all of sani

Introduction

The sure to way to make your laptop secure is to never use them, never bring them with you, never open them nor install software on your laptop. Just locked them down in a fireproof safe place and they will be protected and out of harm's way forever. However, laptops were made for us to use, to help us more productive in our work and make our lives easy.

Keeping your laptop secure and protected is of course is still possible with some efforts on your part and with the use of existing security tools and software, learn and do good practices and most of the time using common sense.

From basics to the extreme, these are the tips and trick that will keep your laptop secure and safe.

Install Antivirus. Keep it up to date, regularly scan your computer and let it check your email. Without it, your laptop will surely get infected.

Install Anti-Spyware. Some Antivirus have bundled anti-spyware. Use them along with the antivirus and always get them updated. Regularly schedule scanning of laptop for spywares, Trojans, adware and other malwares to make them secure.

Keep Your System Updated. Let Windows constantly apply updates and patch security holes in your system. However, it is a good practice to always create a System Restore Point and backup your important files prior to applying updates on your system. You can use them to undo changes if problems occur or in case of update failure.

Set a System Password. Most computers have a built in CMOS setup password in its BIOS. This require that a password by typed in before it will boot the Operating System. It will prohibit any access to the computer at all. This is definitely not a password that you want to forget!

Password Protect Your Windows User Account. Windows user accounts can be assigned a password. This means that for a user to log on using an account, she must know the password.

Use Strong Password. A strong password mixes numbers, letters and specials characters. There are also websites available online that you can use to generate strong password or an online password checker.

Keep Your Firewall Turned On. A firewall helps protect your computer from hackers who might try to steal information, crash your computer or use it to attack other computers. Even if you know that your company is using corporate firewall to protect the computer inside their network, it is a good practice to always make sure that Windows firewall or third-party firewall is turned on specially when you are working on the road.

Beware of Pop-up Security Fakes. There will be occasions wherein while surfing or browsing some websites, you will be presented with a security warning that you computer could be infected with a virus or malware. This fake security software will entice you to scan or disinfect your computer by offering you a handy product to do the job for you. Beware of this – it could be rouge security software.

Encrypt Sensitive Data. Consider data encryption if you have sensitive information on your computer. Encryption will protect your business secrets.

Back Up Important Data. You don’t have to back up everything on the laptop. Just copy the important files you will need to the server. This will ensure that you will have something to look for when your laptop gets stolen on your trip. You just need to download your important files from the server to get the information you need.

Kid’s Computing. If you let your children use your laptop occasionally, always make sure that you keep an eye on them. Even if you are extra careful when using your laptop, this could be put at risk by a simple click of your kids especially when you let them browse or surf the internet. You can use parental-control software to prevent internet or computer use during off hours. Vista user accounts have this feature built-in.

Consider Insuring Your Laptop. If you laptop is expensive, it’s worth considering getting your laptop insured. Look for insurance providers such as Safeware that offers this type of service

Physical Security

Don’t be too obvious that you have them. Some fashionable people carry their laptops in expensive cases and this spell trouble for them. Those cases are hot in the prying eyes of thieves. There are available backpacks that are not too obvious that you are carrying a laptop with you and they’re also slash-proof and shock-proof as well.

Bio-metrics. The future of passwords is in your bio-metrics. The most common nowadays is fingerprints, retinas and even the shape of your face.

Lock the Laptop. Most notebook computers have a Kensington Security Slot which is a hole for attaching a lock. That was made for the purpose of securing your laptop – use it.

Track Your Laptop Anywhere. If a PC or notebook is stolen, you can make use of this technology to track down your laptop. It’s not just for car, it’s also available for laptop. There are open source software that is available for free and also proprietary software to choose from.

Using audio in your online course is an extremely important factor in engaging your audience. Studies have shown that courses without audio are less compelling and memorable than courses with audio. Either used as a narration or for directions, audio – done the right way – can greatly enhance your e-learning materials.

Help with Audio for Online Course Developers

Audio engineering and the knowledge it takes to adequately capture, edit, and clean up audio to achieve a quality output is a task that is typically beyond the skill set of most online course developers. The average course developer has little if any knowledge of sampling rates, frequencies, modulation, compression schemes and other audio engineering concepts.

The goal of this article is to provide you information on how to get the audio in a format suitable for an e-learning course-authoring tool. The article will focus on capturing and editing audio at the basic level and certainly, the 10 tips listed below should help get you moving in the right direction.

1. Microphones

For narration, you’ll need to use a microphone to capture the voiceover. Sure, your laptop or PC might have a built-in microphone, but you probably don’t want to end up sounding like the broken drive-thru speaker at your local fast food restaurant. There are several microphones to choose from and they are made specifically for different purposes.

Dynamic Microphones are the ones you commonly see being used by rock stars in concerts. They have a ball-like shape as the head. These mics are omni-directional, meaning that they can pick up sound from a wide area. The Shure SM-58 microphone is an example of a dynamic microphone and has a consistent quality and dynamic range that makes it useful for all types of applications.

Condenser Microphones, unlike dynamic microphones, have a capacitor inside that requires them to be powered by a source – either battery or A/C. These microphones are often found in recording studios, used in live concerts, and are commonly found in lavalier mics (the kind you attach to a shirt or lapel). These mics are uni-directional, meaning that they capture a more narrow area of sound. Because of their power requirements, their voltage output can vary. The Neumann KMS-105 is an example of a condenser mic.

You may also find a Headset Microphone, which plugs directly into your computer’s input source and output source, so you can hear what you say as you are recording. Most of the microphones on these headsets have a noise cancellation function built into them. This causes unnatural sounding silences between phrases. The audio quality from these types of microphones tends also to sound blown out as the microphone position is very close to the mouth. That makes higher frequencies tend to sound noisy and lower frequencies sound poorly.

