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

Top 10 PC Problems And Fixes

This article is for those of you who do not want to pay a fortune trying to fix your computer at a repair shop or some other place that will charge you an arm and a leg for something you can diagnose/fix yourself! Over the years of working with computers I have noticed many common problems that people seem to confront me with. I decided to put the top 10 questions I have been asked here, so that you may learn something from them and save yourself some money! First, I would like to say a couple of things: 1. Computers consist of parts (hardware) and instructions (software), you need both to operate, and each and every one part/instruction can be replaced. 2. When you are looking for the cause of your problem ALWAYS start at the physical part of the problem.

1. I have spyware on my computer! or.. I am getting many pop ups and weird things on my screen.

This is the most single complaint I have heard from people over many years. They ask me - "How do I remove the spyware on my computer? I have tried Anti-spyware software but it doesn't seem to work." Be aware that spyware is a type of software that runs in the background, manipulating information on your computer. Well, How did I get it? There is a lot of Freeware and Shareware software that can be downloaded that includes spyware components, here are a few examples: Kazza, iMesh, Limewire and many many more. Always double check to see what you are downloading / installing and what that software "includes". Manual removal is possible but can become very difficult since spyware likes to edit many system registry keys that are hard to isolate and change.

a) Try to get a hold of some good anti-spyware software. Google for it, or ask some friends what they have used before. (I personally run my two favorites - Adaware and Spybot Search and Destroy)

b) Update the definitions on your anti-spyware software (Some spyware might even try to block definition updates, making it more difficult to remove)

c) If after you have ran the programs and problems persists then you need to get into safe mode, since the spyware is running in current system processes that cannot be repaired while the processes are on. To get into safe mode, restart your computer, and tap F8, until a selection menu comes up. There are several boot options; you need to select "Safe Mode". Doing so, your computer only runs the required processes in order for the basic components to work. Once you are in safe mode, run your software again. Usually this will take care of the problem.

d) If problems still persist and you want to go ahead and go with a manual removal procedure, you must obtain information on which files have to be removed with the specific spyware your computer is infected with. There are many websites that will give you information on how to remove specific spyware if you google the spyware name (my personal favorite is http://www.pchell.com/) Websites such as pc hell will give you step by step instructions on how to remove spyware manually.

e) If all else fails and you feel like you're about to pull the hair out of your head, reformat your hard drive. (just remember that everything will be GONE including your files and software so remember to back them up!) Here is a good website that walks you through formatting your drive with windows XP(Vista is kind of similar)

http://www.ehow.com/how_6026_format-hard-drive.html

2. I think I might have a Virus on my computer.

Before you go out and buy elaborate virus removal software, know that spyware can mimic a virus and you should go through the steps in question 1 before proceeding to virus removal. Also, know that even if the virus has taken over your pc, it has control only over your hard drive which can be formatted or replaced at the worst case, so don't go out and start shopping for new computers! (Believe it or not I have had people come up to me and tell me they are going to go buy a new computer because they are fed up with the virus on their current one)

a) If you are sure that you are infected with a virus, get some Anti-virus software. There are plenty to choose from including some free ones such as: AVG, Trend Micro HouseCall, McAfee, BitDefender and many others. You might be prompted to remove some viruses and Trojans manually if the software is unable to do so. Your software / scan should provide you with instructions on how to remove those things manually. Use other website resources to find fixes to your virus/Trojan/worm problems if they persist. Once again I use pchell but you do not have to use this particular website. Tip: Be careful when performing the manual removal because you are dealing with the system registry which is responsible for your operating system. Once you mess up the registry, your operating system might stop working!

b) My personal favorite option J - Reformat the Hard Drive. Once again, make sure you have backed up all of the files you need on some sort of media (CD, DVD, another Hard Drive, Flash Drive etc...)

3. My computer clock loses time.

The CMOS battery is weak. These are easily replaceable. Just open up your computer case and look on the main board, you should see a little circular battery that you can easily pop out and replace with a new one! Voila, you are back on time!

4. Computer running slow.

Some of the common causes of a slow computer:

1. You downloaded one of your favorite programs and it came with spyware. Follow steps in question one to remove spyware.

2. You installed software on your computer but you are sure you have no spyware. Chances are you have too many processes running in the background (more than your processor and or memory can handle) Upgrade to more memory. You can purchase RAM in many stores or online websites which can give you a better deal. Tip: make sure you know what type of memory you are getting and that it is compatible with your computer! Check with the computer manufacturer or the system manual to see what type of memory you need.

3. Hard Drive is short on space. Make more space or upgrade to a larger Hard Drive.

4. You are infected with a virus. Remove the virus as instructed above.

5. Your computer is overheating (an unlikely cause)

5. Computer does not start.

You wake up in the morning and go over to your PC to check your email, what's that... it won't start? How can this be? What Caused this?! This is where that tip I mentioned at the very top comes in. CHECK THE PHYSICAL CONNECTIONS. In most cases a dead power supply is the cause of the problem.

