PHP can be used for a lot of different things, and is one of the most powerful scripting languages available on the web. Not to mention it’s extremely cheap and widely used. However, one thing that PHP is lacking, and in fact most scripting languages are, is a way to update pages in real-time, without having to reload a page or submit a form.

The internet wasn’t made for this. The web browser closes the connection with the web server as soon as it has received all the data. This means that after this no more data can be exchanged. What if you want to do an update though? If you’re building a PHP application (e.g. a high-quality content management system), then it’d be ideal if it worked almost like a native Windows/Linux application.

But that requires real-time updates. Something that isn’t possible, or so you would think. A good example of an application that works in (almost) real-time is Google’s GMail (http://gmail.google.com). Everything is JavaScript powered, and it’s very powerful and dynamic. In fact, this is one of the biggest selling-points of GMail. What if you could have this in your own PHP websites as well? Guess what, I’m going to show you in this article.

How does it work?

If you want to execute a PHP script, you need to reload a page, submit a form, or something similar. Basically, a new connection to the server needs to be opened, and this means that the browser goes to a new page, losing the previous page. For a long while now, web developers have been using tricks to get around this, like using a 1×1 iframe, where a new PHP page is loaded, but this is far from ideal.

Now, there is a new way of executing a PHP script without having to reload the page. The basis behind this new way is a JavaScript component called the XML HTTP Request Object. See http://jibbering.com/2002/4/httprequest.html for more information about the component. It is supported in all major browsers (Internet Explorer 5.5 , Safari, Mozilla/Firefox and Opera 7.6 ).

With this object and some custom JavaScript functions, you can create some rather impressive PHP applications. Let’s look at a first example, which dynamically updates the date/time.

Example 1

First, copy the code below and save it in a file called ’script.js’:

var xmlhttp=false;

/*@ccon @*/

/*@if (@jscriptversion >= 5)

// JScript gives us Conditional compilation, we can cope with old IE versions.

// and security blocked creation of the objects.

try

xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject(Msxml2.XMLHTTP);

catch (e)

try

xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject(Microsoft.XMLHTTP);

catch (E)

xmlhttp = false;

@end @*/

if (!xmlhttp && typeof XMLHttpRequest!=’undefined’)

xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();

function loadFragmentInToElement(fragmenturl, elementid)

var element = document.getElementById(elementid);

element.innerHTML = ‘Loading …’;

xmlhttp.open(GET, fragmenturl);

xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function()

if (xmlhttp.readyState == 4 && xmlhttp.status == 200)

element.innerHTML = xmlhttp.responseText;

xmlhttp.send(null);

Then copy the code below, and paste it in a file called ’server1.php’:

And finally, copy the code below, and paste it in a file called ‘client1.php’. Please note though that you need to edit the line that says ‘http://www.yourdomain.com/server1.php’ to the correct location of server1.php on your server.

Example 1

function updatedate()

loadFragmentInToElement(’http://www.yourdomain.com/server1.php’, ‘currentdate’);

The current date is.

Now go to http://www.yourdomain.com/client1.php and click on the button that says ‘Update date’. The date will update, without the page having to be reloaded. This is done with the XML HTTP Request object. This example can also be viewed online at http://www.phpit.net/demo/php on the fly/client1.php.

Example 2

Let’s try a more advanced example. In the following example, the visitor can enter two numbers, and they are added up by PHP (and not by JavaScript). This shows the true power of PHP and the XML HTTP Request Object.

This example uses the same script.js as in the first example, so you don’t need to create this again. First, copy the code below and paste it in a file called ’server2.php’:

And then, copy the code below, and paste it in a file called ‘client2.php’. Please note though that you need to edit the line that says ‘http://www.yourdomain.com/server2.php’ to the correct location of server2.php on your server.

Example 2

function calc()

num1 = document.getElementById (’num1′).value;

num2 = document.getElementById (’num2′).value;

var element = document.getElementById(’answer’);

xmlhttp.open(GET, ‘http://www.yourdomain.com/server2.php?num1=’ num1 ‘&num2=’ num2);

xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function()

if (xmlhttp.readyState == 4 && xmlhttp.status == 200)

element.value = xmlhttp.responseText;

xmlhttp.send(null);

Use the below form to add up two numbers. The answer is calculated by a PHP script, and not with JavaScript. What’s the advantage to this? You can execute server-side scripts (PHP) without having to refresh the page.

=

When you run this example, you can add up two numbers, using PHP and no reloading at all! If you can’t get this example to work, then have a look on http://www.phpit.net/demo/php on the fly/client3.php to see the example online.

Any Disadvantages…?

There are only two real disadvantages to this system. First of all, anyone who has JavaScript turned off, or their browser doesn’t support the XML HTTP Request Object will not be able to run it. This means you will have to make sure that there is a non-JavaScript version, or make sure all your visitors have JavaScript enabled (e.g. an Intranet application, where you can require JS).

