and sort through it as soon as it arrives. Immediately throw away junk mail and separate the rest into several piles: bills, reading material, and mail to be shredded. Sometimes a fourth pile may be needed to separate your mail from your spouse’s mail.

• Place reading material, such as magazines or catalogs into your inbox or magazine holder to be read later.

• Shred all mail containing personal information. This will help to protect yourself from identity theft by safely disposing of mail that contains your Social Security number, bank account numbers, or credit card numbers. Be sure to shred all unwanted credit card applications and home refinancing offers.

• Place your bills in your in box or wherever you pay your bills in order of the date they are due. Create a 13-pocket accordion file with tabs for each month and the last tab for income tax receipts. As you pay bills, write the check number and date on your copy and file accordingly. Also, add bank statements and credit card receipts in the correct months. At the end of the year, add your tax returns and store the entire accordion file.

• Another bill paying method is to purchase a portable filing box or a filing cabinet. Create a filing system of bills paid by labeling manila folders for each company that you pay a bill to. After paying a bill, make a note of your check number and date paid on your copy and file in the appropriate file. At the end of the year, clean out the files that you don’t need anymore to make room for the upcoming year.

Permanent Papers:

• Create a tabbed filing system for papers you need to keep long term, such as car insurance, life insurance, homeowner’s insurance, medical insurance, children’s records, animal records, etc.

Receipts: use an accordion file, a large envelope, a plastic divided envelope, or a coupon wallet to organize your receipts.

• Sort through your receipt file every 60-90 days and throw out receipts that have an expired return date. Be sure to shred receipts that have your credit card number printed on them.

• Save gift receipts. A good rule to follow is to save the receipt for three months after giving the gift. You can also give a gift receipt with the gift for easier return or exchanging.

• Toss out receipts that are not tax-deductible such as groceries, pet grooming, and dry cleaning.

• Staple the receipts of major purchases to their warranty cards or with the instruction manual. For example, if you purchase a vacuum cleaner, staple the receipt to the instruction manual and file it in a labeled folder.

Income Tax Receipts:

• Create a large envelope or a file folder for the current year’s income tax receipts. Place all receipts for the year that pertain to income tax in the envelope or folder. This will make it much easier when it’s time to figure out your taxes because all your receipts and statements will be in one location.

Manuals, Booklets, and Warranties:

• Create a folder for each major appliance and store manuals, warranties, receipts, and any other important information to be saved. Label the folder for quick and easy reference.

• It’s also helpful to keep the receipts, instructions, and warranties of children’s products in case a product receives a recall notice or it stops working. This applies more to the larger products such as car seats, bouncy seats, swings, high chairs, electronic toys, etc. Create a folder for each product and label the folders for quick and easy reference.

Magazines and Catalogs:

• Place them in decorative magazine holders next to your couch or wherever you read magazines.

• Store the magazines and catalogs upright so it is easy for you to thumb through them and see what issues you have. As new magazines and catalogs come in, discard the oldest ones.

Books:

• After you have read a book, donate it to a library or sell it if you don’t plan to read it again.

• Once your children outgrow their books, have them donate their books to a charity, kid’s book store, or library.

Coupons:

• File the coupons in a coupon wallet or an envelope and carry them in your purse or car.

• Be sure to go through your coupons on a regular basis and throw away the expired ones.

Business Cards and Contacts:

• Store all business cards in a business card holder or a Rolodex.

• Keep all addresses and phone numbers in one location such as an address book or a spreadsheet on your computer.

Children’s Artwork:

• Purchase a colorful three-ring binder and include favorite artwork. To protect the artwork, place the papers in plastic sleeves made for three-ring binders.

• Turn children’s artwork into cards that can be mailed to friends and family.

• Create a file folder for saved artwork.

• Purchase a portable file storage box with hanging file folders. Help your child to decorate the box and label the folders. For example, you might want one folder for kindergarten artwork, one folder for first grade artwork, and so on. This will keep all artwork organized and together in one place.

• Hang up a bulletin board in your child’s room where he or she can display their favorite artwork. They can change out the artwork as often as they like and they will enjoy seeing their artwork hanging up in their room.

• Let your child choose a few favorite pieces of his or her artwork and frame it to match their room decor. Then hang the framed artwork in a special place in their room.

