Firefox can be configured to be even faster. Go to the options menu and set to remember all the sites you visited for at least 60 days. This way when you try to open a site you already visited before it already has the address on the top and you can just click on it to make navigation easier. Cache is another very important feature you should learn about. When you open a site for the first time your browser will download all the date from the server to open the site on your computer. If the site is cached, the next time you try to open it, Firefox will only check is there is an update and if there is not it will just open the cached version already stored in your hard disk making it nearly instant. You should set this value to 1GB if your disk can afford it. I also set Firefox to remember my History for 900 days or 3 years. I want to know what I did at that time later.

Fragmentation has a direct impact in your entire system performance specially when it comes about browsing. As you know the average internet page has more than 100 items to download (html files, images, xml, databases, videos, scripts) so the more fragmented the disk is the slower this process will be. Fragment your disk at least once every two weeks and make sure the computer is configured to make this process automatically. You should buy Disk Keeper for this.

At last you may want to use a Portable Version of your browser to make things even better. Firefox offers a UBS version you can use directly without any installation. Since it leaves no traces in the computer it's better for privacy and to reduce the amount of litter the browser leaves in your computer.

Enter Skype! I have experienced first hand the magical connecting powers of Skype; a program that connects lovers, friends, family members and those in pursuit of the perfect business deal. I personally have been using it as a love connector with my man who lives, Gasp, in England while I pine for him in Florida. The magic starts as soon as you down load this program, completely free of charge. The free of charge bit makes these two student lovers very happy indeed, as our money needs to be saved for plane tickets, not wasted on phone calls.

However, there is more. Not only can you chat away for unlimited hours, you actually get to see each other, in live time! Web cams are your friend. It is just as though you are hanging out together and provides that same air of comfort as when you are together. If a silence arises it is comfortable, unlike those terrible awkward moments on the phone where you are pressured by the silence to make quick good-byes. The only down fall is feeling that you have to look presentable to sit at your computer. As far as I know, web cams do not offer the air-brushing option just yet.

I am going to see him in two and a half months and I hold high hopes that with our daily visits on Skype we will be able to act as much like any other pair in love, even if we are separated by an ocean.  

An application called Instant Messenger (IM) has attracted more and more attentions from the internet users around the world lately. It is said that IM has provided them a brilliant platform to communicate using PC with a relatively lower cost as compared to other medium of communications. Anyone can use IM regardless where he or she came from. The borderless form of communication has enabled a close relationship emerging between friend, relative, family member, and even entrepreneur to deliver their messages instantly and effectively. Some of the IM platforms even allow for using video and sound instead of the text itself.

Below I listed some of the services provided by the IM that are used extensively anywhere and anytime by the internet users.

AOL Instant Messenger

AOL became the most well-known IM ten years ago. Its popularity particularly dealing with its excellent services has successfully attracted many users which later leading the company to release stand-alone official AIM client called AOL Instant Messenger or AIM. AIM uses TOC protocol and OSCAR instant messaging protocol which was released by AOL on May, 1997 and it permits registered users to communicate in real time. The new version was specifically designed for WindowXP to enable the internet users to use video and sound, sharing files and other attractive features which are added from time to time.

AIM is always regarded as the most popular method of sending instant message as it has the largest group of registered users as compared to other IM interfaces listed here. Indeed, it is a user-friendly tool that is easily manipulated by the users to communicate with each other. AOL also offers an AIM client software which can be used for Mac OS X, Mac Os, and Linus.

Yahoo Messenger

The application of Yahoo Messenger enables its users to communicate each other by using the provided current Yahoo ID to sign in. It comes with an attractive emoticon, direct communication via video, fail transfer and so forth. Its front page appears to be more attractive as compared to other IM platforms but its users are lesser than AOL. It is a user-friendly communication tool and thus it is more appropriate to be recommended for a newbie who wishes to communicate friends, relative and family members.

The interesting feature of Yahoo Messenger is that the users are allowed to share photos easily and effectively. Instead, you can choose the theme to indicate your mood or feeling via its excellent feature called IMVironments. Indeed, it is the best IM client and hence it is worth using it. Its new version, Version 8, comes with the added Voice to make the communication sounds more attractive and impressive. This version also enables the users to include “Widgets” into the new messenger. With this added feature, you can exchange message with other users who use MSN Messenger and Window Live.

Google Talk

Google is the search engine favored by the most internet users as compared to Yahoo, Ask, Netscape and other search engine sites. Google provides its web-based application for instant messaging and voice over internet (VOIP) called Google Talk or simply known as Gtalk. Gtalk enables its users to make calls instantly and effectively without paying a single cent. It also allows the communication of other XMPP (eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) clients with Google Talk users with its open protocol, XMPP. Now, BlackBerry is available to use within Google Talk which can be downloaded at Google Talk's blackberry. There is also an Add Friend button, a “Search all contacts” field to enable searches in both Google Talk and Gmail contacts.

Google has made the communication more convenient by introducing Google Apps Team addition to enable talks among co-workers or classmates taken place in a friendly environment. With this add-in application, anyone can obtain Google Docs to create and share documents, spreadsheets and presentations. As Google Apps Team addition recognizes the connections to co-worker or classmates effectively, their contacts will automatically be added in your contact list. To try this, try visit Google Apps Team Addition Homepage.

Google Talk is a good platform to choose for an instant messaging and open communication as it can be used for many languages. To do this, you just add any of the 23 other translation bots. They are all named by two-letter language abbreviations as "[from language]2[to language]@bot.talk.google.com", and the supported language pairs are: ar2en, de2en, de2fr, el2en, en2ar, en2de, en2el, en2es, en2fr, en2it, en2ja, en2ko, en2nl, en2ru, en2zh, es2en, fr2de, fr2en, it2en, ja2en, ko2en, nl2en, ru2en, zh2en. So, French to German translation, talk to fr2de@bot.talk.google.com.

