What is Windows Blue and What Does it Mean for us?

Those who followed the news recently have no doubt heard about Windows Blue, and all those rumors related to Microsoft’s new OS version. While speculations have been floating quite for some time, with sources even claiming that this might be Windows 9, a completely new release which should sweeten sales for Microsoft, all the madness stopped when the Redmond-based giant acknowledged the project publicly.

Until June 26^th, when Microsoft will host their special Build 2013 event in San Francisco and where Windows Blue will be completely disclosed, this project will remain only a mystery. But perhaps, in the short time we have, we can shed some light on the subject and discuss the meaning, importance and what could Windows Blue change for the existing Window 8 and of course, for Microsoft’s own strategy.

Windows Blue: between meaning and mystery

From what we’ve managed to harness in the past days, we can safely say that Windows Blue, or whatever Microsoft will choose to name it, will be a significant Windows 8 upgrade, but not a completely new version. This Blue project should bring a couple of new features, extra tweaking options and even an easier way to manage and navigate the OS, but besides all of these, Microsoft will not market it as a standalone client.
Most probably, Windows Blue will be a Mac OS-like update, where users should have the ability to gain a couple of extra new features, for a rather small price. This set of extensive features should surpass the ones brought by regular Windows Service Pack updates, but not enough to actually call it a totally different package. Speaking of additions, here’s what you should expect:

New Features and Functionality

• Touch improvisation – while desktops are widely used, the future will no doubt be touch. Therefore, Microsoft aims to improve the general feeling experience in Blue by adding a couple of new gestures, such as swipe upwards to access the application list and enhanced drawing.
• Snapping – I personally loved Air Snap in Windows 7, and even more in 8. With this feature, you could easily drag two windows towards the sides of the screen, and multitask two applications by splitting the screen in half. In the next update, Microsoft will once more enhance this feature, by allowing up to four apps on the screen, depending on the used resolution. Moreover, snapping will be done even easier for touch lovers, thanks to window resizing and quick-enabling modes.
• Smarter Charm Bar – the new Charm system will hold a couple of extra settings, which can now be found only in the desktop mode under Control Panel. From this smart menu, users will be able to change the background and edit some theme options, such as background colors and accents. Moreover, a smart searching function has been implemented here.
• Tiles size and movement– until the moment, Windows 8 lets users change the size of tiles in only two ways: large or small. An extra size will be added with the upcoming update, one which will be a quarter of the existing large. Moreover, tiles can be organized as the user pleases, with the help of a new customize button. Once this button is tapped, tiles can be manually arranged around the screen.
• New Applications – like usual, some of the existing titles will be renewed, while others will be added to the suite. From what we know, Mail, People, Calendar will be affected and a new Alarm system, plus a Sound recorder app will be added.
• Internet Explorer 11 – Microsoft’s old browser will once more be enhanced with another version, 11, which will also be usable from the desktop mode. While there are no mentions of amazing features, we do know that tab syncing is going to be present and that owners will also be able to take screenshots of the screen and link to pages.
• SkyDrive improvement – until the moment, syncing in SkyDrive was only possible from the desktop application. In Blue, this feature will also be added to the Metro-style app.
• Enhanced Lock Screen – the place where all the fun starts can now be used as a frame for all taken pictures, and owners can even enable camera access right from the menu. From here, a shutdown screen similar to the one found in Windows Phone will also be developed.
• New apps settings – from the upgraded options menu, people can tweak the notification feature to be as silent as possible within certain hours. Known as “Quiet hours”, this feature should come in handy while taking a nap.
• Movie Moments – designed as a Windows Movie maker replacement, Moments is a basic editing application at the moment, which only allows people to add captions directly onto videos. But given the remaining timeframe, it should evolve.
• Tweaked keyboard layout – although just a minor adjustment, Microsoft has changed the keyboard layout to insert numbers easily, by holding down and then swapping upwards a letter.
• Built-in tethering – after playing with the leaked build, ItWorld found that a hidden 3G/4G tethering functionality will soon be added. Although there’s no visual interface to prove that, the code exists and it’s enough to handle Wi-Fi or Bluetooth streams towards other mobile devices. This will be a pretty nifty trick, as tethering towards an Android terminal from a Windows computer is pretty stressing at the moment.
• Modern Windows Defender – the standard security suite embedded in Windows will get a revamped UI, now suitable for the modern touch interface. Once again, there’s no working application to prove this claims, but there are several folder references and code traces.
• Barcode Scanners – there are several code traces that show Windows Blue to possibly be compatible with built-in barcode scanners. Our guess is that Microsoft is currently working with 3rd party vendors, aiming to create specific devices, which might be used in general shops or even medical facilities.
• Enhanced battery options – apart from the casual Power Save mode, Windows Blue will also integrate a latency sensitivity feature, which should keep processing power at bay, when no demanding application are used. Once again, no documentation exists, but several tests showed that Blue can handle power juice slightly better than Windows 8.
• Less RAM needs- as Microsoft used clients with every Windows release since Vista, Blue should consume less RAM than Windows 8. Thanks to tests, the actual improvements is about 90 megabytes, with the whole system requiring only 485 MB RAM to run.
• Quality Icons – inspiring from Apple’s own standards once again, Microsoft looks towards Retina-like displays by improving the quality of all existing icons, cursors and etc.

Naming

As Frank X. Shaw, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Communications kindly notes, Windows Blue is just an internal name and most likely, it will not be marketed as such:

 […] a set of plans referred to internally as “Blue.” - chances of products being named thusly are slim to none. And don’t start with the “so you’re telling me there’s a chance” bit

Indulge this fantasy, but there’s a chance to see Windows Blue as Windows 8.1.

How will Blue Change the Game?

With some builds of Windows Blue already leaked on torrent websites and people close to the subject managing to even get a preview of the project, we know that this significant update will hit all existing Windows 8 editions, including RT and Server. But having in mind to upgrade all clients is not Microsoft’s only thought.
Moreover, we have reasons to believe that extra services, such as the Services suite, Office and Internet Explorer will also be upgraded (and even Windows Phone). Although we do not know yet how the system functions, most certainly these enhanced versions will reach outdated systems but again, for a price.

