Windows XP For Dummies

To get the most out of Windows XP, familiarize yourself with the desktop, as well as some shortcuts and basic commands to manage your folders and windows. You can use Windows XP to refresh and update your PC, play music and organize digital photos. Be sure to perform some regular maintenance on your PC and apply good security settings in Windows XP to stay safe.






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Understanding Your Windows XP Desktop


The Windows XP desktop, or computer screen background, is for running programs and working with files. Along the bottom edge of the Windows desktop is the taskbar. To begin, click the Start button to reveal the Start menu, where you can run programs, change settings,, access folders, and search for files.


Rest your mouse pointer over any icon for an explanation of what it does.



  • The Quick Launch toolbar holds frequently used programs, ready for launch with a single click.



  • The taskbar’s notification area tells you about events like newly received e-mail or security alerts.



  • Confused? Click the Start menu’s Help and Support icon to view the Windows XP Help menu.



  • If you accidentally delete a file, double-click the Recycle Bin icon, right-click on the accidentally deleted file, and choose Restore to undelete it, putting it back where it was.


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Saving Time with Windows XP Task Panes


Every folder in Windows XP has a customized task pane, located in the folder’s left edge, that contains time-saving shortcuts related to that folder. As you open different folders, the shortcuts change to show tasks made for what you’re viewing..


The task pane in your My Pictures folder is particularly handy, providing quick ways to start a slide show, get pictures from a digital camera or scanner, print pictures, or copy all the photos to a CD.



  • Click a file’s icon in the folder and look in the task pane’s Details area to see information about that file’s size, contents, and creation date.



  • To move quickly from folder to folder, use the shortcuts in the task pane’s Other Places area. From there, you can jump to the desktop, My Documents folder, and other commonly accessed places.


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Revitalizing an Aging Computer with Windows XP


You can easily fine tune the Control Panel’s Performance and Maintenance tasks in Windows XP. To begin, click the Start menu, choose Control Panel, and click the Performance and Maintenance category. Then, complete these tasks to speed up your computer and free up more storage space.



  • Adjust Visual Effects: To speed up Windows, turn off some of its visual effects — the little shadows around icons and menus, for example.



  • Free Up Space on your Hard Disk: To free up disk space, the Disk Cleanup program removes unneeded leftovers from Web browsing, empties your Recycle Bin, and deletes temporary files.



  • Rearrange Items on your Hard Disk to Make Programs Run Faster: In a process known as defragmenting, Windows rearranges your hard disk’s data for faster access.


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It’s important to occasionally give your computer a good cleaning on the outside and you should know when it’s necessary. You can leave the power on when you do this except if you have to remove the keyboard to clean it. These tips will help you give your computer a thorough and safe cleaning:



  • Clean your mouse: Turn your mouse upside down and scrape off any crud stuck to the bottom. With a brush, remove any hairs or dust stuck to the glowing optical sensor. If your mouse has a roller ball, remove it, and clean its rollers with a cotton swab and some alcohol.



  • Remove dust: Buy a can of compressed gas. Then take your computer’s case outside and blow off all the dust you see around the air vents. (This can be messy, so don’t try it indoors.)



  • Clean your monitor: Spray glass cleaner onto a rag, then wipe the screen, being careful not to drip any liquid in the area where the glass meets the plastic case.



  • Clean your keyboard: Shut down Windows, turn off your PC, and unplug your keyboard. Then blow all the dust out from between the keys using a can of compressed air. No compressed air? Then a vacuum cleaner with a brush will do the trick. Spray some household cleaner onto a rag and remove any goo sticking to the keys or the keyboard’s edges.







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Managing Windows and Folders in Windows XP


Use this chart of handy reminders to keep track of your windows and folders in Windows XP and how to maneuver around and view them.



























To Do This . . .Do This . . .
See a list of all open windows.Look at the names on the taskbar along the screen’s
bottom.
Move from one window to another window.Press Alt+Tab+Tab or click the window’s name on the
taskbar.
Cascade the windows across the screen.Right-click on the taskbar’s clock (or a blank part of
the taskbar) and then click Cascade.
Shrink all open windows.Click the little pencil-and-pad icon near the Start
button.
Make a window fill the screen.Double-click the title bar along its top edge.




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Staying Safe Online with Windows XP


Windows XP comes with three security settings, Firewall, Automatic Updates, and Virus Protection, and each protects you from something different. You need to use all three of these defenses for maximum safety in Windows.



  • Choose Security Center from the Start menu’s Control Panel area to make sure your computer’s defenses are up and running. It lists the status of your firewall, automatic updates, and virus protection.



  • Click any of the icons in Internet Options, Automatic Updates, and Windows Firewall to adjust their settings.



  • The Security Center shown here indicates that the computer needs a virus checker or that the current one isn’t working properly. Click the Recommendations button for tips on correcting the problem.


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Playing Songs and Videos in Windows XP Media Player


Turning your computer into a personalized entertainment center to play your favorite songs and videos and add to your music library is part of the fun in Windows XP Media Player. Take a look at the Media Player window and get to know the basic controls to enjoy your favorite tunes:


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Organizing Your Digital Photos with Windows XP


The My Pictures folder built-in to Windows XP is your own personal, computerized family photo album. You’re able to quickly and easily create slide shows, screen savers, and other fun tricks with your digital camera photos.



  • When viewing photos in the My Pictures folder, choose Thumbnails or Filmstrip from the View menu to see your pictures displayed different ways.



  • Open any folder in your My Pictures folder and click View as a Slide Show from the task pane to display the pictures full size on your monitor.



  • Double-click any photo to see it in a larger window.



  • Click any photo and choose E-Mail This File to mail it to a friend. Windows automatically resizes the photo to the proper proportion.


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dummies


Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/windows-xp-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

How to Build a Leader’s Brain and Keep It Healthy

As a leader who’s eager to make a difference, you want to do all you can for your brain. These ten tips get you started on a brain-healthy life to reach your highest potential.



  • Eat nutritiously. Your brain is about 78 percent water. Keep it hydrated for optimal performance. Make sure that you eat fresh fruit, nuts, vegetables high in antioxidants, lean protein, complex carbohydrates, and good fats like omega-3 fatty acids in some seafood.



  • Move it or lose it. Just 30 minutes of aerobic exercise twice a week increases blood flow and provides more oxygen to the brain. Exercise also gets rid of stress chemicals that have built up in your brain while releasing a chemical that helps neurons grow.



  • Rest. Brain science believes that you learn while you sleep. The process is called consolidation, and interruptions to your sleep at specific times affect what you remember. Even naps can increase performance and attention.



