Friday 2 October 2020

Understanding Laptop Batteries - Types of Laptop Batteries

 


 

Types of Laptop Batteries:

Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) Batteries: These were the first rechargeable batteries manufactured for laptops. They were relatively inexpensive, had high output and versatile, because they could be used in a wide variety of products. However, NiCd batteries have now been abandoned by laptop manufacturers with the introduction of more efficient and lighter-weight batteries.

Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) Batteries: NiMH was a big improvement concerning power output, reliability, cost, safety and capacity. The “memory effect” was the only issue with NiMH batteries which require them to be fully discharged before recharging to gain maximum output. These batteries can still be found in older model laptops.

Lithium Ion (LiON): This type of batteries has become the most popular for laptops since the “memory effect” has been eliminated, and much lighter than the other two in weight. However, the market price is also the highest.

Battery Cycle:

One battery cycle is used every time a battery is charged or discharged. Technically speaking, it is defined as the number of cycles a battery can perform before its nominal capacity falls below 80% of its initial rated capacity. Lifetimes of 500 to 1200 cycles are typical. For example, NiCad battery has a cycle life of 500-1000 or more cycles.

Battery Run-Time:

Battery run-time depends on a number of factors. Most of the time, it is the design of, and the power demands made by the machine that determines the actual battery run-time. For example, use of the screen, the hard drive and other accessories will significantly influence the duration of the run-time.

What are Smart and Dumb Laptop Batteries:

Some laptop batteries are equipped with internal microprocessor circuits that help manage battery energy, set the charger to the correct charge algorithm, predict running time, or according to Smart Battery System (SBS) forum, provide a state-of-charge (SoC) indication. These batteries are called “Smart” batteries. Those batteries termed as, “dumb” do not have these features, may be just counterparts, or may function to provide power only.

Optimizing Laptop Batteries:

1. “Condition” is a term for fully charging and discharging a new laptop battery to maximize performance and allow it to reach its maximum rated capacity. NiMH and NiCd batteries need to be conditioned at least once a month to reduce the “memory effect”.

2. Metal connecters should be cleaned occasionally to maintain good conductivity

3. Ensure that device’s power management features in the BIOS and Operating System are optimized, turning off the screen, using speed step

4. Avoid leaving your laptop on overnight all the time while charging. The laptop should be turned off occasionally.

5. Store the battery in a cool, dry, clean place if you’re not going to use it for a month or longer.

6. Turn down the brightness of the LCD screen when watching a movie on our laptop. Decrypt DVD movies and store it on your hard disk drive to avoid constant use of the DVD drive which consumes a lot of power

7. Never expose your laptop battery to heat, moisture, short-circuit, drop or physically abuse it.

Things To Know About Printer Cartridges

 


When a person first thinks of a printer cartridge, he or she may quickly dismiss it as being just something you buy when your printer has run out of ink. Knowing exactly how a printer cartridge works and the different aspects of buying one, however, can end up saving a person a lot of money in the long run. Investing in printer cartridges is usually not a cheap thing to do, many sell for fifty dollars or more each, and it is a good idea to know all of your alternatives before making any hasty decisions.

The printer cartridge works by storing ink inside of it to be used by the printer. When the printer sends a cartridge and appropriate signal, the ink is dropped and shaped into the form of the image or letters needed to be translated onto the sheet of paper. It is important to note, that two separate cartridges are needed for those who need color on their printed pieces. One cartridge will have only black ink and will only function during black and white printings, while the other contains red, yellow, and blue ink and can create different color combinations. The color cartridge is, in general, much more expensive then the simple black cartridge, so it is important not to waste it. It is a good idea, therefore, to not waste color ink unless it is absolutely needed. For example, printers can sometime be set to print everything, including black and white projects, through the color cartridge. Setting the printer to not do this will save you a lot of money in the future.

Another thing that is important to remember about printer cartridges is that many of the big-name companies who also create printers, such as HP, Canon, and Lexmark, will create cartridges that will work only with their printers. These cartridges are often very expensive and overpriced. This is because the big companies know that most of their consumers have little to no options on alternatives to buy, and that eventually most people will pay the extra money for the printer cartridge they need. It is also due to the fact that many companies like HP will make their printers cheaper to attract more customers and regain the loss through printer cartridge sales.

Fortunately for owners of printers, there are other options becoming available. Brands such as Xerox offer cheaper alternatives for printer ink that can work in multiple printers. Because these brands do not create printers themselves, they have no reason to charge more for ink and therefore can offer everyone a better alternative. The best way to find a good option for your printer is to check with a local store to see what different printer cartridges are compatible with your printer.

There is no question that a printer cartridge is important to maintaining a good printer and producing quality printed work. Knowing all of the options available to you, however, and practicing good ink maintenance goes a long way in saving money for the future.

Toner Cartridges: Should you use Remanufactured or Compatibles?

 


 

First a little history.

In 1938, the first invention that would lead to the laser printer and toner cartridge was patented. The process, knows as “electro photography”, used a dry printing method, not that different than today’s laser printer. It was 1948, however, before the commercial application of electro photography because available.

In 1959, the first automatic reproduction machine, the Xerox 914, which used a dry printing process. In 1978, the fine tuned technology was applied to the computer printing needs of business and private citizens. Physically large and with a large price tag as well, the Xerox 9700 laser printer that used a toner cartridge wasn’t affordable by individuals except the wealthy.

Everything changed in 1984 when Hewlett Packard began to market the “LaserJet” printer. This printer came with a replaceable toner cartridge that was not difficult to change, although it could sometimes bit a little messy. The really problematic part was that people who used the LaserJet had stacks of expensive but empty toners stacked in the storage room or wherever they could find to store the toner cartridges.

This problem was quickly resolved by environmentally aware designers by re-manufacturing the laser toner cartridge. This significantly reduced the cost of using laser printers.

What’s happening today?

Nowadays we have the luxury of having a laser printer on our desk at home if we want that type of printing. The as well as the initial outlay for the printer has become quite affordable and provides a unique, very professional looking print out.

Today, laser printers are manufactured by many companies and the price tag is only slightly more than the common ink printer (though colour laser printers are still quite expensive the gap is getting smaller). The laser toner cartridge costs have been reduced so that it is reasonable to use the laser printer at home as well as at the office. In fact the toners are usually much cheaper when you take into account the larger number of pages you get for the amount you pay (the industry uses the terminology ‘cents per page’ or CPP)

Basically there are 2 types of cartridges, originals and non-originals and there are 2 types of non-originals being compatibles and remanufactured (this goes for inks also as does the information below). Otherwise known as non genuine, after market this is how they work:-

– Compatibles are actually a brand new cartridge manufactured to work in the same way (without breaking the trademark, copy protection laws) as the same original cartridge with the same machines. The benefit you gain from these is obviously cost savings with at times massive savings up to around 50%. The downside is they are not as environmentally friendly as remanufactured toners and there are the occasional failures and complaints about lower quality (though failure rates for the top companies making these are within industry norms and not significantly higher than those of the original manufacturers themselves)


– Remanufactured toners however are a little different as they take an empty original (it should have only been used ONCE) and fill it with toner. As long as you buy from a reputable retailer it will have also been checked to determine if parts need to be replaced as well as toner refilled. You also get good cost savings as you do with compatibles but the environment wins out big time as you helping ‘close the loop’ by reusing an empty original. Once again the same applies as above with quality and failures (both negligible in my experience as a retailer in this industry).

