Windows 7 Boot Slow? How to Make Windows 7 Boot Faster!
Does your Windows 7 boot slow? Wondering how to make Windows 7 boot faster without paying much? Maybe I can help you!
As a latest operating system, Win 7 Integrated more services and applications than any others in the past. With many programs run at startup, Windows 7 will boot slow as a tortoise. These programs not only occupy vast hard drive space, but also lengthen the boot up time greatly. So, more and more users want to know how to make Windows 7 boot faster now.
Of course, you can buy a new computer to make windows 7 faster quickly. But it will cost you much. And no matter how fast a new PC might be, it will get slower over time. So it doesn’t mean that you don’t need to optimize it again.
The easiest way to make Windows 7 boot faster is to manage your startup items and services. Thinking that if you get more than 50 items and 100 services run at startup, how to make Windows 7 boot faster?
Click Start and input “msconfig” in the Run box. Then point to OK and press. You will see all services and applications that are started automatically when your computer boots. Disenabling some unnecessarily items and re-boot your computer. Your Windows 7 boot up will never be slow again.
But please do it carefully since some services and startup items are very important to Windows. Removing them in error will cause serious problems even system crash. It’s not funny at all. So you’d better select some popular tools to do it for you.
How to Spy on Cell Phones Remotely
Spyware to monitor cell phones is incredible. 50 years ago, if you tell someone that you can monitor somebody else’s phone conversation they’ll probably think you are a Russian spy. And they probably checked your flat for bugging devices with wires and big microphones.
Don’t make me laugh…
Today, with advancements in technology, we are finally able to do stuff that seemed to be impossible years back. I am especially interested with Cell Phone Spywares that remotely monitor stuff from other people.
Remote Mobile phone monitoring allows me to feel like a spy. Gone are the times when it just the TV and the toy car that you can remotely control. Now you can control even somebody else’s phone.
With Phone Spyware you can…
1.) Monitor other people’s text messages. Read sent and received sms even the ones that the cell phone owner has already deleted.
2.) Monitor the phone call logs. With Cell Phone Spy ware, you can now check the person’s calling activities and even record phone conversation.
3.) Track a person’s exact location via GPS.
4.) Listen to phone conversation while it is happening. They can’t hear you… but you can.
5.) Turn on the microphone and bug a place. With this you can intercept whatever noise or conversation that the microphone picks up.
Technology is constantly evolving and Mobile Phone spyware is indeed a great example of this. I cannot wait another day for whatever the future holds for these amazing softwares. Truly, phone spywares are a work of genius.
Top 10 Meeting Ice Breakers
Getting people comfortable in a group setting before a team meeting can be the best investment of ten to 15 minutes of time that you can make. Ice breakers get creative juices flowing, can increase the exchange of ideas, establish team identity, and create a sense of community. All of these items are important in forging top productive teams. But how do you get people to participate and not feel uncomfortable with an ice breaker?
For meetings in a business setting in which participants are professionals, ice breakers that require actions not normally associated with day-to-day behaviors in the office generally make people uncomfortable. Successful ice breakers for these type of groups generally consist of having attendees share memorable information with each other, create innovative ways to get people to introduce themselves to each other, or have group members collectively work on a problem where everyone has to contribute.
We’ve selected our top ten team meeting ice breakers that are sure to get your meeting participants relaxed and ready to focus on your agenda as well as to connect with others in the group.
1. Brainstorm!:Break the meeting into teams of four or five. Give each team a topic. Pick topics that are fun and simple like, “What would you take on a trip to the desert?” or “List things that are purple”. Give your teams two minutes, no more, and tell them “This is a contest and the team with the most items on their list wins.” Encourage the teams to write down as many things as they can and not to discuss anything, just list things as quickly as possible. At the end of two minutes, the team with the most items on their list wins! This helps people to share ideas without fearing what other people will think.
2. Same or Different:
Divide the meeting into teams of three or four and give each team a large sheet of paper and then give each person a different colored marker. Have each person draw a large oval such that each oval overlaps with the other ovals in the center of the piece of paper. Give the group or groups, a theme that pertains to your meeting objectives. Ask the participants to write down at least five or more entries in the non-overlapping and mutually overlapping areas of their ovals. Give them five minutes, no more than that, to talk about their similarities and differences and write them in their own ovals on the paper. If there is more than one group, compare results and identify common themes in both parts of the diagrams and what light these similarities and differences shed on the purpose of the meeting. This helps team members develop an understanding of shared objectives and in a non-confrontational way learn how their views differ from others in the group.
3. Fact or Fiction:
Have everyone write down three surprising things about themselves, two of which are true, and one of which is made up. Each person, in turn, reads their list and then the rest of the group votes on which “fact” they feel is the “false” one. If the group does not correctly pick a person’s made up “fact”, then that person wins. A group can have more than one winner. At the end, the whole group votes on which of the “winners” of the final round, had the most deceiving “fact”. This helps people get to know and remember their colleagues.
