Why The Hype Over The Ipod

Writen by Mia LeCron

Some of you reading this may remember something called the Sony Walkman.

Or, if you aren't old enough to recall what those are, just ask your parents or an older brother or sister; and you'll see this kind of pleasant, reflective smile cross their face.

You see, the Walkman was the coolest thing to come out of the early 1980s. And if you had the fortune (or maybe the misfortune – really big hair was in back then) of living back then, you almost certainly owned one of these devices.

They were everywhere. In airports. On busses. In malls.

Heck, even in cars you'd see kids in the back listening to their own thing, while the parents rocked out to the soothing, mellow driving tones of Perry Como or Dean Martin (which many kids at the time found intolerable; many still do).

The Walkman was beyond a phenomenon; because that term implies that something is here today, then gone tomorrow. The Walkman was a mainstay; a staple of the society in which it was introduced.

Without exaggeration, if a Time Capsule was created for the 1980s, it would simply have to have a Walkman in it; to neglect this item would be like discussing technology in the 21st century and failing to note that strange little thing called the Internet.

So why trip down memory lane to talk about the Walkman? Well, don't worry; we aren't just waxing nostalgic for our own amusement.

We're setting the stage for the next generation of personal entertainment devices; an innovation and invention that is sure to become the Walkman of our time.

We're talking, of course, about the iPod.

In case you've somehow managed to avoid seeing the marketing and advertising associated with the iPod, it's almost certain that you've seen them. They're everywhere (sound familiar?).

And it's not just kids who walk around with those two little white wires protruding from their ears and into something that kind of looks like something dental floss might come out of.

The iPod, like all truly amazing inventions, has crossed demographic consumer lines. People of all ages are sporting these things; from teachers to senior citizens; from athletes to Generation Y skater types who somehow manage to keep those earplugs in place despite flying through the air (and sometimes crashing to the ground).

Now, if you haven't yet entered iPod country yourself, then please don't feel intimidated or worse, obsolete.

Though iPods are incredibly popular, there are still enough people out there who haven't yet tried one on. And furthermore, there are also a growing number of people who have an iPod, but haven't really taken it out of first gear. Why is this?

Well, it's because technology can seem confusing, and despite its small size, figuring out the ins and outs of the iPod can seem intimidating and time consuming. Yet nothing could be further from the truth!

Apple, which makes the iPod, has built a reputation on simplicity of use; and the iPod most definitely reflects this approach. As such, the iPod is as easy to use as a DVD player; even easier, perhaps.

Mia LaCron is the founder of IpodFunctions.com - http://www.ipodfunctions.com - devoted to helping individuals get the most out of their Ipod.

Virtual Memory What Is It

Writen by Michael Arcand

I recently got an e-mail asking about virtual memory. The person who sent me the question was getting an error on random occasions from their Windows operating system stating "Your computer is low on virtual memory". They wanted to know what is virtual memory, and if this error does occur, what can I do to fix it? Here is the answer that I sent out:

"Virtual memory is when your computer uses the hard drive as a memory relay once your real memory has been used up. This usually starts happening when someone has installed new programs or is using multiple large programs at one time. Have you installed something new recently, or changed how many programs you are using at one time? Does it seem to occur when you are using a specific program, or perhaps after running a specific program for a longer than usual period of time?

To check your virtual memory settings, follow these steps:

1. Click on Start

2. Select Control Panel

3. Click on System

NOTE: When you first click on System, it will show you the "General" information tab. This tab will indicate how much RAM (physical memory) your system has installed (usually towards the bottom, should be something like "128 MB of RAM". Make a note of this number.

4. Click on the Advanced tab

5. Click on the Settings button under the top box, labeled Performance

6. Click on the Advanced tab, and this will show your current setting for virtual memory.

NOTE: Windows usually manages this number automatically, and usually doesn't require any adjustment. Optimally, this number should be somewhere between 2X and 3X the number noted earlier for the amount of system RAM. You can change the setting by clicking on the Change button located at the bottom of this section. You can then set the minimum to 2X (put in the actual number) and the maximum to 3X of the physical RAM.

If you answered "yes" to any of the questions I posed at the beginning, you may need to re-evaluate the system requirements of any programs involved and consider an actual physical RAM upgrade, if your motherboard will support additional RAM. That can have a big impact on what's happening.

Until next time,

Michael Arcand
www.techsupporthelpdesk.com

Michael Arcand is a CompTIA A+ Certified computer technician and entrepreneur specializing in computer tips & tricks for home users. His most recent venture online provides cost-effective online tech support for home and small business users.

(This article may be reprinted as long as the complete resource box is left intact with embedded links.)

Mp3 Encoders

Writen by Jennifer Bailey

Choosing an MR3 encoder may seem simple enough, but true blue music lovers know that not all MP3 encoders are the same. Most of the MP3 encoders on the Internet can give very mediocre performances, if you do not use them well. Knowing how to manipulate settings can spell the difference between having poor quality or superior MP3s.

If you want to know how to use an encoder to produce excellent quality without having to search for hours and hours in the Internet, read on.

Maximizing your MP3 coders

Most MP3 coders that you can download for free over the Internet are already capable of ripping audio direct from your CDs and encoding them into MP3 format in one simple interface. Most of them are also easy to use. So the contention is not really about MP3 encoding features and user-friendliness – it's how you set your computer.

If you just want crisp 'CD quality' music, then tweak your settings to a 128kbps bit rate. That speed is enough to give you excellent sound quality for regular listening.

But if you are very particular about sound and know much more about encoding than the average reasonable person, then amp up your settings to a bit rate of 192kbps. Remember that high bit rates translate to larger MP3 files. This is not a problem if disk space is not a concern, but if it is, then stick to the basic 128.

You can also choose to use Variable Bit Rate (VBR) that automatically switches the bit rate used while the song is playing. It switches to higher bit rate during more complex parts and goes back to basics when the sound is simpler. The VBR technology is a godsend for discriminating MP3 fanatics who want to save on disk space, but still want excellent sound quality. With VBR, you never have to sacrifice any of the two.

Encoders provides detailed information on Encoders, MP3 Encoders, Mpeg Encoders, DVD Encoders and more. Encoders is affiliated with P2P Applications.

Quick System Restore With Asr Backups

Writen by Linus Chang

ASR (Automated System Recovery) is a feature available on the Windows XP Pro and Windows Server 2003 operating systems for quick and efficient system backup and restore.

Typically, the restore process involves reinstalling the operating system and configuring all physical storage to their original settings before restoring data and settings. Rebuilding the system in this way is a time-consuming and often problematic task, causing many headaches for administrators and technical staff.

ASR significantly automates the process of rebuilding the system, thus allowing you to fully restore your system quickly and efficiently in the event of an emergency or complete system failure, even to a "bare" computer with no software installed.

ASR backups are written to a backup medium, such as tape, which can then be used to restore the system to its prior state. Also required is a floppy disk, which is inserted when the ASR Wizard is run.

To restore, the Windows Installation CD is used to boot up the machine. The ASR floppy disk is inserted, and the ASR restore process commences. The process is completely automated, and the system is restored without further intervention.

ASR backups are a crucial part of your backup plan that will save you both time and money. If you perform an ASR backup each month or when making major system changes, you'll be able to restore the system easily when the need arises.

Linus Chang is a backup expert and the lead developer of BackupAssist -- tape backup software that is simple and affordable, and perfect for small and medium businesses. Protect your Windows servers, including SQL Server and Exchange Server, to tape, REV drive, hard drive, NAS and more, at a fraction of the cost of other backup software.

Portable Dvd Players Versus Laptops

Writen by Allen Reed

For some the big discussion is...should we get a 'portable dvd player" or just spend more money a get a laptop that will play our dvd movies?

There are definitely some good arguments for both sides of this discussion. So let's run through some of the positives for both sides of this earth-shattering-topic (some humor).

For many, the biggest reason we use to base many of our decisions on is simply over the dollars that we'll have to spend. By far and away portable dvd players are cheaper to buy over a laptop...BIG PLUS to portable players. If you aren't to picky about the type of laptop you need, other than playing movies, you could possibly buy second-hand which would bring the price down considerably. Some would argue that you should never buy a laptop second-hand, I'm still not sure what side of the fence I sit on for that topic.

Would you even use a laptop for reasons other than playing movies? If you're not into spending much time on the computer or don't have a great need to be on the computer very often, then why incur the cost of purchasing a laptop. For some though, having the extra features that a laptop offers over a portable-dvd-player, could come in very handy, especially on a long trip. Laptops could come in handy for school projects, business, and load of other things.

Do you have kids? If yes, are you willing to let them use a laptop that could cost many hundreds of dollars more than a portable dvd player. I've got young kids who I let use the portable dvd player we have, but I'm not so sure I'd be willing to let young kids use an expensive new laptop freely. Definitely something worth considering.

Portable dvd players have come down in price drastically over the past few years, it's not a huge out of pocket expense, definitely an easier purchase to handle over a laptop. My opinion is that it's worth buying the portable dvd player and down the road, if you need a laptop for yourself, you can go out and get it.

Who knows, maybe I'll turn into some on-the-go business guy that needs a laptop, but for now, I'm really happy with a portable dvd player and my bank account is happier too.

Allen Reed runs a site that provides information and reviews on portable dvd players.