1) Make sure the cords are all plugged in and functioning. Test them with some other equipment, make sure your power strip is on (if you have one).

2) Check to see that the power switch on the back of your computer is in the ON position. If you have a surge protector, reset it and try again.

3) If you confirm that all connections are good, all switches are on and nothing happens STILL, check your power supply fan to see if it is dusty. Blow out the dust and try again. Chances are the power supply has overheated or gave out for other reasons. (You can buy replacement power supplies in stores or online and they are not all that hard to replace if you follow directions in your manual. You can also search around to learn how to replace a power supply. IT IS SIMPLE!

3) If the monitor is on and the computer is on but the screen displays "non-system disk error" or "disk error" check to see if you left a disk in your A: Drive.

4) Computer tells you, you are missing some files? Operating system might have been corrupted which can be fixed if you boot from a windows CD and run the repair diagnostic.

5) If you are running a laptop make sure your battery is fully charged or use the power adapter to boot up.

6. My computer restarts.

Have you ever turned on your computer to find out that it just keeps restarting in a loop? I have. I find this to be the most frustrating problem for people who have asked me on how to fix this.

1. Your CPU temperature might be one of the causes for your computer to restart. If the CPU gets too hot, the computer is told to automatically shut down or restart. Usually anything over 60 degrees Celsius will do it. To find out how hot your CPU runs, download a "CPU monitor" program, there are plenty out there (I personally use Speedfan).

2. Memory failure and DUST often cause problems. Have you ever checked out inside of your computer? Maybe its time that you do! Dust can prevent memory from functioning properly with your motherboard. Try dusting out inside of your computer, unplugging memory and once everything is cleaned out plugging it back in. If the problems persist, then you might have memory failure. Take out every stick of memory and begin testing them one by one. Plug in one stick and boot up to see if things work, if they do not move on to the next stick of RAM. Also try different slots on the motherboard, because I have seen slots on the boards give out after a period of time.

3. Check the settings in the "startup and recovery" options. Sometimes if the "Automatically Restart" setting is checked, the computer will reboot after a system error has occurred. To check this, go to > Start > Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance> System > Advanced > Settings, and uncheck "Automatically Restart".

4. If you have installed any new hardware or software, you should try removing it to see if the problems go away. Try updating all drivers to solve any incompatibility issues.

5. Run your anti-virus software to check for any unwanted spyware.

6. Your system files might be corrupt. Try running the repair utility on your windows installation disk. Or... you can go to command prompt by clicking on Start > Run > type "cmd" (or "command" in win98) press enter. When the command prompt shows up, type "chkdsk/r" to locate repair/recovery any bad sectors.

7. My browser's homepage has been changed and I cannot get it to change back.

Usually this is a simple one, but people hate to admit that they are responsible for this.

Your homepage has been hijacked! Spyware of all sorts will do this! If you have downloaded something or even clicked on some link on a page, it could have installed spyware on your computer. Run the latest updates on Ad-aware and Spybot Search and Destroy, chances are they will remove it and get you back up and going!

8. My computer is making noises

Usually this means that some type of a moving part is failing. This could be a number of things including your case fans, power supply fans, cpu fans, a wire touching a spinning fan, a hard drive going out and crying out for help! However, some sounds that are part of your properly functioning system can be mistaken for unfriendly ones. CD-ROMS, hard drives and fast spinning fans can seem to make the machine loud, but they could just be doing their job. Whatever the cause is, you want to check it out immediately after shutting down your computer.

9. Lost "Word" files after a crash.

You were writing that long research paper or that report for your boss, and you remembered that you have not saved the file as your Word crashed! Sure enough, that auto-recover feature that has always worked before, has failed you now! So what can you do? Usually when you create a document, it is temporarily housed in a temp file which can often by found if searched for. To do so, go to Start > Search, and look for a file with ~ as the first character or a .tmp as the extension that were modified within the last day. To make things easier you should sort by size to display the largest files first. Begin opening those files with Word to see if it might be the file you were working on. If Word won't open the file, try using WordPad and then copy and paste the content to a Word document. Also remember to Save As your document right away and remind yourself to save often!

10. Printer won't print.

You decide to print out a document after you have reloaded your printer with paper but nothing happens. Here is what you should check for:

1. Start with the physical connections/aspects. Do you have ink or toner in? Is there enough of it? Is your printer getting power? Are all of the wires securely in place? Is it set to "online" mode? Go to Start > Printers and faxes> check to see if your printer shows up and is not grayed out and says "Ready".

2. Are there other print jobs that are in the way? Go to Start > Control Panel > Printers and Faxes > double click the printer icon and Cancel All Documents from the drop menu.