Another disadvantage is the fact that it breaks bookmarks. People won’t be able to bookmark your pages, if there is any dynamic content in there. But if you’re creating a PHP application (and not a PHP website), then bookmarks are probably not very useful anyway.

Conclusion

As I’ve shown you, using two very simple examples, it is entirely possible to execute PHP scripts, without having to refresh the page. I suggest you read more about the XML HTTP Request Object (http://jibbering.com/2002/4/httprequest.html) and its capabilities.

The things you can do are limitless. For example, you could create an extremely neat paging system, that doesn’t require reloading at all. Or you could create a GUI for your PHP application, which behaves exactly like Windows XP. Just think about it!

Be aware though that JavaScript must be enabled for this to work. Without JavaScript this will be completely useless. So make sure your visitors support JavaScript, or create a non-JavaScript version as well.

About The Author

Dennis Pallett is a young tech writer, with much experience in ASP, PHP and other web technologies. He enjoys writing, and has written several articles and tutorials. To find more of his work, look at his websites at http://www.phpit.net http://www.aspit.net and http://www.ezfaqs.com

dennispallett@gmail.com

The first thing is to check for upgrades for Windows, it will download any important security updates. Go to the following link below.

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Once upgraded go to the Control Panel and open the Security Centre. Ensure the Firewall and Automatic Updates are turned on. If the Security Centre is not in the Control Panel you don’t have Service Pack 2, you can run Windows Update to upgrade or see Microsoft’s guide for turning on the Firewall with Service Pack 1. See the following link below.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283673#XSLTH3134121122120121120120

Computer Associates are offering Windows users a high quality anti-virus program with a 1 year subscription for free. Ensure you run a full scan after installation. Go to the following link below.

www.my-etrust.com/microsoft

Also if your sick of spyware/adware download Microsoft’s Anti-Spyware. Ensure you run a full scan after installation. Go to the following link below.

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

If you following these few simple steps you will have the latest in Internet security and shouldn’t have too many problems with viruses/hackers etc.

If you have your computers networked or use for business purposes it is advisable to seek help from a qualified computer technician.

Wez Bryett Web Developer New Business Media http://www.nbm.com.au

The last stand-alone version of MS-DOS was version 6. Unfortunately, that version is not Y2K compliant. Windows 95 and later came with MS-DOS version 7. Unfortunately, that version is too integrated with the operating system. It will not work without access to your hard disk.

FreeDOS is a PC compatible Y2K compliant DOS that you can download from www.freedos.org. FreeDOS fits on a single floppy disk and can be used to boot your computer. Download and unzip the file odin7bin.zip (756KB). Unziping will create the files diskcopy.exe and fdodin07.144. Put a blank formatted floppy disk in the drive. In the Start Run dialog box, or at a command prompt type diskcopy fdodin07.144 a: to create a bootable FreeDOS floppy disk.

Why would you want to boot your computer with DOS? Maybe you want to use Windows XP without product activation.

First make sure that the BIOS boot sequence on your computer is configured with the floppy drive as the first boot device (or at least before the C: drive). To get to the BIOS configuration screen, press the Delete or F2 key (depending upon your BIOS) while your computer is starting.

Insert the FreeDOS floppy disk in the floppy drive and start the computer. At the A:> prompt type DATE. FreeDOS will return your computer’s current date, along with a prompt to enter a new date. Enter the date that you installed Windows XP (or at least a date before the 30 day expiration date). Remove the FreeDOS floppy disk and restart your computer.

Note: This will only work if Windows XP has never been started after the 30 day expiration date. The first time Windows XP is started after the 30 day expiration date will be the last time it starts.

Every time you start your computer, start it first with FreeDOS and reset the computer’s date to the date that you installed Windows XP. Windows XP will think time has come to a standstill.

Note: Of course, Your file creation and last modified dates will not be correct, so this is not really a way for a serious user to bypass Windows XP product activation. However for certain purposes, like learning the Windows XP operating system, this can be a way to use Windows XP without product activation.

Microsoft should have made the expiration period much longer than 30 days. Maybe they want you to activate Windows XP before it crashes.

Permission is granted for the below article to forward, reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are made and the byline, copyright, and the resource box below is included.

About The Author

Copyright(C)2004 Bucaro TecHelp. To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter Send a blank email to subscribe@bucarotechelp.com

There are many uses of spreadsheets beyond the simple arithmetical and data analysis we are used to. Spreadsheets can assist us in many tasks with accuracy and speed.

Before we look at some of the uses we can put Spreadsheet software to let’s look at a few of its features, which make it unique and useful.