The New Ipod Nano More Than Just Musictogo

Writen by Judith Brandy

Let's talk music! Let's talk podcasts!
1,000 songs, non-skip, digital quality, portability - the pencil thin iPod Nano is just the ticket. Jogging, walking or toughing it out on a treadmill life just got a whole lot easier with the addition of the rugged, little iPod that holds either 500 (2GB) or 1000 (4GB) songs. That's 14 hours of sounds that will go with you everywhere.

So what have I done with mine?
I work two hours from home via the public bus and regional rail lines. I get up at 5:00AM, catch a 6:35AM train, after a jostling pushing bus-ride, coffee on the regional rails, then another jostling, jolting bus ride to get to work by 8AM. I couldn't do it without music – and I couldn't make it without my rugged little iPod. It holds my sounds, a few photos of my feline, furry buddies sound asleep at home, a couple audiobooks and my podcasts of various things that interest me.

Portability in the extreme What makes this tiny 3.5 x 1.6 x 0.27 inch stand out? It's thin, weighs only 3.5 ounces, yet it backs quite a punch. Using the Click Wheel, you have access to your music, photos, podcasts, extras like a calendar and contacts, a World Clock and many extras On-the-go Options where you can create custom playlists personalized to exactly the songs you want to listen to at that moment.

Photos of the cool cats
I only have a few photos of family, friends and my many felines, but the Nano can actually hold up to 25,000 photos. Now that's a lot of picnics, baby showwers and weddings to pass around the office! You can also set it up show a slideshow of your favorite shots.

Easy Sync with iTunes
Through iTunes, the premiere iPod syncing software that works on Mac or PC, you import a CD easily, buy songs or podcasts from the iTunes store sync or upload it to your iPod. iTunes starts syncing automatically after hooking up your iPod. Instant music to go, as well as news and commentary on any subject you like. I like the Audiobooks section for those long rides which has over 11,000 titles. Prices start at just $2.95 per title, Songs are only 99 cents. Syncing is blindingly easy and you can start building your own library of audiobooks — a number of them available exclusively at the iTunes Music Store including the all six Harry Potter audiobooks.

Let's Accessorize!
With all new things comes the upgrades and gizmos to customize the new toy to perfectly fit your tastes and preferences. iPod Nano is no different offering a wide-variety of earphone choices, many colored skins to make you Nano uniquely yours. I prefer the powder-blue skin myself, and the In-Ear Headphones for maximum sound quality and bass resonance.

You car is a stereo on the roll!
Many of the newer cars come iPod capable with the hookups necessary, but since I have an older model vehicle I've done the conventional iTrip and plug-in car Monster option. Either way, it allows you to take you music with you on the road with "seamless integration between you car and your iPod." In other words, fabulous sounds while you drive.

Imagine this scenario.
You stumble out of your bed in the dark, take care of personal business. Now you're dressed and ready to go. It's still dark. Out you go, heading towards the local bus stop, still near-comatose. You take out your earbuds, turn on the Nano and wham, music fills your world or the latest Battlestar Galactica podcast about the last gripping episode fills your consciousness. You begin to wake up, ready to face the day on your terms with kick-ass background music or scintillating commentary to make your trip to consciousness just a little bit easier.

You don't like my scenario? Dream up your own. Just make sure you have music in it, because everything moves, slides, walks, and treads better to a beat – whatever your beat – whether it's classical, new age or rock and roll. It's gone digital, all wrapped up in a cute, little box that takes your songs to the next level and beyond. When you think music, think iPod Nano.

About the Author
Judith Brandy is a writer, science fiction fan and breast cancer survivor who runs The Science Fiction Buzz which covers what's going on in the science fiction genre, conveying the information in a fun and inspiring fashion. Science fiction is about hope, encouragement and the future. It is pure escapism, a window into imagination and fantasy. In a time when our world is super-serious, where diseases abound and terror is delivered with the evening news, The Science Fiction Buzz is a haven. We encourage you to leave your cares behind, and for a few moments, dwell in the astounding.

How To Choose The Best Accessories For Your Ipod

Writen by Gregg Hall

For people who aren't techno geeks the act of buying new electronic gadgets is sometimes challenging. The user manuals are usually little if any help because they are written in geek speak Almost all of the new cell phones and MP3 players today come with another onslaught of accessories to go along with them and the iPod is no different. So how do you know which accessories you really need for your iPod?

The iPod ecosystem as it is sometimes called, is the accessories market that exists for the portable player. Companies like Lansing, Bose, and JBL manufacture speakers that work in conjunction with the device by making use of the thirty pin connector on the unit. There are other manufacturers that offer add-ons to the device allowing it to play your music through a radio, record audio, and recharge on the go, or even use wirelessly with a remote control.

Of course there are also cases available for the portable device with people buying these not merely for protection of their devices but to make them more fashionable as well. These cases are made by companies that specialize in the fashion industry and are usually constructed of silicone or plastic. Apple also offers cases and brought out nano tubes to go along with the iPod Nano.

If you are into skiing or snowboarding you will be stoked to know that Burton Snowboards has introduced a backpack and a jacket developed specifically to go with the iPod and allow you to control your device via the Softtouch application on the sleeve of the jacket or the strap of the backpack. This makes it super easy to control your music while you are hitting the slopes.

The new iPod radio remote is a wired remote control using an interface similar to the Shuffle. This accessory also brings radio tuning to your player and shows the station being played on your screen. Support for this accessory is included in the firmware version 1.1.

The iPod HI-Fi is a must have for those who wish to use their device to play music at home. This system features amplified loudspeakers and docks with your player. The system offers the option of plugging into a regular outlet or running on D cell batteries for portability using the integrated handles.

In the automotive industry, the German automaker BMW introduced the first interface for the iPod that was released by a car manufacturer. This is a really cool option that allows you to control your unit through controls on the steering wheel or on the stereo buttons in the dash of the vehicle.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about iPods as well as Electronic Toys and Gadgets at http://www.electronictoysplus.com.

Defragmentation Explained

Writen by Mike Pulli

Defrag Your Hard Drive, don't think you can't do it sure, you can. Let's get started.

Have you ever noticed how your computer seems to run slower? and slower each week? Did you think it was just your imagination, Nah! Your computer really is getting slower because, your hard drive needs to be "Defragged" or defragmentation of your hard drive, same, same.

Any time you view a web site, download an MP3, install a game, or create a new file, your computer is saving that data in bits on your hard drive. As you add more data, the bits are moved around and separated from one another common on all hard drives.

Not to worry!!

After some time these files are spread all over the hard drive in tiny fragments. This slows down your computer. That is where "Defragmentation" comes in. Defragmenting the hard disk will put all the different fragments together in one place, which allows the computer to save time. When you run a defragmentation, it puts the pieces back together, so files, programs and such load faster. It' probably a good idea for the average user to defrag once every 1-2 months at the very least. I usually run mine every two weeks.

You can solve the problem easily by defragmentation of your hard drive. If your using a Windows operating system, it comes with a manual defragmentation tool built in.

However, depending on when you first run the defragmentation program it could take some time to complete depending, on the size of your hard drive to process the amount of data to complete the fragmentation process.

Even if you do not install games or download programs or files regularly, fragmentation can still be a serious problem on your system, especially if you receive a large volume of emails each day.

Each time you read one of those emails, you are adding more chunks of data to your hard drive and slowing down your computer even more.

If you get just ten emails a day, it would not take long for you to start seeing a significant decrease in your system's efficiency. The bottom line is that defragmentation is a serious problem, but it is also an easy problem to solve.

If you don't mind using the "built in" defragmentation tool in your operating system, then you should definitely be using it on a regular basis. Once you do it once or twice you kick yourself for not doing it sooner, it is not that difficult of a task to perform.

If you want to run the defragmentation process automatically just do a Search in Google "defrag" or what ever search engine you use and you'll find dozens of programs to choose from.

Now with all that said, here is a simple and easy way to defrag your hard drive. Let's get started, it should take us all but a minute to start the process. I use two different methods, don't ask me why. I probably could not give you a sensible answer; they achieve the same results, just a different way to get there from here.

Anyway, let's get started.

Method I:

Start/My Computer/C:Drive/Properties/ Tools/ Defragmentation

* Click Start

* My computer

* Right Click on C: drive

* Select Properties

* Tools

* Select Defragmatation

Method II:

Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Defragmenter

* Click Start

* Select All Programs

* Accessories

* System Tools

* Disk Defragmenter

There you are -- Not as Scary as It Sounds!

Remember, it could take some time to defrag if you have not done it in a while. So be patient!!

Please Note: Be careful when running defrag. It can take a long time to defragment your hard drive the first time. Also, the defrag program takes files off your hard drive and sticks them into your system RAM while it is reorganizing your disk. If you lose power during a disk defragmentation, it can cause a slight problem. At best, you will probably mess up a program or two and at worst; you may no longer be able to access your hard drive and Windows. Definitely not some you want to do during a thunderstorms or possibly power outages.

Mike Pulli

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Mike Pulli is the owner of http://www.foolishtimes.com. He Invites you to look at the services and download Free helpful information e-books, article library, information and resources to maximize your internet experience. Sign up for the Free newsletter.

Other sites by Mike can be found at http://www.foolishtimes.com and http://www.pigpenpicks.com

Printer Ink Refill Is More Expensive Than You Think

Writen by Lucila Duchesne

So your printer ink has run out. You're faced with the prospect of having to spend some big bucks on a new set of cartridges. The problem is though, these new cartridges are really expensive! Sometimes they cost more than what you paid for your printer! So you have an easy solution right? Buy an inkjet ink refill kit! Not so fast!

