How safe is your computer?

Nobody can say they are completely safe from catching a computer virus, becoming victim to a phishing scam, or being the target of a clever piece of spyware. You can, however, significantly lower your risk by taking some precautions. Listed are the most common yet integral ways to keep your computer as safe as possible:

1. Have a firewall! According to Microsoft, a firewall helps to keep your computer more secure. It restricts information that comes to your computer from other computers, giving you more control over the data on your computer and providing a line of defense against people or programs (including viruses and worms) that try to connect to your computer without invitation. Some good examples are the default window's firewall and zonealarm.


2. Have a good spyware removal program and use it! Spyware is a broad category of malicious software intended to intercept or take partial control of a computer's operation without the user's informed consent. Spyware will monitor your activity on the Internet and transmit that information in the background to someone else. Spyware is potentially dangerous because it can record your keystrokes, history, passwords, and other confidential and private information. Some good examples of spyware removal programs are spyware blaster, ad-aware se personal edition and spybot search and destroy.

3. Utilise a good anti-virus and scan regularly! A virus is a program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes. Even a simple virus is dangerous because it will quickly use all available memory and bring your system to a halt. Some good examples of anti-virus programs are norton antivirus and mcafee antivirus.

With these few techniques, you're not safe from ALL of online threats, but you can be sure these protection will deter most of the hackers and viruses from infecting your computer. This simple procedues will ensure you do not lose your valuable data on your hard disk, and save you the trouble of constant reformatting your computer, as a result of spyware and virus problems!

What's the buzz?

So, what's new and buzzing about google these days? (lolseewhatididthere) Launched in Feb 2010, Google Buzz is Google’s answer to Twitter and Facebook. Buzz is a way for you to share status updates, video, audio and images with friends.

Specifically Buzz has a number of revolutionary features.

1. Google Buzz has features such as real-time updates with no refresh required.

2. Buzz also lets you import your activity from other sites including Picasa, Flickr, Twitter and your blog. Sure this is a little like Facebook, but what Google does is improve on the speed and convenience of sharing updates.

3. It's very user-friendly with pictures. You are able to browse full-screen photos with each click, making viewing pictures seem dynamic and unrestrained.

4. Buzz recommends interesting posts and weeds out ones you're likely to skip, by automatically recommending people you communicate with frequently.

5. Also, Buzz does not require any setup as ituses the friends/contacts that you already have on your gmail.



6. Buzz also adds mobile features on cell phones that offer location features. With that, you will be able to see the location of users nearby that are also using Google Buzz.

7. Buzz Lightyear approves of this.

My Personal Insights on the Advantages of eLearning

In the 21st century, people have to learn more than ever before. Learning is a continual process to survive in this technological age. Like my lecturer likes to put it: Learning to learn will be your most vital tool! However, live classroom-based training is becoming too costly and cumbersome. The efficient, and flexible alternative: eLearning.

I will list some personal opinions about the advantages of eLearning:

1. Anywhere, anytime, anyone.

The growth of the World Wide Web and high-speed desktop computers makes learning available to people 24 hours a day, seven days a week around the globe. Students can choose to attend their classes when it is most convenient for them, at home or out, thus increasing productivity.

2. Financial savings from travel expenses.

Of course, the best thing about eLearning is that you don't actually have to travel to a physical classroom. It definately helps the inconvenience of getting the instructor and students in the same place. Students can also improve productivity and use their own time more efficiently, as they no longer need to travel or fight rush-hour traffic to get to a class.


3. Higher retention of knowledge through personalised learning.

Technology-based solutions allow more room for individual differences in learning styles. Since students can customize the learning material to their own needs, they have more control over their learning process and can better understand the material, leading to a faster learning curve, compared to instructor-led training.


4. Learning through interactive means!

Say goodbye to boring instructor-led lectures: students can now choose to collaborate and discuss specific material with peers or even experts, for the specific material that they are interested in. This promotes critical and analytical thinking for me especially, compared to just route memorization in traditional lectures.