Web Resources

Support/Web Resource Links

IEEE: www.ieee.org. This is the home page for the IEEE, or Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., which is a professional society dedicated to promoting the growth of technology.

WiFinder: www.wifinder.com. Locate wireless hotspots using this Web site. Users can differentiate between free hotspots and those that charge, and can rate hotspots, too.

Wi-Fi-FreeSpot Directory: www.wififreespot.com. Use this site to locate free high-speed wireless Internet connections, broken down by state. Visitors can also check for European or other international hotspots and submit new wireless locations.

Wi-FiHotSpotList.com: www.wi-fihotspotlist.com. Use this Web site to find wireless hotspots.

Homeplug Powerline Alliance: www.homeplug.org. This is a Web site for an alliance of industry partners manufacturing power-line networking equipment.

Microsoft: www.microsoft.com. The Microsoft Web site is a good source for resources on networking operating systems released before Windows XP.

World Community Grid: www.worldcommunitygrid.org. The mission of the World Community Grid is to create the largest public computing grid, using volunteers, to work on projects that benefit humanity. Site visitors can download the grid sharing software and put their unused computer resources to good use.

The Globus Alliance: www.globus.org. Sponsored by the various organizations and individuals that are working together to develop open-source Grid technologies, visitors can learn more about this technology and plans for its use in the future.

Folding@Home Distributed Computing: http://folding.stanford.edu. Visitors to this site can learn more about protein folding and the consequences caused by misfolding, download software to participate in ongoing projects, and participate in the forums.

MySpace: www.myspace.com. With over 40 million users, MySpace is probably the largest social networking site. There’s no charge to sign up and members can connect with friends, as well as friends of friends to chat, share photos, blog, and so on.

Facebook: www.facebook.com. This social networking site is only available to college and high school students, but still has over seven million users.

Federal Trade Commission: www.ftc.gov. Visitors to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) site will find information from this U.S. government agency designed to protect American consumers from identity theft and other types of schemes perpetrated against consumers.

ID Theft: www.consumer.gov/idtheft. This site is developed by the Federal Trade Commission to help individuals prevent or recover from identity theft.

ProBlogger: www.problogger.net. This blog site attempts to help other bloggers learn the best practices for blogging. Get tips and advice, learn how to promote your own blog, and find out how to make your blog profitable, too.

Gibson Research Corporation: www.grc.com. This site, hosted by Gibson Research Corporation, a company specializing in data protection and data recovery, provides a number of free tools (such as Shields Up) that you can use to determine whether your network is secure from hackers.

Symantec: www.symantec.com. This is the home page for Symantec, a software company that manufactures computer protection products such as Norton Anti-Virus and Norton Internet Security.

CoolComputing: www.coolcomputing.com. This information site focuses on enhancing the performance of your personal computer.

Pricewatch: www.pricewatch.com. This site features price comparisons of technology equipment from various suppliers and is useful when shopping for computers or other technology equipment.

Linksys: www.linksys.com. This site, hosted by Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems that makes networking equipment for home networks, contains extensive information on constructing home networks.

Netgear: www.netgear.com. This site, hosted by Netgear, a major manufacturer of home networking equipment, contains good resources for learning about the construction of home networks.

Best Buy: www.bestbuy.com. This is a good site for comparison price shopping when buying computer equipment.

TigerDirect.com: www.tigerdirect.com. This online retailer of computers and computer equipment’s Web site features very competitive prices.

SETI@home: http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu. This site is the home page for the SETI Project, which allows Internet-connected computers in people’s homes to participate in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

NetStumbler.com: www.netstumbler.com. This site offers free software that enables your computer to more easily locate Wi-Fi hotspots.

Kensington: http://us.kensington.com. This is the home page for Kensington, a manufacturer of wireless computing devices.

Wi-Fi Alliance: www.weca.net. This is the home page for the Wi-Fi Alliance, a nonprofit industry trade association whose members are dedicated to the proliferation of Wi-Fi networks.

Additional Links

Technology in Action Companion Web Site: www.prenhall.com/techinaction. Here you’ll find additional resources to support and supplement chapter topics, including an Online Study Guide and Web Research Projects.

24x7 Pearson Product Support: http://247.prenhall.com. Use this site to obtain help by phone, e-mail, or chat, or explore the knowledge base to find answers right on the site.

Starbucks: www.starbucks.com. The popular Starbucks chain of coffee shops provides wireless Internet access, allowing their customers to surf while they sip.

JiWire: www.jiwire.com. Locate wireless hotspots and check the security of your wireless connection from this site.

HowStuffWorks: www.howstuffworks.com. This site teaches you how computer networks (and many other computer-related devices) work.

D-Link: www.dlink.com. This is the home page for D-Link, a provider of networking solutions and equipment, including routers. Check the Consumer Solutions area for information about setting up a home network.

Verizon Learning Center: http://www22.verizon.com/about/community/learningcenter/html. This site is a good resource for learning more about how DSL and broadband subscriber lines work.

About Wireless Networking: http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/routers. This About.com site is designed to help new users understand how routers work.

Home Phone Line Networking Alliance: www.homepna.org. Learn more about phoneline networks at this site for the alliance of industry partners manufacturing phoneline networking equipment.

Grid.org: www.grid.org. This site is designed to showcase projects that use the United Devices grid computing solution. It’s a great place to find grid computing projects in which students can participate.

Friendster: www.friendster.com. This social networking site encourages people to make friends online.

Friendzy: www.friendzy.com. This is another social networking site popular with students.

Department of Homeland Security: www.dhs.gov. Explore the Research & Technology area on this site to see how the U.S. government is using technology to protect America.

McAfee: www.mcafee.com. This is the home page for McAfee, a software company that makes computer protection products such as McAfee VirusScan and McAfee AntiSpyware.

Spybot Search & Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org. Download free antispyware software that gets consistently high ratings from PC Magazine from this site.

Lavasoft: www.lavasoft.com. This is the home page for Lavasoft, creator of the Ad-Aware antispyware program. A free version of Ad-Aware, available for personal use, can be downloaded from this site.