The most important features of any spreadsheet are the calculation of figures using arithmetic signs or functions. While not completely unique to spreadsheets, this feature is particularly more visible and word processing software.

For example in Microsoft Excel, there is a formula bar for typing or displaying typed formulas. The formula can be inserted in this bar or in a specific cell preceded by an = (equal) sign.

You need not insert actual figures, as that would be cumbersome. You simply specify a function such as SUM, AVERAGE, e.t.c and enclose into brackets the beginning column and row numbers and the ending column and row numbers.

The use of functions helps to easily perform calculations. Not only would the computation be accurate but it helps to simplify an otherwise complicated calculations process.

As we have seen, Spreadsheets have many useful features, which make calculation of figures simpler. Now let’s look at some of the uses you can put spreadsheets to:

Whether at the office or at home, drawing and maintaining budgets is important. Not only will you be focused and be able to pursue your financial objects clearly with a budget, but you can compare your actual versus planned performance. You can easily prepare a detailed budget with spreadsheets. The calculations can easily be done by entering appropriate formulas and getting the totals and differences.

So you can prepare a cash flow analysis for Monitoring and predicting likely income and expenditure to keep in track with financial affairs of your office or home.

Similarly you may easily predict changes in values such as effects of a price change on costs, discounts and profit. A fixed table can be prepared to show these changes but more significantly the figures could be changed from time to time to reflect new situations with same formulas in place.

Perhaps the most frequent use of spreadsheets is in financial and cost accounting. Many businesses use spreadsheets to calculate balance sheets, profit and loss accounts and cash books.

You can perform bank reconciliation, calculate jobs costs, taxes, schedule payments, forecast profits and control stocks. In all these tasks the spreadsheet proves a very important tool in simplifying the computation process and production of the results.

In data collection and analysis, spreadsheets can be used to record, present and analyses the results of polls, surveys and research. With new gadgets such as handheld, laptops and computerized. Mobile phones, you can do all that while on the road and getting the results instantly.

For teachers and students, in addition to the foregoing, spreadsheets can be used in class work and research activities.

In mathematics and the sciences, spreadsheets could be used to convert temperature figures whether in Celsius or far hermetic, metric to imperial measurements, pounds to kilos, exchange rates among a host of other measurements.

You can also calculate trigonometric and logarithmic functions, standard deviations and critical path analysis.

In addition, the computations may be presented in table on graphic form. There are buttons you can click to make your data appear in table format or in the form of graphs and charts. These enhance the presentability and understanding of the data.

I could give you a hundred or so uses of spreadsheets. However, the few I have mentioned are the more important. Suffice it to say that spreadsheets software is some of the most important application software used at the office and home.

About The Author

Abdallah Khamis Abdallah is a freelance copywriter and ghost writer. To find out how you can enhance your business’s sales and profits through credibility and viral marketing solutions visit his website at: http://www.qualitywritingsolutions.com/

quantumpro@lycos.com

The last stand-alone version of MS-DOS was version 6. Unfortunately, that version is not Y2K compliant. Windows 95 and later came with MS-DOS version 7. Unfortunately, that version is too integrated with the operating system. It will not work without access to your hard disk.

FreeDOS is a PC compatible Y2K compliant DOS that you can download from www.freedos.org. FreeDOS fits on a single floppy disk and can be used to boot your computer. Download and unzip the file odin7bin.zip (756KB). Unziping will create the files diskcopy.exe and fdodin07.144. Put a blank formatted floppy disk in the drive. In the Start Run dialog box, or at a command prompt type diskcopy fdodin07.144 a: to create a bootable FreeDOS floppy disk.

Why would you want to boot your computer with DOS? Maybe you want to use Windows XP without product activation.

First make sure that the BIOS boot sequence on your computer is configured with the floppy drive as the first boot device (or at least before the C: drive). To get to the BIOS configuration screen, press the Delete or F2 key (depending upon your BIOS) while your computer is starting.

Insert the FreeDOS floppy disk in the floppy drive and start the computer. At the A:> prompt type DATE. FreeDOS will return your computer’s current date, along with a prompt to enter a new date. Enter the date that you installed Windows XP (or at least a date before the 30 day expiration date). Remove the FreeDOS floppy disk and restart your computer.

Note: This will only work if Windows XP has never been started after the 30 day expiration date. The first time Windows XP is started after the 30 day expiration date will be the last time it starts.

Every time you start your computer, start it first with FreeDOS and reset the computer’s date to the date that you installed Windows XP. Windows XP will think time has come to a standstill.

Note: Of course, Your file creation and last modified dates will not be correct, so this is not really a way for a serious user to bypass Windows XP product activation. However for certain purposes, like learning the Windows XP operating system, this can be a way to use Windows XP without product activation.

Microsoft should have made the expiration period much longer than 30 days. Maybe they want you to activate Windows XP before it crashes.