Built-In Microphones have the tendency to pick up any noise generated by your computer during use. This means any hard-drive motion, cooling fans, operating system sounds, and room ambience. These microphones are usually engineered to pick up the widest area of sound for situations like web conferencing and chat room sessions. The audio quality is usually poor and the microphones do not have sophisticated features like noise canceling or balancing. If at all possible, you should avoid using the built-in microphone for your audio input source.

2. Distance from Microphone

I’m sure you’ve all seen the rock videos or American Idol, where the rock stars have the microphone jammed up against their mouths as they are singing. So most people feel they need to do the same when recording narration. What the rock stars have to their advantage is a sound limiter that cuts off frequencies above a certain range. The maximum output is policed by this device to prevent any unwanted feedback or squelch, because the frequency is automatically limited. Most likely, your simple setup won’t have this capability.

One thing you can do to prevent any unwanted sounds in your narration, is to position your mouth about 6 to 12 inches away from the microphone and speak directly into the microphone, not away from it, to either side, nor in front of it. The best audio signal will be a direct path from your mouth to the microphone. If you start speaking into the microphone and then tilt your head downwards to read from a script, you’ll be able to notice the drop in the audio signal. If needed, hold your script up next to the microphone. Another tip: when reading from a script, don’t read across pages that you are turning or moving from one hand to another. Most microphones are sensitive enough to pick up all of that paper moving. If possible, have each page of the script segmented and keep them separated, not stapled or kept together with paper clips.

3. Use a Windscreen

A consistent frequency helps to produce the best audio. If you are looking at an audio waveform for the first time, you won’t be able to decipher it, but the peaks and valleys of each frequency can visually tell a lot about that sound. One thing that often happens, especially during narration recording, are pops that occur when saying words that begin with P or B. These pops go above the dynamic range and therefore, don’t sound anything like a P or a B but more like a popping sound.

A simple solution to this problem is a windscreen. Some engineers will wrap a wire clothes hanger with nylon stockings and place them in front of the mics in order to act as a low budget windscreen, but you can also buy them for less than ten dollars at your local music store. These are constructed out of a foam material and fit over your microphone.

4. Interfaces

So far, I’ve spent a lot of time talking about microphones but a majority of the mics recommended here won’t even plug in to your computers without adapters. Professional mics have an XLR connector, which has three pins. Most computers are made with eighth inch connectors. You can use Dynamic Microphones with an adapter connected to your computer without much of a problem. Condenser Mics, since they require power, won’t work even with an adapter.

There are interfaces specifically built for this purpose and they come in two flavors: USB and Firewire (IEEE 1394). Most PC manufacturers are including either USB 1.0 or 2.0 ports on their hardware. Firewire is more commonly found on Apple computers however, you can purchase Firewire cards for PCs. Firewire is faster than USB in certain applications and therefore is more desirable for audio input. There’s less latency on a Firewire connection than on a USB connection because of the performance speed.

Firewire comes in two flavors, there’s Firewire 400, which can transfer data at a rate of 400 MB per second, and Firewire 800, which doubles the speed to 800 MB per second. There are a wide range of musical digital interfaces out on the market today, and you can use either of these technologies to interface with a computer. M‐Audio has a line of both types including the ProFire 610 and the FastTrack USB.

These devices can run off of their intended connections and act as an audio input/output source for your computer to provide a professional recording result. At SyberWorks, we use an M-Audio Firewire 410 audio interface connected to two Shure-SM 58s for all of our narration. The 410 is a powerful choice because it offers multiple inputs and all of the audio controls necessary for level/gain and limiter/compressor. It also has XLR inputs and quarter inch inputs for microphones and instruments, and two headphone outputs. Connected to the 410 are two M-Audio BX8a monitors, which offer a much higher quality output sound than any built-in computer speaker.

5. Software

There are so many options for audio editing software, from the simple shareware/freeware to the professional level, that the determination of what to use might lie somewhere within your budget constraints. The basic audio recording tools that come with any Windows-based machine do not generate quality audio. Any Apple computer comes with GarageBand which is an excellent mid-level audio recording application. GarageBand is the step child of Apple’s Logic Studio and offers some pretty sophisticated tools for recording, editing, and delivering audio recordings on any platform.

Adobe has an audio recording/editing application called SoundBooth, which offers a variety of tools for cleaning up audio files and saving them in different formats. SoundBooth comes with the Creative Suite Production Premium or Master Collection. I recently used SoundBooth to record old cassette tape tracks as MP3 files so that I can burn the files to CD. I was able to use SoundBooth to clean up all of hissing sound on tapes and the audio quality was excellent.

Bias, Inc. has been in the audio production area for over a decade now and their flagship audio editing software, Peak Pro, is an award winning application. With a simple interface and a variety of effects and controls, Peak makes audio editing simple. I’m a long time user of Peak Pro and can say that it’s a stable, professional application that offers all of the tools that I need to edit the audio that I record. Combined with SoundSoap Pro, an audio cleaning application, Peak Pro can reduce noise, hiss, rumble, cracks and pops, and other unwanted sounds from any audio recording.

Here at SyberWorks, we use Peak Pro to record any narration for podcasts or courses and GarageBand to stitch together podcasts and teasers. GarageBand comes with some preset stingers and effects which are great for podcasts. It’s ridiculously easy to use. Once the file has been put together, it’s output as an AIFF file to iTunes. I then use iTunes to convert the sound to the MP3 format for delivery.

6. Normalize

During recording, audio levels can be mismatched creating undesirable results during playback. For example, recording from two different sources might produce two different volume levels. When played back, one source sounds softer and the other might sound louder, even though they were recorded in the same room on the same computer with the same hardware. This can be attributed to vocal style or audio input levels not being properly monitored.