  • Relax. According to some researchers, stress hormones can actually disconnect a network of neurons in your brain. When that happens, you begin a thought and you can’t remember how to finish it or start to do something and forget what it was. Stress costs businesses money every year.



  • Keep your memory in shape. If you want to improve your memory and your brain, you have to use it. Put away your smart phone and dial phone numbers from memory. If you don’t like memorizing numbers, try a poem or some funny stories. These are great workouts for your working memory.



  • Pick up a book. Reading is good for your brain, and it increases your vocabulary. Reading helps you build new connections in your brain and may even cause new neurons to develop. It also gives you something to talk to people about.



  • Be upbeat. Make sure you find time to do those things that truly make you feel good. Optimism in a leader builds confidence in employees and customers. You can train your brain to be more optimistic. Optimists know they have good brains, and they work to maintain them.



  • Make a few changes. Try a new route to work or a new hobby. Breaking your routine causes you to be more aware of how your mind is working. The brain likes novelty. Give it something new to think about, and you make some new connections.



  • Name that tune. Learning how to play a musical instrument excites your brain. Playing music activates several areas of the brain and so gets blood and oxygen flowing in various structures, making an overall healthier brain. If you don’t play an instrument, at least play “Name That Tune.”



  • Teach someone else. Research has suggested for years that teaching others is the number-one way to learn information yourself. Think about something you’re good at and you haven’t had much time for. Find someone who is interested in learning. You’ll renew some brain patterns, help someone else, and probably have a good time as well!













dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-build-a-leaders-brain-and-keep-it-healthy.navId-400164.html

Internet Advertising Terminology: A–C

There are hundreds of Internet advertising terms, most of which you as a mom blogger don’t really need to know. But the ones you do need to know are really important.


Above the fold: These are ad placements that a site visitor can see when they view a page without having to scroll down.


Ad creative: The actual ad that will appear on your blog.


Ad creative guidelines: Guidelines that let advertisers know things such as the sizes of ads you offer, whether or not you accept animated ads, how large the ad file sizes can be, and whether or not you accept audio ads.


Ad network: A company that sells ads for a group of websites while keeping a portion of the profits. Ad networks can be very exclusive and difficult to get into, or they can be open to almost any web publisher. (An example of the latter type is Google AdSense.)


Ad rotation: Running several alternating ads in the same spot on your blog.


Ad server: Software that stores and displays ads for one or more websites. Ad servers are best for blogs that have a large volume of ad spaces to maintain. They also have the more sophisticated tracking tools needed by larger companies or ad agencies.


Banner: A visual picture with text or animated ad. Banners come in standard sizes, the most common of which are



  • Leaderboard: A horizontal 728 x 90-pixel ad usually appearing at the top of a page.



  • Medium Rectangle: An almost-square 300 x 250-pixel ad that fits well into most blog sidebars.



  • Wide Skyscraper: A tall (vertical) 160 x 600-pixel ad that also frequently appears in blog sidebars.



  • Square Button: A small 125 x 125-pixel ad that generally appears with several more ads in a group. This size is frequently used by small businesses, but has been eliminated as a standard size for large scale advertisers.




Call to action: This is when you make a specific request of a site visitor to take an action on your site. Examples would be, “Click Here,” “Sign up for my newsletter,” or “Add item to cart.”


Click fraud: The false inflation of clicks by manual or automated means. This is meant to either fraudulently increase earnings when a publisher earns revenue on each click, or give a misleading impression that an ad is performing better than it actually is.


Click through: This is the action of a web visitor clicking an ad and viewing the next page on the advertiser’s website.


comScore rankings: comScore is the industry leader for measuring web traffic, used by large advertising agencies to plan how they purchase their ads. comScore ranks websites and groups of websites so media buyers can plan effective advertising campaigns. Most blogs aren’t large enough to get listed on comScore, but many get listed through its larger ad network.


Contextual ads: The process of displaying ads based on relevance to the content on a web page.


CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): The amount an advertiser will pay for each new customer or sales lead.


CPC (Cost Per Click): The amount an advertiser will pay for each click on an ad.


CPM (Cost Per Thousand): The amount an advertiser will pay for each 1,000 views of an ad. (Remember Roman numerals? The M stands for a thousand.)




dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/internet-advertising-terminology-ac.html

Open an Image in Adobe Photoshop CS5

When using Photoshop Creative Suite 5, you usually have a source image that may have been generated by a scanner, digital camera, or stock image library. You can open an existing image in one of several ways:



  • Choose File→Open, select the file in the Open dialog box, and then click the Open button.



  • Choose File→Browse. By selecting Browse instead of Open, you launch the Adobe Bridge application.



  • Double-click an image in the Mini Bridge panel.




Photoshop can open a multitude of file formats, even if the image was created in another application, such as Illustrator or another image-editing program. However, you have to open the image in Photoshop by choosing File→Open or, using Adobe Bridge, by selecting an image and dragging it to the Photoshop icon on the taskbar (Windows) or Dock (Mac).


If you double-click an image file (one that wasn’t originally created in Photoshop, or from different versions) in a folder, the image may open only in a preview application.


If you’re opening a folder of images that you want to investigate first, choose File→Browse to open Adobe Bridge, the control center for Adobe Creative Suite. You can use Adobe Bridge to organize, browse, and locate the assets you need to create your content. Adobe Bridge keeps available for easy access native AI, INDD, PSD, and Adobe PDF files as well as other Adobe and non-Adobe application files.


You can access the standalone Adobe Bridge application from all applications in the Creative Suite by choosing File→Browse or by clicking the Go to Bridge icon in the upper left corner of the application window. Use the Bridge interface to view images as thumbnails and look for metadata information. For a condensed version of Bridge, click the MB icon on the Application bar.











dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/open-an-image-in-adobe-photoshop-cs5.html

Female Singing Mixer Examples

You can hear some terrific women demonstrate a mix of head voice, chest voice, and middle singing voice. Listen to Mary Martin sing mixed voice in “Why Shouldn’t I?” or Barbara Cook sing “Chain of Love.” Barbra Streisand is another famous mixer. Listen to her singing “Memory,” from Cats. In the very beginning of the song, she’s mixing; later in the song, you can hear her belting. Dionne Warwick uses her mix in “Walk On By.”


Listen closely to the sound she uses when she says “walk on by.” That’s the sound of her mix. Linda Eder uses her mix at the beginning of the song “When I Look at You,” from Scarlet Pimpernel. In the beginning of the song, she alternates between a chest voice–dominated mix and a head voice–dominated mix.


