The learning process in any venture is always slow and the results come slowly as you progress to a level of competence. We want to get to the ability levels of others as quick as possible with as little effort as possible. It doesn’t work like that, BUT, with photography it’s a little different. If you are prepared to take some time and learn a few keys you will dramatically improve your photos.Our instant society demands instant results and after buying an expensive digital camera you want to see results and quickly. And, if you don’t there is disappointment. There is some hope though. I can’t take you to a highly of competence without time and effort. What I can do is show you a few things that will help you speed up the process a little and dramatically improve your existing images.1. Think before you shootIf there is one thing that I can encourage you to do and that is take just a little time to think before your press the shutter button. Ask yourself a few questions as to what you are shooting, is it a good subject, does it make you feel good and have I placed the subject in the best possible place.2. Choose a good focal pointThe focal point or the subject of an image should always take the most prominent place in your image. This is the part of the image that draws the eye of the viewer into the photos. Ask yourself whether the subject is clearly the subject and if there focal point is clear to the viewer. Place it on a two thirds intersection to give balance. This is achieved by placing and imaginary tic-tac-toe or naughts and crosses grid over the image. Where the lines intersect are the two thirds intersections.3. Be selectiveThere is nothing wrong with being choosy as to what you are going to photograph. Random shooting is as bad a drive by shooting in a gang war. You aren’t really focused specifically on a target but just shoot in the general direction. Look for your subjects and identify the most relevant ones for your particular image. Ask yourself why it should be in the final photo. If it passes then press the shutter button.4. Get in closerWe always tend to stand too far back from our subjects and by doing this include too many extras in the photo that either have no relevance or are just clutter and make the scene too busy. By getting in closer you get to see more of the subject and a lot more detail. Later on in life when reviewing your memories you wish you could see more of the loved one who is no longer with you. Coupled with this is filling the frame more. Get more of the subject or scene into the image.5. Have funOne of the problems with the learning process is that we tend to forget about having fun. It’s a hobby which you’ve chosen to relax and enjoy so the element of fun must be there. If it’s not then you’re defeating the object of the exercise. So try to remember to enjoy yourself. If you don’t get it right the first time, appreciate the shot you have taken and endeavour to try again at a later stage. Never let the fun element slip.I cannot help you become a competent photographer in a few lines of text. What I can do is give you a better foundation and a start to great image taking. Learn to enjoy yourself and constantly work at practising your art and as you learn digital photography review what you’ve done and then work at improving. Happy shooting!
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Escape Into the World of Virtual Online Gaming
How would you like to escape the real world for a while and enter into another realm of existence? You can do this in the comfort of your own home as long as you have a computer and active internet connection. Yes, it is the experience of virtual online gaming.What happens is that you find online virtual game sites on the internet by searching your favourite search engine. You can take a look at any game that interests you. Each site has memberships and rules of play for each game. And the membership costs range from free to a fee. Some sites provide you with unlimited free play, some sites offer a free trial period first before you buy. So make sure you understand your payment option. Also you need to be aware of the cancellation process in case you want to cease your membership. Basically each site should have a landing page with clear information on membership and payments, cancellations, contact details for questions and concerns and information on age requirements and privacy policies.If you can play for free then it is a great option to try the games to see if you like them or not, especially if you are a first timer. You can find a game or games to suit your tastes. Whether or not you are playing for free, once you have chosen your game to play, you can then start your new life with your alternate personality. At least for a while any way.There are various worlds you can choose. Some worlds offer you a chance to build everything from teaching your virtual people life skills such that they can build a new society. Other worlds offer you a chance to establish social contacts only as the buildings and society is in place. The great thing about online gaming is that you are only limited by your imagination and it can help develop areas of your personality in both the virtual and real worlds. However some people feel that it is all a waste of time as the addictive nature of the game can take over your entire life. But what you do in your free time is your choice. If you live escaping from reality for a while, then this could give you a huge release of inner tensions. Maybe actors love to act to escape their real worlds for a while. It can give one a sense of fulfillment.So why not fulfill your life with a little acting of your own? Escape into the world of virtual online gaming.
Tips to Secure Your Small Business Network
Just because your business is small, doesn’t mean that hackers won’t target you. The reality is that automated scanning techniques and botnets don’t care whether your company is big or small, they’re only looking for holes in your network security to exploit.Maintaining a secure small business or home network isn’t easy, and even for an old hand in IT, it still takes time and energy to keep things locked down. Here are 10 of the most critical steps you can take to keep your data from ending up elsewhere, and none of them take much time or effort to accomplish.
Get a Firewall
The first step for any attacker is to find network vulnerabilities by scanning for open ports. Ports are the mechanisms by which your small business network opens up and connects to the wider world of the Internet. A hacker sees an open port to as an irresistible invitation for access and exploitation. A network firewall locks down ports that don’t need to be open.A properly configured firewall acts as the first line of defense on any network. The network firewall sets the rules for which ports should be open and which ones should be closed. The only ports that should be open are ports for services that you need to run.Typically, most small business routers include some kind of firewall functionality, so chances are if you have a router sitting behind your service provider or DSL/cable modem, you likely have a firewall already. To check to see if you already have firewall capabilities at the router level in your network, log into your router and see if there are any settings for Firewall or Security. If you don’t know how to log into your router on a Windows PC, find your Network Connection information. The item identified as Default Gateway is likely the IP address for your router.There are many desktop firewall applications available today as well, but don’t mistake those for a substitute for firewall that sits at the primary entry point to your small business network. You should have a firewall sitting right behind where your network connectivity comes into your business to filter out bad traffic before it can reach any desktop or any other network assets.