To adjust audio levels across the board so that the volume is relatively consistent, most audio editing software offers some normalization option in which the audio levels are examined and a maximum and minimum range are then determined. Softer sounds are increased and louder sounds are decreased so that the overall sound level is more consistent.

If there is a stark contrast between the two input sources, then sound normalization might work against you. Softer sounds might have more sound introduced in them when the gain is increased. Be sure to check your audio input levels before recording. Try to get both sources to come up to the same decibel level prior to recording. If possible, show the input meter in your audio software to the speakers and try to get them to speak at a gain level about ‐5 decibels.

7. Ahh’s and Uhm’s

For some people, speaking into a microphone can be a little intimidating. You might hear a lot of Ahhh’s and Uhmm’s during a recording session. Some people naturally put these in their phrases because they are thinking about what they are going to say next. Others put them in out of nervousness. Others have lisp’s or emphasize S’s and Z’s. Still others smack their lips or breath heavy before talking.

When editing audio, the tendency might be to remove all instances of Ahh’s and Uhm’s. When separated from the rest of a passage, this is easy to do and is an effective way to make the entire sound file shorter. However, there are times when the Ahh’s and Uhm’s are rolled into other phrases and are difficult to separate.

The rule of thumb when editing audio is to remove whatever is bothersome, but keep the tempo of the original sound source and make it sound as natural as possible. Some people also take deep breaths between passages or have nasal sounds that are picked up by the microphones. Sometimes these can be removed and other times they can’t. Remove what you can, but try as much as possible to make the overall recording natural.

8. Cleaning Audio

Depending on how clean your input source is, you may have an audio track that is laced with hum or noise coming from a variety of sources, like an overhead fluorescent light, A/C noise, and other ambient sounds. SoundBooth and Peak Pro both have tools for eliminating these types of sounds from your audio input sources. As mentioned above, the rule of thumb still applies.

Some of these tools can end up making your audio sound very metallic and unnatural, more like a computerized version of the original. When using SoundSoap Pro, for example, the default settings for removing noise keeps all of the highs recognizable, while the mids and lows suffer from a dense computerized sounding quality. SoundBooth’s noise correction tools have the same issue, so if too much is applied, the result isn’t worth the effort.

There’s a balance to how much correction is applied to a sound versus the quality of the output. Sometimes, here at SyberWorks, we have to record voices over the phone. Sound quality from a phone line is always problematic, so invariably that sound will need to be cleaned up. Too much correction though, and the integrity of the voice is compromised. On the other hand, no correction will keep a lot of hiss and noise in the sound, which is undesirable.

9. Audio Formats

Depending on which authoring tools you are using and which platform you are on, you’ll need to know which audio formats to use. The major audio format for the PC platform is .wav, on the Mac platform it’s .aiff. Adobe Captivate and Microsoft PowerPoint both use the .wav format.

The most popular internet audio format now is .mp3, which has greater compression and better sound quality than other internet formats. Captivate uses MP3 compression in sound files for the final output. This makes the files smaller but they can suffer in quality, depending on the settings in Captivate. Native .wav files embedded in PowerPoint files can make those files enormous. Using iSpring, a PowerPoint to Flash converter, you can significantly reduce the file size of presentations and course materials intended for internet delivery.

SyberWorks Web Author has an additional tool called SyberWorks Web Audio which allows you to add streaming audio to courses that anyone can hear using just a web browser. Playback is accomplished through a small Sun Java applet that downloads automatically and quickly. It requires no additional plug-ins or server software. It has no firewall issues and can play in the background, without any visible controls on course pages, or with a small set of basic audio controls displayed.

SyberWorks Web Audio tool takes an audio file of the format .wav and compresses it into the SyberWorks audio format (.sa). It is then easily inserted into the word document by using the Add SyberWorks Audio template.

10. Compression

Depending on which tool you used during recording, you probably have an original audio source with a near CD quality (44 KHz) output. That quality is diminished as soon as the file is compressed. Too much compression and the sound quality is something like R2-D2 behind a large, metal door. Too little compression and the sound files become too large to transfer and play.

The factors involved in compression include bit rate and quality. The bit rate is the data stream target for your intended audience. The typical internet connection these days is at least DSL speed (128 KBps), but there still may be users at modem speeds of 56 KBps. Tools like Captivate will allow you to set the bit rate and quality for all the audio in your course. Therefore, when you save your files out of SoundBooth or Peak Pro, never add any compression. Let Captivate or your other e‐Learning tool do the compression for you.

Quality settings can also alter the file size. Lower quality files have higher compression and therefore are smaller, but sound worse. Higher quality files have less compression, sound better, but are larger in file size.

One tip is to try different compression levels and settings and listen to each output to find the one that is just right. It may be time consuming, but in the end, your e-learning product will be better for it.

Summary

We touched on a number of technical concepts in this article and there’s a lot more. Whatever tools you decide to use, incorporating better-sounding audio in your e-learning development is a great way to take them to the next level. Recording high quality audio can be challenging and fun. It may take some time to get used to, but it’s a skill that’s worth looking into.

CPA Offers - Getting Accepted

As I noted in part one, be sure to have a professional looking website or blog set up already.

It's always best to use your website as your internet mailing address. G-mail, Hotmail, Yahoo and other free email addresses are often connected with spammers. So using them will send up a red flag.

What the CPA companies want to basically know is your internet experience and how you are going to send traffic to the CPA offer.

Sometimes they simply reject your application based on the information you supplied them with. So just move on and apply on to another company. Most of the time, if ever, they don't verify your web stat info, so if your site looks professional enough, and you fudge a little, it won't be a problem.

The phone call.

Now it's absolutely essential that you take the call and are prepared.

Answer professionally, if you have an answering machine make sure it is set up professionally also.

If they call and you aren't there, they will leave a message, so be sure to call them back promptly. Even if you just get their machine to leave a message. And then follow up if necessary. They like to see that you are pro-active.

