Tryangled Solutions web designing tips tricks

As it seems to be the case with every other browser release nowadays, IE 7 claims to “Put safety first”. There is some truth to this, as the folks at Microsoft definitely paid careful attention here especially when it comes to phishing protection. Some exploits were discovered early on, including personal data possibly being compromised, making it seem that the hackers were once again a step ahead. In fairness to Microsoft, Firefox 2.0 has also fallen victims to similar attacks during its first few months.

For a while it looked as if Mozilla’s Firefox browser was destined to become a huge threat to Internet Explorer in the web browser wars. Firefox has continued to slowly but steadily eat away at IE’s market share, and for good reason. In many ways it was just a better overall browser than IE 5 or 6. Enter Internet Explorer 7. With many of the same features that helped spark Firefox’s popularity as well as its intimate coupling with the Windows Vista operating system, Microsoft’s newest browser offering has raised doubts as to whether Mozilla’s market share can continue to grow at its current rate.

Both of these browsers have their own respective appeal and deciding which one may be right for you can prove to be a daunting task. This article attempts to make things a little easier for you when decision time arrives.

David Utter over at WebProNews has written an insightful piece on the possibility Microsoft wants Yahoo mainly for the old Overture patents it holds, in particular patent 361.

Between his article which clarifies much of Usman Latif’s posts on the topic as well as Latif’s own detailed post from 2005 when Google fired the employee for blogging - shows a very good conspiracy and Machivellian business theory.

Is ‘patent 361′ the Holy Grail of our industry? Does it hold the power of the search engine industry? Could we see a long-haired Tom Hanks snooping around San Jose this year looking for clues?

When you see the government investigating the Yahoo/Google deal, and the cries about the possible Microsoft buying of Yahoo, this makes for even more high drama.

Is Jerry Yang refusing Microsoft advances because he knows the secrets. Is patent 361 the National Treasure like source of all riches in paid search?

This definitely gives a different perspective to the entire situation. I am waiting for David Brown to write the novel.

Microsoft released it’s much-anticipated 2007 version of its Office product in January 2007. Years in the making, Office 2007 contains a number of new features, the most notable of which is the entirely new graphical user interface called the Ribbon, replacing the menus and toolbars that have been the cornerstone of Office since its inception. Students and faculty purchasing new computers since January have been purchasing this new version. Although there are many improvements to Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Access, one thing that you should be aware of is that the default file formats are not only different from all past versions, they are not readable by past versions. This means that if a student creates a document in Word 2007 it will automatically be saved in a format called .docx. Since this file type is not recognized in Word 2003 or XP, you will not be able to open it. Some of you may have already run into this problem with student submissions.

When browsing through the offerings of various web hosting companies you are sure to notice that some offer UNIX hosting and others offer Windows. Some hosts even offer a choice of the two operating systems. What are the differences and which one is better?

First of all, when choosing a host, it doesn’t matter what kind of operating system you develop your web site on or what you use on your own computer. Web sites hosted on both UNIX and Windows servers are universally accessible because the data they serve is identical. The difference lies solely in the software used to serve that data.

In terms of reliability UNIX systems have a slight advantage. They are known to extremely stable and able to run for years without rebooting. Windows is also very reliable – slightly less so than UNIX but still able to handle the demands of modern web sites.

The majority of web hosts use various flavours of UNIX like Linux and FreeBSD. These operating systems are free and reduce the costs of a hosting operation. Windows costs thousands of dollars so some hosts charge extra for Windows accounts if they offer both types.

As well as being free, Linux and the other UNIX varieties are open-source software. Anyone can alter the source code and make improvements, updates, and additions. There is a large pool of dedicated enthusiasts who use their free time to work on this software. Windows, on the other hand, is Microsoft proprietary software so users are dependent on Microsoft to release updates. There is no way for an individual user to modify the code.

The main difference between the two types of operating systems is the type of software each can run. Windows is suitable for Microsoft products such as MS Access databases, ASP for delivering dynamic content, and VBScript for site enhancements. UNIX cannot accommodate these technologies so if you absolutely need ASP or VBScript you should pick a Windows host. UNIX hosts deliver dynamic content by using software such as PHP, CGI, and MySQL – technologies which are also available on Windows hosts.

Windows is necessary for hosting Windows media files such as videos and audio. Other types of media such as MP3, Flash, Shockwave and Real can be handled by either UNIX or Windows. Websites created in Microsoft FrontPage (a graphical HTML development package) can also be hosted on either type as long as MS databases or dynamic content are not included for use on a UNIX host.
Which is Best?

Before deciding which type of hosting to use for your website, consider carefully what kind of technologies you will need. Do you need a dynamic site?  Will you have multimedia content such as streaming video or audio?