Listen to the difference in the weight of the sound. The chest voice–dominated mix sounds a little heavier. You can also listen to Rebecca Luker, whose work you may know from Broadway shows such as The Sound of Music or Mary Poppins. Listen to her song “River” on her album to hear her using her mix.


If you want to try out some songs to explore your mix, try these two: “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” from Jesus Christ Superstar, and “It Might As Well Be Spring,” from State Fair. Because of the story, the first song requires a chest voice–dominated mix and the second song requires a head voice–dominated mix. Develop your registers and then work on your mix exercises.



dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/female-singing-mixer-examples.html

Combining Cloud Computing and Service-Oriented Architecture

A cloud has some key characteristics: elasticity, self-service provisioning, standards based interfaces, and pay as you go. This type of functionality has to be engineered into the software. To accomplish this type of engineering requires that the foundation for the cloud be well designed and well architected.


What about cloud architecture makes this approach possible? The fact is that the services and structure behind the cloud should be based on a modular architectural approach. A modular, component-based architecture enables flexibility and reuse. A Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is what lies beneath this flexibility.


SOA is much more than a technological approach and methodology for creating IT systems. It’s also a business approach and methodology. Companies have used the principles of SOA to deepen the understanding between the business and IT and to help business adapt to change.


Cloud services benefit the business by taking the best practices and business process focus of SOA to the next level. These benefits apply to both cloud service providers and cloud service users. Cloud service providers need to architect solutions by using a service-oriented approach to deliver services with the expected levels of elasticity and scalability. Companies that architect and govern business processes with reusable service-oriented components can more easily identify which components can be successfully moved to public and private clouds.


A Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a software architecture for building business applications that implement business processes or services through a set of loosely coupled, black-box components orchestrated to deliver a well-defined level of service.


This approach lets companies leverage existing assets and create new business services that are consistent, controlled, more easily changed, and more easily managed. SOA is a business approach to designing efficient IT systems that support reuse and give the businesses the flexibility to react quickly to opportunities and threats.




dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/combining-cloud-computing-and-serviceoriented-arch.html

Investing in Natural Gas Futures on Commodity Exchanges

The most direct method of investing in natural gas is by trading futures contracts on one of the designated commodities exchanges. On the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the preeminent exchange for energy products, you can buy and sell natural gas futures and options.


The natural gas (Nat Gas) futures contract is the second most popular energy contract right behind crude oil. Traded under the ticker symbol NG, it trades in increments of 10,000 MMBTU (1 MMBTU is equal to one million BTU). You can trade it during all the calendar months, to periods up to 72 months after the current month.


The NYMEX offers a mini version of this contract for individual hedgers and speculators. Check out the Nat Gas section of the NYMEX Web site for more on this contract.


Trading natural gas futures contracts and options is not for the faint hearted. Even by commodities standards, natural gas is a notoriously volatile commodity subject to wild price fluctuations. If you’re not an aggressive investor willing to withstand the financial equivalent of a wild roller coaster ride, then natural gas futures may not be for you.




dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/investing-in-natural-gas-futures-on-commodity-exch.html

Paper for Your CS5 Documents

Before printing your Creative Suite 5 documents, consider the type of paper that’s best for the job. If you’re printing on glossy paper, make sure that the paper works with your printer type. Although most glossy paper works fine in inkjet or laser printers, some brands or types of paper may not.


Always double-check paper when purchasing it to make sure that it won’t damage your printer. The kinds of printers supported by the type of paper are listed on the paper’s packaging.


One benefit to using glossy paper is that it has a finish similar to photo paper finish, which can make your printouts appear to have a higher quality.


Using good paper can result in photos that have richer colors and show more detail. When purchasing printer paper, here are some important characteristics to look for:



  • Brightness: Refers to how bright the paper is. Higher numbers mean the paper looks brighter and cleaner.



  • Weight: Refers to how heavy the paper is. Higher weights mean a thicker, more durable piece of paper.



  • Opacity: Refers to how translucent, or transparent, the paper is. If the paper is too thin, too much light can pass through it; also, you may be able to see the ink through the other side of the page (which can be a problem if you want to print on both sides of the sheet).


    Opacity relates to weight, in that a heavier sheet of paper would be thicker and allow less light to pass through it.



  • Texture: Refers to the smoothness or roughness of the surface of the paper. Texture can provide dramatic differences between inkjet and laser printers. Inkjet printers spray ink onto a page, so having a slightly textured surface to print on can be beneficial because the texture allows ink to dry somewhat faster and bleed a little less, making the finished product look a little sharper.


    When you’re using a laser printer, the opposite is true. Having a smooth, flat surface for the toner to transfer onto produces better results.




Remember that you may not always print on 8-1/2-x-11-inch paper (also referred to as Letter or A4). Many printers also allow you to print on envelopes, labels, stickers, business cards, and even iron-on transfers. You can use iron-on transfers to create your own T-shirts with your company logo or shirts with your face on the front.


Some newer printers even allow you to print directly onto the surface of a CD-ROM. You can even purchase small printers designed solely to print standard-size photographs.


Another important note is the difference in paper sizes globally. Whereas the United States and Canada use inches to measure paper, the rest of the globe uses a metric system based on an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standard.


The North American Letter format may be replaced by the ISO A4 format. The other differences between the U.S. and Canadian systems from the ISO is that the ISO paper sizes always follow a set ratio, whereas the U.S. and Canadian systems uses two different aspect ratios.











dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/paper-for-your-cs5-documents.html

Droid Bionic: Forward Phone Calls

Call forwarding is the process by which you reroute a phone call coming into your Droid Bionic. For example, you can send to your office all calls you receive while you’re on vacation. Then you have the luxury of having your cell phone and still making calls but freely ignoring anyone who calls you.


The options for call forwarding on the Droid Bionic are set by the cell phone carrier, not by the phone itself. In the United States, using Verizon as your cellular provider, the call-forwarding options work as described in the table.

























Verizon Call-Forwarding Commands
To Do ThisInput First NumberInput Second Number
Forward unanswered incoming calls*71Forwarding number
Forward all incoming calls*72Forwarding number
Cancel call forwarding*73None

For example, to forward all calls to (714) 555-4565, you input *727145554565 and touch the green Phone button on the Droid Bionic. You hear just a brief tone after dialing, and then the call ends. After that, any call coming into your phone rings at the other number.



  • You must disable call forwarding on your Droid Bionic to return to normal cell phone operations. Dial *73.



  • The Droid Bionic doesn’t even ring when you forward a call using *72. Only the phone number you’ve chosen to forward to rings.



  • You don’t need to input the area code for the forwarding number when the call is local. In other words, if you need to dial only 555-4565 to call the forwarding number, you need to input only *725554565 to forward your calls.



