There’s a now a growing concern for privacy. With several prominent personalities’ email accounts being hacked, the regular person is suddenly aware that this could also happen to anyone’s email or any other internet account.  But besides the hacking issues, which revolves around getting into someone else’s account with the correct username and password, another concern is that of mail being intercepted and read.

One of the earliest workaround to this is a PGP.  PGP ensures security through the use of keys, a private key and a public key.  It presumes that the file could be hijacked, that anyone can get a copy of the file or the email, but it would be useless as it is because it could not be read.  That’s because the encryption and decryption is dependent on the keys.  As noted, the limitation of this transmission security method is that it can be intercepted without the sender and recipient knowing it.

In fact, that’s the problem with all information being transmitted through the web, there is no way to know if anyone has read or intercepted the message as it zips across the globe hopping from one server to another.  Yes, that’s correct, all internet transmissions hop from one server to another, and as it does so, it leaves a copy on the server or the network appliance.  If not a copy, at least a trace of where it came from and where it’s going (this is specially true of routers, switches and hardware firewalls).

Recently, the first real-world demo of a quantum physics based network was presented to the world and this nicely circumvents the problem.  If there’s anyone who is listening in to the traffic, the sender and recipient will know.  Even better, the node where it occurred will automatically shut down, preventing further snooping, the traffic will continue as it gets re-routed along other nodes.

The layman’s explanation to this lies in two graphical examples.  The theory is called the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and the thought experiment is called Schrodinger’s Cat.  Simply put, we have a cat in a sealed box and it has a 50-50 chance of dying within the hour.  There is no way to know if the cat is alive or dead unless we open the lid and take a look inside.

As a second and maybe clearer description, think of a stone thrown in the pond and making ripples or waves.  If there’s a disturbance, the waves would be disrupted.

In the case of data streaming through fiber-optic cables, if anyone wants to find out what the traffic is all about, he would have to listen in.  And the moment that anyone listens in, then the traffic is disrupted,  the network is alerted and the segment or node is shut down.

For the regular internet user, this might take some time to trickle down.  (IPv6 has been around more than 10 years, but only recently has it been of any widespread use.)  This is one developing technology which is sure to be implemented and put to use as soon as possible.  The good news is that us regular internet users won’t even notice it once it does get to use.

I recently installed a personal wiki on one of my home computers.  The MediaWiki install was part of the package for Ubuntu Linux.  Other wiki flavors with install packages listed in the Synaptic Package Manager also included MoinMoin and 13 or so others.  Among all the choices, I opted for MediaWiki simply because this was the wiki software which powers Wikipedia.  Except for the contents of Wikipedia, it’s proven to be a stable install.

This is not the first time I’ve installed a wiki.  I have had prior experience installing and using a wiki with a Java development team I had managed several years back, and I replicated that with other succeeding projects I worked on.  At home, I also installed a wiki on my Windows XP.  But that was an offshoot of my installing a PHP server at home.  I was thinking that since I already had XAMPP, I just as well should install the wiki components.

On the Linux machine, I had to install Apache, PHP5 and MySQL.  These were easily done with the Synaptic Package Manager.  After installing the backend software, I installed MediaWiki.  The setup of the wiki right after was much easier than other wikis I’ve tried before.

Among other things, a personal wiki allows me to maintain a web site on the local machine.  I can insert internet links and keep documents on the database, and have the flexibility to access the data and files on the other machine.  Setting the wiki as a home page for the browser, it becomes a launcher to the websites I frequent.  And I don’t have to migrate the bookmarks from Firefox to Safari and Opera.

Although a wiki was designed to be groupware, it offers lots of advantages to a single user.  The ability to manage web-pages is a big plus, editing a web-page name, moving it around and so on, automatically updates all the links associated with that page.

Admittedly it is not as elegant a solution as a Word documentation purposes.  But the adding hyperlinks makes up for this.  It’s a lot easier to jump from one page to another link when working with webpages, rather than a document format.  This is specially true for a set of documents, you just add pages, and no need to edit the main document.  Wiki setups also have historical and audit trails, where you can check who edited what and go back to a point-in-time version.  All versions are tracked, and you can reverse changes when you revert to an older version of the page.

