I have an HP Photosmart 2610 all in one printer. It prints photos/text, faxes, scans and copies. I love it! I bought it about seven years ago, so it's probably time for an upgrade soon. A couple of aspects I hope to improve upon are to get a printer that supports wireless connections. The other improvement would be to find a great printer with cheap ink cartridges.
I hate buying ink. One time I almost ordered ink from Amazon because they had a great price. After reading reviews I realized they were not genuine ink cartridges. I only buy original ink cartridges manufactured by HP. Every time I buy new ink cartridges, it costs me $70 for both the colored and black and white cartridges. They come as a set, which is cheaper than buying them separate. Genuine toner cartridges are also expensive. You definitely have to be careful when buying ink online if you are only interested in original ink cartridges. RetailBlue.com is an online retailer that sells only genuine ink cartridges.
I recently read an article in the newspaper by Al Fasoldt, who writes for The Post-Standard in Syracuse, NY, about printer recommendations. He offered a few tips to save on ink prices.
The first tip is to buy a cheap laser printer, if you are only going to print in black and white.
The second tip is to get an ink jet printer designed to use less ink than other printers, if you need a color printer. Apparently, Kodak ink costs about half the price as Epson or HP.
The third tip involves getting an ink efficient printer with Air Print capability, if you need to print from an iPad or iPhone.
Top brand printers include HP, Epson, Kodak and Canon. I may have to look into the second tip and check out the printers offered by Kodak. My brother has a Kodak and my mother has an Epson, both of which work good.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Watching tv online
I appreciate the guest post, Emerson Moses
It is amazing what we have access to online. I am seriously considering canceling our cable service because all of the shows that I want to watch can be seen online for free. Many of the channels show most or all of their shows online, and for only a few dollars a month, we can have access to movies as well. With our internet provided through CLEARtvbundle.com, and with a membership to a website that shows movies, it would cost half of what we pay in cable alone. The truth is that my husband and I rarely watch television, and we spend most of our time together outside camping, hiking, etc. We both work full time, and his job is very stressful. My husband’s stress release is to go do something active, such as a bike ride. We have discussed for months the possibility of canceling our cable because we just never use it. The only thing that would be a problem would be major sporting events, such as the World Series, Super Bowl, and the major college bowl games. My husband is unwilling to miss these sporting events. However, I am going to try to convince him that we do not need cable television.
It is amazing what we have access to online. I am seriously considering canceling our cable service because all of the shows that I want to watch can be seen online for free. Many of the channels show most or all of their shows online, and for only a few dollars a month, we can have access to movies as well. With our internet provided through CLEARtvbundle.com, and with a membership to a website that shows movies, it would cost half of what we pay in cable alone. The truth is that my husband and I rarely watch television, and we spend most of our time together outside camping, hiking, etc. We both work full time, and his job is very stressful. My husband’s stress release is to go do something active, such as a bike ride. We have discussed for months the possibility of canceling our cable because we just never use it. The only thing that would be a problem would be major sporting events, such as the World Series, Super Bowl, and the major college bowl games. My husband is unwilling to miss these sporting events. However, I am going to try to convince him that we do not need cable television.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Data Storage Systems Nexsan
It's amazing how cheap data storage is these days. Ten years ago I received a 64mb thumbdrive from my boss for Christmas. They were fairly new at the time, so it was a really big deal. It was a pretty cool little device to save a few files on. lol. Nowadays, thumbdrive sizes are in gigabytes rather than megabytes.
I have a 250gb external hard drive that I need to upgrade someday, since you can now buy one with available space in terabytes.
Cloud storage is a great storage option since you don't have to worry about having a physical device to store the data on. You can also access the data from any computer, provided you have an internet connection. There are quite a few web sites out there that offer a certain amount of free cloud storage. Amazon even offers 5gb of free cloud storage.
There is a company called Nexsan that offer huge amounts of high end storage. They sell Flexible Storage Platform systems which may contain between 14 and 60 drives and can be expanded with additional units. The NEXSAN E5000 family of data storage systems can hold up to 720tb. That's a lot of data. Drives use Nexsan's anti-vibration design, cool drive technology and active drawer technology.
Nexsan also offers web-based storage system software with features such as disk provisioning, RAID hardware management, host data path services and automatic RAID set rebuild.
Nexsan's storage application software includes features such as file services, snapshot, replication and archiving to storage system hardware. Archiving services id files for integrity, store two copies for added protection, continuously repair files, use WORM on disk, and provide data encryption and key management.
Nexsan was formed in 1999 and are based in Thousand Oaks, California.
Back up's are really important. You never know when a disaster might happen and your data will be wiped out.
The other day I was working on a file in PHP. An example file I was following contained a call to unlink. Unlink was an unfamiliar function to me, but I found out the hard way what it does. Since the example file I was using called it, I included it in my test file. I ran my test file, and it suddenly disappeared. Yeah, unlink deletes a file. Luckily I was able to recreate my test file without too much trouble. I also downloaded an application called Recuva. After doing a deep scan and running all day, Recuva found the unlinked file, and I was able to restore it.
I have a 250gb external hard drive that I need to upgrade someday, since you can now buy one with available space in terabytes.
Cloud storage is a great storage option since you don't have to worry about having a physical device to store the data on. You can also access the data from any computer, provided you have an internet connection. There are quite a few web sites out there that offer a certain amount of free cloud storage. Amazon even offers 5gb of free cloud storage.
There is a company called Nexsan that offer huge amounts of high end storage. They sell Flexible Storage Platform systems which may contain between 14 and 60 drives and can be expanded with additional units. The NEXSAN E5000 family of data storage systems can hold up to 720tb. That's a lot of data. Drives use Nexsan's anti-vibration design, cool drive technology and active drawer technology.
Nexsan also offers web-based storage system software with features such as disk provisioning, RAID hardware management, host data path services and automatic RAID set rebuild.
Nexsan's storage application software includes features such as file services, snapshot, replication and archiving to storage system hardware. Archiving services id files for integrity, store two copies for added protection, continuously repair files, use WORM on disk, and provide data encryption and key management.
Nexsan was formed in 1999 and are based in Thousand Oaks, California.
Back up's are really important. You never know when a disaster might happen and your data will be wiped out.
The other day I was working on a file in PHP. An example file I was following contained a call to unlink. Unlink was an unfamiliar function to me, but I found out the hard way what it does. Since the example file I was using called it, I included it in my test file. I ran my test file, and it suddenly disappeared. Yeah, unlink deletes a file. Luckily I was able to recreate my test file without too much trouble. I also downloaded an application called Recuva. After doing a deep scan and running all day, Recuva found the unlinked file, and I was able to restore it.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Trade Show Displays Post-Up Stand Vinyl Banners
Craft fairs are very popular in my area of upstate New York during the summer time. You can buy a lot of very nice handmade items ranging from towels to large wooden furniture. Crafters set up booths at county and state fairs, and fairs featuring crafters only. At the county and state fairs you can also find trade show booths set up. Some of the trade show booths involve politicians trying to get your vote, companies advertising their products or non-profit organizations advertising their cause. The trade show and craft booths are the only part of fairs I like. A lot of times you can pick up a bunch of free things too. Pencils are a big item. Last year I picked up a nice ruler with photos of all of the past presidents along with their names and years. I also picked up a notepad of pre-filled forms to use for child school absences. With the large crowds that fairs draw, setting up a booth to get your message out is a great way to advertise.
There is a company called Post-Up Stand that sells Trade Show Displays. They sell curved and straight trade show displays. The curved trade show display has three or four panels that piece together to form a curved display. The straight trade show display has three or four panels that piece together to form a large straight display. Prices for both the curved and straight trade show displays range from $980 to $1440. Trade show displays include a frame, three printed banners, two halogen lights and a hard shipping case. The displays are easy to set up.
Post-Up Stand also sells Vinyl Banners. A lot of the trade show booths also have these attached to tables or hanging up at the back of their booths to advertise who they are. Vinyl banners are also great for restaurants, lobbies, school events or to hang outside your business to advertise a big sale. Prices range from $12 for a 2'x2' banner to $192 for an 8'x8' banner. Grommets and sewing are included. Banner stands and table top displays are also available from Post-Up Stand.
Post-Up Stand is located in Cleveland, Ohio. They offer a 48 hour turnaround for custom banner stands, trade show displays, and vinyl banners. Orders are shipped via FedEx and UPS.
There is a company called Post-Up Stand that sells Trade Show Displays. They sell curved and straight trade show displays. The curved trade show display has three or four panels that piece together to form a curved display. The straight trade show display has three or four panels that piece together to form a large straight display. Prices for both the curved and straight trade show displays range from $980 to $1440. Trade show displays include a frame, three printed banners, two halogen lights and a hard shipping case. The displays are easy to set up.
Post-Up Stand also sells Vinyl Banners. A lot of the trade show booths also have these attached to tables or hanging up at the back of their booths to advertise who they are. Vinyl banners are also great for restaurants, lobbies, school events or to hang outside your business to advertise a big sale. Prices range from $12 for a 2'x2' banner to $192 for an 8'x8' banner. Grommets and sewing are included. Banner stands and table top displays are also available from Post-Up Stand.
Post-Up Stand is located in Cleveland, Ohio. They offer a 48 hour turnaround for custom banner stands, trade show displays, and vinyl banners. Orders are shipped via FedEx and UPS.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Systems Software Development Milestone Systems, Inc
My real world job is as a software developer, an applications software developer. I develop applications for the desktop computer using programming languages such as C, C++ and Java. For the majority of the past year, I have been gaining experience in web development using PHP and MySQL. It is very interesting. With HTML5 you can do just about anything in your web browser that you can do with a desktop application. Mobile development is another direction I would like to move in. Learning to develop a mobile application is my goal for next year. I'm going to start out with Android, since the Java based sdk is free.
I prefer to write programs that perform a specific task. That is why I am an applications programmer. Another avenue of programming is systems programming. Systems programmers write programs to maintain and control computer systems software, such as operating systems, networking or compilers.
Cyber-security software is a hot area where I live in upstate New York. Local colleges offer degrees geared towards cyber-security development. Many of the companies in this area also specialize in cyber-security. It is not really an area I am interested in. However, the safety of your computers and networks is very important. With the increase in mobile internet usage, cyber-security is becoming even more important.
There is a company called Milestone Systems, Inc. that specializes in network security. They offer project consulting, installation and implementation, staffing, operational training, renewals service, and managed services.
One of their product partners is called F5 networks. F5 Application Delivery Controllers ensure that your application will not encounter downtime or loss of productivity. One service offered is F5 auditing to ensure all F5 devices in your network are running smoothly and efficiently. If any problems are discovered, Milestone Systems, Inc. will offer a solution.
Another product partner is Cisco IronPort. Cisco IronPort offers email security. It helps protect your network from within. You control access to networks, servers and applications based on certain criteria such as machine and user identities, while Cisco IronPort reports all successful access attempts.
Milestone Systems, Inc also offers many training courses, including many different F5 training courses, such as F5 Networks Global Traffic Manager, F5 Big-IP Essentials and F5 Networks Troubleshooting Big-IP LTM. Cisco IronPort training courses are also offered. Some of these courses include Securing Your Web with Cisco IronPort S-Series, Securing Email w/ Cisco Ironport C-Series Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3, Virtual Securing Your Web with Cisco IronPort and Cisco Advanced SSL VPN Administration.
If you are in need of systems software, Milestone Systems, Inc might be worth a look.
I prefer to write programs that perform a specific task. That is why I am an applications programmer. Another avenue of programming is systems programming. Systems programmers write programs to maintain and control computer systems software, such as operating systems, networking or compilers.
Cyber-security software is a hot area where I live in upstate New York. Local colleges offer degrees geared towards cyber-security development. Many of the companies in this area also specialize in cyber-security. It is not really an area I am interested in. However, the safety of your computers and networks is very important. With the increase in mobile internet usage, cyber-security is becoming even more important.
There is a company called Milestone Systems, Inc. that specializes in network security. They offer project consulting, installation and implementation, staffing, operational training, renewals service, and managed services.
One of their product partners is called F5 networks. F5 Application Delivery Controllers ensure that your application will not encounter downtime or loss of productivity. One service offered is F5 auditing to ensure all F5 devices in your network are running smoothly and efficiently. If any problems are discovered, Milestone Systems, Inc. will offer a solution.