4. Free Association:
The object of this ice breaker is to have small groups generate as many words or phrases as they can that are related to a particular topic that focuses on the objective of your meeting. Give the group or groups a key word you want them to associate with and then give them two minutes to list, as quickly as possible, as many words or thoughts that pop into their heads. For example, if your company is trying to decide on whether to reduce travel and increase the use of teleconferencing, you might use the word “teleconferencing” and have people list as many words or phrases they can that they associate with the key word. For example they might say: “saves money”, “saves time”, “impersonal”, “need to see other people”, “get distracted”, “sound quality”…. This reveals what people are thinking, similarities in viewpoints, and possibly even problem areas or topics that need addressing or further discussion.
5. Nametags:
Prepare nametags for each person and put them in a box. As people walk into the room, each person picks a nametag (not their own). When everyone is present, participants are told to find the person whose nametag they drew and introduce and say a few interesting things about themselves. When everyone has their own nametag, each person in the group will introduce the person whose nametag they were initially given and mention something of interest about that person. This helps participants get to know and remember each other.
6. Desert Island:
Group people in teams of five or six and tell them they will be marooned on a desert island. Give them 30 seconds to list all the things they think they should take and each person has to contribute at least three items. At the end of 30 seconds, tell the teams they can only take three things. Have the person who suggested each item on the list tell why they suggested it and defend why their item should be one of the chosen three. This helps the team learn about how each of them thinks, get to know each other’s values, and how they solve problems.
7. Commonality Plus:
Group your meeting participants at tables. At each table ask the group to list ten ways that everyone in that group is similar. Let them know that they cannot list body parts or clothing and that what they select cannot have anything to do with work. One person at the table should be tasked to make their list. At the end of your time limit have the group share their list with all meeting members. This is a great opportunity for your meeting attendees to learn about each other’s hobbies, families, and common interests.
8. Line Up:
As people enter your meeting hand each one a piece of paper with a different number written on it. Ask the group to arrange themselves in numeric order without using their voices, hands, or showing their number. This helps the team to think of other ways to communicate with each other and to work together to achieve a common goal.
9. Meet and Greet Shoe Pile:
This works great in large groups and is a variation of the name tag ice breaker. Have everyone take off one of their shoes and throw it into a pile. Have each group member pick up a shoe and walk around the meeting room greeting other people as they try to match their selected shoe to the one another team member is wearing. This is a great way for new people to meet several members in a group.
10. First or Worst:
Have each member tell the group their first or worst job in turn. This easy to use ice breaker works great with teleconferences too and allows team members to spark conversation with each other and to have some fun commenting on the jobs that they have each done. Many of our top ten ice breakers can be used for on-site meetings and teleconferences alike. The nature of ice breakers is to get the group to talk, to share, and to get to know each other in a casual exchange. The best and most successful teams start with a little bit of fun; learning how to value what each member brings into the group. Ice breakers can help facilitate this exchange of information and comfort in doing so at the very start of the team forging process.
Sustaining Competitive Advantage
A competitive advantage could simply be defined as the advantage or ability a firm has over its rivals in the industry; or the ability a firm has to outperform its industry rivals.
A firm is said to have a competitive advantage when it has the capabilities or means to push out its rivals in striving for the favour of customers. This applies internationally or locally as well as to both services and products.Thus, a sustainable competitive advantage is the persistence the firm applies despite efforts by competitors or potential entrants to copy or overtake it. Sustainability therefore, requires that strategic assets are not easily available to others and imperfectly mobile. This will be considered later.
Porter (1990) states that, though not all nations are in the forefront of competition, the home nation which shapes the competitive advantage is the starting point for a firm’s competitive advantage and also from which it must be sustained. However, in whatever field of endeavor, competitive advantage creation must be a choice of management and it must really fit to achieve results. It must be noted here that competitive advantage can normally be traced to one of three roots:
Superior resources, superior skills and superior positions.
Competitive strategy is one of the ways in which a business relates to its environment by competing with other firms who are also trying to adapt within the operating environment. It is with this aspect- the competitive strategy which if appropriately chosen and implemented appropriately give the firm a competitive advantage over its rivals.
It must be noted here that the prescriptive view of strategic planning emphasizes the importance of the organizational environment as a source of threats and opportunities and the need for effective responses by the organization if survival was to be assured and the success achieved. The response is later formulated into plan which formulates major decisions about entry into new markets or development of new products and services guided by set goals. Under the influence of Porter’s writings in the 1980s the emphasis shifted from the plan to the selection of an appropriate generic strategy to position the business unit in its competitive environment. Porter, arguing that the environment poses threats and brings opportunities than with trends and events, suggested that the environment could be analyzed using the five forces analysis to identify the issues which affect the level of competition in an industry; after which a strategy is formulated to combat it.
The resultant strategy, which he referred to as generic, distinguished some strategic options the firm can possess:
Cost leadership: the business could position itself as offering a low cost product as a standard price i.e. cost leadership strategy. Costs are reduced at every element of the value chain. Producers can exploit the benefits of a bigger margin than the competitors. Toyota is a good example of an organization that produces quality cars at low price coupled with a brand and marketing skills to use a premium pricing policy.
It could offer a product that was different from that offered by rivals. I.e. differentiation. This allows companies to make prices less sensitive and focus on value that generates a comparatively higher price and a better margin. Even though additional costs will be incurred pursuing differentiation, it is possible that this will be offset by the increased revenue generated by the sales.
By focusing on a small but well-defined part of the market, for instance a particular buying group or product area or geographical area. Also known as niche, this is usually suitable for a small company i.e. focus strategy.
