What is IP Address? What is DNS?

For one computer to connect to another computer and transfer information, the IP address of that computer should be known. This IP Address is made of numbers. The 32 Bit IP address is divided into 4 sections of 8 bits each separted by a ‘.’ (dot). Each 8 bit is called an Octet. The value of each Octet will vary between 0 to 255.

For example, 203.116.56.34 is an IP address. As you can see there are four sections each separated by a dot.

Name Vs Number

If someone asks you whose phone number is 98343453 you may not know it. But instead if someone asks you whether you know ‘John peters’ immediately you will remember your friend. The reason is names are easier to remember than numbers. This is human nature.

In internet, there is a need to connect to a lot of different computers daily. If you have to remember the IP address of each computer in the internet, it is impossible. Because IP Address is made of numbers.

That’s why, computer scientists decided to give a name to each of these IP addresses. These computer names that represent IP addresses are called ‘Domain Names’. For example, www.yahoo.com is a domain name. It is easy to remember a name. Isn’t it?

Every computer that connects to the internet has a unique IP Address. Most of the computers especially servers will have a domain name.

DNS – Domain Name System

If you need to connect to a computer in the internet, you can use the IP address of that computer or the Domain Name of that computer.

But the computers need just the IP addresses. For our own convenience we use domain names. Therefore when we use the domain name, for example www.yahoo.com, our computer will first find out the IP address of this domain name and then uses the IP address to connect to it.

Let us assume that the IP address of the computer that you want to connect to is 123.232.231.132 and the domain name of this computer is www.xyz.com .

Now you connect to Internet, open your browser and key in the IP address 123.232.231.132 in the address bar and ‘Enter’. The browser will immediately connect to the computer because the computer knows how to use the IP address.

Now imagine that you typed the domain name www.xyz.com instead of the IP address in the browser. What the computer needs is the IP address not the domain name. Therefore the browser will try to find the IP address for the domain www.xyz.com . For this purpose it will contact the DNS (Domain Name System) server. The DNS server will find the IP address of that domain and will return the IP address to your browser. Then your computer will use that IP address to connect to that computer.

If you type the IP address, the browser will access that site immediately. If you type the domain name, there will be slight delay because the browser has to connect to DNS server first to determine the IP address. If for some reasons this DNS server is down or there is not DNS entry for that domain, then that domain name or website address will not be accessible.

Google Chrome is now ahead of Safari

Two weeks earlier Google launched the Google Chrome for the Mac and Linux platforms. After this the uptake of Google Chrome has increased quite extensively. Google Chrome has now taken the 3rd place in the Browser rankings overtaking Safari which was the third largest browser so far. IE and Firefox is still hold first and second place with 64% and 25% of the market share respectively.

For Chrome, this is an important milestone with 4.4% of the market share today. This is especially an accomplishment considering the fact that it is just one year since it was launched. It took five years for firefox to reach its 25%.

All online dictionaries in one

There are many online dictionaries available in the internet today. These online dictionaries on top of providing the meaning of the words, also provide synonyms and antonyms. Most people would like to check these individual online dictionaries one by one for the same word and compare the meanings to get a better understanding of the word.

There is a better option available to get the meanings provided by all these dictionaries in a single page using google. For example you want to find the meaning of the word ‘tips’, follow the below steps.

1. Goto google.com in your browser
2. type-> definition:tips and press enter
3. google will return all the different definitions available for that word.
4. In addition, google will let you choose different languages. You can choose different language to find the meaning in the chosen language.
5. In additio google will show different phrases that can be used with that word. You can click them to find the meaning.

A new keyboard for GMAIL

In Google’s Gmail website there are many short cut keys. But it is difficult to remember all these short cut keys. To solve this issue a new keyboard is now commercially available. This keyboard costs 19.99 USD.

There are 19 keys in this keyboard and looks like a number keypad. Each key represents a shortcut key. For example to mark a message with a star (favourites), or to initiate a search, to go inside the message threads etc can be achieved by just a click of a button. This keyboard can be connected to your laptop or PC via USB ports. There is no drivers required for this keyboard. You can just connect and start using it. But before you start using it, you will have to goto your Gmail account and enable the ‘Short cut keys’ in your settings.

