I recently decided to swap my office and my bedroom, opting to gain more workspace at the loss of a little living space. In the process of the swap, I relocated my PC to a new room. The coaxial cable running from the wall jack to the router proved to be too short, and as a result, I ran new cable to the new location. At the same time, I downloaded and began using Skype. Shortly after I began to use Skype, I noticed a severe lag in my internet connection speed. I could not figure out what was causing everything to be so slow. At first I thought it was Skype, so I researched its affects on connection speed, discovering that Skype is one of the better non-resource hogs to choose from. Next I tried dumping one of the apps I installed to use with my Skype phone. Strike two. Then, realizing that I couldn’t remember when the last time I cleaned out my browser was, I deleted cookies, and passwords, thinking it would free up RAM. Strike three. Finally, I figured it out. In addition to a new location, I added a new TV to my office mix. The PC and TV split the same cable line. I used an old segment of cable I had from a few years ago to connect from the splitter to the PC. Eureka! After changing out the old segment of cable with a brand new, never used segment, my internet speed was back to normal. I never realized the importance of a simple string of copper. Here are my top five tips for using coaxial cable:

Call me un-educated, or mis-informed. Call me naive, or ignorant. Call me what you will. I just don’t see the problems with Windows Vista that everyone else seems to see. I have had a computer with Vista for about eight months and have yet to have any serious concerns. In fact, compared to my 2004 model computer which ran on XP, my new computer is awesome. My old computer was a Geo Metro, and the new one is like a Cadillac. The only complaints I have are centered around the user interface of Vista and Internet Explorer 7. I find the UI to be be rather clunky and unyielding. The orientation and location of items throughout Vista doesn’t seem to be as user friendly as XP, and moreover, Mac’s OS X. Furthermore, Internet Explorer constantly decides to stop working every time I have more the ten windows open. This, of course, happens when I am working on a large project and need all of those windows. I think I will switch to Fire Fox before all is said and done. Overall, however, I have not had the compatibility problems or driver issues, or crashes that I expected to have to tackle. I think that maybe I benefited from waiting a year after its initial release. Most of the serious bugs, that I can tell, have been worked out. That said, I think my future lies in the integration of running Vista in a virtual machine within Mac OS X.

Security. Even in an age where we have eye and fingerprint scanners, we all still use passwords.  Without taking proper security precautions, one could find themselves facing identity theft.  Here are my top 5 tips for protecting your passwords: 

1. Don’t use familar names or dates as passwords. Take the time to create a password that is totally unique and yet is still rememberable for you, and only you.

2. Use all parts of the keyboard. For example, instead of using a word, use a series of characters on the keyboard such as two lower case, two upper case, two numbers, and two special characters like ! and @. Also, try to use the entire keyboard, not just one small area. This may help prevent a hacker from lucking into your password.

3. Don’t write down your password! The execption to this is in the event of emergencies. Create a list of passwords for use only in an emergency, such as the bank or possibly important websites that can help authorities find you in the case of and emergency ie: myspace or twitter. Do this with the greatest caution. Seal the list in a security envelope, and sign the seal. Place that into another larger envelope, and seal and sign. Only give this list to someone who you really trust like a spouse or parent.

4. Change your password often. I change my passwords every six months or sooner. The longer you stick with the same passwords the more vunerable they become. Also periodically delete your cookies on your computer. This will prevent someone accessing your info because the computer remembers your password. Never use the auto fill features of the internet browser. This is just plain unsafe and leaves you open for identiy theft.

5. Finally, don’t use the same password for everything. If a hacker figures out that password, he will gain access to all your password protected areas. Have a plethera of passwords to choose from that are not simualr to each other. Also be careful when using a password generator. Never give out personal info to generator sites, and make sure the generated password meets or exceeds all the other criteria.

Hopefully using some of these tips will enable you to have a safer experience in today’s tech world.

Age - 24

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