Are You the Victim of a Cyber Stalker

by: Ed Opperman

It is funny, in a sad way, that no matter what form of communication we use people can find negative uses for it and find ways to make other peoples lives hell. Now with the 'always on' world that we live in it is becoming increasingly easy for people to get to you for good and bad purposes.

Maybe it is the apparent anonymity of text messages, emails and chatrooms that has fuelled the sharp increase in cyber-bullying in recent years? I mean in a face to face situation the person usually has to have some power over you, being bigger than you, being higher up in an organisation, or being in company when you are not. All those are situations where a bully will start to emerge and stalk their prey, but behind the electronic shield of modern communications then it could be a 11 year old child who is bullying an adult!

Yes that's right, it is not just children who are victims of cyber-bullying, adults are just as susceptible if not more (due to adults having accumulated more problems they want to take out on people). A recent survey by i-SAFE inc shows 42% of kids have been bullied online and 58% of kids have been subjected to hurtful communications online, so the figure for adults may be even higher...

So what can you do? Nobody should be subjected to any sort of harassment in my opinion and should not even have to try and avoid it, but if you do need to then there are methods you can use.

The first technique is to change your details, change your email address, change your chatroom name, change your mobile number or house phone number, this should prevent that person from contacting you. Of course they can identify you again, from your messages, or try and find out your new home number etc, even worse, they could spread malicious information about you all over the internet in frustration.

The second technique is to try and get some official sources involved. Contact the chat room owners, if the perpetrator contacts you via email go to their email provider or internet service provider, even better, go to the police! Of course none of these may be able to, or be willing to help, so in steps technique number three...

The third technique is to fight them on their own ground, did you know you can hire a Private Investigator to trace email addresses, phone numbers, even identify withheld or blocked numbers that keep calling you? With that information in hand you can then set about getting the police involved or just take away their anonymity, if you let them know that you are aware they live just three doors up from you then they will probably stop for good!

Before you hire a private investigator be sure to do your homework. Do a Google search on the private investigators name to see if they are recognized as an expert of authority in skip tracing and people search investigations. Also do a search on the web site name and company name to see if their are any Internet postings from former clients who are either satisfied or not.

Last check out the pricing and turn around times for the results. Are they competitive? Beware of companies that are too cheap and offer "instant" searches. This information will almost always be inaccurate and out dated. Be leery if you see a site offering "unlimited" searches for one low price. If it looks too good to be true it usually is.

You either fight or flee, either way can work, but do not let the bullying continue by stubbornly refusing to let it affect your life and change your details or seek help, the psychological strain is just not worth it.

Source : http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/are-you-the-victim-of-a-cyber-stalker-696390.htmlstalker-696390.html

Online Work From Home

There are several ways you can work from home online. You can work for a company, you can work for other people, or you can be self employed and work for yourself.

Each of these are a great way to online work, but each way might be better for different personalities. For instance, if you like the security of having a job, then you would want to work for a company. There are two very common ways you can do this. You can become another sales rep or a telemarketer. There are even companies that hire people to work from home doing sales calls with benefits.

If that isn't what you want to do, you can do customer service from home. You will most likely make less money, but you will probably enjoy the job better. Each company has different ways of doing business. One company might let you choose your hours as long as you choose a minimum. Another company might choose your hours while you choose how little you work.

If you are interested in doing work for others you would want to do freelancing or contracting. This is where you do jobs for different businesses or people but you aren't considered even part-time. You bid on jobs on different freelancing sites, and you get awarded payment after the work is done. This is a good job to do if you want to do some writing or other online work. You can learn how to do work in PHP, CSS, or HTML, or even website scripts. If the clients like your work you can get more continuous work but not the promise of any work in the future. However there are always more new people posting jobs on the site that need to be completed.

One last way you can work online is by working for yourself. If you want to start your own online business this is called internet marketing. You can get your own website, sell a service or do affiliate marketing. This would be a good addition to any freelance work you do. While you are working online for a company you could start to learn this.

Having your own website gives you your own piece of online real estate and there are several ways to monetize your site and time online. You could tell people about your life and your experiences in your online work or you could write product reviews on a blog. Thousands of people have blogs and if you go about them with a business mind, they tend to do quite well.