Password Protect your Firewall
Great you’ve got a firewall, but it’s never enough to simply drop it into your network and turn it on. One of the most common mistakes in configuring network equipment is keeping the default password.It’s a trivial matter in many cases for an attacker to identify the brand and model number of a device on a network. It’s equally trivial to simply use Google to obtain the user manual to find the default username and password.Take the time to make this easy fix. Log into your router/firewall, and you’ll get the option to set a password; typically, you’ll find it under the Administration menu item.
Update Router Firmware
Outdated router or firewall firmware is another common issue. Small business network equipment, just like applications and operating systems, needs to be updated for security and bug fixes. The firmware that your small business router and/or firewall shipped with is likely out-of-date within a year, so it’s critical to make sure you update it.Some router vendors have a simple dialogue box that lets you check for new firmware versions from within the router’s administration menu. For routers that don’t have automated firmware version checking, find the version number in your router admin screen, and then go to the vendor’s support site to see if you have the latest version.
Block Pings
Most router and firewalls include multiple settings that help to determine how visible your router and/or firewall will be to the outside world. One of the simplest methods that a hacker uses to find a network is by sending a ping request, which is just a network request to see if something will respond. The idea being if a network device responds, there is something there that the hacker can then explore further and potentially exploit. You can make it harder for attackers by simply setting your network router or firewall so that it won’t respond to network pings. Typically, the option to block network pings can be found on the administration menu for a firewall and/or router as a configuration option.
Scan Yourself
One of the best ways to see if you have open ports or visible network vulnerabilities is to do the same thing that an attacker would do – scan your network. By scanning your network with the same tools that security researchers (and attackers) use, you’ll see what they see. Among the most popular network scanning tools is the open source nmap tool). For Windows users, the Nmap download now includes a graphical user interface, so it’s now easier than ever to scan your network with industry standard tools, for free. Scan your network to see what ports are open (that shouldn’t be), and then go back to your firewall to make the necessary changes.
Lock Down IP Addresses
By default, most small business routers use something called DHCP, which automatically allocates IP addresses to computers that connect to the network. DHCP makes it easy for you to let users connect to you network, but if your network is exploited it also makes it easy for attackers to connect to your network. If your small business only has a set number of users, and you don’t routinely have guest users plugging into your network, you might want to consider locking down IP addresses.The benefit of assigning an IP is that when you check your router logs, you’ll know which IP is associated with a specific PC and/or user. With DHCP, the same PC could potentially have different IPs over a period of time as machines are turned on or off. By knowing what’s on your network, you’ll know where problems are coming from when they do arise.
Use VLANs
Not everyone in your small business necessarily needs access to the same network assets. While you can determine and set access with passwords and permissions on applications, you can also segment your network with VLAN or virtual LANs. VLANs are almost always part of any business class router and let you segment a network based on needs and risks as well as quality of service requirements. For example, with a VLAN setup you could have the finance department on one VLAN, while sales is on another. In another scenario, you could have a VLAN for your employees and then setup another one for contract or guest workers. Mitigating risk is all about providing access to network resources to the people who are authorized and restricting access to those who aren’t.
Get an IPS
A firewall isn’t always enough to protect a small business network. Today’s reality is that the bulk of all network traffic goes over Port 80 for HTTP or Web traffic. So if you leave that port open, you’re still at risk from attacks that target port 80. In addition to the firewall, Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) technology can play a key network security role. An IPS does more than simply monitor ports; it monitors the traffic flow for anomalies that could indicate malicious activity. IPS technology can sometimes be bundled in on a router as part of a Unified Threat Management (UTM) device. Depending on the size of your small business network, you might want to consider a separate physical box.Another option is to leverage open source technologies running on your own servers (or as virtual instances if you are virtualized). On the IPS side, one of the leading open source technologies is called SNORT (which is backed by commercial vendor Sourcefire.
Get a WAF
A Web Application Firewall (WAF) is specifically tasked with helping to protect against attacks that are specifically targeted against applications. If you’re not hosting applications within your small business network, the risks that a WAF helps to mitigate are not as pronounced. If you are hosting applications, WAF in front of (or as part of) your Web server is a key technology that you need to look at. Multiple vendors including Barracuda have network WAF boxes. Another option is the open source ModSecurity project, which is backed by security vendor Trustwave.
Use VPN
If you’ve gone through all the trouble of protecting your small business network, it makes sense to extend that protection to your mobile and remotely connected employees as well. A VPN or Virtual Private Network lets your remote workers log into your network with an encrypted tunnel. That tunnel can then be used to effectively shield your remote employees with the same firewall, IPS and WAF technologies that local users benefit from. A VPN also protects your network by not letting users who may be coming in from risky mobile environments connect in an insecure fashion.