The person who calls will often end up being you affiliate manager, and its best to get a good relationship started right away. They have a self interest in helping you to succeed, they get commissions. Down the road, when you've proved yourself, your aff manager will be able to get you better percentage deals and will give you the heads up information on good offers, what CPA offers convert best, etc.

The basic questions go something like this...

How did you hear about us?

I did some research on the internet and saw that your company has a good reputation.

What is your internet experience?

Been doing internet marketing for two years, I have been promoting ClickBank products. ( Or any other affiliate companies you have dealt with) They just want to make sure that you aren't a complete noob and will end up doing stupid things - like spamming.

How do you drive traffic?

I use a combination of PPC - Pay Per Click, and SEO my sites for organic keyword searches. ( if you know a anything about Media Buys or have done your research about this subject you can say you also do Media Buys. But be able to drop some names and or examples if asked. You don't want to end up looking stupid.)

How many unique visitors do you get per month?

Over 30 thousand a month. (If you get more say so.)

Do you have any incentive offers on your website?

Incentive offers are when you offer to give people something for clicking on your ads. Just say No. After all, that is what the CPA offer generally all about anyway, and they don't want 'false leads'.

How much do you spent on advertising?

I always test any offers first to see what is converting best. Then we keep reinvesting what we make. ( You can also simply say or you spend between $20 - $50 a day, it just depends)

Are you with any other affiliate companies?

If you are say so. Now its easy to name drop other CPA networks, such as Neverblue Ads, Copeac, but be careful, it doesn't happen often, but if they sense something isn't quite right they may ask you who your aff manager is over at.... These people are competitors and they know a bit about other companies and who the better managers are. If this is your first CPA company just say so. Most often, if you sound like you know what you are talking about they will just roll along with you.

What 'Verticals' do you promote?

Verticals are just industry jargon for other products. Health and entertainment are always good, but just be prepared with the right information in case they ask for more info.

What kind of offers are you interested in?

Any product that converts well.

A definite no no is mentioning emailing marketing. They will want to know how you are marketing without spamming and on and on. Now, if you are doing email marketing and know what you are talking about, then go ahead. This is a legitimate concern of theirs, so even if you are spam compliant, its better not to mention anything about email marketing.

If you are outside of the USA and are applying to CPA Networks be sure to have US based websites. This will put them at ease. But don't try to cheat them. They can track where your leads are coming from, and if in the agreement that you signed on to, they say no traffic outside of the US, don't waste your time trying to sneak it in. They will catch you.

But don't make this into a bigger deal than what it actually is; the CPA Company just want to make sure that you are who you say you are and verify your phone number, etc.

If you do get rejected, move on to another company, until your accepted. You don't have to be with only one company. Some have better offers, than others so shop around. And don't be afraid to go back later to those companies that rejected you, with a little more experience under your belt you won't have to feel nervous at all.

It's just a fact that the more you do know about what you are doing the more success you will have at internet marketing and CPA offers.

Microsoft created frenzy with the introduction of Windows Vista. Many XP users notices the benefits, appeal, and curiosity skyrocketed through the roof. If you've ever wondered about Vista's benefits can learn about it here.

Improved Search Capabilities

1. The Start Menu now has a Windows logo; the search function launches programs automatically. These improves make navigation earn than XP's search options.

Intense 3D Graphics

2. Microsoft stepped up its grapics by 300% compared to XP. The new Avalon encoding allows gamers, web designers, and game designers to use 3D software with no problems. Another solution includes Aero that renders top 3D graphics for open Windows.

3. Live Taskbar thumbnails uses the navigation of the applications available such as Internet Explorer, Windows Media 11, and other tasks frequently used on the system.

4. New improvements of search uses indexing services thatr finds, launch, and saves applications with ease.

5. Windows has tackled the security problems associated with Internet Explorer's previous versions. Internet Explorer 6 is upgraded to Internet Explorer 7; some of the top features include Antiphishing, Parental Controls, Protected Mode Browsing, Inbound and Outbound firewall, User account control, Standard user control, and Windows Defender. Now users can feel secure compared to the previous versions' lack of protection.

Speedy Start Ups and Shutdown

6. Speedy startup, new sleep mode, and speedy shut down completes in 10 seconds compared to the 20-30 seconds processes of XP. Not only can you move on without worry of the system taking too long, you can put the system in Hybrid Sleep Mode. Hybrid Sleep Mode writes memory contents to the hard disk then enters shutdown with hibernation.

7. Fetch, now 'Super Fetch', is a new memory management technology that pre-loads most used applications into memory. Now, you can launch the applications in half the time to imrpove productivity.

Ready Boost- Speed Up Your PC

8. Ready Boost improves the speed of your PC by tapping into the Virtual Memory concept with swap files. Swap files are substitution for additional memory in your PC without adding RAM. The swap files are stored in relative slower hard disk that affects the overall performance of the PC, but it's a great addition to managing space. If this sounds like a great deal, consider the use of USB flash hard drives' use of Ready Boost to add additional memory to your PC at any time. All of this is offered in a tight, little package in a USB port instead of previous hard disk to help move documents to an encrypted format so it cannot be read by others.

9. Hybrid Hard Drive Support drives combine the features of flash memory with conventional hard drive to boost the overall performance of the PC. With this improvement, the hybrid hard drive increases battery life of PCs that turns off the internal motor the hard drive off. Hybrid hard drive support drives keeps data flowing with no problem; this is an extension of Microsoft's attempt to enhance performance and portability of PCs.

10. Power management control allows users to change the settings of their PC while creating a profile to save battery life. With this new addition available, top manufacturers may set their own settings preloaded in your PC. The power management control is a great addition to the other features because you will have more time to enjoy the fun of your PC compared to Windows XP.

