Web filtering is a modern technique through which the content of various websites is screened and thereafter blocked or allowed to be accessed. It is invariably the best method used on the
Internet for the purpose of filtering email and web access.

Web filtering is a subset of Internet security, an all-comprehensive term, encompassing everything from antivirus and intrusion detection, to the monitoring and filtering of Internet usage.

The uses of web filtering

Software packages that are available for web filtering are created in a way so as to block the access to certain web pages based on its content. Filtering is generally done either by flesh tone analysis, contextual word analysis, or the maintenance of a database of categorized web sites. At times, a combination of all three is used.

Web content filtering is primarily used by organizations like schools, government agencies and businesses for the purpose of preventing computer users from accessing inappropriate content in the websites. Further, it also controls the access of known malware hosts. The central IT department sets the filtering rules. The rules  are then generally implemented through software on individual computers. Otherwise, they can also be implemented at a central point such as the internet router or the proxy server.

Often, web filtering software is used on home computers. This is done for restricting children who use the computer from accessing inappropriate websites. This form of software package is generally known as parental control software.

Various processes of web filtering

Web filtering includes a number of methods, some of which are discussed below:

·         Attachment: This involves the blocking of particular types of files, for instance executable programs.

·         Heuristic: This kind of filtering is based on the content’s heuristic scoring.

·         Mail header: For this, the filtering of the content is solely based on the analysis of the headers of the emails.

·         Regular Expression: It is based on the rules which are written as regular expressions.

·         Mailing List: This enables the detection of mailing list messages and then filing them in appropriate folders.

·         URL: This type of filtering is based on the URL.

However, most web content filtering systems combine all the techniques. All web-filtering systems are either static or dynamic, and prevent misuse, abuse or any kind of security breaches when the users are accessing the websites. In other words, web filtering helps in defining what may be denied or allowed to be accessed.

So, you wanted your latest home movie masterpiece of grandma getting down at your cousin's wedding to be in HD. Well, if your a MacPro or PowerMac user, MCE TEchnologies is there for you. They have announced, for immediate release, the Blue-ray SuperDrive.

This handy drive isn't just for embarrassing family in high definition, but it could also be used to back up 25GB or 50GB (dual-layer) of data from your machine. You could also make real movies that actually do matter, or in my case, I could archive my iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie media libraries on one disk - handy. The unit fits into any open slot on your available MacPro or PowerMac.

The Blu-ray SuperDrive is available right now from MCE Technologies, and will set you back $499. It also comes with one Blue-ray disk. Or, if you look at it the other way, the SuperDrive is free with the purchase of a $499 Blue-ray writable CD.

Source.

By:  Chris Matier                        Source

I”ve just updated my iPhone 3G with the just-released free upgrade to firmware 2.1 and while the interface looks the same, no cosmetic changes, there have definitely been some improvements in performance. Backing up the phone is much, much quicker, I have two additional bars of reception, and the battery life is supposedly much improved as well. That we”ll have to see, but just the reception boost alone is enough to warrant doing the update. A listing of the fixes:

- Improved call reception and fewer dropped calls.

- Better battery life

- Faster and more reliable email fetching

- Improved SMS performance

- Fewer crashes and freezes in 3rd party apps

- Faster installation of 3rd party apps

- Faster backup of iPhone when syncing

Also: Genius, the playlist creator, is included and creates on the fly playlists from music that’’s on your iPhone. Pick a song, hit Genius, and you”ll get a playlist of songs that Genius thinks will sound good together. So far, so good. Works quickly and is fun, especially if you don”t have a lot of playlists and resort to using “shuffle” mode most of the time.

I”ve never had 3G reception in my home, and now I get two solid bars. Yay! Wait, wait, make that three bars! No, two. Uh oh, just one. Well anyway, I”ve never seen the 3G signal at all before in this location, so the reception is much improved, I think.

No apparent upgrade in the Maps app, but there are still rumors that full function turn-by-turn navigation is possible, either through a future upgrade or through a 3rd party app like Telenav.

If you”ve had any issues with bugs or slowdowns, run, don”t walk to iTunes to the upgrade. Just hook up your iPhone, open iTunes, and hit “check for upgrade.” It’’s a fairly large download, over 200 MB, so it might take a while and make sure you let iTunes do a backup before upgrading so you don”t lose any settings or data.

By:  Sarah                        Source