IP Addressing tutorial

An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a unique identifier for a node or host connection on an IP network. An IP address is a 32 bit binary number usually represented as 4 decimal values, each representing 8 bits, in the range 0 to 255 (known as octets) separated by decimal points. This is known as "dotted decimal" notation.

Example: 140.179.220.200

It is sometimes useful to view the values in their binary form.

140     .179     .220     .200
10001100.10110011.11011100.11001000

Every IP address consists of two parts, one identifying the network and one identifying the node. The Class of the address and the subnet mask determine which part belongs to the network address and which part belongs to the node address.

Address Classes

There are 5 different address classes. You can determine which class any IP address is in by examining the first 4 bits of the IP address.

• Class A addresses begin with 0xxx, or 1 to 126 decimal.
• Class B addresses begin with 10xx, or 128 to 191 decimal.
• Class C addresses begin with 110x, or 192 to 223 decimal.
• Class D addresses begin with 1110, or 224 to 239 decimal.
• Class E addresses begin with 1111, or 240 to 254 decimal.

Addresses beginning with 01111111, or 127 decimal, are reserved for loopback and for internal testing on a local machine; [You can test this: you should always be able to ping 127.0.0.1, which points to yourself] Class D addresses are reserved for multicasting; Class E addresses are reserved for future use. They should not be used for host addresses.

Now we can see how the Class determines, by default, which part of the IP address belongs to the network (N, in blue) and which part belongs to the node (n, in red).

• Class A -- NNNNNNNN.nnnnnnnn.nnnnnnnn.nnnnnnnn
• Class B -- NNNNNNNN.NNNNNNNN.nnnnnnnn.nnnnnnnn
• Class C -- NNNNNNNN.NNNNNNNN.NNNNNNNN.nnnnnnnn

In the example, 140.179.220.200 is a Class B address so by default the Network part of the address (also known as the Network Address) is defined by the first two octets (140.179.x.x) and the node part is defined by the last 2 octets (x.x.220.200).

In order to specify the network address for a given IP address, the node section is set to all "0"s. In our example, 140.179.0.0 specifies the network address for 140.179.220.200. When the node section is set to all "1"s, it specifies a broadcast that is sent to all hosts on the network. 140.179.255.255 specifies the example broadcast address. Note that this is true regardless of the length of the node section.

Private Subnets

There are three IP network addresses reserved for private networks. The addresses are 10.0.0.0, Subnet Mask 255.0.0.0, 172.16.0.0, Subnet Mask 255.240.0.0, and 192.168.0.0, Subnet Mask 255.255.0.0. These addresses are also notated 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, and 192.168.0.0/16; this notation will be explained later in this tutorial. They can be used by anyone setting up internal IP networks, such as a lab or home LAN behind a NAT or proxy server or a router. It is always safe to use these because routers on the Internet by default will never forward packets coming from these addresses.

Yahoo China slammed again for piracy

Yahoo China lost another round in a legal battle as a court in Beijing upheld a ruling that the company is infringing on copyright laws by allowing pirated music to be downloaded, according to the industry group suing Yahoo China.

"The ruling against Yahoo China is extremely significant in clarifying copyright rules for Internet music services in China," John Kennedy, chairman and CEO of the International Federation of Phonographic Industries, or IFPI, said in a statement Thursday. "By confirming that Yahoo China's service violates copyright under new Chinese laws, the Beijing court has effectively set the standard for Internet companies throughout the country."

Yahoo owns a 44 percent stake in Yahoo China, and the controlling stake is owned by Chinese Internet company Alibaba.com, which essentially runs the site. Representatives from Alibaba could not be reached Friday for comment on this story.

The International Federation of Phonographic Industries, which represents the music industry, filed the lawsuit in January 2007 on behalf of several recording studios, including Warner Music Group, Sony BMG, and Universal Vivendi.

In the suit, IFPI accused China Yahoo of violating copyrights because it allows links between its search engine and Web sites that have illegally copied songs from artists such as U2 and Destiny's Child.