Wireless Networking

11. Windows Vista's wireless networking features allow you to name it, save individual settings for the network, and reconnect to their network with the configurations. These additions allow you to leave hotspots without logging out of their systems. With the settings readily available, you can return without entering the same configureations that's required in Windows XP.

Vista's Windows Photo Gallery

12. Windows Photo Gallery has a lot of features including the thumbnail views, previews of photos, and scales. You can also preview, sort, distribute, import, and modify photo contrasts as well as videos in the software. Vista's improvements will allow anyone with a little editing knowledge great picture perfect photos for their family and friends at home.

13. Change the names of files, photos, and videos by right clicking the default folder and clicking the Rename option. You can change the file name up to the file extension while keeping organization to a minimum with the new feature.

14. You can go directly to files because of the removal of 'My' before navigation with Windows Explorer.

Media Player 11

15. Multimedia capabilities now allow users to burn DVDs, CDs, and edit playlist to create the perfect sing-a-long for road trips or iPods.

Gadgets on the Sidebar

16. The new sidebar improves functionality and productivity with an analog clock, calendar, slide show, news feed, and notepad. Windows offers over 3,000 gadgets online for easy downloads.

MAJOR TYPES OF CARD FRAUD

1. Phishing:

Phishing is the fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, Personal Identification Number (PIN) and debit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy company in an electronic communication.

Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail, text message(SMS) or instant messaging (yahoo chat, hotmail chat etc), and it often direct users to enter details on a fake websites that are almost identical (or sometimes identical) to the legitimate company.

The email is delivered to one’s inbox usually with the legitimate company’s email address (e.g. info@interswitchng.com). This is achieved by using a technique called spoofing.

E-mail spoofing is a term used to describe fraudulent e-mail activity in which the sender address and other parts of the e-mail header are altered to appear as though the e-mail originated from a different source. This is achieved by changing certain properties of the e-mail, such as the ‘From’, ‘Return-Path’ and ‘Reply-To fields’ (which can be found in the message header), ill-intentioned users can make the e-mail appear to be from someone other than the actual sender. The result is that, although the e-mail appears to have originated from the address indicated in the ‘From’ field (found in the e-mail headers) it actually comes from a fraudulent source. This is similar to forging the letter head paper of another company.

2. Counterfeit Card Fraud:

This form of card fraud takes place when a card is printed, embossed or encoded without a card issuer’s permission.

Most cases of counterfeit fraud involves the process know as skimming where the original data on a card’s magnetic stripe is copied onto another card without the legitimate cardholder’s knowledge.

In order to avoid your card being skimmed – BE VIGILANT. Never let your card out of your sight while paying for goods and services at any merchant location.

3. Card-not-present (CNP) fraud:

This form of card fraud is committed mostly over the internet.

Card details are gotten through the theft of card details such as PIN number, card number and expiry date from discarded receipts or by copying your card details when carrying out a transaction.

# Protecting Yourself Against Fraud

Protecting yourself can be as simple as keeping your eyes and ears open. Here are some steps to help keep your card information secure.

A. Use Alerts

Some banks currently offer the option of receiving transaction alerts either on your mobile phone or email. This keeps you updated and on top of all your card activity or transactions.

InterSwitch has also gone a step further to include an automated card deactivation feature, meaning if you suspect that your card is being used fraudulently, this feature ensures the card is automatically blocked or deactivated. In other words, when an alert is received about a transaction you clearly did not initiate (or you are not sure of) you can block your card immediately by replying the text message.

Please ask your bank today for more information on MoneyGuard.

B. CARD & PIN Safety – DOs & DONTs

* DO

o Report lost or stolen cards immediately.

o Protect your debit, cash or Verve cards as if they were cash.

o MEMORIZE your PIN - Never write down your PIN.

o Ensure you change your PIN regularly at the ATM.

o Ensure that you get your card back after every purchase either at a shop using a POS or at the ATM.

o Ensure you keep copies of your vouchers and ATM receipts

* DONT

o Leave your ATM receipts at the point of withdrawal.

o Lend anyone your debit card. You are solely responsible for its use. (Some debit card misuse can be traced directly to family and friends)

o Ever use your PIN as a password.

o Ever disclose your PIN to ANYONE.

o Ever disclose your PIN to;

o Your Bank

o InterSwitch

o The Telco’s ( e.g. Zain, MTN, Etisalat, Glo, Starcomms etc)

o The Police

o Shop owner

o Any company OR Person for whatever reason

Please note that no one should ask for your PIN.

IT IS ILLEGAL FOR ANYONE TO ASK FOR YOUR PIN.

C. Using the ATM Safely

Using your InterSwitch ATM card is a convenient and safe way to get cash. Just be sure to keep in mind the following safety tips:

o Be vigilant

Avoid using ATMs in lowly lit or dark areas.

o Guard your pin

Guard your P IN

always, always use your free hand to cover the keys as your PIN is being entered.

o Be on the lookout for any suspicious actions, cancel all transactions and leave if you are suspicious of individuals around.

o Do not leave ATM receipts behind

Never leave your ATM receipts behind; your debit card details can be copied.

o Do not accept help from strangers

Never accept help from strangers.

D. Online safety

· It is important to apply extra caution while on the internet.

· Never send your PIN or card details in the body of an email.

· Beware of emails asking for your PIN and card details they are false.

· Before initiating online transactions be sure that the website has adequate security features to protect your debit card information.

· Check InterSwitch web merchant partner list/page for the list of registered and certified merchants that are safe to purchase items from.

· BEWARE of emails generally appearing to be from InterSwitch, your Bank or a Telecoms company either stating an upgrade on the network or requesting your PIN to claim prizes in a non existing ( or sometimes existing) promo. These emails are bogus; these companies will NEVER ask for your card details either for any upgrade or before you redeem prizes. BEWARE!

