UND-Pilsa Blog

Once again another phone call with Raymond McNally of RTDWebsolutions prompts me to tell you about a prime piece of “real estate” on your own computer, the HOME PAGE of your own internet browser!

When you click HOME where is it taking you?

Mega-giants online would love to persuade you to have
their site loading each time you go HOME, but is that an
efficient way to use it? No, it is not.

Your own HOME PAGE should take you to the numerous
links YOU need and use, at the click of your mouse.

By that I mean, if you have numerous startpage programs,
affiliate program links, online banking links, website stats,
administrative functions for your own website, etc., that
you routinely check on - instead of filing them under your
FAVORITES (and having to remember what stands for
what), create one single HOME PAGE that can take you
anywhere you need to be - all with the click of your own
mouse!

Picture this - you open your browser or click HOME during
the day and you are automatically at a page that is useful -
for YOU!

And it’s simple to set up! Even someone with zero website
building capabilities can have their own personalized
homepage up and running in no time using something as
simple as NOTEPAD on your own computer.

You do NOT have to upload it either - unless you have your
own domain and would enjoy accessing your list anywhere
in the world anytime - just consider burying it deep inside
your website and password protecting it first. Truly, this
puppy can just sit on your own hard drive and can be modified
as needed instantly!

Here’s how to do it…

First, open WINDOWS EXPLORER, head to your C DRIVE,
and create a new folder on your own C drive (up under
FILE). Call this new folder HOMEPAGE. Close Windows
Explorer.

Then:

1. Click open NOTEPAD

Note: Since certain codes do not lend themselves to
article writing, please remove the * in the examples below
and type SHIFT/COMMA to open a link and SHIFT/PERIOD
when closing your link.

Also, where I have typed ENTER, you will type *BR* again
substituting the appropriate keys for the * to create a hard
return.

2. Type *B* Startpage Programs */B* ENTER

This creates a bolded heading called Startpage Programs,
your first category.

Now, gather all your startpage program urls and copy and
paste them one by one under this category. Be sure to type
ENTER (see above) after each line of code to ensure they
are one below the other.

Also, please note that you can easily add the NEW WINDOW
“target” to each of your links. Just before the closing * (see
above) of each of your links, insert:

one typed SPACE and then “target=_blank”

Now each time you click a link, it will open in a new window
for you.

Here’s a sample link:

*a href=”http://www.mystartpagelink.com” target=_blank”* MyStartPage */a*

On your HOME page, you’ll see a clickable link called
MyStartPage.

You must insert some sort of name after the URL and close
the a href reference with the */a* code to complete the link.

So, after getting your startpages organized…

3. Type *B* Affiliate Programs */B* ENTER

Again, go out and gather together all the programs you
check on a regular or even infrequent basis. Enter the
links given to you by that particular program, one by
one, again inserting the NEW WINDOW code into each of
your links, and typing the code for ENTER after each affiliate
url.

4. Repeat the above as many times as needed to create
the categories you personally need for things you routinely
check on.

5. When you are through, SAVE the file to your C Drive
inside the HOMEPAGE folder you initially created. Be sure
to give your newly created page an HTM extension, for
example: homepage.htm

Now, open your browser and click on TOOLS (sorry Netscape
users will have to find their setting for the startpage on their
own *smile!*).

The window pops open and the first thing you’ll see under
the GENERAL tab is “Home page.”

In the address bar type in:

file://C:/HOMEPAGE/homepage.htm

Click APPLY. Voila! you are finished!

You can add and delete programs and headings at will
anytime just by reopening this htm page into NOTEPAD,
making your changes, and selecting SAVE. That’s it, it
really is simple.

Now whenever you choose to “GO HOME,” your own
browswer will open to something YOU need, your own
organized page to work from! Enjoy!

© Theresa Cahill - All Rights Reserved. Feel free to distribute this article. Please keep it intact and with the resource box included below.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Theresa Cahill, a two decade veteran of marketing, is the owner of http://www.mywizardads.com and invites you to take a look at the services of MWA and download fr.ee helpful information and more at http://www.mywizardads.com/sitemap.html

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Homeland Security - Protecting our Borders and Ports through
Biometric, RFID, Sensor and Surveillance Technology

Homeland Security Focused on Addressing Illegal Immigration and
Terrorism through Stronger Borders and Ports

By Ann-Marie Fleming, www.BorderandPortSecurity.com ,
www.HomelandDefenseStocks.com November 2005

