gio’s WeBlog

Even Grandmothers Can Do It!

There may still be a few of you out there who are apprehensive of purchasing a laptop computer either because of cost or lack of knowledge. But with today’s laptop computer being more affordable and the technology making them easier to use, you need not be. In just a minimal amount of time, with the all the new user-friendly prompts, one could become another computer geek. There is even a computer laptop rental option for those who don’t want to spend the money until they have tried to navigate around a computer on their own. Being a grandmother, with my children and grandchildren living and traveling to various parts of the world, I found it necessary to overcome my fear.

The hardest part of my introduction to the laptop computer was to learn how to hook up and manipulate an external mouse, punch a few buttons on the keyboard, and basically, to just turn the machine on. It’s hard for some folks to believe, but the computers of this generation almost run themselves! Read on to discover for yourself just how little computer knowledge most of these machines actually require.

Even being completely new to the computer I was able to use it without even knowing what the mouse was for or how to use it. I went the computer laptop rental route prior to the purchase a computer. I found one that was set up to operate on voice command. Voice command software allows users to tell a computer what to do and the computer responds by fulfilling the user’s commands. Although it’s pretty new and still under development, voice directed technology has already infiltrated consumer service related systems.

Have you ever paid a bill by phone? Instead of speaking to a human being, chances are that you spoke to a computer that not only responded to what you said and followed the commands that you gave it, it also asked you for more information such as your full name or credit card number. In this case, a person (such as myself) operated a computer without even knowing it!

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A malware is software designed to destroy, steal private information or spy on a computer system without the consent of the user. Malwares are also known by the following names; malicious codes, malicious programs or malicious software. The most popular categories are Trojan Horses, viruses, adwares, spyware, root kits, worms and so on. Malwares can cause serious havoc to your computer system if you do not protect yourself against them.

In the past it was not easy to install malware on your personal machine because physical access will be required, such as physically installing them through a floppy disk onto your system, but with the widespread of internet, it is almost as easy as sitting in front of your system the means these malwares are installed on your computer.

Hackers use different means of propagating these dangerous codes through the internet such as using email attachments or active x control on web pages to install these malicious programs on your computer. It is your responsibility to make sure your computer is well protected because you will have yourself to be blamed if you leave it too late. So how do you protect yourself?

There are many ways to protect yourself; one of the many ways is to educate yourself very well about these malwares because it would be inappropriate to be applying security software against a virus when you have a Trojan horse on your system. So, a very good user education is vital in fighting against malwares.

Operating system security fixes and program patches are very important as well, so make sure you keep your operating system up to date. Whenever a software vendor releases a new fix or patch it could mean they have found a new flaw in their software, installing these patches will make your computer to be less vulnerable to malware attack.

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Most of us love the new toy. In the adult world, ie, new gadgets. But truly, we spend a lot of time and money for new computers, mobile phones and software, if our old instruments for the mission just fine. A recent survey has shown that nearly 50 billion United States dollars, with a value of older, are actually unused gadgets lying around our homes gathering dust.

This is not to say, will not be updated if you need it. But it is always advisable to step back, remember your company and make sure your decision you justify your boss - - in a manner appropriate, in the bottom line.
Think about it: the fact that low payments leasing for the laptop that you had to be easy to feel that the size of two years on the road?

Here are some additional research imperative. Figures from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), indicate that the consumption of consumer electronics (CE) Products (what we often described as a "gadget") are further than ever before.

According to the CEA, the average United States budget contains products EC-26 (from 25 in 2005) and has spent $ 1200, they bought the last 12 months. The five main areas of growth were MP3 players, digital cameras, Car-Entertainment-systems, video, CD-hyphen and laptop computers.

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Going to college for the first time can be daunting enough without the extra trouble additional materials such as computers can give. Learning how to use your computer correctly can help you avoid a lot of wasted time and money. In college, you should be worrying about making the grade and not making your computer work.

Setting up your computer is not as hard as you think it is. Your brand new computer usually comes with installed software that you will find very useful as you work on it. If you are using PC, you probably have an operating system installed such as Windows XP or Vista. Some even throw in Microsoft Office applications such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc. all of which will be very helpful in writing papers and creating presentations. Another feature that is usually already installed is your internet browser such as Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera or any other application used to surf the net for research and email.

If you don’t already have the software you need to do your tasks in campus, you will need to purchase and install them yourself. Those software come with easy to install instructions. But you have to make sure first that your computer can handle each software’s system requirements. Take note of processor speed, operating system, memory or RAM, and hard disk space.

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With the growing popularity of laptops, tablet PCs, and PDA’s, more and more people are adopting some form of electronic calendar system. A large number people, however, prefer the familiarity of a paper planner - and who could blame them? Although electronic calendars offer many benefits in terms of efficiency, they don’t provide the satisfaction derived from putting pen to paper, the joy of reminiscing while reviewing the past year’s events and accomplishments. Or the thrill of a blank new calendar along with the anticipation of what will be written in it over the coming months.

Deciding to stick with a paper planner (or switch back to one) is really only the starting point. Before you go out and buy a planner for next year, there are several factors you should consider to make sure that your investment will meet your needs.