Make sure you count the cost...

It may seem like a good idea to buy an ink refill kit but it may end up costing you more than you bargained for. First off, refilling your own ink cartridges is often messy. Be prepared for the possibility that your hands, desk, kids, get ink all over them. Secondly, even if you follow all of the instructions exactly,this is no guarantee that the ink cartridge will work properly once you place it back in the printer.

Ink Refill problems include...

The ink cartridge may decide to leak into the bottom of your printer or worse, right through the printer and onto your desk. While many times this is an annoyance at best and will not damage your printer... this is no guarantee. If you are one of those people who experience a regular dose of bad luck, the leaking ink may short something in your printer forcing you to go out and buy a new one.

Another concern is that your ink cartridge print heads may be clogged with dry ink. On most inkjet printer cartridges, this is pretty close to impossible to fix. In fact, for most inkjet ink cartridges where the print head is attached to the cartridge, you usually have a limited amount of time that your ink cartridge will continue to be functional. Most printer manufacturers will tell you to expect 6 months of life from your ink cartridge.

Is an Ink Refill always a bad idea?

The short answer is no. If you have an inexpensive printer and you will most likely trash the printer if you have to pay full price for the cartridges, you will lose alot less money buying a refill kit than testing out the printer with brand new ink cartridges only to find out that the printer is defective.

For many printers, having a professional that fills ink cartridges regularly do it for you is still cheaper than buying a new cartridge. Just keep in mind that they too cannot guarantee that the ink refill will work satisfactorily.

When you are thinking about an ink refill, being aware of the potential pitfalls will also help you avoid common frustrations and headaches.

Lucila Duchesne is the webmaster of printerinfosite.com which specializes in offering its visitors an inkjet printer information directory along with links to other printer related info on the internet. Reprint freely as long as you point the live links in this resource box to my website.

More Cool Web Tricks

Writen by Jim Edwards

If you ask most people what frustrates them most about the Internet, many of them will tell you "It's the little things!"

It seems like all the great tricks and tips that make people exclaim "STOP! How did you do that?" never make it into any manual (at least where I can find them).

My father (and co-author of "Turn Words Into Traffic") calls it the "reverse oral tradition" of computing, where children teach parents the survival skills of PC life.

Well, if you want to look good to your kids or buddies around the water cooler, check out the following cool web tricks.

Cool Google Tricks

Virtually everyone knows that Google.com ranks at the top of most people's search engine lists, but it does a lot more than just tell you where to find vitamins or information on George Washington's wooden teeth!

Need a map to a specific location?

Type in the address, city and state of virtually any location in the US, hit the search button, and Google serves up several different map providers across the Web.

Want to know what software application a certain file goes with on your computer?

Input the file name into Google's search box and a number of reference sites will help you know exactly what purpose a file serves.

I actually used this to feature to identify a piece of "spyware" lurking on my computer.

Want to know who's calling you on the phone in the US?

You can just input the phone number on your caller ID or cell phone display into the Google search box and get information on listed numbers before your answering machine can even pick up!

Log on to http://www.google.com/help/features.html for more cool search features that harness the search power of Google.

Text Zoom

Next time you can't see small text clearly on a website, try holding down the "CTRL" key and then moving the scroll wheel on your mouse up and down.

The text in your web browser (and some programs) will increase and decrease in size as you roll the wheel back and forth.

This little trick provides an excellent means of quickly getting what you need from websites with tiny text.

Slow Surfing?

If your Internet Explorer web browser starts giving you problems, you might want to clean up your "Temporary Internet Files."

Most people don't realize it, but when you leave a web page, it doesn't leave you!

Most of the time you keep a copy of websites you visit on your hard drive and, over time, they build up.

This collection of old web pages can eventually cause your surfing to slow to a crawl and even cause errors!

Here's one way to clear out those old files. Click your "Start" button, then "All Programs," "Accessories," "System Tools" and "Disk Cleanup."

After an initial check of your hard drive (which can take some time if it's the first time you've ever launched the utility), you can check the boxes of the files you wish to delete.

To speed up your surfing, at a minimum, make sure you delete the "Temporary Internet Files."

Surfing Shortcuts

To quickly cycle back and forth through a series of web pages you've visited, hold down the "ALT" key and tap your left and right arrow keys.

Left arrow takes you back while the Right arrow takes you forward.

The Page Up and Page Down buttons allow you to quickly move up and down any web page without struggling to find the scroll bar slider on the right side of the page.

About The Author

Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist (http://www.TheNetReporter.com) and is the author of several best-selling ebooks, information products and software programs.

Need MORE TRAFFIC to your website or affiliate links? "Turn Words Into Traffic" reveals the secrets for driving Thousands of NEW visitors to your website or affiliate links... without spending a dime on advertising! Click Here> http://www.TurnWordsIntoTraffic.com

Types Of Headphones What Does Circumaural Really Mean

Writen by Ian Strachan

There are a number of ways to categorize headphones, but when most people talk about the different types, they generally mean the different ways of wearing 'phones.

Here I'll discuss all of the different types available and weigh up their advantages and disadvantages.

Full size headphones: Sometimes called circumaural, these are the classic "cans". Generally big and comfy, they go around the ears giving great sound quality. You don't see them in the home as often anymore, although some audiophiles swear by them. These 'phones remain an essential part of any recording studio and seem to be popular among those who want to listen to their iPods while looking like an extra from That 70's Show.

Ear pad headphones: Ear pad headphones are quite similar to full sized headphones but are smaller and sit on the ear rather than over it. In the trade, they are referred to as supra-aural and tend to have a slightly poorer sound quality than full sized 'phones but are a lot more portable due to their size. This style of headphones was very popular in the 80's but lost ground as earphones became more popular. They're now going through a renaissance, particularly due to the popularity of behind the head or earclip versions.

In-ear headphones: This type of headphone is gaining popularity due to their excellent sound quality and ability to block out external noise. They sit directly in the listener's ear canal forming a "seal" giving great sound isolation. Like anything, they do have a downside. Some users find them uncomfortable, especially after prolonged use, plus their excellent sound isolation does lead to a detachment from the sounds we are used to, particularly traffic!

Earphones: Earphones or earbuds are similar to in-ear headphones except they sit outside the ear canal rather than in it. They're generally the cheapest type of headphones but often give relatively poor sound quality. They are particularly popular at the moment with the white cabled iPod versions (and their copies) dominating the high street.

Earclip/behind the head headphones: Earclip and behind the head headphones are a bit of an oddity in this list. To be honest, these headphones could be any of the above types but either secured behind the ear or joined at the back of the head. So, for example, ear pad headphones that clip over the ear are now becoming much more popular than traditional over-the-head band headphones. Their popularity is quite recent and they gain a lot of use in the "sport headphones" market.

Ian Strachan loves music and is passionate about getting the best sound quality whenever he listens. Find out all the latest news and information about headphones and earphones at Headphone News.

Getting The Best Price On Toner Cartridge Needs

Writen by Leon Chaddock

The toner cartridge that you need for your printers, your fax machines, your photo copiers and your camera printers are nothing short of expensive. While you may be wondering why they are so expensive, there seems to be more and more of a need for these toner cartridges. Everyone needs them but no one wants to pay the high costs for them.

Here are some hints and tips to help you find the best prices on toner cartridge needs that you have. You can save money in the long run!

• It is a good idea to know what type of cartridges that you need at all times. Many times, you can go into a retail location and find these toner cartridges on clearance for really no good reason. If they happen to be yours, you could pay a fraction of the price for them.

• But, this isn't going to help you in your time of need. Instead of going to the overpriced, very hard to find printer cartridge office supply stores, simply look to the web. You have heard it before that the web offers much savings but you can count on saving money on your cartridges here. There are various websites that will provide just the right options for you at reduced prices.

• You can also find off brands that work just as well. If you know the size and type of cartridge you need, you can often save on the costs of them by purchasing off brand options.

• Yet another option to consider in these printer cartridge expenses is that you can save money on them by purchasing refills for them. Look to the web for these options as well. This is a great way to recycle too!

Printer cartridges are expensive, but there are ways to save on them!

For more information please see http://www.toner-cartridge-shack.co.uk.

How To Buy The Right Mp3 Player You Would Really Love

Writen by Peter Lenkefi

Choosing to buy the right MP3 player isn't that difficult, but one player does not fit all. People will want different things from their players. MP3 CD players represent the best value: Most retail for less than $200, and additional blank discs are cheap.

* Think about how you'll use the player. Joggers will almost certainly want a lightweight, flash-memory-based device, since hard drives don't react well to the shock of bouncing around all the time; audio aficionados who want lots of music at their fingertips should keep their eyes on the highest-capacity hard-drive models.

* Try your favorite before taking it home. Make sure you can use the on-screen display to navigate to a specific song, and ask a clerk to show you how to transfer music to the device, if possible. Always bring your own set of headphones to listen to the sound quality of each unit you're interested in. If you plan to test CD-based MP3 players, bring your own disc. * Get the largest-capacity device you can afford. Whether you buy a flash- or hard-drive-based MP3 player, make sure to choose a model with the largest storage capacity possible. Even if you don't think you'll need it now, you will probably be happy to have it later.

