by admin | Mar 16, 2014 | Tech Updates
The Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry held its annual general assembly on March 15, 2014 at the Dagohoy Hall at the Bohol Tropics Resort, Tagbilaran City. The governor of the province, Gov. Edgar M. Chatto and the city administrator of Tagbilaran, Mr. Leonides L. Borja on behalf of City Mayor John Geesnell Yap, represented the government sector. Atty. Emmanuel Aladin D. Tumanda presented the president’s report which included an audio-video presentation showing the year’s activities of the chamber. The organization was deeply involved in relief efforts after the 7.2 magnitude struck the province on October 15, 2013. Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV was the guest speaker and his message to the chamber is “jobs and enterprise for inclusive growth”. The senator is promoting support structure for the small enterprises. A bill authored by the senator called “Go Negosyo” is nearly passed as a law and it will help small enterprises. The chamber also held the election of the board of trustees as well as inducted its new...
by admin | Mar 8, 2014 | Tech Updates
It is a common practice for service companies like hotels, resorts and restaurants to be providing WiFi Internet access to its customers. However, there is a common mistake also for such companies. The WiFi network is on the same network segment as the office computers. This is a security issue because now you are allowing strangers to have local network access to your computers. In order to avoid the issue where the WiFi users can access your local network, the office network must be on a separate network segment, with its own router and firewall blocking any unauthorized access from outside the network. Another concern with sharing Internet access to customers is that your own Internet access might become slower also because of the increased download and upload activity. There are firewall devices available on the market that allows you to segment the network into two or more subnets. You can put the office network on one subnet and the customer WiFi access on the other. Then on the firewall, define the rules such that incoming traffic from the customer subnet is blocked if it is going to the office subnetwork. With a little change on the network configuration, one can increase the computer network significantly. With the constant threat of malicious Internet activity, it is important for business owners to secure their computer network to protect its business...
by admin | Mar 8, 2014 | Tech Updates
by: Jerome Auza Before I had setup my experimental solar power system, a power interruption like that scheduled on March 9, 2014 would mean that we need to purchase gasoline worth around Php800.00 to keep the office network running. It’s probably more expensive these days with the gasoline hitting the Php60.00/liter mark. I checked my solar system today and I have 57% charged batteries. The system seemed to have charged slowly the past two days. I expected close to 100% charge after two days with lots of sunshine. This is something for investigation later. However, at this time, what I need to know is how long can I run the network without resorting to the generators. If the sun is out most of the day during the power interruption, I would expect to be able to run the network for at least 10 hours. To be sure, I plan to turn off some of the non-essential equipment like that powering up the LAN of the office since there will be nobody working. My wife who runs a maternity clinic at Talibon, Bohol has her own solar system also and is currently fully charged and should enable her to run the most important equipment at her clinic during the power interruption. Services like ultrasound and fetal montiring for her patients at St. Gerald’s Maternity and Wellness Clinic should continue even without electricity. I have one 300W solar panel coming soon so the articles in the coming weeks should be interesting since I can start configuring the system to run the office network 24/7 on solar power. I’m still a long...
by admin | Feb 22, 2014 | Tech Updates
After installing my battery monitor, it became very convenient now to get a reading for both voltage and current. Just a few presses of a button and I could get the two values straightaway. One more number the battery monitor displays is the percentage of the battery capacity. Knowing how much energy is left on the batteries while running a large load is very useful just like during the power failure on the morning of Friday, February 21. In the past, I would run to my generator and start it and transfer the power of the office network to the generators. Last Friday, I used my solar energy system and was able to support the load for the duration of the power failure. Because my battery monitor showed me the percentage of charge left (I had the perimeter lights on the system the previous night), I knew the system can run on the batteries for at least five hours. At this time, my experiments on the solar energy system will be put on hold until I am able to acquire large solar panels. If there are individuals or organizations who are willing to help me complete my setup and my experiments, please email me at jerome.auza@auza.net or call me at 09178898932 and we can discuss the details. I hope my experiments can encourage the use of renewable energy systems and help reduce the cost of...
by admin | Feb 22, 2014 | Tech Updates
By Jerome Auza The term ‘hackers’ used to mean something positive among computer programmers. If you are able to make a program that solves a complex computing problem, you will be called a hacker. It is a badge of honor. Until someone used the word hacker to describe someone that does malicious programs. Nowadays, people who make computer viruses and malware, or people who make attempts to defraud or steal sensitive personal information. Today’s work, entertainment and personal communications involve computers and mobile devices on a very large scale and it becomes very important to keep your personal information secure. In the 1990’s, computer viruses created by “hackers” were mostly created to destroy computer data and annoy users. Back then, computer networks is not common. In the present, most computers and mobile devices are connected to the Internet and the nature of “hacking” changed from data destruction and annoyance to fraud and theft of personal information. Software that does the work of the “hacker” is commonly termed malware. A lot of malware can be running on your computer without your knowledge because all it does is collect personal information and send that to its creator in a sneaky manner which is mostly undetected. The longer it stays there, the bigger chance it will be able to get your personal information that becomes useful to the “hacker”. Once your personal information is stolen, the “hacker” can then pretend to be you and maybe send emails to your contacts asking for money because “you” are in a foreign country and have lost all your things because you were mugged. Your helpful...