Permission is granted for the below article to forward, reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are made and the byline, copyright, and the resource box below is included.

About The Author

Copyright(C)2004 Bucaro TecHelp. To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter Send a blank email to subscribe@bucarotechelp.com

The severe competition continues for many years between two main leaders in collaboration solutions – IBM and Microsoft. Whether the choice of a platform influences the ordinary user? The both of software giants put efforts to improve working conveniences for end Internet users. Taking into account that the products value is approximately the same worldwide, new ideas of the platforms integration have appeared. Interesting projects have being realized in the both companies.

Free add-on for Outlook: Notes Connector

Microsoft supports free add-on for Microsoft Outlook client, which allows connection to message/collaboration server Lotus Domino. Office Outlook Connector for IBM Lotus Domino enables using Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 or Microsoft Outlook 2002 to access e-mail messages, calendar, address book, and To Do (task) items on an IBM Lotus Domino Release 5.x or Release 6.x server.

Domino Access for Microsoft Outlook 6.5.1

The new IBM Lotus Domino Access for Microsoft Outlook 6.5.1 provides the solution for businesses looking to migrate away from Microsoft Exchange, but don’t want to retrain their users. Now company employees can continue using their existing Outlook client for messaging, calendar and scheduling, and personal information management (PIM) services, with replacing Microsoft Exchange server infrastructure to Lotus Domino servers, running on the hardware and operation system of their choice, including Linux.

Platforms support

For Lotus Domino 6.5: Microsoft Windows family (95 SE, 98, NT SP6a, 2000 SP3, XP, 2003); Sun Solaris; Linux, United Linux.

For Lotus Notes 6.5: Microsoft Windows family; Macintosh OS X (10.1 and 10.2).

For Lotus Domino Web Access 6.5: Microsoft Windows family; Red Hat Linux, v. 7.2 or 8.0, SuSE Linux, v. 8.0, United Linux, v. 1.0. It supports the following browsers: Microsoft Internet Explorer v. 5.5 and 6.0; Mozilla, v. 1.3.1 Linux-client.

About The Author

Rafael Osipov
Principal CLP IBM Lotus Domino 6 Application Developer
Certified Professional E-commerce Concepts Analyst
RafaelO@albaspectrum.com

Rafael Osipov is a Software Developer in Alba Spectrum Technologies (www.albaspectrum.com), US nationwide consulting and development company, specializing in Microsoft Business Solutions products, Microsoft Great Plains Dexterity, Microsoft CRM SDK programming. http://www.albaspectrum.com/Lotus/OffshoreLotus.htm

*** Heard about the Quark ?killer??

Adobe InDesign CS2. Will it really ?kill? Quark? Adobe has been saying ?it will? for the last six years or so, but it hasn?t happened. Adobe Pagemaker didn?t kill Quark, either, but was instead replaced by InDesign. And InDesign is also at a distant second place so far.

Let?s start by saying that it would be a good idea to wait for any new purchases or ?conversions? until the upcoming release of the next version of Quark XPress.

Some of the features that Quark has unveiled (Job Jackets for example, for workflow streamlining and increased productivity) as part of their new version, in our view are very compelling and offer more value than InDesign.

Other features are necessary updates that fulfill current needs and put it on par with available technologies currently provided by other programs (i.e. transparency support, Open Type font support, etc, so InDesign and Quark have standard common features). There are plenty of reviews out there detailing all the new features of Quark and we encourage you to read them, you will find the new Quark a very useful ally in your road to productivity.

*** Adobe: positioning a product at any cost

Recently Adobe acquired Macromedia, because Adobe couldn?t compete with Macromedia?s web software, another area where Adobe is weak. In our view and that of many people we interviewed, that was the only way Adobe could obtain a leading position in the web design arena: by buying out their competition. The lead Adobe has with Photoshop, doesn?t translate to a lead in other fields.

For the last few years, Adobe has been trying to position InDesign against Quark as the leader in the publishing area without success.

*** Bundling InDesign: the key strategy of Adobe to gain market share

The strategy used by Adobe is very similar to some of the strategies Microsoft has used in the past to eliminate their competition.

It?s a well-known fact (painstakingly proven by Microsoft) that among other things you can do to gain market share, you can kill your competition by giving your product for free (or way below the real cost of the product) and forcing people to acquire it through bundling or embedding it with other necessary software that people MUST buy anyway.

Which is one of the reasons why Microsoft has been sued in every country they have sold software. They have engaged always in proven, documented unfair and illegal competition practices; and their ?product bundling? practices force consumers to use products that they would have never looked at otherwise. Adobe is doing the same.

Of course, Adobe can say that InDesign sold alone has a street price. But, like everybody else in the field of graphic design, you MUST buy Photoshop, and very likely, Illustrator or/and Acrobat. If you compare the price you must pay for these applications, it becomes cheaper to buy the full Creative Suite. And you get for the same price, InDesign, GoLive, ImageReady, and other things that come bundled in for free.

