smart computer use?

I see it all the time. A wireless network named “motorola” or “linksys”, with no authentication required to access it. This is common in residential areas. Sometimes even in office buildings. People or business set up a wireless network and leave it at all the default settings and don’t add any sort of authentication.

You might notice, if you already have a wireless enabled computer and a wireless internet connection, that there are many other networks besides yours that show up when you check the available wireless networks. When I connect to my wireless network at home, I also see a couple of unsecured networks. This makes me chuckle every time I see it.

The first things you should do when getting your new wireless modem or router hooked up are the following:

• Change your SSID from the default to some other name. Don’t use a name that directly links the network to you (such as “ralphswirelezz”). Even turn off broadcasting of the SSID if you want to take it a step further, or are able to with your equipment.
• Change the admin password to log onto your wireless modem or router.
• Enable at the very least WEP authentication

Why do you see so many unprotected networks?

Usually the reason that a wireless network is unprotected is that the person that runs the network is oblivious to the fact that they should probably secure their network.

Most cable companies don’t configure your wireless network for you when you sign up for high-speed cable internet services. They just give you the wireless router and plug it in for you at the most. Configuring your network to use some sort of authentication is a different story altogether.

What if you don’t secure your wireless network?

If you don’t secure your wireless network, chances are that you will probably at some point have somebody using your wireless network to browse the net or do other harmless things without you even knowing. There also is a chance that you could encounter somebody with the ability to decipher information that is being passed around on your wireless network, eventually compromising the security of password protected accounts and such.

There are a few ways to attack a wireless network. Some are passive and some are much more aggressive. Some people might just want to sniff around the network for kicks, some might want to actually try to steal information or use your network to perform other attacks anonymously. Not a good thing in any situation, really.

How do you secure your network?

It largely depends on specifically what type of equipment you are using to set up your network. Each type of wireless modem or router will have different ways to go about accomplishing the same thing: securing your network.

Here’s some good articles I found regarding how to set up secure wireless networks:

• How to Secure Your Wireless Network Using WEP and WPA – A good article about getting started with WEP and WPA
  
• How do I secure my Wireless Wi-Fi Network using WEP? – A quick overview of how to set up WEP
  
• Securing your Wireless Network – Good tips about what do to to make your network more secure.

Get to reading some of these links, read the documentation for your wireless devices, and you’ll have your network secured in no time.

Remember, even using just WEP authentication is better than no authentication at all.

A hot laptop computer is not a good idea. Keeping your laptop cool is smart. Keeping a laptop cooler is easy with a laptop cooler and/or a gas duster.

There are plenty of laptop computer horror stories out there, many involving overheating machines. I have had a particular laptop computer that for about three years has now developed a severe overheating disorder. I have figured out ways to keep the laptop from overheating, without spending too much money. You can make your own laptop coolers if you are up to the challenge.

When you think about it, there isn’t much to a laptop cooler. It’s either a base with fans, or a base that simply gives more air-space to the bottom of the laptop.

Purchasing a cheap laptop cooler base is the easiest way to go

The most effectively cheap way, and the most time-effective way (you won’t have to build your own) to keep your laptop from overheating is by going out a picking up an fan-based laptop cooler. There are many options on the internet available for purchase:

• Here’s a laptop cooler for cheap
• Here’s a laptop cooler for a little less cheap, yet still very cheap
• Here’s a laptop cooler that has a multi-port USB hub, and it’s still really cheap
• Here’s a laptop cooler that doesn’t use fans

And then I ran across QuadCooler.com

• The Original Quad Cooler
• The Tri-Cooler
• The AOP Cooler (using Aluminum)
• The Big Brian

The stuff at quadcooler.com looked pretty sweet. And for kicks I also found a review site that looked promising as far as providing reviews of the quadcooler, but it degraded pretty quickly into a bunch of arguing about laptop coolers.

Are you thinking to yourself, “wait, these things look pretty simple, I want to make one”?

If you are you might want to check out this Instructables page about making your own laptop cooler. Or you might want to check out how to make a laptop cooler in about an hour and a half. Even if you don’t follow these instructions to make your own laptop cooler, these page might give you a good idea about what some other people have done to make their own. They might help you to get started on your adventures of trying to cool your overheating laptop, on the cheap.

