What is the Best PC TV Tuner ?

What is the Best PC TV Tuner ?

PCTV4Me

Watching digital streaming TV on your PC is awesome!


How can they do this?

It's called IPTV (Internet protocol TV). This is THE next
generation of digital entertainment. Just think, loads of
streaming tv channels with just a few simple clicks. There is
no need to install tv or mpeg adapter cards.

What channels can I get?

Download a free trial here. You can watch TV from all over
the world! Canada, Italy, France, England, China, Phillippines,
South Africa and of course the good 'ole USA.

So how much does it cost?

Well, for one it is much less than a basic cable bill.
How much are you currently paying for cable or satellite?
$30.00, $40.00, $50.00 A MONTH? Stop throwing your money
away right now! $29.95 gives you access to loads of TV channels.

Ok so where do I get this program?

PCTV4Me is the best way to watch TV on your computer. Grab
the free download and check out all the channels you could be
watching. I highly recommend this product that will allow you
to toss your current cable or satellite system out the window.

by Winston Brown
Keyword : What is the Best PC TV Tuner ?

EPOS Equipment in UK

EPOS Equipment in UK

Life can be very tough for a retailer. Everyday tasks are all about successful multitasking and effective management of suppliers - while also keeping customers happy. At Intelligent Retail we understand the diverse needs of an independent retailer - which is why our software is the best EPOS Equipment in UK.

How are we different?

Our software provides you with complete control over the scope of your business. Not just that, we also provide you with proven solutions to help drive more revenues and also effectively manage the operational aspects of your business. Our software has been designed especially for the independent retailer - which means that it is perfect for you. We also provide consultation services through which you can realize exactly how our solutions can jumpstart your business for you - permanently.

Reporting functionality

Unlike the wide variety of EPOS Equipment in UK that you will typically find, ours is different. We at Intelligent Retail understand that too much information is just as bad as too little. That's one reason our management reports are designed to provide you with easy to understand information - in graphical and illustrated formats - so that you can always make smart and informed decisions at the click of a button!

Better marketing

If arranging and managing your marketing campaigns is an uphill task you'll find our EPOS solution a virtual; Godsend. Our state-of-the-art EPOS Equipment in UK is perfect for successfully managing all marketing campaigns. Through a multichannel system, you can now run your promotions across all channels. You could choose to advertise a promotional discount and then watch customers redeem it right in the shop or even online! You can even issue gift vouchers and get customers to redeem them in your store or online. Thus you'll find that promoting your business gets easier by the day.

by Shobhit
Keyword : EPOS Equipment

How to pick right ERP system

How to pick right ERP system

An ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system is considered as the only system developed to cover all the basic functions of an organizational work, regardless of the organization's business or charter for integrating all aspects of data and processes related to it. It started as a group of applications or software which focuses on combination of multiple systems into one integrated system through which data can be shared across the company; it thereby reduces redundancy of data entry and processes. It provides almost all the functions of an organization in a single package that is covered by more than one system.

The term ERP signifies the system which is designed to increase the utility for wide resources of enterprise. An ERP eliminates the external interface and replace independent application of an organization as well as provide additional benefits like standardization and lower maintenance which enhances the reporting capabilities in easier or greater manner. ERP is seen as an opportunity to integrate data of systems and refine processes in the interest of gaining efficiencies and to increase employee's growth professionally by the enforcement of fresh knowledge and skills for procedures.

Selection of ERP software is not done all of a sudden. It requires lot of hard and base work to introduce the ERP into a offshore product development system. There are several reasons for uncertainty, foremost being Internet. Because of ERP the scope of computers has been expanded and business has been changed technically. As a result it has increased the demand and expectations which were not seen earlier.



As we all know that business is not a steady process it requires growth and development in this reference ERP package will need more changes. The packaged ERP has proved itself as an excellent in their ability to amend and grow with the business, a flexibility advantage that is often recommended by vendors.

There is no doubt that a packaged ERP solution is better at adapting to changing business requirements, but it is necessary to determine that its flexibility is worthwhile for the cost because it is not necessary that the organization will make fundamental changes in the future. For example, basic business processes such as accounting finance and general ledger will rarely undergo radical changes. But there are several other areas in ERP can be proved as an ultimate solution. ERP is been utilized in many of the areas where the use of computer were not previously. Few areas can be stated as Integrated Financials (General Ledger, cash management, multi-currency, multi-language, fixed assets), Business Intelligence (executive information systems, multi-dimensional modeling), Manufacturing / Importing & Scheduling, Distribution (Inventory management, bonded warehousing, logistics, transportation planning), Customer Service (Sales order processing), Communications (Internet / Intranet).

by tom alter
Keyword : How to pick right ERP system

What are the Differences between Laser Printer and Inkjet Printer?

What are the Differences between Laser Printer and Inkjet Printer?

The differences between a laser printer and an inkjet printer are really based upon how you plan on using the printer. Unless you are planning to do quite a bit of quality color photo printing both the inkjet printer and the laser printer will work fine. There are, however, a few thoughts to consider as you go about making your decision on what your printing needs really are.

How quickly do you need it?

Pages per minute are one of the leading sales tools of the printer manufacturers. If you need a large print job now a laser printer is likely the printer for you. The laser printer needs a minute to warm up for the first page but once it does get warmed up it can crank out the pages quickly. Then again, think about how quickly you need the print job in a smaller document setting, say several times in a half hour. Do you want to wait that minute three times a half hour, with a client standing at the reception desk? Perhaps the quality can take half a step down in favor of moving that person along.

Spend now or later

Whether it is HP, Cannon, Epson or Samsung printers you can often get an inkjet printer for a song up front. You will, of course, pay as you go in ink costs. If you don't print that much who cares, an inkjet will do. If you print a bunch then possibly a laser is a better long term buy. The benefit here is that you also get better monochrome printing capabilities. Generally, if you're talking monochrome printing you'll find a $0.02 cost per page for a laser printer and $0.15 for an inkjet printer. The difference is that you pay the cost differential upfront with the laser and as you go with the inkjet.

Color

The discussion above was primarily directed at monochrome printing decisions. What if color comes into the equation? Lasers will give nice crisp images but what about their color truthfulness. When it comes to printing pictures inkjets are really the way to go. Laser devotees can chime in all they want but inkjet printers just get the job done better with their individual mixing tanks.

They are also more convenient as you are replacing individual cartridges as you go and not one size fits all. If cyan runs out all you need to do is replace cyan and not the entire cartridge. When it come right down to it, if you want it all buy both and a network card

by James Kara Murat
Keyword : What are the Differences between Laser Printer and Inkjet Printer?

Tips to Maintaining Your Printer by Yourself

Tips to Maintaining Your Printer by Yourself

It is easy to forget about your printer as you go about your computing needs. It sits there on your right hand side and springs to life when needed. Or at least it is supposed to. If you do not take a minute or two, a couple of time per week, you may find some interesting words coming out of your mouth when streaks or paper jams occur.

Keep it clean

This is easily said and done. The printer heads are the biggie in this area. Printer heads are definitely prone to clogging. If they are not used on a regular basis, or if they are used at a quick clip, they will clog. Every now and again take out the printer cartridges and give a quick clean with a non-linting cloth or moistened Q-tip. If you do use your printer quite a bit think about all those pieces of paper rolling through the printer. It is unlikely that each and every piece of paper will roll through without a shard or tear coming off the paper. These shards will attach themselves to the rollers or other inconvenient printer elements. It is wise to open up the printer every now and again and give it a quick wipe down with a moistened Q-tip.

Turn off and cover

It may seem like many of these tips involve the printer heads, and they do. The printer heads are the area where most preventable maintenance issues occur. Most people, me included, are prone to turning off the computer but not the printer. This leaves the printer heads exposed to the air and possibly drying out. At the ends of the day turn off the printer at the printer. Not from the power cord but at the printer. This will cover the printer heads. Particularly if you are in a dusty region, or if you have a pet, cover you printer. Dust and hair are killers for a printer.

Use the printer

One of the biggest ways to take care of your printer is to use it. Many people really do not use the printer all that much, myself included. This is a digital age and everything tends to stay on the computer. At least twice a week print something that will use all the printers' workings. A colorful website will do but give it a bit of a workout and most of the other maintenance issues will never arise.

by James Kara Murat
Keyword : Tips to Maintaining Your Printer by Yourself

How do Laser Printers Work?

How do Laser Printers Work?

It is one of those things that most of us really don't think about. How does a laser printer work? Well, you click "print" and it works, right? For most of us that is all we need to know or would care to know. But, in reality, it is something you should an understanding of if you are going to be buying a laser printer for the office network or shelling out a decent amount of cash.

Chemistry isn't that bad

Most people have horror stories about chemistry class, me included. But when it comes to figuring out how a laser printer and chemistry work together it is not all that bad. Whether it is a HP, Epson, Cannon or Dell laser printer it works the same way, positive charges and negative charges. The old saying actually applies, opposites attract.

