Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Amazon Announces Amazon Cloud Drive Service

Amazon was quick to the punch and yesterday unveiled their new Amazon Cloud Service- letting you store up to 5 GB of documents, music, photographs and videos in the cloud. I had a chance to start my account which took me literally seconds to open using my existing Amazon sign in credentials. Once I was on the site it was a breeze to store my photographs and documents from within the browser. There is a lot competition in this arena and there has been talk and rumors that Apple will soon release their MobileMe service for free giving us cloud based services to synch our iOS devices. In the meantime, we can enjoy 5 GB of storage space courtesy of Amazon to do what we want with. Enjoy and let me know how you like the service.

SEO and Blog Tips on promoting your work

There are many articles out there on how to optimize your blog for search engines - Google in particular - but it has some helpful tips on SEO and promoting your blog. Plant actually ways for others to link to your website looks - with the keywords you are targeting in your search engine.
Of course, it is not always easy - every day I email from people asking me to join them, sometimes mutual respect, but 99% of the time they go straight to the trash. People link to you if you write quality content and treated with respect and authenticity.

We also think it to be a little creativity - you have other sites and blogs with a service that will benefit your blog can provide, when you give a link (with the language of your goal) you may do so. That is our "Mini Medal Table" in our recent Summer Olympic Games a success for the free online blog medals with a medal was updated to provide bloggers with -. But the table in about 12 sites using a link to our key words were selected as "medal table," the medal is attached to our range.

This page has been a huge success during the game - has been ranked # 1 in Google, and those hundreds of thousands of visitors during the week was one of the conditions applied.

Anyway - this article first tips:
"So you have a product, service or want a search engine optimization web site to find a way if you have not already done so, I suggest you do the following (or for you for you What trust rent)?:

Write to the active blog writers. About your product, tell them a personal way - to do so, you spend about 5 Blogmaster minutes to dial a standard email address. Do not mail, because it will be against.

Area of ​​the product can help answer questions and refer to the Newsgroups. Just do not advertise the product of a new series, but the current problems reuse. Someone asks: "How I can see where my visitors come from?" This is a statistical software provides answers.
Site (landing page) is simple to be honest about your product. To be honest about the price, as long as they offer their service for free. Use inverted pyramid style of writing: the most important things first, details later.

Ready for a page where you can read 30 seconds or 30 minutes, depending on the level of detail. Links lead to a deep structure are useful. But be sure to keep your main navigation elements 10 or less important. (Have you anything more than a product site and click links and been?) Link between the groups if necessary, and are divided into two or three sections. "

CCleaner 3.05 windows clean up the most favorable assistant, update support IE9, Firefox 4

WinCleaner One-Click (Up to 3 Users)" CCleaner "is indeed a very serious clean-up in the system responsible for doing free software, which in addition to their very stable, very few mistakes, the clean-up effects are great, the other is no extra features, the best to concentrate on the various clean-up The attitude is admirable. And it's updated very frequently, for example, a CCleaner 3.05 update yesterday, the first full support for Firefox 4 , IE9 clean-up.

Although I am doing a lot of system clean up, essentially using the " Toolbox IObit free free installation, everything good-to-use system optimization toolbox "This software, and I'm not very sure whether the software has not been updated for a certain not fully clear the Firefox 4 browser and other new information?

However, the official release CCleaner article of view, the new version CCleaner 3.05 does claim to support the new browser on the more complete the clean-up. Apart from this, new version of CCleaner can also clean up the registry to better remove unwanted software, information, and add support for iTunes , Steam, Adobe Air , Skype, Pidgin, Yahoo Messenger, uTorrent, etc. software to clean up work is really worth in the use of friends up there to update Hello!


Computer 101: The Random Access Memory (RAM)

Ever heard of the term RAM or Random Access Memory, If have used a computer then chances are you have heard of it.  How about the following, SIMM, DIMM, DDR and many others, well they may sound different but when we asked an ordinary person on the street, they won’t know what those terms will mean. Simple put it the SIMM, DIMM and DDR have something in common, they are all RAM.  Now what is RAM and how does it work? Well let’s put it this way, without the basic RAM or memory, your high tech devices will not work, those devices include, computers, laptop, phones, and the like that need a specific minimum amount of memory to function properly. The RAM or memory has one important feature that makes it very useful and has been adapted to all almost computer based devices. The size or the amount or space for the data that can be created on a small package.  


Take a look at today’s latest Smartphone and gadget. Most of them have more RAM than high end gaming computer and to think that they smaller devices compare to a regular size computer. Most high end phone has 8, 16, or 32 Gig of expandable memory installed on them. The actual size of the memory package for these devices has become much smaller compare to a memory for a regular desktop computer.