So the situation is that people are getting InDesign as part of a bundle. In other words, for free. See the price comparison we included to verify this. And don?t forget that the upgrade versions are even cheaper (usually 50% off or more)!.

For reference, just check out the prices: Creative Suite 2 full (includes Photoshop CS2, Illustrator CS2, InDesign CS2, Adobe Bridge, GoLive CS2, Acrobat 7.0 professional, Version Cue CS2, and more. Only for $1119.12, the highest price I found, at:

There are other, much lower prices out there for the full version or the upgrades.

*** Compare with purchasing the individual products: the full cost of the retail versions is:

Adobe Acrobat 1 user: $383.73
Adobe Golive $386.15
Adobe Illustrator $480.67
Adobe InDesign $676.79
Adobe Photoshop $548.51 (only Photoshop Illustrator are $1030 at these prices)
The value of the retail products is $2475.85. so, InDesign is absolutely FREE.

*** Compare with Quark 6.5 that retails at $707. Upgrades are priced lower.

So, after verifying that in fact we are getting InDesign for ?free? and assuming that Quark was successfully muscled out of the market, for how long do you think that InDesign would remain ?free?? not long. It would be unbundled right away, and sold separately. Think of programs such as Premiere, etc.

In this market, eliminating your competition means also eliminating the reasons to innovate. Historically, competition proves beneficial to the end user, assuming that it is done with fairness, focusing in product quality to win the user, instead of resorting to a marketing, sales and business strategy to trick the user into ?converting?.

*** Cost is a part of the equation

Think about it: entities such as universities need to cut costs, and they teach students the software that they will use in their future jobs, so getting the software for free is a HUGE incentive to switch. We have read about some people saying in their advertising-paid columns that several universities (which ones, exactly?) are saying that they will soon switch to InDesign (when will they switch, exactly?). That sounds kinda cheesy given the fact that you need to know Quark to get a job nowadays, anywhere. The reason being manifested is mainly economic, without any practical reasons actually mentioned to justify such a decision. However, that choice will likely mark the future of many designers out there who will likely find themselves subject to having to take additional training courses to learn BOTH programs. Not funny at all.

There is nothing like a ?free lunch?. So how much does it really cost to ?switch??

*** Training time: Quark 12 hrs vs. InDesign 50 hours to migrate, 3-6 months learning curve.

In our experience of several years providing training and private/group coaching to hundreds of students in the use of Adobe / Quark software, the average training time required to learn InDesign up to an advanced level, is usually about 32 hours, and involves a much longer training curve to become an expert user (usually 50 hours) if you don?t have any previous experience with Adobe products, particularly if you need to use the integration features of the Adobe Creative suite (Adobe Bridge, etc.), learn to use third party plugins, styles, compatible features from other Adobe programs, etc.

*** Mastering the program takes at least 3-6 months of use, after receiving full training.

Most people who take InDesign seriously enough to migrate, will spend a lot of time in re-training (see above) and many more months of researching and re-learning things (the dreaded ?learning curve?) will be spent outside of the training room, figuring out how to do things that they already knew how to do well with Quark. That?s some very expensive ?converting?. Did you know that it was going to be that long? All that lost time is lost productivity, and therefore lost money (and lost nights), too.

Of course some users will tell you that they already know InDesign and it was easy to learn. You bet they were old Adobe Suite users already. Unless they are seasoned pros, with 10 years in the field, knowing every nook and cranny of most graphic design programs, particularly Adobe programs, it is VERY unlikely it was a short time learning InDesign. But if they are truly novice users, ask them how long it really took them to master (if they do) InDesign. You?ll be surprised at the answers. Most people use barely 20-25% of the program, because learning the whole thing is overwhelming in practice.

Compare this with Quark training, where in barely 8 hours or less you can be working with most program options. Quark advanced level is achieved in 16 hours, and expert level in 24 hours. AND you don?t need experience with other Adobe programs. In our experience, mastery of the program is at your fingertips, since mostly everything you need to do is rather easy to achieve in Quark and there are myriads of tutorials on the Internet documenting every imaginable Quark trick.

In other words, training in InDesign takes 2 – 3 times more than learning Quark. And the learning curve is much higher than Quark, since you need to learn to ?integrate? InDesign with other applications that you may or may not know. The novice user will have the hardest time, since he will be expected to learn not only one but at least other 2 or 3 programs (Photoshop and Illustrator, and lately, Acrobat) in order to be able to use InDesign to its fullest potential.

Which is one of the most overwhelming reasons we have seen always for people choosing Quark over InDesign over the years: A kid can use Quark. It?s easy. In fact, many parts of the interface used by InDesign, are very similar to the one developed by Quark. Adobe decided to do things the way Quark was doing things in order to improve their program.