* Pay close attention to the user interface. The simplest-to-use MP3 players use a Windows Explorer-like file and folder interface to organize music on the player. While some players require you to use their software to pick the play order before loading music files, other players let you rearrange the songs once the music is in the player.

* Mind your power options. While some portable players use replaceable alkaline batteries, many feature a built-in rechargeable battery that cannot be easily removed. While these devices can keep going for tens of hours, if you're not going to be somewhere near a power outlet or a computer with a USB port, you might find yourself out of juice with no way to charge the player.

* Check the prices for extra storage. If you're considering a player that uses one of the major memory card formats (Secure Digital, SmartMedia, MultiMediaCard, or Memory Stick) to store music files, factor the price for an extra or replacement memory card into the cost of the player.

* Look for wide file format support. While this isn't a necessity, players that support music files in the MP3, WMA (Windows Media Audio), and OGG formats give you more listening options than players that support just one or two of those formats.

* Consider a player with an FM tuner. This feature isn't essential, but it's a nice addition--especially if you grow tired of your own music.

* Do you need a carrying case? The more expensive and more fragile the player (hard-drive devices are the most delicate), the more likely you'll want a custom-fitted case to protect it. If you plan to carry your player with you wherever you go, consider investing in both a fitted cover and a rugged carrying case that can also hold headphones, a USB cable, and/or spare batteries.

* Shop around, online and offline. MP3 players are widely available in almost every consumer electronics outlet, and their prices fluctuate.

For more more information about mp3 players please visit http://www.buy-mp3-players.net

Has My Pc Got A Virus

Writen by Mike Morris

What is a virus? The term broadly describes any program that tries to hide a malicious function or spread copies of itself on to as many computers as possible.

Believe it or not most viruses are benign, displaying a message or picture at a specific time. There are some malignant viruses that can cause damage to your files and programs. Most viruses in circulation fall into six key classifications:

1. Worm – a self contained program that can spread functional copies of itself to other computer systems.

2. File Infector – attaches itself to ordinary program files, it usually ends in exe or com.

3. Trojan Horse – Noramlly a non-replicating program, designed to perform malicious damage, such as destroying all word processing documents.

4. Boot Sector Infectors – These attach themselves to the boot sector of a disk, either on your hard drive or on any floppy disk that you insert into your floppy drive.

5. Master Boot Record Infectors – Infect the master boot program preventing it from starting in the usual way, for example constantly restarting.

6. Multi-partite viruses – this can infect both the master boot records, or files and disk boot sectors.

How does your PC pick up a virus? They don't just occur, they are introduced to your PC by an outside party and can be avoided if you take approriate precautions.

Downloading files from the internet or receiving e-mail can put you at risk of virus infection. Contrary to popular opinion it's not generally possible to contract a virus by simply reading an e-mail message. The damage is done by executing files that are attached to your message without first checking for viruses. This could also occur by importing information from floppy disk files that were created on an infected PC.

How do I know if I have a virus? Generally, some of the symptoms might be a discrepancy in the amount of memory you have, running out of hard drive space unexpectedly, programs running or loading slowly, unidentified files appearing, and unexpected crashes or failure to load. These symptoms could also be due to a number of common technical problems, don't automatically assume that you have a virus the moment anything looks out of the ordinary or slows down.

The best way to ensure protection from viruses is to install a specialised piece of software often referred to as anti-virus software or a virus checker. This continually scans for possible problems and alerts you before they can inflict any damage.

If the suspected virus is one that has been identified by the manufacturers of your software you can often fix the problem immediately. Set your virus –checker to scan all e-mail and downloads from the internet, as well as scanning any floppy disks in your disk drive.

Virus –checkers work by identifying and eliminating known viruses. So it is very important to keep your records up to date using the free update facility provided by most reputable companies. Many anti-virus programmes have an automatic update facility so that when connected to the internet you can download updates straight onto your PC.

There is today a phenomenon known as Hoax Virus alerts these may be borne out of media coverage or isolated extreme cases. You will now find teat the major anti-virus companies now also keep a list of Hoax Viruses so users can identify the validity of an e-mailed virus alert immediately.

If you're careful there's little chance of you experiencing a PC virus. Even if you contract an unidentified strain your virus-checker will know it's a suspicious file and should isolate it until its origin can be confirmed.

Regularly creating backups will help limit the damage done in the event of your contracting a destructive virus.

There are thousands of computer viruses, but only a few pose a significant threat to the home PC user. Any that do find their way into your PC system can usually be eliminated quickly using an up to date virus checker. So that the probability of experiencing any adverse effects is lower than the media coverage would lead you to believe. Most cases of infection are caused by an infected floppy disk being left in the disk drive, so remove these as soon as you have finished using them.

Finally, if you receive e-mail that I suspicious or you don't recognise the sender, don't open it delete it straight away and don't open any attachments with it. No system can be a 100% fireproof against viral infection but it is just like having an inoculation with it the risks are reduced, without it the risks are higher, prevention is far better than cure.

**************************************************************************************************************** Create fantastic e-books and audio e-books without any knowledge of HTML etc. The "Dead Easy E-Book" creator visit http://www.pandas-with-typewriters.com for more info plus other great software. ****************************************************************************************************************

Watch Tv Online Turn Your Home Pc Into A Tv

Writen by Emma Drosy

With the real advancement in technology you can turn your home PC into a TV and can watch TV online. Various free channels as well-paid are available just a click away and you can best use your PC for the real entertainment. There is a tough competition among the various channel providers and you can really enjoy very good entertainment.

Even some of the service providers are delivering the unique content such as real court proceeding and you can grasp some of the real proceeding by watching TV online. If you are desirous to look these unique contents, you can turn your home PC into a TV and watch TV online.

In the recent past AOL has started a new channel that provides the classical shows of 70's and 80's. These real classical contents can be watched live on In2TV. You will find more than hundred channels providing unique content such as sports, classical, educational, news, reality shows, movies, religious, music, weather and many more.

Youth, kids and lifestyle channels are becoming very popular now a day and these provide all short of stuffs favorable to the kids and youth. Kids are becoming passionate towards some of the most popular programs. If you are also interested to look for some of these programs, you need to turn your home PC into a TV and you can watch TV online.

The minimum bandwidth required for watching TV online is 28.8 kbps. You need media player software also. The best available software available in the market is Real player available from Real Network and Media Player available from Microsoft Corporation. The higher bandwidth will be better and you can see the better visuals as well as the sharp picture without any obstruction.

If you do not have any experience in turning your home PC into a TV, try it today and see some excellent movies or classical interviews, some old sports or live sports and many more. Get the experience and turn your home PC into a TV and watch TV online now.

Good Luck Watching TV on your PC !!

Watch TV on your PC for cheaper than a Starbucks Coffee!

Use Your Computer For Your Entertainment Needs

Writen by Robert Dorrance

By using your computer today you can find a lot of different music and movie programs. From downloading music and movies directly from the internet to buying subscriptions, joining clubs, and even renting, all from the comfort of your home.

Today is a fast paced world and by having the luxury of not having to fight traffic or stand in lines makes getting your entertainment a lot easier.

Some of the more popular programs available include… file-sharing programs or also called p2p programs have cropped up all over the Internet, are easily accessible and range from being free to about twenty dollars. Also included in this category are companies such as Napster, Realrhapsody, Emusic, Itunes, Musicmatch, and even Wal-Mart, offer music downloads on a pay per song or album basis, ranging from .79 per song to about ten dollars for an album. You are able to burn these songs to a CD.

Music and movie clubs are still a strong player in the entertainment industry. Columbia House and BMG are still the two biggest music clubs today and offer outstanding bargains to join their respective clubs. Columbia House also offers a DVD club, which also includes a very good initial offer to join. Disney movie club has plenty of titles for the youngsters in your life.

If you don't care to join any music or movie clubs, you can always rent them. Netflix, Wal-Mart and others give you the opportunity to rent your movies or concerts and have them delivered directly to your front door with all postage paid both to and from the company. These plans are about twenty dollars a month and you can rent as many as you want during that time. You can take up to three titles at a time. If you are a movie lover, this is really a good plan and very convenient.

Take advantage of your computer and the ease at which you can obtain your entertainment needs. All these different companies have safe and secure online ordering. Give it a try and have fun.

Let your computer help you with your entertainment needs.

About The Author

Robert Dorrance has been a music and movie lover for years and has a dedicated website for people to easily find out what some of their entertainment choices are by using a computer to help you make an informed decision. RD@musicmovieschoice.com

How To Copy A Dvd To Psp

Writen by Travis Sago

Have you figured out how to copy a dvd to your PSP? Many folks know it can be done but are confused on how to do it. I know I really struggled at first.

I am going to give you my quick and easy recipe to copy any DVD to PSP. There are only a few steps and it is a cinch on you know how.

First like any recipe...You have your ingredients:

512 MB Pro Duo Stick (This is what holds your movie files)

DVD Player installed in your computer

DVD Ripper (Software that pulls the movie from the DVD to your computer)

PSP Video Converter (Software that converts movie and video files to MP4 format that you watch on your PSP.) (Note: There is software that has both the DVD Ripper and Converter combined)

USB Cable

1. Load your DVD and fire up your DVD ripper select the movie or video you want to put on your PSP and hit the "extract" or "rip" button. Tell it where you want to save the file to.

2. If you already have movie and/or video files on your pc then all you need to do is hit "add" from your DVD ripper and tell it where you want to save the file to.

