Can Seniors Find the iPad Useful?

By Irene Rosini  

Photo: assistedliving.com
 
My dad was given an iPad by my sister when he visited her in Chicago last month. Since then he has not touched his desktop or his new laptop at home. He totes the iPad wherever he goes and has been using it at work. When you ask him why he prefers the iPad he would tell you it's the greatest gadget he has ever had. Below are some reasons why my father loves his iPad:

• It's a good device for reading the newspaper
• It's a good device to play his favorite games
• It's a good device to surf the internet
• It's a good device because it is very portable

My father's day is never complete without reading the newspaper and listening to his favorite news programs on TV. Now that he has an iPad, not only does he read the local dailies, but he has also subscribed to national newspapers like the New York Times. He loves his Reuters app that allows him to read news from all over the world.

If you are like my Dad who reads the news all the time, you can subscribe to your favorite newspapers and read what's in the news on your iPad. Getting newspapers from the App Store is easy for anyone, my dad was able to do it! All it takes is to go to the App Store by clicking the App Store icon on your Home screen. There are two things you can do once you are inside the App Store:

1) You can type the name of the newspaper you are looking for in the search field and it will be pulled up automatically.
2) You can tap on the "All Categories" button on top of the screen and choose "News" in the drop down menu where you will be taken to a page that has two columns. The first column features icons of paid news apps and the second column features the icons of free news apps. The paid apps include such newspapers as the New York Daily News that costs $1.99 to download as well as news programs like the popular show on CBS, "60 Minutes" that costs $4.99 to download. On the other hand, the free apps include an app for CNN, the NY Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Be mindful that aside from the fee you pay in downloading the app on your iPad, access to the content of the newspaper you choose is not free of charge. You still need to pay the subscription fee for the newspapers that you want delivered on your iPad. For instance, even if you already paid $1.99 for the "New York Daily News" app, you still need to pay $13.99 for a 6-month auto renewing subscription or $23.99 for an annual auto renewing subscription. For the "NY Times," you only have limited access to its content unless you get a digital subscription which could cost around $5.00 to $8.75 a week depending on the access option you want. Most of the news programs that you can download on your iPad however, such as CBS' "60 Minutes" and CNN can be accessed for free once you download the app from the App Store.

I also noticed that dad has some games on his iPad when I borrowed it the other week and I know he downloaded them himself because he used to always ask me to do it for him. I think my Dad especially loves his iPad now because he does not have to bring crossword puzzles cut out from newspapers and magazines and a pencil while waiting for my Mom to finish shopping at the mall or while waiting at the doctor's office. If he gets tired doing the crossword, he can easily switch to being a contestant in "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" his favorite game show on TV. He even volunteers to babysit my daughters now because he can entertain them with kiddie games such as "Cars: Numbers and Counting," "Make Up Salon," and "Toddler's Seek and Find."

If you are also into crossword puzzles like my Dad, you can download crossword puzzle apps like the "NYTimes Crosswords" for free on your iPad. All you need to do is go to the App Store. Once in the App Store, type the word "crossword" on the search field and you will be taken to a page with crossword app suggestions. Tap the icon of the crossword you want to download and then tap the "Free" for free apps or the button that displays the price of the app for paid apps. When the button turns green, tap the button again and wait for the app to load completely. You can also look for games from the "All Categories" button and the dropdown menu that comes out when you tap on it.

Just like when you uploaded the news apps, some games can be played for free while others can only be played after you pay a certain amount. For instance, the "NYTimes Crosswords" gives you a week of free crosswords only. After the one-week, free trial period you can only play with their classic crossword puzzles. If you are a crossword puzzle pro like my Dad, you might not be content with the classic puzzle. If you want to play the puzzle printed on today's paper, then you will have to subscribe to get access. The fees are: $16.99 for a yearly subscription, $9.99 for a six-month subscription or $2.99 for a monthly subscription. Of course these fees may change at any time.

So, can seniors find the iPad useful? Oh yes, it definitely is for seniors and my Dad is a living testament that iPads can be used by people of all ages.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Irene_Rosini

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How to start your car from your phone?

By Nashe Rockwell

Photo: blogcdn.com

Introduction:

In this article I will show you how to start your car from your cell phone. I already had a car starter installed in my truck years ago but the range was terrible and you had to press the button for a precise amount of time, otherwise it would just ignore it. So instead of pressing a button all day long from 10 feet away I decided I wanted to start my truck from anywhere in the world! I built this a few years ago, and some newer products have come out that integrate cell phones with vehicles, but this still works for older vehicles, and can also be adapted to many other kinds of appliances as well.

This isn't just limited to vehicles. Many DIY types have attached these to their cabin's furnace, aircraft pre-heaters, irrigation pumps on farms, servers, routers, and all sorts of other appliances and electronics.

