Dejections

June 18th, 2008

What You Should Know About Cleaning Your Computer

Posted in Computers + Technology

What a lot of computer owners don’t realize is how important it is to keep your computer clean. Cleaning your computer is almost all the time considered not to be a priority of any computer owner. Why? I have to believe that it’s lack of knowledge. In other words not a full understanding what the fuse is all about.

A computer is a very delicate piece of equipment. The computer works hard to entertain you, and serve your bidding. While your computer is doing all this it is running or is turned on. When the computer is on, all the components inside of the computer are working causing the computer to get hot. Depending on what you are doing on your computer at any given time, will in a lot of cases depend on how hot the computer will get.

Cooling is a very important part of your computer system. If your computer gets to hot things start to happen, bad things. Things that you don’t really don’t want going on inside your computer. In other words computer components will brake or burnt out. This will render them useless. Meaning they will have to be replaced.

The biggest cooling threat to all computers is dust. When a computer is on the components inside the computer are electrically charged. It’s the electrically charged components that attract the dust in side of your computer. What happens when you leave the dust unattended in side your computer? It will build up on the computer components, and especially the computer processor heat sink. When the dust builds up on the computer components, they can no longer breathe or circulate the much needed cooler air that allows computer components to cool down. If your computer components can not cool down they will simply break down.

You should try and get the most you can out of your computer. You can increase your chances of achieving that goal with a simple cleaning. I recommend a good cleaning at least once a month. This would also depend on your environment. The reason why I recommend cleaning the inside of the computer once a month is that it makes the cleaning job easier by decreasing the dust build up inside the computer.

Robert Emler: In house computer assembler. I enjoy my computer and lik everyone else, hope to get the most for my money.You can find more helpful hints and solutions to problems about computers by going to. http://pcextream.com

June 10th, 2008

Tiff to SVG - My Method of Converting Scanned Images

Posted in Computers + Technology

I have learned this process through trial and error as part of building a website. I was given a large number of scanned items stored as TIFF images that I needed to convert into a vector format suitable for use on the web. The othe requirement was that the file could be interacted with by the client browser and/or server. That is why I chose the SVG file format. Due to the fact that SVG files are XML based, you can modify them on the fly using Javascript.

The first step of the process is to cleanup the TIFF image. I used Adobe Photoshop to cleanup and extract the portions of the image that I required. This was done by using the magic wand tool to copy the pieces to a new layer. When all of the pieces that I needed were copied to the new layer I then deleted the original layer and only retained what I needed. At that point I saved the image as a TIFF again.

The second step is to convert the file to a Vector format. I tested a trial copy of the AlgoLab R2V Toolkit, which seemed to work very well. I would open each TIFF file, click the vectorize button, and then save the file as some type of vector format. For this step I chose to save the files as Adobe Illustrator files, since they can output SVG files.

The third step is to open the .AI file using Adobe Illustrator and make any final changes to the vector image. I cleaned up the lines, added live color, added symbols, scaled the image to fit the area I needed, and saved the .AI file again. Once I thought it was ready I then saved the file as an SVG 1.1 file. Once that is complete you now have an SVG file ready for viewing.

My final step was to open the SVG file in a text editor and make final modifications to the viewbox attributes, various groups, and remove some extra information left over from the various software programs used. I needed to do this in order for the zoom and pan methods used on the site to work correctly with all the elements. At that point I uploaded my files for use and was finished.

Gary Higbee

http://www.greatnorthcomputing.com - A community for SysAdmins and Programmers

May 30th, 2008

Used Computer Sales

Posted in Computers + Technology

If you are looking for a used computer, you can save a lot of money. However, there are some very important factors you should take in to consideration before purchasing the first used computer you see. As with all things, a rash purchase can often lead to regrets down the line.