3. Print a test page from the printer. A lot of printers have a function that will allow to print a test page if certain keys are held in while the printer starts up. Check the documentation to see what these keys are. If the page comes out then you know the problem is with your connection or the software and not with the printer itself.

4. Try printing from a simple program such as notepad or WordPad. Sometimes it might work, indicating that your problem is printer software related.

5. If your printer is grayed out, try uninstalling it completely, removing any drivers related to the printer and downloading the newest drivers. Once you have downloaded them from the printer manufacturer website, reinstall the printer just like you did the first time and point to the new driver to see if it makes a difference. I have seen where people will install certain software that will cause a conflict with the printer driver, requiring the user to re-install the printer.

by:Gene Maryushenko

Put That Old Computer To Good Use

An old computer these days is no longer a completely useless system. In fact, even though I might upgrade my main computer every couple of years, I usually take ten to fifteen years before I completely remove it from my home network and send it to that great LAN in the sky!

Here are ten twelve uses that I have discovered for that more "experienced" computer system!

And once you have read through the article and decided which exciting project you want to do, make sure you let us know by voting in the poll!

Firewall/Router

This was the very first use I had for an older computer. I grabbed an old 286, installed a couple of network cards, and the latest version of FREESCO and suddenly every computer in my house had Internet access without having to keep my main system running or without having to buy an expensive (at the time) dedicated router/firewall device.

Not to mention that I learned a ton about Linux through this process!

Here is a list of some Linux distributions and tools that you could use to create a firewall/router for your home:

* FREESCO

* IPCOP

* Smoothwall

* Firestarter

* Coyote Linux Personal Firewall

* Shorewall/Shoreline

* Mason

* Vyatta

* floppyfw

* FireHOL

* Guarddog

* Turtle

* m0n0wall

* Endian

* pfSense

* LutelWall

* Zorp

* ClarkConnect

* Devil Linux

* Sinux

* Kaladix

* SafeSquid

File Server

If you've been on Daily Cup of Tech before, you will know my love for FreeNAS. With an old computer and a couple of hours effort, you can have a nifty little file server available on your network.

There are other ways that you can create a file server other than FreeNAS. Here are some that I found:

* FreeNAS

* Samba

* iFolder

* NASLite

* Openfiler

* CryptoBox

Print Server

My wife and I share a printer that used to be hosted on her computer. It was a real pain when her computer would go into sleep mode or she would shut it off and I would lose my ability to print. I was able to turn an old computer into a print server that is always running and I can now print regardless of the status of my wife's computer.

Nicholas Fong has a great tutorial on setting this up. Fax Gateway

Yes, I know. Faxing is so 1985. But, a lot of people and companies still rely on this technology to keep their business running. With a bit of effort and some old computer hardware, you can set up a HylaFAX server to manage and control all of your incoming and outgoing faxes. Plus, you could save a few trees because you are using less paper. Web/FTP Server

With the advent of LAMP server installations, it is relatively trivial for someone to create a web server. This will give you the ability to create your own websites in house before you distribute them to the world or you can simply use it as an intranet site to keep your busy family in touch.

Here are a few tutorials on setting up a web server:

* Setting up a local web server in Debian Linux

* The Apache Web Server

* Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) LAMP Server Setup

* Quick Linux Server

SSH/SCP Server

SSH and SCP provide you with a lot of very powerful abilities so that you can remotely access your network and copy files securely. One of the best ways is to set up a FreeNAS box, enable SSH and then connect to it using an SCP client such as WinSCP to transfer files or PuTTY for accessing your network. Anti-Spam Server

We all hate spam. So, use your old computer to get rid of it! By using SpamAssassin on a Linux box, you can quickly stem the flood of incoming spam. I have also found a really good tutorial on the subject (Sorry, I had to use the Google cache.). Proxy Server

Most users have the same webpages that they visit on a regular basis. Each time that they go to these websites, they need to go and download all of the files again. While this is not a terribly big issue if you have lots of bandwidth and it is not being used very much, it can become an issue if your are a high bandwidth user.

You can also use it to filter out undesirable content.

Here are a few tutorials on setting up a proxy server:

* Setup a transparent proxy with Squid in three easy steps

* Minimal Linux Proxy

* 3Proxy

Thin Client

I've always thought that the next time I decide to upgrade all of the computers for my entire family at home, rather than upgrading each system, buy a rather beefy server with lots of RAM and then create virtual computers for everyone. Then, I could use their original hardware and ThinStation to give them access to their new virtual computer!

You may also want to check out AnywhereTS to help with the setup. Voice Mail Server

For me, voice mail has always been so passive. It just kinda waits in one place until I remember to check it (which could be days later). A voice mail server would be a great tool!