A special attention has been purportedly given to the Office Suite, which will be updated by a Gemini version. In a few words, Gemini is a wave of Office releases coming over the next two years, ones which may transform the software in a more touch-friendly way. As you may already experience, the current 2013 edition is still complicated for touch devices, with so many buttons being too tiny to aim. Officially, only two Metro-style members of the Office suite exist, OneNote and Lync. I guess it’s time to extend the range.
Again, as Mary Jo notes, the first wave should arrive in the same time as Blue and will affect important name, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, while the second updating cycle should target the remaining names later next year. It is well believed that one of the critical changes brought by the Blue project will affect the traditional updating cycle. As the same Mary Jo Foley hints, Microsoft is adapting the release cycle to a faster and smaller pace, one which may resemble Apple’s. We believe that Microsoft will no longer count on game-changing versions, like Windows 8, to attract customers, betting on smaller versions instead.

Where is Windows heading?

Many feared that Windows is going to stray even further from the desktop mode. While enhanced options have been introduced for touch-based users, like a more comprehensive Charms bar and advanced navigation options, we believe that Microsoft will not abandon us, conventional clients.
A big hint of that assumption is the exclusive extra-large size assigned for the Desktop tile. As you probably noticed from the video up-top, the demonstrator shows how you can make the Desktop shortcut as large as two regular applications. This means that once more, Microsoft relies on usage statistics when changing features, and as long as conventional laptops and non-touch monitors will exist, the Desktop mode is not going away.
Beyond this, Window is going to improve, and adapt to the ever-hungry market. Although we cannot call Windows 8 the most successful version yet, we truly like to believe that Microsoft is going to get there.

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Test and Preview Blogs Offline with Instant WordPress

 

Creating WordPress blogs may be simple, but for someone who really wants the most out of a website steps like designing, thinking and testing an idea can really take a while. Now, thanks to Instant WordPress, webmasters can see how a blog looks and test their ideas before deploying the project to the broad public.
In a few words, Instant WordPress performs every tricky task which must be taken to preview a blog offline, on a regular desktop computer, including the installation and configuration of a PHP client, a server, the database and all the links between these programs. The client is even configured to run on an USB drive.

How does Instant WordPress work?

Well, the software comes as a single, Windows-compatible file which has approximately 55MB and which can be launched with a single-click action. Once installed, the software will deploy WordPress 3.3.2, Apache 2.2.15 in a 32-bit architecture mode, PHP 5.3.2 and MySQL 5.1.46-community-nt in a single folder. From there, you will have to:

1. Double-click InstantWP.exe to display the console.
2. Now click on WordPress Frontpage to open the blog in the default browser, fully packed with testing posts and fake comments, just to see how things look like.
3. To access the WP Dashboard click on “WordPress Admin” and log in using admin and password as credentials.

The tool also has an easy-to-use MySQL panel, from which the user can change server related settings, while the Plugins and Themes folders appears in the WP Dashboard just like in any regular installation.
Although this may help webmasters to carefully plan the stages of launching a proper blog, this should not be used with full trust in mind. Once a website is online, many things may vary so Instant WordPress should only be chosen for testing. The software can be downloaded free of charge, here.

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With an SSD, backups are more important than ever

Welcome to the dawn of the SSD age. Solid-state drives now offer great performance at affordable prices, which is why more and more users are choosing them in new PCs and adding them to older ones.
I'm a big fan myself, but I want to share a cautionary tale. About six months ago, an acquaintance of mine installed an SSD in his laptop. Initially, he was delighted: the drive helped his system boot faster and run longer between trips to the wall socket.
Then, one day, out of the blue, the drive died. No clicking, no "imminent failure" message, no warning of any kind--just a dead drive.
It's under warranty, but so what? He has a laptop that won't boot and data he can't access.
Now, I've encountered a few failed (or failing) hard drives in my day, but all of them were traditional, mechanical models. In most cases I was able to rescue my data using various conventional methods: booting from a Linux flash drive, pulling the drive and connecting it to another PC, and so on.
But for the most part, a dead SSD is a dead SSD. If you've ever had a flash drive go bad on you, you get the idea. It's not just corrupted data, which is often recoverable; it's simply a hardware failure. And unless you're willing to pay for a professional data-recovery service like DriveSavers, you're outta luck.
That's why I make this recommendation to anyone using an SSD for the first time: Make regular backups. (Actually, I recommend that to everyone, but it's especially important with SSDs.) Keep an external hard drive on hand for local archiving, and take advantage of cloud services for secondary protection.
Remember: The data you save could be your own.
Hungry for more information about SSDs? Be sure to read The proper care and feeding of SSD storage.

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Even new PCs can have problems

Recently I splurged on a new laptop, a 13.3-inch Samsung Series 9 Ultrabook. Incredibly thin, light, and fast, it overjoyed me from the moment I unpacked it.
It wasn't long, though, before my joy turned to frustration. Although it booted with lightning speed, Internet access seemed slow. In fact, sometimes I couldn't load Web pages at all.
As usual when dealing with a mystery like this, I used the invaluable SpeedTest to help pin down the problem. Sure enough, the Samsung was having intermittent connectivity slowdowns and outages. My router wasn't to blame, and for once neither was Comcast.
But what exactly was going on? Surely a brand new computer—especially one as advanced and expensive as this—could reliably connect to the Internet.
Turns out, no. After some Web searching, I learned that many Samsung Series 9 models suffered from the same intermittent Wi-Fi problems. (I further determined that Wi-Fi was to blame after connecting the system directly to my router via Ethernet. Problem solved.)
So I went to Samsung's support site in search of updated Wi-Fi drivers, but found nothing new: All the drivers dated back to mid-2012. Luckily, someone on a user forum pointed me to new drivers from Intel (makers of the Series 9's Wi-Fi chip), and a quick download, install, and reboot later, I was enjoying blazing broadband once again.
Alas, the story doesn't end there. Soon I began to notice that certain Web sites wouldn't load completely. It was like the browser just gave up halfway. If I refreshed the page, presto, problem solved. But that certainly wasn't a long-term solution.
What the heck? Another connectivity issue? Back to the user forums. You'll never guess the culprit this time: Samsung's Support Center utility (which monitors the system for available updates and whatnot) apparently doesn't get along with Google Chrome, my browser of choice. Other users had encountered this same page-loading oddity; uninstalling Support Center was a potential fix.
Sure enough, that worked. But talk about two vexing hassles! And on a brand-new PC, no less.
By now I'm sure you've sussed out the moral of the story: Even new PCs can have problems. Annoying, yes. Frustrating, definitely. But it's the nature of the high-tech beast. The key is to keep calm and remember that there may be a (reasonably) simple solution.