NOTE: Its worth making a special note here that disposing of empty toners is a problem worldwide as the plastic they’re made of takes so long to break down and the toxicity of the toner inside. In many countries today there are programs available where you can get rid of your empties without just throwing them in the bin. In fact if you hunt around you’ll probably find a company will pay you for them as they need a constant stream of empties coming through so they can remanufacture them.

Something to keep in mind.

When purchasing a re-manufactured laser toner cartridge, be sure to read the box carefully and ensure you are selecting the right toner cartridge. The first time you purchase a re-manufactured toner cartridge, the box may look entirely different or very plain because these inexpensive toners are often not packaged in fancy, colourful boxes like the name brands. But then they don’t cost what the name brand toners do, either.

The bottom line.

If you use a reputable retailer for your home/office supplies they should have a clear policy in place not only about faulty toners but what happens if a cartridge has somehow caused damage to your machine (this would be very unusual by the way). Under these circumstances this policy should give you a full warranty to have the equipment repaired ASAP at no cost to you.

With my clients when they ask what I suggest I always recommend they try a non-original to see for themselves the quality etc. In any case the trick is to be able to make an informed choice with someone you trust so at least if something goes wrong the people you bought from haven’t skipped the country.

Let’s peep into the top 10 uses of USB drive


 

 

USB drive is one precious gift that mankind has received from technology. Universal Serial Bus or USB is famous with several different names such as Key Drive, USB Key Drive, USB Pen, Microdrive, Thumb Drive and Flash Drive.

Regardless of the name, these USB drives are an excellent and exceptionally handy tool. They are exclusively for the people who use computers at several different locations and need to take data along with them. The USB drivers are great-to-use, as they are small in size, can fit in your pocket or can act as your key chain. You can get about 32 MB to 4 GB of storage without any need of software. Just plug the drive in the USB port of computer to get instance storage and ready transfer.

Now let’s peep into the top 10 uses of USB drive.

USB Drive is multifunctional or say, support all-in-one in printer connectivity. It can typically combine the printer, copier, fax, scanner and the storage options in just one convenient device. It allows the companies, especially the small ones to save overall cost by offering about 4 or 5 devices in just one.

It gets you network scanning. You can utilize scanners to image the documents more frequently than you ever did before. The USB device server then allows the USB scanner to connect directly to the network.

You can change the conference room from a static to a dynamic one. Just attach all the USB devices of conference room to allow all the participants of meeting room to use the drive. Get the MFP, electronic whiteboard, laser printer and share storage drive networked together with a device server.

Believe it or not USB drives have blessed the sewing machines with best options and capabilities they had ever before. Most branded sewing machines such as Brother, Pfaff, Janome, Singer and Bernina have invented machines with USB connections. One can connect the machines to the PC or to USB pen drive to download software upgradation and patterns to sewing machine.

You can be benefited with wireless access of iPod. The iPod users can just connect the iPod to wireless device server. You can download all the music in a wireless way from computer to iPod. Your iPod is fully loaded to go out to the party.

It is a best way to get a camera networked. Connecting the USB enabled digital camera to the network can benefit the corporations and their consumers. With digital camera joined with wireless USB device, the operator can access digital images quickly.

It is the best help for the graphic designers. The graphic designers’ workplace has a digital camera, internal and external DVD or CD burner, scanner, photo printer and storage devices. The USB device is must for sharing the network workgroup.

USB drive helps in establishing the reliable backup plan for network surroundings.

The mobile worker can access the USB device and take with them whatever they want to data, music, images or just anything.

Workgroups generally utilize the USB peripherals beyond the keyboards and mouse. The scanners, multifunctional printers, laser printers and storage drives are the most employed USB enabled devices.

USB Extension Options: Breaking the 16 foot barrier

 


 

For the past ten years USB and FireWire have struggled to dominate the desktop interface market. Until five years ago, because of the relatively fast 400 Mbps offered by FireWire, USB, jokingly referred to as Ultra Slow Bandwidth, was relegated to low-bandwidth applications such as keyboards and mice. At the end of 2001, however, USB dealt a fatal blow to FireWire with the release of the new USB 2.0 standard offering a maximum speed of 480 Mbps, faster than the theoretical limit of FireWire (though, in practice, usually slower).

It seems that USB has essentially won the standards battle with FireWire because of its relative low-cost and high availability. The limitation of USB (both the 1.1 and 2.0 standards popular today) is the 16 foot limit. When you have more than 16 feet between your computer and your USB device you will see significant degradation in the signal that can cause problems ranging from slower transmission speeds to an entirely dropped connection. This causes problems for people who want to run a USB cable to a printer located in another room, to a presentation keyboard/mouse combo or any other USB device that may be in a remote location.

The cheapest (and arguably easiest) way to extend the distance to your USB device is by using a USB Active Extension Cable. These cables have built-in USB repeaters that actually boost the USB signal, allowing you to go further than the 16 foot maximum distance. The most common length for these cables is 16 feet and you can chain up to four of these together with no loss in signal. Assuming you are using the longest USB device cable available (also 16 feet), USB Active Extension Cables allow for a maximum distance of 80 feet between your computer and USB device. They are available in USB 1.1 (12 Mbps) and USB 2.0 (480 Mbps).

For most USB extensions 80 feet is long enough, but what if you need to go further? Super USB Extenders allow you to extend the distance to your USB devices up to 150 feet with no loss in signal. The Super USB Extender uses similar technology for the male and female interfaces, but rather than have a regular USB cable in the middle, it uses a Cat 5 cable (also known as a networking cable). The advantage of Super USB Extenders, other than the increased maximum distance, is the ability to create a custom length. If you need to go 63 feet, for example, you can simply use a Super USB Extender with a 63 foot Cat 5 Cable between the booster and receiver. Super USB Extenders are also available in USB 1.1 and 2.0 interfaces.

If you are looking for a connection beyond 150 feet, many manufacturers offer a special Super USB Extender capable of USB transfer with no signal loss at 330 feet, though this is limited to USB 1.1. Black Box has created a USB 1.1 extender capable of transmission up to 1000 feet without signal loss, perfect for connecting your computer to a security camera or webcam hundreds of feet away from your computer.

Another exciting innovation for USB extension technology is the pending release of Wireless USB. Wireless USB hubs and devices are anticipated to show up in early 2006 with maximum distances over 100 feet. Keep in mind that this is the first release and as the technology matures this distance limitation will inevitably be lifted in favor of much further distances.

What Are The Features Of Samsung Hdtv?

 


The advent of the computer has changed the way engineers develop the television. The quality of the picture and sound on today’s televisions has far surpassed the standard of a mere decade ago. The new Samsung HDTV line and their features are a testament to that.

Starting with the LN-s4692d, this TV has a 46-inch screen and an option called the dynamic contrast which enables the owner to adjust the screen’s back light based on the quality of light in the room.

Another option is the “S-PVA” feature which allows you to watch the screen easily no matter how you are angled in front of the TV.

Although all TV’s aspire to reach 100 percent of the color array of the National Television System Committee Standard, at 92 percent, the LN-s4692d surpasses most of the televisions in the market today which are usually around 73 percent. In this way, you are able to enjoy a highly detailed and realistic picture.