One great advantage would be the ability to have my voice mail e-mailed to me. Another would be the ability to check it from my computer. The VOCP System provides me with all of those abilities and more! Media Server

More people are going away from their CD and DVD players and heading for MP3 and AVI files. A media server is a great way to use that old box.

Here are some resources to get you rockin'!

* Jinzora

* Firefly

* TVersity

* MediaTomb

* LIVE555

* MythTV

* Icecast

* Helix

* LinuxMCE

* Darwin Streaming Server

* GNUMP3D

Bittorrent Box

I put all of my bittorrent stuff on a separate box a long time ago. It just seemed much neater and cleaner. For a good tutorial on how to do this, check out Nerdica.

by: thomas A

A Simple 4 Step Approach To Have Google Crawl Your Site Today Guaranteed!

To take advantage of this amazing service from google just follow these 4 simple steps.

Step 1 Get a Google Site Map Account

In order to create a Google Sitemap account just cut and paste the below URL in your browser and follow the simple directions

https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/login

Step 2 Create Your Site map

You can create your Sitemap either as an XML file or a TXT file. XML is the PPreferred method since you can give Google more information about your Web Site. You do not need to know XML to create a Google Sitemap. Not with this free web based tool. Simply go to the below web site type in your domain and it will automatically spider your site and create a Google Site Map for you. http://www.sitemapspal.com/

If You prefer to use a text file simply following the below direction taken directly from the Google Help File (https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/docs/en/other.html)

Google accepts simple text files that list URLs. As the text files contain only a list of URLs, Google prefers that you use the Sitemap protocol so you can provide additional information about your URLs. The text file must follow these guidelines:

The text file must have one URL per line. The URLs cannot contain embedded new lines.

You must fully specify URLs as Google attempts to crawl them exactly as provided.

Each text file can contain a maximum of 50,000 URLs. If you site includes more than 50,000 URLs, you can separate the list into multiple text files and submit each one separately.

The text file must use UTF-8 encoding. You can specify this when you save the file (for instance, in Notepad, this is listed in the Encoding menu of the Save As dialog box).

The text file should contain no information other than the list of URLs.

The text file should contain no header or footer information.

You can name the text file anything you wish. Google recommends giving the file a .text extension to identify it as a text file (for instance, sitemap.txt).

You should upload the text file to the highest-level directory you want search engines to crawl and make sure that you don't list URLs in the text file that are located in a higher-level directory.

Step 3 Upload your Site Map File To Your Web Page

Once you have created an XML or TXT Sitemap using the instructions in Step 2 you would just upload it to your web page either by FTP or by using the Cpanel from your Web Host.

Step 4 Tell Google

The last step in this process is to tell Google about your Sitemap. You simply Log In to your Google site map account and add the URL of you Site Map. Be sure and check back a few hours later to make sure it uploaded correctly. https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/login

Now be sure and repeat the above 4 Steps whenever you change your website

Bonus Step 5

After Google has read your Sitemap and crawled your site (usually 12-24 Hours) you will see a verify link next to your Sitemap name. Click the link and Google will instruct you to create a blank file and place it on your Web Page, Once you have done that Google will tell you any problems it encountered crawling your Page

by: mike makler

Facebook Faces Off Against Sex Site

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Microsoft Releases CRM 4.0, Code-Named 'Titan'

Earlier this year, Microsoft promised to deliver the new version of its CRM software, CRM 4.0, then code-named Titan, by the end of the year. Now, the company's owned up to its promise.

Last Friday, Microsoft released CRM 4.0 to manufacturing. This week, the new software will be available for customers and hosting partners to download online.

Microsoft points to CRM 4.0's multitenant architecture as one of the main new features for Microsoft CRM. That gives both Microsoft and its hosting partners the ability to host CRM in much higher volumes, setting the stage for a showdown with the likes of Salesforce.com.

Despite CRM 4.0's release, the Microsoft-delivered software-as-a-service version, known as CRM Live, won't be available for most customers until sometime in the second half of 2008. On one hand, it gives Microsoft's hosting partners a bit of wiggle room to get into customer sales cycles before Microsoft starts homing in on their market. However, it also gives competitors like Salesforce.com and others who have long had a SaaS model a few more months of lead time against the upstart Microsoft.

CRM 4.0 should have the effect of increasing Microsoft's potential customer base. CRM Live and the multitenanted partner-hosted versions of the software will give Microsoft a stronger potential for small business uptake. Microsoft CRM general manager Brad Wilson says that though CRM 4.0 was all about increasing scale, CRM 4.0 scales to the higher end better than previous versions as well.

Other new features include user-selectable multilanguage support, new business intelligence and user reporting capabilities, and a move from an old workflow engine that had been specific to Microsoft CRM to the company's Windows Workflow for easier federated workflow across Microsoft apps.

