Computer, Gadgets and All Things Digital

Why is my internet browser slow?, Why does it take forever to load a web page? This post is just about the answer to the above questions. Anyway, before you proceed you might want check out  the related article posted previously on how to sort out slow internet connection.  Visit the following link:  why is my internet so slow

One of the most possible culprits to blame for slow browser is Viruses, Spyware and Malware infections that interfere with your internet connection. So, first and foremost, one essential step to to deal with slow internet browser is make sure you have the latest and the most up-to-date browser and scan your computer with the latest anti-virus software  for malicious programs.

Outdated browser can also contribute to a slow browser. A large portion of computer users still use Windows XP and  they are most likely to have Internet Explorer 6 on their computer, one of the slowest, outdated and infection-prone browsers. The only feasible  alternative for XP users is to upgrade their browser to Internet Explorer 8, a not-quite-fast internet browser though.

Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 9, which I believe  is one of the fastest and best internet users yet unfortunately it is only compatible with Windows Vista and Windows 7.  If you’re still using windows XP consider upgrading your Windows XP to Windows 7.

If your computer does not meet requirement for an upgrade then you need to look for alternative browsers. The latest Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox browsers are compatible with Windows XP and are  among the fastest browsers. Firefox is only recommended for computers that have at least 1 MB of  RAM anyway since, although it is fast,  it is notorious for eating into computer memory resources.

The chances are even after you have upgraded your browser , cleaned up your computer for viruses or switched browser yet you might pop up the same question : Why is my internet browser slow?  Well, there are several steps you can take to solve the problem:

Make sure you have not gone over the data cap. Depending on your data plan most wireless internet providers and cable internet providers place a data cap on data usage. Some ISPs throttle down the speed and some completely disable the internet connection. Consult your internet service provider to find out if you still have remaining data available for surfing the web if  you pay for a volume-based data plan.

Disable your browser add-on. You may use browser add-on for example to download streaming media and so on or you might even be unaware that there exist add-ons on your browser, while it can sometime be useful such add-ons can slow down your browser. Try to get rid of unnecessary add-ons.

How to disable Browser add-ons?

In Internet Explorer. Go to Tools , Manage Add-ons, Click on the installed addons and disable them.

In Firefox : Go to Tools , Add-ons, Extensions , Click on the disable button

In Google Chrome: Click on the settings icon located on the right upper corner, Tools , Extension. To disable installed Add-ons and click on the “Disable” link

If you use Internet Explorer try resetting it to restore to the default configuration. If while you’re surfing the web Internet Explorer stops responding or working and telling  you it errors telling needs to close, or if browsing feels slow, you may want to reset Internet Explorer settings. To restore or reset the Internet Explorer to its last known good configuration you can do it with a small tool from Microsoft which you can download here: http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9646978

You need to just follow the instructions in the Wizard to run the program to get a fresh Internet installation.

See also : Why is my computer so slow

Want to switch carrier to Sprint or give Sprint mobile hotspot plan a try but you can’t find the information on Sprint website?. This post is a recap of  what Sprint mobile hotspot can offer in terms of speed, pricing and the devices with which you can create a portable mobile hotspot over Sprint network. A more detailed information on Sprint mobile hotpot can be found on separate articles which have been posted previously.

Sprint Mobile Hotspot Cost

Currently Sprint is the only US major carrier to offer unlimited and unrestricted mobile hotspot provided you are on their 4G network coverage (On contrary, it imposes data usage cap on  3G broadband plan).

Unlike Verizon mobile hotspot plan , currently Sprint does not put a cap on mobile hotspot plan for use  over its 4G network using a dedicated mobile hotspot device , with a $49.9-per-month plan customers can enjoy an unrestricted, fast internet connection.

Update : starting November 2011  Sprint kills unlimited mobile hotspot plan on 4G .

The data cap applies to Sprint customers who subscribe with 3g/4G broadband plan using  tablet, notebook, USB card, or Mobile Hotspot device, effective next December 2011, your on-network monthly data allowance will no longer include unfettered 4G data access.This change however does not affect data access from smartphones  as the company still offers unlimited 4G data plan on smartphones.