  • Call forwarding affects Google Voice voice mail. Unanswered calls that you forward are handled by the forwarding number, not Google Voice. Further, when you cancel call forwarding, you need to re-enable Google Voice on your Droid Bionic by redialing the Google Voice forwarding number.













dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/droid-bionic-forward-phone-calls.html

Anatomy of an Electric Guitar

An electric guitar is the key component of the rock guitar sound. Take a look at this figure to identify the major parts of a typical electric guitar, and read the chord diagram for finger placement. The tablature, or tab, is represented to show the frets and strings of the guitar.


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dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/anatomy-of-an-electric-guitar.html

For Seniors: Connect to the Internet on Your iPhone 4S

Getting on the Internet with your iPhone 4S is easy, using its Wi-Fi or 3G capabilities. How you connect to the Internet depends on what connections are available:



  • You can connect to the Internet via a Wi-Fi network. You can set up this type of network in your own home using your computer and some equipment from your Internet provider. You can also connect over public Wi-Fi networks, referred to as hotspots.


    You’ll probably be surprised to discover how many hotspots your town or city has: Look for Internet cafés, coffee shops, hotels, libraries, and transportation centers such as airports or bus stations, for example. Many of these businesses display signs alerting you to their free Wi-Fi.



  • You can also use the paid data network provided by AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon to connect using 3G from just about anywhere you can get cellphone coverage via a cellular network.




To enable 3G access, tap Settings, then General, and then tap Network. Tap to turn on the Enable 3G and Cellular Data settings. Do note that browsing the Internet using a 3G connection can eat up your data plan allotment quickly if your plan doesn’t include unlimited data access.


To connect to a Wi-Fi network, you have to complete a few steps.



  1. Tap the Settings icon on the Home screen and then tap Wi-Fi.


    Be sure Wi-Fi is set to On and choose a network to connect to. You should be able to access this automatically when you’re in range of this network. When you’re in range of a public hotspot, if access to several nearby networks is available, you may see a message asking you to tap a network name to select it.


    After you select one (or if only one network is available), you may see a message asking for your password. Ask the owner of the hotspot (for example a hotel desk clerk or business owner) for this password.



  2. If you’re required to enter a network password, do so.



  3. Tap the Join button, and you’re connected.




Free public Wi-Fi networks typically don’t require passwords. However, it’s then possible for someone else to track your online activities over these unsecured networks. Avoid accessing financial accounts or sending sensitive e-mail when connected to a public hotspot











dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/for-seniors-connect-to-the-internet-on-your-iphone.html

Ethical Hacker's Guide to Tools and Resources

Stay up-to-date with the latest and greatest ethical hacking tools and resources. Finesse your ethical hacking skills by visiting these sites for security, tools, resources, and more.


Bluetooth


BlueScanner


Bluesnarfer


BlueSniper Rifle


Blooover


Bluejacking community site


BTScanner for XP


Car Whisperer


Detailed presentation on the various Bluetooth attacks


NIST Special Publication 800-48


Smurf


Certifications


Certified Ethical Hacker


Certified Information Security Manager


Certified Information Systems Security Professional


Certified Wireless Security Professional


CompTIA Security+


SANS GIAC


Databases


Advanced Access Password Recovery


Advanced SQL Password Recovery


AppDetectivePro


Elcomsoft Distributed Password Recovery


Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express


NGSSQuirreL


Pete Finnigan's listing of Oracle scanning tools


QualysGuard


SQLPing3 and SQLRecon


Exploit tools


Metasploit


Milw0rm


General research tools


AfriNIC


APNIC


ARIN


Bing


DNSstuff.com


dnstools.com


The File Extension Source


Google


Government domains


Hoover's business information


LACNIC


Military domains


Netcraft's What's that site running?


RIPE Network Coordination Centre


Switchboard.com


U.S. Patent and Trademark Office


US Search.com


U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission


Wotsit's Format


Whois.net


Whatismyip.com


Yahoo! Finance


Zabasearch


Hacker stuff


2600 The Hacker Quarterly


Computer Underground Digest


Hacker T-shirts, equipment, and other trinkets


Hackin9


Honeypots: Tracking Hackers


The Online Hacker Jargon File


PHRACK


Keyloggers


Invisible KeyLogger Stealth


KeyGhost


SpectorSoft


Laws and regulations


Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) Safeguards Rule


Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act


Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule


Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)


U.S. state breach notification laws


Linux


BackTrack


freshmeat.net


GFI LANguard


Linux Security Auditing Tool (LSAT)


QualysGuard


SourceForge


THC-Amap


Tiger


Live toolkits


BackTrack


Comprehensive listing of live bootable Linux toolkits


Knoppix


Network Security Toolkit


Security Tools Distribution


Log analysis


ArcSight Logger


GFI EventsManager


LogAnalysis.org system logging resources


Messaging


Abuse.net SMTP relay checker


Brutus


Cain & Abel


DNSstuff.com relay checker


EICAR Anti-Virus test file


GFI e-mail security test


mailsnarf


smtpscan


Miscellaneous tools


FreeZip


WinZip


NetWare


Craig Johnson's BorderManager resources


JRB Software


NetServerMon


Pandora


Rcon program


Remote


UserDump


Networks


Arpwatch


Blast


Cain & Abel


CommView


dsniff


Essential NetTools


ettercap


Firewalk


Getif


GFI LANguard


IETF RFCs


IKEcrack


MAC address vendor lookup


MAC Changer


Nessus vulnerability scanner


Netcat


Netfilter/iptables


NetResident


NetScanTools Pro


Nmap port scanner


NMapWin


OmniPeek


Port number listing


Port number lookup


PortSentry


PromiscDetect


QualysGuard vulnerability scanner


SMAC MAC address changer


SNARE


sniffdet


SNMPUTIL


SuperScan port scanner


TCP Wrappers


TrafficIQ Pro


UDPFlood


WhatIsMyIP


Wireshark


Password cracking


Advanced Archive Password Recovery


BIOS passwords


Brutus


Cain & Abel


Crack


Default vendor passwords


Dictionary files and word lists:



Elcomsoft Distributed Password Recovery


Elcomsoft System Recovery


John the Ripper


ophcrack


Pandora


Password Safe


Proactive Password Auditor


Proactive System Password Recovery


pwdump3


NetBIOS Auditing Tool


NIST Guide to Enterprise Password Management


NTAccess


RainbowCrack


Rainbow tables


SQLPing3


TSGrinder


WinHex


Patch management


BigFix Patch Management


Debian Linux Security Alerts


Ecora Patch Manager


GFI LANguard


Linux Kernel Updates


Lumension Patch and Remediation


Novell Patches and Security


Microsoft TechNet Security Center


Red Hat Linux Security Alerts


Slackware Linux Security Advisories


SUSE Linux Security Alerts


Windows Server Update Services from Microsoft


Security education and learning resources


Kevin Beaver's information security articles, whitepapers, webcasts, podcasts, and screencasts


