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China blocks Google

The Google search engine has been completely blocked in the mainland of China on the 26 of July. Only Google’s email platform is operational with its news and imaging functions blocked. China has been known for blocking Google in the past and it comes as no surprise this time. There is no confirmation as to whether this outage is due to a government directive or as a result of some form of service disruption.

This block comes weeks after the search engine giant came to an agreement with the Chinese government to continue usage of the search engine in China instead of having Chinese users redirected to its unlimited Hong Kong site.

Google threatened to leave China altogether in January over concerns of cyber hacking. But the Chinese government renewed its internet content provider agreement with Google with the contract running through to 2012. But there seems to have been a breach of this agreement last night with users being automatically routed to Google’s Hong Kong site.

Though the latest development will be worrying to Google, it will not have a major impact on the revenue of Google. The contribution to its last year’s annual revenue of $24 billion was only $300 million.

Protecting Your Computer from Theft

First of all you have to understand that no computer can be protected from being physically stolen. Short of chaining your desktop computer to the wall or attaching your laptop to your body nothing else can be done to protect it. But what you can protect is the data and here are a few simple solutions to help you do that.

Password protection – All PC’s and Laptops have a BIOS. This is the system that interacts with your hardware the moment you switch it on. By going into your BIOS, you can set a system password so that every time the computer is switched on the BIOS will ask for the correct password before even letting the Operating System start. In addition to this you should also have a strong password for logging into your system. A strong password in this case would be constituted of letters and numbers.

Encryption – Encryption is further protection for your data. Using this you can protect files or folders with a randomly generated “key”. Once encrypted, the file or folder cannot be accessed without being decrypted using the key. However you must be very careful as to where you store this key as

a. Losing it will mean that you can never access that data again.
b. If someone else gets hold of it, they can then access your data

Data wipe – This method is somewhat drastic. There are several vendors online who offer a data wipe out program. This program automatically connects to the vendor’s server and identifies itself every time you log on to the internet and at periodical intervals. In the event that your computer is stolen, you can log on to the vendor’s website and report it as stolen. The next time the computer is switched on (by the thief) and when the software communicates to the server, the server instructs the software to being an automatic wipe out off all the data stored on the system.

Computer Buying Tips

For experienced computer users and techies buying a computer is the easiest thing in the world. In fact, they love doing it because it gives them a chance to get the latest configuration possible. But for a new user, it is a daunting task as most of the jargon sounds like Greek.

The primary rule for any user should be to identify their purpose for buying a computer. Be honest; if you only want to play games on your computer then that is what your new computer should be geared to do. A one size fits all sort of computer may not be enough for you in terms of capability or on the other hand it could be overkill and heavy on your wallet.

Browsing the internet requires very little processing power, memory and hard disk space. So what you should focus on here is getting a netbook or similar low configuration computer. In addition to this, you can expect to buy a Webcam, Headphone & Microphone and perhaps even an external hard disk to keep all those downloads that you will eventually do.

Working with graphics means that you will have to go for a higher configuration. This involves a powerful processor, advanced graphics card, sound card, a large monitor and as much RAM as you can get. You will also need lots of storage space for your raw and edited video and pictures.

For games, the configuration is more or less the same as above, but you may also want to get surround speakers to enhance the gaming experience. In addition to this there are many other peripheral devices you can buy such as force feedback joysticks & wheels, enhanced keyboards & mice, etc.

Identifying your needs early will help you save money and confusion later on. If you still have trouble deciding, contact a professional and seek their guidance.

Protecting Your Computer From a Virus Attack

A virus is software that is intended by its creator to cause disruptive behavior in a computer. The disruption can range from annoying pop-up windows while browsing to loss of data or inoperability of the Operating System. There are several ways in which you can protect yourself from such attacks.

1. Virus scanner – This software scans your system for signs of any viruses and informs you of their presence. Thereafter you can choose to quarantine, clean or delete the infected file. Most virus scanners these days have an option called “Real time scanning” and this enables the virus scanner to scan each file as it is accessed or when it is downloaded/copied on to your system. Although most of the big name virus scanners have to be purchased, there are several vendors who offer free scanners for home users.

2. Malware scanner – These are typically used to seek out software that activates whenever an internet connection is detected. They can launch pop-ups, re-direct your browser to a designated website or even steal your personal/credit card details. Having a malware scanner is essential if you are connected to the internet. These programs also feature a real-time scanner and come in paid and free versions.

3. Firewall – Using a firewall requires a little bit of experience, but it offers more control to the user in terms of what gets into and out of the system. If you wish to experiment with one, choose an easy to use, simple and free firewall that can be found online before you decide to purchase a more advanced one.