Recently, Microsoft has added integration with the company's unified communications platform, Office Communication Server, to CRM 4.0's feature list. That means users can launch video conferences, Web conferences, and calls from directly within the CRM app, and also can see who's online and available to be called.

info :informationweek.com

test

Ipod parody (part 3)

Why Windows XP Help and Support doesn't work

if your Windows XP Help and Support doesn't work, try to reinstall it

To reinstall Help and Support: Go to C:\Windows\inf\pchealth.inf. Right click and choose install. Have your CD handy.

Note: The folder is hidden by default.

Hack this school network, win a router

LaRocca is director of IT security with the School District of Palm Beach County in Florida, where he oversees a network of 60,000 computers in 175 schools and which he says covers more acres than any other school district east of the Mississippi River. Computer security has traditionally been a low priority in the public school system, but that's not the case in Palm Beach County.

That's because a computer breach stung the school system in a very public way two years ago when local papers reported that Jeff Yorston, a student at one of the county's schools, got hold of an administrative password and gave himself an "A" in a French class he never took. He also managed to boost the grades of a few friends.

Yorston was discovered when another student complained that her ex-boyfriend -- with worse grades than she had -- was accepted into the University of Florida while she had been rejected. He has since paid a fine and agreed to state supervision in connection with the charges, according to the Palm Beach Post.

After an investigation, county officials discovered that they hadn't been hacked. Instead the breach occurred because of a leaked password. "One of the administrators lent her password out to one of the students who was working on a project," LaRocca said. "That's what happens when you share passwords. We could put $1 million worth of controls in place, but when I give you my password, all bets are off."

LaRocca says that the grades-changing incident was "a wake-up call for the district," which has now made security a top priority.

Palm Beach County has spent more than $1.5 million over the past two years overhauling systems throughout the county's schools. It has upgraded the county's desktops with anti-virus, host intrusion prevention, and network access control software from McAfee. Network-based intrusion detection and content filtering have also been added, and the county is now logging its grading systems, which have much stricter access controls.

The county has also made security awareness a priority, taking steps to educate users about safe online behavior.

And that's where the hacking challenge comes in. LaRocca issued it as part of an April security awareness event held at county schools, setting up a target server that attackers would have to break into in order to claim the prize. This type of "capture the flag" game is popular at hacking conferences.

Any students who might see the contest as a chance to hack the system, change their grades, and win a router need to think again. "We set up a honeypot server that they specifically had to hack into and capture a flag," he said. "We didn't say if you go in and change your grades you'll get a router."

That hasn't deterred some attackers. Thanks to the publicity surrounding his Wi-Fi challenge, LaRocca says the schools are being hit by about 16,000 online attacks per day.

Still, LaRocca says the insider threat remains his biggest concern. "All my hackers are inside the network," he said. "I'm not too worried about the ones from the outside."

info :infoworld.com

Ask.com released its Top 10 list for Web search terms for 2007

Ask.com released its Top 10 list for Web search terms for 2007 on Friday and it was noteworthy as much for what made the list as for what didn't.

No. 1 is MySpace, followed in order by: Dictionary, Google, Themes, Area Codes, Cars, Weather, Games, Song Lyrics, and Movies.

Yes, Google is in the third spot. Now, why would anyone go to Ask.com and type in "google"? Weird!

info : news.com

Google Encouraging people to contribute knowledge

The web contains an enormous amount of information, and Google has helped to make that information more easily accessible by providing pretty good search facilities. But not everything is written nor is everything well organized to make it easily discoverable. There are millions of people who possess useful knowledge that they would love to share, and there are billions of people who can benefit from it. We believe that many do not share that knowledge today simply because it is not easy enough to do that. The challenge posed to us by Larry, Sergey and Eric was to find a way to help people share their knowledge. This is our main goal.

Earlier this week, we started inviting a selected group of people to try a new, free tool that we are calling "knol", which stands for a unit of knowledge. Our goal is to encourage people who know a particular subject to write an authoritative article about it. The tool is still in development and this is just the first phase of testing. For now, using it is by invitation only. But we wanted to share with everyone the basic premises and goals behind this project.

The key idea behind the knol project is to highlight authors. Books have authors' names right on the cover, news articles have bylines, scientific articles always have authors -- but somehow the web evolved without a strong standard to keep authors names highlighted. We believe that knowing who wrote what will significantly help users make better use of web content. At the heart, a knol is just a web page; we use the word "knol" as the name of the project and as an instance of an article interchangeably. It is well-organized, nicely presented, and has a distinct look and feel, but it is still just a web page. Google will provide easy-to-use tools for writing, editing, and so on, and it will provide free hosting of the content. Writers only need to write; we'll do the rest.

