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April 30, 2007
Technology & The Bathroom
Not quite as satisfying as mixing chocolate & peanut butter, but I must say that people have had some pretty crafty thoughts for adding a splash of tech gadgets to the bathroom. Here's some pretty comical ideas that PC Magazine came up with for pimping out your potty that will make your time in the bathroom more rewarding, shinier, and more fun.
Sign me up for a widescreen waterproof TV, and the lighted toilet seat sure would make things a bit easier in the middle of the night. But I'm pretty sure that I'm not looking to multi-task with my computer anytime soon....
Posted by Hugh Garber at 07:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page
April 27, 2007
FTPPlanet Discussion Forums -- An FTP destination
FTPPlanet has a long running history of being the destination for asking FTP, checking out tips for advanced FTP users, and Website related questions.
The Discussion Forums are a great place to find a resolution to many FTP related problems.
FTP New User Forum
Webmasters
Advanced FTP
FTP Tips
Your Website
Don't hesitate to check out the Discussion Forums!
Posted by Erik Small at 08:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page
April 26, 2007
How FTP Works
Here's a nice short overview of how FTP works that I found on Claudia Corrales's blog.
Here are my key takeaways from Claudia's post:
* File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is the Internet protocol that transfers files between computers.
* The site that you are sending files to, and from which you are receiving files is called an FTP site, FTP server, or a remote computer.
* Most Web browsers support FTP, but have limited functionality when compared to FTP client programs.
* Compressing files decreases their size which decreases the time it takes to upload and download files.
For those interested in Compression, here's a nice screenshot of the auto-compression that's part of WS_FTP Professional. One click of a button and you can automatically compress files into .ZIP format before transferring them. Try WS_FTP Pro for free for 30-days and make sure to try the compression feature.
Posted by Hugh Garber at 07:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page
April 24, 2007
College students are an alluring target for attackers
Here's a scary article about how 17,500 students and faculty at Ohio State University were compromised by hackers and laptop thieves.
This is just a reminder to be alert and take measures to protect your personal information. Not all security breaches can be avoided, but many can. For example, you should always encrypt personal information that is stored on your laptop computer. That way, if it's stolen or lost, the information can't be accessed.
And parents, here's a frightening quote from Ennio Carboni, director of product management at Ipswitch about how college students are an alluring target for attackers because their credit is often flawless. "I think it’s very tactical by the hackers. We’re talking about a university with thousands and thousands of Social Security numbers with not a lot of established credit, so they can get those and other information to open up lines of credit.... With college students, it’s fresh; they haven’t defaulted on home loans or anything like that."
Posted by Hugh Garber at 07:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page
April 20, 2007
Big discount on WS_FTP Professional
I noticed a new WS_FTP Professional promotion on the Ipswitch website.
Sure, there are some good free products out there. And WS_FTP Home cost a bit less money. But WS_FTP Pro transfers files faster than any other product I have ever used. Its security capabilities are light-years ahead of all other file transfer clients.... And WS_FTP Pro also includes some VERY useful automation features like scheduled backups, .zip compression and email notification -- not to mention the ability to do server-to-server transfers and integrated google desktop search.
FWIW, WS_FTP Pro is my file transfer client of choice.
Posted by Hugh Garber at 08:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page
April 19, 2007
Resource for website photos
If you're starting or managing a website and desperate for some slick stock photos, istockphoto.com seems to be on the 'hip' side of stock art. There are many sites out there, but this one caught my eye.
Posted by Erik Small at 08:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page
April 18, 2007
What does a phish smell like?
Phishing is a criminal activity in which the perpetrator sends out fraudulent (but legitimate-looking) emails in an attempt to bait people into providing personal and financial information such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers and bank account information.
In the last week alone, I've received phishing emails that tried to trick me into believing they were from eBay, PayPal and Chase. Here is a very good article on tips that will help you recognize phishing scams and fraudulent emails.
BE CAREFUL! Never reply to emails with sensitive account information. Never click on links in the emails even if you think they are legit. Instead, type in the website url into your browser to make sure you are visiting the real company website.
Remember, if it smells like phish, it probably is.
Posted by Hugh Garber at 07:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page
April 16, 2007
Using Dreamweaver to connect to an FTP Server
Many people use Macromedia Dreamweaver to create websites. Here's a nice tutorial that shows you how to make a connection from Dreamweaver to your FTP Server so that you can move files to your server.