With MediaWiki, I had to do a step-back as the standards for formatting are slightly different from the other Wikis I have used before.  But it does the job.  I needed a document tracker which is also a document, and I needed it accessible on any of my computers via the LAN without using any folder shares.  And it has to be a no-brainer, no learning curve, kind of thing.  Running on a browser is a bonus.

So far, I’m happy with it.

The USB flash drive has become the de facto standard for mobile data transfer.  The flash drive has effectively taken the place of the floppy disk.  One floppy disk function which the flash drive has not addressed (or at least users are not aware of it) is to use it to boot a computer.

For most PCs there’s an option to boot from a CD-ROM.  And if the user would care enough to take the time to study the computer BIOS, he’s notice that there are several other options, including booting through LAN (wake up on LAN), or a ZIP or Omega drive.  Zips and Omega drives are not very common.  At least these drives are not as common as flash drives.  Most everyone has a flash drive.  However, these little devices are not formatted to boot the computer.

To do that, the flash drives have to be formatted in a certain manner, and system files loaded.  With Windows, formatting the disk is fairly simple:  right click on the flash drive and choose “Format”.  The result would be a freshly wiped directory table (for a quick format) or a completely rewritten disk (otherwise).

The last time I needed to format a USB drive and making it bootable I had to download a set of tools called the HP Disk Format Tool.  It’s an easy to download and use program.  There are other possible solutions to make a thumb drive bootable, however, the graphical user interface of the program makes the process that much easier.  But do remember to use FAT32 for the file system.

By the way, if you have a bootable USB disk, it would be a good idea to install Ultimate Boot CD into the the drive.  Among other things, this gives a backdoor to PCs with problems.  Additionally, it’s a whole lot easier to keep these programs on the thumb drive.

Dell has tried it before, creating a single-piece PC, where the monitor is integrated into the CPU unit.  And this time, Sony is giving it an attempt.  This one looks serious, though.  It’s the new Vaio JS1, with a 20.1″ LCD screen priced almost the same as a 20″ iMac.

The basic hardware for the Vaio is a little heavier than a comparative-sized iMac.  On a point-by-point comparison:

• Vaio has a 500GB hard disk which is a bit more than the iMac’s 250GB or 320GB;
• iMac runs on a 2.4 or a 2.66GHz CPU with either a 1GB or 2GB RAM standard, while the Vaio has either a 2.5GHz or 3GHz CPU running on 4GB RAM;
• the iMac has either an 128MB ATI Radeon HD 2400XT or a 256MB ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro, whereas the Vaio has an on-chip Intel G45 X4500HD which shares memory with the main RAM;
• the Vaio has a SuperDrive or a Blu-Ray capable (read-only) SuperDrive;
• for video the iMac has a mini DVI-out plus adapter, and the Vaio doesn’t have any mention (though the PC should have one as it seems to be aimed to be a media center PC);
• Firewire 400 and 800 on the iMac, while the Vaio has the Firewire 400 only;
• standard built-in webcam and mic for both machines;
• optical drive tray sliding out the side for the Vaio as against a slot-loading drive for the iMac;
• SD and Memory Stick slot for the Vaio which the iMac doesn’t have.

The Vaio almost looks like it would be good for video editing.  What with the large RAM.  Photoediting and video editing softwares are the only ones which really take advantage of the large RAM.  Most every other software would not have any performance boost even if the RAM were larger than 2GB.

This is not a game computer, though the 4GB CPU RAM could more than handle the memory sharing with the Intel graphics chipset for the 2D and 3D video.

The form-factor looks great for desktop sitting pretty in the living room.  In fact, it would look better in the living room or the entertainment room rather than in the home office.  Though with the form-factor, the Vaio will have the same limitation as the iMac: upgrade options are limited, and mostly external.

Forgive the pun, but it’s still like comparing apples and oranges.  Sony is bundled with Windows, and, of course, iMac runs on OS X and can run Windows at the same time.  For the most part that’s still the breaking point with the Sony.

