TW Tech Glossary - Misplaced your bible? Well here it is! This truly took a while to complete and should be used by all from beginners to advance techies. Look into it, you won't be sorry. (Very Resourceful)
History of Programming in a Minute - Programming languages date backalmost to the invention of the digital computer in the 1940s.
Search Through the Internet Searching Engines - This is something that our friend Najmi came up with for the beginners. Have trouble finding things on the net? Well, read this and become a whiz at looking things up online.
Cyberslackers Threaten the Workplace - This week we are discussing some areas of employment that needs some real coverage in general. Check what CyberSlacker is and if you are one of them…
Spamming - A brief intoduction into the world of Spamming. Read to find out the only methods known to work in fighting spam emails.
WYSIWYG Editors: A Wizard of Creating Web Sites - Very informal thoughts on WYSIWYG HTML editors like DreamWeaver and MS Frontpage and the likes.
Growing Scams in Online Businesses - Here are some quick tips to stay safe on the net from con artists and thier scams. This is more of a survival guide then a tech related column.
Starting an Internet Business-Step by Step - This week, we have again somehow got hold of these pearls of wisdom on running a successful Internet Biz. It is important that you go through this article if there is even a remote chance of you opening up an Internet Business. After all, millions have tried it, only hundreds have succeeded. There has got to something that most people are doing wrong.
Graphic File Formats for Graphics on the Web - Here is a little insight that one ought to have when it comes to graphics on the web. Learn the difference between JPEG, GIFs, and PNG file formats. It could come handy someday so check it out.
Cookies and Cream - Cookies are so good. Especially those chocolate chip kinds are my favorite. But not all cookies are so sweet. The cookies we talk about on the web are subject of frustration for many surfers. Find out why many sites use still use them.
Generations of Computer - The history of computer development is often referred to in reference to the different generations of computing devices. A generation refers to the state of improvement in the development of a product. This term is also used in the different advancements of computer technology. With each new generation, the circuitry has gotten smaller and more advanced than the previous generation before it. As a result of the miniaturization, speed, power, and memory of computers has proportionally increased. New discoveries are constantly being developed that affect the way we live, work and play.
Beginners Guide to Netiquette: Etiquette for the Web - This article is a God sent for all newbies and for some old tarts that need brushing up on thier Netiquettes. A must for all chat room users.
IE Web Browser - Beginner's Guide to IE6 - A very brief overview on Internet Explorer 6.
Optimizing Your Computer: E-House Cleaning - Another brief overview of good computer house cleaning. Dont miss out this very fundamental article. It WILL go a long way.
DVD Formats - This weeks article will explain to you all those Digital Disk Formats that are out there. A very insightful article written to bring the confusion to end, don't miss it.
Instant Messaging - IM really began to take off in the mid-90’s with AOL’s Instant Messenger. Soon other IM systems began to proliferate, including Yahoo Messenger, ICQ and MSN Messenger. All of these had buddy lists which could be used to add contacts, and presence which enabled you to see which of your contacts were online, available, busy, etc. The problem was that none of these applications could interoperate, so an end user had to install several IM clients in order to talk to friends using different systems…
One for All; All For None - As always, M!cro$#!t was there to help us with their awesome and almost God-like helping hand by creating Page Transitions feature in their (then latest) MS FrontPage. And other software manufacturers followed MS like a pack of sheep trying to stay tight in a herd…
Bring On a Medic - Your hard drive is seeking more than it’s finding, grinding away at data until you’re ready to go get a cup of coffee while you wait for Word to open. Your mouse is sluggish. Your data hasn’t been backed up in months and the nightly news says that a lightning storm is on the way. You’re in trouble. Your PC needs a tune-up and fast, so let’s get started.
Can There Be a More Annoying Place Than This? - The Internet is annoying. At its worst, connecting to the 'Net is like inviting strangers into your house to trample all over your carpet, poke at your dog with sticks, and drink all the beer in your fridge. Opening your world to global communication means not just connecting with friends, but also becoming the target of boors, criminals, unscrupulous salespeople, and losers with too much time on their hands.
Self-Assisted Computer Disasters - Just as we teach our children the difference between a "good touch" and a "bad touch," we need to teach PC users the difference between a good assist and a bad assist. A good assist is help from a qualified computer expert to solve a real problem. A bad assist is help from a well intentioned friend to solve a problem that frequently doesn't even exist. Some bad assists are harmless, but some precipitate computer disasters.