Another product partner is Cisco IronPort. Cisco IronPort offers email security. It helps protect your network from within. You control access to networks, servers and applications based on certain criteria such as machine and user identities, while Cisco IronPort reports all successful access attempts.
Milestone Systems, Inc also offers many training courses, including many different F5 training courses, such as F5 Networks Global Traffic Manager, F5 Big-IP Essentials and F5 Networks Troubleshooting Big-IP LTM. Cisco IronPort training courses are also offered. Some of these courses include Securing Your Web with Cisco IronPort S-Series, Securing Email w/ Cisco Ironport C-Series Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3, Virtual Securing Your Web with Cisco IronPort and Cisco Advanced SSL VPN Administration.
If you are in need of systems software, Milestone Systems, Inc might be worth a look.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Warehouse Management Software 3PL
I've been doing just about all of my Christmas shopping online. Orders I have placed have been mainly from Amazon and Walmart. When I order from Amazon, I prefer to order new items from Amazon themselves. They sell a lot of items from third party retailers. Sometimes the price is a little cheaper. I picked up a Star Wars Clone Trooper laptop for my seven year old for $26 through a third party retailer. Normally it sells for around $40. It was too good of a deal to pass up. I know my Star Wars fan will like it, so I took a chance and bought it from a third party dealer.
A few things to note when ordering from Amazon. If the description says "Ships from and sold by xxxxxx", the third party retailer sells and ships the item. They are just using Amazon as a platform to sell their product. If the description says "Sold by xxxxxx and Fulfilled by Amazon", the third party retailer sells the item, but has Amazon ship it. They have shipped the item to Amazon, who stores it for the third party in their warehouse. I discovered that when I clicked on the 'have one to sell' button.
I went through the process of listing an item, but didn't submit it. It seems like Amazon charges pretty high fees. I think you pay less fees selling on ebay. Amazon takes out .99 per item sold, a referral fee which is a percentage of the sale price based on what the item is, and a variable closing fee which is based on the referral fee. If I sell an item for $27, I will end up with $26.63 minus what it will cost me to ship the item. In the end what you make turns out to be slightly less than the sale price, plus whatever it costs you for shipping.
With their own inventory and inventory from third party retailers, Amazon must have quite a system of storing items. I've ordered from them for years and have only had one order with a problem. They sent the right item, but the wrong invoice. They must have some sort of warehouse management software that they use to keep track of all the inventory. One such third party logistics software is from a company called 3pl. They provide web-based warehouse management software to companies to help them run more efficiently. Since it is web-based, there are no installation fees, no software upgrades, no new hardware and no consultants. The software helps provide customers with real time information. Profits are increased thanks to the automated process. Billing is more accurate. The 3pl software costs less than $500 per month. You can pay for what you use with no long-term contracts. You can also add and inactivate customers and warehouses as needed. The software can be customized to use your company logo.
Even though I will be sticking with ebay for selling, I still prefer to buy from Amazon.
A few things to note when ordering from Amazon. If the description says "Ships from and sold by xxxxxx", the third party retailer sells and ships the item. They are just using Amazon as a platform to sell their product. If the description says "Sold by xxxxxx and Fulfilled by Amazon", the third party retailer sells the item, but has Amazon ship it. They have shipped the item to Amazon, who stores it for the third party in their warehouse. I discovered that when I clicked on the 'have one to sell' button.
I went through the process of listing an item, but didn't submit it. It seems like Amazon charges pretty high fees. I think you pay less fees selling on ebay. Amazon takes out .99 per item sold, a referral fee which is a percentage of the sale price based on what the item is, and a variable closing fee which is based on the referral fee. If I sell an item for $27, I will end up with $26.63 minus what it will cost me to ship the item. In the end what you make turns out to be slightly less than the sale price, plus whatever it costs you for shipping.
With their own inventory and inventory from third party retailers, Amazon must have quite a system of storing items. I've ordered from them for years and have only had one order with a problem. They sent the right item, but the wrong invoice. They must have some sort of warehouse management software that they use to keep track of all the inventory. One such third party logistics software is from a company called 3pl. They provide web-based warehouse management software to companies to help them run more efficiently. Since it is web-based, there are no installation fees, no software upgrades, no new hardware and no consultants. The software helps provide customers with real time information. Profits are increased thanks to the automated process. Billing is more accurate. The 3pl software costs less than $500 per month. You can pay for what you use with no long-term contracts. You can also add and inactivate customers and warehouses as needed. The software can be customized to use your company logo.
Even though I will be sticking with ebay for selling, I still prefer to buy from Amazon.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Cymax Holiday Sales
This time of year, all the retailers are trying to get your business. They are offering lots of sales. Many online retailers are also offering free shipping. I picked up seven bottles of cabernet at wine.com for $78 with shipping/handling fees of a penny.
I picked up the Samsung Stratosphere for free during Best Buy's Black Friday sale. My contract expired the day before, but I was going to wait until 4G is available in my area before upgrading to a new phone. Free was too good of a deal though, so I went with it. It would have cost me $149 to order the same phone from Verizon. The Stratosphere is Verizon's only smartphone with a physical keyboard. At the moment, that's a requirement for me. The virtual keyboard is ok, but the keys are kind of close together, so it's easy to tap the wrong key.
Another retailer called Cymax is offering a month long holiday sale of up to 50% off with free shipping and no sales tax (except VA). They sell furniture and home decor. They have been in business since 2004. In 2010, they broke the $100 million sales mark and were officially listed as one of the world’s Top 500 online businesses by Internet Retailer. They pride themselves on offering great customer service, a wide variety of items, and low prices. They carry only brand-new merchandise from top manufacturers. All brands carry a full manufacturers warranty.
I picked up the Samsung Stratosphere for free during Best Buy's Black Friday sale. My contract expired the day before, but I was going to wait until 4G is available in my area before upgrading to a new phone. Free was too good of a deal though, so I went with it. It would have cost me $149 to order the same phone from Verizon. The Stratosphere is Verizon's only smartphone with a physical keyboard. At the moment, that's a requirement for me. The virtual keyboard is ok, but the keys are kind of close together, so it's easy to tap the wrong key.
Another retailer called Cymax is offering a month long holiday sale of up to 50% off with free shipping and no sales tax (except VA). They sell furniture and home decor. They have been in business since 2004. In 2010, they broke the $100 million sales mark and were officially listed as one of the world’s Top 500 online businesses by Internet Retailer. They pride themselves on offering great customer service, a wide variety of items, and low prices. They carry only brand-new merchandise from top manufacturers. All brands carry a full manufacturers warranty.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Inertial Navigation System InnaLabs
There is a company called InnaLabs headquartered in Dublin, Ireland that develops inertial navigation systems. At their research and design lab in the Ukraine, high performance inertial sensors are developed. InnaLabs produces high end, cutting edge accelerometers and gyroscopes. They are used in several industries for many different purposes, including aerospace and commercial aircraft, marine and land, oil exploration and energy, automation and robots as well as transportation markets.
Accelerometers are developed for use in inertial navigation systems, orientation, and stabilization systems. Accelerometers are used in aircrafts and unmanned vehicles, naval vehicles, and ships and orientation systems for the oil drilling industry.
Coriolis vibratory gyroscopes are available as 1, 2, or 3 axis gyroscope sensors. They use a vibrating quartz technology that uses the coriolis effect to measure the angular rotation rate. They are used for things such as platform stabilization, positioning and stabilized pointing, gyro-stabilized balls, railway tilt systems, sonar stabilization and autopilot sensing and control. They are also used in various unmanned vehicles such as automated guided vehicles, unmanned underwater vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles and remotely operated underwater vehicles.
A single quartz gyrospcope uses a monolithic quartz sensing element. It has internal power regulation and is used by original equipment manufacturers. They are used for antenna and platform stabilization, robotics and vehicle control and stabilization, low-cost inertial systems, such as inertial navigation systems and for measurement purposes in precision farming, factory automation, medical, and orthopedic areas.
Accelerometers are developed for use in inertial navigation systems, orientation, and stabilization systems. Accelerometers are used in aircrafts and unmanned vehicles, naval vehicles, and ships and orientation systems for the oil drilling industry.
Coriolis vibratory gyroscopes are available as 1, 2, or 3 axis gyroscope sensors. They use a vibrating quartz technology that uses the coriolis effect to measure the angular rotation rate. They are used for things such as platform stabilization, positioning and stabilized pointing, gyro-stabilized balls, railway tilt systems, sonar stabilization and autopilot sensing and control. They are also used in various unmanned vehicles such as automated guided vehicles, unmanned underwater vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles and remotely operated underwater vehicles.
A single quartz gyrospcope uses a monolithic quartz sensing element. It has internal power regulation and is used by original equipment manufacturers. They are used for antenna and platform stabilization, robotics and vehicle control and stabilization, low-cost inertial systems, such as inertial navigation systems and for measurement purposes in precision farming, factory automation, medical, and orthopedic areas.
High Efficiency Furnace
We are lucking out weather wise this weekend in upstate New York. The past few days have been very early fall like. The sun is out and it's warm as in about 60 degrees. It is a welcome relief from all the rain we have had this fall. Unfortunately, the weather man thinks we may have a cold and snowy winter. The calm before the storm I guess.
I really hate the cold weather. It's a good thing we have a high efficiency furnace. It is almost nine years old. We had a few minor problems last year, so this year I will probably have it serviced to make sure it is in good running order. It is an oil furnace. Someday I would like to upgrade it to a more greener method. We also heat with a woodstove located in the basement. The basement is the warmest place in the house during the winter. The woodstove really does cut down on the fuel bill, which is great. I also try to cut down on the oil bill by keeping the temperature around 67 - 68 degrees. If it gets too cold, we just put on a sweatshirt. My grandparents keep their house at about 65 degrees. Now that I have to buy oil, I can see why. Any way to cut down on the dependency of buying oil is welcome.
I really hate the cold weather. It's a good thing we have a high efficiency furnace. It is almost nine years old. We had a few minor problems last year, so this year I will probably have it serviced to make sure it is in good running order. It is an oil furnace. Someday I would like to upgrade it to a more greener method. We also heat with a woodstove located in the basement. The basement is the warmest place in the house during the winter. The woodstove really does cut down on the fuel bill, which is great. I also try to cut down on the oil bill by keeping the temperature around 67 - 68 degrees. If it gets too cold, we just put on a sweatshirt. My grandparents keep their house at about 65 degrees. Now that I have to buy oil, I can see why. Any way to cut down on the dependency of buying oil is welcome.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Photo To CD Scanning Service ScanDigital.com
Photograph and video technology has really come a long way. Twenty years ago, I got my first camera as a Christmas gift. It was a Kodak disc camera. I took lots of pictures with that, so I have a bunch of photo albums in storage along with a bunch of negatives. Photo scanning is a time consuming process I don't have time for right now.
There is a website called ScanDigital.com that offers photo scanning services. They will take those old photos and negatives and convert them to digital images. They first clean and prepare the photos with compressed air and a lint free cloth. Each picture is then scanned. Technicians will then repair each image by cropping, rotating, correcting the color and removing red eye. The photos are then put on a cd, dvd or external Hard Drive for you to enjoy. Using a photos to cd process protects your photos against dust, scratches, etc. You can also make extra back up copies and store them off site, so they will be safe.
ScanDigital.com also offers a video service. They will take old video tapes and put them on DVD. Formats they can convert include VHS, VHS-C, BetaMax, Hi8, MiniDV and Digital 8. That is a great service since VCR's are hard to find. I have a few old players, but the tapes usually play back all fuzzy. I've tried cleaning the heads, but that hasn't helped. DVD players are very reasonably priced nowadays. I have a few old VHS tapes from when I was in elementary school. Putting them on a DVD might be a good idea.
For both services ScanDigital.com has the following start to finish process in place once you place an order:
1. Your photos are sent to ScanDigital.com via UPS, which they monitor using tracking info
2. Once the order is received, they check it in and enter all contents into their system.
3. Orders are stored in labeled and sealed containers while waiting to be scanned.
4. Each photo is scanned.
5. Scans are reviewed for quality.
6. Editing staff optimizes each photo.
7. Editors review their work for quality.
8. A separate, third editor reviews the digital images for quality.
9. Files are copied onto a CD, DVD, or external hard drive.
10. Orders are finalized and billed.
11. Original photos, digital images and receipt are shipped to you.
12. Order is uploaded to an online gallery for sharing.
13. You receive your order.
Sounds like a great service that I may have to look into.
