Samsung’s new phones will have flexible screens

Samsung‘s new mobile device lineup will feature flexible screens starting in 2012, the company announced today.

In its quarterly earnings call, Samsung’s vice president of investor relations, Robert Yi, told investors, analysts and press, “The flexible display we are looking to introduce sometime in 2012, hopefully the earlier part. The application probably will start from the handset side.”

After flexible-screen mobile phones roll out, the company plans to introduce the same technology for tablets and other devices.

In January 2011, Samsung purchased Liquivista, a strategic acquisition that will allow it to produce the kinds of displays that were announced today. Liquivista made electrowetting display technology, which is used to create mobile and other consumer electronic displays that are bright, low-power, flexible and transparent.

Flexible screen technology was also a focus of Samsung’s in March, when Yongsuk Choi, director of Samsung Mobile Display, gave an overview of the company’s future mobile device plans. At that time, Choi said most of the flexible-display technology Samsung was working on was still in very early stages.

Flexible displays have been on the fringes of up-and-coming mobile technologies for some time. For example, we saw a bendable e-reader from Plastic Logic back in 2008.

More recently, Sony, in particular, has shown some interesting work in the field, demonstrating its first flexible display at CES in early 2009 and showing off advanced, thinner, more flexible displays just last year.

Still, flexible screens aren’t something we’re seeing on the mass market yet; we wonder if consumers will warm to the idea when Samsung takes the wraps off these new devices.

Samsung recently surpassed Apple as the top smartphone manufacturer, shipping 27.8 million smartphones last quarter. Altogether, Samsung’s current share of the smartphone market is 23.8 percent.

Windows Vista Blue Screen Crashes – Easily Fix any Crash & Error!

By: null

I know how irritating can Windows Vista blue screen crashes can be – unfortunately I’ve been there. I tried almost everything until I found something truly different. Not only that I was able to fix these errors, but many other ‘old’ errors on my PC. Keep reading as this is probably going to be the best tip you’ve ever got (…as a PC user).
You can either get hysteric and call up on a PC technician, or take your PC to a repair shop, or…simply be able to track down the problem and fix it all by yourself, and yes, you don’t have to be a computer expert in order to figure out how to fix these problems.
Click here to fix a Windows Vista blue screen crashes now!
I’m not going to describe in technical details, why, how, and what you need to do, because actually there is no need to do that…I just found something that fixes ANY Windows crash, error, freeze, so that you’ll never need to reinstall Windows again, moreover, I discovered that PC technicians use it to make thousands of dollar…
I’ve checked it and it REALLY works. Period!
This solution is quite new (patented) and it works differently than any other solution you’ve heard of. As mentioned earlier, it was originally developed exclusively for PC technicians, enabling them to fix any PC with just a push of a button. PC Repair shops would turn around and charge desperate Windows users hundreds and even thousands of dollars for their so-called labor…
The truth is...anyone can operate it, and by using it you’ll most probably be able to immediately repair Windows Vista blue screen crashes. I highly recommend you to download it to your PC if you need to urgently repair your Windows crashes without calling an expensive PC technician.
More from the Author
Repair Windows Vista Blue Screen Crashes Now!
Article Source: http://www.articlewritingclicks.com/ - Windows Vista Blue Screen Crashes – Easily Fix any Crash & Error!

Repair Windows XP without CD

                                                                              

                                Repair Windows XP without CD   

If you want to repair Windows XP without CD, even if you lost your license key, or have a non-functional CD drive, then there’s a brilliant way that I found that enables you to do that. This is one of those things that make you wonder how no one has thought of this before…

 

I needed to repair my (old) Windows XP after my son ‘accidently’ messed with at least one of the system files which resulted with those frustrating blue screen errors.

Naturally, I went to my CD case in order to find that original Windows XP installation CD together with the license key that I purchased a few years back and… of course it wasn’t there!

Great, so now what…how can I repair Windows XP without CD?

Even worse, suppose I do find a way to reinstall Windows, I’ll have to...
Backup all my data…
Reformat my PC…
Spend at least an hour on reinstalling and reconfiguring Windows
Install the service packs…
Spend several hours on reinstalling MS Office and all my other programs…
Reconfigure my Internet connection….

WHAT A NIGHTMARE!

What are the options?
Buying a new CD and license? No way… (I don’t think they even sell XP anymore)
Now, suppose I do get that CD from someone, I still don’t have my license key…

Here is how to repair Windows XP without CD
After talking to several buddies of mine, one of them told me that he had the same problem, but in his case he had the installation CD and license, but his CD drive wasn’t working, he couldn’t insert that CD…

He found on Google a brilliant solution that repaired his Windows XP in about 10 minutes without the need of the installation CD or the license key. No need to backup anything (all private documents and files stay where they are) and most importantly, no need to spend long hours on reinstalling Windows and all the other stuff.

It scans your PC, detects damaged Windows OS parts and replaces any damaged or missing files with new compatible ones, so eventually you get a completely restored Windows OS, the same way as if you’ve reinstalled it, but without having to reinstall it…

As I expected, it detected and replaced several system files that my son has deleted that caused all that trouble.

As far as I found out, this is the only way to repair Windows XP without CD and without having to reinstall it, even if you’ve lost your license key. If you know of any other method, feel free to post your comment below.