This keyboard was not designed by Google. A film producer, Charlie Mason created this keyboard. If you already use shortcut keys in Gmail this could be a thing to consider. If you have not started using Gmail shortcut keys then this is the right time to try.

Difference between Google Chrome OS and Chromium OS

Google Chrome OS is to Chromium OS what Google Chrome browser is to Chromium.

Chromium OS is the open source project, used primarily by developers, with code that is available for anyone to checkout, modify and build their own version with. Meanwhile, Google Chrome OS is the Google product that OEMs will ship on Netbooks next year.

Therefore Chromium OS is the source code released by Google which can be used by any developers to build and create their own OS. Chrome OS is a end product that will be released by Google and developed from this Chromium OS as the base

Firefox getting better

Firefox is continuously getting more and more users. Mozilla has announced more features in future versions of firefox. These changes will be done in two phases. In first phase the changes will be done in version 3.7 which will happen in the beginning of 2010.

Mozilla feels that the front page of the firefox browser is a bit dull. In line with the Vista style firefox broswer’s front page will be modified. Only two menu items with Page and Tools will be provided. Stop and reload buttons will be merged. Address bar and search bar will be merged into a single bar. Status bar will be removed. Some said that these changes were much in line with Google’s chrome browser. But Mozilla said firefox will always be unique.

Since all the browsers do the same thing, comparisons are inevitable. However there are always unique features in every browser. As of today, there are more users using firefox than users with IE 6.

The main reason for most users to switch to firefox was because of the complaint that IE 6 has issues with Adware and spyware. But a recent research done by Sensic shows that firefox browser is more prone to hackers than IE. According to this report, firefox is 44%, Safari is 35% and IE is 15% prone to hackers. Though the accuracy of this report is in question now, firefox’s plugins are still a question mark. The plugins are more prone to hackers.

Firefox version 3.7 is supposed to be released in early 2010 and version 4 is to be released roughly in a year from now. Hopefully all the problems will be solved and new features will be added in the newer versions.

Shortcut keys in MS Word

CTRL+B : To make the words bold. 
CTRL+I : To italicize the words 
CTRL+U: To underline the words 
CTRL+DEL: To delete the word on the right of the cursor 
CTRL+BACKSPACE:  To delete the word on the left of the cursor  
CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR: To create equal spacing.  
CTRL+C:  To copy the selected text   
CTRL+X:  To cut the selected text  
CTRL+V:  To paste the copied or cut text.  
CTRL+ALT+V:  To paste special   
CTRL+SHIFT+< : To reduce the font size  
CTRL+SHIFT+>: To increase the font size  
CTRL+[ : To reduce the font size 
CTRL+]:  To increase the font size  
CTRL+HYPHEN:  To create continuous hiphen  
CTRL+SPACEBAR: To remove paragraph or character formatting  
CTRL+SHIFT+V: To paste the previously used format  
CTRL+Z : To undo the last action  
CTRL+Y:  To redo the last action that was undone.  
CTRL+SHIFT+G: To bring the word count dialog box.  
CTRL+L:  To align text to the left  
CTRL+E:  To centralize the text  
CTRL+R: To alogin the text to the right of the screen.  
CTRL+M:  To make the paragraph or the selected text in the margin. 
CTRL+1:  To make the spacing between lines as 1  
CTRL+5:  To make the spacing between lines as 1.5  
CTRL+2:  To make the spacing between lines as double  
F7: :  To check spelling and grammer  
SHIFT+F7 : : To show thesaurus options  
CTRL+SPACE : To enable/disable auto correct  
CTRL+SHIFT+8:  To show/hide hidden characters.

Think Point – Fake security software attacking the web

If you’ve come across Think Point antispyware software – be aware. It is a fake program created with intention to trick scared computer users into purchasing a useless full version.

The infection sources may vary, but most popular ones include installing a video codec on an untrustworthy site, opening an e-mail attachment from a falsified e-mail named after a courier company (such as DHL, or FedEx), pop-up’s, or as even some users reported, while playing a game on Facebook.

After clicking on fake warning messages, a Trojan is installed which opens up a “backdoor” to internet. An automated script does a series of instructions hijacking your browser and changing registry entries that result in an unusable computer – desktop icons are removed, task manager and internet connection is disabled.

Some users may be presented with a Microsoft Security Essentials Alert which is actually created by the Think Point infection. This alert promotes five security programs, including Think Point. While one is given a choice to select, Think Pont will be installed no matter what you choose.

