Social Networking, The Pros and Cons of Social Networks

Social Networking has become increasingly popular nowadays as there are a lot of sites that offer this service. MySpace and Friendster are two of the most popular sites that aim to build communities of people who share common interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.

THE PROS

A social networking site is like a virtual meeting place where people can hang out and discuss different topics. Anything under the sun, in fact. Some use these networking sites to promote their blogs, to post bulletins and updates or to use them as a bridge to a future love interest.

Social Networking, The Pros and Cons of Social Networks

These are just a few of the reasons why social networking is getting a lot of attention lately -- it makes life more exciting for many people.

THE CONS

However, it would be best to make sure that safety and security are the topmost concerns of the social networking site that you currently use. This is because social networking sites require or give you the option to provide personal information such as your name, location, and email address. Unfortunately some people can take this as an opportunity for identity theft. They can copy your information and pretend to be "you" when engaging in illegal activities. Bad news! So be cautious with what you enter into an online networking site.

You could fall into the trap of someone who pretends to be somebody else. For example, they might offer you a job or want to meet up with you just to get your money. This can lead to cyberstalking, where the stalker uses electronic media such as the Internet to pursue or harass you.

THE CONCLUSION

So take your time and be careful in choosing who to trust so you can hopefully avoid this sort of unpleasant thing happening to you. Apart from that, social networking is great thing.

Social Networking, The Pros and Cons of Social Networks
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How Skype Works

Skype is a software application that allows you to make free phone calls to more than 75 million people worldwide, and shockingly cheap calls to practically everywhere else on Earth! As a result of that, Skype has become the fastest growing service in the history of the Internet. Recently, the company was acquired by eBay, another step forward towards achieving the final goal of making Skype the world's largest communication company.

Skype is easy to install and use. It allows its users to make crystal clear calls, regardless of their location, send instant messages, switch seamlessly between text and voice communication, make video calls, conference calls, transfer files, call landlines and cell phones for a fraction of the cost of a traditional call. Skype is truly making a revolution in the way we communicate.

But how does it actually work? This article focuses on describing the Skype network and the technology behind it.

How Skype Works

Skype is a type of peer-to-peer Voice-Over-IP client, based on the Kazaa file sharing program. The developers of Skype claim that it provides better voice quality than similar applications like MSN and Yahoo Messenger. It also encrypts calls end-to-end.

There are two types of machines in the Skype network - ordinary host (Skype Client) and Super Node (SN). An ordinary host is the computer of a regular user who has the application installed and connects to the network in order to communicate with other users. The Super Nodes are the end-point of ordinary hosts in the network. In other words, ordinary hosts connect to the Super Nodes. Any computer with a public IP and proper hardware configuration can be a SN. An ordinary host must connect to a super node and must register itself with the Skype login server for a successful login. The Skype login server is the only central unit in the whole network. It stores the usernames and respective passwords of all Skype users. Nslookups have shown that this server is located in Denmark. All Super Nodes connect to the login server in attempt to verify the username password of the client. It stores your Skype Name, your e-mail address, and an encrypted representation of your password.

If you are a regular Skype user, then your computer is considered an 'ordinary host' that connects to a Super Node. The Super Nodes are servers, located in different parts of the world. But your Skype client, must know to which SN it has to connect. Therefore, every Skype client (SC) maintains a local table that contains the IPs and corresponding ports of Super Nodes. This is called a host cache and it stored in the Windows Registry of the given SC. So basically, every time you load up Skype, it reads the date from the host cache, takes the first IP and port from there and tries to connect to this SN. If the connection fails for some reason (the SN is offline; it is no longer part of the network, etc) then it reads the next line from the table. In case it fails to connect to any of the IPs listed, the Skype returns a login error upon start-up. Hence, the host cache must contain at least one valid entry in order for the application to connect to the network and work properly. Valid entry means an IP address and port number of an online Super Node. The path to the table in the Windows Registry is HKEY_CURRENT_USER / SOFTWARE / SKYPE / PHONE / LIB / CONNECTION / HOSTCACHE. You can verify that on your computer by opening the Start menu, then click Run and enter 'regedit', without the dashes. Of course, the exact path could be different in the next versions of the application.