There is a website called ScanDigital.com that offers photo scanning services. They will take those old photos and negatives and convert them to digital images. They first clean and prepare the photos with compressed air and a lint free cloth. Each picture is then scanned. Technicians will then repair each image by cropping, rotating, correcting the color and removing red eye. The photos are then put on a cd, dvd or external Hard Drive for you to enjoy. Using a photos to cd process protects your photos against dust, scratches, etc. You can also make extra back up copies and store them off site, so they will be safe.
ScanDigital.com also offers a video service. They will take old video tapes and put them on DVD. Formats they can convert include VHS, VHS-C, BetaMax, Hi8, MiniDV and Digital 8. That is a great service since VCR's are hard to find. I have a few old players, but the tapes usually play back all fuzzy. I've tried cleaning the heads, but that hasn't helped. DVD players are very reasonably priced nowadays. I have a few old VHS tapes from when I was in elementary school. Putting them on a DVD might be a good idea.
For both services ScanDigital.com has the following start to finish process in place once you place an order:
1. Your photos are sent to ScanDigital.com via UPS, which they monitor using tracking info
2. Once the order is received, they check it in and enter all contents into their system.
3. Orders are stored in labeled and sealed containers while waiting to be scanned.
4. Each photo is scanned.
5. Scans are reviewed for quality.
6. Editing staff optimizes each photo.
7. Editors review their work for quality.
8. A separate, third editor reviews the digital images for quality.
9. Files are copied onto a CD, DVD, or external hard drive.
10. Orders are finalized and billed.
11. Original photos, digital images and receipt are shipped to you.
12. Order is uploaded to an online gallery for sharing.
13. You receive your order.
Sounds like a great service that I may have to look into.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Free Download Design Patterns Gamma
For a few years now I have been wanting to buy the object oriented book "Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software" by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson and John Vlissides
. It's one of those must have books for any software developer. It's pretty expensive though. A new copy is almost $50. The Kindle version is even $27. Used copies also average around $25. I did a search on Google to see if there are any free copies out there.
Yes, there are!!!! Go to 4shared.com. It's a file sharing site. First you have to download and install the software, which is free. Once installed, run the software and search for design patterns gamma. A list of available files comes up, select one and download. Apparently the hardcopy of the book is now available on cd, which is where the downloaded file came from. It seems to contain the full book, which I am now in the process of reading.
Thank you!
. It's one of those must have books for any software developer. It's pretty expensive though. A new copy is almost $50. The Kindle version is even $27. Used copies also average around $25. I did a search on Google to see if there are any free copies out there. Yes, there are!!!! Go to 4shared.com. It's a file sharing site. First you have to download and install the software, which is free. Once installed, run the software and search for design patterns gamma. A list of available files comes up, select one and download. Apparently the hardcopy of the book is now available on cd, which is where the downloaded file came from. It seems to contain the full book, which I am now in the process of reading.
Thank you!
Friday, November 18, 2011
Finpo Printed Circuit Boards MCPCB
In college, I majored in math. When I graduated, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I took a year off to do nothing, but work at a mindless job and relax. After the year was up, I sent out resumes and ended up with a job as a software developer, a perfect fit for me.
Computers are great, software developing is great, but the hardware aspect is beyond me. Taking apart the insides of a computer is not something I can do. All the little pieces inside look the same to me.
If you are gifted with understanding computer hardware, you might be interested in a company called Finpo. They sell printed circuit boards, PCBs. They are of high quality at a low cost. PCB supplies and services are also offered. Online instant quotes are available. Finpo offers rigid boards, flexible boards, MCPCB, rigid-flex boards and HDI boards with blind/buried vias. Specialized PCB's include probe card, load board, interposer (substrate), and burn-in boards. PCB production is strictly controlled under ISO9001:2008. Software is also used in the production process to ensure the highest quality PCB is produced.
A minimum of five panels is required for an order.
Damaged boards which are the fault of Finpo will be replaced. Refunds minus a non-refundable fifty dollar surcharge fee are available for orders cancelled before a confirmation is received. After confirmation is received, a non-refundable fifty dollar surcharge fee is available if the difference of the initial and final quote is greater than 20%.
Finpo has 33 years of experience in the PCB industry. Industries that use their products include the communications, industrial computer application and automobile industries.
Computers are great, software developing is great, but the hardware aspect is beyond me. Taking apart the insides of a computer is not something I can do. All the little pieces inside look the same to me.
If you are gifted with understanding computer hardware, you might be interested in a company called Finpo. They sell printed circuit boards, PCBs. They are of high quality at a low cost. PCB supplies and services are also offered. Online instant quotes are available. Finpo offers rigid boards, flexible boards, MCPCB, rigid-flex boards and HDI boards with blind/buried vias. Specialized PCB's include probe card, load board, interposer (substrate), and burn-in boards. PCB production is strictly controlled under ISO9001:2008. Software is also used in the production process to ensure the highest quality PCB is produced.
A minimum of five panels is required for an order.
Damaged boards which are the fault of Finpo will be replaced. Refunds minus a non-refundable fifty dollar surcharge fee are available for orders cancelled before a confirmation is received. After confirmation is received, a non-refundable fifty dollar surcharge fee is available if the difference of the initial and final quote is greater than 20%.
Finpo has 33 years of experience in the PCB industry. Industries that use their products include the communications, industrial computer application and automobile industries.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Scheduling Software Empire Time WSG
One software tool all companies need is scheduling software. There are a lot of different scheduling software options out there. During the time I worked at a large defense company, several different scheduling software tools were used. Back then, I just had dial up for my internet connection. It made it very painful to load a couple of the different systems. There was one system that loaded great. Unfortunately, towards the end, they reverted back to the slowest loading system they had ever used. It wasn't a very good idea. I always worried on time sheet submittal days whether or not I would be able to get in and submit the timesheet.
Scheduling software can be complex. Items it needs to keep track of include total number of hours worked, support for multiple projects, expense reports, vacation/time off hours used & available totals, and time sheet editing.
A company called WSG offers several different scheduling software tools. One tool is called Empire Time. It offers a simple user interface for project financial management with the ability to export reporting to an Excel spreadsheet or a PDF file. Using Empire Time allows for faster billing, financial period closures, and revenue recognition. It also allows for time and expense tracking, overtime and personal time off reporting. It has a high satisfaction rate among users. It supports multiple platforms, including a web based client for remote workers. Project assignments and holidays are automatically populated. It can also automatically import American Express expenses and automate expenses to payroll, so the employee can be quickly reimbursed. A special console is included for managers to use in approving timesheets.
If the Empire Time scheduling software sounds like it might be a good fit for your company, a demo is available at the WSG website, so you can try before you buy.
Scheduling software can be complex. Items it needs to keep track of include total number of hours worked, support for multiple projects, expense reports, vacation/time off hours used & available totals, and time sheet editing.
A company called WSG offers several different scheduling software tools. One tool is called Empire Time. It offers a simple user interface for project financial management with the ability to export reporting to an Excel spreadsheet or a PDF file. Using Empire Time allows for faster billing, financial period closures, and revenue recognition. It also allows for time and expense tracking, overtime and personal time off reporting. It has a high satisfaction rate among users. It supports multiple platforms, including a web based client for remote workers. Project assignments and holidays are automatically populated. It can also automatically import American Express expenses and automate expenses to payroll, so the employee can be quickly reimbursed. A special console is included for managers to use in approving timesheets.
If the Empire Time scheduling software sounds like it might be a good fit for your company, a demo is available at the WSG website, so you can try before you buy.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Engineering Software ZWSOFT ZWCAD ZW3D
There is a company called ZWSOFT that produces and sells engineering software. They have 19 years of experience in the CAD industry with over 180,000 users worldwide and 150 research and design engineers.
One of their engineering software products is called ZWCAD. It is a DWG file format compatible CAD tool designed to create and edit 2D objects. It is also used for dimensioning, 3D modeling, plotting and file sharing. Customizable features include a design center, tools and API customization. The user interface is simple, allowing users to quickly learn how to use it. ZWCAD has over 180,000 users in over 80 countries.
ZW3D is another engineering software product available from ZWSOFT. It helps create a product from start to finish in an integrated, collaborative environment. It allows for reuse and design sharing through data exchange. A one of a kind Overdrive kernel provides for hybrid modeling. Cavity preparation tools and libraries allow for mold and die design. ZW3D also allows for 2-axis to 5-axis CNC machining. The ZW3D software is used in many different industries, including the automotive, consumer products, machine design, mold and die, and medical industries. It is available in 12 different languages.
Forums are available for users of the ZWSOFT engineering software. API resources are also available for developers. An extensive knowledge base, tutorials and tips and tricks are offered for the ZWCAD and ZW3D engineering software on the ZWSOFT website. Online training is also available.
ZWSOFT has locations in China and the United States. They can be followed via social media on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
One of their engineering software products is called ZWCAD. It is a DWG file format compatible CAD tool designed to create and edit 2D objects. It is also used for dimensioning, 3D modeling, plotting and file sharing. Customizable features include a design center, tools and API customization. The user interface is simple, allowing users to quickly learn how to use it. ZWCAD has over 180,000 users in over 80 countries.
ZW3D is another engineering software product available from ZWSOFT. It helps create a product from start to finish in an integrated, collaborative environment. It allows for reuse and design sharing through data exchange. A one of a kind Overdrive kernel provides for hybrid modeling. Cavity preparation tools and libraries allow for mold and die design. ZW3D also allows for 2-axis to 5-axis CNC machining. The ZW3D software is used in many different industries, including the automotive, consumer products, machine design, mold and die, and medical industries. It is available in 12 different languages.
Forums are available for users of the ZWSOFT engineering software. API resources are also available for developers. An extensive knowledge base, tutorials and tips and tricks are offered for the ZWCAD and ZW3D engineering software on the ZWSOFT website. Online training is also available.
ZWSOFT has locations in China and the United States. They can be followed via social media on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Natural Health Nutrition vs. Medical Industry
Since being laid off back in February, I've had time to reflect on my career choice of software developer and whether I should stay on that path, or choose something else. I came to the conclusion that I want to continue on this path.
One area I have become interested in though is the natural health and nutrition field. It's an area I prefer to keep as a hobby, rather than a career choice. I started learning about nutrition when my oldest son was born nine weeks early seven years ago and have continued learning even more as the boys have gotten older. Two years ago I was diagnosed as being on the verge of diabetes, even though I wasn't overweight and didn't really have any risk factors. It forced me to apply my natural health and nutrition knowledge to myself though. There is a lot of information out there on the internet. Some useful, some not, but it all basically says the same thing: eat fresh, local, organic fruits and vegetables, a couple servings per day of whole grains, a little dairy and lean meats, exercise, get enough rest and cut out high fructose corn syrup and all other artificial sweeteners and chemicals. Focusing on low glycemic foods is also important for stabilizing the blood sugar. My point of view is that I would much rather spend money on healthy food, vitamins and feel better, than spend money on junk food, medication and feel like crap.
Since my low glycemic, mediterranean diet change, my cholesterol and blood sugar numbers are much lower. I have way more energy, my head is clearer and I feel much better. The advice all the health gurus give, actually works. Imagine that.
I hate doctors and hospitals. Spending a week in the hospital when my water broke ten weeks early when I was pregnant with my oldest son, and constantly being poked and prodded by doctors in their http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Men/ and nurses in uniform was enough for me.
Medications are also full of weird chemicals, have side effects and often lead to other illnesses that will require yet another type of medication, which in turn will lead to another illness and more medication. So far, I haven't had any weird side effects from eating fruits and vegetables.
If there's something I can do to avoid the medical industry, then I'm more than willing to give it a try.