Securing our ports and borders has become a major focus of
Homeland Security, in particular since the events of 9/11.
President Bush has made addressing problems with illegal
immigration, terrorist activities, and illegal smuggling of
weapons and drugs a high level priority of border and port
security. In October, the President signed the Department of
Homeland Security Appropriations Act for 2006, which allocates
$30.8 billion in discretionary funding for the 2006 fiscal year.
The bill apportions $7.5 billion towards illegal immigration and
gives $139 million towards the improvement of border technology
and intelligence capabilities to include cameras and sensors
among others.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff stated before the
US. Senate Judiciary Committee, “President Bush has placed
ever-increasing importance on border security and has devoted
significant resources to this challenge. The President believes
- and I agree - that illegal immigration threatens our
communities and our national security. The ability of
undocumented individuals to enter our country represents an
obvious homeland security threat. Flagrant violation of our
borders undercuts the rule of law, undermines our security, and
imposes particular economic strains on our border communities.
When we do not control our borders, we also risk entry into the
U.S. of terrorists or others wishing to do us harm.”

RFID Biometric Convergence:

A key initiative towards the achievement of secure borders and
ports to ensure the facilitation of lawful travel and trade, an
accurate immigration system and the overall protection of
visitors and citizens is the U.S. Visit program. Under this
program, foreign visitors are required to have their index
fingers scanned as well as a digital photograph taken for travel
document identification matching purposes. According to the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), US-VISIT entry procedures
are currently in place at 115 airports, 15 seaports and in the
secondary inspection areas of the 50 busiest land ports of
entry. Exit procedures are operating at 12 airports and two
seaports with procedures to be deployed to the remaining land
ports of entry by December 31, 2005.

Under the Visa Waiver Program, 27 nation’s such as Australia,
Austria, Norway, Belgium, Japan, the United Kingdom, France,
Germany and many more countries, had to meet a congressional
mandate that required, as a first stage in the multi-stage
border and port security strategy, for passports to have the
digital photographs in passports by October 26, 2005. The next
step according to DHS is a policy requiring these countries to
produce ‘e-passports’, which entails an RFID chip that can store
biographic information, a digital photograph and other biometric
details to be integrated into passports by October 26, 2006.

This technology, under the U.S. Visit Program, allows for faster
and more secure identification of illegal activity, and provides
for more efficient border and port travel for visitors to the
United States, while increasing the ability to share information
among federal, state, local and foreign agencies.

Homeland security technology expert Brian Ruttenbur, Equity
Research Analyst, Morgan Keegan & Co. explains, “What really
pushes countries and government officials to move are mandates
with deadlines and funding attached to those. The US Visit has
really pushed that along in enforcing the requirements set forth
in the program in terms of biometric authentication, and
governments have found the funding for those types of issues.”

Sense Holdings, a provider of biometric and micro-sensor
identification systems that target the homeland security market,
sees the convergence of RFID and biometric technology as an
effective security solution. The Company’s CEO, Dore Perler
explains, “The use of RFID and biometric technologies is almost
a perfect fit in the development of an easy to use intuitive
security system. As a layered approach, the RFID requires little
or no action from the end user, leaving only the biometric
component. Essentially this doubles the security of the system
without requiring any additional effort from the end user.
Incorporating multiple RFID triggers facilities notification to
the end user that they are not authorized prior to using the
biometric or approaching the system terminal, thus minimizing
the wear and tear on the biometric while correspondingly
allowing the process to proceed faster for those authorized.”

Domestic and International Opportunity:

“The biometric side of the business is going to grow extremely
fast all because of the enhanced border and visa security act
that was passed in 2002 by Congress, which is forcing every
country in the entire world to go with biometric sensors and
biometric travel documents. I see the EU Visitor Information
System and UK e-borders spurring into multiple programs and
there is going to be biometrics on every travel documents in
five to ten years down the road and that’s going to be National
ID Cards, Visas, and Passports all with biometrics. The U.S.
will be one of the last nations of the first world countries, to
adopt a biometrics national id card,” describes Ruttenbur.

Two key the goals for the integration of biometric and RFID
technology in terms of border and port security entails both
accuracy as well as efficiency to help facilitate faster border
crossing with an increased level of security. “The competitive
advantage of implementing a technology based solution, such as
RFID, biometrics, or a combination, comes not from the
technology itself, but from the improvements to business
processes that would be impossible without the devices. We are
very excited about the future of RFID integration with
biometrics and as a stand alone technology. Issues that have
plagued industry are now able to be resolved with the
incorporation of wireless LANs, RFID, and biometrics. Sense is
positioning itself and developing new product lines to address
these long time burdens,” states Perler.

Surveillance Systems:

The tragic events that took place in London with the bombings
within a major transit system have placed a growing sense of
urgency on the need for effective surveillance technology. As
Ruttenbur discusses, “I think that the next step to see across
the borders will be camera systems getting rolled out. We have
seen a number of announcements from the New York Transit
Authority, the New Jersey Transit authority that they are
starting to implement camera systems that monitor the platforms,
trains, buses etc.”