Now how does a memory work, let’s take a regular desktop computer for example purposes. Let’s say that this computer has 1GIG of memory installed in it. Now this 1 gig of memory space may be compose of 2 or more memory module package just like in the fast or for new memory module package the 1 gig memory amount is now contained within a single memory module or package. Who uses the memory amount inside a computer? Well there are a lot of users who need the memory for them to work properly. All computer software needs the space provided by the memory to work properly. Computer software includes the Operating system and the Application program.


The operating system like windows, MAC or any other OS is the first to use the memory space available to it. In pact it manages the memory space available so that not one application program has the monopoly of using the memory space. The operating system warns the user if the available memory is not enough for multiple programs being run simultaneously by the user. It’s like this, if the memory is near capacity a warning will be given and additional program will no longer be permitted to work. The OS will ask the user to close program not being use to make way for other program to use the memory resources vacated by the previously closed program.


To cope with this problem, the most common solution is add more memory module to increase the  amount space available in a particular computer so from 1 gig it can be expanded to 4 gig maximum for 32 bit system. Wait a minute what is that? Yes there is a limit to how many can be added to a regular computer notice the maximum slot available for most computer in the 32 bit architecture is 2 up to 4 slots per motherboard. This was by design way back when it was costly to produce a memory module. They design it thinking the limit for the 32 bit architecture will not be reach yet. But since the computer technology development and evolution is very fast, the 64 bit which is use initially for big business is being push for use on the regular market.


Now let’s go back to the memory, there’s a saying the bigger memory the better yes this is true, but this will also cost a lot. The more memory a computer has the more the number of program it can use simultaneously. And for single program user the more memory the faster the program will run and work for you. Example of this when playing your favourites games, or watching a movie on your computer, or listening to music while typing a document, or using editing software that requires a lot memory to work fast and effectively. In the end it’s all about what you require will determine how much memory amount you will need to satisfy that requirements.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Mac Data Recovery

This article has been contributed by David Ritchie. David is a software developer and technical writer with over 10 years of professional experience. He is currently interested in Mac data recovery software.




As a Mac computer user, you pride yourself over the benefits of this platform than that of the PC.  However, whether you are a Mac computer novice or veteran, you will find that losing data on the Mac is no fun.  Worse, the Apple provides very little support for data recovery once files are deleted and overwritten from the trash bin.   Your ally in this regard are third-party software tools specific for Mac Data Recovery.

If you have not yet had the misfortune of data loss from your Mac, you are wise to be reading this article.  In addition to sudden power outage events, data loss can occur while performing files transfers to or from the Internet.   A poorly formatted file, a server failure, or your ISP provider's connection can be the reasons for data loss during Internet file transfers. 

Signs of impending data loss can associate with an oncoming hard disk failure.  If you notice your Mac slowing down you can certainly check the health of your hard disk using the installation CD or DVD to run the Disk Utility program. 

When data loss is known, third-party tools such as MacKeeper and other Mac Data Recovery tools can help you find particular files for recovery.   Finding the data recovery tool that works for you requires two things; your understanding of the operating system you have with your Mac and the file types familiar to you that will need recovery.  A bit of web research or research at an electronics store will help you determine which program would work to your greatest advantage.  Read a few product and user reviews to ground yourself in others' perspectives of one tool over another. 

Generally, Mac data recovery tools operate by doing a deep scan of your hard drive for lost file fragments with header information that is pulled together in a list for you to determine which files you wish to recover.  Common graphics, text, audio, video, and photo file formats are searched. Some Mac data recovery tools will also allow you to preview the recoverable file.  The recovery operation is then called by you for the files you wish to recover. 

Proactive steps to investigate and purchase Mac data recovery software before you need it puts you in the best position to deal with the situation when needed.   Also, you are wise to record any error messages displayed while using your Mac and do a bit of research on what each message means to ward off potential hard disk issues and data loss.   

Mac Data recovery tools often include hard disk troubleshooting and recovery utilities. That can be especially helpful if you do not have the original installation CD/DVD for your Mac and your hard drive is inaccessible.   Emergency boot-up software will allow you to start  your Mac from the external media to your hard drive and then determine if you can recover your hard disk.   




This article has been contributed by David Ritchie. David is a software developer and technical writer with over 10 years of professional experience. He is currently interested in Mac data recovery software.

Other work of David Ritchie is posted on the link below.


http://allyouneedislists.com/technology/software/5-ways-of-backing-up-your-mac/

http://www.eltalearning.com/mac-how-to-tip-closed-captioning-software-for-the-mac-os-v10-6/2011/03/20/

Informix 11.70.xC2: It's out!

