Friday, August 26, 2011

Download Free Games on Your Mobile Set and Have Fun With Them

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It has never been easier to download or to enjoy playing games on your mobile set. With a variety of choices to choose from, gaming on mobile devices just got easier. From the classic games to the very modern, cell phone makers has free downloadable games available for you.

For your first choice, why not try the download Surviving High School. Everyone remembers the good old days of being in high school. Well this mobile download brings all back to your mind in a fun and engaging way.

Another popular download from leading cell phone brands is Doom. If there is any game that all gamers can agree on is the fact that this is one of the most popular games ever created. It is absolutely legendary when it comes to shooter games and most any one will agree with that statement. Doom can now be played from your mobile phone. This cool shooter game now has RPG elements which just add to the incredible fun of this classic game.

If retro gaming is more your cup of tea, then Tetris is the game for you! If graphics aren't one of the most important things to you, then Tetris will completely satisfy your gaming desires. The Tetris mobile download is perfect for the occasional gamer, because it is very simple to play and understand. It is so popular in fact, that you can find the download for your mobile phone on most any website.

When it comes to fighting games most people won't argue that Street Fighter is one of the best around. Now you can enjoy this game on your cell phone. This is Capcom's longest running fighting games ever. Since its release in the 90's, it has remained one of the more popular street fighting games.

Who doesn't love Pacman? Pacman is a classic game that has been around for years. It still has incredible appeal for all aged gamers. If you are any kind of gamer worth your salt, then you can't forget about Pacman. It is simply one of the best ever created bar none. Now you can enjoy it on your mobile device as well.

You can choose from a whole variety of exciting games on mobile phones these days. Technology just keeps improving seemingly day by day. Go online and check into all of the games that can be easily downloaded onto your mobile phone. It doesn't matter if you like the classic games or something more modern, there is something that will capture your attention when it comes to free mobile downloads.

Tips and Suggestions PDF Editor

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Portable document files, or PDF files, are meant to be used as replicas of actual documents. They were really not meant to be used for files that have not yet been edited and finalized. It is still preferable to have the original documents corrected and, afterwards, to create a new PDF. However, if the latter is not possible, then, editing of the PDF files may be done as a last resort using the following steps.

If you wish to change some portions of the text, you would need to have specific tools such as Adobe Acrobat & Acrobat Professional, Adobe Illustrator, or Inflx PDF Editor. Take note that PDF file texts are stored as single lines. The text does not flow and create continuous columns as what you see in word-processing applications. In Adobe Acrobat, you can edit minor changes using a tool called TouchUp Text. Any added or deleted text will not move the rest of the text in the column. This sometimes creates problems with the rest of the words in the text. That is why this tool should be used only as a last resort.

Adobe Illustrator has a capability for opening different types of PDF files. However, just like Adobe Acrobat, it can be tricky to use it for altering text. This program does not give you much options on the choice of fonts. It has its own set of automatic fonts, which may not be compatible to the font used on the PDF being modified. It also creates problems on text flow, even on those portions that were not edited.

Inflx PDF Editor provides satisfactory results with regards to editing text and the flow of text on the rest of the document.

You have to be aware, however, that there is an automatic function in PDF that stores a duplicate of the original document. For instance, changing the text of a tagged PDF document will only make changes on the visible document, but not on its hidden duplicate. As a consequence, the original unaltered document can still show up in search engines even after the text has been modified.

If you want to edit images in a PDF file, you can make use of Photoshop and Illustrator with some of the features of Adobe Acrobat. Acrobat gives you options for different types of touchups. You can select the image you want to edit, and which particular object editor you will be using. The edit options appear once you use the touchup object tool to select the image to be edited and you click on it. The image gets re-embedded in the file after you're done with editing the image. You can also use these features for replacing the image with another image. It is advisable that you retain the original resolution of the image you opened. Insert the new image and save it to your PDF.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The Dangers of the Online World

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To most people, a computer could not be described as Dangerous. We use them on a daily basis to type letters, perhaps browse the Internet, play games or store holiday photos. However, for some, data contained on a computer or mobile phone can provide enough evidence to form the basis of legal proceedings against them.

