Keep your Customers by Offering a Wi-Fi Hotspot

Giving your customers access to an Internet connection with unbelievable speed can increase the attractiveness of your business to your target audience.  For instance, someone wanting to stay at a Bed and Breakfast would much prefer to settle in at one advertising a WiFi connection than one without Internet access.

In today's world, people conduct business or simply stay in touch even while they're on vacation and without high-speed Internet access, they're doomed to miss out on important communications.

B&Bs aren't the only ones jumping onto the WiFi bandwagon.  Other small business owners are realizing the importance of catering to their customers' needs, such as the owners and operators of campgrounds, independent bookstores, apartment buildings, family-owned restaurants, and coffee houses.

It's not just travelers looking for a WiFi connecting spot.  Many local residents like to make sure a business carries this feature so that they can get out of the house and relax with access to a high speed Internet connection.

The cost of setting up your own WiFi hot spot is minimal, but it goes a long way in fostering the relationship you want to develop with your customers.  It's one must-have aspect many people check on before committing to visit a certain establishment.

If you want to stay competitive with other businesses in the community, set up your own WiFi hot spot and offer it s an added incentive for people to visit your place of business. 

The first thing you do is invest in some equipment, which will include a Broadband connection and credit card processing in case you want to offer your WiFi services at a fee, as some businesses do to deter squatters from taking up space all day in their place of business.

Buy some hotspot equipment for less than $300 and install it according to the directions.  You want to choose an option that delivers good technical support for your customers, in case you don't want to be responsible for troubleshooting yourself. 

Small business owners have the choice to buy and install the WiFi equipment and system themselves or hire someone to do it for them, such as a hotspot specialist or management service.  Regardless of which installation method you choose, make sure it's running effectively before you advertise it to the public.  Then sit back and watch as the loyalty to your business grow exponentially.

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5 Tips to Secure Your Wireless Router

Wi-Fi routers can give you enough headaches without worrying if someone is leeching off your connection. You pay for that bandwidth you receive every month, and with so many movies to stream, games to play, and work to remotely connect to, you don't want to share your Internet pipe.

Not only can having others access your router slow down your connection, but there is the possibility they might get you into some legal entanglements. An incident made news least year in which a man was falsely arrested in child pornography charges. The guilty party was actually a neighboring bandwidth parasite neighbor using the innocent man's connection to download the odious content.

While a false arrest is an extreme case, having unauthorized users can cause performance issues and pose a security risk. Here are a few ways to keep leeches off your router.

    Password encryption should be well-known to anyone with a wireless router. Never leave your router open without a password, and there are very few reasons for the average home and small business user to not encrypt wireless signal with WPA2 security.

    Turn off broadcasting is a feature available in just about all routers. For example, you name your network "Jane's Wi-Fi." You know what the wireless name is (also called SSID), so you can easily enter the SSID into any devices you want to access that network. Other people, however, do not need to know the SSID. To prevent outsiders from seeing your network's name turn off broadcasting in your router's settings. This capability is typically found within the wireless router settings page in the router's management software. In the below image the "Enable SSID Broadcast" option would be unchecked, so that your network's name does not show up in other people's wireless network scans.

Disable Guest networks because lots of router now ship with an extra wireless network configured for guests to access your router. A guest network lets guests share your Internet connection without giving them access to shared files and devices on your private network. Guest networking is often used by businesses to provide customers courtesy access, but I recommend home users turn it off. Guest network passwords are sometimes configured with no security, or default passwords that anyone can easily look up on Google if they know the kind of router you have. If you are friend enough that I give you permission to share my router, you are friend enough to know my passphrase key.

MAC Filtering is a feature also found in most routers. You add the MAC address (a unique identifier for that unit) of any device you want to give access to the router into the filtering list. Any device not on the list that tries to get on will be blocked from accessing.

Get a network monitoring app such as Fing which will scan your network and provide information that you can use to see if you have any unwanted users or devices on your network. Fing will perform a discovery on your network and report information such as hostnames, IP addresses, MAC addresses, and more. If there is any information you don't recognize, you can investigate and found out if someone or something is on your network that shouldn't be.

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Sri Lanka to be the first country to have universal internet access with Google Loon

Sri Lanka’s government and Google on Tuesday signed an agreement to cover the Island with 3G internet under ‘Google Loon project’.

Sri Lanka is the first country in the world to have Internet access covering the whole country with the government support, Google Vice President and Project Leader on GoogleX Project Loon, Mike Cassidy said.