· Avoid using public computer to shop online i.e. Cybercafé.

E. Text message.

* Ignore all text messages or SMS informing you that you have won a prize and you should go to the ATM to claim it.

They are different gimmicks of fraudsters and are not genuine.

* Never give your ATM card details or account information to anyone claiming to be from your bank OR Telecoms in order for you to redeem prizes.

The entry of a virus, malfunctioning software or a plagued operating system may cost you some important files. Below is a narrowed down list of some helpful online data recovery tools, which you can use to retrieve your important files.

TestDisk

TestDisk complements Windows, Mac and Linux data recovery needs. It is a powerful open-source tool that can ‘undelete’ suddenly lost and accidentally deleted files from FAT, NTFS and ext2 file systems. It also hosts other useful functionality. It helps recover the damaged boot sector from a backup, rebuild that boot sector and find lost partitions in dozens in format to locate the lost data and copy deleted files from partitions.

Recuva

Recuva is a Window-based tool that holds the power to resurrect missing files via its file-recovery wizard or application manual mode. When you are not quite sure of where your files are located or lost, the file-recovery wizard proves to be handy not only in retrieving missing files but also locating long forgotten files. Its manual user mode is helpful in file location.

PhotoRec

This program is a perfect complement to the TestDisk applications. It may not hold GUI capabilities but is certainly is one powerful online data recovery tool. Among its great features is that it does not mess with your computer partitions as it does not tend to rebuild your master boot record. This application is more focused on file types and operating-system agnostic. It offers help in quickly and safely copying all your suddenly lost files to another disk.

Restoration

Restoration could be the most helpful addition to your Windows-based USB toolkit. Not only does it help restore missing USB files but also your personal computer files. While it lacks the advanced functionality of most online data recovery tools, it is a very effective and generally reliable. Despite its meager 406k size, it outweighs any other data recovery tools out there when it simple applications.

Undelete Plus

Undelete Plus is a data recovery application that works on all versions of Windows as well as incarnations of FAT and NTFS file systems. It works by assigning recovery probability to searched files, depending on the severity of the damage. It allows easy file sorting by type and easy setting of filters, which will help sift through every deleted file in locating your missing files.

GetDataBack

This software helps recover lost data from your hard drive’s partition table, boot record, FAT/MFT or root directory. With the use of advanced algorithms, it ensures that all directories and subdirectories are put together and reconstructed properly. Perhaps the greatest GetDataBack feature is its capacity to enable regular users to conduct his own data recovery by guiding him in every step while giving the advanced users the leeway to interfere with the recovery operations to improve data search and retrieval results.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery

This software will provide you with the complete solution to all your data recovery needs. It works great in retrieving all the data lost after operating system corruption, file system damage, accidental deletion and damage to the USB flash drive. With its improved recovery applications for FAT and NTFS file systems, it helps recover lost logical drives, do hard drive cloning and imaging and recover photo, music and video files from your system.

Given this chance to look over the few notable online data recovery tools, you can now pinpoint which application(s) will assure the recovery of your missing files.

It’s like a garage sale, without having to leave the house or have a dozen strangers rummage through your things. Online classifieds is a magic box filled with pretty much anything you can imagine.

Classifieds offer a myriad of items for sale. Bikes, books, cars, cats, houses, hounds, kitchen sinks and cricket bats… You will be amazed at what you can find sometimes. Some people even use the classifieds to find love.

Classifieds can also be a source of amusement. I once saw the following ad: “I’m selling a very good laptop.” The ad had no brand name or model, details, specs, picture or even a price. I have even seen ads selling illegal narcotics on line, whether they actually get any response before the ad gets thrown out, is another question.

What online classifieds hold over traditional print advertising is that it is instant, paper free and has a wide reach. Gone are the days where you had to wait for the weekly paper. You can advertise and browse nationally and internationally, you are no longer restricted to a limited area of circulation. It is also so much easier to submit your ad online than having to spell your name over the phone.

There are many classified sites like http://www.junkmail.co.za where you can view ads without paying a subscription fee. The Internet offers anonymity. Remember though, the very same anonymity that could protect you, makes it easier for tricksters to spin the wool around your eyes. Read the “tips on avoiding scams” on the classifieds homepage.

Buying online.

*Use your common sense.

If it sounds too good… Then someone might have already beaten you to the punch, but most likely it is too good to be true. Don’t accept contradicting answers. Shop around. Compare prices. It’s easy to get scammed online. Be alert and be aware.

*Safety first.

Always meet the seller in a public place, unless you’re buying a pet. Take someone with you. Tell someone else where you are going. Don’t carry large amounts of cash on your person.

*Don’t pay before you’ve seen the goods.

Be careful about online payments. Use your own computer to make bank transfers. If you have to use the seller’s or a public computer make sure that you log out before leaving and change your password when you get home.

Selling online.

*Consider paying for a featured ad.

Even though you will have to pay for it, your ad will be displayed more prominently on the classifieds page than a regular ad. Featured ads are more eye-catching. If you are selling an expensive item I highly recommend it. The extra exposure will be worth the extra cost.

*A Picture paints a thousand words.

Pictures will attract more attention than plain black on white text. Many online classifieds will allow you to add pictures for free. Don’t use a generic stock or the manufacturer’s picture. Take a picture of the item you are selling with your own (or a borrowed) camera. In this way you will have more credibility because people will see what your product actually looks like. You won’t get a disappointed: “It doesn’t look like the picture” when you finally meet up with your potential buyer.

*Ask a relevant price.

Do some research on how much competitors are asking for a similar product. If you ask too much people will choose to buy from someone else. If you ask too little, people will think something’s wrong. If you’re giving something away for free then say why it is free. If you want to swop something, be specific.

*Use your most important keyword first.