One area I have become interested in though is the natural health and nutrition field. It's an area I prefer to keep as a hobby, rather than a career choice. I started learning about nutrition when my oldest son was born nine weeks early seven years ago and have continued learning even more as the boys have gotten older. Two years ago I was diagnosed as being on the verge of diabetes, even though I wasn't overweight and didn't really have any risk factors. It forced me to apply my natural health and nutrition knowledge to myself though. There is a lot of information out there on the internet. Some useful, some not, but it all basically says the same thing: eat fresh, local, organic fruits and vegetables, a couple servings per day of whole grains, a little dairy and lean meats, exercise, get enough rest and cut out high fructose corn syrup and all other artificial sweeteners and chemicals. Focusing on low glycemic foods is also important for stabilizing the blood sugar. My point of view is that I would much rather spend money on healthy food, vitamins and feel better, than spend money on junk food, medication and feel like crap.
Since my low glycemic, mediterranean diet change, my cholesterol and blood sugar numbers are much lower. I have way more energy, my head is clearer and I feel much better. The advice all the health gurus give, actually works. Imagine that.
I hate doctors and hospitals. Spending a week in the hospital when my water broke ten weeks early when I was pregnant with my oldest son, and constantly being poked and prodded by doctors in their http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Men/ and nurses in uniform was enough for me.
Medications are also full of weird chemicals, have side effects and often lead to other illnesses that will require yet another type of medication, which in turn will lead to another illness and more medication. So far, I haven't had any weird side effects from eating fruits and vegetables.
If there's something I can do to avoid the medical industry, then I'm more than willing to give it a try.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Center Stage
Guest written by our friend Gladys Fuentes
During the summer when all of my shows were just reruns, I would always check out www.direct.tv to see which movies were available. I had debated adding the movie channels to my cable package when I had it installed, but knew that I would need them during this time of the year. Not only was I able to watch newer movies without leaving my house to rent DVDs, but I would often times catch old movies that brought back so many memories. One of my favorite movies in college was Centerstage. My best friend and I would put this in our sophomore year when we needed a break from the studying and stress of our classes. It was a total chick flick, but we never seemed to get tired of seeing it. It was on TV the other day, so I left it on while I got some things done around my house. I definitely watched more of the movie than I had planned. Needless to say, some of the things on my to do list didn’t get done as quickly as I had hoped.
During the summer when all of my shows were just reruns, I would always check out www.direct.tv to see which movies were available. I had debated adding the movie channels to my cable package when I had it installed, but knew that I would need them during this time of the year. Not only was I able to watch newer movies without leaving my house to rent DVDs, but I would often times catch old movies that brought back so many memories. One of my favorite movies in college was Centerstage. My best friend and I would put this in our sophomore year when we needed a break from the studying and stress of our classes. It was a total chick flick, but we never seemed to get tired of seeing it. It was on TV the other day, so I left it on while I got some things done around my house. I definitely watched more of the movie than I had planned. Needless to say, some of the things on my to do list didn’t get done as quickly as I had hoped.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Dennis Ritchie Founder of C Unix Passes Away Steve Jobs
The world has lost two geniuses in the past week:
Last week, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple died of pancreatic cancer on Wednesday (October 5, 2011).
Over the weekend another lower key technology genius passed away, Dennis Ritchie, aka dmr. He was 70 and passed away after a long illness, reportedly of prostate cancer and heart disease, on Saturday (October 8, 2011).
Steve was the guy who brought the world Apple computers, iPod - 2001, iTunes - 2003, iPhone - 2007, App Store - 2008, and iPad - 2010.
However, none of that would have been possible without Dennis Ritchie. He was the founder of the C programming language along with being a key developer of Unix. Unix is the operating system that all of Steve Job's creations are built upon. Without Unix, there would be no Apple.
C is the programming language used to create Unix. It's also the language the majority of the web is based on. C++, Java, PHP are all based on C. Without C, programmers wouldn't have a job, the web, smartphones wouldn't exist. C is the founding father of programming languages.
C was the first language I learned when fate turned me from a math major into a programmer. Without it, I wouldn't be able to work at home.
Kernighan & Ritchie - The C Programming Language is the C bible Dennis Ritchie helped write and is a standard in a programmer's library.
It's too bad Dennis Ritchie won't be mourned by the millions mourning Steve Jobs. A Google search for Steve Jobs turns up 46,900,000 results. A Google search for Dennis Ritchie turns up 61,200 results. Truly sad. Steve Jobs was the face everyone knew, but Dennis Ritchie was the unseen guy in the back office making it all possible. RIP Dennis Ritchie...
#include "stdafx.h"
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
printf("Goodbye World!\n");
return 0;
}
More Dennis Ritchie
Last week, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple died of pancreatic cancer on Wednesday (October 5, 2011).
Over the weekend another lower key technology genius passed away, Dennis Ritchie, aka dmr. He was 70 and passed away after a long illness, reportedly of prostate cancer and heart disease, on Saturday (October 8, 2011).
Steve was the guy who brought the world Apple computers, iPod - 2001, iTunes - 2003, iPhone - 2007, App Store - 2008, and iPad - 2010.
However, none of that would have been possible without Dennis Ritchie. He was the founder of the C programming language along with being a key developer of Unix. Unix is the operating system that all of Steve Job's creations are built upon. Without Unix, there would be no Apple.
C is the programming language used to create Unix. It's also the language the majority of the web is based on. C++, Java, PHP are all based on C. Without C, programmers wouldn't have a job, the web, smartphones wouldn't exist. C is the founding father of programming languages.
C was the first language I learned when fate turned me from a math major into a programmer. Without it, I wouldn't be able to work at home.
Kernighan & Ritchie
- The C Programming Language is the C bible Dennis Ritchie helped write and is a standard in a programmer's library.It's too bad Dennis Ritchie won't be mourned by the millions mourning Steve Jobs. A Google search for Steve Jobs turns up 46,900,000 results. A Google search for Dennis Ritchie turns up 61,200 results. Truly sad. Steve Jobs was the face everyone knew, but Dennis Ritchie was the unseen guy in the back office making it all possible. RIP Dennis Ritchie...
#include "stdafx.h"
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
printf("Goodbye World!\n");
return 0;
}
More Dennis Ritchie
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Offshore Software Development Metrics BlueOptima
A lot of companies outsource work overseas. It's cheap labor. If companies brought the work back here, it might help the economy a little. That will probably never happen though. It's much easier to pay someone $1.00 than $20.00 for the same work. The question is, is it really more efficient or does it just seem like it is?
There is a company call BlueOptima that helps companies determine if offshore software development is really worthwhile. They analyze data taken from the systems that developers use to manage the software development process. Metrics for offshore software development, which include analytics and graphs, enable companies to determine which teams deliver software at a higher cost per unit of effort and how to reduce that cost. Offshore software development metrics also enable companies to find key spots to work on in the software, so that they can improve the development schedule and make better design decisions. The quality of the software is also improved because the analysis allows companies to have a better understanding of the effort involved in producing the software. Problem areas and bug fixes can be addressed in order of importance, so that the software can be brought to a stable level for release.
To get started, BlueOptima offers a full set of training courses for users, administrators and developers. Courses are available in a class room or online in a webinar. Separate classes are available for managers, developers and administrators. There is also implementation support to quickly and easily deploy BlueOptima and understand the current status of your software development process.
BlueOptima is a good place to start if your company outsources work overseas and you want to verify that it really is cost effective.
There is a company call BlueOptima that helps companies determine if offshore software development is really worthwhile. They analyze data taken from the systems that developers use to manage the software development process. Metrics for offshore software development, which include analytics and graphs, enable companies to determine which teams deliver software at a higher cost per unit of effort and how to reduce that cost. Offshore software development metrics also enable companies to find key spots to work on in the software, so that they can improve the development schedule and make better design decisions. The quality of the software is also improved because the analysis allows companies to have a better understanding of the effort involved in producing the software. Problem areas and bug fixes can be addressed in order of importance, so that the software can be brought to a stable level for release.
To get started, BlueOptima offers a full set of training courses for users, administrators and developers. Courses are available in a class room or online in a webinar. Separate classes are available for managers, developers and administrators. There is also implementation support to quickly and easily deploy BlueOptima and understand the current status of your software development process.
BlueOptima is a good place to start if your company outsources work overseas and you want to verify that it really is cost effective.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
How To Get Started Learning PHP Guide
I'm always trying to learn new things. I get bored easily. One item on my list of things to learn that I can cross off is PHP.
PHP makes developing a website so easy. Much easier than using a combination of Javascript/Java/HTMl/Hibernate that I used on one project. I always thought PHP was a scripting language like Javascript, but it's not. It's a real programming language like C/C++ or Java. Only it's meant for the web. It's also installed on the server, so you don't have to worry if the user has it enabled, like with Javascript.
Here's what I did to go about getting my programming environment set up and the resources I used to learn PHP.
The PHP development environment I used is:
WAMP server - This installs PHP/MySQL/Apache all in one bundle. Much easier than installing and configuring each individual piece. It also installs phpMyAdmin, which is useful to view/edit/query a database. There's also an XAMPP server that I wish I had known about before installing WAMP. XAMPP is geared more towards developing and also includes a few extra pieces, such as PERL.
PHP Eclipse - Helios - This is the tool I used for developing with PHP. The debugger is a little tricky. You can also use Netbeans, which I kind of prefer, but Eclipse has a nice searching option. Debugging in Netbeans is much easier though.
To learn PHP programming, I used these resources:
ed2go.com - This site offers online courses that run 6 weeks and have 12 lessons each. 2 lessons are released each week with a final exam released at the end. There is a discussion board where you can communicate with the professor and other class members. Each lesson has an assignment and quiz. Each course costs around $89. If you can afford it, it's a good way to get started. They offer 2 PHP courses: Introduction to PHP and MySQL and Intermediate PHP and MySQL. The introduction course walks you through developing a recipe website. The intermediate course walks you through developing an online store. Taking these courses was easier, quicker and less expensive than going to an actual class at a college.
PHP and MySQL Web Developmentby Luke Welling, Laura Thomson - A must have. Good reference, very thick, great book. This is the book to get if you can only get one PHP book.
Programming PHP - O'Reillyby Rasmus Lerdorf, Kevin Tatroe and Peter MacIntyre - This is a good book to actually sit down and read through to get started learning PHP. Good reference, much shorter than the Welling/Thomson book.
PHP Solutions - Dynamic Web Design Made Easyby David Powers - Good reference for "how to do something" in PHP.
A few useful links:
http://www.php.net - PHP functions, manual
http://www.phpbuilder.com - tutorials, examples
http://www.phpfreaks.com/ - tutorials, examples
http://www.w3schools.com/php/ - beginner tutorial
http://www.jasny.net/articles/simple-single-sign-on-for-php/ - example to use as a baseline in creating a single sign on server, global login/registration site.
A few miscellaneous links:
www.mysql.com/ - Official MySQL site
MySQL Community Server/ - a tool to make database backups/import a database, edit/view a database
DbVisualizer - A free database tool
More PHP Resources
PHP makes developing a website so easy. Much easier than using a combination of Javascript/Java/HTMl/Hibernate that I used on one project. I always thought PHP was a scripting language like Javascript, but it's not. It's a real programming language like C/C++ or Java. Only it's meant for the web. It's also installed on the server, so you don't have to worry if the user has it enabled, like with Javascript.
Here's what I did to go about getting my programming environment set up and the resources I used to learn PHP.
The PHP development environment I used is:
WAMP server - This installs PHP/MySQL/Apache all in one bundle. Much easier than installing and configuring each individual piece. It also installs phpMyAdmin, which is useful to view/edit/query a database. There's also an XAMPP server that I wish I had known about before installing WAMP. XAMPP is geared more towards developing and also includes a few extra pieces, such as PERL.
PHP Eclipse - Helios - This is the tool I used for developing with PHP. The debugger is a little tricky. You can also use Netbeans, which I kind of prefer, but Eclipse has a nice searching option. Debugging in Netbeans is much easier though.
To learn PHP programming, I used these resources:
ed2go.com - This site offers online courses that run 6 weeks and have 12 lessons each. 2 lessons are released each week with a final exam released at the end. There is a discussion board where you can communicate with the professor and other class members. Each lesson has an assignment and quiz. Each course costs around $89. If you can afford it, it's a good way to get started. They offer 2 PHP courses: Introduction to PHP and MySQL and Intermediate PHP and MySQL. The introduction course walks you through developing a recipe website. The intermediate course walks you through developing an online store. Taking these courses was easier, quicker and less expensive than going to an actual class at a college.