Project Loon is the latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access.

It is a network of balloons traveling on the edge of space, designed to connect people in rural and remote areas, help fill in coverage gaps and bring people back online after disasters.

“With our system we use LTE which is a common protocol most of the telcos use around the world. So anyone with a smart phone would be able to get internet access. One of the key things we do is we partner with the local telcos. In New Zealand we partnered with Vodafone.” Cassidy said.

It is expected to place 13 balloons above Sri Lanka over the next few months (One balloon is expected to last over 100 days) and internet service providers will have to connect this network through these ‘floating towers’ which will ultimately reduce their transmission costs.

“Matara covered or Jaffna covered is now history. In a few months we will be able to say Sri Lanka covered,” addressing the signing ceremony Foreign, Telecommunications and IT Minister Mangala Samaraweera said.

“As a result of this agreement, the entire Sri Lankan island – every village from Dondra to Point Pedro – will be covered with affordable high speed internet using Google Loon’s balloon technology.” Samaraweera said.

The project is handled by ICTA with the collaboration of former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya who now represents lotus flare, a leading mobile content provider.

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Apple iCar Looking Even More Likely

Rumours of the Apple iCar have been sparked once again as reports show that Apple has roped in the head of operations at Chrysler to work on an electric ‘iCar Project’ to rival Tesla.

Apple’s list of car specialists just keeps getting bigger with the tech giant hiring Doug Betts, ex-head of global operations at Fiat Chrysler automobiles.

Betts has now changed his job status to “operations-Apple”.

Although pretty cryptic, we can only guess that Betts has joined Apple to work on a car project.

Since February of this year, reports of several hundred employees working on an Apple-branded eclectic car shot into public attention.

Other employees of Apple’s new project include the head of research and development of Mercedes-Benz North American Lab.

It's no wonder everyone is flocking to Apple, as according to Bloomberg, Apple is offering $250,000 signing bonuses with gigantic salary hikes.

Unfortunately we still have no idea what the iCar will look like or any of its features as Apple is keeping things very much behind closed doors.

But with Betts in Apple’s corner and their specialist team getting bigger, hopefully it won't be long before we see the fruits of their labour.

Interested in the Apple Car? Read everything we know about the project here.

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Celebrate the Biggest Day for Positive Environmental Action!

World Environment Day (WED) is the United Nations’ principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment. Over the years it has grown to be a broad, global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated by stakeholders in over 100 countries. It also serves as the ‘people’s day’ for doing something positive for the environment, galvanizing individual actions into a collective power that generates an exponential positive impact on the planet.

The WED theme this year is "Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care." The well-being of humanity, the environment, and the functioning of the economy, ultimately depend upon the responsible management of the planet’s natural resources. And yet, evidence is building that people are consuming far more natural resources than what the planet can sustainably provide.

Many of the Earth’s ecosystems are nearing critical tipping points of depletion or irreversible change, pushed by high population growth and economic development. By 2050, if current consumption and production patterns remain the same and with a rising population expected to reach 9.6 billion, we will need three planets to sustain our ways of living and consumption.

Consuming with care means living within planetary boundaries to ensure a healthy future where our dreams can be realized. Human prosperity need not cost the earth. Living sustainably is about doing more and better with less. It is about knowing that rising rates of natural resource use and the environmental impacts that occur are not a necessary by-product of economic growth.

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A Fully Transparent Solar Cell that Could Make Every Window and Screen a Power Source

Researchers at Michigan State University have created a fully transparent solar concentrator, which could turn any window or sheet of glass (like your smartphone’s screen) into a photovoltaic solar cell. Unlike other “transparent” solar cells that we’ve reported on in the past, this one really is transparent, as you can see in the photos throughout this story. According to Richard Lunt, who led the research, the team are confident that the transparent solar panels can be efficiently deployed in a wide range of settings, from “tall buildings with lots of windows or any kind of mobile device that demands high aesthetic quality like a phone or e-reader.”

Scientifically, a transparent solar panel is something of an oxymoron. Solar cells, specifically the photovoltaic kind, make energy by absorbing photons (sunlight) and converting them into electrons (electricity). If a material is transparent, however, by definition it means that all of the light passes through the medium to strike the back of your eye. This is why previous transparent solar cells have actually only been partially transparent — and, to add insult to injury, they usually they cast a colorful shadow too.