According to Corby Lawrence, Director of Business Development
for SYColeman, a division of L-3 Communications, “The roll-out
of such camera systems must be planned, built, and implemented
with a major focus on real-world operational effectiveness.
Simply installing huge volumes of cameras and sensors and
displaying the information on dozens of CCTVs exceeds the human
capacity to detect threat activities within an area of concern.”

L-3 Communications has addressed this global problem with its
PRAETORIAN surveillance software. Created by Sarnoff
Laboratories and recently purchased and commercialized by L-3,
PRAETORIAN is the industry’s only surveillance system capable of
integrating multiple cameras and sensors into a single, 3D
“game-like” display, permitting fly-through abilities. “With
PRAETORIAN, operators can finally have full situational
awareness, even in complex security environments such as borders
and ports,” stated Lawrence.

As the war on terrorism across the globe expands, and public and
private “homeland security” and related funding increases, the
demand for surveillance is anticipated to continue its growth.
Law Enforcement Associates (LEA) is working to take advantage of
the intensified need for surveillance technology through the
Company’s Under Vehicle Inspection System. As described by the
Company, the Under Vehicle Inspection System views the underside
of vehicles entering and exiting secure areas/facilities for
explosive devices and contraband. It is deployed on military
bases, oil refineries, ports, United Nations and NATO Locations,
embassies, nuclear facilities, and government installations.
Paul Feldman, LEA’s CEO, reveals, “Providing the needed security
at border entry points and ports is a very tasking job. Our
borders are vast and are difficult to fully monitor. The amount
of freight that comes into our seaports is staggering. LEA has
proven that their security products can play be an important
part of the “overall security” plan to help in border and port
security.”

Sensor Technology:

The focus on sensor technology with applications in border and
port security is increasing. Ruttenbur anticipates growth in
sensor programs for cargo screening, which are just starting to
emerge, as well as rollouts in the next several months for
additional sensor programs that entail body scanners first in
airports, then in other locations.

Sense Holdings is currently developing explosives sensor
technology based on Micro Electro-Mechanical Sensors (MEMS) with
plans on integrating this technology with biometric
identification. “As the needs for Homeland Security escalate and
become more complicated, there is a growing demand for
innovative detection technology to ensure and enable security on
a variety of levels. Along with developing technology that can
accurately identify explosives and harmful material, the use of
this technology must also be secured. The integration of
biometric identification with effective explosives detection
ensures that the activities are monitored, tracked and that the
technology is only being used by authorized personnel, while at
the same time helping to facilitate secure communication of
sensor activity,” describes Perler.

Law Enforcement Associates has entered the detection market with
their explosives detection kit, the EDK123, which according to
the Company provides a fast, reliable field test for detection
of trace nitrates that are found in 85% of all explosives,
including TNT, Dynamite, Sentex, RDX and ammonium nitrates. It
is currently being used by our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Global Security:

As the United States works towards an actionable security plan
to protect our borders and ports, it is becoming clear that
homeland security is more accurately defined as Global Security.
With the continuation of worldwide terrorist activity, it is
clear that security can no longer be understood and evaluated in
a domestic context alone. With a global perspective on security
and the potential threats that we face, innovative and effective
technology can be more clearly identified to address the needs
for securing travel and trade. This quest points towards an
industry that will continue to grow; one that will be here for
the long run as it continues to evolve to meet the diverse
challenges that global security demands.

Ann-Marie Fleming Ann-Marie Fleming completed her MBA in the
United States, where she attended Webster University. She also
holds an Honors B.A from the University of Toronto. She has over
fifteen years of experience within the financial industry to
include retail banking and brokerage, investment banking, and
mortgage brokerage within the United States and Canada, with a
firm background in corporate research.

Disclaimer: www.InvestorIdeas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp,
www.HomelandDefenseStocks.com/Companies/HomelandDefense/Disclaime
r.asp

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DVD or Digital Video Discs are similar to compact discs with one major exception; they can store a lot more data than a CD. Initially, a DVD was used for storing data but very few could afford them. DVD’s came into the picture early in the 90’s, when compact discs were booming.

Introduced by Pioneer, DVDs were one-sided. Toshiba, Sony and Philips soon followed with their own versions. At the time, the discs were about 1.2mm thick and could contain approximately 2.1GB data.

The amount of data that can be stored onto a DVD has rapidly increased because of new developments in the field by major companies. DVD-read only memory discs are still the most popular on the market, even though DVD-read write memory disks are available. This is because of the price difference between the two. The DVD read only memory discs the best bargain.

