NOKIA SMART-PHONES ARE TOO EXPENSIVE

Nokia high end smartphones are “too expensive” according to the European general manager for devices at international carrier Telefónica, Simon Lee-Smith. He told Telecoms.com that Nokia’s premium devices are “not yet at the right price point,” adding: “If Nokia wants to sell in volume, they need to bring out devices which are cost-competitive.”

Lee-Smith said Nokia was “beginning to listen” to its carrier customers and that he expected the Finnish vendor to deliver devices in the new year that are “more commercially effective”. He said the problem related to products that have been available for some time, such as the N8 and N9, as well as the recently announced Lumia800, Nokia’s new flagship WP7-based smartphone.

The vendor also used Nokia World to unveil a rejuvenated emerging market proposition based around feature phones heavy on functionality but low on price. “I hope they’re successful with that,” Lee-Smith said. “They need to be able to subsidise their high end smartphones, because they’re too expensive.”

DRAFT SOFTWARE POLICY SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL

By Emeka Aginam

The draft national software policy has been developed and submitted to the the National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) for review and approval, Vanguard Hitech has learnt.

The blueprint, if approved by the Federal Government, Vanguard Hitech gathered, is expected to guide Software Nigeria in the 21st century.

NITDA, the clearing house for IT projects in the Nigerian public sector had earlier set up the National Software Policy Committee, (NSPC) last year, tasked to develop a national software policy aimed at making Nigeria a competitive country in software development.

POLICY TO POSITION NIGERIA SOFTWARE'S

The policy when fully implemented will be used to explore the full potentials of the industry in a way to make software Nigeria a major player in the global software industry. Before now, the NSPC had been given terms of reference to design appropriate strategies for national research and development and also establish strategies for promoting local demand for software products and services

Chairman of the NSPC, Prof. Oluwole Akinyokun said that the draft copy would be reviewed during a stakeholders forum early this month after which it will be submitted to the Ministry of Communications for approval.

“The draft copy has been submitted to the NITDA. Part of the content of the policy will include, physical policy, strategic policy, human capital, software infrastructure, regulatory policy, among others” he said. He added that after the stakeholders meeting, the policy will be presented the federal executive council for consideration and approval by the Minister of Communication Technology.

The work plan after the approval of draft national software policy, he said will include submission of draft to the Minister of Communications & Technology for consideration and approval; and development of a strategic plan for the implementation of the approved National Software Policy.

The National Software Development Policy, if enforced , according to him is expected to tap into the resources of young, yet inexperienced IT engineers looking for employment in the job market.

POLICY OBJECTIVES

According to him, promoting software as one of the topmost critical national information infrastructure for the growth of Nigerian economy, promoting and facilitating software industry growth with a view to improving the quality and effectiveness of public service delivery, driving transparency and accountability in governance and improving standard of living of Nigerians through the use of software in all sectors, as a tool to enhance productivity, efficiency and optimum utilization of resources. among others are the mission of the national software policy.

Accordingly, software human capital, software infrastructure, software fiscal policy, software industry economics, software legislative, regulatory and institutional framework, software and national development strategy, software research, innovation and development, among others, he said are the focus areas of the national software policy.

“The Transformation Agenda coupled with the Political Will of the Federal, State and Local Governments clearly points to a successful enforcement and compliance with the National Software Policy.

SOFTWARE SWOT

“The SWOT analysis of the software Industry in Nigeria as contained in the National Software Policy documents clearly shows that the strengths and opportunities of Nigerian Software Industry outweighs the weaknesses and threats. Indeed and in truth, the weaknesses and threats rear their heads because of lack of National Software Policy over the years. Consequently, I do not envisage any challenges” Akinyokun, who is a lecture at the Federal University of Technology Akure, added.

Akinyokun said that given the existing political and socio-economic status of Nigeria in West Africa and Africa, the fundamentals exist for the emergency of Nigeria as a global competitor in the software market with ancillary beneficial impact of poverty alleviation, gender equality, wealth creation in the society.

