Product Review

Microsoft: Windows Phone 7.5 More Simple

2011-11-09T23:22:00.000-08:00

Compared with the BlackBerry, or Android IOS, Microsoft claims that Windows Phone 7.5 has a more simple, making it easier to use.

Microsoft claims it has a lot of reforms in Windows Phone 7.5. For example, a better view, as well as system integration with social networking and email are increasingly refined.

"Windows Phone 7.5 is very different, the phone can be likened to a mini computer that can be grasped," said Vaibhav Sharma to ITGazine, regional partner account manager, operator mobility channels, Asia Pacific, Microsoft.

Sharma further explains that the look of Windows Phone 7.5 is more modest when compared with its competitors, because the operating system will classify each application Based on its category.

"For example if you want to play Angry Birds. You do not need to look for it among the dozens of applications installed, but need only refer to the gaming hub," said Sharma, on the sidelines of the Bali event Telkom Annual International Conference, Ayana Resort, Thursday (10/11 / 2011).

In addition to the display, the operating system is also claimed to have a number of excellent features that do not exist on the BlackBerry, and Android IOS.

"There are three key Windows Phone 7.5, modern connectivity, smart app, and the ability to provide such browsing experience on the PC," added Sharma.

VGA to HDMI Converter: Analog devices can now be connected to HDMI displays

2011-02-01T22:09:00.000-08:00

A standard VGA signal can be converted to a HDMI signal using a VGA to HDMI Converter. Using this, one can connect the PCs to the latest plasma screen televisions and have an enriching home theater experience. This device is not a scaling device as it does not upscale or downscale the resolution. Output images are in the same resolution as the input images. Standard VGA resolution of 1080p is supported by these converters. The aspect ratio control is done from either the source device or the HDTV. This device is compatible with any display device that has a HDMI port.

Along with video, this conversion device also relays audio. It has R/L audio for maximum audio performance. The audio output of this VGA to HDMI conversion device can be connected back to a PCs monitor as well as speakers. Both digital and stereo audio are supported by them. Analog to digital conversion is made possible by these converters which are easy to install and work on plug and play functionality. They do not require any additional software for operation. HDMI 1.3 and RoHS compliant, the operating frequency of these devices is up to 165 MHz and the video amplifier bandwidth is 1.65 Gpbs. Equipped with agency approvals from CE and FCC, these products also have the flexibility to replicate the images on multiple screens simultaneously using the cascading feature. Requiring no external power supply, these VGA to HDMI devices have the flexibility to replicate the images on multiple screens simultaneously using the cascading feature. They also have front panel buttons which direct the input selection.

LEDs indicate the connectivity status. Using this piece of hardware, content from PCs or internet can be easily watched on plasma TVs, LCD TVs or projectors. Some models are also available with a wall mountable feature. Compact in size, they are perfect for digital signage applications, conference room presentations, school and corporate training environments, since by using these converters, power point presentations and excel sheet data can be shown on digital displays. The face of home entertainment has also been changed with this VGA to HDMI Converter as one can now enjoy output from his computer on the large screen without any over the top investment in hardware.

About the Author

I am associated with this field VGA to HDMI Converter, digital signage and other VGA to HDMI products from last 10 years.

Review of New Graphics Card from NVidia GTX 580-A

2010-12-29T18:31:00.001-08:00

If you want a graphics card that will support all the latest games and maybe some of the upcoming games of the future you can opt for NVidia GTX 580. It is beyond doubt that the market leader in Graphics Card has produced a GPU which will surely bring smiles on NVidia fans but of course if you are ready to shed your pocket. It is beyond doubt that GTX 580 is the fastest single GPU Direct X 11 card till now.

With 1.5GB of GDDR 5 memory you will be able to play all recent games with compromising fps (Frames per second). News of GTX 580 was already there when it was established that GTX 480 was a failure. This card requires a lot of power so ensure that you have a good SMPS (maybe not less than 800W).

As it requires so much power it also generates lot of heat but not so much if compared to NVidia GTX 480. The NVidia engineers gave a lot of work to compete with AMD's upcoming cards. The card has two DVI output and one mini HDMI port so you can expect the best of graphics. But you must make sure that your monitor has DVI connector or mini HDMI connector. But don't worry if you do not have the above mentioned connectors you can search for DVI to VGA connectors or maybe a mini HDMI to VGA connectors.

Only time will say if this graphics card from NVidia can really live up to expectations and give real competition to AMD's dual core GPUs. However if you want to purchase one of these graphics card make sure you have one of the latest motherboards with a bare minimum of one PCI Express slot where you will be inserting the graphics card. On the other hand if you want SLI (Scalable Link Interface) (i.e. two or more graphics card working together to get improved performance, you must make sure that there are more than one PCI Express slot.

Have you purchased GTX 580 graphics card and finding it difficult to install it on your computer? There are many computer repair services companies that offer round the clock assistance to fix any and all types of PC issues.

How to Improve the Battery Life of a Dell Studio 1555

2010-12-29T18:30:00.000-08:00

Battery life is one of the most important aspects people look at when buying laptop computers. Laptops with longer laptop batter life generally cost more money than laptops with shorter battery life. However, there are a few things you can do to extend the battery life of your laptop. Here's how to improve laptop battery .

The Dell Studio 1555 is a great portable Pocket PC that lets you listen to music, watch videos, browse the Web, and work in your Microsoft Office applications from anywhere. There are some easy ways to improve the life of your battery so that you aren't plagued by "Low Battery" errors. Follow these steps to improve the battery life of a Dell Studio 1555.

* 1.Read your Dell Studio 1555 user manual to familiarize yourself with its many functions. The manual also includes some useful tips for improving battery.

* 2.Conserve battery life by minimizing the brightness setting of the backlight on your Dell Studio 1555 display.Perhaps the biggest power drain on a laptop's battery is the screen. The brighter a screen is, the shorter the battery life will be. So when you use a laptop on battery power, make sure you dim the backlight of the laptop screen to drastically improve laptop battery life. Try to keep the brightness at about half, or lower if you can see the screen well enough.

* 3. Use your stylus to tap the "Start" button.Try not to use extra features on your laptop that you are not using. For example, if you are not using the internet on your laptop, make sure you turn on your wi-fi radios to increase dell studio 1555 life.

* 4.Tap the "Settings" button and choose the "System" tab.Most laptops have a "Power-Saver" setting. This essentially lowers your CPU's clock speed, effectively making your laptop slower, but improves laptop battery life. In Windows, access battery and power settings from the control panel.

Close any extra running programs that you are not using. The more programs you have running in the background, the more RAM and CPU processing power you are using - thus draining more power from the studio 1535 battery. To close extra programs, enter the Task Manager (for Windows only) by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del and close any extra programs that you are not using. This will help improve laptop battery life.

* 5.Select the "Brightness" tab. Decrease the level of brightness to improve the battery life of your Dell Studio 1555.

* 6.Purchase an extended battery or secondary battery for your Pocket PC as an alternative.

* 7.Search online for batteries with a higher "mAh" to increase studio 1555 battery . Make sure that the battery you choose is compatible with your Dell handheld device.

When you buy a replacement spare dell studio 1535 battery.you can install it by the fllow step:

Turn off your laptop and remove any peripheral devices, including the power cord.
Turn over your laptop and locate the battery chamber. It will be clearly located on the back of your Dell laptop.
Remove the screw securing the battery chamber cover, then remove the cover.
Remove the old battery from its storage bay.

Gently slide your new dell laptop battery into the base, and be careful to not to touch the contacts of your new battery with your fingers.

Replace the cover on the battery chamber.
Plug in the power cord and allow your new battery to charge for at least two hours.

Most Popular Computer Interfaces, Everybody Should Know

2010-12-29T18:29:00.000-08:00

Computer has become an integral part in our everyday life. To work on computer you need an interface. Simply speaking, computer interface is how you would interact with a computer. Well, to interact with computer there are different types of interfaces in use. In this article we will explain about some of the most important computer interfaces.

When it comes to a desktop computer, a mouse is very important interface. It was developed by Douglas Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute. The mouse has played a very crucial role in the evolution of the GUI. There are wide selections of mice in the market and the latest gaming mice are truly exciting. They sport plenty of high-end features so that the PC gamers can enjoy the game to its fullest. If you need tech support for resolving any computer problem, talk to a PC repair company.

The touchpad is another most popular interface. This is the precursor to the touch-screen interface. Most of the touch-pads now feature multi-touch capabilities. Launched way back 1984, by Bill Buxton, touchpad now facing stiff competition from track balls and button joysticks. But it is the most popular interface for laptop computers.

The Mention touch screen is now one of the hottest interfaces in the market. Apple's iPhone has played a very significant role to revive the potential of the approach. The market is now flooded with cell-phones having multi-touch screens. Multi-touch screens could be enabled with different techniques such as capacitive sensing, pressure sensing, infrared, and surface acoustic waves.

There has been a revolution in the domain of computer interfaces due to advancement of technology. Gesture Sensing is one of the latest in this context. Now you can play games and use all the applications by physically maneuvering all the devices. Accelerometers, compact magnetometers, and gyroscopes are used to track the movement of a device. For enabling computers to better recognize hand and body movements visually, gesture recognition is a new technique.

Voice Recognition is another very popular computer interface in the recent times. Although it is not so accurate all the times, and known for sluggish and awkward performance. But there has been significant improvement in this technology in the recent times. To avail satisfactory performance, the user needs to invest the time to train a system to recognize their voice.

Augmented Reality is another exciting emerging interface. This is an approach that blends virtual information with the real world. This new technology has been improving rapidly and the powerful processing chips and sensors made it easier for the common users to avail this.

Dell Inspiron 537s - Review

2010-12-29T18:19:00.000-08:00

Inspiron is a nice looking PC which would not be taking much space of your desk since it is highly beneficial for space strapped users, in total the performance of this system does not actually measure up for the applications nor 3D gaming.

The main specifications of this system are that there is a processor with a speed of 2.6 GHz and it is Intel Pentium (E5300). The total memory is 3GB and the storage capacity is 500GB on the hard drive. Following this the optical drives that this system has are DVD and RW. it does not come with a monitor which has to be bought separately. The graphics is the ATI RADEON High Definition4350 with 512 MB memory and lastly it operates on Windows Vista Home Premium.

Dell Inspiron will probably be highly attractive and will be catching so much attention with is nicely colored, sleek, smooth and shiny exteriors. However an old saying suggests that the beauty is only the skin deep which means that the exterior look of this system does not mean that the interiors are good too.

Obviously this PC can handle more than basic productive tasks and moderate entertainment duties and lightly features gaming. However this does not mean that you will only be getting these from your PC. You can simply upgrade it with some new and better additional features to be able to make it much faster performer and to better your experience.

The size of this system is 14.9 x 4.2 x 17 inch and they are priced starting from $299 up to $1000 which is determined by the hardware, software and some other features. The one reviewed in the review is the $619 Inspiron and it is powered by dual core Intel Pentium E 5300 with a speed of 2.6 GHz and again for those who are prepared to pay a little higher would be getting a better system. Those who are going to use this computer for casual use should find the 500 GB hard drive capacity enough to plan and store their videos, photos and some other files. However if you require a larger storage capacity then you could simply go for a 750 GB hard drive by paying $80 extra.

There are 2 USB ports, 1 headphone and 1 mic jack at the front where the power button is also housed. Looking at the back there is a swinging out door which houses optical drive and 1 19 format flash memo card reader which is hidden behind this door and also there are mic, audio line in and audio line out jacks and 4 more USB ports and 1 Ethernet port at the back.

This system, the Inspiron537s is one of those which could simply be played around to make it suitable for individuals' expectations and preferences. if your choose to pay extra you can actually get some additional features or you can simply go for the one reviewed at only $619.

Pros: Dell Inspiron537S is a nicely designed good looking pc which has a wide range of color choice. Its compact design provides a neat use and there is HDMI port which makes this system better than its rivals.

Cons: The productivity of this system is unexceptional and the 3D fame performance is not so great. The expanding and the upgrading potential are limited and lastly there is no GIGABIT Ethernet available.

Why Your Company Needs Proximity Card Access Control

2008-11-07T03:23:00.000-08:00

Proximity cards are used extensively by companies that want to control the physical areas that their employees are able to access. A proximity card is issued to each employee and proximity card readers are installed in appropriate physical locations. Each employee must then pass their proximity card near the proximity reader to gain access to the physical area.

The proximity card reader receives the information stored on the card, which is then transmitted to the computer network. It is the computer system that will determine if a person will be given access to the restricted area, or whether access will be denied, depending on earlier configurations. Proximity cards are a form of smart cards that controls access.

These smart cards offer both physical access control, and logical access control. Proximity cards are used a great deal in business, because they allow the employer to provide access to not just physical areas, but also computer networks, and other resources of the company. Areas of a computer network can be made accessible or blocked depending on an employee's clearance. They can also be used for simpler tasks such as web authorization, encryption of email, and digital signatures, to name just a few.

Restricted areas might be off limits to the majority of employees, which can easily be implemented with proximity cards; while at the same time providing access to those that should have access. It could also be exactly the opposite.

Proximity readers are relatively simple to install, and they come with a very easy to use access control system. It is encoded in a way that it easily reads and responds to electronic signals that are sent by the card and received by the reader. Proximity cards don't need to come directly in contact with the reader. You can be as far as an inch away from the reader and it will still be able to read it. That's why they are used so often in parking garages. That said, there are a handful of readers that require the proximity card to come in contact with the reader's magnetic face.

Distance proximity technology provides a great deal of convenience, especially in door technology. These systems allow you to be even further away than one inch. It's like walking through an unlocked door, yet it's exactly the opposite - as secure as Fort Knox. A credit size card can be kept in an employee' brief case, wallet, purse, or even a pocket and when the employee walks past the door it automatically unlocks.

Proximity cards are very versatile, yet another reason why they have been such a big hit in businesses. You can install them almost anywhere. You can install them on doors to various buildings or areas of a building, computers, washrooms, lunch rooms, and the list goes on. There really are few situations where a proximity system can't be used. The card readers read and respond to encoded electronic signals from the proximity (access) cards. And they will respond only to cards that are authorized.

Power outages don't generally pose a problem for the proximity readers, because they either have a battery back up system or sometimes they use rechargeable batteries. So you never have to worry that your system becomes vulnerable if the power goes out.

There are several different proximity card systems. In fact, you can even use your Bluetooth cell phone as a proximity card for laptops that are Linux based. Of course that's not how most business will use it, but it's just another example of the versatility of these systems.

The FBI, NASA, federal governments, municipalities, universities, schools, daycares, hospitals, and malls - these are all places where you'll find proximity systems, and that's just the beginning.

HID ISO Prox II cards are a popular choice in proximity cards. They feature 125 kHz technology, ISO standards, gloss finish, and there are more than 137 billion possible codes. Programmable photo ID relies on the use of a smart card.

Security proximity technology can be matched to the needs of your company, no matter what the size of your business. This technology can be installed at a price that's affordable, and exactly as you need it. When business is concerned about the bottom line, as well as the security of their business, proximity card systems makes very good sense.

Pros and cons of Satellite Internet access

2008-11-07T03:20:00.000-08:00

Perhaps you live in a rural area and you can't get cable or DSL high-speed Internet access, but you can get satellite. Or, maybe you are at your wit's end with the cable and/or phone (DSL) companies and don't want to give either of them another dime. Satellite may be the answer, but you'll need to do a bit of research before determining if it will fit your needs. Here are answers to many of the most common questions regarding satellite service.

Q: How fast is satellite access?
A: Satellite providers typically offer several levels of service with download speeds ranging between 700 Kbps and 1.5 Mbps and upload speeds as high as 256 Kbps. Note, though, that these are optimal speeds. Typical speeds, particularly during peak times, can be somewhat slower.

Q: How much does satellite access cost?
A: The price depends on your provider and the service plan that you acquire. As a generalization, prices range from approximately $60 a month for service providing roughly 700 Kbps download speed to about $80 a month for service in the 1.5 Mbps range. In addition, your equipment costs can be as much as $300 or $400 and installation can cost another $200, although vendors often have special offers for equipment and installation.

Q: What impact can weather have on satellite access?
A: As is the case with satellite television, severe rain or snow can slow or stop satellite Internet access. That is true both for bad weather in your area as well as bad weather at the location of the satellite provider's network operations center (NOC). However, while severe weather can break the connection, satellite systems typically operate even in strong, steady downpours.

Q: Besides the weather, how reliable is satellite access?
A: Besides service degradation due to weather, satellite access is extremely reliable. The outdoor equipment is quite rugged and, while it does break down occasionally, such problems are rare.

Q: Still, should I keep a dial-up connection "just in case?"
A: While it is tempting to keep a dial-up connection because of the complex technical nature of satellite connections, it isn't necessary for most people. As mentioned above, the satellite equipment is very robust and rarely breaks down and weather-related problems occur infrequently. However, if something does go wrong, it can take days before repair personnel can get to your house. If that concerns you, you may want to have a dial-up back-up but know that you'll rarely, if ever, use it.

Q: What equipment is required?
A: Satellite access requires installation of two pieces of equipment. Outdoors is a dish that collects and transmits the signal to and from the satellite. Indoors is a "satellite modem" that is connected to the dish via coaxial cable. The modem is connected to a PC or to networking equipment such as a router using an Ethernet cable.

Q: Is any on-going maintenance required?
A: Although nothing is absolute, typically, no on-going maintenance is required. On rare occasions, you will need to have your dish "re-peaked," or re-aimed at the satellite. Even more rarely, there will be an equipment failure and some part of the system such as the receiver, transmitter or modem, will have to be replaced. But, as mentioned above, the equipment is quite rugged and such problems are rare.

Q: Can I network my satellite connection so that more than one computer in my home can have access?
A: The satellite systems can be networked the same as DSL or cable connections. That is to say, you can connect the indoor satellite modem to a router using a standard Ethernet cable, which then distributes the connection to other computers. Note, however, that the satellite providers won't help you set up or troubleshoot home networks.

Q: What is latency and how will it impact me?
A: Latency is the time required for a signal to travel from its source to its destination. In the case of satellite access, that includes the time it takes to send the signal up to a satellite and back down to the ground. Since satellites typically orbit about 22,000 miles above the earth, that latency can be as long as a second every time data is sent and received.
That delay means that certain types of applications aren't practical when using satellite systems. One notable example is voice-over-IP. Over a satellite connection, a second or more passes between the time you say something and the time it is heard, which makes communications clumsy. Satellite connections also aren't good for so-called "twitch" real-time online games and for use with terminal server software, which lets telecommuters connect to their company's servers as if they were in the office.

Q: How many satellite providers are there?
A: In the U.S., there are three primary satellite providers: HughesNet (www.hughesnet.com), WildBlue (www.wildblue.com) and Starband (www.starband.com). Other vendors and organizations may offer satellite service, but it typically is provided by one of the three services. For instance, AT&T offers satellite service but actually is reselling WildBlue service.

Q: Does it matter where I mount the dish?
A: The dish must have a clear view of the southern sky, which is where the satellite is in orbit. Beyond that, the dish can be positioned using a pole stuck into the ground, on the side of your house or on your roof. Obviously, a ground-mounted dish is easier in case maintenance is required. Also, sometimes snow and ice collecting on the dish can slow down service -- it is easier to brush snow and ice off a ground-mounted dish.

Q: Can I install satellite service by myself?
A: No -- satellite access vendors won't let you do that. And that's probably a good thing since it requires certain skills to link the dish to the right satellite. Further, the Federal Communications Commission requires that professionals install satellite systems that both send and receive signals.

Q: How does satellite service operate in actual usage? Is it different than using cable or DSL?
A: Other than limits on a few specific types of applications mentioned previously, satellite Internet Service operates virtually identically to DSL or cable broadband.

Q: I live in the city. Are there any reasons to consider satellite access?
A: In most cases, DSL or cable access is faster and cheaper. If that type of service is available to you, chances are high that it will be preferable to satellite access.

Q: Is satellite access two-way access?
A: Yes. Data that you receive, such as downloaded files and Web pages, is sent via the satellite system, as are items you upload. Early satellite systems, however, were one-way systems. Downloads occurred via the satellite but information sent by you was transmitted via a standard dial-up connection. Such old-fashioned systems haven't been available for several years.

Q: I'm a Mac user. Can I use satellite access?
A: Yes. All major satellite access systems work with Macs.

Q: Is mobile satellite access available?
A: No. A satellite connection requires a constant connection with a satellite that is in high orbit. It is a time-consuming task for a trained installer to aim your dish at that satellite. While some companies have been experimenting with antennas that can maintain a connection with the satellite while a vehicle moves, this technology isn't yet practical for day-in, day-out use.

Q: I also get satellite TV. Can I use only one dish for both?
A: No. While single dish solutions once were available, vendors determined that separate dishes work better for both Internet access and TV.

Q: Can I download as much as I want over a satellite system?
A: No. Like other broadband providers, satellite vendors have Fair Access Policies (FAP) that detail how much you can download at a given time. The purpose of the FAP is to prevent a few heavy downloaders from hogging bandwidth used by everybody. Satellite vendors tend to have stricter FAPs than other broadband providers. For instance, with HughesNet you can download as much as 350 MB at a time, depending on your service plan. That is roughly one-third the size of a typical downloadable feature-length movie. When you surpass the limits of the FAP, the provider has the option of temporarily throttling down your speed.
For more, go to www.digitallanding.com

Best information for Intel Computers

2008-11-07T03:17:00.000-08:00

Intel has become intensely popular that it has been commonly mistaken as a PC brand. Generally, when people say Intel computers, what they really are referring to are Intel-branded computers. For several years or even decades now, since Intel has been launched on the market, when people think of Intel they mistakenly imagine a computer brand. So what does Intel computer really mean? Has anyone actually seen an Intel-branded computer? For sure, nobody has seen one yet. What most individuals actually see is a sticker outside CPUs that says "Intel Inside." What do the sticker sign really mean?

The Famous "Intel Inside" Sticker

Ever since the advent of personal computers, the Intel micro-processor has been used on almost all known computer brands on the market. Naturally, since the name Intel is seen in almost any computer, the phrase 'Intel computers' stuck in a mind of computer and non-computer users alike.

This is especially true when a couple of years ago, Intel launched a product called Centrino. Everybody, especially all the tech personal out there, were all excited over this new product. But for the non-technology savvy and non-computer users, it was common misconception that Centrino was a tag name of a laptop. Centrino to them was a notebook that was super fast, super-reliable and had super-sleek design. But much to their disappointment, Centrino is not at all a computer or a notebook. Centrino is the Intel processor that runs inside the notebook or computer.

What's Really Inside?

So basically, the real product of Intel is not the whole computer set itself. There is no such thing as Intel computers as popularly misinterpreted by most consumers. The real product of Intel is the microprocessor that runs "inside" the computer.

The misconception is also understandable since the processor is considered the brains of the computer. The performance of the computer generally comes down to the performance of its processor, thus the analogy: computer-processor-Intel. Therefore, there really is no surprise to this misconception and people don't even seem to mind correcting it. Even Intel doesn't mind; they greatly benefit from this misconception. New computer users would naturally want nothing more than to have an Intel computer.

What really fortified the popular belief about Intel computers as a computer brand is the amount of recognition that Intel has earned throughout the years as the leading microprocessor manufacturer. Their recognition and popularity is basically backed by its high-end performance. Current Intel processors run at an impressively clock speed of equal to or more than 3.0 GHz. Intel processors are also the best in power and energy efficiency, keeping noise level down and heat production/control. Moreover, the promotion and marketing strategy of Intel may have also contributed to the popular misconception.

What this all really means is that at this period of the Information Age, Intel so far is the most valued processor in the market. They are not the only processors in the market and may not have always been the market leader particularly considering the performance of its rival AMD Athlon. Yes, there have been several times when the rival has been able to launch a product that outperformed Intel's, but, Intel has always managed to climb back. Therefore, due to the integrity, reliability and effectiveness of its main product - the processor - Intel has earned a brand name synonymous with everything that is computers.

Using Security Card Printers to Produce ID Card

2008-11-07T03:15:00.000-08:00

Card Printers have unique customisable levels of security to ensure an ID card cannot be easily counterfeited. This article identifies some of the methods that are used.

Ensure a strong base card is used. It must be durable and resistant to cracking. Choose card stock that is ten times the flex life of regular PVC cards and check that it does not tear easily. The lanyard slot in the top of a regular PVC card is a weak point. If it can be torn it's simple for a forger to replace the photo and create an ID card that will fool a brief inspection.

A high capability card printer will have a built-in laminator that extends card life by up to seven years. It applies a protective laminate covering to the ID card. This is recommended if the ID card is frequently swiped using abrasive equipment such as a bar code or magnetic stripe reader.

A basic ID card will have the holder's name, photograph, signature and in some cases colour coding to show access entitlement. It's simple to inspect at a glance but also very easy to reproduce.

To prevent illegal reproduction card stock can be purchased that has pre-printed security features including ultra-violet visible text. Micro text can be used that is only known to the issuing organisation. Pre-printed serial numbers can also be incorporated into card stock.

All these features are exceptionally difficult to reproduce. For instance micro text can be as small as 5 thousandths of an inch (0.125mm). Most card printers cannot print text this small so without the card stock it is virtually impossible to reproduce an ID card.

UV holograms printed over the surface of an ID card are an effective security measure. The image is not visible to the naked eye but can be seen under UV light. A hologram images including embossed micro-text can be incorporated into the over-laminate film that is applied by card printers. Storing the cardholder's information on a centrally located computer enables a security officer to check details and compare a photograph by using the ID card's magnetic stripe, proximity chip or smart card.

High capability card printers can be set up for this function. Card stock must be used that has been pre-printed with a serial number. The serial number is recorded on the card's credential medium such as the magnetic stripe, proximity chip or smart card. The employee's details are then attached to this serial number and stored in the printer's host computer. This information can be uploaded to the issuing organisation's central database.

When the ID card needs to be checked the serial number triggers the cardholder's details to be downloaded to a local terminal, on which photographs and card information are displayed and can be compared with the original.

The strength of an ID card's security comes from a combination of media features, card printer capabilities, database verification and built in security measures such as holographic images. Card printers come in a variety of models, all with different capabilities. A specialist card printer retailer or manufacturer will be able to provide advice about which model is best for an organisation's needs.

Recovering Data from the Most Reliable Storage-RAID

2008-07-05T23:38:00.000-07:00

To achieve the goals of better performance, scalability and data reliability and data recovery, RAID was thought to be designed by using several disks in the form of an array. But unfortunately this devil of data loss has also made its impact on this reliable storage media. RAID is short termed for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks.

RAID, at the present date, is popular for different configurations, each having their own method of redundancy. The most popular ones are RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1 and RAID 5.

Now let's talk about the least configured one: RAID 0. This uses just the simple method of striping for storing the data. As the general term striping means dividing anything and the same is followed by RAID 0. The data in this case is divided into smaller pieces of fixed size and then these stripes are saved simultaneously on separate disks. This increases the speed of read/write procedure. But in any case, if either of the disks fails then the whole set fails and the data gets lost.

RAID 1 uses the method of mirroring and so is less prone to data loss. This is due to the reason that the same data is written on two disks, i.e. two disks are made exact copy of each other. So if either of the disks fails then the second one is there to help you out. But in case of natural disasters, there are least chances for the survival of any of the disk.

RAID 0+1, as the name suggests, is the combination of two mentioned above. The data is firstly stripped and then mirrored across the same number of disks. This is the most reliable solution but not applicable for low-budgeted firms due to the expensive nature.

RAID 5 is similar to RAID 0, except from one difference of support to parity write. This parity acts like an error correction which is a combination of the data on the other stripes. Several disks are made to write this parity, which makes it slower than its counterparts. If any of the disk fails then its parity is calculated from the contents of the other disks and the data recovery is done.

Although RAID is proving to be safer than what a single hard disk does but instead they are not completely safe. The natural disaster strike is the keen factor playing in this context.

In many cases, it becomes necessary to do RAID data recovery at some point of time of multiple disk failure. Majority of the RAID failure cases demands the care in data recovery labs called Clean Rooms.

Clean Rooms are set up by different data recovery companies to avail the data recovery services. Here the damaged components of the hard drive are replaced and the further procedure of data recovery is carried out in the dust free environment.

Stellar Information Systems Limited marks the tremendous performance in recovering data from RAID. Either it is the case of RAID controller failure or some fire or flood attack, the data recovery experts of Stellar are well capable of handling any of the condition.

Class 100 Clean Room facility is the superb feature of the data recovery service provided by Stellar. The company also offers you the data recovery software for various operating systems, in case of the simple repair of the hard drive does not work in recovering data.

