1. Bank Tellers: The proliferation of online banking means that the brick and mortar bank is soon on its way to fossilization and a place in a museum. If the Automated Transaction Machine (ATM) had not already given the personal teller a clear signal that he or she was no longer an entirely necessary service, the now ubiquitous online banking services offered by all major and minor banks across the nation will certainly spell the end for redundant tellers.

2. Paper: Paper is resource that has cost the earth heavily when it comes to carbon sinks such as the South American rainforest and soil stabilizers such as the evergreen forests of the northwest United States. So it is with a happy countenance that we predict the redundancy of paper within the next decade or so, as electronic documents take over the niche formerly filled by blank sheets.

3. Insurance Agents: Door to door insurance agents, thankfully, will soon become a distant past memory, as more and more insurance companies realize the advantages of peddling their insurance packages online and making themselves available to customers actually seeking their services for a fraction of the cost of face to face solicitation.

4. Travel Agents: Fewer and fewer travel consumers are going to brick and mortar travel agents as the majority of travel plans are being made online. Travel agents will still operate, but their range of service will be greatly expanded as fewer and wider geographic barriers will exist. What’s more, efficiency will be greatly enhanced, as agents will no longer wait for customers to come to the agency location, but will serve a much larger online market.

5. Real Estate Agents: Buying and selling homes and property has become an almost entirely online experience. From perusing the real estate news to scanning lists of available for sale homes to the communication between agents and clients, the process is rarely completed on a face to face level. Moreover, real estate agents are becoming redundant service, as sellers are able to get in touch with buyers directly and cut out the expense of a flesh and blood agent.

6. Music Stores: Virgin Records and HMV will very shortly be closing their doors in many locations as the demand for brick and mortar music stores decreases to nothing and more and more of the total percentage of music sales occurs online. I-Tunes has already paved the way for music to be distributed entirely online and, in doing so, cutting out large amounts of overhead cost while not passing that saving on to the consumer who seems happy to continue paying the same rate online as he or she would in a conventional music store.

7. Cable Television: With cable consumers less and less satisfied with the rates and packages available through conventional cable providers, and with digital and satellite services often outside an average consumers budget, online television will be become ever more prevalent as the millennium progresses. For instance, for fifty dollars, a consumer can usually purchase twenty eight channels. Some of those channels broadcast the same content, sometimes at the same time, while almost eighty percent of the content will have no interest to the consumer whatsoever. It seems only logical that a pay per channel or even per program service online would attract a substantial proportion of the television entertainment dollar.

8. Movie Theaters: Movie theaters across the country are hemorrhaging money as fewer and fewer consumers choose the traditional venues of entertainment and their attention is ever increasingly split between film, television, music, and other forms of entertainment. As a result, Hollywood and other worldwide film production and distribution centers will have to explore new routes to get their products to the consumer. For films, the obvious route is online distribution. Movies, both released and unreleased are already widely illegally distributed online, so it only makes good business sense to make clean and easy to work down loadable copies of films available online to compete with bootleggers and provide a new alternative revenue stream. Like music, similar fees could be charged for downloads as for more costly distribution methods such as theaters and stores.

9. AM/FM Radio: The AM and FM channels are quickly being replaced by satellite radio and by live streaming over the internet. Live streaming in particular is a virtual twin to a on-air broadcast, except the signal quality of live streaming is easier to control and can be received anywhere with the proper connection.

10. Ticket Agents: High street ticket agents are a thing of the past now that the internet has revolutionized the way we buy tickets. In years to come there will be no high street ticket agents what-so-ever, all tickets will be purchased on the internet with ease and without the hassle of all that queuing malarkey.

Popularity: 3% [?]

The telephone companies, since Alexander Graham Bell first invented the equally useful and annoying device, have had monopoly over the construction and use of phone lines, and later, or cellular wireless waves. However, with new open source code programs such as Asterisk, individuals can now start up and maintain their own phone line systems using only a personal computer.

Asterisk, the open source program that aims to reinvent the telephone industry, essential transforms a personal computer into a phone line. As far as hardware is concerned, a special card will need to be installed to allow a phone to be connected to the PC is the computer is not already equipped with a LAN line connection.

Since Asterisk is open source software designed to work in any Unix operating system or DOS, it is compatible with Linux and is completely free to use as it is licensed under a general public license as well as the more specific and business oriented proprietary license.

To set up an Asterisk phone line, first, download the free software. Once downloaded, burn the installation and system boot up information to a CD. The PC that is designated to serve as the phone line router, should be switched off and rebooted with the Asterisk installation CD in the appropriate disk drive. The Asterisk user interface will then offer a self explanatory series of prompts to guide the user through the configuration process.

Asterisk will require the administrator of the phone line to create channels and devices to direct the voice communications over the internet. Channels and devices commonly used are VoIP protocols, which channel a voice stream through the internet. VoIP, or IP telephony is particularly useful for users with unused network capacity which can easily carry the voice and data signals being transmitted at a fraction of the cost as they would if they were transmitted through the usual private separate corporate phone network. VoIP uses compressed voice file data packets to transfer digital audio and voice recordings as a whole across the internet.