Kevin Beaver's Security On Wheels information security audio programs


Kevin Beaver's Security On Wheels blog


Kevin Beaver's Twitter page


Security methods and models


Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual


OWASP


SecurITree


Software Engineering Institute's OCTAVE methodology


Source-code analysis


Checkmarx


Fortify Software


Klocwork


Ounce Labs


Storage


CHAP Password Tester


CIFSShareBF


Effective File Search


FileLocator Pro


GFI LANguard


Google Desktop


GrabiQNs


Identity Finder


NASanon


StorScan


SuperScan


System hardening


Bastille Linux Hardening Program


Center for Internet Security Benchmarks


Deep Freeze


Fortres 101


How to disable SMTP relay on various e-mail servers


Imperva


Linux Administrator's Security Guide


PGP Whole Disk Encryption


Pyn Logic


SecureIIS


ServerDefender


TrueCrypt


User awareness and training


Awareity MOAT


Dogwood Management Partners Security Posters


Greenidea Visible Statement


Interpact, Inc. Awareness Resources


Managing an Information Security and Privacy Awareness and Training Program by Rebecca Herold (Auerbach)


NIST Awareness, Training, & Education resources


Security Awareness, Inc.


Voice over IP


Cain & Abel


CommView


Listing of various VoIP tools


NIST's SP800-58 document


OmniPeek


PROTOS


sipsak


SiVuS


vomit


VoIP Hopper


Vulnerability databases


Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures


CWE/SANS Top 25 Most Dangerous Programming Errors


National Vulnerability Database


Privacy Rights Clearinghouse's A Chronology of Data Breaches


SANS Top 20 Internet Security Problems, Threats, and Risks


US-CERT Vulnerability Notes Database


Wireless Vulnerabilities and Exploits


Web applications


Absinthe


Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner


Brutus


Defaced Web sites


HTTrack Website Copier


Firefox Web Developer


Foundstone's Hacme Tools


Google Hack Honeypot


Google Hacking Database


NGSSquirrel


N-Stealth Web Application Security Scanner


Paros Proxy


Port 80 Software's ServerMask


SiteDigger


SWFScan


WebInspect


WebGoat


WSDigger


WSFuzzer


Windows


DumpSec


GFI LANguard


Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer


Network Users


QualysGuard


Sysinternals


Winfo


Wireless networks


Aircrack


AirMagnet WiFi Analyzer


AirSnort


Asleap


Cantenna war-driving kit


CommView for Wi-Fi


Digital Hotspotter


Elcomsoft Wireless Security Auditor


Homebrew WiFi antenna


KisMAC


Kismet


NetStumbler


OmniPeek


SeattleWireless Hardware Comparison page


Super Cantenna


Wellenreiter


WEPCrack


WiGLE database of wireless networks


WifiMaps


WiFinder


WildPackets' OmniPeek


WinAirsnort




dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/ethical-hackers-guide-to-tools-and-resources.html

Making Your Work Space Work

Now is the time to put everything into place. Your goal? Fingertip management of everything you do. The way to get there? Blueprint your workspace. You may not be an architect, but anyone can benefit from drawing up a floor plan to find the most productive office placement. You may discover a new way to face your desk for better concentration, hidden space for another file cabinet, or a nifty arrangement to put all your reference books within reach.



Drawing up the blueprint


One great way to organize your office is to blueprint it, to scale. Mark the windows and doors, and create furniture cutouts. Add cutouts in a different color to represent equipment.



Start playing with placement of your cutouts on your floor plan to come up with one or more schemes that put each task within easy reach.



  • Purge: Get rid of all unused or ill-suited furniture and equipment. Distracting artwork can be donated or go elsewhere.

  • Like with like: Line up your file cabinets. Find one spot for all your books. Create work centers for different activities by grouping together everything you need for a task.

  • Access: Arrange your workspace by placing furniture and equipment in a parallel, L-shape, or U-shape layout for better fingertip management.

• A parallel layout places furniture in two lines opposite each other — most frequently a desk and a computer workstation, credenza, bookcase, or file cabinet. Parallel layouts provide a space-efficient floor plan for jobs requiring a limited number of references and resources.


• For an L-shaped layout, furniture is arranged in two perpendicular lines to create a semi-enclosed space. Instead of turning a full 180 degrees from one side to the other as in the parallel layout, you swivel just 90 degrees from the desk to the bookcase, cabinet, credenza, or computer.


• U-shaped puts most resources within reach. You may have a desk and computer or drafting table parallel to each other, with a bookcase or file cabinet forming the base of the U. Don't need a computer station or worktable? Put a file cabinet parallel to the desk and a bookcase at the base.


    The printer should be as near the computer as possible, while the fax may be farther away. Move infrequently used equipment, reference materials, and supplies to another room. Do you have extra supplies? Return them to the supply room or cabinet.

  • Contain: Put files into file cabinets and books into bookcases or credenzas. Use overhead cubicle bins for binders, computer programs, or extra stationery. Under-desk drawers can keep supplies off the countertop. Finally, make sure you have a way to contain everything — for instance, add a credenza for the books and binders currently stacked on top of your workstation.

  • Evaluate: How do you feel when you walk into your office in the morning? How does your flow go in the thick of a project or stressful situation? How do you feel when you leave your office at the end of the day?

Using space effectively


Here are some more tricks of the trade to fine-tune your space once you decide on the pieces of furniture you need and arrive at a basic layout.



Use the space beneath windows by placing a desk, short bookcase, or two-drawer file cabinet there.



Windows aside, move the desk out toward the center of the room to slip a credenza, bookcase, or file cabinet behind it. However, don't face your desk to the wall. Feng shui, the ancient Asian philosophy of flow, and many a worker can vouch that this placement can wall up your thinking and make you susceptible to scares when people walk up behind you. Like you need more stress in your day?



Don't face your desk directly out the door. Suddenly every passerby becomes a pleasant distraction, which becomes a major interruption when a colleague catches your eye and decides to tell you about her weekend tennis match. Place your desk perpendicular to the door, out of view of people passing by, for the right combination of concentration and control.



Take a ruler and measure your files from front to back to assess how many inches of storage space you need. Allow room (1 to 2 inches) for growth.