This article is written in English and Portuguese
Este artigo está escrito em Inglês e Português

English Version:

It's been too long since my last post. The reason is the usual lack of time. Sorry for that...
This is just a small post to let you know that Informix version 11.70.xC2 is being made available. It's already possible to get if from the Fix Central site (link on the right). The Information Center documentation site is still not updated. But a quick look into the release notes shows some interesting stuff:
  • Installation without root privileges
    This makes it possible to install and use Informix without root privileges. But due to the Unix/Linux nature, some features may not be available. This was a request from some embedded solutions providers. So it's another feature that helps make Informix the right choice for those environments. I believe we'll see more developments in the usage without root privileges in the future.
  • More SQL Admin API commands
    This time will see things like CREATE/DROP DATABASE and ONTAPE/ONBAR/ONSMSYNC commands. This is great since you can trigger your backups as tasks. Something that we're missing.
  • More improvements in the BTS text search datablade. IBM continues to improve this datablade which it free of charges
  • Table and column ALIASES in DML instructions (SELECT, DELETE and UPDATE)
    The ALIAS can now be used in GROUP BY clauses. I like this one. We could use numbers, but if you change your projection list you also need to change the GROUP BY clause.
  • Case insensitive searches
    This was also a frequently asked for feature. It applies only to NCHAR and NVARCHAR fields and you need to specify it in the CREATE DATABASE statement
  • OAT improvements
    As usual, when we see engine improvements we also see them in OAT. This time, a new area lets you manage your backups. Other features include the ability to uninstall a plug-in (something I also missed), ability to create reports based on historical data, improvements in the schema manager plugin-in and a few more
  • Ability to configure the number of file descriptor servers
    This is an intriguing feature related to a nasty problem that affects Informix instances with very intensive usage (I'm talking about thousands of concurrent connections, and a very high rate of new connections per second - typical values lay in the vicinity of more than 2000 concurrent sessions and/or more than 15 new connections per second, but it really depends on the environment). This issue is worth a dedicated article, and tech support usually knows it by "nsf.lock issue". If you never heard about it, it's because you don't suffer from it. In any case, this feature is in fact present in several older versions (later v10 fixpacks and 11.50). Unfortunately it was not properly documented. Also note that v11.7 has some structural changes that should eliminate this problem. The feature is translated into a new parameter called NUMFDSERVERS. Classical versions (pre v10.??) used just one. Somewhere in the v10 family it was decided that more was better, but sometimes it isn't due to other points of contention (eliminated in v11.7). So now you can decide how many to use.
  • Informix Warehouse Accelerator
    This is a new product that uses new technology. It is composed of a new in-memory based query engine, and a tool you use to map your OLTP data into that new system. Then, when you send DSS like queries to the OLTP engine, it will decide if the "partner" system can handle them. If it does the query is routed transparently and the results sent back. If it doesn't than the OLTP will resolve the queries. The advantage is that you get much (really!) faster query times on the queries routed to the new system. There was a preview of these technology on IIUG conference last year and the results were impressive. Please be alert, because there will be some buzz around this (the same technology is already available on DB2 for z/OS)
In short that's it. And there as with any other fixpack there are some bug fixes.


VersĂŁo Portuguesa:


Passou muito tempo desde o Ăşltimo artigo. A razĂŁo Ă© a habitual falta de tempo. As minhas desculpas...
Este artigo serve apenas para dar conta de que a versão 11.7.xC2 do Informix está a ser disponibilizada. Já é possível obtê-la do site Fix Central (ligação à direita). A documentação no Information Center ainda estará a ser actualizada. Mas uma pequena espreitadela nas release notes mostra algumas coisas interessantes:
  • Instalação sem privilĂ©gios de root.
    Isto torna possível instalar e utilizar o Informix sem privilégios de root. Mas dada a natureza dos sistemas operativos Unix/Linux, algumas funcionalidades poderão não estar disponíveis. Isto foi um pedido de alguns fornecedores de soluções embebidas. Por isso é mais uma funcionalidade que ajuda o Informix a ser a escolha acertada para este tipo de ambientes. Acredito que iremos ver mais desenvolvimentos relativos à utilização sem root no futuro
  • Mais comandos da API de administração SQL
    Desta vez vemos comandos como CREATE/DROP DATABASE e ONTAPE/ONBAR/ONSMSYNC. Isto é óptimo pois passamos a poder despoletar backups como tarefas. Algo que já se sentia falta
  • Mais melhorias no datablade de pesquisa de texto livre (BTS)
    A IBM continua a melhorar este datablade que Ă© distribuĂ­do sem custos com o produto
  • ALIAS em tabelas e colunas nas instruções de DML ((SELECT, DELETE and UPDATE)
    Os ALIAS podem agora ser usados nas cláusulas de GROUP BY. Pessoalmente agrada-me bastante. Já podíamos usar números, mas se mudássemos a projection list teríamos também de arranjar a cláusula GROUP BY
  • Pesquisas por caracteres nĂŁo sensĂ­veis a maiĂşsculas ou minĂşsculas
    Esta funcionalidade fazia parte da lista com mais pedidos. Só se aplica a colunas NCHAR e NVARCHAR e tem de ser especificada na criação da base de dados (instrução CREATE DATABASE)
  • Melhorias no OAT
    Como vem sendo hábito, sempre que temos melhorias no motor também as vemos no OAT. Desta vez, uma nova área permite gerir os backups. Outras novidades inclúem a possibilidade de desinstalar plug-ins (algo que sentia falta), criação de relatórios baseados em dados de histórico, melhorias no plug-in de gestão de schema e mais alguns
  • Possibilidade de configurar o nĂşmero de servidores de file descriptors.
    Isto é uma funcionalidade algo intrigante, relacionada com um problema complexo que afecta instâncias Informix com uma utilização muito intensiva (estou a falar de milhares de sessões concorrentes e uma taxa muito alta de novas sessões por segundo - valores tipicos situam-se perto de mais de 2000 sessões concorrentes e/ou mais de 15 novas sessões por segundo, mas dependerá sempre de cada ambiente)
    Este assunto mereceria por si só um artigo, mas o suporte técnico reconhece-o por "problema do nsf.lock". Se nunca ouviu falar nele é porque nunca sofreu com ele. Em qualquer caso, esta funcionalidade está de facto presente em várias versões já antigas (últimos fixpacks da versão 10 e fixpacks da versão 11.50). Infelizmente não estava devidamente documentadas. Note-se também que a versão 11.7 tem algumas modificações estruturuais que deverão eliminar este problema. A funcionalidade traduz-se num novo parâmetro chamado NUMFDSERVERS. Versões antigas (pre v10.??) usavam apenas um servidor de file descriptors. Num determinado fixpack da versão 10 considerou-se que mais era melhora, mas em alguns casos não é, devido a outros pontos de contenção (eliminados na versão 11.7). Assim, agora podemos decidir e ajustar quantos queremos
  • Informix Warehouse Accelerator
    Isto é um novo produto que utiliza tecnologia nova. É composto por um motor de queries, baseado em memória, e uma ferramenta que pode usar-se para mapear alguns dados do sistema OLTP neste novo sistema. Depois, quando enviados uma query do tipo DSS ao motor OLTP, ele decide se o novo sistema associado pode resolver a query. Se sim, a query é enviada transparentemente ao novo sistema, e os resultados são enviados de volta. Se a query não puder ser processada pelo sistema "emparceirado", então o sistema OLTP irá resolvê-la. A vantagem é que obteremos muito (mesmo muito!) melhores tempos de execução nas querys enviadas ao novo sistema. Houve uma antevisão do sistema na última conferência do IIUG e os resultados eram realmente impressionantes. Mantenha-se alerta, pois isto irá certamente dar que falar nos próximos tempos (a mesma tecnologia já existe para DB2 em z/OS)
Em resumo é isto. E como em qualquer outro fixpack contém igualmente um número de correcções.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Post weekly (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Keyboard shortcut of the week: Windows 7 Taskbar

After a long hiatus, keyboard shortcut of the week returns to 'Bloody Computer!' This week, we will look at new features of the Windows 7 taskbar.

You can open any program on the taskbar by holding the Windows key [shown right] and pressing the item number on the taskbar. For example, to open Internet Explorer on the following taskbar you would press Windows Key + 1. The calculator is Windows Key + 2, and so on.


If Internet Explorer is already running, pressing Windows Key + 1 will open that session. To start a new instance of the web browser press Shift + Windows Key + 1.

You can also shift focus to the taskbar using Windows Key + T. You can then use the left and right cursor keys to cycle through the items and press Enter to open them.

You can pin new programs to the taskbar by right-clicking on the icon and selecting 'Pin this program to the taskbar'. Once the icon is pinned, you can drag and drop it anywhere you like on the taskbar.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Controlling Your Laptop via the iPad

After reading a post by Tim Tyson in which he showed how he controls his laptop from his ipad I went out in search of an alternative method. His method was a bit cost prohibitive for me. I had shared his post to a listserv that I belong to, and someone else wrote back in to mention three other options. The first two did allow me to control the laptop from the ipad, but it was blind controlling. The ipad was a black slate. I wanted to be able to SEE my laptop on the ipad.

Enter Splashtop Remote, a $4.99 app from the iTunes store. In no time at all I was seeing and controlling my laptop from my ipad. It did require two other downloads, a server app for the laptop (Mac or Windows) and another quick download, but it was very painless.

Basically you set up the desktop app with your ip address and a password. The software helped with that process.

Next, you open the app on the ipad and tap the laptop icon to start the connection.

Of course, you're accessing it via a wireless connection, so you will need that. When it connects you're presented with some helpful tips for how to control the screen.

Tap Continue and you're in. Easy as that.

If you've got an ipad at school and you're interested in using it to allow the students to control the laptop applications, this is the best $5.00 investment I can imagine.

Have fun!