Getting charged

Within the laser printer there is a drum that slowly turns. As it turns it is given a charge by a wire (charge corona wire) or, in some cases, another roller. After the drum is charged the printer shoots a laser at the surface of the drum discharging the drum in certain places. These places end up looking like letters and numbers on the drum.

To get these discharged letters and number shapes off the drum and onto a piece of paper the laser printer covers the discharged shapes with charged toner. It then hooks them up with an oppositely charged piece of paper. As makes sense the toner is attracted to the paper and there it is, toner on paper. If you have ever changed a toner cartridge you can attest that the stuff loves to attach itself to just about anything. The process so far just makes the toner attach itself in an ordered fashion or letter and numbers.

Getting toned

The process is just about complete at the most basic level. What needs to happen to finish off the process is for the toner to be fused into the paper permanently. To accomplish this the laser printer rolls the paper by a heat roller to melt the toner into the fibers of the paper. As the laser printer does this it real eases the charge with yet another roller.

Ultimately, when the process is in synch there is no muss and no mess. But everything needs to be timed just right. In the end, there is a warm static free piece of paper with all the words fit and unfit to print.

by James Kara Murat
Keyword : How do Laser Printers Work?

iPod Downloads - Free or Not Free

iPod Downloads - Free or Not Free

Just about every where you look there's an ad for freeiPoddownloads. When you get to there they all want money. Is it or Not?

Why people or online business's advertise "freeiPoddownloads" is beyond me. If some one say's free then it should be right? If you see an ad, link, classified or even an article and the title say's you can get free-downloads, then wouldn't you assume that after clicking that link you would land on a page or website that allows you to download any thing you want, right?

Well how come when you do, it always seems to be the same old story. They all want money to access to unlimited iPoddownloads. Now that's not free is it?

It just simply isn't true. As far as most people are concerned that's false advertising, but the twist is when you pay to join one of these iPod-Downloads, then you can have access to all the free-movies, games, music you want. So the right thing to do and I think and the majority of most people would agree is if someone advertises the word free and expect you to buy some thing then the word buy should be included some how or say something along the lines of "FreeAfterYouBuy" right?

The Danger of Free iPod Downloads

If you do a search on Google or Yahoo for "FreeiPodDownloads" you would get a ton of results. The one thing you have to look out for when joining or getting free access to iPod downloads is the viruses and spyware that come with them.That's right when you download media file's from unprotected resources or file sharing networks you are vulnerable to all these danger's.

So the best way to avoid this problem would be to find a review that you feel most comfortable with and the reason being is because they allow you see what works the price and there best recommendation. Another good thing to know is, just about all review sites post safe, legal iPod downloads that you can trust and not have to worry about getting some strange virus that will do all kinds of damage to your pc.

The Best Way To Get iPod Downloads

Find a site that you feel comfortable with and pay the $30.00 or what ever it is their asking for instead of trying to get away with getting something for nothing. Because there is usually some stipulations (and in this case risky ones) that come with something for nothing.

Consider this, there are some excellent iPoddownload ebsites out there that will give you way more for less other then getting free iPod downloads for nothing and sometimes less is better then nothing because nothing can be allot more trouble then what it's worth.

by Pau Archer
Kekword : iPod Downloads

The Need For Quality IT Support Staff

The Need For Quality IT Support Staff

Any company engaged in providing IT support will no doubt exercise great care in who they hire on their roster as the importance of a good; if not outstanding IT support staff cannot be emphasized enough. It means having a good IT supervisor who can coordinate computer programming as well as perform system analysis. He/she should also coordinate computer operations such as data exchange methods, and also submission as well as distribution. The IT support supervisor shall also need to be able to format specifications as well as do the coding procedures. There may be more than one supervisor with others being involved with other aspects of IT support such as overseeing systems programming for workstations as well as taking responsibility for database administration and being there to answer specific issues related to individual edits.

At a lower level, the IT support staff would consist of persons that provide administrative support to the client and maybe even assists in website maintenance. There should also be personnel available that will manage the client's local area network as well as other personal computers and also should be able to manage Internet servers and also their applications. Other responsibilities should include installing as well as upgrading personal computer hardware as well as software.

Some of the IT support staff may be hired to provide computer programming support and are responsible for writing code to process as well as edit incoming data. In reality, the responsibilities of the IT support staff would also encompass day-to-day support for an information system that could even involve handling the client's multiple sites. The support staff should have the requisite knowledge as well as experience to handle PC as well as MAC hardware repairs, Server OS, Exchange as well as are able to maintain network switches as well as infrastructure. It is also necessary for the IT support staff to have good and even excellent communication skills as well as be good with people skills.

It is also a requirement for IT support staff to have at least two years of college background in the relevant subjects, A+ Certification as well as is Microsoft Certified, with hands-on experience in relevant hardware and software platforms. An individual with MCSE or CCNA would obviously be well suited for the job of IT support staff.

IT support spans a wide array of services for which a company that provides such services would need to look for specialists to handle the various functions required. There is an administrative side that handles normal client needs such as email, internet, computing services, mailing lists, and user groups. The support staff should also be conversant with various administrative systems in order to discharge their duties satisfactorily. In addition, they may also be called upon to provide training and provide resources and also handle telecommunications as well as other computing services.

With all these different areas of functionality to be addressed, the IT support staff needs to actively be the customer's backup against all manner of breakdowns and disruptions which should be dealt with and put right at the earliest possible time.

by Lee Smith
Keyword : The Need For Quality IT Support Staff

Computer Forensics Files: The Case of the Little Dame That Wouldn't

Computer Forensics Files: The Case of the Little Dame That Wouldn't

Computer Forensics Files: The Case of the Little Dame That Wouldn't Real CSI Cases from Burgess Forensics #14

The stories are true; the names and places have been changed to protect the potentially guilty.

A dame, a rich guy, and an email account: what more do you need for a story?

I was in my office one fine spring day in Marin studying the benefits of Eastern philosophy, engaged in my special snoring meditation, when the buzzing of the telephone dragged me back to the present. It was Sam & Dave - not the Soul Men, but the lawyers in the Valley. They had a situation. A computer expert was heading over to their offices to make a copy of their client's computer - the dame's laptop - to try to prove that she sent endearing emails to a scorned male - the rich guy...Mr. Silicon Valley.

See, rich guy had not been so rich until some computer hardware of his design had been snapped up by a big player in the computer world for a hefty sum. Newly rich Mr. Silicon decided to try his hand at picture books - picture books of natural looking young ladies in their native birthday attire. The hook was that they would be all natural - no silicone for Mr. Silicon.

One day, Mr. S was driving through the Rockies when he espied a liberated young lady. Liberated in the sense that she was 17, but living on her own. S offered to liberate her from a deadend waitress job if she would come live in his Valley mansion. It would all be very Platonic - they'd each have their own end of the mansion - and she would work with the picture book office staff.

But as our young lady reached adulthood, Mr. S became enamored enough to make our lovely waif a bit uncomfortable. She thought he was acting like a creep. She wanted out - out of the office and out of the mansion. The word "harassment" strikes fear into the heart of many an employer, and Sam & Dave were looking for a settlement to enrich all involved. But Mr. S was not to give up so easily. He maintained that the lovely Miss had been sending him endearing loveletters from her America OnLine account. Sure enough, her account had sent those letters - but had she been the one to send them? AOL has a setting that allows a user to sign in automatically - that is, to sign in without having to type in a password. This setting is nearly always a mistake, unless no one else is ever near your computer. I always recommend to my clients that they take the extra 5 seconds out of their busy schedules to type an actual password. You might have guessed that her AOL was set to automatically login.

But the letters had been sent after she had already left the office. That meant that if she had sent them, she must have drafted them on her laptop from home. A deal was made. Mr. S hired a computer expert to do some digital discovery. He'd make an identical copy of the hard disk from her laptop, while sitting in Sam & Dave's conference room. This is where I entered the picture. S & D wanted me to make sure that the hired thugs ... er, experts ... would not pull any funny stuff. I went to observe on the day of the copying.

Just a short half hour or so after their scheduled arrival, the other experts arrived. They were decked out in full company regalia. Their bright jackets, hats, and business cards announced their offices in New York, Tokyo, London, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles. These guys were apparently internationally jetting big shots. As it turned out, only one was the bigshot - the other guy was the gofer. Bigshot sat in a chair and bragged about his exploits while Gofer unloaded their equipment. A large, high-powered desktop computer, with external drives hooked up through an Adaptec SCSI host adapter appeared on the tabletop. A briefcase full of secret computer forensic software was opened to reveal its treasures. The golden floppy disk was removed from the briefcase. Bigshot examined the laptop, and announced, "We can't do this copy - there's no floppy drive."

I was a little dumbfounded. Surely these guys had all of the computer forensic equipment known to mankind. "I have EnCase and ByteBack," he said, "but I need to boot from a floppy drive to make a copy." This was at least half accurate. Whenever a drive is operated in a Windows environment, Windows writes bits and pieces of data to the drive. Under such circumstances, the data is changed and is not a true identical, "bit-for-bit" copy. It's not a forensic image. But when the system is booted from a DOS diskette, nothing gets written to the hard disks. This is what the fellow was looking to do.

