Work produced by our staff http://www.AlanBonnici.com General articles about security (and not) and about computers (and not) of a serious nature (and not). en Copyright 2008 chribonn@gmail.com (Alan C. Bonnici) http://www.AlanBonnici.com/images/article_index.jpghttp://www.AlanBonnici.com Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:04:26 GMT Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:04:26 GMT RSS DreamFeeder v 2.5.2 The island of Filfla dominated this walking adventure because it was constantly visible along the entire route. Filfla is a small barren islet 5 kilometres south of Malta and having an area of 0.06 km². Today this uninhabited island is a natural reserve and access to it necessitates a permit. Until 1971, it was used for target practice by the British Military. Because of the possibility of unexploded bombs, there is a one nautical mile fishing restriction around it. In the past Filfla was larger. An earthquake in 1856 as well as the shelling reduced the size of this island. 100 meters southwest of Filfla is a small rocky projection called Filfoletta. Filfoletta constitutes Malta’s southernmost point.The starting and finishing point of this walk was Ghar Lapsi, an http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/RamblingGharLapsi.aspx Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:51:24 GMT Alan C. Bonnici http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/RamblingGharLapsi.aspx.1323101055928.1 One of the walks organised by volunteers of Ramblers Malta was an 11km circular ramble that commenced at the Buskett Woodlands. Buskett is one of Malta’s few woodland areas located in the valley of Wied il-Luq, Siggiewi. It borders, the villages of Rabat and Dingli. Buskett Gardens was planted by the Knights of Malta to be used as a hunting ground in the 16th century. The area was chosen because a rivulet ran through the valley for most of the year thereby making this a place one with a sustainable abundance of natural flora and fauna as well as allowing wild game, introduced by the knights, to flourish. The small hunting lodge would be later replaced by the Verdala Palace. Three farmhouses which date back to the 17th http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/RamblingSiggiewi.aspx Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:26:24 GMT Alan C. Bonnici http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/A%20Rambling%20Adventure%20round%20Siggiewi.aspx.1322213695895.1 How can you illegally occupy public land or a historical site economically? Stick home-made and ironmongery purchased signs all over the place and paint a few PRIVATE notices on walls and fences leading to the area you want to illegally acquire. If you have property bordering the site, stick an Alsatian at a strategic point. This will normally suffice to keep most punters at bay. If there are a few stubborn ones, confront them and threaten legal action. If anyone attempts to challenge your claim of ownership get a legal firm to send an intimidating letter.Likewise stay on the lookout for people who post photos or videos of the area. Either write to the company that hosts the media to demand its removal or, if that fails or http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/PublicaccessSimblija.aspx Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:26:24 GMT Alan C. Bonnici http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/PublicaccessSimblija.aspx.1317376099524.1 Are cars safe? Are computers safe? Is buying over the internet safe? These are some of the questions people who pose the question above might have asked a hundred, thirty and fifteen years ago. Today, many of us use cars, computers and regularly effect payments over the internet without much thought. When talking about online backups, the simple answer to the question being asked is yes.I have, over the past year and a bit discussed this topic with my students. My students are normal people taking an office productivity computer course. Their computer is shared by at least one other member of the family. They come from all walks of life and a considerable portion of them have been the victim of some sort of data loss. The http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/OnlineBackupsGoodIdeas.aspx Thu, 16 Jun 2011 11:09:24 GMT Alan C. Bonnici http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/OnlineBackupsGoodIdeas.aspx.1308131889964.1 What is the best time to prove new technology? When there is a need for it. I can't understand how in today's day and age unmanned water trucks are not used to keep the reactors cool? According to NHK, Japan's national public broadcasting company, police water trucks could not be used because their firing range was not sufficient to reach the nuclear reactors. Other issues such as radiation levels are hampering operations and, on numerous occasions, operations had to be stopped because the level of radiation reached humanly toxic levels. There is a growing consensus that some of those working close to the damaged nuclear reactors are the disaster's martyrs.If we are able to send unmanned submarines to roam through the depths of our oceans, send unmanned rovers