Fiber Optic Communication

Fiber-optic communication is a form of data transfer which uses pulses of light through glass or plastic fibers. Fiber-optics allow for less loss of information than copper wires allowing long distances between signal amplifiers or repeaters. They also carry larger amounts of data than copper and unlike copper they experience no crosstalk between adjacent cables. They are used to transmit data from an origin of an electrical signal, to light over the fiber-optics, and then back to electrical when the destination is reached.

While fiber-optic cable is much more efficient, it is usually not used in computers themselves due to the cost and difficulty of splicing the cables and the high cost of transmitters and receivers. It is better used over long distances to connect multiple receivers at different locations. Fiber-optic communication offers transfer rates around 25 Mbps.

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Fiber-optic Communication

Wireless Networking Precautions

Wireless internet networks are very useful to use in public places as well as in homes with several people living in them. The ability to make a wired connection to a computer network is not always possible due to the lack of a wire, the distance between a computer and the router, or the need for mobility. It allows a user to work on their laptop outside or even play video games in another room. But the convenience of a wireless network also puts the user at risk for individuals who may wish to exploit their wireless network zone.

There is a risk for both a home network to be exploited as well as for a laptop to be exploited while on a public wi-fi spot. At home, having updated anti-virus software helps stop malicious attacks. WEP and WPA encryptions help stop unwanted connection by requiring a hexadecimal password to access the network and disabling the SSID link will prevent people from viewing your wireless network. Firewalls on the router also help prevent unwanted connections. In public locations, protection is a bit more difficult and the best advice is to not put sensitive information over the wireless network in these places.

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Security Precautions for Wireless Internet Users

Strong Password (How to Create and Use Them)

When creating a password for any computer-related application, you should take great care in crafting one that won't be apparent or easily guessed. Different programs and websites require different levels of protection to keep data private. Something like a website forum could use a fairly weak password because the information contained in this medium is most likely not very sensitive. The strongest passwords look like random strings of letters.

Microsoft gives six steps to take that will make a strong password. First, think of a sentence you will remember. Second, turn that sentence into a password by using the first letter of each word in that sentence. Thirdly, add complexity to that phrase by mixing and matching uppercase, lowercase, and numbers. Fourth they say to substitute special characters for letters such as using a "$" in place of "S". Fifth, Microsoft offers a password checker to evaluate password strength. And the sixth and most important is to keep your password a secret.

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Strong Passwords

Internet Parental Control Software

Parental control software is a type of software designed to control what the user can and cannot view over the internet. It can occur on a local level such as a parent not wanting a child to view certain topics or on a larger scale whereby nations may block websites for everyone. On the national scale, many people view the use of this software as a form of censorship. The software can be located either on the personal computer or through the server of the ISP, but most of the parental control software is marketed towards the individual.

Publicly, this software is used in the libraries. Use in the library is base on local library board decision. Many were concerned about the constitutionality of parental control software in public places are violating the First Amendment. Several libraries still have the filters in place, but by law must remove the filter if and when an adult patron asks and may not inquire as to why they want the filter turned off.

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Content-control Software

Internet Monitoring, Blocking, and Tracking

Monitoring, blocking, and tracking are all ways in which internet filtering software can act on the information which a user attempts to access via the internet. While a filter alone can stop unwanted materials from being accessed, these are ways used to identify from where the information is trying to be accessed. Monitoring is a type of recording of the information which happens over a network. Parents and employers can use this to see what their children and employees are communicating to others. Depending on the software, they can record instant message conversations, emails sent, and even chat room logs.

Blocking is the actual act of preventing a website from being accessed. They can block things based on category and words contained in the website. Tracking is the act of finding out which specific person/computer made a connection to a website/computer on the network. It can work from both internal and external points. Internally, it can be used to see which employee might be trying to access blocked content. Externally, it can be used to determine the location of someone who may be trying to access a company's files to gain private information.