3. Select the file that you saved to your computer and hit the "extract and/or encode" button and save that file.

3. If you have DVD Ripper/PSP Video converter combo software...You can combine steps 1,2 and 3.

At this point you have the files on your PC...and they are in the correct format.

4. How to download or transfer your new mp4 file to PSP? Just connect your PSP with your PC with the USB cable, and Create a folder on your Memory Stick called "MP_ROOT." and create a sub-folder called "100MNV01." under it. Copy your MP4 files to this location (no need to copy the .HTM files).

5. Now on your PSP go to video and memory stick and watch your movie!

Travis Sago is a computer technician and PSP enthusiast and fanatic. Don't have a good DVD ripper or psp video converter? You can learn more at http://www.the-psp-pimp.com/pspvideoconverter.html and find tons of cool things you can do with your PSP!

How to Copy a DVD to PSP.

Ipod Travel Accessories

Writen by Robin Grant

From iPod auto accessories to travel Podcasts
Apple's iPods have blown the mp3 player competition away like a tornado in Kansas. With unbeatable marketing, Apple has turned the iPod into more than just an mp3 player, but an integral part of the average person's day. In our high tech society, the iPod now is even an important part of traveling. With a billion accessories, here is a run-down of the necessary iPod travel accessories - or at least as necessary as an iPod can be.

Road trippin' - iPod auto accessories
Taking your iPod on a road trip with you is a lot easier than carrying a hundred CDs. There are plenty of iPod auto accessories and adapters that enable you to listen to your iPod in your car, some are better than others though.

If you have an older car that still has a cassette player, I recommend using Coby's $9.00 CA-747. It's not fancy, but it does the job. But as most people do not have cassette players in their cars anymore, iPod FM transmitters are the next option. The only problem with iPod FM transmitters is finding a station to tune to and being able to stay tuned to that station for a long duration. In my opinion, the best iPod FM transmitter is the iTrip FM Transmitter from Griffin. The large LCD screen makes it easier to see what you are doing while driving and the multiple broadcasting modes help you get the best possible audio quality from your radio.

The battery of an iPod doesn't last forever, but there are plenty of ways to power your iPod in the car. I recommend the Griffin PowerJolt Auto Charger, to keep the tunes going while driving.

Walking around
People walking around with earbuds sticking out their ears is a common site these days. If you're on vacation with a friend, I recommend buying the Monster iSplitter, so whether you're on a plane or a train or walking around - you can share your music with a friend.

Carrying it all
With all these iPod accessories, you'll need something to carry them in. Depending on how many iPod accessories you are bringing there are many choices to carry and protect your precious iPod within. The most popular and well-made iPod bags are Waterfield Designs' iPod Gear Pouch, which comes in two sizes. The small bag will fit all size iPods, earbuds, Firewire/USB cable and power or supply or arm band. The large fits all of the above, plus other accessories like a car stereo adapter, FM transmitter, extra batter and more. Plus they come in different colors.

If you are carrying more stuff, there are plenty of messenger bags that have special iPod and mp3 player holders. For example STM's Xs drift courier bag is large enough to fit all your gear, but not so big that it's bulky and in the way.

Protection
You wouldn't want to damage your precious iPod - would you? There are plenty protection options from the cute and colored iPod socks to the multiple iSkin options out there. My personal favorite though is the Otterbox Waterproof cases, perfect for beach vacations.

Tours
Podcasts are huge, and there are hundreds if not thousands of Travel Podcasts out there. Wcities offers free City Guide Podcast downloads for over 300 cities. You can find a Podcast for just about any destination or topic. For more great travel Podcasts visit the TP Insider.

With hundreds of iPod accessories out there, the decisions are endless; luckily TravelPost.com is here to guide you along the way from iPod auto accessories and adapters to iPod FM transmitters and Podcasts.

Jillian Scheeler makes it easy to lauch an Ipod accessories which is very useful while traveling. To recieve the free mini-part course visit the http://www.travelpost.com.

Computer Repair Tools

Writen by Thomas Morva

Have you ever found yourself up to your elbows in computer wires and chips using your wife's toenail clippers to try and nip off an extra wire? You think you might be able to get your project complete before midnight, when you suddenly realize those clippers aren't going to work without taking out half your motherboard. Substituting computer tools with household things never ensures that your computer is repaired. Still, most people will try almost anything to save money. However, in the case of good computer repair tools, you should never skimp on quality or specialty.

There are millions of computer repair service provider companies who render great support providing all the necessary computer repair tools. Most computer repair tools are available in economical tool kits. They are durable, precision-engineered, demagnetized, and ideal for routine maintenance, upgrades and general repair. There are a number of computer repair tool kits companies offering their kits at remarkably low prices. These durable, precision-engineered, demagnetized tools are ideal for routine maintenance, upgrades and general repair.

An outstanding selection of superior Ultra tools comes in a handsome, rugged carrying case for easy portability. There are tools made of some rare and unusual elements to meet your needs in the most convenient of ways. For instance, Obsidian, also known as volcanic glass was used by primitive people to make tools. All tools are fully demagnetized to protect your computer's hard drive or magnetic media from damage, and each tool is conveniently stored in a custom designed case.

Computer Repair provides detailed information on Computer Network Repair, Computer Repair, Computer Repair Services, Computer Repair Software and more. Computer Repair is affiliated with Computer Part Supplies.

General Computer Maintenance For The Masses

Writen by Steve Buchok

Reorganizing the file system Go to "Start" > "Run" > Type in "defrag" and press "Enter" Select which drive you'd like to defrag (normally this will be C:) Click OK to start defragging Side Notes This should be done about once a month. It will normally take a few hours to complete depending on how fragmented the drive is and the size of the drive. Start the scan before you go to bed and by the time you wake up the drive should be defragged.

Cleaning up your Startup Go to "Start" > "Run" > Type in "msconfig" and press "Enter" Go to the "Startup" tab Uncheck everything that does not say "System Tray" or have to do with a firewall or antivirus Once this is done click apply and reboot Side Notes By doing this you are preventing these programs from starting up when windows loads. This does not mean you can not use these programs it just means they are not using up resources right away. The more things that startup right away, the fewer resources you have for windows and other programs.

Releasing and Renewing your IP Go to "Start" > "Run" > Type in "winipcfg" and press "Enter" (for Windows 98) Go to "Start" > "Run" > Type in "command" and press "Enter" Once in the DOS prompt type "ipconfig /release" and press "Enter" Then type "ipconfig /renew" Side Notes If your ISP has gone through some changes or your IP has changed and you can't get online this releases what ever IP was bound to your network adapter and asks for a new one. This is normally useful when getting your computer back after being in for repairs.

Reduce recycle bin Right click on the recycle bin on your desktop. Go to "Properties" Under the Global tab (which is the default tab) drag the slider so that it is 1% instead of 10% Then click "Apply" Side Notes On an 80GB drive this will still leave you with 800MB for your recycle bin to hold. After you have changed the size, you will need to run defrag. This will reorganize where files go on the hard drive and increase the performance of your computer because your windows files will be located on the outer most part of the hard drive which is the fastest turning part of the hard drive.

Clearing Out your Temporary Internet Files Right click on the Internet Explorer icon. Click on "Properties" In the "General" tab (Which is the default tab) click the button that says "Delete Files…" Side Notes Temporary internet files allow surfing the web to become faster and more seamless. However, these files tend to have javascript viruses hidden in them as well as use up a lot of your hard drive space.

Clean up Cookies Right click on the Internet Explorer icon. Click on "Properties" In the "General" tab (Which is the default tab) click the button that says "Delete Cookies…" Side Notes Despite what some people may say, cookies are not a bad thing to have on your computer. Cookies are a way for websites to keep track of certain information. VERY seldom is important information ever held in them, also ONLY that site has access to the cookies that it has created and is normally encrypted beyond recognition to a normal user. Cookies are simply an important tool to web developers and can make your surfing experience more enjoyable. Don't fear the cookie monster.

Keep Drivers Up to Date There is no generic way to tell you how to keep your drivers up to date. The only thing you can really do is make a list of all the components in your computer. E.g. MSI K7N2 Delta motherboard, creative SB Audigy, realtek 8139c… Go to the manufacturers of these parts and find a download page for the drivers and make sure that the driver is new. If it is download it and install it.

Run Windows Updates Go to "Start" > "Programs" > "Windows Updates" Once there install there latest updater software and click on the recommended link. Side Notes By keeping your windows operating system up to date you prevent yourself from being hacked and getting certain viruses and other glitches in the software. This will also improve the performance of your computer and other pieces of software or hardware in your computer.

Keep Virus Definitions Up to Date Make sure that your virus definitions are at most one week old. Considering how many viruses come out on a daily basis, having your definitions more than a few days old can cause you serious damage. Do not trust any automatic updaters, do the update yourself by actually running through the steps for your software.

Keep Desktop Clean I see a lot of computers come in with every program and document they know of right on their desktop. What you should do is categorize your information. If you have certain files and programs that relate to work or accounting or your kids or school, create a separate folder on your desktop and put that information into it. You can increase your use by just organizing your desktop a little better.

Don't use desktop backgrounds Right click anywhere on your desktop that is blank. Click on "Properties" Select the "Desktop" tab Below the picture of the monitor you'll see it say "Background:" Go to the top of that list and select "None" Side Notes If you have a highly detailed picture as your background it can seriously decrease you computers performance. By setting it to none, you still have a choice of color for the background.