Allow clearance to pull out file cabinet drawers to double the cabinet's depth. Typical file cabinet dimensions are:



  • Vertical: 15 inches (letter) or 18 inches (legal) wide by 21 inches to 36 inches deep.

  • Lateral: 36 inches (letter) or 42 inches (legal) wide by 18 inches deep.

Use four-drawer file cabinets to maximize your vertical space or two-drawer cabinets to provide an additional surface on which to put equipment or collate papers. The top drawer of a five-drawer model is basically only good for binders and books because the top drawer is too high to see files.



After you get your desk and file cabinets situated, add guest chairs and possibly a table to your layout, if appropriate.



Got a closet in a home office? A closet is a natural place to store supplies, especially if you add built-in or freestanding shelves. Remember to put your heaviest items — reams of paper and so forth — on lower shelves or the floor.



Natural light from windows provides a great mood boost, but can create glare when sunlight shines directly on a computer screen. Light placement is a particular concern if you work with art or design.



Give your interior design and the artwork on your walls the eye. Is the effect pleasant and harmonious, or distracting or distressing? A beautiful environment can bring out your best, but anything that your eye fixes on long or that you don't like can drag you down. Toss, donate, relocate, redo.










dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/making-your-work-space-work.html

Applying Good Writing Principles to Your Business Website

You need to adapt your writing style for the web due to limitations of time and screen space but the basic principles of good writing still apply when creating business marketing copy. Keep these points in mind:



  • Write vividly. Use specific nouns and verbs rather than strings of gratuitous adjectives and adverbs.



  • Skip the jargon. Use your readers’ ordinary language.



  • Be yourself. In spite of all these directions, let your personality shine through. When appropriate, include an emotional jolt of humor or wit as a payoff to the reader.



  • Check spelling and grammar. If you don’t have a content management system that checks spelling and grammar, write the text first in a word processing application. Save your checked and corrected content as a .txt file or in Notepad to remove formatting.



  • Have others read what you write. It’s easy to get too close to your writing. Have someone else read it for clarity, accuracy, and omissions.



  • Proofread your text. Read your text out loud. It’s the fastest, easiest way to find mistakes. A site full of errors gives visitors the impression that you're sloppy. If you don’t care about your own site, how do visitors know you'll care about them as customers?




Not On Tobacco, the American Lung Association’s site to help teens stop or reduce smoking, follows these guidelines. Visit the site to see its use of the second person you, multiple calls to action, short sentences, and bulleted lists.


You’ll find excellent resources for web writing at












dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/applying-good-writing-principles-to-your-business-.html

What to Expect after a Hysterectomy

What type of recovery you’ll experience after having your uterus removed depends largely on the kind of hysterectomy you have. Generally, abdominal and radical hysterectomies bring the greatest post-operative pain and the longest recovery times. Vaginal and laparoscopic hysterectomies are comparatively less painful and require fewer weeks to recover.


Expect to spend three or four days in the hospital after an abdominal or radical hysterectomy (where your cervix, part of your vagina, and nearby lymph nodes are also removed). If you’ve had either a vaginal or laparoscopic procedure, your stay will be just one to three days.


A hysterectomy can be performed in several ways. In an abdominal hysterectomy the surgeon removes your uterus through an opening she makes in your lower abdomen. If you have a vaginal hysterectomy, your uterus will be removed through an incision made in your vagina. In the laparoscopic procedure, your surgeon will remove pieces of your uterus through small cuts in your abdomen.


No matter what type of hysterectomy you undergo, once you’re alert you’ll be asked to get up and move as much as you’re able to prevent blood clots from forming in your legs. You’ll take painkillers to manage any discomfort and antibiotics to help prevent post-surgical infections. You might also have to urinate through a catheter for one or two days after surgery. If not, your doctor will want you to use the bathroom on your own as soon as you can.


In addition, you’ll have post-operative vaginal bleeding for several days and will need to wear sanitary pads. If you’re recovering from a laparoscopic or vaginal procedure, you’ll probably experience less pain and less bleeding than if you’ve undergone an abdominal hysterectomy.


Your recovery time will be shorter too — three to four weeks as compared to four to six weeks for an abdominal surgery. As a matter of fact, many women who’ve had a vaginal hysterectomy report feeling much better just one week after surgery. However, even after a less-invasive hysterectomy, you won’t be able to douche, wear tampons, lift anything heavy, or have sexual intercourse for six weeks.


If you’re also having your fallopian tubes and ovaries removed at the same time you have your hysterectomy, you’ll immediately enter menopause and probably begin suffering side effects because your body is no longer producing estrogen. Talk with your doctor about taking hormone replacement to alleviate hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and sleep difficulties.


Having a hysterectomy can impact your sexual responsiveness. On the downside, it will eliminate the pleasure of uterine contractions that some women experience during orgasm. On the upside, it can make intimacy more pleasurable for women whose hysterectomies have eliminated gynecological pain or concerns about unwanted pregnancy. Also, studies show that sexual satisfaction is not impacted by the type of hysterectomy a woman has.


You may also find your emotional state changes as a result of your hysterectomy. Some women feel a sense of freedom from pregnancy concerns, periods, or chronic pain. Others are sad because they’ve lost a part of themselves and their ability to bear children (if they were premenopausal).


You’ll still need to get your regularly scheduled Pap smears in the years following your hysterectomy. The only exception is if your cervix has been removed for non-cancer-related reasons. And every woman who’s had a hysterectomy still needs to pay an annual visit to her doctor for a pelvic exam and mammogram.











dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/what-to-expect-after-a-hysterectomy.html

Fixing Exposure with Shadow/Highlight in Photoshop cs

The new Shadow/Highlight adjustment in Photoshop cs is a great new feature that offers a quick and easy method of correcting the lighting in your photos. It allows you to correct over- and underexposed areas in your image. This command works well with subjects photographed with the light source coming from behind (backlit) and consequently have a dark foreground. The new adjustment is also helpful for bringing out the detail in harsh shadow areas in subjects shot in bright, overhead light. This command doesn't really correct overall exposure. Instead, it lightens or darkens pixels according to the luminance (brightness) of the surrounding pixels, technically called a local neighborhood.



The Shadow/Highlight command also has a Midtone Contrast slider, Black Clip, and White Clip options for adjusting the overall contrast of the image.



Follow these steps to get familiar with this new addition to the adjustment arsenal:



1. Open an image in dire need of repair and choose Image --> Adjustments --> Shadow/Highlight.


Unlike many other image adjustments, when the dialog box appears, it automatically applies the correction to your preview. If you don't see any change, make sure you have selected the Preview check box. The default settings found in the dialog box are meant to correct backlit images, so they may or may not do the right correction job for you as they are set.