Whether you have a built-in desk filing system or you use portable file boxes, the important thing is to label your folders and boxes the way it works best for you. There are many attractive binders and file boxes available on the market today to help you organize your papers. You can purchase portable file boxes in all shapes and sizes. They come in natural fibers, pretty pastels, shabby chic, contemporary, and even see-thru. Three-ring binders and file folders come in different sizes and all the colors of the rainbow, while in boxes made of fabric or linen can be purchased to match your home decor.

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s often easy to toss papers on your desk or countertop and deal with them at another time. By doing this, you create more work for yourself and more countertop clutter. So, take the steps to get rid of paper clutter for good and you will be more organized, you will take pleasure in seeing your countertops again, and most of all you will enjoy a more comfortable and peaceful home.

Lesley Dietschy is a freelance writer and the creator/editor of The Home Decor Exchange and the Home & Garden Exchange. The Home Decor Exchange is a popular home and garden website featuring resources, articles, decorating pictures, free projects, and a shopping marketplace. The Home & Garden Exchange website is a link exchange program and directory dedicated to the home and garden industry, as well as offering free website content and promotional ideas. Please visit both websites for all of your home, garden, and website needs.

http://www.HomeDecorExchange.com

http://www.HomeGardenExchange.com

First off, if you read last week’s article by me (the one about
site personalization in PHP), I have one addition to make to
make your life a little easier. If you didn’t read last week’s
article, read it. It’ll help you. You can find it here:
http://jumpx.com utorials/1

Now, remember how we personalized a page for your visitor? This
works fine, but what do we do if they didn’t use that special
link, and just went to the page?

What I’m saying is, if you special personalized page was at
http://www.your.host/sales.php/f=Oscar/l=Grouch but your visitor
only went to http://www.your.host/sales.php. Instead of the name
there would just be a blank spot! Last week I forgot to cover
this.

All we have to do to fix it is to tell PHP that if they didn’t
leave a name, to substitute one in for them. So let’s say that
if they left their first name blank to make their first name
“Friend”. This way instead of saying “Dear Oscar:” it would say
“Dear Friend:”.

Put the following line of code JUST ABOVE THE LINE that says
something similar to: echo “$f $l” :

if ($f == “”) { $f = “Friend”; }

That way, you can use your special personalized page as a normal
page and no one will be the wiser.

Password protection is something you need every once in a while.
Whether it’s a secret site you’re running or just the control
panel of your favorite script.

Sometimes you don’t need a fancy solution like .htaccess if
you’re only worrying about a single user (you). But JavaScript
passwords can be worked around, and HTML-based passwords based
on cookies, written in PHP are complicated and take time to
write. Htaccess is nice but it’s a pain if you just want to use
it for one person.

Here is a simple way to use HTTP authentication (the same you
see used by htaccess) with just a few lines of code. Below are
the sample contents of a file you can use.

$myusername = "myusername"; $mypassword = "mypassword";
$areaname = "My Protected Area";

if ($PHP_AUTH_USER == "" || $PHP_AUTH_PW == "" || $PHP_AUTH_USER
!= $myusername || $PHP_AUTH_PW != $mypassword) {
header("HTTP/1.0 401 Unauthorized"); header("WWW-Authenticate:
Basic realm="$areaname""); echo "

Authorization
Required.

“; die(); }

?>

my main text.

Last week we learned that PHP code can be integrated into your
HTML. All you have to do is make sure the file ends in .php (for
example, “firehydrant.php”) and it will work. Everything that
comes in between this:

/* And this: */

?>

Is treated as PHP code. Everything outside of those tags is
treated as plain HTML.

When copying this code over be SURE to include that last line
where it says “my main text.” Note that “my main text” is
located outside of the PHP code brackets. This means that where
you see “my main text” can be your normal HTML file!

Take all of this code and Upload the script onto your web server
and run it in the browser. You should be greeted by a password
popup box similar to those you see with htaccess. Enter
“myusername” as the username and “mypassword” as the password.
You should be given a page that says “my main text” and nothing
else.

Close your browser window (this is very important) and going
back to that page. Try entering the wrong info. The box will
come up again. You have three tries and then are given that
dreadful “Authorization Required” message.

If you want to take the next step, go back to your code and
change “myusername” and “mypassword” to a username and password
of your choice. Upload it back to your web server and try again.
Now go to that page again and you’ll see that you can only be
let in using the username and password you chose for yourself.

Now change the part that says “My Protected Area” to something
else, say “John Calder’s Bar and Grill.” Upload and try it.
You’ll see when that password box comes up under “Realm” it’ll
say “John Calder’s Bar and Grill.” You can change this to
whatever you like.