Tips to Save on Your Printer Ink Cartridges

2008-07-05T23:37:00.000-07:00

Buying a printer is a one time cost, but since printer ink cartridges need to be bought on a regular basis, the cost of operating the printer and maintaining it in proper condition can add up. Each 'print' command, however small, makes your printer use ink, but with some easy tips, you can actually save a lot of ink and use a cartridge for a longer period than usual.

1) Print only what is necessary

Let's begin with economising. Most often, we end up making unnecessary printouts and in the process waste precious ink. For instance, you might need to print only a small portion of a web page instead of the whole page. Instead of simply printing the whole page, complete with its heavy graphics etc, be specific on what you want to have in hard copy and print only that portion.

Text always consumes less ink compared to graphics or images. If textual information is all that you need then you can make sure that you don't print the graphics and images. If it is a web page you need to save in a printed form, check for its print version. If there is no print version, you can copy and paste the text in a word document and take a printout of that.

Also try to do a bit of planning and double check what you are printing before hitting the print button.

2) Go for a quick print preview

Most branded printers such as HP, Canon, Dell, Epson or any other printer come with a printer driver which has a very useful print preview function. With this function, you can have a prior preview of the copy you want to take a print out of.

This function is especially handy when you are directly taking the print out from the Internet. At times, what you see on a site is totally different as compared to the printed version. A quick preview can help to get the printout of the material that you specifically want.

3) Make sure the power is turned off

Just as you never switch off your computer without properly shutting it down, the same rule applies to your printer too. If you don't shut down the printer properly, the print heads will remain directly exposed to air causing the ink to dry in the nozzles which, in turn, could affect the quality of printing adversely. Make it a habit to check the position of the print heads before cutting off the power.

4) Use good software

There are various ink saving software options available online. These software applications are designed to reduce the consumption of your printer ink. With these applications, you can get good quality printout copies with less ink consumption even during high resolution printing.

5) Use printer ink cartridges smartly

If you don't do printing regularly, run a small printing test at least once a week, to avoid the ink cartridges from drying up. This little precaution will help you to increase the life of the cartridge.

6) Never expose your printer to extreme temperatures

Too much variation in room temperature is bad for printer ink cartridges. You must avoid keeping your printer in too hot or too cold a temperature as the cartridges can dry up. For lasting printer performance, make sure the room has a normal and stable temperature.

With these small but important tips, your printer ink cartridges will get a longer life. It is easy to buy good quality printer ink cartridges at excellent prices from online shops.

IPS Servers Give Parents Control With Computer Activities

2008-06-23T05:06:00.000-07:00

Intrusion prevention system servers are important options for computer security. This is because an IPS server can monitor all activities that take place on a computer so that any activities that are not desired or wanted will be blocked. This includes monitoring activities that come from other computers that the computer with the IPS server is receiving. Parents want parental controls on all IPS servers because these servers can help to block certain websites and other activities that they do not want their kids to use.

It is very clear that there are several different types of websites out there that are bad for kids to see. However, these are some of the most popular websites among older people. These sites include places that may contain strong adult language or even places that feature strong sexual content. Parents want parental controls on all IPS servers so that any activities that are going to take place on any of these sites will be blocked from happening on their computers. This way the kids will not have to see anything from the sites that the parents do not want them to see, and this makes for one of the best reasons why parents want parental controls on all IPS servers.

Another important reason why parents want parental controls on all IPS servers is because of the fact that kids who are on the Internet may not be fully aware of the many dangerous things that can impair a computer's performance. Viruses, spam, adware and malware are things that kids do not necessarily think of when they are online. Therefore, educating children about these things can be useful. Just to be safe using parental controls on all IPS servers is greatly recommended. This will be needed so that sites that are trusted will be the only sites that kids will be able to have access to. This includes sites that are known to carry no dangerous invasions that may get onto a computer.

Parents want parental controls on all IPS servers because they will work to help with preventing any kinds of dangerous emails from getting into the email account that a child will have. As mentioned already kids may not be fully aware of the dangers of spam. They may feel that great offers for things that come to them on their email accounts will be for real. Because of this, the need to keep spam from getting onto a computer will be especially important. Using parental controls on an IPS server will be needed so that the sites that can cause spam to pop up onto an email account will be blocked.

The last reason as to why parents want parental controls on all IPS servers is that they want their kids to have the same level of protection from dangerous malware and other online hazards as they do. They do not want the Internet experience for anyone in the home to be affected. After all, malware can easily spread from one computer to another in a server, and when there are multiple computers in a home connected to the same server for online use, this can easily affect the activities that all Internet users have.

Those are the reasons as to why parents want parental controls on all IPS servers. IPS servers work to monitor network activities and prevent certain things from getting into a computer or any specific activities from happening. However, it is important to have parental controls on an IPS server because kids may not be completely conscious about the many dangers that are on the Internet that can affect one's computer. In addition, there are many different sites that parents definitely do not want their kids to read. With these reasons, it can be seen as to why parents want parental controls on all IPS servers. So many great things can be used to help protect not only kids but also the entire family.

Check Your Computer Frequently

2008-06-23T05:05:00.000-07:00

If your PC's not powering up, don't immediately panic and run around the room while you're shouting and tearing your hair out (obviously I've done this before). Here are some basic tips on how to seal with this problem before you call your local (and expensive) PC repair man.

Check if your PC's plugged in. Yes, boys and girls, there's been a lot of situation where the the computer gets unplugged when your electric-bill-crazy-mom would pull it out while you're away from keyboard to save on the utility charges. Or you forgot that you pulled it out last night.

Have this ever happened to you? You go to the office on a Saturday morning to email a document to your boss (who just absolutely need to have it that same morning: on a SATURDAY) and you power on your computer. It goes through the same routine and then you wait....and wait...and wait until all the Windows program end loading. By the time it stops loading the morning is over and your boss is pissed. If this never happened to you, you're lucky--it happened to me. Anyway, enough about me, let's see what we can do for you.

Windows is notorious for logging in and off s-l-o-w-l-y. One of the main reasons for this are Windows programs. Albeit, they are important to help your computer run, it makes the lives of hectic people worse: especially if the Windows programs that keep it from logging on quickly are unimportant! So what do you do in these situations?

Keeping you personal computer secure nowadays is such a hard thing to do because of the viruses around. Even your little USB thumb drive can be a victim of these viruses. In fact, these thumb drives makes the transfer of viruses from PC to PC a lot more fast if they are left unsecure. Good thing, there are still free anti-virus softwares out there just like AVG is quite reliable since updates are released in a regular basis. If you use USB thumb drives, be sure to have them scanned by your anti-virus software before accessing it via Windows Explorer. You should also turn off the auto-play function when you plug in USB devices.

It's not only start-up that you'd like to speed up; you can also make sure that your system shuts down faster. If shutting down XP takes what seems to be an inordinate amount of time, here are a couple of steps you can take to speed up the shutdown process:

Don't have XP clear your paging file at shutdown. For security reasons, you can have XP clear your paging file (pagefile.sys) of its contents whenever you shut down. Your paging file is used to store temporary files and data, but when your system shuts down, information stays in the file. Some people prefer to have the paging file cleared at shutdown because sensitive information such as unencrypted passwords sometimes ends up in the file. However, clearing the paging file can slow shutdown times significantly, so if extreme security isn't a high priority, you might not want to clear it.

Choosing The Proper Surveillance Camera Systems

2008-06-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

As we all know, the need for security in our homes, in our businesses and in our community is in an exceeding and alarming increase nowadays. Just simply having human and/or animals posted at whether general or specified locations as security guards is either now proving to be not enough or in some cases the extent of just a futile measure. A number of people because of this fact have over the years been moving towards security surveillance systems as an alternative, or to assist security personnel in their work, as just one of weapons in their realization for defense of self. For some time now businesses and corporations held the monopoly for the use of security cameras to hinder criminal and illegal conduct in form of thieves and robbers, but however the trend has now been moving towards home owners and private use.

After all a thief does not really care if it is a house or store once there is something valuable to steal, it is all up for grabs, mind the notion used. This all is fine and dandy but however leaves the homeowner or proprietor in a predicament being what the best surveillance system for his/her specific needs is and one that would return his investment.

What most people have foolishly come to believe is that propping a camera on the outside of the premises most times in view of the door or windows dependent on their perspective, is all they need for security purposes. Unfortunately for them it is not until an incident of burglary or robbery occurs and they find out that they are no usable and visible images on the reel of tape that they realize the chose the wrong camera and it was in fact not enough for their security. Hopefully they do not blame the camera for their misfortune but their lack of judgment in the use of them. What is even worst is when they actually wait until an incident of such happens to realize that they actually needed a security camera in the first place.

Budget is also something to think about, not everybody can afford a ten thousand dollar security system but fortunately for those with a less inclination for such funds there are several types of cameras readily available at very affordable prices. For example, you can choose from a simple wide-angle camera that can capture a large area to those that can be remotely panned, tilted and zoomed in to effectively track a burglars trail as they maneuver around in the home or on the property.

Lenses consideration.

Like a security surveillance camera the lenses themselves tend to vary from the standard available lenses, being the least expensive component. The thing is if you are one of those persons who puts the camera in the vicinity of the doors or windows, it is a good idea to purchase a security surveillance camera that is equipped with a lens which aperture automatically adjusts.

When it comes to still cameras the amount of light that enters it determines whether you end up with a picturesque quality image or well, a dud. Lenses with a fixed aperture if and when in the presence of very bright light, sunlight or even headlights can produce washed out images with unrecognizable features. Surveillance cameras are no different in this perspective and this little characteristic for such a camera as you know is the difference between the criminal being identify and caught or hoping someone caught a glimpse of guy because your camera could not. By getting yourself a security camera with auto-aperture that will adjust the lens according to the amount of light, will aid in captures no matter the amount of light the a good quality picture.

Serial Port Control 2.0.3

2008-06-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

FabulaTech announced the release of the Serial Port Control new version 2.0.3

Specifically, FabulaTech has implemented the GetSerialPortDescription method and OnReceive event in the newly released version.

Serial Port Control is easy to use control intended for simplification serial port communication tasks in any projects. allows to overcome the complexity of the Win32 Serial Communications API. It takes a few seconds to setup and one will get full control over the serial ports with just a few lines of code. Examples, complete documentation and friendly API make Serial Port Control simple to use even for a novice programmer. Serial Port Control enumerates all serial ports known to Microsoft Windows (multi-port boards, ports on devices attached to USB, IrDA, Bluetooth, Firewire or any virtual ports). "You can save a lot of time - just drop a Serial Port Control on a form in any development environment and compare this to writing thousands of lines of code ," said FabulaTech chief executive officer Chris Lydon. "The events support feature allows to simplify your coding as you don't have to check what really happens again and again. You can write a simple, clear event handler for each event you want to service instead". According to Shawn Preston, FabulaTech chief software architect, Serial Port Control is useful for different purposes: to control manufacturing machines via the serial port; to configure network devices (like print-servers, routers) via the serial port; to control a modem, connected to the serial/USB port or Bluetooth; to send SMS messages to mobile telephone using GSM SmartPhone/Modem connected to the computer (Serial/USB port or Bluetooth); to transfer files through a null modem cable; any other tasks where serial port communication is involved. "With Serial Port Control your software can communicate with laboratory instruments, navigational devices, medical equipment, modems, USB serial devices and other serial devices and machines in minutes", said Shawn. "Easy, Simple and Professional were the key requirements in the process of developing this software". Highlights of some main features are described below: -Unlimited number of serial ports can be controlled simultaneously. -Powerful and intuitive interface to make serial port communications easy. -Delivers all the capabilities of the Win32 Serial Communications API and eliminates its complexity. -Works with all types of serial ports, including USB adaptors, Bluetooth, IR, or any virtual port. -Performs multithreaded reads and writes with one simple function call. -Supports reading and writing of binary data. Additional offerings for discount enable use of OEM license, the latter allows to integrate Serial Port Control functionality into any own application and permits unlimited redistribution as an integral part of one's own software without having individual license keys. OEM License grants a royalty free distribution, so it is no use to pay extra fee per every license of one's application.

Serial Port Control 2.0.3 is now available for download at http://www.serial-port-control.com

FabulaTech is a software development company. Established in 2000, FabulaTech specializes in device driver development, application development and systems internals programming for Microsoft Windows, Linux and Embedded operating systems. The company's primary focus is to meet all possible requirements of the customers.

Configuring a Windows Based NTP Network Time Server

2008-06-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

Computer time synchronisation is highly important in modern computer networks, precision and time synchronization is critical in many applications, particularly time sensitive transactions. Just imagine buying an airline seat only to be told at the airport that the ticket was sold twice because it was purchased afterwards on a computer that had a slower clock!

Modern computers do have internal clocks called Real Time Clock chips (RTC) that provide time and date information. These chips are battery backed so that even during power outages, they can maintain time but personal computers are not designed to be perfect clocks. Their design has been optimized for mass production and low-cost rather than maintaining accurate time.

For many applications, this is can be quite adequate, although, quite often machines need time to be synchronised with other PC's on a network and when computers are out of sync with each other problems can arise such as sharing network files or in some environments even fraud!

Microsoft Windows (2000 and above) has a time synchronisation utility built into the operating system called Windows Time (w32time.exe) which can be configured to operate as a network time server. It can be configured to both synchronise a network using the internal clock or an external time source.

Note: Microsoft strongly recommends that you configure a time server with a hardware source rather than from the internet where there is no authentication.

To configure Windows Time service to use the internal hardware clock, first check that w32time is located in the system services list in the registry, to check: Click Start, Run then type regedit then click ok. Locate and then click the following registry entry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time It is highly recommended that you back up the registry as serious problems may occur if you modify the registry incorrectly, modifications to the registry are done at your own risk.

Note: the following instructions are based on Windows 2000 other versions of Windows may differ.

To begin configuration for an internal clock, click on the following subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters In the right pane, right-click ReliableTimeSource, then click Modify. In Edit DWORD Value, type 1 in the Value Data box, then click OK Exit Registry Editor

To restart the Windows Time Service click Start, Run (or alternatively use the Command Prompt facility). Type: net stop w32time && net start w32time Then press enter.

To reset the local computersâ€™ time, type the following on all computers except for the time server which must not be synchronised with itself: w32tm â€"s

To configure the Windows Time service to use an external time source, click Start, Run and type regedit then click OK.

Locate the following subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters In the right pane, right-click Type then click Modify, in edit Value type NTP in the Value data box then click OK.

Now in the right pane, right click ReliableTimeSource, then click Modify. In the Edit DWORD Value box, under Value Data, type 0, then click OK.

Right-click NtpServer in the right pane then click Modify. In Edit Value, type the Domain Name System (DNS), each DNS must be unique. Now click Ok.

For Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 only, set the time correction settings to do this locate: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters In the right pane, right-click MaxAllowedClockErrInSecs, then Modify in the Edit DWORD Value box, , type a time in seconds max number of seconds difference between the local clock and the time received from the NTP server in order to be considered a valid new time. Click OK.

To set the poll intervals locate: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters In the right pane, right-click Period, then click Modify. In the Edit DWORD Value box, under Value Data, type 24 then OK Exit Registry Editor

Click Start, then Run then type the following and press Enter: Net stop w32time && net start w32time

To reset the local computersâ€™ time, type the following on all computers except for the time server which must not be synchronised with itself:

Network Time Protocol (NTP) is an Internet protocol used for the transfer of accurate time, providing time information along so that a precise time can be obtained

To enable the Network Time Protocol; NTPserver, locate and click: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpServer\ In the right pane, right-click Enabled, then click Modify. In the Edit DWord Value box, type 1 under Value data, then click OK.

Now go back and click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters\NtpServer In the right pane, right-click NtpServer, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value under Value Data type In the right pane, right-click NtpServer, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value under Value Data type the Domain Name System (DNS), each DNS must be unique and you must append 0x1 to the end of each DNS name otherwise changes will not take effect. Now click Ok.

Locate and click the following HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpClient\SpecialPollInterval In the right pane, right-click SpecialPollInterval, then click Modify. In the Edit DWORD Value box, under Value Data, type the number of seconds you want for each poll, ie 900 will poll every 15 minutes, then click OK.

To configure the time correction settings, locate: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\config In the right pane, right-click MaxPosPhaseCorrection, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value box, under Base, click Decimal, under Value Data, type a time in seconds such as 3600 (an hour) then click OK.

Now go back and click: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\config In the right pane, right-click MaxNegPhaseCorrection, then Modify. In the Edit DWORD box under base, click Decimal, under value data type the time in seconds you want to poll such as 3600 (polls in one hour)

Exit Registry Editor Now to restart windows time service, click Start, Run (or alternatively use the command prompt facility) and type: net stop w32time && net start w32time

And on each computer, other than the time server, type: W32tm/ -s

And thatâ€™s it your time server should be now up and running.

Computer motherboards and Industrial Motherboards

2008-06-15T00:04:00.000-07:00

A motherboard can be defined as a central circuit board creating a complex electronic system from within a computer for example.

A motherboard is vitally important as it provides the electrical links by which the other components of the system talk to each other and also contains the central processing unit, most commonly called CPU and other subsystems such as real time clock for example, and some other secondary interfaces. They are produced in different sizes and shapes which can be specific to each computer maker. Actually, most computer motherboards are now using a standard form since 2007.

Motherboards are most of the time air cooled with heat sinks often installed on larger chips. Most motherboards also have connectors for additional case fans as well just in case. More recent motherboards now have integrated temperature sensors to detect motherboard and CPU temperatures in order to regulate the fan speed and lower the temperature faster and better. This being mainly due to the appearance of thermal management systems that can now cool down the motherboard and reduce the noise more efficiently for better performances. A recent study found that some computer crashes and other general issues like screen image distortions or other errors can actually be attributed not to software or peripheral hardware but to the motherboards. So a better performing motherboard is really essential if you want your computer to work properly and longer.

Laptops would usually use a much different kind of motherboard. They usually are miniaturized and highly integrated motherboards specifically designed for laptops. The fact that they are almost unique is actually one of the reasons why laptops are so difficult to upgrade and repair.

As a matter of fact, Industrial motherboards need to be tougher than normal motherboards found in personal computers or laptops. Being used in tougher conditions than standard computer motherboards, industrial motherboards, like industrial LCD displays or Industrial LCD touch screen need to be able to cope with higher temperatures, need to be tougher in case of a shock or a hit, and need to last much longer, simply because they are intended to provide stable motherboard platforms for industrial users who demand long production lifetimes in extreme conditions. But obviously, a motherboard is not the only component of an industrial computer or other electronic equipment and if the case and the other components are not resistant enough or can not really cope with extreme conditions, everything will break down quickly.

Current Comp TIA Certification: Comp TIA Security+ Exam Updates

2008-06-15T00:02:00.000-07:00

For those who are already certified or are looking to be certified in the Comp TIA sphere, listen up, for a bit of a change is underway. Know that for the 2008 edition - specifically pertaining to the Security+ exam ï¿½" it will be launched with an updated IT twist. Changes are not drastic here though, but rather quite straightforward with reasoning to stay on the cutting edge and morph with the change that is ever-constant in the IT security industry. The intent on modifying and, in a sense, regenerating the attached examination for the 2008 Security+ edition is to better prepare and maintain not only the outstanding and evolving excellence in which Comp TIA Certification transfers to it's certified individuals, but also to more proactively combat and defeat the new security issues that are currently on course and becoming more of a hazard.

An Ever-Changing and Rapidly Evolving IT Industry

As we all well know, technologies are never created and simply finished or finalized. Almost always, there are imminent changes - whether visible or unanticipated - on the IT horizon with transformations continually being planned and blue-printed, improvements invariably being made around the clock. And with technological evolution it's imperative to recognize that what must also change is the knowledge pushing and backing up the involved technologies. The aforementioned holds much truth to it, especially if effectiveness and adeptness in a desired field (in this case being IT security) is what a professional requires and desires.

This notion of continual progression and adapting, bettering as one goes along, in technological terms, carries over into the IT certification industry, especially within the realm of security.

Comp TIA Security+ Rundown

As the international and vendor-neutral certification validating a slew of varying IT security knowledge ranging from access control, cryptography, assessment and audits, network infrastructure, standard organizational security as well as systems security (and so on), such a certification is bound to be at the whim of how IT security issues arise, amplify and evolve. And currently, new forms of security issues have been popping up and many industry heads have taken notice. As such, the Security+ examination's structure and contents were taken into consideration for alteration and later (being now) planned to be put into action, making definite modifications happen.

Think of this modification situation from a preparatory stance. As incoming dangers emerge and attacks are conducted, most times, they unveil themselves as different and even stronger than before. So, therefore, by refreshing and adapting the current knowledge, as to combat current trends, professionally battling and winning against these IT terrors can be fully achieved.

Comp TIA Security+ Changes and What You Need To Know

by E.S. Cromwell

The updated version will be launched October 2008. But, know that what you have or want to have in terms of Comp TIA certification is not obsolete. This is so because the 2007 edition will still be readily available to certify with up through April 2009. And this is good, especially considering that if you are still, in fact, preparing for the Comp TIA Security+ exam, you will need to be cert

Great Plains Installation: overview for IT professional

2008-06-15T00:01:00.001-07:00

Microsoft Dynamics GP installing process is straight forward and simple if your company deploys versions 10.0 or 9.0. If you are still on earlier version or on Pervasive SQL or Ctree: 7.5, 7.0, 6.0, 5.5 or 5.0 â€" then installation requires either to be done by professional consultant or GP support person should be available on the phone during installation phase. Version 8.0 is also relatively simple, however we heard some complains on ODBC connection creation. Letâ€™s review installation phases:

1. New Server Installation. This is when you are coming through implementation process. It is very unlikely that you do it in-house â€" GP requires professional consultant for initial installation, data conversion and implementation

2. Moving GP Server from one computer to another. There is special technical article on Microsoft customer source website to do so. If you are experienced SQL DBA, then all what this article does is transferring SQL logins and DB security for GP databases â€" this should be good hint for DBA folks

3. GP user workstation installation. Insert GP CD#1 and follow installation wizard. Versions 9.0 and 10.0 will create ODBC DSN for you automatically, so if you are reading wizard questions â€" you should be fine. Earlier versions require ODBC manual creation â€" please read installation manual

4. Customization Installation. If you have add-ons or customizations (typically written in GP Dexterity and distributed as Dex chunk), be sure to copy the chunks into GP user workstation directory

5. Reports Dictionary location. If you are installing GP in mid-size or large organization, the chances are high that you are sharing REPORTS.DIC. Prior to install new GP workstation, please review Dynamics.set file for working users. This setup file should give you the idea where shared dictionary is located and how to modify Dynamics.set file on new workstation

6. FRX. FRx financial reports: Balance Sheet, P&L, Cash Flow, including reporting trees and consolidated reports should be installed with special attention to ODBC settings for the company and SYSDATA folder location. Please review the settings for existing and working FRx workstations first

7. Crystal Reports. If you have them, then installation is simple â€" just install Crystal Reports designer and then instruct user how to open reports from your network shared folder

8. Integration Manager and eConnect integration connectors. If you are also installing IM tool, then know that for version 10.0 you have a set of eConnect conectors, requiring you to specify domain name and userid for eConnect user. eConnect gives you the option to speed up integration, however it requires you to specify DB name in integration, meaning that you eConnect integration will work for just one company only. This is not really a big constraint as you can always copy integrations and have them tuned to work with your multiple companies as required

Make Use of Variable Data Printing in New York with On Demand Printing New York

2008-06-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

There are numerous ways for you to gain the attention of your potential customers. You can urge them to buy your services or products through various advertising methods. You might even want to add promotional deals to make them want to come back for more. However, you should also know that it is entirely different to gain clients or customers versus trying to keep the ones you already have. Generally speaking, it is easier to appeal to your prospects if you know what their likes and dislikes are. You are better able to get new customers if your marketing materials reflect images and copy that the prospect can relate to. It is equally true that if you do not want to lose the customers that you already have, you might want to work at building a personal one to one communication with them. That does not mean that you have to speak with each one of them personally, it means you must be able to reach out to them in a manner that is individualized for them. Most The way to accomplish this is through variable data printing. Influence Graphics in New York provides you with the latest variable data and one to one marketing technologies to help you achieve this advertising strategy.

With variable data printing New York service, you are capable of constructing a business relationship with your clients. If this relationship goes well, it could mean a boost in your sales. If you want to gain the loyalty of your customers, you have to show them personalized attention, one that is befitting of an important person. You should make your clients feel that they are needed. Through variable data printing, you are able to create and customize bulk postcards, greeting cards, and other types of printed materials. If you want to avail of this on demand printing, New York Influence Graphics will provide you with the best printing service.

There are several things that you can accomplish with variable data printing. You can create marketing materials that will help make your business create a marketing message that your customer identifies with. Imagine for example that you are marketing cell phones. If you know a potential customer is elderly you might want to offering a phone with large text in the display and less fancy features since most senior citizens eye sight is not the best and because they will rarely use more than the most basic features. On the other hand, if you are marketing to young, hip college students you might want to offer a phone with picture taking capabilities and certainly IM chatting functions. If you were to print your marketing materials using the traditional offset printing method, all of your marketing materials would look exactly the same even though you customers are not exactly the same. This is where variable data digital printing comes in. Because digital printing does not require a plate to be made and the image goes directly from the computer to a laser that â€œpaintsâ€ the image onto a drum each printed marketing piece can be customize to your customers buying habits. By merging your graphic design with a database of information about your prospective customer, you can create for example a direct mail piece for the elderly person that has a picture of a phone model with large text and has their first and last name printed on the piece to catch their attention. Conversely, for the college student you might change the phones in the document to include scenes on a college campus and show a picture of a phone with the latest cool features and styles. Each variable data printed piece is generated on the fly as the document is being printed and can include the mailing address already pre printed and ready to drop in the mail.

Influence Graphics in New York is the leader in variable data printing techniques. One to one variable data printing allows you to connect with your clients and create loyalty. Furthermore, this type of marketing material shows that your customers are not just generic demographic numbers. There is nothing more effective than a personalized variable data printing. New York Influence Graphics will make sure that your variable data prints are created properly.

If you want to make use of variable data, on demand digital printing in New York contact Influence Graphics. Their website will provide you with more information on this state of the art marketing technology. Try variable data printing andyouâ€™re your response rates increase and grow your business.

Better Secure Your Mac

2008-06-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

Until recently, Mac users have been mainly free from bad viruses and worms. This could be attributed to the fact that, as a UNIX application, Mac OS X is fairly secure, and it could also do with the fact that they have had a smaller market share. On February 14, 2006, this equation changed a bit.

A file which pretends to be a tar-zipped screenshot package from the Mac 0S 10.5, 'latestpics.tgz,' appeared on a popular site of Macintosh-related rumors. Site visitors soon found out that this was actually a worm. Although relatively harmless in that it won't actually cause any real damage to your machine, it instead will infect your list of iChat buddies. The worm on affects Macs of OS X 10.4 or later, on PowerPC-based machines - not Intel.

Companies like Symantec and Sophos have begun to respond, although there is no simple workaround to use. Apple will probably have an official security patch for this problem by now. In the meantime, just add a folder action which will alert you if an item has been added to your input management folder.

To activate this alert feature:

Go to:

Library/InputManagers/

Right-click or Control-click on the folder.

Select "enable folder actions" if this hasn't already been enabled.

Right-click or Control-click on the folder again.

Select "attach a folder action."

Select "add new item alert script" from the Folder Action Scripts folder (default).

After completing this task, you'll receive an alert if an item attempts to insert itself into your InputManagers folder.

NOTE: This is a workaround, not an actual solution. If your antivirus program has a real fix for the problem, or if Apple does provide an official security update, we would advise you to rely on these sources rather than the above to solve the problem.

Follow the tips below in order to better secure your Mac:

1) Run AV.

2) Make your computer require a password when awakening from sleep or screen saver mode.

Apple Menu >> System Preferences >> Security >> Require Password

3) Add an admin account for software installation and other tasks. Use a non-administration account.

Apple Menu >> System Preferences >> Accounts >> Add Admin Account. Then, demote to "standard." Remember your password, log out, and log in.

4) Use a secure password that uses numbers, symbols and letters. Disable auto-login.

/Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access... click on the "change keychain password dialogue." Select a password and enter the length and type in the assistant.

5) Turn on firewall and disable unnecessary sharing.

Apple Menu >> System Preferences >> Sharing Services. Uncheck those that you don't need.

Apple Menu >> System Preferences >> Sharing >> Firewall >> Start!