A USB hub is a repeater, or an octopus connection for the USB port.  As such, it’s a non-managing, no maintenance piece of equipment you plug in and forget.  Most cases, a USB hub is used because the user ran out of USB ports, although sometimes the USB hub is there as a repeater because the device’s USB cable cannot reach to the back of the computer.

One problem with the USB hub is that it is a shared resource.  Typically, if you want the digital video camera to perform better in downloading images from tape to the computer, via a USB, it has been suggested to unplug all the other USB devices.  The nature of the USB is like that.  There is only one bus and all the traffic go thought the same path.  Concurrency is not it’s strong suit.  (When downloading video from a mini-DV camera, it would be better to use a Firewire connection instead of the USB.)

With the drabness of its existence, it’s no wonder that all kinds of designs have come out for the USB hub.  There are the plain small 4-port hubs, and the mouse pads which double as hubs, or the USB mouse or keyboard which have an extra USB ports.  I remember the Mac OS 9 keyboard has two USB ports, one on each side of the keyboard.

There are a lot of whimsical designs coming out to liven the computer table.  There’s a rotary phone 4-port USB hub.  It looks like an old rotary phone, where you plug in the USB device to the number.  The numbers on the rotary dial are where the ports are located.

Another recent design which reached the market is the Magical Kid 4-port USB hub.  It’s like Fido Dido, with the ports on the pliable legs and arms.  This creature of whimsy looks like a nice addition to the desktop.

Another new model  is a magnetic 4-port USB hub.  It attaches itself to any metallic object.  This one needs some getting used to.  As the magnet might be a little too strong.  I’ve always thought that computer data stored in a medium is not something you want to get near a magnet.  Though I admit that since this product is now out in the market, you would expect that the manufacturers should have tested the product first.  I am still wary of the idea and I really think that if someone was crazy enough to sell this thing, the buyer would be a whole lot crazier to use it.

Recently there has been a spate of releases in the netbook market.  Principally, these ultra-mini PCs have  800×600 resolution on a 10-inch monitor (or less) measured diagonally, solid-state drives, built-in webcam, speakers and mic, Bluetooth, WiFi, Ethernet port, VGA out running on a 1.6GHz Intel Atom with 1GB RAM.  Now Samsung is joining the club with its NC10 notebook.

The Samsung NC10 tries to fit in, but with several minor differences:  a 1024×600 (wide screen) resolution, a 3-in-1 memory card reader and a choice of an 80GB or a 160GB hard disk, and with Windows XP.  It also has a “Silver Nano Technology” anti-bacterial surface, and a battery pack which gives 8 hours of use.  Weighing 1.3KG, it costs GBP300 in the UK. This is a serious contender in the growing ultra-mini market.

On the other hand, Asus introduced a small laptop which they don’t want to call an ultra-mini PC.  It’s almost the size of the Asus Eee, runs on the Intel Atom, and has a standard 2D graphics chipset from Intel and an nVidia 3D graphics chip as well. The 1024×600 monitor can use either the Intel video chip for longer battery life or the nVidia GeForce 9300GS 256MB 3D graphics chipset for games.  For external video connection, it has an HDMI port.  The graphics card hybrid is toggled done with a physical switch, and you also have to restart the computer.  Sounds like a work-around, but if it gives several hours more of battery life, then that should work.

Although the screen size is only 10-inches, the computer’s case is 13 inches measured diagonally.  Asus could have put in a much larger screen, and with the nVidia 3D graphics card, a 1280×768 would have been good.  Instead, it seems that the computer was designed around the screen first, and then the casing was to accommodate the larger keyboard.

Available with a hard disk of 80GB to 320GB.  for added security , it also has a fingerprint scanner.  Battery life is about 6.5 hours.  Pricing starts from $649, and go up to $849.

Other major manufacturers have their own UMPC out in the market.  There’s the HP Mini-Note 2133, Dell Inspiron Mini 9, among others.  Although the price points Asus set with the Eee are significantly lower than the latest entrants to the UMPC market, the feature sets are quite disparate to separate each UMPC from one another.

