An End User Perspective of the Apple iPhone 5

Apple recently unleashed the newest version of the iPhone 5.  Noted as the most remarkable iPhone yet, this device is truly evident of the reasons why it has been depicted in this light.  This generation of iPhone has many new features that make it a top contender  when considering and upgrade in cellular devices.

The iPhone 5 has been made slightly thinner and lighter than the iPhone 4s, with a 4-inch Retina display and a 1136×640 resolution.  The designers at Apple have also converted the 30-pin connector to the smaller Lightning connector that is reversible so the user does not risk damage to the connector.

To achieve the iPhone 5’s 7.6 millimeter width,  Apple had to create the nano-SIM card.  The nano-SIM card is about 44 percent smaller than the micro-SIM card.  Another improvement in this generation of iPhones is the transition from the A5 chip to the A6 chip.  The A6 chip is about twice as fast as A5 and about 22 percent smaller.  Improvements featured are: increases in overall speed, increase in battery life and it delivers more detail capabilities to apps that are central in graphics.  This chips allows the iPhone to produce approximately 8 hours in browsing time, 8 hours in talk time, and 10 hours of battery life.  Wireless technology has improved significantly.  With the addition of LTE capability, the iPhone is equipped for faster connectivity and downloads.  Normally, LTE capabilities would add extra weight and size; whereas, the designers at Apple have created one chip, instead of two separate chips, to provide excellent voice and data potentials.  The iPhone 5 is also compatible with more advanced networks such as HSPA, HSPA+, and DC-HSDPA.

A big improvement in regards to the camera of the iPhone is that the lens is no longer glass.  It is now manufactured out of sapphire crystal, the second hardest crystal to diamond.  This composition makes it more difficult to scratch and damage the lens of the camera.  The 8MP camera has new capabilities such as panorama mode and lowlight mode.  The panorama camera can shoot up to 240 degrees in one motion and up to a combined 28MP.  The 1080p HD video feature has also seen improvements; such as, improved video stabilization to reduce shaky footage and taking still photos as you record.  The FaceTime camera now features a 720p HD video for a real-life picture.  FaceTime has also seen its own improvements.  Users are now capable of making FaceTime calls over a cellular network when wi-fi connection is not available.

New features that are included with iOS 6, not just limited to the iPhone 5, are Maps and an upgraded Siri.  The first release of Apple Maps has had problems that have generated negative press for Apple.  But the goals of Apple Maps were pretty lofty.  Apple Maps offer spoken directions that offer turn-by-turn navigation.  Apple Maps is integrated with real time traffic information and will automatically re-route a driver.  Maps’ vector-based software allows for easy zoom and pan capabilities without lagging to display road names.  Another feature in Maps is the fly over mode, which offers a realistic, interactive 3D photo view.  Siri is now capable with more countries, in turn more capability with languages.  Siri can now perform tasks such as showing sports scores, finding restaurants and making reservations.

Apple has strived to make every product as environmentally friendly as is possible.  A few ways that they achieve this is manufacturing products that are/have: mercury-free LED-backlit display, arsenic-free display glass, brominated flame retardant-free, PVC-free, and a recyclable aluminum enclosure.

Happy Birthday Marine Corps!

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) will celebrate its 237th birthday on Saturday, November 10th.  The USMC's origin dates back to November 10, 1775, in Philadelphia by Samuel Nicholas.  Since then, the Marine Corps has led American military tactics in amphibious warfare, and also aids in implementation and execution of American foreign policy. TechNow would like to honor the fallen marines; and also express our gratitude to former Marines and those still serving in the Marine Corps today.

Happy Veterans Day!

Veterans Day is also around the corner, as it is held on Sunday, November 11th.  The staff at TechNow would like to honor and remember Veterans of all of the United States Armed Forces.  We appreciate all that you have accomplished for this country and the legacy that you have left behind and continue to pass onto future generations.

A remembrance ceremony is scheduled to be held in honor of members of the United States Armed Forces and Veterans on Sunday, November 11, at 11 a.m..  The ceremony will be held at Arlington National Cemetery.  This ceremony is free and open to the pubic.  For anyone interested in attending, it is strongly encouraged that you arrive early.  The cemetery gates will open at 8 a.m., and a free shuttle will be provided to transport guests from the Arlington National Cemetery visitor center to the Tomb/Amphitheater.  Free parking will be available all day at the visitor center.

We would also like to thank the men and women who are still serving and fighting for our country today!

Below is a direct link to our website:
https://www.technow.com/

Very Respectfully,
TechNow Staff

CompTIA Continuing Education Deadline

Don’t miss your chance to enroll in CompTIA’s Continuing Education Program!  The cutoff date for enrollment into CompTIA’s Continuing Education (CE) Program is swiftly approaching.  December 31, 2012 is the last day an individual that is “certified for life” in CompTIA A+, Network+, or Security+ can enroll in the CE program.  Consideration of “certified for life” is only offered to individuals whose certification was earned on or prior to December 31, 2010.  It is crucial to sign up before enrollment closes; otherwise, you will have to you will have to completely re-certify by taking the certification exam again to enroll in the CE Program and be eligible to earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) credit.