Tip – What to do if Windows won’t upload
If you can’t get into Windows after you restart your PC, try uploading Windows in ‘Safe Mode’:
(1) Restart your PC while pushing the F8 key
(2) Keep pushing the F8 key…
(3) Select ‘Safe Mode’
<h1>Repair Windows XP without CD - Now this is what I call Brilliant!</h1>
<p><strong>By: null</strong></p><div style="line-height: 2em">&nbsp;</div>
<div><img align="left" src="http://www.articlewritingclicks.com/images/windows_xp_repair.jpg" alt="Repair Windows XP without CD"></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 20em">If you want to repair Windows XP without CD, even if you lost your license key, or have a non-functional CD drive, then there’s a brilliant way that I found that enables you to do that. This is one of those things that make you wonder how no one has thought of this before…</div>
<div style="line-height: 2.5em">&nbsp;</div>
<p>I needed to repair my (old) Windows XP after my son ‘accidently’ messed with at least one of the system files which resulted with those frustrating blue screen errors.</p>
<p>Naturally, I went to my CD case in order to find that original Windows XP installation CD together with the license key that I purchased a few years back and… of course it wasn’t there!</p>
<p>Great, so now what…how can I repair Windows XP without CD?</p>
<p>Even worse, suppose I do find a way to reinstall Windows, I’ll have to...<br>
Backup all my data…<br>
Reformat my PC…<br>
Spend at least an hour on reinstalling and reconfiguring Windows<br>
Install the service packs…<br>
Spend several hours on reinstalling MS Office and all my other programs…<br>
Reconfigure my Internet connection….</p>
<p>WHAT A NIGHTMARE!</p>
<p><b>What are the options?</b><br>
Buying a new CD and license? No way… (I don’t think they even sell XP anymore) <br>
Now, suppose I do get that CD from someone, I still don’t have my license key…</p>
<p><b>Here is how to repair Windows XP without CD</b><br>
After talking to several buddies of mine, one of them told me that he had the same problem, but in his case he had the installation CD and license, but his CD drive wasn’t working, he couldn’t insert that CD…</p>
<p>He found on Google a <a href="http://www.articlewritingclicks.com/solutions/ReImage.php?cd=AWCreg38" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">brilliant solution</a> that repaired his Windows XP in about 10 minutes without the need of the <b>installation CD</b> or the <b>license key</b>. No need to backup anything (all private documents and files stay where they are) and most importantly, no need to spend long hours on reinstalling Windows and all the other stuff.</p>
<p>It scans your PC, detects damaged Windows OS parts and replaces any damaged or missing files with new compatible ones, so eventually you get a completely restored Windows OS, the same way as if you’ve reinstalled it, but without having to reinstall it…</p>
<p>As I expected, it detected and replaced several system files that my son has deleted that caused all that trouble.</p>
<p>As far as I found out, this is the only way to <a href="http://www.articlewritingclicks.com/solutions/ReImage.php?cd=AWCreg38" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">repair Windows XP without CD</a> and without having to reinstall it, even if you’ve lost your license key. If you know of any other method, feel free to post your comment below.</p>
<p><strong>More from the Author</strong></p>
<p> <b>Tip – What to do if Windows won’t upload</b><br>
If you can’t get into Windows after you restart your PC, try uploading Windows in ‘Safe Mode’: <br>
(1) Restart your PC while pushing the F8 key<br>
(2) Keep pushing the F8 key…<br>
(3) Select ‘Safe Mode’ </p>
<p>Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlewritingclicks.com/">http://www.articlewritingclicks.com/</a> - <a href="http://www.articlewritingclicks.com/Software/Repair_Windows_XP_without_CD__Now_this_is_what_I_call_Brilliant.html" title="Repair Windows XP without CD - Now this is what I call Brilliant!">Repair Windows XP without CD - Now this is what I call Brilliant!</a></p>

Display Driver has Stopped Responding and has Recovered – Fixed!

The “Display Driver has Stopped Responding and has Recovered” error is probably one of the most annoying PC problems I’ve ever bumped into in the past few years. After researching this unsolved problem for several days, I believe I finally found how to fix it.

There are several ways to handle this issue, but these are quite complex for the average PC user and are suitable for advanced PC users (involves editing your registry system, or messing with other Windows configurations…).

In a minute I’ll demonstrate a quick way that enables any PC user at any level to easily handle and repair this problem.

First of all, here is some important information about this error:

‘Suffering’ platforms:
Windows 7 32bit/64bit, Vista

‘Involved’ graphic cards: 
Can be any card from any manufacturer, but here are known ‘involved’ graphic cards:

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650/X1300/3870
Nvidia GTX 470/8600GT/QUADRO FX800M
NVidia GEForce 9800/GT 200/GT 220

But again, it can happen with any graphic card.

Typical problems: 
You’ll usually get a ‘nice’ “Display Driver has Stopped Responding and has Recovered” error message together with a system freeze that may typically last anywhere between a few seconds up to 30 minutes, and afterwards everything will work fine. In some instances it even results with a BSOD crash (blue screen of death).

Causes:
It is still impossible to pinpoint the exact source to that error, but one thing is certain – it's a DRIVER problem! One of your drivers is either outdated/incompatible/obsolete.

And don’t get it wrong!

It isn’t necessarily your graphic card driver…it can be a motherboard driver, or any of your system or device drivers, or a combination of several drivers.

It is known for example that Windows Vista and Windows 7 automatic third party drivers update aren’t that successful and accurate, and known for causing all kinds of errors.

What to do?
You need to track down the problematic driver or drivers that cause this “Display Driver has Stopped Responding and has Recovered” error and replace them immediately.

In order to do that, download the following drivers repair tool:

(1) Click ‘Driver Manager’
(2) Wait until it detects the problematic drivers…
(3) Replace them with their latest and compatible version
(4) Restart your PC

I've added this quick video to demonstrate how it is done:

Good luck!

Michael.




Important!
The drivers repair tool usually detects various outdated drivers that might not seem relevant to you; I highly recommend you to let it update them all – not only your graphic card related/system drivers.

Display Driver has Stopped Responding and has Recovered – Fixed!: "
"

'via Blog this'

16 essential Android apps for IT pros

                                  16 essential Android apps for IT pros 
These apps can connect to servers, monitor systems, and scan networks, turning your Android device into an on-the-job dynamo

There are hundreds of thousands of Android apps, including many that are useful for IT professionals on the job. These apps can help connect to servers, monitor computers, access databases, analyze the airwaves, scan networks, and serve as a reference. Here are 16 of these apps, most of them free.