My overheating story, it’s not that interesting

I have used a simple 2 fan device, powered by USB. It has worked fine, and kept my laptop from overheating. One of the fans eventually got clogged up with dust and needed to be cleaned. Then after that the fan did eventually just wear out. Now it makes all kinds of noise while it tries to spin. I’ll need to replace the fan or buy another. I’ll be looking into a fan-less unit this time around, mainly for power consumption reasons.

Even as much as the 2-fan laptop cooler was important to keeping the heat levels down on my laptop, using compressed air to clean out the air channels in the unit was just as much important.

Try this out: buy and use a can of compressed air, or more correctly a gas duster. Yep, they’re actually called gas dusters. Check it out at that link if you have some extra time.

So, it comes down to 2 things

2 things, that is, to help keep your laptop cool:

• Use an under-laptop cooling unit, either fan or non-fan based
• Use a gas duster to clean out your machine and allow for better air flow
• Turn up the air conditioning (gratuitous 3rd unnecessary item)

Yep.

People will become more like cyborgs as computer technology increases in power. Computers keep getting smaller. Computers keep getting more powerful. All other electronic devices also are following the same patterns. Devices get smaller, and they become more portable and powerful.

With these increases in power and decreases in size, devices are becoming easier to wear, attach to your body, or even have implanted in your body.

We are starting to see this in applications such as:

New Wearable Computer Helps Blind Navigate

This is a refreshing, smart use of computer technology. These are the types of applications of computers that will pave the way for more powerful uses of computers. Uses of computers beyond the traditional Desktop/Laptop PC’s, phones and iPods.

I argue that you should not buy too much software at once. Typically, any software that you buy for personal use on a computer is going to take a bit of time to get used to. You need to spend enough time with the software to come to a personal realization that you:

• either really do need to keep the software on your machine
• or you need to delete or un-install it.

You need to get a feel for the software you are buying.

You should focus time on a new software purchase without moving on to another piece quickly. Software can be expensive. Applications like Adobe (formerly Macromedia, or something…) Dreamweaver, although fun and/or productive, can cost a couple hundred or more depending on whether you buy it used or new

If you don’t spend enough time with software before getting a new focus or interest, you might not realize just how much you really do or don’t need that nifty application.

Sometimes you might be best off just uninstalling and selling software that you don’t use.

This is what will probably be the case if you over-purchase software. It’ll be a distracting from stuff you do use.

If you’re not using it, and it’s worth $150, sell it.

But, sometimes the software might be cheaper or unsaleable. Actually, for as much as I recommend that you sell expensive applications, it might not be worth it to try to sell games or stuff that you payed $20 for. The time that you might need to spend to unload it on e-bay might not be worth the few dollars to get back.

Old production software is not fun to have around, generally

It’s not fun, however to try to use Photoshop 5 after having used Photoshop CS2. Or playing around with Flash5 after using Flash 8. I would argue there is a bit of a difference in having a good time with old games than old production applications.

Prevent overlooked software

Overlooked software on the shelf next to your PC is not a good situation. Buy software only once you have an understanding of the stuff you already do have. This will prevent a situation where your PC is loaded with so much stuff that you don’t know what to do with it all.

ThinkGeek.com has a neat little USB memory watch for sale. This could be a smart gadget to have, for the following reason:

If you wear a watch, you probably wear it all the time. For that reason, if your watch is then a USB memory watch, you will always have USB memory at your immediate disposal. That could come in pretty handy if you make frequent use of computer technology.

There are other gadgets out there:

• A Swiss army knife with USB flash memory
• A somewhat disturbing teddy bear version of USB flash memory
• Heart-shaped USB flash memory
• USB memory arm band (a different take on how to keep your data on you)

And also a standard yet different-than-plastic take on USB flash memory

• Wooden USB memory strap

Chinese suppliers are also providing all kinds of weird USB memory

• USB drives at Global Sources

I’ll stick with my standard retractable USB stick for now. I don’t know if I’d want to carry around a duck, or a teddy bear.