The CompTIA Continuing Education Program is a valuable opportunity for individuals to keep their certifications relevant to the latest CompTIA exam objectives.  Keep in mind that the CE program is only available for certifications earned December 31, 2010 or prior.  For those of whom are affiliated with DoD 8570 IA Directive, the continuing education program is required with use of their CompTIA Certification.     

For important information to guidelines of the CompTIA Continuing Education Program please visit the links below:

General Continuing Education Program Information

Enrolling in Continuing Education Programs

Below is a direct link to our website:
https://www.technow.com/

Respectfully,
TechNow Staff

Happy Holidays from the staff at TechNow.  We wish you a joyful and prosperous New Year!

TechNow Hosts Linux Security Seminar

TechNow will be hosting a Linux Security Seminar March 15th.  With 23 years of UNIX/Linux security consulting and training, we are ready to help you get CompTIA continuing education credits, and keep it interesting!  The Seminar covers six topics: AIDE, DNSsec, Logging & Auditing, Linux Security Modules & SE-Linux, Linux Containers, and Tunneling.  The seminar will have hands-on live demonstrations of all topics.  We will take a few paragraphs to write a little about DNSsec, and look forward to seeing you in the security seminar.  DNSsec is a Federal Mandate and organizations have been moving rapidly into compliance.

DNSsec

Falsification of IP addressing has long been a thorn in the side of networked systems.  Spoofing of IP addressing has many attack vectors, but one of the most effective mechanisms has been DNS cache poisoning.

• DNSsec DNS servers sign all their information (zone data) cryptographically.
• Recursing or caching DNS servers can check the signatures of all signed zones (domains) they come across.
• Current generation of Microsoft Windows support DNSsec in addition the many Linux/UNIX variants.
• You administer your own DNS zones, you can sign your own zones and publish your certificates and signatures.

DNSsec is a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for DNS zone data, is an incredibly cost effective mechanism to manage PKI and can be used for applications.  No longer does an organization have to pay for certificates to a public certifying authority like Verisign or Thawte.  When a zone administrator digitally signs all of the different types of Resource Records (RRs) in a given zone, and publishes those signatures and the zone's signing key's public certificate, it then becomes possible for any recursing name server that makes queries against that zone to validate those signatures and, therefore, to have cryptographic proof that the answer to a given DNS query hasn't been forged or tampered with.

DNSsec provides a simple "chain of validation", all the way from the zone I really want to validate (lackland.af.mil or  redmond.microsoft.com or raleigh.redhat.com), all the way up to the root domain.  What if the parent domain isn't signed?  The "chain of validation" becomes broken, so the Internet Software Consortium (maintainers of BIND the original DNS implementation), maintain a DNS Look-aside Validation (DLV) database of keys for zones having precisely this sort of gap in their chains of validation.

DNSsec is very easy to implement and works great!  The seminar will provide attendees a great opportunity to ask questions, and see live demonstrations to answer those questions.

Very Respectfully,

TechNow Staff

Happy Memorial Day!

TechNow would like to wish everyone a happy Memorial Day.  We would like to take this moment to remember and honor all those who have served for our country and thank those who are still serving today.  We appreciate the freedom you all provide to the United States of America.

TechNow Offers CASP

In February 2013, CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP) was approved by the DoD 8570.  This certification is designed for information assurance professionals in technical leadership roles in an IT enterprise environment.  As CompTIA's first mastery level exam, CASP provides evidence of comprehension in enterprise security, risk management, research and analysis, and integration of computing, communications, and business disciplines.

TechNow is offering training courses in the CASP Certification.  Keep an eye out on our website for course dates and information for our new CT-425: CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP) certification course.

Texas Universities Hit Particularly Hard By Sequestration Cuts to Biotech Research Funding

The Austin American Statesman's Laura Skelding reports that federal budget cuts to university research funding have some science students re-evaluating their career choices. Ms. Skelding cites an American Association for the Advancement of Science projection that federal research grants will diminish by an estimated $57.5 billion over the next four years under the U.S. government's across-the-board cuts known as sequestration.

For more of this of article visit BioNews Texas.

Juniper Networks Introduces Controller Technology and New Capabilities for Software-Defined Networks

SUNNYVALE, CA—(Marketwired – May 6, 2013)—Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), the industry leader in network innovation, today introduced JunosV Contrail, a family of products which includes the JunosV Contrail Controller, an open, standards-based controller for software-defined networks (SDN).  JunosV Contrail, now in trials with Fortune 500 global service provider and enterprise customers, will reduce the time, cost and risk for customers to deliver new network and security services.

For more of this of article visit Juniper Networks Press Releases.

Below is a direct link to our website:

https://www.technow.com/

Very Respectfully,
TechNow Staff

Key 2013 Exam Registration Dates:

8 June 2013 Exam
10 December                         Registration Opens
15 February                            Early Registration Deadline
12 April                                    Final Registration Deadline
 

7 September 2013 Exam*
24 April                                    Registration Opens
12 June                                   Early Registration Deadline
22 July                                     Final Registration Deadline
*Select Locations

14 December 2013 Exam
17 June                                   Registration Opens
21 August                               Early Registration Deadline
25 October                              Final Registration Deadline

Mark your calendars!