Parts required:

Parts:

-GSM activated relay. This device will contain a SIM chip that can connect to the GSM cell phone network. It's relays must be able to be activated by phone call or text message. In my first build I used a GSM-AUTO, but found a cheaper alternative on eBay for the Quad Band version (North America) or the Dual Band (Europe, Asia, etc.). it costs around $150 which has 7 relays. Another alternative is to purchase from the online store called Relay Supply. One relay is controlled by phone call and the rest are activated by text message. The relays can be set as either momentary or latched.

-Car Starter Key Fob (the remote control thing on your keychain).

-12V DC cigarette power cord

-Small plastic bag or ESD bag.

-A few wires.

Tools:

-A few screw drivers
-Soldering Iron

Step 1:

Begin with canabalizing the key fob. Instead of consuming one of my existing remotes, I turned to eBay. I found the model number of mine on the back. Its an Auto Start 05-A433. I entered this in on eBay and up popped a bunch of used key fobs that are compatible with my system. WARNING: Some of these remotes may look exactly like the one you want but they come in many revisions. Some revisions are not compatible with others. If you are not sure which to buy on eBay, try buying one new online.

You will have to sync your remote with your car starter. As all car starters and car starter installations are different, I won't go into detail on how to do this. Whoever installed your car starter can usually do it for a fee but I strongly recommend you Google for the models manual as its a rather simple process. It usually involves either depressing the hood pin in a particular fashion (a pin that detects if your hood is popped), or pressing a button on the side of the remote starters brain under your dash.

Now remove any screws from the case and pry it apart. The circuit inside and battery are not secured in any way and came out easily.

Step 2:

Find the button that corresponds to the "start" button on your remote. Some remotes can require a combination of buttons to be pressed in a certain order, or multiple buttons pressed at the same time. This can be accomplished by soldering up two connections that are both wired through the relay (for multiple button presses) or a capacitor can be added to time delay one of buttons.

The contact in the center of this picture is already powered. When a user pushes the button, the connection is made between the interlocking contacts (they look like interlocking letter E's) and the starter signal is sent. We will be soldering one wire to each corner of the contact. This takes a great deal of precision to ensure that you do not join the two contacts.

Step 3:

Next, solder a wire onto each connector that supplies power to the remote. Color coding the wires is a good idea. This remote takes a small but powerful 12V battery. Note that if your remote can not handle this high of voltage (some cigarette lighters can pump out around 15V so be sure that the remote can handle this), you will have to continue using the existing battery.

Step 4:

The GSM Relay has 7 relays. The first is controlled by phone call. When called, the relay will open for a set amount of time that can be programmed into the device by text message. Mine is set for 1200 milliseconds.

I would recommend wiring the power cables into the device first. Take the 12V DC cigarette power cord and strip the ends of the cables and slide the cable through one of the ports on the side of the device. These ports can be tightened to ensure the device is weather proof. I fed the wire through the port closest to the power connector, but if your wires are higher gauge this can be difficult. Consider running the wire through the far port. The remote key fob will remain inside the device and its wires will not be run through on of the ports.

GND (ground) is clearly marked as the top most connector. Wrap the negative (black) wire from your remote key fob around the negative cigarette power connector wire and feed it into the GND connector. Screw it down tightly to ensure a solid connection.

Wrap the positive (red) wire from your remote key fob around the positive cigarette power connector wire and insert it into the +12V connector on the GSM device. Screw it down tightly and test both wires for looseness.

Step 5:

Next, run the wires from our "start" button into the relay controlled by phone calls. Each relay is simply a pair, with the first relay being controlled by phone call, and the rest being controlled by text message. Push the wires into each connector and screw them down tightly. Remember, the remote will reside within the GSM devices case, so do not run the wire through one of the case ports.

Once this is done, consider sliding a small plastic bag or ESD bag over the remote key fob to prevent any shorts.

Step 6:

Slide back the metal bracket covering the SIM chip holder to allow it to pop up. Insert the SIM chip as shown and press it down again, securing the metal bracket to hold it down.

The GSM device has 3 LED's on it:

-One for network connectivity. This LED won't turn on for the first 10 seconds, and then will blink quite fast when the device initializes. The rapid blinking means its searching for a network to connect to. Once it establishes a connection (this will only occur if the SIM chip is a valid one and the device is in GSM range), the light will blink much slower, indicating that the connection has been made.

-One for indicating power status (blinks regularly to indicate it is powered).

-One for indicating TX or RX. Whenever the device receives or sends a text message/phone call, this light will flash.

Connect the device to your vehicles cigarette lighter! The power LED should be flashing, as should the network LED. Once the device achieves network connectivity, the flashing of the network LED should slow down.