http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/UnmannedVehiclesForJapan.aspx Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:15:24 GMT Alan C. Bonnici http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/UnmannedVehiclesForJapan.aspx.1308131889964.2 Sage Pastel Evolution is an Accounting / Stock / Point of Sale program for medium to large sized companies. The program can support a large number of concurrent users and an unlimited number of companies. It uses Microsoft SQL Server as its underlying database. Small setups (up to 10 users) can use Microsoft SQL Server Express with larger shops necessitating the use of the standard edition of SQL Server.In order to backup Sage Pastel Evolution one needs to backup the Microsoft SQL Server database as well as the appropriate registry entries. In this article I will not discuss how to backup Microsoft SQL Server Express or Standard edition—email me on chribonn@gmail.com if you are interested in a write-up on how to backup these products.A word of warning about http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/Backup_Sage.aspx Sat, 02 Oct 2010 16:15:24 GMT Alan C. Bonnici http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/Backup_Sage.aspx.1286031171971.1 Following my two part series on how to backup and restore (as well as transfer Microsoft Outlook from one computer to another), I received a number of emails asking as well as highlighting other areas of Outlook customisation which can be backed up.Custom Dictionaries allow you to store words that are not in the standard dictionary but which are valid. Names, surnames, towns as well as technical terms are common examples of correctly spelled nonexistent dictionary phrases. You would add these words to a custom dictionary so as to prevent the spell checker from prompting you whenever these words are used in an email.With custom dictionaries it makes more sense to move the file to the folder that holds the pst files. See the article titled “How to http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/BackupOutlook_2.aspx Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:43:24 GMT Alan C. Bonnici http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/BackupOutlook_2.aspx.1280938112840.1 In my entry titled “How to backup your Microsoft Office 2007 Outlook in its entirety (Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7)” I described how to backup the Microsoft Outlook 2007 data file together with that part of the Windows registry that stores within it the email accounts from where Outlook retrieves emails or via which emails are sent out. Today I discuss how to use that backed up information to either recover a failed computer or to transfer the settings from one computer to another. The former may happen if the hard disk fails or as a result of a malware attack while the latter would apply if you are upgrading your computer or operating system. On your freshly formatted computer you need to install Microsoft Outlook. http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/RestoreOutlook2007.aspx Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:57:24 GMT Alan C. Bonnici http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/RestoreOutlook2007.aspx.1280938112840.2 Many people use Microsoft Outlook to download mail from their POP3 or IMAP server. While some may only link their Outlook to one particular email, many today have multiple email account all pouring into the same data file. Backing up Microsoft Outlook consists essentially of backing up two different components; the pst file that stores messages (or in the case of IMAP a cached version of the server) together with the registry entry that stores all the different email accounts that are being processed by Outlook. The folk who decided on the default location of the Outlook data file chose a location that is difficult to figure out. Also when installing Outlook (or when running it for the first time) there is no way to specify a different http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/BackupOutlook2007.aspx Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:29:24 GMT Alan C. Bonnici http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/BackupOutlook2007.aspx.1271346495737.2 Giving is one of the noblest deeds a person can do to another. Be it money, time, material goods or life-saving products such as blood, the knowledge that you are helping someone is great for both the giver as well as the receiver. This year you can add another form of giving to your list; donate your computing resources. This is possible thanks to a branch known as distributed computing.Distributed computing consists of multiple autonomous computers that communicate through the internet. The computers interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal. There are many distributed computing projects you can participate in. The largest project is called Folding@Home. This project is managed by the University of Stanford. It deals with research in protein folding and contributes http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/DonateYourComputerResources.aspx Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:28:24 GMT Alan C. Bonnici http://www.AlanBonnici.com/articles/DonateYourComputerResources.aspx.1268063386944.15