Don't Use Vacuum We've heard a few too many people tell us they've cleaned the dust bunnies out of their computer with a vacuum. This is a big no no. The suction from the vacuum against the plastic nozzle creates static. Static is a computers worst enemy. If you need to clean those dust bunnies out use a can of compressed air (Make sure computer is turned off)

Turn Off Monitor Only Most people seem to feel that turning the computer off will increase the life expectancy of their several hundred dollar investment. This is false, by continuously turning the computer on and off you continuously heating everything inside up, then cooling it down. This in turn makes the parts inside expand and contract which can create really small cracks. By only turning off the monitor and leaving the computer running 24/7 you will actually increase the life of your computer.

Keep 2-3 Feet Above Ground Remember those dust bunnies we were just talking about, you won't have to worry about them nearly as much if you have the computer 2 to 3 feet above the ground and in a ventilated room. If you leave it inside a computer desktop that has the backed covered you will still get dust bunnies.

Don't open unless you REALLY know what you are doing Normally if you open your own computer case you void ALL warranties to any parts. Not only that but if you just pet your cat or dog or standing on carpet and reach in to your computer you have a high probability of shocking a piece of your hardware. This shock might fry the component right away or could cause damage that you see go gradually. DO NOT OPEN YOUR CASE UNLESS YOU ARE US.

Don't get a friend who knows ALL about computers to fix it This is not a polite suggestion. We have come to realize that apparently the world is full of people that "KNOW ALL ABOUT COMPUTERS". These people are not as good as we are. We do this day in day out, this is not just our job this is our hobby. So please ask us before you ask that person. You can save yourself a lot of headaches.

Backup Your Data It is a good idea to frequently backup any important data onto a separate hard drive, cd, dvd, usb drive or other external media. This will save you a lot of headaches in the long run when you realize that your hard drive is dead and can't be recovered.

Keep track of software Keep track of ALL software that came with your computer. Not only may you need it at a later date, but if you bring your computer in to be repaired, the techs will most likely need them to fix your computer.

Surge Protection One of the worst things that can happen to a computer is a power spike or drop. To prevent your computer from being harmed in this occurrence, it is a good idea to get a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) which will protect you from almost any power irregularity. A cheaper solution is to get a good surge bar these will only protect you from power spikes but can still be quite helpful in protecting your computer.

Get a Firewall As long as you are connected to the internet you are vulnerable to hackers. They do not care who you are, where you are from, or what is on your computer. Hackers simply care that there is an open connection that they can exploit. The best type of firewall is a hardware firewall. You can use a router or a small cheap machine as a hardware firewall and will normally cost anywhere from $50-$100. The next best thing would be a software firewall like Zone Alarm or Norton Personal Firewall. These are easier to bypass than a hardware firewall, but some protection is better than none.

Uninstall Unused Programs Unused programs take up space and can cause incompatibility between other software and even hardware. It is a good idea to uninstall anything that you don't use.

I am an all around big Geek with too much time on my hands. My main services are web design/development and PC repair. I've been doing both of these for the past 5 years and consider myself pretty good at what I do but, more importnantly, I love it. Webcyte Design

A Programmers Life Exercise

Writen by Duane Hennessy

Many programmers would not disagree that programming is not the most physically active vocation or past time. Despite all of the Occupational Health and Safety standards and policies delineating proper posture when typing and the correct height of the computer screen, a majority of us could care less, preferring to slouch, lean forward, put our monitors wherever we want and type regardless of where our keyboards are placed. Programming is a creative pursuit and rigid rules over how we code does not work for all of us.

Our bodies on the other hand are evolution-locked in a past where we needed to climb, run, lift heavy objects and spend a good deal of our day in other kinds of physical activity. To keep coding at our optimum we need to introduce some kind of physical activity into our sedentary programming lives; activity that is either short and intensive or is complementary to our daily routines.

Activities that are complementary to our daily routine are those that we can quite easily incorporate into our travelling to work, sitting at work and lunch breaks. Here are some examples:

• Running or jogging to and from work.
• Skating (skateboards, scooters or rollerblades) to and from work.
• Isometric contractions whilst working at our desk or during a quick break.

Activities that provide short intensive workouts or just plain workouts are:

• Isometric contractions in sets or exercises at 30 seconds each or until muscle failure.
• Power lifting.
• Surfing.
• Martial arts like capoeira.
• Modern dance like hip hop, break-dancing or jazz ballet.
• Aerobics.

My personal routine consists of sets of isometric exercise after or before work and I have a JDBug flexboard scooter which I use to travel to and from work, as well as travelling between buildings to carry out support calls. A good group for isometric training is the Isometrics group at YahooGroups (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Isometrics/) where you will find a lot of old books printed to the internet for download and a good many links. For fun I even incorporated my scooter into my isometric routines, using it as a tool for muscle resistance.

Exercise will increase the effectiveness of our brains to process information and make expedient decisions. For information on the wonderful effects of exercise upon our brain see Steven Gillman's article Brain Power Through Exercise at http://ezinearticles.com/?Brain-Power-Through-Exercise&id=64370.

With intensive exercise you will discover that the punishment you put yourself through during your exercise routine far outweighs any IT problems you experience throughout the day and that has got to be an incentive!

Duane Hennessy
Senior Software Engineer and Systems Architect.
Bandicoot Software
Tropical Queensland, Australia
(ABN: 33 682 969 957)

Your own personal library of code snippets
http://www.bandicootsoftware.com.au

Moderator of http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AccessDevelopers

Wireless Adhoc Networks

Writen by Eric Meyer

Why and when would you want to install a wireless adhoc network? Well you would want to install a wireless Ad HoC network when you do not have the equipment for a wired network; you lack a wireless router and want to share an internet connection, or a temporary meeting place where you need to share information.

The first type of set up will be if you do have an internet connection but you lack a wireless access point or a wireless router to share that connection. This could be a very common scenario at a business meeting or during a classroom study session.

First, each computer will need a wireless adapter. Next click the advance tab near the bottom right and click (computer to computer ad-hoc networks only). Second you will need to add your ad-hoc wireless network so click add. Fill in the network name (SSID) and choose WEP encryption. You will want to use WEP if are using older adapters and use WPA if you are sure all the computers on the ad-hoc wireless network can handle it. It is not a requirement to use encryption but just remember that anyone will be able to join your network.

Because we will want everyone to share our wired Ethernet connection you will need to enable ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) on the wired network adapter not the wireless adapter. This seems like common sense but I have seen many people trying to setup ICS on their wireless adapter. Just go to your network connections and right click the Ethernet connections and press the advanced tab. Check the box that says enable ICS. Once you have setup your ICS, go to every computer and configure their wireless adapter like you did the first one.

ICS will act as a DHCP server and assign private TCP/IP address to your ad-wireless network clients. Each computer will receive a TCP/IP address from 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.254. ICS will also tell the computers on the network the location of their default gateway which is the computer you set up ICS on.

Trouble shooting a wireless ad-hoc network can be a head ache. Make sure you set up the ICS computer and one client computer. You will want to check to make sure that the first client computer has the correct IP address so type CMD into the run box to bring up the command line. Next, type in ipconfig, you should see a number of 192.168.0.2 or something similar. Next type ping 192.168.0.1 or the number of your default gateway. If you can ping it you should see four reply messages.

Once you have the first two computers connected correctly, just go to all the other computers and configure the wireless adapters the same way. Other common mistakes are: leaving the firewalls on, wrong encryption and just general typos.

In my next article I will describe how to set up a wireless ad-hoc network with-out a wired LAN internet connection.

Sign up for the most popular wireless networking newsletter on the internet. You will receive the inside scoop on wireless technology for the home and work place http://www.wirelessninja.com

How To Control The Way Linux Starts Up Gui Or Command Line Interface

Writen by George Chamoun

If you were interested in learning linux, one of the main reasons was learning how to work using Linux Shell environment. That is the Command Line Interface ( CLI).

How Did I know?. It happened to me, and the most asked Question is how to access the Command line in Linux.

The trick is let Linux starts with the Linux shell is simple, If done during the installation.

After the installation is over, there might be a way which is Very complex and not intended for beginners or intermediate Linux users.

The good thing is that you can access the Linux Shell whether Your systems starts up with the GUI ( graphic user interface ) Or the Command line Interface ( CLI). I will Explain this later in this article.

Depending on the preference of a users, some prefer their Linux operating system to start with GUI, and others want it to Start up with the Command Line Interface.

If you need your computer to startup linux with the command line, you need to decide during the installation.

During the installation process, you will be prompted to choose the options on starting your linux with the command line Interface, or the GUI (Graphic User Interface).

All what you do is click inside a circle that corresponds to the Command or the GUI, depending on which you prefer.

If after installation you found out that you ended up with an Option you don't want, Command line interface or GUI, you Don't have to go through a reinstall or delete of Your Linux Operating System.

Here is the solution:

Some users are under the impression that, if you installed GUI, you can't access the command line.

Others think, if they have the option of the Command Line Interface, you can't access the GUI.

The above two notions are wrong. It doesn't matter what king Of installation option you have, you can always access both ( CLI and GUI) on you Linux Computer.

Here is how you do it:

1-If you are presented with the command line after Linux boots, And after you login and end up at the command line prompt, you Type:

STARTX

The above command start up the GUI from the command line, and Get you in the Graphic GUI environment of Linux.