According to the draft policy on software, he said that there was evidence that the domestic market for software products and services is huge, adding that the challenge facing Nigeria was how much of this market opportunity is linked to the emergence of a vibrant local software economy and capability as opposed to net negative capital flight and job loses to international competition.

INTEL APPOINTS EKUNDARE AS NIGERIA COUNTRY MANAGER

By Emma Elebeke

Intel Corporation has announced the appointment of Olubunmi Ekundare as its country manager for Nigeria. Olubunmi will take over responsibility of Intel’s commercial activities and innovations in Nigeria and will also be responsible for Intel’s businesses across West Africa.

The company said: “This is a great example of our continued commitment in building and developing our management team within Middle East Turkey and Africa (META).”

On his appointment, Olubunmi said: “As country manager for Intel Nigeria my vision is to make Intel’s technology an asset to the growth and development of Nigeria and the continent. ’I look forward to harnessing the great potential of Nigeria’s IT sector with the support of my team and in line with Intel’s strategy’’, Olubunmi stated.

“Besides overseeing Intel activities in Nigeria and West Africa, I look forward to having the opportunity, and will make every effort, to facilitate the use and adoption of technology in both the public and private sectors and ensure that our customers, partners and the wider ecosystem continue to benefit from our wide range of innovative technologies” he added.

Olubunmi has 20 years experience working in the country’s technology sector. He joined Intel in 2008 as the Corporate Affairs Manager for West Africa, and has undertaken consulting assignments for LM Ericsson.

LIGHTBOX EMPOWERS YOUTH IN NIGERIA WITH FREE IT SKILLS

By Emma Elebeke

As part of its efforts at curbing the increasing youth restiveness in the country and to encourage young school leavers acquire skills, Lightbox Live Transformation Forum, a non-profit organization in Nigeria has organised a two day free IT creativity training for young school leavers in the country.

The initiative is a collaborative effort of Lightbox and Art and design, department of communication , Yaba College of Technology and is free for all interested youth who are eager to improve on their IT skills in the affected areas.

Participants at the traing were taken through animation VFX, phot and Videography, sound, audio design and production, web design and graphic design. At the art complex, Yaba College of Technology.

Coordinator of Lightbox, and the director of Lucid Audio – Visuals , the public relations and advertising and publicity studio, Stanlee Ohikhuare explained that the “HEADS UP” annual seminars was aimed at addressing prevalent social issues unique to the immediate society, in which major facilitators were consulted to execute trainings tailored for next generation of Nigerian leaders.

The facilitators include Mavi Isibor, managing director Poise Nigeria, Tunji Olugbodi, managing director Verdant Zeal, and Nath McAbraham – Inajoh, managing director, Mc-Abraham’s.

According to him, the programme was a light value added service to the society and also a way of giving to the society.

“They will be going back as changed people with requisite skill to stand on their own. We are starting with 300 now, when the capacity increases, we can increase the number. We are providing all facilities for them to come and learn free of charge from experts in these areas,” he added.

Another facilitator, Patrick Ohikhuare said the ultimate goal of the training was to give the beneficuiaries the best in whatever they chose to train on.

”Our target audience are secondary schol leavers, who are not doing anything now, or who are waiting result. We want to keep them busy with training on those special areas they could find their strength,” he said.

For Fegho Umunubo, anoher project coordinator of lightbox, said the essence of the press conference is to create awareness and inform members of the public and intending beneficiaries to leverage on on the gesture to improve their lives.

Lightbox LTF is a Life tranformation forum and an offshoot of Church4real; Church of God Mission Int.

HOW TO INCREASE THE SPEED OF YOUR WINDOW XP

If not properly and regularly maintained, the performance of all Windows XP systems tend to degrade with the passage of time. To arrest this declining performance, visiting a computer shop isn't your only option; you can also increase performance of your computer yourself. Save your money and squeeze more speed out of Windows XP!