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Five steps to ultimate Firefox security

  

Over the years, many have touted Mozilla’s Firefox as one of the most secure Web browsers. But as with other browsers, the security level offered depends on the settings. Some security features need to be manually enabled. Those turned on by default should still be double-checked.
Follow these five steps to lock down Firefox. Start with the essentials in the browser’s own settings, then choose some useful add-ons. Finally, keep track of your plug-ins so you can patch the inevitable security holes.

Enable a master password

Like other browsers, Firefox by default allows anyone who accesses your computer to log in to sites where you’ve saved the password. And as with Google Chrome, a list of the saved usernames and passwords can be viewed via the Options menu of Firefox.

Eric Geier

By default, nothing prevents others from viewing all your saved login info in Firefox.

Fortunately, Firefox offers a master password feature that encrypts and password-protects the saved password list. When enabled, you must enter the master password the first time you use a saved password, once per browser session. Additionally, even though you enter the master password the first time, you must always enter it before you can view saved passwords via the Options menu. This is a great feature to help prevent casual snooping of your passwords. It even prevents most third-party utilities from recovering them.

Eric Geier

Creating a master password prevents others from using or viewing your saved login info.

To enable the master password feature, open the Firefox menu, select Options, select the Security tab, and then check the Use a master password option.

Use a strong password for syncing

Like Google Chrome, Firefox has a syncing feature to synchronize your bookmarks, passwords, and other browser data to Firefox browsers running on other computers and devices. Fortunately, Firefox encrypts all synced data, not just your saved passwords (as Google Chrome does). Additionally, Firefox has more security than what Chrome offers by default when you’re setting up a new computer or device to sync. In Firefox, you must log in with your Firefox Sync password. Then you must either enter a random passcode from the new device into one that you've already set up, or take the recovery key from a device you’ve already set up and input that key into the new device.

Eric Geier

Syncing conveniently syncs your saved login and other browser data across multiple computers.

So you don’t have much to worry about with Firefox syncing—as long as you use a strong password, one with upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. If someone knows or cracks the password, and has access to a device you’ve already set up with syncing, they can then set up other devices with syncing and access your passwords and other browser data.
To enable or change sync settings, open the Firefox menu, select Options, and select the Sync tab.

Verify that security options are enabled

Like other popular browsers, Firefox includes some basic security and privacy settings. Though most are enabled by default, you should ensure they haven’t been disabled.

Eric Geier

Make sure the first three security options are selected to protect against malware and phishing attacks.

Start by opening the Firefox menu and selecting Options. In the Options window, select the Security tab. Ensure that the first option, Warn me when sites try to install add-ons, is enabled to help prevent sites from automatically installing add-ons, as some can be dangerous. Then ensure that the next two options, Block reported attack sites and Block reported web forgeries, are also checked to help enable protection against malware and phishing.

Eric Geier

Check the first privacy option to help prevent websites from tracking your online activity.

Next, select the Privacy tab. And if you want more privacy online, select the first option, Tell websites I do not want to be tracked, which isn’t enabled by default. Although it can’t prevent all tracking, it will reduce tracking by those sites that support this type of option.

Eric Geier

Ensure that the first content option here is enabled to block pop-ups.

Now, select the Content tab. To prevent pop-up windows that can be annoying and even contain phishing ads, ensure that the first option is enabled: Block pop-up windows.
Lastly, select the Advanced tab, select the Update subtab, and ensure that Automatically install updates is selected.

Use add-ons for more protection

Consider installing these security-related add-ons for extra protection:
NoScript helps you control which sites can use JavaScript, Silverlight, Flash, and other embedded content, as they can be used maliciously to infect your computer or for phishing attempts.
Adblock Plus blocks banners, pop-ups, and video advertisements on websites to reduce clutter and the resulting annoyance; they can even reduce accidentally stumbling upon adware, malware, and phishing attacks.
Web of Trust (WOT) shows the user ratings of sites and blocks dangerous sites—such as those with malware—to increase safe surfing, shopping, and searching on the Web.
HTTPS Finder automatically detects and enforces HTTPS/SSL-encrypted connections when available—great in helping to reduce the chances of an eavesdropper on a Wi-Fi network from capturing your login details.
Xpnd.it! short URL expander allows you to hover over shortened links to see the real URL and other basic information about the site so you know where it leads before clicking.

Check and update plug-ins

Cyber criminals regularly use vulnerabilities in popular browser plug-ins (like Java and Adobe products) to infect and invade computers. Most plug-ins regularly release updates to patch security holes. Many plug-ins are set by default to update automatically or at least to notify you of them. However, it’s a good idea to check periodically for updates. Consider using the Mozilla plug-in checker or third-party sites like Qualys BrowserCheck for updates for other browsers.

A little vigilance goes a long way

Firefox is pretty secure on its own, but you can make it even more secure with the right settings and add-ons. Good password management remains essential, too: Create and enable a strong master password so others can’t use or view your passwords. And if you use the syncing feature to synchronize your passwords and browser data across devices, use a strong password to prevent others from syncing. Finally, keep tabs on your add-ons and plug-ins to make sure they’re giving you the best possible protection.

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Staying ahead of the crowd with 4G connection technology

If the only type of computer you own is a laptop, then it probably won’t make much sense for you to sign up for a DSL or cable connection. Even though WiFi broadband is super-fast, it is certainly not mobile. This means that instead of being a benefit to you, it can frustrate you and limit the use of your laptop. A 4G connection on the other hand can help you to become completely mobile. You can literally take your internet connection with you on the road.