But what if you want to password protect just a handful of
files? Do you have to copy and paste this code onto PHP script
after PHP script?

Hell no!

Take the code you just modified and take the last line out of
it. You know, the one that said “my main text.” All you should
have in there now is everything in between the PHP brackets
().

Save this file as “auth.php”. You can rename this later, on your
own time.

Make a new file called “test.php” or just rename one of your
normal HTML to this name. It doesn’t matter. At the very top of
test.php (the VERY top, meaning the first line) copy and paste
this line of code:

Upload auth.php and test.php to your web server and run
test.php. Make sure both files are placed in the same folder.
Now, try to go to test.php in your web browser. You’ll see that
you can’t get to test.php without the right username and
password. You can do this to any file with a “.php” extension
just by adding that one line of code.

The catch to it is that this line of code has to be at the very
top of the file. On the very first line. The reason for this is
that when the script asks for a person’s username and password,
these are sent using HTTP headers and *must* come before
anything else.

Of course, this doesn’t take care of your secret sites or
private members’ areas, where you have to deal with several
logins, but that’s what htaccess is for.

While we’re on the subject of includes, one last thing before we
finish up.

Includes are basically a way of absorbing other files into your
script. As you saw when we included auth.php, the script read
everything that was in auth.php and used it as if the contents
of that file were actually there. This works with not only PHP
scripts but also with other files as well.

Make a new file called “header.html”. Put anything you want in
it, but I just put “This is my header ” when I did it.

Make a second file called “footer.html”. Again, go again and put
anything you want in it, but I just put “This is my footer ” in.

Make a third file called “main.php.” Copy the following into it.

This is my main page

Upload all three into the same folder and run main.php. You
should see the following:

This is my header This is my main page This is my footer

This is just a basic example of how includes can be used. But if
you have a web site with several pages and the same layout…
wouldn’t it be easier just to put everything above your main
text in header.html and everything below that main text in
footer.html? That way if you change your design you only have to
edit 2 files instead of 100 or 200?

You’d think.

After almost two decades of existence, Quark has become the basic building block of any print designer’s toolkit. It has deservedly gained a reputation for reliable printing, offering consistent and dependable output that prevents costly mistakes. Now you can confidently add that tool to your Mac OS X workflow, because QuarkXPress 6.0 is available now and runs beautifully under Mac OS X.

In this latest version, QuarkXPress 6.0 gains a new appearance and a new window menu that lets you quickly navigate between open files. But you’ll love being able to launch as many programs as you want, knowing that if one of them misbehaves, it won’t interfere with your QuarkXPress document. And with the advanced virtual memory in Mac OS X, other programs won’t impede your work by hogging valuable memory. Connecting it to scriptable applications such as FileMaker Pro gives you an automation workflow simply not available on Windows. But it doesn’t merely run on Mac OS X, it also offers significant benefits over previous versions of the software.

The new concept of layout spaces with synchronized text is awesome! Its documents let you manage your projects in one file, making it easier to generate collateral for different formats. So, you can design a billboard and a print ad and keep them in the same document. What makes this easier is the addition of synchronized text that lets you share a single pool of content across multiple boxes. No need to fret about making sure you’ve updated an incorrect phone number, or even worse, a price, multiple times across several documents. Once you’ve fixed it once, you’ve fixed it all over the place. You’ll surely appreciate the gains in speed, accuracy and efficiency synchronized text brings.

Other productivity enhancements are multiple levels of undo, and table and layer improvements. QuarkXPress 6.0 lets you undo actions that were previously irreversible, including text and picture import, text linking, and style sheet edits. You can now also do anything with a text or picture table cell, including using the synchronized text of a layout space. For the web, it offers more control over designing cascading menus, specifying font families for style sheets and creating rollovers. You’ll also welcome how it speeds through creating PDF documents complete with indexes and hyperlinks. Since the program doesn’t need to workaround the limitations of computers with little memory, you can now choose to view images at full resolution while working on a layout that lets you create more accurate clipping paths and magnify the image with minimal pixelation.

Truly, QuarkXpress has already become a part of the lives of computer professionals. It’s good to know that continuous innovation is being conducted for its constant enhancement in efficiency and effectiveness. I just hope that this people will continue to do such things for the future of our computer world, too.

For Comments and Questions about the article and for additional info’s about creative designs log - on to http://www.ucreative.com

When I started GetQuotes-IT.com in 2003, I knew nothing about link exchanges and didn’t even know what SEO stood for. I remember how excited I was when googlebot visited my site 10 times in one day. WOW!!, little did I know it was merely crawling the 10 accessible pages on my site.It’s still only a hobby and I am still not an expert, but we’re learning.