Understanding PC Computer RAM/Random Access Memory

2008-06-04T07:58:00.000-07:00

When you are buying a new PC computer, you may have noticed that one of the features/specifications include something called RAM. For someone who is not familiar with the internal workings of PC computers, PC computer RAM is a mystery. Actually, RAM is an acronym for 'random access memory' and is essential for the operation of your PC computer.

PC computer RAM, also known as volatile memory, is used by your PC computer in order to store information that will be processed by the CPU, or central processing unit. The random access memory in your PC computer stores information in memory cells arranged in a grid. This grid can be compared to a spreadsheet in which all the data is stored. Your PC computer's processor accesses the data at random as needed to carry out the processes required by software being run on your system.

Occasionally, people confuse their hard drive with RAM. The hard drive is simply a storage system for the data on your PC computer - the software you run as well as the documents and files you store. The information on your hard drive cannot be accessed at random. When information from the hard drive needs to be accessed, entire blocks of data are transferred to the RAM. Once the information is in the PC computer's RAM, it is randomly accessed used by the processor as needed.

Whenever you shut your PC computer down, all of the information that is in the random access memory is deleted. So the RAM of your PC computer is only like a temporary storage system that works in conjunction with your PC computer's processor to perform functions requested by software on your PC computer. The more RAM a program requires for operation, the slower your PC computer operates when running that program.

However, you can ensure that your PC computer RAM is working at its full potential by taking care to perform a few maintenance tasks. One of these tasks is to regularly empty the recycle bin. You should also uninstall or delete any programs and files that you do not need.

It is also helpful to defragment your PC computer every so often. This is a simple procedure that can be run easily. Just go to the 'Start' menu, click 'All Programs', choose 'Accessories', then 'System Tools', and the 'Disk Defragmenter'. And you are all set - allow the program to run until completion.

If you are on the Internet frequently, be sure to clear your browser's history regularly and also the temporary Internet files. These tasks can normally be performed from within whatever browser you are using by selecting 'Tools' and then appropriate subsequent options.

If you run a lot of programs that are resource hogs (require a lot of RAM), then you should also consider adding more random access memory to your PC computer. You should notice that the programs run more quickly and smoothly once extra RAM has been added.

RAM is an essential component for making sure that your PC computer operates at its peak. Not having enough RAM will cause your PC computer to behave erratically. Understanding how your PC computer RAM affects the operation of your PC computer is helpful in making sure that your PC computer has all the resources it needs for proper functioning.

Netgear Wireless Routers Capabilities

2008-04-30T14:43:00.001-07:00

With the fast development of wireless technologies, more and more
people are migrating from wired networks to wireless setups. They
eliminate many problems and issues, such as a difficulty in setting up
and a large number of cables lying around. There is only one small
cable, from the Internet to the wireless router instead of dozens of
meters of cables in the case of wired network setups. If you want to
connect two computers in a wireless network, you only need to have
capable devices. However, if you need to connect several computers to
the Internet you will need a wireless router. There are many router
models on the market, but many manufacturers include functions that you
will never use. If you need just the basic router capabilities, the
Neatgear WGT624 wireless router can represent the perfect choice for
you. This router is compatible with the latest standard, 802.11g
specifications. Compared to other routers that claim to be compatible
with the future wireless standard, the 802.11n specifications, but in
fact support it together with one or two network adapter cards, the
Netgear WGT624 wireless router is fully compatible with all wireless
cards supporting the 802.11g specification.

In independent tests carried out by prestigious web pages, the WGT624
was considered a good performer, reaching its maximum claimed speed and
range. Due to its transmitter that boosts a power of 15dBm +/- 2dB, it
can send and receive at full 802.11g speeds within a radius of 100
feet. The Netgear WGT624 is fully compatible with the latest WPA
security and WEP encryption protocols and it has drivers for major
Linux distributions and all Windows versions. Netgear also has promised
Mac OS support in the near future, making it a universal wireless
router. Netgear includes necessary documentation so you can install and
configure it out of the box. The router box also has a demo version of
the Trend Micro Home Network Security program, allowing you to secure
your wireless network and to use it freely for a trial period. This
security program comes on top of the router's NAT and Stateful packet
inspecting firewall included by the manufacturer.

If you look inside the Netgear WGT624 wireless router, you will find a
Atheros chipset used for its 802.11g capabilities and it incorporates
Netgear's XR technology for increased signal strength and maximum
speed. Netgear also offers its WGR614 entry-level router. Its smaller
brother has the same specifications (it is fully compatible with the
802.11g standard), but users have reported that the unit behaves slower
in a network that has both 802.11b and 802.11g wireless network cards.
Even if it is the smaller unit in the range, the Netgear WGR614
wireless router contains the same security features as its older
brother, making it the perfect solution for small office and home
networking.

PCMCIA Wireless Card - Lan or Bluetooth It's Your Choice

2008-04-30T14:42:00.001-07:00

The wireless equipment market is ever developing and growing. Not so
long ago only corporations and businesses were using wireless networks.
Now there there are thousands of free WI-FI spots across the country in
restaurants, hotels, college campuses, bars, parking lots and malls
allowing you to access the Internet from anywhere within these areas.
Laptops recently produced include wireless capabilities from default so
using them within a wireless setup is very easy and accessible.
However, older models do not have Wi-Fi capabilities and if you want to
use an older laptop within a wireless LAN, you will need to purchase a
PCMCIA wireless card. They are add-on cards that you insert in your
laptop's expansion slots to add it Wi-Fi support.

There are many such PCMCIA cards on the market. Some offer only the
basic wireless capabilities, while others are more complex, offering
other features as well, such as Bluetooth support for example. If you
have an older laptop model, you should not worry about finding a PCMCIA
wireless card for it, as there are both 16 bit and 32 bit models
available (if you need a 16 bit PCMCIA wireless card, be sure to look
for a Type I card or a 16 bit Type II or III card. Type IV cards are 32
bit only). There are PCI to PCMCIA adapters, allowing you to install
and use a PCMCIA card on your standalone computer.

If you have an Asus motherboard and you are looking for a simple, easy
to install and use PCMCIA wireless card, the Asus WL-127 model is a
good solution. It supports the 802.11b standard and it has an external
and removable wireless antenna. You can manually select the speed rate
from its three supported speeds: 0.5, 5.5 and 11Mbs. It comes together
with drivers for all Microsoft Windows operating systems and it
supports WEP 64/128 security features. The Asus WL-127 PCMCIA wireless
card has two activity LEDs allowing you to see the card's status (an
Air LED that is lit when a data transfer occurs and a Link LED that
shows that there is an active link). Asus ships its Asus WL-127 card
with the necessary documentation, drivers and the external antenna. The
Asus WL-127 card performed well both in a point to point setup and in a
wireless network through an access point. The Asus WL-127 wireless card
can be used together with the Asus motherboards supporting the Asus
WiFi-b technology. The Asus motherboard has a special connector (called
WiFi-b slot), that is a modified PCI slot supporting the Asus WL-127
PCMCIA card. Its speed was up to the 802.11b specifications, in
situations when the two wireless cards were close to one another and
when they were in separate rooms. Its external antenna covers a larger
range, allowing you to cover your entire house perimeter. However, it
comes with some drawbacks: the Asus WL-127 card comes with drivers only
for Microsoft's operating systems and it is only supported by Asus
motherboards.

Wireless Network - Good Reasons For Having It

2008-04-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

Having a wireless network opens up many possibilities. Wireless networks provide an inexpensive and easy way to share a single Internet connection among several computers. This means you only need one modem, and you can add additional computers to the network just by plugging in a wireless card and turning them on. The new machines are connected to the Internet immediately.

A wireless network also lets you access files and printers from anywhere in your home. It allows you to synchronize files you have on your laptop with your home computer, and you can easily send files between computers as well. Using a wireless network to transfer files is faster than sending them via e-mail or burning them to a CD! Because printers connected to one of the computers on a network are shared by all the computers on that network, you can write documents anywhere in your home, press the 'print' button, and collect the printed files from a printer that is connected to another computer.

If you are a game player, you've probably noticed that your games often have an option to play over a local area network or LAN. Wireless networks are LANs! This means you and your family can play these games together and don't have to be on computers that are next to each other to do so. Let's face it " it's more fun to play against real people, and it's even more fun to play against people you know instead of strangers on the Internet. Your games will also play much faster over your LAN. Additionally, you can connect game consoles to the Internet and begin playing these games online. It is much easier to experience online play through an Xbox or PlayStation 2 that is connected to a wireless network than have to use a modem!

Wireless network connections are always on. This means you can connect to the Internet whenever you want without waiting for your modem to dial in. Laptops can be carried from room to room, and they will always have access to the Internet. Since wireless networks operate without the need to log in, you don't need to set up usernames or passwords.

The single greatest thing about a wireless network is that it is, well, wireless! The biggest reason to have a wireless network is because it eliminates the need for costly, ugly, and dangerous wires trailing all over your house. You can use your computer in any room you want " no more being trapped near a phone outlet or walking over that tangle of wires in your home. The cost of getting enough Ethernet cables can add up, and sometimes, you may even have to make holes in your walls to set up a wired network. If you're renting, of course, this is impossible. With a wireless network, you don't have these problems - you can even use your computer outside if you want! And if you move, there is no need to disconnect and pack up all those wires, and you no longer have to examine all the wires for damage whenever your Internet connection goes down.

You can see how having a wireless network can simplify your life.

Tips Before Purchasing Wireless Connection Equipment

2008-04-28T07:41:00.000-07:00

When you buy wireless equipment, you want to make sure that everything you buy will work in your house with the computer(s) you already have and over the distances required. Before you spend any money on equipment, consider the following issues.

Find out about the construction of your walls. In theory, wireless technology is capable of passing through walls and other obstacles relatively easily. However, in reality, some walls are of a thicker or more solid construction than others and may block some of your wireless signals. You only need to consider the interior walls, of course, and you will need to consider floor construction if you want to use your wireless network on different levels. Materials such as drywall, plywood, other kinds of wood including doors, and glass can be easily penetrated by wireless signals. You could run into trouble with brick, plaster, cement, metal, stone, and double-glazed glass, but it really depends on how porous a material is. If your walls are made of the more difficult materials, your wireless connection may have a shorter range or a slower speed. This means you may have to spend more than you expected to get the kind of equipment that will overcome the structural barriers in your home.

Another thing to check for is potential interference with the wireless networkâ€™s frequency range. Interference can slow down a network significantly and reduce its range as well. If there is interference, youâ€™ll know about it because your connection will stop working. The two most common sources of wireless network interference are wireless telephones and microwave ovens. The most common wireless network frequency, 2.4Ghz, is also a popular wireless phone frequency, although you can find phones that operate on other frequencies. Microwaves, however, always operate at about 2.4 Ghz. It's okay to have these devices in your house, but they should not be in the same room with any computer hooked to your wireless connection.

You should begin your equipment search by determining what you need to create an effective network. You should think about the distances you need to cover and whether you have to go through any stone or brick walls. You can then determine how much you want to spend. If you live in a small house that is made of wood, you can probably buy the least expensive equipment you can find. Remember, the more problems that potentially exist in your network, the more power you need to overcome them, and the more the equipment will cost.

Reading reviews written by experts and other wireless network users can be a big help in selecting equipment. It's always good to get several opinions about a product, particularly if you are buying it online. If you can see some wireless equipment actually in operation, that's even better.

If you are a Windows user, you will have a much easier time implementing your wireless network if you install and/or update to the latest version of Windows. Wireless was not a common technology when previous Windows versions were released, so they don't have built-in support for it. A wireless network will be much easier to set up if you have the Windows XP Service Pack 2 version. It has lots of tools for configuring and using wireless technology that are lacking in other versions.

Watching TV On My PC

2008-04-23T04:27:00.000-07:00

Everyone said the internet would change our lives and they were proven right yet again. The endless possibilities just keep coming from that priceless gem called the World Wide Web. We have free long dstance, free music and movie downloads, free information on endless topics at our fingertips, and the list goes on and on as infinite as cyberspace itself.

The latest gift from this miracle we call the internet is called Satellite TV For PC. And as you may have guessed it allows you to acess thousands of premium satellite channels from around the world with no monthly service fees! Did you hear that? I said no more checks each month to your cable company for a houndred channels and still nothing to watch. Am I making myself clear? No waiting for a storm to pass so you can finish watching the end of the game. I'm talking about continous streaming broadband speed DVD quality satellite broadcasting straight to your PC for free, forever! I love the internet.

So who can get this and how? What equipment do I need and where can I get it? And the obvious question, how much does it cost?

Anyone on the entire planet can get this next generation technology and over 1 million people worldwide already do. All you need is a credit card to purchase the software.

As far as equipment, a computer with at least a Pentium 3 processor, a decent graphics card, windows operating system, external speakers and a monitor is all you need. Basically you need a computer. And of course a broadband internet connection. You can even transfer it to your regular TV set with a PC - TV card. Thats it!

If you have the computer, internet connection, and the means to make purchases online, all you need to do now is call and cancell your cable or satellite subscription and follow the link at the bottom of this page and viola!

You can purchase, download and install this software onto your PC in less than an hour and be watching whatever you want for the rest of your life. They have a few packages available, and the most expensive is around $100. Don't ask me why, but thats all they charge. I guess with over 1 million purchases so far, thats about one houndred million dollars already so who am I to question them right? Well, now that we can add TV to the list of things the internet has improved for us I can only wait and salivate for the next miracle.

Watching TV On My Computer

2008-04-23T04:26:00.001-07:00

So you've heard you can watch satellite TV on your computer for free huh? Well let me just say, there is NO free lunch in this world! So just get the idea out of your head. Nothing is free. That said there is a software out there that will enable you to watch all the channels your cable or dish provider offers legally and without a monthly service charge. But you have to pay for the software of course.

So the good news is the technology does exist. The bad news is it's not free. But the bad newes isn't really that bad for two reasons. First I don't really think you believed you could get a free anything anymore, did you? Secondly and more importantly the software is so cheap compared to what you get, after you download it and experience it for yourself, you'll agree you'd be willing to pay ten times what it costs.

So what is it, where can you get it, and how much does it cost? Like I mentioned before, it is a software program called Satellite TV For PC. Apparently a group of brainiaks from MIT or IBM or the like, locked themselves in a room for about three years until they developed this groundbreaking software. What is does is access "Free To Air" TV and radio signals via the internet. It is completely legal, there are no federal of FCC laws against this and quite frankly I don't see how there ever could be. What they're doing is capturing Free To Air signals just like you would if you wnet to NBC.com or Fox.com and watched a sitcom or news program from their site for free via the internet. This software just packages all the free to air content in a consice easy to download and install program. I have included a link to them at the bottom of this page. I wish I thought of it, but isn't that always the way, you see some great new product that is so simple and obvious that you smack your hand on your head and say "Why didn't I think of that!" Well at least we get to benefit from it, if we can't get rich from it we can at least save a ton of cash by not having to pay a cable or dish provider for their crappy packages.

Now be carefull, searching for free satellite TV in the internet can lead to alot of scams. There is only one right now that I know of (just like there was only one Vonage at one time) and I will link to it at the bottom of this article. There are a few packages to choose from, randing from 1000 channels to over 3000 channels, the most expansive package is around $100. All you need is a computer with a good internet connection, some external speakers and the software which you can download and install in less that an hour and your off! No more cable bills!! Being that the technology is new and only about 1 million people worldwide have it, I wouldn't expect the price to stay where it is for long so...

Windows, Mac or Linux? Choosing the Right System for You

2008-04-17T09:37:00.001-07:00

If you're like most people, you're reading this sitting at a PC running
Windows. However, you've probably heard of Macs and Linux. Or maybe
you're a Mac or Linux user. Which of these three systems is the best
one for you? This article helps you decide.

A PC running Microsoft Windows?

The majority of computers sold these days are PCs running Windows XP or
Vista. By getting a Windows PC, you'll find a lot of hardware,
software, support, and computer books available to you.

You'll also find that Windows is relatively easy to learn compared to
Linux, and if you get stuck, you probably know a family member, friend
or neighbour who's a Windows expert.

On the downside, Windows tends to attract a lot of viruses, spyware and
other nasty software, so make sure you keep your anti-virus software up
to date. It can have stability issues, too; be prepared to reinstall
software, or maybe Windows itself, occasionally, to keep things running
smoothly. You can also end up spending a lot of money on third-party
software to get the functionality you need.

Windows is great for relative beginners, PC enthusiasts, computer game
players, and folks who need a high level of compatibility with their
work and friends' PCs.

An Apple Mac?

The second most popular setup after a Windows PC is an Apple Mac. Macs
are different to PCs in that the system, Mac OS X, is tightly tied to
the Mac hardware; you can't run Mac OS X on a PC (though you can run
Windows and Linux on a Mac).

On the plus side, this tight integration means that Macs are generally
very stable. You'll also find that Macs are very easy to learn for a
beginner, though if you're used to Windows it'll take you a week or two
to switch to Mac OS.

The bad news is that you're tied to Apple as a hardware supplier, and
Apple's computers do tend to be a bit pricier than most PC equivalents,
although the quality of the hardware and the relatively trouble-free
running of Mac OS does help to offset the extra cost. As with Windows,
prepare to spend some extra cash on third-party software, though Macs
come with some great built-in software for jobs like photo editing and
movie making.

Macs are perfect for absolute beginners, creative types, and people who
want their computer to "just work" with a minimum of fuss.

A PC running Linux?

In recent years a third option has appeared for the home user: Linux.
This versatile system can run on PCs, Macs and even mobile phones.
While not as user-friendly as Windows or Mac OS, its ease of use and
compatibility are improving constantly. Best of all, it's completely
free, and there's a huge range of free software available for it, so
it's a great choice if you're on a budget. Generally speaking, Linux
tends to be more stable than Windows and doesn't carry such a risk of
virus infection.

Linux comes in many different flavours, known as "distributions". A popular choice for home use is Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/),
which is just about the easiest to use Linux distribution out there.
You download a CD image, burn a CD, pop it in and reboot. You can run
Ubuntu straight off the CD, or install it onto your hard drive as well
as, or instead of, your existing system.

The main problem with Linux is that not all peripherals - such as web
cameras and printers - play nicely with it; however, peripheral support
in Linux is much better than a few years ago.

Linux is a good choice if you're technically minded, you don't fancy
forking out for a Mac, you like the idea of a vast range of totally
free software, or you'd simply like to try something different.

At the end of the day, the best system for you is the one you feel most
comfortable with and that also helps you get your stuff done easily.
It's worth spending some time with all three setups if you can, then
choosing the one that feels right for you.

How registry cleaners speed up your PC

2008-04-16T09:53:00.001-07:00

Computers tend to run slower and slower after installing more and more
software on it. Among other things this is due to the fact that the
registry database gets bigger, which causes a much bigger workload for
the whole system. Even after removing much of the installed software,
the PC most times still runs too slow. This is because it often happens
that registry entries don't get deleted as they should be. But there's
a nice software called Registry Easy that will help you to clean up
your registry within minutes.

After many weeks of my personal PC booting way too slowly, running
lamely and sometimes even crashing, I've done some research on good
software that would help me fixing those problems and let my PC run
much faster again. After testing many registry cleaners, most times
free ones, I found a real good software called Registry Easy, in my
opinion the perfect tool for cleaning the Windows registry and fixing
many errors.

After downloading the software, I've first scanned my PC's registry and
I was overwhelmed about all the errors Registry Easy found on my
computer. There were several thousand problems listed, much more than
those free cleaners had shown me just before. I was very surprised,
because I've already checked and repaired my registry before with
freeware programs, but Registry Easy still found many more problems.

With a single mouse click I started the repair process and after only
some minutes my PC's registry was repaired and cleaned up by Registry
Easy. I restarted my computer to see if there's any difference in
booting times or general system performance. I was completely amazed to
see my system running smoothly again and much faster than before.
Registry Easy has really done a great job on cleaning my Windows
registry. The whole process was a very easy task, from scanning the
registry to cleaning it up it took me only around 10 minutes. But it
was really worth it, my PC is still running like hell and if I feel it
gets slower, I'll repeat the scan process with Registry Easy.

The software offers some other good utilities too, ranging from a
system optimizer to an evidence cleaner. There's a junk file and
duplicate cleaner that frees up your hard-disk space in no time. You
can even manage your startup programs and uninstall information within
Registry Easy. All in all, I think I have found my personal best
registry cleaner.

Microsoft Windows vs. Linux - The Fundamental Issue

2008-04-16T09:49:00.001-07:00

The comparison of these two operating systems (OS) and the debates
which developed have been ongoing for years. Clashing opinions have
recently heated up and received even greater exposure due to the One
Laptop per Child's XO vs. Intel's Classmate issues. (Two competing low
priced laptops intended for use by children in developing remote
areas.) XO choosing to use Linux and Classmate choosing to use Windows
has fueled the debate as if the OS created and marketed these laptops
themselves! The fundamental difference between these two systems is
Microsoft Windows is closed source while Linux is open source. Once
computer software is written it can be copied and reproduced at a very
low cost. Or the original source code can have a large commercial value
by keeping it hidden and treating it as a trade secret.

Closed source avoids duplication and reverse engineering and keeps
their competitive advantage by producing their product in a compiled
executable state. While open source allows for any user to view and
modify the source code. Engineers value the improvements to their
software made by the community of developers far more than their
competitive advantage.

There are a numerous points that are debated regularly including the
difference in the price of Windows and the lack there of for free
Linux. The counter argument is that both systems are expensive to
maintain.

Reliability is also largely debated being that Linux has a reputation
for fewer bugs than Windows. Linux is considered more stable than
Windows being that after installation far less problems are reported.
This is thought to be because Windows mistakes are hidden from everyone
but the programmers, whereas Linux is open to review from programmers
all over the world. Time pressure for release of the advertised closed
source product to meet a sales target is also thought to play a role in
the amount of error. Open source has no target to meet therefore the
software will only be released when finished. Customer support is
handled nicely by Microsoft however and the cost of maintenance in the
end is similar for both operating systems.

Design to incorporate multiple users has been debated being that Linux
is designed to be a system of multiple users where as Windows is
designed to handle one person at a time. Whether or not Linux will
become the dominant operating system is analyzed with attention to the
closing gap between the number of users of these two systems being
closely monitored.

Linux becoming the dominant system is highly unlikely being that
Microsoft can adapt to open-source methods if need be. That being said,
I do not believe that the passion behind this issue has to do with the
fear of change or with one system being better than the other. They
clearly both have their strengths and weaknesses and when competition
exists it is the choice of each consumer or purchaser to obtain the
product which will better meet their individual needs. There is not a
threat of either system monopolizing or becoming obsolete.

I believe the passion has to do with the fundamental issues themselves.
Free software that reflects a community of programmers expertise, input
and hard work vs. a commercial money hungry, profit seeking, source
code hiding, monster corporation. I believe that ideals, opinions on
corporations, the opinion that a system that values improvement above
the competitive advantage is better are being transferred to the debate
of Windows vs. Linux. The debate is an interesting one but perhaps the
simplicity of the matter has been overlooked. They are competitors.
They will compete and as consumers we will choose the better product to
meet our needs. And we as consumers benefit greatly from product
competition.

The comparison of Microsoft Windows and Linux and the debates which
developed have been ongoing for years. Clashing opinions have recently
heated up and received even greater exposure due to the XO vs.
Classmate issues. We as consumers should embrace this competition.

author:

I have an extensive background in Finance and Fiscal Procedure. I also have a web business where I offer Educational Computer Games. I am very interested in the product itself as well as the subject matter that it involves.

Please use the link above to visit us at The Software Spot!
Thank you, Allison Merlino

How Can ADSL Help?

2008-04-15T08:44:00.001-07:00

When you are in the market for a superior internet solution for your
home business, it is obvious that one of your top choices will end up
being ADSL. As you may already know, an ADSL line is a permanent
internet connection that hooks up to your phone line. Rather than
disrupting your phone line or your ability to fax, this line will allow
you to access the internet as well as the phone, making it an ideal
choice for businesses and anyone else who needs to make sure that their
connection remains something that is extremely fast and very reliable.

When you are thinking about ADSL, you might find yourself wondering how
it works. The truth of the matter is - it is quite simple.

- Your line service will work through your phone line.
- Your phone line is used to send and receive both digital data and to
make phone calls through the use of a splitter.
- Your splitter will connect to your telephone jack and allow you to
separate your service out.
- You'll find that the signal is carried by your modem.
- Your modem is connected via the telephone wires to the modem at the
local exchange, which will allow you to make greater data transfers at
greater rates.

If you are still trying to figure out if ADSL is for you, you'll find
that there are a few requirements that are essential for getting this
service. Whether you are simply curious about what it can do for you,
or you are interested in figuring out whether your system is up to it,
you need to keep a few things in mind.

To start off with, you will need a British Telecom phone line, as well
as three dedicated main sockets that are within two metres of the
master phone socket. This is fairly basic, and it is really all that
you require in terms of your building or location.

To translate an ADSL line, your computer will need:

32MB of Ram
50MB available in the hard drive
SVGA monitor
Internet Explorer 4 or above that has JavaScript enabled
Windows 95 or up
A mouse

Keep in mind that you will also need to make sure that your computer
has a 10 base Ethernet card, and a TCP/IP communications stack.
Although these components might sound complex, the truth is that this
is fairly basic equipment for anyone who has bought a computer within
the last few years.

When you are thinking about your business needs, it is important to
take a look to see what an ADSL line can do for you. There are many
benefits to having an inexpensive permanent connection to the internet,
all at a fixed cost, and you'll see that by getting internet service
that separates you out from the normal end user, you will be able to
work much more efficiently and effectively. Don't allow your business
to be further hampered by a lagging connection or one that constantly
cuts out.
Take time to investigate ADSL and what it can mean to your business!

ADSL Lines - Explained

2008-04-15T08:43:00.001-07:00

If you are a small home business owner, you have already recognized
that you have needs that simply cannot be met by simple end user
services, and this is where an ADSL line can step in to pick up the
slack. Whether you are running a small business from your home, or you
are a business that is looking to upgrade its equipment and to become
more connected to the world at large, you'll find that you have many
needs that cannot be adequately serviced by normal internet service,
and through learning a little bit about an ADSL line, you will quickly
see why this is such an important investment for you to consider.

The first point that you should be aware of is that an ADSL is a
high-speed internet connection which links to the outside world through
the use of a British Telecom analogue phone line. This internet
connection is permanent and unlike dial-up, will not be interrupted by
the use of the phone. You'll find upon installation into a home
environment, a splitter will be provided to you by BT and you will
connect the splitter to the telephone connection on your premises. Then
your phone goes into one connection on the splitter and your internet
line goes into the other, allowing you to use both devices easily.

There are several advantages when it comes to seeing what kind of a
difference this line can make. You'll find that this is 24 hour
business-quality internet connection and rather than being paid for by
the amount of usage you put in, you'll simply need to pay a fixed
monthly cost.

You will also find that the speed with which this operates is far
superior to anything that you might find in other services and that
there are many different advantages to this speed. You'll be able to
log onto your sites and onto your work programs with zero effective
delay and you'll also find that you can work much more quickly than you
could without it. At your request, you can take advantage of an
excellent firewall that can be provided to you, as well as a static IP
address, which is essential if you want to think about doing office
networking.

It is important to understand that if you go with an ADSL line that you
will be going with a contended service, that is, you'll be sharing the
bandwidth with other customers. What this means to you is that you will
be sharing your connection, and that if there are many people online,
your own data transfers might be a little slower. It is important,
however, to remember that this is something that has been planned for,
and the amount of bandwidth that has been allocated is specifically
meant to account for the maximum amount of users that will be online at
any given time.

If you are looking for a network and internet solution that will
provide you with faster and more efficient service than you could get
as a normal end user, it is time to see what a permanent ADSL line can
do for you!

The laptop computer for a first time user

2008-04-12T22:27:00.001-07:00

Help in Choosing Your Next Computer

The time has come for a change, your desk top computer has outlived its usefulness with its slow loading applications.

Searching for that Perfect Computer can be about as frustrating as picking a childrens dvd at blockbuster.

For starters you'll need to decide what you want from your pc. Are
you a"game" man or are you someone who likes to just surf the internet
and occasionally do some smallbook keeping with simple word processing
software?

If you're into video games you're going to want a computer that can
handle the high level of graphics and superior sound quality. On the
other hand if you're not into all that kind of thing you can probably
get by with a less expensive system,.Although you may have to spend
more in the future on up-grading it

There are two basic routes you can take when purchasing a new computer.