STEPS TO FOLLOW

1. Clean computer registry, but first backup the registry using the cleaner program.
   Regularly use a freeware or purchase commercial, registry cleaner to increase XP performance. Maybe you have uninstalled an application without using the Add or Remove Programs function in the Control Panel, or perhaps an object or file in the registry got moved. Eventually, this orphaned or misplaced information accumulates and begins to clog your registry, potentially slowing down your PC and causing error messages and system crashes.
2. Remove Spyware and Viruses
   
   • Spyware and viruses are leading causes of computer slowdown because you may have several spyware cookies or trojans that are taking up your processor time for reading and storing and reporting your activity to several spy databases.
   • Update and run your spyware and virus software every week.
   • If you do not have tools installed to protect against malware and spyware then you can download Spyware Blaster, and for viruses, download a free copy of AVG - "Anti-Vir Guard" or this one Avira - "Anti-Vira guard" (all three of those are free "For Personal Use"), all three are also available in Business or Pro versions. Also, Microsoft's Windows Defender is a widely-used anti-spyware tool that is currently distributed freely for users with a "Genuine" verified copy of Windows. "Windows Defender" is also included with other Microsoft services and products such as "Live OneCare" and "Vista."
   • Download and install Mozilla Firefox, Opera or Google Chrome. It will allow you to import all of your Internet Explorer settings, and is much less prone to malware than Microsoft Internet Explorer. It will prompt you with a "Set as Default Browser" message. Check "Don't show this again" and click "Yes". Firefox also has a cool feature to delete cookies, cache, and temporary internet files each time you close it. You are strongly recommended to use this option. It can speed up your internet experience. You should also check Google Chrome which is noticeably faster and less prone to virus attacks from internet Chrome.
   • If you have a really complicated virus infection, try using the Quick Virus Remover. It is a free utility, though not a replacement for commercial products but can be helpful for removing some of the most common viruses infecting your system.
3. Perform a disk clean up.
   
   • Click start in the bottom left corner, then click run.
   • Type, "cleanmgr.exe" in the text field.
   • Press "okay". This can take a while if you have never done it before.
   
4. Remove unwanted/unneeded software which may be the reason for slowdown.
   
   • Click start, then click control panel.
   • Click add/remove programs.
   • Highlight any old software you do not use and then click "remove".
5. Defragment Your Computer - This will place similar files physically closer on the hard disk and will help improve load speeds.
   
   • Click start, again, then click run.
   • Type, "dfrg.msc" in the text field.
   • Click Defrag to start it.
   
6. Stop unwanted Start-Up programs.
   
   • Run msconfig
   • Choose startup box
   • Select uncheck programs you don't want to run on startup
     OR
     Click here and download StartUpCPL.
   • Install the software you have just downloaded.
   • Open control panel, select Start up.
   • Disable any programs you do not want load automatically.
   
   • Programs can also schedule tasks to launch automatically when windows starts to stop such programs use windows task scheduler.To open Scheduled Tasks, click Start, click All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Scheduled Tasks.
   • Disable All Services you do not use or need. Open control panel, open Administrative Tools, and select Services. Disabling the wrong Services may lead to serious problems that you may not notice right away. Please consult a reference such as overclockersclub.com for information on specific Windows XP Services. If you do not know what it is, do not disable the service.
   
7. Make Windows Load Faster.
   
   • Click Start, then Run.
   • Type in 'msconfig' and press enter.
   • Click on the BOOT.INI tab at the top.
   • Over to the right there will be a box labeled Timeout with 30 in it. Change the 30 to a 3.
8. Speed Up Processing Time.
   
   • Turning off the fancy Windows XP graphics will noticeably increase the speed of your computer.
   • Go to Start, (Settings), Control Panel, System. NOTE: You may need to 'Switch to Classic Mode' to see the System applet.
   • Go to the Advanced tab. Click the Settings button under Performance.
   • Select the 'Adjust for best performance' radio button, then Apply, and OK.
   • The graphics aren't as flashy, but your computer will run a lot faster.
9. Set Pagefile size.
   