The digital phone line administrator will also need to establish a dial plan. A dial plan is the pattern of numbers which establishes the expected number and order of digits for a telephone number. A digital Asterisk operated phone requires a dial plan so that users on other external devices such as cell phones or regular LAN line networks or other Asterisk using PCs to connect and receive from the Asterisk network being set up.

Asterisk is controlled by a series of configuration files that define, among other things, what to do when answering an incoming call and how to direct outgoing calls. Asterisk traditionally has used a Linux command line interface that takes a fairly advanced level of computer and technological savvy to operate. The Asterisk system has been reissued as AsteriskNOW and features a graphic interface to aid users in the configuration and installation process.

For users who do not know how they ought to configure their Asterisk home PC IP telephone system, the book Asterisk: the Future of Telephony, by Jared Smith and James Van Meggelen, is a good source for a navigating the options featured by the Asterisk telephone system and figuring out what your communication needs are. For first time users of Asterisk, help with the configuration files is almost a must, as only computer whizzes will be able to get their personal phone line set up unassisted.

If an Asterisk system is to function as a PBX (most are), then a context is needed to determine where a particular device starts its dial plain. These contexts are defined in the configuration files and determine, among other things, the context, limitations and extensions of where a specific signal or dial plan may access. The system can also be altered through the configuration file to recognize and record messages from users and allow the messages to be received and listened to by the administrator. Using loadable module APIs, asterisk software can automatically connect with users communicating with any sort of hardware, from LAN lines to cell phones.

Once set up, Asterisk and other IP Telephony systems, allow the users to conduct conference calls, interactive voice response programs such as voice menus, and automatic call distribution. Essentially, a PC can be configured to act a compact call centre, directing voice and data packets to destinations all over the nation and all over the world.

Many VoIP telephone companies have begun to not only support Asterisk
programs and systems, but explicitly design their telephone service packages to utilize existing Asterisk telephone communication networks. Since so many companies and organizations have unused network space, Asterisk combined with VoIP is frequently a less expensive alternative to costly outsourced communication service providers.

Popularity: 3% [?]

1. Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter
Godel, Escher and Bach, written by Douglas Hofstadter, while the title would suggest it is discussion of a mathematician, an artist, and a composer, is a complex examination of how human beings develop perception and meaning. More specifically, the book explores, through a series of dialogues and narrations, how symbols, thought and language are all intertwined and how reality is essentially a composition of overlapping meanings and perceptions. The book challenges the reader to observe the system of symbolic meanings around him or her objectively.

2. The Art of Computer Programming by Donald Knuth
The Art of Programming, by Donald Knuth, is a comprehensive, multi-volume work discussing various programming algorithms and their analysis. The work was voted by American Scientist as one of the twelve best scientific monographs of the twentieth century. The author famously offered a reward of two dollars and fifty six cents for anyone who found and reported an error in the text. The work features exercises of multiple difficulty levels, from basic warm up exercises to ongoing research problems, allowing the reader to work up his skill and familiarity with the material.

3. The Elements of Programming Style by Brian W. Kernighan and P. J. Plauger
The Elements of Programming Style, by Brian W. Kernighan and P. J. Plauger, is an influential book on the study of computer programming styles and languages. It endorses the strategy that computer programs should be written not only to satisfy the compiler, but also keep the human readers in mind. The book utilizes examples taken from actual, published programs. The book’s recommendations are made in the context of the examples which are realistic rather than an academic vacuum.

4. Theory of Parsing, Translation and Compiling, by Alfred V. Aho, and Jeffrey D. Ullman
The book, Theory of Parsing, Translation and Compiling, by Alfred V. Aho, and Jeffrey D. Ullman, is intended for a senior or graduate course in compiling theory. It is a theoretical treatment of a practical computer science subject. Since computer science is an ever changing area of study, this book emphasizes ideas, rather than specific application details. The algorithms and concepts presented in the book should survive to new generations of computer technology, programs and systems. Numerous examples are given, with specific context, rather than on the large complicated contexts normally found in implementations, even in cases where the theoretical ideas are difficult to understand in isolation.

5. The Computer and the Brain, by John von Neumann
The Computer and the Brain, by John von Neumann, is theoretical work which examines mathematics, logic’s, and statistics as the basic tools of information. The book explores how these subjects make up the entirety of the planning, usage and coding of computers. The author explores how mathematics and logic are related to the functions of the organic human brain in the same way they are applied to the artificial automated computer processor.

6. A Programming Language, by Kenneth E. Iverson
A Programming Language, by Kenneth E. Iverson, explores how programming language is a signifier for a whole host of mathematical algorithms and procedures. The book focuses on specific areas of application which serve as universal examples and are chosen to illustrate particular facets of the effort to design explicit and concise programming languages.