1) Purchase a "Brand Name" Computer 2) Purchase a "home made" Computer

A BRAND-NAME computer is one that is manufactured by a company that is recognizable by name.ie delletc

Some Advantages/Disadvantages of Brand-Name computers include:

Advantages:

Customer Support- always a comfort to a custoner, as all major makes have a service which you can rely on.

Warranty- Having a warranty is always nice since it acts as a type of safe gaurd for you.

In case a part on your computer should fail you should be able to get
the item fixed at zero charge just as long as the warranty has not
expired.

Read and understand a company's warranty policy BEFORE you buy a computer from them.

Additional Support- Most brand-name computer companies are also able to
provide you with web sites that may provide you with current software
updates, user manuals, or basic troubleshooting help.

Disadvantages

The use of name brand parts- this term refers to products that are unique to an single company and that company only.

So if a part was to malfunction on your machine after warranty and you
needed to replace it you could not just go to your local computer store
and purchase any old part even if it was intended for the same function
as the item that failed.

You would be forced to buy their part at probably a more expensive price

Having to buy proprietary parts usually involves the need to place an order which is time consuming

People with a on-line based business would probably not be too happy with that situation at all.

Integrated/On-board parts- In the computer world when you hear the word
integrated or on-board it means that a particular part such as the
modem or sound port where you plug in your speakers, is built-in or
part of the computer main board (Also known as the Motherboard).

This means that if any of these parts should fail, you can't just
remove them from the computer and replace them with a new part. They
are usually soldered directly to the main board and are stuck there.

A CLONE computer is a clone or a copy of its brand-name
counterpart with the exception that instead of company specific or
proprietary parts, the items used to make a clone computer are from
several companies instead of only one.

Let's say that if you were to go to a local company that builds clone computers, and you tell them what you need, chances are
they don't use parts that are specific to only that type of computer
like the brand-name computer companies do.

This is a excellant because it means that they will probably use
components that are interchangeable with many different brands and are
easy to come by if needed.

Some Advantages/Disadvantages of Clone computers include:

Advantages:

Cost- compared to brand-name computers the clone will generally be
easier on your pocket book when purchasing one with similar features as
its brand-name counterpart.

This is most likely due to the money that is saved by not offering the high-end customer service.

Easily Accessible Replacement Parts- Since the clone computer was built
with parts that are not any one company specific, you can buy parts for
the clone computer that can be used even if the brand is different.

NOTE: Before you buy any parts, consult the manual that should have
came with your computer to make sure you get the correct part.

Disadvantages:

Warranties- Unless you purchase a service plan you will typically not
have as an attractive warranty as you would with a brand-name computer
company.

Whatever you do just make sure you understand how long the warranty is
for and as to what kind of repairs the warranty covers before you make
the purchase.

Customer Support- With brand-name computer companies you are usually
provided with a 24-hour toll free number that you can call if you have
questions or concerns with your computer.

Clone computers are more than likely not going to have a 24-hour help
service, but rather you will be forced to only be able to call during
regular business hours.

Also, it is more than likely that there will not be any one website
that you can go to in order to find out information concerning
troubleshooting questions you may have.

For service it may be necessary to take the computer back to the store
that you bought it at or you may have to do some research on the
individual parts that went into the computer and visit the
manufacturer's website for troubleshooting tips.

Digital Cameras: Great Pictures Come With Superb Cameras

2008-04-12T22:12:00.000-07:00

Digital photography is gaining enormous esteem among the photographers of all levels. In fact, the era of film cameras is over and now the cameras that can generate digital quality images are in fashion. Such cameras have brought a new uprising in the field of skilled photography. These digital photographic equipments are also known as digital cameras. These cameras confine an image in digital format, thus they outsell film cameras. And as the result, the digital photography is gaining tremendous popularity these days.

Digital cameras have become a magnet for the photography lovers these days. There are many benefits which make such cameras helpful for shooting pictures and developing videos. These cameras are just one facet in a long chain starting from the original view through to the concluding image that you display. Actually, the major facet in the chain is an image in a digital arrangement made up of pixels.

There are various benefits, which are associated with these cameras such as:

* They provide the facility of immediate review which allows users to correct their mistakes and take another picture.

* One does not need to spend money in buying film rolls as these cameras give him or her chance to take numerous shots of the same entity or scene.

* These cameras allow users to shoot more than hundreds of pictures in a short span of time and save them on the hard disk of the computer.

* The pictures captured by these gadgets can be copied from one medium to other optical storage medium without any difficulties.

* The users can also upload the pictures on different websites so that they could show them anytime and anyplace.

* These devices are smaller in size and lighter in weight than the film cameras.

* These gadgets enable the users to change the camera configurations so that dissimilar styles of pictures can be tried out.

Users can avail various brand names in the field of digital cameras. Some of them are Panasonic digital cameras, Olympus digital cameras, and Canon cameras. The popular Olympus devices are equipped with the resolution of 15 megapixels and a lot of other advanced features. Similarly, Panasonic cameras are also encumbered with high resolution capabilities, 24X zooming facility, external memory card space and lots more.

Among various brand names included in these sections, Samsung turns out to be one of the best companies in the field of digital photographic equipments. The Samsung digital cameras are one of the best cameras available in the markets. These devices present better image quality, unique interface, manual exposure controls, and smart touchscreen interface and lots more. These cameras hold the resolution counts of 21 megapixels at max. With the optical zoom, built-in large LCD screen, xenon flash, and other features the Samsung digital cameras can produce some very nice looking images and photographs.

There are some online shopping portals from where you can avail the latest digital cameras on discounted rates. These online shops offer discount on such cameras to the customers so that they could get the maximum advantages. Numerous inducements, schemes and deals are also open on these websites. One can participate in these online challenges in order to win free gifts and sometimes also to get the products free of cost.

Once an image is the way you like it, the users can send it to a photo printer or propel it to an online service to print it. The users can also e-mail it to their friends or family members. To get more out of their photos, the users can also send the photograph to a specialty service on the Web for printing onto T-shirts, posters, key rings, etc. and also post the photographs on the World Wide Web.

The Irresistible VAIO VGN-SZ4XWN

2008-04-12T22:07:00.000-07:00

This VAIO VGN-SZ4XWN is an ultra slim device with a dimension of 31.5 x 23.4 x 2.2 cms and a weight of 1.69 kg. The memory is GB DDR2 SDRAM and it has a hard drive of 120 GB. This VAIO VGN-SZ4XWN has the capability to support some very impressive graphics. The 0.3 MP camera of the device add to the entire experience of making voice calls and is good for chatting as well. Using this camera, one can see the person to whom he is talking to. It also enables a user to capture pictures with the best resolutions.

The weight of the device allows people to easily carry the laptop to different places without any trouble. So, one can capture pictures on the way and send images to other compatible devices using technologies such as Bluetooth. The memory of the laptop can be used to store images and videos. The memory of a whopping 82 GB storage space leaves a lot of space for the users to store all their files. The 20GB hard drive is shock protected and it spins at 5,400 rpm.

The handset has a Li-Ion battery that ensures that the laptop is functional for 270 mins in its Stamina mode and 200 minutes in its discrete Nvidia GPU mode. This makes the system deliver brilliantly, as far as mainstream business tasks are concerned. The Windows Vista, dual graphics subsystems, integrated HSDPA, a fingerprint scanner and a 120GB hard drive make the gadget a high performing device.

The VAIO VGN SZ4XWN - with its amazing looks - is a portable gadget made for the convenience of travelers. The main memory is 2GB and that is enough for storing innumerable number of files and documents. The browser is used to surf the net and download games, videos and music. These are then stored in the memory of this notebook laptop. It also supports connectivity options in the form of Wi-Fi that aids to keep the gadget connected to internet even while one is driving a cab. The gadget has a Coreâ,,¢ Duo Processor T7200 and works with Genuine WindowsÂ® Vistaâ,,¢ Business operating system.

The Best Sound System For Your Computer

2008-04-12T14:03:00.000-07:00

There are several factors that affect the working of a good computer system. Video and sound modes are the two areas that can be noticed first. Since both of these are very basic features of the system, their quality should never be overlooked. Good, high quality sounds can be enjoyed by the two mediums and that is what this article will discuss.

Computer speakers are the external devices that are connected to the main computer. They are equipped with a low power amplifier. They are the systems packed with plastic boxes. These boxes provide average sound quality. However, thanks to the latest technologies, some of the latest computer speakers come with the treble and bass control and improved quality of sound as well. Some of the common features of these are that a user gets a remote control with them, they have the volume controller and sometimes equipped with bass and treble controller as well. They have a 1/9 inch of headset also. Some of the main computer speaker companies include Dell, Edifier and others. Depending upon their manufacturing companies, they provide a wide range in features and prices.

Sound cards are the second choice for the computer users in the field of speakers. These cards are installed in the computer system to enjoy real and magnificent sounds. Now-a-days, most of the latest models are coming with sound cards. These sound cards can be easily replaced once they get overused. They are available in the market with a set of small and stylish speakers. You can also connect them to your CD player or stereo and use them as music speakers.

Some of the basic features of the computer sound cards are discussed in the coming lines. These sound cards have a sound chip which converts the digital data or recorded data into the analog arrangement. Advanced sound cards consists of a number of sound chips helpful in the uniform functionality of the sound system. Especially, when a person is listening to music on a computer or playing any of the computer games, it will not be interesting to get poor quality sounds. It can, in fact, disturb your mood as well. That is why, special measures should be taken while going for the selection of sound systems for your personal computer.

The computer sound cards are better than the computer speakers in every way. Even now they are available by a number of companies in the same amount computer speakers. This is one of the main reasons why a large number of people are going for them. In simple words, if you ask us to tell you about the best choice for the computer sounds, our answer will be the computer sound cards; there is no doubt about it.

Compatibility and Usability of Microsoft VISTA and Wireless Adapters

2008-04-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

Those who have knowledge about the windows software, Microsoft VISTA and computer accessories, wireless adapters are not something new to them. Every person, whether a student or a business man, knows about these two things in their own way. Would you like to get proper information about them? We will tell you about them in brief, using the most simple language.

First of all, do you know what Microsoft VISTA actually is? It is basically a series of graphical operations that are used on all personal computers, desktops as well as laptops. By November 2006, it was introduced to the computer hardware and software companies in the three stages. By 2007, it was introduced worldwide for the general masses. As it is made available for downloading on the Microsoft website, it is also known as Microsoft Window VISTA.

The usability of Window VISTA can be judged by the fact that it is comprised of thousands of new and old features. For example, it includes the graphical user interface in the updated form as well as developed searching features. It improves the communication level in between the machines so that it becomes easier to share files between the two terminals or devices. It also consists the 3.0 version of NET Framework that make it easier to compose applications. The point that has to be noted here is that the developers found it utterly hard previously with the Windows API. This system also has a privilege of restoring applications so that users will be able to backup or support all the files on their computer. Games also get the benefit of graphical capabilities of VISTA, their features get modified and developed.

On the other hand, wireless adapters are the cards that are linked to the radio-based computer networks. They are operated in two manners. These modes are ad hoc mode and infrastructure mode. In the first mode, the adapter is accessible to interface with all wireless modes without the help of an access point, which is very important. In the second mode data is transferred to the central hub by using an access point.

Some of the important points or areas that improve the credibility and usage of wireless adapters are its data transfer rate, power transmitted by the wireless equipment and the range of its network standards. Some factors can result in the change of the range of wireless adapters like presence of objects in the route of signals, poor quality aerial, placement of large electrical appliances such as refrigerators, in the range of wireless adapters and so on. One of the main factor that increases the usability of wireless adapters is that they can interact and pass the information from one system to another without losing the maximum number of data packets. Along with this, their range and speed is also very high.

This is some information regarding the compatibility and usability of Microsoft VISTA and wireless adapters. We hope that you will immediately update them if your system does not have the assets of the latest technology.

Computers are everywhere, even underwater

2008-04-10T05:26:00.000-07:00

In today’s world, computing has become mobile. We use laptops and phones to send emails and search the Net. We use our computers virtually everywhere, even when we fly. But to be truly mobile, computers would have to work in all environments, even hostile ones. Thanks to the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), one such environment has been conquered. Computers have moved under water.

The WetPC® is thought to be the first wearable underwater computer in the world. It consists of a small PC contained in waterproof housing, which is mounted on the diver’sair tank. The PC is connected to a waterproof virtual display HUD on the diver’smask, as well as to a waterproof Kord® Pad, attached to either the diver’sbelt or chest. The Kord® Pad assumes the role and functions of a keyboard. It’sa hi-tech chordic graphical user interface (CGUI) that is operated with 5 keys or buttons.

The Kord® Pad is intended for easy one-handed use and is ambidextrous, so it can be used just as well by left-handed people as by right-handers. Current chordic systems require users to learn and remember various chord routines for specific commands. The unique chording system of the Kord® Pad is different because it tells the user which buttons to press and in what order. In other words, what you see is what you press.

People who have used Kord® Pad’schordic system say that in addition to it being so easy to use (faster than a mouse), they develop muscle memory for the various characters and commands so that they can work more quickly and efficiently. Apparently even novice users develop complete confidence within minutes of picking up the device.

Equipped with GPS and an acoustic navigation system, the WetPC® is ideal for underwater tasks requiring positioning and mapping. Salvage divers, for example, who need graphical and contextual data about the terrain in which they’re searching, would find the WetPC® invaluable.

WetPC® would assist the efficiency and accuracy of searches conducted by police divers by keeping track of where they are as well as where they’ve been. Oceanographers and scientists could use it to map and monitor underwater ecosystems. It could even be used by Navies when they search for unexploded mines and other nasty weapons. In fact the digital technology of the Kord® Pad would be especially handy because it’sunaffected by bumps and vibrations, such as the kind caused by accidental contact with a mine. To ensure absolute safety, however, they would also need digital divers.

The uses for underwater computers are as limitless as the uses for those on land. They tend, however, to be for specialised purposes. While you can’t sit on the sea bed and surf the Net for the latest news on Paris Hilton yet, it’sonly a matter of time.

GBC USP13 Universal Speed Binding Punch Review

2008-04-10T05:22:00.000-07:00

*The GBC USP13 is the same machine that was originally designed and manufactured by Sickenger before they were purchased by GBC.

*This machine is designed for extremely high volume applications and is commonly found in large print shops and binderies across the United States.

*It utilizes a short and straight paper path to help minimize jams when running thick and coated paper stocks. This design also allows this machine to run collated documents with intermixed index tabs and papers of different weights.

Strengths / Features:

*The GBC Sickinger USP13 is designed for large binderies, print shops and in-plant printers that need to punch millions of sheets per month. It is capable of punching up to 120,000 sheets of paper per hour and operates at an average of 80,000 sheets per hour. That is double the speed of the GBC AP2 automatic punch. You simply load your collated documents into one side of the machine and in seconds they will be punched and ready to finish.

*The straight paper path and variable speed settings of the USP-13 automatic punch make it far better suited for handling thick, glossy and coated paper stocks than other automatic punches. By turning down the speed you can help to reduce misfeeds and problems when running specialty paper stocks and heavier covers. It is designed to punch sheets as light as 16lb bond and as heavy as 110lb index.

*The Sickinger USP13 has been around for years and has been in use in high volume binderies and print shops. This is a reliable machine that you can count on to handle your volume punching needs. Parts are readily available and there are experienced service technicians that have experience with this specific machine in most major cities across the United States.

*There are more than fifteen different die sets available for this punch. In fact, punching dies are available for all of the major binding styles including: Comb binding, spiral coil, twin loop wire, Velobind, Proclick, 3-hole and 2-hole punching. Custom dies can also be produced to your specifications for use in specialty applications.

Weaknesses / Limitations:

*Users who are considering purchasing this machine should note its size and weight. This machine weighs about fifteen hundred pounds and has a massive footprint. It measures, 38" W x 74" L x 50" H. It is important to make sure that you have the space for this machine and a way to get into your shop.

*Although the GBC brochure advertises that you can switch dies in seconds, it truthfully takes between one and two minutes for most experienced operators that switch die sets. No specialty tools are required which is a good thing. However, the die change time on this machine does not make it ideal for short run applications or for shops that are constantly switching punching patterns. The GBC Quantum is far better suited for those types of applications.

*Like the AP2 Ultra, the USP13 is limited in the sizes of documents that it can punch. It can punch documents with a binding edge as short as 6" and as long as 13". However, the unpunched edge of the document must be between 5" and 12" long. This means that it cannot punch legal sized paper or extremely small sheet sizes. This is something to keep in mind.

*Although this machine can punch collated documents with mixed paper stocks, it can still have trouble with plastic or poly covers. It is sometimes possible to punch these types of covers by collating them into your documents. However, if the lift happens to fall so that the clear cover is on the top or bottom of the stack that is being punched it can cause a paper jam. Unfortunately the best way to handle plastic covers is to punch them with a desktop binding punch one or two at a time.

*Although the USP13 is extremely reliable, it is a really good idea to consider purchasing a maintenance contract for this machine. Much like a photocopier or piece of printing equipment the USP-13 will require maintenance over time and there are literally hundreds of components that all work together to punch your paper. Having a trained technician perform regular maintenance will help you to protect your investment and reduce potential downtime.

Recommendation:

*The Sickinger GBC USP13 is an excellent quality automatic binding punch that has been used by large binderies and printers for years.

*This machine is capable of handling a wide variety of document sizes, paper thicknesses and can even punch collated documents with index tabs.

With an average speed of 80,000 sheets per hour this machine is one of only a few choices available on the market for ultra high volume users.

*Provided that you have the budget, space and volume to warrant this piece of equipment I would highly recommend the USP13.

SAP B1 Business One licenses sale and implementation USA nationwide

2008-04-10T05:20:00.000-07:00

SAP Business One licensing model include full all-in-one license per named SBO user as well as named user restricted to CRM functionality only, meaning lead, opportunity, quote, sales order and invoice. SAP B1 should fit to the majority of the small and mid-size businesses in USA, Canada and Worldwide, where SAP has reasonable presence and competitive advantage. SB1 ERP has all the features of modern Enterprise Resource Planning system, plus modern user interface, pretty intuitive and allowing experienced users to do self-discovery. Letâ€™s move to SB1 implementation highlights: 1. Manufacturing or Production Modules. It is in our pinion not common for small business ERP to offer Manufacturing, Manufacturing Resource Planning or similar features (besides probably simple Bill of Materials). SBO in fact offers discrete manufacturing features plus MRP with MRP wizard

2. Sales Order Processing. SB1 offers CRM module, where you create leads and opportunities, then you can negotiate with your existing customers or leads on the opportunity and associate Quote, Order or even Invoice and then move on to Sales Order Processing to turn your order into production order or item warranty contract. SAP Business One modules integration and interoperability is fascinating

3. Data Conversion and Migration, In SB1 you have several powerful option, first of all we recommend you to research Work Bench, where you can export your legacy ERP accounting application into Excel worksheets, compliant to Work Bench Excel templates, then with few click of the mouse you import data to SAP Business One. If you need programmable import into SB1 then consider to deploy SB1 SDK programming

4. SB1 life cycle phase. At this time, 2008, SAP Business One is in the period of market penetration in USA. It really has to compete with IT managers opinion to deploy more traditional for US market MRP, such as Great Plains, Oracle Financials/Select, Navision, from small business ERP these would be Peachtree, QuickBooks

SAP Business One Implementation in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan

2008-04-10T05:18:00.001-07:00

We believe that this Small Business ERP and MRP could fit to the majority of Illinois downstate businesses in Springfield, Peoria, Morris, Ottawa, Marseilles, Utica, LaSalle, Peru, DeKalb, Dixon, Rachelle, Normal, Champaign, Vandalia, St Luis, Pontiac, Rockford. Our goal is to make SB1 available across the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan 1. Country Side ERP clients are underserved. This is our opinion and it probably coincides with yours. Well, there are several reasons: travel time, travel cost, lower provincial hourly rates, higher demand for discrete and process manufacturing consulting that are typically priced higher than normal CPA type of ERP functional consulting. Please consider the fact that majority of accounting system consultants and MRP software developers and data conversion specialists live closer to Chicago or Milwaukee downtowns

2. Illinois as Mid-America distribution hub. With the network of railroads and highways and being placed in the heart of Mid-West, IL businesses are positioned to be wholesale distribution hubs for USA, Canada, Mexico and international clients, especially Europe and South and Central America, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

3. IL Country side calls and billing centers. It is common practice now when nation wide hospitals and healthcare organizations hire local IL residents to serve as their customer support

4. Light, Mid-size and heavy Production. If we move down the state of Illinois, manufacturing plants are showing up with heavy manufacturing accounting needs. If you are on the tight budget, please consider SAP B1 as initial ERP option, as other MRP will be higher in software licenses and consulting implementation hours cost

5. User Training. ERP requires you entry level and decision makers training, and it should be considered as breaking through ERP implementation phase, as user resistance is a factor of MRP implementation failure percentage

6. Chicago Suburbs. Here SB1 implementation is simple and in essence a piece of cake. Schaumburg, Naperville, Lisle, Downers Grove, Elgin, Lombard, Plainfield, Joliet, Oakpark, Oakbrook, Elk Grove Village, Wheaton, Geneva, Aurora, Villa Park, Evanston, Glencoe, Northbrook, Glenview, Lake Forest, Lake Geneva ï¿½ï¿½" these are the places where SB1 installation, initial balances and implementation should be as smooth as purchasing merchandise in retail stores

7. Indiana and Wisconsin. When we are talking about implementing SB1 in Indianapolis, South Bend, Madison, Baraboo, Green Bay, Port Washington, Manitowoc, we are talking about some additional travel and lodging cost. The same is applicable to Detroit, Ludington, Grand Rapids, Michigan City, Gary, New Holland.

Accelerator Software Provides a Faster Download

2008-04-09T05:00:00.001-07:00

Over half of all households that connect to the Internet have a broadband connection these days, mostly cable or DSL. Which means the other half does not and still uses dial-up. Modems are much faster than they used to be in the early days of computing, but today's websites are larger and require a lot of bandwidth to load quickly. To make matters worse for those on slower connections, even simple software updates are now often dozens of megabytes and can take a long time to download. What it all means is that modem users need a break!

Fortunately, there are things that can be done to make a connection faster. You see, the operating system software on today's computers is not optimized for fast downloads. Microsoft's primary goal is simply to make sure Windows works with all the different hardware out there. Compatibility is important, of course, but it can be frustrating when things just don't work as well as they should.

But not everything is your computer's fault. Your Internet service provider, too, is primarily concerned with reliability (good), compatibility (good), and moving as much traffic as possible with as little investment as possible (not so good). Further, while the Internet moves at electronic speed, not all connections are equal. You may have noticed that downloading pictures from the same exact website is sometimes faster and other times much slower. That may be because the server is very busy, but it can also be because your connection is taking some detours instead of directly getting on the highway.

What does it all mean? It means that between hardware and software designed for compatibility rather than performance, and Internet connections that may not necessarily favor individual dial-up customers, you may simply not get the speed your computer is capable of and that you are paying for. This is bad news for those who frequently download movies, music or pictures.

Fortunately, there are solutions, and I don't mean getting a new computer or waiting until you have broadband access. One such solution is download accelerators. They can greatly increase the speed and reliability of your downloads. How do they do it? By optimizing the way your computer works and by making sure your data downloads the fastest and most direct route possible. With a download accelerator, you are no longer at the mercy of some remote traffic routing computer. Instead, the accelerator in your own system determines the best way to download data as quickly and efficiently as possible.

But speed is not the only benefit of a good download accelerator. How often has it happened to you that a connection times out or is interrupted before a file has downloaded completely? Probably quite often. And then you have to start all over. A download accelerator will keep track of things and will simply pick up where you left off if a connection gets dropped. Imagine how much time you save.

The bottom line is clear. You have better things to do than wait for downloads to complete. If you want to regain control of your Internet connection, accelerate downloads and restore, or just web browsing in general, a good accelerator is invaluable.

Sap Business One Implementation in Chicago, Illinois

2008-04-09T04:57:00.000-07:00

Sap B1 is modern ERP with very intuitive elegant user interface, which has all the attributes of contemporary Enterprise Resource Planning System: Financials, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, General Ledger, Banking, Service, CRM, Inventory, Production and MRP, HR. System installation, user training initial data massage and conversion, initial balances: customers, vendors, GL ï¿½ï¿½" these implementing phases are relatively straight forward and reasonably easy to implement. We expect number of sold SB1 software license to be dramatically up with the release of SAP BO version 2007, which is expected in the first half of 2008. Letâ€™s review how SB1 fits to the variety of Chicagoland businesses: 1. Manufacturing and Light Assembly functionality. Chicago is huge distribution hub, where we see numerous small and mid-size businesses, where manufacturing and production are required, but only as a simple process. We should mention here, that SB1 supports Disassembly production order, the relevant business logic is the following ï¿½ï¿½" you are getting returns from your customers and you should be able to disassembly final goods into parts and place them back to your inventory components shelves and bins. MRP wizard allows you to maintain purchases and replenishment or restocking for selected or all parent items, or items that you are producing. MRP wizard will give you intuitive screen where you will see items in critical, or red, those with vendor lead time not sufficient to receive and assemble by the date requested by your customers

2. CRM. If you have Sales department, where sales people need only partial access to your ERP, especially on the Customers, Leads, Opportunity, Quotation, Order and Invoice levels, you will be looking in CRM user licenses, typically priced at 50% or normal all-in-one named user

3. Data Mining and Analysis, in SB1 it is Drag-And-Relate technology. You can do discovery being manager on your own. Typical scenario is something like that ï¿½ï¿½" you like to see all the invoices where item A was sold and its pricing, costing and profitability: you select the item, Drag it and drop it into AR screen, or Relate it

The Need To Wipe Windows XP

2008-04-09T04:54:00.000-07:00

A number of PC owners feel the need to wipe Windows XP from their computer units because of the disadvantages they encounter while using this highly popular operating system.

Windows XP is actually a product line of operating systems created by Microsoft for home and business desktop computers, media centers and notebook computers. The letters "XP" stands for eXPerience. The Windows XP Home edition is designed for home users while the Windows XP Professional is created for use by business clients and power users. This operating system is widely recognized as more stable and more efficient compared to the earlier nine versions of Microsoft Windows.

It is also observed to be more user-friendly compared to its previous versions. It is also the first Windows version with product activation feature to circumvent software piracy. Some of the new features introduced with Windows XP that are not available in the earlier Windows versions are faster hibernation and start-up sequence, more user-friendly desktop interface, faster user switch ability, remote desktop functionality as well as its ability to support wireless network connections and modems.

Despite the widespread popularity of this Microsoft product, it is also heavily criticized for its security vulnerability as well as its tendency to succumb to glitches and other time-wasting processes. Some of the Windows XP irritations identified by frustrated PC users are turtle-pace Windows boot process, unavailability of a back-up utility, and inability to get rid of temporary files that may ultimately clog the Temp folder. In addition, some security setbacks are also commonly encountered by Windows XP users such as the need to reinstall software due to a hard drive crash and to made changes in some user account settings. Those who find these snafus bothersome are now switching to Mac and Linux. Moreover, these people are advocating the superiority of these Windows alternatives.

If you want to use an entirely new operating system other than Windows XP, there is a need to reformat the hard drive. This process will prepare the disk storage utility to accept and store new data. In addition, this can be undertaken to remove errors or viruses that compromise overall computer efficiency. However, there might be a need to make use of certain applications like WipeDrive to permanently get rid of unnecessary Windows XP data. A simple hard drive reformat does not guarantee permanent deletion of data. In fact, the deleted files can be recovered even after reformatting.

The need to wipe Windows XP before doing a reformat on a hard drive is also proven to be an effective way for a PC owner to protect himself against identity theft. Reformatting merely erases the address tables of your data. This makes the deleted data and information still prone to serious hacking by the experienced infiltrators all over the web. There are actually a lot of disk wipe programs that you can choose from in the market right now. For the most part, these programs are also available for purchase and download online. This makes access all the more easier for the many computer users who are in need of such programs. By performing a disk wipe before installing a new operating system, you can guarantee complete and efficient deletion of all files and folders that were once in your possession

Mac Tips and Tricks - 5 Ways to Work Faster With Your Mac

2008-04-09T04:51:00.000-07:00

We all want to save time when working, and there are hundreds of ways you can work more effectively with your Mac computer. Here are just a few:

1. Learn and Use Keyboard Shortcuts

Most Mac applications provide two, three, or four-key shortcuts for common tasks. Look in the menu bar of each app to see the available shortcuts. If you're not sure what the symbols in the menus mean, switch to the Finder, choose Help > Mac Help, and search the help for "Symbols for special keys". You can also create your own shortcuts for any menu item with Applications > System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts.

