Crestock (a stock photography company) is running a photography contest. apparently it’s open to all comers, world-wide.

The prizes include a Leica D-LUX 3, and my favorite: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II.

The best bit? These three points on the competition page:

- You retain all copyright.
- We will not sell your photos.
- Your image will only be used in the context of the contest. 

(via Digital Photography School’s blog)

Here’s a quick do/don’t guide for those who’re running Wireless networks at home.

DO use encryption (preferably WPA, or WPA2)

Please, go in and select the highest level of security your Router can use. If you’re only using, say Windows XP (SP2) or Windows Vista, you should have no issue using the highest level of security.

In order of preference (and security):

• WPA2 
  aka “WPA2-PSK” or “WPA2 Pre-Shared Key”
• WPA 
  aka “WPA-PSK” or “WPA Pre Shared Key”)
• WEP
  aka “WEP-64″ or “WEP-128″ 

The last one arn’t really a preference - it’s more like putting a note on your front door saying “please don’t steal my stuff” - and then not bothering to lock the back door.  It’ll stop anyone who is honest from getting into your wireless lan - but that’s it.

For example, on my Linksys Router it looks like this: 

And on my Billion Router, it looks like this:

DO Choose a strong WPA Password

Whilst this isn’t so important for WEP (it’s quicker to just crack the encryption, than guess the pass-phrase) - it is a good idea to keep your WPA Passwords fairly long.

DON’T bother with MAC Address Filtering

There’s a misguided few out there who believe that using MAC Address filtering will protect them in some way. Unfortunely, they’re pretty vocal in their views and have convinced others to do this.

Side Bar: “MAC” stands for Media Access Control. It’s a very low-level way of identifying network equipment in your local network.

For more info, read the Wikipedia Article on MAC Address

Anyone who can crack your wireless security (assuming you have any) will find it very easy to just steal a MAC Address that IS permitted.  MAC Addresses are all controlled in software, so it’s very easy to simply listen to existing network traffic, and then use the authorised one

Disable any “Wireless MAC Filter” if you’ve enabled it - there’s really no point to it. Honestly!

DON’T disable DHCP

DHCP is a very useful piece of technology. Basically, when your router has it’s DHCP-Server enabled, you just have to connect a new device for it to start working.  It’s a standardised way of ensuring devices can self-configure themselves with the appropriate settings for the network they are connected to.

Some people believe that disabling DHCP will stop, or slow down someone trying to break into their network.  But it’s the same situation as using MAC Address filtering - someone can quite easily steal another IP Address, or just manually enter their own details. 

Just leave it enabled (the default), because disabling it will more likely cause you more frustration.

Following these tips will help keep your home network just that little bit safer.