On June 4, 2008, Google has added many other languages with the aims to reduce the language barriers with automated chat translations many people have been experiencing. The new bots speak Bulgarian (bg), Croatian (hr), Czech (cs), Danish (da), Finnish (fi), Hindi (hi), Norwegian (no), Polish (pl), Portuguese (pt), Romanian (ro), Swedish (sv) and Traditional Chinese (zh-hant). Basically, there are 26 new bots: bg2en, cs2en, da2en, en2bg, en2cs, en2da, en2fi, en2hi, en2hr, en2no, en2pl, en2pt, en2ro, en2sv, en2zh-hant, fi2en, hi2en, hr2en, no2en, pl2en, pt2en, ro2en, sv2en, zh-hant2en, zh-hant2zh, and zh2zh-hant. To check out the full list of supported languages, simply log in to supported language combinations.

ICQ

ICQ is an instant messaging commonly called “I seek you” which is regarded as a stand-alone IM client since it was first released in November, 1996. It was also the first to have features like “Buddy” and an interactive communication platform. This application has become portion of family AOL Time Warner, but unfortunately it is not advertised extensively like AIM. It is an application compatible with the PC operation of OS which includes cell phone and Symbian OS. That is why it is not surprising to find that its usage is growing.

ICQ provides many excellent features which make it stands firmly among other IM platforms. It has marvelous features include spelling checker, file transfer, “Push to talk” (PTT) service, video messaging and e-mail integration. Not only ICQ let you communicate with friends and colleagues in real time, but also you can play many online games to entertain yourself. ICQ is definitely the best choice for anyone who wishes to search for an attractive and entertaining IM platform.

MSN

Like other leading websites, Microsoft provides its excellent IM plug-in known as MSN Messenger. If you wish to use the services provided by MSN Messenger, you should first have a registered Hotmail to access this type of IM platform. It offers many interesting features such as video messaging, voice communication, emotion icons and many more.

MSN Messenger also comes with a facility to enable you to search via IM to obtain your desired findings. That means you can use it as a web search without opening another window. This feature is very unique as it is not available at other IM clients. MSN is an ideal web-search and IM interface for entrepreneurs, organizations, institutions, administrative and the home users as well. The other amazing feature is that you can leave a message or send a note even you are offline. Despite a large number of people are engaging with PC Windows every day, it is undeniably that this platform has improved the searches, instant messaging and real-time communication in a wide coverage.

Jabber

Jabber is an excellent XML-based protocol to enable real-time instant messaging for e-business. The protocol is added to include Voice over IP and file transfer signaling. It is unique that it integrates the existing e-business into a more personal and dynamic environment. Despite of this excellent feature, Jabber has enabled the communication with other IM platforms to be taken place at the same time with AIM and MSN. Nevertheless, it is not suitable for a newbie who is not familiar with the interface of IM. Once you have familiar with Jabber, it could be a marvelous tool used specifically for an extensible messaging and presence information (buddy lists). Unlike other IM clients, Jabber is an open system that requires its users to use their domain name and a suitable Internet connection to access the server and to talk to users from other IM platforms like Google Talk, Pidgin, Miranda IM, Gizmo Project, Psi and iChat as well.

iChat

iChat is an AIM client by Apple Inc. that allows users to integrate MSN, Yahoo and Google Talk contacts into the Jabber pane. This client provides an excellent facility to enable its users to communicate with either users from Mac, AIM or Jabber. With its new features of video backdrops, Photo Booth effects, Keynote presentation and photo slideshows making iChat a fun and live on-line messaging tool to connect people around the world.

The most unique feature of iChat is that it enables a full-screen personal video conference over thousand miles away via any type of broadband connections. Besides that, an application of iChat provides an interesting client to be integrated with OS X. Therefore, Mac users who are using AIM should give iChat a try.

What is security?

There are really two… no, three types of security. No security, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) security and WPA security. WEP is older and easier to hack, but not allowed by some NETGEAR routers. WPA is the most up-to-date, but is not compatible with some portable WiFi devices such as the Nintendo DS or Nintendo DS Lite. There are also two types of WPA, but we are going to talk about WPA2, the second and newest type.

So if you want to use Nintendo WiFi, that's a different story. I'm going to talk about WPA2 security. However, the setup is very similar for WPA1 (WPA).

Why secure?

Anybody with a wireless area network (WAN) or wireless router should at least use WEP encryption. This is because routers today are configured to "broadcast" at a larger range. This basically means that as the years went on, you could be further away from your router to use it. Unfortunately, this means that your neighbors can just jump onto their computers and use up your quota set by your ISP, meaning you'll get slower internet (this is called "shaping") and a costly invoice. But if you live in the middle of nowhere, and your nearest neighbor is out of your wireless router's range capability (anywhere up to 500m), you can stay unsecured.

What NETGEAR routers are WPA2 compatible?

Here I'm going to assume that you're a home user or have a home router. Here is a list of all the home NETGEAR WAN routers and whether they're WPA2 compatible or not.

How can I secure my router through WPA or WPA2?

1. Make sure your computer is connected by wire to the NETGEAR router or modem router
2. Open Internet Explorer
3. Type into the address bar www.192.168.0.1 or www.192.168.1.1 (depending on the product) and hit ENTER.

Unless you've configured otherwise, the default username is admin and the password password.

1. On the left-hand side, under Setup, click "Wireless Settings"
2. Under "Security Options", select your desired encryption method (preferably WPA2-PSK)
3. Choose a Network Key - it can be anything, as long as it's 8-63 characters in length
4. Hit Apply
5. Now on the computers you wish to connect to over wireless, repeat the process