I suggested he remove the hard disk from the laptop, and hook it up through a write-blocker to his desktop computer. "What's a write-blocker?" he asked. "Gofer, do we have any write blockers?" Gofer's look of befuddlement answered for him. I explained to Bigshot International that a write blocker is a device that can be hooked up between the hard disk and the cable it is attached to, or between an external enclosure holding the hard disk and the USB cable leading to the computer. The MyKey NoWrite FPU is one of my favorites. The Tableau works well. The Disk Jockey Forensic wasn't around then. The DriveDock & others would have been fine. But he didn't have any by anyone.

Still, removing the hard disk, attaching it to his system and booting the system from his floppy diskette should have been fine. I suggested as much. "How do you take out the hard disk?" he asked. Apparently laptops are different in London and Hong Kong and those other places he had offices.

I asked S & D's secretary for a little Phillips screwdriver, and removed the hard disk for Our Man. "It doesn't hook up to my IDE cable," he said. You see, laptop IDE hard disks and desktop IDE hard disks are different sizes. Most in laptops are 2.5" and most in desktops are 3.5" and never the twain shall meet - at least, not on the same cable. The 40-pin connector on the laptop is, unsurprisingly, smaller in size. "How about an adapter?" I said. "Have you a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter?"

"Have we got one, Gofer?" Befuddlement answered wordlessly again. I suggested a quick run to the local computer store. I even volunteered to go, for the Mensa-level technical skill was getting to me a little at that point.

Twenty minutes later, we had an adapter from a local Mom & Pop computer shop. Some adapters for laptop drives hook up the opposite way from what is intuitive. Once I warned against hooking the laptop drive up backwards, Bigshot got everything set up right, the computer booted, and a good copy seemed like it was only minutes away. That is, until I heard, "My target disk drive isn't big enough." Well, I didn't want him to have to go all the way to Tokyo or New York for another. I suggested hooking up additional drives from his special briefcase to the SCSI bus, then changing the image size. Many computer forensic programs allow one to acquire a large drive as several or many contiguous images of a smaller size. By changing his configuration, Mr. B could make many successive CD-sized images of about 650 MB each, instead of one giant one that wouldn't fit in the available space in any one of his hard drives.

With the copy proceeding apace, I asked S&D what I should do next. We saw the estimated time of completion was about five hours away! I wondered if sitting waiting for electrons to move was the best use of my time and their money, and they seemed to think it was not. I explained what to look out for - any cables being unplugged, any keyboards being typed on, any utterances of "oops" or "oh no!" from the Dynamic Duo making the copies. The job should be mostly babysitting until the copy was completed. I headed back to the airport, and to my offices at Burgess Forensics to finish my interrupted meditation.

How did it all turn out? There were no loving emails drafted on the laptop. The computer she had used at the office was being used to send bogus emails from her auto logon AOL account. Mr. S was ready to settle... after just one more meeting.

As part of the settlement, Mr. S & our lovely Miss had one last lunch together. They met at an outdoor café. It might have been romantic, but Miss sat well out of reach, her lawyer sat just out of earshot a couple of tables to the West. The attorney for S sat just out of earshot a couple of tables to the North. Everybody ate lunch. S paid the bill - three bills, actually - one for lunches, one for the lawyers, and one settlement for the lovely lady. She then walked away and never looked back.

While I never met the lady, I was alerted to look for her on a fashion show. There she was, on the TV, looking like the waif models are apparently supposed to resemble. I couldn't tell if she looked any richer, but I hoped she would spend some of the settlement on a few more lunches - she could have filled out a little and looked a bit more...natural. But that's outside my area of expertise. A nutritionist I'm not - I do computers.

This is just one of the many "CSI (Computer Scene Investigation) - Computer Forensics Files: Real Cases from Burgess Forensics" cases in the file. Stay tuned for more stories of deceit uncovered by science.

by Steve Burgess
Keyword : Computer Forensics Files

Conference Calls Are Good For You

Conference Calls Are Good For You

You need to call a business briefing, but some of your employees are traveling to pitch the company at a trades show three states away. You'd like to present a sales pitch to a potential client across the country, but they want to hear your group's ideas now, not whenever you can send someone out to them. You want to ask a couple of co-workers a few questions about your latest project, but you're all too busy to leave your desks and set up a "formal" meeting.

Conference calls have been the means to bridge the gap between co-workers, customers, and clients for decades. Conference calls allow three or more parties to touch base or conduct business from one part of the building to another or from across the world.

Conference calls are still frequently used to speak with co-workers inside the same building or even to hold meetings when co-workers are on a business trip, but most conference calls, particularly sales pitches to clients, are now Web conference calls or a combination of traditional conference calls and Web conference calls. The video and data-sending ability of Web conference calls makes business more productive as it allows potential clients to see the charts and outlines of a sales pitch.

Conference calls are also often used for companies to offer a means of communication to their stock holders or for local politicians to offer an open-question line to his or her constituents. The stockholders or the public, people who might not usually get a chance to meet corporation representatives or politicians in person, are given a phone number to access an "open meeting" held over conference calls, allowing them to call from the comfort of their own homes.

Conference calls have also long been used for social network connection, like with "party lines." For a fee, callers can use the conference calls service to chat with three or more new people at once, looking for new friends or dates. These types of conference calls were more popular in the 1980s and early 1990s, before the advent of Internet chat rooms and text messaging party lines, but they still exist today.

You can take this social network conference calls idea to organize any number of large functions, like family reunions or weddings, and speak with two or more family members or function services at once! Be as efficient and organized as a typical corporation and take advantage of conference calls!

Most phone companies have three-way calling or conference call options included with their service, although there is an extra charge for all conference calls. If you operate a business that frequently makes conference calls, you may want to find a better deal on conference calls and you may want to work with a conference call company that can set up your business for the fastest, most reliable conference calls and Web conference calls.

There are a number of businesses that offer low prices to facilitate conference calls, whether through the phone or the Web. Visit conferencecall.com, corporateconferencecalls.com, or conferencecalls.com to start shopping around for the best facilitator of conference calls for your business or social event!

by Frank Vanderlugt
Keyword : Conference Calls

Hard Disk Data Recovery Still An Important Asset

Hard Disk Data Recovery Still An Important Asset

Hard disks have evolved along the years to be a lot more reliable than their ancestors, but no matter how good they got to be, they are still open to damage and errors that could cause loss of data. If this happens, hard disk data recovery is the solution and a big problem solver if the information on the hard drive is important and not backed up.

A hard disk can crash because of a range of different reasons but the most encountered is an unstable power supply. A hard disk is quite open to attacks from sudden power surges or power outages. Such power problems can cause both physical damage and logical errors. Logical damages are possibly easy to fix with a HDD scan and fixing the disk file system.

In most cases, you can observe some signs or symptoms that the unit is about to crash. An imminent crash will cause frequent disk error messages. If the disk will not be shown during the startup of the operating system or the information provided is incorrect when the disk is analyzed are almost sure signs of hard disk damage. If you can hear your HDD make weird sounds, clicking or whirring, the problem is mechanical and you will need professional hard disk data recovery assistance.

Some regular clues that may suggest hard disk damage are:

* When files are accessed or the system is powered up you might head ticking, grinding or clunking noises * Problems with the operating system booting process * Problems reading files that exist on the hard drive

To have your data safe, in case you notice such signs, make sure you back up the drive or the most important information at least. This way you will have an easy solution if the worst happens.

There are software applications that you can use to recover hard disk data and correct logical errors but they are quite dangerous in the hands of unexperienced users. If the information present on the damaged hard drive is of an elevated importance you might want to use the services of hard disk data recovery company.

by nahar Dijla
Keyword : Hard Disk Data Recovery

Zombie Computers Roam The Internet

Zombie Computers Roam The Internet

Spyware and viruses are so common that you would be hard pressed to find anyone that isn't aware of them. Under the umbrella term Malware, these little programs have been causing trouble for computer users for many years, and they seem to get more powerful everyday. A new incarnation of malware is becoming very common as of late, and it involves using a virus or trojan horse to place a computer under the remote control of a hacker. The controlled computer is referred to as a zombie and it is used to commit various dastardly deeds without the knowledge of the computer owner.

Zombie computers are almost always attached to the Internet via a broadband connection such as DSL or Satellite Internet. This is important as spammers have found that by using zombie computers to send out their junk mail they can easily avoid detection. As of 2005 it was estimated that up to 80% of all spam was sent via zombie computers, and that number is on the rise.

The increase can be attributed to smarter hackers and better technology, but the real driving causes behind the increased zombie trend are better spam filters and anti-spam laws. According to Tom Spring at PC World Magazine, "spammers are hiring virus writers and hackers to help them create armies of zombie PCs to send spam." This union of hackers and spammers has been beneficial to both parties in opening new revenue steams that are extremely difficult to shut down.

Gregg Mastoras, a senior security analyst at the security firm Sophos says, "A new underground economy is evolving." This new economy is for the most part illegal and to date impossible to stop completely.

