Depending on how long you have had an email account and how active you are with your account, you've probably seen your fair share of spam or unwanted emails. Like most e-mail users, you likely don't give junk mail or messages from senders you don't recognize a second glance before deleting them. However, on occasion you may encounter unwanted electronic mail that is not so easy to ignore (I.E. harassment), and you may feel compelled to find out the identity of the sender.

Due to the fact that the Internet enables users to maintain a certain amount of anonymity, some people feel they can get away with anything, such as spam, scams, and even online harassment via email. However, while it is easier to hide one's identity on the World Wide Web, those who wish to learn more about these nefarious characters can do so by simply searching the spammer's, scammer's or harasser's e-mail address.

How can you find the owner of an email address? There are two tracing methods available online that may prove useful to you:

1 - IP trace - Every computer has a unique IP (Internet Protocol) address assigned to it, and this address acts as the computer's ID. By entering the IP address of the email owner into an IP tracker query box on a website that provides this service, you can be provided with the geographical location of the computer (I.E. country, state, city, area code of telephone number, etc.), the hostname, ISP (internet service provider) name, and more. The IP trace will not provide you with the email owner's identity, but you may find the other information useful, especially if you intend to file a complaint.

In order to find the IP address of the message sender, access their email message headers through the email client you are using, and look for four groups of numbers divided by dots encased in square brackets (I.E. [1.123.13.231]). The IP you are looking for should be located near the bottom of the headers, close to the senders e-mail address.

2 - Reverse email address lookup - Find a website that offers a reverse email search and enter the address into the provided search box. With a reverse lookup, conducting a search by email address is literally that easy. That said, it is in your best interest to run more than one search, as various websites will include different email subdomains (I.E. Google, Yahoo, aol, etc.) in their directory list.

Thus, in order to find out information on the email owner (I.E. identity, demographics, location, etc.), you will need to access a lookup that includes the email provider in their database. You should also keep in mind that you may need to pay a small fee to conduct a premium search if a free lookup is unsuccessful.

There are ways you can find out information on an email owner, so don't ever feel you should put up with frequent unwanted messages from individuals who have no qualms about invading your online privacy.

Nearly all a computers activity involves time whether logging a timestamp for when a network was accessed to sending an email, knowing the time is crucial for computer applications.

All computers have an on-board clock that provides time and date information. These Real Time Clock (RTC) chips are battery backed so that even when off they can maintain time, however these RTC chips are mass produced and cannot maintain accurate time and tend to drift.

For many applications this can be quite adequate, however if a computer is on a network and needs to talk to other machines, failing to be synchonised to the correct time can mean many time-sensitive transactions can not be completed and can even leave the network open to security threats.

All versions of Windows Server since 2000 have included a time synchronization facility, called Windows Time Service (w32time.exe), built into the operating system. This can be configured to operate as a network time server synchronizing all machines to a specific time source.

Windows Time Service uses a version of NTP (Network Time Protocol), normally a simplified version, of the Internet protocol which is designed to synchronise machines on a network, NTP is also the standard for which most computer networks across the global use to synchronise with.

Choosing the correct time source is vitally important. Most networks are synchronized to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) source. UTC is a global standardized time based on atomic clocks which are the most accurate time sources.

UTC can be obtained over the Internet from such places as time.nist.gov (us Naval Observatory) or time.windows.com (Microsoft) but it must be noted that internet time sources can not be authenticated which can leave a system open to abuse and Microsoft and others advise using an external hardware source as a reference clock such as a specialized NTP server.

NTP servers receive their time source from either a specialist radio transmission from national physics laboratories which broadcast UTC time taken from an atomic clock source or by the GPS network which also relays UTC as a consequence of needing it to pin point locations.

NTP can maintain time over the public Internet to within 1/100th of a second (10 milliseconds) and can perform even better over LANs.

Make no mistake about it, speed is everything in this day and age. This fixation with speed has now transferred over to the Internet as well and it seems that nothing on the net now is ever fast enough. So how fast is your Internet service anyway? Is is up to your standards? These are a few of the questions that more and more web users are asking themselves and an Internet speed test is a great way to find out.

Download and Upload Data Transfer Rate

There are two components that actually determine your Internet speed and they are your upload and your download rate of data transfer. Both of these functions are measured in kilobits per second, but it is the download function that tends to be the most important, simply due to the fact that it is the function that is most often used by a person on their computer.

Newer is Better

The old way of testing Internet speed was pretty straight forward. A file of a known size was transferred and as it was done the time it took to do so was recorded and it was as simple as that. There is a new way however, that is far more accurate and also far less time consuming.

Increase Your Speed

It is done through an online service. What the service does, is to send your computer a package of data that your computer then sends back to them. In this way an accurate reading of your actual Internet speed is ascertained. Why do you need to know your Internet speed? Once you know your Internet speed then you can Begin to take actions to increase it. As you do these things, then you can go back to recheck your Internet speed to gage any improvements that have, or have not taken place.

Ever since the advent of the Internet and personal computers finding their way into homes around the globe, people have been talking about speed. Speed, as it pertains to a computer connected to the Internet, refers to the time that it takes to download or upload files on the Internet. While, for some people these tasks can be quite time consuming for others downloading or uploading files happens almost instantaneously, because their service is so much faster.

Speed is Measured in Kilobits Per Second

The rate at which a computer uploads or downloads data files is measured in (kilobits/second) and it is the download speed which most people are concerned with. This is simply due to the fact that this is the function that by far most people will find themselves using. Naturally of course, if someone spent their entire day uploading files then they would be more concerned with that function.

