Technological evolution in ICT

In today's world, computers, tablets and Smartphones run our lives. In a short amount of time, the explosion of technology in the market has many people never imagining their lives without it. In order to understand how we came from the dark ages to where we are today, we should first understand the evolution of technology. Most of today's technologies were born out of purpose. Search engines are a good example, they were created to sort out the huge amounts of online data. Every new upgrade of a technology creates something that was better than before.
Every time this happens, technology evolves and has become the thing that is essential today. Future new technologies come from ideas that get compounded to form new technologies. Technologies that exist today evolve into more powerful technologies that they were before. With the speed at which technology is evolving, it is no wonder why people are struggling to keep up. The following is an overview of how fast technology and the internet have evolved in just the past few years.
The Past
As recent as the 1990s, the internet was a new commodity that some businesses and homes had. People at that time remember the painfully slow sound of the dial-up signal as it connected to the internet. As more people saw the value of having internet access, technology once again stepped up to eliminate the use of a phone line to access the internet with an even faster way to connect to the World Wide Web. This advance also caused websites to advance and suddenly everyone had either a Tripod or Geocities website all of their own.
About this time, the blogging craze took off on the consumer level. This allowed the sharing of information to become much easier. Rather than handing over a floppy disc or CD-ROM, more people started to email documents or store larger files on a USB drive. With the advance of new technologies popping up, they would compound and form a stronger, faster and better technology. As this technology developed, it changed the way people operated, worked and coincidentally live today.
The Present
Since the 1990s, internet access has popped up nearly everywhere. It is rare to find a place of business, library, or coffee shop without access to a Wi-Fi signal. Even without a Wi-Fi signal in close range, most people can still access the internet with their cellular device or Smartphone. Because of this anytime/anywhere internet access, many businesses have created web apps that will answer the consumer's common needs. These apps or applications will do everything from sending huge amounts of information to tracking food portions with just the click of a button. One of the differences that is most noticeable with today's internet is the ability to be personable in such an impersonal setting. It has been social media that has changed the way people engage with each other online.
Even though this form of communication is superficial, it has helped people remain close that may otherwise would have lost contact all together. Even face to face conversations are becoming easier because of web/video conferencing that has broken the barriers of geography. Now, businesses can communicate with customers in more of a human manner, people can have a face to face conversation without having to travel across the country, and people can reach out to others across the world in an easier and faster manner. With all the new technologies influencing how people access each other and information, the future looks promising.
The Future
Technology will allow work to be accomplished faster and easier, internet access will become faster and more streamlined. Devices like tablets and Smartphones will keep evolving to work together better.
Data between these machines will be shared automatically, which will limit the need for human involvement. More and more businesses and people will put themselves in the cloud or have everything stored online rather than on a single device. This will allow an enormous potential to change how business is done, how the traditional office will look and how companies and people will interact with each other on a daily basis. As technology continues to evolve, the world will change with it and create new ways of working together and new habits.

Difference between Spamware and Spyware

When it comes to computer attacks, a wide range of terms are thrown around almost interchangeably. Virus, trojan, worm, malware, spamware, spyware; what do they all mean?
Malware in General
Malware is the general term for all forms of malicious software. Viruses, spamware and spyware are all types of malware. Worms, trojans and rootkits are all forms of viruses. They each have different purposes and are different levels of severe.

• Trojans are quiet viruses that operate behind the scenes, filling your machine up with other viruses before you notice
• Worms are viruses that attack directly, hoping to compromise your system through a single dedicated security hole
• Rootkits install themselves on deeper parts of your computer and are very difficult to remove
• Spamware and spyware are more up-front and less dangerous in a direct way