As a computer forensic specialist I am currently involved in criminal and civil cases involving an array of different subjects, including corporate data theft and espionage, murder, drugs, fraud, theft, employee misbehaviour, child access applications and even probate. These are not just legal cases either; for example, I regularly receive instructions relating to marriage disputes that involve computers and digital media.

Increased media attention over the past ten years in cases such as those within Operation Ore (relating to 7,000 individuals who allegedly subscribed to websites displaying sexual images of children) and more recently, terrorism and 'happy slapping' incidents, have provoked a greater public interest in proceedings where digital evidence has formed a crucial part of the case.

Not only is there now a greater general awareness of the capabilities of digital evidence and its potential within legal cases, additionally, reports of websites containing indecent images of children are also continually rising each year (The Internet Watch Foundation reports that the number of websites confirmed as containing unlawful material has increased by 62% over the last three years). It would, therefore, appear that the use of this type of evidence is set to continue to rise.

Increasing resources are now being spent on examining data of this type as part of legal cases where previously it was thought unnecessary. In the past it was commonplace for a Police investigator to restrict an investigation to simply identifying 'evidence'. Upon inspection of this investigation by an independent party, as part of a more in-depth review, it was frequent for the evidence as a whole to have been misinterpreted and the case against the Defendant was not as it first appeared.

Over recent years, the majority of criminal cases for which we received instructions have attracted greater attention from the Police. We now frequently encounter cases involving supportive evidence (such as user and/or Internet history) as well as the basic evidence that is relied upon as part of the Prosecution case. However, it seems inevitable that an increase in the number of cases limits what can be achieved within a Police Force's Hi-Tech Crime Unit. Even today we identify the presence of new and previously unconsidered relevant material within approximately 80% of the cases in which we are involved.

For the majority of the time, this is the result of the initial question asked of a Police Hi-Tech Crime Unit investigator, being "What's there?" The question "How did it get there?" is normally asked only when the Defence looks to respond to the initial allegations. Consequently, that question is normally answered until well after the case has been initiated.

Identifying the basic origins of a file is normally relatively straightforward. For instance, the location of the file normally provides the biggest clue; the activity surrounding its creation is another indicator. However, clearly, the presence of a file and even the identification of its origins do not confirm that the accused deliberately caused its creation nor was aware of its presence. To examine that point normally requires far greater levels of investigation, including the piecing together of items of data in order to build a history of that given file and the activity associated with it.

Identifying the basic origins of a file is normally relatively straightforward. For instance, the location of the file normally provides the biggest clue; the activity surrounding its creation is another indicator. However, clearly, the presence of a file and even the identification of its origins do not confirm that the accused deliberately caused its creation nor was aware of its presence. To examine that point normally requires far greater levels of investigation, including the piecing together of items of data in order to build a history of that given file and the activity associated with it.

When dealing with cases involving indecent images of children, for instance, there are various methods for an image to have been created on a computer hard drive, including, but not limited to, websites accessed whilst browsing the Internet, received e-mails and peer-to-peer software, such as KaZaA. Within each of these originating sources several possible mechanisms can cause the creation of a file without the deliberate and intentional actions of the user.

One such example is a case in which I was involved within the last 18 months. This related to a 19-year old male who, like most 19-year olds, lived at home with his parents. However, unusually, this young man faced allegations of making and possessing 9 static and 11 moving indecent images of children. The images had been stored in two folders within his 'user' profile on the family's home computer. After two years of investigation by the Police, that included an examination of the family computer by the Force's Hi-Tech Crime Unit and an externally sourced expert computer consultant as well as a number of interviews and Court appearances, the accused still had not made any admissions of guilt and claimed that he was simply unaware of the presence of the images.

The Prosecution relied upon the fact that the unlawful images were contained within manually created folders of the Defendant's 'user' profile and they also identified the presence of keyword searches for terms that were likely to result in the creation of unlawful material.

