Computers | Computer Operating Systems Resource

Websites – An Insight

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With the recent technology and dot com boom, every entrepreneur, SME and large organizations have understood the need to have a business website. Websites are pages on the net that are interconnected under a specified domain name. These pages are designed in a way that they reflect your corporate image and provide information about your business and initiate a call for action. Websites are hosted on Paid or free platforms. Paid platforms generally require the individual to register a specified domain name for a period of one, two, three, or five years. The domain registration needs to be renewed after the paid tenure is over or otherwise the domain is open for anybody else to register.

Websites need to be created and designed in an aesthetic way. These days the entrepreneurs are also stressing on employing SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques to increase the visibility of their business on internet. Creating a website requires different professionals. The first step is to design a layout and decide on template or create a template for the website. A template would include creating background and color themes for the website. Once the theme and the layout are decided, the next step is to have a sitemap in place. A sitemap is the skeletal structure of the website. It shows us which tab would be placed where and what would be the hyper links.

Once you have decided the layout, the next step is creating the content for the website. Content plays the key role in any website. Your content needs to be fresh and not plagiarized. It needs to be informative and should be related to your core business. Your websites are your e-sales brochures and hence they should contain all the relevant information about your products and service offering. They should also speak about your corporate goals and mission statements. Once the content is written and designs are worked upon, you will need a professional to code your website and do the HTML tagging. Once the tagging is done, you can get the FTP details and host website.

Filed Under: Computers, Internet Tagged With: Design, File Transfer Protocol, HTML, Website

Computer Science

Getting into the computer industry is easy if you’ve got the right credentials. Computer science and computer engineering are some of the most cutting-edge and constantly-changing fields to work in today — and people with skills are always in demand. If you pursue a degree in one of these fields, the prospects for future work are nearly endless.

Computer engineering is the design and writing of software for computer chips, circuit boards and other program driven technology and requires a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer Science. A Bachelor of Computer Science degree is required to enter the computer science and software development fields. Not only does this give you a solid education in computer science and a degree to show for it, but the core curriculum for a Bachelor of Computer Science degree can often earn you numerous other degrees on the side. Saying you have earned multiple Bachelor degrees can definitely give you a head start on other applicants for computer science and computer engineering jobs.

Computer science is a vitally important field. You might just make history if you choose this career; computer scientists are the ones who invent newer and better ways of helping computers perform the tasks the average person uses them for–web browsing, gaming and listening to music among others. If this sounds small, consider for a moment that cell phones and computers themselves were invented by engineers and scientists. Who knows what today’s computer science students will invent or discover tomorrow that will change how people interact with technology?

Engineering and computer science degrees are offered by most major universities. Each degree takes roughly four calendar years to complete. You can also earn them in person in a traditional campus setting, or you can pursue one or more online degrees. The paper degree you’ll receive in the end will be just as valid no matter which you choose, so it’s a matter of personal preference.

Filed Under: Computers, Internet Tagged With: Bachelor of Computer Science, Bachelor's degree, Computer science, Education, Engineer's degree, Engineering, High school, United States

How to Keep Your Laptop in Top Shape

Tablet computers may be all the rage, and nearly everyone seems to have a smart phone these days. But none of these devices offer the capability and portability of a laptop computer. Some experts have predicted their demise, but laptops aren’t going anywhere soon. If you rely on your laptop, here are some things you can do to keep it in tip-top shape.

First, don’t neglect your laptop’s general maintenance. Use good antivirus software, and keep it updated to ward off new threats. Run frequent scans to make sure your computer is clean. You’ll also want to keep the other software updated. Most software developers frequently offer updated versions of their programs that offer new features, fix bugs or both.

Defragment your hard drive on a regular schedule to keep things running smoothly. Once every month or two should be enough. Also, strive to keep about 10 percent of your hard drive space empty. If that sounds impossible, you may need to look at purchasing an external hard drive for expanded storage. Keeping hard drive space free means your computer will run much faster.

One of the benefits to a laptop is the battery power that allows you to use your machine anywhere you want. But for the battery to last, you need to take care of it. To help your battery last as long as possible, fully drain it and then fully charge it. Completely empty the battery at least once a month, and if you need to store your laptop because you won’t be using it for a while, partially drain the battery and remove it from the device.

Finally, take care of your laptop’s LCD and keyboard. Clean the display with an approved cleaner and frequently use a dry duster or canned air to clean the keyboard. Also, transport your laptop in a case to protect it from being knocked around.