2. Speed Up Common Tasks with Automator

If you find yourself doing the same task again and again, create an Automator workflow for it. Automator (Applications > Automator) is Apple software that lets you create scripts, or workflows, that you can run automatically with the click of a button.

3. Control iTunes Quickly with SizzlingKeys

SizzlingKeys (http://www.yellowmug.com/sk4it/) is a simple utility that lets you assign keyboard shortcuts to common iTunes actions, such as play/pause, previous/next track, and volume up/down. You can then use the shortcuts to control iTunes from within any application. This is great as it saves you having to switch to iTunes when you want to pause a song, for example.

4. Organize your Dock

Remove programs that you never use from the Dock to make it easier to find the ones you do. And if you find yourself regularly using a new piece of software, add it to the Dock. (An easy way to do this is to Control-click the icon in the Dock when the software's running and choose Keep In Dock.)

5. Get a Handle on Spam

Junk email is a big time-waster. To reduce the amount of spam you get, only give out your email address to people you know and trust. If you need to register for something on a website and you don't trust their privacy policy, create an additional "disposable" email address and use that. Then you can drop that email address if it starts getting a lot of spam. Finally, take advantage of online spam filtering services, as well as Apple Mail's excellent built-in spam filter. That way, even if you do get spam, most of the time you'll never need to deal with it.

How To Get A Free World Of Warcraft Download

2008-04-09T04:50:00.000-07:00

World of Warcraft is an extremely popular game that many individuals want to pursue, but are often thrown by the price that is associated with it. It normally takes approximately $20 to purchase the WoW software, and then another $14.99 a month to pay for a subscription to the game. Many people are really hesitant to do this because they are not even sure if they will enjoy the game.

If you are interested in trying out World of Warcraft, but are not sure if you are "game", I will tell you how to get a free World of Warcraft download to try out. There is nothing required on your end, and absolutely no strings attached!

Blizzard Entertainment knows and understands that many individuals want to "test" a product prior to paying for it. They have also discovered that most people who try this game are immediately hooked - therefore, they now offer a 10 day free trial to World of Warcraft for interested players. It is very easy to acquire a free World of Warcraft download. First, you will just need to visit the main World of Warcraft website that is hosted by Blizzard Entertainment.

Once you arrive to the website, you will see a little advertisement somewhere on the right side of the page that says "World of Warcraft 10-Day Free Trial". You will want to just click on this to open it up. Once this page opens, you will see a link to the right that says "New to World of Warcraft?" - simply click on the picture above this.

A new page will open, and this is the main page to assist in acquiring your free World of Warcraft download. The first thing that you will be required to do is create an account for WoW. When creating this account, everything is completely free. You do not have to enter a credit card number or anything like that. Once this has been completed, you can begin your free World of Warcraft download.

You will be issued a link to do this once you have successfully created an account with WoW. When you download WoW for the first time, you will be prompted to download some updates and patches immediately thereafter. Simply walk through this step and follow the onscreen instructions.

Once the free World of Warcraft download has completed, you will simply want to click on "play" and enjoy gaming against millions of other individuals! You will probably find, long before the ten day trial ends, that you are completely addicted!

The End of Microsoft Windows XP's Era is coming closer

2008-04-06T12:21:00.001-07:00

End of Windows XP 32-bit and 64-bit

Microsoft has confirmed that they will still sell Windows XP 32-bit and 64-bit even after June 30. But it won´t happened in the regular trading. It will be only for certain systems. Microsoft again declared that June 30^th 2008 is the end of widespread distribution of Windows XP 32-bit and 64-bit.

The only exception is Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition for the new ultra-low-cost PCs (ULPC) built by ASUS. The computer manufacturers should install Windows XP Home Edition 32-bit till June 30^th 2010 or even more than a year after Windows code name “7” released.

This movement was expected because Microsoft knows that Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit cannot be used on such ultra-low-cost PCs (ULPC). It was a good decision because Windows XP Home Edition can be run much better than Vista because of hardware compatibility.

Microsoft suggests that Windows “7” possibly appear before middle of the year 2010. Microsoft had repeatedly imply, that Microsoft aspires the end of 2009 or early 2010 as the deadline for completion of the next Windows.

The most reason for this decision was the performance for Ultra-Low-cost systems. It is much easier to make a Ultra-Low-cost PC if you use Windows XP 32-bit Home Edition. Windows Vista will be running on the cheap PCs, but only if the appropriate hardware bring enough performance.

Adjustments of Vista for less powerful systems are not planned, according to Microsoft. But Intel has said in this context that new PCs will also be able to run Windows Vista 32-bit Home Premium.

Windows XP also gets as expected once a final grace period, but only at very favorable finished computers.

The new Features for Windows Vista 32- and 64-bit after SP1 Installation

2008-04-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit and 32-bit.

Initially, service pack for Windows Vista is only in five languages for downloading. They will be in the form of a package for network installation as well as download version with Windows update.

Microsoft eliminated many childhood diseases of Windows Vista with Windows Vista service pack 1. Among other things, Windows Vista should copy and move files much faster than before. Moving files was the biggest problem with Windows Vista. When you wanted to move (Copy and Paste) your files from one hard drive to another one, then you needed long time for that.

After SP1 installation, you are able to use your Windows Vista without entering a valid product key. The Microsoft Windows Vista user must accept that he/she will be constantly asked for an activation or new serial number.

Here are some of the most important innovations and changes by Windows Vista 64-bit and 32-bit after SP1 installation:

1- UEFI support - BIOS successor for 64-bit systems

2- DirectX 10.1 support

3- Symbols and icons for HD DVD and Blu-ray Drivers & Media

4- ExFAT support - New file system especially for Flash devices

5- Stability and reliability updates

6- New improved start-repair tool

7- Faster browsing network drivers

8- Measures for longer battery life in mobile devices

9- Faster unpacking and packing of compressed files

10- Moving Faster: order with numerous files

11- Faster copying of files on the same system and the network

12- Faster response to media processing

13- Faster loading large images

14- Improved performance of the Inter

net Explorer for Web pages with a lot of JavaScript

15- Increased effectiveness of Windows ReadyBoost devices

16- Improvements in Windows SuperFetch for shorter periods Resume

17- Better overall performance in media content by eliminating many errors

18- Security Development Life Cycle: New tools to detect the causes of errors in Microsoft Windows Vista

19- internal processes to improve, which should prevent future problems

20- API for security service providers such as Symantec to access the kernel protection for 64-bit systems

21- Advanced BitLocker drive encryption - There are no longer just boot drivers

22- Support for Windows Smart Card Framework

23- Full support for recent draft of the IEEE 802.11n specification

24- Support for the "Hotpatching" where Windows components can be updated without having to restart the computer

25- Faster installation of updates

26- Choice for favorite program for desktop search

27- Reports actually installed system memory, not only amount available

28- Reduced number of UAC messages

29- More detailed information in the event of non-activation, fault codes are replaced by texts comprehensible

30- WGA changes: OEM and Grace Time hacks no longer possible to remove the fashion Reduced Functionality

Be careful before you install your SP1 for Windows Vista 32bit and 64-bit. There are some problems with drivers. You should install service pack 1 for Windows Vista only when you are sure that you didn´t have any problem with your drivers before. If SP1 has any problem with your drivers, it will uninstall it but you are able to install your driver again.

Microsoft wants to solve the driver’s problems as soon as possible in cooperation with the hardware and software manufacturers.

A list of problems with drivers can be found in Microsoft´s Knowledge Base. All these new compatible drivers are already integrated into the SP1 for Windows Vista.

3 Programs That Will Protect & Speed Up Your Windows Computer For Free

2008-04-06T12:11:00.000-07:00

Is your computer becoming slower and slower and creaking up the weight of the many files you have? Or maybe your computer hasn't got the necessary protection to block all those nasty infections and hackers on the Internet? If so, what can you do about protecting and speeding up your computer, and without spending any cash?

Well, if you install all three of the programs I mention below then you will indeed give your computer a rather quick and very useful health check-up whilst ensuring that it has the ability to fight off most infections and block hackers trying to access your computer.

1 - CCleaner

This program is absolutely brilliant. It will remove all of the temporary files that clog up your computer. It can also remove any traces of Internet activity, remove stubborn programs that don't advertise their un-install option and many other options. Best of all it's freeware and it does not contain any spyware or adware.

I've been using it for a while now and when you run it for the first time, you will be surprised how much junk it finds and removes. Your computer will run faster after using this program. Ensure you run this at least once/twice a month for best-continued results. This version is compatible with Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera browsers. It can be used on Windows 98/NT4/ME/2000/XP/2003 & Vista.

2 - Lavasoft Adware 2007

Lavasoft's Ad-Aware 2007 is a freeware anti-spyware software that's available for home use only. The program includes includes skins, help manuals and the latest definition files. It's a very useful program to help remove spyware and adware. Unfortunately the real-time guard is only available on the paid for version.

This version is a much better program than the previous Ad-Aware SE, which was good, but did not catch most of the spyware and adware that had infected your computer. The freeware version of Ad-Aware 2007 is compatible with Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. An ideal program to remove those annoying spyware files.

3 - Zone Alarm Firewall

You need a firewall on your computer. Without one, it's like leaving your front and back door unlocked in your house. Undesirables will get in and cause damage. The firewall included in Windows XP and Vista are poor. They are better than nothing, but use a good free program such as Zone Alarm and you will be able to help your computer battle the nasty files and hackers out there who want access to your computer.

All of the above are suggestions and if you have programs on your computer you're happy with, then keep them. If you don't, well download the ones above and see how much better your computer performs. Please enter the program name into a search engine to be able to find the most up to date link for downloading.

The three above programs are for home use only. They can be upgraded to unlock more options. In the free for home use state, the programs are more than adequate in helping you protect and speed up your computer for free.

John French is in constant battle with slow computers and their causes. He runs the website http://www.john-french.net where he offers tips and advice on keeping a healthy computer and can save you time and money.

For the active links for the three programs above visit http://www.john-french.net

Why should you update to Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit

2008-04-06T12:08:00.000-07:00

Windows Vista 64-bit with 32 percent more Performance

I have been using Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit Ultimate Edition for almost 6 months. It was hard to believe, that I was able to install this 64 bit operation system. Before I decide to install Vista 64-bit I was looking many days in internet to find out if it is a good idea for a big update.

You know that most of all Microsoft operation system users are running Windows 32-bit (x86). I was one of them too. From 1995 to 2007 we never are able to have a 64-bit operation system but Microsoft has decided to produce 64-bit edition because it is the future. And it was a right decision by Microsoft.

Anyway I would like to write about Windows Vista 64-bit. After reading this article about Vista 64-bit you are able to know it is time for a big update after many years.

The Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit bring you performance, security, stability, reliability and give you tools to access the next generation of PC innovations.

Microsoft says that Windows Vista 64-bit is not for everyone but after my experiences with Vista 64 bit I would say, that everyone who is able to buy a brand new computer with dual core processor he is welcome to start PC with Windows Vista 64-bit.

If you are a serious computer user who use high performance applications I would say go and update your computer to Windows Vista 64-bit because it will bring you over %32 more performance.

I am a CAD user. I use AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, Nemetschek and some other 3D Applications like Maya. All my applications are running over %32 faster than before. All my rendering are much faster dome than with Windows Vista 32-bit (x86).

Other side Windows Vista 64-Bit is perfect for Businesses, Architecture offices, engineering companies because they can get their job faster done than others. And they can get more security because Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit has features such as Data Execution Prevention (DEP) and the Patch Guard provide an additional layer of security against threats, while increased memory capabilities improve the performance of applications with high RAM capacity.

Are you a web designer then Windows Vista 64-bit is the best chose for your design business. All Adobe Application are running much faster and you can work with more efficient.

I am not a gamer but I can imagine that all games would run better, faster, and with more security. Windows Vista 64-bit is for serious gamers, high quality media creators and users who are running digital media application on their PCs.

You cannot use Windows 64-Bit right away because you should find out if your hardware is ready for 64-bit edition of Microsoft Windows. You need a system with 64-bit processor and for all your hardware you need 64-bit drivers. If you hardware and drivers are not compatible with Windows Vista 64-bit, then you should look for drivers or you need a new computer with 64-bit processor.

Windows Vista 64-bit edition increases the memory support. You can get the maximum memory capacity.

There are 5 different Windows Vista 64-bit with 5 different memory support:

1- Windows Vista 64-bit Home Basic with 8 GB Memory Support

2- Windows Vista 64-bit Home Premium with 16 GB Memory Support

3- Windows Vista 64-bit Ultimate with 128+ GB Memory Support

4- Windows Vista 64-bit Business with 128+ GB Memory Support

5- Windows Vista 64-bit Enterprise with 128+ GB Memory Support

Here are some features for Windows Vista 64-bit:

1- Windows Aero

2- Windows Flip 3D navigation

3- Scheduled and Network Backup

4- Tablet Technology

5- Windows Bit Locker

6- Windows Media Center

7- Windows Live OneCare services

8- PC-to-PC call

9- Scheduled and Network Backup

10- Windows DVD Maker

Windows Operating System Corruption and Data Loss

2008-04-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

In windows operating system, when you install or uninstall a new program or make any other changes to the system files, the structures and registry of the operating system is changed in this process. In these situations, if any goes wrong, it can corrupt your operating system.

But there is an option in windows that you can restore you system to the last working state. Windows periodically takes the snapshot of system known as restore points. The snapshots are also taken at the time when you install or uninstall any software or driver. In this way, you can restore your system without any problem.

But sometimes when you try to restore your system, in case it gets corrupted, you may get an error message saying:

â€œWindows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMâ€

In the process of system restoration to an earlier working state, the restoration operation completes successfully. But when you reboot the system, the system display the above error message.

This error message occurs due to the possible corruption in Windows registry when you attempt to restore your system. The registry may corrupt due to following reasons:

â€¢ You computer has a BIOS that doesnâ€™t support 48-bit LBA
â€¢ You have installed your operating system on a partition that is larger than 128 GB

In these situations, you canâ€™t access the data from your computer hard drive and you need to reinstall the operating system in order to make them accessible.

But reinstalling the operating system is never safe as it requires to format the primary partition of the drive. When you format the drive, it deletes all the data stored on it. The situations become more worst in case in you have stored your important data on primary partition or you havenâ€™t partitioned the drive or you are using dynamic partition on your drive.

In these situations, if your data is very important, you need to recover them to save you and your business. in order to recover your lost data, you need for data recovery solutions. In this particular case, you can use Windows data recovery software.

Windows data recovery software is Do It Yourself solution for recovering your lost data from windows computer. These software can recover you lost data in all possible cases of data loss including hard drive formatting, accidental deletion, logical partition deletion, or virus attack.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is a powerful and robust data recovery tool for windows users. This is the complete solution for your windows related data loss problems. The software uses advanced searching algorithms to search and locate the lost data and recover them. This software is compatible with all file versions of Windows operating system including windows 97, 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista. The software is capable to recover the data from FAT and NTFS file systems of Windows operating system.

Windows XP to Live On in Cheap PCs

2008-04-06T11:49:00.000-07:00

Windows XP refuses to die. When Vista was released last year, some users disliked it so much they loaded XP onto their new, Vista-loaded PCs. Microsoft had planned to stop selling XP to manufacturers this year, but now it appears the OS will live on in low-cost computers.

icrosoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) has again decided to let Windows XP operating system (OS) live a little longer.

This time, the software maker has given the OS a reprieve in order to sell preloaded versions of Windows XP Home Edition in ultra-low cost PCs.

A relatively new and increasingly popular class of mobile computers, ultra-low-cost PCs (ULCPCs) offer first-time PC buyers and consumers interested in a second or third PC at home an inexpensive, low-power alternative to standard PCs.

Microsoft's decision was prompted by feedback received from consumers and the company's manufacturing partners, according to Michael Dix, general manager of Windows Client Product Management.

"One thing we've heard loud and clear, from both our customers and our partners, is the desire for Windows on this new class of devices," he said.

Ultra-Long Life Cycle

Although specifications may differ, ULCPCs generally include a smaller screen size and flash-based storage. They typically include slower, lower-powered processors than other more costly mobile computing solutions.

Originally intended for students and first-time PC buyers in emerging markets and the developing world, these machines have recently gained a larger following among users in more developed countries. High-profile devices falling into the category include Intel's (Nasdaq: INTC) Classmate, the Eee PC from Asus and the One Laptop Per Child Foundation's XO.

"There's a fair amount of buzz around this category and it's likely to sell a lot. Microsoft wouldn't want to miss out on that market," noted Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates.

The less technologically robust systems simply would not be able to stand up the demands of an operating system on the scale of Windows Vista. Windows Vista is a very large application, and even the more basic versions would not have been appropriate. XP was the best alternative, Kay told TechNewsWorld.

"Windows Mobile could go on a machine like this. Also XP Embedded and maybe even Vista Embedded, although I haven't heard anybody speak about that. Microsoft does have a number of alternative systems they could offer," he continued.

"With Intel putting a lot behind [the segment], Microsoft realized that a lot of momentum might gather behind it and didn't want to miss it. This is their best proposal, and XP is probably the best option," Kay added.

Looking for a Toehold

Intel is a major force in the ULCPC market. Rather than choose Microsoft outright, however, the hardware maker has also looked at open source software like Linux to run these mobile computers.

"They're going to put an operating system on these machines. Pretty much you can't sell the hardware without an operating system. So if Microsoft didn't offer something, it would probably mean only Linux would be available," Michael Cherry, lead analyst at Directions on Microsoft, told TechNewsWorld.

Even with Linux, Cherry said he is not convinced that users will want to load everything that is included in a Linux distribution onto these computers.

"It's a pretty logical move. All they're going to do is extend XP for this market. It doesn't mean you can buy it on other machines," he noted.

Windows XP Home will be available to manufacturers for new ULCPC systems until June 30, 2010, or one year following the release of Microsoft's next version operating system, Windows 7, which at this point is scheduled to ship in 2010

Reasons Why Linux Ubuntu is Better than Windows

2008-04-06T11:42:00.000-07:00

Linux Ubuntu is one of my new ultimate operating system choice and trust me it is not for the faint heart. Though I have not left Windows XP completely (I usually have to switch to it to play games and do some work) but after much determination and struggle I have managed to adapt myself in the Linux environment and it is very cool and challenging.

For those of you who think that Linux is terrible and Windows rocks, here is my say on why Ubuntu is better than Windows.

* No Viruses - Thats true! as Linux does not recognize Win32 Executables so the possibility of having a virus on-board is absolutely 0% * Open Source - Unlike Windows, Linux distributions are open source and the source code can be edited and modified to the most to suit your needs.

* Better Learning - While Windows just teaches you how to install and run a program, Linux helps you do that using a Terminal. So if you fall in a situation where you don't have a GUI, you can operate things well. * Free Software - Every application and software on Linux is free and open source. You don't need to worry about licenses anymore and you can always find a better and free Linux alternative to a Windows application.

* Easy to Use - This point may seem ironic but is true to a lot of extent. Linux Ubuntu is one of the most user-friendly and easy to use Linux distribution which even beats Windows XP and Vista in usability and ease of use.

Learn about video editing.

2008-04-06T11:39:00.001-07:00

Getting started with video editing is very simple you only need a few items and you can be producing quality movies at home, that you will be able to enjoy for many years to come. Maybe even produce a hit Hollywood movie. The basic items you need are a video capture card, the software to edit, your computer, storage space on your computer and a camcorder, VCR, or you can display your movie on your computer screen.

The process is effortless, all you do is capture the video to you computer using a capture card, then edit your video with video editing software and then download the video that you edited to either tape or burn it to a VCD, CD, or DVD.

Let's look at your computer first. You will need a minimum of a Pentium II 300 or faster, a minimum of 256 Megs of RAM, but you will get better performance with 512 Megs. You will also desire to have a 30GB drive that is split into 2 separate partitions. This means that you will have a C: and a D. The C: should be given 10GB and will have all of your software stored there and the D: will be where your audio, video and editing projects are stored. Your graphics card should be a 32 Meg AGP. You can have an 8 or 16 Meg but the quality will not be as good.

Storage is probably the most confusing thing about video editing. Video makers have many choices for storing their digital video files and this is why it can be so confusing.

If you desire creating your own DVD's then you are going to need lot of storage. The most you can get out of a single sided 4.7 GB DVD is around 2 hours of video. If you are using DV footage you are going to need 13GB per hour of video, this means you will need 26GB of storage and remember you always have extra footage that you need to factor that in as well so you are now up to 39GB of storage space needed. If you are adding other options such as graphics, MPEG2 footage for the DVD and the folder to hold it all then you are now up to 50GB. Therefore, for your 2 hour movie you will need 50GB of space at least.

So, when you begin be sure that you have enough storage on your computer for the type of video that you wish to store.

On to the video capture card and the video editing software. When you first visit the electronics store, you will find many manufacturers that create video capture cards. The most popular include Some of the reputable video capture card manufacturers are Pinnacle, Matrox, Dazzle, ADS, Canopus, and Digital Origin.

What video capture cards do to put it in simple terms is that these cards use hardware or software compression to digitize your video onto the hard drive on your computer. This way you can edit your video and play it back onto tape or display your movie on your computer screen.

Sometimes, you can purchase the video capture cards along with the video editing software that you choose. Some of the most popular video capture cards that are packaged with video software include the Pinnacle Pro One which comes with the Adobe Premiere 6 full version, TitleDeko RT, DV Tools 2.0, Hollywood FX, and Impressions DVD. The Dazzle DV NOW AV can be purchased along with the Premiere 6 full version and the DVDit LE.

Having music along with your video can also be accomplished with a MP3 Converter that will allow you to convert your MP3 music into a wav file or the format in which you need for your video. You may also wish to purchase a MP3 Encoder, which will allow you to Wav or other formats into a MP3. A CD ripper is another item that you may wish to purchase that would help with converting your CD's to MP3, WAV, WMA type files.

One other software program that will make you life easier when you begin video editing is a MPEG Encoder, which is a very easy to use program that will make converting several formats easy than you can imagine. Many of these MPEG converters will aid in converting DVD, VCD, AVI, MPEG, GIF, Flash, WMV, WMA, WAV, MP3, MP4, M4A, OGG, AAC, 3GP and even more/

Therefore, now all you need to do is to find the best video editing software that you feel comfortable with and off you go. You can find several different video editing software companies that offer their software on a trial basis; this will let you try out the software so you can see if it is the perfect software for you. However, remember with the trial version you will be receiving the video capture card. You will have to purchase it separately.

PC Speedup Tips - Two Proven Ways

2008-04-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

No one wants to be stuck with a PC running slow. There are so many things that people have to attend to day-in and day-out that an additional 15-30 minutes for computer loading is simply too much time to be wasted. Having said that, the only solution is to take certain steps to help speed up your system. And in case you didn't know, the best place to start with that mission is with your hardware and your operating system.

Checking Out Your Hardware

There are many reasons why a computer may become sluggish and unresponsive. However, most people jump to the conclusion that they are infected with a virus or some sort of spyware - when in fact, they may just be dealing with overheated hardware.

Your CPU, the brain of the computer, is prone to heating up when used for extended periods of time - and considering the fact that the CPU is typically small, it doesn't take all that long for it to reach dangerous temperatures. This increased temperature causes the computer to behave erratically, resulting in very slow reaction time. You should also note that the more heat the CPU generates, the slower the computer will likely respond. To nip this problem in the butt, follow these 3 simple PC speedup tips.

1) Clean your fans of dust regularly. When dust collects on or around the fans, it makes cooling the inside of the computer much more difficult.

2) Consider adding 1-2 additional fans. The more fans you have, the less likely your CPU is to overheat. Fans are quite inexpensive, so there is no excuse not to pick up an extra one.

3) Switch to round cables instead of ribbon designed ones. These cables are inexpensive and usually easy to switch out with your current cables. Round cables promote better air flow, allowing your PC to remain cool and operate smoothly.

Checking Out Your Operating System

If you've gone through the same old song and dance to get your computer back to a tolerable speed - anti-virus scans, spyware scans, software updates, defragmentation, disk clean-up, ect. - yet still have not seen any type of improvement, it may be time to take a look at your registry.

Registry errors are one of the primary causes of your PC running slow, as they continue to build until the PC's owner takes the necessary action. These errors can occur at any time, making registry repair an extremely important aspect when trying to keep your system up to speed & in good health. However, you should not try to handle the situation all on your own.

Trying to remove registry errors without detailed knowledge of your operating system or of your normal processes is just foolish, as you could very well remove something that your system greatly needs and further damage your computer. Having said that, your best bet is to get a Windows repair software tool which can perform automatic registry repair on a weekly/bi-weekly basis. This way you'll keep registry errors to a minimum and you won't need to worry about different ways of speeding up your system.

Satellite Internet Service Use With VOIP

2008-04-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

When you live out in the country and want high speed Internet service dial-up Internet access simply doesn't make it. Satellite Internet access is your best option to enjoy broadband Internet access. There are two different types of satellite Internet access, one-way satellite service and two-way satellite Internet access.

A one-way satellite Internet system uses your telephone line for the upload page request. After the page request is received the satellite sends the download signal. One-way access is still a lot faster than dial-up Internet access, but aren't you trying to get rid of dial-up and not tie up your phone line? If tying up your phone isn't an issue to you, one-way access is somewhat reliable but the companies that offer the service are not. Most of these are startup companies that are way under capitalized.

Two-way satellite Internet access has a dish mounted on your home or business that sends the upload page request signal up to the satellite. This eliminates tying up your phone line or adding additional expense for a second line. Two-way satellite Internet service works very similar to satellite TV systems. You will enjoy fast and reliable Internet service.

You may be hearing about voice over Internet phone service (VOIP). There are many advantages of voice over Internet phone service (VOIP). If you can get VOIP you can save a great deal of money on long distance, international calls and all the convenience features such as call waiting, caller ID, messaging, etc. While these VOIP phone plans such as Vonage sound pretty attractive, be careful that you have an Internet service plan that will allow VOIP to perform properly.

One-way satellite service ties up your phone line, so VOIP is out of the question. Two-way satellite access will bring you broadband Internet access but it too has its limitations when used with VOIP. The biggest concern with satellite Internet service is the latency, or lag time. This latency is a small delay from the time you send the upload signal from the dish to the satellite and then back down to you. When browsing the Internet this split second delay may not seem like much but for a phone conversation this delay is huge.

When we talk over a landline our two-way conversations go back and forth just like we are talking face to face. Latency can bring a delay into the picture and suddenly your conversations can overlay each other. Who is to talk when? Have you ever been at a baseball stadium when the national anthem is played and there is a delay in the song? This lag is very similar.

There are some companies promoting VOIP use with satellite Internet access. Be careful, it may work, but maybe not as clear and reliable as you may like. Online gaming is not recommended either because latency affects games as well. VOIP is really best suited with cable or DSL Internet access.

If you live in the country, satellite Internet service will give you the speed you were looking for. I know you may want VOIP but don't just take some salespersons word for it. If you are looking to upgrade your Internet service from dial-up, satellite Internet access is a great option. Enjoy it for the speed and browsing fun that it will deliver.

History And Issues Of Notebooks

2008-04-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

A Notebook or commonly referred to as a laptop computer is a smaller version of the desktop computer. But its advantages are that all of its components it comes in one neat mobile notebook shaped digital display box, and is easily portable. It usually weighs around 2 to 17 pounds (1 to 8 kgs) depending on the make, materials and different other factors that come into play such as the parent company etc.

Notebooks run on a singular battery from (usually) an external AC/DC adapter. It charges the battery and in the meanwhile supplies power to the laptop too. Numerous `notebooks` have a 3 volt back-up cell to supply power during power failures and when in places where there is no steady power supply. Notebooks, as personal computers are worthy and capable of doing the same work as of desktop computers. But they are less powerful than their desktop counterparts at the same price. This is because of the fact that most parts used in desktop computers are miniaturized to fit into the slim notebook version of the machine.

Notebooks usually have LCD (liquid crystal displays) and they use separate memory modules for their RAM. Notebooks usually have a touchpad (or trackpad) for a mouse and an in-built keyboard. But external installments of these can also be attached if the user wants to do so.

The first commercially available laptop (the name notebook was not feasible at that time as they were much bigger than the versions available now) was the Osborne I in 1981. Though it was much heavier and had only a tiny CRT monitor, yet it had a revolutionary effect on the business and industrial sectors. The idea of taking back work to home was given a full new meaning. A better installment of the laptop or the `notebook` came in 1983. Compaq Portable was the first tech-product of Compaq and was a notebook version of the then hugely popular IBM Personal Computer. It became a hit as it was more IBM-compatible than portable from its predecessors!