To get around this limitation, the Michigan State researchers use a slightly different technique for gathering sunlight. Instead of trying to create a transparent photovoltaic cell (which is nigh impossible), they use a transparent luminescent solar concentrator (TLSC). The TLSC consists of organic salts that absorb specific non-visible wavelengths of ultraviolet and infrared light, which they then luminesce (glow) as another wavelength of infrared light (also non-visible). This emitted infrared light is guided to the edge of plastic, where thin strips of conventional photovoltaic solar cell convert it into electricity. [Research paper: DOI: 10.1002/adom.201400103 - "Near-Infrared Harvesting Transparent Luminescent Solar Concentrators"]

If you look closely, you can see a couple of black strips along the edges of plastic block. Otherwise, though, the active organic material — and thus the bulk of the solar panel — is highly transparent. (Read: Solar singlet fission bends the laws of physics to boost solar power efficiency by 30%.)

Michigan’s TLSC currently has an efficiency of around 1%, but they think 5% should be possible. Non-transparent luminescent concentrators (which bathe the room in colorful light) max out at around 7%. On their own these aren’t huge figures, but on a larger scale — every window in a house or office block — the numbers quickly add up. Likewise, while we’re probably not talking about a technology that can keep your smartphone or tablet running indefinitely, replacing your device’s display with a TLSC could net you a few more minutes or hours of usage on a single battery charge.

The researchers are confident that the technology can be scaled all the way from large industrial and commercial applications, down to consumer devices, while remaining “affordable.” So far, one of the larger barriers to large-scale adoption of solar power is the intrusive and ugly nature of solar panels — obviously, if we can produce large amounts of solar power from sheets of glass and plastic that look like normal sheets of glass and plastic, then that would be big.

Source : [www.extremetech.com]                                      Visit Us : @ Hyperjet

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Microsoft HoloLlens Brings Holography Into Physical World !!

Microsoft HoloLlens brings holography into physical world. Now its possible to create what you think. Its easy to convert your imagination into designs. Easier to explore the places.

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FREE Public WiFi

Benefits of a Hosted Wi-Fi Hotspot Portal

The overall benefit or goal of hosting a Wi-Fi hotspot at your location is being able to offer high-speed wireless Internet access for your customers. In addition to satisfying the needs of connectivity for your customers and visitors, you and your staff can take advantage of having a powerful media channel to reach out to your customers.

Other benefits of hosting a public Wi-Fi hotspot include:

• Attract people to your location
• Generate additional revenue
• Create a private network for your own use
• Attract People to Your Location

Hosting a Wi-Fi hotspot, in any type of business, should attract new people to your location and entice them to return and stay longer. For retail stores such as cafés and bookstores, this access helps fill empty seats. For businesses such as hotels, having Wi-Fi Internet access available for guests might be essential to prevent losing potential customers. If you are in a transportation business like buses, taxis, trains or other mobile operations having public WiFi available for you passengers is an important part of your business.

Customers find WiFi hotspots in many ways, including these:

• Online directories
• Software directories
• Display signs
• Wi-Fi finders
• Laptop/PDAs

The best way to attract users to your hotspot is to display signs advertising that you have a hotspot at your location. These signs could simply say "Wi-Fi Hotspot Here" or "Wireless Internet Access Available."

How do you control access and  brand your WiFi Hotspots?

Each WiFi Hotspot comes with a custom home page (portal) hosted in our datacenter - which all users see when they open their web browser, and a thank-you web page - which customers will see after they successfully log in.

How Does it work?

When a user first brings up their web browser they attempt to reach some particular web page, typically their home page. The user's computer issues a DNS ("Domain Name Service") request to lookup the IP address of the specified domain. The Access Controller "re-directs" the user's session and returns the IP address of the login page on the our Captured Portal / WiFi Access Portal server. No matter what domain a user tries to go to they will be returned to the captured portal access page until the agree to terms and setup there access account.

Why not sell advertising space on these pages to local or national businesses?

Lock Media provides end to end products and services to turn your facility, bus, train, or other fixed or mobil locations into a WiFi hotspot for public wireless internet access. We take care of the end-to-end process of creating, maintaining and profiting from your WiFi hotspot. Starting with a WiFi Gateway, we can support all WiFi-enabled Laptop and PDA users. Our WiFi Gateways come complete with user authentication, subscriber billing, credit card and Prepaid Card processing, portal access branding and more!

No technical experience is required - We manage it all for you!