Step 7:

Programming the device is simple. I have attached a PDF to this Instructable containing the instructions. To quickly add a phone number to the list of valid phone numbers that can call the device (also called a white list), send the following text message to the device:

#PWD123456#WHL01=0001112222

PWD is the password (which can be changed), and WHL01 is the first position in the white list. If you wanted to add a second number you would use WHL02, etc. and so forth.

The phone number to be entered should contain the area code and regular phone number with no dashes. Occasionally the international country code must be prepended to the start of the number, but try without this first.

Call the device and the first relay should loudly clack open and closed for 300 milliseconds (default length of time). The device will never pick up the phone call; rather it merely checks whether that phone number is in its white list, and then either ignores it or acknowledges it. It usually activates itself on the second ring and causes you to hear two rings to occur quickly one after another when it activates.

To update the length of time to one second, use this command:

#PWD123456#GOT1000

Figure out how long you normally have to press the start button for to start your vehicle and then program the relay to open for the proper amount of time.

Step 8:

Time to test our device out. Call the device and watch as the TX/RX LED activates. The relay should loudly flip open, and if you have a small LED on your key fob like mine, you should see this glowing as the "start" button is pressed by our relay. If the timing is correct and the key fob is pressed, your vehicle should start!

The parts I used can be obtained from Rellay Supply. The direct link for the 7 switch device: GSM Remote Control Relay.

If you have any other ideas for projects let me know. I'd love to collaborate or try out new projects!

I found some really useful devices at Relay Supply but there are lots of other sites out there, and eBay has many items like this as well. Google is your friend! Find what works best for you.

Another type of device that can be useful are devices that don't use bare contacts, but instead have mains plugs can also be found on Relay Supply. All units are Quad Band, and are either GSM based, or Wifi based, with multiple options for AC or DC power inputs.

Relay Supply

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nashe_Rockwell

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Computer Care, Can I Do It Myself?

Author: The Computer Psychic

Photo: 1.bp.blogspot.com
 
With all of the resources available to you, you may well ask yourself, "Why do I need a computer expert to maintain my computer?" The short answer is, you don't. Just like you don't need a technician to fix your car, repair your furnace, or do any other maintenance or repairs. If you have the knowledge and the time, you can easily repair and maintain your own computer.

But be warned, there are several potential "gotchas" involved in maintaining your own computer. If you decide to repair your own automobile, a company won't sell you a carburetor what will break your car. Unfortunately, that's not true of computer maintenance. There are many programs out there that either don't do what they purport to do, perform unnecessary functions, or are just plain dangerous to install. It's up to you, the computer maintenance technician, to determine what programs you can safely use in what manner.

In this article, we'll discuss some of the programs out there and what the do-it-yourselfer needs to watch out for.

Registry Cleaners Websites such as Finally Fast.com and Double My Speed.com have been promoting themselves heavily of late. These (and other) sites offer products to download and install that purport to improve your computer's performance. These programs are mostly registry cleaners. The Windows registry is simply a database that the operating system uses to store everything it needs to know to run as per your specifications. In addition, it's available to any other program to write their information in there as well. Since Windows 95, the registry has been the recommended repository for user preferences, settings, and any other variables a program has to remember.

Over time the Windows registry will become cluttered with unneeded information, most frequently caused by uninstallation programs not removing all of the data they should. The concept of a registry cleaner is that it will detect and remove these orphan settings, frequently improving computer performance.

The problem with registry cleaners is that they will often incorrectly detect a setting as unneeded and delete it, causing problems with either installed programs or the Windows operating system itself. Registry cleaners are good, but you should never blindly take their advice as to what to delete. You should always review each entry to verify that it can be deleted safely.
And keep in mind there are freeware applications that do an excellent job of cleaning your Windows registry. Ccleaner is the one recommended by The Computer Psychic. (Go to Google and search for ccleaner.)

Anti-Malware Applications Malware (spyware and virus) cleanup and prevention is one of the most important aspects of computer maintenance. If you catch a virus on your system, you leave yourself open to all sorts of mischief - including having files deleted, getting your address book scammed and spam e-mails being sent in your name, and even having your credit card and banking information stolen! Spyware can be just as bad - it typically "watches" what you do on your computer, down to even logging keystrokes, and thus stealing your passwords. In addition to these problems, spyware and viruses are often poorly written, causing performance problems in your system.
There are dozens of applications on the market that claim to remove malware from your system. And many of them do a good job. But here's the rub - many programs that present themselves as anti-virus or anti-spyware are, themselves, viruses and spyware! The Computer Psychic has seen all too many systems where the owner has - with the best of intentions - installed an anti-malware app into their system, only to see the floodgates opened; they find themselves with more popup ads and performance problems than they've ever seen before.