But the first notebook was arguably the GRiD Compass 1101, released in 1982 by Bill Moggridge. The `clamshell` design, or the `notebook` design, where the LCD monitor remains shut against the keypad, was introduced. It was enclosed in a magnesium case, and could run on batteries. The first commercially successful notebooks were from the SupersPort series from Zenith Data Systems (ZDS), which competed with several other companies such as IBM, Toshiba, Compaq and others to notch up a deal with the U.S. Air Force for a contract of supplying 200,000 notebooks in 1987. This made the laptop popular and penetrative to the business and affordable price ranges to the common consumers.

Even though the notebook might seem a powerful and mobile genius of this age, it has its fallacies too. The major ones may be listed below.

Standardizing and weaker parts:

Parts of the notebook are miniaturized parts of desktop computers themselves and hence are weaker in comparison. The miniaturization process also takes a toll on the prices of the notebooks, which are generally higher priced than their desktop counterparts. Also, notebooks count a lot on steady power supply, even though supposed to be mobile, for a decent performance. Though, today technology has improved this negative facet of notebooks.

Durability Issues:

The portability, make, integrated composite structure and design of the notebooks make them more liable to shock, wear and physical damage than desktop computers. And the worst part is that the purchase value of a new LCD screen or motherboard, if damaged, is more than the whole purchasing value of the notebook itself!

Performance Issues:

Desktop computers are generally high performing machines when compared to notebooks of the same price range. This even though is being abolished slowly by improving cutting edge technology, this will not hold true. As energy and portability are prioritized goals for a notebook than absolute performance.

All in all, notebooks are the rage of the new generation today. And slowly but surely, the era of desktop computers is fading into oblivion.

What Network Cabling Standards There Are And Avaible Options For You!

2008-04-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

There are several networking cable standard available which are recommended by IEEE.

Some of these are as follows:

Types of Transmission

Baseband - Data bits are defined by discrete signal changes.

Broadband - Uses analog signals to divide the cable into several channels with each channel at its own frequency. Each channel can only transmit one direction.

Physical media Twisted pair - Wire is twisted to minimize crosstalk interference. It may be shielded or unshielded.

m UTP-Unshielded Twisted Pair. Normally UTP contains 8 wires or 4 pair. 100 meter maximum length. 4-100 Mbps speed.

m STP-Shielded twisted pair. 100 meter maximum length. 16-155 Mbps speed.Lower electrical interference than UTP.

Coaxial - Two conductors separated by insulation such as TV 75 ohm cable. Maximum length of 185 to 500 meters. Thinnet - Thinnet uses a British Naval Connector (BNC) on each end. Thinnet is part of the RG-58 family of cable. Maximum cable length is 185 meters. Transmission speed is 10Mbps. Thinnet cable should have 50 ohms impedance and its terminator has 50 ohms impedance. A T or barrel connector has no impedance.

Thicknet - Half inch rigid cable. Maximum cable length is 500 meters. Transmission speed is 10Mbps. Expensive and is not commonly used. (RG-11 or RG-8). A vampire tap or piercing tap is used with a transceiver attached to connect computers to the cable. 100 connections may be made.

The computer has an attachment unit interface (AUI) on its network card which is a 15 pin DB-15 connector. The computer is connected to the transceiver at the cable from its AUI on its network card using a drop cable.

Coax cable types:

m RG-58 /U - 50 ohm, with a solid copper wire core.

m RG-58 A/U - 50 ohm, with a stranded wire core.

m RG-58 C/U - Military version of RG-58 A/U. m RG-59 - 75 ohm, for broadband transmission such as cable TV.

m RG-62 - 93 ohm, primarily used for ArcNet.

m RG-6 - Used for satellite cable (if you want to run a cable to a satellite!).

Network Cabling

Only these are part of the IEEE specification for ethernet networks.

Fiber-optic - Data is transmitted using light rather than electrons. Usually there are two fibers, one for each direction. Cable length of 2 Kilometers. Speed from 100Mbps to 2Gbps. This is the most expensive and most difficult to install, but is not subject to interference.

Two types of cables are:

1. Single mode cables for use with lasers.

2. Multimode cables for use with Light Emitting Diode (LED) drivers.

Cable Standards

The Electronic Industries Association and Telecommunications Industries Association (EIA/TIA) defined a standard called EIA/TIA 568 which is a commercial building wiring standard for UTP cable. It defines transmission speed and twists per foot.

Category Speed Notes

None Used for old telephone systems

4Mps

10Mps The minimum category for data networks

16Mps

100Mps Cat 5 network cable, used by most networks today.

Data patch, Two pair with foil and braided shield undefined.

Flat cable for under carpets with two twisted pair.

Plenum cable with two twisted pair. It is safe if you're having a fire.

The maximum transmission length is 100 meters. This cable is susceptible to interference.

STP

Shielded twisted pair has a maximum cable length of 100 meters (328 feet). Data rate from 16 to 155 Mbps. Cables require special connectors for grounding but this cabling method resists electrical interference and is less susceptible to eavesdropping. Costs more than UTP or Thinnet, but not as much as Thicknet or Fiber-optic.

Microsoft Registry Cleaner, Is Vista Certified Best?

2008-04-06T11:28:00.000-07:00

Computers are an essential part of everyday life. Weather it is used for school, business or just fun, almost everyone today has or knows how to use a computer. The majority of people use Windows based operating systems and the newest operating system to come from Windows is Window's Vista.

Keeping your computer clean and running smooth is the best way to increase productivity and decrease the frustration of having a slow computer when you are working on an important task. One of the best ways to keep your computer running great is by cleaning the registry with a Window's Vista Registry cleaner.

Vista Certified?

Many of the registry cleaners, even some big name ones, are still not yet ready for Vista yet. So, be careful when choosing a registry cleaner to avoid these if you have Windows Vista as your operating system.

A good registry cleaner has the ability to clean the registry in order to get your computer's speed up speed up and have it run smoother with little to no errors. Registry cleaners also get rid of those pesky spyware files that hog a majority of your system's resources and steal information from your computer. The Window's Vista operating system is very different from the previous version so it is important to use a genuine Vista registry cleaner.

Vista certified means it has been given Microsoft's seal of approval, but when you think about it, this is not a really big deal. If a reputable company feels its cleaner is ready to deal with Vista that is good enough for me. What Microsoft thinks and why they think it is secondary. Registry optimization

Using the registry cleaner is very simple, pretty much as simple as opening the program and hitting a button to run it. Once it runs, it does all the work by itself, checking for problems and fixing them. The best registry cleaners also compress, or optimize the data as well and this is where a majority of the speed boost comes from. It keeps the registry up to date and removes all the unnecessary and outdated files not used by your computer anymore. New to Vista registry cleaners, it can also deal with viruses and trojans as well, which not only slow down your computer but are also very harmful to it as well.

Newer operating systems

Technology has progressed and the use of the computer has increased drastically. With all the things you can do, like listen to music, watch videos, surf the net, write papers and more, you need more resources to be able to do all this efficiently.

Cleaning the registry on a regular basis allows you to be able to do all of this without slowing down your computer. This is because it doesn't have to work as hard to run all of these things. We live in an age where we are used to having things right now and very fast and it gets frustrating when we don't have this luxury.

So cleaning the registry is one of the best ways to be sure you're up to speed when working with a Window's operating system, especially one of the newer ones like XP and Vista. Also if using Vista make sure the registry cleaner is Vista ready or Vista compatible. However, whether or not Microsoft has actually certified the cleaner for Vista it is not that important.

Why You Should Switch To A Fast Internet Connection

2008-04-06T01:19:00.001-07:00

With high-speed Internet access becoming available in more and more areas, perhaps it is now available in your neck of the woods. If it is, you might be wondering if it makes sense to upgrade from dialup. For most people, the answer is probably yes! Here are a few reasons why:

- Cost - As it was for me, your most important consideration is most likely the extra expense required to move up to a high-speed connection. But if you think about it, the extra cost is probably very minimal.

If you now pay for a second phone line just for accessing the Internet, that monthly payment added to your ISP charge is probably as much as a high-speed connection will cost you.

- Increased productivity - If you work from home via the web, you'll get more done in less time with fast Internet access.

Large downloads will take seconds instead of minutes (or even hours), and your Internet research time will be cut dramatically. And all of those huge, graphic intensive web pages that slowly creep onto your screen will pop up right away!

- Convenience - You'll no longer be annoyed by lost connections and endless busy signals. You can stop waiting around while your modem dials in and does its best to establish a shaky connection.

A high-speed Internet connection is always on, meaning whenever your computer is on you have immediate and constant access to the Internet. What a timesaver!

- Conclusion - If you work at home and high-speed Internet access is available to you, you'll almost certainly be extremely happy if you make the move. In fact, most people who try it wonder how they ever got along without it and say they'll never switch back!

Even if you use the Internet simply for recreation and pleasure, the astounding difference in speed and convenience coupled with the relatively minor extra cost make a high-speed connection a bargain!

Microsoft Server 2008 Certification: Routing's Not Just For Cisco Exams Anymore!

2008-04-06T01:18:00.001-07:00

Knowing routing theory and routing protocols has always been a big part of earning your CCNA and CCNP certifications. According to Microsoft's exam blueprints for the Server 2008 certification exams, that knowledge will also serve you well on your Microsoft exams.

The topic outline for the Configuring Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure exam (70-642) specifically mentions routing and routing protocols as exam topics. Specifically mentioned are RIP, OSPF, and static routing - three topics every CCNA and CCNP candidate will be well prepared to handle!

IPSec isn't part of the CCNA exam, but you'll see it on at least one CCNP exam, and it's also listed as a 70-642 exam topic. IPv6 and IPv4 addressing are both covered on the 70-642 as well.

Microsoft's website lists the following major skills you should expect to see on this exam:

Configuring IP addresses and Services (routing with RIP and OSPF, static routing, persistent routing, addressing, DHCP and DHCP options including relay agents, IPSec policies, Authentication Header and Encapsulating Security Payload, subnetting, supernetting)

Configuring Name Resolution (DNS configuration, zones, records, replication, and integration with Active Directory, and client computer name resolution techniques)

Configuring Network Access (includes NAT, VPNs, RADIUS, 802.1x authentication, MS-CHAP, firewalls, and remote authentication)

Configuring File And Print Services (self-explanatory)

Monitoring And Managing A Network Infrastructure (includes SNMP and Windows Server Update Services)

Your CCNA and CCNP preparation will not quite be enough to get you past this exam, but as you can see, it'll give you a great head start!

Statistical Process Control (SPC) Software: The Past, Present and Future

2008-04-06T01:14:00.000-07:00

Remember the first time in school you used a calculator instead of paper and pencil to add, subtract, multiply or divide? It made the job so easy, it almost felt like cheating. The technology freed you to focus on the problem rather than the mechanics of arithmetic.

Statistical process control (SPC) methods have been applied in manufacturing process control since the early 1930s. Over the decades, countless hours were expended plotting charts with pencils on graph paper. Then computers arrived and, like the calculator did for the schoolboy, freed the engineer to spend time analyzing the process instead of focusing on the formulae.

Over the years SPC software has matured in functionality, making statistical analysis quicker, more powerful and more flexible. The driving force has made the software easier for the practitioner to use. SPC software will continue to develop in ways that eliminate unnecessary steps, freeing quality practitioners from rote tasks and enabling them to focus efforts on improving the manufacturing process.

The Past

SPC software can show real-time control status of all data collection stations plant wide. As access to computers in the manufacturing environment grew, along came the first wave of products that automated the tasks associated with statistical analysis. Although they provided the tools for engineers to analyze the manufacturing process, these systems were difficult for many practitioners to use. They required tedious data entry and a Ph.D. statistician's knowledge to configure the software and analyze the data--a combination of tasks and abilities not easily married. Furthermore, obtaining interpretable results was a process completed long after the production run being analyzed had finished. This delay complicated the task of addressing process problems that continued to change--and probably resulted in additional process variation--in the interim.

The Present

Many timesaving features have since been added to advance SPC software usability. These software systems leverage other technologies such as automation standards and Internet access to simplify and integrate tasks--making administration, data collection, statistical analysis and reporting easier for today's practitioners.

Administration

Today's SPC software is designed to make the setup of parts and processes easy to accomplish. Common graphical user interface features such as tree views with drag-and-drop functionality dominate the market. These features reduce the repetitive tasks of separately creating items with only minor differences and instead allow for copying and duplicating similar components and then assigning unique parameters.

The introduction of communication standards across various platforms takes this ease-of-administration approach even further. Now SPC software can be configured to automatically obtain and update parts, processes, specifications, nominals and other pertinent information from values stored in other enterprise software systems such as manufacturing resource planning, manufacturing execution systems and human machine interface. Not only does this eliminate the effort spent re-entering and updating configuration information in multiple packages, it saves the effort expended tracking down entry errors that occur when the process is done manually.

Data Collection

Today's SPC software can automatically collect data from other enterprise software systems. As with the time-saving benefit for administrative tasks, this capability reduces the need to configure and maintain separate data collection interfaces and eliminates re-entry errors.

Current SPC software also has used communication standards to simplify the time-consuming job of connecting the system to data collection devices. Advances in software masking functionality permit out-of-the-box connection to a wide range of digital devices. And with dynamic masking capabilities, SPC software can automatically react to changes in device output and adjust to collect the specified data. This flexibility frees the practitioner from the tedious chore of administering SPC software every time there is a change to a device's output.

Real-Time SPC Analysis

Today's SPC software products are designed to collect data, produce charts and alarm in real time. This enables shop-floor operators to receive statistical feedback as close as possible to the point of production. Alarming capabilities include notification of supervisors, managers and other personnel responsible for maintaining and improving the production process. Immediate feedback and alarming enable all parties to begin problem solving and root causes analysis immediately. Eliminating the delay between a special cause and detection can reduce the investigation and corrective action effort by empowering quality practitioners with useful production feedback at the moment of a problem's inception.

Current development in SPC software includes the ability to provide supervisors with dashboard-style status indicators of all collection operations in the plant. Snapshot views of production status on a single screen allow busy supervisors to manage by exception instead of manage by walking around. Such SPC software systems aggregate and prioritize production information for the supervisor, reducing data-gathering demands.

Reporting

One of the most time-consuming tasks in applying statistical methods to a manufacturing process is developing relevant and understandable reports to form the basis for decision making. Modern SPC software makes the job easier by providing built-in report templates that can organize and deliver reports focused on the key characteristics of a process. Moreover, reports that are needed on a regular basis can be scheduled and automatically generated based on then-current production information. This is a time saver for those responsible for communication among quality team members.

Finally, the effort previously expended producing and distributing charts to various users and locations is reduced by leveraging the Internet. A Web-based SPC report with hyperlinks to various types of analyses can easily be distributed to multiple persons, teams or facilities.

The Future

Future SPC software development will follow the trend to eliminate cumbersome, low-value tasks and generally make SPC systems easier to administer and use. Describing the particular form such future development will take is speculative, but the combined capabilities of intelligent and expert systems is one possible way SPC software could evolve to address new challenges.

Intelligent systems emulate the human ability to learn from past experience and to make reasoned decisions and take action based on those experiences. Expert systems rely on a knowledge base to build models to diagnose, advise and act on real-world problems. Intelligent and expert systems are already deployed in control technology for manufacturing processes. It is not a great leap to believe that these technologies will profoundly change the nature of SPC software.

There are many ways in which intelligent and expert SPC systems would enhance the effectiveness and simplify the work of quality practitioners. On the most superficial level, these systems would learn from previous SPC configuration to logically reorder the system to make future administration easier. For instance, such systems could recognize which devices are being deployed and suggest effective collection methods and preferred connection approaches based on past experience.

But the administrative assistance offered by intelligent and expert SPC systems would run much deeper than that. Such systems could save countless hours helping determine how to monitor the process. Building on the history of previous production successes and failures, SPC software could select key parameters to track when to set up new parts or processes, and determine the most effective way to chart and report on those parameters. The software itself could anticipate problems and alter monitoring methodologies to adapt to changes in the manufacturing process.

The impact of intelligent and expert systems would perhaps be greatest when it comes to interpreting process statistics and acting on that analysis. There is not enough time in the day for the quality practitioner to thoroughly analyze the mountain of information generated from each production run. SPC software with learning and knowledge-based capabilities, coupled with computational power, will provide insights into the process beyond what the practitioner alone could achieve. With the advent of intelligent and expert SPC systems, the computer can transcend the earlier comparison made to a calculator. Such systems could not only assume or simplify menial tasks currently performed by the quality practitioner, but will also become a readily available and trusted source of expert guidance and advice.

Of course, the future developments suggested here may never come to pass. Nonetheless, it is almost a foregone conclusion that the SPC software of tomorrow will be more intelligent and capable of simplifying many jobs that burden today's quality practitioner. The future of SPC software is what frees those practitioners from time-consuming, low-value tasks and enables them to more easily obtain the analytical results that inform business decisions.

Sony VAIO CR120 (Core 2 Duo T7100 1.8GHz, 1GB RAM, 120GB HDD, Vista Home Premium)

2008-04-06T01:08:00.002-07:00

The good: Inexpensive; shiny, slim design; media player works without booting the OS; playback controls accessible when the lid is closed; Webcam; glowing LEDs.
The bad: Loaded with bloatware; configuration could use more RAM; abbreviated battery life; case prone to fingerprints and smudges; poor speaker quality.
The bottom line: The Sony VAIO CR120 incorporates a handful of high-end features at a low--for Sony--price. Just don't expect its performance to handle higher-end applications.

At first, we didn't expect to find a Sony system that would qualify for our roundup of laptops with a price tag of $1,000 or less. After all, Sony's reputation for beautiful, expensive laptops is probably outranked only by Apple's. Yet the VAIO CR120, which comes in at exactly $1,000 and is available at retail outlets, was full of surprises. Its shiny finish, with touches of chrome and decorative LEDs, certainly looks more expensive than its actual price. And the 14.1-inch laptop is slightly more portable than similarly priced laptops, most of which feature 15.4-inch screens. That's not to say the VAIO CR120's upscale appearance is not without cost: The $1,000 configuration includes just 1GB of RAM, and you'll pay for the VAIO CR120 in time spent removing bloatware from the laptop. Nevertheless, we like the VAIO CR120's looks and would recommend it to home users who are willing to trade a little performance for an attractive, portable design.

Price as reviewed / Starting price	$1,000 / $899
Processor	1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7100
Memory	1GB of 667MHz
Hard drive	120GB at 5,400rpm
Graphics	Intel GMA X3100
Chipset	Intel 965GM Express
Operating system	Windows Vista Home Premium
Dimensions (wide x deep x thick)	13.1 x 10 x 1.3 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	14.1 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	5.3 / 6.1 pounds
Category	thin-and-light

Sony is clearly going for style with the CR series laptops, which are available in such colors as Sangria, Cosmopolitan, and Dove. Our CR120 review unit featured a downright subdued indigo color, though the lid does sparkle in sunlight. Both the piano-finish lid and chrome rim around the base of the laptop are shiny enough to attract both envious stares and fingerprints. An LED panel beneath the laptop's front edge pulsates between white and blue colors when the laptop is closed--not quite the 16-color LED fiesta found on the Dell XPS M1730, but a fun touch nevertheless; the feature can also be turned off easily within the VAIO software. The interior of the VAIO CR120 is a monochrome silver that's reminiscent of a MacBook Pro.

The keyboard is another part that reminds us of an Apple laptop: The flat-top, rounded-square keys on the VAIO CR120 are spaced well apart, much like a MacBook. Once we got used to the different feel (most keyboards feature slightly concave keys) typing was comfortable. The VAIO CR120's vast touch pad made navigation easy, and we like the chromed-out mouse buttons. Beneath the touch pad, along the chromed front rim, you'll find media controls (play/pause, stop, track forward, and track back buttons) that are accessible even when the lid is closed. Above the keyboard is a row of tiny Chiclet-like buttons to control and mute the volume, launch the media player (whether the or not the operating system has been booted), capture images with the built-in Webcam, and turn off the display to conserve battery life.

The Sony VAIO CR120's 14.1-inch display has a native resolution of 1,280x800 that's typical of slightly larger 15.4-inch displays. Though the laptop has a little less real estate for those pixels, icons and text are still readable. Like most consumer-oriented systems, the VAIO CR120 incorporates a glossy screen finish that helps colors pop but which produces slightly annoying reflections in brightly lit environments (e.g., next to a sunny window or when there's a light source directly behind the user). Unfortunately, there is no matte screen finish option. A 1.3-megapixel Webcam above the display lets users conduct video chats and performed well in low-light conditions.

Be warned: The Sony VAIO CR120 comes loaded with crapware. And while this is hardly unique among low-cost laptops--the Toshiba Satellite A215-S7437's desktop also comes cluttered with icons--Sony is a particularly egregious offender. Desktop icons on our VAIO CR120 include four shortcuts to AOL services, two Microsoft shortcuts, and a link to purchase Spider-Man movies; our Vista Sideshow sidebar included Travelocity and AOL gadgets by default; and when we launched Internet Explorer, we were greeted by three tabs--one each for AOL, Sony, and Norton. Removing much of this junk, especially the programs that run in the background, can speed up a sluggish system. Check out this helpful video on removing crapware from your laptop for step-by-step instructions.

	Sony VAIO CR120	Average for thin-and-light category
Video	VGA, S-Video	VGA-out, S-Video
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	3 USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, MemoryStick and SD card readers	3 USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, multiformat memory card reader
Expansion	ExpressCard/34	PC Card or ExpressCard
Networking	modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi	modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth, optional WWAN
Optical drive	DVD burner	DVD burner

As part of Sony's closed ecosystem, the VAIO CR120's memory card reader only recognizes MemoryStick and MemoryStick Pro formats; the company has branched out and incorporated a separate SD card reader. The included ExpressCard and 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi radio are welcome additions that should help the VAIO CR120 age well as these new technologies become more widespread. We only wish the laptop's stereo speakers, which frame the keyboard, sounded better; the faint, muddled sound is acceptable in a pinch, but we couldn't stand to listen to more than one song before plugging in our headphones.

We tested the $1,000 VAIO CR120, which can be found in-store at retail outlets such as Best Buy and Circuit City. We were happy to see that such a (relatively) low price could include Intel's latest Centrino Duo platform (also known as Santa Rosa), though the VAIO CR120's 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo T7100 processor is the entry level for the current generation. Still, entry level was enough to gain an edge on the multimedia multitasking and iTunes modules of CNET Labs' performance benchmarks, where the VAIO pulled ahead of other systems in its price range, including a Fujitsu LifeBook A6110 stocked with Intel's previous generation Core 2 Duo processor ($999) as well as the AMD-based Toshiba Satellite A215-S7437 ($899) and Gateway M-1618 ($899). The Sony's performance on those tests was more closely matched by a $984 Lenovo 3000 N200 that also included a Core 2 Duo T7100 processor and integrated Intel graphics.

Our only disappointment with the VAIO CR120's components rests in its single gigabyte of RAM, which (with Windows Vista) isn't enough to run such taxing software programs as Adobe Photoshop. On the Photoshop portion of our testing suite, the Sony ran more than 50 percent slower than even the next-slowest machine, the Gateway M-1618, which includes 2GB of RAM. It is possible to add aftermarket RAM to the VAIO CR120, but that would launch it above the $1,000 price mark. On the plus side, we found that the 1GB configuration had sufficient oomph for the casual multitasking and Web surfing that make up the bulk of computer use by buyers of budget laptops.

The Sony VAIO CR120 lasted two hours on our taxing DVD battery drain test, matching the battery life of the nearly identically configured Lenovo 3000 N200. That isn't too impressive, but it is longer than the battery life posted by other similarly priced systems. Our DVD battery drain test is especially grueling, so you can expect even longer life from casual Web surfing and office use.

Sony includes an industry-standard one-year parts-and-labor warranty with the system, which included on-site service. Upgrading to a three-year plan will cost an extra $199. Support is accessible through a 24-7 toll-free phone line and an online support Web site, which helpfully gives you a custom page of links to manuals and drivers for your specific model.

Multimedia multitasking test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Lenovo 3000 N200

1,132

Sony VAIO VGN-CR120

1,161

Fujitsu LifeBook A6110

1,330

Toshiba Satellite A215-S7437

1,452

Gateway M-1618

1,633

Adobe Photoshop CS3 image-processing test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Fujitsu LifeBook A6110

294

Lenovo 3000 N200

306

Toshiba Satellite A215-S7437

345

Gateway M-1618

356

Sony VAIO VGN-CR120

544

Apple iTunes encoding test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Sony VAIO VGN-CR120

222

Lenovo 3000 N200

231

Gateway M-1618

236

Toshiba Satellite A215-S7437

237

Fujitsu LifeBook A6110

275

DVD battery drain test (in minutes)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Lenovo 3000 N200

124

Sony VAIO VGN-CR120

121

Gateway M-1618

101

Fujitsu LifeBook A6110

Toshiba Satellite A215-S7437

Proxy Server Basics

2008-04-06T01:08:00.001-07:00

A proxy server is a computer that offers a computer network service to allow clients to make indirect network connections to other network services. A client connects to the proxy server, then requests a connection, file, or other resource available on a different server. The proxy provides the resource either by connecting to the specified server or by serving it from a cache. In some cases, the proxy may alter the client's request or the server's response for various purposes.

Web proxy servers are generally classified into four groups: Transparent, Anonymous, Distorting, and High Anonymity. Transparent proxies identify themselves as a proxy server and also makes the original IP address available through the http headers. Anonymous proxies identify themselves as a proxy server but does not disclose the original IP address. Distorting proxies identify themselves as a proxy server, but make an incorrect original IP address available through the http headers. High Anonymity proxies do not identify themselves are proxy servers and do not reveal the original IP address.

When it comes to security the bottom line is to be wary when using proxy servers, and only use proxy servers of known integrity (e.g., the owner is known and trusted, has a clear privacy policy, etc.), and never use proxy servers of unknown integrity. If there is no choice but to use unknown proxy servers, do not pass any private information (unless it is properly encrypted) through the proxy.

If you are in the habit of using proxy servers and are unsure of their type you can visit whatismyipaddress.com and try the proxy tester to see if your proxy server is detectable.

Top 10 U.S. Cities & Their Biggest Companies

2008-04-06T01:07:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wondered what the largest company is in your city? I did. I'm in Columbus, Ohio, and I was sure that Nationwide Insurance was the largest company (by revenue) here. I was wrong. It turns out there's an entire JP Morgan Chase entity based right here in my hometown. So that got me wondering about other big cities. And an easy search shows that the largest cities in the world rarely are home to the largest companies.

According to U.S. Census statistics from July 1, 2006, the 10 most populated cities in the United States are:

1. New York City 2. Los Angeles 3. Chicago 4. Houston 5. Phoenix 6. Philadelphia 7. San Antonio 8. San Diego 9. Dallas 10. San Jose

See if you can guess the biggest company in all these cites. Read on to find out if you're right.

New York City

When you think of NYC, you think of money, so this is probably an easy one to guess. Despite a disastrous couple of years, Citigroup is still No. 1 in NYC. One of the largest financial services firms on the planet, Citigroup has offices all over the world.

Los Angeles

When you think L.A., you think Hollywood studios, right? Wrong. In fact, it's unlikely you'll ever see a celebrity wandering the halls of LA's largest company. Northrop Grumman is the world's No. 1 shipbuilder and a top defense supplier. The company made news in early 2008 after being awarded a hefty contract to build Air Force refueling tankers. Northrop Grumman's partnership with Netherlands-based Airbus sparked a "Buy American" outcry from its archrival Boeing Corp.

Chicago

Speaking of Boeing, would it surprise you to know that the aerospace company (of Seattle-area fame) is actually the largest company based in Chicago? With more than $61.5 billion in sales in 2007, the profits keep flying in the windy city.

Houston

It's Texas, so it must be oil. But it's not ExxonMobil or Chevron that dominates the Houston market. Its ConocoPhillips, formed by the merger in 2002 of Conoco and Phillips Petroleum. The company owns Marathon Oil Corp. but did you know ConocoPhillips also owns Continental Airlines and trash giant Waste Management?

Phoenix

Spring training, sun and semiconductors? That's right. The biggest company in Phoenix is Avnet, Inc., one of the world's largest distributors of semiconductors, electromechanical components and other technology products. Another Phoenix tidbit: Petsmart, the nation's largest pet services store (and a personal favorite of my pooch) is No. 4 in Phoenix.

Philadelphia

When Ben Franklin flew that kite in the 18th century and jump-started America's insatiable need for energy, he may never have dreamed that in the 21st century, his City of Brotherly Love would be home to one of the largest petroleum refining companies in the world. Formed by the merger of many other companies, Sunoco has been around in one form or another since 1905.

