Sync files between computers easily

Alright, we've all done it. You have two computers your working at and need a file on computer A when your at computer B. So what do you do? Likely, you email it to yourself.

This is all fine and dandy, but can be a little annoying. Today I found a new service provided by Microsoft that will take this annoyance away.

Its called Live Mesh. You sign in using your Windows Live account details.

Here is a quick rundown of the service. You connect via a web interface called your Live Desktop. From there you can easily add folders and place files in them. Nothing spectacular so far right?

From the Mesh homepage, you can then add a device. Currently PCs are only available, but a tech preview of MAC is available and Mobile support is coming. Once you add a device you then download a small (1.6 MB file) to install. Once the software installs, you will see folders on your desktop that are from your Mesh.

Once you open a folder it allows you to specify where the folder will be stored on your local computer and the sync settings. Once you do this. The files in the folder sync just like that.

So, for example. I logged into my Mesh and created a folder called "Test from Dell". On my Vista test machine, this folder appeared and I placed the Live Mesh installer in this folder. On my desktop, I see this folder as well and after opening it, I see the installation file.

The value of this service? Besides sharing files between your own computers, you can also invite members to a folder! Giving them which ever rights you want (Owner, Reader, Contributor). This allows multiple people to be able to access this folder, and be able to add files when needed.

Also, you can create files that can be edited on multiple computers. I created a text file on my work computer, saved it to the mesh folder, opened it on my Vista machine and changed some wording and saved it again, then seeing the change on my work computer.

This would allow you to access files at home from work, or from the road. Quite limitless if you ask me.

So go check it out, once you start playing around with Mesh, you will see its quite cool!

Secure your wireless network!

Alright... so I'm driving to work the other day with my Laptop. Needing to do some updates that are painfully slow on dial up at home.

So I was going to go to a local Wi-Fi spot to download these updates. While at a stop sign, I looked over at my laptop and noticed, it found a few open, un-secure wireless networks!

How could this happen? Simple. Home owner decides they want broadband Internet at home, while getting their new Internet they get a Wireless Router / Modem with it but fail to properly setup the router securely.

Now, where I'm located, this likely isn't a huge issue as it would be in a big city. I can imagine living in a big city having the ability to get free Internet almost where ever I go.

Believe it or not, there is a real term for this. Its called War Driving. Basically someone drives a car slowly while the passengers in the car are finding an open wireless network. When they find one they use it to download / access what ever they want.

How can you tell if your Wireless Network is being accessed without your knowledge? Thats a little more difficult. If you receive a bill from your Internet Provider, see if there is a way for them to show data sent / received. If you suddenly see a huge spike in your data for that month, chances are your Wireless has been infiltrated. The best way is to log into the Router's web interface and look for an option named 'DHCP Leases' or 'DHCP Stats'. These will show you how many devices are connected to your router and receiving an IP address. But for this you would need to randomly check the router for this.

Now. How do you stop this from happening? I'll dive into directions for both Linksys and Netgear as those are the most common routers that I've seen being used.

How to secure your Netgear Router

Setting-Up Wireless Security on a Linksys Router

Setting-Up Wireless Security on a Linksys Access Point

Setting-Up Wireless Security on a Linksys Dual-Band A+G Wireless Router

Setting-Up Wireless Security on a Linksys Router

Setting-Up Wireless Security on a Linksys VOIP Router

So. Following those articles should get your network secure and used only by those whom you trust. Just be sure to set the password to be a strong one. I always recommend letters, numbers, characters (!@#$) and maybe a capital letter.

New DNS2Go Domains!

Wanted to send a quick blog about new DNS2Go domains we added!

atfacebook.net
attwitter.net
atmyspace.net
atskype.net
atyoutube.net

So now the question is, what cool stuff can I do with these domains?

Lets look at a domain I signed up, kevinfortune.atfacebook.net. If you go to www.kevinfortune.atfacebook.net, you are instantly redirected to my Facebook page. All I did was this:

1) Login to my DNS2Go Account Manager
2) Add the domain to my DNS2Go Account
3) Configure Online and Offline WWW redirection to my Facebook address (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1376922071)
4) Took the domain online

Thats it! You could even sign up a multiple domain account and add all the popular social network sites to your account and easily remember your URLs!

We have Knowledge Base articles explaining how to setup DNS2Go and Facebook specifically. More will be added for Twitter, MySpace and others.

DNS2Go and Facebook

DNS2Go and Facebook Pages

Awesome Giveaway

Interested in getting into VOIP at home? Have I got the deal for you! Register to win a Grandstream GXW-4104 4-Port FXO Gateway!

Registering to win is easy - just visit the 3CX VoIP IP PBX Phone System Facebook page located here, and scroll to the bottom "Discussion Board" (just below the "wall"). Post a comment to the topic "My Favorite 3CX Feature or Benefit" - and you are eligible to win! We'll keep this open until the end of February and then award the lucky winner. Oh, one other thing - you must become a "fan" of the page also to be eligible for the drawing. If you are not already a Facebook member, you can sign up for free from the 3CX Facebook page.

Email Spoofing

Unfortunately this type of spam is quite common online. The common name for this is Email Spoofing. Basically what is happening is that the Spammer who is sending the messages out is pretending to be sending the messages from your email address.

Why would the spammer want to do this?

A couple of reasons:

1) The spammer doesn't want to send the message on his own behalf due to anti-spam laws.

2) The email contains a virus. The spammer knows you won't open a message from someone you don't know, so he sends it from someone you already know and maybe trust.

3) The spammer might be pretending to be someone who works for your bank or a site you may visit regularly. They are likely trying to gain your account details. This would be considered a phishing email.

Now, how easy is this to setup? Anyone really could change their email client settings. If you recall, when you first setup your Email, you were asked your name, then your email address. What you could potentially do, is change all of this to be a famous celebrity and when you send your message, whom ever receives it will see it as being from that celebrity.

Thats, in a nutshell, what the spammers are doing. They are always trying to find new ways to send a message, what ever the content is, and get you to open it. Maybe they get paid per email that gets opened, or they are spreading a nasty virus. In the end, their goal is to get you to open that message.



Now, how can you stop these messages? Thats where things get tough. Some states do have laws against email spoofing. A few states (Washington, Maryland and Illinois) have laws that specifically prohibit using third party domain names without permission. The Federal CAN SPAM Act makes it illegal to send email with misleading subject or message headers.

Tech wise though, there are some Internet Standards that are being worked on to help combat against this type of email. SPF and Sender ID Framework are two technologies that are in the works. Hopefully soon a Standard will emerge and Spam will come to an end.