If you work with Unix-based servers or other network components that support SSH/Telnet connections, you can use this open source client to remotely connect. No need to get on the desktop or boot up your laptop. You can perform admin, maintenance, or troubleshooting tasks via command-line. Additionally, it supports local connections, so you can access the command-line of your Android.

ConnectBot supports generating and importing SSH keys. You can pan between multiple simultaneous connections and copy/paste between them or other applications. It keeps a history of previous sessions so you don't have to keep inputting the host address. Even better, you can create shortcuts to frequent hosts on your Android desktop.

AndFTP (Free or $5.59)

You can use this FTP/SFTP/FTPS client to download/upload files or perform administrative tasks from your Android. It features resume support and enables the basic admin tasks: renaming, deleting, updating permissions, and running custom commands. You can also send files via email, messaging, Bluetooth, and via other apps. The Pro version adds support for secure copy protocol (SCP) connections and enables remote/local folder synchronization.

Linux Monitor ($2.61)

If you work with Linux servers you can use this simple monitoring app to remotely keep an eye on the vitals: CPU load, RAM and disk usage, and network/port activity. View stats represented in numbers or via progress bars. Though you can monitor multiple Linux machines, you can't monitor or view them simultaneously. You must manually change the monitoring address to switch between them.

The remote Linux machine(s) must be running the Apache web server with PHP, and you must upload a simple PHP script. You can download a sample version to get a feel for the app.

Server Monitor (Free)

This simple monitoring app can alert you if a server or a certain component/port of it goes down. This is great if you don't already have a monitoring/alert system put into place or you'd like redundancy. It supports TCP connections as well as SSH tunnels. You add a server hostname or IP address and then you can optionally add specific components or ports to monitor, including SSH over SSH. You can define the polling frequency and toggle sound and/or vibrate alerts. You can set the service to start up automatically during boot or enable manual control.

10 best Android tablet apps for news junkies

httpmon (Free)

This is another monitoring app, but designed specifically for HTTP servers. You can customize a request URL and check with simple pings or with customizable conditions: the response code or time and header or content contains using substrings, wildcards, or regular expressions. You can also set the desired User Agent used for all the requests, the connection timeout, and the read timeout. On failures, it can notify, flash, alert, and vibrate your phone and/or send SMS messages to others.


Cellica Database for Android ($39.99 after 10-day trial)

If you work with databases on a Windows server or PC, you can use this app to access and manage them from your Android. Once you install the required software on the server or PC, you'll have encrypted access to edit fields, apply select queries, filters, sorting, or even create databases. Supported databases include: Microsoft Access, Access 2007, Microsoft Excel, Excel 2007, Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, MySQL, PostgreSQL, FoxPro, dBase, R:BASE and any ODBC Compliant Database.

Phoenix MySql Client (Free)

If you only desire a simple connection to MySQL databases, you can use this free app to directly connect. You can then view tables, views, and stored procedures. You can perform SQL queries and execute statements: select, create, insert, etc.


Wyse PocketCloud (Free or $14.99)

This remote desktop client supports Microsoft RDP, platform-independent VNC (virtual network computing), and virtual VMware View connections to Windows, Mac or Linux machines via Wi-Fi and cellular connections. It supports both Android smartphones and tablets. You might use it to provide remote tech support or access a PC for its programs or files.

If you download and install their companion software to the Windows or Mac computer, it can auto configure the connection via your Google account so you don't have to mess with router settings or IP addresses. But you can always manually configure the connection as well.

The Pro version removes the advertisements and adds more features: multiple connections, encryption to secure the connections, sound support for RDP, and VMware View support to access virtual machines.

Android-VNC-Viewer (Free)

If you prefer VNC for remote desktop connections and don't mind configuring the router and have static IPs or a dynamic DNS host name, you might consider using this simple open source VNC client. It supports VNC connections to most VNC servers on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X via Wi-Fi and Cellular connections.

Unlike the Wyse PocketCloud client, this app doesn't display advertisements and gives you pinch zooming for free. On the other hand, it can't automatically secure your connections. You'd have to use a separate app, such as ConnectBot, to encrypt your connection to the computer/server you're trying to remotely access.

Spiceworks Mobile (Free)

If your organization uses the Spiceworks IT management solution, you can use this client app to view your network and PC inventory, manage trouble tickets, and access and manage users with support of Active Directory. You can also communicate with other IT pros in the Spiceworks community to get feedback, help, or research.

ActiveDir Manager (Free or $1.99)

This is a must-have app if you work with the Active Directory in your organization. It lets you view and manage users, groups, and computers right from your Android. You can reset user passwords, disable or edit user accounts, adjust group memberships, and perform other basic admin tasks. It supports Windows Server 2000 and later with StartTLS, SSL, or no encryption. It can directly connect to the Active Directory server via Wi-Fi or VPN.


The only difference between the free and paid version is that the paid version enables saving of the LDAP connection settings and options.

Wi-Fi Analyzer (Free)

If you work with the Wi-Fi network at your organization you may want to use this Wi-Fi stumbler and analyzer app when setting up access points, checking channel usage, troubleshooting Wi-Fi issues, or doing Wi-Fi security auditing.

You can view and export the details of access points: SSID, MAC address, encryption, channel, and signal in negative dBm levels via a graphical bar and text readout. You can view channel graphs showing each access point's channel and signal in real-time or a recent history. Then a channel rating page gives you recommendations on which channels to use. You can use the signal meter view to find the access points.

SharesFinder (Free)

This scans for Windows (SMB), FTP and HTTP shares/servers on the network you're connected to via Wi-Fi. It's useful if you're trying to access files on the network or when doing security auditing. For each share/server you'll see the IP and media access control address, SMB name, and vendor name.