   • Go to Start, (Settings), Control Panel, System. (This is just like the step above this.)
   • Go to the Advanced tab. Click the Settings button under Performance.
   • Now switch to this Advanced tab, and click on 'Change' under Virtual Memory.
   • You will see the 'Initial Size (MB)' and the Maximum Size (MB)'.
   • Change 'Initial Size' to the same value as 'Maximum Size' then click set.
   • NOTE This setting will help your gaming process by speeding up your computer.
   • ADDED NOTE: When your computer consumes your computer's hard drive and uses it as RAM, it is referred to as thrashing. Thrashing is bad for your computer and buying a RAM (it's not that expensive) is much more worthwhile.
10. Set Priorities: Press Control (ctrl) Alt Delete (del) at the same time. Once task manager opens, click the process's tab. Now find explorer.exe, right click it, and set the priority to realtime. This makes your computer focus on explorer.exe, which is your task bar and visual objects. Use this method if you want to keep your visual styles (or your using a transformation pack). This method greatly increases speed and if you are noticing that other programs that you use a lot are slow, you can set their priority to either high or above normal, if you have 2 process's on high at the same time, your computer will be unstable, and might crash. **For users without Admin password**-You will not be able to modify the value to realtime, if you aren't on an admin account, or you have insufficient privileges, then the best you can do, is set to high.
11. Delete photos: Pictures can take up an enormous amount of space. If you want to keep the pictures - and you most likely do - copy them to a CD-rom.

TIPS AND WARNINGS

• If this is your first defrag, do it after the disk clean up twice, then a disk defrag, and then another disk clean up. It is suggested to defrag your hard drive weekly.
  For best results, run defragmenter last after performing all other steps and do not use your computer while defragmenter is running.
• Do all the above steps quite often to maintain the speed of your PC.
  Run an alternate Windows shell to save on RAM usage and boost performance (Shell Shocked: Alternative shells for Windows). Although more expensive, installing additional RAM is a better option. Running an alternate shell is a compatibility risk as many proprietary Microsoft programs, such as their latest game or Visual Studio, may not function properly on a third-party shell.
• Although time-intensive, a re-partition and re-format of the hard disk drive, along with a clean installation of Windows XP will improve performance. Performing this task will remove all of your existing data, so a back-up or file copy is recommended first. Only save the files you created, as you will need to reinstall each application on the new installation of Windows. If you did not change the default location when saving documents, it may be safe to copy only the user folder and all files and folders within it (ie: "C:\Documents and Settings\(your user name)"). Typically, most users will need to be sure to copy these files:
  
  • Documents created using applications such as Microsoft Word or similar office suite programs
  • Bookmarks/Favorites from your Internet browser
  • Fonts installed that are not included by default with Windows (note that some fonts are installed by applications).
  • E-mail in-box and folders if you use an e-mail client that does not use an Internet browser
  • Any schedule data for programs such as Outlook
  • Financial records for programs such as Quicken
• Optimize the registry with a third-party application. Many of these registry tweaking programs are available on the Internet, including freeware, shareware and commercial applications that are released as free trials. If you are not familiar with the registry, do not try to edit it manually -- the registry is vital to Windows' operation.
• Download Ccleaner from majorgeeks.com. It's a good freeware program, and if you don't use other unnecessary programs, you will be able to gain a lot of space. It also gives you other features such as:
  
  • Startup Manager and
  • Registry Cleaner.
• Also go to Start/Run type in %temp% and delete them all.
• Clean your Computer's Inside. Dust off the fans, gently wash the monitor screen, and clean the keyboard/mouse. Dust blocking the fans and heat sink inside the computer can cause performance problems, including memory problems.
• Always create a restore point before uninstalling software, even better before you start any step.
• Be careful when using msconfig. Do not uncheck unfamiliar items, and do not experiment with settings in any other tab. Doing so could prevent your Windows install from booting!
• Using a registry cleaning software will have very little improvement, if any. Many registry editors imply that registry problems are much worse than they are, or are spyware/adware. In general, do not bother unless there is a problem which requires adjusting the registry.

REMOVE WINDOW GENUINE ADVANTAGE NOTIFICATION

Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) notifications occur when your computer hasn't passed the validation test. The validation test can be failed due to being sold a pirated (non-genuine) copy of XP, or because you have changed your XP product key to a software-generated key, or sometimes it just happens for no reason at all. The failed validation installs three types of notifications on your computer: one on the log in screen, one log in timer, and one balloon. It also stops updates from Microsoft and disables your ability to install IE7 and Windows Media Player 11. This solution can get rid of all three notifications, even though you will still not be able to update through Windows Update. You will not be able to download things from Microsoft that requires a valid license either.