As of late the Chinese hackers have thrown their hat into the game and have taken the zombie computer business to the next level. Senior Pentagon Advisor Paul Strassmann recently said, "As of September 14th 2007 there were exactly 735,598 computers in the United States infested with Chinese zombies".

Large groups of zombie computers can be used to form a "botnet" or network of slave computers. This network can be used to send out millions of spam mails in a short period of time. Slave networks are also used to commit a DoS attack. DoS attacks, or Denial of Service, target a particular website and overwhelm the server with information requests until the server can no longer handle the load. These attacks or in no way secretive, and once discovered are easily shut down. There will be a period of time however when site traffic will be disrupted by the DoS attack. Larger more sophisticated networks such as those used by governments or large firms have defensive measures in place to prevent damage from a DoS attack.

by Jon T Norwood
Keyword : Zombie Computers Roam The Internet

Try One of These Four Tips to Watch TV On The Computer

Try One of These Four Tips to Watch TV On The Computer

Imagine viewing with your PC the thousands of videos, TV shows and movies that the Internet has to offer. If you have a laptop, then your TV viewing can be done on the go wherever you have access to the Internet.

Things are even more interesting if your Internet connection is wireless. These are just a few of the benefits of watching TV on the computer and this article will give you four tips on how to do this.

1) There is an enormous quantity of classic films, old movies and TV shows as well as documentaries available for you to view in the public domain. When the copyrights of content expire, they are placed in the public domain and can be viewed or even sold by anyone.

Try looking for this material on a search engine using phrases containing 'public domain' plus 'film' or 'video', etc. With just a bit of persistence, some real gems can be uncovered.

2) If you wish to view the shows that your television receives on your monitor, then you may want to purchase and install a TV tuner card in your PC. Many tuner cards will also record television programs into your computer's hard drive for later viewing.

No Internet connection is necessary here since the TV tuner inputs the same signals that your TV set does. If you are looking for quality, you can expect to pay anywhere from $100 to $200.

3) Want to know a guaranteed method of getting DVD quality movies to play on your computer? Just put a DVD into your CD-ROM drive! Before you attempt this, you have to download the right media player with this functionality.

You can download it free at Realplayer.com. Find the yellow 'Get it free' button, click on it and follow instructions. When you're finished with the download and installation, insert a DVD, start the player, open the 'play' menu and click 'Play CD or DVD'.

4) One of the more popular ways to watch TV on the computer involves the use of software that allows you to watch satellite TV over the Internet. Since the TV shows come over the Internet, no satellite dishes or other hardware is required. All that you need is a PC and an Internet connection.

With this software, you will typically have access to more than 3000 channels all over the world . The software prices are between $40 to $100. This is a one time purchase that will set you up for life with no other recurring fees or payments.

Hopefully this article has given you an idea of what's available to you through your PC and its connection to the Internet. The good news is that there is no end in sight to the explosion of Internet TV and video.

by Marc Sandford
Keyword : Watch TV On The Computer

Finding The Best Ergonomic Chair For You

Finding The Best Ergonomic Chair For You

It isn't always easy to find a cheap ergonomic chair or a low cost ergonomic office chair. Incorrect ergonomics can cause back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, headaches, and other medical issues. Whenever people shop for chairs and desks for the home or office, they're not usually looking for something that is good for their bodies, but more about what looks good or is low cost, cheap or what's on sale.

No matter what the task, an ergonomic chair or ergonomic office chair will pay for itself fast due to less pain and increased productivity. The terms computer ergonomics and office ergonomics are often used to mean the same thing; they are usually referring to body-adapted ergonomic chairs, office chairs, stools, desks, keyboards, mice, etc. Try out several chairs at furniture, office supply and back-care stores before you pick the best ergonomic chair for you.

There are some extra large ergonomic chairs that are great for security guards as the size of this chair allows for equipment to be worn on the belt and not to become hooked on the arms of the chair. Fabric selection is important with the ergonomic industrial chair as cleaning may be an issue. For ergonomic industrial chairs and seating the caster selection is particularly important for industrial or manufacturing areas; you'll want a hard floor caster designed for concert floors.

Ergonomic intensive use chairs or seating, also known as 24/7 seating, is for dispatch room security monitoring areas, control rooms, and 911 emergency dispatch offices. Tilt options on the industrial chair mechanisms as well as cylinder height must be considered depending on the job to be handled. Ergonomic intensive use chairs are very durable and especially need to be ergonomic in design, because workers are typically sitting for a lot of hours.

Adequate lumbar support in an ergonomic chair is the most crucial element of a backrest. Look for chairs that provide mid-back and upper-back support as well. The seat should always extend at least one inch from either side of the hips for optimum comfort because insufficient hip room can make you sit too far forward and not get enough thigh support.

Look for an ergonomic chair on wheels that swivels to avoid excess stretching and twisting of your spine and a five-point base won't tip over when you recline. The tilt mechanism maintains support as you move and recline; it's best to have your back slightly reclined while seated at your desk.

The seat pan is the component of the chair that supports the majority of the user's weight. Three or four fingers should fit between the seat pan's front edge and the back of the knees. Tilt adjustments are preferred to allow for a forward working or reclined posture.

Other ergonomic products you can buy include: document holders, ergonomic workstations, telephone mounts, ergonomic keyboards and mouse devices, footrests and speaker stands. It's important to remember that you probably spend a lot of hours on your computer and it's really a long term investment in your health. Hopefully these ergonomic facts and tips about features and types of ergonomic chairs will help you when shopping for or buying an ergonomic chair online or at your local office supply store or office furniture store.

by Helen Hecker
Keyword : The Best Ergonomic

The Truth About SEO And Meta Tags

The Truth About SEO And Meta Tags

In earlier days, when the Internet was still pretty new meta tags were everything. They were vital in helping search engines determine what the site was all about and how to rank the site in their search results. When the databases were smaller and more manageable, this meta tag provided a quick and easy way to figure out which keywords were important on a site. At that time, meta tags were king. Many SEO services could get web sites placed high because of the presence of meta tags.

As the Internet grew larger beyond all expectations, there was fierce competition in trying to get into the search engine's top ranking. SEO services who could not get their sites ranked through fair means resorted to unfair means. In an effort to bring traffic to their site they abused the system by incorporating useless and completely irrelevant keywords into their meta tags.

With the result that today, Google and most other major search engines pay little or no attention to meta tags. What is given more importance is the content within the pages of the site. A few engines still take notice the words within the meta tags, but they are used more as minor supplements to the actual content and title tag of the web page.

So, should you or shouldn't you use meta keyword tags anymore? It certainly couldn't hurt to use it. Search engines use many different factors to determine site rankings, so it makes good sense to use meta tags along with any other acceptable and legitimate technique that is available. At best, it increases your chances of getting a higher ranking and there's no downside to it unless you rampantly stuff your page with irrelevant keywords.

by Gabriel Adams
Keyword : The Truth About SEO And Meta Tags

Website Performance And Load Testing

Website Performance And Load Testing

Your company is rolling out its new web application. This web application is well designed and attractive. It has been well tested by your quality assurance group. You have spent a lot of money marketing your new website. The website now goes live. Very soon you realize that your new web application is unable to scale to your typical production load and the response times and performance reach completely unacceptable levels. Your web logs indicate that most of your website visitors simply leave the new website before buying anything since its response times are very poor. You start to panic, and one of your friends tells you that the reason your application does not perform adequately is that you do not have ample hardware. Hearing this, you decide to add more server hardware. While this has a small effect on the website response time, it is still woefully inadequate. You soon realize that problem does not really lie with the hardware but rather with the web application itself. It appears that your web application was not well optimized for the typical peak loads. It becomes increasingly evident that most of your marketing dollars were wasted.

Enter the world of performance and load testing. In order to ensure that your application scales as the load increases, it is necessary to perform tests where your application is tested against a simulated load that closely resembles the actual load that it will be subjected to when it is exposed to the outside world.

It is important to distinguish between functional or regression testing and load or performance testing. Functional and regression testing is used to automate a large number of scenarios to ensure that your website works as intended. Load testing on the other hand gauges how well your website performs when it is subjected to a large load, such as a large number of simultaneous users.

Load and performance testing require the use of automated testing tools. It is impractical if not ridiculous to try to simulate a load of 200 concurrent users by having a group of 200 folks sit on 200 machines and try to perform operations at the same time. Before you can begin any kind of load and performance testing you will need to identify the test scenarios you need to automate. A load testing tool will typically record web requests and responses based on user interactions with a website. As you perform various operations on your website or application, the tool records all the web transactions that take place. When you finish recording, it generates an automated script. Alternatively you could use the tool to manually create the script. Typically testers will perform a combination of the two. They will use the recording mechanism to generate the skeletal foundations of their scripts and then manually modify the scripts to take into account specialized scenarios. The load testing tool should also allow the tester to simulate constrained bandwidth situations. This means for example that it would accurately model users who would use the application on a slow modem connection. It should also allow the tester to drive the script using random data from large external data sets.