This app also supports basic file transfers and management of the remote SMB files, such as creating and deleting files and folders. You can login as anonymous or input a username and password. For HTTP resources, it launches the web browser. For FTP resources, you can connect via a third-party FTP client, such as AndFTP.

Overlook Fing (Free)

If you do any networking work, this is a must-have app. It can do TCP port scanning, pinging, traceroute, and DNS lookups on a network via Wi-Fi. It also shows the network details (SSID, IP details, and speed) of your current Wi-Fi connection.

You can see and export the details (MAC address, IP and vendor) for each computer or device detected on the network, which are customizable with a name, icon or notes. You can also perform a port scan or ping a particular computer or device. It can also launch third-party client apps for SSH, Telnet, FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SCP, HTTP, secure-HTTP and SMB.

RouterPasswords (Free)

This is a must-have for anyone that works with networking gear. It's a simple database of the default login methods and credentials for over a thousand routers, gateways, modems and other network components. Though you can find the same info online, this gives you quick off-line access. Just start typing the model or brand and it will begin list matching entries.

Linux Commands (Free)

If you use Linux but aren't an expert at the command-line, this is a great app to have for reference. It lists more than 500 Linux commands that you can browse through. Select a command and you'll see the syntax, description, and any command options. You can even star your favorite commands and have them shown at startup and/or manually access your list of favorites. Though you can find the same info online, this gives you quick off-line access.

Geier is the founder of NoWiresSecurity, which helps businesses protect their Wi-Fi networks with a hosted RADIUS/802.1X service. He is also a freelance tech writer — become a Twitter follower or use the RSS Feed to keep up with his writings.





http://www.networkworld.com/slideshows/2011/091911-android-apps.html

http://www.infoworld.com/sites/infoworld.com/files/imagecache/slideshow_slide/media/image/img_091911-droid-apps-1.jpg

16 essential Android apps for IT pros

                                  16 essential Android apps for IT pros 
These apps can connect to servers, monitor systems, and scan networks, turning your Android device into an on-the-job dynamo

There are hundreds of thousands of Android apps, including many that are useful for IT professionals on the job. These apps can help connect to servers, monitor computers, access databases, analyze the airwaves, scan networks, and serve as a reference. Here are 16 of these apps, most of them free.

If you work with Unix-based servers or other network components that support SSH/Telnet connections, you can use this open source client to remotely connect. No need to get on the desktop or boot up your laptop. You can perform admin, maintenance, or troubleshooting tasks via command-line. Additionally, it supports local connections, so you can access the command-line of your Android.

ConnectBot supports generating and importing SSH keys. You can pan between multiple simultaneous connections and copy/paste between them or other applications. It keeps a history of previous sessions so you don't have to keep inputting the host address. Even better, you can create shortcuts to frequent hosts on your Android desktop.

AndFTP (Free or $5.59)

You can use this FTP/SFTP/FTPS client to download/upload files or perform administrative tasks from your Android. It features resume support and enables the basic admin tasks: renaming, deleting, updating permissions, and running custom commands. You can also send files via email, messaging, Bluetooth, and via other apps. The Pro version adds support for secure copy protocol (SCP) connections and enables remote/local folder synchronization.

Linux Monitor ($2.61)

If you work with Linux servers you can use this simple monitoring app to remotely keep an eye on the vitals: CPU load, RAM and disk usage, and network/port activity. View stats represented in numbers or via progress bars. Though you can monitor multiple Linux machines, you can't monitor or view them simultaneously. You must manually change the monitoring address to switch between them.

The remote Linux machine(s) must be running the Apache web server with PHP, and you must upload a simple PHP script. You can download a sample version to get a feel for the app.

Server Monitor (Free)

This simple monitoring app can alert you if a server or a certain component/port of it goes down. This is great if you don't already have a monitoring/alert system put into place or you'd like redundancy. It supports TCP connections as well as SSH tunnels. You add a server hostname or IP address and then you can optionally add specific components or ports to monitor, including SSH over SSH. You can define the polling frequency and toggle sound and/or vibrate alerts. You can set the service to start up automatically during boot or enable manual control.

10 best Android tablet apps for news junkies

httpmon (Free)

This is another monitoring app, but designed specifically for HTTP servers. You can customize a request URL and check with simple pings or with customizable conditions: the response code or time and header or content contains using substrings, wildcards, or regular expressions. You can also set the desired User Agent used for all the requests, the connection timeout, and the read timeout. On failures, it can notify, flash, alert, and vibrate your phone and/or send SMS messages to others.


Cellica Database for Android ($39.99 after 10-day trial)

If you work with databases on a Windows server or PC, you can use this app to access and manage them from your Android. Once you install the required software on the server or PC, you'll have encrypted access to edit fields, apply select queries, filters, sorting, or even create databases. Supported databases include: Microsoft Access, Access 2007, Microsoft Excel, Excel 2007, Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, MySQL, PostgreSQL, FoxPro, dBase, R:BASE and any ODBC Compliant Database.

Phoenix MySql Client (Free)

If you only desire a simple connection to MySQL databases, you can use this free app to directly connect. You can then view tables, views, and stored procedures. You can perform SQL queries and execute statements: select, create, insert, etc.


Wyse PocketCloud (Free or $14.99)

This remote desktop client supports Microsoft RDP, platform-independent VNC (virtual network computing), and virtual VMware View connections to Windows, Mac or Linux machines via Wi-Fi and cellular connections. It supports both Android smartphones and tablets. You might use it to provide remote tech support or access a PC for its programs or files.

If you download and install their companion software to the Windows or Mac computer, it can auto configure the connection via your Google account so you don't have to mess with router settings or IP addresses. But you can always manually configure the connection as well.

The Pro version removes the advertisements and adds more features: multiple connections, encryption to secure the connections, sound support for RDP, and VMware View support to access virtual machines.