I examined the case and noted that the 9 static images had arrived via a small number of web pages containing legitimate adult pornography and had been created automatically by image downloading software. This software, I noted, had searched for and downloaded any images present on any web page that it encountered. A number of further observations were made as to the apparent lack of awareness of the user regarding the presence of the images following their creation.

The 11 moving images had appeared to have originated via the peer-to-peer software named Limewire. The software had been used to download a significant amount of pornography, including these unlawful moving images. Furthermore, a review of the operation of the software confirmed that dubious keyword searches had been conducted and these specific images had been downloaded to a folder that was located within the 'user' profile of the accused.

It was only after a careful review of the system activity that was contained on the hard drive did it transpire that another user of the computer had been frequently accessing the folder containing the target images and had been viewing its contents, including the unlawful images. After 9 months of our involvement and nearly three years of investigation, the case was eventually dropped shortly before the set Trial date.

This case is not an exception. In approximately 20% of the cases in which we are involved we have been responsible for identifying crucial new evidence that has caused the case to be withdrawn. Due to the level of examination required to recognise such evidence, this figure is unlikely to diminish. For the Police, an examination of this detail is irrelevant for the majority of cases. Having previously worked within at a regional Hi-Tech Crime Unit, I noted that while I was there, for approximately 85% of the cases in which evidence was identified, the Defendant would plead prior to Trial. Only a small percentage of cases involved a Trial and even fewer were party to a review by an independent examiner.

Cases involving files encountered and downloaded via websites are also frequent areas of misunderstanding. The presence of a web page or file on a hard drive can be the result of intentional user access, or alternatively, the operation of one of a number of different scripts and software. These scripts can cause the user's Internet browser to be automatically forwarded to web pages containing certain material or cause certain files to be added to the hard drive without the user's knowledge.

As even legitimate websites contain scripts, the majority of computer users will have experienced (and may have found annoyance in having to close them) 'pop-up' windows. These are normally used to forward a user to an advert that often will comprise of a service vaguely relating to the content of the page that was visited (e.g. the autotrader website regularly contains pop-up scripts to websites for car loans or car manufacturers). However, identifying the presence of these types of scripts and software is often difficult. Furthermore, once a suspect item has been found, making the determination as to its nature, ability and activity can be even more complicated.

As digital media increases in capacity it allows users to store more data but also increases the possibility of software or anomalous mechanisms causing the creation and movement of files. This brings with it a corresponding increase in the amount of resources and time required to examine the greater number of processes and, clearly, the amount of data to be examined in order to identify such mechanisms.

Additionally, the increased use in the court room, within both criminal and civil proceedings, of digital evidence brings with it a greater need for the presentation skills required to provide simple explanations of a subject that can not only be difficult to comprehend but also to convey accurately, clearly and without prejudice.

Clearly, the prevalence of digital technology will increase as it becomes even more accessible, usable and capable. This will undoubtedly result in a continuous increase in the number of cases involving and relying on digital evidence as well as increasing the pressure on Police Forces to examine and collate evidence from a larger number of items of digital media.

My concern is that, as nearly happened with the case of the 19-year old highlighted earlier, potentially, the critical facts of such cases will go unnoticed and items of evidence will be missed as a result of the restricted budgets and timescales placed upon a computer examiner. In this regard, the dangers of computers and the online world, for an increasing number of unsuspecting individuals, could be great.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Why Should You Be Nice to Your IT Technician?

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If there is one reason as to why you should always be nice to an IT technician in your company, it is that he or she has the capability and capacity to see all that is going on in your computer system if he or she so wishes to do so. To say the truth, there is nothing like privacy when it comes to working on net work or work computers. Even that laptop computer you purchased the other day for your private computing when connected to a company's network, it is no longer private - everything you do on it can be observed by a knowledgeable IT technician.

Apart from this, these professionals can actually check and see any website you visited outside the permitted sites, every email that you sent over the internet, the installed software, in additional to all saved documents in your computer hard disk.

