Friday, March 19, 2010

Earn Extra Bux

Do you love working online from home? Are you looking for an easy way of earning cash through shopping? Most people nowadays need to have an extra plan to generate more money beside their daily job. Because of the policy from their office which clearly stating that they are not allowed to have a second job, many of them turn their attention to making money from the internet. At first there was paid review but some can not start the business because they do not have a working blog. Generating revenue from selling others products depends highly on the traffic to your site. But now there is an easy way of making money through cash back rebates.

How do you earn money from cash back rebates? It is very simple. First you need to sign up through sites which provide this kind of service such as Extrabux. After joining the site then you can start shopping for products that you need. Search the product on the search box provided at Extrabux. You will then be given a list of trusted affiliate stores which sell the product you are looking for. Of course for a buyer the logic is to shop in the store which gives you the cheapest price. Pick the store and shop there. As soon as you purchase the product, Extrabux will earn commission from the sale. The majority of this commission will then be returned to you as "cash back". This way of shopping is called comparison shopping and will guarantee that you pay the lowest price for the product.

How will you get your cash back payments? Once you have accumulated a total commission of $10 then you can request a payment. Login to your account on Extrabux and on the My Account page, click on the Request Payment link. The payment will be sent to your mail via check or electronically through your PayPal account. This comparison shopping with Extrabux is really simple and if you love shopping this is a good way to shop because some of the payment will be given back to you as cash back. So join Extrabux now and start earning your cash back!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Tackle Wi-Fi Security Issues Proficiently

by: Susan Brown

In today’s world, Wi-Fi has become a convention and as a matter of fact, many big business giants are coming forward for offering service and gadgets for wireless communication. As an immediate effect, certain security issues have been emerged as by-products of this technological revolution. Here are seven of these security issues that demand diligence of the user:

Data Incursion: with advanced technology, it’s now quite easy for the secret agents to steal data from Wi-Fi connections. Data can be stolen from more than a hundred meters distance. For combating such incidents, all Wi-Fi certified products now come up with a built-in encryption for ultimate data protection. The older versions of most of the gadgets that come up with TKIP which is quite open to data stealth cases. Therefore, it’s required to adopt AES-CCMP instead of TKIP.

Service Refutation: in many cases, WLANs are naturally quite open to DoS. The density of certain unlicensed frequencies within the periphery of a whole lot of users makes way to data leakage to the ultimate. But it is good news for the users that as 802.11n protocol has already come into effect, individual’s communication and data transfer can be put into a range of channels but the peril of DoS is still there. To prevent this attack, opt for newer products that come with 802.11w protocol.

Corrupted APS: network infiltration by anonymous and illegal APs is a big threat to Wi-Fi security. But, the majority of enterprises now use genuine APs to scan channels for data protection of the connection. But most lacks the standard of skills required to trace the true threats. One should therefore use a Wireless IPS that is pretty much efficient to differentiate between real danger and undisruptive neighbors.

Wireless Interlopers: Wireless IPS products as Motorola AirDefense or AirTight can easily detect malevolent Wi-Fi punters that are within the reach of any business periphery. But for definitive wireless data protection, accurately positioned WIPS sensors only meet the requirements. All the protocols like 802.11a/b/g should be updated in order to counter superior 802.11n attacks.

Spiteful Punters: clients that use unauthorized Wi-Fi connections of any sort are known as Spiteful Clients or Punters. They can cause a threat to the data. It always better to rely upon authorized APs to prevent this danger. You should restrict the end-user changes to avert this one and therefore you should be austere enough to unauthorized access to your Wi-Fi network.

Wireless Threats: hackers are on a go to bring out new ways of phishing and every second day newer hacking methods are invented. They can simply invade into any place of the Wi-Fi client web browser caches and cause harm. Once a hacker gets hold of your connection, it is pretty much possible that long after leaving the hotspot, your Wi-Fi connection may be redirected to a phishing site automatically. It may happen while the user is in a wired network. One method you can opt for in this case. Just extenuate the browser caches while leaving the network. The other option is to way out all traffic through a trusted VPN to ensure data protection of the Wi-Fi connection.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Best Casino Guide

Working is essential for everyone to support their family and loved ones. But sometimes working too hard can be a very dangerous thing. You may feel really tired or bored with the routines and most important is that your health will slowly decreasing with the increase of your work load. To throw away all of your tiredness and boredom you should do something fund and enjoyable. For me the easiest way to relax is by playing online gambling. Playing online gambling could be fun because you will meet new people around the world. There are a lot of online casinos in the internet but how can you choose the best of them?

