There has been a lot of discussion lately about the differences between Apple’s iPhone and phones based on Google’s Android. While these discussions typically center on hardware, usability and the operating system, they rarely discuss the differences between the Android Market vs. the Apple App Store. There are a number of differences between the two, some of which primarily matter to end-users and others that matter primarily to developers.

Open vs. Closed System. The single biggest difference between the Android Market and the Apple App Store is the difference between an open and a closed system. Apple’s system is a closed one. Applications must be submitted to Apple for review and Apple ultimately decides what may or may not be sold in the Apple App Store. In contrast, Android Market is an open system. Developers can directly publish their applications to the market without having them filtered through a central authority. This means that the Android Market is likely to have a greater variety of applications and content but end-users have to accept that the applications are not being screened. There is a definite trade off. The Android Market does support a community rating and comments section, however, which helps buffer against poorly designed or malicious applications.

Refunds. Another big difference between Android Market and the Apple App Store deals with paid applications. The former allows an end-user to obtain a refund by uninstalling the application within 24 hours of purchase. This makes it much safer as an end-user to purchase an application. If you buy an app that does not work properly or does not seem to meet your need, uninstall it within 24 hours and you get a full refund. The Apple App Store does not offer refunds on applications, so while the applications are screened by Apple, it is still buyer beware. You need to make sure an application will meet your needs before you purchase it.

Developer Initiation Fee. Another notable feature that distinguishes the two stores is how much it costs a developer to join. Android Market charges a fee of $25 to sign up as a developer. This fee then allows you to publish your apps in the market. The Apple App Store charges $99 to become a developer. Keep in mind that paying this fee does not mean your application will get added to the app store. Apple reviews all applications for acceptance so paying the fee does not guarantee that your app will be published. Both markets charge 30% of any paid application sales. Apple keeps this 30% while Google pays the 30% to the wireless carriers. This may result in greater cooperation from and adoption by wireless carriers for Android.

Competition. For a developer trying to get a new application noticed, there is less competition in Android Market. Currently Android Market hosts about 20,000 applications while the Apple app store has over 100,000 applications. There is a lot more room for new and innovative applications in the Android market.

There are a number of differences between the Android market vs. the Apple app store. Some of these differences matter more to developers and others to end-users. Being an open system and offering refunds to end-users makes the Android market a great asset for end-users. The openness ensures a greater variety of offerings and the ability to get a refund makes trying a paid application a low-risk venture. For developers, Android offers a lower cost to get started and an arena with much less competition in which to make your application stand out.

By: Michael Dorf

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Website content

Providing public resources such as Web servers which are located inside the private network is prone to any types of internet threats. This is because we allow inbound internet traffic reaching into our private network. A secure way to provide public resources is by establishing a security boundary – the firewall DMZ.

Connecting our private network to the un-trusted network (aka the internet), we should control the flow of the traffic in a secured manner by using a firewall device. With firewall, all the traffic are forced to pass through a single concentrated checkpoint where all traffic will be controlled, authenticated, filtered, and logged according to the policies set. With this way, we can significantly reduce, but not eliminate the amount of unauthorized traffic reaching our internal network.

What should we do if we need to provide the public resources such as Web-servers that can be accessed by users from the internet in a secured way? Internet users can access the public resources but they cannot reach into our private or internal corporate networks. We need to configure our firewall by providing the perimeter network – a Firewall with DMZ (Demilitarized Zones).

Firewall DMZ – Demilitarized Zone is a security network at the boundary between a corporate / private Local area network (LAN) and the internet. A firewall DMZ must be used whenever you need to provide a segmentation of the network when you need to host public resources such as Web servers. The perimeter network is designed to protect servers on the corporate network from attack by malicious users on the Internet.

If the requirements to use multiple network segments exist, you can deploy multiple DMZ with differing security policies (levels). For example when you need to deploy a secured web server with SQL server on different machine, you need to provide segmentations to both Web -server and the SQL server. Web-server should be placed in DMZ1 while SQL server should be placed on different segment – DMZ2.