Quite often when I visit a SEO forum, I see a comment about link relevance and how you should only link to sites with similar content to your own. In theory I agree with this because why send your visitors to an unrelated site and why attract visitors who probably have no interest in your site?

Most often, though, these people say that irrelevant links will not help your rankings in the SERPs and they have various opinions about the effect on your PR.

My first question is whether Google actually knows whether a site is relevant or not.

Say your website’s topic is holiday destinations and you have a resources directory. One page in the directory is only for links to software related sites. Therefore, all the descriptions of those sites make the topic of this page software related. If you put a Google Adsense block on this page, you will quickly see that Google considers the topic to be software related. So, the question is then whether Google considers the relevance of the whole site or just that page. I don’t know.

More important though, is the perceived importance of that little green bar at the top of your browser. Have you ever tried exchanging links with a PR7 site when your own site is only a PR1 or anything less than a 5? Most webmasters will laugh at the suggestion. So how do you get a link from a PR7 site? Get the green bar to grow!! I think most people do the same as I do when they receive a link request. I open the requesting site and have a look at the PR. I personally link to PR 1 and PR2 sites if they are fairly new (check their whois information), but I don’t think most people even bother with that.

As I mentioned before, I agree with the theory of linking to relevant sites. However, until you have a respectable PR, it will often be easier to get links from unrelated sites than just finding willing links in your specific market.

Does a link from an unrelated site help your PR? Most definitely!! Even if it doesn’t help your SERP ranking, it does help your PR. FryYourBeef.com is a bit of an off-beat site where people can complain about whatever is on their mind. A bit hard to find related sites, so I have exchanged links with sites from any industry. Though not much, it does have a PR4 without me having to spend too much time on it and I don’t know whether it has any related links.

So here’s my opinion. When you’re starting out, get as many links as you can with relatively good PR, even if they’re not related to your site. A link from a PR2 site when your own site is PR1, is a good link. Chances are, that other site’s PR will increase with yours and eventually that’ll be a PR5 or higher link.

Having said all that, I do believe that a relevant link adds a lot more value to your site, both in terms of SERP ranking and directed traffic. Therefore, once you have some PR (say PR4 or 5), it’s time to start focusing on your own market. By this time people within your industry will be more willing to consider your site for linking and as we all know, link exchanges are hard work. So spend your time effectively by gaining links that will benefit your site.

Dirk Wessels is a software developer and owner of GetQuotes-IT.com. You may redistribute this article, but please keep this “About the author” section within the article.

Click any website that talks of sadness of love. You will get moist eyes after some time. The quotes of some people about the sadness they feel after losing love are very emotionally shattering. Why should love bring so much sadness? When a loved one leaves for some one else, why do most of us feel devastated? For many of us it is an earth shaking experience. What was pure pleasure turns into absolute pain that is unbearable.

Why does lost love bring so much sadness? A lover cries her/his eyes dry with sadness, but the sadness does not go away. The more one tries to avoid thinking of the lost love, the more memories come back. Every spot where you shared something, every road where you walked together, every incident that you shared, they all become deep wounds that never heal. They take away the essence of living. They leave one lost forever in sadness with a loneliness that refuses to go away.

What do the people who leave their lover think after leaving? I have no clue to that. But I know one fact. Such brutes try to justify their action in many ways. This is their way of telling their own conscience that what they did was correct. Though they justify in many ways, I wonder if they ever are satisfied with their own explanations? One great advantage such people who leave a life sad is - They depart after giving so much pain that the one who is left has no desire or energy to go back to them and ask- Why? To meet one’s lost love again may become very frightening because of the pain given before. One may begin perspiring at the very thought.

After knowing about this sadness, I can only say that one feels that death is better than to live with such sadness. Life becomes impossible. As there is no way to punish the brutes who leave a life shattered, the only prayer one can make is - God, please let her/him know about what she/he did. Please ask her/him to repent and come back.

CD Mohatta is a content writer for all the websites of screenenetwork.com. Some of them are Cupid Ecards, EcardUniverse and Valentines Day Cards.

Reasonable men found saber-toothed tigers. Shock
Science world went through next shock as says “Holland Horizon” magazine. A small bone that a fisher man from Urk, Northern Holland found in his fishing net appeared to be a fragment of a jaw. And this jaw belonged to one of the oldest predators – saber-toothed tiger.