Why? Adobe had to design something that could be easily related to Quark, in order to facilitate the transition from Quark to InDesign, since PageMaker failed to convert people to Adobe?s way of doing layouts, as it was a lower-end, very expensive and limited program that couldn?t remotely compete with a high-end program such as Quark. For these and other reasons, Pagemaker always played second to the Quark powerhouse, even to programs such as MS Publisher, which are cheaper and more powerful.

*** Training Costs:

Let?s think now about the training costs involved in switching all your designers to the new software. Training costs for 2 people only are more expensive than buying the full Creative Suite 2. That is, from $349 – $800 in average per person, for the 8-hr, 1 day seminar only. Usually 3 days are required, or $2400 (group) – $5400 (individual), for up to 6 people. In some cases, it can be higher depending on other factors. These are corporate training prices, according to the prices of several schools in New York that provide this training and don?t include advanced or expert training costs, nor do they include the costs of learning additional Adobe programs, or the integration features. So the real cost of learning InDesign is much higher than Quark. Quark, average training price on the streets: $199.

*** Hardware costs:

Now include the cost of buying new computers (since you will need to get a new computer to run InDesign due to the sluggish performance that the new Creative Suite 2 has unless you have a 3 GHZ CPU Pentium IV or a MAC G5 with 1 – 2GB RAM or more computer). If you have a 2GHZ and 512mb ram, forget it, your computer is not good enough for the creative suite 2. And don?t even think about installing it on your laptop and run several applications at the same time, or you will be waiting for a very long time to do anything.

Because let?s face it, older computers (let?s say 1 year old) will choke and kill your productivity trying to run the new Creative Suite 2, and waiting for anything to load, and run. You need a new computer to run the software, period. And if someone tries to say otherwise, try to run Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign plus Adobe Bridge at the same time in your laptop, to take full advantage of the ?integrated? features of Creative Suite 2. Have fun waiting while your competition is selling to your clients. A new MAC computer with the necessary specs will cost you in average $2000, not including the price of the warranty for your new computer.

So, after totaling the cost of installing and getting your people and equipment up to speed in the migration to InDesign, you will have spent in average about $5000 or more per user, including the licensing and the necessary hardware, etc. This is far, far more expensive than just upgrading to the next version of Quark. If you are a medium-sized company, it?s going to be, let?s say a hundred thousand dollars in training, learning curve, lost productivity expenses, new equipment, and software licenses. If you are a large corporation, your cost is in the millions. Yay!

Did you think about that one yet?

*** Is there truly a reason to switch?

Overall, compelling arguments to choose InDesign over Quark are difficult to find, even among those who have already made the jump. We will see what the new version of Quark brings.

Adobe still has to deal with the WHOLE industry being trained in Quark. It would seem obvious that Quark is wisening up, improving their customer support, asking users what they need, analyzing and creating tools to improve production flow, and thinking ahead in order to bring enhanced, truly compelling productivity features, and this is a good thing for users.

It remains to be seen if people are going to dump their existing life-time expertise, spend their money in new training and invest in new hardware and software to make Adobe feel satisfied about their sales and stock profits.

*** In our view, simplicity wins always.

Adobe wants design professionals to adopt a far more complex, harder to learn, more expensive to run and more difficult to handle program (InDesign) over a simpler, easier to use, and much more intuitive program: Quark. That makes no sense.

We think that INSECURITY is not really a reason to switch. Which is the desired result of the marketing strategy of the whole industry is moving to InDesign, what are you doing? that Adobe has been running for several years. Why would you switch otherwise, particularly considering that the upcoming version of Quark is far more powerful and productivity-enhancing than InDesign? We think Quark is living up to their promises and will deliver a superior product. We shall see if they manage to do what they have promised.

Right now, don’t buy anything unless you have a very specific and particular need that ONLY InDesign could possibly satisfy, and that will not be provided in an upcoming version of Quark. What might that be?

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your e-zine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at articles@valorcrossmedia.com.

by Sherwin Steele and Galina Arlov

Sherwin Steele is a Multimedia and IT expert with more than 15 years of experience in the field, CEO of a multinational Marketing & web company and he is also a design teacher at a prestigious design school in NYC. http://www.ptedu.com

Galina Arlov is an E-Business Professional and a creator and founder of Valor Cross Media,http://www.valorcrossmedia.com a Web Site Services, E-Marketing and Online Advertising company based in New York City on the Upper East Side.

Speaking about drawbacks of anti-spyware, let’s take the word spyware in the narrow sense for a change and call spyware only software products that really spy, i.e. steal valuable information you want to keep private. Let’s leave aside adware — this motley crew of advertising stuff; information that some of them steal isn’t valuable enough. It is keylogging programs that we should associate with the term spyware first of all. This breed is exceptionally dangerous — such threats as flourishing online bank fraud and the recent outbreak of keylogger-containing Trojans prove this.