Posted by Hugh Garber at 07:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page
April 13, 2007
The tone of the message
There are all types of communication sent to us everyday. Emails, voicemails, text messages, instant messages. New technology on the horizon will move and consolidate our voicemails into email format by transcribing the message, to avoid wasting time listening to someone ramble. (AOL and others have had the reverse technology available for years...translating emails into digital voicemails, which was painfully slow to listen to). In my opinion, it's nice to hear a real voice while listening to a voicemail to understand the tone of the person delivering the message. We've all gotten those emails or IMs that make us guess the mood or tone of the deliverer. Are they angry, content, stressed or just plain sarcastic?
This ZDnet article explains some of the dynamics of this rising technology...and the potential added cost to a user.
Posted by Erik Small at 08:23 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page
April 11, 2007
What is SSH?
If your objective is security, familiarize yourself with SSH.
In computing, Secure Shell or SSH is a set of standards and an associated network protocol that allows establishing a secure channel between a local and a remote computer. It uses public-key cryptography to authenticate the remote computer and (optionally) to allow the remote computer to authenticate the user. SSH provides confidentiality and integrity of data exchanged between the two computers using encryption and message authentication codes (MACs).
Posted by Erik Small at 01:51 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page
April 10, 2007
What is an FTP Server?
Here's a nice overview about the concept of an FTP Server: "An FTP server handles the process of transferring files from one computer to another. The FTP protocol defines how FTP programs should work together when sharing files. It uses the client/server model in its implementation. This means that in order to use an FTP server, you will need an FTP client. In most cases the FTP server program offers files to the client program, but it also makes provision for the client to upload files."
Want to watch WS_FTP Server in action? Check out this new recorded webinar and live product demonstration. Click the "See WS_FTP Server...." icon in the right-hand margin of the page to access the recording.
Posted by Hugh Garber at 07:22 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page
April 09, 2007
Simple and easy file backup -- Is that possible?
There are many options to backing up your important PC files. In my experience, and when polling friends and family, the difference between choosing one method over another, seems to be ease of use, cost and the security and privacy of the data.
What digital file backup method do you use with great success for your personal files, photos, music, videos?
- External Hard Drive?
- Plug-in Flash USB drive?
- Online backup service?
- Remote Server?
- Old PC on small home network?
- CD or DVD-R archiving?
WS_FTP Professional features a backup option to any location....USB, DVD drive, network directory or any server connection:
Posted by Erik Small at 08:25 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page
April 06, 2007
Examples of command line FTP
Here are some basic examples of how to use command ftp for remotely copying, renaming, and deleting files. Some pretty useful tricks, but definitely for the advanced and tech savvy FTP'ers out there....
Posted by Hugh Garber at 12:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page
April 04, 2007
SSL for Secure File Transfer
I've recently blogged a bit about the need to protect data and files during transport. Two premium secure file transfer protocols that have built-in encryption are SSL and SSH.
Here's some great info on SSL from Alina Hue's blog. "Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is a secure protocol that is widely used over the Internet for file transferring using File Transfer Protocol (FTP) between a client and a server. This protocol is using asymmetric encryption which uses a public and a private keys of cryptography method. Since only the one who possess the private key can decrypt the data encrypted using the public key, the message’s confidentiality is guaranteed (Wikipedia 2007). This protocol also enables digital signature which protects message integrity, and sender’s identity is verified by Certificate Authority which is a trusted third party (Dave Taylor, 2007)."
Both the secure SSL and SSH protocols (as well as a boatload of other security features) are included in WS_FTP Professional. As many people and businesses are unfortunately finding out, a little security precaution up front can save a ton of grief and backlash later if sensitive information gets compromised.
Posted by Hugh Garber at 07:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page
April 02, 2007
Internet-based April Fool's Day Pranks
I hope everyone made it through April Fool's Day relatively unscathed of hoaxes and practical jokes. Here's a real funny slideshow put together by eWeek that show a dozen newsworthy (and memorable) April Fool's Day pranks from past years.
I actually remember about half of them. My favorites are the 1994 Drunk Web Surfing Bill, the 1997 Shutdown of the Internet for Spring Cleaning, and of course the 2003 report that a Computer Virus Spread to Humans.
"The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year." Mark Twain
Posted by Hugh Garber at 07:38 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page
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