HPs5033 is another television under the new line of Samsung HDTVs. This plasma TV has a feature called the Gen-5 that addresses the issue of the glare on a screen when in a room with bright lights. With Gen-5 you can get a clear picture not matter how bright the lighting is in the room. And the HPs5033 is able to display more than five hundred and forty nine billion colors so you get a very detailed picture.

There is also an improvement to the design that should be pointed out. Unlike other TV’s where you have to move the whole thing to get to the A/V input the HPs5033 A/V input is on the side of the TV so you can disconnect and connect without the hassle.

Finally, the sound quality on this model is increased with the addition of the SRS Trusound XT. With this feature, no matter where you are in the room you get the same level of sound.

The TX-s27794 could be designed for consumers who are concerned about space. This compact 27-inch screen TV can fit many small or awkward positions in a home. And its size doesn’t take away from the sound and picture quality at all. In fact the TX-s27794 comes with the SRS HDTV system installed. This ensures you the level of sound anyone with a plasma TV has come to expect.

These are only a few of the models in the new HDTV line from Samsung. There are more to see and no doubt in the future Samsung will have a variety of models with new additions and features that will top what it has managed to do today.

What Exactly is an Intel Centrino Mobile Notebook?

 


There has been a lot of confusion over the use of the term Intel Centrino and what it actually means. An Intel Centrino mobile notebook is actually a combination of Intel products, including what is marked as the Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor, put together to create a wireless networking, high performance Intel Centrino mobile notebook.

When wireless networking became popular, Intel introduced the Intel Centrino mobile notebook concept to make it easier for people to get a wireless networking computer. Instead of fishing around for the right parts and the like, Intel effectively made a package that would give them these things they were looking for. The specifications for an Intel Centrino Mobile Notebook cover an Intel chipset, a Pentium M Processor (often referred to as an Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor) and Intel PRO/Wireless Network Connection. In fact, any Intel Centrino Mobile Notebook is basically an all Intel machine. Practically all of the internal parts will be Intel parts.

The Intel Centrino Mobile Laptop processor is an Intel Pentium M Processor. Confusion between the Pentium M processor and Centrino is common, but the Pentium M is part of the Centrino package. This processor is a variant on the Pentium processors from their desktop range, but with lots of different technologies and additions, making them quite different from the desktop versions. There are a number of Intel Centrino mobile laptop processors offered with the Sonoma revision of Intel Centrino mobile laptop technology. Intel Pentium M processors 780, 770, 760, 750, 740 and 730. They also offer Low voltage models in the 778 and 758 as well as two Ultra Low voltage models, the 753 and 733J. All of the Intel Centrino mobile laptop processors use 90nm manufacturing process, 2MB of L2 cache and various other technologies, including the Execute Disable Bit with the models that have a J at the end.

The Intel Centrino mobile laptop processors have some specific benefits which make them suitable for the mobile environment. One of the most obvious of the Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor is the low volatage design. Low voltages allow Intel Centrino mobile notebooks to have lower power consumption, lengthening running time. As well as this there is technology to raise of drop the voltage of an Intel Centrino mobile notebook as necessary, further saving power.

Intel Centrino mobile notebooks also come with the Mobile Intel 915 Express Chipset. This chipset specifically designed for Intel Centrino mobile notebooks provides many new features that the older Intel Centrino mobile notebooks did not offer. Some of the most notable are the addition of SATA, PCI Express X16 for graphics, PCIe for the other cards internally and DDR2 400/533MHz. It is desgined specifically with the Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor in mind.

For Intel Centrino mobile laptops SATA provides an increase in the performance of hard drives and DVD drives. This technology allows for faster transfer of information which speeds up all applications. PCI Express X16 is a breath of fresh air for those who are looking to get better graphics from their system and in particular, those who would like to play 3D games, which using the more recent Intel Centrino mobile notebooks has become more feasible. The internal PCI Express should also allow for speed increases for parts, and helps to pass more strain away from the Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor.

Most beneficial for the Intel Centrino mobile laptop is the addition of DDR2 400/533MHz memory. DDR2 not only offers speed increases over the older DDR, but most importantly for mobile technology is that it consumes less power, just like the Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor. Power saving is an everpresent concern for laptop users who have to work with limited battery life.

Intel Centrino mobile notebooks also include technology for wireless networking. Although this is nothing new, the technology has been improved and updated, supporting the latest technologies. There is much increased security from the newer Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG and 2200BG which increase security, have higher performance, better ease-of-use and better power management, allowing power saving. In short it is a fully featured card that gives everything you could need. It is specifically aimed at meeting the stringent needs of the business user who chooses an Intel Centrino mobile notebook.

The benefits of the Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor and Intel Centrino mobile laptop technology are clear and although you can get the same things from other combinations of parts there is a certain comfort in the combination. It allows you to be fairly certain of what to expect from your laptop and how much it will perform. Intel Centrino mobile notebooks have been around for a while now and on the whole there is a good reason they are so popular. The Intel Centrino mobile laptop processor in an Intel Centrino mobile laptop has become almost synonymous with mobile networking for laptops.

What is Blu-Ray DVD?

 


 

Video technology has increased significantly over the past years, and is continuing to grow at an incredible rate. Digital Video Disc’s aka DVD’s are the most likely the last big jump in consumer video technology that everyone is familiar with. To keep up with the ever advancing world of electronics a new format of video storage will be released soon called Blu-ray.

Blu-Ray is a next generation optical disc that will blow the socks off of what we all know today: DVD. Conventional DVD’s use a red laser that have long wave lengths, which limits the storage capacity on a disc. Blu-Ray uses a blue laser which has much shorter wave lengths. Because the wave lengths on the Blu-Ray are much smaller it can focus on a spot with much greater precision, allowing for data to be packed much more tightly than the red laser DVD’s.

Blu-Ray discs can hold up to 50GB’s of information which 10 times that of a 4.5GB DVD. 10 times the storage will greatly increase the amount of information that we can save on any one disc and will change the way we save information. Dual Layer Blu-Ray discs will be able to hold up to 4 hours of High-Definition Video. High Definition video is going to hit big here, Blu-Ray is an example of a technology that is going to make it happen. 50GB is probably comparable to size of many of our hard-drives, and to picture having all of that information on a small disc that we can slide into a pocket and take wherever we want is a bit scary.

Expect to see Blu-Ray replacing DVD and VCR over the next few years, following along with the transition of video to High Definition Video. Video isn’t the only thing that will benefit from Blu-Ray technology; I would expect that it will also become the standard for PC and other types of storage.

What Is Memory Card Speed? Why do we need different or higher speeds cards? So who really needs high-speed memory cards?

 


 

In a few short years since the launch of the first 4Mb flash memory card, the number of flash memory cards available for digital cameras and other devices has exploded with a number of different formats and speeds of memory card. It’s no wonder the average person is totally baffled by this plethora of memory cards.

Not only are there different shapes (the format) and sizes such as Secure Digital (SD) Compact Flash, Memory Stick etc, but also different speed ratings.

Memory card speed is the card’s performance with regard to how quickly data can be transferred to or from it. The card speed is often stated in ‘Times’ ratings i.e. 12X, 40X etc (just as the speed of recordable CD’s and DVD’s is measured), and sometimes more specifically in megabytes per second (Mb/s). By today’s measure, sub 20X represents a standard speed, 20X to 40X is mid-high speed and over 40X is high speed. The chart below shows the relationship between the two figures.