The best advice anyone can follow when shopping for a used computer is to make sure you have a knowledgeable friend at your side who can tell you what is a good deal and what is not. The computer should be given a complete physical inspection to look for damage and glitches. Make sure that you and your friend check for problems and not a salesperson. You should also make sure that the sale you are about to purchase includes the original operating system software discs and manuals. You should have the manuals, discs and licenses for any and all software applications and fonts on the machine.

Remember that computers depreciate quickly, so find out the value of the computer as it is now and not when it was new. You can check out used computer sales on the Internet to see what people are paying, but keep in mind that there is no real true source to find out what a used computer should cost.

Last but not least, make sure the computer you are purchasing is legal. There are hundreds of “hot” (stolen) computers out there in the hands of thieves that would love to get their hands on your money.

Computer Sales provides detailed information on Computer Sales, Online Computer Sales, Laptop Computer Sales, Computer Hardware Sales and more. Computer Sales is affiliated with Computer Projector Rentals.
May 25th, 2008

Computer Hygiene - Take Out The Trash!

Posted in Computers + Technology

Do you find that your computer exhibits one or more of the following behaviors?

- Inexplicable message or warning pop-ups

- Frequent unsolicited reboots

- Your favorite application often crashes

- Applications now start up sluggishly

- Your computer seems to take forever to boot up

- You find new software running which you did not expressly install, and you cannot explain it’s existance

Your computer may simply have become cluttered with software to such a degree that all those programs now fight with each other for resources, or a particular type of software installed (with malicious intent or otherwise) could produce adverse side effects and may even compromise your system’s health and security. Even if your PC does not appear to suffer from any of the symptoms above, chances are over time one or more of these issues will surface.

So where should we look to find the root cause of such problems? In short, we can attribute this abnormal behavior to:

1) Our not being vigilant in monitoring the list of software running (or not running) on our system

2) Not being sufficiently mindful of how the installed software got there and why

Let me explain further. When one purchases a computer (or you inherit that “hand-me-down” from your relative) you will typically find a potpourri of software already installed. Furthermore, you will probably never use 80% of it. In addition, you may find yourself unable to resist the temptation to download and install freeware/shareware from the internet.

All too often we really do not need the programs we download, but refraining from doing so can be difficult due to the software’s enticing promo. And regardless of the utility of these programs, many times we don’t bother to uninstall them, thinking we may find a use for them in the future.

Just recently while browsing through a forum, I saw a post with the following opening line: I just had to reformat the family computer for the second time in three months because of my brother’s blatant ignorance of general computer hygiene. I can assure you that such behavior is commonplace. The various computers in my own home are a prime example. On numerous occasions my two children, who by the way, are old enough to know better, downloaded and installed software which essentially rendered their PCs unusable, thus costing me hours of work to get them back into working condition.

If you take nothing else away from this article, try to embrace the following two thoughts:

- Not being aware of every program installed, and particularly which ones get invoked by default at startup time, could cause your system to become highly unstable, resulting in frequent crashes, loss of data, or possibly even irreparable hardware damage.

- Try at all costs to refrain from installing non-essential software.

While you may very well find an overabundance of non-essential software installed, even more important is the fact that there may NOT be antivirus, firewall, or other security/protection software running. Consider this point CRITICAL. The absence of such software or it being improperly configured can set you up for disaster! In an upcoming article we’ll discuss the various “sleuthing” techniques for determining just what software resides on your computer.

The object of the second point above is to simply use good judgment in deciding which software goes and what stays on your computer. Sure, there’s no harm in keeping reputable software around such as that favorite game or multimedia player, given that you know where it came from and you do at least use it occasionally.

OK, let’s summarize our discussion. Start thinking now about your current software and which programs you consider as really important to you or your family. Remove everything else you can bear to part with. Furthermore, of the types of software you feel you must keep, evaluate it’s “utility”. Some programs you may have obtained and installed, and others were probably just pre-installed on your PC. You may want to consider upgrading existing packages, or particularly in the latter case, other similar software may exist which has a better feature set that can serve you better.

Now go ahead. Take out the trash!