Together with its savage contemporary cave bear it dominated practically on all continents. It spread terror between mastodons, hairy rhinoceroses and other large world inhabitants, which meat it liked very much. We can suppose that it also was not of a small size. Armed with tooth similar to curve sword it could rip open thick skin of its victims easily. By the way Greek name of saber-toothed tiger (mahairod) is translated as “short curve sword”. As paleontologists thought it was not less than 300-400 thousand years ago.

But here at once two great riddles. Under available information saber-toothed tiger had never wondered in grassy plain which is now North Sea bottom. But as was found out had wandered… And the second news; with the help of researches it was established found jaw is… only 28 thousand years old.

At first paleontologists were in doubts if they really have greetings from saber-toothed. The matter is that fisher men who earn their living in Holland waters made their hobby at about hundred years ago to comb local shallow sea bottom. And it is necessary to say they filled up science collections with valuable exhibits and also taught scientists to respect their useful hobby. This time the find was especially important and because of that researches were done exclusively carefully. The last conclusion is that found jaw fragment is of the same material as other saber-toothed tiger’s sings which have already known to science.

Of course the gap in time (300 thousand and 28 thousand years) made scientists to reconsider their conceptions about the age of saber-toothed tiger. Nowadays saber-toothed tiger officially adjoined to inhabitants of our planet which left it only 12 thousand years ago. It means that for example adjoined to mammoths which died out rather recently (only after Ice Age ended). It is thought it might be seen by reasonable men.

Probably this opened interest to one of the oldest animals will help us at last to imagine its look more clearly which is not possible to reconstruct till now. It is considered to be true only that saber-toothed tiger is a very remote ancestor of our domestic kitties. And it is all paleontologists can say, because too little signs left this ancestor on our wicked world. And it’s not surprising as many ancient animals didn’t leave any material proofs of their living. We have only hypothesis.

All about SABER-TOOTHED TIGER.

Is your enterprise following the rules?

The bulk of financial information in many companies is created, stored and transmitted electronically, maintained by IT and controlled via information integrity procedures and practices. For these reasons, compliance with federal requirements such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) is heavily dependent on IT. Companies that must comply with SOX are U.S. public companies, foreign filers in U.S. markets and privately held companies with public debt. Ultimately, the corporate CEO and CFO are accountable for SOX compliance, and they will depend on company finance operations and IT to provide critical support when as they report on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting.

Sound practices include corporate-wide information security policies and enforced implementation of those policies for employees at all levels. Information security policies should govern network security, access controls, authentication, encryption, logging, monitoring and alerting, pre-planned coordinated incident response, and forensics. These components allow for information integrity and data retention, while enabling IT audits and business continuity.

Complying with Sarbanes-Oxley

The changes required to ensure SOX compliance reach across nearly all areas of a corporation. In fact, Gartner Research went so far as to call the Act “the most sweeping legislation to affect publicly traded companies since the reforms during the Great Depression.” Since the bulk of information in most companies is created, stored, transmitted and maintained electronically, one could logically conclude that IT shoulders the lion’s share of the responsibility for SOX compliance. Enterprise IT departments are responsible for ensuring that corporate-wide information security policies are in place for employees at all levels. Information security policies should govern:

* Network security

* Access controls

* Authentication

* Encryption

* Logging

* Monitoring and alerting

* Pre-planning coordinated incident response

* Forensics

These components enable information integrity and data retention, while enabling IT audits and business continuity.

In order to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley, companies must be able to show conclusively that:

* They have reviewed quarterly and annual financial reports;

* The information is complete and accurate;

* Effective disclosure controls and procedures are in place and maintained to ensure that material information about the company is made known to them.

Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404

Section 404 regulates enforcement of internal controls, requiring management to show that it has established an effective internal control structure and procedures for accurate and complete financial reporting. In addition, the company must produce documented evidence of an annual assessment of the internal control structure’s effectiveness, validated by a registered public accounting firm. By instituting effective email controls, organizations are not only ensuring compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404; they are also taking a giant step in the right direction with regards to overall email security.

Effective Email Controls

Email has evolved into a business-critical application unlike any other. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most exposed areas of a technology infrastructure. Enterprises must install a solution that actively enforces policy, stops offending mail both inbound and outbound and halts threats before internal controls are compromised, as opposed to passively noting violations as they occur.