Load testing scripts can be either graphical or textual in nature. Good load and performance testing tools do not require the testers to be programmers. Testers that are not familiar with programming will work with scripts that can be graphically manipulated. Graphical scripts will typically show all recorded steps in the form of a hierarchical structure and testers would modify any of the steps in order to modify the recorded script. Testers who are proficient in programming may want to manipulate their scripts by editing the code. These testers would work with code written in a well known programming language such as JavaScript, VBScript or C.

Once your script has been created, you may wish to put specialized checks in place. These checks would typically be related specifically to the application under test. For example you may wish to check that the response returned by a certain web request meets certain textual criteria. This would involve the placement of a text checkpoint. A text checkpoint can verify that a given text segment is present or is not present in a specified portion of the web page. Once you have finished the creation of the script you would typically test the script on your own machine as a single user to ensure that the test script runs as intended.

You are now ready to perform a performance based load test. A good load testing tool will allow the tester to fine tune the execution of the test. This means that it will allow the tester to choose the number of concurrent virtual users, how the script ramps up, how it ramps down and for how long it runs. It should also allow the tester to create various groups of concurrent virtual users that have their own ramp up, steady state and ramp down characteristics. A good testing tool will allow the user to distribute this load over several machines since a single machine may be only able to scale up to a few hundred users.

To understand the behavior of the loaded web application, it is also important for the load testing tool to enable the tester to track the performance characteristics of external components such as operating systems, web servers, databases etc. This allows the user to see how the performance of his application correlates with the performance characteristics of the external component. This kind of analysis will allow the tester to pinpoint the root cause of performance bottlenecks fairly easily.

During test execution the tester should be able to view the performance graphs in real time for performance metrics such as the transaction response time, HTTP responses per second grouped by HTTP code (e.g. 200, 404, 500 etc), passed transactions per second, failed transactions per second, total transactions per second, hits per second, pages downloaded per second etc. The tester should also be able to simultaneously view the performance characteristics of the external components described above. For an operating system this could be something like the % processor time, for a database it could be the number of writes per second. At the end of the test, the tester would typically be able to view and save this data as a report for further analysis.

Load and performance testing allow you to simulate the behavior of your application under a typical production environment. This will allow you to plan your hardware deployment strategy effectively and ensure that your application will deliver the expected performance characteristics. Rolling out a web application without testing its performance characteristics under expected production loads would resemble crossing a road blindfolded. Load testing is an essential part of the development cycle of a web application and should never be overlooked.

by Umair Khan
Keyword : Website Performance And Load Testing

Trusting Digital Reviews

Trusting Digital Reviews

Digital camera reviews are abundant not just online but also in the newspapers, magazines and even TV shows. We often wonder why most digital camera reviews always praise all the digital camera out in the market, that's why we end up getting confused on which product to buy or get our loved ones.

Here's one thing you should never trust regarding digital camera reviews - never trust press releases or reviews that are directly from the manufacturer or advertising office that is directly connected with producer of the digital camera. Why?! Well because these digital camera reviews are never too truthful, or they just give out the good points about their products. I mean, what would you expect, supposing you own your own line of digital cameras and to boost your sales, you release digital camera reviews about your products. Of course you wouldn't point out the bad things or the glitches of your product in your digital camera reviews, because that way you will never be able to shoot up your sales. Press releases or digital camera reviews from manufacturer are always half-truths. Haven't you had any experience with that?! I mean, that just doesn't go for digital camera, remember that brush-blower thingy that you bought over the internet that says it would work tremendously for your hair, but ended not working for your hair after all. Press releases are press releases, meaning that they are aimed to get people to buy the product or to give the product a better name. One more thing that you can never fully trust are home shopping networks and advertisements. As much as press releases, they pretty much pose the same claims about their products. But hey, don't trust me, you can always get them and return them after proving to yourself that it doesn't work. Never mind the time and effort that you've wasted, you chose to listen to a half-truth digital camera review, that's what you get for that.

The best digital camera reviews available are those found in specialty magazines (computer based and technical magazines), special websites catering to techie stuff and unofficial digital camera reviews. Why?! Well because! Because these digital camera reviews are always truthful. These reviewers and critics are never afraid to list down the good as much as the bad points of digital cameras. These digital camera reviews usually points out the difference between the products that a certain manufacturer has released and how it is worse or better than the previous one. These reviewers and critics are also knowledgeable in their craft, so its say to safe to say that they know what they are talking about when it comes to digital camera reviews. One more thing, most of the time, these digital camera reviews are actual first hand experience with the product itself and not just some advertising agent asked to come up with flowery words to capture you and your wallet.

Another best source for a digital camera review is one that you can write yourself. And how can you do that?! Of course, you first need to buy your own digital camera, try it out and compare everything that you do with it to the things that it claims to be. (be careful to read the specs, options and features that you need to try out, be on the lookout for words such as weatherproof, meaning that they are splash resistant as to waterproof that are water resistant. You don't want to get your newly bought weatherproof camera wet, just to prove to yourself that the things they claim are not true). After doing so, then you can write your own digital camera review or reviews, depending on how many things you've learned from your digital camera. Be sure to indicate that your review is an on-hand experience with the product and not just some wild guess.

by Montydirect.com
Keyword : Trusting Digital Reviews

IBM to offer free office software, targeting Microsoft

IBM to offer free office software, targeting Microsoft
www.chinaview.cn 2007-09-19 14:22:33

BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- IBM Corp. is to start offering free programs for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations, in another bid to upset the dominance of Microsoft's Office suite, media reported Tuesday.

The company was scheduled to announce the desktop software, called IBM Lotus Symphony, at an event Tuesday.

The name for the suite is the same name IBM used for its first integrated productivity suite, which it offered in the 1980s but which never took off with customers.

Mike Rhodin, general manager of Lotus Software for the IBM Software Group, said the company brought back the name to "herald in a new age" of productivity software.

The programs will be available as free downloads from the IBM Web site.

IBM's Lotus-branded proprietary programs already compete with Microsoft products for e-mail, messaging and work group collaboration. But the Symphony software is a free alternative to Microsoft's mainstay Office programs -- Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The Office business is huge and lucrative for Microsoft, second only to its Windows operating system as a profit maker.

Microsoft's Office suite of products already faces some competition from Google Inc's online tools, called Google Apps.

Stop Computer Hackers

Stop Computer Hackers

I have used a computer since about 1993. I love all the things I am able to do with one. And now that my fingers are no longer so nimble I love it even more. I am able to communicate via E-mail and to write using my word processor.

One thing about computers which I absolutely hate is the way some others use their computers -- hacking! Hackers should be jailed without regard to their age. Hackers have caused both you and me to lose a lot of money.

And they are guilty of causing unnecessary frustration and aggravation to those of us who are simply trying to enjoy our computing experience. Hackers are a pitiful group of people with nothing better to do with their time than to cause problems for the rest of us.

I expect I have spent 100 hours trying to diagnose various computer problems over the years. I will estimate that I have spent at least $5000 replacing my computers and in buying software to correct or prevent problems which hackers create.

I read recently that successful computer hackers might also be able to steal your identity. Now that is scary! Viruses, trojans, adware, and slow loading or non-functioning computers are bad enough. But now we learn that hackers could actually destroy your life by stealing your identity!

Why is all this necessary?

Many anti-virus, anti-spyware, and other similar computer protection programs are available. Many, if not most, do nothing to stop someone from placing programs on your computer. Those programs seem only work once a problem has been recognized. They do not stop the problem from being placed on your computer in the first place.

I think I have found a program which will protect my computer from hackers. I have downloaded Security Suite which runs continuously in the background and stops hackers from messing with my computer. The program downloaded in less than a minute. I feel much more secure since the free scan turned up no problems on my computer .

With a full eight week money back guarantee, there is nothing to lose.

If your computer has been acting up, you should at least get the free scan. I am certain you will agree that this product is worthwhile for your peace of mind and for your personal, or business, security.

by L. Bowlin
Keyword : Stop Computer Hackers

LCD or CRT - Which One For Me?

LCD or CRT - Which One For Me?

To have a choice sometimes makes things a bit confusing. When there's only one to choose from it's easy. So when you have to choose between LCD or CTR how do you go about it? First you need to find out what you want most; space or quality? Although with quality, the gap between the two is quickly closing. If you are a graphic designer, you might want to stick with a CRT - Cathode Ray Tube - screen for the time being. It seems to have the best resolution as yet.

LCD screens save a heap of space and are light and easy to handle. Resolution is the watchword when buying any kind of screen. The maximum resolution needs to be 1024x768 at the very least. This will enable it to support all your applications and icons. The more pixels your screen has, the better it will be to work with.

The CRT is generally thought to be cheaper, better to view and with better colour depth than the flat screens. But CRTs are falling in popularity, probably due to the ease of use that the flat screen has. It is not heavy and can fit in places that the CRT would not. There is no hot air to contend with as the CRT has, so if you don't have air-conditioning, maybe that's the one you should get.

by Melanie
Keyword : LCD or CRT - Which One For Me?

Introduction to Macro Software

Introduction to Macro Software

Macro software plays an important role in modern life. But most of you don't know what it is, and how it works. Here is a basic introduction to the software.