In today’s market, DVDs are the latest craze in the movie world. Since they can store as many as 3 to 5 movies on one disc, rental agencies are finding them to be a valuable resource. Profits are greater because DVDs are more durable than CDs and can be rented out hundreds of times.

Advancement in the development of DVDs has been seen in recent years. Two-sided DVD are readily available on the market. They are considered a better option because more movies can be stored on one disc.

Rental agencies are available online where customers can register and pay a fee on a yearly, quarterly or lifetime basis. The agency will send the DVDs to the customer’s home for a specific period of time. These websites have a complete list of all DVDs currently available.

DVD Rentals provides detailed information about DVD rentals, DVD rental clubs, DVD rental reviews, and more. DVD Rentals is affiliated with Free Movie Downloads.

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I am currently a Network Administrator that supports about 100 Servers and 2000 Clients that has 8 years experience in Network Engineering. This article explains why certifications really dont matter.When I was in school all that my classmates talked about was how you need this certification and that certification. Now that I am responsible for interviewing technicians I learned that they really dont matter.

How many times did your Interviewer ask you to see your actual certification. NEVER or almost NEVER. As long as you know the material you can say you have any certification you want. Since 95% of employers will never really check does it make it right to lie about what certifications you really have. I would have to say YES and NO. It is not right to lie about what certifications you really have but on the other hand most companies have a non technical person interview you so all he wants to hear is what are you CERTIFIED in.

My suggestion would be to just know the information that the job is for and now about saying you have all the certs. I still personally go and get all the certifications but that is because I am required to show proof at my current position.

Thanks,

arsbargains

Check out our website WWW.ARSBARGAINS.COM

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The Sony NW-HD5 20GB hard drive audio player is a solid competitor: It certainly has a leg up on its wheel-sporting white rival in the battery life department, and it has a couple of navigation features that should make Apple take note.
Sony has been struggling to keep pace with Apple’s hugely successful iPod and iTunes, but it’s been a losing battle.It lacks extras like an FM tuner or recording, but so does the iPod, and the lack of frills makes it very simple to use.
But despite the player’s ease of use, very good sound quality, and (finally) native MP3 support, Sony’s MP3 player is still held back by the required software and overzealous DRM.
The stylish-looking anodized-aluminum NW-HD5, available in red, silver, or black, measures 2.4 by 3.5 by 0.6 inches and weighs 4.8 ouncessignificantly smaller and lighter than the fourth-generation 20GB iPod.
It has a very simple button layout on the front, below the 1.7-inch monochrome LCD, and a hold switch on top next to the headphone jack.
The removable lithium ion rechargeable battery is rated for 30 hours of continuous MP3 audio playback at 128 Kbps (or 40 hours for Sony’s proprietary ATRAC3/ATRAC3plus formats).
When tested with a real-world mix of MP3 files encoded at 128 Kbps to 320 Kbps, the battery was found to last for nearly 24.5 hoursroughly twice the iPod’s battery life. It also has adjustable screen orientation and shock protection, which senses when the player is dropped and releases the recording head to protect the hard disk.
The menus look very low-budget, but they are quite easy to navigate. Initials Search lets you jump to songs that begin with a specific lettera handy feature that other vendors should consider implementing.
You can create standard playlistsSony calls them Bookmarksdirectly on the player, but they can’t be edited in the bundled SonicStage software.
Likewise, playlists created in SonicStage cannot be edited on the player. And the Bookmarks have nothing to do with audiobooks, which aren’t supported.
The NW-HD5’s biggest drawbacks are the Windows-only SonicStage software and the strict DRM.
You can transfer tracks to the player only via SonicStage, much like with Apple’s iPod and iTunes combination. The installation is a fairly long process and requires a restart, and the software isn’t nearly as polished as iTunes.
But you also have to “authorize” the player via the Internet, which involves creating a Sony Connect account, letting you use the player with up to five computersotherwise, the player is tied to a single computer.
SonicStage supports unprotected WMA files, but when transferred the same to the NW-HD5, they were automatically transcoded to Sony’s proprietary ATRAC3 format. For online music services, you’re limited to the mediocre Sony Connect.
Sony has taken a big step forward with native MP3 support, and the player looks and sounds very good. Its ease of use rivals even that of the iPod.
But we feel that the software and DRM present too many difficulties, and Sony still needs to figure out a better strategy to protect its vast catalog of music copyrights.
If you can live with the NW-HD5’s DRM and software limitations, you’ll find the player itself provides a very good combination of ease of use, sound quality, and battery life for the price.

About the Author

For more more information about mp3 players please visit http://www.i-pod-mp3-player.com

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