3G mobile hotspot cost starts at  $44,99 per month starting at $44.99 per month , and in case a customer goes over the allotted data,  Sprint charges additional fee of  $0.5 per MB. See the following table for details:

Table : Sprint Mobile Hotspot Cost

Sprint mobile hotspot offers two options, using a dedicated portable mobile hotspot devices or using the  mobile hotspot-capable phones. A Dedicated portable mobile hotspot is a device with  its sole purpose is to share internet connections over cellular network which includes  MiFi devices from Novatel  other portable Sprint mobile hotspot devices from other manufacturers. Sprint mobile hotspot can also be accessed via mobile hotspot phones which vary from Android phones and other phone brands. Most Sprint Android phones can be turned into a Sprint mobile hotspot on the fly as they come with a pre-installed Wi-Fi hotspot app.

Starting November 2011 Sprint also places a cap on Mobile Hotspot use on smartphone, your monthly mobile hotspot data usage will be limited to 5GB of 3G or combined 3G/4G usage. Sprint charges  $.05/MB in  overage fees. This is on top of the $29.99-per-month mobile hotspot add-on for smarthone users who use their smartphones as a mobile hotspot.

Sprint MiFi 4082 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot

MiFi 4082 is a sleek and compact portable Sprint mobile hotspot device which has a GPS receiver, an external antenna port, and a Micro SD  which can be shared with others connected to the device. The  Novatel-made  has a battery life of around four hours.

Sprint MiFi 4082 Mobile Hotspot (image credit : Sprint)

Sprint is the first carrier to launch a 4G MiFi  Mobile Hotspot preloaded with other capabilities such as  widgets and
application support. Sprint MiFi 4082 mobile hotspot in a 4G network offers download speeds that are up to 10 times faster than over a 3G network. It also sports an external display showing battery strength, signal strength and number of connected devices as well as shared storage capability through a microSD slot that can store files  up to a 32GB . It is compatible with all major OS such as  Windows, Macintosh and Linux. The Sprint MiFi 4082 mobile hotspot works both on a EV-Do Rev A  and WiMAX network yet does not work on Sprint’LTE network. Sprint MiFi 4082 mobile hotspot by Novatel sells for around $79.9 at Sprint official website with a two year-agreement.

Sprint OverDrive Mobile Hotspot

Sprint  Overdrive Pro3G/4G Mobile Hotspot is a-MiFi like device by Sierra Wireless. It has almost the same size and same features as the MiFi 4082 such as a GPS receiver and a MicroSD slot to store files and share them with others who connect to your device. It also has an external display that shows your connection status, battery life, number of shared users and more. The Overdrie can serve up to eight devices such as tablets, ebook readers, notebooks or games consoles at one time, three more devices than  MiFi 4082 can.

Sprint OverDrive (image credit: Sprint)

 When using over a 4G network the device can deliver download speeds up to10x faster than a 3G network. The average speed on a the 4G network is 3-6 Mbps. The Actual speeds may vary from one location from another though.The Sprint OverDrive mobile hotspot costs $49.9 with a two-year contract.

Sprint Mobile Hotspot On Smartphones

Using a smartphone as mobile hotspot can be a convenient way for customers who do not need a dedicated device. Sprint bundles its data plan into Sprint voice plans and additionally you will need to buy mobile hotspot add-on that costs $29.99 per month. Unlike a dedicated mobile hotspot device such as Sprint OverDrive your monthly data cap is limited to  a single plan ; 5G per month, the overage fees cost $0.05 per MB.  Sprint offers an increasingly growing line of smartphones with mobile hotspot capability. These include most high-end Android phones such as Samsung Conquer, HTC Evo 4G (I assume one of the best sprint android phones ), LG Optimus Motorola Photon, and  the long-awaited Sprint iPhone 4S .Among those phones, Kyocera Milano is the cheapest one that only costs $29.9 with a two-year contract. The Milano runs on the latest Android  OS (2.3), sporting a 3-inch QVGA touchscreen display,  3.2 megapixel camera and camcorder, plus 2 GB microSD card and 512 MB internal memory. All Sprint  mobile hotspot phones require no additional app and can simply be turned into a portable Sprint hobile hotspot  hotspot with just a few taps.

Cloud computing security or simply referred to as cloud security is  set of procedures, technologies, and controls employed to safeguard data, applications, and other measures to protect the cloud computing infrastructure  as the many advantages of cloud computing such as no hardware investment, fast deployment also come with risks .

As many companies consider jumping on the cloud computing wagon and are so enthusiastic about it, they need  to take a look at the possibility of a failure in the cloud arising of a failed internet connection which it relies on and other important things such as what measures to take in case the Internet does not work, what emergency measures and backup system that are in place and so forth.