Format

Do you like a loose leaf binder which allows you to add and remove page pages as needed, or do you prefer stitched or wire binding? Do you want a good quality product for which you can buy refills each year, or would you prefer to try something different every year?

Would you like to be able to close your planner with a zipper or snap, or would do you like to be able to just pop it open? Would a carrying handle be useful to you?

There are a wide variety of binders and planner covers available in leather, vinyl, and cloth, in a multitude of colours and styles.

Views and Layout

How much detail do you like to record? Do you need a full page per day for appointments with an additional page for tasks and notes? Or will a single page per day suffice?

Perhaps a week at a glance will be enough for you, but would you prefer a vertical layout, with the days of the week across the top and a column for each day, or the more common layout, with Monday to Wednesday on the left and Thursday to Sunday on the right?

Would you like to see your schedule in hourly, 30 minute, or 15 minute time slots?

A monthly view is a good way to get an overall view of your schedule, whether it’s in addition to your weekly or monthly view, or if you’re a big picture person who can get by with this layout alone.

Tasks

Do you work best with a weekly to do list on the same page as your schedule, or with a separate master list from which you can select tasks for each day or week? Or do you prefer to write each task on its own sticky note that you can throw out once it’s completed?

Size

Do you want something that will fit in your pocket? Your purse? Your briefcase?

Most planners include a calendar and address book, and many have additional sections such as expenses, medical information, goals, projects, books to read, and so on. If this is important to you, you will want to be sure that the product you choose includes the sections you need, or offers the ability to customize it. If you will not make use of these sections, they will just add unnecessary bulk to your planner.

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Hectic schedules and a little time to spare because of work are keeping us from attending the needs of our computer.

Getting computer repair is now easy, with the help of www.fastteks.com, you never have to worry about that no more, for they offer residential services and even meet your demands about time. They even consider going to your house even late at night.

So if you need a quick repair of your pc, just visit their site and contact them.

So you’ve graduated from secondary school and have just been accepted to college. Although going to college is still just studying, it’s a more intense kind of studying as opposed to high school. This is because you are now going to try to get a degree in a chosen field of study such as law, medicine, fine arts, etc. That means you will be doing a lot of research and writing a lot of papers. You will need a computer to help you in this task.

Do you need a desktop or laptop (or notebook in some cases)? While desktops are a lot cheaper and can store a lot of items, the best device for a college student who has to go from class to class usually from one building to another would be a laptop. It is lightweight and easy to carry around. You can also use it for the internet anywhere there is a service available. But if you’re careless and are prone to losing things, stick with the desktop.

What should a newbie like you look for in a computer? Here are some things you should take into consideration before committing to one:

• PC or MAC? That is one of the first things you should ask yourself. Which one is better? Both have their good points. Mac is usually more expensive but this will not be for long as Apple gears up on becoming more competitive when it comes to pricing. Also, more software are being developed that can be used for both platforms. The rule of thumb in solving this issue is to go with you will be majoring in. A student whose major has anything to do multimedia and the arts should consider getting a Mac because this is what most professions in that industry are using. For business, law, and science majors, PC would be more advisable because of the office tools needed available to this platform. If you still can’t make up your mind, go with what’s being used in your campus’ library and laboratories. This way, at least your system will be compatible with theirs.
• Memory (RAM). A computer’s random access memory or RAM will determine how fast your applications will load. In this case, the more the better. If you read the system requirements for any software that you want to install into your computer you will see there a minimum RAM requirement. Problem is with each improvement in software capabilities, the more RAM required. So the best way for you to ensure that your computer can take on all your needs for the nest 3 to 4 years is take the minimum RAM required in your software and multiply it by 8. That’s how much RAM you conservatively need for you computer.
• Hard Drive. This is where you store your files and software applications. You will be needing a lot of this if you plan to store large files. The higher you hard disk space, the better.

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When it comes to computer security, many of us live in a bubble of blissful ignorance. We might be vigilant and never open email attachments from people we don’t know, we might take care to make sure an ecommerce site is secure before entering our credit card information, or we might even go so far as to install a standard firewall on our computers. Unfortunately, much of the common sense advice we follow when it comes to Internet security does little to combat the cyber-crime that is rampant.

Federal Trade Commission

Even the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, a governmental agency that is designed to help consumers, had to issue a press release stating that “consumers, including corporate and banking executives, appear to be targets of a bogus e-mail supposedly sent by the Federal Trade Commission but actually sent by third parties hoping to install spyware on computers.”

There’s little doubt that spyware, malware, and insidious virus attacks make any computer with Internet access vulnerable. But, because not all Internet security breaches are immediately apparent, people are often unaware that their seemingly hassle-free computing is anything but. The Federal Trade Commission offers seven guidelines to help consumer surf the Web safely:

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Mup.sys is a system file with an important role in computer networks. However, errors in this crucial file can prevent a computer from booting correctly, or booting at all.

WHAT IS MUP.SYS DOING ON MY COMPUTER ANYWAY?
Mup.sys is used only by more recent operating systems in the Windows range –Windows XP, Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows Vista. The file is involved in a component of the operating system called a Multiple UNC Provider (MUP). It is part of a software system that helps networked computers communicate with one another to share files and peripheral components such as printers and scanners.