As a growing niche, this market segment is expected to grow considerably in the months or years ahead.

One of the most under-rated computer accessory you will ever own is a USB Bluetooth dongle.  That’s because Bluetooth is more like an unnecessary accessory than anything else.  If you have it, fine, and if not, it’s also fine.  Most people would not think of a Bluetooth connectivity as a solution, if they don’t have Bluetooth already included in the computer hardware.

To begin with, as a USB device the Bluetooth dongle is relatively cheap and unobtrusive in its size.  And if you have a need for its services, Bluetooth would most probably be at the bottom of options.  For instance, in transferring images from a cell phone camera to a computer, the first option would be a data cable and the bundled software.  Second option would be to connect the camera’s flash disk to the computer.  Infrared transfer might come to mind next, assuming the phone has infrared transfer capability.

The same is true for data transfer between computers.  First thing to come to mind would be a USB flash drive.  After which would be peer-to-peer networking by cross-cable, and then connecting via LAN with the use of a switch or a repeater, and then connecting via ethernet through Firewire.  A peer-to-peer file transfer between computers and using Bluetooth would be last on the list.

The reason for all this, is because not all computers have Bluetooth built-in.  This is specially true for desktop PCs.  And not all laptops have a built-in Bluetooth device.

As for me, when using Windows (and the Mac OS X). connecting between computers is relatively easy using LAN, or networking via Firewire.  A LAN would be the best solution if you have a fixed network, or with desktops and if there’s a need for regular access between machines.  However if the files are small, a flash drive does come in handy.  But if the needs for file transfer are not on a regular basis, then Bluetooth does seem like a good alternative.

And to have a Bluetooth device for a computer, this can be provided by a USB Bluetooth dongle.  After installing the software, the camera should be able to communicate almost immediately, and able to access the computer for file transfer.  Other Bluetooth accessories which can take advantage of a dongle include a wireless mouse, wireless headsets, and for internet sharing on a LAN.

The only problem with such connectivity is security.  The system is not secure by design.  If you open a device, it signals to all the devices within range, and this is open to unauthorized copying.

In the old days of the PC, there was only one color, beige.  Even the first Compaq portables were in beige.  Then the changes began, but slowly, first there were changes in beige, becoming off-white and in some, refrigerator white.  In most cases, the color was really just cosmetic, with no significant difference between computers of a certain class.

Now comes the latest Asus Eee, the S101 which comes in fashionable colors of Champagne, Brown and Graphite.  I have no idea where the choice of colors come from, but this is one ultra-mini which has a more sophisticated color scheme.  It might be an improvement to the pastel colors of earlier Asus Eee models and even the Sony Vaio netbook line.

Asus didn’t just repaint this ultra-mini.  It also did some redesign, including a slightly wider case around the 10-inch monitor. This is relatively good news for users, the original Eee netbooks are a problem for touch typists and those with large hands and fingers.  And this latest incarnation also sports a multi-touch trackpad.

Among its features, it supports WiFi and Bluetooth V2.0.  Like its predecessors, the S101 uses a shockproof Solid State Drive (SSD) of up to 64Gb depending on the model.  It also has a 4-in-1 card reader.  The supported flash memory types are MMC, SD, Memory Stick and MS-PRO.  This is more than what older models can read.

Running on an Intel Atom processor, with up to 2GB memory, it has a 10-inch WSVGA 1024 x 600 LCD monitor capable of 252K colors.  It comes standard with a LAN port (RJ-45), 3 USB slots, and a 15-pin VGA monitor output.  It has a built-in 0.3MP camera, as well as audio jacks for the speaker/headphone and mic. Asus also has an improved polymer battery capable of running for five hours between charging.  It weighs in at 1kg.

