BE PROUD OF BEING INDIAN

Saras Aircraft, NAL, India

Chandrayaan ISRO Moon Mission

Dazzling Display of Space Prowess !

Indo-Russian Tactical Transport Aircraft – MRTA

 

Aero India 2007 LCA display

HSDTV from DRDO (INDIA)

ISRO eyes world record with rocket launch

Care for your lappy

Clean your laptop periodically to keep it dust-free and running smoothly.

You bought a new laptop a few months ago, and it’s already looking dirty. Besides outside layer of dirt that is visible on the body of the laptop, there is also probably unimaginable amount of dust accumulated inside the keypad and these may affect the life of your laptop. This may also leave scratch marks on the screen, hamper display or affect important functions of the laptop. However, before launching on a laptop cleaning frenzy, you should learn the proper way to clean the laptop and know what products to use and what not.

It is always a good idea to read the user’s manual that came with your laptop to familiarise yourself with your laptop and to learn the cleaning procedures recommended by the company. Clean your laptop once a year but if your laptop is mostly in a dusty environment more often than not, you may want to clean it every few months.

First of get all the things you are going to need together. These are compressed air, cotton, cleaning solution and a soft cotton cloth. Don’t use harsh chemicals or any product that uses ammonia on the laptop. For the cotton cloth, you can use an old clean t-shirt.

Start with the exterior of the laptop. Gently wipe the body with the damp cotton cloth dipped in a gentle cleaning solution. Don’t spray the solution directly on the body. Then use the can of compressed air to clean the cooling vents of your laptop. Be careful while doing this and make sure you don’t spray it too hard as the liquid on the fan blades may damage them. Cotton swabs help in holding the fan blades while you are cleaning them. Don’t spin the blades. Blow away dirt from the I/O ports with compressed air and then wipe them with cotton.

You should be extra careful while cleaning the monitor display. Turn off the laptop before you start. It will help you see the dirt more easily. Use a soft cotton cloth to gently wipe the display. Never use tissue papers or cotton on the display. They may leave flakes on the monitor or scratch them. Don’t use any concentrated solution. There are monitor cleaning solutions available in the market – use them.

For the keyboard, use compressed air again. If your laptop allows it, remove the keys and clean. As a precaution, never keep any sticky liquid near your laptop while working. It may spill and dirty the keypad and may prove difficult to clean.

Laptops must be cleaned with utmost care and precaution. You should not rush through it. So set aside some time for this so that you can do it properly and thoroughly. Regular cleaning will keep your laptop looking new and shiny, and also keep it running smoothly.

Stop the intruders using a firewall

A firewall is a ‘must-have’ if you want to be safe online. Arm your PC with this critical interface to stay safe.

You know you have to keep your PC safe from viruses. But an anti-virus program cannot help you deal with malicious people or computer robots from trying to enter your PC. Many websites have malicious code running which can put your computer in trouble. This is the reason you need a firewall.

 

Ever noticed at work, when you are trying to send a file to your friend on chat, and you get a message that says you cannot send the file to him because you are behind a firewall? That is the precaution that your company has taken to ensure that chat programs do not compromise the office network.

 

A firewall can be a software or hardware device or a combination of both used to monitor and filter network traffic according to a set of predefined rules. Generally, firewalls are set up to protect against unauthenticated logins from the cyber world. A firewall can also guard you against malicious websites and potential hackers. More elaborate firewalls block traffic for the outside to the inside, but allow users to communicate freely with the outer world.

 

If you have a home computer, it’s enough to go for a personal software firewall. Windows XP (SP2) comes with one installed. You can switch it on by going to Control Panel – Windows Firewall. In offices, a firewall is placed at the gateway of web connectivity with its predefined rules based on the company specifications. Once in place, a firewall monitors and restricts information travelling between your computer and the Internet.

 

So if an intruder attempts to enter your system, his request is rejected by the firewall. The firewall only allows permissible transactions to take place. So while you maybe able to surf the web or download files, requests from hacker programs or suspicious codes are rejected. A skillfully configured firewall, at times makes your system appear practically invisible! Remember that the efficiency of a firewall greatly depends on the way the “rules” are set.

 

There are many free software firewalls for download. You can use a reputed one and install it on your computer. But remember to diable Windows Firewall before you start using it. Although many firewalls are designed to fight viruses, it’s best to have a separate anti-virus program installed on your computer.

 

There are limitations with firewalls too. Not all firewalls can protect you against viruses. A firewall cannot tell you whether it has been correctly configured or not. Also, not many firewalls can indicate whether your system has been compromised.