As the data you send and receive when connected to the internet – particularly on open WiFi – is mostly sent unencrypted it is relatively easy for people to view that data and this can not only provide personal information but can allow them to gain access to your online accounts.

FireSheep highlights this and makes it easy for the masses to use this sniffing technology and helps to show how insecure websites – and unsecured hotspots – are and how they can be used by malicious people to gain unauthorised access to your accounts and data.

Here’s some simple tips to help you stay secure when using open WiFi and unsecured networks.

1. Always use SSL where possible – https everywhere.

SSL (commonly known as https) provides an added layer of security as all the data you send and receive over a SSL connection is encrypted and it isn’t possible to be snooped or sniffed. Unfortunately many of the popular sites do not use SSL connections throughout their sites which enable hackers (or anyone with FireSheep) to easily steal their login/authentication cookies which allow them to pretend to be the user and login to their accounts.

You can use extensions for FireFox such as “https Everywhere” which forces the use of https when using popular sites such as Facebook, Google and Twitter amount many others. Download https everywhere here: eff.org/https-everywhere

(If you know of similar plugins/extensions for other browsers please leave a comment below and I will add it to the post).

2. Avoid open and unsecured WiFi networks.

Simple advice and most impractical in modern life but avoiding unsecured WiFi can help protect you and avoid people snooping your data!

It is also vital you carefully select which WiFi hotspot you connect to and NEVER connect to ad-hoc networks or WiFi networks with odd or unexpected (for example “FREE OPEN WIFI” etc) as these can often be hackers waiting for users to connect and become the “man in the middle” which allows them to view everything you do online, and can even spoof SSL certificates and connections. BE AWARE.

3. Use VPN tools

There are many VPN tools which enable you to easily setup a secured tunnel to their servers and help to protect you when using open WiFi.

One in particular which I use is HotSpot Shield by AnchorFree for this you simple install the software and can then right-click –> connect and it sets up a secured connection helping to protect you when surfing.

When using these services there are a few things to consider, firstly there are often (and definitely in the case of HotSpot Shield) US based. This means your internet connection is being routed via the US and you will be browsing on a US IP. This means websites which are Geo-Aware will perceive you as being in the United States and UK only websites such as BBC iPlayer will not be accessible while using the tunnelled connection.

This may sound obvious to some, but ensure you are running a firewall which helps to block hackers from gaining access to your computer. It is also advisable to use up-to-date virus protection and the latest version of your browser to help avoid security loopholes which may be present in earlier versions.

What’s your top tips for staying secure when using Hot Spots? Leave a comment below!

The more I break into the Student world, particularly with the Microsoft Student Partners programme and getting ever closer to University I am finding more and more perks and free stuff available, so here’s a few you should check out! (If you’re a young hip student of course). Naturally most of these focus on software and technology.

1. Microsoft Student Partners (MSP)

The Microsoft Student Partners programme offers some fantastic opportunities and resources for passionate young technology enthusiasts  (Geeks).

Opportunities range from invites and access to events, talks, networking ops and generally meeting and talking to some very cool people – I have started talking to a whole bunch of other MSPs and Tech gurus who I otherwise wouldn’t have dreamed to have following me on Twitter!

Microsoft Student Partners can also get access to hard core resources such as a free MSDN subscription for MSPs! Microsoft has a whole range of other rewards and goodies available to MSPs who put the work in and really strive to bring their incredibly interesting innovative ideas to life. (Did you enjoy the alliteration?).

This is a programme which is definitely worth looking into and getting involved in; personally I can’t wait to get my teeth into the next few years and the opportunities and fun I am sure my involvement will bring.

Also check out this great video which explains the MSP programme and how to join!

2. Microsoft’s Imagine Cup Competition!

The Imagine Cup is “the world’s premier student technology competition” you can compete against other students beginning with local and regional competitions with the 2011 worldwide finale in New York City, United States – All expenses paid of course.

This is a fantastic competition which aims to inspire and show off how technology can be used to solve the world’s toughest problems when mixed with your imagination.

Things are already kicking off for the 2011 competition, so get on the site and register now and start taking part! You never know you could be the lucky one scoring a place in the finals.

Check it out now ImagineCup.com

3. Microsoft’s DreamSpark.com – Great Microsoft software, for free.

DreamSpark.com is a great place for students to get a lot of Microsoft Software, including Windows Server, a whole suite of Visual Studios and the XNA Game Studio as well as a bunch of other software – totally FREE!