Once you take a closer look at the many benefits offered by your 4G internet service, you will quickly find that there are a lot more benefits to discover than you might have been aware of. Before you set out to look for the best type of internet connection for your needs, it would probably be a good idea to set some criteria against which to measure its performance.

Accessing HD videos

In many respects, laptops these days have become just as powerful as PCs, if not more. Given this fact, you will want a connection that is as fast as a DSL or cable connection, but with all the benefits and advantages posed by mobile internet. Many people demand to be able to stream HD videos live over the internet while still being able to take full advantage of all the other internet applications available. The only way you will be able to do this is to have a connection that will be able to live up to the demands of this level of use.

Ease of use and mobility

Aside from this, because laptops are so mobile, you also need a reliable and fast connection that can move and travel with you. You will preferably want a modem that won’t require its own power source too. Lastly, you will want to invest in a connection that is not more expensive than a DSL or cable connection.

How will a 4G connection live up to all of these requirements and criteria? Excellently in all aspects mentioned. Firstly, a 4G connection is equally as fast as a traditional broadband connection, and it can at times perform even better. In general people are able to enjoy mobile internet with rates as high as 6 mbps, with bursts that can reach as high as 10 mbps. For many, these excellent speeds would already top the speeds they receive from their conventional WiFi connections.

Conclusion:

There is no internet solution out there that can beat a 4G connection in terms of mobility and portability. Unlike with a DSL or cable connection, this technology is completely wirelessly based and it is able to perform well over long distances. These are only some of the many benefits that you can expect when investing in a secure and fast 4G connection. There are of course many other benefits to using such a connection, such as its affordability, but you will soon learn that you won’t ever want to go back to conventional broadband after familiarising yourself with all the advantages of a 4G connection.

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Zoho CRM Review: Best Web Based Project Management Tool

Running a successful business is predicated on 2 ‘P’s: people and process. You need to have the right people to get the job done and you need to have the right processes for these people to work optimally. Many businesses turn to customer relationship management (CRM) software to handle many of their daily activities: lead acquisition and management, sales processes, and the integration of acquired data. Just take a step back and I’m sure you can think of dozens of other tasks that is handled through software.

 Zoho believes that it has the all-purpose solution for your business needs. They claim that too many times businesses and firms purchase different pieces of software in order to cobble together a cohesive system.  On the other hand, per Zoho, you’ll be getting all the needed functionality of a proper CRM with the ability to scale effortlessly and efficiently to match growth.

At a Glance

The Zoho CRM is premium web based project management software based in the cloud. This means that you can fully utilize use it for free, but if you require access for more than 3 users and full functionality of the software then a paid subscription is required. Also, as it’s based in the cloud, your software will be updated without any interruption of service, data will be backed up on Zoho’s servers (i.e. no risk of data loss), and service of the software is handled by your browser as opposed to taking up precious computer resources.

Oh and one more thing, it can be used on your mobile phone for on-the-go business,

Strengths

• Sales Force Automation – This feature allows the user to automate the sales process by giving complete control over leads, customer accounts, and forecasts. All the user needs to do is input the data and the software will do the rest.
• Sales Tracking – Most sales people follow a sales process or funnel. This feature displays a graphical representation of an actual funnel broken down into different colors depending on the status of customers—whether they are a lead, a prospect, or a customer. By having everything broken down in this way, users can track their customers from first impression to close.
• Office Tools – Email and document sharing is important when creating a cohesive team of staff. With Zoho, customer emails can be handled directly through the CRM to reduce clutter, a plug-in for Microsoft office enables templates to be made which integrate into the software, and document sharing via the library allows only those with access to view sensitive documents.
• Social Management – With many of your customers being social, having a way to connect with their social accounts can easily boost opportunities. With this feature you’ll be able to integrate customer’s social profiles with the CRM.
• Mobile CRM – Just like connecting with social profiles provides additional opportunities, so does mobile. Being able to use a CRM on-the-go offers users great flexibility when an opportunity presents itself.
• Google Integration – With the ability to seamless integrate Google’s apps with this CRM, you’ll be able to utilize Big G’s impressive services with your business.
• 24/7 Support – Having the support of your software’s company at all times of the day is always great.

Weaknesses

• Some feature are withheld depending on the pricing model that you choose; for example, with a free account you’re limited to 3 users , diminished storage, and limited functionality among the CRM’s features.
• Not as powerful as other CRMs: if your company is a multi-national corporation then you might find lack of currency conversion and limited forecasting to be very limiting.

Overall

Many businesses and firms will find great value in a software package such as this. It has loads of features that aid in the sales process and overall efficiency of a business. Sales automation for customer management, sales tracking for execution, office tools for integration, social management and mobile options for additional opportunities, and 24/7 support all go a long way in making this freemium solution quite impressive. There are multiple how-to videos that aid in training for new users and a strong community that backs this company. With enough features to serve almost every type of business you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better CRM than Zoho.

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What is Fiber Optics and its importance in the broadband technologies

The technology is changing every day and every time it is getting easier and safer than before. Once, the computer was a dreamt object, then it became very popular and available. After that, the time of the internet came, it was not available at the beginning, rather it was very costly. The availability of the internet has surprisingly increased  in these days. Many new technologies have been invented to make it more available, affordable and fast. The latest technology in this sector is the broadband technology and the fiber opticcommunication is the most effective innovation of this technology.

The fiber optic communication is regarded as the fastest connection in the broadband technology and that’s why it is known as the most important innovation in the broadband technology. So, it is important to know about  the broadband technology before learning about  the fiber optic communication.

Broadband Communication

Broadband technology is used in the internet sector, it is one kind of transmission and it  gives an access to a high speed internet network.

The broadband technology gives a faster and safer internet access than any other internet technology. This is a data transmission system, there are many systems like talktalk fibre optic broadband from broadbandmart.co.uk. But only those systems are known as broadband which can deliver  at least an 1 megabit speed while downloading files from the internet and at least a 4 megabit speed when uploading files to the internet.