Before deciding to leverage its advantages a would-be user needs to know the answer to several basic questions such as who is behind the cloud computing infrastructure? Who manages it? Who is responsible for in case there are liability issues?, what are the rules of the game in the cloud which involves multi-party users? How are  the cloud database and critical data managed ?

Issues related to cloud computing security can generally be divided into two categories: cloud computing security issues faced by cloud providers (companies that provides  software, platform and infrastructure as a service via the cloud) and security issues faced by their customers. The provider needs to make sure that their infrastructure remains safe and secure and also their customers data and applications are protected while the customer need to ensure that the cloud providers have taken the appropriate security procedures to safeguard their data.

Specifically before a company makes use of  the cloud services they  needs  to ask the cloud service provider the following question:

• How is  their data protected?
• How the cloud  service providers deal with potential security vulnerabilities?
• How do they deal with and fend off external attacks?

Cloud computing security involves complex set of  policies, before hop on the cloud wagon  a would-be customer needs to be sure that the cloud providers not only enforce the essential security measures in place  but also have the hindsight to cope with any possible security threats. There are at least four things to note concerning cloud computing security  notably confidentiality, infrastructure reliability, cloud service company  integrity and  service availability.

Cloud Computing Security Critical Aspects

An  expert at Gartner, an IT research firm, advises clients to check the cloud vendor about the bellow cloud computing security-related issues before they decide if the vendor fits into their needs:

Cloud Computing Security Log Management

The cloud service vendor must make sure only authorize persons have a full control of the data stored in the cloud. The vendor must not  in anyway grant administrator access to unauthorized personnel who can access the sensitive company information remotely. The customers need to know who the administrators are and who in charge of the data control.

Data Recovery and Investigation

Customers need to make sure vendor will provide data recovery in case the main cloud servers crash. The data recovery options  should be set out clearly in the service agreement between customers and the cloud vendor. Data recovery is part of the industry standards guaranteeing data backups and redundancy measures to avoid data loss in the event of a server crash.

Image Credit : Cisco

The cloud computing vendor is responsible for investigating such an incident to make sure it will not occur again in the future. Customers need to be guaranteed that their cloud providers are reliable and can cope with emergencies like virus or hacker attacks.

Data Segregation

This element is one of the standard cloud computing security measures employed by most cloud vendors. As cloud vendors serve not just one but several customers at the same time, customers need to ask the vendor how they protect against other customers from gaining access to their applications, platform, files stored in the cloud server. In channel management, for instance, the partners needs to have individual access based on their channel partner profile.

Physical Location of Cloud Server

It’s highly likely hat the majority of web users do not have any idea where their data are actually stored physically. In many cases, redundant servers are placed in another location to secure the archive. Cloud customers need to be  aware  of the physical location of the servers  to make sure  that there are applicable laws to secure the data of the cloud servers. Cloud computing security does not necessarily encompasses the above aspects as the technology behind it keeps evolving.

References :

1. Security Guidance for Critical Areas of Focus in Cloud Computing”. Cloud Security Alliance. 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-04
2. Wikipedia : Cloud computing Security
3. EzineArticles : The Risk of Cloud Computing

Mobile hotspot on BlackBerry will soon be available at Sprint, according to a leaked memo obtained by an undisclosed source quoted in Crackberry thread , a forum dedicated for BlackBerry users. According to the forum, the mobile hotspot feature is set to be launched in the fourth quarter when RIM rolls out the OS 7, its latest operating system. The memo was leaked because Sprint screw up on the packaging for the BlackBerry Torch 9860 which listed mobile hotspot as one of its features.

Blackberry Torch 9810 (Credit: BlackBerry)

The upgrade will likely affect other BlackBerry devices too like the Torch 9810 and Bold 9900 and the BlackBerry curve 9360, enabling users of those devices to share internet connection over Sprint cellular network. The rumors have actually been swirling around since a year ago yet this one seems reliable given the cut-throttle competitions among US wireless providers to explore growth potential beyond increasingly-saturated voice services.

Currently BlackBerry phones are the only smartphones that lack the popular feature needed by mobile people.  Android phones and lately iPhone have already been mobile-hotspot capable, to be precise the majority of Android phones can act as a wireless router to which up to five Wi-Fi capable can connect (eight for most HTC smartphones such as HTC Evo ).  In fact several low-end and middle Android phones have already had a mobile hotspot feature.  Many BlackBerry users are pretty bummed that up until now there is such a feature for a BlackBerry yet.