PHP and MySQL Web Development
by Luke Welling, Laura Thomson - A must have. Good reference, very thick, great book. This is the book to get if you can only get one PHP book.Programming PHP - O'Reilly
by Rasmus Lerdorf, Kevin Tatroe and Peter MacIntyre - This is a good book to actually sit down and read through to get started learning PHP. Good reference, much shorter than the Welling/Thomson book.PHP Solutions - Dynamic Web Design Made Easy
by David Powers - Good reference for "how to do something" in PHP.A few useful links:
http://www.php.net - PHP functions, manual
http://www.phpbuilder.com - tutorials, examples
http://www.phpfreaks.com/ - tutorials, examples
http://www.w3schools.com/php/ - beginner tutorial
http://www.jasny.net/articles/simple-single-sign-on-for-php/ - example to use as a baseline in creating a single sign on server, global login/registration site.
A few miscellaneous links:
www.mysql.com/ - Official MySQL site
MySQL Community Server/ - a tool to make database backups/import a database, edit/view a database
DbVisualizer - A free database tool
More PHP Resources
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Learning About Busness
Contribution by Stevie Kirby
There are very few things you actually learn about running your own business from sitting in a college classroom. When I graduated with my entrepreneurship degree I thought I would be all set to start my own paper company but boy, was I mistaken. Things like hiring workers, working with noisy neighbors and everything in between really makes stuff tough. I didn’t know about bank-card-processing.com when I first started and didn’t have any idea how to set up a credit card processor. I feel like what they need to do more of in college is out of classroom training and I wish I’d had more than one semester interning for a small business owner so I would know firsthand how things like this work. I’m learning on my own now but these are expensive lessons when you’ve got to come by them on your own and I wish I didn’t have to learn them when the stakes are so high! I loved college but I wonder if everyone feels like this about their degree.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Giving myself a chess gift
Guest post written by Nate Gregory
I've loved playing chess for so long now. I started playing it with my grandfather when I was really young and he would even let me beat him. But then I got good enough to where I started playing a whole lot better and could actually give him a run for his money. Well, I've continued to play chess for fun for the rest of my life and I thought that maybe now since I'm an adult with a real job, I should probably graduate from the plastic and cardboard set that I got for a couple of bucks at Walmart.
So I went online to try and find some nicer chess sets for myself. As I was looking through all of the different chess blogs, I ran across the site WIRELESSinternet.net. After I looked through it for a little bit I decided to sign up for one of the internet packages that I saw on there.
I found some directions for this really cool DIY chess set. I think I may just make that instead of buying myself a really nice set.
I've loved playing chess for so long now. I started playing it with my grandfather when I was really young and he would even let me beat him. But then I got good enough to where I started playing a whole lot better and could actually give him a run for his money. Well, I've continued to play chess for fun for the rest of my life and I thought that maybe now since I'm an adult with a real job, I should probably graduate from the plastic and cardboard set that I got for a couple of bucks at Walmart.
So I went online to try and find some nicer chess sets for myself. As I was looking through all of the different chess blogs, I ran across the site WIRELESSinternet.net. After I looked through it for a little bit I decided to sign up for one of the internet packages that I saw on there.
I found some directions for this really cool DIY chess set. I think I may just make that instead of buying myself a really nice set.
Friday, July 8, 2011
HP MediaSmart Webcam Software Logitech
My new laptop I ordered a few months back has a webcam built in. I looked all over my system, but couldn't find a program to run it. I went over to download.com and checked out any free webcam software they might have. Unfortunately, every time I would start looking, I would get interrupted by one of my sons and never got a chance to try anything out.
Last week, I took another look at the software on my system and actually found the webcam software. My laptop is an HP, and the pre-installed software is called HP MediaSmart Webcam. It's really hidden. I found it under the Start menu, HP, HP MediaSmart menu. Kind of out of the way, but glad I finally found it. It was the first time I've ever used a webcam.
It's kind of cool, but really strange, to observe yourself while you are working on the computer. You can use the webcam either as a video camera or a still photo camera. The software lets you enhance the photos or add effects. You can create an avatar. There are even share buttons to make it easier to email or share on Facebook, YouTube, Snapfish and Flickr.
Back before I bought this laptop with a built in webcam, I thought about buying a separate webcam. There are lots to choose from, different brands and models, different prices. Some of the popular webcam brands are Logitech, Microsoft and Gear Head. If I was going to buy one, I would most likely go with a Logitech, such as the Logitech HD Pro Webcam (C910).
I have a digital camera and a video camera, but I tend to use the camera and video camera built into my cell phone the most. To add photos to my Facebook, I just take a picture and send it off. I'll have to give my webcam Facebook sharing feature a try and see how that goes, now that I know how to operate my webcam.
Last week, I took another look at the software on my system and actually found the webcam software. My laptop is an HP, and the pre-installed software is called HP MediaSmart Webcam. It's really hidden. I found it under the Start menu, HP, HP MediaSmart menu. Kind of out of the way, but glad I finally found it. It was the first time I've ever used a webcam.
It's kind of cool, but really strange, to observe yourself while you are working on the computer. You can use the webcam either as a video camera or a still photo camera. The software lets you enhance the photos or add effects. You can create an avatar. There are even share buttons to make it easier to email or share on Facebook, YouTube, Snapfish and Flickr.
Back before I bought this laptop with a built in webcam, I thought about buying a separate webcam. There are lots to choose from, different brands and models, different prices. Some of the popular webcam brands are Logitech, Microsoft and Gear Head. If I was going to buy one, I would most likely go with a Logitech, such as the Logitech HD Pro Webcam (C910).
I have a digital camera and a video camera, but I tend to use the camera and video camera built into my cell phone the most. To add photos to my Facebook, I just take a picture and send it off. I'll have to give my webcam Facebook sharing feature a try and see how that goes, now that I know how to operate my webcam.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Tick Removal Lyme Disease Nursing Scrubs
I live in upstate New York and this time of year, ticks are running rampant. About two months ago, my oldest son found a tick full of blood in the back of his neck. A few weeks ago, I found one embedded in my side. It wasn't full of blood yet, so it hadn't been there too long. I'm guessing about 12 hours, so chance of lyme disease is slim since it takes at least 24 hours to transmit it.
I pretty sure my son's tick was in longer than that. His doctor put him on an antibiotic, just in case. I'm not a big fan of antibiotics for "just in case", but I guess it's the lesser of two evils. My father actually had lyme disease and was on very powerful antibiotics for 2 months, which made him very tired.
I was able to get both of our ticks out, but each one had a little piece left in. I took my son to the emergency room. While we were waiting, another mother came in with her son. She had a tick in her shoulder earlier in the day, and her son had a tick in the back of his head. The emergency room doctor removed the piece from my son without a problem.
With my tick, I decided to try a nearby urgent care to get the rest out. I waited 2 1/2 hours before I finally saw someone. They told me they weren't going to try and get the piece out. It would come out on it's own. Yeah, I wasn't too happy I wasted 2 1/2 hours and $20.00 for them to tell me they weren't going to do anything. I did learn that it's ok to leave a small piece of a tick in if you can't get it out.
After my son's tick, I bought a tick removal tool from amazon and a tick release liquid. I couldn't get my tick out using the key. Maybe I just wasn't using it right or maybe it was because the tick wasn't full of blood. I don't know. My son's father got 4 out of 5 ticks out of a dog using the tick key. I used the tick release liquid on my tick and I think it killed the tick. I don't know if that's good or bad.
To remove the tick, use a great pair of tweezers and squeeze as close to the skin as you can and pull straight out until the tick releases. Don't squeeze the sack. That could cause the tick to vomit more disease carrying bacteria into you, which is what I hope the tick release liquid did not do.
During my emergency room and urgent care visits, I noticed that the nursing scrubs, the nurses were wearing, are pretty boring. There are websites out there which actually sell scrubs. Nowadays, scrubs come in all sorts of different colors and patterns. If you are a nurse or doctor tired of wearing the same old scrubs, you might want to give http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Women/ a look, and if you go outdoors, watch out for those ticks.
I pretty sure my son's tick was in longer than that. His doctor put him on an antibiotic, just in case. I'm not a big fan of antibiotics for "just in case", but I guess it's the lesser of two evils. My father actually had lyme disease and was on very powerful antibiotics for 2 months, which made him very tired.
I was able to get both of our ticks out, but each one had a little piece left in. I took my son to the emergency room. While we were waiting, another mother came in with her son. She had a tick in her shoulder earlier in the day, and her son had a tick in the back of his head. The emergency room doctor removed the piece from my son without a problem.
With my tick, I decided to try a nearby urgent care to get the rest out. I waited 2 1/2 hours before I finally saw someone. They told me they weren't going to try and get the piece out. It would come out on it's own. Yeah, I wasn't too happy I wasted 2 1/2 hours and $20.00 for them to tell me they weren't going to do anything. I did learn that it's ok to leave a small piece of a tick in if you can't get it out.
After my son's tick, I bought a tick removal tool from amazon and a tick release liquid. I couldn't get my tick out using the key. Maybe I just wasn't using it right or maybe it was because the tick wasn't full of blood. I don't know. My son's father got 4 out of 5 ticks out of a dog using the tick key. I used the tick release liquid on my tick and I think it killed the tick. I don't know if that's good or bad.
To remove the tick, use a great pair of tweezers and squeeze as close to the skin as you can and pull straight out until the tick releases. Don't squeeze the sack. That could cause the tick to vomit more disease carrying bacteria into you, which is what I hope the tick release liquid did not do.
During my emergency room and urgent care visits, I noticed that the nursing scrubs, the nurses were wearing, are pretty boring. There are websites out there which actually sell scrubs. Nowadays, scrubs come in all sorts of different colors and patterns. If you are a nurse or doctor tired of wearing the same old scrubs, you might want to give http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Women/ a look, and if you go outdoors, watch out for those ticks.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
PHP Web Development Advertising Agency
I have a list of programming languages I would like to learn. On the list is PHP. If you take a look at the job listings on any freelance programming website, there are tons of openings for PHP programmers. I've dabbled with web programming using jsp, java, javascript and html, but no PHP.
One day I was checking out the available classes at ed2go and noticed there were two PHP courses. An introduction class and an intermediate class. Each one costs $89.00 and lasts 6 weeks. Over the duration of the course, 2 lessons are released a week, for a total of 12 lessons. One lesson is released on Wednesday and the other on Friday.
Last week I finished the introduction course and started the intermediate class this week. I must say, I learned quite a bit.
The introduction course took you from start to finish in the development of your own recipe website. A mysql database is used to hold the recipe data. On the website users can create an account, leave comments and search recipes. Pretty cool. I may have to find a way to may it live and integrate it into my recipes blog.
I can't wait to get more into the intermediate class. This one takes you from start to finish of a store, which should be useful for my magazine back issues website.
PHP seems to be a pretty powerful programming language. One thing I never realized is that it is object oriented. It seems to have support for doing just about anything you can do in programming languages like C++. PHP is much easier to use to build a dynamic website than jsp and javascript. Unlike javascript which is browser dependent, PHP runs on the server, which means it's always on, so you don't have to worry about whether or not the user has it enabled in their browser, like with javascript.
Once I make my way through the rest of the intermediate PHP course, I have to go back to a few of the freelance programming sites and see if I can pick up a side job.
I may set up a website and advertise my skills. These days there are lots of programmers out there, especially in the area of web development. I may even look into hiring an Advertising Agency. One that comes to mind is called ThatAdvertising Agency. They are an Advertising Agency made up of tech savvy people. They use all the latest online advertising techniques in addition to the old offline advertising techniques. Hiring an Advertising Agency that knows all the advertising tips and tricks might be just the key to promoting a website and helping a newbie break into the competitive web development field.
One day I was checking out the available classes at ed2go and noticed there were two PHP courses. An introduction class and an intermediate class. Each one costs $89.00 and lasts 6 weeks. Over the duration of the course, 2 lessons are released a week, for a total of 12 lessons. One lesson is released on Wednesday and the other on Friday.
Last week I finished the introduction course and started the intermediate class this week. I must say, I learned quite a bit.
The introduction course took you from start to finish in the development of your own recipe website. A mysql database is used to hold the recipe data. On the website users can create an account, leave comments and search recipes. Pretty cool. I may have to find a way to may it live and integrate it into my recipes blog.
I can't wait to get more into the intermediate class. This one takes you from start to finish of a store, which should be useful for my magazine back issues website.
