SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. It functions, basically, as an internet security measure, which are put in place in order to prove the identity of almost any website which you might choose to visit.

A number of websites might also require data to be exchanged between your internet browser and the site itself. This is particularly true of online shopping sites, when you may need to enter information such as your bank details, but can also apply to passwords and addresses. In such cases, the SSL certificate is proof that the information which you supply cannot be intercepted by a third party, who might otherwise tap into this connection.

It is usually easy to spot which sites have an SSL certificate, as they will show ‘https://’ at the beginning of their URL address, ie the usual http with the addition of an ‘s’ to prove that it is secure. Another way to identify whether or not a website has a secure connection is through the small padlock image which will usually appear in the search bar of the web browser. This is most often found on transaction pages, after you have indicated that you wish to make a purchase. You should also be able to click on the padlock itself, which will enable you to view the full SSL certificate details.

For those hosting a website, the advantage of having an SSL certificate is that your customers will be more confident when visiting your webpages and using your services. If your business site is primarily used as a platform for e-commerce, then such authentication can prove essential in generating the desired profits. If your web page is deemed secure and trustworthy by those who visit it, it is more likely to gain popularity.

Internet security is often a priority for those who carry out online transactions, and so SSL certificates can prove to be an essential investment for many businesses and organization. They work by linking a cryptographic key to details such as a particular domain name, location and business contact details. Once such authentication has been established, the connection between the web server and the internet browser is secure, and not at risk from third party infiltration.

There are many ways to check the usages. Here I am giving a list of good software, sites, and services to check how much internet you have used.

Official links.

The official links are the most reliable sources to check the usages.
For 5x.xx.xx.xx IP-Address.

• http://10.240.64.195
• http://10.240.89.199
• http://10.240.128.195
• http://10.240.16.195
• http://10.240.144.195

For 117.xx.xx.xx IP-Address

• http://data.bsnl.in/wps/portal

Softwares

There are few unofficial softwares available on net to check the internet usage. ShaPlus Usage Finder is one of the most popular amongst them, You can download it from shaplus.com/dataone/

Awesome tools and services

Now this is the best and important part of this post.

1. SMS Alert:
This is the official service, which sends SMS and E-Mail alerts for usages.
You can register yourself for the service at http://bbusage.bsnl.in/

2. DataFox – Firefox and Chrome Browser Plug-in.
DataFox is nice Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome plug-in which shows the BrandBand usages in browser itself. Its very nice and handy utility. No need to check any special software or no need to visit any URL for checking the usages. Just give the login credentials to plug-in and the plug-in will automatically fetch and display the usages in browser status bar.
You can download and install DataFox from TheGoan.com/DataFox/

Do you know any other good service / Software ?
Am I missing anything here ??
Let me know. Comment below.

This trick will apply to most of the sites where you will need to sign-up to view the posts.

1. You came across such forum link but the forum is asking for the registration.
2. Just search for the term in Google so that you will get the Google link for the specific forum thread.
3. Check for the cached link near to Google search result and click it.

In this way you can get the answers from experts-exchange.com for free without paying a penny and without registration. I repeat, you can get answers from other such website which ask for registration.

Actually what they do is, they show different content to Google search bot, which includes the answers and hence the Google have the threads with answers to question, and we are just retrieving the answers from Google cache.

Note : Thanks to Google Engineer Matt Cutts for the solution via his video on YouTube.

Microsoft.. yes. One of the biggest software company providing you the chance to learn directly from there experts. Microsoft Virtual TechDays is an event where we can learn some of the new technologies directly from Microsoft professional and yes,, Free of cost. !!

Microsoft Virtual TechDays will be held between August 19 to 21 [2009]. The registration is open and free. Just go to VirtualTechDays.com register yourself using “Live” account and get ready to get the knowledge about latest Microsoft technologies.

This event will be held on august 19 to 21 , timings are from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM (GMT+5:30 i.e. IST). Actually there will be broadcast of various seminars during this time (see the event agenda) This broadcast can be viewed online with internet connection with download speed of 256kbps or higher. To view the Live Meeting Sessions, you are required to and install the Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 client and silverlight.

Expert speakers are there for taking the sessions. These sessions are interactive, means you can ask questions directly and can participate in other interactive events like polls, etc.

The main highlight of the session is Windows 7 and Silverlight 3, both are the latest products by Microsoft. They are also covering topics like Cloud computing, .Net fundamentals, Web development, and many such new technologies.

In my city i.e. Nagpur, several colleges will be showing this sessions on projector screens, this facility is provided because most of the students dont have high speed internet connections at there home. I will watch these sessions at home as i have BSNL unlimited broadband plan with the download speed of 256kbps though college timings are clashing with the session timings, still i will try to attend maximum sessions.

NOTE: If you have bandwidth limited broadband connection don’t watch the sessions on such connections, go to any friend’s home who have unlimited broadband connection to watch it, else it will eat up the whole bandwidth and the free session will turn into paid sessions for you (in form of internet bills).

Have you ever thought how they earn money ?? How they spend that much time and invest that much money on development of such a free software ??

Mozilla co-op is the company behind the Firefox web browser, Mozilla co-op was started as Non-profit company, but now its no more in that category. They are earning $40,000,000 per year !! but how ??

With every Firefox browser we got the search engine toolbar with Google as default search engine for that bar. Here starts the earning trick. Google pays huge amount to Firefox for making the default search engine in that bar and for making the home page as Google.com i.e. “Firefox Start Page” which have Google bar. This deal with Google, helps Firefox to earn there 85% of total earnings !!
This agreement with Google will end in November of 2011 so they have plenty of money to continue the development of new and advanced version of Firefox.

Firefox also sells t-shirts, and such other accessories with high price tag at there Firefox stores, and people (like me) buy them because it feels great to have official clothing and accessories from such big brands.

People also donate to firefox for there development work, donation also plays an important role in earning money.

They also got millions of hits to there site per day, so there must be some sort of earning strategy there too. but i dont have any idea about it.

Read the post from Mozilla Chairperson Mitchell Baker’s : Beyond Sustainability. Here you will get some of the official information about their earning sources.

You can also download : this PDF. Its about “Mozilla Foundation and Subsidiary: Independent Auditors’ Report and Consolidated Financial Statements 2007″ to get the actual fact and figures about their earnings.

This is how the firefox earns money and gives us the best web browser. What you think about this ? Speak up.