STEPS TO FOLLOW

DELETE METHOD

1. If you have only just installed Windows Genuine Advantage notifications, simply using the system restore function will remove the program. Then refuse to accept the WGA update next time Windows updates. Otherwise, proceed as detailed below. (NOTE: If you try these steps while you are in "Safe Mode," step #8 is unnecessary).
2. irst, try the following:
   Open a Command Prompt window by clicking on Start -> Run. Type CMD and press OK.
   Change Directory into the System32 Folder (type cd \windows\system32)
   Open a Notepad window and type the following lines:
   taskkill -IM wgatray.exe
   del wgatray.exe
   del wgalogon.old
   Highlight and copy the three lines above to the Clipboard.
   Paste the contents of the Clipboard to Command Prompt.
3. This should kill the wgatray.exe process from the Taskbar and immediately delete both files wgatray.exe and wgalogon.dll without the need to to go through all steps bellow.
4. If that does not work, follow the steps below:
   Open System32 by either of the following methods:
   
   • Click "Start" -> "Run", then type "system32". Click "Start" -> "Run", then type "system32". Click "Okay".
     
   • Find system32 manually by clicking "Start" > "My Computer" > "(C:)" (or whatever your drive letter is) > "WINDOWS" > "system32".
   In "system32", go to "Tools" > "Folder options", click on the tab, "View", and uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types" if it is not already.
   
   Check to make sure the window that comes up has a full screen of various files. The files are in alphabetical order, which makes it easier to locate the specific file.
   
   Find "WgaLogon. Find "WgaLogon.dll" and rename it "WgaLogon.dll.bak".
   
   
   Create an empty copy of WgaLogon.dll:
   
   • Right click on a blank space in system32 and select "New" > "Text Document". Right click on a blank space in system32 and select "New" > "Text Document".
     
   • Leave the text document empty and label it "WgaLogon.dll". Press Enter (on your keyboard).
   • You may get a warning from the above step that says, "If you change a file name extension, the file may become unusable. You may get a warning from the above step that says, "If you change a file name extension, the file may become unusable. Are you sure you want to change it?". Click "Yes" on this warning.
     
   
   Be ready to complete the next two steps very quickly! Find "WgaTray.exe" in "system32" and delete it. You will then have 5 seconds to find "WgaTray.exe" in the Task Manager (the next step). NOTE: If you remove the files mentioned above while you are in "Safe Mode," step #8 is unnecessary.
   
   Immediately open Task Manager. You can do this by pressing the Ctrl, Shift, and Esc keys simultaneously, pressing the Ctrl, Alt, and Delete keys simultaneously, or right clicking the Taskbar and selecting "Task Manager". Click on the process tab and click end process when "WgaTray.exe" is selected. Note: If you take longer, do not panic! All that will happen is that "WgaTray.exe" will keep reappearing in the processes list (i.e. you won't be able to delete it as required). To remove the notifications after this, return to system32. You will find two files:"WgaLogon.dll.bak" (the one you renamed) and an Application Extension (0KB) called "WgaLogon.dll". Delete the Application Extension, rename "WgaLogon.dll.bak" to "WgaLogon.dll" and repeat the steps from the fifth one onwards (at a greater speed!!).
   
5. Restart your computer once you have finished. All the notification messages should be gone.

RENAME METHOD

1. Open a CMD window by clicking on Start -> Run -> type CMD and click OK.
2. Open a Notepad window (Start -> Run type NOTEPAD click OK) and type or copy (select the lines, and then press Ctrl-C) the following lines and paste (Ctrl-V) into the Notepad window:
   
   • CD %systemroot%\system32
   • rename wgatray.exe wgatray.exe.bak
   • rename wgalogon.old wgalogon.old.bak
   • rename LegitCheckControl.dll LegitCheckControl.dll.bak
   • taskkill /F /T /IM wgatray.exe
   • del wgatray.exe.bak
   • del wgalogon.old.bak
   • del LegitCheckControl.old.bak
3. Make sure there is a blank line at the end of the text document, right after the last line.
4. Select all the text (Ctrl-A) and copy to the clipboard (Ctrl-C)
5. Paste the clipboard into the CMD Window (right click -> Paste)
6. This should kill the wgatray.exe process and delete the files it uses.