So how do you make sure you don't install one of these #$%& programs? First of all, if you get a pop-up message telling you that your computer is infected with viruses and click here to download a virus cleaner, don't do it! Without exception, these programs are scams. Downloading one of these apps will introduce your system to more viruses than you thought existed. In fact, when you see this window, you'll be presented with an OK and Cancel button. Don't click either one! If you click Cancel, it will still install a virus. Instead, click on the little X in the upper right-hand corner to close the window.

Secondly, if you use a search engine looking for anti-malware programs, be careful what links you follow. Malware creators will name their applications very similar to - or even exactly the same as - legitimate programs, hoping to confuse you into downloading theirs instead of the good one. For example, if you wanted to download Spybot Search and Destroy (an excellent anti-spyware program) and searched for it in Yahoo, the very first result you'll find purports itself to be Spybot. Clicking their link takes you to a page that says it's Spybot Search and Destroy, but is actually an application that acts as a gateway to allow viruses into your system.

So, again, you need to take the time to learn what is and what isn't safe to install. The Computer Psychic has a very easy recommendation. Microsoft has a vested interest in keeping your computer malware-free. If they do a good job of preventing viruses from getting into your system, then that's one less thing that Apple can beat them up over. Towards that end, in September of 2009, Microsoft released an excellent free anti-malware program named Microsoft Security Essentials (www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials). In the past, The Computer Psychic has recommended against all-in-one solutions, arguing that no one application can catch everything. But Microsoft Security Essentials is just that good. It does as good a job as - or better than - any other application, or combination of apps, in blocking any type of spyware or virus.

Startup Monitors While not as popular as the other system maintenance programs, proper use of a startup monitor can dramatically speed up your computer. A startup monitor will tell you just what programs, drivers and processes load when you start your computer.
When you boot up your computer, the operating system will also auto-start many other components - possibly a fax application, printer elements, video or mouse drivers, to name a few. These are good - they are essential for the proper operation of your computer. However, many applications add themselves to the auto-run settings for their own convenience - not yours.

For example, programs such as Adobe Reader and Microsoft Office will tell the operating system to pre-load some of their components as Windows starts up. This allows their software to open more quickly when needed. The downside of this is, even if you aren't actively using their software, your computer is using memory running those components. Better to not pre-load those components; let the software take a second or two longer to load, and speed up your entire system.
Another popular use for the startup is for auto-update programs. These apps will periodically check the internet looking for updates. If one is found, the program will present you with a window telling you an update is available. Not only do these apps consume computer resources, they can be an annoyance.

In order to easily prevent unwanted software from running automatically, The Computer Psychic recommends a Microsoft application called AutoRuns (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx). Using Autoruns you can decide just what apps you want to run when starting your computer. Once again, though, don't blindly turn of all apps. Make sure you know what you're disabling.

Summary
As you can see, using the tools recommended in this article makes it quite possible for anyone to maintain their computer's health. But as with anything technical, make sure you know what you're doing before just tinkering away.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/computer-care-can-i-do-it-myself-1556451.html

About the Author
With over 20 years industry experience, Steven O Smith is the owner of The Computer Psychic, providing affordable on-site computer repair to residences and business in the Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR area. Visit http://www.thecomputerpsychic.com for more valuable information and free software.

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Nationwide POS Installation Companies

 By Robert C Kenney 

Photo: cdn-static.zdnet.com
 
There are many companies across the nation that use POS terminals and therefore there should be POS installation companies to provide these services nationwide. The POS installation companies usually arrange for the new POS system to be setup and also installed at your site. As a business person, you need to make sure that you get a company that does the installation the right way in order to have you up and running as quickly as possible.

After the POS system has been installed for your company, the company that provided the services should be able to log into the system remotely and offer your staff real-time training on the usage of the system, additional software assistance as well as technical support where necessary. Installation as well as set up of the system can be a very simple practice for some companies while for others it may end up being a daunting task. So to avoid any complications, you need to know what operations are carried out in your business and the kind of POS system that will be suitable.

Some POS installation companies have point of sale systems that are already reconfigured and preloaded with the appropriate application, device drivers as well as their updates. For such companies, installing the system for you will be a very easy process. The company you choose should be able to make the process as simple as possible so as to get the system up and running in the shortest time possible. If you deal with a company that has got the systems already reconfigured, the task left for them will most likely be just plugging in a few cables and then later on powering up the system.

Some people will however prefer having an experienced POS technician on site during the implementation of the entire POS system. The technician will oversee processes like laying network cables from one internal location of the company to another, installing POS hardware, configuring internet access and also answering general questions that you may have concerning the system that is being installed. The technician can be very important if you are installing multiple systems and remote printers or you are doing additional hardware configurations for hardware components as well as other specialty programs you have in your organization.