I have been playing online casino for quite a while now and I haven't find the best site to play in. One of my friends then recommended me to visit OnlineCasinoSpotlight. He said that you can find top playing sites there with review. This way you will be able to know what others think of one site before you decide to play there. The site constantly searches for new online gambling with features and offers that will obviously tempt new players. The site also provides new articles related to online gambling. At the section you can find the best article or guide which will help your playing skills. Find also other related online games such as blackjack, roulette, slots and many more. This is by far the best guide on online casinos which I have ever seen. You should check it out and play at the best online casino of your choice.

5 Ways to Reduce the Stress of Working Online from Home

by: TJ Philpott

Working online from home seems to be the most picture perfect scenario anyone can imagine. Earning a work from home income obviously offers it advantages but with it comes a certain mental stress that is easily overlooked until you've actually experience it. With the growth and success many are achieving in online marketing more people are starting a small business in their homes. Although this does allow for folks to escape the traditional 'rat race' as we know it, these types of businesses are still fertile grounds for work related stress. No longer 'slaving away' in a 'formal' work environment no doubt offers its attractions but work is still work. The associated tensions and anxieties still exist and need to be addressed.

Due mainly to the solitude or isolation online entrepreneurs typically experience when working at home many stress related issues often go unnoticed. This can set the stage for even greater damaging effects if this stress is left unchecked.

Recognizing it does exist and can not be avoided here are 5 tips to help reduce the mental stress experienced when working at home.

Schedule Your Work Hours

It is important that you have pre-defined hours in which you conduct your work. Like a regular job you need start on time and avoid the habit of 'lingering' at work since it's right there in the home.

The hours that you set aside for work need to be maintained consistently. Don't allow the distractions/temptation of the home environment to disrupt this schedule.

Leave Work at the Desk

Once you've completed your work for the day walk away and forget about it. Having your work set up in the home may tempt you to 'sneak' in a little overtime since it is right there.

Discipline yourself to let work go till the next day. Whether you're aware of it or not you need the break to recharge your mind, energy and spirit.

Finding the Humor

As you know things don't always go according to plan so when the unexpected happens don't dwell on it but rather try to find the humor in it and let it go.

Schedule Personal Time

Schedule time for your personal life and maintain this schedule. It is important to maintain a 'balance' in your life between personal and professional pursuits in order to keep your mind and spirits healthy.

Realize that you personal endeavors are just as important, if not more so, then your profession since they better define who you are. Remember you work primarily to pay the bills so don't let this aspect of your life dominate you!

Consciously 'Slow Down'

Pay closer attention to your level of intensity as you work since subconsciously we have a tendency get too caught up in it leading to increased tension. If need be take the time to deliberately slow yourself down and take the 'edge' off. As your tension eases you will find your thoughts become clearer and your productivity increases.

Although working online from home does offer many freedoms it does not eliminate work related stress. When starting a small business in your home it is important to realize that stress could in fact take an even greater toll on you. Many online entrepreneurs enjoy earning a work from home income but also burn out quickly due to this stress. By consistently practicing the 5 tips we discussed above there is no reason you can't find long lasting financial success in the stress free environment of your home.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

House Plans

Building your dream house could be a daunting task. If you don't have any experiences in building houses then the terms home plans, home designs or floor plans can be quite confusing. This has happened to me before thus I am speaking from experience. When I was going to build my new house last year I had only little knowledge. I thought that building a house was a simple job. It turned out that it was very difficult and required a lot of effort thus I hired someone to do the job for me.

From choosing the best house plan, and then design up until finishing Houseplansandmore helped me built my dream house. Hiring someone to get the job done will save you a great deal of money and of course your precious time. Choosing the best plan from a wide range of house plans itself would waste a lot of time if you do it yourself. The most important reason is that you are dwelling yourself into something that you don't really familiar to. So trust me it is better that you invest some of your budget to hire professionals such as Houseplansandmore to design your house. You will not regret the result and the most important is that you will not waste time.

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

SCORM and the Learning Management System (LMS)

by: Stuart Campbell

What actually is SCORM? SCORM, Shareable Content Object Reference Model, is a standard for web-based e-learning that has been developed to define communication between client-side content and a runtime environment. In the context of this article, the client-side content would be the course launched by a student and the runtime environment would be a Learning Management System. The SCORM standard has undergone several version releases from SCORM v1.0 in 1999 to the SCORM 2004 3rd Edition in 2006. The purpose of this article is to look in a little more detail at the communication flow between the LMS and a course that is SCORM v2.1 compliant. The intention is not to review every possible communication but just the main calls. We will look at SCORM in the context of a SCORM course, i.e. a course that has been developed and built to communicate with a Learning Management System using the SCORM standard.

