Keeping up with the Graphics

Not too long ago, a computer was thought of as a machine to get paperwork done efficiently. Well, lately, as we all know, the computer can be spoke about in the same breath as graphics. And to get the best of graphics from your computer, you might want to install one of the better video cards available out there.

There’s no need to be intimidated by the term ‘video card’. if your graphic needs are basic, chances are you’ll not another graphic card other than the basic one that came installed on your computer. If you’re planning some of the latest games, then you’ll need to look for a dedicated video card, such as the NVIDIA GeForce graphics card or Radeon CrossFire.

The price will be determined mainly by the type/capacity of the video card as well as the interface. An approximate price could be anywhere between $35 and $140. Thankfully, sites such as buy.com give plenty of options to choose from.

Choosing a receipt printer

Sounds innocuous enough, doesn’t it. Given advancements in today’s technology, What’s there to a receipt printer? However, there’s more to it than meets the eye.

For one, it’s quite vital to remember that your POS (point of sale) is your last chance at making an impression on your customer. Since card payment is the order of the day, most customers do need a receipt for records, and to top it, everyone is in a hurry, all the time. At such a time, you don’t want to make your customer wait just because your receipt printer just started acting up.

Apart from whatever your business needs are, there are three printer technologies that have proved to be reliable over the years — thermal, impact and inkjet.

Thermal printers are quick, economical and don’t use extra stuff such as ribbons and ink. However, you need to maintain a stock of thermal paper all the time. Impact printers rely on ribbons and impact, just like typewriters, and are ideal for restaurants where they may be used close to source of heat. If you’re looking to decorate your receipts with color graphics, then inkjet printers are probably your best bet, though they can be rather expensive due the costs of ink cartridges.

Using a ‘remote eye’ for security

Wasn’t it the American critic H L Mencken who said, “The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.”? I couldn’t agree more. While freedom is essential to a fulfilling life, it has to backed by security, which will let man free to explore and discover.

Coming more down to earth, who secure is the world today? or, for that matter, your own home? Or even your backyard? Given the escalating crime figures, I’d like to keep a watch on my home even when I’m away in the office of halfway around the globe. With today’s technology coming up with groundbreaking security cameras, this is no longer science fiction.

Then again, even if you’re requirement is not so high-tech, you will still gain from installing one of the many types of security cameras available today — online or at leading electronics stores. You could go in the traditional CCTV, infrared or motion sensor cameras, to name a few. Infrareds allow you the view with little or no external light, since they work from the heat given off by people’s bodies, whereas motion sensitive cameras just go on when they sense a motion. You might also want to check the relatively new day/night camera, which feature an extra-sensitive imaging chip which deliver good pictures
without an infrared lens.

Money for college

I was talking about national growth with my professor, and the one thing he pointed out, was that which was totally essential to any kind of growth in any direction, was freedom. And then came education.

How, for instance, could you expect a country to achieve new levels of success if the basic cement of education was lacking? US universities do get grants from private companies for research, but what about those ‘third-world’ nations, who barely surive on learning the fundamentals from scratch?

We’re a progressive nation, and it’s important to stay that way with roots coming from education. Going to college is part of the American Dream, and for many Americans, paying for college is a major step. And with the knowing that education translates into money, there are a number of college student loans that are available to those that wish to pursue the faith in growth.

Metal buildings – more than just ‘green’

With an ever increasing on global warming, nearly aspect of life has been viewed from an ecological point of view, including ‘green’ buildings that generate their own energy requirements and grow plantations on the roof, etc. And not strangely, prefabricated, or metal buildings have claimed their share of positive reviews as a major contributor to resource conservation.

I feel there’s much more to metal buildings that the ‘green’ factor. For one, the flexibility factor — especially more so with modular construction. After all the work is done, in case you have a rethink, all you need to do is move around a couple modules for a new floor plan, even give or take a couple of cabins.

Then, of course, they can be built speedily. A large pre-engineered metal building could be ready to use in about three months. And when you save on time, you also save on labor costs. They’re also know for low maintenance, as well as 20 to 30 years manufacturers’ guarantee on commercial metal buildings.

There is, however, a myth about fabricated construction — folks tend to believe they’re limited to shopping malls, factories and stadiums. Nothing could to be farther than the truth — advancements in technology have made residential metal buildings an extremely attractive alternative as compared to the traditional, because the metal buildings offer not only the above advantages, but the latest trends offer some great interiors for the home and office.

What those thick & thin black lines mean

I used to get baffled by the way sales clerks would ring up your total merely by flashing a ray of sharp light across some lines they called the barcode. And invariably they were alway right — the barcode scanner did all the work for them while they were on their cell phones finalizing their weekend program.