2. Move the Amount slider to adjust the amount of correction for your Shadows and/or your Highlights.


The higher the percentage, the lighter the shadows and the darker the highlights. You can also enter a value in the percentage text box.


3. If you're happy with the results, click OK and be done with the adjustment. However, if you crave more control, click the Show More Options check box at the bottom of the dialog box.


A whole array of sliders magically appears.


4. Drag the Tonal Width slider to increase or decrease the range of tones adjusted in the shadows or highlights.


The lower the percentage, the narrower the range of tones that will be affected. For example, by using a very low percentage, only the darkest parts of the shadow or the lightest parts of the highlight are corrected. Similarly, by using a high percentage, you include a wide range of tones, including midtone areas. The appropriate percentage to use varies among images, so start with the default setting of 50% and work in small increments from there.


If, when lightening the shadow areas, you find the midtones and highlights getting too light as well, reduce the Tonal Width percentage of the Shadows. But if you start seeing artifacts, you have set the percentage too high.


5. Drag the Radius slider to increase or decrease the number of pixels used in the local neighborhood.


Remember that this command uses the luminance of surrounding pixels, called local neighborhood, for adjusting the shadows and highlights. The best local neighborhood size depends on the particular image, so play with this slider and view the results. If the Radius is too small, your main subject may lack contrast. Conversely, if it's too large, your background may be overly bright or dark. Adobe recommends setting the radius to approximately half the size of the main subject in your image. So if your subject takes up roughly 600 pixels, then set your radius to 300 pixels. Choose Show Rulers on the View menu and set your Units to pixels in your Preferences.


6. Make additional changes in the Adjustments area as needed:


Color Correction: Available for color images only, this control enables you to correct the colors in only the adjusted portions of your image. Often when you increase or decrease the Amount of Shadows or Highlights, you bring out the "hidden" colors. Generally, higher Color Correction values make colors more saturated, whereas lower values make colors more desaturated.


Brightness: Available for grayscale images only, this command adjusts the brightness. Move the slider left to darken and right to lighten.


Midtone Contrast: This control adjusts the contrast in the midtone areas. Move the slider left to reduce contrast and right to increase contrast. Just be aware that when you increase the Midtone Contrast, you may also undesirably darken shadow areas and lighten highlight areas.


Black Clip/White Clip: These values specify how much of the shadows (black) and highlights (white) are clipped to the new shadow (level 0) and highlight (level 255) colors in the image. Clipping causes the remaining levels to be redistributed between the brightness levels of 0 and 255. Higher percentages increase the tonal range and therefore create greater contrast, but when the value is too high it causes lack of detail in the shadows and highlights.


These values specify how much of the shadows (black) and highlights (white) Photoshop clips, making the new shadow (now level 0) and highlights (now level 255) colors in the image.


7. Click the Save As Defaults button to save and make your settings the defaults.


If you want to reset the setting back to the original defaults, press Shift and click the Save As Defaults button. You can save as many settings as you want. Click the Load button to reload a particular setting.


8. Click OK to apply the adjustment and exit the dialog box.










dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/fixing-exposure-with-shadowhighlight-in-photoshop-.html

Finding the Correct Ballet Stance

Most world-class ballet dancers, from the tender age of four or five, have been taught to hold themselves in a certain way, with a certain posture. They practice and practice their ballet posture until it becomes second nature. Unfortunately, this way of carrying themselves gets misinterpreted thousands of times a day as snobbery, from fast-food joints to street corners worldwide.



The fact is, many ballet dancers are rather shy about what they do. (You would be, too, if everyone mistook you for a snob.) But the ballet stance that inspires this misconception is a basic part of classical ballet technique, for men and women alike. Don't worry, though — if you're old enough to read this, you are in no danger of having this stance become permanent. You'll be able to turn it on and off at will.



One of the big goals of ballet is creating the illusion of elegance and poise. A certain confident ease of motion perpetuates this illusion. But that's exactly what it is — an illusion. Deep down, every ballet dancer is just as neurotic as you are.



Locating your center


If you were to videotape a world-class ballet dancer in action, and then stop the tape at any given frame, the ideal dancer will always appear graceful and balanced. This remarkable phenomenon applies to other pursuits as well — tai chi, for example, or thumb wrestling.



The key to this appearance is centering. As a potential ballet dancer, the first thing you need to do is find your center — the position in which you can rest in total balance. Here's how the pros do it:



1. Stand at the mirror, facing sideways, with your feet parallel to each other.


2. Engaging your thigh muscles, straighten your knees — but without pushing back into your knee joints.


3. Lift your abdominal muscles upward and back towards your spine.


This is called pulled-up position. Imagine that you are placing your ribcage over your hips. Think of your neck as an upward extension of your spine. Your shoulders are relaxed downward, and your chin is slightly lifted — hence the haughty air.


4. Curve your arms so that they are rounded and just in front of your thighs, and bring your weight forward into the balls of your feet.


You should be able to lift your heels slightly off the floor (see Figure 1). At first, you may feel as if you are about to fall forward onto your face. In fact, go ahead and give yourself permission to fall forward a few times. But with practice, this alignment becomes much more natural.





Now that you have found your placement, or center, you are ready for anything. All ballet movements begin from here, allowing the upper and lower sections of your body to work together as one.



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Figure 1: Finding good placement for ballet technique.

Adjusting your posture for balance


In addition to aligning your spine, you need to be able to adjust your posture for different ballet positions. In order to maintain balance while your legs and hips move in a certain direction, your upper body moves in opposition to your lower body.



For example, say that you want to lift one leg behind you. In order to maintain balance, the weight of your upper body has to adjust slightly forward. When lifting your leg to one side, you adjust your body slightly to the other side to create balance. When lifting your leg to the front, you adjust your body slightly to the back. Got it?



Of course, these adjustments are very small. But the smallest adjustments make all the difference and lead to safe dancing.



Distributing and transferring your weight


When finding your center, you have to transfer your body weight a little forward, onto the balls of your feet. From this position, if you want to lift one leg off the ground, you must shift your weight more to the standing leg for solid balance.



Standing on one leg


Start with your heels together, toes pointing outward. Keep your arms at your sides, low and rounded, with your fingers almost touching your thighs. Now shift most of your body weight to the balls of your feet, while keeping your heels down.



Lift your left leg off the ground, bending your knee outward slightly. Now, pointing your left foot, place it in front of your right ankle (Figure 2a). Notice how much you must shift your weight to your right foot to maintain your balance.



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Figure 2: Shifting your weight to create balance.

Now return your left leg to the starting position and repeat this exercise on the other leg.