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InterGuard

Internet Filters

Internet filters are software packages. That is to say they are not a physical thing with which one can purify the data, but rather a set of instructions for the computer. They help monitor what can be viewed through a particular computer or network of computers. They may also be used to set the amount of time which a child can spend on the internet.


Internet filters are capable of doing many things. Foremost, they are used to block inappropriate materials which children might discover otherwise. It can likewise be used by employers to restrict what employees can watch while working. They can be very strict or relatively loose ranging from blocking websites with certain keywords to blocking every website except those that are approved. They are also helpful in the blocking of spam as well as phishing scams.

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What is an Internet Filter?

Internet Parental Guidance

The internet is a great tool for helping children learn. There are many websites for children that educators and parents can use to facilitate the education of their child. Aside from these facts, however, the freedom offered by the internet also makes it a dangerous place for children to explore unmonitored. There are many things which parents do not feel their children should be exposed to at an early age as well as some people who parents would not want their child to communicate with.

Completely ignoring the use of the internet as an educational tool is not a useful way to protect children because of the dependence of the modern world on technology. There are several things which parents can do to help protect their child while they use the internet. If the parent is unfamiliar about the internet, they can read up on how the internet works. As with anything a child does, the parent should be involved with their child's time online and periodically check on what their child is viewing. Parents should be aware of trends occurring on the internet and read about new technology available for the protection of children.


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The Teacher's Guide

Understanding HTML

HTML is an acronym which stands for “Hyper Text Markup Language”. A markup language is a collection of words and symbols which are used to describe the pieces of a document which can be read by a program to display the text is many different ways. Hypertext is a system which allows a user to click on a word to access another document as in a web page. HTML is the system used in the creation of web pages through the use of tags and other pieces of code to format pictures and text. Tags are a piece of text that is surrounded by angle brackets that are interpreted by a web browser and displayed. However, not all web browsers may display all HTML tags.
HTML and the Internet were both initially used as a tool for CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, to help researchers use the same documents and share information. Tim Berners-Lee created HTML as well as HTTP in the early 1990s to facilitate this global information sharing. HTML was built upon a previous markup language known as Standard Generalized Markup Language which was used in electronic document exchange. HTML allowed those who were not specialized in SGML to share and publish scientific documents electronically. The ease of learning HTML and how it could be used by other applications eventually led Tim Berners-Lee to realize that it had potential outside of scientific circles.
The entry of HTML into the domain of business seemed to cause a bit of chaos for people who had wanted to learn HTML. There was a battle of sorts between Netscape and Microsoft to secure the market in the mid 1990s. Each company had taken the liberty of creating proprietary HTML elements which would only work within their own web browsers. This led to an abundance of HTML tags to do different things on a website. The major problem with this system was that a website might appear fine while using Microsoft's Internet Explorer, but if Netscape Navigator was used to view the same page, it could appear differently. Microsoft eventually overpowered Netscape due to their ability to pair Internet Explorer with Windows.
At around the same time as the Microsoft and Netscape competition, Tim Berners-Lee formed the World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C, at MIT to act as a sort of peacemaker among the various web browser companies. The W3C was made with the intent to assure compatibility among browsers as well as create standards in various Internet protocol, including HTML. The consortium was an attempt to get these companies to agree on which components should be supported by all web browsers. Developers which follow the W3C's recommendations can display the W3C compliance on their product.
HTML is comprised of elements, data types, and character and entity references. Elements are the archetypal components of HTML. Elements have an attribute property and a content property. The attribute of an element is what is contained in the tag. The content is everything that is between the start tag and the end tag. The data types are the values of the element content and any of the operations done to them. Character and entity references are used to display items which are part of the HTML code to be displayed as a character and not read as code by the browser. It also allows characters that are not typically on a keyboard to be referenced on a website.

References

HTML - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML
Accessed: September 06, 2009.

The History of HTML
http://www.ironspider.ca/webdesign101/htmlhistory.htm
Accessed: September 06, 2009.

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