Android-VNC-Viewer (Free)

If you prefer VNC for remote desktop connections and don't mind configuring the router and have static IPs or a dynamic DNS host name, you might consider using this simple open source VNC client. It supports VNC connections to most VNC servers on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X via Wi-Fi and Cellular connections.

Unlike the Wyse PocketCloud client, this app doesn't display advertisements and gives you pinch zooming for free. On the other hand, it can't automatically secure your connections. You'd have to use a separate app, such as ConnectBot, to encrypt your connection to the computer/server you're trying to remotely access.

Spiceworks Mobile (Free)

If your organization uses the Spiceworks IT management solution, you can use this client app to view your network and PC inventory, manage trouble tickets, and access and manage users with support of Active Directory. You can also communicate with other IT pros in the Spiceworks community to get feedback, help, or research.

ActiveDir Manager (Free or $1.99)

This is a must-have app if you work with the Active Directory in your organization. It lets you view and manage users, groups, and computers right from your Android. You can reset user passwords, disable or edit user accounts, adjust group memberships, and perform other basic admin tasks. It supports Windows Server 2000 and later with StartTLS, SSL, or no encryption. It can directly connect to the Active Directory server via Wi-Fi or VPN.


The only difference between the free and paid version is that the paid version enables saving of the LDAP connection settings and options.

Wi-Fi Analyzer (Free)

If you work with the Wi-Fi network at your organization you may want to use this Wi-Fi stumbler and analyzer app when setting up access points, checking channel usage, troubleshooting Wi-Fi issues, or doing Wi-Fi security auditing.

You can view and export the details of access points: SSID, MAC address, encryption, channel, and signal in negative dBm levels via a graphical bar and text readout. You can view channel graphs showing each access point's channel and signal in real-time or a recent history. Then a channel rating page gives you recommendations on which channels to use. You can use the signal meter view to find the access points.

SharesFinder (Free)

This scans for Windows (SMB), FTP and HTTP shares/servers on the network you're connected to via Wi-Fi. It's useful if you're trying to access files on the network or when doing security auditing. For each share/server you'll see the IP and media access control address, SMB name, and vendor name.

This app also supports basic file transfers and management of the remote SMB files, such as creating and deleting files and folders. You can login as anonymous or input a username and password. For HTTP resources, it launches the web browser. For FTP resources, you can connect via a third-party FTP client, such as AndFTP.

Overlook Fing (Free)

If you do any networking work, this is a must-have app. It can do TCP port scanning, pinging, traceroute, and DNS lookups on a network via Wi-Fi. It also shows the network details (SSID, IP details, and speed) of your current Wi-Fi connection.

You can see and export the details (MAC address, IP and vendor) for each computer or device detected on the network, which are customizable with a name, icon or notes. You can also perform a port scan or ping a particular computer or device. It can also launch third-party client apps for SSH, Telnet, FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SCP, HTTP, secure-HTTP and SMB.

RouterPasswords (Free)

This is a must-have for anyone that works with networking gear. It's a simple database of the default login methods and credentials for over a thousand routers, gateways, modems and other network components. Though you can find the same info online, this gives you quick off-line access. Just start typing the model or brand and it will begin list matching entries.

Linux Commands (Free)

If you use Linux but aren't an expert at the command-line, this is a great app to have for reference. It lists more than 500 Linux commands that you can browse through. Select a command and you'll see the syntax, description, and any command options. You can even star your favorite commands and have them shown at startup and/or manually access your list of favorites. Though you can find the same info online, this gives you quick off-line access.

Geier is the founder of NoWiresSecurity, which helps businesses protect their Wi-Fi networks with a hosted RADIUS/802.1X service. He is also a freelance tech writer — become a Twitter follower or use the RSS Feed to keep up with his writings.





http://www.networkworld.com/slideshows/2011/091911-android-apps.html

http://www.infoworld.com/sites/infoworld.com/files/imagecache/slideshow_slide/media/image/img_091911-droid-apps-1.jpg

16 essential Android apps for IT pros

                                  16 essential Android apps for IT pros 
These apps can connect to servers, monitor systems, and scan networks, turning your Android device into an on-the-job dynamo

There are hundreds of thousands of Android apps, including many that are useful for IT professionals on the job. These apps can help connect to servers, monitor computers, access databases, analyze the airwaves, scan networks, and serve as a reference. Here are 16 of these apps, most of them free.

If you work with Unix-based servers or other network components that support SSH/Telnet connections, you can use this open source client to remotely connect. No need to get on the desktop or boot up your laptop. You can perform admin, maintenance, or troubleshooting tasks via command-line. Additionally, it supports local connections, so you can access the command-line of your Android.

ConnectBot supports generating and importing SSH keys. You can pan between multiple simultaneous connections and copy/paste between them or other applications. It keeps a history of previous sessions so you don't have to keep inputting the host address. Even better, you can create shortcuts to frequent hosts on your Android desktop.

AndFTP (Free or $5.59)

You can use this FTP/SFTP/FTPS client to download/upload files or perform administrative tasks from your Android. It features resume support and enables the basic admin tasks: renaming, deleting, updating permissions, and running custom commands. You can also send files via email, messaging, Bluetooth, and via other apps. The Pro version adds support for secure copy protocol (SCP) connections and enables remote/local folder synchronization.

Linux Monitor ($2.61)

If you work with Linux servers you can use this simple monitoring app to remotely keep an eye on the vitals: CPU load, RAM and disk usage, and network/port activity. View stats represented in numbers or via progress bars. Though you can monitor multiple Linux machines, you can't monitor or view them simultaneously. You must manually change the monitoring address to switch between them.

The remote Linux machine(s) must be running the Apache web server with PHP, and you must upload a simple PHP script. You can download a sample version to get a feel for the app.