There are a few technologies that are used in the broadband communication. The most popular and widely used technologies are: Cable Modem, Fiber Optics, DSL, WiMAX, and Wireless Broadband.

DSL is the short form of Digital Subscriber line, it provides an internet connection via telephone lines made of copper. The Cable Modem technology applies the same formula, the only difference is the cable TV lines are used for the internet connection.

Wireless Broadband technology uses the radio technology to provide the internet. A radio link makes the connection between the server and the user.

WiMAX is the short form of Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access,  this is a big range broadband technology and mainly used in mobile phones.

Satellite Broadband is an expensive technology, it is used in those areas where other technologies are unavailable. On the other hand, the White Space technology uses the transmission space between the television channels. It is still an upgrading technology.

But among all of them, the Fiber Optic technology is regarded as the best broadband technology. Let’s see why.

What is Fiber Optic Communication Technology

The Fiber Optic communication is one of the easiest technologies of the broadband internet technology. This method was first used in 1970 and brought a revolutionary change in the telecommunication sector. An optical fiber is used here to transmit information to distance places via the pulses of light through it.

The fiber optic wires are made of plastic, sometimes made of glass and they are designed to transmit information. A fiber is a very thin object, still it can transfer virtual data from one place to another at an incredible speed. It converts the digital signals to impulse of light and carries it to distance places.

Types of Fiber Optics

There are two types of fiber optic broadband technologies, one is FTTC and the other one is FTTP. The term FTTC stands for Fiber to the Cabinet and the FTTP stands for Fiber to the premises, it is also known as FTTH. The FTTC type connection needs a medium known as the cabinet, whereas the FTTP type fiber optics can  be connected directly at your home. The FTTP type connection provides a high speed internet access than the FTTC.

Three Amazing Facts of Fiber Optic Broadband

There are three main reasons that have made fiber optic communication as the most essential innovation in the broadband technology. They are:

• Two types of available connections: You can choose either the FTTP or the FTTC type fiber optic connection anytime you want.
• Direct to home: You will get this service connected direct to your home, you don’t have to buy any other device to get the internet connection.
• Super fast technology: You will get an access to the super fast internet connection if you connect to the fiber optic broadband technology.

Other Benefits of Using This Amazing Technology

The FTTP (also known as FTTH) technology is regarded as the best broadband technology of the decade. You can download all the mega size files very quickly from the internet using this connection, and the cost of it is relatively much lower than other broadband technologies. As a result, experts prefer this much more than all other broadband connections.

So, get connected to the fiber optic broadband technology to experience the thrilling speed of the internet.

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Top 5 Android keyboards that help you to type faster

The one of the best feature that puts android OS a step ahead from iPhone’s is that you get a wider and broad range of apps from which you can select one of your own taste. Talking about keyboards apps, they can vary from each other even with a slight change. A customized cursor, word/sentence prediction, tapping options, themes are the main features to keep in mind while opting a keyboard app for yourself. Furthermore, there are many other features to be kept in mind, most importantly speed of typing.
Keeping all these above discussed issues in mind, here are the Top 5 Keyboard apps which can help you to type faster on you Android device.

1) SwiftKey Keyboard:

Ranked No#1 app in 38 countries, this app is probably the best app available in this case.This keyboard enables you to type in 3 languages at a time!(out of 60 languages provided) comes with a handful of layout, skins and themes. The prediction of this app is spooky for beginners, as it suggests words and sentences from our last logs, which in turn make it much faster. You can try its free version for a month, and switch to its priced version later.

2) Adaptxt Keyboard:

This is a cool and smart app supporting over 100 languages, that lets you change color of your keyboard any time with easy customization. It supports 39 specific industry dictionaries(for legal, medical or other industries) with the smart SMS dictionary that predicts shortcuts to write you faster.
3) Swype Keyboard:

This default keyboard for Samsung phones is now available on Google play store. The newer versions of this app are coming with smart features like handwriting recognition and it learns your most used words for quick chat on your Social accounts.
If you are looking for a speed, you should try the free version of this Guinness world record holder app for fastest typing for sure!
4) Go Keyboard:

This is the only app of the segment that supports ‘emoji’. Emoji are smart style icons which can be downloaded by the ‘GO’ store of the app. In addition, you can attach sound messages with the fast multi touch supported keyboard. Nicely follows the strokes but the predicting option if switched off by default. You can easily switch between languages that you are typing and that you want to by just a single tap or touch. Moreover keyboard could be closed or layouts could be switched with a smooth slide.
5) A.I Type Keyboard:

Another nice app that allows you to change a number of themes, scenes, colors, background with a wide variety. The predictive text option, whether from dictionary or your most used word, Auto correction all features are there but supported for only 14 days in trial version.

Final Words

In this article, I have enlisted only the free apps or the apps that gives you its trial version for different periods for your own experience before actually making a go for it. So try out few of these and also share your best app for faster keyboard typing on Android platform in comments below J

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Configure a Production Web Server

Setup a FreeBSD production Web Server

Here is presented the quick way, using packages. If you really want a secure
web server and also you have a lot of time, than you should install
Apache from ports and patch it.

1. Install FreeBSD version 5.4 and needed packages
--------------------------------------------------
(do not install X.org, install ports also)

1.1 Install Apache
#pkg_add ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-5.4-release/All/apache-1.3.33_1.tbz

add apache_enable="YES" in rc.conf to start apache at boot

1.2 Install PHP
#pkg_add ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-5.4-release/All/php4-4.3.10_2.tbz

Add the following line to your apache configuration file (/usr/local/etc/apache/httpd.conf):

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps

1.3. Install PHP extensions
1.3.1 Install gd extension for PHP

It is important to install some PHP extensions so you could host PHP scripts that will need that modules, for different purposes (PNG or JPEG conversion for example).

