How to Add Audio to Your Website

Have you ever visited a website - and heard voices? It's not in your head. Audio is quickly catching on to give websites a fresh, interactive feel that brings them in as participants, rather than casual observers, of your product or service. So how do you add audio to a website? You'll need a few basic tools to start with, however they're very inexpensive and you can be up and running in an hour or less once you know what steps to take.

First you'll need to make a recording or have one made for you. Typically most recordings are saved in .wav or possibly .mp3 format. .Wav files take up heaps of space and take a long time to download on a website, especially for dialup users, so you'll want to make the file size as small as possible without losing sound quality. Unless you know the ins and outs of audio editing software, editing wav files or mp3 files can be a pain. Fortunately, it doesn't have to be difficult to edit your files like a pro once you see the program I recommend (below).

Once you have your file edited and converted, it's time to place it on your web page. This can be tricky if you're not familiar with HTML files or FTP - the process used to put your files from your computer to the web. Some people hire web developers to add the audio for them, but it's incredibly straightforward and can be done in 5 seconds once you see how simple it is. Then once the audio is actually on your page - there's the matter of customizing the player itself.

We've all see those gaudy huge play, pause and stop buttons on some websites - the kind that scream out and demand attention. You don't want the audio to take away from your message but rather add to it. You might even consider an extra professional touch by adding intro or exit music to your presentation. The right audio software will not only let you choose from several different audio graphics, but will also let you customize your player to blend in seamlessly with your website.

One of the more recent benefits of adding audio to a website is the ability to trigger specific events. If you're talking about your newsletter and want to pop up a new window that lets people subscribe the moment you mention it in your audio, it's now possible to do just that - with absolutely no coding or technical experience. How many extra subscribers could you get with this one extra feature?

Choosing the right audio software to add audio to a web page shouldn't be difficult or have a huge learning curve. From start to finish, converting, editing and uploading your file should take an hour or less - and it can when you use the software I've outline below.

Easily add audio to your websites in minutes with a custom audio player, fast streaming and more by visiting http://www.addaudiotowebsite.com/

What to Look For in Web Audio Software

When it comes to adding audio to a website, there's no shortage of audio editing software packages out there. But before you shell out the big bucks on an overpriced multimedia suite, take a look at some of the top features you'll want in your audio software package. You could save $100 or more just by weeding out programs that DON'T have these options!

The first feature you'll want is fast streaming and downloading. Audio on a website is no good to anyone if all they hear is choppiness and static. People on dialup especially dread audio because it tends to clog up their connection - and everybody hates waiting. That said, you'll want to look for audio software which will play your recording within 10 seconds or less (no matter how long it is), on both broadband and dialup connections.

Secondly, you'll want web audio software that lets you easily manipulate your file. That means, with no prior audio editing experience, you should be able to convert to different formats, layer over professional music tracks or add introductory or exit music. You should also be given the exact code you'll need to place on your web page - as well as know exactly where to place it if you're not familiar with web page editing.

Speaking of web page editing, you'll also want the ability to customize the look and feel of your audio buttons. Nobody wants to be struck with massive audio buttons that stick out and clash with your website's design. Ideally, you should be able to tweak your buttons right down to the exact color of your website, so that you can have audio buttons that blend in seamlessly with your site's look and feel.

Lastly, you'll want software that will let you trigger specific events as they're happening. Lots of audio presentations are just that - presentations. They fail to truly engage the user and sound more like a university lecture than an appealing and attractive invitation or introduction. What if, for example, you could introduce your product via audio and then open a new window that gives the visitor more information as well as the opportunity to order. How many more sales might you make as a result? You'll never know until you try it - and few website audio packages or services offer this type of feature today.

Now that you know what to look for, take a look below for recommended software which does all these things and much more. You'll never need to buy another audio editing program to put audio on your website again!