Server Monitor (Free)

This simple monitoring app can alert you if a server or a certain component/port of it goes down. This is great if you don't already have a monitoring/alert system put into place or you'd like redundancy. It supports TCP connections as well as SSH tunnels. You add a server hostname or IP address and then you can optionally add specific components or ports to monitor, including SSH over SSH. You can define the polling frequency and toggle sound and/or vibrate alerts. You can set the service to start up automatically during boot or enable manual control.

10 best Android tablet apps for news junkies

httpmon (Free)

This is another monitoring app, but designed specifically for HTTP servers. You can customize a request URL and check with simple pings or with customizable conditions: the response code or time and header or content contains using substrings, wildcards, or regular expressions. You can also set the desired User Agent used for all the requests, the connection timeout, and the read timeout. On failures, it can notify, flash, alert, and vibrate your phone and/or send SMS messages to others.


Cellica Database for Android ($39.99 after 10-day trial)

If you work with databases on a Windows server or PC, you can use this app to access and manage them from your Android. Once you install the required software on the server or PC, you'll have encrypted access to edit fields, apply select queries, filters, sorting, or even create databases. Supported databases include: Microsoft Access, Access 2007, Microsoft Excel, Excel 2007, Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, MySQL, PostgreSQL, FoxPro, dBase, R:BASE and any ODBC Compliant Database.

Phoenix MySql Client (Free)

If you only desire a simple connection to MySQL databases, you can use this free app to directly connect. You can then view tables, views, and stored procedures. You can perform SQL queries and execute statements: select, create, insert, etc.


Wyse PocketCloud (Free or $14.99)

This remote desktop client supports Microsoft RDP, platform-independent VNC (virtual network computing), and virtual VMware View connections to Windows, Mac or Linux machines via Wi-Fi and cellular connections. It supports both Android smartphones and tablets. You might use it to provide remote tech support or access a PC for its programs or files.

If you download and install their companion software to the Windows or Mac computer, it can auto configure the connection via your Google account so you don't have to mess with router settings or IP addresses. But you can always manually configure the connection as well.

The Pro version removes the advertisements and adds more features: multiple connections, encryption to secure the connections, sound support for RDP, and VMware View support to access virtual machines.

Android-VNC-Viewer (Free)

If you prefer VNC for remote desktop connections and don't mind configuring the router and have static IPs or a dynamic DNS host name, you might consider using this simple open source VNC client. It supports VNC connections to most VNC servers on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X via Wi-Fi and Cellular connections.

Unlike the Wyse PocketCloud client, this app doesn't display advertisements and gives you pinch zooming for free. On the other hand, it can't automatically secure your connections. You'd have to use a separate app, such as ConnectBot, to encrypt your connection to the computer/server you're trying to remotely access.

Spiceworks Mobile (Free)

If your organization uses the Spiceworks IT management solution, you can use this client app to view your network and PC inventory, manage trouble tickets, and access and manage users with support of Active Directory. You can also communicate with other IT pros in the Spiceworks community to get feedback, help, or research.

ActiveDir Manager (Free or $1.99)

This is a must-have app if you work with the Active Directory in your organization. It lets you view and manage users, groups, and computers right from your Android. You can reset user passwords, disable or edit user accounts, adjust group memberships, and perform other basic admin tasks. It supports Windows Server 2000 and later with StartTLS, SSL, or no encryption. It can directly connect to the Active Directory server via Wi-Fi or VPN.


The only difference between the free and paid version is that the paid version enables saving of the LDAP connection settings and options.

Wi-Fi Analyzer (Free)

If you work with the Wi-Fi network at your organization you may want to use this Wi-Fi stumbler and analyzer app when setting up access points, checking channel usage, troubleshooting Wi-Fi issues, or doing Wi-Fi security auditing.

You can view and export the details of access points: SSID, MAC address, encryption, channel, and signal in negative dBm levels via a graphical bar and text readout. You can view channel graphs showing each access point's channel and signal in real-time or a recent history. Then a channel rating page gives you recommendations on which channels to use. You can use the signal meter view to find the access points.

SharesFinder (Free)

This scans for Windows (SMB), FTP and HTTP shares/servers on the network you're connected to via Wi-Fi. It's useful if you're trying to access files on the network or when doing security auditing. For each share/server you'll see the IP and media access control address, SMB name, and vendor name.

This app also supports basic file transfers and management of the remote SMB files, such as creating and deleting files and folders. You can login as anonymous or input a username and password. For HTTP resources, it launches the web browser. For FTP resources, you can connect via a third-party FTP client, such as AndFTP.

Overlook Fing (Free)

If you do any networking work, this is a must-have app. It can do TCP port scanning, pinging, traceroute, and DNS lookups on a network via Wi-Fi. It also shows the network details (SSID, IP details, and speed) of your current Wi-Fi connection.

You can see and export the details (MAC address, IP and vendor) for each computer or device detected on the network, which are customizable with a name, icon or notes. You can also perform a port scan or ping a particular computer or device. It can also launch third-party client apps for SSH, Telnet, FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SCP, HTTP, secure-HTTP and SMB.

RouterPasswords (Free)

This is a must-have for anyone that works with networking gear. It's a simple database of the default login methods and credentials for over a thousand routers, gateways, modems and other network components. Though you can find the same info online, this gives you quick off-line access. Just start typing the model or brand and it will begin list matching entries.

Linux Commands (Free)

If you use Linux but aren't an expert at the command-line, this is a great app to have for reference. It lists more than 500 Linux commands that you can browse through. Select a command and you'll see the syntax, description, and any command options. You can even star your favorite commands and have them shown at startup and/or manually access your list of favorites. Though you can find the same info online, this gives you quick off-line access.

Geier is the founder of NoWiresSecurity, which helps businesses protect their Wi-Fi networks with a hosted RADIUS/802.1X service. He is also a freelance tech writer — become a Twitter follower or use the RSS Feed to keep up with his writings.