7. Writing Efficient Programs, by Jon Louis Bentley
Writing Efficient Programs, by Jon Louis Bentley, illustrates to the reader how the
primary task of a software designer is the development of programs that are not only useful, but easy and inexpensive to maintain. Moreover, the book explores how software must have specific application as well as versatility to me modified for unforeseen uses. Lastly, efficient programs must be efficient to write as the cost of writing will determine their competitiveness in the software market.

8. Computation: Finite and Infinite Machines, by Marvin L. Minsky
Computation: Finite and Infinite Machines, by Marvin L. Minsky, explores how the
introduction of the computer in the last half century has affected the fabric of human society. The book essays to describe the application and limitation of computer technology as it relates to human progress and potential.

9. Operating System Principles, by Per Brinch Hansen
Operating System Principles, by Per Brinch Hansen, gives computer science and professional programmers a general explanation and analysis of operating systems. The book explains how an OS works to allow sharing of information easy and efficient.

10. Artificial Intelligence, by Elaine Rich
Artificial Intelligence, by Elaine Rich, gives programmers an introduction to the techniques and problems associated with A.I. The book features references throughout that allow the reader to pursue the topics deeper than would be possible within the defined scope and space limitations of the book.

Popularity: 100% [?]

PGP sign your emails: PGP, or “Pretty Good Privacy” signed emails involve a cryptographically encrypted key function that ensures a given message was sent from the source it was sent from and was not altered at any point after being sent. It is important to secure e-mails in this manner since un-signed e-mails can be decrypted and used as template for false messages in the name of the digital sender. Moreover, private/public authentication keys prevent PGP signed from being read by unintended recipients.

OTR Instant Messaging: OTR, or “Off the Record” instant messaging is method by which a digital sender of an e-mail can maintain deniability should the e-mail be decrypted. OTR messages are un-signed and therefore can have been sent from any user without any need for authentication. In this way, OTR messages make a digital conversation as informal as a private conversation.

Encrypted VOIP: The main danger to unencrypted VoIP conversations is interception by just about anyone who has access to the particular network. The conversation can also be recorded and altered. Due to user demand, most VoIP networks include encryption features to protect from hackers. These features prevent both recording and alteration of VoIP conversations using recipient authentication keys.

TOR web browsing: TOR, or The Onion Router, web browsing allows users to anonymously access a network. Use of the network can protect a users’ access codes as well as digital identity from would-be hackers. While the TOR system is vulnerable to traffic analysis, by overlaying several Onion Routers, TOR web browsing provides considerably increased privacy. This form of web browsing was originally developed by the U.S. Navy.

Secure tunnels to safe havens: Data need to be stored in safe havens to guard against unexpected and crippling data loss. In addition, to get to these safe haven data storage facilities, the data need to take a secure tunnel route through the internet from the original storage location. In this way, the data is protected the entire way to the data backup storage location.

Dynamically encrypted hard disk: In order to protect the files and folders stored on individual hard disks from unauthorized use or duplication, the disk must undergo full disk encryption. This form of disk protection will prevent outside use of the contents of the disk, including swap space and temporary files and folders. In addition, since the entire disk is encrypted, the user does not have the option of which files to encrypt and the encryption protocols themselves are encrypted. If the protocols are destroyed, the hard disk contents are purged as well.

Staying updated: Package managers, such as Synaptic, manage multiple incoming packages and feature a package search utility. In addition, Synaptic and other package managers, use as their source multiple and mixed repositories such as ftp or http sites, as well as network and local file systems. With a bug patch, the package manager can keep a system updated against the latest bugs and glitches. Modern package management software is capable of system-wide comprehensive upgrades to correct system bugs all in one fell swoop or get up to date.

Protocol encryption for P2P: A huge portion of internet traffic is P2P, or peer to peer and the Internet Service Providers have only two options to deal with the enormous workload. They can increase their service capacity, the expensive option, or, they used specialized system so they can throttle individual users’ BitTorrent traffic, essentially slowing the user interface to a crawl and preventing the P2P connection. Protocol Encryption works to cloak the P2P traffic and reduce the risk of the Service Provider throttling the BitTorrent traffic.

Have a serious password: Hacker attacks of passwords are surprisingly fast-acting. For instance, a four digit password can be cracked almost instantly by even the simplest class of password attack. A good, serious password includes numbers, common symbols, and letter, both upper and lower case. This way, a hacker must go through the maximum number of permutations to crack the password. If all the aforementioned elements are involved in a password, it can take until the end of time for a even a very advanced and sophisticated password attack to succeed.

Use Linux: Linux is an open source code based operating system and is an alternative to Microsoft’s Windows. It differs from Windows in that the source code is open and therefore constantly updated and improved with the users interests in mind and without any central control or profit driven motivations. Linux Security Modules, or LSMs, allow Linux systems to use multiple security modules and implement a mandatory access control module. This results in hooks or up calls when any sensitive system is accessed controls access on a user level.

Popularity: 2% [?]