The continuing issues relating to the legal licensing of software and its costs are pushing many users to investigate alternative solutions. For several years, Linux-based systems have been the primary "open source" software - and Linux is now used on a large number of Internet servers. Companies like IBM support the use of Linux and have entered into agreements with Red Hat, a major supporter/distributor of Linux, to expand the range of IBM servers that run on the operating system.
But Linux does have its drawbacks. Not only is the operating system more complex to install, maintain and use, each programme that the user wants to install must be a "Linux version" or it won't work. Primarily for this reason, it has yet to emerge from computer rooms, where trained and experienced information technology specialists use it for system support, to the desktops of every-day users.
Other open source software options are now available, however, and are becoming popular. One notable product is OpenOffice (originally StarOffice). This "office suite" was created by Sun Microsystems and is a free download, but the Windows version is a 51 Mb file, so download may be a bit problematic for some. It's often worth looking for a CD-ROM version - and sometimes paying the nominal fee associated with it.
The suspected practice in some educational institutions, that are already struggling to make ends meet, of making illegal copies of business and educational software is clearly not worth the increasing risk of being exposed for copyright infringement.
Recent offers by mainstream companies of free or highly discounted software for a limited time, may also not be worth the long-term cost of paying unaffordable subscription rates in future years (once dependency has been established through wide-spread usage).
Free software like OpenOffice could be the best approach for many such institutions.
The Internet has become one of the most useful vehicles for accessing information about almost any topic, but people often have difficulty finding precisely what it is they are looking for. Some reasons cited for failing to locate information have to do with a lack of knowledge about types of information on the Internet, types of search tools, use of browsers and Internet search terminology.
There are, however, free online learning tutorials that can help to improve proficiencies in using the Internet for research:
Internet tutorials - using and searching the web: Developed by the University of Albany Libraries, this site includes a range of information to assist the researcher, from the basics of Internet research to tips on specific browser types to using a Windows-based software that transfers files between a local and a remote computer. http://library.albany.edu/usered
Internet tutorials for further education: These free tutorials are offered by the RDN Virtual Training Suite (from the Institute for Learning and Research Technology, University of Bristol, U.K.) The self-paced tutorials assist students, lecturers and researchers improve their Internet information literacy and information technology skills. Users can also take quizzes and participate in interactive exercises. www.vts.rdn.ac.uk
WebWise: This is a free, online and interactive tutorial for beginners on how to navigate the Internet, provided by the British Broadcasting Corporation. Designed as a 10-hour course, WebWise covers basics such as "getting connected, e-mailing, searching, book-marking, making your own address book and building your own web page." In addition, you will also "learn about technological developments like Digital TV and WAP phones, your legal rights online and the history of the net." www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/learn/index.shtml
Content for this item was provided by Development Gateway, a new interactive Internet portal for information and knowledge sharing on sustainable development and poverty reduction (Development Gateway Foundation). COL is a major content supplier, contributing information on educational developments in the field of e-learning. www.developmentgateway.org
Hacking is not something that only big organisations need to be concerned about. We are all potential targets for hackers - anytime anyone goes online (it's just like every time we walk outside of our front doors we expose ourselves to all the risks of the physical world).
Smaller organisations, institutions and individuals frequently do not adequately protect themselves from attack. You don't have to be individually targeted by a hacker since one hacker may be automatically scanning thousands of personal computers (PCs) to find some that they can penetrate.
What can they do? A malicious hacker might delete files on your hard drive thereby causing your operating system to fail. They can also load code (a small programme) that might cause your hard drive to continuously do "summersaults" until it crashes or that might cause your computer to send junk e-mail to everyone in your address book.
Hackers can also scan servers and PCs to determine if a programme can be loaded that will be used later in a denial-of-service (DoS) attack, where your server might be used along with hundreds of others to mount a co-ordinated attack on a larger corporate server, without you even knowing it. Through the implanted programmes, the computers that are involved in the orchestrated DoS attack request web pages as fast as possible from one organisation's server. Usually, these requests are sent with false return addresses so that even when the target server does respond, it then receives a further message to say that the page went nowhere. With tens of thousands of requests being received per second, even the most powerful of servers can collapse.
A recent DoS attack against the Internet's 13 primary domain name servers left nine out of operation. While administrators frequently do take measures to deflect DoS attacks, sometimes there is little they can do other than to shut down the server until the attack is over . . . and if we have unprotected servers, we might have aided the criminals in carrying out their attack!
On a personal level, you can do the following to protect yourself:
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Update your Microsoft Windows installation - http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com .
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nstall anti-virus software on your PC. This can be done through online purchase and download (e.g., Symantec/Norton or McAfee) - www.symantec.com or www.mcafee.com . Update your virus "definitions" once or twice a week - this is essential to protect you from the hundreds of new viruses that emerge each day.
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As an increased level of protection, include a personal firewall with your anti-virus software - available from anti-virus software vendors.
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To provide the best defence, consider installing hacker protection (e.g., BlackIce) - www.iss.net .
If you are a system administrator and have not yet done so, you urgently need system-wide anti-virus, firewall and hacker protection!
Further information:
www.iss.net
www.toplayer.com/pdf/faq.pdf
www.nipc.gov/cybernotes/cybernotes.htm
http://dispatch.mcafee.com/esecuritynews/may2002/default.asp
www.symantec.com/press/2001/n010116b.html
A recent study predicts that e-mail messaging will double to 60 billion per day by 2006, but half of it will be unsolicited.
Of the 31 billion e-mail messages that move across the Internet and private networks daily now, about two-thirds are person-to-person communications and the rest is made up of spam, notifications and alerts for information such as stock prices and sports scores. By 2006, a little over half of the 60 billion messages sent daily will be person-to-person, said Mark Levitt, vice president of Market Researcher IDC.
To ensure e-mail remains a valuable business tool, e-mail software vendors and users will have to find ways to quickly access the most important and timely e-mail messages, said Levitt, who co-wrote a recently published IDC study on e-mail usage with Robert Mahowald, research manager in IDC's collaborative computing programme.
As a result of the e-mail onslaught, users will demand message filtering technology, IDC concludes in the report titled Worldwide E-mail Usage Forecast, 2002-2006: Know What's Coming Your Way. The report examines how e-mail has been and will be used for business and personal purposes. It looks at e-mail usage in North America and worldwide markets, including breakdowns of users by type, primary access methods and sent e-mails by purpose and type.
The study also looks at the evolution of newer tools such as instant messaging.
ITWorld Canada.com - www.itworldcanada.com