An effective email security solution must address all aspects of controlling access to electronically stored company financial information. This includes access during transport as well as access to static information resident at the company or on a remote site or machine. Given the wide functionality of email, as well as the broad spectrum of threats that face email systems, ensuring appropriate information access control for all of these points requires:

* A capable policy enforcement mechanism to set rules in accordance with each company’s systems of internal controls;

* Encryption capabilities to ensure privacy and confidentiality through secure and authenticated transport and delivery of email messages;

* Secure remote access to enable remote access for authorized users while preventing access from unauthorized users;

* Anti-spam and anti-phishing technology to prevent malicious code from entering a machine and to prevent private information from being provided to unauthorized parties

In conclusion, complying with Sarbanes-Oxley puts a heavy burden on an organization’s IT department to implement and enforce policies set up by corporate governance boards. In order to make sure the company’s email system complies with Sarbanes-Oxley, IT managers must be able to document steps they have taken to address Section 404 of the code. CipherTrust manufactures a secure email gateway appliance that can help organizations comply with Sarbanes-Oxley. To learn more about it, please visit www.ciphertrust.com/solutions/compliance_SOX.php and read our articles and white paper on the subject of SOX compliance.

Dr. Paul Judge is a noted scholar and entrepreneur. He is Chief Technology Officer at CipherTrust, the industry’s largest provider of enterprise email security and anti spam solutions. Learn what you need to know to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley regulations by visiting http://www.ciphertrust.com/solutions/compliance_SOX.php today.

You need to know how to protect yourself, since your security department or
any consultant may not be truly aware of these threats and therefore not
dependable. Since September 11th, a number of businesses entered the security field with little to no knowledge of the trade itself; only of its profit potential. Even outfits that have been around for some time and well-established have not been able to stay current with the latest innovations.

Realistically, viewing your threat level has to be considered since everyone
should expect some sort of impending privacy issue no matter how small. Thanks
largely to the Internet you can arm yourself with much of the knowledge and
equipment that the so-called experts use. If a respected agent of computer crimes
for the Secret Service in NYC had his T-Mobile Sidekick hacked, who knows what else
happens out there to others in any business.

Realistically, viewing your threat level has to be considered since everyone
should expect some sort of impending privacy issue no matter how small. Thanks
largely to the Internet you can arm yourself with much of the knowledge and
equipment that the so-called experts use. If a respected agent of computer crimes
for the Secret Service in NYC had his T-Mobile Sidekick hacked, who knows what
else happens out there to others in any business.

We’ll start acoustic ducting evaluation is the inspection of air ducts, baseboard
heaters, coffee rooms, lounges, bathrooms or any way the architecture of a building
can transfer sound. A simple example is to put your ear to a wall and listen.

Basically anything that requires the use of the naked ear is called an acoustic
bug. Softer surfaces can help muffle sounds but there are more efficient means out
there. So be aware that the way an office site is designed can act as a conduit for
conversations. Also, be aware of any changes can have adverse affects. Simply
playing music can do wonders for masking conversations.

Inspection of telephone equipment and wiring is called line analysis. This is
trickier than it seems since sometimes a possible weakness has an actual purpose to
the telecommunication system. Especially if it requires constant maintenance and
software upgrades.

All instruments should be opened and inspected. Ideally they should be
compared with a known safe phone or device. If you’re not sure, just remove that
piece of loose components and wiring and see if the phone still works. The wiring
can be modified in a switch within the handset that essentially turns it into a
microphone. If you bypass this hook switch, you can listen in from anywhere on the
landline. Technical
equipment won’t be able to detect this. Time Domain Reflectometry is the sending
of a pulse down a telephone line. If there is some sort of disruption; a wall outlet or
wiretap; a portion of the pulse will be
sent back to the device called a Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR). Then the time
difference between the reflection and the continuous run is measured. This helps in
determining the distance to the anomaly.

These devices can perform all sorts of diagnostics including mapping a wire
network. That can be useful in locating a hidden phone. Hidden phones have several
obvious uses such as making long distance phone calls to being placed in an office
across the street to receive betting requests by bookies; a practice called back
strapping. If you open up the modular jacks where you connect your phone, you’ll
usually see four wires. In most cases only two wires are connected; commonly
known as ring and tip. If you see all four connected, be aware that is not usually
consistent for most wiring situations, especially in homes. The other two wires
could be used for a bugging device.