Think Point will perform a computer scan which generates a false report including massive amounts of Trojans, viruses and spyware being found your machine. It is also impossible to run any executable application, because all is blocked by Think Point – a message will be popped up stating that executable file is already infected.

All this is done in order to scare an amateur computer user and force him into purchasing a full version, which costs 90$.

Please print these instructions:

1.       As ThinkPoint infection is not giving any access to the Desktop you must restart Windows. Just after Windows boots up, press CTRL + ALT & DEL on your keyboard at once. This should bring up the Windows Task Manager.

2.       In the Task Manager window select the Processes tab on the top.

3.       Look through the list of processes until you find the hotfix.exe process.

4.       Click left mouse button on it and press END PROCESS button situated at the bottom of the Task manager. Windows should ask you to confirm killing the process, select Yes to terminate hotfix.exe .

5.       Now ThinkPoint was disabled, and you should restore a normal desktop by clicking File menu on the Task manager, select New Task (Run) and type iexplorer.exe in the OPEN field. This will grant you access to the Internet Explorer.

6.       After this you must search and delete the hotfix.exe file on your computer which may be hidden.

7.       If after deleting the file and rebooting the pc you’re still left with a blank desktop repeat step 5. You will need to fix various registry settings or use a popular and trustworthy security program.

Download free Desktop Security software

When you are not near your computer other people can enter and read your files in your computer. They may edit them or even delete them. They can read you emails. They can format your hard disk. They can do anything they want with your computer.

In an office environment, this type of computer sabotage is possible. There are many software and applications related to ‘Desktop Security’. If you install a ‘Desktop security’ application in your computer, then you can prevent others from using your computer. If you require you can give permissions for a few.

Here are some of the desktop security software that you can use:

1. Access Denied
   Users of Windows 95/98/ME can use this application. You can install it and be sure that your computer is safe from strangers. When you boot your computer, it will prompt for the username and password. So only you can login to the computer.
   With ‘Access Denied’ you can give a unique username, passwords to your friends to access your computer. Later you can see the log file and see the time logged in and logged out by these users. So you will know exactly who used your computer.
   Another feature in Access Denied software is to block the F4 and F8 keys while the computer is booting. You can do this by choosing ‘Security->No Book Keys’ option.
   Another feature in Access Denied is the ‘Screen Guard’. This ‘Screen Guard’ feature is very handy. You can configure ‘mouse click’ or ‘hot key’ to hide the desktop whenever you want. If anybody tries to access, it will prompt for the username and password.
   Access Denied will also deny booting from floppy or CD.
   You can download ‘Access Denied’ fromhttp://www.johnru.com/accessdenied
2. Lock Out Desktop Security
   Lockout Desktop Security can be used to create policies and permissions for groups and users. You can block access to certain applications. You can block access to CD Drive. You can specify time period when people can access and when they cannot.
   You can download Lockout Desktop security software fromhttp://www.soft32.com/
3. Desktop Lock
   You can download Desktop lock fromhttp://www.toplang.com/desktoplock.htm
   Like other Desktop security applications desktop lock allows you to prevent access to specific applications, documents etc.
4. Mouse Trap
   To lock the desktop and to allow access only by logging in using username/password you can use the ‘Mouse Trap’ application. Mouse Trap also prevents the use of ‘Ctrl+Alt+Del’ and ‘Alt+Tab’ and any other system keys. You can download Mouse Trap from http://www.hotwww.com/
5. Boot Locker
   You can download Boot Locker from http://www.bootlocker.com/bl . You can use boot locker to create many users and groups. You can use this to disable and change password compulsary at frequent intervals.
   To find the latest available free desktop security software search google with the following search term http://www.google.com/search?q=%22desktop+security%22+download

How to remove hijack virus?

You may have read news about planes being hijacked. For example a passenger plane which is supposed to go to London may be hijacked by terrorists and flown to Turkey. The hijack virus does just that. If you key in a website address in your browser’s address bar and press ‘Enter’ then instead of going to that website the browser may open some other website such as an adult website or an advertisement website or a search engine website. If this happens in your computer then your browser has been infected by a hijack virus.

Why does this happen, you may wonder? This means a hijack virus has entered your computer without your knowledge and is working at its will. You can remove hijack virus and prevent it from happening using some software.

