C-band satellite dishes were used to receive satellite television signals during the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. These satellite dishes were usually about 10 feet across and were a constant complaint for homeowners and neighbors wherever they were installed. Because of changes in television signals and advancements in technology, these large satellite dishes have been replaced with a smaller and less costly dish. However many of the big satellite dishes still work and can be used for new technology applications. If you have a big satellite dish and want to continue to use to watch television, there are many free-to-air television stations still accessible through these satellite dishes and some stations periodically open their scrambled feeds which can be picked up with the satellite dishes. But if you want to use this dish for a bigger project, you can also use the dish as a wifi internet antenna.

To convert your satellite dish into a powerful wifi internet antenna, you will need to purchase several items including an N-connector and a pigtail connector with the necessary connector for your internet access point on one end and an N-connector on the other. You can find the N-connector and pigtail cables available for purchase online and in case your not sure where to purchase all the different parts needed, you can find several different kits available for purchase. The most important part for this entire project is the N-connector so you may want to purchase more than one. You also need a thin copper sheet, plastic for the base, and a soldering iron.

Using standard solid-core house wire you need to build an element for the wireless signal. Cut a piece of wire 244mm long and bend the wire into a double diamond or bow tie shape. You want to make each diamond in this element symmetrical so this may take a little bit of practice. You should have extra wire available incase you want to stop and start over several times. If you find the wire too hard to bend, try using two pairs of pliers as it can be very firm. Next, you need to cut a 110mm square of black plastic to use as a base for your new wifi reflector. You should drill a hole in the center of your plastic to allow the N-connector to fit properly.

Prep your N-connector by soldering a piece of copper wire to the center pin and to the outside of the connector. In order to save time, you should solder the outside wire first as it will take longer to heat and attach. After your N-connector has cooled attach it to one side of the plastic base using epoxy and epoxy the thin copper sheet to the other side of the plastic base. After the epoxy has cured, solder your copper bow tie to the two vertical wires, the bow tie can not directly touch the copper plate below it so you may want to prop it up with a couple pieces of excess copper plating. Once all your solder points are cooled, trim the excess from the vertical wires and relish in the fact, you just made an antenna.

Now it is time to connect your antenna to the satellite dish. Connect the N-connector to the feed horn on the satellite dish remembering to point the copper side of your antenna towards the satellite dish. This antenna is going to pull in wireless signals from your area and you will need a converter for your computer to take the signal being sent down the coax. This could be another access point or a cable internet box. The type of converter used will vary upon your computer and your available hardware. You can also convert your new satellite dish antenna to project your own internet signal in order to boost your wifi range.

After you have the antenna connected, you should set your satellite dish to point in a direction you expect to find at least one wifi signal. You may want to use a software program like kismet to search and find wifi signals in the area and test your antenna. You should be cautious with your new internet antenna as it may be more powerful than allowed by the FCC. Building these large wifi satellite dish antennas is a little complex and time consuming but for people who live in areas where it is hard to get broadband internet this is a viable and cost effective solution. If you live in an area where you have a large amount of open space and need or want to access the intent in these open areas, you can pick up satellite dishes for free from people who want to get rid of old equipment and build your own network of wifi antennas.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Do you have accounts at every social media website that has been created? Do you spend all your free time reading the latest news or telling people what you are doing at a certain minute? Many people spend more time on social media websites then they do with their own families. If your constantly seeking out information and interacting on social media websites you may be addicted. While there is no “cure” for an internet or social media addiction, you can manage your social media addiction.

Many people find that if they do not manage their addiction to social media, they often end up sleep deprived or with mental and marital problems. Once you find yourself spending more time with your computer and social media sites than you spend on your job or with your family, you need to start managing your addiction. It is hard to control yourself, after all most social media websites allow you to create the media yourself and what is better than seeing materials you create published?