For someone who has spent a lot of time lugging notebooks with 15-inch screens and a computer bag which weighs as much as the notebook, I can’t help but think that it looks very much like a toy.  In this instance, however, there was a big effort at making this machine cute.  Software wise, there’s nothing cute about this netbook.  It can have either Windows or Linux installed.  The good news is that the netbook comes pri-installed with some MS applications, including Live Messenger and Live Mail, as well as Microsoft Works.  The GNU Linux install comes with over 50 applications for office productivity, learning and entertainment purposes.

Even though the S101 is slightly larger or wider than the current Eee models, the Eee branding will remain for now.  However, the name might change once it finally gets released.  As a higher-end model, the S101 will be selling between US$699 to US$899 depending on the model’s specifications.

No matter what other manufacturers may say, the Asus Eee is still an elegant looking computer.  Light, rugged, and very portable.  Although the more expensive price tag seems to run counter to the price concept it was built on when the Eee brand was first introduced.

With lots of data going in and out of the home PC, it’s no wonder that there are lots of ways to transfer data.  There’s WiFi, Bluetooth, LAN cables, USB and Firewire.  So far, still one of the fastest way for the computer to communicate with any device is through the Firewire port.

Unfortunately, not all of the older PCs, and some notebooks don’t have a Firewire port.  Jointly developed by Apple and Sony, the Firewire port, protocol and specifications was designed to for high-bandwidth transfer between devices.  Besides the speed, one other feature is the ability to daisy-chain devices without any switch, toggle or terminator.  Another high bandwidth interface, the SCSI (short for “small computer system interface”) requires that the last device have a terminator.  Compared to a SCSI which, depending on the type of SCSI can daisy chain up to 16 devices, Firewire connections allow up to 63 devices connected to one root port.

As an interface, the latest specifications for USB is roughly the same as that of a Firewire interface.  However, the similarities stop there.  Because the USB typically is a shared bus, the sustained transfer is significantly slower than that of a Firewire.  Amongh other things, Firewire devices can communicate with one another without a need for a host.  That means that a camera can download to a DVD writer without any need to connect to a computer.  Besides that, even if all the devices were connected to a computer, if there is no need to pass data to the computer, then the data goes directly to the target device.

In terms of video transfer from a digital camera to the computer, full DV video is passed through a Firewire connection.  And even though the camera can transfer data via a USB port, the constraints on that port forces the video transfer to use lower quality video.

For home use, besides video transfers and external hard disks, a Firewire interface can also be used for a LAN connection.  Windows XP has a wizard which helps to set this up.  For the Mac on OS X, this is even easier to do.

Firewire ports come in 4-pin (unpowered) and 6-pin (powered) interfaces.  The additional two pins feed power to the device.

There are Firewire cards which available on the market.  Some have up to four ports, and others are a combo of two Firewire ports with another two USB ports included.  Firewire cards typically have all external ports, although there are some which have internal ports.

Prices for firewire cards start at around US$15.

Source: PCFrags.com

I’ve been looking at an alternative to the mouse lately. Not really intending to get a trackball (though I’ve been trying to shop around for one) but due to some minor issues I have with my computer tables, I had been giving a thought to a possible replacement to my mouse.

Besides the trackball, I’ve also been considering the use of a wireless mouse. I am afraid though of a wireless mouse, not due to the connectivity portion, but the lack thereof. I could easily lose the mouse in the clutter on my desk.

Another alternative is a pen and tablet. I’m definitely going to get one soon. But that’s for my son to use. He’s a college freshman taking up fine arts and at his computer classes, some of the students bring their own pen and tablet to draw with. My fault, really, as I didn’t think they’d be using the computer to draw as early as the freshman year. That caught me unprepared.

And checking out some computer stores, what they have in stock have always been Wacom and Genius, with Wacom having a better reputation for the quality of their pen tablet.

I would have bought one about a month back. Except that all I saw at the stores was a Bamboo pen and tablet. Only lately did I find out that Bamboo is a Wacom model. And it comes with a wireless mouse. That’s kind of an overkill as you can use the pen as a pointing device, and the wireless mouse then becomes redundant.

My son will probably get one for his own in a week or two, now that that’s clear that the Bamboo pen and tablet is a Wacom make.