Easily add audio to your websites in minutes with a custom audio player, fast streaming and more by visiting http://www.addaudiotowebsite.com/

HOW TO CREATE AN AUDIO POSTCARD

Audio postcards are an innovative way to add a rich layer of interactivity to your website. With an audio postcard, you can record your greeting, upload a photo, dress up your postcard with numerous styles and colors, and even add a stamp for an extra touch of realism.

You can also use audio postcards in business as well. Record a special offer for your best customers, give away a freebie to new users, or offer a discount code based on an event or holiday. Audio postcards are excellent tools for email campaigns and stand out in a way that boring text emails can't beat.

To create your postcard, you'll first need to make your recording. It can start out as a .wav file, as you can use the software tool below to convert it to a much faster-loading version. Once you have your recording, you'll need to select the photo to go with it. The software I use, Audio Postcard Creator (link below) lets you instantly add your photo and message and it takes over from there.

Using this software, you can select from many different styles and looks, including themed stamps to give it that travel-ready appeal. The graphics and HTML template used to actually make the postcard look are created for you automatically, so you don't need any website editing experience. Of course, if you know how to work with basic HTML, you can customize your postcard even more!

The most important thing to remember about using an audio postcard is that it must load quickly. No one is going to wait while a huge audio file is downloaded to their email inbox or browse your web page and wait for your offer to show up. Fortunately, the technology used to make your presentation guarantees that it will load within 10 seconds or less - even on dial up!

The software itself is actually a small part of six different audio programs called Total Web Audio, which are used to create and edit professional-grade audio on your website. Using this software suite, you'll never need another audio software program to convert, upload, mix and edit your audio files.

As you'll see, creating an audio postcard is a simple, 3 step process that anyone can do in minutes, even if you've never used one before. See a free demo and download the software by visiting the link below.

Easily add audio to your websites in minutes with a custom audio player, fast streaming and more by visiting http://www.addaudiotowebsite.com

Microsoft Computer Training

The computing industry like many others is constantly changing. Over the years many applications have come and gone. One company has been at the forefront of the computer industry and that company is Microsoft. Many associate them with Windows, the software we all find on our PC's. However, they also produce many other popular applications that we all use from time to time. Their office suite of programs is the most popular in the world and is used in millions of corporations as well as homes. Many computer companies offer their own rival products, but having a Microsoft skill is worth its weight in gold.

Two of the more technical components of the office suite - Excel and Access are certainly worth learning. Excel is what is known as a spreadsheet and is used for accounting purposes. Access on the other hand is a database, used for storing and manipulating large amounts of information.

Many employers ask for both Excel and Access as part of their Microsoft computer training skills. It is not only I.T staffs which learn these skills. There was a time when a secretary took shorthand and typed letters. This has changed somewhat and many now are expected to learn Microsoft Word as well as Excel.

Microsoft computer training can also encompass networking, programming, web page design etc which are also worth learning. In today's ever changing information world the more computer skills one has the better off they will be in the long run.

If you have Microsoft computer training skills it is likely you will always be in work. These skills are the most popular computer software skills out there and whichever one you choose to learn can only benefit you in your career.

Free DVD Burning Software - Where Can I Download Free Burning Software?

Looking for DVD burning free software? It is now possible to find this with many more attractive features and offers. There is so much you can do with CD/ DVD burning software like creating backups of files, data etc that are critical, making copies of audio, video files and photos for distribution, copying files for Blu-Ray and HD formats, copying video games to make them portable and much more.

Though the market is flooded with several different DVD burning free software products, there are some typical drawbacks that many of them have. Many of these software products are not latest versions, they do not have any periodic updates done, they are very complex to download and set up and do not offer any kind of tech support.

You however have the chance for getting hold of DVD burning free software that boast of high quality and usability from a couple of websites dedicated just for this.