There are many ways to make money within these 3 methods to work at home online. But now that you have some foundation for your online careers you can decide what avenue you want to go down.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/online-work-from-home-686753.html

Wireless-networking-guide

Author: Silvia Holloran

Just how do we go about connecting to the internet wirelessly? A wireless network needs to have two components a Wireless Router/Modem to share the internet connection a suitable Wireless card in your laptop or desktop Just about every new laptop has a wireless card built in, the actual type is the mini PCI

But what if you have an older laptop that does not have a wireless network card built in?

Luckily though there is a number of options available to us to make virtually any desktop or laptop computer wireless. The best type of wireless card, which is suitable only for laptops, to install is the mini PCI type, you will need to make sure your computer has a mini PCI slot to accommodate this type of card, and then you will need to either remove the keyboard or small panel on the bottom, but once fitted its totally unobtrusive.

The USB wireless type or dongle is perhaps the most common as its just a case on installing its software plugging in the dongle and you are pretty much ready to go The big advantage of this type of network card is the ease of installation, but on the downside it means you will need to remove it if you ever travel and they do have a habit of getting knocked if your limited by your USB ports, this type of network card is suitable for desktop and laptop computers, just make sure your computer has USB type 2 ports or you might find it too slow.

For desktop computers a PCI card is a good choice, all we need to do is install the software, shutdown the computer remove the case, fit the card In a spare PCI port, put the case back on, power on the computer, it will then recognize the new hardware and automatically install the drivers for it and after a minute or so thats it all installed.

Lastly we have the PCMCIA type of wifi network card, although PCMCIA ports are pretty much redundant just about every laptop has one of two of this type of long horizontal port, if your short of USB ports this could be just what your looking for, maybe not as obtrusive as the USB type, but it still needs to be removed when travelling with your laptop though.

Due to the amount of wifi network cards around the prices have really come down a lot over the past year and now really good wifi cards can be bought for as little as 15 pounds by good we mean either a 54mbps or 54g type of card, rather than the much slower 802.1l b type of cards.

Installing

When installing a wifi network card, make sure that you read the manuals prior to installing, most cards need to have the software installed before the wifi card is connected or plugged in, otherwise the software drivers may fail to load or Windows will attempt to locate a driver from elsewhere, giving driver or configuration issues which can be a hard to resolve it may mean removing the card again.

Now your ready to connect, you should see a pop-up at the bottom right of the screen when a wireless network is in range of the card, click on the pop-up and you'll be able enter your pass key (if you have one set ) to connect to your wireless network.

Notes

Only connect to wireless networks you trust, especially if you need to disclose credit card details for any reason. If you have setup your own wireless network you must ensure that you have some form of wifi security, if your router is not protected, not only can anyone simply just connect and browse from your Wifi network, but if so could be much more malicious, performing such actions as changing your router passwords, stopping you from accessing your own internet connection, they will also be see any able to see any computers or devices attached to your router and may try to gain access to these.

Its imperative to make sure any wireless connections are secure, check out more articles on Wireless security, plus much more at So please make sure any wireless connections are secure, feel free to checkout more on Wireless security, plus all of our other articles at computer-adviser.com

About Author

At http://www.computer-adviser.com articles are focused around general computer questions that we get asked every on a regular basis

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com

The Beattle Between Cisco+Linux VS Microsoft

Every knew that Cisco (a network tool manufacture) and Microsoft (that have Windows) both want to dominate the communications market all over the world, where next-generation applications ride across IP networks.
They have done a few step to win the unified communication wars, Cisco will need an army of independent software vendors (ISVs). Microsoft ha do the same thing when they recruited thousands of developers to support Windows in the 1990s.
Cisco made a more measured announcement, known as the Cisco Application eXtension Platform [AXP]. This aplication is based on Linux. (As we knew tat Linux is the the hardest " enemy for Windows.

Cisco’s early AXP application partners include InterComponentWare, OSISoft , Sagem-Interstar, Precidia Technologies , ProSyst , Verint, NICE, Avocent , and Workbrain .

