FAQ
A: It is fine to download music as long as you do it through a legal and safe web site. We recommend Itunes because of the high safety of their downloads.
You are playing Russian Roulette with your computer's safety and security when you download "free" music from sites like "Kazaa", "Limewire" or "WinMX".
Do your self a favor and stay off these networks. Remember the old adage that nothing is ever truly free.
Also, it is ILLEGAL to download music from these sites.
A: If you're the PC guy in the family or some other group, you've probably been asked this question: "At night should I turn my computer off?"
Ever since normal people have had computers, this question has made the rounds with a variety of "expert" answers. The early versions presented a trade-off between power consumption and stress on components. Turning the computer on or off, so the theory goes and accurately I believe, is the most physically stressful thing you do to it all day, so I think most experts have advised that it's better to leave the system on.
But in the age of the Internet, and especially in the age of broadband connections, there's a new angle probably more significant in the average case than all that wear and tear stuff. Some would claim that if you have one of those "newfangled" always-on broadband connections, then you're exposing your PC to more attacks than if you were to shut it off during periods of disuse. (Am I disparaging this attitude with my tone enough? Can you tell where I'm going with this?).
To sum up in advance, this idea places all the emphasis in the wrong places. If your PC is vulnerable to attack, the answer isn't to stay offline more; you should plug the hole. If it's insecure, it will be insecure for the time you use it, and that will be plenty enough time for someone to compromise it.
I should mention where I stand on the power vs. stress angle. It's better for the health of your system to just leave it on. The power consumed is, at worst, comparable to leaving a light bulb on, especially with modern Energy Star components, disks that spin down, monitors that shut themselves off, and operating systems that know how to manage power, even on desktop systems. (Incidentally, light bulbs will also live longer if you leave them on, not that I advocate gratuitous waste of energy.)
A: Any software that covertly gathers user information through the user's Internet connection without his or her knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Spyware applications are typically bundled as a hidden component of freeware or shareware programs that can be downloaded from the Internet; however, it should be noted that the majority of shareware and freeware applications do not come with spyware. Once installed, the spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else. Spyware can also gather information about e-mail addresses and even passwords and credit card numbers. Spyware is similar to a Trojan horse in that users unwittingly install the product when they install something else. A common way to become a victim of spyware is to download certain peer-to-peer file swapping products that are available today. Aside from the questions of ethics and privacy, spyware steals from the user by using the computer's memory resources and also by eating bandwidth as it sends information back to the spyware's home base via the user's Internet connection. Because spyware is using memory and system resources, the applications running in the background can lead to system crashes or general system instability. Because spyware exists as independent executable programs, they have the ability to monitor keystrokes, scan files on the hard drive, snoop other applications, such as chat programs or word processors, install other spyware programs, read cookies, change the default home page on the Web browser, consistently relaying this information back to the spyware author who will either use it for advertising/marketing purposes or sell the information to another party. Licensing agreements that accompany software downloads sometimes warn the user that a spyware program will be installed along with the requested software, but the licensing agreements may not always be read completely because the notice of a spyware installation is often couched in obtuse, hard-to-read legal disclaimers.
A: A program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes. Viruses can also replicate themselves. All computer viruses are manmade. A simple virus that can make a copy of itself over and over again is relatively easy to produce. Even such a simple virus is dangerous because it will quickly use all available memory and bring the system to a halt. An even more dangerous type of virus is one capable of transmitting itself across networks and bypassing security systems. Since 1987, when a virus infected ARPANET, a large network used by the Defense Department and many universities, many antivirus programs have become available. These programs periodically check your computer system for the best-known types of viruses. Some people distinguish between general viruses and worms. A worm is a special type of virus that can replicate itself and use memory, but cannot attach itself to other programs.
A: Bandwith can best be defined as the amount of information that can run accross your network. If you think about the pipes in your house that supply water, you can better understand this defination. Little Suzie is in her room downloading music from ITunes. Compare this to running the washing machine. Little Johnnie is watching some videos from youTube.com and other harmless surfing. Now add to our washing machine, filling up the bathtub. Dad is doing his work by checking his emails, doing some research, etc. We now have the washing machine, the tub, and the lavatory flushing. Mom gets on her laptop to play some online games. Add to our scenario, filling up the sink for dishes. Now, as we all know from experience, Dad (since he's the one that does the dishes after Mom cooked) is having a difficult time filling the sink because there is no water pressure (bandwidth) left and he is just getting a trickle of water coming out of the faucet.