The first step to managing your social media addiction, is to pay attention to what you do online and what you enjoy. There are hundreds of different types of social media websites but which ones do you enjoy using and participating in the most? You may want to make a list of the sites that you spend the most amount of time on and list the reasons your enjoy those sites. Once you have the list of where you spend all your time, start removing websites and social media activities that you do not enjoy. Many sites take content from other sites and repurpose it on their websites, think about it, do you really need to spend your valuable time on these websites? There is no reason for you to be spending time on websites or activities you have no interest in. Stop wasting your internet time on activities that have no value directly to yourself.

As you begin to narrow your social media focus down to the websites and activities you truly enjoy, your probably found that you spent a lot of time in social media activities you did not care for. However, you can not simply replace the activities your no longer taking part in with more time on your favorite sites. The next step in managing your social media addiction is to set a time limit for your activities every day and schedule the time on your calendar. The key to this step is sticking to your plan. The time can not be flexible or you may discover you start to fall back into your old habits.

It is vital when trying to manage a social media addiction that you stop paying attention to how many “friends” you have. Stop following people that you do not care about. There is no need to have thousands of virtual friends. One of the most addictive part of social media websites is finding friends but do you really need to get updates from thousands of different people? Stop becoming friends with everyone who requests you as a friend or everyone who posts. Limit your “friendship” to a small set of people who highlight and create content that really interests you. Once you limit the number of people you are interacting with, you will discover that you are able to do more with your social media sites during the time you allot each day.

One great aspect of social media is that new tools and websites are constantly being created. If you hear others talking about a new website or new tool and you have to stop what you are doing to check the tools out for yourself, you have an addiction. In order to manage your social media addiction, you need to control your desire to stop everything your doing and flock to a new social media website. When you hear about a new tool, stop and think about whether or not this new tool fits with the websites you spend your social media time on. If you think it will make sure you include the tool in the scheduled time you have set aside for social media websites. Keep in mind that many of these tools are very popular for a week or two then disappear, do not waste your time on sites that do not add to your experience or take away from the key sites you have allocated your time to.

Finally, in order to manage your social media addiction, you need to disconnect social media from your cell phone. There is no need to have constant access to your favorite social media. If your in a business meeting or at a family event, keep your cell phone in your pocket and do not access social media websites. Stop posting your life on a webpage and start to share directly with the people around you. Stop this madness and start spending time with the people you care about. Social media is actually not very social, it’s nothing but a website.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Do you have a desire to continue learning but do not have the money to pay tuition? Does the idea of returning to college and having to sit in a classroom not appeal to you? Maybe, you have a family and a demanding job and the thought of having to complete homework assignments simply will not fit into your life but you want or need to learn a new topic. If so, you may want complete a university class online and at your own pace. Many colleges and universities offer online continuing eduction programs that are low cost or no cost but these programs usually have deadlines and homework assignments to complete. There is a new option, many colleges and universities are releasing programs and classes you can complete for free on your own schedule.

Many colleges are taking part in a program called OpenCourseWare. OpenCourseWare was started at MIT with the idea to post the materials from all MIT university courses online for free. The program is a permanent MIT activity and new courses are added monthly. Through OpenCourseWare you can download lectures, reading assignments, and even quizzes and tests online for free. Once you download these materials you can read the information and work through the class lessons at your own pace. While you do not have access to the teachers or lectures, many times the teachers publish their email address and are happy to respond to your questions as time allows. The OpenCourseWare program has been so successful for MIT that many other colleges and universities are starting to offer free courses online. The purpose of these online classes is to help you to learn at your own pace, however, you will not earn any college credits or degrees. As the MIT OpenCourseWare program grows additional content such as audio and video recordings are being added to the materials available for each class.

If MIT is not the University you want to study from, the OpenCourseWare Consortortium has over 200 colleges and universities located around the world. All 200 colleges and universities are creating programs similar to the MIT project. You can find virtually any topic you want to learn covered in OpenCourseWare materials but most institutions do not have the same amount of material and content that MIT has amassed. New classes and universities are constantly joining the consortium so if the information you are interested in learning is not online yet, continue to check back because it could be added soon. Also, ff you are a teacher or home schooler you can augment your lessons with OpenCourseWare materials. All OpenCourseWare materials are released with the creative commons copyright license which allows other educators to adapt the materials for use in their own classrooms. What could be better than increasing the information in your classroom lessons with information taught at MIT or your favorite college?