The top features that make them attractive to users include the following:

• Users can make and edit videos, music and pictures
• They can enjoy all kinds of multi media files by converting them
• They can backup television programs in high definition format
• Users can rip plus burn CDs, DVDs, HD DVDs and Blu-Rays
• Users can backup their important data for archival and protection
• They always get software that is the official latest version
• Automatic and free updates are immediately available to all users
• Downloads are super fast
• Downloaded software can be installed quickly and easily
• Award winning products are featured here for downloading
• Customer support is given 24 * 7
• There are step-by-step instructions to guide users during the download process
• The interface in the sites is easy to use and users can downloading procedure is straight forward without unnecessary complications

It is now possible for you to create your own versions of remix music, new videos and more to share with friends. A feature laden software with a great user interface and very simple to use is now available that makes it possible even for novices to achieve professional levels in burning high quality CDs and DVDs. You can make new sound tracks, edit movies by cutting and pasting videos from many places and keep your data safe and secure. Find and download DVD burning free software from the link shown below.

Do you want to burn your movies or music? Do you want to get DVD burning free software in fast way? You can burn your files to CD or DVD easily.

http://www.expert-product-reviews.net/dvd-burner-reviews.html

Slow Computer Speed - How to Make Your Computer Run Faster With Any Version of Windows

Is your computer taking a long time to do anything at all, does it take so long to open documents or run programs that you just give up and restart the computer? Does it keep popping up with error messages all over the place? If it does you can speed it up by following some simple steps. No Matter what version of windows you are using.

Every program you install leaves an entry in the registry, every time you remove a program the entries are usually left behind, the same applies to everything that is installed under your computer slows down to a crawl.

Here are some steps to follow to make your computer fly.

1. Remove any programs you do not use, remove any files, pictures and any documents you never use. All this takes up space on your hard drive and all these unused programs slow down your computer.

2. Defragment your hard drive. When windows installs programs it throws bits of them all over the place on the hard drive and the bigger the program the slower it will run. Defragmenting the hard disk puts all the files in order so the computer speeds up. You can do this with the built in windows program for this in system tools.

3. Run a registry scan. This will tell you what registry entries can be removed, including the ones for the programs you have just removed, it will fix entries and even tell you what other files can be removed that are causing errors and you can fix all this with one click.

Following these steps will make your computer run faster, start up faster and remove any problems that could stop windows starting up or working correctly.

THROTTLED DATA TRANSFER

Throttled data transfer, also known as data transfer throttling or lean data transfer, is the deliberate regulation of the data transfer rate in a communications system. Data transfer throttling can be used in any scenario where it is necessary or desirable to limit the amount of data that can be sent or received per unit time.

An example of the use of data transfer throttling is in the prevention of spam or bulk e-mail transmission through a network server. If the number of e-mail messages sent through the server is limited to, say, one destination address per minute, it is impossible for that server to effectively operate as a medium for the transmission of spam because it would take weeks or months to transfer the number of messages necessary for effective marketing by that means. Data transfer throttling can be used to prevent the uploading or downloading of e-mail messages with gigantic attachments that could otherwise overwhelm an e-mail server. It can also be employed by in public Internet access kiosks, wireless hot spots, public libraries and Internet cafes to prevent "bandwidth hogging" by individual users.

If implemented on a large enough scale, data transfer throttling can control the spread of computer viruses, worms or other malware through the Internet. When used for this purpose, a data transfer throttling program is called a virus throttle or malware throttle.

Throttled data transfer is sometimes used by malicious hackers to conceal their activity. Network administrators often monitor the traffic flowing in and out of their systems. A sudden, unexplained, dramatic increase in data transfer rate will arouse the suspicion of a wary administrator. If the attacker employs data transfer throttling, no abnormal "spike" in the transfer rate occurs and the nefarious activity may thereby pass undetected. This increases the length of time required to carry out an effective attack but it does not necessarily discourage a determined hacker.