#pkg_add ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-5.4-release/All/php4-gd-4.3.10_2.tbz

(it will also automaticaly install library for manipulating PNG files and JPEG library)
(some other libraries will be installed, following dependencies)

1.3.2 Install MySQL shared extension for PHP

#pkg_add ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-5.4-release/All/php4-mysql-4.3.10_2.tbz

This pkg_add command will also install MySQL client.
(mysql-client-4.0.24.tbz)

1.3.3 Install pcre shared extension for PHP
#pkg_add ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-5.4-release/All/php4-pcre-4.3.10_2.tbz

1.3.4 Install session shared extension for PHP
#pkg_add ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-5.4-release/All/php4-session-4.3.10_2.tbz

1.3.5 Install XML shared extension for PHP
#pkg_add ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-5.4-release/All/php4-xml-4.3.10_2.tbz

1.3.6 Install zlib shared extension for PHP
#pkg_add ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-5.4-release/All/php4-zlib-4.3.10_2.tbz

1.4. Install MySQL Server
#pkg_add ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-5.4-release/All/mysql-server-4.0.24.tbz

At this point you should setup a root password for mysql.
(MySQL also store passwords for users, different from unix system accounts)

2. Optimizing your Web Server for speed
Add the following settings to your /boot/....
kern.ipc.nmbclusters=16384
kern.ipc.maxsockets=16384

For a maximum performance here are some tips of optimizing your web server:
- use a dedicated server  (stability, performance,)
- use enough memory (1 GB or more, but not less)
- set httpd controls very high (maximul simultaneous connections)
- always knows your performance characteristics, monitor your server to discover
bottlenecks
- in Apache httpd.conf, StartServers should be high (default is 5 but is not enough),
MaxClients should be 256, MaxRequestPerChild should be 10000, disable FancyIndexing, set Timeout - timeout
to get a TCP ACK for a complete GET request to 60 (default is set to 300).

3. Security issues
- Install a firewall, block traffic to all ports, except 80.
- The Apache web server must be the only service available on the server
(of course we will also have mysql)
- Turn off any diagnostic/error message webpage (security by obscurity)
- Apache must have limited access to filesystem

Monitor user actifity, looking for PHP scripts, if you host phpbb2 or other forums,
or CMS programs like PostNuke, PHPNuke, Mambo always keep your scripts updated.
Deactivate shell for all users except admin user (not root, root does not have default access
to ssh) (add 'AllowUsers username' to /etc/ssh/sshd_config so only username will have ssh access).
Permit SSH for that user only from known IPs.
Use /etc/ftpchroot to force users that have ftp account to see only their home directory.
(some admins even deactivate ftp since is unencrypted service, but major hosting
companies permit ftp because is used on large scale to upload files by their customers.

Remember: using PHP JSP and CGI may pose security threats.
(scripts could contain security vulnerabilities, like sql injection, also vulnerabilities
can be found in packages like php, modules etc.)

Installing Zend Optimizer
If you run scripts on your web server that are encoded with Zend Encoder (or want to offer to your customer support for Zend encoded PHP scripts) you should install Zend Optimizer, downloaded for free from www.zend.com (you will need to create an account).
After downloading Zend Optimizer, unzip it and run install.sh.

On FreeBSD 5.4 you might get an error when installing Zend Optimizer:
/usr/libexec/ld-elf.so.1: Shared object "libm.so.2" not found, required by "php"

To fix the problem and go on with installation just create a symbolic link:
#ln -s /lib/libm.so.3 /lib/libm.so.2
then continue with Zend installation.

Now you have an ready to use Web Server.

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Designing An Open-Source iPhone Game

I love games and I’m a huge math nerd, so I made a new iPhone game based on a famous math problem called The Seven Bridges of Königsberg. I’m selling it in the App Store, but I also want to share it with everyone, so I made it open source.
This article is the first in a series that will walk through iOS programming using this game as an example. This first article gives you an overview of the game and of iOS programming in general. We’ll look at a few specific pieces and see how the whole project fits together.

First Steps

This article uses the real game as the example. You’ll need a couple of things to start using the code:

1. A Mac,
2. The Xcode development environment from Apple, which you can get free from Apple.

After you’ve set up Xcode, go ahead and download the project from GitHub. Open it, and then run it by pressing the big “Run” button in the upper-left corner of Xcode.

That will open the game in the simulator so that you can play for free and follow along with the article.

The Rules Of The Game

Seven Bridges is a puzzle game. The player visits a town of islands surrounded by rivers.

The game’s interaction works with a single gesture: tap where you want the player to go. If you hit a bridge, you’ll cross it; if you hit a river, you’ll bounce off it.

The game lets you restart the level, undo your last move and go back to the menu. There are also a few other screens to support the game.



Confused? Check out the Seven Bridge walkthrough video.
You’ll see similar layouts in popular games such as Cut the Rope and Where’s My Water?

Before We Start

Seven Bridges is a simple game. It doesn’t handle complex physics like Angry Birds does or rich textures like Infinity Blade does. Seven Bridges has just a single player who walks over bridges and bumps into rivers. It sounds easy, but a lot goes into even a simple game like this.
Seven Bridges is written in a combination of Objective-C and Objective-C++. If you’re used to programming in scripting languages such as JavaScript, then Objective-C will come as a shock.

Programming for iOS

Getting started with JavaScript is easy. You start with a little jQuery behind a button and go from there. Many iPhone programming tutorials make it sound like writing iPhone applications is just as easy. It’s not.
Objective-C has been around for nearly 30 years. Programming with it entails learning a large ecosystem and some fundamental concepts of how it all holds together. All of the Objective-C documentation assumes that you have a strong background in both object-oriented programming and the C programming language.
Objective-C is very different from JavaScript, and programming with it requires an understanding of some of the old-school programming fundamentals. Make sure you’ve read a book about object-oriented programming, such as Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications by Grady Booch, as well as The C Programming Language by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie. Reading “The Objective-C Programming Language” guide from Apple is also a good idea.
The news isn’t all bad. Objective-C shows its age in some areas, but the tools are well written and the runtime environment is amazing.

The Files

You already have the code on your computer, so let’s get a better idea of what we’re looking at. You can tell what each file does by looking at its extension.