For instance, if a certain investigation mission has been sanctioned by the bosses, there is little the file originator could do to prevent it from being accessed by snoopy IT technicians; in fact, they can access the information even before it has reached its recipients, thereby spilling the beans in advance. However, there are several things you can do to make it harder for unscrupulous IT technicians from carrying out these unauthorized snoops.

Utilize the available encryption technology and encrypt a segment of your computer's hard drive or sensitive files so that if anyone wants to access the said files or any other sensitive data, he or she will have to input an accessing password. However, check your company's IT policies before encrypting the said hard drive as you may have just performed or want to perform a disallowed action. Basically, the information technology policies in a given organization clearly outline how data can be encrypted so that it could be accessed if a password is forgotten by the user. A master password has to be secured, though it should not be availed or accessible to low level IT technicians in a said organization.

Another way of making information in question private is to clearing the browsers' history. Although, this will not prevent higher level IT technicians from accessing and seeing where you browsed while on the internet, it makes it pretty hard for a lower level IT technicians to do so, thereby your private or sensitive data is likely to stay private and where it is supposed to be, or to whom it is supposed to be sent to.

It is quite helpful to be conscious about your email subject lines. When any given IT technician in an organization is carrying out an email troubleshooting task, it is quite common for email subject lines to pop up on his or her system. To try and curb his or her curiosity, try to keep the email subject lines as bland as you could possibly be able to.

Nowadays, it is common for technicians to be bound to confidentiality and ethical agreements, before they could get hired in most organizations. All in all, effective IT department and its staff is normally concerned with ensuring that a said computer systems is working as is expected, in addition to troubleshooting and consequently correcting IT problems as they come and in a quick and efficient manner.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Consider Transportable Tablespace for Quick Movement of Data Subsets in Oracle

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The transportable tablespace feature allows you to move or copy a subset of an Oracle database from one Oracle database to another. Transportable tablespace aids in any situations requiring bulk data to be transferred such as during the following scenarios.

- We can use for archival of pertinent data prior to purging it without significant impact to the source database. 
- Migration of the source data from an OLTP to a reporting database of transfer of data from operational data sources to the data warehousing. 
- Transfer of production data to a test platform. 
- We can copy data from the enterprise data warehouse to temporary staging databases for massaging or converting data prior to loading down-stream data marts.

Moving data via transportable tablespace is much faster than conventional upload/load utilities, such as export/import and SQL*Loader. The reason for this is that, transporting a tablespace only requires the data files to be copied across from the source to the target database and integrating metadata pertaining to the tablespace structure. Index data can also be copied or moved without them having to be rebuilt.

When a tablespace is to be transported, it is placed in read only mode to ensure that a consistent image of the data is captured. Then only specific dictionary information is exported from the source data dictionary. Next, the tablespace data files are copied across to the target database via any operating system utilities or commands. Then the metadata describing the tablespace is imported into the target database. This is very fast because the size of the import is minimized. Optionally, the transferred tablespace can then be placed in read write mode. The actual implementation includes using the datapump utility or export/import utilities. The exp utility has a option, transport_tablespace, whereas imp has three options, transport_tablespace, data files, and tts_owners, to support this feature.

You can transport tablespace between Oracle databases that use the same data block size and character set. Also the source and target platform should be compatible and, it possible, from the same hardware vendor. Also, to prevent violation of functional and physical dependencies and referential integrity, another limitation allows only called "self-contained" tablespace to be transported. "Self-contained" means that there should be no references within the tablespace pointing to segments outside the tablespace. For example, if the tablespace set you wish to copy must contain either all or none of the partitions of a partitioned table. The procedure DBMS_TTS.transport_set_check can be used to determine whether or not the tablespace in question is self-contained. All violations reported by this procedure can be seen within transport_set_violations view which will be empty when there are no violations. In order to determine which of the tablespace in the current database have been transported the plugged_in column in "dba_tablespaces" can be checked.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Building Walls Instead of Bridges in Relationships?

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In this tech savvy age, we have all sorts of gadgets for staying in touch 24/7. We have smartphones, pagers, Twitter, Facebook, email, etc. You name it and we have it. While contacting a person has become easier than ever, why is it that people are actually lonelier now than when we didn't have any of this fast paced technology to keep in touch?