VIDEO E-MAIL

Video e-mail is an e-mail message with a video file either inserted in the body of the message or accessible through a hypertext link. These means of access circumvent the problems of sending messages with video attachments: video files are usually too large for most people to send or receive, and, in any case, most people are justifiably leery of opening e-mail attachments.

There are a number of different approaches to video e-mail. One application, Videogram Creator, allows the sender to a create a video message from previously recorded video data. The message is highly compressed into an HTML file that, at the receiving end, plays through a Java applet, and looks like a Web page when opened. VMdirect, a Las Vegas-based video e-mail company, takes a different approach. To use the VMdirect service, the sender records their message, which is then uploaded to the company's server. The recipient gets an e-mail message with a hyperlink to the file, which they can view online and download to save if they choose. Over the 2003-2004 holiday season, VMdirect donated $200,000 in services and equipment to 80 U.S. military bases so that the families of overseas personnel could send them video e-mails.

Video e-mails are increasingly used in direct e-mail marketing. Studio360, a media design and development company, compared the recipient responses to Java-based video and HTML messages used in a Holland America e-mail campaign, and found that the video messages achieved clickthrough rates 33% higher than the HTML version.

SPAM OVER INTERNET TELEPHONY

SPIT (spam over Internet telephony), sometimes known as vam (voice or VoIP spam), is unsolicited bulk messages broadcast over VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to phones connected to the Internet. Although marketers already use voice mail for commercial messages, IP telephony makes a more effective channel because the sender can send messages in bulk instead of dialing each number separately. Internet phones are often mapped to telephone numbers, in the interests of computer-telephony integration (CTI) but each has an IP address as well. Unscrupulous marketers can use spambots to harvest VoIP addresses or may hack into a computer used to route VoIP calls. Furthermore, because calls routed over IP are much more difficult to trace, the potential for fraud is significantly greater.

SPIT is not much of a problem yet, simply because IP telephony is not widely used. However, experts expect that the technology will become increasingly common over the next several years, thus making it much more attractive to spammers. According to Richard Tworek, CEO of Qovia, a company that makes equipment for monitoring VoIP, the question is not if SPIT will become a problem, but when. Quoted in an Internet News article, Tworek said that "SPIT becomes an issue when you don't have to go out over the traditional telephony lines. As soon as my VoIP system touches the Internet cloud, that's when it starts to become interesting. We predict it's going to happen, much as spam e-mail did." A number of vendors and organizations, including Qovia, are developing products intended to address the problem.

Twitter, Facebook hit by denial-of-service attacks

Twitter was shut down by a denial-of-service attack for at least two hours this morning. The site was back up shortly before noon EDT. Facebook also confirmed it was hit by a DOS attack, but remained up despite some impact on service.

Based on Twitter status postings, the site went down around 9 a.m. EDT. The initial message said the site was down and was investigating the cause of the Twitter attack. That posting was updated to say Twitter was defending against a DOS attack. The most recent update said the site was but "we are continuing to defend against and recover from this attack." The motives behind the attacks weren't readily apparent.

"Most attacks are for fame and fortune," said Kevin Haley, director Symantec Security Response. "One of the first things Conficker did was to monetize by downloading rogue antivirus programs. The Dozer attacks [Dos attacks against government and commercial sites in the U.S. and South Korea] r moved from fame to fortune."

Haley said it's too soon to tell if the Twitter and Facebook attacks came from the same source, or why Twitter shut down while Facebook was merely impaired. In any case, he said it underscores the need for organizations to protect themselves by taking basic precautions, working with their ISPs in terms of limiting traffic and setting filters to drop packets that are characteristics of a DOS attack. And, of course, he recommended end users keep their desktop protection up-to-date to avoid both infections.

"On this otherwise happy Thursday morning, Twitter is the target of a denial of service attack," Twitter co-founder Biz Stone wrote on the company blog page. "Attacks such as this are malicious efforts orchestrated to disrupt and make unavailable services such as online banks, credit card payment gateways, and in this case, twitter for intended customers or users.