Generic Competitive strategy, usually used after competitive analysis or as a response to competitors advantage, is defined as the basis on which a strategic business unit (SBU) might achieve or counter competitive advantage in its market. (Johnson and Scholes, 5th Edition.)
Building on Porter’s (1980) generic competitive strategies, Bowman et al argues that organizations achieve competitive advantage by providing their customers with what they want, or need better or more effectively than competitors and making it difficult for competitors to imitate. This was later developed into five generic strategies which would be used in this discussion. Thus, the generic competitive strategies are the fundamental activities on which an SBU seeks to achieve a lasting advantageous position in its environment and gaining the favor of stakeholders by meeting the expectations of buyers, users or other stakeholders
The following are Bowman’s five-generic competitive strategy options and examples of organizations who applied them to gain competitive advantage: no frills strategy, low price strategy, hybrid strategy, focused differentiation strategy and added value or differentiation strategy.
In brief, a no frills strategy combines a low price, low perceived added value and targets a price-sensitive market. No frills strategy is now a popular strategy with low-cos airlines Easy Jet and Ryanair seeking to enter the airline industry to compete with likes of Virgin and is a determinant in the market. This, therefore, affords the firm the needed competitive edge over its competitors who charge higher price. This strategy is a success because there could possibly be a segment of the market that overlooks the low quality of the commodity provided it fulfills the same purpose.
To obtain the competitive advantage using no fills strategy revenues must increase and the product must really be price-sensitive. Easy Jet frills strategy seems to be going on well as a result of the cost savings techniques they are using. For instance no ticketing, no ticket agents, no in-flight food or drink for customers as well as the short-haul flight. Now, almost all supermarkets in the UK use no frills strategy by introducing own brands the price of which have been reduced to attract customers in order to gain a competitive advantage.
The next generic strategy is the low price strategy. This strategy pursues a lower price than pertains in the market whilst trying to maintain similar value of product or service as those offered by competitor alike. There is the potential of price war among competitors and in the long run consumers are likely to lose as the firms might not be able to sustain the lower-price-good-value strategy. Notwithstanding the price war and low margins, there are some suggested ways in which a low-priced strategy can bring about a firms competitive advantage. The market segment must be low-price sensitive, and also the SBU has a cost advantage over its competitors.
However, in practice, the lower price strategy usually brought about by lowering operational cost alone does not give the firm the competitive advantage if the firm is not able to sustain it in the long-term as there are now more firms entering the market because of low or no entry barriers like small capital requirements and also how efficient the staff might be.
Hybrid competitive strategy seeks to achieve differentiation and a price lower than that of competitors simultaneously. This is not an easy strategy to pursue because to differentiate a product or service involves some money and increases cost the very thing the low price seeks to reduce. This strategy is fit for the DIY industry as the likes of Robert Dyas are not able to stand the competition. The success of this is dependent on providing unique more efficient products or services to consumers whilst at the same time operating at a lower cost to be able to lower its price below the industry level. The success of this strategy could further be enhanced if the firm has economies of scale and can increase volume of sales more than its competitors, thereby, reducing its base cost as a result. Asda’s George brand is an example of a generic hybrid strategy in a SBU.
Another strategy is differentiation strategy. This seeks to provide products or services completely different from those of its competitors by adding features valued by consumers. The main objective of using this is to either maintain the market share or increase market share relative to its competitors. A clear example of this is aircraft manufacturer Airbus’s wider fuselages, cockpits designed for use in more than one aircraft and electrical rather than mechanical flight controls.
Those features have helped Airbus win customers like New York-based Jet blue; although Jet Blue is staffed with former employees from Boeing. (Fortune, Europe Edition 22 November 17th 2003; pp34) This strategy could be used to achieve a competitive advantage which is its ultimate aim by the firm investing more in R&D, unique designs and features. The marketing-based approaches in terms of good marketing communication (example advertising the products or services) as well as the brand power to win the loyalty of consumers. (Example Airbus)
The fifth generic competitive strategy is the focused differentiation strategy which seeks to provide high perceived value; justifying a substantial price premium usually to a selected market, segment. It is usually adopted to counter or to compete others in seemingly similar segment. This could therefore be argued that focused differentiation is just an extension of any of the four strategies so far considered depending on the competitors in this new segment which is usually middle to high income earners. A convincing example is the introduction of Lexus in 1989 by Toyota to compete with other luxury brands of BMW and Mercedes Benz new series.
For the focused differentiation strategy to be used to obtain a competitive advantage over competitors in the industry, the business unit must find ways to make the production more efficient to be able to pass on the savings to customers. The business unit must identify new segments and must also be prepared to aggressively create new market segment where it is believed first movers get huge advantage. Again Toyota prides itself in this by being the first to introduce a brand,scion,specifically for young buyers in January, 2003 which was a success and the introduction of hybrids in 1997 selling 127,000 far more than Honda.( Hybrid uses two engines and is environmentally friendly.) (Fortune, Europe Edition, Number 24 December 22 2003; pp57).
The essence of the various strategies discussed so far is to create or add value to the products or services in order to give improved and or enough satisfaction to the customer so that the firm will gain a competitive advantage over its rivals. However, it is one thing for a firm to gain a competitive advantage and another to sustain the competitive advantage so gained. So when a firm is able to get a competitive advantage over its competitors, it becomes expedient to try to sustain this advantage.