You can add computers or laptops, Security appliances like firewalls and content filtering solutions, Kiosk Management software, WiFi Access Points, Bridges and Repeaters, High Gain Antennas, High Power laptop wireless kit  and other WiFi solutions to expand your offering

Public WiFi Access Portal - Branded to Your Company Image

FREE Public WiFi, also called Hotspots are a convenient, easy way for your customers to use broadband internet access that is branded and controlled by your companies own messaging and terms. Using wireless technology (Wi-Fi), your customers and guests can access the internet at any of your locations. WiFi hotspots are showing up in an increasing number of places such as cafés, hotels, restaurants and retail centers around the world. And now we even have solutions for offering In-Vehicle WiFi for buses, taxi cars, trains and any other situations that requires a mobile internet connection.

The User Experience

• Your customers will connect to the Wi-Fi signal, launch their web browser, and see your companies "Welcome Page" that asks them to log onto your Wi-Fi network by accepting the Terms of Service (TOS). This is your first opportunity to brand you WiFi Hotspot to your corporate image and offer additional information and specials offers.
• We then have the ability to asked them to watch a short Sponsored advertisement that you can control or message in return for receiving FREE Internet access.
• At the end of this introductory message, the users will be redirected to your "Landing Page", which will be their actual gateway to the Internet.
• After the session ends, they will be disconnected from the Wi-Fi and asked to log in and be directed to another messaging area in order to continue.

They are free to repeat this process as many times as they like.

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Google’s Project Ara store

Google’s Project Ara modular smartphone dream may not be a reality yet, but in preparation, it’s building an online marketplace for parts already. The company struck a deal with software solutions company Globant to work on a modular smartphone parts marketplace that’s as easy to use as the Google Play Store.

Ideally, the marketplace will serve as a one-stop shopping center for those brave, adventurous souls who want to build their own smartphones piece by piece. Presumably, companies – whether it’s small independents, or well-known manufacturers such as LG, Samsung, and Sony – will sell components and modules for Project Ara directly to the public, much like the Play Store works for apps.

In a statement, Globant said Google hopes Project Ara will create “a two-sided market between module developers and consumers, with module developers gaining direct access to consumers (versus having to market to original equipment manufacturers), and consumers benefiting from a more diverse ecosystem of functional hardware options for their device.”

Once all the different modules are on the site, users will be able to browse through components and decide which camera module, processor, storage option, and other features they want on their modular smartphone. Just like the Google Play Store, the Project Ara component marketplace will feature user reviews of different modules and recommendations from early adopters. It’s unclear whether the site will offer a how-to guide for users who want to build their own phones, or if all the components will be compatible with each other.

Obviously, it’s still early days for Project Ara and its marketplace will undoubtedly take clearer shape once Google announces it’s ready to bring modular phones to the world. Although the Project Ara team does have a working prototype running Android, it seems unlikely the project will be ready to go live at the second Project Ara Developers Conference in January. The team is expected to reveal a new Ara Module Developers Kit and an update on its progress at the event.

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Navdy's transparent Head-Up Display (HUD)

A modern heads-up display (HUD) projects a great deal of what was traditionally shown on a car’s instrument panel onto the windscreen, and is becoming must-have equipment for high-end modern cars. However, as many of us don’t drive high-end expensive cars, we don’t get to take advantage of this technology. That’s where Navdy comes in. Currently in prototype form, the device promises to bring a projection display with voice and gesture controls to any car.

The Navdy prototype HUD integrates with your smartphone and your car’s instruments (accessed via the vehicle’s OBD II port) to emulate the functionality of a high-end projection display, whilst adding voice and gesture controls. To achieve this, the creators claim that the device can be paired with an iPhone (iOS 7+) or Android (4.3+) to allow any function that your phone has – such as maps, messages, and music streaming – to be accessed (or even read aloud) by Navdy.

A built-in infrared camera provides touchless gesture control so that drivers can answer a call by swiping left or dismiss it by swiping right, while the voice recognition capabilities of Siri or Google voice, depending on your phone, can also be used to initiate phone calls or to dictate texts or social media comments.

Navigation capabilities, complete with alerts and turn-by-turn directions are also provided, with the added bonus that the on-screen navigation doesn't vanish when a call comes in. Instead the navigation continues whilst the conversation takes place, allowing you to talk to someone without getting lost.

The Navdy team says their device will also display information, such as speed, RPM, distance-to-empty, fuel economy, tire-pressure warning or battery-voltage warning, all from the car’s computer, provided that your car is built after 1996 and has an OBD II port – and you plug it into it.