BlackBerry users who are impatient for the mobile hotspot availability on their devices can combine their phones with a personal Wi-Fi hotspot device like CradlePoint PHS300 Personal Hotspot, essentially turning their phones into a mobile hotspot device. This device allows you to tether your EVDO BlackBerry as a modem, and share the internet connection over cellular network with up to 18 devices. According to its  manufacturer the personal hotspot device Wi-Fi range is up to 120 feet. The PHS300 Personal WiFi Hotspot is a plug and play device that creates a Wi-Fi 3G/4G WiMAX WiFi network on the go.

To create a Wi-Fi hotspot while on the go you can simply connect all your Wi-Fi-enabled devices by plugging in your activated USB data modem or supported phones  and switching on the PHS300. Not all BlackBerry phones are supported though, only BlackBerry Pearl 8130, Curve 8330, BlackBerry 8703e, BlackBerry 8830, ,BlackBerry 8703e,BlackBerry 8830,BlackBerry 9530 are compatible with the device.

There are various other  devices that can work with the  PHS300 such as USB dongles, Sprint MiFi 2200 mobile hotspot, Virgin Mobile Novatel Wireless Ovation MC760, Verizon MiFi 2200 and many more. As the driver is being constantly updated by its manufacturer it is not unlikely mobile hotspot on BlackBerry created with help of the with the  PHS300 will soon become available on all BlackBerry phones.

Backing up hard drive is the only sure way to protect your computer files against hard drive crashes. Backing up you entire computer hard drive needs time and money, two things that most people do not like to throw it away anyway. Here are some suggestions that can simplify your task of backing up while saving costs.

Backing up your entire hard drive – operating system, applications has some advantages. With all the files stored, you can easily replace a crashed hard drive and immediately repair Windows and all your applications and data without having to re-install it. In some cases, overwriting a flawed Windows installation with a newer and cleaner copy will save your time identifying incompatible software or damaged program files.
If you have relatively small data files to backup, choosing an appropriate storage media to keep your hard drive files is a piece of cake. You can back up your data using up using a floppy disk or a flash disk. Of course the more data you backup, the greater the cost and time you need. Backing up the entire hard drives requires large storage media. Backing up hard drive containing several gigabytes of data using a 100MB Zip drive is not an easy task to do. Bigger storage media drive with greater capacity such as a CD-RW drive or a Jaz can cost you a bunch.

To save cost you can buy a second hard drive. Today almost every CMOS program has an auto detection feature hard disk yet unlike some removable storage media , EIDE hard drives have few compatibility problems with Windows or driver issue. One advantage of an EIDE hard drive is very fast, making it an ideal choice for backing up or restoring data.
Another downside of an EIDE hard drive is  since the hard drive can not be moved, you can not store your backups in a separate location. And to avoid an emergency, you should keep a backup of any important data in different locations

Several Methods of Backing Up Hard Drive

Backing up hard drive can also be done with the help of an ATA RAID hard drive controller that  lets you store an exact copy of your hard drive on a breeze, especially if your system has a good hard drive controller. A Disk-based PCI hard disk Controller will automatically replicate any changes you make to the original hard drive to your backup drive, hence maintaining an exact duplicate at any time.
After A Hard Disk Controller is installed, the backups take place automatically and you do not need to intervene during the process. Keep in mind that backing up hard drive using An ATA RAID hard drive controller has also a downside. Any data changes or omissions – such as accidentally deleted or overwritten important files – will be transferred to the backup drive as well.
One alternative to using An ATA RAID hard drive controller is use a second hard drive installed conventionally to backup the primary drive. This sometimes requires manual data backup, but when executed properly, it offer greater flexibility.
Windows also has a useful backup utility called Backup; you can find it in Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools Backup. Backup is able to move throughout the primary drive or certain parts to your second drive. And you can arrange the next backup to copy the files new or changed course – a huge time-saver if you want to backup the entire hard drive, Windows and others.

Backing Up Hard Drive Before It’s Too Late

Windows Backup utility is very good at backing up data files, yet if the hard disk crashes, you can no longer get a copy of your Windows version. It occurs because the backup may not have a hidden file copy or system files that Windows needs to work properly and because you may need replace the MSDOS.SYS file. Similarly, the damaged files may get into your Windows backups long before you see the result – which can vary from a strange mouse behavior to the system crashes.
You can avoid the above disaster by creating images of your hard drives. You can do it with a backup software such as Acronis True Image  and other back up utility software, see the following link for detail : Backup Software Review.