Stay tuned for the next installment coming shortly.

About the Author

Earl Gooch is an engineer who has been involved in the high tech industry for over 23 years, working in various capacities including design of both computer hardware and software, web development, system engineering, customer support, and marketing.
http://www.softwarehelpme.com

May 23rd, 2008

Where Are The Linux Workplaces?

Posted in Computers + Technology

When I was in college, lower level CS course assignments were done in DOS PC’s networked through Novell Netware. Once a student got to take higher level courses, he/she was given an account into one of the department’s SunOS Unix servers. Most students from basic courses suffered from “Unix envy”, the Sun boxes were perceived as being much more powerful than the humble PC’s. As a I entered the workplace, I brought my college perception that Unix workstations are more powerful than PC’s with me.

In my first couple of jobs after college I was given a Unix workstation to work with, first an HP UX workstation, then a SunOS box, and I couldn’t have been happier about it. After I transferred to a new department in that same job, I was given my first Windows NT workstation ever, I was disappointed not to have my own Unix workstation anymore.

Ever since, I’ve had nothing but Windows workstations given to me in every Job I’ve had. And I’ve had quite a few, since I’ve been doing contract work for a few years now. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating that every company switch all of their employees to Linux, but I’ve wondered why IT departments have been so slow to adopt it. IT workers do minimal, if any, office work, therefore the lack of Microsoft Office availability is not a major concern, for whatever documents or spreadsheets an IT worker might have to create, OpenOffice.org is more than enough.

Most big companies have adopted Java as their official programming language, at least as far as server side development is concerned. In many cases, Java applications are deployed to Unix servers, however most developers are given Windows workstations to work with. Wouldn’t it make sense to give the developers an environment as similar as possible as the production environment?

I earn my paycheck writing Java EE applications, and I’m lucky enough that my current client allows me to work using my Linux laptop, but many places don’t allow just any device to be plugged into their network.

Besides the obvious savings in license fees, Linux offers other advantages like lack of viruses and worms, and better security overall. Linux does not lack media exposure, we’ve all seen the IBM commercials, and it is frequently mentioned in IT magazines. Why hasn’t it been adopted more widely? I don’t have the answer to that question, I’m going to have to speculate.

One reason could be the perception that Linux is difficult to use. This might have been the case a few years ago, but today, with a modern desktop environment like GNOME or KDE, Unix knowledge is not really needed to use a Linux workstation, operation is basically point and click, not much different from a Windows or OS X box.

Another reason might be a concern of Linux might not interoperate well with the rest of the company’s (Microsoft based) IT infrastructure. With tools like Samba, OpenOffice.org and Evolution (with the Ximian connector), this shouldn’t be a concern.

Another reason could be the perception that Linux does not support enough hardware. This is somewhat true, but if you are careful when selecting your hardware, you can easily get a fully functional Linux box. Most unsupported hardware have no place in the workplace anyway, I’m mainly talking here about USB devices like digital cameras and MP3 players.

Looks like most reasons Linux is not being adopted in the workplace are based on false assumptions and incorrect perceptions. How can we promote Linux adoption in the workplace? Seems to me the answer lies in educating and informing the “powers that be” in IT departments. Talking to managers in terms they understand, emphasizing reduced costs and increased productivity. Reduced cost because of the license savings, increased productivity because less time is spent applying service packs and patches, and the chances of catching a virus drop to near zero.

Convincing managers to give Linux a try is easier said than done, I know, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.

David Heffelfinger is a Software Engineer with over 10 years of experience. He is the editor in chief of Ensode.net a technology website providing articles about Java, Linux and other technology topics

May 14th, 2008

Ligudzinski PRONTO North America’s CEO Writes BPM Feature fo

Posted in Computers + Technology

Eliminating Waste with Business Process Management Tools is an important Lean Manufacturing feature article in the July issue of InMFG Magazine co-authored by PRONTO North America CEO, Mike Ligudzinski and Thomas R. Cutler, the nation’s leading manufacturing journalist. The feature may be located at: http://www.reedlink.com/SingleArticle~ContentId~54542~pub~IP.html.
Pronto North America, Inc. (www.prontoerp.com) based in Eden Prairie, MN, is widely recognized as the authority in technologically driven business solutions and process management.