• .h
  These files are class headers. Each of these files represents the public information available about a single class or object in the project.
• .m
  These files are Objective-C implementation files.
• .mm
  These files are Objective-C++ implementation files. Objective-C++ is a hybrid in which you can use parts of Objective-C and C++ in the same file. Seven Bridges uses Objective-C++ so that it can take advantage of frameworks written in C++.
• .xib
  These files define visual views in the game where you can lay out buttons and other controls.
• .png
  These files are individual images used in the game.
• .pvr.gz
  These files contain large sets of images called sprite sheets. The images are combined into a single file so that they load faster and take up less space.
• .plist
  These are XML properties files. They define the basics of how the application works and the positions of the images in each sprite sheet.
• .m4a
  These are audio files that provide the sounds for the game.

Xcode projects also include a folder named your project.xcodeproj containing all of the project’s configuration files. Mine is named bridges2 because I messed up the project so badly that I had to start over.

The Frameworks

In addition to the standard Objective-C libraries, Seven Bridges uses three major frameworks.

UIKit

Every iOS application starts with UIKit. This comprehensive framework from Apple provides all of the basic controls your application uses, such as windows, buttons and text fields. Most of the classes in UIKit start with the prefix UI, like UIWindow and UIButton.
The easiest way to work with UIKit is by using the visual editor provided with Xcode. Xcode makes it easy to drag and drop controls into your application. It works well for business applications, but it wouldn’t know anything about the rivers or bridges in my game. For that, I need a gaming framework and a bit of code.

Cocos2d

You could draw on the screen directly with OpenGL, but that signs you up for a lot of work in managing each pixel on the screen. Game libraries provide higher-level support for placing images, creating animations and managing your game. There are a few for iOS.
I chose Cocos2d for iPhone because it’s well supported, has a simple API and comes with a lot of examples. It also has Ray Wenderlich’s excellent tutorials. Ray is a prolific writer about iOS games; every time I searched for a new topic, it led me back to him. His tutorial about collision detection provided the fundamentals for my game, and his simple iPhone game with a Cocos2D tutorial is a perfect little sample game.
Cocos2d handles all of the animations in my game, as well as the scenes where you’re actually playing; it also handles sprites, which we’ll get to a little later. It was originally written in Python for desktop applications, so make sure to search for “Cocos2d iPhone” when you’re looking for help on the Web. Cocos2d files start with the prefix CC.
Cocos2d handles user interactions, but it can’t handle interactions with objects. I need to know when the player runs into a river, bridge or any other object. That type of collision detection is made much easier with a physics library such as Box2d.

Box2d

Box2d is a physics engine written in portable C++. It can handle complex variables like gravity and friction, but we’re only using it for collision detection. Box2d files start with the prefix b2.
My game doesn’t use the complex physics of swinging candy from Cut the Rope or of sloshing liquids from Where’s My Water? It just handles a player walking around the screen and bumping into things. Box2d tells me when those bumps happen, and my code handles the rest.

In this article, we’ll see how to use these three frameworks together to build a scene, integrate sprites, respond to user gestures and detect collisions.

Building A Scene

The playable area of the game is drawn with LevelLayer, which extends the Cocos2d class CCLayerColor. This layer handles all of the drawing in the game and the responses when the user taps on the game screen.
The game is made up of a set of images called sprites. Each item in the game’s scene, such as a bridge or a piece of a river, is made up of a separate image file.

Images used this way, instead of being created programmatically, perform much faster and can include subtleties such as shading and texture without needing a lot of code. The technique also makes delegating artwork easier because the artist doesn’t need to know anything about Objective-C.
The sprites all fit together into a single file called a sprite sheet. Cocos2d takes that image and a properties file containing coordinates and creates the individual images from it when the application runs.
The real reason to use a sprite sheet is performance. Ray Wenderlich has written a good article comparing sprite sheet performance to individual images. The short story is that sprite sheets are much faster than images loaded individually.
Managing sprite sheets manually is a real pain, so I used TexturePacker. It costs a little money, but $25 is well worth the hours of adjusting pixel coordinates it saved me. TexturePacker can also convert a sprite sheet to PVR (the internal image format for iOS) and compress it with Gzip so that it loads even faster.
Once we’ve created the sprite sheet, we’re ready to add the sprites to a scene.

Adding the Sprites

Xcode makes it easy to drag and drop images into a view, but that won’t work for dynamic scenes like our game levels. We’ll need to write some code.
Cocos2d interprets our sprite sheet with the CCSpriteBatchNode class. We initialize the sprite sheet once for the application and then use the individual items when we build our level.

CCSpriteBatchNode *spriteSheet = [[CCSpriteBatchNode batchNodeWithFile:@"bridgesprites.pvr.gz"
                                 capacity:150] retain];
[[CCSpriteFrameCache sharedSpriteFrameCache]
addSpriteFramesWithFile:@"bridgesprites.plist"];
[self addChild:spriteSheet];

This code creates a new sprite sheet with our sprites file, initializes it with the properties file that defines the images in the sheet, and adds the sheet as a child to our current scene. You can see the full code for this in the init method of LevelLayer.mm.
Now that we have the sheet, we can use it to load individual sprites, like this:

CCSprite *bridge = [CCSprite spriteWithSpriteFrameName:@"bridge_v.png"];
[spriteSheet addChild:bridge];
bridge.position = ccp(100, 100);

This code snippet creates a new sprite from the sprite sheet, adds that sprite as a child of the sheet, and positions it 100 points from the left side of the screen and 100 points up from the bottom. (We’ll get to what “points” are in the next section.)
Cocos2d manages the sprite sheets with a caching mechanism it calls the sprite frame cache. We loaded the frame cache in the previous code snippet when we loaded the bridgesprites.pvr.gz sprite sheet file and the bridgesprites.plist file that describes it. Cocos2d loaded all of those images into the cache, and we can now get them by name.
All positions in Cocos2d are based on a coordinate system in which point 0,0 is in the bottom-left corner. UIKit puts the point 0,0 at the top left of the screen. There are a few places where we need to convert back and forth further in the code.
Instead of using points directly, the game uses a tile system to position the sprites.