TIPS AND WARNING

• This process will only get rid of the notifications, and will not validate your copy of XP. It will remove the timer at the beginning of your XP log on, the white notice on the log on screen, and the annoying yellow star that appears in the bottom right corner of the screen.
• This is easier to do if you have someone reading the steps to you while you do it.
• You may need to Find Hidden Files and Folders in Windows to get to System32 manually.
• If task manager processes are moving, click the title of the "image name" row to freeze them.
• If you are having problems after this, disable the updates before rebooting.
• There is a program called RemoveWGA which does all of this for you. Just run the program, click yes, and you're done. (See External Links, below.)
• If you have problems changing files in the system32 directory, you will have to turn off System Restore. Go to "Start" -> "Control Panel" -> "System" -> "System Restore" and check the "Turn off system restore" check box.
• You will not be able to use Automatic Updates anymore; instead, you have to manually update them. In External Links, there is a program that will allow you to update any system, regardless of if it is genuine or not.
• You can also rename WgaTray.exe to WgaTray.exe.bak if you can't remove WgaTray.exe from your Taskbar. Press Ctrl+Shift+Escape to do so.
• It will be useful to have Task Manager open first before deleting WgaTray.exe
• Unlocker is a free program that can assist in removing WGA notifications.
• In case WgaTray.exe cannot be deleted, you need to do the following steps: go to Task Manager, click on WgaTray.exe then End task. In the screen that pops up do not click Yes yet. Go to System32 and delete WgaTray.exe with SHIFT+DELETE. Do not click yes on the pop-up screen where you are asked if you really want to delete. Now arrange the two pop-ups very close. Very fast (within 1 second) click yes first on the first pop-up, from Task Manager and then click yes in the pop-up from delete. WgaTray.exe is gone. If it doesn't work (you receive an error), try again, faster. It should work at least for WindowsXP.
• Do not edit anything but what is told in system32, or it could cause system start up failure.
• If you are new to computers, do not attempt this because if you modify the wrong file you may crash your computer.
• This is not required for systems older than Windows 2000, as older versions of Windows do not have WGA installed. This list includes Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT 3.51, and NT4. (WGA now installs for Windows 2000 searching for the most commonly used pirated keys.)
• If you don't have a genuine version of Windows, it's better to get it because you will be eligible get non-critical updates, IE7/8, and Media Player 11.
• If you are not using a genuine version you will still receive critical updates.

THIN CLIENTS

INTRODUCTION

A thin client (sometimes also called a lean or slim client) is a computer or a computer program which depends heavily on some other computer (its server) to fulfill its traditional computational roles. This stands in contrast to the traditional fat client, a computer designed to take on these roles by itself. The exact roles assumed by the server may vary, from providing data persistence (for example, for diskless nodes) to actual information processing on the client's behalf.
Thin clients occur as components of a broader computer infrastructure, where many clients share their computations with the same server. As such, thin client infrastructures can be viewed as the amortization of some computing service across several user-interfaces. This is desirable in contexts where individual fat clients have much more functionality or power than the infrastructure either requires or uses. This can be contrasted, for example, with grid computing.

The most common type of modern thin client is a low-end computer terminal which concentrates solely on providing a graphical user interface to the end-user. The remaining functionality, in particular the operating system, is provided by the server.