Good Boots Will Keep You Hiking Longer - Mountain bikers use space-age alloy components to reduce the heft of their rides. NASCAR mechanics tune their cars’ engines for days before the weekend race. The ultimate purpose of these alterations, of course, is to increase speed, and you don’t have to be a rabid sports jock to appreciate quickness especially if you are a PC user enduring agonizingly slow startups.
To DSL or Not To DSL - The key advantage of DSL over modem is speed. DSL is from several, to dozens, of times faster than a modem connection. Connection speed, reliability, and the 'always-on' nature of DSL, are the main reasons it is so popular. For small businesses, DSL is also a great way to save money compared to pay per minute ISDN service, or expensive T1 lines.
Removing Windows Messenger - Ever got annoyed with Windows Messenger Icon in your system tray? Well we'll show you how to take this bad boy out of your PC quickly.
Best 16 Freeware Utilities - There are a lot of great freeware programs out there. Many are as good or better than their commercial alternatives. This list features my pick of the best of the best.
Introducing Microsoft Office XP - The successor to Office 2000 includes hundreds of new features for users and support staff alike. But installation is unlikely to be straightforward.
Deleting the Un-Deletables - Find out many ways you can delete your undeletable files.
Your First Web Page - This article will get you going in creating your first webpage solely created by HTML.
Privacy Alert! - Spyware can be installed without the conscious consent of the user, allowing unsolicited spam or remote monitoring of a computer's activity. Neither spyware or adware can be removed using a normal Antivirus program.
Evil of the Internet - The Infamous Popup - Everywhere you go, you're bound to get them. Popup ads claiming you've just won a million dollars, popup ads "alerting" you that your computer is vulnerable to hackers, and popup ads for some questionable websites. So, what can you do about them?
Making Your Website Google Friendly - Since Google made its debut in September 1998, the web designers, developers, programmers, and consultants of this world have been going crazy ensuring that their websites are Google friendly. Just how do they do it?
History and Development of the Internet - A brief and concise picture of the developement and history of the Internet. Where it started, why it started and major milestones.
Pop3 Email or Web Based Email - There are pros and cons to both types of email, POP3 and web based. Consider them before choosing how you will send and receive your correspondence.
Defraging Windows XP - Defragmenting the hard drives on a system with the Windows XP operating system is a little different from the method in Windows 98/Me. The operation is done by using one of the Microsoft Management Consoles.
DNS Resolver Cache - To help speed up Web browsing, Windows XP comes with a local cache containing any DNS addresses that have been looked up recently. Once an URL has been resolved by an Internet name server into a numerical IP, the information is stored locally. Anytime your browser requests an URL, Windows XP first looks in the local cache to see if it is there before querying the external name server used by your ISP. If it finds the resolved URL locally it uses that IP. This is supposed to save time and cut down on Web traffic.
How to Download Videos and MP3s from YouTube - YouTube is a video sharing website on which users can upload as well as share videos. Almost 200 million user's logon to the website daily to share and watch videos posted on YouTube. Registered user of the website can upload personal videos to this website and allow other users to view their videos online.
But do you know that you can also download videos from YouTube and watch them later without any internet connectivity. Earlier, all the videos on YouTube were in flash video format, which were of poor quality and were not compatible with other devices. However, visitors can now watch and share videos in different formats like high definition, mp4 and other popular format.
Emoticons (aka Smileys) - Emoticons are facial expressions made by a certain series of keystrokes. Most often producing an image of a face sideways. Below is a list of 100's of emoticons that can be used as a reference chart for those of you who take online chatting seriously :)
Haven't Paypal'd Yet? - If you're reading this, chances are you haven't yet signed up for Paypal. So let's keep reading a bit more about it. If you haven't signed up yet, this article will most definetly save you a lot of worries, especially if you are a small business owner.
Disk Cleanup Freeze? - It's a very common problem that many newbies almost always ignore to correct; that when you try to the Disk Cleanup tool, it may stop responding and you may receive the following message...
Using XP to Un-Install Programs - Here is a beginner tutorial that we thought could come handy to those that have just purchased a PC (Today haha). Just kidding! But seriously, if you have programs on your computer and don't have a clue how to take them out, try this tutorial. It's exactly for a person like yourself.
Make that Laptop Battery Last - Here are easy to apply tips and tricks to make your laptop batteries last for much longer periods of time.
