Technical Terms of the Week

November 1-5's Technical Terms are:

1. Defragment - This process helps your computer run smoother, and it clears up more space on your hard drive, so you can have more documents, pictures, e-mails, etc. on it. Defragmenting actually helps your hard drive. After the process is complete, your hard drive may sound quieter than it has been.

2. Ad-Hoc Network - An Ad-Hoc Network, in translation, means "for this purpose." It uses a computer's wireless card to allow other computers to connect to the computer supplying the connection, making it able to share files with the computers connected to it.

3. Remote Access - The ability to access your computer from a remote location (e.g. - work computer at home). Programs like PC Anywhere, TeamViewer, LogMeIn, and Timbuktu allow you to control your remote computer from the computer you are sitting at.

Windows 7 tip: Shake your desktop free of clutter

Have you ever had your desktop full of open programs? Well, this simple tip will help you get rid of that clutter. In Windows 7, there is a feature, called "Aero Shake," that allows you to close all programs, and then reopen them when you need them again.

To do this, simply click on the title bar of the program you are using (located next to the minimize, maximize, and exit buttons), and shake it quickly back and forth until the other programs minimize. To reverse this process, simply shake the title bar again until the programs reappear.

There is also a boring way of doing this: Hold the Windows key + Home key. But, that is not as fun!

LimeWire is no more

Last Tuesday, October 26, 2010, LimeWire received a court injunction to stop their file sharing features immediately.

Even though they are out of the "file-sharing business," they will continue to use the other aspects of their business, however. They are currently working on a new piece of software that, they promise, will obey copyright laws. It will contain a music catalog (like iTunes), a desktop media player, mobile apps, and streaming music (like Youtube).

Lime Group has not made any known deals that they have struck, as far as the new service goes. They are far in the development stage of the software, but they do not yet have a launch date. And who knows, someday LimeWire might be the new iTunes!

Do you think your internet connection's fast?

Think again. By now, I'm guessing most people have high speed internet, or Cable/DSL. You're quite acquainted with it because it's fast, and it gets what you need on the internet done without having to wait an unreasonable amount of time. Well, now that reasearchers at the Terabit Optical Ethernet Center, or TOEC, at the University of California, Santa Barbara are developing the Terabit Ethernet, your Cable/DSL internet may not seem as fast as you think.

Today's Internet can't handle the increase in internet users and content over the next 10 years. Right now, the most common speed of internet connections is 100 megabytes. However, the fastest speed you can get is 1 gigabytes speed. By the year 2015, TOEC will have developed the Terabit Ethernet, running at a speed of 10,000 megabytes, or 1,000 gigabytes. Your internet connection will "fly," loading pages faster than ever seen before.

In order to be able to run 1 Terabit connections, scientists must develop a compatible network card for your computer, network switches and routers to send the signal, and Cable companies to send the signals. On top of all that, where does it all come from before the Cable companies? It comes from its source, a server holding all the pages and images of a website. Scientists at TOEC will also need to build an energy-efficient way to power and cool the systems.