Both UNIX and Windows can provide dynamic content with PHP, MySQL, as well as CGI, and there are thousands of dynamic scripts readily available. Multimedia can also be hosted by either type of server, although Windows media (WMA and WMV) need to be hosted on a Windows server.

If you absolutely need Microsoft databases, ASP, and Windows media you have to go with a Windows host. Otherwise most websites are probably better off with a UNIX host. The advantages of UNIX over Windows include greater choices in web hosts, slightly better reliability, and (sometimes) cheaper hosting costs.

For most entrepreneurs computers are an intrical part of our business. An entrepreneur can not afford for their computer to be inoperable even for a minute. Implement some of these quick and affordable computer tips to keep your computer healthy and making money for your business.

1  Double Internet Speed

Comcast recently doubled cable modem download speeds. Now you can surf the Internet and download files twice as fast. However, you need to power cycle your cable modem [unplug it for 30 seconds and reboot computer] for the new configuration to be automatically downloaded to your modem.

2  Connecting to Work from Home

Having trouble with your corporate VPN connection when working from home? Oftentimes this can be fixed with a simple firmware upgrade to your network router or a slight change in settings.

3  Sudden Lost Connection

Has your Internet connection suddenly stopped working? Frequently computer users with software based firewalls suddenly find their Internet connection no longer available. Oftentimes when you download a software update, it can change your original configurations. As a quick test, disable the software firewall. If connectivity returns, it’s a misconfiguration issue.

4  Slow E mail and Internet Browsing

Has your computer been working wonderfully, but suddenly e mail or Internet browsing is painfully slow? It could be your cable connection went out. And although the connection has returned, your computer and the cable modem may be having difficulty communicating. Try power cycling your modem.

5  Eliminate Popups

Google offers a free popup blocker with its toolbar. Download the toolbar at www.toolbar.google.com. System requirements: Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later. The popup blocker requires Internet Explorer 5.5 or later.

Cpanel, one of the leading providers of control panels for Linux and FreeBSD web hosting servers has announced that it would be releasing a beta version of a new Cpanel Server Suite that would be its first Microsoft Windows Server® 2008-based product line.

A Slashbot job advert seems to suggest that Cpanel is recruiting Windows application developers for this new venture.

Cpanel has been working on this Windows version for some time now. The only difference this time is that they are re-staffing and commiting more time and resources to it. Cpanel is expecting to release the beta version of the product on December 15th 2007 and have the production release available by March 30th 2008.

A press release by Microsoft quotes cPanel CEO J. Nick Koston as saying:

“Microsoft has shown a strong commitment to the hosting industry over the past several years. cPanel’s Windows development team feels that IIS7 offers a robust, high-performance Web server with increased security that the industry will quickly adopt. Microsoft Server 2008 and IIS7 with its modern architecture and support for legacy products was the natural starting point for our expanded product offering.”

Microsoft isn’t keen to be left behind in the yet to be fully explored area of targeted TV advertising. Google has been looking into this, as have the cable companies, and now Microsoft is jumping into the mix with their recent acquisition of Navic Networks.

Navic Networks is a seven-year-old firm from Waltham, Mass. that targets interactive advertising through cable set-top boxes. Microsoft acquired them for an undisclosed sum. Currently Navic’s technology is used by 35 million cable customers of Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Charter Commucations.

Microsoft, as usual, is late to the party. Google got into this a whole two years ago, but fortunately for Microsoft, Google hasn’t jumped out of the gate with any significant leads. Google pulled Google TV out of beta in April, but right now is limited to just DirecTV’s 16 million subscribers. Business hasn’t been booming for Google, and they’ve even begun offering up some free spots.

With Navic now in their possession, Microsoft, has the opportunity to pull ahead if they make some smart movies. Navic’s technology will allow advertisers to target individuals as they move from channel to channel.

Navic will be integrated into Microsoft’s Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group. They currently have 82 employees, and have raised $43 million.

This week Google, MSN and Yahoo agreed on a sitemap standard. Updating sitemaps may not be such a pain in the future. Google and Yahoo have already implemented the standard, with Microsoft following by 2007.

Yahoo’s decision is out. According to Yahoo! “After careful evaluation, the Board believes that Microsoft’s proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo! including our global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects, free cash flow and earnings potential, as well as our substantial unconsolidated investments.” Some Yahoo! shareholders do not agree with this assessment though and think that the $31-a-share bid is actually generous.

With no Yahoo! stocks to think about though, what’s clear is that we can start focusing on our SEO projects again and stop obsessing about the possible Yahoo!-MSN merger and its effect on the search scene. If you feel like dissecting the might-have-beens though all you need is to Google (^_^) any variation of the Yahoo!-MSN merger to find opinions all over the blogosphere.