In April, a lower court in Beijing had ruled that Yahoo China facilitated infringement of copyrights. Yahoo China appealed the decision, arguing that it should not be liable for content found outside its Web site. Now that appeal has been rejected by a higher court in Beijing, according to the IFPI.

Separately, the court also upheld a ruling on a similar case against Internet company Baidu. A lower court in November 2006 had found that Baidu had facilitated copyright infringement. But because this case was filed under older Chinese copyright laws in 2005, the company was not liable for copyright infringement, the IFPI said.

"We are disappointed that the court did not find Baidu liable," Kennedy said in a statement. "But that judgment was about Baidu's actions in the past, under an old law that is no longer in force. Baidu should now prepare to have its actions judged under the new law. We are confident a court would hold Baidu liable as it has Yahoo China."

China is viewed as one of the biggest sources of pirated music and movies, as well as counterfeit goods. And the IFPI, along with other companies and trade organizations, has been taking legal action to stem the flow of this content out of China. Recent reforms in Chinese law have helped, but experts say piracy still runs rampant.

The IFPI said search services from sites such as Yahoo China and Baidu, which connect users to hundreds of thousands of pirated music tracks, are "a huge drain on efforts to develop a legitimate music market in China." The group claims that more than 99 percent of all music downloading in China violates copyright. Despite the large population and potential of the Chinese market, the IFPI said that in 2006, music sales in China only amounted to $76 million, or less than 1 percent of the entire global recorded-music market.

Still, music labels see huge potential in China, and they have been willing to work with Chinese companies to ensure that music can be distributed legally and without violating copyrights.

In April, Sony BMG Music Entertainment struck a deal with content aggregator Global Music International to distribute its music videos, full-track songs and ringtones to mobile subscribers in China. The deal calls for Global Music to distribute Sony content through wireless-phone operator China Unicom.

info : news.com

PSP Handheld console turns into Sony's original PlayStation

An update to the PlayStation Portable (PSP) allows gamers to play PSOne titles purchased at Sony's online store.

Firmware update 3.80 allows the PSP to stream games from PSOne discs played on a PlayStation 3 using the Remote Play function.

Both machines need to have access to a Wi-Fi network for the process to work.

Players will have to reassign some of the buttons on the handheld games console, as it does not have as many as the Sony PSOne controller.

The PlayStation 3 also received its latest firmware update, taking it up to version 2.10. PS3 owners can now play DiVx and WMV files, as well as Blu-ray 1.1 discs.

An added Voice Changer feature also lets players modulate the tone of their voice using five preset levels.

Sales of Sony's PSP more than doubled last week in Japan, according to data from market analyst Media Create.

The PSP sold 184,610 units in the week ending 16 December, easily beating the 91,481 units the previous week.

However, it still trailed behind Nintendo's DS, which saw weekly sales of 222,144 units in Japan.

info: vnunet.com

Online sales up 19 per cent to $25bn at Christmas bonanza

Nearly $25bn was spent online in the US between 1 November and 18 December, a 19 per cent gain over the same period last year, according to the latest market data.

Research firm comScore said that the figure surpassed the total online spending for the entire 2006 holiday season.

Online sales on 17 December jumped 33 per cent to $700m, and 18 December saw a jump of 25 per cent to $670m.

"Monday and Tuesday of this final week of pre-Christmas shopping saw strong growth in spending versus a year ago, pushing the season-to-date growth rate slightly above 19 per cent," said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore.

"While it is now safe to say that the heaviest online spending days of the season are behind us, we believe we may continue to see strong growth rates during the remainder of the season.

"Late-season shipping deals are being offered by some retailers, and consumers can buy online and pick-up their purchase the same day at the retail store."

It is also clear that many consumers are willing to delay their holiday shopping this year in an effort to take advantage of any late season price discounts being offered by retailers.