Discover Computer History - Article discusses computer history as far back as 5,000 years! Amazing story on the history of the computer.
System Folders, Normal Folders, and Directories - Have you ever wondered what the difference between a folder and a directory is? Or did you ever try to find the folder "Control Panel" on your hard drive and wondered where it was? The answers lie in understanding a little bit about system folders.
One Stop Shop - What people need is a one stop computer expert and that's practically impossible to find. Today what happens is that people go to a computer expert and they find that they can either go to an expert in hardware, in software, in sales, or support. The sales guy is usually very friendly, pleasant, and nice but he doesn't know anything about the computer itself. He'll send you on to what he calls the tech staff...
Create Your Own Icons - Icons are those cute little pictures on your Windows desktop that help you identify a program or file. You can easily make your own icons by using MS Paint, Photoshop, or any other mainstream graphics program. Here's how...
Favorites Icon (favicon.ico) - A Favicon is a multi-resolution image included on nearly all professional developed sites. The Favicon allows the webmaster to further promote their site, and to create a more customized appearance within a visitor's browser. Often, the Favicon reflects the look and feel of the web site or the organizations logo.
Recycling and Reusing Old Computers - All of us who are regular users of computers eventually come to the point where we replace what we are using with a new machine. We are then faced with the question of what to do with the old system. Here’s some ways to make sure that good use is made of whatever potential is left in the old computer.
Computer 101 - Here is an easy to use beginners article for those who just got a computer for the first time or for those who had it but never learned it or spent time on it. Have Fun!
10 Commandments of Email - Some bottom line rules for emailing with a bit of humor.
Internet Addiction Test - You know you are addicted to internet if ...
Phishing An Email Scam - The type of email scam in which an email is sent claiming to be an established enterprise like eBay, Citibank, PayPal, Amazon.com, etc in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information...
Paste Special in Excel - If we have valuable information or accounting info stored in excel and by chance if you come across a situation where you need to convert the rows to columns. then we can use the transpose functionality in Excel.
Changing My Documents Default Path - This tutorial describes how to change the default location of the My Documents folder in Microsoft Windows XP.
Turn Off PC? - Computers have delicate electronics inside of them. The electronics in laptops may be even more delicate. As the computer ages, the components suffer from repeatedly being turned on and off (technicians say that the parts are fried). Over the course of time, the repeated spiking damages some components. It is thus a good idea to reduce the number of times that you spike these delicate parts.
Enjoying Your Computer - Many guidelines have been published about computer-related stress injuries. This page summarizes some of my favorite suggestions. Unfortunately, this page reflects the sad voice of experience. I have used these exercises myself, after suffering from injuries with my hand, wrist, arm, back, and eyes. If I had followed my own advice, I might have been in better shape today.
Kindness Online - So I thought this morning I would try to be the optimist, and give reason to hope for the future of the Internet by drawing upon its present.
Now, it may seem like there is less hope today than there was before. People are less kind. There is less trust around. I don't know. As a simple example, we could run a test here. How many people have ever hitchhiked? I know. How many people have hitchhiked within the past 10 years? Right. So what has changed? It's not better public transportation. So that's one reason to think that we might be declensionists, going in the wrong direction.
History, Origins, and Generations of Computers - Origin of computers was a gradual development from the room size UNIVACS to the hand held palm tops today. This improvement was possible due to the discovery of many new technologies which reduced processing time, size and cost. Computer history is classified into generations based on the discovery which led to major change. The computers in these generations differ greatly from its previous and next ones.
How to Save PDF Without Expensive Software - Portable Document Format or PDF is a popular document created by Adobe, which can hold text, fonts, images and graphics. This particular kind of document has been immensely successful die to its portability and platform independence. Even if the images and graphics used in PDF are heavy, the actual size of document is very small, hence, facilitates easy transfer through various methods.
IT College Program vs. IT Boot Camp - Perhaps it is time for a career change, or you are fresh out of high school and the idea of four more years of schooling does not appeal to you. You want to jump into the working world and start earning some cash, fast. After much research you have decided to embark upon a career in the Information Technology field. Not a bad choice, especially since Technology changes every day.
You are faced with the choice of education. As previously stated, going to computer school for four years to get a computer science degree is not an option but there is another option, IT Boot Camp. And IT Boot Camps solely focus on a very limited number of IT Certifications. So there can be MCSE Boot Camps that may focus on just that. But some bigger computer schools will deal with number IT Certification Training.