P.S.
I'm STILL not at all convinced that the ipad is ready for prime time in schools, but if you've got one you may as well use it. :)

CS Odessa Announces that ConceptDraw PROJECT v6 Import & Exports to Microsoft Project

PR Contact: Olin Reams
Phone: (408) 441-1150
oreams@csodessa.com

ConceptDraw PROJECT gains ability to exchange data with MS Project

San Jose, California (PRWEB) 23, March 2011  - CS Odessa today announced that ConceptDraw PROJECT v6 now has the ability to import and export Microsoft Project XML files, with new PROJECT EXCHANGE. Because of this ability to exchange data between ConceptDraw PROJECT and MS Project; users have increased flexibility on how to exchange project information with all members of the project team. The exchange of project data across different project applications keeps everyone informed and allows for quality collaboration among team members, as well as 3rd parties that have involvement in your project.
The ability to exchange project information is key to a project’s success. ConceptDraw PROJECT 6 has the ability to save to a MS Project XML file format so that ConceptDraw PROJECT files can be shared with users of MS Project (2003, 2007, and 2010) as well as any other project management tools that can accurately import MS Project xml file format.  This allows users of ConceptDraw PROJECT 6 and ConceptDraw Office 2 (contains ConceptDraw PROJECT 6) to generate project content that can be shared with all team members.
Project participants also have the ability to import MS Project files into ConceptDraw PROJECT 6 and ConceptDraw Office 2. This gives users an excellent alternative on the way they manage projects, and assists in the interoperability of project information between team members who have Macintosh and PC computers.
The ability to exchange data between ConceptDraw Office and MS Project is a big plus for project members because they can then use the other the other project tools that are part of ConceptDraw Office. As an example, ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7, part of ConceptDraw Office 2, can be used as a project front- end to brainstorm, build processes, identify contingencies and organize information for presentations to brief team members and stakeholders. The PROJECT EXCHANGE can be found in the CS Odessa ConceptDraw Solution Park.
CS Odessa provides a range of professional project software tools that assist you during every stage of your project. ConceptDraw Office uses powerful ConceptDraw INGYRE2 technology to make all tasks as easy as pushing a few buttons. The top to bottom integration of ConceptDraw Office, which includes the innovative standalone ConceptDraw PROJECT 6 product, are valuable tools to help Project Managers work towards their organization’s success.
In addition, CS Odessa also provides many project management solution add-ins that can be downloaded from ConceptDraw Solution Park. The combination of ConceptDraw Product and ConceptDraw Solution Park, from CS Odessa makes for an unbeatable value in project management software tools.
For more information, visit www.conceptdraw.com.
# # #

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

MindMappers Ning Under New Management

FYI! It is great to know that the MindMappers Ning is Under New Management. Please sign up if you are not a member and jump into some lively discussions about visual information management. Thanks go out to Nigel for resurrecting this great resource and place for discussions. Brian
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

* Posted by Nigel Goult on March 22, 2011 at 11:07pm
* Send Message View Nigel Goult's blog

Dear Network Member,

We are pleased to announce that the MindMappers Network is now under new ownership and that plans are being made to rejuvenate and build on the good work already carried out by the network creator, CJ Cornell.

As you will know the network suffered a spell of restricted access last year and had become a playground for spammers and marketers of dubious wares and we aim to tackle this head on and make immediate changes to help bring the network back to the valuable community resource it was intended to be and once was.

Over the next few weeks you will see changes to the look, feel and functionality of the network as well as new sections specifically aimed at helping promote the field of visual information products, methods and technology to network members.

We will be inviting guest posts for regular blog articles by key contributors from the world of visual information management as well as providing enhanced content areas for visitors to view and contact companies, individuals and vendors of products and services from around the world. Plus there will be some fun stuff along the way.

We hope you will join us on this journey and look forward to your support and feedback in helping make MindMappers Ning a community of choice for users of visual information management products.

If you would like to read some more about this new development you can read a more in depth post here.



Thank you.



Nigel Goult

Managing Director

Olympic Limited

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Post weekly (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Using Matchware's MindView 4 in Presentation Mode

I have been using MindView 4 Business Edition since it was released but haven't had the chance to use the Presentation Mode until yesterday. While planning my workshop and presentation for a Tech Day at a local school, I decided to plan out what I would cover in MindView 4 so that I could test out the new Presentation Mode. When planning my workshops, I tend to like to use mind maps to brainstorm and decide upon what I will cover. I tend to use Left/Right maps when planning my sessions since I think it is easier for my participants who are not as familiar with mind mapping to digest the content. I provided each participant with a printed mind map with the content so that they could take notes and then used the Presentation Mode in MindView 4 during the workshop.