A reputable POS installation company should be able to help you in the complete setup of the system, installation as well as the roll-out of the system anywhere in the country. The most common industries that utilize the POS system are the restaurant and retail industries and therefore it is important that their owners know the best POS companies to deal with.

You can always check the history of the company services, track record and its performance. If a company has been in existence for long and it has been offering good services to its clients, then it is no doubt that it is a company that offers quality services.

Did you know that IT-NetLogistics is among the companies that offers nationwide POS installation services? Visit our website for more details.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_C_Kenney

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Why Companies Need Business Intelligence

Author: Jose Allan Tan

Photo: 4.bp.blogspot.com

"We need information but all we have is data!"

This is the message managers often complain about. If there is anything that IT has ever done right it is the ability to collect nearly every single bit of data imaginable -- from data that is written or keyed-in to a computing device, to images like signatures and X-rays. We even record voice and video these days.

One manager told me over coffee: "I've got data coming out of my ears. I don't know how to make sense of it!"

Part-time solutions have been around for many years. I say "part-time" because the solutions solve only "part of the problem, part of the time." Product marketers have labeled these as business intelligence (BI) tools.

Wikipedia defines business intelligence as applications and technologies which are used to gather, provide access to, and analyze data and information about their company operations.

The goal of BI tools is to allow anyone using the information provided to make better business decisions. But there are a few problems with traditional BI tools.

BI is mostly associated with report delivery. Usually there are few people within an organization who actually know how to use BI tools. These users hold on to this 'control' because they probably get a kick out of the power they have over others.

More importantly, such specialty creates job security. But the net effect has been dissatisfaction with what was purchased, and concern over making further investments in the future.

BI tools' failure rests in the business unit's failure to communicate their needs and IT's failure to ask the right questions. The result is solutions that fail to deliver expectations.

"Previous perceptions of BI didn't factor the value provided in managing and making sense of the information assets contained within every enterprise," says V.R. Srivatsan, vice president of Asia South for Business Objects.

"However, this is changing as both technology and the business will with which to use it are maturing resulting in BI becoming a key business process driver within today's enterprise," Srivatsan adds.



BI wish list

Suganthi Shivkumar, managing director for ASEAN & India at Hyperion Solutions, notes that business managers want tools that give them increased insight into the dynamic nature of the global marketplace and allow them to identify areas of profitability.

They expect IT to unlock information that is potentially trapped between silos of applications scattered throughout the enterprise.

"Today's regulatory institutions and business climate are very unforgiving towards any kind of expectation variances or financial discrepancies that may be construed as malfeasance or misconduct. This forces companies to put a lot of rigor in their planning and reporting processes. To produce reports with confidence is critical in the choice of BI tools," Shivkumar says.

Having a single version of the truth is also just as important. Finally organizations want to have clear visibility of their operations including accurate demand-revenue-expenses forecasts to better deploy resources and capitalize on opportunities.

Business intelligence has emerged as a strategic initiative and investment priority for companies. But because departmental objectives vary, it would be easy to lose sight of the core objectives of the company and to deploy BI tools (sometimes from different vendors) to satisfy those needs.

The net result of such a strategy is a proliferation of disparate systems that not only do not effectively inter-operate with each other but complicate the matters.

The good news is that despite all the not-so-glorious past of BI tools, CEOs still believe that BI tools play an important role in today's competitive environment.

Global competitive pressures, and mergers and acquisitions are putting constant pressures on restructuring and finding additional sources of profitability. CEOs want insight to help them steer the business through these turbulent times.

For decades companies have been spending millions on enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer resource management (CRM) and data warehousing (DW) tools. With so much information locked in repositories, CEOs are putting pressure on IT to unlock information trapped in those systems.

After Enron, it's no longer enough to produce reports on time. Accuracy and consistency of reporting have become paramount and discrepancies can mean jail time for even the rich and powerful.



Who is responsible?

Changing the way things get done

Business intelligence has emerged as a top strategic initiative and investment priority for CEOs, but not surprisingly department objectives vary. Having learned from the past, IT is working to standardize on the type of tools it will deploy across the organization.

Users from across the business, not just managers, want quality information on demand, and are no longer willing to wait for IT to serve it. They also want the flexibility and ease of use in engaging tools that they are familiar with (the nearly ubiquitous use of Microsoft Office). And they want their information delivered consistently.

Business users need tools and solutions which not only can deliver information, but can manage information and produce information by integrating with their current systems. Finally they need to be able to tie operational information to financial information.