Types of PC Cases - Computer cases come in a variety of colors, designs, materials and for those who wish to bare all, there are clear acrylic cases available. You'll hear of all types of hardware lingo like: ATX computer cases, full tower computer cases, desktop computer cases, custom computer cases, aluminum computer cases, cheap computer cases, gaming computer cases, mini computer cases, and on and on and on...you get the drift.
Web Hosting For All the Other Reasons - Most of the times you'll hear web hosting companies promote their services as some cheap solution for a site that may have scalable needs. This is a fancy way of saying they believe you're website will one day require tremendous amount of hosting resources because they have all the faith in its success. We'll I don’t want to say that we don’t have the faith, but maybe the promoting web hosting service can be done for a "host" of other reasons as well.
Snailmailr: Mail a Letter Online - If you thought the majority of people worldwide use email think again. Many people are stuck in the Stone Age and prefer the US Postal Service snail mail option. Snailmailr makes producing snail mail easier and allows you to produce physical mail online. There is no need to print your letter, address, stuff, or stamp it with the services of this web site. This Snailmailr in-depth review explores the advantages of the services this web site provides.
Controlling Your System with Task Manager - Back in the days of MS-DOS, if you wanted to reboot your computer you either pressed the reset button on your computer case or, as many people quickly discovered, you gave your PC the "three fingered salute". This term, oddly enough never officially adopted by Microsoft despite its widespread use, referred to the Ctrl+Alt+Delete combination that resulted in a restart (called a warm reboot) of the operating system. Ctrl+Alt+Delete was used, quite Simply, when you could do nothing else but start over.
Best of the Web Hosting Show Guides - When moving from house to house, you have to pack up all of your belongings in the old house before you can move, right? The same could be said when you are moving from web host to web host. The first and most important thing you can do is backup your web site and get it ready for the move. Remember to grab all of your static files. This would be all of your non-dynamic pages, images, templates and more. The exact files that you do backup might change depending on how your site is setup.
Top 20 Issues for Microsoft Word - Let's take some time to focus on one of the MOST used softwares in the computer world. It's strange how we use something so often and not think twice on fixing some of our pet peeves or kinks that we face which we weren't meant to in the first place. If we compare the amount of work we get done with Microsoft Word, it probably comes in a close third after our Operating System and our Internet Browser.
So let's get right down to it.
Removing ICQ Toolbar From Firefox - Yesterday my dad complained that after installing something so and so, ICQ toolbar came into affect in Firefox browser. Not only that but it also took over as his default search engine. Being the household certified tech-geek, it came down upon me to find a solution.
Why Google Can Be Your Best Friend - The Internet is a perfect place to look up all the information you need for a winning presentation. You know you need the perfect search engine in order to get the results you're looking for. Google is that engine. It will provide all of your questions with the perfect answers, and once again you will prove your worth no matter where you settle.
Boasting a response time of mere seconds for the results of most searches, Google offers a great deal of information for serious and casual searchers alike. With that kind of dependability, it is easy to do the work you need to do. It doesn't matter if it's a report for school, or a new website for your internet business. Google delivers on a grand scale so you can relax and take care of business.
How to Deal With Stresses & Anxieties in Today's Computer Industry - Sometimes, we get stressed when everything happens all at once. When this happens, a person should take a deep breath and try to find something to do for a few minutes to get their mind off of the problem. A person could take a walk, listen to some music, read the newspaper or do an activity that will give them a fresh perspective on things.
Fifth Generation of Computers - Just like their human creators and developers, computers can be broken down into a series of generations, each with their own distinct technology and feature set. At the current time, many computer scientists break computing into four separate generations, with an exciting fifth generation currently on the horizon. This new generation of computing, which takes the form of so-called artificial intelligence, will be unlike its predecessors -- noted more for its features than its hardware.
Implement Chat Systems on an Intranet - It used to be that businesses had a major influence on what types of products and services were available to the general public. In the early days of the Internet, networking LAN technologies and needs were the driving force behind the creation of many software applications and tools that users accessed. The growing popularity of the World Wide Web with casual computer users led to a paradigm shift in how to approach usable software solutions for these users. Simple to install and use software applications such as file sharing, e-mail and instant chat programs were instantly popular.