PHP seems to be a pretty powerful programming language. One thing I never realized is that it is object oriented. It seems to have support for doing just about anything you can do in programming languages like C++. PHP is much easier to use to build a dynamic website than jsp and javascript. Unlike javascript which is browser dependent, PHP runs on the server, which means it's always on, so you don't have to worry about whether or not the user has it enabled in their browser, like with javascript.
Once I make my way through the rest of the intermediate PHP course, I have to go back to a few of the freelance programming sites and see if I can pick up a side job.
I may set up a website and advertise my skills. These days there are lots of programmers out there, especially in the area of web development. I may even look into hiring an Advertising Agency. One that comes to mind is called ThatAdvertising Agency. They are an Advertising Agency made up of tech savvy people. They use all the latest online advertising techniques in addition to the old offline advertising techniques. Hiring an Advertising Agency that knows all the advertising tips and tricks might be just the key to promoting a website and helping a newbie break into the competitive web development field.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
That Advertising Agency
Starting a business, website, blog, etc is pretty easy compared to actually getting people to buy your product, visit your website, etc. Those are the key pieces needed to make money from your business, website or blog.
Nowadays there are two options to attract visitors: offline and online advertising.
Offline advertising involves the old traditional ways of advertising. These include things such as word of mouth, newspaper/radio/television advertisements, billboard ads, and/or passing out business cards.
In this day and age of technology we now have online advertising methods too. These include things such as setting up a website to advertise an offline business, use twitter/facebook/youtube/linkedin, email ads, visit forums, and/or place advertisements on other people's websites.
If you are not tech savvy, online advertising might be a little difficult. That's when it might be a good idea to hire an Advertising Agency to advertise for you.
There is an Advertising Agency called ThatAdvertisingAgency that specialize in advertising using all of the latest high tech methods in addition to the old traditional, offline methods. They are a very tech savvy group who have grown up in the digital age. They use special software to track the success of advertising campaigns to make sure you are getting the best return on your investment. They can set you up with your own twitter/facebook/youtube/linkedin accounts and website optimized so that people can find your site when performing searches. They can set you up with pay-per-click ads, videos, podcasts and write campaigns for you. You can customize which advertising methods you would like them to use. Customizable plans make it affordable, even if you have a small budget.
For any business to survive in today's market place, you have to be creative in attracting new customers. Hiring an Advertising Agency is a good place to start.
Nowadays there are two options to attract visitors: offline and online advertising.
Offline advertising involves the old traditional ways of advertising. These include things such as word of mouth, newspaper/radio/television advertisements, billboard ads, and/or passing out business cards.
In this day and age of technology we now have online advertising methods too. These include things such as setting up a website to advertise an offline business, use twitter/facebook/youtube/linkedin, email ads, visit forums, and/or place advertisements on other people's websites.
If you are not tech savvy, online advertising might be a little difficult. That's when it might be a good idea to hire an Advertising Agency to advertise for you.
There is an Advertising Agency called ThatAdvertisingAgency that specialize in advertising using all of the latest high tech methods in addition to the old traditional, offline methods. They are a very tech savvy group who have grown up in the digital age. They use special software to track the success of advertising campaigns to make sure you are getting the best return on your investment. They can set you up with your own twitter/facebook/youtube/linkedin accounts and website optimized so that people can find your site when performing searches. They can set you up with pay-per-click ads, videos, podcasts and write campaigns for you. You can customize which advertising methods you would like them to use. Customizable plans make it affordable, even if you have a small budget.
For any business to survive in today's market place, you have to be creative in attracting new customers. Hiring an Advertising Agency is a good place to start.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Woodworking
Thanks for the post from Rashad Townsend
In high school, my dad taught me how to stain and varnish the back deck. Ever since that afternoon, I’ve had a passion for refinishing wood furniture and that’s the line of business I’m in today. I love working with wood and creating something beautiful with my hands, so this profession is right up my alley. I have a lot of talent, so I’m told, and I get great joy from what I do. I do a lot of furniture shows and work with some art galleries in the area to sell my pieces as they’re all relatively high end, so it’s important that I check my email often so as not to miss an opportunity. I recently got wireless in my shop from Wirelessinternet.net and it’s been really helpful since I can take it anywhere on the property and not lose signal. The best part of my job is that I get to set my own hours and hang out with my dog all day while doing something I love to do. What more could I possibly ask for?
In high school, my dad taught me how to stain and varnish the back deck. Ever since that afternoon, I’ve had a passion for refinishing wood furniture and that’s the line of business I’m in today. I love working with wood and creating something beautiful with my hands, so this profession is right up my alley. I have a lot of talent, so I’m told, and I get great joy from what I do. I do a lot of furniture shows and work with some art galleries in the area to sell my pieces as they’re all relatively high end, so it’s important that I check my email often so as not to miss an opportunity. I recently got wireless in my shop from Wirelessinternet.net and it’s been really helpful since I can take it anywhere on the property and not lose signal. The best part of my job is that I get to set my own hours and hang out with my dog all day while doing something I love to do. What more could I possibly ask for?
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Cyber Crime Protection ChicaLogic
In this day and age anti malware software is a must. The more time spent online, the greater the chance of your computer becoming infected with malware. Malware, such as worms, viruses and spyware, can do serious damage to your computer, or identity theft can occur when your personal information becomes compromised.
There's tons of malware protection software out there. It's hard to know which one to choose. I came across a website called ChicaLogic, which might be worth a look. It is a unique website in that it is designed by women for women who are looking for technology info.
They sell several tools to help your computer.
One is a computer fixer tool, which helps keep your computer running like it's brand new. It includes a system cleaner and performance optimizer and sells for $19.95.
The other tool protects your computer against threats such as malware and spyware. It sells for $24.95. Both tools are very reasonably priced, compared to other malware software, which sometimes costs a couple hundred dollars.
Free trial downloads of both tools are available, if you want to try before you buy.
A tips and tricks section of ChicaLogic is also useful. It is chock full of computer information, such as recommended apps, how to info, technology news and computer term definitions described in easy to understand articles.
ChicaLogic is worth a look whether you are looking for computer information or cyber crime protection software.
There's tons of malware protection software out there. It's hard to know which one to choose. I came across a website called ChicaLogic, which might be worth a look. It is a unique website in that it is designed by women for women who are looking for technology info.
They sell several tools to help your computer.
One is a computer fixer tool, which helps keep your computer running like it's brand new. It includes a system cleaner and performance optimizer and sells for $19.95.
The other tool protects your computer against threats such as malware and spyware. It sells for $24.95. Both tools are very reasonably priced, compared to other malware software, which sometimes costs a couple hundred dollars.
Free trial downloads of both tools are available, if you want to try before you buy.
A tips and tricks section of ChicaLogic is also useful. It is chock full of computer information, such as recommended apps, how to info, technology news and computer term definitions described in easy to understand articles.
ChicaLogic is worth a look whether you are looking for computer information or cyber crime protection software.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Steam Cleaning The Steam Team
Technology is really great. Many advancements have been made in areas from the medical field to home cleaning. Steam cleaners used these days are really cool. I have a Hoover F5914-900. If you are a do it yourself carpet cleaner, I highly recommend it. I have a 6 year old and a 3 year old. The 6 year old is learning not to ruin things, but the 3 year old has a long way to go. Dirty hands, runny nose, spills, the poor couch gets it all. I can't wait until they are older, so I can buy a new couch. In the meantime, my Hoover is keeping it from being totally disgusting.
I'm thinking about getting my couch professionally cleaned. Professional steam cleaners are very powerful. The advancements in technology keep improving them, so that they get all the deep down dirt out. I saw a commercial upholstery cleaning austin commercial for The Steam Team. Unfortunately, for me, I am not in Austin, but if you are, they might be worth a try. They do all sorts of cleaning: carpet, upholstery, leather, hardwood floor, air duct, water extraction, pet odor, oriental rug, drapery, smoke & fire, stone & ceramic tile and marble. They have specials available to help with the cost of professional carpet cleaning austin. One special is 3 rooms for $99.00. Not a bad deal.
The Steam Team also has a green cleaning service where they use 100% biodegradable, non-toxic, chemicals, which are safe for pets and humans. They are made of all natural ingredients. In this day and age, going green is very important. A 100% money back guarantee is offered, if not completely satisfied.
I'm thinking about getting my couch professionally cleaned. Professional steam cleaners are very powerful. The advancements in technology keep improving them, so that they get all the deep down dirt out. I saw a commercial upholstery cleaning austin commercial for The Steam Team. Unfortunately, for me, I am not in Austin, but if you are, they might be worth a try. They do all sorts of cleaning: carpet, upholstery, leather, hardwood floor, air duct, water extraction, pet odor, oriental rug, drapery, smoke & fire, stone & ceramic tile and marble. They have specials available to help with the cost of professional carpet cleaning austin. One special is 3 rooms for $99.00. Not a bad deal.
The Steam Team also has a green cleaning service where they use 100% biodegradable, non-toxic, chemicals, which are safe for pets and humans. They are made of all natural ingredients. In this day and age, going green is very important. A 100% money back guarantee is offered, if not completely satisfied.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Free Online College Courses
Two months into my job loss, thanks to the wonderful, poorly managed, big name defense company, who shall remain nameless, I'm getting a little bored. The first month wasn't so bad as I had some contract work to keep me busy. The second month I've had to keep myself occupied. Kind of relaxing and not so bad, but it would be much better if my time was being paid for.
I'm trying to keep my brain fresh by learning some new things. Turns out there are tons of free learning resources online. Colleges even offer free courses.
MIT has a whole bunch of free online courses ranging from economics to anthropology to chemistry to computer science. The courses offer lecture notes, assignments & solutions, online textbooks, exams & solutions, image galleries and/or mulitmedia content. Each course offers a subset of those features, so you don't get everything, but some of the courses do have a lot of useful information for learning.
Stanford has a few really great, free computer science/engineering courses online.
Another great site for free online courses is http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses. A lot of these courses are audio or video versions of course lectures. Some have transcripts of the lectures.
A list of several other colleges who offer free online courses can be found here and here.
Online courses are a great way to refresh your memory or learn something new, for free, at your own pace. So much to learn, so little time.
More Online College Info
I'm trying to keep my brain fresh by learning some new things. Turns out there are tons of free learning resources online. Colleges even offer free courses.
MIT has a whole bunch of free online courses ranging from economics to anthropology to chemistry to computer science. The courses offer lecture notes, assignments & solutions, online textbooks, exams & solutions, image galleries and/or mulitmedia content. Each course offers a subset of those features, so you don't get everything, but some of the courses do have a lot of useful information for learning.
Stanford has a few really great, free computer science/engineering courses online.
Another great site for free online courses is http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses. A lot of these courses are audio or video versions of course lectures. Some have transcripts of the lectures.
A list of several other colleges who offer free online courses can be found here and here.
Online courses are a great way to refresh your memory or learn something new, for free, at your own pace. So much to learn, so little time.
More Online College Info
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Ubuntu or Windows, what to choose? The pros and cons
Guest Post by Andy Groaning
The debate about which is better, Ubuntu Linux or Windows has existed for a long time. Windows fans hold on to their ground that Windows is the best operating system and that it doesn’t even have competitors. Linux fans keep saying Windows is only for people who don’t understand anything about computers.
To be fair both Operating Systems are good, but each of them has its pros and cons.
Well, let’s start from the beginning, namely the installation.
The installation of Windows 7 runs quite swiftly, especially if you follow the installation wizard. It performs the whole process automatically. With Ubuntu this process is different. You will have to mess around with a CD, ISO files and burning a disc. It’s not difficult at all, it’s just a different kettle of fish and might be unusual for people who are used to Windows and how that works. Ubuntu has its merits too in this case, though. The great feature about Ubuntu is you can try using this OS before completely installing it, you can do it with the Live CD utility. Ubuntu also has the feature where you can install it inside of your Windows OS as a dual boot and it will appear just like an application.
The speeds of both Operating Systems are the same, it’s great, you won’t complain about that.
Media support is pretty much the same however, if want to run a DVD format with Ubuntu you might have to resort to “Restricted” codecs.
The interface of Windows 7 is probably the more familiar for most people although, the Ubuntu’s interface is now very similar to what you’re used to using, so you won’t struggle to manage it either.