Sometimes the first (or first two) keyword(s) will be automatically linked to a category containing similar items. So instead of saying: Good as new mp3 player, iPod”, say: iPod Mp3 player, good as new”. You want your iPod to be listed with the other iPod and not with the other “almost new”.

*Proofread your ad.

Even though there might be proofreaders checking ads on the classifieds website, it may take time before your mistakes can be corrected. We psychologically (albeit unconsciously) respond more negatively to messages if we spot errors in them. Use your spell-check and look for possible typing mistakes.

*Give enough details.

Give all the technical specifications that the buyer needs to know, but don’t try to oversell it on adjectives. Be informative, concise and to the point. Don’t give your e-mail address in the text body. You might end up on spam lists. Let potential buyers contact you through the classifieds website.

*You’re safety is important.

Meet the buyer in a public place, unless you’re selling a pet. If you do however have to meet at your home, meet in your front yard. Do not just allow a stranger into the house.

*Wait for confirmation of payment before you hand over goods.

If they pay in more money than you have asked for, be alert. Do not pay them back the difference, unless you have checked and double checked with your bank that the money is in fact in your account and that the transaction hasn’t be canceled. Read the information about online security on your bank’s Internet banking site.

Classifieds like http://craigslist.org can be a wonderful tool for finding bargains and making money. Online classifieds are easy to use and can save you time and money. Remember t o always to be alert and aware of your safety.

It's a clearly inevitable truth that we have loads of passwords. It likely started with a secret code number for our bank, but since that point, the growth of the internet has meant that every day brings a new network, and requires a new password.

Only this month I presume I've enrolled in around 12 new websites and networks. Have I chosen a different password for every one? No way. It's improbable to do something like that, in part because there's not a way I would ever remember them, but also since 'like all of us' I don't have a method to monitor varied passwords.

I maybe could write them down in a book somewhere, but what if I set it aside or couldn't get to it, or -and this is far more typical- wasn't at my computer and had to get a specific account password? It's like leaving all the house keys at your desk and never heading out anywhere with them: safe, yeah, but you'll lose your mind from the lack of convenience.

So, I presume I'm just like most people: I have around three passwords that I can reasonably bring up in my mind, and when I try and go to a site and it doesn't work, I reach through and think of the other passwords I have in my mind until one is accepted. But is this reasonable?

Well, think about this: do you actually trust every single service you sign up for? And even if you actually trust them, what's to block a compromised security system from happening at their HQ? It's taken place with big companies dozens of times - so it can truly happen to a small company. Relying on the same password across all your sites signifies that if a single one of your passwords is compromised, all of them might be.

Alright, I understand too much fear. Thankfully, there are excellent tools to deal with this exact problem. Instead of buying a notepad and creating a crazy password each time you register for a website, there are wonderful programs that function as a kind of password 'safe', where one main password gives you access to the entire system.

Any of these single password organizer pieces of software will make up random passwords for your logins too, giving you the chance to sleep easy with the knowledge that even if a pass is found on some lost site you registered for and quickly forgot, no one will ever be able to use that password for anything. Eliminate all that fretting concerning online safety commence with a password organizing tool immediately.

Burned by your Internet history? What do you mean? Perhaps you are not aware but your personal computer is one big, powerful recorder of all your computer activity. Whether you are searching the Internet, browsing the Internet, having chat sessions, sending or receiving files or doing whatever your computer is capturing every keystroke and recording your tracks about where you have been, what you have viewed and what you have done.

Oh, you say that is no big deal. I’ll just delete my Internet history and temporary files with the tools offered by my favorite browser. Well, think again. Are you aware that there are numerous visible and hidden files where all this information is written and stored? Unfortunately, the tools offered by your favorite browser do not erase or eliminate all these files and it’s not all your Internet browser’s fault.

Did you know standard Windows file deletion options utilized by your browser do not physically delete the files? What are deleted are the index records detailing the file’s location and physical properties. The physical or actual file is still there and ready to be recovered by data recovery software that can be successfully used by both novice and experienced users. Until the original deleted physical file has been overwritten by another physical file, the original physical file is recoverable.

So what does all this mean to me? Absolutely nothing if you have not been visiting websites or doing activities that could create a compromising situation if discovered by your employer, spouse or significant other. Now, if you have been to websites, sent questionable emails or had off-color chat sessions that you shouldn’t have then you are in position to be placed in an embarrassing and compromising situation if discovered by the wrong individual. Perhaps, you are in this last situation and don’t want to get burned by your Internet history and tracks?

If so, then protect your privacy by using a privacy control software solution that insures the elimination of Internet and computer activity history on your personal computer. Don’t rely on the deletion tools provided by your Internet browser or Windows! Their shortcomings may be your downfall as you get burned by your Internet history creating personal anguish or employment troubles.

Don’t get burned by your Internet history. Get your privacy control software tool today and insure your privacy and confidentiality!

Would you like to learn more about protecting your Internet privacy and erasing your Internet or web activities? Check out http://www.InternetErasers.net now! Internet Erasers is an independent review site helping you make informed decisions about Internet privacy and security software. Our trusted reviews are created with knowledge and passion for the subject.

Each product featured on our website is compared with its competitors for functionality, performance and value providing you with the knowledge to make an informed selection and buying decision. In addition to our in-depth product reviews we offer other helpful tips and advice to improve your computer's performance, privacy and security.

Search engine optimization is the process done to generate traffic through search engines. It became a need for websites because 80%-90% of visitors come from major search engines. Higher rankings mean greater number of visitors. The same concept applies to blogs. However, many blog owners are not aware of their chances of being more visible on the web. They just update it once in a while and that's it. Considering the great number of blogs on the net today, from personal to corporate blogs, all their efforts will just go to waste if they do not optimize it.