According to comScore's most recent World Metrix report for November, Amazon's sites in the UK grew 13 per cent to reach their highest ever UK audience.

However, the largest traffic increases were seen at two toys and games sites. High street video game chain GameToysRUs grew 47 per cent to 3.4 million. rose 52 per cent to 3.5 million unique visitors and

info : vnunet.com

Install Ubuntu 7.10 on PS3

Today, you will learn how to install Ubuntu Gutsy (as a second operating system) on your PlayStation 3 gaming console. For those of you who think for a second (and who are scared) that this will replace their PS3 operating system, well you guys are wrong, because this will NOT erase your PlayStation 3 native operating system (called XMB) and it will run as an alternative OS on your PS3 console. Ready? Are you excited? Let's go!

Things needed:

1. An USB flash drive or a Memory Card (PS3 can read only SD/miniSD Memory Card, Memory Stick PRO (Duo) and CompactFlash). Or, as an alternative, you can use a portable hard disk with FAT32 filesystem on it.

2. An USB keyboard and mouse attached to your PS3.

3. Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) PS3 ISO image, which you can always download from Softpedia. You will need to burn this ISO image on a blank CD with your favorite CD/DVD burning tool.

Prepare your PlayStation 3 for Ubuntu:

You will need to partition the PS3 hard drive, otherwise you will not be able to install Ubuntu. Power on your PS3, Log in and go to "Settings -> System Settings", scroll down until you find the "Format Utility", press X on it and go to "Format Hard Disk" (last option). You'll be asked if you want to format your hard disk, so press "Yes" and then you must choose a partition setting for the hard drive. Select the "Custom" option, then select "Allot 10GB to the Other OS" entry and do a "Quick Format". When it's done, reboot your PS3.

The KBoot installation:

As I don't have an USB flash drive, I've used an external hard drive for this operation, and it worked like a charm. Create a folder, on your USB stick (drive),
called PS3, and inside this folder create another one called OTHEROS. Put the otheros.bld (otheros.bld for PlayStation 3) file in the OTHEROS folder. Now, go to "Settings -> System Settings -> Install Other Os" and hit X to detect and install KBoot.

Boot and install the Ubuntu PS3 Live CD

Are you wondering how to access what you've just installed above? Go to "Settings -> System Settings -> Default System" (press X) and select "Other OS". You'll be asked if you want to quit your PS3 system and start the other OS (of course you do), so choose "Yes" and wait for the PS3 to reboot. You should attach the USB keyboard and mouse to the PS3. In a few seconds, you will see "Ubuntu PS3 KBoot Loader" text on the top of your screen. Insert the Ubuntu PS3 Live CD in your PS3, type install and wait for the Live CD to load.

In a few seconds, you will see that sexy wallpaper of Ubuntu Gutsy and the installation wizard will appear. Follow the installation steps from here if you don't know what to do.

Go back to the PS3 OS

To get back to your PS3 OS, restart Ubuntu and, at the KBoot prompt, type:

boot-game-os

and hit enter. Wait for the PS3 to reboot and you'll see the XMB (PlayStation 3 operating system).

Conclusions

Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon has greatly been improved for the PS3 hardware. It can now recognize all the components of your PS3 console, like the Blu-ray unit, the Gelic network card, USB and Bluetooth ports, and the sound system! Even if the installation part takes around 40 minutes (four times longer than on a regular PC), Ubuntu proved to be quite fast on the PS3 console. From the screenshots below, you will see that I can listen to music, watch movies and even transfer files from my BlackBerry, via Bluetooth. However, as I don't have a HD Ready TV, I can't really enjoy Ubuntu on my PS3, that's why the screenshots are so small!

Pros:

- It will recognize all the hardware components of your PS3 console.
- It runs quite fast.
- Easy to install.