San Antonio

It seems like sun and energy companies go hand in hand. Topping all other companies in San Antonio is Valero Energy. Named after the Alamo (the Mission San Antonio de Valero), the company is the largest independent oil refiner in the U.S.

San Diego

And in keeping with the energy theme, San Diego-based Sempra Energy serves the largest customer base of any energy utility in the United States. Maybe they've figured a way to turn sun, surf and sailors into renewable energy.

Dallas

Dallas means big oil and big hair, but neither ExxonMobile nor Nieman-Marcus is tops in Dallas. (Exxon's based in nearby Irving; Nieman's is only Dallas' 13th largest company.) But Dallas' largest company depends on who you ask and when. Homebuilder Centex Corp. and tech maker Texas Instruments are so close in earnings that the No. 1 ranking is constantly changing.

San Jose

The only question when trying to guess the biggest employer in San Jose is which tech company is on top. That'd be Cisco Systems, the ubiquitous maker of network routers, switches and other computer peripherals.

Windows XP Is Still Better Than Vista

2008-04-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

Recently, an Apple Computer commercial for the Mac featured a down and out "Windows guy" who sheepishly confessed that he was taking the unlikely step of uninstalling his recent Windows Vista upgrade and returning to the former Windows XP system. While a clever scenario for an advertisement, it seems it was not at all far from the truth. In the course of extensive tests, some independent computer researchers found that XP did much better than Vista in all of the tests they conducted.

Interestingly, these surprising results that came from comparing the performance of XP against the "latest and greatest" Windows Vista were consistent regardless of which versions of the operating systems were used or the amount of RAM memory that was installed on the pc. The tests clearly showed that even when the Vista installation was upgraded to the most recent "Service Pack Beta One" package, Vista still consistently proved to be sluggish.

In order to run comprehensive tests, the researchers installed both patched and unpatched versions of the two systems, namely Windows XP and Vista. They were run on a Dell laptop with a dual-core processor and they used the Microsoft Office application with each version of these operating systems.

The test results showed the time it took for each of the system configurations to complete a number of given tasks in Office. These tasks included creating a complex document and creating a series of presentation slides. The times to complete these tasks under XP and under Vista were then carefully noted and compared against each other.

The results were not at all what the researchers were expecting to report. Not only were all of the tested functions faster with the XP operating system installed, but the testers were surprised to find that XP proved to be approximately twice as fast as the operations performed in Vista, in almost all of the tests.

This is a significant difference in speed and undoubtedly is a difference that will be noticeable to even casual pc users. For power users, such a drastic reduction in speed is not only frustrating but simply unacceptable. Because of this, many people who had "upgraded" to Vista have subsequently gone back and reinstalled XP on their machines.

It is no wonder that the folks at Apple grabbed the opportunity to poke fun at the latest "upgrade" offered to Microsoft Windows users.

On top of the bad news that came out of those speed comparisons of XP versus Vista, the other testing delivered some additional blows. The experiments with the two operating systems also clearly showed that Vista demonstrated a tendency to be "resource-hungry" and gobbled up virtually all of the extra RAM memory that might be added to a computer. When testers doubled the memory in the test machine from one gigabyte to two gigabytes, the result was a measly 4% improvement in performance.

Even if there were not performance issues with Vista, at the moment there have not been any important new programs that have been produced to run only on Vista. But, with these two factors combined, people are not feeling compelled to spend the money and go through the hassle of leaving Windows XP to switch.

SAP Business One Implementation: Rentals as Service Warranty Contracts

2008-04-04T08:56:00.000-07:00

SAP B1 is in expansion mode and we expect more new software purchases, data conversions, and installations. This might be the time when ERP implementation ideas are appreciated. The fact that SAP BO logic is relatively simple should not make you think that system doesnâ€™t fit to the majority of industries. In opposite, SB1 application logic is very flexible and adaptable, and often we see the cases, when new customer requested customization or modification through SB1 SDK and later one decided not to use it and instead do it procedurally in standard logic. This article is dedicated to equipment rentals contracts: 1. Warranty Contracts overview. In Service module you can associate warranty contract templates with serialized items. In the contract template you can specify which expenses are billable and which are covered: items or parts, labor, travel. Nice thing about warranty contract is the logic of service call resolution ï¿½ï¿½" if you have technicians or technical support staff, you know that they need to have knowledge base and they have to document resolution in its phases to secure resolution audit, if required in the future

2. Rental Contract as Warranty contract. In rental you often do similar activity ï¿½ï¿½" you support your rented equipment in the sense of providing replacement parts, sending field technician onsite and incurring travel and lodging expenses. However the nature of Warranty Contract in SB1 is serialized item, or group of items sale to the customer, not rent

3. Rental Logic Proposed Procedure. We propose the following logic. Rental item what you sell is in essence rental service price item and the real item is allocated to rental contract through Sales Order. In this case Sales Order allocates the item during the life cycle of rental contract and when contract expires SB1 contract administrator receives alert to cancel expired contract Sales Order, which in turn releases allocated item back to available for rentals item inventory. In the suggested logic we keep item allocated in our own inventory, meaning that financially it sits on our balance in GL and at the same time it is tracked in real Warranty contract, where we see all the technical support history and logs

4. Rental Reports. Having Sales Order in place you can print various forms, which could be modified to fit your renting documentation requirements

About the Author

Andrew Karasev, Alba Spectrum Group, http://www.albaspectrum.com http://www.pegasplanet.com help@albaspectrum.com 1-866-528-0577, serving USA and Canada nationwide. For 2008 we offer promotion to country site businesses ï¿½ï¿½" weâ€™ll send our Sales Engineer who will make custom presentation and sales cycle. Please visit our information portal Pegas Planet

Open Source software - part I

2008-04-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

The cautiousness with which the Open Source software has been dealt with until recently, is gradually disappearing. Today, using the Open Source software is seen as a way of saving on licence fees, which additionally equals many commercial applications in quality. Which tasks may be assigned to Open Source programmes without fear? Should it be implemented to a company gradually or should everything be changed at once? How much can one gain? What should be avoided?

Usually the implementation of the free applications begins with the new operating areas of the IT systems, not exploited by the commercial software providers. In such a way Linux got to the network equipment. According to the rule of priority, the Web server market has been overrun by free Apache. Time for migration?

An extensive migration to Open Source Software does not happen often. In Poland a well known exception is the implementation of Linux and StarOffice to the Jan III Sobieski hotel (next to commercial software for hotel management). Linux is also used by the chain of Orbis hotels, however, they do not boast much about it. The fact that a migration usually takes place gradually, has few reasons. It is difficult to resign from well operating commercial software, most of all due to the already incurred costs. The next reason is the well understood conservatism (better as the enemy of good), and the resistance of people by nature not too eager for changes. Important is also the exchange of information with the outside world, especially in desktop installations - the departure from data formats used by Microsoft Office raises doubts, although the mechanisms used in free applications offer similar possibilities. Sometimes companies evade this problem using StarOffice or OpenOffice within the company, whereas for drawing up the documents exchanged with the outside world they use Microsoft Office.

An incentive to migration towards Open Source is often a necessity of subsequent updating the software. The more users, the more means is required for such an operation. Additionally, new versions usually need more efficient hardware. Controversial costs

According to the survey published in April and conducted by an Australian company Cybersource, the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of a free business platform, based on the operating system Linux, is 24.7 per cent lower than that of the Microsoft platform if new hardware is purchased, and 34.25 per cent lower if the so far applied hardware is used. It means considerable savings, however, the critics of the survey consider it too simplified. In Cybersource model the training in use of Open Source software has not been taken into consideration, which is of great importance in the case of migration from the Microsoft platform.

As the survey estimates, most of the software costs in the case of the Microsoft platform is related to the licence fees for back-end software ' SQL server or e-commerce interface (Microsoft Commerce Solution); great sums are also required for Visual Studio, Exchange Server 2000 and ISA. Included were also the licence fees for the operating system and Microsoft Office for the 250 users assumed in the survey.

The model created by Cybersource describes an extreme situation, in which all the IT system components may be replaced by the free software and only for the purchase of Linux it is necessary to spend several dozen dollars. However, it does not include the software, for which the free counterparts are not available or still do not rival the commercial products; the examples are application servers. In some cases passing to the less mature environment may be profitable, taking into account the high cost of commercial solutions. However, the authors of the survey did not take into account such a scenario. Specialist in demand

The main position in operation costs is IT personnel's salaries. The employment of three people: an experienced administrator, applications specialist and a junior assistant for easier work is according to Cybersource, 9 per cent more expensive than in the case of free software. Unfortunately, no slightest justification for such an estimation is provided in the survey. The differences in recruitment costs were also not pointed out; after all, before the decision about the salary amount is made (normally, as a result of negotiations between an employer and an employee), the company has to find a person with suitable qualifications.

A tip concerning the salaries is to be found in the Dell's webhosting offer including the lease of Dell PowerEdge 350 servers, which play a role of Web servers. An annual lease cost of a server together with the administrator's services is 2629 dollars if Microsoft Windows 2000 is used and 2079 dollars if the server has Red Hat Linux installed, whereas the installation fee is in both cases the same: 299 dollars. The price of the administration of Linux server is 21 per cent lower than the one of the competing Microsoft server. Problems with quality

Taking into consideration the issue of costs, it is necessary to consider what software one already has and with what one wants to replace it. As for the operating system, the Web server or office software is concerned, it is possible to find suitable free components. It is even worse when we want to replace a programme with specific functions. Apparently it is not difficult to find a free counterpart or something, which pretends to be such a counterpart; on websites cataloguing freeware or supporting its development (e.g. SourceForge or FreshMeat) there are many proposals. Unfortunately, quantity does not always mean quality.

Testing a programme, as it may seem appropriate for our needs, we will quickly become convinced that its functionality was overestimated. It's not difficult to find such packages, which reliance on other preinstalled components effectively discourages. A good experience is browsing through the packages described as 'website' or 'contents management system'; in spite of the difference suggested by the names, most of them offer identical mechanisms, mainly not very elaborate, requiring from the consumer adjusting them to individual needs. Less 'mature' products may also unpleasantly surprise reporting an error after installation and leaving the user with it. A lot to be desired leaves the openness of some Open Source products to the cooperation with other applications. Often the ingenious and useful programmes can not be used, because of the lack of possibility to exchange data with the external word.

Adam Nowak

This text was translated by mLingua Worldwide Translations, Ltd. mLingua provides professional language translations in all major Western and Asian languages, software localization and www translation services. Please visit http://mlingua.pl

Importance of Data Recovery

2008-04-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

Data Recovery is the method or process of retrieving the lost data that has been deleted or lost due to some reasons. By using the data recovery solutions, all kinds of data can be recovered from all kind of storage media like hard drive, CD, DVD, pen drive, memory cards and so on.

Most of the computer users loss their data due to accidental deletion, software malfunction and hardware failure. These important data may include the financial records of the company, companyâ€™s employees and clients list and other private data. In these situations, due to the importance of lost data, data recovery has become very important. There are two reasons for that the organizations and general computer users use data recovery solutions:

1. To save different type of important data that governments, companies, and general users are using as an important part of their business.
2. Due to the increasing threat of data loss due to virus attack, hardware failure and accidental deletion.

But what to do when all these critical data are lost? In fact, it will be better if all the data have been backed up. Any prophylaxis is better than cure. But what to if it is so late? In this situation there is no other method than to treat your computer or storage media that are to use the data recovery solutions to get your precious data back.

Here to find the better data recovery solutions is very important because any kind to further damage to the data can destroy your entire business. The case is something different with individual computer users.

The data recovery solutions are available in two forms- Data Recovery software and Data Recover Service. The selection of data recovery solutions depends on the type and reason of data loss. If the data loss has been occurred due to accidental deletion, virus attack or operating system corruption, then you need to use data recovery software. This is the Do It Yourself method of data recovery that doesnâ€™t require any prior technical knowledge to recover the lost data.

In case where the data has been deleted due to hardware failure like power surges and hard drive crash, you need for data recovery service. This is the data recovery help provided by the professionals. The data recovery service is done by expert and experienced data recovery professionals in specially designed data recovery labs called Clean Room.

Stellar Information System Ltd is a leading data recovery solution providing company that provides both data recovery software and data recovery service. The company provides data recovery software for all popular operating systems including Windows, Mac, UNIX, Linux, and Novell. The data recovery service is provided by Stellar for all type of hard drives like SATA, PATA and SCSI.

Cisco CCNA And CCNP Practice Questions: ARP, Proxy ARP, Admin Distance

2008-04-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

Test your knowledge of ARP, Proxy ARP, administrative distance, and other vital Cisco exam topics with these free questions!

CCNA And CCENT Certification Exam:

Host A wants to send data to Host B. Host A knows Host B's IP address, but not its MAC address. There are two switches and a hub between the two hosts. What protocol will allow Host A to transmit data successfully to Host B?

A. ARP

B. Inverse ARP

C. RARP

D. Proxy ARP

Answer: A. ARP can work successfully in this situation, since there are no routers in the path between Host A and Host B. ARP broadcasts will successfully be forwarded by the switches.

CCNP Certification / BSCI Exam:

Given the following routing table excerpt, what local interface will traffic destined for 234.4.4.4 use to exit the router?

R 234.4.4.0 /24 [120/2] via ethernet0

I 234.4.4.0 /23 [100/4253] via ethernet1

R 234.4.4.0 /24 [120/2] via serial0

O 234.4.4.0 /23 [110/20]via serial1

Answer: The load will be shared over the two RIP paths. They have the longest prefix for the route (/24), and since the metrics are equal, they will equal-cost load-share over the two paths. Hopefully you'll only see a routing table like that on an exam or here in a practice question!

CCNP Certification / BCMSN Exam:

Short answer: You want to connect a router's AUI port to a switch port. What kind of cable will you need?

Answer: You'll need a straightthrough cable as well as a transceiver.

CCNP Certification / ISCW Exam:

Short answer: Packet filtering can use information from what OSI model layer headers to permit or deny traffic?

Answers: Packet filtering can match against both L3 and L4 criteria.

CCNP Certification / ONT Exam:

Cisco routers support three types of digital phone ports. Name them.

Answer: Our old friend ISDN, along with Common Channel Signaling (CCS) and Channel Associated Signaling (CAS).

Look for more free Cisco certification exam practice questions on this website soon!

Installing a Radio Referenced NTP Server

2008-04-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

Many networks in organisations suffer from a lack of time synchronisation between servers, workstations and other network components. This can lead to problems processing time critical information and transactions. However, a solution has been available for many years in the form of NTP, the Network Time Protocol. NTP can be used to synchronise network time clients to an accurate time reference, or NTP server. A stratum 1 NTP server synchronises to a precise external timing reference such as GPS or radio time & frequency transmissions and provides a precise timing resource to a local area network.

There are a number of accurate external timing references available, the most well known being GPS. However, many countries also provide a radio time and frequency reference that can be used for time synchronisation. In the UK, the MSF radio time signal is broadcast from Anthorn, Cumbria, at a frequency of 60 KHz. The German DCF-77 radio time transmissions are broadcast from Frankfurt at 77.5 KHz. The US WWVB radio time reference is transmitted from Boulder, Colorado, at 60 KHz. There are also a number of other countries that provide similar time references. Most broadcasts operate on different frequencies and encode data differently and thus require different tuned antennas and decoding firmware.

Radio time broadcasts have a finite range and are generally restricted to the national boundaries where the broadcast emanates. GPS timing references can operate anywhere in the world. However, the advantage of radio is that generally, a good signal can be obtained indoors close the host NTP time server, whereas a GPS antenna requires a good view of the sky. This can significantly reduce installation costs and simplify NTP server implementation.

A radio based NTP server generally consists of a rack-mountable time server, and a separate radio antenna. The radio antenna is used to receive the radio time and frequency broadcast. The antenna should be located in an area where a good consistent signal can be received.

There are a number of factors that can affect radio time signal reception. If the radio antenna is sited underground or in a basement, signal reception may be significantly impaired. If the antenna is located inside a metal structure or enclosure, again this may also impact signal reception. Also, if the antenna is sited too close to 'electrically noisy' equipment, such as PC monitors, can affect reception. However, usually, provided the antenna is at least 1m from a PC monitor, reception will not be affected.

Most radio time and frequency receivers consist of a ferrite, or bar, antenna contained within a plastic enclosure. The ferrite antenna generally runs the length of the antenna enclosure. Ferrite antennas are unidirectional antennas that have an ideal orientation. The ferrite antenna should be mounted in a horizontal plane at right angles to the source of the time code transmission. For example, if the source of the transmission is north of the antenna location, the antenna ferrite should be mounted horizontally pointing East-West, at right angle to North. In this orientation, the ferrite has the largest area perpendicular to the transmission. If the antenna is rotated, as the angle to the source of transmission reduces, so the sensitivity of the antenna is reduced. Most radio time and frequency transmissions continually broadcast precise time and date information. Data is generally encoded into a series of 60 pulses, one pulse per second. Each pulse represents a data-bit that makes up the current time and date over a period of 1 minute. When a minutes worth, or 60 pulses, have been received, the NTP server can attempt signal decoding. In this manner a time stamp should be received by the time server once each minute. If the signal drops out, or is incorrectly received, then the resulting decode will fail. Good continuous signal reception is required to provide a reliable time reference.

To summarise, a NTP server can provide an organisation with a precise timing reference for synchronising computers and network infrastructure. Time synchronisation between workstation and servers is an important aspect of data and transaction processing in most operating systems. A radio based NTP server is an ideal solution that can be easily installed and implemented to provide a solution to computer network time synchronisation issues.

Basics Of Dual-Core Process Computer

2008-04-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

The computer has been one of the most amazing and fruitful discoveries man has ever made. It has revolutionized the way man does his things. The way he eats, drinks, sleeps and even thinks. And computer itself has evolved over the years. From the Eniac I to the hand-held palmtops in executives` hands today, computer has changed with the technology. And it has changed our lives too.

The latest addition to this revolution of technical upgrading of computers is the dual-core processor technology. It refers to the CPU (Central Processing Unit- the brains of the computer) that possesses two independent and complete execution cores for each of its two processors. The concerned CPU contains two combined processors along with their cache memories and their respective controllers integrated into a singular circuit (commonly known as a silicon chip).

The dual-core process computer is suited to multitasking and handling miscellaneous tasks (often unrelated to each other). Because its CPU has two completely independent execution cores and both have independent interfaces to the front bus, it has excellent capacity to execute several programs and tasks simultaneously. Similarly, dual-core process computers may have more processor cores which is actually named as a multi-core process computer. These are highly efficient machines to conduct intensive tasks of computing or program execution at the same instance of time.

The Pentium dual-core process computer is the most preferred brand of computer in the market. It has x86-architectured microprocessors integrated onto its circuit. The 32-bit Yonah processors are a base for mobile computers while the 64-bit Allendale processors are maintained for the desktop computers. Both have absolutely different architecture as far as microprocessor technical build is concerned.

By early 2007, Intel decided to launch dual-core process computers in the field of notebooks or laptops too. This was a very important and vital decision as there were no other rivals in this phase if the market of computer architecture. Intel had only decided to launch the dual-core process computer system applying to notebooks on the behest of notebook or laptop manufacturers. The first processors to appear in notebooks using the dual-core process computer technology were the Pentium T2060, T2080 and a 32-bit Pentium M based on the Yonah core with a 1 MB L2 cache, instead of the usual 2MB cache memory.

Intel had forced a return of the Pentium brand to the market arena on 2006 with a host of low-cost single core Conroe-L core architecture processors with a 1 MB cache. These were numbered `1` to distinguish them from dual core process computer cores that had been labeled with the digit `2`.

More recently, on June 3, 2007, Intel released desktop dual-core processors from the Pentium brand. They were named as E2140 and E2160. September 2007 saw the late release of a better and updated model named E2180. These processors support the Intel64 extensions, because of their Allendale derived Core architecture. The power of these dual-core process computers was very imminent as most companies` demands exceeded supply over these multi-processor machines.

Dual-core process computer systems have taken over the world of computing today. As of its multi-tasking ability, it has gained world-wide acclaim due to its efficient, quick and yet superior quality program execution and task completion abilities. Heavier programs and complex games may be run with these dual-core process computer systems at the regular pace of conventional single-core processor systems did with light programs on the execution chart.

The age of computers had begun a long time back. But the age of sleek and efficient computing with the help of razor-edge technology has just begun with the dual-core process computer systems.

Microsoft CRM Implementation: contract management in service organization

2008-03-30T10:31:00.001-07:00

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is powerful and at the same time very intuitive, plus it is web based, meaning that you can run nationwide company in MS CRM. Letâ€™s review the example on how to create, budget and log time against CRM contracts. All the functionality, we are describing here is available out of the box, no custom logic required:

1. Leads. Everything should be originated from the lead object: somebody called or emailed you with question about your services. You enter this call into CRM as the lead, assign to relevant sales person and follow up with her/him on what happened with this lead

2. Lead as Account or Opportunity. When your sales person classifies lead to become the customer, lead is transferred to account, or alternatively you can have intermediate step to classify lead as the opportunity

3. Contract. When you have account in CRM (more likely customer), you can create contract for this account. Contract Budgeting is realized in so-called contract lines. In the case of service organization we recommend you to consider allotment in minutes (which you will have to translate into hours via reporting)

4. Case against contract line. Then when you would like to open service ticket ï¿½ï¿½" you simply create the case against contract line. When case is created, it is ready for accepting your consultants time logs in the form of tasks

5. Contract Invoicing status nuances. Microsoft Dynamics CRM has several phases for the contract, and you need to release contract for becoming active via Invoice Contract procedure

6. Closing the case. When you close the case, you virtually update contract line budget and real time spent. In the case closing form you see the time spent and you need to accept or adjust billable time

7. At this step the case is ready to be exported from MS CRM to your accounting billing system to invoice your customer

A Brief Introduction to Web Server

2008-03-30T10:29:00.000-07:00

A Web server is a program, which allows Web browsers to retrieve files from computers connected to the Internet. The Web server listens for requests from Web browsers and upon receiving a request for a file sends it back to the browser. It is a computer on the Internet that contains web pages, and that delivers those web pages to computers that contact it.

Web servers can be any kind of computers. They can be Windows-based PCs, Macintoshes, or computers that run the Unix operating system, or a popular variant of Unix called Linux. These servers run software called web server software the software that speaks HTTP.

There are many Web server software applications, including public domain software from NCSA and Apache, and commercial packages from Microsoft, Netscape and others. Every server on the Web has its own unique number, called an IP address.

There's no way to remember every single number of every single website, so the server also has a domain associated with it, such as google.com. When you type in the address of the website, special servers on the Internet called DNS servers translate that address into an IP address, and your web browser goes to the right location.

Web servers often come as part of a larger package of Internet- and intranet-related programs for serving e-mail, downloading requests for File Transfer Protocol files, and building and publishing Web pages. Considerations in choosing a Web server include how well it works with the operating system and other servers, its ability to handle server-side programming.

Most Web servers are run on one of three Operating Systems:

Unix

Linux

Windows

Following are the popular Web Server Software in the market:

Sun

This is most often the server of choice for corporations that are using Unix Web server machines. The Sun Java Web Server offers some of the best of both Apache and IIS in that it is a supported Web server with strong backing by a well known company. It also has a lot of support with add-in components and APIs to give it more options.

This is a good server if you are looking for good support and flexibility on a Unix platform. Sun Java System Web Server is a web server designed for medium and large business applications. Sun Java System Web Server builds on the earlier Sun ONE Web Server, iPlanet Web Server, and Netscape Enterprise Server products.

Sun Java System Web Server is available on all major operating systems, supports JSP and Java Servlet technologies, PHP, NSAPI, CGI, and ColdFusion.

Apache

Apache is free software distributed by the Apache Software Foundation.

Apache is generally recognized as the world's most popular Web server. Originally designed for Unix servers, the Apache Web server has been ported to Windows and other network operating systems The Apache Web server provides a full range of Web server features, including CGI, SSL, and virtual domains. Apache also supports plug-in modules for extensibility. Apache is reliable, free, and relatively easy to configure.

Apache supports a variety of features, many implemented as compiled modules which extend the core functionality. These can range from server-side programming language support to authentication schemes. Some common language interfaces support mod_perl, mod_python, Tcl, and PHP. Popular authentication modules include mod_access, mod_auth, and mod_digest. A sample of other features include SSL and TLS support a proxy module, a useful URL rewriter , custom log files and filtering support.

Microsoft IIS

Microsoft Internet Information Services or IIS is one of the most popular commercial Web servers available for the Windows Server OS. IIS offers functionality and scalability on the familiar Windows operating system. IIS is the server that integrates directly into the Windows server edition OS. It allows you to run ASP.Net and other applications.

Some of the feature IIS is providing are Common HTTP Features, Application Development Features, Health and Diagnostics Features, Security Features, Performance Features, Management Tools, Windows Process Activation Service, File Transfer Protocol Publishing Service Features, Simultaneous Connection Limits.

Registry cleaning software - Simple overview of how to improve PC performance

2008-03-29T04:32:00.000-07:00

Are you struggling with a sluggish PC? Errors popping up all the time, programs not starting, or worse the blue screen of death? It's possible that you're suffering from registry errors on your PC and you don't even realize it. This article will show you how you can improve the performance of your computer using registry cleaning software. More specifically, we'll talk about why your registry gets messy, what registry software does to improve it, and what type of results you should expect.

Why do I need Registry Cleaning Software?

Your registry files hold a vast amount of information about your computer, its software, and hardware. Everything from file locations, device driver information, and even desktop shortcuts have information in the registry. Over time this area of your computer can become bogged down with old information. Information about programs that have since been un-installed or removed. This extra information can cause windows to hang or freeze when it goes searching for valid info it needs, only to get slowed down and thrown off track due to old files and errors.

The good news is that registry cleaning software was designed specifically to heal troubles like this. You don't need to be a computer guru, and in as little as a half hour you can have a shiny clean registry performing better then ever.

How does Registry Repair Software fix my registry?

The registry cleaning process isn't as technical as you might think. The first step is an initial scan performed by the software looking for items like we described in the previous section. These might be old deleted files, invalid registry keys, or empty lines in your registry. After the complete scan has is done the software then moves onto the repair process.

You have two options to repair the troubles that the software found during it's scan. One, you can have the registry cleaning software make the corrections automatically for you. Many first time users select this as their repair method, how ever it can cause more trouble then good. The second alternative to repair the items found during the scan is to manually review each item before it's repaired. While this can take a bit more time, it will ensure that valid registry entries are not deleted during the cleaning process.

What sort of results can I expect from a clean registry

This of course is one part of the equation that I cannot predict for every user. Some people will experience drastic differences in their PC start up speed, speed to open programs, and lack of freezing or crashing. Of course the extent to which you notice any changes will depend greatly on the degree of problems you were experiencing before you ran the software.

To ensure you get maximum performance out of your PC all the time it's wroth while using any scheduling features that might exist in the software. Scheduling registry cleaning software to automatically check for new errors every few weeks will ensure your computer is in tip top shape.

To learn more about registry cleaner software visit http://www.registryrepaircenter.com a popular website exploring the windows registry system how it can be repaired to improve performance.

Asus Eee PC

2008-03-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

Shortly after I started my own business I realized that I would be traveling to meet with clients and to do research for my work, so my desktop and media center laptop wouldn't cut it. I didn't really need a system that could handle high end graphics or media play back, all I really needed was something compact and light that could connect to the internet and used word processing. Companies like Sony offered solutions to this problem with their lightweight laptops, but I just didn't have the $1,000 to spend on it. Then I learned about the Asus Eee PC.

Based around the same concept as the OLPC project, the Asus Eee PC is meant to be a lightweight and easy to use learning device. Regardless of what they intended the device to do, it's clearly capable of even greater feats than originally intended. The Eee PC comes in four models for it's 701 Series: 2G Surf, 4G Surf, 4G, and 8G. While the number denotes the amount of physical hard drive space on the solid state disk and a few other differences, each system is equipped with a 7 in 800×480 TFT LCD with LED backlight, Integrated Intel GMA 900 graphics processor, Integrated 802.11 b/g wifi, 3 USB inputs, VGA Output, Ethernet Input, Kensington Lock, and MMC SD slot. The Surf models offer a battery life of 2.8 hours where as the other two models offer 3-3.5 hours and a built in webcam. The 2G Surf is equipped with an 800 MHz Intel Celeron-M ULV 353 with the rest equipped with a 900 MHz version of the same chip. The 2G Surf also only has 512mb of DDR2 400 Ram soldered in while the 4G Surf and 4G have socketed 512mb DDR2 533/667 and the 8G with 1GB. The prices start as low as $299 for the 2G Surf and as high as $499 for the 8G. Where the fun really starts is how easy these things are to modify. They come stock with the Xandros operating system but it didn't take long for that to be shed for Windows XP, Vista, OS X Tiger, and other version of Linux. On the hardware side people have installed additional flash memory by soldering in memory sticks to the board, along with touch screens from car media players, WiMAX, GPS, and plenty more. The easiest mod of all seems to be the ram upgrade which is as simple as removing a panel in the back of most models and just replacing it.