One of the easiest sites I have used, once you have verified yourself as a student simply login, click and download. It couldn’t be simpler.

There are a few ways you can verify your student status either by your ISIC (International Student Identification Card) or if you don’t have one it is possible to verify via your school/college/university, just select your school and you can then authenticate using the “Athens Authentication” – Ask your school about this to get the login details you need.

Check it out at: DreamSpark.com

4. Software4Students.co.uk – Great software at a fraction of the price.

Software4Students.co.uk has a wide range of software with huge discounts for students, you can pick up a copy of Microsoft Office 2010 Professional or Windows 7 for just £38.95 – Including VAT and Delivery.

You can also pick up the Adobe CS5 Master Collection (PC) for just £495.95! An apparent saving over well over £2,000.

These guys are Microsoft Gold Partners and seem to be offering software with a good £20+ saving for the student prices direct from the creators, presumably making those savings with bulk buys.

If I wasn’t getting all my stuff free I’d likely be buying my software from these guys!

Note: Offered mentioned ends 31st October – So act quickly!

5. MSDN AA (Academic Alliance)

The MSDN Academic Alliance is a subscription service which many Universities subscribe to which can provide their students with access to over 300+ Microsoft titles available in labs and classrooms. This makes it easy for students to get their hands on the Microsoft developer tools, platforms and software for “instructional and research” purposes.

A great feature of this is the licenses (apparently) never expire, so even after you leave university you still have a valid license for the software you use!

You can look up to see if your educational institute has a subscription and if so, get on to you’re tutor/IT admin to find out if and how you can get access!

Learn more about  The MSDN Academic Alliance

6. NUS – The National Union of Students

The NUS may seem out of place with the above entries being focused around tech and software, but its just as important.

They include more than 95% of all higher and further education unions in the UK and represent more than 7 million of us students!

The NUS help to promote, defend and extend our rights and students. Testament to this is their current campaign against the tuition fee debacle.

Also for only £11 per year you can get a NUS Extra card which gets some great discounts and deals with some top retailers, it get’s you a free McFlurry in McDonalds as well as a massive list of other discounts and deals…who can turn down free ice-cream?

7. XDnet Web Services – Special deals for Students!

Admittedly yes this is my own business, but hey, it’s my blog and if I want to brag about how I am nice to fellow students I will!

I am offering 50% off Web Hosting for all Microsoft Student Partners – Just get in contact for details on how to get your discount.

I am also offering 25% off for all other students, from School to University, get in contact and claim your discounts!

Check it out now! XDnet.co.uk

8. StudentBeans.com

StudentBeans.com is a nice site I came across whist surfing for cool stuff for students.

The site includes a lot of things students will need to know and use and is a multi-purpose site. With offers, discounts and deals to news, reviews and job listings as well as advice and guides to help students survive and make the very most of the student life.

Check it out StudentBeans.com

9. Student Banking

Finances are a key concern when you’re a student, particularly while at university; this is a helpful guide from the MoneySavingExpert for how to find the best Student Bank account with the best deal to suit you, and some handy hints and tips for managing your money to help ensure you stay a float while you study!

Check it out at moneysavingexpert.com/banking/Student-bank-account

10. Student guide for free software – Free alternatives

This is just a nice guide for finding alternative and free software, as well as some fantastic software which is usually free anyway. With a massive variety of software – most of which I have used myself – this is definitely worth checking out as likely to find something useful for you.

Check it out at tips.webdesign10.com/students-guide-free-software

If you have any suggestions of great sites/services which have provided you with some great deals as a student, please comment below and could find they are added to the list!

Also for only £11 per year you can get a NUS Extra card which gets some great discounts and deals with some top retailers, it get’s you a free McFlurry in McDonalds as well as a massive list of other discounts and deals…who can turn down free ice-cream?

Ignoring the fact I am a crap writer unless i have gone over whatever i have written a million times (notice all the Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors on this blog) i would still love to write some books… mainly because i would just love to see something bound and printed which i have written… but here’s the top ten ideas i can think of which i would like to get down on paper… or keyboard or is it screen…