If you are a visual learner instead of a reader you may be interested in downloading audio and video recordings of class lectures. If you miss the atmosphere of the college lecture and would like to continue to listen to and watch lectures, you may want to download classes through Apple’s iTunes U. ITunes U provides downloadable audio and video recordings of college class lectures from hundreds of the top educational institutions around the world. If you do not have time to spend working on the materials available through OpenCourseWare, listening to an audio lecture in the car or while you exercise may be the answer for you. The downside of iTunes U is that you do not receive the level of information and detail on reading materials and writing assignments that is available through OpenCourseWare. However, you can combine these two programs to create your own university experience through reading and lectures.

By using the technology of podcasts, video lectures, tutorials and full web classes online, universities are helping to educate the world for free. If you work through the materials provided through OpenCourseWare or iTunes U you will actually learn. If you take the time to study the materials provided for the class and do the assigned reading, just like you would have done in a college course, you can challenge yourself and increase your knowledge from these free University programs.

If you have a specific topic you want to learn about chances are OpenCourseWare and iTunes U has a university providing a course online for free. You can learn anything from how nanobots work in medical situations to how to journal about your life. You can even learn to speak a foreign language for free through podcasts and iTunes U. If you never finished college and you want to think about returning to school but are afraid you will not be up to the standards of eduction, completing several free online classes may give you the confidence needed to return to school and get the degree you always wanted.

Popularity: 12% [?]

You may have heard that Google has a motto of “Do Not Be Evil” but as this giant internet company continues to invade our lives more and more, the company takes more and more liberties with our information online. How many times today did you visit a website that had a link to Google, either directly as a Google franchise or indirectly through advertising or data sharing. We all believe that Google the services provided by Google are important and beneficial to our lives but this company grows larger and larger everyday. There may come a time when we no longer see Google as doing no evil but how will this company be overthrown?

Today, Google is under attack through the demands of the telecommunications monopolies. In the United States, most internet services are provided to homes by a telecommunication company. The individual pays a small fee each month for unlimited access to the internet. Google makes billions of dollars each year by connecting to the individual and advertising to them. At no time does Google pay the telecommunication company any money for the ability to use their internet infrastructure to reach people in their homes. If net neutrality laws are not passed, Google may be forced to pay the internet service providers and the telecommunication monopolies a large fee in order to continue to provide internet uses with services we have become acquainted with.

Improvements in home computing and desktop hardware may eventually be the downfall of Google as well. As the company becomes older and more well known, people may being to look for the next great and hot internet idea or they will make their own. Just as Google’s search engine was created by two people on a home computer if open search algorithms are created and released we may have other people creating new search engines or wiki style databases of all the data and information available. Imagine being able to rival the amount of data Google has been able to amass from your kitchen table because you have the ability to store terabytes of data on your computer. WIth open search algorithms and improved advancements in artificial intelligence you will have the ability to search and collect everything you desire and build your own citizen encyclopedia of information. You will not need to rely on a search engine to find information for you because you have your own database which is constantly being added to by the artificial intelligence and search algorithms.

Increased competition from China and Russia may eventually cause Google to be overthrown as the leader in internet search and advertising. Google provides many software programs for free to its users. These programs usually require someone to be connected to the internet in order to use them, but as more and more people from China and Russia begain to exploit the internet we may see an influx of cheep software programs available. Some people use the free Google software to host materials that they do not hold the copyright for. If Google ever suffers from a data loss scandal or has to deal with copyright litigation based upon data found in one of the online programs hosted by the company, people will begin to move away from these free online programs and may find that cheep software from China and Russia is a viable solution.

Eventually, Google will suffer a data loss scandal of some sort that will be exploited by competitors very easily. Every day Google begins to collect more and more information about its uses. While most of the information Google has collected about each user is relatively begin, imagine what would happen if the company succeeds in gaining access to private medical records and an unhappy employee steals the data. A scandal of this magnitude would effectively overthrow the company very quickly. There are currently several grassroots privacy campaigns focused on Google’s amassing of personal data and working to educate the public of the dangers associated with allowing Google to continue to collect personal information about its users.