UNC stands for Universal Naming Convention — this phrase refers to how a network of computers using the same operating system uses a common language to describe the locations of resources used by the network, such as shared files and peripherals. This is not quite as complicated as it sounds. For the computer user, it means that the locations of the resources stored on a computer are described in the same way for each resource.

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LCD monitors are one of the fastest growing products among consumers’ in the computer market. They are becoming far more popular than CRT monitors and are relatively comparable in price nowadays.

Cheap LCD monitors are available for just a couple of hundred dollars, and although you may prefer to buy a model with more features, bigger display, and better resolution, you can still find some excellent flat screen computer monitors at rock-bottom prices. When LCD monitors first entered the computer market they were understandably more expensive than CRT monitors. The technology was new and companies could charge more to consumers for the privilege of having a flat panel PC monitor. Nowadays, the demand for these types of monitor and the number of manufacturers producing bigger and better models has driven down the prices.

LCD monitors are very slim, stylish, have excellent picture and color quality, and can fit into any room. Whereas CRT monitors are rather bulky, LCD monitors are much more compact. However, when comparing an LCD monitor to a CRT you should be aware that they aren’t measured in the same way. For instance, a 19″ CRT display is more like a 17 inch LCD display.

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Printer cartridges are one of the most commonly bought items of office stationary, but also one of the most expensive. Whether you have a laser printer or inkjet printer the cartridges you need can often set you back quite a lot of money.

The answer of course is to buy cheap printer cartridges, but as you probably know the quality of some of the cheapest printer cartridges is pretty dismal. Poor color range and printout quality is quite common. The answer then is to find a balance between price and quality so that the color range is accurate and the printing is good, yet you aren’t paying over the odds.

Cheap printer cartridges may not last as long as you’d expect also. Some of the unbranded cartridges may be the lowest priced, but as with many things, you often get what you pay for. For this reason, you may want to consider buying discount ink cartridges from known brands like Epson, HP, Dell, Canon, Xerox, and Lexmark.

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With all my ranting on computer maintenance you would think one might achieve what others call “trouble free” computing…not a chance.

By no means am I saying that you cannot achieve at least a better computing experience, but “trouble free”?

First lets think about this. I have heard and I quote “Computers don’t make mistakes..its the user that makes em!”. Ok I gotta say this and I hope someone is listening. Computers are a great piece of technology, but remember the internal workings such as hardware and software are completely designed by a human animal. So wouldn’t that make them as fallible as the people who design them?

Honestly… computers are only as infallible as the engineer who designs the components or software.

Don’t give up hope though. You can make your experience at least a more pleasant one. Although reaching for an unattainable goal will simply frustrate you. The best tool you can have is knowledge.

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Computer programming is not for everyone, working with computers constantly is hard work not physical work but very much mental. The drawbacks of working with computer are you cannot really work outside, tired eye and some days I personally cannot go near my computer. In saying that I love working with computers. My first computer was a commador 64bit and since then technology has integrated into nearly everything in modern life.

One huge lie is that you need a college degree to work as a computer programmer. Computer Programming has well paid jobs anywhere in the world, if you feel up to the task of learning a useful new skill. It is possible that you can learn computer programming in under 4 weeks if devoted enough.

I find it hard to dedicate oneself to learning no matter what age, but I believe with the right motivation anyone can learn to do anything, and start a new career in one of the fastest growing sectors in the world. You can learn from experts worldwide and learn what you need to know for the high paying Programming jobs. The first time I looked at computer code and languages I was totally confused, but I learned the computer languages and after practice to code quicker.

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For the last 4 or 5 years I have been on an amazing journey into the fascinating world of mobile learning.

Yes, I know that we all hear and learn things while driving in the car or walking along the path with family and friends but what I am talking about is the delivery of training and lessons by means of mobile phones, pocket PCs and other portable devices.

In Australia there are 19.7million mobile phones - not bad for a country of 21 million people. I keep wondering how many babies are owners of mobile phones…

For the first couple of years I was interested in and distracted by the actual technology and what it could do. I had the most amazing time buying up all sorts of bits of equipment that offered various sorts of communication and mobility. What I learnt from that was that technology evolves at a rapid rate and you can safely assume that new technology is out of date within 90 days!

I presented the range of technology to many conferences and became known as the one who always has the newest “toy” to show off.

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As technology is racing forward at an incredibly rate we all knew it wouldn’t be long before the release of a device like the IPhone!

The Iphone is more than just a phone and allows you to browse the internet with ease and also watch loads of different forms of multimedia. As well as that the Iphone also has a virtual keyboard that you control with the touch sensitive screen.

This article will tell you more about a new service called IPhone Nova which promises to give you access to thousands of media files for your IPhone.

The reason I decided to write this article is because if you have gone on the internet and typed in “IPhone Downloads” you will see a whole host of options so this should let you know what you get with one of them so you can make the right decision.

The fees for IPhone Nova just consist of a one off fee as oppose to having to pay for every single download that you get as that can really add up so it is quite refreshing to see an option like this.

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