Maybe being accessible 24/7 is not as fantastic as we thought it would be? Being accessible all the time limits our opportunity to have some peaceful 'down' time. We need that time to maintain some personal freedom and to allow our minds to take a breather, unwind, and just relax.

To gain that much needed freedom, more and more people now avoid answering their phones. Thank you caller ID. We are having a relationship with each other's voicemails instead! People are also interacting more via text, Twitter, or email than actually getting together in person. Are you guilty of this? Aw come on, let's face it, how many times have you avoided seeing a person face to face and emailed or texted them instead?

Technological advancement has actually created a new age way of 'building a wall' between others and us. We simply turn off our gadgets to end communication. The same gadgets that were meant to make communication simpler and faster are the same tools we use to avoid closeness with others.

The need for face-to-face interaction is becoming obsolete and reliance on technology continues to isolate us further from one another. "Getting together" is now done via teleconference calls. We get together with others who share a common interest or common challenge and provide 'support' that sorely lacks within our communities, families, and friendships. Relationships end via text or get posted with a change of status on Facebook!

It is a shame that the more technologically advanced we get, the more isolated and lonely we become as a society. While it's wonderful to be able to connect with someone who lives thousands of miles away, it's sad that those who live within driving or even walking distance from one another opt to communicate via techs than in person.

If you find yourself feeling more isolated than before, put down the phones, walk away from the computer and make plans to get together with friends and family in person. Get to know your neighbors, reach out and form a connection with another. You'll be surprised how many people are craving the same but afraid to step outside their increasingly limited comfort zones.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Everyone Is Getting Or Has the Kindle Fire ?

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The "Kindle Fire" is all the rave these days. It seems everywhere we go that everyone has a "Kindle". It is convenient that is for sure, but is it practical? The Laptop is probably better when it comes to computing, but it is not as easy to carry around as the little hand-held device called the "Kindle Fire".

For those who do a lot of writing the Laptop computer is probably far better. The keys are much larger and will fit your fingers much better. Also, you have a larger screen to stare at, then you do with the small hand-held devices. Yes, we prefer the Laptop for most applications.

But for those who are constantly on the go and they need the ability to check messages on the fly, surf the web, play games, read and otherwise occupy themselves while waiting in the airport this little hand-held device called the "Kindle Fire" just may be the ideal way to go.

The "Kindle Fire" is compact enough to carry in your pocket or pulse. You can literally take it anywhere you happen to be going. Not so with your Laptop computer. Sometimes the Laptop computer can be a real burden when you are going someplace and it is hard to fit in your pocket or pulse.

Of course, if you are a person who likes to do a lot of reading you may want to get the "Kindle Fire" and the "Reader" together and save a little money. The great thing about the "Kindle" and "Reader" is they cut down on the suns-glare. It is really annoying when you are trying to read and the sun, if you are not positioned right will cause a glare and actually hurt your eyes. Is this not annoying to you? It is to most of us!

We have found that the price for the "Kindle Fire" and the "Reader" together just may be worth the difference over getting another Laptop computer, especially if you do a lot of traveling. And who does not do a lot of traveling these days?

For just under $200 you can have your very own "Kindle and Reader" when you buy them together as a package deal. Now, no one knows just how long these prices will last, so the sooner we get to the "Kindle Store" and pick yours up the better.

Of course, keep in mind that not everyone needs a "Kindle Fire" or a "Reader", but if you are out and about a lot you may want to consider getting yours for the added convenience that it will fit in your pocket or pulse and carries well that way. After all when was the last time you were able to carry your Laptop in your pocket or pulse?

Just remember this, the "Kindle Fire" is probably the best technology to come along in years and we believe it is the best thing since "white bread." Why not check it out and see if it will work for you? What a world we live in with all the great inventions that have come along within the past few years.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Fingerprint Identification System

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Fingerprint identification is considered to be an effective method of identification because no two persons have the same finger prints. This method of identifying individuals has been around for a long time, but the introduction of fingerprint identification software has really made it one of the best identification systems.