Using the Presentation Mode in MindView 4 could not have been any easier- I simply clicked on the Presentation Mode and within seconds the presentation palette showed up that let me advance from topic to topic. MindView 4 opened each topic and subtopic as it advanced and then would close the topic as it advanced to the next one. I found it very easy to use while I was presenting and I believe it helped the participants to focus in on what I would be covering during the session. I put together a short screencast to show you how easy it was to use the Presentation Mode in MindView 4. Please feel free to download a Free Trial Version of MindView 4 and try the Presentation Mode for yourself.



PS: You will also be glad to know that you can advance through the topics by using a wireless presenter remote.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

How to print two pages per sheet

Cutting down on the amount of paper used in printing not only saves money, but is also more environmentally friendly. Some applications offer the option of printing multiple pages per sheet of paper. In this post I will show you how to print two pages per sheet in MS Word and Adobe Acrobat Reader.

MS Word
Open the print dialogue from the 'File' menu in older versions of Word, or by clicking the Office Button in newer versions (as shown below).


Simply set 'Pages per sheet' to '2 pages' and click 'OK'.



Adobe Acrobat
Open the print dialogue from the 'File' menu.
Change 'Page Scaling' to 'Multiple pages per sheet' and 'Pages per sheet' to '2'.



OpenOffice
I found no easy way to print two pages per sheet in OpenOffice, but you can save the file as a pdf using the 'Export as PDF' tool in the 'File' menu and then open it in Adobe Acrobat and follow the above instructions.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Post weekly (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Friday, March 11, 2011

No Cheering. Homework instead.

This story was told to me by a friend, Ralph Maltese. He said that his niece(?) had played a soccer game and her team had won. It was a big deal game. Ralph asked her, "So were you all cheering on the bus on the way home?" "No", she said. "We were all doing homework.

That's the gist of the movie "Race to Nowhere", isn't it? I don't know, but I think it's a sad day when kids can win a big game and not be able to celebrate because they have homework to do.

Or don't they do that at all any more? When I was in school the bus would rock with the noise we made, especially going through a town - the town of our rival, for sure. We would be hoarse from cheering and singing the fight song. Come to think of it, I was in a school recently where they didn't even know if they HAD a fight song. And they didn't know their alma mater, either.

Am I wrong to be mourning the loss of these traditions?

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Computer 101: Maintaining and keeping your laptop from unwanted Abuse Part 2

Good day to all I hope you’re having nice weekdays and weekends which is just around the corner. To continue, I have blog about the important of having your laptop battery fully charge whenever and wherever possible if you’re preparing for an important event that will require you to use the mobile computer. Also this will greatly help your laptop battery to have more life on it. As also previously mentioned this is my number ONE (1) rule. Now let’s go to my number TWO (2) rules which are to always make sure that your laptop is properly protected from the element and un-warranted physical hits via falling from the floor or being accidentally hit by any object. Unless your laptop is design to take such punishment. But to those of us who can only afford the regular to mid-range laptop. We should always bear in mind that our laptop are not design to take physical punishment like being dropped on the floor even if inside your case or bag. Maybe once or twice in accidental manner is enough but to do it on a regular basis then might as well get a hammer and pound your laptop. Dropping is not the only physical punishment your laptop will encounter, there is the hitting of different type of objects that the user can came across with. Another is just simple putting your laptop on the table but in a very rude or angry way. Another punishment that your laptop can encounter is liquid abuse, via the drinking water, coffee, soda and all other human consumable liquid form. One of the most dangerous habit that we have develop over the years of using our laptop is the of habit and eating and drinking with it during at work and while at school or at home.


How do we abuse our laptop physically? Well as I mentioned above aside from being dropped accidentally on the floor, there is also the spilling of liquid into the laptop. Liquid and electricity do not mix together. Spilling liquid into your laptop will certainly short-out the electronic inside. Remember your laptop contains electronic devices that are very sensitive to so. The connections of each circuit inside your laptop are very sensitive. Once enough force is applied to disrupt that connection, the flow of data and electricity will also greatly be affected thereby resulting to a malfunction system. There are only a few screws that held your laptop together. Unlike in the desktop category wherein almost all components can be tightly fixed unto a position by a screw or a locking pin. There is only a minimal of this to maintain the portability of the laptop. Ever notice why only the screw is fixed outside the laptop casing. All system are built-in the motherboard of the laptop. Applying enough force on the laptop will certainly disrupt that physical connection inside.


Also spilling a little amount of liquid will short-out electronic inside your laptop. Also another result of all this physical punishment is that the outside makeup or appearance of your laptop will not be appealing most especially to the user. A friend of mine asked to check on his laptop because some kid was able to hit his laptop with the bare hands for several times. Before she could stop the hitting it was already to late. The laptop would not operate normally only DOS both sequence would be initiated and after that nothing follow. The kid that did the hitting was a toddler. The intention was to play or press that keyboard. Another aspect of keeping your laptop from being physically abuse is the cost that comes with the repair. Laptops are not cheap to buy and so is the repair. Doing a major repair on a laptop will always cost more, sometimes those the technician will advice you that it is better to buy a new one that to repair the current laptop. Some of the reason for this is the replacement parts is more than half of the original cost of a brand new laptop.