"We are defending against this attack now and will continue to update our status blog as we continue to defend and later investigate."

"Earlier this morning, Facebook encountered network issues related to an apparent distributed denial of service attack that resulted in degraded service for some users" Facebook said in statement issued Thursday.

" No user data was at risk and we have restored full access to the site for most users. We're continuing to monitor the situation to ensure that users have the fast and reliable experience they've come to expect from Facebook."

Twitter, the enormously popular social networking website has been the target of a number of attacks against users. Spam bots, for example, have been used to generate Tweets from phony accounts, and URL-shortened attacks have been used to redirect users to malicious Web sites. Twitter and Facebook users have been targeted by numerous phishing and social engineering scams.

Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) shows no vision, expert says

While it works diligently to bring yesterday's antimalware solution to market with Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE), the company is completely losing the future of security definition to competitors, with recent evidence supplied courtesy of Google's Chrome OS announcement and Check Point's browser sandboxing feature. There are a few points where Microsoft security is losing time.

Refining yesterday's technology

MSE is a signature-based antimalware product that Microsoft intends to make free for consumers, requiring ForeFront Inc. management for commercial organizations. There is not a lot of leadership here. Comcast Corp. users can already get McAfee endpoint protection for free, or users can download free versions of AVG or Avast.

Also, AV-Comparatives applauds Microsoft for a 60% catch rate in its antimalware product. While that is better than McAfee Inc. (25%), Sophos plc (37%) and Symantec Corp. (35%), it still means that Microsoft's scan engine did not detect 2 out of 5 attacks. Even Symantec's Quorum project admits to the futility of yesterday's technology -- Microsoft is just losing time trying to improve it.

MSE joins ForeFront Stirling as security products on multi-year product cycles. MSE is now in public beta to 75,000 lucky people with release to manufacturing late this year, and inclusion into the ForeFront client in the first half of 2010. Meanwhile, threats have moved to Web-based attacks featuring spam, phishing and infected websites. Google may ship an entire OS in less time than Microsoft takes to ship an AV product for businesses.

Losing control of the future

The attractiveness of Google Chrome OS is not its claims to be more secure (Google's software applications do not inspire confidence), but rather in the logic of achieving better security through a new approach. Saving documents in the Google data center lessens the burden of endpoint data security, a barebones OS reduces the attack surface of privileged code to protect, and downloading trusted applications to execute on a temporary basis can simplify configuration management. Many customers are using virtual desktops from Ringcube Technologies Inc. and Virtual Computer Corp., as well as Citrix Systems Inc. and VMware Inc. to assure compliant endpoint configurations. While Symantec and Cisco Systems Inc. focus on reputation filtering, and Trend Micro Inc. tilts its product mix to cloud security services, Microsoft is silent in the dialog for the future of secure computing.

Google Chrome OS might be the best thing to get Microsoft security to push the state of the art. An endpoint consisting of a browser, network card, printer, user interface, Microsoft Office, and a handful of Google Chrome OS might be the best thing to get Microsoft security to push the state of the art. An endpoint consisting of a browser, network card, printer, user interface, Microsoft Office, and a handful of personal applications, probably satisfies 95% of the market and could disrupt the security model.

To be fair, Microsoft has made great strides in improving the security of its products. The SDL investments are paying off with solid products such as SQL Server, and they are to be commended for taking the vulnerability problem head on with Patch Tuesday and for attempting to make MSE antimalware ubiquitous on consumer endpoints. However, their security program is far from inspiring given their leadership potential. Bill Gates was able to turn Microsoft into an Internet company over night, but the company is stymied by the security challenges of obsolete approaches. Microsoft is a non-player in the security industry and it would be nice for all of us if that were not true.

Microsoft to address critical vulnerability in Office Web Components

Microsoft will issue five critical security bulletins in its August Patch Tuesday release next week, including one that affects Microsoft Office, Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft ISA Server and Microsoft BizTalk Server, and another for both Windows and the Windows Client for Mac.