Customizing in Ubunta is a highly developed feature, you can easily perform this without any extra software or registries.
In respect of games Windows wins, simply because Ubunta is not suitable for them.
Software…now here we have something to discuss and to consider. Windows 7 provides a huge base of software, it’s definitely a positive feature of this popular OS. The thing is you can find only generic software with basic grounding for free. For something decent you will be charged good money. The second negative is Windows 7 is really prone to thousands of doubtful software and malware programs.
With Ubuntu this problems has been solved and also with the Ubuntu OS you get very easy access to a brilliant array of software. With Linux you may forget about licenses for software, it seems to be a free source.
As for safety, well here Ubuntu is the winner. This is the safest operating system money can buy, there are no viruses, no spyware, no doubtful advertisements. With Windows you can never be 100% safe, there is always a chance to you might catch a virus while you are checking e-mails, surfing on web sites or having adverts running all over your screen and following your mouse pointer.
Costs for these operating systems are not really competitive due to Ubuntu’s price which is zero. No matter how little you pay for Windows, if you pay anything at all then the Linux’s OS will still be cheaper.
Ubuntu community help is a very useful feature, it will help you to find answers on any questions you have, to share your Ubuntu thoughts and feelings or to find out other people’s experiences.
So now you can see from the list above both Operating Systems are good. Choose the one with the features which are important to you or you can even have both of them.
http://www.bravofiles.com/ Drivers and software downloads.
The debate about which is better, Ubuntu Linux or Windows has existed for a long time. Windows fans hold on to their ground that Windows is the best operating system and that it doesn’t even have competitors. Linux fans keep saying Windows is only for people who don’t understand anything about computers.
To be fair both Operating Systems are good, but each of them has its pros and cons.
Well, let’s start from the beginning, namely the installation.
The installation of Windows 7 runs quite swiftly, especially if you follow the installation wizard. It performs the whole process automatically. With Ubuntu this process is different. You will have to mess around with a CD, ISO files and burning a disc. It’s not difficult at all, it’s just a different kettle of fish and might be unusual for people who are used to Windows and how that works. Ubuntu has its merits too in this case, though. The great feature about Ubuntu is you can try using this OS before completely installing it, you can do it with the Live CD utility. Ubuntu also has the feature where you can install it inside of your Windows OS as a dual boot and it will appear just like an application.
The speeds of both Operating Systems are the same, it’s great, you won’t complain about that.
Media support is pretty much the same however, if want to run a DVD format with Ubuntu you might have to resort to “Restricted” codecs.
The interface of Windows 7 is probably the more familiar for most people although, the Ubuntu’s interface is now very similar to what you’re used to using, so you won’t struggle to manage it either.
Customizing in Ubunta is a highly developed feature, you can easily perform this without any extra software or registries.
In respect of games Windows wins, simply because Ubunta is not suitable for them.
Software…now here we have something to discuss and to consider. Windows 7 provides a huge base of software, it’s definitely a positive feature of this popular OS. The thing is you can find only generic software with basic grounding for free. For something decent you will be charged good money. The second negative is Windows 7 is really prone to thousands of doubtful software and malware programs.
With Ubuntu this problems has been solved and also with the Ubuntu OS you get very easy access to a brilliant array of software. With Linux you may forget about licenses for software, it seems to be a free source.
As for safety, well here Ubuntu is the winner. This is the safest operating system money can buy, there are no viruses, no spyware, no doubtful advertisements. With Windows you can never be 100% safe, there is always a chance to you might catch a virus while you are checking e-mails, surfing on web sites or having adverts running all over your screen and following your mouse pointer.
Costs for these operating systems are not really competitive due to Ubuntu’s price which is zero. No matter how little you pay for Windows, if you pay anything at all then the Linux’s OS will still be cheaper.
Ubuntu community help is a very useful feature, it will help you to find answers on any questions you have, to share your Ubuntu thoughts and feelings or to find out other people’s experiences.
So now you can see from the list above both Operating Systems are good. Choose the one with the features which are important to you or you can even have both of them.
http://www.bravofiles.com/ Drivers and software downloads.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Medicine and Technology Uniforms Scrubs Doctors Nurses
For some reason I'm a big fan of all things technology. I liked math and science in school and majored in math in college. I write software, most recently in the geographic information systems (GIS) field. Nowadays, technology plays a big part in the medical field. I'm big on health and nutrition, so writing software to be used in the field of medicine would be really cool. Unfortunately, I live in a small town with not too many options.
Anyways, technology didn't start being used in medicine until the 19th century. It started out simply enough with devices to measure lung capacity and blood pressure. That evolved into thermometers, microscopes, xrays. Then doctors started to specialize in certain areas, such as eyes, nose/ears/throat, heart, lung, skin, etc. With that came even more complex machines and devices.
My eye doctor has a lot of cool machines that he uses to check the eyes. One machine checks for glaucoma and is used in place of eye drops, which make the eyes blurry. He takes the image from the machine and brings it up on the computer. He can then pan around and see what's going on inside the eye. He spotted a cataract I have that I was probably born with.
Today surgery is done using a laser. Robots are starting to be used for surgeries where doctors can perform a surgery from a remote location using a computer to guide the robot.
Technology has also helped doctors communicate with patients via email and the internet, which is a really great idea. I wish my doctor would do that as she's hard to get through to.
The internet has also made it possible to do shopping online. Doctors are very busy and going out shopping to buy medical uniforms takes away time that can be spent doing research and seeing patients. Buying online is also cheaper too, as you can compare prices and get the best deal on a doctor uniform. You can also compare styles and see the latest scrubs in fashion.
It will be interesting to see how even more advancements in technology will impact the medical field in the years to come.
Anyways, technology didn't start being used in medicine until the 19th century. It started out simply enough with devices to measure lung capacity and blood pressure. That evolved into thermometers, microscopes, xrays. Then doctors started to specialize in certain areas, such as eyes, nose/ears/throat, heart, lung, skin, etc. With that came even more complex machines and devices.
My eye doctor has a lot of cool machines that he uses to check the eyes. One machine checks for glaucoma and is used in place of eye drops, which make the eyes blurry. He takes the image from the machine and brings it up on the computer. He can then pan around and see what's going on inside the eye. He spotted a cataract I have that I was probably born with.
Today surgery is done using a laser. Robots are starting to be used for surgeries where doctors can perform a surgery from a remote location using a computer to guide the robot.
Technology has also helped doctors communicate with patients via email and the internet, which is a really great idea. I wish my doctor would do that as she's hard to get through to.
The internet has also made it possible to do shopping online. Doctors are very busy and going out shopping to buy medical uniforms takes away time that can be spent doing research and seeing patients. Buying online is also cheaper too, as you can compare prices and get the best deal on a doctor uniform. You can also compare styles and see the latest scrubs in fashion.
It will be interesting to see how even more advancements in technology will impact the medical field in the years to come.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Social Networks Google Circles
Just read an article that Google has a social network site in the works called Circles. Ugh, not another social network. First I was on MySpace with a few relatives. All these other little networks kept popping up: Bebo, Friendster, CafeMom, Classmates.com, delicious, digg, LinkedIn, Twitter, Yuwie, etc. Then all my friends on MySpace migrated to Facebook, so I quit MySpace. I thought it was cool to be able to customize your background and add music to MySpace, but with a dial up connection, it started getting really painful to load profile pages, and it got kind of boring.
Facebook was clean, although boring compared to MySpace backgrounds, but it loaded quickly. The newsfeed was cool with everyone's updates all in one place and pretty much everyone I've ever known is on there.
Then I joined Twitter as part of how to drive traffic to my blogs. It's also a good way to keep up with people you'll most likely never meet, but share common interests with.
One functionality that Circles is supposed to have that Facebook and Twitter lack are creating circles of friends, so that you can create a circle of high school friends, work friends, drinking friends, etc. When you post an update, you can choose who sees it. You can sort of do this with Facebook, but it's painful. In Facebook, from status update box you can manually enter the names of who sees the status or doesn't see it by clicking the lock next to the share button. Very time consuming if you have a lot of friends. Facebook has a group option which is a similar concept which lets you send a status update to a group, but you have to go click on the group to enter it and then enter your status update. A little awkward. Would be better if you could select the group from the regular status update box on your profile.
With Twitter, you can't censor your status update at all. You can group people into lists, but tweets get sent to all of your followers. It would be nice if you could group people into lists and then select a list to send tweets to.
Google Circles might do great, but I'd just prefer that Facebook and Twitter add this additional functionality to their sites instead of having to join a brand new site, just so I can select who to send an update to.
More Social Media
Facebook was clean, although boring compared to MySpace backgrounds, but it loaded quickly. The newsfeed was cool with everyone's updates all in one place and pretty much everyone I've ever known is on there.
Then I joined Twitter as part of how to drive traffic to my blogs. It's also a good way to keep up with people you'll most likely never meet, but share common interests with.
One functionality that Circles is supposed to have that Facebook and Twitter lack are creating circles of friends, so that you can create a circle of high school friends, work friends, drinking friends, etc. When you post an update, you can choose who sees it. You can sort of do this with Facebook, but it's painful. In Facebook, from status update box you can manually enter the names of who sees the status or doesn't see it by clicking the lock next to the share button. Very time consuming if you have a lot of friends. Facebook has a group option which is a similar concept which lets you send a status update to a group, but you have to go click on the group to enter it and then enter your status update. A little awkward. Would be better if you could select the group from the regular status update box on your profile.
With Twitter, you can't censor your status update at all. You can group people into lists, but tweets get sent to all of your followers. It would be nice if you could group people into lists and then select a list to send tweets to.
Google Circles might do great, but I'd just prefer that Facebook and Twitter add this additional functionality to their sites instead of having to join a brand new site, just so I can select who to send an update to.
More Social Media
Friday, January 28, 2011
Beware Toast.net Review NetZero.net
A couple of nights ago I had problems logging into my Toast.net account. I kept getting a bad username/password error. I called their technical support and discovered Toast.net is NOT a customer friendly company.
They said my account was exceeding normal usage, so they locked me out. At the end of the month, they would unlock it, but watch the usage very closely. Apparently, their terms of use say normal internet usage is 10 hours per WEEK. Who in this day and age only uses the internet for 10 hours a week? I work mostly at home and keep my internet connected for an hour or two at a time throughout the day. It's my lifeline. Dial up is all I can get for internet service. No internet or DSL is available. I think mobile broadband will work for me and I am getting close to signing up. I just don't really need the extra charge at the moment.
Well, once the Toast.net support guy told me about my excessive usage, I told him I was thinking of cancelling my account and signing up for Verizon's mobile broadband. You know what he said? He said ok, we can take care of that right now. lol. No trying to talk me out of cancelling. No offer to lower my monthly payment. Nothing. Let's just say I was in shock. Oh yeah. The best part. They refused to unlock my account. So glad I never used that Toast.net email address.
A few years ago I was using NetZero as my dial up internet provider. I got annoyed because it was just really slow. I did some research on dial up internet providers and signed up with Toast.net because they had good reviews for a speedy connection. Well, now I know why. They won't let anyone actually use the internet connection. You'd think they would be glad to have a dial up customer now that high speed internet is so widely available.
After I initially signed up with Toast.net, I called NetZero to cancel my internet service. You know what they did? They kept lowering my monthly payment until I agreed to not cancel my service. I had the NetZero High Speed service and was paying $14.95 a month. They lowered it to $6.95 a month. I never use it, but luckily I still have it.
After Toast.net was so kind to cancel my account, I downloaded the latest NetZero installer and got hooked back up. I've been using NetZero for a few days now and surprisingly enough it's not so bad. It seems faster than it used to be and it even seems faster than the Toast.net connection I had. I always had problems with Toast.net's accelerator turning off and on and sometimes having trouble connecting to it's server. NetZero's High Speed accelerator is great so far. NetZero even has a setting to reconnect if it becomes disconnected, so no issues with excessive usage when you connect to the internet using NetZero.
In the end, I guess Toast.net did me a favor in that I rediscovered NetZero. A company who cares about it's customers and also has a much faster internet connection. I do not recommend Toast.net. Go for NetZero instead.