A knol on a particular topic is meant to be the first thing someone who searches for this topic for the first time will want to read. The goal is for knols to cover all topics, from scientific concepts, to medical information, from geographical and historical, to entertainment, from product information, to how-to-fix-it instructions. Google will not serve as an editor in any way, and will not bless any content. All editorial responsibilities and control will rest with the authors. We hope that knols will include the opinions and points of view of the authors who will put their reputation on the line. Anyone will be free to write. For many topics, there will likely be competing knols on the same subject. Competition of ideas is a good thing.

Knols will include strong community tools. People will be able to submit comments, questions, edits, additional content, and so on. Anyone will be able to rate a knol or write a review of it. Knols will also include references and links to additional information. At the discretion of the author, a knol may include ads. If an author chooses to include ads, Google will provide the author with substantial revenue share from the proceeds of those ads.

Once testing is completed, participation in knols will be completely open, and we cannot expect that all of them will be of high quality. Our job in Search Quality will be to rank the knols appropriately when they appear in Google search results. We are quite experienced with ranking web pages, and we feel confident that we will be up to the challenge. We are very excited by the potential to substantially increase the dissemination of knowledge.

We do not want to build a walled garden of content; we want to disseminate it as widely as possible. Google will not ask for any exclusivity on any of this content and will make that content available to any other search engine.

As always, a picture is worth a thousands words, so an example of a knol is below (click on the image twice to see the page in full). The main content is real, and we encourage you to read it (you may sleep better afterwards!), but most of the meta-data -- like reviews, ratings, and comments -- are not real, because, of course, this has not been in the public eye as yet. Again, this is a preliminary version.

Ipod Parody (part2)

Ipod Parody (part1)

China Can't Spell G-O-O-G-L-E

Google Inc., the owner of the world's most-popular Internet search engine, is struggling to become a verb in China.

``G-O-O-G-L-E is not a normal Chinese spelling and people don't pronounce it right,'' Kai-fu Lee, Google's president for Greater China, said in a Nov. 30 interview in Beijing. ``Most people call us `go go.'''

Mountain View, California-based Google, so well-known in most countries that the Oxford English Dictionary lists its name as a verb, has less than half of Baidu.com Inc.'s 61 percent market share in China. Lee, recruited from Microsoft Corp. in 2005 to expand Google in China, said he will try new advertising strategies to overcome the language barrier. He declined to provide more information.

``Very few people know Google and what they stand for'' in China, said Charley Kan, managing director of Mediaedge:cia, a unit of WPP Group Plc, the world's second-largest advertising company. ``Compared to Baidu, it is in a weak position.''

China, the world's second-largest Internet market with 162 million users, may overtake the U.S. in three to five years, according to Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Sandeep Aggarwal in San Francisco. Online advertising, the source of 99 percent of Google's revenue, may quadruple to 20 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) in China in the four years ending in 2010, according to Beijing- based Analysys International.

Google generated 250 million yuan in search revenue in China last year, Credit Suisse Group estimated in June. That's less than 1 percent of the company's $7.3 billion total in 2006. Google doesn't disclose sales in individual countries.

No `gle' Sound

Internet addresses in China are based on the Hanyu Pinyin system that translates Chinese characters into roman letters. Sounds such as ``gle'' don't exist.

``That's a big problem for us,'' Lee said.

Google last year acquired the ``G.cn'' domain so users who misspell the company's name still get directed to its Chinese- language Web site ``Guge,'' or ``harvesting song.'' The adoption of the name in 2006 prompted criticism that it was a song about something going downhill because ``gu'' also means valley.

``It's a name that would appear to have been picked by someone who doesn't know Chinese,'' said Liu Bin, an analyst at Beijing-based researcher BDA China Ltd. ``It hasn't helped their marketing.''

Yahoo! Inc., owner of the world's most visited Web site, is also struggling. Its market share in China slipped to 10 percent in the third quarter, from 13 percent a year earlier, Analysys said. Yahoo owns 39 percent of Alibaba.com Corp., which took control of the U.S. company's China unit in 2005.

``We set our sights on the leader. Google is still doing what Google does, but it is not our focus,'' said Porter Erisman, an Alibaba spokesman in Beijing. ``Our main concern is building a long-term sustainable business.''

Hundreds of Times

Baidu, meaning ``hundreds of times,'' widened its market- share lead to 61 percent from 57 percent after offering bulletin boards and an encyclopedia service, according to Analysys estimates. Google's share rose to 24 percent from 16 percent.

Beijing-based Baidu's shares have surged 15-fold since their August 2005 initial public offering, valuing the company at about 100 times projected 2008 earnings, estimates compiled by Bloomberg show. Google's stock more than doubled over the same period and trades at 35 times estimated profit. Yahoo trades at a multiple of 48.