Some of the ways to sustain the competitive advantage is by what is described as isolating mechanism. This is the application of forces like barriers of imitation which limit the extent to which a competitive advantage can be duplicated or matched or even possibly scrapped through the resource creation activities of other firms. Though similar in principle to the barrier of entry force, whereas the entry barriers protect profitability of an entire industry, isolating mechanisms sustain the competitive advantage of a single firm. For example legal barriers like trademarks, patents or intellectual property rights as in Microsoft’s case.
It could also be for the mere fact that the leading firm makes it difficult for the competitor to catch up with the firm’s technology because it entered the market earlier and it continues to research and might be able to move to a superior position by the time its competitors catch up. This is known as the early mover advantage. Because the business unit has entered the market earlier, the past success in the market is believed to sustain the firm.
Nevertheless, no matter how discrete the strategy adopted to gain the sustainable competitive advantage or enough satisfaction that the customer may get as well as the mechanisms put in place to sustain the competitive edge, simple economics has proved that man’s needs are insatiable and with the information technology age, there is an improved dynamism in business that products and services can become obsolete before they even reach the next user.
The question is can the firm continue to create more economic value than its competitors now than then?
Now with the advent of information systems and technology, this traditional way of competitive advantage or competitive edge has, therefore, taken a different turn. Information gathering and I mean a competitive information gathering in deed can to some large extent make a difference to a firm’s position in an industry and for that matter affect its competitive advantage one way or the other.
A good and recent example is Asda installing radio frequency identification (RFID) system, a device which could be used to scan bar codes of incoming goods which could save Asda $8.35 billion annually through improvement in its supply chain management. Fortune, Wal-Mart keeps the change, November 10,2003pp 23.
Firms can either use their own database or an informational gathering software to track its operations and get the required information like inventory, customers, and trends of competitors’ performance and about the fast moving products to formulate their strategies or form what is known as information partnerships for the purpose of sharing information to gain competitive or strategic advantage; and even link their systems with some competitors to achieve synergies.
This is becoming important as a result of the fact that competition in the business world today is not only within a particular industry one operates but can also be cross-competition with people in other related industry like universities and publishers competing due to forward and backward integrations. Baxter Healthcare International is known to offer medical supplies from its competitors and office supplies through its electronic ordering channel to its customers. By doing this the firm increases its customer base as well as loyalty of its customers is enhanced.
At this juncture, the statement that “there is no such thing as a sustainable competitive advantage” can be considered in relation to the circumstances that happened in Sears, which used to be USA’s largest retailer until Wal-mart overtook it after a diversification strategy went bust in spite of the fact that it (Sears) has been heavily computerized with more expenditure going into information technology and networking than all other non-computer firms in the United states apart from Boeing. So why couldn’t this huge amount spent in computers and networking been able to give them the competitive edge over its rivals? Is it due to the fact that the hardware alone is not sufficient to provide the information needed unless it is integrated with the appropriate software? Sears did exactly that.
Trying to reinvent itself, Sears started to explore almost all strategies including low pricing strategy, delayering, improved marketing ploys as well as embarking on a $4billion five-year store renovation to make the stores more attractive. All to no avail.
Then Sears noticed that, its merchandise buyers do not have reliable information on precisely what customers were buying at each store. Management was relying on 18 separate systems that often gave conflicting and redundant pricing information. They could only view a division’s daily performance. This was not good for a firm of Sears’s stature. Sears later tightened its grips over the business once again by building a larger database involving the consolidation of information on transaction records,90 million households,31million Sears’ card users, their credit status, and other related data.
The database houses the company’s Strategic Performance Reporting System (SPRS).Now Sears’ 1,000 buyers and managers know what hot-selling merchandise to replenish right away. This competitive information gathering to some extent helped turn around Sears. Its store sales started rising and planed to join partnership with AOL to boost its online business by targeting AOL’s 21 million customers by developing content for AOL on subjects such as how to build a deck, tips on home decorating and other home improvement topics; and also move its suppliers to an electronic ordering system similar to that described for Baxter Healthcare, by linking its computerized ordering system directly to that of each supplier to eliminate paperwork completely for an improved flow of goods into its stores.
As previously discussed, if a firm can keep or maintain its lead on creating value, leveraging strategic assets for example access to efficient distribution channels, maintain market position and may be low cost advantage then it can be said to have a sustainable competitive advantage. This is absolutely not possible in this dynamic business world. The most difficult part of this is that the firm must create more economic value than its competitors every now and then. Will its competitors be looking on without doing anything?
Microsoft for example is spending billions of dollars to develop its own search engine that will be incorporated in both its online service MSN and its new operating system due in 2006 to combat Google’s dominance in the search engine industry. (Fortune, 22 December 2003pp 17).
In my own opinion based on the discussions above, if really sustainable competitive advantage is the persistence of a firm’s ability to outperform its industry, then suffice it to say that, as much as gathering and use of competitive information as illustrated in the Sears’ story above can give a firm a (sustainable) competitive advantage, it is really difficult if not impossible to sustain any competitive advantage for a very long time. This is so because of the rate of technological changes, changes in business strategies, and the fact that customers’ loyalty can wane and affect sales leading to a fall in market share and thus competitive advantage. Boeing was overtaken by Airbus in the aviation industry at some time. Sears’ leadership was taken away by Wal-mart.