Cons:

- The installation takes too long. About four times longer than a normal PC installation!
- When you want to reboot Ubuntu, it will actually shut down. I don't know why it does this, maybe it's a problem that happened only to me.
- You must have an HD Ready TV in order to do something useful in Ubuntu. With regular TVs you will have a 576x460 resolution and you will not see the entire window of most applications!

info: softpedia.com

Top Free Registry Repair Tools

The unfortunate thing about computers is that no matter how much you use them there will always come a point in time when they will become erroneous which will require immediate repair. It would be great if your pc would always run as if it were new but this is not the case as most people are constantly using their computers and changing software which causes these problems.

If you use your computer for work or play you will know that there is nothing worse than having a slow and dysfunctional pc. So how exactly do these problems arise and what can be done to fix them?

The windows registry is responsible for most of the common error symptoms you may experience. Typical symptoms of registry problems include unused and obselete start menu items, deleted application files, missing shortcuts and corrupted active x components.

The only concept you need to grasp is that the windows registry is the central information database of your computer which holds all important configuration information about hardware and software which eventually becomes full of errors.

The reason why is because most people like to change hardware and software constantly which results in your registry becoming filled with outdated and obselete entries. When you continuously add and remove software applications from your computer a large percentage of uninstallations are incomplete which results in your hard drive becoming littered with residual files causing those sluggish performances.

Registry repair tools are the common cure to problems like these as they can automatically repair registry errors within minutes and keep your pc in top shape.

Reg Cure is the internet's leading registry repair tool which delivers flawless optimization for your pc and keeps it error free.

To download the latest free version of this software please see the website below

Free Registry Cleaner

by: markus S

Free To Air TV Software - What Can You Really Expect From Free To Air TV Software?

Although this service has been around for a while now, many people still don't realize that you can get satellite TV channels feed directly to your computer if you have the appropriate satellite receiver or the right kind of software.

FTA, also known as free to air TV, is a term that describes television channels and radio stations that regularly broadcast their programs unencrypted. These programs can be picked up by a suitable receiver or software program without the monthly charge like traditional cable or satellite TV. You never have to pay for free to air TV.

Many international channels utilize this type of broadcasting, so you can tune in to channels from around the world at absolutely no charge. Any channels in your own country that use this type of broadcasting will also be available for you to watch. Lots of free to air TV providers also broadcast this way. You can watch these types of programs simply by visiting the corresponding website.

If you would like to have the ability to access thousands of satellite TV channels from different countries, then you basically have two options you might want to consider. You can install either a satellite receiver or PC TV software on to your computer.

Your first option is to buy a satellite TV receiver. You will have to purchase both the receiver itself as well as a dish. Although there are companies who will install the equipment for a small fee, however the equipment itself can be a bit expensive. It's best to shop around to see who has the best prices on both equipment and installation unless you are a real do-it-yourself type person. The receiver will all you to use your regular large screen TV to access channels.

The other option is to purchase TV for PC software for your computer. You can purchase and download the software online and have instant access without having to install any equipment or wait for someone to come do it for you. There are several software options to choose from. The price ranges from $40 to $100 for most programs.

Let me answer two burning questions that you are probably asking yourself right now.

1. Can free to air TV software replace my regular cable or satellite service? The short answer is yes, however, it will not be exactly the same as the paid service you are currently using.

2. Will I be able to watch exactly the same channels I can watch with cable or satellite TV? No. You will only be able to view those channels that have not been encrypted by the station to which they belong. Even though you don't have access to encrypted channels, you can still expect to access thousands of high quality channels on a regular basis.

While it's not realistic to think you would be able to access locked, subscription type channels with free to air TV software, their are a few distinct advantages to this software. Many blacked out sporting events can be watched simply by tuning in to a station in a different region. You might also be able to catch your favorite show at a different time by switching regional stations. So, unless you're totally addicted to a particular subscription type channel, you could easily replace your current system with free to air TV software and watch the same type of high quality shows you do today as long as you aren't expecting exactly the same channels.

Download free to air TV software that will give you instant access to thousands of digital satellite TV channels. Click the link to learn more!

by: ralph T