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admin on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 |
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The Computer is a very complicated device we use for our every day comfort and the importance of some of its numerical aspects is sometimes neglected. For example: a different number is given to each computer when its user goes online or when it is part of a network. This number is the IP address and knowing about it is like knowing where you live?
What’s my IP and what do its numbers stand for?
IP stands for Internet Protocol and the address is formed from 4 numbers separated by periods. The IP address format is a 32 bit numeric one and each number can be from 0 to 255. The IP address consists of two parts: first one represent the network number and it is similar for more than one user (like the number of a street) and second represents the host name which is different for each user (like the house number). To increase the number of available IP addresses within big networks with a lot of users or small networks with few hosts, the address is divided into 4 classes (A, B, C, and D)
Having an IP address it’s like having a last name in a network. To identify a computer in a network (LAN-local area network, WAN-wide area network or on the Internet) it has to have an IP address. This number is similar to a phone number or to a zip code. It is unique and without it the device or computer can… Read the rest
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admin on Monday, September 14th, 2009 |
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You must have seen them. Web addresses like http://tinyurl.com/2gj2z3 which, when you click on them, take you to another web page. Why use them? Are there any risks in using them?
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. It’s the posh technical term for a web address. Web addresses normally take the form http://www.somesite.com/somepage.html, which is not too much of a problem. But some site names can get very long, and so can page names. The increased use of database-driven sites mean that URLs can get very long indeed, and most of them is computer gobbledygook. They are impossible to type in, if you are reading them in a print article, and often get corrupted by word-wrapping when they appear in an email or blog posting.
An URL shortener is a web service that takes a long address that’s hard to type, and turns it into a short one. You should use them in articles for print publication, classified ads, emails, blog and forum postings, anywhere there is a danger that the full address may be corrupted, or that someone may need to type the address into a browser manually.
But there is a danger in using short URLs that may make people afraid to use them. The short address disguises the real destination. This makes it easy for somebody to post an innocent looking message encouraging people to click on a link that takes them to a site which infects their computer with spyware, or something equally undesirable.
Some URL… Read the rest
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admin on Thursday, September 10th, 2009 |
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The Answer To The Media Access Control Question
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Over the past few weeks I have received quite a few e-mails about Ethernet cards, both wired and wireless, and more specifically, about Media Access Control (MAC) addresses. I think the main reason I’ve received so many questions about Ethernet cards and MAC addresses is people trying to secure their home wireless networks and their desire to use MAC address filtering. This type of filtering in wireless networks can be configured to allow or deny specific computers to use or attach to the wireless network, based on the MAC address.
My first thought was to write an article just about MAC addresses and wireless Ethernet. After thinking about it I decided to expand on this and go over some specific information about Ethernet cards and communication.
Different Ways Of Finding Your MAC Address And More
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There are several ways of finding your Ethernet and communications protocol information. Many Ethernet card manufacturer’s have proprietary software that can reveal this information but they work differently depending on the manufacturer. So we will use the Windows 2000 and XP “ipconfig” utility since this is available in the majority of Windows Operating Systems.
First, go to “start” -> “run” and type “cmd” without the quotes. Then hit the enter key. At the command line type “ipconfig /all”, again without the quotes. Actually, just typing ipconfig without the /all will work but will only provide you with abbreviated information regarding your… Read the rest