In spite of the availability of choice of the five generic strategies, it is supposed that the onus of their success rests with management and how the technology and the information gathered are blended for use. This is so because a careful monitoring and evaluation constantly and the right identification and proper timing of a particular segment are keys to the success of these strategies due to market dynamism.
REFERENCE
Can Sears reinvent it? A case study taken from London South Bank University IS.
Davenport, T.H; Prusak, L. (1998) Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know. Havard Business School Press, Boston, Ma.
Fortune, December 13,2004, pp59
http://informationr.net/ir/8-1/paper144.html
Laudon, K.C; Laudon, J.P. (2004) Management Information Systems: managing the digital firm, 8th edition, USA: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Scholes, K.and Johnson, G (1999) Exploring corporate strategy, 5th Edition. London: F.T Prentice Hall.
Sheila,C.Main Article: Knowledge Management, issue 18,2004
Yogesh, M. B. The Company, – What Really is Knowledge Management? Crossing the Chasm of Hope. Gartner Group Inc.,October 1996
How Do I Connect My Bluetooth Phone To My Computer
Your first question might actually be, why would I want to connect my bluetooth phone to my computer? It is a great way to transfer photos, mp3′s and other files from your mobile phone to your computer without the purchase of cables that only work with one phone or expensive software for a specific phone.
How do I connect my bluetooth phone with my computer? First you need to turn your phones visibility on. Most phones you do this by going into the menu, settings and they should be an option for “connections.” Bluetooth will or should be under your connects, like I said this is for most phones. You need to first make sure your bluetooth is turned on. Next you need to turn on your bluetooth’s visability.
As far as your computer goes. You either need a laptop/tower with bluetooth build in or a bluetooth USB adapter. You can generally get a bluetooth USB adapter for less than $30, and these are very useful and can be used with multiple phones, which is great about bluetooth.
After you have your bluetooth USB installed on your computer, then you need to sync them together. The easiest way that I have found to do this is to do it from the phone. Under your bluetooth settings under your phone, they should be an option to search for new devices or to pair it. Once your perform the search it should find your computer. Select to pair it with your computer. It will ask you for the passcode on the phone it should be “0000″ that is four zeros. You should get a pop up from the system tray on a windows machine asking if you want to pair your bluetooth with this device. You need to tell it yes and it will ass for the passcode, which again is four zeros “0000.” You should then be ready to use your bluetooth enabled phone with your computer.
Cyber Crimes And Solutions
We are currently living in Cyber age, where Internet and computers have major impacts on our way of living, social life and the way we conduct businesses.
The usage of information technology has posed great security challenges and ethical questions in front of us. Just as every thing has positives and negatives, usage of information technology is beneficial as well as insecure.
With the growth of the internet, network security has become a major concern. Cyber crimes have emerged rapidly in the last few years and have major consequences. Cyber criminals are doing every thing from stealing money, hacking into others computer, stealing intellectual property, spreading viruses and worms to damage computers connected on the internet and committing frauds.
Stoppage of cyber crimes is a major concern today.
Cyber criminal make use of the vulnerabilities in computer soft wares and networks to their advantage.
Hacking:
Hacking or Cracking is a major cyber crime committed today. Hacker makes use of the weaknesses and loop holes in operating systems to destroy data and steal important information from victim’s computer. Cracking is normally done through the use of a backdoor program installed on your machine. A lot of crackers also try to gain access to resources through the use of password cracking softwares. Hackers can also monitor what u do on your computer and can also import files on your computer. A hacker could install several programs on to your system without your knowledge. Such programs could also be used to steal personal information such as passwords and credit card information. Important data of a company can also be hacked to get the secret information of the future plans of the company.
Cyber-Theft:
Cyber-Theft is the use of computers and communication systems to steal information in electronic format. Hackers crack into the systems of banks and transfer money into their own bank accounts. This is a major concern, as larger amounts of money can be stolen and illegally transferred.
Many newsletters on the internet provide the investors with free advice recommending stocks where they should invest. Sometimes these recommendations are totally bogus and cause loss to the investors. Credit card fraud is also very common.
Most of the companies and banks don’t reveal that they have been the victims of cyber -theft because of the fear of loosing customers and share holders. Cyber-theft is the most common and the most reported of all cyber-crimes. Cyber-theft is a popular cyber-crime because it can quickly bring experienced cyber-criminal large cash resulting from very little effort. Furthermore, there is little chance a professional cyber-criminal will be apprehended by law enforcement.
Viruses and worms:
Viruses and worms is a very major threat to normal users and companies. Viruses are computer programs that are designed to damage computers. It is named virus because it spreads from one computer to another like a biological virus. A virus must be attached to some other program or documents through which it enters the computer. A worm usually exploits loop holes in soft wares or the operating system. Trojan horse is dicey. It appears to do one thing but does something else. The system may accept it as one thing. Upon execution, it may release a virus, worm or logic bomb. A logic bomb is an attack triggered by an event, like computer clock reaching a certain date. Chernobyl and Melissa viruses are the recent examples.
Experts estimate that the Mydoom worm infected approximately a quarter-million computers in a single day in January 2004. Back in March 1999, the Melissa virus was so powerful that it forced Microsoft and a number of other very large companies to completely turn off their e-mail systems until the virus could be contained.