8X = 1.2 Mb/sec
12X = 1.8 Mb/sec
20X = 3.0 Mb/sec
25X = 3.8 Mb/sec
30X = 4.5 Mb/sec
40X = 6.0 Mb/sec
60X = 9.0 Mb/sec
66X = 10.0 Mb/sec
80X = 12.0 Mb/sec
90X = 15.0 Mb/sec
133X = 20.0 Mb/sec

Why do we need different or higher speeds cards?
This is mainly due to the advancement of our digital devices, especially digital cameras, camcorders and music devices. As manufacturers develop higher and higher spec devices (i.e. higher resolution cameras and more intense multi-media functions), they are creating increasingly larger amounts information to store pictures, movies, music and so on. This in turn takes longer to record onto the memory card. For example if you have ever used a high megapixel camera with a standard speed card you may have noticed the time lag between pressing the shutter button and being able to take the next picture. This lag or delay, in most cases is caused by a slow write speed, similarly copying your photos to your PC could take time too and is caused by a slow read speed.

So who really needs high-speed memory cards?
Professional photographers and enthusiasts using professional grade cameras such as digital SLR’s should use high-speed memory cards of at least 40X speed. If you own a camera with a megapixel rate above three million pixels, you will certainly benefit from a card with a higher speed rating. If you’re like most of us using a compact camera under 3 million pixels, you’ll get great performance from standard cards with 12X or more.

Those using digital camcorders and devices recording MP3 music or video will also benefit from higher speed cards. It used to be the case where very few people would actually benefit from very high-speed cards, typically only professionals who used expensive, specialized products benefited, but it’s fast becoming a requirement on many of the latest PDA’s, Cameras, phones and other mobile devices to make use of the extra speed made available by high speed cards.

People using high speed memory cards with equipment that has been on the market a while may not notice any difference in performance, but this has more to do with the limitations of the device than the flash card itself. This is because not only does your memory card have a maximum speed rating, but your camera or mobile phone will also have its own speed rating. When these products are combined, they’ll work at the “slowest common denominator” e.g. if you use a 12X flash card in a camera with a designed for a maximum of 8X speed, you’ll be transferring data at the slower 8X speed.

You should always check the capacity of your device before splashing out on mega fast cards, but determining the speed compatibility of your device can be tricky. Most manuals just don’t tell you what speed of flash card you should use, now that would be far too easy, but they do tell you to buy their brand, which isn’t much help! So a general rule of thumb, if your camera is less than three megapixels the speed rating of the flash card doesn’t matter much. Most modern cameras have the ability to support far higher speeds than the cards available to purchase today, therefore, if speed is of importance, go for a faster card. Most mobile phones, PDA’s and Satellite Navigators are fine with standard speed cards although some newer models will benefit from higher speed cards but not generally over 60X speed.

The internet is a good resource to find out about your device, but in our experience the device retailer and forums are not always the best source of information, you would be better to seek information from the manufacture’s website or from dependable review sites.

If you are in any doubt about the card you require or even desire, you can always call us at Mouse2house.co.uk on 0845 257 2088 and we will do our best to guide you in the right direction.

If you are in any doubt about the card you require or even desire, you can always call us at Mouse2house.co.uk on 0845 257 2088 and we will do our best to guide you in the right direction.

What is A Pen Drive?

 




A Pen Drive is a removable storage device that plugs into a computer’s USB port. Small enough to carry on a key ring, Pen Drives are great for transferring photos, music, documents and any other data from one computer to another. Different manufacturers over the years have named their Pen Drives with many different names causing constant confusion.

As a result of this the Pen Drive can also be known as Pocket Drive, Thumb Drive, Jump Drive, USB Flash Drive, USB Flash Memory Drive, USB Key Drive, USB Memory Key and USB Memory Stick among many others!

Although none of these names are either correct or incorrect, one of the names cause a huge amount of confusion for people, this is when someone referring to a Pen Drive, uses the term “Memory Stick”. This is because “Memory Stick” is a Sony trademark and refers to a type of memory card used in Sony’s electronic devices, it is therefore a completely different product, which will not plug directly into your computer’s USB port!

Pen Drives were invented by IBM in 1988 as a replacement to Floppy Disks but were never patented by them, M-Systems who were later contracted in by IBM to manufacture Pen Drives actually own the patent. So think of a Pen Drive as a modern day floppy disk. The main difference being that a floppy disk contains moving parts which can make the data stored on it vulnerable, a Pen Drive is solid state meaning there are no moving parts inside, making it resilient to dust and everyday magnetic fields and so a safer storage option. Also Pen Drives can hold much, much more data than the floppy disk.

Once connected to a computer’s USB port the Pen Drive appears in Windows as a “Removable Drive” alongside your C Drive, CD ROM Drive etc. You can simply drag and drop photos, music, documents and any other type of data on to the “Removable Drive” just as would with any other folder on your computer (no complex recording like CD or DVD is required). The Pen Drive can then be removed (see Safe Removal of Pen Drive below) from the computer and plugged into another computer’s USB port giving you access to the information you copied to the Pen Drive.

The compact size, robust nature and low cost of the Pen Drive has made it a big hit and an indispensible tool for many. It is ideal for transporting personal, or work data from one location to another, i.e. from home to school or office, or for carrying around data that someone may want to access in a variety of places. An insurance company in the US loads customer bio data and policy details on a tiny Pen Drive and advises policy holders to wear it with a neck strap in case of emergencies, another company is doing the same with policy holders who go Sking. Another company videos their conference and records it onto the Pen Drive so that the delegates can refer to it in future. Pen Drives can also be used to back up your important documents.

If you would like to know more about Pen Drives please visit our website or call us on 0845 257 2088 (9am-5pm Mon-Fri) and we will do our best to assist you. Mouse2House.co.uk supply thousands of Pen Drives to Schools, Hospitals, Businesses, Government agencies and of course private individuals. We are also able to personalise Pen Drives with logos and messages for commercial or fund raising events, minimum order quantity applies to the logo service.

Thursday 1 October 2020

What is Scan Disk?



ScanDisk checks and repairs file systems and bad data clusters. ScanDisk is a system utility which is bundled with and all Microsoft Windows Operating Systems.

Scandisk was programmed to check the integrity of the hard disk drive to ensure that there are no significant issues which could corrupt your computer data. It is used to scan your hard disk for errors caused by improper shutdowns, viruses, etc.

It was first seen in MS-DOS version 6.2. Previous versions of MS-DOS had only a very basic, purely text-based program called CHKDSK. From Windows 95, SCANDISK added a GUI (Graphical User Interface).

The disk scanning utility bundled with Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP is also called CHKDSK and has the ability to check NTFS disk drives. From Windows 2000 onwards, it has been integrated with Disk Properties under the title of “error-checking”.

The ScanDisk utility is owned by Microsoft, which originally purchased it from Norton (now Symantec).

Scandisk can scan and correct errors in your computer and can fix damage caused to critical Windows files, thereby improving system performance.

You can find Scan Disk in Windows 95 and 98 by going to Start Menu. Afterwards, go to Programs/Accessories/System Tools/ScanDisk.

In Windows 2000 and other later versions of Windows, Scan Disk has been given the title “Error Checking” under disk properties.