Test Download And Upload Speed

In the past, testing a computers Internet service bandwidth was done by simply downloading a file of specific size and timing it as this was done. This was adequate to some extent, but doing it this way made it difficult to test the speed of uploading a file. Now however, there are online services that will give you a bandwidth test that effectively tests the speed of both procedures at once.

Increase Your Internet Service Speed

A bandwidth test is accomplished by an online service sending your computer a file, which your computer downloads and then subsequently uploads back to the sender who times the total procedure. By doing it this way, a complete and more accurate number is arrived at, which can then be used when implementing changes that can increase the overall speed of your Internet service. It is important to bear in mind that even if you have snail-slow dial up service, there is now the means available to bring your service speed up considerably without changing your service.

So you think that you have pretty fast Internet service. Are you truly happy with it? How fast is it? These are all questions that Internet users are frequently asking themselves more often for a number of reasons now. To begin with, there are now things that you can do to increase your Internet speed if you want to. Also, after these measures are taken you will need to know the effect that they have had.

The Old Method

The very first step in improving your Internet speed is to determine what it is now. In the past, this was done by downloading a file of a set size and timing it as it was done. There was one problem with this method however and that was that it was difficult to time the rate at which data was uploaded as well, which is included in your total Internet speed calculation.

The New Method

This has led to a new service being offered on the Internet, that times your Internet speed for you. It is done by sending you a data file that is then downloaded into your computer. Then this same file is subsequently uploaded and sent back to the service and the whole process is timed. In this way your actual Internet speed is calculated far more accurately.

Dial Up Service Can Be Sped Up

After you have accurately calculated your Internet speed, these same services can then assist you in determining what would be the best methods for you to increase your Internet speed. What you need and what can be actually implemented is determined by a number of factors including what type of Internet service that you use. With new speed enhancement technologies that have been developed in recent years, even if you have standard dial up service, you can boost your Internet speed significantly.

It seems that some people are just never happy with the speed of anything. They approach their computers Internet speed the same way that a high school kid does his car, always wanting more. For others who rely on their computer for their income, time is money and in those cases the sooner they can get their work done, the sooner they get paid. The good news for anyone that wants to see things happen faster when they are online is that the means are now available to kick-it-up a notch for more speed on their computer.

Online Services Now Specialize in Speed

This is because, there are now online services that can help you to get your speed increased, no matter what type of Internet service you are connected to. This means that even people that are still using standard dial up service can get things going quicker when they are using their computer online. The first step however, is to determine your computers actual modem speed and then work from there.

Test Your Download and Your Upload Speed

The truth is, that you can test your modem speed yourself. This is done by simply downloading a file of a specific size and timing the procedure while it happens. However; this doesn't account for your upload speed, which is far more difficult to test. An online service can test both of them by sending you a file of a specific size and then seeing how long it takes for your computer to download it and then upload it back to them.

Retest After Your Upgrade

After this is done, for many people the first step is to install optimization software, which will increase the speed even if you are using dial up service. If you have broadband however, you will need a tweak utility such as TCP Optimizer. Either way after you have completed your upgrades, you will then want to have your modem speed retested to see how much of an improvement has been made.

There was a time, not too far in the distant past, when people were just happy to be connected to the Internet. They would sit down at their computers, visit with online friends around the globe, play their games or do what ever they found to do on the Internet. Some where along the way however, just as with the automobile the need for speed took hold and the rest is history.

Do You Want More Speed?

So what is Internet service speed anyway and what does it mean for you? If all that you do is chat, email and shop online should you really care about your Internet service speed? This is a question that you have to answer yourself, because for some people speed when they are online is a necessity, while for others it is merely an option.

A Precise Test

A cable modem speed test is given by an online service that not only will determine your Internet services actual speed, but they can also offer assistence in upgrading it. They do the test be sending your computer a data file that is first downloaded and then immediately uploaded back to them. The whole process is timed to see precisely how long it takes.

How Fast Are You Right Now?

Everyone from gamers, to online shoppers, to Internet business people, or anyone with standard dial up service that is just tired of waiting for things to happen online can use more speed. Even if you have the latest in broadband cable high speed service technology you still can get things moving a little more faster with new software that is now available. The first step that you need to take in your quest for more speed, is to take an online cable modem speed test to see where you are at right now.

How fast is your Internet service? Even if it is the fastest service that is currently available, such as broadband, high speed cable service, would you be surprises to learn that you can make it faster? The first step however, before you can make and measure any upgrades in your service speed is to determine what speed you are at right now.

A More Precise Internet Test

In the past, people who were curious about their Internet service speed would do a type of "home test". It was simply done by downloading a data file of predetermined size and timing how long the process took. This was OK, but there was, and still is one huge flaw in this method, and that is that it doesn't measure upload speed.

Your Total Speed

The good news is, that now there are online services that can give you an Internet test that will time both procedures for you. This is done by them sending you a data file package, that your computer will download and then immediately upload back to them. They time the whole procedure and the end result is the "total" speed of your Internet service.

Increase Your Speed

Why should you even test your speed in the first place? The reason you have to take this Internet test to begin with, is to have a starting place to guage any upgrades by. This is because, these same services can make available to you all of the latest information and software that is currently being implemented to increase Internet service speed.

Stay Up to Date

This means that the first Internet test that you take will not be your last one, because others will have to be taken to determine the effect that the various upgrade procedures are having, or not having on your Internet service speed. While you may feel that you have sufficient speed now, the fact is that you may be falling behind technologically speaking as time progresses.