The macro software is a powerful utility that collects of several separate applications, all working together to act like one cohesive unit. It is designed for automating the tasks that you perform repeatedly or on a regular basis. The primary purpose of the software is to simplify and make your life and job easier. So if your jobs are plodding and repetitive, you can free from them by using the macro program.

Before you use the software, you should be familiar with the basic usage for macro software.

What's a macro? It is an essential concept you need to know first. A macro is a set of keystrokes, mouse actions and instructions that are recorded, saved, edited. The recorded keystrokes, mouse actions and instructions can be played back (executed) in further. In other words, a macro is a series of commands, keyboard or mouse actions that are recorded to perform a given task automatically when a certain key is pressed or a certain command is entered. These tasks can be something simple from typing your email address into a site to something more complex such as transferring data between two applications.

Knowing what a macro is, you can now create a macro. The macro software allows you to create macros in two ways. The most common method is to create a macro by recording keystroke and mouse activities. When the recording starts out, you can perform the activities or tasks that you want to script. During the recording process, the macro program will track keyboard events and mouse events, and then turn these actions into macro steps. When finished, you stop the recording and save the macro. The other method is to create a blank macro by editing manually. You open the script editor and inset the action list you need, and then you can edit the script for a macro manually. Later, you can use macro editor to modify existing macros and remove unwanted mouse moves or delays and optimize the performance even further. Of course, for the recorded macros, you can use the macro editor to further customize and fine-tune it.

For macro software, there are two ways to play a macro, regular playing and quick playing. For the regular playing, using hotkeys or keywords to replay recorded macros is a simple one. You can specify a hotkey or keyword for a macro, and press the hotkey or keyword to play back it when you want to perform the macro task. The quick playing differs from the regular playing. That means you can schedule or trigger a macro. Scheduling a macro is an ideal way to perform a task automatically without your supervision. You can schedule it to run at a specific time it is convenient for you; or you can schedule it to launch periodically (daily, weekly or monthly). Alternatively, you can launch a macro based on one or more system events. Whenever, a system event occurred and a macro has been triggered with it, the macro will be launched automatically.

by shujun
Keyword : Introduction to Macro Software

Web 2.0

Web 2.0

Possibly one of the most useless phrase that's currently doing the rounds is 'Web 2.0'. I call it useless as the term implies that there is a new version of the World Wide Web available, and that us fools left using the old Web 1.0 should probably catch on and make the switch; fortunately this isn't the case.

The term was coined by O'Reilly Media 2.0 back in 2003, and was popularised by the first Web 2.0 convention in 2004 and then a series of successive conferences. Eventually it become adopted by the wider community however when a customer of mine asked me earlier today to define exactly what Web 2.0 meant I was stuck; hence my sudden need to write this article.

I don't feel bad for not knowing how to define the standard as even Tim O'Reilly, the man who is credited with creating the term seems to describe it in an incredibly cryptic and nondescript way. Apparently "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform."

Right, so in English what exactly does this mean? I think the best way I can describe it is to say that Web 2.0 is a term used to describe a website that has increased the overall functionality of the Web; as such, the term can mean different things to different people. Broadly speaking a website that provides new and interactive technologies such as weblogs, social websites, podcasts, RSS feeds and online web services can fall under the Web 2.0 umbrella.

Personally I think that the phrase is a nonsensical buzzword which has been coined for no real reason than the fact that it sounded catchy. Using the phrase in a meaningful way can be close to impossible since many of the core components of Web 2.0 have existed from the very earliest days of the web.

For educational purposes I should really go over the typical characteristics that are used to make up a typical Web 2.0 site and these are as follows:

- Users being able to contribute to the data on a site; Wikipedia is a good example of this.
- An element of social networking such as MySpace.
- Allow users to use applications entirely through a browser. A web operating system such as Goowy which I reviewed several months back is a good example of this.
- A smart and user friendly interface; often based on a new technology such as Ajax.
- An ability for the user to enhance the application or website as they use it.

Our website design company Refresh Creations often gets people touting that their websites are categorised as Web 2.0, but when you delve deeper it becomes apparent that they have simply installed a trivial feature such as a blog to allow them to make this claim.

Personally, I hate buzzwords and have little time for people that utilize them when pitching ideas or sales pitches to me. Therefore it is somewhat unsurprising that I simply don't 'get' Web 2.0 - due to the lack of set standards to what it actually refers to you can end up making the phrase mean practically anything you want it to.

Even after researching this article for best part of an hour I'm still a little bit unsure as to what the phrase actually means and I don't think this is my failure to grasp the concept but rather the fact that it hasn't been correctly, accurately or solidly defined.

by Refresh Cartridges
Keyword : web 2.0

CNC Control

CNC Control

Since we are dealing with CNC machines that do work for us, we need to control those CNC machines somehow. We need to control them for safety reasons as well. If you give a machine improper commands it can easily get out of control and cause harm to you or the part you are machining. We want to give appropriate commands to our machines, at appropriate times so they are not "out of control".

The language that these machines use is called G-code. G-code has been around since the early 60's. There are a number of variations of G-code, but most are very similar to one another. See the previous section for a sample of G-Code.

We will need to use a computer to talk with our CNC machine. Our computer will send signals to our CNC machine. In-between our computer and our CNC machine sits a controller. A controller converts commands into signals that are used to control the motion of our machine.

As these signals are sent out of the CNC controller, they go to either stepper or servo motors. This is how we create motion. These motors drive our various axis on our CNC machine. While we are moving our axis, there is generally a cutting tool of some sort removing material. This is the machining process coupled with CNC.

Here is a brief description of the two types of motors generally used in CNC:

Stepper motors:

Simple design Easy to use Generate torque at low rpm Do not know their position in relation to the program

Servo Motors:

Generate torque at high RPMs Generally need gearing of some sort to be effective More sophisticated Can maintain their relative position, thus, they can be more accurate

CNC Machine Controllers

Controllers generally stand alone near the CNC machine. They act as a translator between your control computer and your CNC machine. Generally, they add quite a bit of cost to a CNC machine as well. Controllers can cost anywhere from $1000-$20,000 or more depending on their sophistication.

by Ivan Irons
Keyword : CNC Control

Overview of Mobile Framework

Overview of Mobile Framework

Why Mobile Framework is needed?

The need to display content on mobile devices continues to burgeon - especially with the seamless extension of enterprise data onto the small screen. As a result, solutions for shortening the content-to-mobile implementation cycle are on the rise. If you want to take your content mobile, and do it quickly and efficiently, have a look at mobile frameworks.

Purpose of Mobile framework

The purpose of a mobile framework is to utilize a standards-based architecture that leverages existing IT infrastructure and maximizes return on investment. Such a framework is relatively easily deployed and extends enterprise content to mobile users with both good quality and user experience. The purpose of a mobile framework is somewhat different from actual mobile development tools, which are specifically used to develop mobile applications. Mobile frameworks extend existing applications (such as Customer Resource Management (CRM) to mobile workforces and their devices. Just make sure the mobile framework is truly a mobile framework.

Use of Mobile Framework

You're on your way to a pivotal meeting but the flight's been delayed. You need to notify your client, make some last minute adjustments to your presentation, and figure out the fastest route from the airport to their office. In short, you really need to have your office with you. The answer is MOBILIZE YOURSELF! Explains how to maximize the mobility of the technology you have today--and it provides smart answers about the mobile technologies and services you might be considering.

Mobile framework Requirements/Features

This list will help you identify a mobile framework. Usually, a mobile framework will include the following: A graphical development tool that visually maps complex server logic and data to device resident applications

Flexibility for customization and the ability to incorporate new code (MMAPI, .NET, Insignia) Secure access and user identity

An API extension to let other applications "hook" in Enabling of media (video, audio, images) transformation (Java MMAPI, Insignia Mobile Media Framework)

Ability to provide lightweight technology for mobile agent-based distributed computing (Taco Framework)

Ability to provide for content syndication (Jet speed)

Ability to provide content transformation

Agents for device detection

Asynchronous transactional messaging for guaranteed data delivery and integrity Allowance of true mobile client applications with seamless disconnected and real-time operation Mobility is still a new approach to the workplace. Reaching business systems puts special demands and requirements on access, security, and collaboration infrastructure. This can all be reassured with mobile frameworks.