Spamware
Spamware is software that installs itself on your computer, or comes bundled with other software. It can range from fake antivirus software to advertisement browser popups and toolbars. Spamware is a very obvious, up-front form of malicious software that doesn't directly compromise your computer. In most cases, spamware is easy to remove.
Spamware works as an advertisement for the product or service that puts out the software. Toolbars, popup ads and other such spam advertisements attempt to get you to purchase a product. Some variants will simply redirect your searches or add advertisements to the pages you visit, which earns the owner of those advertisements money.
The most malicious forms of spamware are the fake antivirus variants. These hold your system hostage, telling you that you have a virus an that you need to purchase their specific antivirus solution to remove it. In reality, you are giving money to swindlers who then send you another virus to install.
Spyware
Spyware is much more insidious and dangerous than spamware. Spyware often operates int he background, where you can't see it if you don't notice your computer operating more slowly or your Internet traffic increasing. Spyware comes in several varieties.
Tracking cookies. Some users consider cookies to be a form of spyware. However, cookies are passive and generally exist to keep you logged in to sites you want to stay signed in to. Cookies are easy to clear with routine computer maintenance and do not report to any site other than their originator.
Activity monitors. These spyware applications run silently in the background and report on your behaviors while using your computer. They monitor the websites you visit, the images you view, the things you type and the times you browse.
Information thieves. These are the most malicious forms of spyware. They specifically watch for login and password information, as well as personal items such as credit card numbers. This information is reported and used by the owner of the spyware for nefarious purposes.
Any of these types of malware can strike at any time. Security software is not infallible; new security holes are discovered constantly and must be patched out through regular server repairs or PC updates.
Thankfully, both spamware and spyware are relatively easy to remove. They are not as deeply embedded in the average computer that basic computer maintenance cannot remove them. Routine scans with anti-malware software will find and remove all but the most recently created spam and spyware applications.
The largest threat offered by spyware is the loss of personal information. Spamware is more psychological; some versions do not directly harm you in any way, beyond exposing you to advertising you would rather avoid. In all cases, server repairs are only necessary in the most extreme circumstances; simply removing the offending programs and updating security software is enough to solve the problem.

How to repair a digital image

From time to time, you may get a corrupted, damaged picture that does not display properly in an image viewer. In many cases, such images can be repaired to display correctly when you use the right tool. This article tells about RS File Repair, a product that can repair corrupted pictures in a fully automatic mode.
Reasons of Picture Corruption
SSD Data Recovery - In two previous articles, we discussed the different algorithms available in modern data recovery tools. When performing data recovery, there is always a possibility that one or more files being recovered have been already partially overwritten with other content. If some parts of a file contain random binary data instead of what a picture viewer is expecting to see, the picture will not be properly displayed.
Another issue leading to potential problems is file fragmentation. Fragmented pictures, as well as other types of fragmented files, are more difficult to recover than contiguous files. This is especially true if no records in the file system exist and content-aware analysis is used. One of the limitations of content-aware analysis is the algorithm's inability to properly recover fragmented files.
Fixing Corrupted Pictures
If a data recovery tool is all you used, the chance of receiving one or more unreadable pictures is rather high. However, there are tools that may be able to fix the problem. RS File Repair is one of them.
Supporting a range of image formats, RS File Repair concentrates on repairing images in the popular JPEG format as well as TIFF and PNG files. Most digital cameras produce photos with JPEG or JPG extensions; all these files are repairable. Lossless images are often stored as either TIFF files or PNG images. TIFF and PNG formats are used often by artists and Web designers.
RS File Repair can recover damaged JPEG images. With RS File Repair, one can fix many problems typical to incomplete, damaged and corrupted JPEG's. Corrupted headers can be fixed automatically, and the entire content of a JPEG file will be analyzed block after block in order to remove parts that include garbage information instead of actual image content. RS File Repair works with individual JPEG blocks without attempting to re-compress healthy data, thus delivering lossless recovery results unlike many other JPEG recovery tools.
The majority of digital cameras embed small thumbnail previews as well as meta data (EXIF) into the images. RS File Repair fully preserves EXIF information and embedded previews.
RS File Repair is fully automatic and easy to use. A fully guided wizard takes through the selection of files, allowing you to pick a single image to repair or fix the entire folder full of files. A free evaluation version is available.

Recovery of data from a formatted disk

It's interesting how technology can make you look like a fool, even if you are not one. It's also frightening how easy it is to lose valuable, irreplaceable data stored on your computer with a push of a button!
Accidentally formatting the wrong drive is a feat many unlucky technophobes have managed to accomplish. Luckily, all those pictures and documents may not be lost forever!
It is almost as easy to recover those deleted files as it was accidentally deleting them - provided you performed a quick format, not a full format. Quick format deletes just the file address table, not the files themselves. They are still on the disk, it's just that your operating system has no record of them.
When you perform a full format, your operating system will not only delete all the data on a drive, but will additionally overwrite them with zeroes and perform a bad sector scan. With quick format, the data is only made "invisible" to your operating system - it is still on the drive!
The first step in recovering the lost files is to cease using your drive immediately. The space where your deleted data used to live is now marked as "available space" for your computer to overwrite with the new data. Whenever you make any change on that drive, this overwrites the files you are trying to save.
The deleted files are still on the drive, waiting to be discovered! To recover them, you will just have to choose between a host of recovery utilities available, some of them for free. You will also need some time - and sometimes, a lot of time - to perform the data recovery process.
You will need to follow all instructions provided by the recovery program to install a copy of the program on your computer. Don't install the recovery tool on the same drive that you have performed a quick format on earlier - remember that any change to that drive will damage your files further and may make them unrecoverable!
Launch the data recovery tool and let the program wizard lead you through all the steps of the recovery process. Every data recovery tool will require a fairly long scan of the whole drive in order to find the files you have deleted. You can usually choose which file type and file size the program should look for.
You can choose which recoverable files you want saved. Make sure that you save all the files that a program manages to recover to a new location, on a (preferably) different drive!
If the files you need are not found by a recovery tool, don't despair - pick another one and try again. Each recovery tool uses a slightly different method of data recovery. One may be more successful than the other on your files! If all else fails, or the data is really important, you can try with a professional data recovery program, or simply let the data forensics lab handle the recovery of your files!