Minimizing the risk of failure

Business author and management expert Peter Drucker said there is nothing worse than doing the wrong thing well. Why does this happen? Because people don't understand the company plan or have visibility into how the business is performing.

It happens because people are not accountable for their part of the strategy, or can?t rely on their information to make good decisions.

One of the greatest failings of BI has been in how it gets deployed. Intelligence demand often starts out at a specific department where the scope is tactical and thus deployment is departmental in scope.

The result is a proliferation of tools serving the unique needs of specific departments. Unfortunately, the lack of consistent visibility across the enterprise means that these tools will have limited impact and may not even be aligned with the corporate objectives.

Have you read through a BI tool manual lately? You will notice that it isn't designed to be used by a layman? Many of today's BI tools are used by so-called power users who act as gatekeepers of the information. The result is BI tools do not get widespread adoption.

"BI tools must not be limited to those within an organization based on technical skills or of a certain department. To maximize the adoption of the BI tools within the organization, all employees should be given access to the information they need to make business decisions," advises Shivkumar.

BI is no longer just about the report, but what's IN the report. Just as business dynamics are constantly changing, BI tools must evolve from a report-centric to information-centric approach that delivers "actionable" insight.

Therefore, it needs to be universally recognized within the organization that BI supports improving performance. BI is a tool that is able to deal with the past, present and future and is the power to provide insight that leads to true competitive differentiation.

The only way to maximize the value of BI is to focus on the total picture -- information management, production and delivery that ensures consistent information, and the ability for users to analyze and re-purpose data.

Only then can a standard be identified and adopted across the entire enterprise.

Peep at the future

The current software trend is that of Software as a Service (SaaS) and BI tools are not immune to this trend. In addition, search and web collaboration are functionalities embedded in what vendors are calling the Business Intelligence 2.0 revolution.

Srivatsan cites the example of an emergency room doctor who could use search within BI to scour a broad set of data sources to find out how many instances of food poisoning have been reported in the past 24 hours, where people are affected, and determine common causes.

This real-time access to trustworthy data could help medical professionals spot and prevent widespread outbreak of food-related illnesses.

Companies can also look forward to more collaborative BI such as instant messenger BI where a sales team could have an IM discussion over a dashboard that shows sales performance below objectives, thereby speeding the process for establishing the next steps for addressing the situation.

Imagine being able to call upon BI tools to provide analysis of data as it comes in. This is, after all, what business managers want -- the ability to analyze and perform "what if" scenarios with data as it comes in from the field. No waiting for periods to close. What you have is the ability to make decisions at the right time, right place and in the right context.


Final advice

Gartner's vice president for research, Andreas Bitterer believes that business intelligence needs to be a continuous process for it to be of value. So stop thinking of it as a project.

Srivatsan: "Few organizations have a comprehensive enterprise BI strategy or clearly defined BI standards. Companies with a patchwork of disparate BI technologies are facing the consequences, including, rising deployment, maintenance and training costs, inconsistent information, and frustrated employees who cannot get timely answers to business questions.

By reducing the number of BI tools, companies can save money, have confidence in and control over business data, and give employees the information they need to do their jobs well, he adds.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/information-technology-articles/why-companies-need-business-intelligence-320561.html

About the Author

Jose Allan Tan is a technologist-market observer based in Asia. A former marketing director for a storage vendor, he is today director of web strategy and content director for Questex Asia Ltd. He also served as senior industry analyst for Dataquest/Gartner and was at one time an account director for a regional PR agency.
   

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How to Configure an Authoritative Time Server in Windows Server 2008

Author: Richard n Williams

Photo: winbeta.org

Time synchronisation in modern computer networks is essential, all computers need to know the time as many applications, from sending an email to storing information are reliant on the PC knowing when the event took place.

Microsoft Windows Server from 2000 onwards has a time synchronisation utility built into the operating system called Windows Time (w32time.exe) which can be configured to operate as a network time server.

Windows Server 2008 can easily set the system clock to use UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, the World's time standard) by accessing an Internet source (either: time.windows.com or time.nist.gov).

To achieve this, a user merely has to double click the clock on their desktop and adjust the settings in the Internet Time tab.

It must be noted however, that Microsoft and other operating system manufacturers strongly advise that external timing references should be used as Internet sources can't be authenticated.

To configure the Windows Time service to use an external time source, click Start, Run and type regedit then click OK.

Locate the following subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters\Type
In the right pane, right-click Type then click Modify, in edit Value type NTP in the Value data box then click OK.

Locate the following subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config\AnnounceFlags.
In the right pane, right-click AnnounceFlags and click Modify. The ‘AnnounceFlags' registry entry indicates whether the server is a trusted time reference, 5 indicates a trusted source so in the Edit DWORD Value box, under Value Data, type 5, then click OK.