HISTORY

Thin clients have their roots in multi-user systems, traditionally mainframes accessed by some sort of terminal computer. As computer graphics matured, these terminals transitioned from providing a command-line interface to a full graphical user interface, as is common on modern thin clients. The prototypical multiuser environment along these lines was Unix, and fully graphical X terminals, i.e., devices running X server software, preceded and continued to be relatively popular even after the arrival of thin clients in the mid-late 1990s. Modern Unix derivatives like BSD and GNU/Linux continue this multi-user, remote display/input session tradition. Typically, X server software is not made available on thin clients, although no technical reason for this exclusion would prevent it.
Windows NT became capable of multi-user operations primarily through the efforts of Citrix Systems, which repackaged NT 3.5.1 as the multi-user operating system WinFrame. Microsoft licensed this technology back from Citrix and implemented it into Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition, under a project codenamed "Hydra." Windows NT then became the basis of Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Today, Windows allows graphical terminals via its Remote Desktop Services component.
The term thin client was coined in 1993 by Tim Negris, VP of Server Marketing at Oracle Corp., while working with company founder Larry Ellison on the launch of Oracle 7. At the time, Oracle wished to differentiate their server-oriented software from Microsoft's desktop-oriented products. Negris's buzzword was then popularized by its frequent use in Ellison's speeches and interviews about Oracle products.

The term stuck for several reasons. The earlier term "graphical terminal" was chosen to contrast such terminals with text-based terminals, and thus puts the emphasis on graphics. The term was also not well-established among IT professionals, most of whom had been working on fat-client systems. It also conveys better the fundamental hardware difference: thin clients can be designed with much more modest hardware, because they perform much more modest operations.

More details on thin client

HOW TO AVOID REGISTRATION IN A WEBSITE USING BUGMENOT

While the boundless information on the Internet is truly incredible, the registration requirements on many internet sites are truly annoying. Why does that website need to know your email address, age, profession, income level, and zip code anyway? Fortunately, there is an easy way around this annoying violation of your privacy.

STEPS TO FOLLOW

1. Test out bugmenot by going to the login page on a website that has compulsory registration
2. Open a new tab/browser window and enter bugmenot.com
3. Copy and paste the URL of the restricted website into bugmenot. The example depicted here is for the LA Times.

4. Press return and it will provide a user name and password which will allow you free access to the restricted website.

5. Copy and paste the user name and password into the login field on the website you wish to view.

TIPS AND WARNING

• Appreciate the fact that wikiHow and eHow require no login or sharing of personal information. wikiHow allows you to register if you want to get credit for your contributions, but the full site functionality is available even to anonymous users. No need for BugMeNot here.
• BugMeNot.com only provides login information for free websites.
• Often the first login BugMeNot gives you will not work, but you can ask the site for additional names to try.
• The site has "liberated" over 87,000 websites that previously required free registration.
• Skipping free registration will help you avoid spam.
• When logging in, be sure to check the "Remember Me on Future Visits" box, so that you won't have to enter a password again.
• When using FireFox you can install the bugmenot extension from here: http://roachfiend.com/archives/category/extensions/ After installation you just have to right click in the field where you have to submit the user-name.
• When using Maxthon you can install the BugMeNot plug-in.
• Some feel this practice is ethically questionable. You will have to decide for yourself.

HOW TO ENCRYPT AN ANDROID PHONE

Most modern Android phones do not have data encryption built into the hardware, which means that you'll have to rely on third-party apps to secure your text messages, e-mail, and other critical communications.

Thankfully, you have plenty of options; one of the most promising is WhisperCore, a smartphone encryption app from Whisper Systems that can encrypt your phone’s entire hard drive and even create encrypted backups in case your phone falls into the wrong hands and you have to perform an emergency data wipe. The app is still in beta and works only with Nexus S and Nexus One phones, but hopefully the Whisper team is working hard to extend this awesome app to cover more hardware.

Alternatively, Android owners can selectively encrypt specific files and folders on their phones using apps like Droid Crypt ($2.89) or AnDisk Encryption ($3.99). Both of these apps allow users to encrypt images and documents stored on their smartphones using 128-bit AES encryption, which should buy you some time if someone manages to crack your password and start rooting through your phone.