Filed Under: Computers Tagged With: Laptop

Have Fun Using Foursquare

If you’re familiar with the Internet, you know how rapidly things can change. What was popular becomes out of favor as new and exciting things come along. It’s no different with social media. Even a few short years ago, the term social media wasn’t a part of our language. Now we use sites such as Facebook and Twitter every day, while new sites, such as Foursquare, come along to capture our attention.

But what is Foursquare, and how do you use it?

Foursquare is location-based social media that lets you connect in real-time with your friends, no matter where they are. You can also earn what the site calls “badges,” plus coupons and other goodies from participating businesses and locations.

To get started, create a Foursquare account and connect it to your existing Facebook and Twitter accounts. You’ll need to use Foursquare on your smart phone to really get any use out of it. As you visit different locations – coffee shops, work, the library, even your doctor’s office – you “check-in” using your Foursquare app. These check-ins tell your friends exactly where you are and allow you to earn a whole host of different badges.

Badges are available for checking-in at a location before anyone else, for visiting a number of nightspots in one evening and just about anything else you can imagine. You can even become the ”mayor” of any location by checking-in there more than anyone else. A lot of businesses have adopted Foursquare into their business model by offering coupons, discounts and other deals to their mayor.

There are some security concerns with using Foursquare. The obvious is that it instantly broadcasts your location to the world. Some experts are concerned that this opens a door for thieves, who could know at a glance that you aren’t at home but are instead out to dinner or even out of the country. So have fun with Foursquare, but keep that in mind.

Filed Under: Computers, Internet Tagged With: Facebook, Foursquare, Social media, Social network, Twitter

Twitter Fake Antivirus Scam

Millions of people now use the popular micro-blogging site Twitter everyday to connect with friends, for business purposes and more. But the site was recently hit with an antivirus software scam that may be related to the theft of email addresses from an unrelated media site a few months ago. Twitter has been working to reset the passwords on accounts that were hit and unknowingly distributing the bad link.

The makers of the scam used Google’s URL address shortener, goo.gl, to disguise the origin of the link. Twitter users who clicked on the link were redirected through a number of websites before landing on a site in the Ukraine that has long been associated with other antivirus software scams.

Victims who followed the link then received a message on their computers prompting them to scan their computers. Computer users who are not overly familiar with scams or with their own legitimate virus software often fall prey to these ploys, thinking they are preventing a problem with their machines.

In truth, they are setting themselves up for bigger issues. By starting the scan the victims actually install “Security Shield,” a bogus security program. Once installed, the free program repeatedly attempts to get the victims to purchase another version of the software. The problem, aside from the obvious ones already written about here, is that even the paid version of this program (and other similar antivirus scams) doesn’t actually protect your computer at all.

If you have already fallen victim to this scam or a similar one, you can follow the steps available on many trustworthy online forums and websites for removing the malware. Just follow the steps, and make sure you are getting them from a trusted source. If the malware has made your computer practically inoperable, you’ll need to access these directions with you smart phone or perhaps a friend’s computer.

Filed Under: Computers Tagged With: Anti-Virus

Using a Registry Cleaner to Keep Your Computer Running Right

If you want to keep your computer running right (and quickly), you need to keep it clean. That doesn’t just include keeping dust off of it and out of the inside, but it also includes making sure that the actual operating system, memory, and others areas are up to date and not bogged down with a lot of information that you don’t need to save for any reason. There are plenty of ways to keep your computer clean, but one of the best is with a registry cleaner. It protects your personal files and frees up space on your computer, so it runs faster and lowers its potential to have a problem.

Using PC Tools Registry Software is a great way to take care of your registry so you don’t have to worry about it. It’s the perfect option, and will clean your computer of deleted files, viewing history, and unwanted documents that don’t need to be there. All of those things just ‘gum up’ your computer and slow it down. Problems with your registry can also cause errors at start up and other times during your computer usage.

When you use good registry cleaning software, it can back up your computer in case of a crash or a lost document, too, and that’s a big advantage – especially if you use your computer for work or for sensitive information that you really don’t want to lose. No matter whether you’re using Windows XP, Vista, or 7, you can get an option that’s optimized for you and your operating system. That’s a better choice, certainly, than getting something that doesn’t really conform to your specific computer and operating system. Don’t overlook the value of a good registry cleaner, and one that will do the proper job so you don’t have to worry about registry errors and other kinds of related computer problems.

Filed Under: Computers, Internet, Operating System Tagged With: Microsoft Windows, Operating system, Registry cleaner, Shareware, Windows, Windows Registry, Windows Vista, Windows XP

Public Shaming in the Internet Age

Fewer crimes in America today are taken more seriously than drunk driving. About 14,000 people die each year in alcohol-related accidents, and authorities across the country are always looking for ways to curb the incidents of drunk driving and save lives.