The name MOBILE is derived from the first letter in each of the six categories that make up the framework.The six categories are:

M the need for mobility O the need to improve operations B the need to break business barriers I the need to improve information quality L the need to decrease transaction lag E the need to improve efficiency

Advantages of Mobile Frameworks

So what's important in Mobile Framework is to get the technologies that take you farther and to

# Learn how to choose, customize, and synchronize notebook computers, Pocket PCs, and other mobile devices

# Evaluate your connectivity options--infrared, wired and wireless LANs, cyber cafés, and more

# Make your e-mail, files, corporate data, and favorite Microsoft Office applications road-ready--and secure

# Do more with less gear--get driving directions, enjoy music and video, even manage your stocks and expenses on mobile devices

# Help your company stay agile with sales automation, ERP, and other applications for mobile employees

# Know how to buy accessories and gadgets that aren't just cool, but solve real business problems

Thus Mobile Framework has a large spectrum of different applications, requirements and features. But we Specialties are concentrating on small part of that spectrum and that is "sales automation, ERP, and other applications for mobile employees"

by Jignesh Padhiyar
Keyword : Overview of Mobile Framework

Database Indexing - An Introduction

Database Indexing - An Introduction

Databases are excellent data storage and retrieval tools, ranging from simplistic tables of information to complex, intricate collections of multiple linked databases. A database is created and named based on the particulars of its application, and stores data in tables consisting of an organized collection of rows and columns. Data may be manually entered into databases, but is more commonly written dynamically into databases by web sites or by connected software applications. Companies often maintain constantly growing databases containing data such as client information, financial figures and performance analyses, for instance, and the ever expanding nature of such databases warrants techniques for streamlining the process of locating specific pieces of information within them. Indexing allows for the rapid retrieval of specified data by queries, and is therefore a powerful tool for databases containing hundreds or even millions of records.

At initial set up, the creator of a database typically defines the primary key, which is a column within which the data in each row is unique. For example, a column containing client last names would not be identified as the primary key, as multiple entries may have the same name. However, a column containing unique client ID numbers could be designated as the primary key. When the primary key is defined, an index is actually created. When data from the column defined as the primary key is requested in the form of a query, the database automatically utilizes this index to quickly locate the requested data. However, the primary key is likely not the only column that will need to be searched for data. For queries that will be used frequently, an index can be added to the appropriate column to speed up the process of data selection. Indexes speed up the process of retrieval while lessening the workload the server must endure to perform the search.

Much like the way the index of a book makes finding a topic easier, database indexes make locating a queried piece of data easier. Instead of flipping through and reading each individual page of a book to locate a topic, you can refer to the book's index and know where to look right away. Likewise, instead of a query asking each record in a database if it contains the information being sought, it can be directed by an index to the appropriate data.

Effective use of indexes requires establishing a balance between an efficient number of indexes and too many. Since indexes take up space, using too many can counteract the purpose by slowing the database down. Indexes may be unnecessary for smaller databases, where the queries can locate data quickly and easily. But indexes are dynamic and powerful tools for optimizing the performance of large databases.

by Stephen J. Richards
Keyword : Database Indexing - An Introduction

$25 Million in Prizes Is Offered for Trip to Moon

$25 Million in Prizes Is Offered for Trip to Moon

The group whose $10 million prize spurred privately financed rocketeers to send a small piloted craft to the cusp of space in 2004 has issued a new challenge: an unmanned moon shot.

With the audacious new contest comes a much bigger prize: up to $25 million, paid for by Google, the ubiquitous Internet company.

The “Google Lunar X Prize” was announced yesterday in Los Angeles at the Wired magazine’s NextFest. The contest calls for entrants to land a rover on the moon that will be able to travel at least 550 yards and send high-resolution video, still images and other data back home.

The X Prize Foundation saw the new contest as one of “the grand challenges of our time that we can use to move people forward,” said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, chairman and C.E.O. of the foundation.

The prize for reaching the moon and completing the basic tasks of roving and sending video and data will bring the winner $20 million, according to the contest rules. An additional $5 million would be awarded for other tasks that include roving more than 5,500 yards or sending back images of artifacts like lunar landers from the Apollo program.

Carnegie Mellon University immediately announced that a roboticist on its faculty, William L. Whittaker, would be pulling together a team to seek the prize. Why would anyone sign up for a challenge that will almost certainly cost more than the prize will bring? John M. Logsdon, the director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, said: “There are a variety of reasons to do it, including ego gratification, including loss-leader reputation building, including a fascination with doing things in space. I don’t think they’re driven by the amount of the prize.”

Dr. Logsdon said the goal was realistic once a launch vehicle is obtained. “Russia and the U.S. did that sort of thing 40 years ago,” he said. “The technologies aren’t easy, but with all the experience in industrial robots and sensor devices, I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t put together a robotic machine that could meet these requirements.”

The $20 million grand prize will be available until Dec. 31, 2012, and then will drop to $15 million for two years. The contest would be likely to end after that time, though Google and the foundation would be able to extend it.

The new contest follows the path of the original Ansari X Prize, which was won by SpaceShipOne, a manned spacecraft designed by Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites and financed by Paul Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft.

That prize was paid for through a special insurance policy secured by Anousheh Ansari, a telecommunications entrepreneur in Texas and a board member of the X Prize Foundation who has since orbited the Earth aboard the International Space Station. Mr. Rutan is designing a second generation spacecraft called SpaceShipTwo that will be used by Sir Richard Branson’s space tourism company, Virgin Galactic.

The new X Prize, Dr. Diamandis said, grew out of research performed last year for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as a contest that the space agency would sponsor. The research suggested that six or seven contenders could be expected to try for the prize, but NASA ultimately backed away from financing the project, Dr. Diamandis said.

Then, in March, Dr. Diamandis pitched the idea to Google’s co-founder, Larry Page, who sits on the board of the X Prize foundation. “Sounds like a lot of fun,” he told Dr. Diamandis. The multimillion-dollar project, Mr. Page said, would be “doable,” but his Google co-founder, Sergey Brin, would have to sign on as well. This also happened quickly, Dr. Diamandis said.

NASA has announced plans to return astronauts to the moon as early as 2020. But without the need to keep humans alive or to make a return trip, the X Prize trips would be comparatively simpler.

A number of successful entrepreneurs from the world of computing and the Internet, like Mr. Allen, have pursued childhood fascination with space with efforts to create real spacecraft. Elon Musk, a founder of PayPal, has developed rockets through his company, Space Exploration Technologies, and Jeffrey P. Bezos, the founder of Amazon .com, is developing rockets at a facility he owns in West Texas.

Roger D. Launius, curator at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, expressed enthusiasm for the new competition, which he said “might unleash a kind of furor of innovation” and heighten interest in space exploration.

“It’s certainly a challenge that is worthy,” Mr. Launius said. But he also expressed worries that the robotic adventurers would head to the site of the Apollo 11 landing, a prospect he said was troubling since “the last thing I want to see happen is to see Tranquility Base disturbed.”

By JOHN SCHWARTZ
Keyword : $25 Million in Prizes Is Offered for Trip to Moon

Computer Training Course

Computer Training Course

There are several types of computer training course available to the person seeking to learn about computers today. In fact, the whole arena of computer training can be so intimidating that it is good to take your time in selecting what courses you are wanting to take. In this article, we will examine the outline of a computer training course that would appeal to the computer newbie. This course outline is not meant to be all inclusive, nor is it meant to be professional advice for someone looking to enter into the computer technology field. It is simply a broad outline of which subjects are suggested, and in what order, for someone to learn about computers. That being said, let's take a look at our suggested computer training course.

To start, it would be a good course of action to look at classes teaching the basics of how to operate a computer. Information for this computer training course should include things like the basics of using an operating system, how to save information on a hard drive, floppy drives (although they are quickly becoming obsolete), and CD / DVD ROM drives. It is a good idea in the computer training course to also learn some basics about the internal operation of the computer (i.e., what makes it tick, how it works). It may seem like it is best to leave information on how the memory works and what RAM actually stands for to the professionals ... however, this would be a mistake.

It is important even for the average home computer user to understand some of these basics, as it will impact how they use the computer and their expectations of performance under certain work loads and software compatibilities, among other things.

Moving on from the basics, a computer training course should teach more advanced concepts as well. Some of these concepts would include back-up procedures, file maintenance, and data recovery. Security issues are also on the rise, with the increased usage of the Internet, and safeguarding your computer against viruses and other attacks should also be covered in a computer training course. All of these are items that the average computer user should be aware of how to operate. Just knowing this information can save you in the long run from calling that professional for a service call that could literally cost you as much as the computer did in the first place!

Last, but certainly not least, every personal computer user should learn how to install and replace the basic plug-and-play circuit boards or cards that are in every personal computer. A computer training course would simply not be complete without this information. There are many parts that are truly user-replaceable, but unless you know how, you will end up paying that tech big bucks for a simple part swap. Things like that newest video card, an upgraded modem card, installing a firewire card, network card or extra USB port card are very simple.

Unfortunately, unless you are selective in your outline of courses, many basic computer training courses will fail to train you in these aspects of computer maintenance.

by Javier Salces
Keyword : Computer Training Course

Computers In Libraries Won't Replace Books Anytime Soon

Computers In Libraries Won't Replace Books Anytime Soon

The idea of a paperless society has been the dream of computer enthusiasts for many years. Along with the "cashless society", the hope that computers would replace the written word has resonated through sections of American society for many years. Although home computer usage has grown incredibly in the last 15 years making this seemingly possible in the near future, government agencies are slow to catch up. Libraries will have shelves of books for many years too come.