Even better, a handful of Android apps currently in development (that is, they're in beta) can encrypt your outgoing phone calls and text messages in real time. Our favorite of these communication encryption apps include RedPhone and TextSecure, which are also from Whisper Systems. RedPhone will automatically encrypt your phone calls, making it more difficult for anyone to listen in, while TextSecure is a text messaging app that automatically encrypts all text conversations between you and other TextSecure users and stores all your text messages in an encrypted database.

HOW TO USE GMAIL AS A VIRTUAL HARD DRIVE

As many of you know, Gmail is Google's free web mail service that gives you 2+ Gigs of free storage for your email and attachments. Now that is a lot of storage; actually more storage than most people really need. So what can we do with all that extra storage you may be wondering? What if I told you that we could use all this extra storage to act as an online hard drive for you to store files?

Thanks to a great program by the folks over at http://www.viksoe.dk/code/gmail.htm you can create a virtual drive in Windows Explorer or under My Computer that allows you to store files directly into your Gmail account. When you install this program, it will create a shell extension that links directly to your Gmail account. To use it you just have to open the Gmail Drive under My Computer or Windows Explorer, enter your logon credentials, and start dragging files into and out of the Gmail Drive. Simple as that. There are, though, some limitations to this program. As of right now, you are limited to uploading only files 10MB or smaller using the Gmail Drive extension. If this is a problem for you, you may want to check our our listing of other gmail storage programs below.
Now lets get started!

PREPARING YOUR GMAIL ACCOUNT FOR USE

When you store files using Gmail Drive, Gmail will place these files into your Inbox folder. If you start storing a lot of files, this can quickly clutter up this folder. To make it more organized we will create a rule that puts all your stored files into the Gmail Archive instead, which will keep the Inbox clutter free. All files uploaded using the GMail Drive have a subject that contains the text GMAILFS. Using this text we will create a filter that automatically places any messages with that subject into the Archive.

1. Logon to Gmail.
2. Click on the Create a filter link which is next to the Search the Web button at the top of the Gmail screen.
3. In the Create a Filter dialog, enter GMAILFS into the Subject: field. Then press the Next Step button.
4. Put a checkmark in the Skip the Inbox (Archive it) checkbox and then press the Create Filter button.

Now when you upload a file using Gmail Drive, it will automatically bypass your Inbox and be stored in the Archive. To view the files in the Archive, simply click on the All Mail link in the left hand navigation menu.

INSTALLING GMAIL DRIVE AS SHELL EXTENSION

The first step is to download the software using this link.
Once downloaded, simply extract the files and double-click on the Setup.exe program. When it has completed it will open a help file that you should read to get an understanding of how the program works. When done reading, simply open My Computer (or Windows Explorer) and you should see the Gmail Drive as shown in the image below.

USING GMAIL TO STORE FILES

Now that the software is installed, simply start copying files into the Gmail Drive. You can also right-click on files and select Send To -> Gmail Drive. When you start upload a file the extension will present a progress meter as shown in the image below.


When the file has completed uploading, the extension will enumerate the folder again and you will be able to see the files stored in the folder. If you want to delete a file, simply click on the file once to select it, and then press the delete key. Below is a figure of my Gmail Drive that I have been playing around with.

As you can see you can store a variety of file types and sizes and as long as you have the Gmail Drive extension installed a computer, you can access these files from anywhere.

OTHER PROGRAM THAT YOU CAN USE GMAIL WITH AS AN ONLINE STORAGE

Though I personally like Gmail Drive due to its ability to create a virtual drive for you, it does have a major limitation. The ability to only store files that are 10 MB or smaller. If this is not that big of a deal for you, and you like having the virtual drive, then there is no reason to read further. On the other hand, if not having the virtual drive is fine with you but you need to store files greater than 10 MB then you may want to look at the programs described below.

ROAM DRIVE

The first program that we will talk about is RoamDrive. RoamDrive is an application that provides an interface allowing you to upload and download files to your Gmail account. It also has the nice feature of allowing you to specify a total of amount of space that you want to utilize for storage so that you do not use all your space for email. This program is able to get past the 10 MB file size limit by breaking up larger files into multiple pieces. If you would like to make a filter for files stored with RoamDrive as discussed in the preparation section above, you should use the text ROAMDRIVE in your subject filter.