Yes, blogs can be optimized, too. It should be done for the benefit both of your readers and search engine spiders. Although the process is quite similar with the standard website search engine optimization, it is a bit different. Here are some tips that you can do to start:

Consider the Design

It is not advisable to use the default template being offered by blog publishing sites. You wouldn't want to bump into a girl in a party wearing the same dress, do you? Same thing goes to blogs. You can hire a designer to do the work for you. If running a tight budget, you can always look for free templates offered by web design companies and you can customize it a little to make it unique.

Optimize the Tags

Use the most substantial phrase for your blog in the hard code of the title tag. Also, you have to double check that each entry's title appears on the tile tag. This is sometimes overlooked.

Keywords

You should always use your keywords in the blog post titles and categories. You can also use many categories in one entry if appropriate.

RSS Feed

It is best that you have RSS subscription button available on your blog. This would be more convenient to your readers because it will publish your recently updated work. If your blog publisher don't have RSS automatically available, there are RSS feed button creation tool on the net. But make sure that you place it where the readers can easily see them. You can put it in your sidebar. It is already on the blog owner's prerogative if he/she wants to full or partial RSS.

Use Email

Because there are some people who are not familiar with RSS feeds, go the extra mile and offer them something else with the same benefits. I'm talking about You can have your blog post via email. Free tools are also available online to do this.

Compelling Introduction

Introduction about the blog post is sent out via RSS feed. Make sure that it is compelling to enough to make your readers want to have more of it so that they would click the “more” button and read the entire article. Therefore, it should be interesting.

Check you CSS

It is common that blogs come with overwhelming amount of CSS or Cascading Style Sheets. The solution to this is to place it in an external CSS file to avoid clutter in the main template and for the main entry not to go further down.

Keywords-rich Anchor Texts

In placing links in other sites/blogs and even in putting internal links, make sure that you are using keyword-rich anchor text. Remember that it is always better to use your keywords than “click here” or “more”. It would benefit you when search engine spiders crawl your blog.

Keep Your Posts Bonded

If your blog post is somehow connected to your previous posts, link them to each other. The idea is that if your reader is interested in this particular topic, then he/she probably can also be entertained of a different story with the same subject matter. You can use Related Posts Plugin for this.

Do the same in other blogs. If you see a blog entry or an article on the same issue, make them knowledgeable of your existence by placing a link going to your post.

Purchase a Domain

We all know that blog hosting companies will only be around for such a time. Once they close their business, they will be closing your blog as well. If that happens, where will your loyal followers find you? Or there are change in the domain of your blog host, it will surely affect your rankings.

In case you have limited resources and can only settle to free hosting companies, look for those who offer to display your own domain rather than displaying their own like Wordpress and Blogger.

Proper URL Naming Convention

It is always a bad idea to use dynamic URLs whether on websites or blogs. You should always take advantage of any chance you have to use keywords, without keyword stuffing, including this one. Meaning, instead of using “www.xyzblog.com/?246”, you can consider “www.xyzblog.com/blog-post-keywords-here”. When you cannot do anything about it, use mod rewrite.

Good Navigation

If your blog is just a part of a website, it is not ebough that you a have a link going to your blog's main page. Use the sidebar to syndicate your new posts because the visitors of the website might get interested in your articles if they see the titles.

Fast Page Load

The amount of time involved for a page to load all depends on your host. There are some blogs that takes about half a minute just from the snippet of RSS feed to the full article. You can lose a lot of readers just because of this reason alone.

Moderated Trackbacks and Comments

Spammers are everywhere. They always find a way to abuse your blog by putting non-sense comments with links going to their website. It is annoying and it can also affect your rankings. There are numerous tools available online which you can use to moderate and avoid comment and trackbak spam.

Don't just create a blog to share great information or to prove that you know a lot about the field you are into. Do not settle on the number of followers your blog has. Start to optimize now and see the great changes on the next few months.

Organizations are generally confused whether to use audio web conferencing or video conferencing to communicate with their clients, stakeholders, members and all other relevant individuals. Both types of conferences have their own advantages and disadvantages, and it is essential to analyze the needs and requirements of an organization before choosing on one of these conferences.

Audio web conferencing uses the latest VoIP technology to transmit voice over the internet. This facilitates a better voice clarity and reception. Further, VoIP technology is very cost effective since it converts the voice into packets and then sends it across. This ensures that only the relevant part of the conversation is sent across and the silence part is left behind, thereby saving on the internet charges. Latest equipments such as Cisco conferencing bridge enable the facilitation of an increasing number of members to the conference without affecting its quality. Further, Cisco conferencing bridge offers additional features such as a scheduler and auto dialer to improve the productivity of a conference.

Video conferencing equipment, on the other hand enables the transmission of video images across the internet. This acts as a close replica to a physical meeting, thereby producing similar results at a much lower cost. Video conferencing equipment working on the revolutionary VoIP technology further facilitate the transfer of data, files and presentations during the course of a conference. This is particularly helpful in corporate meetings and meetings with clients who are located at a far away place.

Now, which type of conferencing to choose would depend on the specific requirements of the organization. Audio web conferencing is more suitable to smaller organizations that don’t have a frequent need to conference and do not require transfer of data, files and presentations during the course of the conference. There have been a lot of technological advancements in the field of audio conference, and a lot of new products such as wireless headsets have come up that allow unconstrained mobility during the conference. If there is a frequent need to have conferences with important members such as clients and members then video conferencing would be the ideal choice since it provides a similar atmosphere as that of a real meeting. Moreover, technologically advanced video conferencing equipment such as a high resolution web camera or a TV screen that can supportmultiple members, can further enhance the effectiveness of a video conference.

Since both the conferences have their own advantages, it is advisable to carefully analyze the needs of your organization and then take a decision regarding which conferencing system to set up. For more information, you can visit : http://www.conference-bridge.com/