The software is widely available these days, so many companies and individuals are implementing it. In an office, it can help in identifying employees, partners and customers in a quick and easy way. In a personal setting, it could be used in a home. The technology is already being used in laptops.

Working

The working of a fingerprint identification system can be divided into two steps. First it scans the fingerprint of the person. This is achieved with the help of a scanning machine that captures the image of the finger. There are a variety of scanners available in the market, such as the Crossmatch Verifier 300 and SecuGen Hamster IV, with different features. For example, the Hamster IV does not need to be promoted for scanning the finger - it automatically activities itself when a finger is placed on the sensor. The second step is the actual print identification. This involves matching of the scanned fingerprint with enrolled prints.

There are two ways of obtaining a biometric identification tool for fingerprints - one can build it on their own with the help of a software development kit (SDK) or purchase an already built system. Of course, the choice depends on available expertise, budget and time.

Features

There are number of qualities that are desirable in the case of fingerprint Identification software. The first and foremost is, of course, accuracy. Software that provide the greatest accuracy, provide the greatest security. Accuracy can be affected by the condition of the finger. For example, scarred fingers are more difficult to scan. Another factor is speed. Identification should be fast, so that it causes as less interruption in work as possible.

Personalization is also a desirable option. When purchasing a fingerprint identification system, one should always check the personalization options. These options enable the user to adapt the software to their needs. The option of a picture along with the name of the identified person is also a good option to have.

Biometric identification is very helpful in maintaining security as it analyzes characteristics that cannot be easily stolen. Fingerprint identification software are a great application of this technology for both personal and business use.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Getting Satisfactory Results in the Manufacturing and Finishing Process

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Many people dream of having their own factory to make this widget or that gadget. Some items are dead easy to make an a manufacturing and assembly line can be set up in the garage. These items will tend to be fairly low tech with only a few steps in the process. And example of this would be something like a metal pressing shop where Step 1 would guillotine the metal sheets to the optimal size. Step 2 would punch out the blanks, step 3 would be to press the blanks into the desired shape and step 4 would involve machining the rough edges.

But other items require a far more sophisticated design with various components being created in different streams and being assembled elsewhere. For example take a mobile phone.

There is a production line that is going to make the LCD displays 
Another line would mould the casing (both front and back) 
Another line is setting up the keypad 
Another will be etching the PC card 
Then the PC card must be stuffed with the components and chips and resisters and diodes etc. 
That has to be soldered and tested, 
Then the streams start flowing together where the body has the LCD screen fitted, then that moves along the line where the keyboard is fitted, these two are then connected to the PC board which is then affixed.

After that of course comes the battery and the back and the test before the finished product can be packed and shipped.

At various stages during this process some items will be particularly sensitive to dust. This is true of the etching of the PC boards, the component stuffing and the soldering process. And so to maintain a high quality most manufacturers have these processes within clean rooms

Clean room technology ensures that there is no dust or any fumes or anything else that can contaminate the product. A clean room may be very small just covering a conveyor belt where critical processes take place or can be huge involving whole assembly lines with specially filtered air-conditioning and all staff wearing over shoes, and surgical gowns and masks. Everything depends on the requirements of the process.

Certain food factories have this requirement as do drug manufacturers where sterility in the manufacturing is vital to the end product. So one will often find clean rooms is these places.

The same is true of spray painting. Everyone at some stage or other has bought a can of spray paint to paint something, and usually the results are less than satisfactory. The reason for this is that spray painting and airbrushing requires consistency in distance and coverage and requires and even steady touch. The slightest air current or dust particles floating around and the desired finish is lost.

So professionals always spray in spray booths. This allows them to get a clean and even finish with a coat of consistent thickness. For a truly fin job and item will be sprayed, baked, a flattening sander will take off all the high spots. This process will be repeated and only the third coat, which will be a very light touch provides the final high gloss finish which can only be achieved by professionals in spray booths.