Abstract: In some embodiments, provided is an electronic device holder including a body and one or more securing members coupled to the body. The securing members, during use, couple the body to an electronic device such that relative movement between the electronic device and the body is inhibited. The electronic device holder further includes a support member coupled to the body, the support member including an external shape grippable by a human hand such that a user can securely hold the electronic device by clutching the support member during use. During use, the support member bears at least a portion of the weight of the electronic device. The support member is coupled to the body such that the support member is angularly movable in three planes relative to the body during use.

Abstract: Systems and methods provide for secure communications between local and remote devices or networks in virtual private networks. Data can be communicated between the local and remote devices using the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) to reduce network overhead for the data communications. The UDP-based data communications are made secure and reliable by various techniques, for example: confirming that a packet sent by a source component is received by the receiving component, and guaranteeing packet sequencing by buffering packets as they are received and only delivering them to the target in the original sequence that they were sent from the source. Because TCP based communications are common, a TCP-style API can be used to enable programmers to more easily implement the UDP-based communications. Other embodiments of the invention relate to transport protocol enhancements for use within virtual private networks, including protocol mapping, protocol buffering, and protocol filtering.