Shifting onto one leg


Begin by bending your knees as far as you can while still keeping your heels on the floor (Figure 2b). Lift your left leg, just as you did in the preceding section, bending your knee outward. Point your left foot and let the toes touch your right ankle as you straighten your right knee. Bring your arms in front of you, rounded at the level of your ribcage. The goal — eventually — is to arrive in this position with your arms and legs at the same time. Notice that the weight shift to the ball of your right foot is more extreme than before. That's because your right leg has gone from bent to straight.



After you master this shift, do the movement on the other side. You don't want to develop a lopsided technique!



Balancing on the ball of your foot


Here's the ultimate test in the transferring of weight. This exercise is similar to standing on one leg, but with a twist — this time, you balance not just on one foot, but on the ball of that foot.



Begin with your knees slightly bent, heels together, toes pointing outward. Keep your arms at your sides, low and rounded, with your fingers almost touching your thighs. Lift your left leg, with your left knee pressing outward, foot pointed, with the toes touching your right ankle. Meanwhile, rise up on your right leg, straightening the knee



Now here's the really tricky part: As you straighten your right leg, put your weight onto the ball of your right foot (Figure 2c). Caution: Don't fall! You may need to hold onto something as you practice this weight shift.



To balance in this position, you must send your weight way over to the right — but without leaning. Finding out exactly how much adjustment to make is a matter of practice. That, by the way, is one of those understatements that applies to the entire art of ballet.



Don't be dismayed if you don't get the hang of it right away — it takes a lot of practice. And don't worry if you find it much harder to balance on one foot than the other. Everybody has that problem.



Keep in mind that when you go to the ball of your foot, your balance must be very precise. After all, you're balancing the entire weight of your body on about 4 square inches. It's like trying to hold up a broomstick by balancing the end in your upturned palm. It may take a very long time to find the balance — with the help of strong abdominal muscles to keep yourself stabilized. But when you do find that balance, it feels effortless. And that's the most glorious feeling in the world.



The strange thing is, with the right adjustments, you can balance in any position. So here's the bad news — although you may find a balanced position, the position may not be "correct" in the classical sense. That's why every ballet studio is plastered with mirrors from floor to ceiling. Dancers are constantly checking their positions — all positions, all the time.









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dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/finding-the-correct-ballet-stance.html

Understanding the Transmission of Nerve Impulses

 


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Transmission of a nerve impulse: Resting potential and action potential.

Like the gaps between the Schwann cells on an insulated axon, a gap called a synapse or synaptic cleft separates the axon of one neuron and the dendrites of the next neuron. Neurons don't touch. The signal must traverse the synapse to continue on its path through the nervous system. Electrical conduction carries an impulse across synapses in the brain, but in other parts of the body, impulses are carried across synapses as the following chemical changes occur:




  1. Calcium gates open.


    At the end of the axon from which the impulse is coming, the membrane depolarizes, gated ion channels open, and calcium ions (Ca2+) are allowed to enter the cell.




  2. Releasing a neurotransmitter.


    When the calcium ions rush in, a chemical called a neurotransmitter is released into the synapse.




  3. The neurotransmitter binds with receptors on the neuron.


    The chemical that serves as the neurotransmitter moves across the synapse and binds to proteins on the neuron membrane that's about to receive the impulse. The proteins serve as the receptors, and different proteins serve as receptors for different neurotransmitters — that is, neurotransmitters have specific receptors.




  4. Excitation or inhibition of the membrane occurs.


    Whether excitation or inhibition occurs depends on what chemical served as the neurotransmitter and the result that it had. For example, if the neurotransmitter causes the Na+ channels to open, the neuron membrane becomes depolarized, and the impulse is carried through that neuron. If the K+ channels open, the neuron membrane becomes hyperpolarized, and inhibition occurs. The impulse is stopped dead if an action potential cannot be generated.


    If you're wondering what happens to the neurotransmitter after it binds to the receptor, you're really getting good at this anatomy and physiology stuff. Here's the story: After the neurotransmitter produces its effect, whether it's excitation or inhibition, the receptor releases it and the neurotransmitter goes back into the synapse. In the synapse, the cell "recycles" the degraded neurotransmitter. The chemicals go back into the membrane so that during the next impulse, when the synaptic vesicles bind to the membrane, the complete neurotransmitter can again be released.











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dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/understanding-the-transmission-of-nerve-impulses.html

Network Administration: Sendmail Installation

Sendmail, which is a standard part of most Linux distributions, is one of the most popular mail server programs on the Internet. You can use Sendmail as an alternative to expensive mail server programs, such as Microsoft Exchange Server, to provide e-mail services for your LAN.


You can quickly find out whether Sendmail is installed on your system by entering the following command from a shell prompt:


rpm -q sendmail

If Sendmail has been installed, the package version is displayed. If not, the message package sendmail is not installed is displayed.


While you’re at it, you should check to make sure that m4 is installed by running the command rpm -q m4. Then check to make sure that sendmail-c4 is installed by running the command rpm -q sendmail-c4. M4 and sendmail-c4 are required if you want to make changes to your Sendmail configuration.


They’re installed by default when you install Sendmail, so they should be there if Sendmail is installed. But it never hurts to check.


If Sendmail isn’t installed, you can install it by following these steps:



  1. Choose System→Administration→Add/Remove Software.


    The Add/Remove Software window is displayed.



  2. Choose Package Collections in the list on the left side of the Add/Remove Software window.


    This displays a list of commonly installed collections of packages.



  3. Select the Mail Server option in the Add/Remove Software window’s main list box.


    This selects SendMail and its companion packages.



  4. Click Apply.


    The Add/Remove Software program installs the SendMail packages.



  5. Close the Add/Remove Software program.


    You’re done!






dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/network-administration-sendmail-installation.html

Australian Tax Rates 2011–12

For resident individuals in Australia, tax is levied on worldwide income on a progressive basis, referred to as marginal tax rates. Your marginal tax rates (shown in the following table) can vary between 0 per cent and 45 per cent. The more income you earn, the greater the amount of tax you’re liable to pay.





























Marginal Tax Rates 2011–12
Taxable IncomeMarginal Tax Rate
First $6,000nil
$6,001–$37,00015%
$37,001–$80,00030%
$80,001–$180,00037%
Over $180,00045%

A company is a separate legal entity and the company tax rate is 30 per cent.


The Medicare levy is used to help fund the Australian health system and the rate is 1.5 per cent of your taxable income. The Medicare levy surcharge applies if you don’t have private health insurance and taxable income is above the following thresholds:



  • Single person $80,000



  • Couples/families $160,000











dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/australian-tax-rates-201112.html