Solutions:
An important question arises that how can these crimes be prevented. A number of techniques and solutions have been presented but the problems still exists and are increasing day by day.
Antivirus And Anti spyware Software:
Аntivirus software consists of computer programs that attempt to identify, thwart and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious software. Anti spy wares are used to restrict backdoor program, trojans and other spy wares to be installed on the computer.
Firewalls:
A firewall protects a computer network from unauthorized access. Network firewalls may be hardware devices, software programs, or a combination of the two. A network firewall typically guards an internal computer network against malicious access from outside the network.
Cryptography:
Cryptography is the science of encrypting and decrypting information. Encryption is like sending a postal mail to another party with a lock code on the envelope which is known only to the sender and the recipient. A number of cryptographic methods have been developed and some of them are still not cracked.
Cyber Ethics and Laws:
Cyber ethics and cyber laws are also being formulated to stop cyber crimes. It is a responsibility of every individual to follow cyber ethics and cyber laws so that the increasing cyber crimes shall reduce. Security softwares like anti viruses and anti spy wares should be installed on all computers, in order to remain secure from cyber crimes. Internet Service Providers should also provide high level of security at their servers in order to keep their clients secure from all types of viruses and mallicious programs.
Written by:
Shaikh Mohsin Ayaz
Department of Computer Science, University of Karachi
How to Improve Network Security
Naturally, with the growing benefits of technology, the Internet and network configurations comes the growing danger of security breaches, identity theft and cyber crimes. Unfortunately, electronic theft is becoming a greater danger to many businesses across the globe, so how do business owners keep their data safe and secure? One way to keep sensitive information secure is to constantly improve network security and to stay ahead of the game.
Every day we hear that computer viruses, hacker, and other security breaches have found new ways to steal identities, financial records and other information we thought previously secure. Because of the increase in such cyber crimes, data protection laws have tightened and the punishments hardened. With this comes the need for all businesses to take data security very seriously.
It is extremely important to improve network security for your business on a regular basis. Aside from encrypted pages and passwords, there is a multitude of ways to improve network security for your business which include firewalls and other infrastructure protective measures. Education, information and action are key elements to improving any network‘s security.
Before a business can adequately protect its network, it is important to understand that there is no such thing as a completely secure system, as technology is always changing. However, to stay one step ahead and keep the network secure, business owners and their IT department should learn and understand any and all risks associated with security standards and network systems.
Network security can always be improved. After understanding the risks involved in any network, network operators should be educated and informed. It is important for network operators to keep an eye out for operational anomalies. Any anomaly is usually an indication that something is wrong and there may be a security breach. In addition to educating operators, it is important for operators to know and understand the risks associated with your existing security standards. Risk mitigation is essential in improving network security.
Organisation is also crucial to improving network security. It is an excellent idea to employ both control system engineers and IT specialists to work together to maintain the network. If you are unable to employ individuals, you may outsource the positions. The team should schedule risk analyses on a regular basis, implement change control and monitor the network regularly. Additionally, create policies and procedures that describe and outline risk mitigation, alert vectors and actions to be taken if and when any type of security breach is detected is smart. Furthermore, your operating staff should know exactly who to contact in the case of a breach or attack on the security of the network.
Following industry guidance and suggestions is also a good way to improve network security. One of these suggestions is to create a single point failure matrix, which is often critical during possible threats or attacks. The network security industry is always announcing new ways to secure and protect networks, configurations and information.
Staying informed has never been more important than when a business needs to improve network security. Though integrating the latest technologies and protections for your network is smart, regular security audits, education, and monitoring are all key ways to improve network security.
Hot List of Website Traffic Monitoring Software
Website traffic monitoring programs are easy to find nowadays. Are you having a hard time in choosing the best ones for your site? Here is a list for the must haves. Remember that you can use multiple software and services on monitoring your website’s stats. Having good information about what is happening in your website is essential on keeping your website’s traffic alive and growing. Here we go!
1. ActiveXperts Network Monitor. This is the leading program for monitoring everything on your LAN and WAN network. It detects network problems and proactively corrects them before users even notice them. It includes a package of reliable monitoring functions. It can even notify you via network message, e-mail, pager and SMS. How coo is that? You can even set up a preset system administrator defined program for it to follow when a failure happens or it will restart the process. ActiveXperst is functional, reliable and worth every penny.
2. 2Morrow Web Server Monitor – Looking for a website traffic monitoring software that is easy to use? This baby is for you. Everything is point and click! It will help you pinpoint web issues in seconds. Take action on website problems right away in its sleek interface. Customize its background, play music while running programs on alert. Watch your website traffic rocket up in style.
3. 32bit Service Monitor – A backup monitoring service if everything fails. Keep an eye on websites and other monitoring programs. You will have instant data if they are down or up and running. It alerts you and will log the time when the servers were down. It will help you save money by giving you data essential on asking for partial refunds on your website’s hosting company.
4. AlertBot Website & Service Monitoring – One of the leaders on the monitoring business, this software will monitor your website and servers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It will give you detailed data about everything on your website. It will even give you a graphical representation on what is happening. As such we can say that it critical for decision making, right? This is a very good choice for business oriented web masters.