As a concept, Super Nodes were introduced in the third-generation P2P networks. They allow improved search performance, reduced file-transfer latency, network scalability, and the ability to resume interrupted downloads and simultaneously download segments of one file from multiple peers. Basically, they help ordinary hosts connect to each other and guide efficiently the encrypted network traffic.

Super Nodes are also responsible for the 'Global Indexing'. This technology enables you to search for other users in the network. The company guarantees that it will find a user if he has registered and has logged in during the last 72 hours.

A very interesting moment about the Skype network is that it 'self-modifiable'. If you have the application installed, your computer may turn into a Super Node, without you even knowing it, because those capabilities don't have a noticeable impact on a computer's performance. SNs basically store the addresses of up to several hundred Skype users, without carrying any voice, text or file-transfer data. In that manner, the more Skype users come online, the more supernodes become available to expand the capacity of the network.

Skype routes the traffic intelligently by choosing the optimum data transfer path. Since it uses either TCP or UDP protocol, it breaks the whole data stream into separate packets, which can take different paths to the end destination. The final arrangement is done at the receiving end.

As far as safety and privacy are concerned, Skype uses Advanced Encryption Standard, known as Rijndel, used also by the U.S. Government organizations to protect sensitive data. Skype uses 256-bit encryption.

The programmers of Skype have implemented wideband codecs which allows it to maintain a good sound quality at a bandwidth of 32kb/s and allow frequencies between 5-8,000Hz to pass trough.

Your list of contacts, the application stores in the Windows Registry. This is called the Buddy list and once again, it is digitally encrypted. So, the list is local for every machine, or in other words, it's not downloaded from the central server.

Let's briefly describe the tasks of the Skype client. First it connects to the network. It then listens on particular ports for incoming calls, refreshes the host cache table, uses wideband codecs, maintains the buddy list, encrypts messages and determines if there is a firewall or not.

The login process:

The login process is the most important one and it consists of several phases. As mentioned, SC must connect to a valid SN in order to authenticate the username and password with the Central Server.

Skype gets the fist IP from the host cache, sends it a UDP packet and waits for response. If there is no response after 5 seconds, it sends a TCP packet to the same IP. It tries to establish a TCP connection to the HC IP address and port 80 (HTTP port). If still unsuccessful, it tried to connect to IP address and port 443 (HTTPS port). If this does not work either, it reads the next address in the HC. If Skype is unable to connect to a SN, it will report a login failure.

The application comes with several build-in addresses of different nodes, called bootstrap super nodes.

If the connection attempt is successful, the client must authenticate the user name and password with the Skype login server, which holds all user names and passwords and makes sure they are unique across the whole network. When the application connects to an SN, it receives an up-to-date list of other active SNs, so it has the most current information.

The Media Transfer process:

The video/voice communication through Skype is established through UDP. The trick here is that quite often, one of the users is behind a firewall or a router, hence it doesn't have a real IP address. But if both Skype clients are on real IPs, then the media traffic flows directly between them over UDP. The size of the voice packet is 67 bytes, which is actually the size of UDP payload. One second conversation results in roughly 140 voice packets being exchanged both ways, or 3-16 kilobytes/s.

If one of the callee or both of them do not have a public IP, then they send voice traffic to another online Skype node over UDP or TCP. The developers of Skype have preferred to use UDP for voice transmission as much as possible.

An interesting fact is that even if both sides are not speaking, voice packets will still be flowing between them. The purpose of these so called 'silent packages' is to keep the connection alive.

Conclusion:

There are several factors responsible for the success of Skype. First of all, the voice quality is better compared to other applications. It works without a problem on computers with firewall. It is very easy to install and use. Skype's security is also a big advantage. Everything that is being transferred across the network is being encrypted to ensure privacy. As a result of that, even if hackers intercept the data being transferred, they won't be able to decode it.

The Skype application does not include any adware or spyware. But, there are cases when third parties have managed to add such functionalities (not only for Skype), so it's really important that you download it from the right place. Therefore, do it either from the official website, or from respected sites as http://www.freesecuredownloads.com/skype/index.html.