In order to run Scan Disk in Windows 2000 and Windows XP, you need to press the Start button and click on My Computer. On the list of disk drives, select the drive you want to scan. Then, click on the File menu and choose Properties. On the Tools tab page, click on the Check Now button. As a final note, you should ideally use the Scan Disk feature once a month in order to ensure that your PC is free from errors.

Choosing Email Management Software For Bulk Email Sending

 


In the modern world of computer technologies bulk or mass email has become one of the more successful ways to promote and sell a company’s products and services. Like any marketing strategy, bulk emailing has advantages and downsides.

The main disadvantage of the bulk email strategy is that the email may not reach its target recipient. This can happen because of bulk email blockers setup for email accounts. Blockers direct bulk email into a separate email folder, so the recipient cannot directly access it from his inbox.

At the same time, one of the advantages of bulk emailing is that it makes it possible to communicate directly to the target market. Such communication is done individually, so that the recipient may be addressed personally in the message. Another benefit for companies and organizations using this strategy is that they do not have to spend much on advertising. Promoting services and products by means of bulk email is actually much cheaper than using print, radio, or television advertisements.

How to send bulk email? One of the most commonly used ways is signing up for bulk email services and hosting. Companies that provide those services usually offer a variety of product packages with different specifications. The customer can choose a reputable company and the plan that best suits the needs of his business. You can search the Internet for the companies that offer bulk email services and hosting.

Another way to distribute bulk email is by using computer software. Different kinds of programs designed to cope with this task are available on the Internet.

How to choose the right email management software? Email marketing, with its ever-growing complexity and infrastructure, requires perfectly suited software. The email messages emails are the least responded forms of communication and therefore bulk mailing is needed most of the time. Bulk email marketing is surely one of the most cost-effective strategies on the Internet as the cost of a single email is minimal. There are many types of email marketing software that are designed to send bulk email. Some programs are freeware and do not require any investment at all. Even though these freeware programs don’t have many valuable features included in paid software packages, they generally suit for a small email marketing campaign.

For a successful email marketing campaign, bulk email management software must have some basic features such as email templates, tracking system, and contact list management capabilities. A good software package must handle both plain text and HTML messages. A tracking system is important for measuring an email campaign response rate. Most standard email programs are capable to let you know whether or not the email messages you sent to your mailing list were delivered or read. Another important feature of the email marketing software is the ability to manage mailing lists. A good email marketing program must allow maintain multiple lists in the address book. This is very convenient because you can segment your recipients by their preferences and send more relevant email messages to each list. The Merge capability is also one of the essential features you should look for. The experience shows that impersonal emails get less response rate. Using the Merge feature you can personalize the message for every recipient and thus, build stronger relationship with your email list.

So, before buying an email marketing program, look at the various features it provides, as well as its cost. Another thing that you should take into account is the compatibility of the software with your system configuration. It’s ideal if the company offers a free trial period for software. Many companies allow a 30-day trial period for their software. It’s quite enough to evaluate all the features of the program and decide whether it suits your business needs.

Will Microsoft’s Strong Anti-Piracy Stand Drive People to Linux?

 


 

Microsoft is due to release its new Vista operating system either toward the end of this year or at the beginning of next year. Will this new operating system be as successful as Microsoft’s other offerings?

Microsoft’s own greed could end Windows reign as the leading desktop operating system. To fight piracy, Microsoft first introduced activation with its with Windows XP. Activation was supposed to insure that one copy of XP can only be used on one PC. Hackers easily created versions of Windows that avoided activation. Then in the fall of 2004, Microsoft introduced “Windows Genuine Advantage.” This program was created to allow Microsoft to check individual PCs to see if they are running a genuine XP or a pirated XP version. At first it was voluntary. Then last summer, Microsoft made it mandatory in order to download any free Microsoft software. Now its even become necessary to get XP security patches. If your PC fails the test and you have a counterfeit installation disk that appears genuine (including the holographic emblem similar to the one on real copies of Windows), Microsoft will send you a genuine disk for free in exchange for the fake disk. Otherwise, to make your Windows genuine you need to either buy a genuine Windows XP or take advantage of whatever offer Microsoft cares to give you.

With the advent of the “Windows Genuine Advantage” campaign, Microsoft has become a personification of a typical, greedy “Corporate Alien.” As Linux distributions get better and better, Microsoft has to be careful how it deals with its users. They seem to think that their software is so good, that people would rather pay than switch.

Microsoft licensing always stipulated that, to be legal, you had to buy a license for the Windows or DOS operating system for every PC you own. But from the early DOS days up to Windows 2000, someone would buy one operating system and pass it around to family, friends, and neighbors. So that one Windows 98 Second Edition wound up on ten or more PCs.

Linux, on the other hand, allows you to legally install it on every computer you own. So putting Linux on ten or more PCs is not only legal but desirable as a form of advertising for the operating system. But Windows users have been doing the same thing all these years. They’ve been advertising Windows by passing it around. It wasn’t legal, nor condoned by Microsoft, but Windows piracy was a form of advertising that actually helped promote Windows and insure its growth. As you can see, all this rampant piracy didn’t prevent Microsoft’s Chairman Bill Gates from becoming one of the richest men in the world.

There’s another thing to consider, when you think of operating system piracy. If you’re a corporation with thousands of computers, you get a special deal on Windows licensing. If you’re a big PC maker like Hewlett-Packard, you get a discount on OEM versions of Windows. But if you’re a small computer store and you build five clone PCs per month, you’d have to pay the typical single user price for genuine Windows. (For XP that’s about one hundred dollars for the Home Edition and one hundred fifty dollars for the Professional Edition.) It’s hard for a small individual to get started and compete with the big boys, and pirating the operating system can be a means of leveling the playing field. Such piracy can be considered as really being a “discount for the Working Class.”

There are several Linux distributions that are just as good or even better than anything Microsoft has to offer. But people will still cling to Windows because they don’t really want to learn anything new and switching to Linux would require a small learning curve. Microsoft has probably already made deals with PC vendors to install its Vista on practically every major PC brand in the US as soon as it comes out. To be fair to everyone, all PC’s should come without an operating system. When someone orders the PC they would order the operating system as well and the store would then install it. Imagine if people were given the choice: “Fedora Core 4 Linux: free” or “Windows Vista Professional: $200.00.” I wonder if they would still choose Windows?

Microsoft could actually make Windows the operating system for the next hundred years. All they have to do is make Vista free when it comes out. Just like Linux, the free version would have no support or warranty. They don’t even have to make it open source (reveal its internal code); just make it free. They could still make money by creating a highly secure, highly tweaked, fully supported corporate version of Vista and sell it to big companies that can afford it. This is what Linux companies like Redhat and Novell do. If Vista was free, pirates would stop making money, Microsoft would save millions by eliminating the “Orwellian” tracking needed to determine if Windows is genuine, and Linux would no longer be much of a threat. Unfortunately corporate aliens tend not to see any further than the dollar sign.

Microsoft will probably stick to the “Windows Genuine Advantage” program and try to thwart all attempts at hacking. Even though hackers will be able to circumvent any code that Microsoft comes up with, they will eventually get annoyed playing games with the giant Corporate Alien. Then pirated copies of Vista will become hard to get. This will end the advertising benefits derived from unchecked piracy that Microsoft enjoyed in years past. Windows Vista will start to lose market share and in 10 years a major Linux distribution will be the leading desktop operating system. If Linux triumphs, Microsoft Office, will also be replaced by Open Office, and the Microsoft stranglehold on PC software will finally be broken.

