Technology, Gadgets, Apps, Mobiles

Most of us automatically use our credit cards online because we know that our information is encrypted so that only the website can view our information. Considering how important it is to protect the privacy of tax, finance and stock transactions, websites that offer these services must have superior ways of ensuring user’s privacy. Ensuring tight security on a website means focusing on the right encryption method and using digital certificates. Encryption systems belong to one of two types: symmetric-key encryption or public-key encryption. In order to decipher a message with symmetric-key encryption, the receiving computer uses an algorithm to decode it. Both computers share the same secret key code.

Cool Fact One:

Today’s computers use the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) which offers quadrillions of possible key combinations. However, a weakness was found with symmetric key encryption because the code could be retrieved from the data by a hacker. Public-key encryption was introduced to address this weakness because it simultaneously uses two different keys, a public one and a private one. Only the originating computer knows the private key. If the message is picked up by a hacker, even though the public key is available to anyone, the hacker cannot decipher the message without the private key which is located on the originating computer.

Cool Fact Two:

Almost an infinite number of keys exist, making it nearly impossible to generate the key code using an algorithm because there are too many possibilities. When a Web site, such as a tax, finance or stock site, needs public-key encryption, it uses a digital certificate that states that the Web server has earned the trust of the certificate authority. The certificate authority authenticates the identity of both computers in the transaction and then gives each computer the public key.

Cool Fact Three:

Internet security uses a special security protocol called Transport Layer Security (TLS). When you use TLS, such as when you access an online bank website, your browser window changes from “http” to “https.” If you check your status bar, you will see the padlock symbol, which indicates encryption.

Cool Fact Four:

The padlock symbol in your status bar lets you know you are using encryption. TLS uses certificate authorities. Your browser initiates the public key and checks the certificate to make sure it is from a proper authority, is valid and is related to the originating site. The two computers can then communicate using both public- and symmetric-key encryption.

Cool Fact Five:

Public keys using a 128-bit number can generate 3,402,823,669,209,384,634,633,746,074,300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 possible combinations. Authentication is another way of ensuring that information on the computer can be trusted. Forms of computer authentication include passwords, pass cards, digital signatures, and fingerprint, retina and face scans.

Cool Fact Six:

Checksums and CRC’s are performed to ensure that your data has not been corrupted during encryption. A checksum uses the value of 255 or 256 to calculate the sum of the bytes in a packet of information. Once the checksum is arrived at, mathematical calculations can verify that the data has not been corrupted. Another more accurate method is the cyclic-redundancy check (CRC) which uses polynomial division.

Cool Fact Seven:

Sending information over the Internet is one of the most secure ways of transmitting information. Although cell phones are popular, they are not a secure way to conduct transactions, since a cell phone conversation can be intercepted.

As you can see, encryption and the Internet is the best combination to use when sending sensitive information.

Have you ever woken up and groggy and unwell? It seems that many of us simply accept that we’re likely to start each day with a scratchy throat and a headache. We treat this as though it’s normal and as though it’s acceptable, when really it is anything but. Not only is it not normal to feel that way, but there’s no reason why you should.

Here, we will look at how you can feel more awake, more energetic and more well – just the way you are supposed to. And you can do all of it by simply investing in a few handy gadgets…

Get Enough Sleep
One of the biggest causes of headaches, tiredness and irritability is a lack of sleep. If you aren’t sleeping heavily enough, long enough or often enough, then this can come out in a variety of different ways and make you feel quite unwell. Furthermore, sleep deprivation can affect concentration, memory and even the speed at which you heal wounds.

If you aren’t feeling as good as you think you should then, try improving the quality of your sleep by making your room darker, by shutting out noises from outside, and by managing a better sleep routine before bed – that means no caffeine later in the day and no Xbox.

How can a gadget help you to wake up feeling more alert and well? By helping you to wake up more naturally. The device is called a ‘daylight lamp’, and works by lighting up slowly in the morning with a light that has similar wavelengths to that create by the sun. The best of these can even use a timer to wake you when you are most likely to be in the lighter stages of sleep, rather than deep in ‘SWS’ or ‘Slow Wave Sleep’.

Oh and another one other gadget that can help to improve your quality of sleep? A treadmill. Use that throughout the day and it will wear you out, thus enabling you to sleep more heavily and more easily at night. Better yet, a treadmill will improve your overall health greatly improving the way you feel more directly too.

Improve Your Air Quality
Oxygen is pretty crucial to our survival and our wellness, and yet the air that many people breathe in is not particularly good quality. There are all kinds of things that can affect air quality and these can all cause problems in different ways. If your air is too dry for instance this can make it hard to breathe, as can having air that is too moist. Likewise, if your air has mould spores floating in it this can irritate your lungs and attack your immune system, while dust and smoke can also make breathing more of a chore than it should be.

One option then is to move away from urban areas and to try living somewhere quieter and more rural. Not everyone will have this option though, so if you don’t fancy moving house you could alternatively invest in a good air conditioning unit to clean the air in your home for you to breathe. And better yet, if you get a good AC unit, you’ll also be able to remove dander from the air if you have an allergy to pollen – something that many people struggle with without even being aware of the fact.

Stress
Stress doesn’t just affect your mood, it also affects your health, your energy and your psychology. If you have a lot of stressors in your life then this will place an unbearable strain on your body, so make sure to develop coping strategies, and to take time off from your work when it all gets too much.

And if you don’t already know any coping strategies, then again I have just the device for you: it’s called a heart rate monitor, and though it might seem innocuous enough it can actually be a very powerful tool in the fight against stress. The reason for this is simply that it shows which events raise your heart rate the most and allows you to practice bringing it back down. This is called ‘biofeedback’ and is a great way to utilise technology to improve your mental health.

Make these changes and invest in these gadgets, and you may well stumble on a few things that were bringing your overall health and energy down. Once you manage that, you can get your vitality and your love for life back.