How Skype Works
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Top 5 Christian Social Networking Sites

Social networking is about communities. But with the freedom of expression, profanity, and pornography rampant on the internet, many Christians are looking for social networking sites to uphold a certain level of standards.

I've compiled a list of the Top Christian Social Networking Sites on the web today.

1. Tangle.com

Top 5 Christian Social Networking Sites

Tangle is about expression. A place where you can personalize and express what makes you, you. Tangle allows those to share content (albeit first reviewed by the customer care team) including videos, music, photos and other material. It's video portion (formally known as GodTube) was ranked in value at million from GLG Partners (quite a far shy from the .6B tag of YouTube)...is a cult favorite.

Find feature artists and receive free mp3's just for joining.

2. Xians.com The myspace equivalent for Christians. This faith based Social Networking Sites mirrors the mega-phenom Myspace by allowing you to make friends, shout out, rank, post blogs, even chat on forum and group listings. Music, videos, and games round out the mix of Godly fun. It's a members only site with free registration.

3. Mychurch.org

When looking at Christian Social Networking sites, you can't leave out those focused on the church. Mychurch.org offers free social networking for Christian Churches. You can create a network for your church, share photos, invite members, even post last Sunday's sermon. Essential for linking this web 2.0 crazed nation we have together.

4. FaithLight.com

FaithLight gets my nod for the prettiest design and easiest to navigate, not only does it contain my essentials to make this list (a way to connect with individuals and share media *photos, video, audio*) there is also a large focus on the Bible and prayer requests. FL has a fully trained Christian staff that is also very dedicated to keeping the act of making new friends, a safe one.

5. Loveandseek.com

I couldn't resist. This premier online dating service is for our Christian singles. We know it's hard to meet people online, and I'm a living proof that Loveandseek.com really works. My husband and I met on that site! Post a profile, browse for free, even interact via live video and chat.

You can initiate contact for free and even communicate anonymously to start.

Top 5 Christian Social Networking Sites
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The Difference Between Strategy and Tactics

"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat." - Sun Tzu

What are the fundamental differences between strategy and tactics? Even the savviest on-line and off-line entrepreneurs frequently confuse the two.

Tactics are the day-to-day activities that are repeatable in your business and relatively clear-cut. Like blocking and tackling in football, they comprise the basic components of the jobs and the daily activities of any organization - or any business - no matter the size.

The Difference Between Strategy and Tactics

They are such things as SEO Campaigns, writing an article, creating a website, making a sales call, or perhaps joining an on-line community such as StomperNet, or Rich Schefren's Business Growth System. Tactics are specifically created and selected to reach particular and measurable objectives.

Tactics are the actual ways in which the strategies are executed. They may also include such things as newsletters, press releases, teleseminars, blogs, advertising, websites, and any other tool that your target markets are usually exposed to.

Tactics are easy to copy. If one company observes innovations in another company's products, for example, the observing company can easily duplicate what it has seen, or develop something comparable if straight duplication is not possible. As soon as the process or product is copied, the competitive advantage of the innovation recedes or disappears.

If you are not careful, tactics may end up being simply quick fixes that can bring short term gain, but they will not lead to long-term success unless rigorously applied; and they must be part of an overall plan for success. Therefore, it is critical to look at each tactic from the standpoint of what it will do to achieve your overall strategy.

Most businesses today tend to be tactically focused. You work diligently every day in your office, doing task after task, but most often without a strategic focus.
Being mainly tactically focused will result in a lot of ups and downs in your business, and very likely a long, slow (or very fast) decline in the value of your business.

Strategy, on the other hand, is perspective, that is, your Future Picture and direction. Strategy involves the "big picture" - the overall plan, and how those plans will achieve your goals and objectives. It involves deciding who the important stakeholders are, and which of them will be the recipients of your messages (i.e., "target audiences"), or the targets of your activities.
Your strategy is the framework, your compass that you will use to make decisions that will benefit the future outcome of your business. Strategy is the set of directions you make to enhance your situation and position within your overall market.

Without a well thought out strategy, your business is merely like a person wandering around uselessly in the dark. There is neither a planned direction of where to go in the future, nor which methods to use to get there. Tactics and strategy are always relative to one another, and together they bridge the gap between ends and means.