If you like Microsoft and want to keep it in power, encourage it to freely give away its Vista operating system. At least, suggest that they drop the annoying “Windows Genuine Advantage” program.

If you want to hasten Microsoft’s downfall. Don’t hack, pirate or buy Windows, especially its new incarnation, Vista. Learn how to work with your favorite distribution of Linux. You can download Linux distributions for free. Even with broadband this can take a long time. You can buy any Linux distributions for almost the cost it takes to make the disks at osdisc.com.When you buy your next computer make sure genuine Linux is loaded as your operating system. The more Linux gets established, the more everyone will be creating bigger and better software for it. In no time at all you will be getting the “Linux Genuine Advantage.”

What is open source? Know The Benefits of Open Source


 

 

If you are a building a website or a forum, chances are you are using a web editor or paying for message board services. The costs of using these “out of the box” products can add up, especially if you are trying to grow your business. Let’s look at some good “open source” options for you to consider. You may be surprised at how much money open source can save you.

What is open source? The webopedia describes it as follows:

Generically, open source refers to a program in which the source code is available to the general public for use and/or modification from its original design free of charge, i.e., open. Open source code is typically created as a collaborative effort in which programmers improve upon the code and share the changes within the community. Open source sprouted in the technological community as a response to proprietary software owned by corporations.

Not all open source programs are worth downloading, but there are a few that merit further attention, including:

1. PHP Originally called Personal Home Page, PHP is the backbone of many message boards. Yes, you can use proprietary software such as vBulletin, but you will pay a licensing fee and fees for updates. For one site, the cost may not be prohibitive, but if you run several sites your costs can easily become a significant part of your budget. Search the internet for a free PHP provider such as PHPBB2.

2. Web Templates Finding decent templates does not have to cost you dearly. There are sites offering some very well made templates that would cost you as much as $100 if purchased separately. Naturally, “everyone” downloads the copies, but you can modify it accordingly to give it your own look. The best ones are CSS derived and web standard compliant.

3. Web Browsers Internet Explorer isn’t the only name in town when talking about web browsers. Yes, they are dominant, but so many web savvy folks have tired of Microsoft’s dominance and are switching to Netscape, Firefox, Opera, and Safari to name a few.

4. Email Client Thunderbird is the name of another project developed by the people who brought to you Firefox. With Thunderbird you can send and receive email, stop SPAM, and add plugins to design the program the way you want it to look.

5. Office Software MS Office rules as WordPerfect barely hangs on. Still, there are options to these two productivity suites in the form of OpenOffice.org. A big freebie associated with this site is the *pdf maker, saving you lots of money over purchasing Adobe Acrobat. Certainly OpenOffice isn’t as snazzy as MS Office, but for the price — F-R-E-E — it is worth a look.

Are all open source products great? No, absolutely not. Some proprietary software developed by corporations are far superior and worth it to you if you do not have the time or inclination to make a move to open source. Still, open source provides a wonderful alternative to cash strapped and Microsoft weary web developers. In a day when corporations throw their considerable influence around, it is nice to see developers donating their talents to the worldwide web. Become a part of the growing open source movement today!

Malefactor Steal Your Most Private Information Right Now?

 


Will malefactor steal your most private information right now? Or will he wait for tomorrow?

The relevant issue of privacy protection is important today like never before. Malefactors are hunting users for their personal information, inventing new intricate ways of stealing it.

You may think that there’s nothing wrong with giving away such ‘innocent’ info like your email address, for instance. Well, that’s where you have to think again. By finding some bits of information malefactors are always able to find out more. They may find a way to get into your system and fish out some data which you didn’t even know existed!

The following are just some examples of how your personal data may be used by frauds.

Spammers make use of your address book for sending annoying unwanted letters to you and all of your acquaintances. Phishers masquerade as a trustworthy person or business and send you an apparently official email trying to find out your bank account details or your credit card pin number. Hackers use your login and password for stealing your Internet traffic or sending exploits into your system thus turning your computer into their slave. Not exactly something you’d like to be a part of, is it?

The main problem is that most users don’t even suspect they might get ripped off in such a malicious way. They are naive enough to think that their personal information is perfectly safe the way it is without any extra measures taken.

But please consider the following. Your personal private information might be in danger, if:
– you ever used any of the web-services
– you ever filled out any of the online registration forms
– you ever used any online messaging services
Which basically means that you are in the risk group if your computer is connected to the Internet. And that would be almost all of us!

So what you need now is to find out how to deal with this problem. Many articles have been written on this subject, and many words have been said. But the number of attacks grows with every day, and so does the users’ alarm. What a user really needs nowadays is not talk but some REAL protection of his PRIVACY.

When you input any information into your computer, you trust your system to protect this data. But unfortunately it is you who has to take measures and turn your PC into a SECURE STRONGHOLD, inaccessible by any malefactors.

If you wish to find out how to do this, just read on.

First of all, let’s get to the root of the problem. Why is it that you need any protection in the first place? What exactly puts you into a risk group?

The thing is that your Operating System collects and stores data about you personally and about your computer’s configuration. This is mainly done to facilitate the process of you getting customer’s support in case any problems occur. Many user’s applications do the same. So when you contact the program’s Support, all you might have to do is to click one single button in the application’s screen rather than to scan your system manually, trying to find the needed information. Rather convenient, isn’t it?

The other reason for the system and applications storing your personal information is you using web-services. Many applications store information about your e-mail address, your passwords, your credit card number or your bank accounts in order to speed up the process of your registration at some websites or your buying and selling stuff via the Internet etc.

Now, please note that by personal information we don’t mean any of your files or documents. It is only the data collected by numerous applications and the Operating System that we talk about. Such data is stored in your system separately from any user’s files and usually does not affect the work of the applications themselves.

While all those features of collecting and storing information about you and your system are meant to help you, sometimes they turn into your worst enemy. There are many many malefactors that will try to take advantage of your system’s leaks in order to steal your personal information stored by your OS and applications. Thus instead of making your life easier, the storage of your private info brings you nothing but potential problems.

Now don’t you think that you should be the ONLY one to decide whether you want to share any of your data? Well, exactly! It should be only up to you to determine who should know what about yourself! After all, it is YOUR information!

So we defined the problem and we know you want to solve it. The question is how.

There are several ways of protecting your private information. Nowadays there is a great number of software solutions that will help you deal with the problem of privacy protection.

First of all you may choose to install some kind of a firewall that would prevent any hacker attacks. Modern software market offers a great deal of such applications to choose from. But note that setting up these programs is usually a rather complicated process. In order to customize the application you’d have to specify what actions it would take for virtually any event. Besides you will have to download base updates if you want to be sure that you have the best protection available (than means you have to download them daily or hourly even). Considering the fact that malefactors daily invent hundreds of new ways of getting into your system, firewalls might not be just the best solution to keeping your private info safe.

This does not in any way mean that firewalls offer bad protection level. It’s what we should call an ‘insufficient’ measure.

Keeping this in mind you might ask yourself: What if I don’t want these applications to store any info about me in the first place? And that’s exactly right! No one will ever steal something that you just don’t have!