Today we trust Google because of their motto “Do Not Be Evil” but would you continue to place all your information and trust in the company if there was a change in the management philosophy? There will be a time when management makes a decision that is good for the company but not seen as good by the internet population in general. After all, Google is a company that wants to make a profit. We are already seeing management and profit decisions coming from the company because, Google is overextending itself and expanding into areas and markets that would not be considered their core business. Do we really need a cell phone created by Google? Eventually Google will extend itself beyond its capabilities and begin to flounder in areas that are unsuccessful for the company. These unsuccessful endeavors will drain Google’s bank account and popularity.

While Google is king of the internet at this moment, internet users are fickle and at some point in the future our desire for all things Google will wane. At that point Google will be prime to be overthrown and a new company will step in to replace Google as provider and collector of most of the internet’s data.

Popularity: 4% [?]

1. Wearable cameras for people at risk
With increasingly small and innocuous cameras rising on poles on top of buildings everywhere to protect industries, banks and government buildings, ordinary individuals are starting to wear cameras for their own safety. These devices act as a sort of “video microphone”, recording, at the click of a button, the events occurring during a certain length of time. The implications for personal safety are similar to the safety provided to businesses and institutions that have used cameras for protection for decades.

2. Creative Virals
The internet’s huge reach allows anyone to easily access millions of people with their comments or message. Short clips of video spread through the World Wide Web like wildfire. In this way, a message that is sufficiently creative and effective can reach an audience of millions. Moreover, there is no censorship or corporate control on internet content, so the message of viral can be subversive instead of profitable.

3. Submit alternative links to social news sites
Alternative social news websites, since they do not have the means to be distributed by the regular channels available to large media corporations, need active distribution by readers and supporters. The internet, especially peer to peer sharing traffic, provides the ideal, inexpensive medium to circulate alternative news sites.

4. Encourage use of the Internet
The Internet allows very small businesses in impoverished parts of the world to access a global market place with their own locally made products. This allows poor and disadvantages to compete on an equal footing in a global marketplace.

5. Networking
Communication technology and the Internet have given grassroots groups and social advocacy groups unparalleled ability to network and communicate. Previously, individuals and groups in different countries and in different parts of the same country had no way of communicating, sharing information and coordinating action.

6. Teach Something in 5 Minutes on Youtube.
Youtube allows the individual to demonstrate and distribute instructions on just about any operation or technique with only a small webcam and an internet connection. Since it is a mainstream website, the instructional video is assured of maximum exposure and large audience of people with similar interests. Because Youtube brings people both video and audio, exhibitions of even the most physical activities are possible.

7. Email your Senator or Congressman.
The internet is a great equalizer in that it allows messages to be sent without even the cost of postage. Never before have our leaders, our senators and congressmen, been so closely available. E-mail is increasingly taking over the communication formerly carried by postal workers and is therefore being received by institutions with the same regard as paper mail. If more people sent regular messages to their leaders, the public voice would be louder, if not more clear.

8. Fundraising
Technology and the Internet allows Social Justice groups to publicize their cause and fundraise worldwide. Online fundraising is so successful, it is widely considered a ‘boom’ industry with consultants, software, web portals and more to assist groups raise money online. Online fundraising also frees Social Justice groups from restrictions which may come from accepting funding from Government.

9. Leak Corruption to wikileaks
Wikileaks is a whistle blower website. It encourages those individuals in possession of sensitive government or corporate materials to publish these documents anonymously. The site works to protect contributors’ identities while at the same time outing corrupt government or corporate practices and policies. The site was kept as a secret until January of 2007. The credibility of the posted documents is openly debated on the website itself, so there is a wide margin for false or inaccurate postings. The site does, however, have an advisory board to monitor the quality and veracity of the site’s sensitive and often severely critical content.

10. Build a Strong Democracy and Educated electorate.
Providing information technology to rural areas and impoverished communities increases the general education level, and leads to a better informed population which can then participate in civil society.

Popularity: 10% [?]