A Virtual Private network (VPN) uses a public network (usually the Internet) to connect securely to a private network (such as a company's network) to communicate confidentially over the public network.
Using a VPN will let you share files and resources – including voice, video or data files -- as though you were physically connected on the same network. It's a good option for remote workers and organizations with global offices and partners to share data in a private manner.
The movie "Field of Dreams," starring Kevin Costner, spawned one of the most well-known quotes of all time: "If you build it, he will come."
Costner builds a baseball field -- in the middle of a cornfield of all places -- and after a time thousands do come. The "build it and they will come" analogy has been used time and time again as the basis for starting a new business, developing new products and even in building online communities.
One of the questions that Webopedia has been asked a few times on our Facebook Page is to explain the difference between RAM and ROM. RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory) are types of computer memory that provide users with access to information stored on a computer. Here are the top five differences between the two types of memory:
A new study by Latitude Research reports that kids can predict the future of technology. Today, children don’t neatly divide their virtual interactions from their "real world" experiences. For them, these two realms continue to converge as technologies become more interactive, portable, connected and integrated.
Some of the findings in the study got me thinking about the general topic of kids and technology. Technology is becoming fully “integrated” into the daily lives of many children -- from constant social interaction through Facebook, online games and text messaging, it’s easy to see why the digital divide is disappearing.
Over the seven years that I've been writing for Webopedia, many things have changed. Our site finally lost the "ancient" look last year (yay!) and we have a great design now. Webo's on-site search engine has been greatly improved, and even our parent company has changed.
What hasn't changed is the editorial focus and dedication to writing easy-to-understand tech definitions that anyone can reference to learn about the world of computers, technology and the Internet.
I recently visited my friend, John, in Seattle, and considering that it was my first time to this wonderful city, he gave me a great city tour. What I was shocked to learn was how many times Paul Allen’s name came up along the way. We took a walk through the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum, founded by Allen, which is dedicated to the history and exploration of both popular music and science fiction. Apparently Allen, a huge music lover and Star Trek fan, thought creating a huge museum dedicated to his two passions would be a cool idea. The museum has everything from E.T. the alien in the (fake) flesh to a Jimi Hendrix exhibit, making it a very cool place to visit.
My friend also drove me through an area called South Lake Union which at one point was considered the city’s garage, a half-ignored area in Seattle with tired storefronts. However, Allen is now turning South Lake Union around with a plan that calls for 10 million square feet of laboratories, offices, apartments, condominiums, hotels, stores and restaurants. Allen’s developments could bring in 20,000 jobs and turn biotechnology research into an industry that redefines the Seattle economy. There were many other points in my visit where Allen’s name came up, and I’ve only listed two of his many accomplishments and projects since co-founding Microsoft.
Facebook = genius, Linked in = makes sense…but what I’ve learned recently is that there is amazing technology that will allow you to create your own social network online within minutes for basically no money. I learned all of this from a presentation by Nick Floro at Macworld 2011.
Ning, Social GO and Buddy Press make it easy to build custom and powerful social websites. I am simply amazed at the features that these companies offer. You can simply plug this community into a tab of your existing website or make the community your site’s main feature. Some of the features offered include: Custom profile creation, 50+ design options, moderation and privacy features, rich invitation engines, status updates, dynamic activity feeds, rss feeds from blogs, chat features, group creation, blogs for every member, photo and video sharing… the list continues, but the main idea is that these sites give you every feature you would ever want in your very own social community.
I recently turned on NPR and started listening to a special interview of Twitter founders, Evan Williams and Biz Stone, hosted by the Common Wealth club. I highly recommend that you listen to the entire interview. The conversation got me thinking about Twitter and how such a simple platform has brought so much change in how people interact with each other and how news is spread far and wide. I have summarized below some of the great points made by Ev and Biz in this interview…
Why is Twitter so great?