Now the problem arises how to clean up the information stored in your system. You may, of course, do that manually by locating system files and settings responsible for storing user’s data and then cleaning them up. But this requires advanced user’s skills and knowledge, as you may accidentally erase something that will cause your applications work unsteadily. Besides, manual clean-up takes time and patience and is not always possible to perform as many applications encrypt your info (so you may have trouble finding it, let alone removing).

And what now? Is that impossible for a common user to protect his own personal information? Well, of course not! Luckily, there are some programs in the market that allow for automatic safe clean-up of all your privacy leaks. You can easily find such applications in search engines, searching for ‘personal data protection tool’, ‘privacy protection tool’ or ‘system-stored personal data search and removal’.

And remember this: No one but you has the right to access your personal information! So take the necessary steps to prevent your private data from being stolen! Do that before it’s too late, as some of the malefactors are attempting to rip you off at this very moment!

What software is needed for competetive markets?



If you would like to sell a product or service on the internet, your marketing and sales plan should be well thought out and sophisticated. There are plenty of marketers online and competition can be brutal. In order to communicate with your potential customers you must first get through the daily barrage of non-targeted advertisements and spam email in order to build a quality, long term relationship.

One of the more sophisticated ways of growing a customer base and creating brand loyalty around your product is with Email Management Software. Email Management Software is a great tool to send opt-in emails, newsletters, confirmation emails or any other type of ommunication between you and your customer base. Not only does this save time and money for the marketer, it also delivers a message or product effectively to the customer.

The Importance of Building an opt-in email list

Most web masters work hard getting their product out to the public. Sales usually don’t come easily or cheap, so once you gain a visitor’s attention or make a sale of one of your products it is not wise just to forget about that customer. Wouldn’t it be great, that after you have spent lots of time and money on a customer that both you and the customer can benefit from a continuing dialogue?

Smart web masters understand the need to continue the dialogue. If you have a web site on a specific topic, ask your visitors to sign up for more information that will be sent to them as a newsletter. The same thing with customers, just because they buy something from you doesn’t mean that the relationship should end, ask your customers to opt-in to your free updates or newsletter service. You will be surprised how many people find it valuable to stay in contact with the seller. Not only will they continue to be in contact with you, but hopefully they will buy another product from you.

Newsletters add value to your web site or product

Give your visitors and customers information. Most visitors and customers come to your site for information. One of the most valuable products you can give your visitors and customers is more information. If your web site is on gardening, create a newsletter once a month or biweekly filled with gardening tips or great information. Your subscribers will value your site more than others that are just looking to make a buck off of them. Giving your subscribers information on a routine basis is not only great for repeat visits but also for sales. Not only are newsletters great for communicating information to your visitors but you can also advertise your products in a tasteful way that can grow your business and brand name exponentially.

Features to consider

Having an Email Management Software tool can be looked at as the hub of your communications to your web site visitors and customers. Here is a list of some of the more important features to consider in an Email Management product.

– An easy way to publish your emails, newsletters and auto-respond emails

– Schedule and edit your messages quickly and efficiently

– Import your leads

– The ability to send messages to any internet-ready computer world-wide

– The ability to send an unlimited amount of emails, newsletters and auto-respond emails at no extra cost

– Easy installation and maintenance

These are just the basic features that some of the higher quality Email Management Software products offer. You might want to do some research before you purchase your product.

What Is Software Really?

 


 

The term software has transformed the life of a human being to a different level. All our activities are largely influenced by software and related applications. Mobile phones, hi-tech watches and music player are some of the most common software driven gadgets. From common gadgets to most sophisticated military equipments, all run on some software or the other. Today, you cannot imagine life without software.

Software is that part of a system that consists of encoded information or instructions while the hardware is used to store and process the information. In computers, the processing of software is very easy and simple. It is loaded into RAM (random access memory) and it is then executed in the central processing unit (CPU). You can understand it as a basic relationship between a hardware and software. Software is an ordered sequence of instructions that is used to change the state of the computer hardware. The language of software is a matter of great interest because it is regulated by high-level programming languages.

To understand the software applications completely, it is necessary to know the types of software. System software helps in the running of the computer hardware and computer software. You can buy this complete package from the market that includes operating systems, device drivers, diagnostic tools, servers, window systems and utilities. If you are a programmer then Programming software is a complete tool that you can use in writing computer programs using different programming languages. This package includes text editors, compilers, interpreters, linkers and debuggers. A major contribution in the field of software comes through Application software. They are a different kind of application software in domestic space. It includes industrial automation, business software, educational software, medical software, computer games and database.

By now, you would have completely understood the depth of software and its applications. Platform software and user written software are the two main integrations of software. It is necessary for you to install this software to enhance the performance and increase the number of facilities. Platform software is a combination of basic input-output system, device drivers, and operating system while some of the user written software is spreadsheet templates, word processor macros, scientific simulations and graphic and animation scripts.

Shareware and freeware are two more concepts that will make you aware of the marketing of software, shareware is a trial version (demo) of any application that is made available in the market in advance so that you can have a look at the features and function before the final purchase. Though shareware is not for free, it is available at a very low price. Freeware is the computer software that is made available to the consumers, free of charge. Software industry is still to witness some amazing developments, so just wait and keep your fingers crossed.

Your Source for Free Video Software

 


 

Play back YouTube clips on a portable player. Watch video clips created with a mobile phone on your PC. Publish video clips on your Web site or blog. Cut MPEG videos into smaller pieces that are easy to download. Upload video clips to YouTube. Do it all absolutely free!

If you have an iPod, iPhone or other portable device that is capable of playing back MP3 and video clips, you may have already encountered the limitations of the software supplied with the device by its manufacturer. Can you upload a flick from YouTube directly to your portable player or mobile phone with OEM software? Can you even save YouTube clips to your PC?

YouTube gained its popularity offering easy playback of video clips right in a Web browser without needing to install additional software to watch videos. This approach, however, has its limitations and drawbacks, one being the inability to save a YouTube movie to a PC. YouTube provides no means to do this, and makes no software that could save a clip to your hard disk.

Dvdvideosoft.com at http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/free-dvd-video-software.htm offers ten free and simple tools that let you do that and much more! Extract and save YouTube clips right to your hard drive. Playback YouTube clips on your iPod with Free YouTube to iPod Converter. Upload the flicks to your iPhone with Free YouTube to iPhone Converter, or turn them into MP3 songs or mobile phone ringtones with Free YouTube to MP3 Converter.

Are you a frequent contributor to YouTube? Tired of using their Web-based interface for uploading multiple clips? Dvdvideosoft.com offers a free alternative! Free YouTube Uploader is a viable alternative for uploading video clips to YouTube bypassing their Web interface. Have fun and upload as many video clips as you want!

Do you have a Web site or blog of your own? Ever wanted to impress your visitors with video clips? Turn your videos into Web-friendly Flash clips and enhance your Web pages with videos! Dvdvideosoft.com makes Free Video to Flash Converter that turns any video into a streaming Flash clip that is easy to embed into a blog or Web site.

Have a large video? Want to cut off the titles, but don’t believe in re-encoding? Cut unwanted parts of your MPEG videos without sacrificing the quality with Free Fast MPEG Cut!

It was not long ago when mobile phone providers invented a new way to make money. They charge you for ringtones made of popular movies soundtracks. But did you know you can make these ringtones yourself – and absolutely free? Did you ever consider extracting that song from a movie, and make it your mobile ringtone? Free Video to MP3 Converter takes a movie in just about any format and saves its sound track into a convenient MP3 file! Make a compact file and use it as an MP3 ringtone without paying your mobile provider, and save it in high quality for future enjoyment on your PC or portable player.