A backup software is a very useful utility that is able to copy and compress the entire drive – the system files, hidden files, file allocation table of your disk into a single file that can be stored on your second hard drive and restored if necessary.
It is highly recommended that you have at least three partitions on your hard drive. You can use a third party application such as Partition Magic to do the job or if you have a Windows 7 installed on your computer you can create partition using  Windows 7 partition tool. After partitioning your hard drive, you need to  install Windows/Operating System on partition C:, your application on D:, and your data on E and create mirror images of each partition. Just in case your Windows/ Operating system is damaged and can not be restored you can restore your original Windows configuration. You need to update the image if you add new hardware or software and make sure your system functions correctly before backing up hard drive.

Starting Thursday, 1 September (in Germany only, to the best of my knowledge)  Lidl budget retailer offers Huawei Ideos X3 smartphone that customers can grab for around € 100  without contract agreement attached to it. The Lidl offer of the Huawei  Ideos X3 sparked frenzy sales and within just a few days the phones have been snapped up by customers quicky. Huawei, a relatively unknown brand in Europe particularly Germany, is  known mostly  as network an equipment vendor for cellular  operators. The Huawei Ideos X3 is a new and fresh affordable Android on the market for budget-minded customers. What makes the phone particularly special is it already runs on  Gingerbread, making it one of the cheapest Android smartphones to come with the latest Android operating system.

The Huawei Ideos X3 that is  currently on the shelves of retailers Lidl Germany and Fonic consists of mostly plastic material, yet at the first glance it appears like a sleek, high-end  smartphone. The phone which weighs about 115 grams and measures 10 x 56.5 x 11.2 millimeters has got decent reviews from several reputed tech sites. The Huawei Ideos X3 has a 3.2-inch capacitive  touch screen which is only slightly smaller than the iPhone  and a display resolution of 320 by 480 pixels , matching the iPhone 3G resolution.

Lidl Huawei Ideos X3 Smartphone ( Credit : Huawei)

Lidl Huawei Ideos X3 Specs and  Key Features

The Huawei Ideos X3 is powered by  600 MHz Qualcomm processor – fast enough for the phone to perform multi tasking. It has a  256 MB of RAM and 512 megabytes of internal memory storage,which are not quite a lot to store multi media-rich files , however the internal memory storage  is expandable up to 32 GB via a MicroSD card.

The phone sports a 3.2-megapixel rear camera and a front-facing one to make Video calls or Video Voip calls with Skype and other mobile Voip Apps. The camera however lacks both autofocus and flash, and you won’t be able to take good quality pictures in a dimly-lit room.  Like other budget smatrphones, the camera features are limited to a few options notably color effects ,white balance, geo-tagging, quality and picture resolution. As you may have expected the picture quality looks pretty average yet sufficient enough for casual needs.

The Huawei Ideos X3 supports  Quad-band GSM, HSDPA networks  for fast internet connections and a slew of features available on high-end Android phones such as  Wi-Fi capability  and  GPS receiver for navigation. The The Huawei Ideos has 1200 mAh battery which can be used last for up to four hours of talk.

The Cons

One of the downsides to note is the mostly-plastic touch screen of  the Ideos X3  is not particularly well protected against scratches and the screen brightness of course can not compete with  high-end  smartphones. Yet for a price of 100 Euros a touch screen with a bright display and scratch-resistant glass would be too much to ask anyway.

The Lidl Huawei smartphone offering of  just € 100 is  a surprising price tag. Minor weaknesses in memory and display are easy to forgive when you consider that comparable  smartphones like the HTC Wildfire cost twice as much. If you are looking for a cheap, versatile smartphone with fast Internet connection yet put little emphasis on getting a big name, the Huawei Ideos X3 offers a real bargain. You can get the Lidl Huawei Ideos X3 smartphone here.

Source : T-Online

It can be sometimes confusing to find a big screen  3D LED HDTV with affordable price yet of decent  quality as when it comes to picking one you will be confronted a lot of choices. One of the LED HDTVs that fall on the above criteria is LG Infinia 65LW6500  which, in our  opinion, one of the best large screen TVs available on the market.

The Infinia 65LW6500 boasts a large 65-inch display screen and comes with 3D technology that enables you to enjoy your favorite movies in a 3D environment. This post is  a round up of our experience toying with the giant LED HDTV over the last few months to provide you with an insight into its specs, key features, its pros and cons before deciding to buy one.