`Very Good Company'

``Baidu is a very good company that has been able to meet the needs of the Chinese advertiser and user more effectively than Google,'' said Walter Price, who owns Baidu and Google shares as part of the $120 billion he helps manage at RCM Capital Management in San Francisco.

Google failed to close the gap with Baidu after providing Web searches for mobile phones and online maps, and buying minority stakes in China's Tianya Internet Technology Ltd. and Shenzhen Xunlei Network Technology Ltd. to offer social- networking services.

Lee also faces the challenge of expanding in a country where the government bans criticism of the state. Google's China service excludes some information censored by the government, such as material about the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.

Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang last month apologized to the mother of Chinese dissident Shi Tao, who was arrested in 2002 after the company gave his e-mail records to Chinese officials. The arrest prompted the U.S. Foreign Affairs Committee in October to approve a law that outlaws aiding countries in limiting Internet access to restrict human rights.

``Google definitely doesn't want the same thing to happen to them that happened to Yahoo,'' said Elinor Leung, an analyst at CLSA Ltd. in Hong Kong.

Google has increased the number of engineers in the Greater China region to 200, its biggest research and development team outside the U.S., by offering higher salaries and perks such as free massages.

The company will begin ``some experimentation'' for advertising in the next 30 days, Lee said. ``In China, we need to do more. If people don't know Google is a search engine, or if they can't spell Google, they don't know you are better.''

info: bloomberg

Sony unveils hand-powered digital camera.

Sony on Thursday unveiled a prototype digital camera shaped like a pizza cutter with a wheel that can be turned to generate enough power to take pictures.

The "Twirl N' Take" camera generates enough electricity for one snap if the the wheel is moved for some 15 seconds, according to a Sony official.

A digital camera similar to those used in mobile phones is installed in a handle attached to the wheel, which is equipped with a power-generating device, she said.

Moving the wheel and taking pictures would appeal to children but the company has no immediate plan to commercialise it, she said.

As the camera has no screen monitor, users must connect the device to a computer to see their pictures.

The camera is the latest addition to Sony's "odo" line of hand-powered prototypes aimed at raising environmental awareness.

Other products include a "Crank N' Capture" video camera, which is charged by cranking a lever, and a "Spin N' Snap" camera, which has a hole to enable users to spin it with their finger.

This Sony Twirl N' Take camera seems like an interesting concept, even if its execution is somewhat strange. The camera is shaped like a pizza cutter that you roll back and forth to get enough energy to take a picture with. Roll it for 15 seconds and you'll be able to take a shot. Unfortunately, there's no LCD screen, so you can't tell whether that shot was good enough—which means you're going to have to spend another 15 seconds twirling and telling your subjects to "hold that pose" while you're vigorously pumping away.




Spin N' Snap digital camera. You can take digital shots with this model, of course, but it's the powering up that's the novelty. Just stick your fingers in the viewfinder holes, twirl the camera around a few times, and you have a fully charged machine ready to keep on shooting. Similarly powered up is the Push POWER Play, a viewer that you charge by rolling it back and forth on a tabletop.



info: tech.yahoo.com

Opera Files Antitrust Suit Against Microsoft

Opera Software has filed an antitrust suit against Microsoft in the European Union, accusing it of stifling competition by tying its Internet Explorer Web browser to Windows, the Norwegian company said Thursday.

The complaint, which was filed with the European Commission on Wednesday, says Microsoft is abusing its dominant position in the desktop PC market by offering only Internet Explorer as a standard part of Windows, and hindering interoperability by not following accepted standards with IE.

Opera is asking the Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, to force Microsoft to unbundle IE from Windows, or include other browsers as a standard part of its operating system. It also wants it to require Microsoft to adhere to industry standards with its Web browser.

The issue of standards is seen as important because if all Web browsers do not use the same standards, Web site developers are likely to design their Web sites to work with the most widely-used browser, which is Internet Explorer. That gives people a disincentive to use other browsers.

Microsoft's spokesman in Brussels did not immediately have a comment on the lawsuit. The company has argued in the past that consumers benefit from its tight integration of IE and Windows.

Opera said it filed the complaint on behalf of all consumers who are tired of having a monopolist make choices for them.

The European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), a Brussels-based trade group that counts Opera among its members, said it strongly endorses Opera's move.

"By tying its Internet Explorer product to its monopoly Windows operating system and refusing to faithfully implement industry accepted open standards, Microsoft deprives consumers of a real choice in internet browsers. Browsers are the gateway to the internet. Microsoft seeks to control this gateway," said Thomas Vinje, speaking for ECIS.

Opera's complaint signals a potentially new front in Microsoft's long-running battle with the European authorities, and comes three months after the Court of First Instance (CFI) -- Europe's second highest court -- threw out Microsoft's appeal of a 2004 European Commission antitrust ruling against it.