Now, a city councilman in California wants the local police department to post the mug shot of anyone arrested more than one time for drunk driving on the department’s Facebook page. The councilman is hopeful that this sort of public shaming will make everyone, not just habitual drunk drivers, think twice before they get behind the wheel after a night on the town.

It is worth noting that the city in question, Huntington Beach, has more alcohol-related traffic deaths than any other California city of a similar size. Not everyone in town thinks this modern-day version of putting someone in the stocks on the public square is a good idea, though. Others, including other city council members, feel that drunk driving will not be deterred and that the only people to be shamed will be the families and close friends of those whose photos are posted.

In the initial proposal, the councilman sponsoring the law wanted the mug shot of everyone arrested for drunk driving posted on Facebook – even those arrested for the first time. He feels his new proposal is watered down.

Yet even the police department is against this watered down version and civil rights attorneys have weighed in on the issue, too. In America, we enjoy the right of presumed innocence until proven guilty. An arrest for drunk driving is not the same as a conviction, and the attorneys feel that it is not appropriate – and probably not legal – to publicly shame someone if they have not yet been found guilty.

The citizens of Huntington Beach may feel differently, though. It will be interesting to see how this ends.

Filed Under: Computers, Internet Tagged With: City council, Driving under the influence, Facebook, Huntington Beach California

Can Watson Win Jeopardy?

We have come to depend on our computers for nearly everything. We use them to keep track of family activities, pay our household bills and organize our social lives. Clearly, the barely-bigger-than-a-book-sized computers we use today are faster and smarter than the room-sized computers of yesteryear. But can a computer actually think? Can a computer take part in, say, a game show that tests the knowledge of the smartest humans – and win?

IBM thought so, and developed Watson – a computer nearly the same size as 10 refrigerators and able to perform 80 trillion operations per second – to compete against the top two contestants ever on the game show Jeopardy.
The shows have been filmed, but won’t air for a while and everyone involved in the production has been sworn to secrecy. But the media was invited to watch a practice session and the results were pretty amazing with Watson squeezing out a win. But just barely.

IBM and Jeopardy had Watson play against Ken Jennings, the player who won the most consecutive Jeopardy games in history and Brad Rutter, the all-time Jeopardy money winner. IBM said the biggest challenge for Watson was that it had to actually think about the questions that were posed – it had to understand the question, consider the nuances of it as a human would, and instantly pull the answer from its memory to beat the other contestants to the buzzer. When a question is posed, Watson searches through the more than 200 million pages of content he was programmed with in less three seconds to find the answer.

When the final episodes air, it will be as a million-dollar tournament to benefit charity. The two human contestants will donate half of their winnings to charity, while IBM has said it will donate everything Watson may win.

Interestingly, it was another IBM computer, Deep Blue, that defeated the famous chess player Gary Kasparov in 1997.

Filed Under: Computers, Internet Tagged With: Brad Rutter, Deep Blue, Garry Kasparov, Jeopardy, Watson

Computer History Museum

Depending on your age, it may seem like computers have always been a part of your life, or it may seem like they really only entered common use a few short years ago. But did you know that modern computing was born more than 150 years ago? Or that you can trace the origins of computers back to the Chinese abacus, invented 2000 years ago – and still in use today?

We have museums dedicated to art, to general history, to transportation and more. Now, the Computer History Museum in California is working hard to preserve what may be the most important, life-altering invention of all time – the computer.

The museum claims to have the world’s largest collection of artifacts that are computer-related including software, hardware, photos and much more. From an amazing reproduction of Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine No. 2, to an exhibit that looks at the work, effort and time devoted to developing chess software, the museum will appeal to anyone with even a passing interest in the origins of computing.

What would a computer museum be without a website? The museum’s site features many online exhibits that are designed exclusively for Internet visitors, and other online exhibits serve as compliments to exhibits that are at the museum.

The museum got its start from the collection of Gordon and Gwen Bell, which was first displayed to the public in the early 1980s in Boston. From there, the museum was moved to the heart of computer development in the United States – Silicon Valley.

Today, the museum has amazing pieces of computer history including the first Google server, and does a great job bringing life to computer history by showcasing thousands of items that help tell the story. Toys, gadgets and even anti-lock breaking systems are on display here, and play a crucial role in explaining the importance of computing to the world.

Filed Under: Computers, Internet Tagged With: Charles Babbage, Difference engine, Gwen Bell, Museum