2-If you Linux computer start up with the GUI, and you are Taken to the desktop environment, there is a way to access the Linux command line.

From your desktop, you can go trough the startup menu and choose the " TERMINAL", and this will let you access the Command line. You will end you with a windows with the Command prompt from within the desktop.

In summary, accessing the command line interface or the GUI Can both be done on your Linux computer, wether your system is Setup to start with the Shell interface or the GUI.

Thank, George Chamoun 04-25-06

Finally! A Quick and Easy instructional guide by George Chamoun that shows you how to install RedHat Linux operating system on your Windows XP computer without spending outrageous fees for computer technical support. Click the link ==>http://www.dualbootguide.com

George Chamoun

Picture Viewers 10 Multimedia Players And Portable Media Centers Reviewed

Writen by Brandon Baumgarten

Recently a friend of mine was planning a Photo Eurail Adventure. He said he was going to buy 4 or 5 more Compact Flash Cards, so that he would have enough room for all of his photos. "Eben," I said, "get a Multimedia Storage DVR. When you fill up a card just transfer your images to it." Then we really started to think of the possibilities. "You can even bring your entire photo collection with you on the trip to Europe. You may as well show off your artwork, instead of just talking about it. Put your Tunes, Movies and Lake Tahoe skiing videos on it." It was the perfect solution. He was flying back home before the trip, he could show everyone all of his photography and bring all of his music with him.

You have spent years collecting music, movies, TV shows and Photos. Get it together with a PMD Personal . With up to 100Gb memory, these cool players allow you to transfer pretty much all your photos and entertainment and take it everywhere you go. There are a dozen of them out now, all by different companies, each one using different formats with different features which ones best for you? How many giga bytes should you buy? We compare 10 excellent image viewers to help you decide.

Keep It Short and Sweet Equipment Review.

1. Archos AV700 100GB and AV700 40 GB Mobile Digital Video Recorder
The AV700 with its amazing 7" LCD and 480x234 pixel screen is your media companion. It lets you store up to 400 hours of video, 250 movies, 55,000 songs or 1,000,000 photos. A 100GB capacity in an 8-inch machine is huge! You can record and play 1000's of TV shows and movies. The AV700 lets you get video and music content from Microsoft PlaysForSure web sites. Now you can take all your entertainment with you everywhere you go. Using the Archos AV700 rechargeable battery, you'll get up to 30 hours of life for music and up to 4 hours for video playback. Transfer via a USB 2.0 connection. Then organize your photos and watch slide shows on the unit's screen or any TV. Weight 210 oz, Dimensions: 4.2"x8.2"x0.8"

2. Archos AV500 100GB and AV500 30 GB Multimedia Player DVR
The AV 500 has a 4", 480x272 pixel screen. You can store up to 130 hours of home videos, up to 85 movies, up to 15,000 songs or up to 300,000 photos on the 30 GB capacity. Up to one million photos with the 100GB AV500. It's the perfect digital photo companion. USB 2.0 high-speed data transfers. Download pictures from your computer. Organize photos and show them in slide shows, record TV programs, movies and home videos directly from your TV, VCR, DVD, cable and watch on the go! Schedule programs up to month in advance. The AV 500 features a music player and stereo speakers. Easily organize songs and customize your music. Archos AV500 Multimedia Player also records in WAV (PCM or ADPCM) and from analog stereo sources. A stereo microphone to record notes or a concert. It even comes with a nice case! Weight: 11.11oz, Dimensions 7.6"x12.4"x2.4"

3. Epson P-4000 80 GB and P-2000 40 GB Multimedia Storage Viewers
The Epson Viewers have a 3.8" LCD with 640x480 pixels. View, store, and playback photos, music, and videos. Plus listen to MP3 and AAC audio files. The Epson's include rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Downloading memory cards to the P-2000 is quick and simple. Images are presented in groups of 12, you select a photograph then you can zoom in and move around to check the images details. When you click the display button, it gives you image information including the file size, and other important image information. Once you have viewed and edited your shots you can store the file on the Epson P-4000 80 GB, P-2000 40 GB hard drive. The Epson Storage Viewer has a video interface for connecting to a television, monitor, or projector. The photo viewer has direct printing to some Epson printers without a computer (Epson Stylus Photo R300, R320, R600, and PictureMate). Weight: 1lb, Dimensions: 5.8"x3.3"x1.2"

4. Samsung Yepp YH-999 20 GB Portable Media Center
The Yepp has a 3.5" LCD screen and at less than an inch thick is a Windows based portable multimedia device that makes it easy to store and your valuable photos and play up to 5000 songs, 80 hr. of TV and movies, Movie/Music/Picture Formats: MP3, WMA, WMV and JPEG. Features a USB 2.0 interface. For fast transfers. With the Yepp you can enjoy and share your favorite entertainment with family and friends. It's simple to sync your music, video and pictures together, Hooks up to a TV or stereo. Yepp it's got a rechargeable battery. (I couldn't help it) and even displays album art for your albums. This is a very well designed multimedia device but it's not mac compatible. Weight: 8oz, Dimensions 3.82"x4.21"x.83"

4. SmartDisk FlashTrax XT 80 GB and XT40GB Digital Multimedia Player
The FlashTrax has a flip up 3.6" color LCD screen. Transfer, store and share digital images with the ability to zoom and pan. A slide show feature previews photos and allows you to add background music. Thousands of high resolution images fit into this portable multimedia player. It also records and plays movies and TV. Connect FlashTrax XT to a TV or video projector for large screen viewing with family and friends. The FlashTrax XT , watch movies and videos at your desk, in your car or on a plane anywhere. A Compact Flash reader slot is built in and with an adapter the FlashTrax XT transfers images from all popular flash memory cards. Connect FlashTrax XT to your TV and show your photography to family and friends! Weight: 15oz, Dimensions: 3.82"x6.22"x1.38"

6. iRiver PMP-140 40 GB Portable Media Player
The PMP-140 with it's 3.5" LCD screen lets you take your audio and video media files with you on all your adventures. With an incredible 40 GB of storage is not just for digital photos, it plays full-color, full-motion video, too. The unit has a big 3.5-inch TFT LCD and an audio input so you can load audio from other devices, without a computer. The iRiver PMP-140 doubles as a voice recorder, with its built in mic. Transfer media files to the PMP-140, Via USB 2.0. You can store up to 160 hours of video or up to 1,200 hours of music. The iRiver PMP-140 supports formats MP3 and WMA to WMV and DivX (AVI) video and BMP/JPEG image files. Weight: 2.6lbs, Dimensions: 8.1"x7.5"x3.9"

7. Creative Zen Vision 30 GB Multimedia Player
The exceptional Vision 30 has a 3.7" SharpPix 640x480 pixel high resolution 262,144 color screen with transflective technology that lets you see the screen, even in bright sunlight! It's great to bring all your photos and entertainment with you every where you go. Tens of thousands of photos, up to 120 hours of videos, or 15,000 songs. The Zen Vision is not only lightweight and slim, beneath its classy magnesium casing are features that will fulfill all your digital entertainment needs. Store your whole music collection on this player. Listen to over 1000 hours of music, It's an MP3 player for up to 15,000 songs. Even share your favorite songs with your friends through the built in speaker. A must for all amateur and professional digital photographers. Weight: 8.2oz, Dimensions: 4.88"x2.91"x0.79"

8. The Nikon MSV-01 CoolWalker 30 GB Digital Storage Photo Viewer
The MSV-01's 2.5" LCD is 490x240 pixels. It's packed with features yet easy to carry and simple to use. View your digital photos anywhere. Connect CoolWalker to a TV and impress family & friends with your photos on the big screen. It lets you upload data via USB 2.0 and the Nikon MSV-01 is equipped with a data card slot. Plenty of storage space. Store up to 10,000 digital photos. Calculated for 6 mega pixel images stored in JPEG FINE format. Direct printing without the need for a PC is made possible through support of PictBridge. Weight: 12.3oz, Dimensions: 3.2"x5.1"x1.4"

9. JOBO Giga Vu Pro 60 GB and Jobo Giga Vu Pro 40 GB Personal Media Device
The new JOBO Giga Vu Pro Personal Media Device has an adjustable brightness 3.8" LCD monitor with 320x240 pixels, a touch screen for keyboard entry. WiFi enabled. With an optional Compact Flash WiFi card, the unit can become a node on a wireless network allowing sharing of files with other users. Download your priceless photos in JPEG and RAW file formats. Real Raw Decoding allows the unit to decode RAW formats from Canon, Nikon, and Kodak Pro. Virtually all other RAW formats can be viewed. View 12 thumbnail images per page and a slide show mode (JPEG only). Zoom 1,2,3 or 400% for JPEG and RAW formats. Rename albums, add comments and add keywords to images. You have full control with the JOBO Giga Vu Pro. Play, stop and pause MP3 files. Headphone audio line out. Built in speaker w/volume control. USB 2.0 high speed transfers and Rechargeable Li-Ion battery. Weight: 14.82oz, Dimensions: 5.7"x4.2"x1.5"

10. Apple iPod Photo 60 GB, iPod Photo 30 GB with Video Playback.
The Apple iPod With it's 2.5" wide screen display holds as many as 15,000 photos. This skinny little mobile media center fits in your shirt pocket with room to spare. You can create your own movies or purchase music videos, Pixar short films, or select TV episodes via iTunes 6. Catch up on your reading with audio books. Create photo slideshows, complete with music. Watch video podcasts, It has a calendar and address book. It's worth noting that most of the accessories. Get up to 20 hours of battery life. Plus, a bigger display and a new color, black. Weight: 5.5oz, Dimensions: 4.1"x2.4"x0.55"

There's not much point in listing prices here, you know how quickly they drop on electronics products. Visit KISSERreviews.info to compare prices, read actual customer reviews, see product photos find accessories. You will find KISSERreviews for the Apple iPod Photo, Archos AV700, Archos AV500, Epson P-2000 and P-4000, Samsung Yepp YH-999, SmartDisk FlashTrax, iRiver PMP-140, Creative Zen, and the Nikon MSV-01 CoolWalker. Also for Nikon and Canon Cameras.