According to the Cisco release, none of those software companies are powerhouse names. But on the other hand, they are the early movers in the unified communications market.

Now, we just wait. Which one will be the winner.

regard

A | Kha

Setting Up OutLook Express (OE) to Download Yahoo POP3

First, you have sure to activate POP3 facilities at your email account. Usually, it can be setting at link OPTION. Try to find it.

To setting your OE, open it by clicking START, All Program, Outlook Express.
If you haven't used it, usually will be opened a window to make OE as your default Email CLient. Click YES.

On Menu TOOL, choose Account to open Internet Accounts box dialog.
Then click Add, Mail to open Internet Connection Wizard.

At that Dialog Box, type your Name, example Zhumphallabbu, then click Next.
In the next Dialog Box, enter your email, for example: zhumphallabbu@yahoo.com.sg (i'm using account at www.yahoo.com.sg with username: zhumphallabbu). Click Next.

At next box, fill the boxes like this:
My Incoming mail server is a: POP3
Incomingmail(POP3,IMAP or HTTP) server: pop.mail.yahoo.com.sg
Outgoing mail (SMTP) server: smtp.mail.yahoo.com.sg
then click Next.

Next Dialog Box, type your username for your email, example: zhumphallabbu
and Your Password : ********* (my password at yahoo.com.sg)

then click Next and Finish.

Back to Main Window (Internet Account DialogBox)
Choose Tab Mail.

Then, click email account that you just made. then, click Properties.

At the Properties box dialog, choose tab Server and give a sign (click) on My server requires authentication. Then click Apply and OK.

NOW... your OE is ready to download your email from the server, so you can read and make teh replay if you are offline. Then send the replay if you are on-line.

But, remember, not all yahoo client can use this facilities freely. For example, if you have register at www.yahoo.com, you have to pay before use POP3. So, I suggest you to register in yahoo.com.sg (Singapore or other country)

Enjoy your OE.....!

source: http://zhumphallabbu.blogspot.com

Connect Internet at Ubuntu 8.04 by Using Handphone (LG KU250)

To detect your handphone, is it known by your Ubuntu, you can check it at System log while you insert it data cable to the USB Port. But before you do that, first open System Log Viewer by clicking [System]-[Administration]-[System Log]. At the “Message”, find the last line of the message.

Then, connect your Handphone LG KU250 to the USB port, and watch the message that will appear at the last line of the “message” part of the System Log Viewer.

Example of the message like this:

Jul 19 20:15:39 otak-korzzlet kernel: [ 62.851371] input: USB Optical Mouse as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.2/usb3/3-1/3-1:1.0/input/input11

Jul 19 20:15:39 otak-korzzlet kernel: [ 62.872755] input,hidraw2: USB HID v1.10 Mouse [USB Optical Mouse] on usb-0000:00:1d.2-1

Jul 19 20:19:52 otak-korzzlet kernel: [ 102.716748] usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 5

Jul 19 20:19:52 otak-korzzlet kernel: [ 102.725153] usb 1-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice

Jul 19 20:19:53 otak-korzzlet kernel: [ 102.995205] cdc_acm 1-2:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device

Jul 19 20:19:53 otak-korzzlet kernel: [ 102.997270] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_acm

Jul 19 20:19:53 otak-korzzlet kernel: [ 102.997278] /build/buildd/linux-2.6.24/drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: v0.25:USB Abstract Control Model driver for USB modems and ISDN adapters

Pay attention to the message that I have give green colour. This message appeared when I connected my LG KU250 to the USB Port. And the message “Jul 19 20:19:53 otak-korzzlet kernel: [ 102.995205] cdc_acm 1-2:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device” as a sign that Ubuntu has found he modem in your phone and known as ttyACM0. May be, it will have a little different with yours.

But, the important thing is, LG KU250 modem has known by Ubuntu 8.04.