LG Infinia 65LW6500 Design and Features

The  LG Infinia 65LW6500 is definitely one of the sleekest LED HDTV we have come across. The TV is gorgeous even if it is switched  off and it is even more so when it is on!. The TV is pretty slim at under one-inch thick yet heavy (it weighs around  93 lbs minus the stand). The LED TV appeared a lot heavier because of its sheer dimensions which makes it pretty hard to handle yourself. It  is encased in a beautiful , all-black glossy bezel  lined with transparent  plastic. It also comes with  a stand which can rotate 20 degrees, that is also lined in clear and black plastic materials. The  65LW6500 sports four HDMI inputs, two USB ports, an RF input, two AV inputs, a LAN network port and more.

The 3D LED HDTV has a contrast ratio of  a 9 million to 1 and a 120Hz refresh rate to increase color performance and minimize  motion blur. To enjoy 3D content it comes with four 3D glasses provided for free .

LG Infinia 65LW6500 3D Key Specs and Features:

We’d say the  3D quality is vivid, extremely dimensional, and doesn’t give us a migraine like the active shutter sets do. You will not find any flickering and dimming at all, the true 3D content from a High Definition satellite receiver or a Blu-ray player is simply stunning. much better than the theaters since the screen is brighter.

As mentioned above the 65-inch 3D TV uses exactly the same glasses as in the theaters, which can also be purchased at affordable prices if you need additional ones. The 3D glasses are lightweight and no worries if your kid breaks them, if necessary you can get  smaller glasses for your children.

LG Infinia 65LW6500 2D HD quality:

The pure 2D HD quality is amazing considering this is a 65-inch TV. The Colors are vibrant, blacks are deep, in general we are pleased with it. 2D to 3D conversion works really well and brings dimension to virtually any TV show you are seeing.

Apps and Magic remote:

The  Magic remote is very similar to a Wii remote and really makes using the apps internet browser and other features a breeze. You can also download the LG TV remote app for your iPhone, iPad and other Apple and Android  devices and  turn them into a remote control. The 20-or-so built-in apps are great. If you own a receiver with ARC, it is fun to just click on Netflix, Vudu and other on-demand movie streaming services and have the receiver switch over. If you have an Amazon  Prime Shipping you can watch movies and other stuff for free.  There are also other popular apps such as Pandora, Facebook and a slew of other built-in apps on the LG Infinia 65LW6500.

The LG  65LW6500 comes with a built-in 256 MB of storage, though with a limited number of applications, and most coming in under 5 MB, space for storage definitely won’t be a concern as you can use an additional USB flash disk

Wireless adapter:

The LG  65LW6500 comes with a wireless adapter to pick up Wi-Fi signals and connect to wireless internet, unfortunately from our tests it does not work with all wireless router brands for still-unknown reasons we have yet to sort out. However, we could get it to work with the Linksys WRT54G router.

Cons:

During the first one month of stay we  some inconsistencies in the backlight which are acceptable for such a big TV especially when you compare it with florescent back light HDTVs on the market . The picture quality is of course is not as crisp as those delivered by a plasma TV but the LG Infinia 65LW6500 is much lighter than a plasma

The included  support stand is quite wobbly and is  basically a low quality piece of plastic that’s about 3 inches across on each side. This small  hollow neck is supposed to support and balance the weight of the entire LCD screen.

 Conclusion:

LG Infinia 65LW6500 sells for $2669 on Amazon, which is a bit pricey, but again this is a top of the line TV and when you need  the best you need to dig deeper into your pocket to pay for it.

I own a free classified site in a non-English language (Indonesian, to be precise)  where people can submit text ad listings for free. I do not charge for the ad listings as most visitors who come to the site are searching a place where they can submit an ad for free. Since the site language (Indonesian)  is not supported yet by  Google Adsense I can not monetize it the way I do with this humble blog and the only option to monetize the site is by selling ad spaces myself.

The site itself  is powered by Classipress theme, which in my opinion, is the best Classified WordPress theme, yet unfortunately the theme does not support banner ad management. It does offer  rotating featured ads placed at the top of the home page yet they are not strategically located to attract enough visitor clicks since they are only placed on the homepage. After few hours of research I finally found the solution the problem (thanks to Google). What I am talking about is the  OIO publisher, one  of the best ad management software I’ve ever come across and via this brief post I  want to share my experience using the ad script with other fellow bloggers and site owners who want to monetize their sites by selling their own banners,text ads,  inline ads and post ads almost fully automatically with hassle-free installation.