Talking about mobile phones, do you ever record video clips with your phone’s camera? These clips are recorded in the 3GP format that cannot be played back on your PC directly. Free 3GP Video Converter converts your mobile phone video clips into movies that you can play on your PC or portable devices! You can even make an MP3 tune of your 3GP files.

Dvdvideosoft.com offers all of its video programs for free, and does not bundle any spyware with any of its products. Download yours at: http://www.dvdvideosoft.com!

Your Online Electronic medical record software (EMR) Software


 

 

What’s the best route for your practice to take to meet and fulfill all the needs of your clients? How can you make sure that your practice stays up-to-date and on top of all the medical record procedures? Electronic medical record software can and will help your practice with the medical records your staff has to process. The best option is to determine which emr system suits your practice so that everything is able to run effectively and efficiently for your staff and clients.

EMR Software
EMR software provides a number of solutions to better patient care. As we all know, money is a huge concern for practices that are big and small. This software will help save time for your patients and staff and, most importantly, save money for your practice. With time saved on paper work, your staff will be able to pay more attention to your clients and their needs. It will simplify the lives of your staff as they learn to schedule, bill and do reports with this software. Not all emr systems are right for your practice. The type of software that you need depends on the size of your practice. Large clinics have different needs than those of smaller practices. For this reason, choosing the right emr functions is vital to the stability of your practice.

ASP Electronic Medical Record
For your office you need to find the emr solution that best fits your practice environment. Once selected, you can customize the software so you and your staff are on the same page. Customization will make it easier for you stuff to look up, locate, and retrieve client data. With broadband Internet connection, your practice will not have to worry about taking care and backing up the information. Servers, back-up, and IT problems are all taken care of by the IT professionals of the company’s software from who you purchase it. Your practice’s files are always secure and available to your staff for quick and easy processing. Switching computers is not a problem in case of a virus or crash. All information is securely stored and backed-up by the vendor. The best part about ASP electronic medical record is that it allows flexibility. It’s a monthly cost and not a huge startup fee for your practice. This gives you the time necessary to use it and see how much it can help your practice reach new levels of service and efficiency.

EMR Systems
Setting up the system and having it customized to your practice is the way it should be. Have you ever had someone teach you a certain way to do something and that turned out to be harder than if you were able to do it yourself? I have and that’s why customizing all the different functions to your office will make it an easier process for your staff, and they will be able to handle their duties to guarantee a smoother running practice. The less you have to worry about the duties of your staff will bring greater ease to your mind and you’ll know that the job is being done right and your patient needs are being fulfilled.

Why Easy To Use Software Is Putting You At Risk

 


 

 Can Easy To Use Software Also Be Secure
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Anyone who has been working with computers for a long time will have noticed that mainstream operating systems and applications have become easier to use over the years (supposedly). Tasks that use to be complex procedures and required experienced professional to do can now be done at the push of a button. For instance, setting up an Active Directory domain in Windows 2000 or higher can now be done by a wizard leading even the most novice technical person to believe they can “securely” setup the operating environment. This is actually quite far from the truth. Half the time this procedure fails because DNS does not configure properly or security permissions are relaxed because the end user cannot perform a specific function.

If It’s Easy To Develop, Is It Also Secure
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One of the reasons why operating systems and applications “appear” to be easier to work with then they use to is developers have created procedures and reusable objects to take care of all the complex tasks for you. For instance, back in the old days when I started as a developer using assembly language and c/c++, I had to write pretty much all the code myself. Now everything is visually driven, with millions of lines of code already written for you. All you have to do is create the framework for your application and the development environment and compiler adds all the other complex stuff for you. Who wrote this other code? How can you be sure it is secure. Basically, you have no idea and there is no easy way to answer this question.

Secure Environments Don’t Exist Well With Complexity
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The reality is it may look easier on the surface but the complexity of the backend software can be incredible. And guess what, secure environments do not coexist well with complexity. This is one of the reasons there are so many opportunities for hackers, viruses, and malware to attack your computers. How many bugs are in the Microsoft Operating System? I can almost guarantee that no one really knows for sure, not even Microsoft developers. However, I can tell you that there are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of bugs, holes, and security weaknesses in mainstream systems and applications just waiting to be uncovered and maliciously exploited.

How Reliable and Secure are Complex Systems?
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Let’s draw a comparison between the world of software and security with that of the space program. Scientists at NASA have know for years that the space shuttle is one of the most complex systems in the world. With miles of wiring, incredible mechanical functions, millions of lines of operating system and application code, and failsafe systems to protect failsafe systems, and even more failsafe systems to protect other systems. Systems like the space shuttle need to perform consistently, cost effectively, and have high Mean-Time-Between-Failure(MTBF).

All in all the space shuttle has a good record. One thing it is not though is cost effective and consistent. Every time there is a launch different issues crop up that cause delays. In a few circumstances, even the most basic components of this complex system, like “O” rings, have sadly resulted in a fatal outcome. Why are things like this missed? Are they just not on the radar screen because all the other complexities of the system demand so much attention? There are million different variables I’m sure. The fact is, NASA scientists know they need to work on developing less complex systems to achieve their objectives.

This same principal of reducing complexity to increase security, performance, and decrease failures really does apply to the world of computers and networking. Ever time I here associates of mine talk about incredibly complex systems they design for clients and how hard they were to implement I cringe. How in the world are people suppose to cost effectively and reliably manage such things. In some cases it’s almost impossible. Just ask any organization how many versions or different brands of intrusion detection systems they have been through. As them how many times the have had infections by virus and malware because of poorly developed software or applications. Or, if they have ever had a breach in security because the developer of a specific system was driven by ease of use and inadvertently put in place a piece of helpful code that was also helpful to a hacker.

Can I Write A Document Without A Potential Security Problem Please
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Just a few days ago I was thinking about something as simple as Microsoft Word. I use MS-Word all the time, every day in fact. Do you know how powerful this application really is? Microsoft Word can do all kinds of complex tasks like math, algorithms, graphing, trend analysis, crazy font and graphic effects, link to external data including databases, and execute web based functions.

Do you know what I use it for, to write documents. nothing crazy or complex, at least most of the time. Wouldn’t it be interesting that when you first installed or configured Microsoft Word, there was an option for installing only a bare bones version of the core product. I mean, really stripped down so there was not much to it. You can do this to a degree, but all the shared application components are still there. Almost every computer I have compromised during security assessments has had MS-Word installed on it. I can’t tell you how many times I have used this applications ability to do all kinds of complex tasks to compromise the system and other systems further. We’ll leave the details of this for another article though.

Conclusion
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Here’s the bottom line. The more complex systems get, typically in the name of ease of use for end users, the more opportunity for failure, compromise, and infection increases. There are ways of making things easy to use, perform well, and provide a wide variety of function and still decrease complexity and maintain security. It just takes a little longer to develop and more thought of security. You might think that a large part of the blame for complex insecure software should fall on the shoulders of the developers. But the reality is it is us, the end users and consumers that are partially to blame. We want software that is bigger, faster, can do just about everything, and we want it fast. We don’t have time to wait for it to be developed in a secure manner, do we?

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