In its advance notice issued Thursday, Microsoft said that the critical bulletin affecting Microsoft Office, Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft ISA Server and Microsoft BizTalk Server addresses vulnerability in Microsoft Office Web Components, first raised in security advisory 973472. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. When using Internet Explorer, remote code execution is possible and may not require any user intervention.

Four additional updates are rated as important, including one that affects the .NET framework.

Microsoft said that the critical updates to be issued August 11 all involve remote code execution. All the updates, except for the one affecting the .NET Framework, will require system restarts.

The Office-related bulletin may require a restart if the binaries being updated are in use, according to Microsoft security program manager Jerry Bryant. He recommended referring to Knowledge Base article 887012 to reduce the chances of requiring a restart.

The majority of the updates impact most Windows client and server operating systems. The .NET bulletin affects Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Service Pack 1.

Flickr Download

Downloadr was reviewed back in March here at Ghacks. Back then we liked the simplicity of the tool but disliked the fact that it would only run on Windows Vista or Windows 7. The developers have been hard at work to increase application compatibility. The result is a new version of the Flickr downloader that supports the popular Windows XP operating system as well.

The software program itself has not changed a lot though. The software developer has improved the algorithms in the background but not the user interface. The program displays the three buttons Search, User and Group to the user upon startup. All can be used to download photos from specific Flickr sections.

The first option (Search) performs a Flickr search for either a keyword or tag, the second (user) will display photos uploaded by a specific Flickr user while the third (group) will do the same for a Flickr group.

The photo preview page will display thumbnails of the photos that have been found in the Flickr search. Only five thumbnails will be displayed by default. This figure can be increased to a maximum of 500 thumbnails per page. Copyrighted images are displayed with a huge copyright watermark. These photos will not be downloaded by the program. A Creative Commons checkbox is available to only display photos that have been tagged with it.

Flickr Downloadr will then download all photos (even if the count exceed 100K) that are not copyright protected. The software program works fine and seems to be more reliable in this version.

Internet Recovery Kit

Rizone’s Internet Recovery Kit is a fully portable Windows repair software program that addresses two issues that Windows users might experience while working with the operating system. The first issue is a broken Windows Update module meaning that the computer system will not download and install security updates from Windows Updates. This is a serious problem as it means to leave the operating system unprotected from latest security exploits.

The second issue that the Internet Recovery Kit addresses is broken SSL support which usually comes in the form of not being able to connect to HTTPS websites properly. This too can be problematic as many financial websites and shopping websites use https for improved security.

Rizone’s Internet Recovery Kit can be used to fix both issues that have been described in the last two paragraphs. All the user needs to do is to press the right button in the software program to initiate the fix. While there is no guarantee that the program can fix the problem the chance is good that it can.

Users who want to repair Windows Update and Automatic Updates on their computer system can press the Repair WU/AU button to do so. The program will display the progress in the log at the bottom of the interface. The log can also be used to analyse what has been done to fix the problem. The Repair SSL / HTTPS button on the other hand will initiate the repair of these components in the Windows operating system.

Rizone’s Internet Recovery Kit is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. It is a fine addition for every computer repair toolkit thanks to its portable nature, ease of use and success rate

Convert Youtube videos to audio in Linux

After reading Martin’s fine article “Download Youtube Videos” today, I had to give a bit of a Linux perspective and show how to do this in the Linux operating system. Inititially I assumed this would have to be done via the command line, because that is how I have always done conversions. But I have found that many people do not like having to do such tasks from the command line. So I sat out to find a good (and by “good” I mean easy). It didn’t take long to find, it didn’t take long to install, and it didn’t take too long to get working the way I wanted (which means including mp3 support).