Getting Into IT - No Experience No Qualification - But how? If you have computer skill but no experience (or qualifications), the employment agencies will tell you the same old line, "You need experience before anyone will look at you."
It's just plain old Catch-22. You need the work to get the experience but you can't get that first job to give you a track record and therefore verifiable experience. With this logic, it amazes me that anyone actually gets into IT!
Qualifications help but even that is no guarantee nowadays of getting an IT Job. And what do you do when you don't have qualifications but you want to start now? I mean right now, not 3 months later after you've paid a fortune for certification and given up your job to have enough study time.
All is not lost. You have two alternatives.
Computer Training for Home School - I turned to home schooling when it became clear that the public school system was failing my son. Schools don't like losing students, so the process was long and difficult, with plenty of paperwork and roadblocks thrown in my way. After I had put so much effort into getting my son out of a public school, I wanted to make sure that it was worth it. I wanted him to have a head start, whether he chose to go to college or strike out on his own once he graduated. He had some aptitude at computer programming, so we started supplementing his lessons with online courses. I was shocked at how quickly he picked things up. We tried a few different websites and eventually settled on VTC for its variety and affordability. The sheer number of courses available gave him room to explore what he liked and didn't like, an option he never had in a public school. My son quickly mastered the basic programming languages and started on software like Photoshop and Flash. By the time he was ready to apply to colleges, he knew more than some of the graduate students!
Computer Beginners
A computer can be terrifying; it's a fact - especially when you don't even know how to switch it on. However, once you get to know them, computers can be fun to use and can make your life much easier. More good news: unless you throw a computer around, it' almost impossible to break it and it's actually quite easy to correct any mistakes you may make!
Tips
What is a File?
A "file" is one unit of information on a disk. Everything you store on a disk is stored in files. A file may contain a letter you typed to a friend, a list of addresses, a photo, or your tax information. All your data must be stored in files, or it will be erased when the computer is turned off.
Note: Programs are also stored in files, so don't delete files if you don't know what they are for. They may be part of one of your programs.
Program and Data
A "program" is a set of instructions for the computer. A program tells the computer how to do something. Some examples of programs are a game like Solitaire or Hearts, a "word processing" program for doing typing on, a "spreadsheet" program for doing calculations on, a genealogy program for recording and keeping track of your genealogy information, and a "paint" or "drawing" program for drawing pictures on.
"Data" is your information, your work. Some people think of data as "facts" (either written facts or numbers). This could be a letter you typed in, some addresses, some calculations, your tax information, a short story, genealogy information, a picture or photograph, etc. Data is what you put in the computer.
Everything put in the computer is either a program or data. The program is your tool. The data is your work. You use the "program" to work on "your data."
What Happens When You Save: Memory (RAM), and Disks
When you are working on your computer, your work is in the computers electronic memory (memory is also called RAM). If the power goes off, the electronic memory is erased. This is bad - it means your work disappears. The memory is also erased when you turn your computer off, when you are finished working with it.
In order to keep your work safe while your computer is off, you have to put your work onto a disk. This is called "saving" your work. When you save your work, the computer copies your work from the electronic memory, into a file on a disk. So a disk is for keeping your work while the computer is turned off.
There are different kinds of disks: floppy disks, the hard disk (also called the hard disk drive, or the hard drive - the "hard disk" is inside the "hard drive"), CD's, etc.
The hard disk is the main disk in your computer. This is where all your programs are kept, and you can keep your data there, also.
When you are working (for example, when typing a letter in your word processing program), you should "save" your work every 5 to 10 minutes, in case the power goes off or in case something else goes wrong. This will copy your work into a file on a disk, where it will be safe from a power outage, and also after you turn your computer off.
Spam (Junk E-mail)
Junk e-mail is called Spam. Spam is usually defined as "mass produced unsolicited e-mail" or "mass produced unsolicited commercial e-mail." In other words, it is junk mail.
Most spam messages contain scams, pornography, hoaxes, viruses, or similar things. It is strongly recommended that you do NOT open these. Also, most anti-spam experts suggest that you should NEVER reply to them, because it verifies that your address is valid.
Some Internet Providers now have anti-spam programs built into their service. They are not perfect, but they work fairly well. You can also get an anti-spam program for your computer, but unfortunately I don't have any experience with them, so I can't recommend any. You can also build your own anti-spam filters in most e-mail programs, but this can be quite complex for beginners, and usually they don't stop that much spam.