For instance, the microphone you use in a voice recorder can be cut in half.
Connect the mike head to one set of unused wires anywhere on the phone wire.
Then, so long as there are no breaks in the wire, connect the other end to the jack
that connects to your recorder. Now place your recorder to be VOX (voice) activated
and now you have an extremely reliable bug. By the way, this should be manually
inspected for since using a specialized bug detector may see nothing wrong or
inconsistent. A bug such as this that connects to a wire is called a direct tap.

The other general type is called an inductive tap. This is when an instrument is
outside a wire but can still distinguish what’s transacting over a wire. They are
harder to detect since they don’t draw power from the line such a standard
telephone would. These are referred to as snuffle bugs. A simple probe used in
hunting wire signals has a speaker, which can display sounds. By
accident one day I was working on an apartment intercom system while using a
probe. I could hear conversations throughout the building quite clearly just
through the intercom boxes mounted on walls from the master unit in the
basement.

If you’re using wireless headsets or cordless phones, the radio signals can be
intercepted. A cordless phone acts like a radio, but depending on the frequency and
a few other factors, can make interception extremely difficult. With some
manufacturers, you can buy the same model as your neighbors or the office and
have it join their phone system. Double check Caller ID boxes to see if they also
record numbers dialed besides obviously those being received. If you’re using VOIP
(Voice Over IP), remember that calls can be recorded in a fashion identical to
intercepting data between two computers.

These packets of data can reassemble an audio file. Obviously electronic
devices possess semiconductor components such as diodes, resistors and such. The
method to hunt for these components is called Non-Linear Junction Detection
(NLJD). The NLJD unit emits a radio signal while listening for the return signal from
an electronic device. This becomes very useful when a bug is embedded in a picture
frame or wall. The eavesdropping device doesn’t have to be active for it to be
discovered. If a device is active and transmitting wirelessly (or even on a wire), you
can detect it with a Radio Frequency Spectrum Analyzer. Depending on the detection
device used, you can determine whether voice, data or video is being sent, and
possibly listen to the data. Try to use different size antennas or buy one that
collapses. Different frequencies can be detected more efficiently by using various
sizes. The use of filters with antennas can also help pinpoint devices on specific
frequencies.

Electronics such as computers, FAX machines and especially CRT monitors can
radiate electromagnetic signals or pulses that can be received by other equipment.
This is known TEMPEST. One way to complicate the surveillance of this is to use
certain fonts and line walls or equipment with different gauges of copper mesh wire.
You can further enhance this posture by using special paints, which block radio
transmissions.

Radio waves will look for a leak or break, so be careful of defensive
applications. One-way window tints can help in blocking signals. Since an
electronic device could generate some heat they can be detected in another way.
The use of a thermal imagery device can detect and actually see minute amounts of
heat radiated for your viewing. You can hide the heat signatures by using creams or
neoprene. Technology exists to collect information from blinking LEDs of modems,
routers, print servers and similar devices. You can only see some general blinking
but with the use of properly tuned optics, filters, oscilloscopes and good timing you
can discern much more. One of the LEDs on your keyboard can be altered to blink
while you are typing in a fashion similar to Morse Code. You can also use a tap in
the keyboard that sends out radio waves again similar to Morse Code and no anti-
virus software will ever be able to find it. Even when a CRT computer monitor is
facing a wall the light can be in a sense read by its flickering emanations from some
distance. A good defensive measure is to buy new LCD flat panel types.

Another approach to attacking FAX machines is to simply record the noises it
makes and play it back to another machine. I used to do this for a client so they
could keep a record of all the faxes they made and received. There are creative and
potentially illegal defenses against wiretappers and Peeping Toms. One is to
transmit an extremely high pitch down the wire, thereby rupturing the listener’s
eardrums. I knew someone who once sent a powerful electrical spike down his
phone wire thereby destroying his divorced wife’s recorder.

By the way, this leads to another topic-expect the device to be discovered
someday. Don’t leave your fingerprints on it. He found it and had it dusted, thereby
producing some prints. My friend used this as leverage against the Private
Investigator that planted it. Advice to Private Investigators, a word to the wise: if you
do this part-time, hire someone who does this full-time. This P.I. lost his license
and almost went to jail. The lawyer who recommended him got into a lot of trouble
as well. He received some unwanted attention from the Feds because of his
telephone dealings went across state lines and also happened to involve the Post
Office.

There is another budding field related to this topic called Protective
Intelligence. Currently there are only a few experts who do this kind of work.

A laser or an infrared beam can be used at a considerable distance from a
target building. Conversational sounds can vibrate unto solid objects such as
windows. The beam’s reflection varies in relation to the movement to the window,
which is received and converted back into something audible. To mask the sounds,
you could attach a vibrating device (basically an altered electric razor) to the
window.