Utilizing innovative implementation techniques and tools, Pronto North America generates increased performance, service, efficiency, and accountability. Through PEER (Process Evaluation Executive Review), Pronto North America captures the values of Lean Manufacturing throughout the enterprise. This functionality is accomplished utilizing a highly-trained world-class staff and an innovative process modeling and automation toolset unmatched in the industry, ensuring the realization of continuous process improvement and profitability.

Pronto North America is the North American Master Distributor of PRONTO-Xi, a comprehensive software system allowing manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to effectively manage all phases of their business. Far beyond just another Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System, PRONTO-Xi’s financial and distribution applications are unique and have provided maximum return on investment for a wide variety of organizations since 1976. From PRONTO Production to PRONTO Advanced Warehousing; from PRONTO Planning to PRONTO Quality Management System (QMS); from PRONTO Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP) to PRONTO Forecasting Management, the cross-section and breadth of integrated elements addressed by PRONTO-Xi is unmatched in the marketplace and justifies its natural leadership role as the best fully integrated business software solution.

Thomas R. Cutler, President & CEO, TR Cutler, Inc., (www.trcutlerinc.com) Fort Lauderdale, FL, is the founder of the Manufacturing Media Consortium, a group of two thousand journalists writing about trends in manufacturing. He is the lead spokesperson for the ETO Institute (www.etoinstitute.org) and is the author of the Manufacturer’s Public Relations and Media Guide. He can be contacted at e-mail protected from spam bots or 954-486-7562.

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Pronto North America
www.prontoerp.com
Tom Verzi
952-942-5858

About the Author

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April 2nd, 2008

Which way are mobile phone games heading?

Posted in Computers + Technology

Aside online games and static game devices like Playstation,
mobile games are the next most popular games around now. The
popularity has grown so big that mobile operators are competing
against each other by offering their subscribers loads of both
free and paid games for their pleasure. Not only mobile
operators, cell phone manufacturers are also pre-programming
their phones with a variety of games. The growing interest in
mobile gaming is producing a lot of benefits for the mobile
industry. The operators are deriving sizable revenue from
selling these games, software developers are regularly deriving
royalties from phone manufacturers and the manufacturers
themselves are cashing in heavily on revenue from subscribers.
You will appreciate the level of income in this are if you
consider the fact that by the year 2009, there would be 220
million mobile phone game fans in the world. Now lets delve into
the kinds of games we have around: We have the embedded games
that are factory coded into the phones, SMS games that operate
by interacting with a SMS server upon which the game resides and
browser games that are played online using the cell phones mini
browser. Of all these games the cheapest and most popular is the
inbuilt ones though the excitement offered by SMS and online
games are not a deterrent to people who would spend every dime
to get hooked on. The reason is browser games are of multi-media
origin and can be compared to the type experienced on
Playstation or xbox. There are several ways to develop mobile
games though the most popular language used are C++, Java and
Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) platform . Out of
these three, Java is the most popular method. The reason is
obvious - java is widely supported by the web and supported by
all the principal phone manufacturers. Again a medium like J2ME
is open source and thus cheap to use as a development medium.
Java as we know it is highly portable across platforms and
leaves developers with little worry that their program will not
work on certain phones. Programmers choose this language
platform because it does not interfere with programs running
natively on the phone. But in reality the future of mobile game
development is in MIDP 2.0 API which is a compilation of high
end applications that allow developers to come up with
sophiscated and highly interactive games for fans. It is fast to
use and ensures a stable program after compilation. It is
projected that this program, though futuristic, shall be the
standard for mobile game developers for a long time as it
exhibits versatility and the quick deployment - qualities
programmer love.