Download a freeware data recovery tool, Aid File Unformat, from http://formatdriverecovery.com.

6 Ways to Make Your Smile Genuine, and Your Life Much Happier

What gesture has a powerful and positive affect on your health, success, and happiness? A genuine smile. It reduces stress and is instrumental in creating positive emotions. But make sure your smile is authentic because according to science, fake smiles do not carry the same effect.
In a famous "yearbook" study done by the University of California, Berkeley, it was found that women whose smiles were genuine in their yearbook pictures, over their lifetimes, had more positive life outcomes in the areas of marriage and personal well-being.
A genuine smile has other benefits too. As a nonverbal communication device, it allows you to connect with others in a warm and sensitive way. When you smile at that new acquaintance, your intimate partner, or customers in business settings, you convey acknowledgment and meaningfulness. In return, it invokes in those you smile at loyalty and a willingness to give back.
With so much personal and interpersonal benefits, how do you make your smile more authentic?
1. Change Your Thought Process.
If you are feeling glum and gloomy, examine what your thoughts are at that moment. If you are thinking negative or catastrophic thoughts, stop yourself immediately. Take a moment to recall a pleasant memory or happy thought. Let those emotions roll over and replace any blue thoughts you are having.
2. Exercise Optimism.
Optimism is a choice. Listen to some upbeat music, recite positive affirmations, or return your thought to the present. Find what works best for you, and practice it regularly.
3. Practice Gratitude.
There are many things in your life to be grateful for. But most people are unaware of them until they start counting them. Make a list. I promise that once you start, you will find much more to be grateful for. Keep your list handy and add to it often.
4. Have Fun.
Too often, people get so consumed with the necessities of life that they forget to enjoy it. Socialize with people you love and care for, indulge in hobbies, or take a walk and enjoy the beauty of nature. Find what you think is fun, and make room in your schedule for it.
5. Lighten Up.
Laugh, joke, dance. Run through a meadow. Scream at the top of your voice in an empty field. Let go.
6. Indulge Your Spiritual Side.
Whatever your beliefs are, work on strengthening them. Spend time in study and quiet reflection. Draw comfort and calm from your Divine Source, however you see it. As you do, you will gain an energy that fills your soul and invigorates your smile.
Smiling has powerful benefits for your well-being, but only if that smile you flash is real. Use these steps to build health, well-being, and happiness into your life.

GPS technology

GPS technology is built to give you peace of mind while making sure that your company is saving money by using it as well. Frankly, the initial cost of installing these devices is paid off within a few months of use. Internet, wireless technology, microelectronics and of course the earth orbiting satellites make it possible for the GPS system to work so efficiently.
The satellites we are talking about are 24 satellites that orbit the earth constantly. This is the core of any GPS vehicle tracking system. This ring of satellites were launched by department of defense in the 1980s. Initially, these were for military use only but later it was opened up for civilian purposes as well. These satellites work without any pause or break and there is no direct cost of using these satellites either.
If you want to use the services of GPS satellites, you should have a device which can receive the data and transmit the same to end user. This device we are talking about is the GPS tracking device. A modern day GPS receiver will have a GPS receiver, a logic controller, power chips, radio frequency transceiver for wireless communication, and little amount of memory. The power circuit is generally connected to the ignition system of the car. This way the device doesn't' have to rely much on batteries and can also detect when the car is on and off. As the GPS system is always active, this system can also tell you if the car is moving or at a halt. The size of these devices is small now, thanks mainly to the advancement in electronics and technology. This makes these devices easy to install and hide easily, if need be.
The wireless network is the other pillar of GPS vehicle tracking system. Although previously, the GPS devices used to use an up-link, connecting it directly to the satellite, it is certainly much more expensive. The omnipresent cellular phone network is the cheaper solution. The cellular network also covers almost all of us so we are never really out of the service area. As the competition is fierce, and the user base is huge, the cost for using these networks for GPS tracking purposes is not very high. Nowadays, even a small business owner can easily afford the equipment and monthly charges for his commercial purposes. No wonder, GPS is becoming such a popular technology every passing day.