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How to Make Your Internet Connection Faster, Better

OpenDNS to the Internet Connection Performance Rescue


Have you ever pointed your browser to a Web site and had to wait an inordinately long time for the page — or at least the full page — to load? This kind of slow browsing experience can be traced to a variety of causes, but among the most common are problems with the servers that are responsible for actually locating all the sites you visit, your DNS (Domain Name Service) servers.

 A free service called OpenDNS can not only help your browser display Web pages faster it also offers some useful fringe benefits such as address typo correction and phishing protection, plus site blocking, content filtering and more. Before we delve into how to use OpenDNS, let's briefly outline how the DNS system works for those who may not be familiar with it.

What's the Deal with DNS?

 Every time you type a Web site address like www.practicallynetworked.com into your browser, that "friendly" address needs to be translated into the actual IP address for the computer hosting that site. The job of the DNS server is to take the text address you type in, look it up against a database of IP addresses, and then return the correct address to your browser so that the site can be accessed.

 The DNS database is actually distributed across countless servers all over the Internet, but the specific DNS server(s) you use are generally provided by your ISP. When your router obtains its IP address information from your ISP (usually through DHCP), the addresses for the DNS servers are provided as well. These DNS server addresses are in turn passed along to each of your computers via DHCP on your own network so that they all know where to go to look up Internet addresses.

 Long story short: If DNS servers get overloaded or experience other technical problems, they may take a long time to respond to lookup requests or they may not respond at all. Some ISPs are better than others when it comes to maintaining their DNS servers, but problems are not at all uncommon. Sometimes when your Internet connection seems to be down, it may be fine but simply appear down because your ISP's DNS isn't working properly.

 But you don't necessarily need to use your ISP's DNS servers, which brings us back to OpenDNS. OpenDNS, which has been around for about 18 months, is a free DNS service anyone can use, and is more than likely faster and more reliable than the one you're using now. (I've been using it for almost a year now and like many others have found the performance to be excellent.)

How to Use OpenDNS

 So how can you take advantage of OpenDNS? All you need to do is go is update your router's DNS settings via its administrator control panel. After you've logged into your router, look for settings related to DNS — the exact location will vary depending on your router, but you'll often find it under the LAN heading or sometimes even on the first settings page you see.

 When you find the DNS configuration area, you'll probably see that it's set to automatically obtain DNS servers from your ISP. Select the option that allows you to specify your own DNS server addresses, and then enter 208.67.222.222 as the primary DNS and 208.67.220.220 as the secondary DNS (as you might guess, the secondary is used if the primary isn't available).

 Your router may or may not reboot itself once you apply the new DNS settings, but in order to make sure each of your computers is using the OpenDNS servers, you should manually obtain a new DHCP address for each of them. An easy way to do this in XP is to right-click your network connection's tray icon and select Repair. In Vista, you can verify that a particular system is using OpenDNS if you see "You're using OpenDNS" message when you browse to welcome.opendns.com.)

 After some time spent using OpenDNS, you should notice that your browser generally takes less time to find and display Web sites. Even if you don't see a perceptible increase in performance, you'll still be able to benefit from several security and convenience features. For starters, OpenDNS can fix typos in the URLs you type, so if you accidentally type www.practicallynetworked.cmo — or .co, or .cm — you'll still be taken to the site you intended instead of being greeted by error message, or worse, an ersatz site from Cameroon (which owns the .cm domain).

 If you happen to type a nonexistent site name, instead of a not found error you'll see an OpenDNS Guide page with suggested alternate links (as well as some sponsored ones, which help keep OpenDNS free). For example, I sometimes inadvertently try to access the PracticallyNetworked.com site by typing in "pracnet.com" (PracNet is an internal nickname for the site), and when I do, PracticallyNetworked.com is first among the OpenDNS suggested links. Last but not least, using OpenDNS also gets you automatic phishing protection, so if the site you want to go to is known for phishing, OpenDNS won't take you there.

How to Make Your Internet Connection Faster, Better

OpenDNS to the Internet Connection Performance Rescue


Have you ever pointed your browser to a Web site and had to wait an inordinately long time for the page — or at least the full page — to load? This kind of slow browsing experience can be traced to a variety of causes, but among the most common are problems with the servers that are responsible for actually locating all the sites you visit, your DNS (Domain Name Service) servers.

 A free service called OpenDNS can not only help your browser display Web pages faster it also offers some useful fringe benefits such as address typo correction and phishing protection, plus site blocking, content filtering and more. Before we delve into how to use OpenDNS, let's briefly outline how the DNS system works for those who may not be familiar with it.

What's the Deal with DNS?

 Every time you type a Web site address like www.practicallynetworked.com into your browser, that "friendly" address needs to be translated into the actual IP address for the computer hosting that site. The job of the DNS server is to take the text address you type in, look it up against a database of IP addresses, and then return the correct address to your browser so that the site can be accessed.

 The DNS database is actually distributed across countless servers all over the Internet, but the specific DNS server(s) you use are generally provided by your ISP. When your router obtains its IP address information from your ISP (usually through DHCP), the addresses for the DNS servers are provided as well. These DNS server addresses are in turn passed along to each of your computers via DHCP on your own network so that they all know where to go to look up Internet addresses.

 Long story short: If DNS servers get overloaded or experience other technical problems, they may take a long time to respond to lookup requests or they may not respond at all. Some ISPs are better than others when it comes to maintaining their DNS servers, but problems are not at all uncommon. Sometimes when your Internet connection seems to be down, it may be fine but simply appear down because your ISP's DNS isn't working properly.

 But you don't necessarily need to use your ISP's DNS servers, which brings us back to OpenDNS. OpenDNS, which has been around for about 18 months, is a free DNS service anyone can use, and is more than likely faster and more reliable than the one you're using now. (I've been using it for almost a year now and like many others have found the performance to be excellent.)