5. Alerta Web Site Monitoring – This service will lower your idle time drastically by sending you alerts in real time. The package includes secure website monitoring, e-mail service monitoring and a whole lot more monitoring services for different protocols.
6. Analyze Spider – Optimize website traffic by using this easy to use monitoring program. It will monitor your promotion status for your page and will even help you decide for the best time to update. It will give you valuable data such as if search engines found your site and check if links were hit. It even recognizes visitor IP locations. Spider sense tingling!
Keep posted for more useful monitoring programs, software and services. Remember that these are just tools and it is the web master’s task to use them wisely and appropriately. Happy monitoring!
The Psychology of Advertising
On why it is important to understand mass psychology and the psychological processes of cognition for any successful advertising endeavor…
Advertising has been a form of glorifying or gaining publicity for goods and merchandise since very early times. In fact, advertising has been around as an informal concept since the beginning of civilizations and former methods were oral advertising or claiming the benefits of products verbally when merchants sold goods to people directly on the streets. However with the advent of paper and writing, advertising took a more formal shape.
Egyptians and Ancient Greeks used the papyrus for advertising and rock painting was also used. Advertising in English in magazines as we know today dates back to the end of the 17th century and newspaper advertising in America began during the first part of the 18th century with advertisements for estates. With the growth of mass media and different forms and avenues of communication like radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, and of course the internet in the 20th century, advertising started becoming an important aspect for commercialization of products. People started understanding the potential of advertisements and it became a business with the establishment of advertising agencies with the first advertising agency in US opened in 1841.
With advertising becoming a business in itself, the methods of using advertisements became even more formalized, controlled and systematic and the advertisements for products started appearing as newspaper ads, on billboards, hoardings, as handbills, leaflets, on magazines, newspapers, on TV and radio as commercials and more recently on the internet. Web advertising is now a very powerful means to take the message across to the customers. However to actually appeal to customers, advertising will have to work in accordance with the principles of psychology and sociology. Thus an advertiser or an advertising professional will also have to be a sociologist and a psychologist to really have an impact on the minds of consumers.
The principles of advertising are largely based on cognitive psychology and the psychological processes of attention, perception, association and memory to bring out the complete impact or uses of a product or ‘brand’. Any advertisement will have to first focus on the attention that it is able to capture of the consumers. Strong messages, strong visuals and glaring colors are sometimes used on hoardings and billboards. For commercials, attention catching clothes and attractive models are sometimes used.
Once the attention is drawn with the colors and the sounds or words, the focus is on retaining consumer interests by using ‘association’. Themes or products which a particular segment of customers could associate with are used thus for baby food, mothers and babies are featured so association would have more to do with relevance or context of the advertisement. Certain colors also have associative value and certain brands and companies use a specific color to promote their products. For example easygroup uses orange and Vodafone uses red as standard color for all advertising. The company logo or symbol is also a part of developing a brand and helps in giving identity to a brand and has a strong associative value.
The association should be such that it not only serves the purpose of quick understanding and perception of the consumers but is also retained in their memory for a long time. Thus memory or retention is an important aspect of the psychology of advertising as only an advertisement that consumers can easily remember for a long time for its novelty or use of words, colors and figures will be the most effective.
The development of a ‘brand’ is just as effective because a brand helps in driving attention, in developing association (for example, we associate Coke or Pepsi with youth, celebration and a soft drink popular for all occasions) and in memory or retention of any image associated with a service or product. So branding is vital in advertisements as brands help in giving a name and distinct identity of a product. So a Gucci bag or a Sony camera is known for the brand rather than the product.
A brand is recognized in terms of its name, its quality and its reputation with advertisements these days highlighting the uniqueness of brands. For example, HSBC recent advertisements across airports around the world, focus on the differing points of view and different likes and preferences of people across cultures. So when you see such advertisements showing two different perspectives for the same thing, you know this is HSBC. Certain brands develop taglines or motto that sets the brand apart and gives it a distinct character.
You might have wondered why models look lifeless on fashion shows. Fashion shows are usually arranged for designer brands selling clothes and accessories and usually these fashion shows try to accentuate the clothes and that is why the models tend to be rather ‘expressionless’. Although these fashion shows project the clothes sans the emoting, in case of commercials, expressions are widely used because through visual medium, emotions have to be transported through the screen to the consumers to create an effect. Putting across a message through a medium is a challenge and advertisers use emotions widely to help people retain the message that describes the product.
Whatever it is, the mantra is to create an impact and have a lasting effect on the minds of the consumers. The message of the product, the motto of the brand and the mind of the consumer, these are the three Ms that are important in advertising.
However it is important to understand that advertising will have to be different for different media. Radio ads should focus on the strength of sounds and words; internet ads will focus on visuals and colors; newspaper ads will focus on space and the theme; and TV ads would focus more on the emotions and the context used. Using motion, capitalized letters, contrasting colors etc are all important and in order to draw attention to the product, some form of highlighting of the product is also done.
How does all this affect the masses, the consumers who will actually buy the product? Apart from the attention drawing process, the retention producing sounds and words that help memory and the associative value of the products and the advertisements, there is another factor namely necessity of the consumer. Advertising is not just enough, as a customer is driven to buy a product largely considering the necessity, quality, features and price of the product.