1. PHP guide.
2. Autobiography
3. How to make a website 101 (obviously have to think of a different name, that’s probably taken! lol) [this would also include how to use html/xhtml/css and everything in one!]
4. Website Tips, this would be basically what it says, a kind of guide on how to make your site better and would probably be just general advice for web persons.
5. Hates, okay from the title your probably wondering what i mean, i am hoping to start a pet hates website, which users can add what really annoys them etc, i have the domain, but i dont have the site… yet… but this could be one of those books with just a combination of the most interesting pet hates i always find those kinds of books fun
6. Hacks for Noobs, Now I’m not 100% clear about this but i think it could be interesting, now as i am sure many of you will know, there are a few videos on YouTube, or little tutorials etc with hacks for everyday objects, i think it could be great to get that in a book, just a collection of little hacks you can do at home! lol.
7. Computer Care for Noobies! – Its important! … unless your paying me to fix it of course!
8. What i hate about the world, okay this would just be one HUGE rant.. think clarkson… but with a supped up computer and PHP…
9. How to pack out a “Top 10″ list for beginners… can i get a copy of this XD
10. How to run a successful blog… was that one pushing it? okay.. maybe one day when i have one myself! lol.

Okay so i have been using Vista (ultimate version) for a while now, and the gadgets are great and really handy, so i have complied what i think is the Top Ten Vista gadgets which everyone must have!

Okay the ten gadgets below are not in a particular order of top ten,  they are my favourite ten vista gadgets all are helpful in some way to me and makes it all a bit easier!

The UK Radio Player, is a great little gadget, you can add any online radio feed, and its just nice and easy to use, just have it in the corner and click play when ever i fancy some music. (and I’m not already blasting it that is!)

I came across this gadget the other day, and it is helpful to me, as i am a web host to keep tabs on my server, simple little gadget pings my server every few seconds to check its still online, so if it isn’t i can do something about it, only thing i can complain about is it only allows up to 5 servers, and the height is fixed, so when you have one server it still has a huge gap, and my gadget space is valuable to me!

The Top Process gadget is really handy, it shows the Top three CPU and RAM hogging programs, so i can easily see whats using what without having to open Task Manager, great easy gadget, could be improved if it had the ability to end task as well, but I am not sure how that feature could be added.

Volume control: I used to use another volume control gadget and when i re-installed the other day, i lost the gadget but when i went to re-download it from the Gadget Gallery instead i found this one which looks much nicer and has a few more features.

CPU Gadget, this definitely had to be the most “used” gadget, always handy to check how hard I’m working my system, helps me know when i need to easy off a bit to avoid problems.

RSS Feed Reader, Only recently have i started properly using this great little gadget, its one which comes default with Vista, and is nice and simple, you subscribe to a thread (through IE) and they show up, you can select to show 10-100 items, select a single feed of just one, handy tool to keep up to date with goings on, I started to use it to try and learn a bit more and be more in with whats going on with the Web, and also an attempt to get more ideas of things i can talk about both on my blog, and on my Radio show.

Notes, yes this is a simple little gadget comes with Vista by default like the CPU monitor and RSS feed reader, its a Handy note pad on your desktop to jot something down to remember later, i was (and admittedly still am) guilty of having a desk covered in little piles of yellow sticky pad notes, most of which are in unreadable handwriting or just end up lost and forgotten. So in that sense it is a handy little gadget, also means i don’t have quite so many random .txt files on my desktop with random things in. However a bad note (no pun intended… okay that’s a blatant lie.. anyway) is its quite a small area, and would be a very handy if you could extend the note pad so you don’t have to scroll down the note o read it all however i am not sure how easy this could be done on Vista Gadgets, it would be good though if it was possible.

 Weather Gadget, never bother to use it before the other day, but its pretty good does a variety of weathers, and it does my local area (Swindon) so I am happy.

Calendar again one of the pre-installed gadgets with Vista, but its something which i use daily, much easier to give it a glance and see today’s date etc in nice big letters, without having to faff about hovering over the clock like i used to especially when i am busy working on scripts or working with clients. 

Clock, okay this really doesn’t need a description of any kind, but i have to admit having a nice easy to ready clock on the right hand top corner of my first screen is a lot easier to read than a small time in the corner. So again it is a basic gadget which can really speed up little things you do when on the PC.

Okay that’s it that’s my Top Ten Vista Gadgets, all helpful all great.

Now when looking through the Vista Gadget Gallery I have seen literally thousands of gadgets which all have almost identical gadgets which do the same thing, and there are a lot of “Search” gadgets, like YouTube or Google and when i first got Vista i tried them and soon realised for me at least they were more annoying than there were useful, i almost always have a webpage open, and it is much easier to manually open the page than to use the often ugly gadgets which just waste my Desktop space.

 So here’s my first of what will hopefully be many Top Ten lists, hope you enjoy and find it useful.

Dan