Next, open trminal by clicking [Application]-[Terminal] and type ‘sudo su’ then give your root password to be a root. This time I work at a laptop (otak-korzzlet) with username zhumphallabux.

zhumphallabbux@otak-korzzlet:~$ sudo su

[sudo] password for zhumphallabbux: [give your password here]

The, type wvdialconf that followed by ENTER, so that it will appear message like these:

root@otak-korzzlet:/home/zhumphallabbux# wvdialconf
Editing `/etc/wvdial.conf'.
Scanning your serial ports for a modem.
Modem Port Scan<*1>: S0 S1 S2 S3
WvModem<*1>: Cannot get information for serial port.
ttyACM0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 -- OK
ttyACM0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 Z -- OK
ttyACM0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 -- OK
ttyACM0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 -- OK
ttyACM0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 -- OK
ttyACM0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0 -- OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Modem Identifier: ATI -- Manufacturer: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 4800: AT -- OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 9600: AT -- OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 19200: AT -- OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 38400: AT -- OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 57600: AT -- OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 115200: AT -- OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 230400: AT -- OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 460800: AT -- OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Max speed is 460800; that should be safe.
ttyACM0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0 -- OK
Found an USB modem on /dev/ttyACM0.
Modem configuration written to /etc/wvdial.conf.
ttyACM0: Speed 460800; init "ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0"

You can see that at the last three lines, system has found a modem at /dev/ttyACM0. Continue with configuration connection to the operator that you use by typing “gedit /etc/wvdial.conf” and ENTER, like this:.

root@otak-korzzlet:/home/zhumphallabbux# gedit /etc/wvdial.conf [Enter]

So that, it will appear a gedit window that have confoguration wvdial. Edit that configuration, based of your operation configuration. I have edited my wvdial configuration like next example. I am using “TELKOMFLASH” from TELKOMSEL Operator.

[Dialer Defaults]
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
INIT3 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","telkomsel"
Modem Type = USB Modem
ISDN = 0
Phone = *99***1#
Modem = /dev/ttyACM0
Username = telkomsel
Password = telkomsel
Baud = 460800

For the other operator, as Indosat with its im3, the differences only at INIT3 …… , iusername and password. Change it with INIT3= AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","indosatgprs" and use “indosat” as user name and passsword for volume based or “indosat@durasi” for time based.

When you finished, save the change that you have done. Then Close wvdial configuration and go back to the terminal.

Now, you can connect to the internet, by typing “wvdial” on the terminal, so that it will appear messages like these:

root@otak-korzzlet:/home/zhumphallabbux# wvdial
--> WvDial: Internet dialer version 1.60
--> Cannot get information for serial port.
--> Initializing modem.
--> Sending: ATZ
ATZ
OK
--> Sending: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
OK
--> Sending: AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","telkomsel"
AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","telkomsel"
OK
--> Modem initialized.
--> Sending: ATDT*99***1#
--> Waiting for carrier.
ATDT*99***1#
CONNECT
--> Carrier detected. Waiting for prompt.
--> Don't know what to do! Starting pppd and hoping for the best.
--> Starting pppd at Sat Jul 19 20:47:44 2008
--> Pid of pppd: 9053
--> Using interface ppp0
--> pppd: ��[06][08]@�[06][08]ا[06][08]
--> pppd: ��[06][08]@�[06][08]ا[06][08]
--> pppd: ��[06][08]@�[06][08]ا[06][08]
--> pppd: ��[06][08]@�[06][08]ا[06][08]
--> pppd: ��[06][08]@�[06][08]ا[06][08]
--> pppd: ��[06][08]@�[06][08]ا[06][08]
--> local IP address 10.132.126.99
--> pppd: ��[06][08]@�[06][08]ا[06][08]
--> remote IP address 10.64.64.64
--> pppd: ��[06][08]@�[06][08]ا[06][08]
--> primary DNS address 202.3.208.10
--> pppd: ��[06][08]@�[06][08]ا[06][08]
--> secondary DNS address 202.3.210.10
--> pppd: ��[06][08]@�[06][08]ا[06][08]

Now…. CONRAGULATION, you have been connected to the Internet.

Anything risk because using of this tutorial, it your own responsibility.

source: http://zhumphallabbu.blogspot.com

Sharing Internet Connection in Windows Platform

You have two PC, one of them using Windows Vista as its Operating System and connect to the internet, while the other not connected to the internet. You want all the computer connect to the internet. At the moment, You have two choice to connection. First, use new direct connection to her PC. But, of course this choice is not efficient. It will need extra cost.