Also it will take weeks and even a month to get your laptop back from the Service Center.  Also there is a lot of lousy costumer support on some service center. They will charge you without explaining what those charges are or they may have explained it but there is hidden charge not included in you billing. Another very important thing if your laptop goes south is all that data inside the hard drive of your laptop will also cost if what them retrieve properly and transferred to a new laptop. More headaches is the usual side effect of not taking care of your laptop properly and keeping them away from un-warranted physical abuse ad mi-used. So next time you’re using your laptop at work, home, and school or in public places be sure to always on the alert for possible physical abuse it may encounter.

MindView 4 Adds Audio Sound Recording

Matchware Inc., has added a number of new features to MindView 4, but one of my favorites is the ability to quickly record and idea and attach it to my mind map. You know there are times when you are brainstorming that the ideas are just flowing and what better way to capture it by simply doing a quick audio recording. To record audio in MindView 4 you simply click on the idea in your map and then click on the Insert tab and Click on the Sound icon. This brings up the Recording palette and you are then ready to record your ideas. Simple and elegant. Watch the video below to see just how easy it is to add an audio recording to your MindView 4 mind maps. To try out MindView 4 click here for a full working Trial Version.


Tuesday, March 8, 2011

This is why we became teachers

Just when I was feeling SO down and So worried about how this state budget ("Day of Reckoning") will effect our schools, my sister sent me this note below. It was posted to her Facebook wall.

"Speaking of your brothers, I had a patient out here in OH who was looking for your bro. Jim. She was from ####### and took guitar lessons from him when she was a teenager. When she found out I was from Homer City she wanted to know if I knew how to contact him because she always wanted to let him know how that changed her life! She has moved with her family to the South somewhere since then, but if you want to pass it along to him her married name is ########."

That was two lifetimes ago. But, I know that if you're reading this then you will understand how a simple note like that can mean so much.

And, when you read this and then you compare that to the teacher-bashing going on, now, it's enough to make a grown man cry.

What will become of our Education system?

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Are You Average?

You are if you're 28 years old, right handed, own a cell phone  but have no bank account, and you're from China. Or, at least so says this video (below). The video came from here.

Thanks to @jigar_patel (A Tweeter) for sharing this with me the other day via Twitter. I had recently been in a small meeting with him and a couple others and he was sharing some fun infographic sites. I really admire the creative minds of those who create those infographics.

Take this example from flowingdata.com that shows how large Africa really is. Lots of others to explore there, too. Or this one from good.is that shows, by county, whether or not America's richest are also the most educated. And here's an interesting video that talks about data visualization. Or this website, coolinfographics.com has quite a few excellent examples. Or, the daily infographic. And, the inforgraphicsshowcase site that showcases the very best. Spend some time at these sites. Or, do a search for the term infographic and browse the resulting images. When you find one you like follow that link back to its source for the possibility of seeing others.

But, the point of this post is about whether or no you're average. Remember, there are almost seven BILLION people on this planet, living in a wide variety of conditions. So, watch this video. I think the description of what the average person is like will surprise you. I also think it will make a great Sociology lesson.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Computer 101: Maintaining and keeping your laptop from unwanted Abuse.

Hello again, wow this is my second article for this month. Pardon me, I'm just happy to be back blogging. As i mention on my previous blog, last year i just acquire my very first laptop. I've been using it to monitor and manage this blogs site. Having  my own laptop is very handy indeed. Whenever I am able to use it, I'd take the chance. Also i  have to keep in mind that having a laptop also comes with responsibility of maintaining and keeping it safe from un-wanted abuse and mis-use as I go about me daily routine. Yup if i want to make my very first laptop in top condition for a long time then i have to always keep in minds several ways to make that happen. I have come up with some very basic rule on how to maintain and keep my laptop in top form. I have come to develop this simple rule based on years of experience of talking and observing other real life people who have their own laptop.

Okay here we go my number one (1) rule is When in use always make sure that the battery does not run out of charge. In the past some of my friends and a lot of other people would ask me to check there computer there desktop computer. While doing it then they would ask me to also do a check on there laptop and based on this most the time the problem i encountered is battery failure, especially if the laptop is more than a year old. Now how come this is always the problem with laptop. This is also the problem with mobile phone, I don't care how advance your mobile phone is, If it has a battery then chances are that battery will be one of the most abuse part of your mobile phone. Why well the main way to abuse a cellphone over charging. Keeping plug-in the whole day or night when two to three hours should be enough. In laptop if over charging is also possible but the main causes of battery abused is under charging. Since the laptop is supposed to be a mobile computer a lot of people really take it the hilt that they tend to forget that the battery of most laptop when not connected to an electrical outlet has a limited charge. They keep om using it and ignoring warning that it's about time to charge the battery. I know how busy we are, but that is not an excuse to just abused the battery of our very handy mobile computer. Always keep in mind to monitor the electrical charge percentage of you battery to make sure it does not run-out on you when you will need it the most let's say during office meeting with your boss and co-worker. Take time to watch the charge percentage and do a little calculation on your own.