If a company solely focuses on the physical aspects of any product, like say – an Apple iPhone looks good on the table, then it’s probably not the best method to have an impact on the market. The features are as important as the price. Then of course, the ‘hype’ that triggers a certain mass psychology in a certain way so people sometimes queue up for newly released products. But trying to tap in on mass psychology or a kind of hype or hysteria for a product is only a short term advertising strategy. The longer term establishment of a product is through real quality, usability and price and all companies should emphasize on these ultimately.
Competition may have a lot to do with the type of advertising used by companies, so the weaknesses of other similar products by other companies are highlighted subtly although this may not always have a positive impact on the mind of the customer. Usually most products advertised as unique and not even remotely similar to other products can have a positive effect and can effectively generate hype and consumer curiosity. Focusing on the unique and highlighting the dissimilarity and novelty of a product in a way that attracts curiosity is a certain method to improve popularity of a product, so this gives consumers the reason to know more and they will enter the shops to enquire about the product. Although celebrities are largely used in advertisements to endorse products or promote a brand, the celebrity culture affects only the youth strongly so the entire value of celebrity advertising may be a bit overrated. This will require a separate discussion on celebrity culture.
The final goal of all advertisers and promoters is to ensure that products and services sell and to increase sales and potential consumer interest creating curiosity is a first short term step while introducing a new product into the market. Retaining customer interest is a different ballgame and requires reputation of the brand, product quality, right pricing and continued high quality advertising to ultimately ensure success of the product.
How to Effectively Network With the Affluent Client
The moment has arrived for you. You’re in a crowd of heavy hitters. You can feel the energy in the room. This could be the tipping point for your business. The problem you have is that you aren’t sure how to approach those who are in the room. After all, nobody here knows who you are, so they’re certainly not going to make you feel welcome and introduce you to those in their group.
I’ve been in many situations similar to the one you may be in. These 5 tips will help you have a successful experience and have some great conversations.
The first thing you should do is be prepared to mingle with people and never talk about what you’re selling. You will quickly become of the ‘pariah of the party’ if you’re perceived as attending the event in order to solicit business. Leave the sales pitch at home. It’s not the time or the place. I attended many company-sponsored events where prospects had been invited. I always made it clear that there would be no sale pitch. If they had specific questions, I encouraged them to speak with those in attendance who were already clients. If they wanted to set up a meeting after the event, I was more than happy to arrange time. If you try to work a room like this with your sales pitch, you might as well go home. Word will quickly spread and no one will talk to you.
Don’t start a conversation saying, ‘What do you do’? It’s tacky. Ask instead about their interest in the charity. A great way to approach is by saying, “Is this your first time attending ________”? If it’s not, ask what their level of involvement is with the group. “Are you a board member? Or, They (the charity) seem to be doing a lot of great work in the community. Are you involved in any of those projects”? If they have a personal involvement in the charity, they’ll be very excited to talk to you about it. Eventually, the conversation will turn to you. Expect them to ask why you’re there, and have a good answer ready. Again, you’re not there to sell anything. You might be volunteering at the event. This is a great way to be in the room without having to pay a dime.
My next suggestion would be to limit your conversations and keep them brief. I was at a breakfast where one gentleman kept talking to a colleague and myself for over an hour. He was talking about watches. There was no good opportunity to escape without being rude. I missed talking to several people I wanted to speak with because this person was monopolizing my time with a discussion on watches.
Have a ‘ready made’ excuse to use in situations like this. For example, “I promised Mr. Smith I’d go over a question he has over breakfast. This has been fascinating, but I really need to spend a few minutes with him before everyone heads out to golf”.
Or, if you know someone else in the room who shares an interest in watches, point them out and make the introduction. They can discuss watches, and you can move on to what you need to be doing: networking.
Fourth, as you’re talking to each person in the room, be thinking to yourself, “Is there a way I can help this person”? It’s the law of reciprocation. If you help someone, they’re more likely to do something for you in return. Could be a sale. Could be a referral. There are many ways you can help. You know your business and you know the type of contacts you’re meeting. There may only be one person in the room who fits this profile. It doesn’t matter. One great contact amongst the affluent will lead to many new contacts. After I had spent several years in my sales territory, over 50% of my business came from referrals. And this came from a core group of 8-10 individuals. Don’t worry about quantity, worry about quality. Focus on something you have, or know, that could benefit that person. It could be an introduction to someone else you know.
Last, but definitely not least, make sure you follow up with everyone you said you would call. If they asked for a brochure, send it the very next day. If they asked you to call their Administrative Assistant, do it the next day. If you’ve made a favorable impression, and follow it up with sub par responsiveness, then you’ve wasted your time. You’re being judged early, and often, by this affluent individual, and if you don’t respond in an appropriate way, they’ll be lost to you. Creating a favorable impression is useless, if your follow up is poor. ‘Service’ is exceptionally important to this group, and if you give the impression of poor service, you’ll have a tough time selling them anything.
In summary, getting an opportunity to network with the affluent can take a lot of time, effort and money. Don’t blow it by being an annoying sales person. Find ways to engage those present in conversation without trying to get a sales pitch worked into the conversation. Stay focussed on ways you can be of assistance to those you meet and talk to. Don’t be concerned if you’re not making headway in your first few conversations. You only need one gem to come out of this, not one hundred.