How to Use OpenDNS

 So how can you take advantage of OpenDNS? All you need to do is go is update your router's DNS settings via its administrator control panel. After you've logged into your router, look for settings related to DNS — the exact location will vary depending on your router, but you'll often find it under the LAN heading or sometimes even on the first settings page you see.

 When you find the DNS configuration area, you'll probably see that it's set to automatically obtain DNS servers from your ISP. Select the option that allows you to specify your own DNS server addresses, and then enter 208.67.222.222 as the primary DNS and 208.67.220.220 as the secondary DNS (as you might guess, the secondary is used if the primary isn't available).

 Your router may or may not reboot itself once you apply the new DNS settings, but in order to make sure each of your computers is using the OpenDNS servers, you should manually obtain a new DHCP address for each of them. An easy way to do this in XP is to right-click your network connection's tray icon and select Repair. In Vista, you can verify that a particular system is using OpenDNS if you see "You're using OpenDNS" message when you browse to welcome.opendns.com.)

 After some time spent using OpenDNS, you should notice that your browser generally takes less time to find and display Web sites. Even if you don't see a perceptible increase in performance, you'll still be able to benefit from several security and convenience features. For starters, OpenDNS can fix typos in the URLs you type, so if you accidentally type www.practicallynetworked.cmo — or .co, or .cm — you'll still be taken to the site you intended instead of being greeted by error message, or worse, an ersatz site from Cameroon (which owns the .cm domain).

 If you happen to type a nonexistent site name, instead of a not found error you'll see an OpenDNS Guide page with suggested alternate links (as well as some sponsored ones, which help keep OpenDNS free). For example, I sometimes inadvertently try to access the PracticallyNetworked.com site by typing in "pracnet.com" (PracNet is an internal nickname for the site), and when I do, PracticallyNetworked.com is first among the OpenDNS suggested links. Last but not least, using OpenDNS also gets you automatic phishing protection, so if the site you want to go to is known for phishing, OpenDNS won't take you there.

How to Make Your Internet Connection Faster, Better

OpenDNS to the Internet Connection Performance Rescue


Have you ever pointed your browser to a Web site and had to wait an inordinately long time for the page — or at least the full page — to load? This kind of slow browsing experience can be traced to a variety of causes, but among the most common are problems with the servers that are responsible for actually locating all the sites you visit, your DNS (Domain Name Service) servers.

 A free service called OpenDNS can not only help your browser display Web pages faster it also offers some useful fringe benefits such as address typo correction and phishing protection, plus site blocking, content filtering and more. Before we delve into how to use OpenDNS, let's briefly outline how the DNS system works for those who may not be familiar with it.

What's the Deal with DNS?

 Every time you type a Web site address like www.practicallynetworked.com into your browser, that "friendly" address needs to be translated into the actual IP address for the computer hosting that site. The job of the DNS server is to take the text address you type in, look it up against a database of IP addresses, and then return the correct address to your browser so that the site can be accessed.

 The DNS database is actually distributed across countless servers all over the Internet, but the specific DNS server(s) you use are generally provided by your ISP. When your router obtains its IP address information from your ISP (usually through DHCP), the addresses for the DNS servers are provided as well. These DNS server addresses are in turn passed along to each of your computers via DHCP on your own network so that they all know where to go to look up Internet addresses.

 Long story short: If DNS servers get overloaded or experience other technical problems, they may take a long time to respond to lookup requests or they may not respond at all. Some ISPs are better than others when it comes to maintaining their DNS servers, but problems are not at all uncommon. Sometimes when your Internet connection seems to be down, it may be fine but simply appear down because your ISP's DNS isn't working properly.

 But you don't necessarily need to use your ISP's DNS servers, which brings us back to OpenDNS. OpenDNS, which has been around for about 18 months, is a free DNS service anyone can use, and is more than likely faster and more reliable than the one you're using now. (I've been using it for almost a year now and like many others have found the performance to be excellent.)

How to Use OpenDNS

 So how can you take advantage of OpenDNS? All you need to do is go is update your router's DNS settings via its administrator control panel. After you've logged into your router, look for settings related to DNS — the exact location will vary depending on your router, but you'll often find it under the LAN heading or sometimes even on the first settings page you see.

 When you find the DNS configuration area, you'll probably see that it's set to automatically obtain DNS servers from your ISP. Select the option that allows you to specify your own DNS server addresses, and then enter 208.67.222.222 as the primary DNS and 208.67.220.220 as the secondary DNS (as you might guess, the secondary is used if the primary isn't available).

 Your router may or may not reboot itself once you apply the new DNS settings, but in order to make sure each of your computers is using the OpenDNS servers, you should manually obtain a new DHCP address for each of them. An easy way to do this in XP is to right-click your network connection's tray icon and select Repair. In Vista, you can verify that a particular system is using OpenDNS if you see "You're using OpenDNS" message when you browse to welcome.opendns.com.)

 After some time spent using OpenDNS, you should notice that your browser generally takes less time to find and display Web sites. Even if you don't see a perceptible increase in performance, you'll still be able to benefit from several security and convenience features. For starters, OpenDNS can fix typos in the URLs you type, so if you accidentally type www.practicallynetworked.cmo — or .co, or .cm — you'll still be taken to the site you intended instead of being greeted by error message, or worse, an ersatz site from Cameroon (which owns the .cm domain).

 If you happen to type a nonexistent site name, instead of a not found error you'll see an OpenDNS Guide page with suggested alternate links (as well as some sponsored ones, which help keep OpenDNS free). For example, I sometimes inadvertently try to access the PracticallyNetworked.com site by typing in "pracnet.com" (PracNet is an internal nickname for the site), and when I do, PracticallyNetworked.com is first among the OpenDNS suggested links. Last but not least, using OpenDNS also gets you automatic phishing protection, so if the site you want to go to is known for phishing, OpenDNS won't take you there.