With home computer and Internet usage at an all time high it is no surprise that public libraries are struggling to make ends meet. Research that would have in the past required the use of a library can now be done much faster using a home PC and a few hours on Google. Couple this with the fact that library computers are generally out of date and over crowded, home research becomes the obvious choice. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in association with the American Library Association (ALA) recently funded a study that shows the demand for computer and Internet services has stretched existing library resources to capacity. The study also shows that "more than 73% of libraries reported that they are the only source of free public access to computers and the Internet on their communities". Although there is clearly great demand for these resources, there is little growth ahead. During peak usage hours it is not uncommon in some communities to have an hour wait time for computer access, and only 25% of all libraries report they have the computers to meet demand according to the ALA. Most libraries have not had a substantial increase in computers or technology since 2002.

This lack of technology is doing the most harm to the poor. Americans who have home computers and a fast Internet connection may not realize that large portions of society are cut off from the potential this technology can bring. Many Americans are now at the point where they could not imagine not being able to access the Internet, and the knowledge that would be denied is enormous. As a bastion of knowledge it has fallen to libraries to upgrade their capabilities and help more people access the information they need.

Cost is an issue in upgrading the existing public library technology infrastructure. Tax revenue is still the primary method of funding public libraries, but local government taxes have not been enough for a long time. It has become necessary to increase fines associated with library use and solicit donations in order to make ends meet and provide information services to patrons in need of a computer. Even using older refurbished laptops and desktops that have been donated or purchased has not offered enough saving to allow libraries to catch up to demand.

A new method of cutting costs and reducing computer wait time is wireless networking. By using wireless and Satellite Internet more than 17% of libraries claim they can reduce wait time by becoming a "Wireless Hot Spot" and allowing patrons to access the Internet from their own laptops as well as the library's. This solution also solves many bandwidth issues libraries are having, but not all. Considering that some libraries still use dial-up Internet access any improvement in this area would be helpful.

by Jon T Norwood
Keyword : Computers In Libraries Won't Replace Books Anytime Soon

Top Tips For Better Maintaining Laptop Batteries

Top Tips For Better Maintaining Laptop Batteries

Neglecting the care and maintenance of your laptop battery will seriously impair the ability to use the laptop when you need it away from an AC power supply. Investing in a little time and effort will repay you many times over by prolonging battery life and laptop use while mobile.

Laptop owners frequently omit to read and care for laptop batteries and make two very simple mistakes. In the first instance they use the laptop battery power in continuous conjunction with the AC power supply. Eventually they find the laptop will not power up when they come to use it. The second instance is to use battery power with no regard to the effect of repeatedly discharging the battery only partially.

What do you do when you try to switch on your laptop and all you get is dead silence? First step: remove the battery and then connect to the AC power supply alone. If the laptop powers up you know you have a problem with the laptop battery. A process known as purging is often enough to resolve the battery issue and we'll show you what to do later on.

Partially discharging the battery repeatedly teaches the battery that it does not need to charge itself fully when AC power is connected. When you come to rely upon battery power and you do not have a full charge, then your use of the laptop when away from an AC power supply is curtailed. The battery "memory" is reduced when incompletely discharged and this produces the shortening effect which is known as "battery fade".

Many laptop owners have experienced battery fade when they eventually come to use their computers on battery power alone. You can deal with this phenomenon quite simply but first you need to establish what type of laptop battery you have in your machine and take the time to review the care instructions issued with the laptop.

Here are some tips for you but you will need to check whether you have a NiCad (Nickel Cadmium) or HiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) battery for your laptop and check the manufacturers instructions.

The first tip is to ensure that you completely discharge your laptop battery. You do this by powering the laptop up using battery power alone and with the AC power disconnected. Allow the laptop to run the battery down completely until you get the battery low warning. Reconnect the AC power and allow the battery to be recharged from this state, for the period the manufacturer advises for recharge (as long as 12 hours).

The second tip is to purge your batteries. Purging is where you disconnect the AC power completely and also stop the laptops sleep or hibernation feature from being initiated. Allow the laptop to discharge the battery until it has itself powered off due to lack of power. Reconnect the AC power supply but do not power the laptop up and allow the battery to regain a charge for the next 24 hours. If you have NiCad batteries, perform this once a month and for NiMH every three months.

These two simple procedures will ensure that you are able to prolong the life of your laptop battery and make sure you can get the most out of mobile computing. Reading the battery care instructions will take only a few minutes. The return on this simple investment is not simply the money you will need to expend to replace otherwise perfectly good laptop batteries but the enhanced use and productivity to be gained from using your laptop when you need it and wherever you happen to be.

by Robert Pierre
Keyword : Top Tips For Better Maintaining Laptop Batteries

What is a Computer Registry?

What is a Computer Registry?

You may have heard the term computer registry but not know what it means. This article defines the term and outlines some common problems your registry may develop.

What it is: Your computer sets aside some space on its hard drive in a place called a registry. This is used for storing information about the operational settings of your computer, such as user profiles, system details, and application-specific information. You can think of it as a kind of electronic notepad that your computer uses to remember important information about its own operation at the system level. Information is constantly being written to and then deleted from your computer registry.

What can go wrong: Given all of this activity at such an important level of your computer's regular operations, registry errors can and do occur frequently. This is an extremely common problem and it is likely that most computers have at least a few registry errors. For example, when you remove a program, this action might accidentally delete or overwrite data that is vital to the smooth operation of your system. In addition to errors, registries on computers that are more than a year old can start to build up a cache of essentially useless data that in effect clogs up your system.

How to tell something is wrong: If you have had your computer for at least a year, you may start to notice a subtle decline in its performance. There may be a delay in response time for certain applications or your operating system. Or, some programs such as your browser might suddenly freeze up. The issue could be a virus or spyware (be sure to check those), but if you have already explored those options try running a scan of your registry.

Get a FREE scan: Most registry cleaner products on the market today offer a free, no-obligation scan to find out exactly how many problems your registry has.

Fix it: If you want to go ahead and get the problem fixed, most registry cleaner products will charge you around US$29.95. You can also find free registry cleaner products on the Internet: just do a search on your favorite search engine. Note: Use any product you find at your own risk. However, most products are safe to run.

by Jed Jones
Keyword : Computer Registry?

How To Buy An Ergonomic Office Chair

How To Buy An Ergonomic Office Chair

When shopping for or buying an ergonomic chair or ergonomic office chair online, finding the best ergonomic chair depends a lot on what kind of work you do whether at home or away from home. And incorrect ergonomics can cause back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, headaches, and many other medical issues. And if you spend most of your waking hours sitting at your desk, you know you need an ergonomic office chair that works with your body not against it, to spare you from needless backaches and fatigue.

The terms computer ergonomics and office ergonomics are often used interchangeably; they're usually referring to body-adapted ergonomic chairs, office chairs, stools, desks, keyboards, mice and so on. In recent times, the word 'ergonomics' has become part of office terminology. Medical chairs and dental chairs also benefit from using correct ergonomics. Clean room chairs and ESD chairs are also on the market; these chairs come with height adjustable options as well as seat pan and back option, plus they have necessary inflatable lumbar support and footrest options. Ergonomic comfort is also very important because it helps keep employees alert. Ergonomic intensive-use chairs or seating, also known as 24/7 seating, are usually used for dispatch room security monitoring areas, control rooms, and 911 emergency dispatch offices.

Ergonomic executive office chairs or seating, also called managers' chairs, are usually found with a higher back and come with leather or stitched leather upholstery. The ergonomic intensive-use chairs are very durable and especially need to be ergonomic in design, because workers are typically sitting for many hours. And the executive chairs usually have upholstered back rests and upholstered arms.

The hydraulic seat height adjustment allows the user to adjust the chair properly so feet can rest on the floor or footrest and the upper body is properly aligned with the computer monitor, keyboard and mouse. The seat should always extend at least one inch from either side of the hips for optimum comfort because insufficient hip room can make you sit too far forward and not get enough support for the thighs. Adjustable height and width are absolutely necessary when buying a chair that has armrests. The armrests should be made of a soft material and should be at least 2" wide to provide an adequate surface area.

Some of the ergonomic chair seat pans easily adjust for either a forward or backward tilt. You can use an ergonomic chair with casters and a 5-point base to ease movement and minimize possible tipping. A good ergonomic chair or office chair will recline and lock into several different positions.

The backrest of the chair should also have angle, in-out and height adjustments to achieve the proper spinal alignment; the angle adjustment allows the user to adjust the angle of the backrest in relation to the seat pan, as opposed to the tilt mechanism, which moves the seat pan with the backrest. The front part of the seat should slope down ever so slightly and allow a fist size gap between the back of the knees and the front edge of the seat pan to reduce pressure on the back of the thighs. The seat pan is the one component of the chair that supports the majority of the user's weight.

Hopefully these ergonomic facts and tips about features and types of ergonomic chairs will help you when shopping for or buying an ergonomic chair online or locally from your office supply store or office furniture store. Many good deals can be found online and at local office furniture consignment and resale shops. And if you can't afford the Cadillac of chairs, the Aeron chair, which starts at about $400, find an ergonomic chair or ergonomic office chair that is a true ergonomic chair, not the 'ergonomically designed' chair that is generally not totally ergonomic.

by Helen Hecker
Keyword : How To Buy An Ergonomic Office Chair