The second choice is to share the internet connection that have been exist the other PC through by using network. Sharing the existing internet connection can be done by using 2 ways.

First, you can use proxy utility.

You have to install proxy software in the PC that connected to the internet. On the other PC, you have to set up Internet Option (Tools[ Menu]à[Internet Option]à [Tab Connection]à [LAN Setting] if you use Internet Explorer, and Menu [Tools]à[Options]à[Advanced]à[Tab Network] à[Setting] if you are using Mozilla Firefox).

Give checked sign on the “Use proxy server for your L(These will not apply to dial-up or VPN Connection)” Or “Manual proxy configuration” on the Mozilla Firefox. Fill it with your proxy server address and it port.

Second, if you don’t want to install proxy software, you can use Windows Vista facility’s to share the internet access, by using the following step:

1. Click [Start] –[Control Panel] – [Network and Internet] – [Network and Sharing Center]
2. Choose option [Manage Network Connection] on the right of Tasks panel .
3. On the new window that just appear, you will see all of hardware in your PC, right click on the hardware that give internet access, and then choose Properties.
4. At window Properties, choose [Sharing] tab.
5. Give check sign on the [Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet Connection] tab.
6. At Home Networking Connection, choose kind of network connection that you used. Is it a [Local Area Connection] or [Wireless Network Connection]
7. If you will network connection establish automatically every time a new request connection from a client, give a check sign in front of [Establish a dial up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the internet].
8. Click [Setting] button that just active.
9. Give check sign in front of service option that will be shared. If you want share all kind of services on the internet, You can choose all services.
10. Click [OK] to save every change that you have done.

After doing all of step, make sure that your IP of your PC that connected to the internet ended by 1. For example, if you using IP 192.xxx.xxx.xxx, you have to set the PC that connected to the internet use 192.168.0.1. While, the other client, use IP number that same network with the 1^st PC, and set it DNS to IP of the 1^st PC.

Enjoy your simple LAN...!

A New Battle Is Beginning in Branding for the Web

By STEVE LOHR

Published: August 31, 2008

To marketers large and small, the Web is a wide open frontier, an unlimited billboard with boundless branding opportunities.

For the empirical proof, look at the filings with the government for new trademarks that, put simply, are brand names.

Applications surged in the dot-com years, peaking in 2000 and then falling sharply for two years, before rising to a record last year of more than 394,000.

Recently, a new front has opened in the Internet branding wars.

It lies beyond putting trademarks on new businesses, Web site addresses and online logos. Now, companies want to slap a brand on still vaguely defined products and services in the uncharted ephemera of cyberspace — the computing cloud, as it has come to be known.

Cloud computing usually refers to Internet services or software that the user accesses through a Web browser on a personal computer, cellphone or other device. The digital service is delivered remotely, from somewhere off in the computing cloud, in the fashion of Google’s Internet search service.

Dell has tried to trademark the term cloud computing itself. But in August, the United States Patent and Trademark Office sent a strong signal that cloud computing cannot be trademarked.

It issued an initial refusal to Dell, which filed its application 18 months ago, when the term was less widely used in industry conversations and marketing.

Dell had passed early steps toward approval, but the office turned it down, after protests from industry experts that cloud computing had become a broadly descriptive term, and not one linked to a single company. Dell can appeal, but that seems unlikely.

In recent years, patents — not trademarks — have been the main focus of intellectual property experts and the courts, especially around the issue of whether patents on software and business methods have become counterproductive, inhibiting innovation.

But some legal experts say trademark issues may take on a higher profile, fueled by the escalating value of brands in general and trademark holders increasingly trying to assert their rights, especially on the Internet.

“Trademark is the sleeping giant of intellectual property,” said Paul Goldstein, a professor at the Stanford law school.

Microsoft, for example, is developing a technology that is intended to synchronize the data on all of a person’s computing devices, even synchronizing it with family members and work colleagues as well, automatically reaching across the cloud.

When Microsoft announced the concept this year, it said the technology would be called Live Mesh. Just what it is and how it may work remains unclear, but Microsoft filed for a trademark on Live Mesh in June, an application that awaits judgment from the Patent and Trademark Office.