The OIO Publisher Compatibility And Key Features

This versatile ad management script integrated seamlessly with my  classified WordPress theme and I could start selling ad banners, inline ads, and text ads after installing and configuring it which takes only few minutes to complete. Not only can the ad management script integrate with a WordPress site nicely it also integrates with other blogging platforms and CMS ‘ such as Drupal, Joomla and other PHP scripts. The script can be installed by itself and then integrated with any other third  party script.  If you have a WordPress site it can be installed as a plugin without having to tinker with the PHP  code anyway. The OIO publisher works almost automatically  with no extra work needed i.e   you can define the charging models, set how long  the ads will be displayed,  set the payment method (via Paypal or bank transfer), choose how advertisers pay their ads (advertisers can pay based on cost per day, cost per impression and  cost per day pricing models,  send an email informing advertisers to make payment or telling them that their ads have been expired and renew the ads once the advertisers have made payments to extend their ads etc.

Create and Sell Ads With OIO Publisher

As mentioned above the OIO publisher basically lets you sell your own ads in four different types ; banner ads, text ads (like Google Adsense), inline ads (like Infolinks and Kontera) and post ads that contain links to advertisers’ site  (like Sponsored Review) so basically you can run your own ad network.

Furthermore, the ads created with the OIO publisher can be spread across multiple sites, you can install the ad management script on one site that acts like an ad server and paste the Java script code-generated ads on other sites. The script can also  be configured to tag all outgoing links with nofollow attributes so that you comply with Google Webmasters guideline that prohibits selling links that pass pagerank to other sites.

 Create Banner Ads With OIO Publisher

You can configure the ad management script to display banner in any  sizes and configure the number of banner ad slots available to advertisers. If you sell the banner ads using  OIO publisher script you can do the following things:

Set the banner size and create different ad zones for a particular banner size, for example if you want  to sell banner  ads in three different sizes  and display them in three different locations on your sites you can create 468×60 pixel banner ad  for zone 1, 125×125 pixel banner ad  for zone 2 and 336×280 pixel banner ad  for zone 3.

Picture 1: Pricing Models

Picture 2: Banner Ads Settings

After successfully created the ad zones the OIO will then generate the PHP and Java script codes (you can choose between the two)  that you need to paste in you sites home page, single post, header or any locations  you want the banner ads to appear.

Picture 3 : The Ad code

Text Link Ads

You can create and sell text link ads (text that contains links pointed to an advertiser’s site, much like Google Adsense ads) the same way you do with ad banners. You can create different text ad zones and  place them in any locations on your sites. However, you are recommended to sell text link ads that have nofollow tags to comply with  Google Webmaster Guidelines since selling  dofollow links  that pass pagerank will likely result in your site being penalized by Google.

Inline and Post Ads

Inline ad is a type of ad inserted to a post containing particular keywords related to an advertiser’ s site contents. The OIO publisher enables  would-be advertisers to research into your blog posts, find relevant keyword and insert links pointed to their sites. You will be paid based on the number of the inline links clicked by your site visitors.

You can also sell post ads with the OIO publisher . Advertisers can submit an article (or you create the article at the request of advertisers) containing links pointing to their sites and post it  on your blog. As with all ad types you are highly recommended to sell only nofollow link post to comply with Google Webmaster Guidelines.

The Downside

The only thing I have complain about the OIO Publisher is you can not configure it to notify advertisers by email automatically once their ads have been expired. To do that you need to log in to the back end of your site and click the “Send Reminder’ button on expired ads. Except for the mentioned drawback, I find the ad management script very satisfactory.

Conclusion:

The OIO publisher ad manager is an amazing script packed with  robust features and is best suited for site owners and middle business organizations who want to sell their own ad space on their blog/ site almost automatically.

In case you’re curios to see the OIO publisher in action you can visit my classified site that uses Classipress WordPress classifieds theme  here.  The OIO Publisher ad manager costs only $47 and can be installed on unlimited domains.

I am not a fan of a contract cell phone plan, not because I don’t have the intentions to sign up with one but as a foreign student living in the US I find it more practical to use a prepaid phone. I have tried prepaid phone plans from major US carriers and from smaller ones and just few days ago I bought an LG Optimus V, one of prepaid Android phones currently available at Virgin Mobile.

One of the advantages of having a Virgin Mobile’ phone is you can sign up with Virgin Mobile phone plan for unlimited text and data plan starting at $25 per month with 300 voice minutes. You can sign up with unlimited minutes and data plan for $60 per month if you feel the $25 per month plan is not right for you and last but not least Virgin mobile phones can be used over Sprint networks!.
The phone is suitable for budget-minded users who want to save on their monthly phone bills and get the most of an Android smartphone.