Network Time Protocol (NTP) is an Internet protocol used for the transfer of accurate time, providing time information along so that a precise time can be obtained
To enable the Network Time Protocol; NTPserver, locate and click:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpServer\
In the right pane, right-click Enabled, then click Modify.

In the Edit DWord Value box, type 1 under Value data, then click OK.

Now go back and click on
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters\NtpServer
In the right pane, right-click NtpServer, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value under Value Data type In the right pane, right-click NtpServer, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value under Value Data type the Domain Name System (DNS), each DNS must be unique and you must append 0x1 to the end of each DNS name otherwise changes will not take effect.

Now click Ok.

Locate and click the following
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpClient\SpecialPollInterval
In the right pane, right-click SpecialPollInterval, then click Modify.

In the Edit DWORD Value box, under Value Data, type the number of seconds you want for each poll, ie 900 will poll every 15 minutes, then click OK.
To configure the time correction settings, locate:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\config
In the right pane, right-click MaxPosPhaseCorrection, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value box, under Base, click Decimal, under Value Data, type a time in seconds such as 3600 (an hour) then click OK.
Now go back and click:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\config
In the right pane, right-click MaxNegPhaseCorrection, then Modify.

In the Edit DWORD box under base, click Decimal, under value data type the time in seconds you want to poll such as 3600 (polls in one hour)
Exit Registry Editor
Now, to restart windows time service, click Start, Run (or alternatively use the command prompt facility) and type:

net stop w32time && net start w32time
And that's it your time server should be now up and running.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/operating-systems-articles/how-to-configure-an-authoritative-time-server-in-windows-server-2008-461336.html

About the Author

Richard N Williams is a technical author and a specialist in the telecommunications and network time synchronisation industry helping to develop dedicated NTP clocks. Please visit us for more information about NTP or other network time server solutions.
   

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How to Make a Website

Author: William Robinson

Photo: websitecreationexperts.com

In todays day and age,where computer users are increasing by large numbers monthly,the website has developed as a means of self expression or as a launch point for business pursuits.
There are countless ways of learning how to make a website using such tools as the
WYSIWYG(What You See Is What You Get)HTML Editor.This is basically a point and click to create program.If you want a website fast,try it.
Good places for these are myspace.com or your internet service provider.They can provide you with a free website where you can really be creative with there (what you see is what you get editor)

HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language and was the standard language when the graphical user interface(GUI)was implemented
into the windows operating system.
There are other languages that can be used to make a website,such as Flash,xml,dhtml and a few others.In my opinion,the most flexible language and most easy to learn is html.
A great online source to learn html is html goodies(http://www.htmlgoodies.com).The online tutorials found here are second to none and range from basic to advanced.This is where I learned basic html and I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn the language.

Lets talk about the basic layout of your first page of your website.
Is this a personal website? Will it be a website showcasing products that you intend to sell?
If this is a personal website,You can start by having all your links on the left side of the page,your text content can be in the middle with images if you like.On the right side of the page can be more links and images.You will need to divide the page into 3 sections to accomplish this.It can be done with table commands or with the divison command.Please go to the html goodies(http://www.htmlgoodies.com)site for futher explanations of these and future terms in this article for the best clarification possible.

Now,lets say you want to make a website for your small business that your starting.For example,your going to be selling computer games.
You will want people to know about your website and this entails submitting your website to the major search engines and directories,such as google,yahoo.msn,altavista and others.
Here is a great list of directories,both paid and free.
(http://www.seocompany.ca/directory/web-directories.html)

It is most advantageous for new online business's to register a domain name.This is important for two reasons. First,with a .com domain,your business will look professional.Secondly,from a search engine prospective,a domain name with a .com suffix is more prudent.
You need to pick a domain name that is the most relevant to your business.For example,your selling computer games and accessories.
How about http://www.best-computer-games.com ? You can do a search for available domain names at http://www.namesearch.com
Relevancy is a big factor in how the search engines will rank your site,so keep this in mind when choosing a domain name.

You want your small business website to be informative,to the point,and to keep your viewers interested at all times they are on your website..Nothing turns off a website visitor more than the link to a page they click on(yours)to be slow loading into there web browser.

There are ways to speed up the loading process of a webpage into the web browser.If you have alot of images on your website,you should always denote the height and width of the image in the link.
An Example: after the second quotation mark in the word alt.The opening tag is < This goes right by the letter i in the word image. If I do that in this article,I will receive an error becuase there is no such file,its just an example to show you.
Doing this will make your web pages load very quickly into the site visitors web browser.Have a question about the alt""? Ok,I will explain this to you.Lets say your image is of a computer game.
If you would type inside of the quotes of the alt command:
alt="This is the best computer game" Now,when the page loads and someone puts there mouse over the image,what you typed in the alt command will be displayed as text.You can type whatever you want in the alt command,but if your looking for search engine relevancy,I would type in one of your keywords thats relative to the product that displays as the image.
As mentioned before,for further clarification of images,go to the html goodies site(http://www.htmlgoodies.com)for there image tutorial.

