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Issue #7 May 2008 |
| 0845 0945 870 | info@headsnet.com |
The May Update
Welcome to the May issue of Headstrong Update.
This month we have Microsoft paying your for your search business, the UK's rural broadband explosion, easy data encryption techniques, and a friendly password generator called Password Bird!
Regards
Ben Roberts
Editor
Industry News
Rural homes 'lead broadband UK'
In a surprising turnaround, rural homes now are more likely to have a broadband Internet connection than homes in towns and cities.
"Four years ago urban dwellers were twice as likely to have broadband as those living in the country."
The report also indicated take-up of other modern technologies around the country - for example Dundee is the city with the highest levels of 3G phone use.
Full Article (BBC News)
Microsoft to pay you to search
Redmond unveiled a new site called "Live Search Cashback". If you use its Live Search engine to find and purchase certain products, Microsoft will refund between 2 and 30 per cent of the purchase price.
It appears that Microsoft is to make no money from this venture, and is purely doing it to claw back some market share from Google - according to the latest figures Google controls 60 percent of the search market while Microsoft controls a meagre 10 percent.
Full Article (The Register)
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Software Selection
Truecrypt
Ever wondered what would happen to your data if your computer got stolen? Pictures, documents, financial information, personal emails - all of this is at the mercy of the thief once they got hold of your computer. Theft is an especially big problem for laptop computers.
So what can you do about it? One of the ways you can secure your data is to make sure you require a password to boot up your computer (a BIOS password), and a password to access your desktop. However, there are ways around both of these measures. If you want to get really secure you should consider encrypting your data files so only you can gain access to them.
Now encrypting your files sounds complicated, but there is a simple solution called Truecrypt, which can make life easier. Truecrypt works on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms, and can perform a variety of functions. The simplest and most common function is to create an encrypted file and configure it as a virtual disk - meaning you get a new location to store your files and folders but where everything is transparently encrypted when you save, and unencrypted when you read documents. However, the only way you can access the files on the encrypted virtual disk is by entering a pass-phrase that you have defined.
There are a lot of other possible uses for Truecrypt, and many of these are explained in more detail on the Truecrypt web site. Truecrypt is, of course, absolutely free to use and if you give it a go you should be up and running in a matter of minutes.
Password Bird
Password Bird is a simple utility to help you come up with new, yet memorable passwords that remain difficult to guess. There's not a lot to it, so not a lot more to say, other than give it a try and see how you like it. I was surprised at how easily remembered some of the passwords it suggests actually are. Password Bird is free to use and web based, so you can use it from anywhere.
In Pictures
In Pictures is a collection of free, easy-to follow illustrated tutorials for software and computer subjects such as Microsoft Office, Dreamweaver, Photoshop Elements, HTML and CSS, My SQL, PHP, and Perl.
That's all for this month
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this issue. If you know anyone who might appreciate this please take a moment to refer them - it will be much appreciated.
Until next time,
Ben Roberts
Editor
Contact Information
Headstrong Update is published by Headstrong Internet Services Ltd.
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