To succeed in your business environment, it is vital to plan a strategy that connects your activities to your overall plans. If you have a solid understanding of where you want to be at some defined point in the future, it becomes a relatively simple exercise to create a set of activities to get you there. If you know where you are going, there will be a way to get there - always.

Recognize that there is a difference between strategy and tactics, and do not confuse the two. The company that clearly understands that difference is the business that will be the most successful, the most durable - and the most profitable.

The Difference Between Strategy and Tactics
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Social Networking - What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages?

Are you aware of the growing trend of people spending so many hours in front of their computers? Most probably, they might be spending so much time in Twitter or in Facebook. Without a doubt, social networking is one of the inevitable forces on the web right now. Let us explore the advantages and the disadvantages of these social networking sites.

Social networking sites opened the doors to faster and better communication. Here are the advantages of these sites:

Connection

Social Networking - What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages?

In today's fast-paced lives, social networking is being used in the corporate world because of its influence. It has the power to connect people and businesses. It can be employed to build relationships and connect with clients. A few years ago, people only stay in touch through email or phone calls. Now, they can connect through an easy medium that is more fun and interactive. And the great thing is that they can share photos and videos, update real-time news, and do all these in a simple and convenient manner. Thus, companies have used the power of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites to promote their businesses.

Feedback
In today's fast mode of communication, social networking sites allow you to ask for feedback and receive it instantly. Thus, you can develop your site, your product, or your brand in a snap. This is truly a powerful way to conduct market research and improve one's business down the road.

Low Cost

Another advantage of social sites is that it allows us to communicate for both personal and business purposes in a cheap way, if not for free. In business, you can definitely find prospective clients through social networking sites without spending a fortune in the usual advertising platforms such as print or television. If your business is still small and you have limited budget, social network sites are definitely a must-try in promoting your products and services.

When there are advantages, the power of social networking sites has its own set of disadvantages too. Here are a few that you need to be aware of:

Time Consuming

Because it is free, campaigns can be really time-consuming. The key here is finding tools, software, and other solutions that will make the whole process simpler and faster.

Identity Theft

Because of the lack of anonymity, you are exposing your identity to the public. This may be used for other purposes that you may not have knowledge or permission. Thus, you need to be careful with scams and identity theft. There are a few ways to combat these problems though. With the use of the technology, you have to be aware of the risks and find the best solutions to prevent these problems from happening to you and your business.

Conclusion

There are advantages and disadvantages to the use of social networking sites. Nevertheless, it is paramount to make use of this technology to survive, especially in this time of cut-throat business promotions. When done right, it is cheap, effective, and can take your business to the next level. As far as the disadvantages are concerned, it is a matter of finding the right solutions to these drawbacks.

Social Networking - What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages?
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How to Have Celebration of Life Event Instead of a Funeral

A friend or relative has passed away and you have been asked to plan a memorial service. Perhaps your loved one doesn't belong to a church or the family want a celebration rather than a sad funeral. Or perhaps the person was what is now termed as "spiritual, not religious". That usually means they believed in God in some form, but didn't adhere to the religious dictates of any one religion or church.Here are some useful tips and techniques to get started.

There are many ways to honor this life you esteem that are not held in a church per se and are not administered by a church person. The key is the reverence and compassion that goes into the planning, the personal details that are attended to and the respect and love that is present at the celebration. Here are some things to help you think through what you want at a Celebration of Life event. Gather select family members and close friends and think through some of the following.

1. Decide how many people will come

How to Have Celebration of Life Event Instead of a Funeral

If your loved one had tons of friends and business contacts, then plan on 100 or more. Ask one of his/her business associates what to expect from that aspect of the person's life. How many relatives will come? If this is a person under age 18 count on many more. If the person is in public life try to estimate how many members of the public may attend. Getting a rough number will help determine the size of the location you will need.

2. Select a place that is warm and inviting

Some ideas for a Celebration of Life event are the same as selecting a place for a wedding. Ideas for outside celebrations include gardens, parks, ocean beaches, national and state parks, and wineries. Inside ideas are large houses, places where dances are held, club houses, bed and breakfast inns, even hotel meeting rooms can be warmed up! Of course that all comes at a cost, but it is convenient. Try to select a space that is not going to packed in, but also not so large that the celebration gets lost in the space.