I've had my 4G Surf for over a month now. Without any memory upgrades or any modifications besides loading up a reduced version of Windows XP, I've managed to enjoy under 30 second boot times and fast connectivity to the wireless internet. You wouldn't believe how much extra work you can get down when you pull out this speedy little device from your back pack or brief case, set it on top, and start writing. Except for the fact that everyone will be asking you about it. But hey, maybe it'll get you a date?

A Beginners Guide to the Windows Registry

2008-03-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

The windows registry plays a major role in the every day operation of your computer. The registry is responsible for carrying out both simple and complex tasks alike. The registry can do something simple such as controlling which wallpaper you use for your computer or more complex functions such as keeping track of each an every users personalized settings and preferences.

Your Microsoft Windows computer would simply cease to function if the registry was either missing or corrupt. Each and every setting on your machine can be traced in some way shape or form to the registry. You are probably asking: Why would I want to change the registry at all? The answer is simple: A minor change in the registry can resolve many strange computer errors. Keep reading to learn more about how to edit the registry and the to find out what structure the registry uses.

The windows registry viewer allows you to delve deeper into the inner workings of your machine. To open this explorer simply click on run and type in "regedit" (no quotes). This will open up the Windows Registry editor.

This may look familiar to you, it looks very similar to the standard Windows Explorer layout of folders. It is broken down into the following sections:

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM): This root key (or subtree) contains configuration data specific to the local computer, including its hardware devices and operating system components. The information contained within HKLM is independent of the current user and applications or processes in use.

* HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (HKCR): This root key contains the file-class, OLE, and COM object data. The keys, subkeys, and data within this subtree are linked to (and identical to) those contained in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\ subtree.

* HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG (HKCC): This root key is added to make current versions of Windows compatible with older Windows 95 applications. It is derived from HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\HardwareProfiles\Current and contains configuration settings for all currently active hardware.

* HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU): This root key contains profile information for the user currently logged in. Each time a user logs on, HKCU is rebuilt with that user's profile data from HKEY_USERS.

* HKEY_USERS (HKU): This root key contains the default profile and the profiles of all users who have logged onto the computer.

* HKEY_DYN_DATA (HKDD): This root key is found only on Windows 95/98/ME. It is linked to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and contains information about Plug and Play hardware components. HKDD , for use with the Plug-&-Play features of Windows, this section will change as devices are added and removed from the system.

These sections each have their own specific functions. This layout should help you to choose the right section to edit. Editing the registry requires a fair amount of computer knowledge. We recommend Automatic Scanning software for these tasks.

Making changes to the registry can often be quite tedious and often dangerous. Manual editing should be done only with a specific goal in mind and with specific instructions in hand as well. DO NOT just edit items in the registry for the heck of it as this will often lead to problems. Registry problems can often show up through various windows computer errors. If your computer has become slow or has many strange error messages popping up, a registry cleanup may be right for you.

Good luck in your Windows Registry editing!

Setup Internet Connection To Digital Video Recorder Behind Router

2008-03-13T15:05:00.000-07:00

This is first article from two part series looking at the seemingly easy task of setting up Internet connection to security DVR. While this article will focus on general steps involved in proper connection forwarding to CCTV DVR, the part two is all about dynamic DNS support and workarounds. Before we step into the main subject, I like to explain very briefly a few key aspects of Internet connection for those of us not familiar with term like IP address, DDNS, port forwarding or IP mapping.

Terminology:

Every computer or other network device, in our case CCTV recorder has its own address called IP address, much like your home address it allows the information to find its way in enormous world of internet. IP address has four groups of numbers separated by dots; the number range is between 0 and 255. There are two separate networks that we need to take into consideration, LAN for Local Area Network and WAN for Wide Area Network. LAN has its own IP addresses and handles connection on local network devices (computers or devices located in your home or office network), if WAN IP is your home address than LAN IP would be your apartment number.

WAN IP is an external address visible to every user on the Internet. We will explain rest of the terminology as we go along.

Setup:

The best way to explain and clarify surveillance DVR connection setup is to use an example. In our example, we will setup DVR model VDV-074 from DVRExperts thru Netopia Router/Modem combo currently used by AT&T DSL provider with static IP service, I will also use Linksys WRT54G Router for Cable DSL connection. Security DVR recorder needs to be connected to the Internet through Router and Modem, in some cases Router and Modem are all in one devices, for example Netopia Routers.

For standalone Modems please connect the Internet out to WAN port, on your Router. Connect CCTV DVR and computers to available ports on the Router as well. Your Router will need to be setup now to log in to the Internet service provider and establish connection.

Netopia Router users:

Open up browser on your computer and type into the address bar your routers default IP http://192.168.1.254. User name and password window should appear; the default user name and password for Netopia Routers are admin for user and serial number of your Router for the password.

Select Configure followed by Quick start link, type your Internet service providers user name (email address) and your ISP password. Click submit and alert icon located in upper right corner (I know it is strange), finally select save and restart. Your connection should be up in minute or so, click home link to see your connection status.

Linksys Router users:

Open up browser on your computer and type into the address bar your routers default IP http://192.168.1.1. User name and password window should appear; the default user name and password for Linksys routers are admin for user and admin for the password.

The home page of the router has ISP settings, type in your email address as a user name and ISP password for the password, select save or submit. The Router will restart after minute or so, log in again and go to status page to see if your connection status is UP.

If everything is ok and your connection is UP, we can now proceed to fun part of the setup process

There is great number of different security Digital Video Recorders on the market, so please follow your DVR's manual for details; I will only provide the proper settings. In the DVR menu, setup static LAN (Internal) IP for the DVR, in our example we have 3 computers and DVR. Each device has assigned LAN IP address as follows:

Computer 1 - 192.168.1.100

Computer 2 - 192.168.1.101

Computer 3 - 192.168.1.102

DVR - 192.168.1.103

The surveillance DVR will now be accessible within our network by typing its assigned internal IP (192.168.1.103) into browser or connection software. What we need now is to forward the connection from external IP (WAN) which is accessible from outside of our network to the LAN IP of the DVR (192.168.1.103).

Netopia Router users:

Select Configure followed by Advanced and finally IP Maps. IP map table should be empty, click on add and type into IP Map Entry Name text box the name of your DVR connection, in our example I just typed in DVR so I know what this IP map is for. In Internal IP address box type in 192.168.1.103, for external IP address refer to you ISP work sheet and find out what is your IP. In some cases ISP will provide more than one static IP, you can choose one of them.

Click submit and alert icon located in upper right corner, finally select save and restart.

From now on anyone requesting external IP will be forwarded to the internal IP of the DVR (192.168.1.103), therefore the connection should be established successfully.

Linksys Router users:

When setting up your DVR for access from the Internet, you will need to configure Port Forwarding on your Linksys Router. This can be accomplished in one of two ways, Specific Port Forwarding or the DMZ host. The DMZ host automatically forwards all incoming connection requests to a given IP address on your local network. Open the Applications & Gaming section of the router and choose DMZ. DMZ is not secure and should only be used with embedded, non-PC based CCTV recorders.

To expose the DVR to the Internet, enter the DVR local IP address (192.168.1.103) in the DMZ Host IP address box. In some cases you may just want to forward specific ports to your security DVR. If you are running any other device/server that hosts services available to the internet, you will want to use specific port forwarding instead of the DMZ Host, also if your DVR is PC based it is strongly recommended for security reasons, to only forward ports used by DVR connection. Open the applications & Gaming section of the router and choose Port Range Forwarding. Type in the name for the connection, starting port number, ending port number and internal IP of the DVR (192.168.1.103 in our example). Save and exit.

Your connection is now setup properly.

You probably noticed the term static IP in this article, and are wondering what that is.

Well, static IP is what the name suggests an IP that never changes. While there is no problem with internal IP selection; we can use whatever we want or prefer - the external IP, usually is dynamic. The static IP has to be requested from the ISP and is more expensive than dynamic IP. In our case we do want static IP so we have address for CCTV DVR connection that will never change.

Throughout this tutorial I have assumed that the external static IP is available.

Unfortunately in many areas it is not, or the cost is prohibitive. Don't panic yet, there is at least couple of different ways around this problem and I will try to go over each approach in my next article "How to use free dynamic DNS services for DVR connection."

Notebook-Laptop Memory (RAM) Upgrade In 5 Minutes Or Less

2008-03-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

This article is set up in two parts, one part about RAM overview and a second part about RAM upgrade. If you are curious on how the RAM works, you will find a detail summary that should give you all the information that you need to know about RAM, organization and speed. If you just want the how to upgrade section, move on directly to part two Upgrade your laptop ram in 5 minutes or less.

1 - RAM Overview

There are two big categories of random access memories:

* Dynamic memories (DRAM, Dynamic Random Access Module), not very costly. They are in most cases used for the central memory of the computer * Static memories (SRAM, Static Random Access Module), quick and expensive. SRAM is notably used for cache memories of the processor

Functioning of the random access memory

The random access memory is constituted of hundred of thousand small condensers storing charges. When it is loaded, the logical state of the condenser is equal to 1, otherwise it belongs to 0, what means that every condenser represents one bit of memory. Given that condensers off-load, it is always necessary to recharge them in a space of regular time called cycle of refreshment. Memory DRAM requires cycles of refreshment for instance (Ns) is about 15 nanoseconds.

Every condenser is coupled with a transistor allowing to "recover « or to change the state of the condenser. These transistors are lined up in form of matrix, that is they achieve a hut memory (so called memory) by a line and a column.

So, for a memory of type DRAM, the time of access is of 60 nanoseconds (35ns of delay of cycle and 25 ns of time of latency). On a computer, the time of cycle corresponds contrary to the frequency of the clock, for instance for a computer pulsated in 200 MHz, the time of cycle is 5 ns (1 / (200*106)).

As a result a computer having a frequency well brought up and using memories the time of access of which is much longer than the time of cycle of the processor must perform cycles of wait to access to the memory. In the case of a computer pulsated in 200 MHz using memories of types DRAM (which the time of access is of 60ns), there are 11 cycles of wait as a cycle of transfer. The performances of the computer are of as much diminished as there are cycles

Formats of Random Access Memory (RAM

There are numerous types of random access memories. These all come in the form of barrettes of memory attachable on the motherboard.

* SIMM (Single Inline Memory Module): it is about printed circuits among which one of the faces has fleas of memory. There are two types of barrettes SIMM, according to the number of connector cables (30 or 72)

* DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Modulates) are from memories 64 bits, what explains why it is not necessary to match them. Barrettes DIMM have fleas of memory on both sides of printed circuit and have also 84 connector cables on each side, what endows them with a total of 168 brooches. They have bigger dimensions than barrettes SIMM (130x25mm).

* RIMM (Rambus Inline Memory Module, conscripts also RD-RAM or DRD-RAM) are from memories 64 bits developed by the society Rambus. They have 184 brooches. These barrettes have two notches of location (détrompeurs), avoiding very risk of confusion with the previous modules. Considering their well brought up speed of transfer, barrettes RIMM have a thermal film made responsible for ameliorating the clearing up of warmth. As in the case of DIMM, there are modules of smaller size, called SO RIMM (Small Outline RIMM), intended for laptop computers. Barrettes SO RIMM include only 160 brooches.

* DRAM (Dynamic RAM, dynamic RAM) is the type of memo most spread at the beginning of the millennium. It is about a memory from which transistors are lined up in a matrix according to lines and of columns. A transistor, coupled with a condenser gives the information of a bit. 1 byte consisting of 8 bits, a barrette of memory 256 Mb DRAM will contain 256 therefore * 2^10 * 2^10 = 256 * on 1024 * on 1024 = 268 435 456 bytes = 268 435 456 * 8 = 2 147 483 648 bits = 2 147 483 648 transistors. A 256 Mb barrette has so in reality a capacity of 268 435 456 bytes, that is 268 Mb! These are memories from which the time of access is 60 ns. On the other hand, accesses memory are made in general on data lined up consecutively in memory. So the mode of access in gust (burst mode) allows to achieve the three successive data in the first one without time of additional latency.

* DRAM FPM to speed up accesses to DRAM, there is a technology, called pagination consisting in achieving data located on the same column by changing the address of the line only, what allows to avoid the repetition of the number of column between the reading of each of the lines. They speak then about DRAM FPM (Fast Page Mode). FPM allows to acquire time of access in the order of 70 - 80 nanoseconds for a frequency of functioning that can go from 25 to 33 Mhz.

* DRAM EDO (Extended Data Out, Goes out of data ameliorated sometimes also called "hyper-page") appears in 1995. The technology used with this type of memory consists in addressing the following column during the reading of the data of a column. It creates an overlapping of accesses allowing to save time on every cycle. The time of access to memory EDO is therefore about 50 - 60 nanoseconds for a frequency of functioning going 33 - 66 Mhz. So, RAM EDO, when it is used in mode gust allows to acquire cycles of form 5-2-2-2, that is a benefit of 4 cycles on the access to 4 data. As much as memory EDO did not accept the upper frequencies in 66 Mhz, it disappeared in aid of SDRAM.

* SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM, translate synchronous RAM), appeared in 1997, allows a reading of data synchronized with the bus of the card-mother, contrary to memories EDO and FPM (qualified as asynchronous) having their own clock. SDRAM allows therefore to free itself from time of wait owed to synchronization with the card-mother. This one allows to acquire a cycle in mode gust of form 5-1-1-1, that is to say benefit of 3 cycles in comparison with RAM EDO. In that way SDRAM is able of working with a cadenza going until 150 Mhz, allowing him to acquire from time of access about 10 ns.

* DR-SDRAM (Direct Rambus DRAM or else RDRAM) is a type of memory allowing to transfer data on a bus of 16 wide bits to a cadenza of 800Mhz, what confers on him a band passer-by of 1,6 Go / s. As SDRAM, this type of memory is synchronized with the clock of the bus to ameliorate exchanges of data.

* DDR-SDRAM (Double Dated Miss SDRAM) is a memory based on technology SDRAM, allowing to double the rate of transfer of SDRAM with equal frequency. Reading or writing of data in memory am accomplished on the basis of a clock. Standard memory DRAM uses a method conscript SDR (Single Data Fails) consisting in reading or writing data in every forehead going up. DDR allows to double the frequency of reading / writings, with a clock pulsated in the same frequency, by sending data in every forehead going up, as well as in every downward forehead. Memory DDR has in general a commercial appellation of type PCXXXX where "XXXX " represent the debit side in Mb / s.

* DDR2 (or DDR-II) allows to attain twice as well brought up debit sides as DDR with equal external frequency. They speak about QDR (Quadruple Dated Fail or quad-pumped) to indicate the method of reading and used writing. Memory DDR2 uses in effect two channels separated for reading and for writing, so it is able of sending or of accepting twice more data than DDR.

2 - Upgrading Your Laptop RAM

Upgrading a notebook memory is a specific simple process pending that you have the right RAM and are somewhat delicate.

There are different types of RAM, and you must choose the one that is compatible with your notebook computer. Memory is also a fragile, so you need to be very cautious when installing it. You should ensure that the laptop is turned off and disconnected from any exterior power supply. No lights should be visible.

It is a lot easier to install RAM on a laptop versus a desktop PC. Access to the memory slots is via a panel generally located in the bottom of the laptop. Once you have opened this panel with a small screwdriver you can see the existing memory. you can check the exact type of memory that your Notebook currently uses, because it is usually shown on the front of the memory strips and will be evident when you open up the memory panel.

The memory strips are generally locked in with small clips on the ends of the strips. To take out existing memory, simply flip the clips and then remove the memory strips gently from their holding place. If you are simply adding memory, and there is space available, just add the new memory, gently pushing it in to ensure it is fully seated in the slots, and then push the clips to hold the new memory in place.

Once you have replaced or added your Notebook computer memory, replace the access panel, and then screw the panel back in place. Lastly, power up the notebook, When the PC starts up, it will count the memory and tell you how much RAM is loaded on your laptop.

As long as you have right memory, the whole operation should take less than 5 minutes, you can then enjoy your faster, less crash prone laptop.

Have a nice upgrade!

Adding SAN Disk To HP-UX LVM

2008-03-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

Bring The Disk Into LVM:

First, run an ioscan and find the disk that was added to the system:

ioscan -funC disk (note that this is only partial output):

disk 12 0/1/2/0.124.15.19.0.0.0 sdisk CLAIMED DEVICE DGC CX600WDR5 /dev/dsk/c28t0d0 /dev/rdsk/c28t0d0

Run a pvcreate on the raw device file:

pvcreate /dev/rdsk/c28t0d0

Create a Volume Group and Add a Logical Volume:

We will use the volume group name of "testvg" for this example, and create a 1 gigabyte volume on it called testlv.

mkdir /dev/testvg mknod /dev/testvg/group c 64 0x020000 vgcreate testvg /dev/dsk/c28t0d0 lvcreate -L 1024 -n testlv testvg

A Couple Notes:

When creating the special file /dev/testvg/group, the minor number at the end must be unique across all volume groups.
The vgcreate command is the most basic syntax, and there are many other options that you may need depending on your LUN sizes, etc. Please see the man page for vgcreate.
The lvcreate command is also the most basic syntax. Here is where you will add mirroring and striping if necessary (depending on if you added enough physical volumes to the volume group).

Finishing Up:

After you create your logical volume, you can then go ahead and create the filesystem on it using the newfs command (see man newfs). Create the mount point you will be using, and modify the /etc/fstab file accordingly.

Copyright © 2007 by Winglogic.

Article source

Cisco Memory Can Help Stretch Your IT Budget

2008-03-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

It's always difficult for a company to plan for future growth. Whether yours is a small- to medium-sized business or a large, global enterprise, many growth challenges remain the same. When it comes to your computer network, for example, you may feel like you need a crystal ball to determine how to prepare for your company's future needs while not spending money needlessly. Often, the question boils down to whether to buy new Cisco hardware or to upgrade your existing equipment with, say, additional Cisco memory.

Although no single solution fits every enterprise, more often than not it makes financial sense to maximize the efficiency of your current network through upgrades, rather than to purchase completely new systems. Buying a new system is not only a huge financial commitment, but it also typically results in system downtime, debugging, and retraining. Often, you can accomplish your goals through upgrading your existing network while minimizing downtime and stretching your IT budget.

Even the best in-house IT departments aren't always on the leading edge when it comes to system upgrades. That's why it's a good idea - and a sound investment - to consult with experts who can assist you in determining the current capacity of your equipment. If they have a thorough understanding of memory compatibility and knowledge of Cisco hardware topography, they can then look at your growth targets and make recommendations to achieve network goals in a way that is both cost-efficient and time-efficient.

There are a number of ways to increase network efficiency without purchasing new equipment. For example, a gigabit interface converter (GBIC) is a cornerstone of high-speed networking. GBIC modules are both economical and easy to install, and can quickly upgrade a network. Essentially, installing GBICs means that you don't have to replace entire boards, and can give you the option of upgrading one, several, or all system modules.

Similarly, a small form-factor pluggable (SFP) module is a type of transceiver that can be easily upgraded without having to turn off the network. With speeds of up to five gigabits per second, GLC SFPs are a robust network growth solution.

When it comes to selecting a partner to help you analyze your network needs, make sure to choose a company that is both experienced and reliable. For example, the company should be a leading provider of Cisco-approved memory and third-party memory, and should have a client roster that includes Fortune 500 companies, educational institutions, and governmental departments and agencies.

You should also look for a company that has Cisco memory in stock, and that the memory they provide is application tested, shipped quickly, and is accompanied by a lifetime warranty. Moreover, the company should have an advance replacement policy, so you can be assured that your network will never be down due to problems with memory.

Remember that, when it comes to your company's growth, spending money on new equipment isn't necessarily the wisest choice. Maximizing your existing system just may free up the resources you need to overtake your competition.

Affordable Dell Laptops

2008-03-08T08:57:00.000-08:00

Dell Outlet has a full line of refurbished laptops for sale and this Outlet can be found on their website at dell.com. In their Outlet division you will find all of Dells popular models and these refurbished models are reliable machines which run as good as the new machines for hundreds less then you pay for a new machine. Dell refurbished laptops are completely tested and update to meet their "good- as-new" standards before they are put back out on the market. The only difference between a new laptop and a refurbished laptop from Dell is a red label the Dell puts on the bottom of these unit so the consumer is aware they are purchasing a refurbished unit, and the fact that you will be paying hundreds less for a refurbished laptop as compared to the new model.

Dell has two very popular models that perform well, are well known, and are often preferred by consumers. They are the Dell's Latitude and the Inspiron these two models are probably Dells most well known models and there are many of them in use today. Dell know longer manufactures the Latitude Series "notebook" however it is still a much sought after model and with the updated technology that Dell puts into their refurbished units they are even more popular.

Latitude is a great name for this model as it allow for great flexibility in how you can update, expand, or add to the internal working of this computer. The Latitudes black chassis and clean sleek lines is a rather ordinary looking laptop, it weight is more in the middle scale in today's market, and its size is compatible with most laptop cases, along with its accessories, like the AC/DC adapter mouse floppy and zip drives and others. The C600, L400 and the CPX are some of Dells most popular refurbished models in this line.

The Dell Insprions series "notebooks" are still being manufactured by Dell the newer series have been modified to compete with today's standards. The older versions still make for a great option for your computing needs, they are not as versatile as the Latitudes as far as available accessories but their classic silver and black case does give them a professional and stylish look. The refurbished Insprions is an affordable choice and are less expensive than the Latitude series. Dells Inspirons rank as one of the highest in performance and have an exceptionally long battery life.

Two of the popular model in Dells refurbished Inspirons series are the 1100 and the 1150. If you would like to save even more on your purchase while being able to extend the life of your battery look for models with a Celeron processor, they use less energy and are also less expensive to purchase then those with an Intel processor.

All in all Dells refurbished laptops are a vary good deal if you are looking to purchase an up to date computer on a tight budget or are just looking to save some of your hard earned cash. Dells (good-as-new) policy when rebuilding their laptops assures the consumer that the are getting one of the best refurbished laptops on the market today and Dell will stand behind their work should a problem ever arise.

Downgrade Vista to XP with Virtual PC 2007

2008-03-04T10:32:00.000-08:00

The Free and Easy Way to Downgrade from Windows Vista to XP

If you have Windows Vista installed on your laptop or PC and yearn for the good old days of Windows XP compatibility and miss the familiar interface, there is a solution that will cost you nothing but your time to do it.

It involves the creation of a virtual PC on your existing machine using Virtual PC 2007 software by Microsoft. A virtual PC is the just what it sounds like. A completely separate computer that runs in software on the same system as your original PC. What this means is that, you can have Windows Vista running on one virtual PC and Windows XP on the other. Both at the same time. This way, you can have the compatibility of Windows XP today and still enjoy the new software coming out that takes advantage of Windows Vista. Once installed correctly, you'll be able to switch back and forth between operating systems just as easily as you switch between programs now.

The beauty of this arrangement is that it works either way. If you have XP, you can add Vista without losing your Windows XP operating system.

*Note: Before making any system changes, be sure to backup your data to an external drive or other external data storage. Anytime you make major changes to your system, always take this precaution. It will save you a world of pain.

Of course, free only means no money. Creating 2 virtual machines has a cost in terms of PC memory, hard drive space and performance.

Installing applications in a guest OS increases requirements. Increasing memory beyond the minimum required can result in significant performance increases.

A vital thing to remember before choosing a virtual machine is that you'll need lots of RAM installed on your system. More RAM than you ever thought of needing before. While you'll probably have enough CPU cycles to spare, you need enough RAM for both operating systems to run comfortably. As long as you have double your comfortable minimum, you should be fine.

To really have optimal performance and take advantage of this setup, you should have at least 2GB RAM, and many gigs of hard drive space. I recommend you strongly consider a 4 GB setup if you plan on running lots of apps simultaneously and plan on using up an extra 20 gigs of drive space.

Also worth noting is that installations of Windows XP or Vista will require their own product keys, regardless of whether your host computer is also running it. Since the virtual PC will see whatever hardware your virtual machine portends to have, it will assume that it is a new computer in need of new activation. You'll also need a licensed copy of Windows XP to be legitimate. Fortunately, unlike Vista, XP's EULA doesn't forbid virtual machines. Only Vista Business and Ultimate can be legally run in a virtual environment. Any other flavours of Vista could cause issues if you need official support.

Microsoft has a blog for Virtual PC 2007 that you should check out before making any changes to get a better feel for what the benefits are of switching to a virtual OS and the kinds of issues you may face in running 2 OS's at once.

Cisco CCNA / CCNP Certification Practice Questions: Routers, Switches, Frame Relay

2008-03-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

Letâ's test your knowledge of the OSI model, frame relay, and other important topics for your Cisco certification exams!

CCENT Certification:

Identify the devices that run at the bottom layer of the OSI model.

A. router

B. switch

C. hub

D. wireless access point

E. repeater

Answers: C, E. Both hubs and repeaters run at Layer 1 of the OSI model, the Physical layer.

CCNA Certification Exam:

Identify the frame relay encapsulation options.

A. Cisco (default)

B. IETF (default)

C. ANSI (default)

D. Cisco

E. IETF

F. ANSI

Answer: A, E. The encapsulation options are cisco and ietf, and cisco is the default.

CCNP Certification / BSCI Exam:

Short answer: What LSA type indicates the location of the ASBR?

Answer: Type 4 LSAs indicate the route to the ASBR.

CCNP Certification / BCMSN Exam:

Which of the following is true of the "collapsed core" design?

A. There is no dedicated core switch.

B. There is no dedicated distribution-layer switch.

C. There is no dedicated access-layer switch.

D. A single switch will handle the tasks of all three of these layers.

Answers: A, B. The term "collapsed core" refers to the middle two layers of the Cisco three-layer switching model - core and distribution - running on the same physical switches.

CCNP Certification / ISCW Exam:

Short answer: What term is given to the network attack that occurs when an intruder gathers information in preparation for a larger attack in the future?

Answer: That is a network reconnaissance attack.

CCNP Certification / ONT Exam:

Short answer: WRED uses one of what two values in order to make a decision on what traffic to drop in case of network congestion?

Answer: WRED can use the DSCP (Differentiated Services Code Point) or IP Precedence values to make this decision.

Why Use Macro Software?

2008-03-04T10:27:00.000-08:00

The daily task of checking Email, logging on websites, shutting down the computer at a certain time or transferring data can be a very time consuming activity! And painful with it!

If your business has very high repeated activities per day, the performance of these activities can become a major burden with the need for a lot of time and resource! The main issue, when dealing with large number of repeated tasks on a daily basis, is any delays in controlling your time and efficiency. You can't afford to spend your rare time to do the same tasks again and again. Then you may consider using macro software!

Macro software, as your substitute, handles repetitive and routine works for you. It allows you to do anything you can do, from these simple tasks, moving the mouse pointer, striking keys, selecting menus, pressing buttons, launching programs, showing message and shutting down the computer, to these complex tasks, transferring data between two applications, and testing software.

And a macro software named Macro Expert does just that. It is a powerful utility that is designed for automating the plodding and repetitive tasks. It will greatly simplify your work, increase your productivity, and free your time for other important jobs. With a tight integration scheduler, all of macros can be launched at specific time. And all of macros even can be launched when some events occur. Both of the ways give you an ability to do some unattended tasks.

It is proven to reduce the time spent from the repeated task - typing the same content again and again, to the complex process - transferring data between two applications. With Macro Expert, you can perform these routine business processes, browser websites automatically, transfer data at a scheduling time, and launch several applications with a single macro, and so forth. You just record these tasks once and then let Macro Expert execute them whenever you need them.

Powerful automated macro software makes your business sense. And best flexible functions built in the script editor make you edit your macros handily, wherefore macro software makes your business automation. Find out the detail about Macro Expert, please refer the site at http://www.macro-expert.com/

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Microsoft has confirmed that they will still sell Windows XP 32-bit and 64-bit even after June 30. But it won´t happened in the regular trading. It will be only for certain systems. Microsoft again declared that June 30^th 2008 is the end of widespread distribution of Windows XP 32-bit and 64-bit.