More Mobile Broadband
They said my account was exceeding normal usage, so they locked me out. At the end of the month, they would unlock it, but watch the usage very closely. Apparently, their terms of use say normal internet usage is 10 hours per WEEK. Who in this day and age only uses the internet for 10 hours a week? I work mostly at home and keep my internet connected for an hour or two at a time throughout the day. It's my lifeline. Dial up is all I can get for internet service. No internet or DSL is available. I think mobile broadband will work for me and I am getting close to signing up. I just don't really need the extra charge at the moment.
Well, once the Toast.net support guy told me about my excessive usage, I told him I was thinking of cancelling my account and signing up for Verizon's mobile broadband. You know what he said? He said ok, we can take care of that right now. lol. No trying to talk me out of cancelling. No offer to lower my monthly payment. Nothing. Let's just say I was in shock. Oh yeah. The best part. They refused to unlock my account. So glad I never used that Toast.net email address.
A few years ago I was using NetZero as my dial up internet provider. I got annoyed because it was just really slow. I did some research on dial up internet providers and signed up with Toast.net because they had good reviews for a speedy connection. Well, now I know why. They won't let anyone actually use the internet connection. You'd think they would be glad to have a dial up customer now that high speed internet is so widely available.
After I initially signed up with Toast.net, I called NetZero to cancel my internet service. You know what they did? They kept lowering my monthly payment until I agreed to not cancel my service. I had the NetZero High Speed service and was paying $14.95 a month. They lowered it to $6.95 a month. I never use it, but luckily I still have it.
After Toast.net was so kind to cancel my account, I downloaded the latest NetZero installer and got hooked back up. I've been using NetZero for a few days now and surprisingly enough it's not so bad. It seems faster than it used to be and it even seems faster than the Toast.net connection I had. I always had problems with Toast.net's accelerator turning off and on and sometimes having trouble connecting to it's server. NetZero's High Speed accelerator is great so far. NetZero even has a setting to reconnect if it becomes disconnected, so no issues with excessive usage when you connect to the internet using NetZero.
In the end, I guess Toast.net did me a favor in that I rediscovered NetZero. A company who cares about it's customers and also has a much faster internet connection. I do not recommend Toast.net. Go for NetZero instead.
More Mobile Broadband
Sunday, January 16, 2011
HP Pavilion dv5t Review
My new laptop, 14.5" HP Pavilion dv5t, arrived 2 days ago. It's very nice, very sleek, very light. I like it.
It has Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-460M Dual Core Processor (2.53 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.8GHz, 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm), 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive and webcam, bluetooth which works great sending pics from my cell phone.
The display is very clear and kind of shiny.
One major complaint and a few minor ones.
For the major complaint, I tried playing a Netflix dvd and got a message from the HP dvd software that the dvd player is set to region 0 while the dvd was region 1. I could change regions in order to play the dvd, but only 5 times. I guess I'll have to look into this to see if there is a way to override this region setting. For now though, Videolan's VLC Media player plays the dvd just fine.
For the minor complaints:
Audio is a bit low, even at the highest setting. Probably won't be cranking it up, so I can live with it.
On my old 14" Dell Inspiron 1405, the screen had 800 pixels in the height. The HP Pavilion dv5t only has 768 pixels. If I'd read the specs a little bit closer and done some comparison, I might have realized there were fewer pixels in the height. I checked the specs on a few other HP laptops and it looks like they are all like that.
The home, delete page up/down keys are on the side of they keyboard instead of at the top. Just takes a little getting used to.
The keyboard is layed out so that there are spaces between the keys. Apparently, it's similar to a Mac. I like it. Hopefully it will cut down on the amount of crumbs and dust which tend to collect if not cleaned regularly.
A lot of the reviews I read at the HP site complained about the touchpad being difficult to use. I do like the actual buttons better than the touch pad buttons. The touchpad with touch buttons isn't so bad now that I have figured out how to use it.
Here's a few tips on using the HP touchpad:
Tapping anywhere clicks links, puts the cursor where you need it. It's your basic left click.
To scroll or highlight text:
Put the cursor on the scroll bar, double click with one finger and don't lift it up, use another finger to actually move the scroll bar. If you double click in the left touchpad button area with the index finger and scroll with the middle or ring finger, it kind of simulates using a touchpad with a real button.
To right click:
Push down, not tap, on the right touchpad button area.
There's no modem, but the laptop works great with my Wiflyer. It was really slow when I first tried using it. I was pretty sure it had to do with the Norton antivirus. I poked around and discovered Norton had found a couple of problems already, tracking cookies from hp. Got rid of those and it's running great.
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the HP Pavilion dv5t laptop. Hopefully it will hold up better than my Dell Inspiron 1405.
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Thursday, January 13, 2011
Verizon Ends New Every 2 Upgrades
So Verizon announced the other day, it will be adding the Apple iPhone to its lineup. Cool!
However, there was a change in Verizon's upgrade policies that wasn't announced too loudly. With Verizon, every two years when your contract expires, you can upgrade to a new phone at a discounted price. These are very nice, deep discounts. Some users are also eligible for early upgrades at 13 months. Well, guess what? Verizon's getting greedy and doing away with the new every two upgrades and early upgrades starting January 16. My current contract ends in 10 months. I have the Samsung Alias 2 and was planning on going with a Droid. Now if I want to do that I'll have to shell out a couple hundred dollars. For someone who's cell phone has fallen into the toilet twice, I'm not sure I want to do that. I'm sure I will, but I really don't want to. I'm hoping by then, Verizon will realize their mistake and offer some sort of discount pricing.
As I write this, I just checked out this link at CNet and apparently Verizon will be announcing a new upgrade program later this year.
If Verizon is smart they will make it even better. A lot of people want the iPhone and a lot of people say Verizon has better service, so I bet a lot of people will be switching over to Verizon. Good deals will draw even more people over and make current customers even happier.
More Smartphones
However, there was a change in Verizon's upgrade policies that wasn't announced too loudly. With Verizon, every two years when your contract expires, you can upgrade to a new phone at a discounted price. These are very nice, deep discounts. Some users are also eligible for early upgrades at 13 months. Well, guess what? Verizon's getting greedy and doing away with the new every two upgrades and early upgrades starting January 16. My current contract ends in 10 months. I have the Samsung Alias 2 and was planning on going with a Droid. Now if I want to do that I'll have to shell out a couple hundred dollars. For someone who's cell phone has fallen into the toilet twice, I'm not sure I want to do that. I'm sure I will, but I really don't want to. I'm hoping by then, Verizon will realize their mistake and offer some sort of discount pricing.
As I write this, I just checked out this link at CNet and apparently Verizon will be announcing a new upgrade program later this year.
If Verizon is smart they will make it even better. A lot of people want the iPhone and a lot of people say Verizon has better service, so I bet a lot of people will be switching over to Verizon. Good deals will draw even more people over and make current customers even happier.
More Smartphones
Friday, January 7, 2011
How to Find Lost Cell Phone
Tons of times I've misplaced my cell phone in the house. I usually call it from my land line phone or have someone else call it. Kind of sucks when I leave it on vibrate, but I've always been able to find it.
If you don't have a land line phone or someone who can call your cell phone, there is a website, at http://www.wheresmycellphone.com/, you can go to to call your lost cell phone. Just enter your phone number and listen for your lost phone to ring. It's all free too.
If you don't have a land line phone or someone who can call your cell phone, there is a website, at http://www.wheresmycellphone.com/, you can go to to call your lost cell phone. Just enter your phone number and listen for your lost phone to ring. It's all free too.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Dell Inspiron E1405 HP Pavilion dv5t Laptops
3 1/2 years ago I bought my first laptop. A Dell Inspiron E1405. Nice, little portable machine. Intel Core Duo T2350 1.83GHz, 2gb RAM, 62gb hard drive, which pales in comparison to the disk space available these days. I mainly use it for blogging, updating websites, email, Facebook, Twitter etc. Once in a while I test some code on it. Only downfall is it came with Windows Vista, which was standard at the time. It still runs great, but hardware wise, it is falling apart. I'm missing 4 keys from the keyboard, the left click button for the touchpad lost it's spring a long time ago. The killer: now the display won't stay up. The hinge went. Really sucks trying to sit on the couch and type. At the moment I have it set on the counter with a pack of BBs propping it up.
Well, the hinge was the last straw. I sucked it up and bought an HP during HP's after Christmas red tag sale.
I went with the HP Pavilion dv5t because it has a 14.5" display. My Dell has a 14". I wanted something a little bigger, but not really as big as a 15.6" display. I got it for $806.45 with tax. There was a $100 instant rebate, free shipping and $25.00 off with HP Coupon code SVMB39487. I also saved an extra 5% by clicking through to HP using Ebates. That saved me another $40.32, bringing total cost down to $766.13.
It has Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-460M Dual Core Processor (2.53 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.8GHz, 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm), 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive and webcam, bluetooth. Just Intel integrated graphics which is what my Dell has. Good enough for what I do since I'm not a gamer.
I'm a little uncertain as to how the HP's touchpad is going to work out though. Apparently it's a multitouch and lots of the reviews complained about it. The whole thing is touch, including the left and right click buttons. I guess it's more difficult to use than a touchpad with actual left and right click buttons.
After I ordered the HP, I had second thoughts. I didn't want another Dell since my old work one was a Dell that died and my home, falling apart laptop is a Dell. I went over to their site though and checked out what they had. Apparently, they no longer let you customize a system. They have a bunch of different machines, but you are stuck with how they are configured as far as processor, memory, hard drive size etc. One that came close to the HP I ordered was an XPS 14, but it costs more than what I paid for the HP, so I guess I'm satisfied with the HP I ordered. Hopefully it works out ok.
One thing I discovered though is laptops don't come with an internal modem anymore. Since most people are going wireless, the modems are no longer needed, except for us poor saps who live in a rural area and can only get dial up or satellite. I am going to look into Mobile Broadband. I should be able to get reception and it should be pretty fast. Verizon's 4G package is $50 per month with a cap of 5gb. It's more than the $10 a month I pay for my Toast.net dial up, but I think it will be worth it in the end to look into getting a faster connection. Until then, I can use my good old WiFlyer, which turns a dial up internet connection into a wireless dial up internet connection, or my Zoom bluetooth modem. I may look into getting an external modem too. You can pick one up fairly cheap on Amazon.com.
More Laptops
More External Modem for Dial Up
Well, the hinge was the last straw. I sucked it up and bought an HP during HP's after Christmas red tag sale.
I went with the HP Pavilion dv5t because it has a 14.5" display. My Dell has a 14". I wanted something a little bigger, but not really as big as a 15.6" display. I got it for $806.45 with tax. There was a $100 instant rebate, free shipping and $25.00 off with HP Coupon code SVMB39487. I also saved an extra 5% by clicking through to HP using Ebates. That saved me another $40.32, bringing total cost down to $766.13.
It has Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-460M Dual Core Processor (2.53 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.8GHz, 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm), 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive and webcam, bluetooth. Just Intel integrated graphics which is what my Dell has. Good enough for what I do since I'm not a gamer.
I'm a little uncertain as to how the HP's touchpad is going to work out though. Apparently it's a multitouch and lots of the reviews complained about it. The whole thing is touch, including the left and right click buttons. I guess it's more difficult to use than a touchpad with actual left and right click buttons.
After I ordered the HP, I had second thoughts. I didn't want another Dell since my old work one was a Dell that died and my home, falling apart laptop is a Dell. I went over to their site though and checked out what they had. Apparently, they no longer let you customize a system. They have a bunch of different machines, but you are stuck with how they are configured as far as processor, memory, hard drive size etc. One that came close to the HP I ordered was an XPS 14, but it costs more than what I paid for the HP, so I guess I'm satisfied with the HP I ordered. Hopefully it works out ok.
One thing I discovered though is laptops don't come with an internal modem anymore. Since most people are going wireless, the modems are no longer needed, except for us poor saps who live in a rural area and can only get dial up or satellite. I am going to look into Mobile Broadband. I should be able to get reception and it should be pretty fast. Verizon's 4G package is $50 per month with a cap of 5gb. It's more than the $10 a month I pay for my Toast.net dial up, but I think it will be worth it in the end to look into getting a faster connection. Until then, I can use my good old WiFlyer, which turns a dial up internet connection into a wireless dial up internet connection, or my Zoom bluetooth modem
. I may look into getting an external modem too. You can pick one up fairly cheap on Amazon.com.More Laptops
More External Modem for Dial Up
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