Generally speaking, most anti-spyware works like that? Don’t stop reading, please. Don’t skip over the paragraph. Do you think that if you are not a tech person, it is none of your business? You don’t write this software, you just use it — so what? You haven’t made the car you are driving, either (well, there may be some exceptions?). But you do know (at least in general) what makes it move — and you won’t forget to fill up its tank or have it serviced from time to time. You know what will happen if you don’t. For the same reason you’d better know a bit about anti-spy software installed on any PC you use.

We all should know it to realize what exactly to expect from all these anti-spy products with cool names. Their creators and sellers promise you that these software products will kill all spyware on your PC (or something like that). First, is absolute protection possible? Second, what should we expect from a typical anti-spy program and what it is simply unable to do? To answer these questions, we should understand how it works.

Generally speaking, most anti-spyware works like that: it scans the operating system in search for suspicious bits of code. Should the program find any, it compares these suspicious pieces with bits of code (they are called signatures), which belong to already detected and caught spy programs. Signatures are kept in so-called signature base — the inseparable part of any anti-spy program. The more signatures it contains, the more spyware such program will detect, so your PC will be protected more effectively. As long as you update your anti-spy software regularly and the system doesn’t come across some unknown spyware product, everything is going to be all right.

As for me, this pattern looks pretty like police records and works like them, too. But?the problem is just like the one with police records ? the fact that all included there are criminals doesn’t at all mean that all the criminals are included into the records.

Well, what about the criminals (spy programs) that are not included into the records (signature bases)? There are lots of such programs — more than that — some of them will never be in any signature base. Just like with criminals — some of them haven’t been caught yet, and some will never be caught ? because of their right of inviolability. Anti- spy products based on signature base analysis will never be able to protect against these spies. Don’t expect them to.

Let’s take a quick look on these elusive spy programs.

Group 1. Those which hasn’t been caught yet, because they are:

1. brand-new ones. They are being constantly written, released, used (for a very short time), detected and, finally, included into signature bases. Anti-spyware developers are now in the vicious circle of endless spy hunt, trying to include as many spyware signatures (pieces of code) into the bases as possible – and fast! Faster, to outrun the competitors; faster, for new spyware – which is being written and released all the time ? not to spread like a wildfire. That’s the way a signature base grows.

2. written to be used only once.

These tailor-made, or should we say, custom-made, keyloggers are extremely unlikely to be ever detected. As soon as they have done their jobs (stealing data, of course ?often from the particular computer) they simply disappear, never to be seen again. Here belong keyloggers made mostly for such tasks as espionage.

The main problem: keylogging software is relatively simple and not too difficult to compile. Even an average computer programmer can write a simple keylogger in a couple of days. More sophisticated one will take longer to make, of course, but not too long. Hackers often compile source code of several keyloggers (it’s easy to find them in the Web–for those who know where to look for) — and get a brand-new one with an unknown signature even faster. If a keylogger can be installed remotely without the victim’s knowledge, it gives the hacker great possibility to steal any information he pleases. If there is an opportunity, there always will be one to use it. The period of time when a new spy already exists, but the updates have not been released yet, is the very time when hackers make their biggest profits. Trying to catch them all is a hopeless idea; it looks too similar to catching fleas one by one.

Group 2. Sacred cows.

No signature base will ever have their signatures. Here belong mostly monitoring programs, which can be used for spying as well. First, the ones created by (or for) government agencies ? such as the famous Magic Lantern (the brainchild of the Cyber Knight project). No product which uses a signature base will protect against it; an ordinary anti-spy will never detect such a program. The same situation with other monitoring software, which certain agencies utilize. These monitoring products simply don’t exist for signature-base-using anti-spyware (though they can well exist on any PC–yours included)

If you think I’m painting it too black let’s recall what happened when code of D.I.R.T. (a covert spying tool developed by Codex Data Systems) leaked out couple of years ago and was found in the Web (merely by accident, by the way). Once a top-secret project, it did become an open secret — but the signature of this powerful monitoring software hasn’t been included in any signature bases. That’s what worries me the most; after this information leak nobody knows for sure WHO can be using it –and WHAT FOR. What if some other government monitoring program trickles into the Internet, too?

Monitoring programs for parental control or workplace surveillance are very common and easily available from the Web. However, they can be used not only for those absolutely legitimate purposes. Any monitoring program is actually a double-edged sword because it almost always contains a keylogging module. It is up to an end user to utilize them–perhaps for spying. Legitimate monitoring programs are sometimes not included into signature bases, so one can use an anti-spy program and be spied on anyway.