Of course if the window is open, then a laser can target another object instead
of the window. A beam of light or laser can be directed to go through a window
onto a solid object thereby nullifying such defensive measures again. Generally you
really can’t detect such attacks unless the laser, infrared or light beam is being used
that moment. Certain materials can be used to detect IR emissions, as well as the
use of passive night vision gear. Certain fabrics or even a curtain may actually show
the spot where a beam of light or laser is being focused. Unless the room is dusty or
you have an artificial can smoke, you can follow the beam up to a point and
guesstimate it’s location. One type of optical bug is an infrared transmitter. When
placed in the area of interest for transmission of the conversation to an infrared
receiver which will then translate the conversation into an audible format.

Many of these same procedures used can be applied to locating hidden
cameras. A relatively new device uses a series of lasers to seek out optics. This was
originally intended to locate snipers by bodyguards.

I have listed the techniques, counter-measures and then the counter to the
counter-measures to prevent any false sense of security. Usually constant vigilance
is your best weapon besides knowing what to look for. Even if you find a “bug
sweeper” with good credentials, certifications and experience, ask them detailed
questions. Not just to test them but also for your own peace-of-mind. This makes
our job easier and we appreciate greatly when dealing with knowledgeable
customers.

What are cookies?

The cookies are small pieces of information (text) that are created by Web sites that you are visiting and are send to your browser (Internet Explorer) along with the Web pages that you are viewing. Some of these cookies are saved to your hard disk and when you visit again the Web site that generated them your browser sends these cookies back to this Web site.

The purpose of the cookies is one of the following things:

To notify the Web site that you visited it in the past. This information can be used to block some one-time services (for example Web pools, one-time promotional services, etc.).
To remember your user name and password so that you don’t need to enter them the next time when you visit this Web site.
To remember your personal information that is important to the Web site you are visiting. It can be your name, personal preferences, advertising information, etc.
To show you a different ad each time when you visit the site or similar ads to one that you clicked in the past.

As you can see there are plenty of ways for cookies to threaten your privacy. Even if it seems that the purpose of some cookies is innocent they still reveal the fact that you have visited the Web sites from which the cookies came. Also notice that the Web site that generated a cookie can change its content each time when you visit the site. Cookies remain on your computer as long as their creator decides. Some cookies exist only when you are on their web site but other can stay on your PC virtually forever.

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What are cookies?
The cookies are small pieces of information (text) that are created by Web sites that you are visiting and are send to your browser (Internet Explorer) along with the Web pages that you are viewing. Some of these cookies are saved to your hard disk and when you visit again the Web site that generated them your browser sends these cookies back to this Web site.

The purpose of the cookies is one of the following things:

To notify the Web site that you visited it in the past. This information can be used to block some one-time services (for example Web pools, one-time promotional services, etc.).
To remember your user name and password so that you don’t need to enter them the next time when you visit this Web site.
To remember your personal information that is important to the Web site you are visiting. It can be your name, personal preferences, advertising information, etc.
To show you a different ad each time when you visit the site or similar ads to one that you clicked in the past.

As you can see there are plenty of ways for cookies to threaten your privacy. Even if it seems that the purpose of some cookies is innocent they still reveal the fact that you have visited the Web sites from which the cookies came. Also notice that the Web site that generated a cookie can change its content each time when you visit the site. Cookies remain on your computer as long as their creator decides. Some cookies exist only when you are on their web site but other can stay on your PC virtually forever.

You can use Mil Shield to delete the cookies while keeping some of them (some decent and useful Web sites doesn’t work without cookies). Mil Shield cleans also the content of index.dat files, history, temporary Internet files and many other tracks.

How to see my cookies?

Cookies are kept in special folder on your hard disk. Location of this folder depends on the version of Windows and whether or not you are using user profiles (accounts). If you have Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows NT or Windows 95 then cookie folder is in one of these locations:

C:WindowsCookies
C:WindowsProfilesCookies

Note that on your computer the Windows directory may not be C:Windows but some other directory. If you don’t have Profiles directory in you Windows directory don’t worry - this just means that you are not using user profiles.

If you have Windows XP or Windows 2000 then cookie folder is in this location (note that on your PC it can be on other drive instead of drive C):

C:Documents and SettingsCookies

If you have only one user account on Windows XP or Windows 2000 then replace with Administrator to get the paths.