For information about, How to Become a Freelance Photographer, visit our unique Freelance Photographer Jobs website at: FreelancePhotographerJobs.com for great ideas. There are a lot of free photography tips, tutorials and travel information there.

I have been a professional photographer at western ski resorts. Starting out in Wyoming. Where I landed my first professional photography job, taking action photos of skiers on the slopes at Grand Targhee. I am a freelance photographer based out of Lake Tahoe, CA.

How To Have Two Multiple Copies Of Windows

Writen by Alan Malik

Having two operating systems is not as difficult as many of us consider. It just requires little hard work and some good equipment. By equipments I mean good hard disk space and good RAM sometimes, depending upon which operating systems you are going to install.

So your first step is to choose which operating systems you are going to install on your computer. I would recommend you to choose them wisely because it could have some negative effects on the performance of your systems. If you have good processor, Pentium 4, and good RAM, at least 256MB, then you do not need to worry about the selection process. There are still millions of people who are using P II and P III processors. When I had Pentium III, I was used to choose windows XP with Windows ME and that was very nice pair of operating systems.

Now let's turn to their installation procedure. This step is considered as a very critical step. Many people, with less knowledge, corrupt their data or operating system file by using wrong method to install both operating systems.

Let me make clear now that I will not be telling in this article about how to install windows 98 and Me together. You will learn only how to install Windows XP or Windows 2000 with Windows 98 or Windows Me. I hope you got it.

Your First step is to install first Windows 98 or Windows Me on your blank hard disk. If you have already installed windows 98 or Me then you do not need to consider this step. But still if you want the fresh copies of both operating systems then you may consider formatting your PC and then installing Windows 98 or Me first. To get help on formatting your PC or installing windows from DOS mode you may consider http://winguide.info .

After you have installed your first operating system, I mean windows 98 or Me, you have partially completed your objective. Now you can install your device drivers, programs or anything on your Windows 98 or Me, even you can install them later. Now you are ready to use your first operating system.

Your next turn is to get Windows XP CD or Windows 2000 Setup Disk. Insert them in your computer and as setup starts, just in the beginning you have to choose the option describing Install New Copy. I mean you should not select UPGRADE option. Just that's it! You have to tell setup on which drive or folder you want to copy your windows files. It is best to use different partition other than where your Windows 98 or Me is installed. If you install both windows in same partition then you may corrupt your both copy of windows. For example, if you have installed windows 98 on partition C:/ then you should install Windows XP or 2000 on partition D:/ or E:/ whatever other partitions you have. If you have only one partition then you may consider repartitioning your hard disk to get more than one partition. I hope you would get most help from Windows Setup Guide which will teach you about how to partition your hard disk with pictures.

Then let your Windows setup proceed and let it to be finished. Remember, if your windows XP or Windows 2000 CD is bootable then please do not boot from CD Rom when computer restarts during Windows 2000 or Windows XP setup. Otherwise you may go on risk of installing multiple corrupted copies of windows.

I hope you may install two windows easily. Still if you are scared then May God helps you. Ok, my last advice, try to move your important data to different PC or any storage device before proceeding, because if you fail, it would not hurt you.

Alan Malik, being well experienced in computer maintenance, describes most of his skills on installing windows in his website Windows Installation Tutorial

Portable Digital Audio Mp3 Players Are The New Technologies Better

Writen by Robert Bacal

There are now three different options available to buyers of portable MP3 and audio players. There are the newer hard drive based players, such as the Ipod. There are also memory based (flash or otherwise) players that store audio files in the memory in the players, like the Yepp, IRock, IRiver, and Iaudio. Finally, there's the older technology -- cd players that use regular cd disks for storage, and can play both MP3 and regular audio disks.

Is newer really better? Or are the memory and hard disk based systems simply taking advantage of the "cool" factor. There's no absolute answer, since it depends on how you want to use the players, but there are some decided advantages to going with the older CD based audio players. Here's a rundown of the reasons why you may want to purchase a CD based player, particularly now that manufacturers are cutting back on their production.

1) Price: Since CD based MP3 players have been around a while, the prices have dropped significantly even on high quality units. Instead of paying several hundred dollars for an Ipod, other hard drive based player, or a memory based on, a CD based player can be purchased for $40-$50.

2) Flexibility: CD based players play regular CD's, so store-bought music and audiobooks can simply be popped in, and ready to go. They also play MP3, and often the WMA format (particularly the Sony models). You can't play store-bought music on hard drive or memory based players.

3) Storage Issues: For people who listen to a lot of different music, there's a need to have some form of permanent storage. Memory based players can't provide that permanent storage, and hard drive systems like the Ipod are still a poor permanent repository for your music collection. Since CD based systems use permanent storage on CD (or erasable on CD-RW), there is no "temporary storage" involved. The same CD serves as permanent storage, and the listening source. In effect, storage capacity is infinite.

4) Simplicity: CD based players are far simpler to use. There's no software, or transferring files from one computer to your player. Simply pop in a CD and it's ready to go. They are a better, more familiar choice, particularly for older people, or those that don't want to have to learn new software and computer based procedures.

5) Standalone: Both hard drive and memory based players require some means of transferring music files to them. That usually involves using a computer to do so, via some form of interface and software (and a USB cable). CD based players don't require anything besides a playable CD. It's true that you CAN burn disks for portable use, but it's not required to listen. Again, for people who are technologically uncomfortable, the CD players are easier and simpler to use.

6) For Purists: Many audiophiles and music purists do not want to use MP3 and WMA formats, because they are lossy formats. That is, the sound quality is inferior to the format used on regular CD music disks. Players that cannot play the higher quality format, but are limited to MP3 or WMA, simply don't play the music as it was recorded. While many don't care about this, for some, it is a major issue.

On the flipside, the newer technologies are smaller (also easier to lose), less prone to skipping, do not require carrying around CD disks, and no doubt, their prices will drop in the future. Right now though, there's no question that the cheaper, simpler, and established CD portable audio players have some exceedingly convincing advantages. They can be used by anyone regardless of technological expertise. They are flexible, and do not require moving around files from one machine to another. The same disks can be used portably, at home on standard stereo systems, and DVD players, and are permanent. And, the bottom line: They are significantly cheaper.

One caveat though. With price drops on CD players, it's not worth buying a cheap version, or off brand to save a few dollars. They are less reliable, have poor battery life, and fewer features. We recommend portable CD players from Panasonic (our favorite), and Sony, for their robustness and quality.

(c) 2005, Robert Bacal, Bacal & Associates. You are welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end) all links are made live, and this copyright notice and indication of authorship are included.

Robert Bacal is a professional book author, and a daily user of portable audio equipment for both playing audiobooks and music, and also runs Buyingadvice411.com - Product Buying Advice For The Befuddled and Smart Consumer.

http://buyingadvice411.com offers impartial and unbiased information to product buyers to help them decide what product to buy. There's buying advice and product reviews on a wide range of items, including MP3 players, antiques, exercise equipment, automobiles, appliances, mattresses, digital cameras and more.

For more information on purchasing mp3 and portable audio equipment, go to: http://buyingadvice411.com/MP3_and_CD_Players.

Video Cameras

Writen by Alison Cole

Cameras have been widely used over the years to capture precious moments. However, these photographs were able to record only a few single moments of life. The need for continuity in recording events led to the invention of a video camera. Unlike traditional cameras, which use photographic film, video cameras use entire videocassettes to capture electronic images of entire events.

Initially, video cameras were designed to facilitate television broadcasting. A few decades earlier, video cameras were exceptionally large devices. It was necessary to fix them on big trolleys in order to be able to use them. In modern times, smaller varieties, which are portable and can be carried easily, are widely available.

There are two types of professional video cameras available. The primary kind looks like a big camcorder and is highly developed and portable. The other type can be referred to as studio cameras and do not have endless recording capacity like the former.

Camcorders are video cameras that are designed for amateur photographers and household uses. Before the camcorder was developed, people used special video cameras and VCRs to replicate video recording. These were less advanced and designed to cater to consumer usage.

Camcorders derive their name from a unit, which houses a camera and recorder. Camcorders have evolved with time and now come in more compact, lightweight and user-friendly models. These new cameras can record for several hours on end. The recording is done either on a small videocassette, blank CD or a DVD. In some cases, a LCD screen is present for the user to preview the recording.

A third type of camera, called closed-circuit television, is also very popular. As the name suggests, these devices use a camera and television assembly to monitor a certain area or people. This type of surveillance is common in areas that require additional security such as banks and airports.

Cameras provides detailed information on Cameras, Digital Cameras, Security Cameras, Video Cameras and more. Cameras is affiliated with Consumer Electronic Industry.