The tool I eventually settled upon is Elltube. Of all the available tools this was the easiest to install, get working, and the most reliable. With this tool you will find download and converting Youtube videos a nobrainer. There is only one small hitch. If you want to add mp3 support you will have to do some extra installation (In this case it means installing unsupported files). The distribution I will use for this tutorial is Ubuntu 9.04. I will illustrate converting videos into audio-only mp3 format. This is the format that causes issues with most users due to the necessary installation of mp3-supporting libraries.

Preparing for the installation of Elltube

The good news is that everything you need, outside of Elltube itself, will be located in the default repositories. The bad news? You will have to install restricted applications. What this means is that Canonical is not responsible for the updating of these files. With that said you will need to fire up Synaptic. I do not suggest you just open up the Add/Remove Software utility from the menu. Instead open up a terminal window and issue the command:

sudo synaptic

The above command will open up the full-blown Synaptic tool where you will need to do the following:

1. Search for “lame” (no quotes).
2. Scroll down until you see the “ubuntu-restricted-extras”.
3. Mark “ubuntu-restricted-extras” for installation.
4. Search for “ffmpeg” (no quotes).
5. Mark “ffmpeg” for installation.
6. Click Apply to install.

Once all of this has installed download the Elltube .deb file and save it to your ~/ directory. After this file download has completed open up a terminal window and issue the following command to install:

sudo dpkg -i ~/elltube_0.3-1_all.deb

which will install Elltube. You are ready to convert.

Converting a video to mp3 format

You will find Elltube in your Internet sub-menu of either your Main or Applications menu. When the Elltube application opens you will see the Main window (see Figure1). There isn’t much to this application from the GUI perspective – but it serves the purpose well.

The first thing you need to do is find a video you want to convert on Youtube. Let’s convert a live version of Rush’s La Villa Strangiato. Find the URl and then copy and paste into the

Youtube URL area. When you do this the details of the file will appear in the main window (see Figure 2). Now what you have to do is to select MP3 (audio only) from the Format drop-down and select a Save to location for the download and conversion. When the details are done, click the Download button and the process will begin.

When the conversion process is complete the “Video found!” message will change to let you know it is finished. When it has completed you will have your mp3 file in the Save to folder. You are ready to rock!

Final thoughts

Elltube makes the downloading and conversion of Youtube videos as simple as it gets. The ease at which this process is done makes the installation well worth it.

Wireless Fireware for Network

A wireless network uses radio waves, just like cell phones, televisions and radios do. In fact, communication across a wireless network is a lot like two-way radio communication. Here's what happens:

1. A computer's wireless adapter translates data into a radio signal and transmits it using an antenna.
2. A wireless router receives the signal and decodes it. The router sends the information to the Internet using a physical, wired Ethernet connection.

The process also works in reverse, with the router receiving information from the Internet, translating it into a radio signal and sending it to the computer's wireless adapter.

The radios used for WiFi communication are very similar to the radios used for walkie-talkies, cell phones and other devices. They can transmit and receive radio waves, and they can convert 1s and 0s into radio waves and convert the radio waves back into 1s and 0s. But WiFi radios have a few notable differences from other radios:

1. They transmit at frequencies of 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz. This frequency is considerably higher than the frequencies used for cell phones, walkie-talkies and televisions. The higher frequency allows the signal to carry more data.
2. They use 802.11 networking standards, which come in several flavors:
• 802.11a transmits at 5 GHz and can move up to 54 megabits of data per second. It also uses orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), a more efficient coding technique that splits that radio signal into several sub-signals before they reach a receiver. This greatly reduces interference.
• 802.11b is the slowest and least expensive standard. For a while, its cost made it popular, but now it's becoming less common as faster standards become less expensive. 802.11b transmits in the 2.4 GHz frequency band of the radio spectrum. It can handle up to 11 megabits of data per second, and it uses complementary code keying (CCK) modulation to improve speeds.
• 802.11g transmits at 2.4 GHz like 802.11b, but it's a lot faster -- it can handle up to 54 megabits of data per second. 802.11g is faster because it uses the same OFDM coding as 802.11a.
• 802.11n is the newest standard that is widely available. This standard significantly improves speed and range. For instance, although 802.11g theoretically moves 54 megabits of data per second, it only achieves real-world speeds of about 24 megabits of data per second because of network congestion. 802.11n, however, reportedly can achieve speeds as high as 140 megabits per second. The standard is currently in draft form -- the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) plans to formally ratify 802.11n by the end of 2009.
3. Other 802.11 standards focus on specific applications of wireless networks, like wide area networks (WANs) inside vehicles or technology that lets you move from one wireless network to another seamlessly.
4. WiFi radios can transmit on any of three frequency bands. Or, they can "frequency hop" rapidly between the different bands. Frequency hopping helps reduce interference and lets multiple devices use the same wireless connection simultaneously.

­

As long as they all have wireless adapters, several devices can use one router to connect to the Internet. This connection is convenient, virtually invisible and fairly reliable; however, if the router fails or if too many people try to use high-bandwidth applications at the same time, users can experience interference or lose their connections.

Microsoft's Keys to Success

In their 2005 annual report, Microsoft lists its financial highlights. The "Cash & Short Term Investments" entry for 2005 really stands out. It's amazing that such a large company has nearly $38 billion in the bank. That cash allows Microsoft to be adaptable. While most dominating companies retrench defensively to preserve the valuable territory that they control, Microsoft does the opposite. It can change its focus in an instant. Like some kind of mutant super-company, Microsoft can out-maneuver giants like IBM and apply its endless cash resources to overwhelm smaller rivals like Netscape.

Financial Highlights
(In millions, except per share data)
Fiscal Year Ended June 30	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Revenue	$25,296	$28,365	$32,187	$36,835	$39,788
Operating income	11,720	8,272	9,545	9,034	14,561
Income before accounting change	7,721	5,355	7,531	8,168	12,254
Net income	7,346	5,355	7,531	8,168	12,254
Diluted earnings per share before accounting change	0.69	0.48	0.69	0.75	1.12
Diluted earnings per share	0.66	0.48	0.69	0.75	1.12
Cash dividends declared per share	--	--	0.08	0.16	3.40
Cash and short-term investments	31,600	38,652	49,048	60,592	37,751
Total assets	58,830	69,910	81,732	94,368	70,815
Long-term obligations	2,287	2,722	2,846	4,574	5,823
Stockholders' equity	47,289	54,842	64,912	74,825	48,115
Source: 2005 Microsoft Annual Report

Part of this incredible ability is the nature of producing software: It doesn't have the logistical struggle of building an airplane or a skyscraper. People make software by writing computer programs. You can produce software as long as you have the skills and the idea.

Microsoft was also there before anyone else. Not only have they "been there and done that," but they also have the market position and the cash on hand to exploit the market to their advantage.

Organization may be the most important key to Microsoft's success. Bill Gates never really consolidated the company after its start-up phase. Instead, he sought to replicate the most productive aspects of Microsoft's first team. Microsoft designs its teams to be overworked. Project managers calculate the number of staff members needed to accomplish a task, then reduce it. This results in a team that has to scramble immediately or be overwhelmed.

Microsoft also takes great care to choose the "right" people. The take-away is that Microsoft has very specific criteria their workers must fulfill, and they have developed an innovative means of assessing candidates: They ask them riddles. A company built on dominating via improvisation and high-energy needs high-energy problem solvers who don't mind working 72 hours straight. Although this type of employee seems difficult to find, somehow Microsoft keeps finding them.

All empires fall at some point, and organizations atrophy like muscles in old age. Usually, the charismatic leader isn't there to see it, because he probably wouldn't let things get to that point. Bill Gates is not likely to buck that trend, so you can count on Microsoft's reign to extend for years to come.