Process Guard is one such software. Just search for this software athttp://www.download.com/ and install it in your computer. This program will guard your computer against these hijack viruses

Free Password Management software

To keep computer files, internet connections and other resources just to ourselves, we use passwords. Some people use the same password for everything. This is a very bad practice. Because if someone comes to know about this password then they will get access to all your resources. There fore it is essential to have different passwords for different purposes. But this poses another problem. It becomes very difficult to remember all these passwords. Some write these passwords in their diary or write on a small paper and keep it on their table. This too is a bad practice. Because it is easy for other people to get hold of this information when you are not around.

If you could keep all your password in a database and then encrypt this database and protect it with a password then all your passwords will be safe. Then you just need to remember this one password, so even if you forget other passwords you can still use this password to open the database and check the password.

You can use a free password management software such as ‘Password Safe‘. You can download password safe from http://sourceforge.net/ and install it in your computer. Then you will never have to remember many passwords.

To create a master password

When you open Password safe for the first time it will ask you for the ‘Safe combination’ which is nothing but the master password for your password database. The safe combination password should be long and contain both numbers and alphabets so that it is difficult to guess. If you give a simple and easy to guess password then password safe will warn you. Now key in the same password again in the ‘Verify’ box and click on ‘OK’.

To add passwords to Password Safe

Click on the ‘Add Entry’ button in Password Safe. In the new dialog box give ‘group name’ (optional) and the title name and then key in your username and password. In the ‘Notes’ section write anything you want to write about the account. Now click on ‘OK’ to add this information to password safe.

As mentioned in the above paragraph add all your passwords one by one. When you close password safe program it will ask you where you want to save this password database in your hard disk. This is only for the first time.

To retrieve the password

If you forgot the password for any file or program and you want to retrive the password from password safe then password safe will first ask you for the ‘master password’. After you give the master password the database will open.

Then click on the ‘title’ for which you want to know the password. Now click on the ‘Copy password to clipboard’ button. Now the password will be copied to the clip board. You can use Ctrl + V to paste it anywhere you want.

When you exit the password safe program, it will automatically clear the password from the clipboard for security reasons.

You can also edit the password if you want.

3outube – Download youtube videos

Even wondered how to download youtube videos to your computer hard disk? If you did a search on google to find out free applications that can download youtube videos, there are quite a few of them available.

But some of them add advertisement, or only download 60 to 70 % of the video, and if you want to download the 100% video, you may have to buy it.

Here is a free 100% online download site which enables you to download in two different formats. MPEG4 and FLA formats. All you need to do is goto youtube.com and find your favourite video.

Eg. http ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY9793NCGxI

Now replace y in youtube with 3

So the URL now becomes

http://www.3outube.com/watch?v=yY9793NCGxI

This will bring you to a page where you can select which file format you want to download. MPEG4 or FLA.

Just click on the file format you want and the youtube video will be downloaded to your hard disk. It is that simple.

TouchFreeze – Activate, Freeze touch pad automatically in your laptop

For those who have been working on a desktop computer for a long time and switched to laptops, the major problem is getting adjusted with the smaller keyboard. Another problem is when typing on the laptop keyboard, the thumb sometimes touches the keypad and the cursor moves to another space.

This problem usually goes away with experience. More experienced laptop users do not face this issue, as they get adjusted to the new keyboard layout over time.

However, TouchFreeze is a free utility that can be used to freeze and activate touch pad automatically. If TouchFreeze is installed, it automatically freezes the touchpad and when you stop typing, it will automatically enable the touch pad again. To download TouchFreeze goto http://code.google.com/p/touchfreeze/downloads/list

Easy Duplicate Binder

While working with computer files we take copies of them and use them. But most of the times we forget to delete duplicate copies. Sometimes we save the file in the desktop or temp folders and backup folders. So multiple copies of the same file exists in the hard disk. This takes up hard disk space.

Only when we reach the hard disk space limit we realize this. But it will be too late to find the duplicate files. Fortunately there are some utilities available that can find duplicate files automatically and remove them. “Easy Duplicate Finder” is one such useful utility available from the internet.

You can find the file to download at http://www.easyduplicatefinder.com/. This program does not affect system files and folders. Then it will show you a list of duplicate files and let you decide which ones to delete.