I mean you know your own schedule make sure that before it start, charge the battery of your laptop or better still plug it to the nearest electrical outlet the whole duration your meeting. Always under-chr\arging the battery of your laptop will using will shorten the life-span of the battery. Another unseen cause of laptop not functioning properly is the heat generated by the battery is it not plug in while in use. Since the battery is functioning and giving out its stored electrical supply to the laptop then more heat heat is generated as it is being use compare to that when the laptop is plug on an electrical outlet while also in use. Notice also that some major application needs more power than others. This will really lessen the staying power of your battery when not plug-in.The heat generated by the battery when in used can affect those micro-circuit inside the laptop. This will cause them to wear faster by over-heating and in the long run this will cause the affected circuit not to function properly and in the long run will affect the performance of your laptop. It's better to take the necessary measures now or to see yourself always in the service center and paying the technician for service which in the first should have been avoided if did the right thing of taking care of the battery and using it properly. 

Computer 101: Unable to Change the Desktop Picture in Windows 7 Starter

Hello again world, after more than a month of not updating this blog, I have finally found the inspiration to update it. This will be my seventh blog article for 2011 and the first for the month of March. I have no article for the month of February. Hopefully I could follow this one with many more to come. Do you like personalizing your gadget? Like your computer, phones and other devices that allow user level customization without going very technical about it? Today being personal about how your devices appear is very nice. On the internet email provider such as Google allows user to change their Gmail background picture for a more personal appeal. The same is true with their Browser the Google Chrome; you can now change the picture or put a picture that you like on your Chrome browser whenever you create a new tab or windows. This is also true for personal computer such as your desktop and laptop. For me personally one form of customization is changing the picture of the desktop on my computer, laptop or phone. Just like the background picture of my Google Chrome browser below.



Just last year to be exact November 2010, I bought my very first laptop and I also bought a new operating system with it the Microsoft Windows 7 Starter version. The reason I bought this version is because it’s the cheapest version of the current new Windows 7 series from Microsoft. This is version lack the basic featured that comes with all previous windows software that has been release. For one thing i cannot change the background picture of this version to make my laptop more personal. I’ve search for article regarding this feature on the internet and finds that to change the background picture of the desktop i need to do a lot of tinkering with the registry and some files that is related to the background picture. There is no article that says the background picture can be change via the normal way of just selecting the desired picture and pressing the OK button. I mean the usual way of changing the background picture of my desktop at any point in time that I like to do.

If your just a regular guy who uses the computer and do not care much about the technical stuff the goes on inside. I recommend not touching your registry just to change a background picture. You see the registry is the most sensitive part of any computer meaning you need to know what you are doing very precisely in order not to harm your computer. If you search the internet on how to change the background picture of the desktop in Windows 7 starter. You’ll notice that they all point to editing a little part of the registry and renaming some files associated with background picture or they say use a third party software to have a personalized desktop. The problem with this is all program uses memory amount and space to work if you have tons of installed programs in your computer then another one will be added in the sharing of the precious memory resources. If your computer has a big amount of memory let say like 4 GIG and up then there is no problem but if your computer has a common 2 Gig amount then adding another program just for changing the desktop picture of your computer is simple not worth it.


I personally would like to make my gadget look very mine and changing the background of my laptop is one way of expressing myself through my very first laptop. In order to change my background picture on the desktop I need to upgrade my Windows 7 Starter to any higher version and my problem will be solved. 

Google "content farm" algorithm to adjust has begun to take effect


Google's actions did not think so quickly, on February 25 announced plans to network the time to fight spam, and today March 1, has been part of the website claims site traffic, ranking all of the fallen. Now Google may also continue to adjust, perhaps not over yet.

Thinking billion euros originally estimated that Google is mainly forms of content for those articles, to combat. But now from the results, a lot of e-commerce sites have also been affected to varying degrees. Therefore, any low-quality content may be in the scope of the fight against Google, not just a mean article.

The scope of this adjustment, not just for some small sites, and even well-known sites are within this range. According to this point can also be seen, Google's algorithm for the adjustment may only be conducted from the perspective of the contents of a single judge. Adjustment of the previous algorithm, the vast majority are comprehensive adjustment of various factors, many of the sites because they have a lot of quality links and avoid the algorithm.

Matt Cutts said that continuing to provide the depth of original content sites, ranking will be improved. The current adjustment range is mainly in the United States, will be gradually extended to the outside of the U.S. search requests. 

 
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