Now the last (but not the least) threat — spy modules incorporated into viruses and Trojan horse programs. Unfortunately, all malware, including viruses, Trojan horses, worms and other fauna, evolves (due to their malicious creators). There already are so many hybrids between one another that it’s hard to find, say, a pure virus like ones used only several years ago. Lots of this fauna can contain a keylogger — like MyDoom (sure you remember this virus). They multiply and evolve, becoming more and more malicious.

So, what conclusions could we draw out of this entire story (sorry if it turned to be too pessimistic)?

Is absolute anti-spy protection possible? With existing anti-spy software which uses signature bases – no.

However, there is a relatively new trend in software development — not to use signature base analysis at all. This approach is rather promising; it means that such software–it already exists–can counteract even brand-new and custom-made spies. You may read more about it if you follow the link in my signature.

What should we expect from an average anti-monitoring or anti-spy program? It does protect from spy software which it knows. If it has the particular signature in its base, it protects your PC from this particular program. If anti-spyware uses a signature base, it will never kill all spies on your PC–whatever the salesperson promises you. Don’t expect complete security– there is no such thing anymore.

The only hope is for entirely new technologies. If developers can’t succeed in fighting spyware, they should try something else.

Alexandra Gamanenko currently works at the Raytown Corporation, LLC — an independent software developing company. Visit its website http://www.anti-keyloggers.com

The new version of MailScan provides additional security features to allow users to monitor the TCP connections on their systems, and use enhanced Anti-SPAM control to fight SPAM.

The new security feature interface displays all the active TCP connections to your computer. It lists information about the processes, protocols, local addresses, remote addresses and Process Status on the computer. It allows you to identify any unauthorized access to your mail server and take effective counter measures to safeguard your system.

MailScan 4.5 provides the user with real time access to Relay Blackhole List at for IPs of known Spammers. The site maintains active real-time Blackhole list that you can use to verify if any IP that connects to your MailServer is listed as that of a known Spammer, and take appropriate action.

MailScan 4.5 is the next step in the continuing process to provide added security to mail servers against virus attacks, SPAM and other forms of security threats to networks via e-mail.

Mr Govind Rammurthy, CEO, MicroWorld Technologies, Inc. says MicroWorld’s MailScan 4.5 with its new features, is a step forward in strengthening our products to ensure that corporate gateways are well-protected from ever increasing and smart Internet intruders. Continuous development has made MailScan one of the most popular mail gateway security products available in the markets today.

MicroWorld Technologies is one of the leading solution providers for Information Technology, Content Security and Communications Software. MicroWorld has been actively contributing to the security industry since the past 9 years. MicroWorld has established itself as a leader in providing content security, anti-virus and corporate communications software solutions. MicroWorld’s primary motive is to add confidence to computing by developing innovative solutions targeting Single Home Users, Small & medium companies, Corporate, Large Enterprise, Schools & Universities, Government Organisations and ISPs.

Categories and manufacturing stages are:

Designing/ Range Planning ? before the start of any fashion season, all apparel manufacturers plan the range of garments which they are setting up to manufacture. Most of the designing and range planning is still done by the buyer or the owners of the brand because they are closest to their actual clients; it is easier for them to understand the specific needs of their target market. To some extent, this has now changed with more and more manufacturers allowing vendors to dabble a bit in designing, based on their specific inputs in terms of colors, yarns, fabrics, prints, silhouettes etc.

Prototyping/ Sampling ? once the designs have been finalized, a prototype or sample has to be made, because the scalability of the end product (garment) very much depends on the fit of the garment.

In a study conducted by an independent research agency, which monitored and observed the reasons of dissatisfaction or returns of garments sold – fitting problems topped the dissatisfaction list.

Considering the importance of a good fit, it becomes imperative for a manufacturer or retailer to achieve the best fits possible. Considering the complexity involved with different fabrics and silhouettes, a CAD system takes away much of the pain from prototyping thus decreasing the time to market.

Mass Production ? comes with its own challenges. Unlike most other products, apparel manufacturing, even today very much depends on people ? especially when it comes to tailoring or assembling. A mistake anywhere down the line in the prototyping or cutting process becomes very difficult and often impossible to rectify. This is where a CAD system comes in, to deskill some of the processes involved in mass manufacturing, namely the pre?production processes so that perfectly cut parts are fed to the operators. Additionally, the fabric saved in bulk cutting while using a CAD system is enormous.

Retailing ? A 3D solution allows 3D files to be uploaded on to website for clients to choose from. 3D files can be opened and viewed in any MS office application or Internet explorer.

Mr. Saar Machtinger, Director Business Development, OptiTex? Fashion design software, which specializes in the development of innovative, easy-to-operate, 2-Dimensional, and 3-Dimensional CAD/CAM Fashion Design software. http://www.optitex.com