The CFI endorsed the Commission's finding that Microsoft had illegally bundled its media playing software, Media Player, into Windows, exploiting its monopoly in the desktop operating system market to gain influence in the market for desktop media player software.

There are parallels between Opera's complaint and the earlier antitrust suit, Commission competition spokesman Jonathan Todd said at the Commission's midday briefing.

"We will study [Opera's complaint] carefully in light of the case law set in the Court of First Instance judgement in September," he said.

However, the Commission's remedy against Microsoft's bundling has proved useless, which may weaken the value of the 2004 ruling as a legal precedent.

The Commission ordered Microsoft to sell a second version of Windows that has Media Player stripped out. Microsoft christened the second version Edition N, and put it on the market in 2005, at the same price as the fully bundled Windows. Not surprisingly, no one bought it.

Google keeps what Ask.com erases

ask.com launched its new AskEraser program to eliminate a users' IP addresses, user IDs, session ID cookies, and the complete text of search queries if users ask for it. In some cases, however, gone from an Ask.com server does not mean gone for good.

"We pass information to Google, including the IP address and the search query, in order to get search results on the site," explained Doug Leeds, senior VP at Ask.

Google uses that data to fight click fraud and to present contextually relevant ads. It may well use the information for other purposes, such as measuring the responsiveness of its systems. However, Leeds said he could not disclose the specifics of the contractual relationship between Ask and Google.

"The contractual relationship we have with Google constrains Google much more than its privacy policy does," said Leeds. "But I can't say what the specifics are."

Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Despite the apparent indelibility of shared data, at least during the 18-month retention period the industry has settled on, Leeds said that AskEraser addresses search privacy concerns "because it primarily erases it from our servers and our logs."

Indeed, Ask offers more privacy than any of the major search engines at the moment. A lesser known search engine, Ixquick.com, deletes user search data within 48 hours.

The persistence of Ask users' search queries and IP addresses on Google's servers isn't necessarily troubling to most people. The fact that neither Ask nor Google has had a major privacy breach suggests that both companies are storing user data responsibly. But clearly the same cannot be said for the many other companies that have acknowledged data breaches in recent years.

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse estimates that more than 216 million personal records have been exposed as a result of security breaches in the U.S since the start of 2005. Perhaps the most serious recent breach of note, made public in January, was the theft of as many as 94 million credit and debit card account numbers, not to mention hundreds of thousands of merchandise return records, which included driver's license numbers, from the computer systems of TJX Companies, through a series of cyber break-ins dating back to 2005. The U.K. government's recent loss of discs containing data on some 25 million of its citizens represents a comparable data debacle. In 2006, there were more than 315 publicized breaches affecting almost 20 million people, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. The type of organization involved breaks down as follows: 29% government or military agencies; 28% from educational institutions; 22% from general businesses; 13% from health care organizations; and 8% from financial companies. In 2005, there were 158 publicized breaches affecting more than 64.8 million people, according to the ITRC.

The companies leaking data are not fly-by-night firms staffed by the IT challenged. They've got names like Gap, eBay, IBM, and Pfizer, not to mention assorted universities and government agencies.

Since, according to the Government Accountability Office, most information exposed thus doesn't lead to identity theft, is it worth being worried? It might be. The absence of privacy isn't always inconsequential.

In an adversarial situation, your actions, online and off, may help incriminate you. According to Gaetano Ferro, president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, electronic data is becoming more common in divorce cases and often that data is supplied to the attorney by the client unsolicited.

"I tell my clients to go in with the assumption during your divorce that your electronic information may not be all that private," said Ferro. "And maybe I'm a little more paranoid than most, but I've seen cases where people have planted spyware. I've seen cases were people have programmed their computer to forward copies of all e-mails. I've seen cases where people have swiped the laptop and cloned the hard drive. I've seen cases where people have taken their spouse's BlackBerry. It happens fairly frequently."

Job seekers have to consider how the absence of privacy affects their employability. Search engines are frequently used by employers to screen potential applicants. It only takes a few unflattering photos to doom one's resume to the circular file.

"I think it's quite common," said John Challenger, CEO of global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "It's not just Google. It's several different sites looking to find out who they know, like LinkedIn and ZoomInfo, as well as sometimes electronic background checks that companies use to check up on people."

The scrutiny once reserved for high-profile hires has become more accessible and more affordable, said Challenger. For example, recruiters are looking at MySpace and Facebook. "They're using that as part of the screening process," he said.

The issue affects travelers as well. Andrew Feldmar, a psychotherapist from Vancouver in Canada, was denied entry into the U.S. earlier this year for narcotics use because a border guard Googled "Andrew Feldmar" and found that Feldmar had written an article about his experience with LSD forty years earlier.

"I should warn people that the electronic footprint you leave on the Net will be used against you," Feldmar told the New York Times in May. "It cannot be erased."