3. Decide on the date and time.

Selecting a weekend date allows people to come from out-of-town. If the person has asked to be cremated the celebration can be as long as a month or more away. This allows time for preparation, thoughtful reflection, preparation of slide shows, old pictures, etc. All of these take time and add a loving touch. The time of day depends on whether or not you are going to have a sit down or cafeteria-style meal or just hors d'oeuvres and drinks.

4. Get the word out

One way to do this is to go through the person's email list and send notices. Placing an "ad" in the appropriate newspapers, although it is not inexpensive, is a good way. Lots of people read the obituaries every day. (Call your newspaper to check on their rates.) Set up a phone tree by calling 10 to 20 people from the person's life (work, relatives, friends, social clubs, neighbors) and ask them to call the people they believe will want to attend.

5. Plan the food

The easiest and least time consuming way to do this is to have a caterer take care of the food. Whether it is hors d'oeuvres or a full meal, the caterer will bring the food, the dishes, the silverware the linens, even the tables, everything needed. At the end of the day, they whisk it all away. However many people find it comforting to have a do-it yourself cooking gathering the day before the celebration and pitch in together to do the preparations. Potlucks are also perfectly appropriate. For generations friends and neighbors have provided the family of the deceased with food. Often we like doing it. It makes us feel we have helped in some way. So don't hesitate to announce that it is a potluck.

6. Make a Decision About Flowers and Donations

Many people ask attendees, not to bring flowers and to make a donation to a favorite charity of their choosing or one that was a favorite of the deceased. Since a decent bouquet costs over this can be a real boon to the charity.

7. Select Decorations or a Theme

This isn't always necessary, but since you will want to provide a program of some sort, flower arrangements baskets and note cards for leaving the family condolences or placing cards, you may wish to create a color scheme so that the room looks pulled together. Cream and one other color is often a safe and tasteful choice.

8. Decide On The Contents of The Program

Select someone who is good with computer graphics to do your program. Besides listing who will be speaking or performing, you may wish to include a favorite poem or saying, a prayer or a meaningful graphic or other things appropriate to your person. Think of the person's nationality, culture, interests for clues on this. A simple cream-colored 81/2 by 11 paper folded over is easy. Depending on your time and resources you may wish to make it more elaborate.

9. Decide Who Will Do What

The day of the celebration you will need the following duties filled by people you can trust to be responsible.

oGreeters:

oMaster or Mistress of Ceremony:

oFour to Six honors or Remembrances:

oOne Person to Circulate So The Attendees Can Speak:

oClean Up Crew:

There are many thoughtful ways to personalize a Celebration Of Life event. One family of an inveterate and voracious reader put all her books out and asked the participants to go through them and take as many as they wished. Those attending found it touching to have such an appropriate remembrance and selected those that had been dog-eared and underlined as well as those that didn't seem to have been read yet. The family designed a bookmark that matched their programs and had a quote about books on it.

Did your person have a passionate interest, a favorite hobby, or love a certain kind of music or dance? Did he/she have a collection of something that no one in the family wants, but having one piece would be a nice remembrance for the people who helped out? One friend loved scarves and had over thirty scarves and wraps, so they put those out for people.

Many churches go along with the family on informal celebrations and have only a couple prayers, so you don't have to rule them out. If your loved one was not a regular attendee of the church you will probably be asked to pay rent of some type. But many churches are lovely and give comfort to those who are religious among the family. One more thought. You may not wish to have your Celebration in a church, but you can still ask a minister, spiritual leader or friend to say a prayer.

How to Have Celebration of Life Event Instead of a Funeral
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For many more tips, techniques and useful forms for staying organized you may be interested in "How To Plan A Celebration Of Lie Memorial Instead of a Funeral A Step by Step Guide. Go to: http://www.celebratinglifememorials.com/Celebrate_Life/Home.html. Norma Smith Davis is a management consultant and can be reached at her website http://www.KeyManagementSkills.com