First of all, let me define a few terms that I will use and that you may hear in reference to SCORM courses:

API (Application Programming Interface)

The SCORM standard has a defined API. The term API is not unique to SCORM but is a well known term in application development. The SCORM API is a documented set of messages that are sent between the course and the LMS. The message may require a response so that the sender of the message is guaranteed that the message has been received and processed appropriately.

Manifest

The manifest is the master file for the SCORM course that contains references to all other files that make up the complete content of the course.

Single SCO

A single SCO is the most basic and most common form of a SCORM course. All files that make up the course, regardless of the number of lessons in the course, are packaged as one SCO unit. When the course is launched within the Learning Management System, it communicates with the SCO.

Multiple SCO

A multiple SCO is where a group of files within the course can be treated as an individual SCO but packaged together with other SCOs to comprise one course. For example, the files that comprise each lesson of a SCORM course can be grouped together so that each lesson is a SCO in its own right and all the SCOs will comprise the one course.

Course Installation

For the course to be available in the Learning Management System, the SCORM package needs to be installed on the system. The method of installation will vary from LMS to LMS but will typically go through the following steps:

1. The manifest file will be located and interpreted.

2. The course identified in the manifest will be created in the Learning Management System and the course properties will be populated with the values defined in the manifest. These properties may include course name, creator, etc.

3. The lessons of the course will be created in the LMS and the lesson properties will be populated with the values defined in the manifest. Lesson properties would include information such as the path to the lesson file, passing grade, etc.

The Learning Management System should provide a facility to overwrite an already existing SCORM course so that if updates are made to the existing course, an installation will deploy those changes.

Course Communication

Initialization


When the course is launched within its run time environment, which for our purposes is the LMS, it will detect the existence of the API and attempt to make initial communication with the Learning Management System. This is a one-time handshake to ensure that communication has been established. The SCORM course is responsible for locating the API in the child browser session that it has launched in from the parent. The API is typically deployed using JavaScript. The API call that the course uses to do this is the LMSInitialize call. When the Learning Management System receives this API message call from the course, the LMS will initialize and respond to inform the course that communication has been established. An object model has been created in memory and the properties have been initialized to default values.

Intermediary Course Communication

Once the course has been launched and initialized with the LMS, the interaction between the two is determined by the course. It will use LMSGetValue and LMSSetValue API message calls to retrieve or populate data in the object model. Bear in mind that the object model exists in memory and has not been sent to the Learning Management System.

When the course needs to write the data so it exists in the database, it will send the API message LMSCommit. The LMSCommit will be received by the Learning Management System and the data stored to the LMS. The course developer will determine when an LMSCommit is required and it will be sent to the LMS when the event is activated. This could be at the end of each lesson or it could be at the end of the course.

The LMSCommit is an optional message and does not require a response from the Learning Management System.

Finalization

When the course is completed, it will send an LMSFinish API message to the LMS. This may be triggered by an event in the course that activates the LMSFinish or it may be on the Unload event of the HTML page when the user closes the browser. The LMSFinish indicates to the LMS that the user has ended the course and any further communication between the two will be rejected. The LMSFinish also initiates the Learning Management System to store any data that has been populated in the object model and complete the unloading of the course.

The key difference between the LMSCommit and LMSFinish API message calls is that the latter will prevent further communication with the course.

The LMSFinish is a mandatory message and does not require a response from the LMS.

Learning Management System Considerations

When the LMSFinish is received by the LMS, there are several scenarios that may need to be taken into account. Some of these may be the product of errors in course development but are scenarios that have been experienced in interfacing with a SCORM compliant course:

1. The SCORM course may indicate the student has failed a lesson but the score passed from the SCO may be greater than the lesson passing grade that was installed from the manifest.

2. The SCORM course may indicate a lesson status for the user and pass the score of the lesson but there has been no passing grade defined for the lesson.

3. It would be advantageous for the Learning Management System to provide API message logging so that a communication history may be recreated for debugging or historical purposes. Consideration should be given to the following:

a. Method of storage, whether it is stored in a database or out to a file.

b. Is logging on all the time or is there a switch to turn logging on or off? (There will be some overhead when logging is switched on, as opposed to being off.)

c. If logging is to file, is there a log file for each course, each user, or one large SCORM log file?

d. How is log data purged? When logging is stored in the database, how often is the table purged? Can the data be deleted or does it need to be archived? If logging is to a file, does the file build in size until it is manually renewed or does the logging mechanism have a trigger that automatically generates a new file? (If the file is left to grow too big, it becomes very impractical to open it in a text editor.)

Conclusions

SCORM has a proven track record in the web based e-learning world and is the accepted standard in the industry. Reputable LMS vendors should support your SCORM course out of the box. The SCORM 2004 version has added much more control and sequencing at a more granular level than SCORM v1.2 however those differences are significant enough to cause the user base to be slower in adopting the SCORM 2004 version.