Pixels, Points and Tiles

iOS supports five devices:

• iPhone 3.5 inch
• iPhone 3.5 inch with Retina display
• iPhone 4 inch with Retina display
• iPad
• iPad with Retina display

Supporting every device means handling multiple layouts. Cocos2d gives us a lot of help here by supporting points instead of pixels when specifying layout. Pixels represent an exact screen location, whereas points are relative to the device. This makes it easy to support Retina devices whose screens are the same size but pack in twice as many pixels.
Seven Bridges goes farther by defining a tile system. Tiles are a way of grouping pixels into larger squares for easier layout. We make the screen 28 tiles tall and at least 42 tiles wide. The tiles make it easy to define where the sprites go on each level. Switch the DEBUG_DRAW constant in Bridgecolors.h to true and you’ll be able to see the tile grid in the background of each level.

Touches and Interactions

UIKit handles touches on controls such as buttons and tables, but for the game scene we’ll need a generic touch handler. Cocos2d provides that with the ccTouchesEnded method. First, we have to tell Cocos2d that we want touch events, like this:

self.isTouchEnabled = YES;

Then, we implement the ccTouchesEnded method to get called whenever the user taps the screen.

-(void)ccTouchesEnded:(NSSet*) touches withEvent:(UIEvent*) event { 
   UITouch *touch = [touches anyObject];
   CGPoint location = [touch locationInView:[touch view]];
   location = [[CCDirector sharedDirector] convertToGL:location];

   // Do some stuff with the point that the user touched…
}

LevelLayer handles each screen touch with some simple logic:

• If the player isn’t on the screen yet, then place the player sprite where the user has touched and return.
• If the player is on the screen, then move the player from the current location to the place where the user has touched.

That’s all we need to do for the touch. The real logic of the game happens when we handle the collisions.

Boxes and Collisions

Each object on the screen is a sprite: a little image file that sits at particular coordinates on the screen. Cocos2d can handle the position and animation of those images, but it won’t know if they run into each other. This is where Box2d shines.
The LayerMgr class adds and removes all of the images from the layers in the game. When it adds an image, it also creates a box around it. Boxes are the fundamental concept of Box2d. They outline the position of an object on the screen and detect when it interacts with other objects. Box2d supports complex box shapes, but all of the boxes in this game are rectangles.
Whenever we add an image to the scene, we draw a box around it with Box2d. The box works with a helper class called a contact listener. This listener sits in a timer and asks the Box2d model if any of the objects have run into each other after each frame of the game.
The contact listener implements two important functions: BeginContact and EndContact. These functions are called when two objects come into contact and when that contact stops. When that happens, we save the data so that we can use it in the layer that renders the level.

void MyContactListener::BeginContact(b2Contact* contact) {
    MyContact myContact = { contact->GetFixtureA(), contact->GetFixtureB() };
    CCSprite *spriteA = (CCSprite *) contact->GetFixtureA()->GetBody()->GetUserData();
    CCSprite *spriteB = (CCSprite *) contact->GetFixtureB()->GetBody()->GetUserData();
    if (spriteA.tag == PLAYER || spriteB.tag == PLAYER) {
        _contacts.push_back(myContact);
    }
}

void MyContactListener::EndContact(b2Contact* contact) {
    MyContact myContact = { contact->GetFixtureA(), contact->GetFixtureB() };

    std::vector::iterator pos;
    pos = std::find(_contacts.begin(), _contacts.end(), myContact);
    if (pos != _contacts.end()) {
        _contacts.erase(pos);
    }
}

Once we’ve stored the data about the collisions, we use it every time we draw the level.

CCSprite *spriteA = (CCSprite *) bodyA->GetUserData();
    CCSprite *spriteB = (CCSprite *) bodyB->GetUserData();

    if (spriteA.tag == RIVER && spriteB.tag == PLAYER) {
        [self bumpObject:spriteB:spriteA];
    } else if (spriteA.tag == BRIDGE && spriteB.tag == PLAYER) {
        [self crossBridge:spriteB:spriteA];

The contact listener gives us the two sprites that collided, and we’ll use the tag of each sprite to determine how to handle it. When two sprites run into each other, we react with some simple logic:

• If the player contacts a river, then bounce back.
• If the player contacts a bridge, then check whether the bridge has been crossed.
  • If the bridge is crossed, then bounce back.
  • If the bridge isn’t crossed, then cross it and move the player to the other side.

Separating the player’s movement from the collision makes it easy to move the player around the screen. We don’t have to define islands or worry about managing where the player is allowed to move. We just place each sprite in the level and wait for the player to run into it.

Defining Levels

Each level in the game is defined in a separate JSON document. Separating the level definitions from the code is important so that we can update the levels or add new ones without having to change the code.
Each level defines a name, an ID and a set of objects that go in the level.

{
    "level": {
        "name": "Hello Bridges!",
        "rivers": [
            {
                "x": "14",
                "y": "b-t",
                "orient": "v"
            }
        ],
        "bridges": [
            {
                "x": "14",
                "y": "m",
                "orient": "h"
            }
        ]
    }
}

Each object has a coordinate in the tile system and a set of properties that define how the object works. For example, a bridge specifies an orient property to determine whether the bridge is horizontal or vertical and a color property to determine whether the bridge has a particular color. A separate page defines everything you can put in a level.
Many games define levels in XML, but I chose JSON because it’s faster to parse and works better with the Web. One day, I’d like to create a mode in which you can load new levels from a website without having to download a new version of the game.
The Level class defines each level; levels are controlled by a LevelMgr. The level manager loads the levels, sorts them for the menu and creates the thumbnails of each level on the menu screen.
Seven Bridges does a lot more, but this is a good place to stop for the first article.

What’s Next

This article has walked us through some of the core parts of games for iOS, but there’s a lot more. You can get Seven Bridges (not free) or download the source code and run it for free in the simulator.

We’ve reviewed the major frameworks, looked at the anatomy of a game, and learned the basics of user interactions. In the next article, we’ll delve deeper into the pieces and see how they all fit together.

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