Mesh and mesh networking are widely used terms for technology that connects devices.

“This is the challenge for our examiners,” said Lynne G. Beresford, commissioner for trademarks in the Patent and Trademark Office. “With emerging marks in a field that is changing quickly, you have to make a determination about what the common understanding is.”

That challenge, legal experts say, is one of several for trademark policy and practice in the Internet age. Instant communication, aggressive business tactics and an unsettled legal environment, they say, mean that trademark disputes on the Internet will increase in number and intensity.

The first round of trademark conflict on the Internet, focused on cybersquatting, has subsided. Cybersquatters were early profiteers who bought up the Web addresses, or domain names, of well-known trademarked brands, and then tried to charge the companies huge amounts of money to buy them.

In 1999, Congress passed a bill against cybersquatting that allowed companies to sue anyone who, with “a bad faith intent to profit,” buys the domain name of a well-known brand. The same year, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a nonprofit oversight agency, established a system for resolving domain name disputes.

The new areas of conflict, according to legal experts, include trademark owners trying to assert their rights to stifle online criticism of their products, and to stop trademarked brands from being purchased as keywords in Internet search advertising.

Early court rulings in keyword cases point to the uncertain legal setting and the international differences in trademark law. In the United States, lawyers say, the initial rulings have tended to allow companies to buy the trademarked brand names of rivals as keywords in search. Ford, for example, can bid on and buy “Toyota,” so that a person typing Toyota as a search term would see a link to Ford’s Web site in the paid-for links on the right hand side of Google’s Web page.

In the United States, that practice has not been interpreted as causing any fundamental consumer confusion. Google also argues that because any bidder can make an offer for any word — Google supplies no list — it is not a user of trademarks. “We are not using keywords, we are not selling keywords, we are selling ad space,” said Terri Chen, Google’s senior trademark counsel.

But in a French court ruling in 2005, Google was enjoined from allowing others to buy as a keyword the trademark brand of a French luxury goods maker, Louis Vuitton. For countries other than the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Google has a trademark complaint system, so holders can generally prevent their brands from being purchased as keywords by others.

The speed of Internet communication and heightened competition to claim and establish brands have drastically changed trademark tactics over the years. Compare the positioning and pre-emptive moves around cloud computing with the gradual pace of building one of the most valued brands in the world, Microsoft’s Windows.

The use of personal computer windows and graphical user windowing systems were around long before Microsoft announced its plans for a Windows operating system in 1983. The first version was introduced in 1985, and Microsoft did not file for a trademark until 1990. Its application was initially rejected as “merely descriptive.”

But, as so often, Microsoft persevered. It kept investing in advertising, branding and product development. It presented the Patent and Trademark Office with surveys showing people had come to associate the term Windows with Microsoft, and in 1995 the trademark examiners finally agreed.

With its cloud computing project Live Mesh, Microsoft is taking a far faster, more focused approach. It is employing Live, which it uses in other Internet offerings, like Windows Live and Xbox Live, as half of a two-word trademark — or composite mark, in legal terms. “Mesh networking is the generic category, but Live Mesh is Microsoft’s implementation and acts as a source identifier,” said Russell Pangborn, Microsoft’s director for trademarks.

One thing that has been undeniably transformed by computing and the Internet is the trademark office itself. Ms. Beresford, a professed “trademark nerd,” recalled that when she joined the office in 1979, searches for the same or “confusingly similar” trademarks began in the “search room.” The applications and registration documents were kept in wooden cabinets, filed alphabetically.

Trademarked images were kept in separate drawers and grouped into visual categories, she recalled, like “grotesque humans” (the Pillsbury doughboy) and “human body parts” (the Yellow Pages’ walking fingers).

Examining attorneys, Ms. Beresford noted, were issued rubber covers for their index fingers for going through files faster and with fewer paper cuts. The technology tools have been upgraded considerably since then. The work is now done mainly on computers, searching the Web and specialized trademark databases. Eighty-five percent of the office’s 390 examining attorneys work primarily from home.

The search room, Ms. Beresford observed, has “gone the way of the buggy whip.”

Source: www.nytimes.com