Full Speed 802.11n Needs WPA2 + AES

This is  a quick tip for those of you looking to invest (or already have invest) in the latest 802.11n wireless routers and access points that are making their way into the digital mainstream. The final specification (802.11n-2009) allows for a theoretical maximum of up to 600Mbps on a 40MHz channel which is a whopping …

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Cross-Platform Instant Messaging – Do We Really Need It?

I have used various forms of instant messaging over the years and as one service has come to the fore others have paled into former shadows of themselves. For me, it all started with ICQ and AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) before MSN Messenger really started to absorb users in the later half of 1999 and the following …

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Windows Home Server V2 Beta Available

Just a quick one this evening. For those of you who are interested, Windows Home Server “Vail” (for home or home office use) and “Aurora” (for small business use) have been released on Microsoft Connect. What has really got me excited are some of the new features, specifically: the ability to natively backup MacOS X …

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Audit Your Computer Security with Secunia Personal Software Inspector

With software exploits coming out of the woodwork all the time it’s probably a safe bet that most people would find it difficult to keep track of what software is out of date and what is vulnerable on their computers. Windows does a fairly good job of looking after itself but other pieces of software …

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Net Filtering vs NBN – What’s it Gonna Be?

As the last few years (and particularly the last few months) have unfolded, we have seen the mandatory web filtering debate get knocked around the press whilst the NBN (only now coming online in a few towns conveniently before an election) got its fair share of airtime. Apart from the issue of credibility and electability …

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Internet Explorer 9 Beta – Coming Soon

For those that regularly follow this blog, you will be aware that Microsoft is currently developing Internet Explorer 9 and has released a total of four “platform previews” to show the nerds and developers amongst us the progress made. Microsoft have been on a pretty tight schedule and have released a new preview once every …

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Converged vs Standalone Devices – Which is Best?

Particularly over the last decade, we have witnessed convergence of technology at any increasing rate. Ten years ago, mobile phones did little more than make and receive calls and SMS. MMS was later introduced while camera and video functionality started to appear as entry level features. Mobile phones have also turned into mobile broadband modems …

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Desktop Operating Systems Don’t Belong on Tablets

Another quick one for tonight. Over the last decade and a bit, we have seen Microsoft attempt to get the tablet form factor to be a success in the marketplace but a Windows tablet just didn’t get any legs. I believe this is due to three reasons: Computing power at the time was insufficient for …

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1Gbps NBN – No Surprise

In an announcement today by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, it was spruiked that the NBN would be capable of achieving speeds of up to 1Gbps. This is up by a factor of ten over the 100Mbps speeds originally promised by the Government. What should come as no surprise is that fibre has incredible capacity for …

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Keep Your Portable Applications Updated with Portable Software Updater

Back in an earlier blog post, Portable Applications – a Convenient Necessity, I wrote about some of the benefits of portable applications and some of the ones that I like to use. If you decided to get into portable apps you may have been faced with the dilemma of having to keep each application up …

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