We should create policies in such a way that the traffic from the internet users can only access the Web server which sits in DMZ1 network. They cannot access the SQL server which sits in DMZ2 network. However, both Web server in DMZ1 and SQL server in DMZ2 can access each other. As a general practice you should separate the SQL server from the Web server. You need to develop policies that meet the above security requirements and implement them in the firewall.

Implementation

The firewall DMZ can be implemented at the border of the corporate LAN which typically has three network interfaces:

1. The internet interface: the interface is exposed to the internet (the unsecured public network)

2. The private or Intranet interface: the interface is connected to the corporate LAN network where you put your vulnerable servers.

3. The DMZ network: the DMZ interface resides in the same public network that can be easily accessed by public users from the internet. The public resources which typically reside in the firewall DMZ are proxy servers, and web servers.

Home Wireless Router with DMZ Feature

There are many popular home wireless routers such as WRT610N by Linksys, DIR-855 D-Link router which are equipped with the firewall DMZ feature available in the market today. With the DMZ feature, you can configure a single computer to be exposed to the internet for use of a special-purpose service such as Internet gaming or video conferencing. DMZ hosting forwards all the ports at the same time to one PC.

Beside the DMZ feature, the Port Forwarding feature is more secure because it only opens the ports you want to have opened, while DMZ hosting opens all the ports of one computer, exposing the computer to the Internet.

For example with WRT610N wireless router, you can expose one PC or game console for Online Gaming purposes. You can configure the router by accessing the router web-based utility and locate the Application – DMZ page to configure and enable the DMZ feature. DMZ feature is disabled by default. Enable the DMZ feature and select the IP address or manually enter a specific IP address of the computer from the Internet that will be allowed to access the PC in the network. You should also enter the IP / MAC address of the PC / Game console you want it to be accessed from the internet.

By Ki Grinsing

By: Ki Grinsing

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Create a video blog

“Content is king” is an old adage. The new buzzword is that only unique content is king. If you have a way with words, can write an enticing web copy to hold the attention of your readers and lure them to take your desired action, you can write the content of your web pages all by yourself. However, if you feel that you won’t be able to do justice to the job, it’s best to hire some competent content creation services that can create a compelling web copy, which suits your needs and matches your corporate image.

In their enthusiasm to cut costs, many webmasters often hire freelancers who turn in a shoddy job or trust the responsibility to a service provider that has not done any project of a similar capability. For example, if you need your content to target human visitors and search engine robots – all at the same time, you need to go for a content creation service that has got experience of churning out SEO content. Hiring a content developer who has no idea about what SEO is all about or knows nothing about keyword density, H1, H2 tags, meta tags etc won’t serve your purpose.

If you find all these to be a difficult task, here is a checklist to help you find the right content creation service:

* Run a background check: Check how much work your short listed company has done and if it has the expertise to handle your project. Make sure that the chosen service provider knows how to create a web copy that entices the human reader and baits the search engine spiders, without sacrificing on the readability quotient or stuffing the content too much with keywords. You can even take a look at some of their work done for previous clients to get a feel of what they are capable of bringing to the table.

* Check writing style: While some people need a third person approach, some others want their content to address the reader directly – packing a punch into the content. Decide what suits your needs the best, and then check the writing style of your prospective content creation service to make sure that it can deliver exactly what you need.

* Cost: This is an important aspect that will affect your final decision. Make sure that you are charged a reasonable price. Know details about what you will get in lieu of the sum paid to avoid any further complications towards the end stage of your project. Make sure to include the terms and conditions for revisions, in case the content doesn’t come up to your expectations and you want either some minor adjustments or desire it to be written afresh. Though most content creation services don’t mind doing minor adjustments, they may charge you some additional amount for a complete overhaul of what they had previously delivered.

* Time frame of delivery: Once you have decided on hiring a content creation service, finalize the deadline of the completion of your project. If it involves a large volume of work, you can fix some milestones, and release the payment as each such milestone is completed on time. For small projects, you may escrow a specific fund before the project begins, and pay the rest after final delivery.

* Drafting the final contract: Keep all these factors in mind while drafting the final contract. Go through it in details to ensure that every small detail is included in clear terms, leaving no space for ambiguity.

So, follow this checklist and you will surely find the task of hiring a copywriter a cakewalk.

By: Michelle Crossley

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Caffeinated Content