To keep the viewer staying on your website,you need to make sure all your links are operational and not dead links.Meaning,there is a page not found error(404) that displays when someone would click on one of your links from your main page.

Meta tags and Keywords are important so your site can receive the highest possible ranking and relevancy. To learn more about meta tags and keywords,go to html goodies(http://www.htmlgoodies.com)This is another topic all together that I wont go into in detail in this article.

I would just like to say that The WYSIWYG(What you see is what you get)html editors are good for the quick fix website,I dont get the gratification of building a website using that method. I code all my webpages by hand in windows notepad. This will take longer but I do receive more satisfaction designing my webpages this way.

There is a site that I recommend you visit. There are $0.99 video tutorials about website design tips and tricks.There are over 8 hours in video tutorials in all,plus other great memberships and programs.

Thank you all for reading and if you have any questions or seek advice,do not hesitate to comment on this article and I will respond to you providing you leave your email address.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/e-learning-articles/how-to-make-a-website-154206.html

About the Author

William Robinson is an accomplished ebay seller,aspiring website designer,part time New York City TaxiDriver and an unlicensed computer technician.

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How to use Power Task Menu in Windows 8?

 Author: Matthew Ferrall

Photo:  bleepstatic.com


Microsoft has recently introduced Windows 8 OS in the market with features like Metro style interface, Hybrid boot, Windows to Go etc. Windows 8 employs Metro style user interface so most of the people are not able to adopt the changes and are not able to make changes in their computer software and hardware settings. In this article I will make you aware about how you can access some of the commonly used tasks by accessing Power menu.

Steps for accessing the hidden common tasks by using Power menu on Windows 8 interface are:

1. 
   Go to the Start screen of your Windows 8 Computer, drag your mouse pointer to the lower left corner of the screen.
   


2. 
   Then move your mouse cursor to the lower left corner then Windows 8 shows preview thumbnail of last application used by the user.
   


3. 
   When the preview of last used application appears then make a right click on that thumbnail then a menu will appear on the screen which contains options to  access the most commonly used tasks via power menu.
   

List of options available in the Power menu:

• 
  Programs and Features: This option will facilitates you  to  install or uninstall the program from your computer system in an easy way.
  


• 
  Power Options: This option will allow you to change the power schemes available on your computer. You can switch between Balanced mode and power Saver mode.  Always Balanced mode is preferred as it provides user with better performance and   minimum energy consumption.
  


• 
  Event Viewer: Event Viewer contains a  list of the event logs generated for every action done by user. It also contains error logs, warnings and information generated by user.
  


• 
  System: This option will present the the basic information about your computer on a distinct screen, which contains  information about your computer and its operating system. It also contains hyperlinks to launch Device manager, remote settings and system protection of your PC.    
  


• 
  Disk Management: This option allow you to make changes in the hard drive partitions of your computer. You can create new partition, delete existing partition as well as modify/resize them.
  


• 
  Computer Management: This option will allow you to access the various administrative screen form where you can tweak user accounts privileges, manage hard drive partitions and view event logs of your computer.
  


• 
  Command Prompt: This option will provide access to the CLI(Command Line Interface)/Command prompt of your computer from where you can make desired changes.
  


• 
  Task Manager: This option will enable you to view the current processes running on your PC, Current memory usage, Current status of CPU usage, Performance of your computer, networking information and Users information.
  


• 
  Control Panel: This option will allow you to modify the User accounts, external hardware/Peripheral properties, Add/Remove programs, manage Power Management schemes etc.
  


• 
  File Explorer: This option will let you to manage concerned file on your computer/Laptop.
  


• 
  Search: This option enables you to search docs, music file, Video files, images on your computer.
  


• 
  Desktop: This option will bring your computer desktop.
  

Thus by following the above mentioned steps you can easily tweak your computer settings. If you have any problem regarding the procedure then you can contact 1-855-352-1816. You can also use computer maintenance tools for enhancing the speed and performance of your Windows 8 OS of your computer setup.


Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/operating-systems-articles/how-to-use-power-task-menu-in-windows-8-6469884.html

About the Author

Matthew Ferrall received the Master degree in software engineering in 2006 and currently serving as a software engineer at Impcsupport. Heprovides informative articles on Online PC Support, windows maintenance tools, windows support, computer maintenance tools and software's.
   

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