Boasting a dual core processor running Android 4.4, a 5.1 in (12.9 cm) wide display, an accelerometer, e-compass, ambient light sensor, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0/LE, along with audio out via Bluetooth or 3.5 mm jack, a mini-USB port, and an Internal speaker and microphone, the Navdy certainly appears to be prepped with all the features to meet its claimed capabilities.

Of course, there are other aftermarket HUD devices out there – the Garmin HUD being one notable example – and many smartphone apps allow speed and navigation details to be projected onto the windscreen. But the Navdy aims to produce a unit that is more integrated into a vehicle by accessing a cars on-board computer and by providing a single hub to access all smartphone-connected features without all of the messy compromises generally required for in-car add-on equipment.

Slated for shipping in early 2015, Navdy is now available to pre-order at a discounted price of US$299 for the next 30 days, before reverting to its regular price of US$499.

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Wi-Fi Security for Public Networks

Introduction
 

Wi-Fi hotspots present a unique set of security problems, quite different from the security issues involved in home and office networks. These hotspots have unknown computers accessing them. And in this case, the very nature of a public hotspot demands that it broadcasts its SSID. A public hotspot also has to do away with encryption and MAC address filtering to enable hassle free access to all users. 

Even if a public hotspot used encryption and user verification, it is not possible to tell which customer accesses the network with a malicious intent.

Under these circumstances, the precautions have to come from the users who access a WiFi public hotspot. Here are a few things you can do to protect yourself while using a public hotspot. 

1. Use legitimate access points

This is an often overlooked, nevertheless important safety step. Malicious access points that connect to hijackers’ databases have started coming up everywhere. These have the same SSID as a legitimate access point. The malicious ones can collect such information as your usernames, passwords and even credit card data of people who sign up for new services. 

Steer clear of anything that doesn’t look as coming from a legitimate provider. Also check the list of all legitimate SSIDs in any given area. Avoid setting the wireless card in your gadgets to automatically connect with any available network. Turn off peer-to-peer mode when you are in a public place to avoid others connecting directly to you, and last but not the least, keep your WiFi card in the off position when you don’t use it! 

2. Encrypt your sensitive files

 

Emails, usernames and passwords and virtually anything you beam from your device to the access point can be intercepted by someone close by. A lot of this information is going as clear text and not in a converted format, making it possible for the interceptor to access your information. Therefore encrypt any sensitive information you send via email from a public hotspot. There are numerous file encryption programs, freeware and shareware to help you with this.

3. Use a VPN

 

A VPN or virtual private network creates a tunnel between your device and the hotspot, thus preventing anyone in between from intercepting your data. This has become a standard requirement for companies to allow remote employees to connect to their networks. If your company does not provide you with a corporate VPN, you can go for a commercial one like JiWire SpotLock. 

4. Set up a personal firewall

 

Connecting to a public wireless network implies that you are joining a local network of unknown computers. These are on the same IP subnet, so it is easier for them to capture the traffic between your computer and the hotspot. Therefore always install a personal firewall program to protect your personal laptop. In the case of a corporate device, consult the IT manager before installing any firewall. 

5. Install and regularly update your anti-virus software

 

Public networks are places where your machine is the most vulnerable to attacks from viruses and other malicious code. It is more important here to have effective antivirus software in your system. Also take care to visit the vendor’s website and download the latest update, or avail the auto-update features. 

6. Update your OS

 

Most large utility and business software vendors like Microsoft and Apple frequently develop additional security patches for their operating system and programs. In the case of Microsoft Windows, you can visit the Windows Update site to get the new patches. In the case of Mac OS, enable the automatic Software Update feature in System Preferences.

Also be wary of the attachments that come with emails, as most of the recent viruses and worms have spread through them. 

7. Ensure privacy

 

Take care while you are typing information like name and password while you are at a public hotspot. There are people around you. 

8. Use Web-based email instead of Outlook

 

Avoid sending emails through Outlook, Eudora or Apple Mail when you’re using a public hotspot. Always use web-based email that uses secure http. 

9. Disable file sharing

You may be using file sharing while you are using your home or office network. Make sure that this feature is turned off before you access a public hotspot, for obvious reasons. 

10. Protect your confidential files with strong passwords

 

Use a strong password for access to your computer and a separate password to protect sensitive files. It would be a good idea to back up this with your most important data stored in an encrypted keychain storage device. 

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