When I read a review from a reputed tech site about the Virgin Mobile LG Optimus V I was a little bit skeptical about it and I thought it was simply a generic version of the popular LG Optimus S from Sprint (Virgin Mobile’s parent company) yet after a friend of mine gave me a taste of the smartphone and I decided to buy it. I bought the phone from Amazon and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Optimus V mostly lived up to my expectations. Of course it’s not an HTC Incredible , Samsung Galaxy SII and other high-end smartphones yet for just $125 you get a smartphone crammed with pretty amazing features. The Android 2.2-run phone comes with features you will expect from other similar devices running the platform such as integration with Google services, GPS and Wi-Fi capabilities.
The phones sports a 3.2 mega pixel camera with auto focus but does not have a LED flash, I found the picture quality acceptable for a mid-category phone. There is no front-facing camera that can be used to make video calls or internet calls via Skype or other mobile VOIP applications. The camera can record videos at 640 x 480-pixel resolution at 18 frames per second with decent quality.

Virgin Mobile LG Optimus V weighs about 4,8 ounces and measures 4.5 by 2.3 by 0.5 inches. It comes with 3.2-inch capacitive touch screen with 320-by-480-pixel resolution. I found the screen resolution quite good yet it is a bit pixilated when you take a close look at text on the screen.

Like other latest Android phones the Optimus V comes with Swype keyboard that enables you to type text faster. The Swype keyboard is a bit cramped though and it took me sometime getting used to.

Navigating from screen to another is quite smooth, the transitions are visible and for every single tap, the phone was responsive. I did not find any substantial lag when using not-too-resource-hungry applications.

The Virgin Mobile LG Optimus V Key features

Bellow are the round up of the LG Optimus V key features and spesifications:

• Built-in GPS for real-time location on maps, driving directions etc.
• Google Maps Navigation
• 3.2-inch touchscreen display (480 x 320 pixels, 16 million color depth)
• Swype input system
• 3.2-megapixel auto-focus camera/camcorder
• Digital media player compatible with MP3, WMA, and AAC music files plus MPEG4 video formats
• Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g)
• 2 GB microSD card expandable up to 32 GB
• USB connectivity with mass storage and charging capabilities
• 3.5mm headset/headphone jack

Final Thoughts
The Virgin Mobile LG Optimus V is the best bet if you want to avoid the hassle of a contract phone , save some money and get a taste of a mid-range smartphone. If you can not afford to buy to the likes of Droid Bionic and Samsung Infuse this smartphone is actually pretty close to them in some areas.

Setting up a VPN server in Windows 7 can be done on the fly, with just a few clicks you can turn your internet-connected Windows 7 computer into a VPN server. A VPN server can be helpful for those accessing the internet from a location where the internet connection is restricted by internet filters or a restrictive firewall. Of course the computer on which the VPN server is installed needs to have unrestricted access to the internet.

Setting up your own VPN server on a remote computer  can sometimes save on money spent on buying a paid VPN service which can be costly. You can, for instance, rent a VPS (Virtual Private Server) and turn it into a VPN  server and share the monthly expense with your friends. There are lots of  hosting companies from which you can rent VPS server on a monthly basis with the cheapest VPS plan starting only $15 per month. This post is, however, is about how to install and set up a VPN server on a Windows 7 computer. Installing a VPN server on a Windows 2003 or Windows 2008 (the operating systems used by a Windows VPS) is more like the same as installing a VPN server on Windows 7.

 How to set up VPN on Windows 7 computer?

A Windows computer that you want to turn into a VPN server needs to have access to the internet and has an IP public that serves as a gateway to the internet. Once this essential requirement is met you can follow the bellow instructions:

Click on the Start Menu and go to Control Panel

Click Network And Internet and and then go to Network And Sharing Center

On the Network And Sharing Center Window, click on the “Change Adapter Settings” located on  the left pane

On the Network Connection page, click the File menu above the Windows, if the “File’ menu can not be located press the ALT button on your computer keyboard.

On the “Who may connect to this computer” page, tick on the box to the left of the users you want to have access to your Windows 7 VPN server. After that click Next. You can also add a new user that can connect to the server by hitting the “Add Someone” button.

Next on the “How will people connect” page tick the “through internet” option, then click Next

On the next page hit the ‘Allow Access” button and  leave the default connection settings untouched .

Once the setting up is  complete you will find an Incoming Connection icon on the Network Connections page

Done, you have now done setting up VPN server on a Windows 7 to which other computers can connect.