It took me a while to figure out that all that the scanner does is ‘deciphers the optical impulses (the thick and thin black lines) on the product and translates them into electrical ones’ which are picked up by a sensor. The sensor, in turn, compares the impulses with a database and comes out with a number — that’s nthing but the dollar figure I have to shell out.

Of course they’re accurate, or else they wouldn’t be there in the first place. But how accurate are they when compared with a human operation for the same process (besides the obvious advantage in time saving)?

In my research, I came across some astounding results:

For instance, for every 1,000 character manually keyed in by a human operator, there are an average of 10 keying errors. Statistics also tells us that the optical reader in the barcode scanner makes one error in 10,000 passes. A wand, or a simple pen barcode reader figures at one error in three million characters, and the laser scanner has a mind blowing accuracy of one error in 70 million.

And come to think of it, there are literally hundreds of types of barcode scanners, such as handhelds, contacts, mobile, wireless, ultra scans, what not. Not to mention the accessories.

However, with all those proven technology, I’m still waiting for the day when I can prove a barcode scanner has wrongly read out the price.

When that happens, I’ll post it here.

To backup or to back up?

Backing up data, including office documents, images, your blog posts, multi-media, and almost anything and everything on the PC started as an “in” thing, but it’s not much more that today. People do realize the importance of back ups in the event of the PC/laptop getting stolen, crashing, destroyed, etc.

However, backing up an external hard disk — while some of still fancy the idea — is losing its grip as well, since an external HDD is as prone to going corrupt (and also stolen) as the PC or laptop. Plus no one like to carry their external HDD with them wherever they go. So, what gives? If you need to access your data, which is 100% safe, 24×7, from your home or from your vacation hotspot, your data needs to be the Web. In other words, online data backup is fast becoming the vogue of the modern computer user.

The systems available offer access to your data not only anytime and from anywhere, in an encrypted manner, the way they’re stored on a remote Web server.

Why the encryption? So that, even if that server is hacked, your data is still safe, because of the encryption. Only you get the encryption password, and the data is simply decrypted on your local machine after you download the files you need.

While backing up data is vital, backing it up on a remote server has just become more safe and flexible. And with Internet access 24×7 almost worldwide, your data is always at your fingetips, come what may.

MP3 player market innovative

I recall that MP3 players players created quite some buzz when they were introduced (2002?) and, no time lost, you started seeing different versions — in all kinds of shapes and sizes. And even today, we keep hearing about what’s new in MP3 players.

For instance, it was just a couple days ago that Microsoft announced its new Zune (an 8GB player)– said to target Apple’s iPod’s market share. Sources say it will ship this fall, and will be priced highly competitively… which is all so cool, but what’s next in line for MP3 players?

MP players, running on Flash. The way I see it, it’s software-based, so there’s no hard disk drive, and hence longer battery life. And, you guessed it — really small in size. I just saw one on offer, 0.8-inch thick, has a 2GB memory (about 500 numbers or 30 hours of music) and fits in the palm of your hand.

Good enough yet? I don’t know. I might wait to buy one that will slip into my wallet like a credit card.

Get Your Remote Watchdog

There’s no such thing as enough security. I’m pretty sure any vigilance department would back me on that. And the choices regarding security systems affordable to a ‘common man’ like me is increasingly getting wider, giving me enough latitude to control them from from my laptop — wherever I am on Earth.

For instance, devices now can send you an SMS alert you of any potential trouble via software that can be built into any home alarm or burglar alarm system. If you’re traveling, you’re able to pan and tilt your CCTV and view the images on your Internet-connected computer.

How about your telephone set or even the plasma TV? Can they be used as security reinforcements? You bet. Plasma TV sets can be fitted with a tiny XCam 2 wireless webcam, which can live video (in color!) up to 100 feet, through floors and walls, to any other TV or video system. Put a motion detector in your telephone set, and if it senses any motion, it calls your cell phone right away — and you get to hear what’s going on as well.

Yet another trend is that the line between security systems and home decor is wearing thin. Many security systems are integrated into light fittings and mirrors, plus they’re wireless, so there are no unruly cables to be seen — or snipped.

Fix-a-Leak Week helps Green goal

Little did I realize that those tiny drips from faucets could amount to like one trillion gallons of water wasted each year in US homes alone. That was the figure the Environmental Protection Agency came up with during Tampa Bay’s Fi-a-Leak week last month.

Do-it-yourselfers do it exactly that way — they know how to fix a dripping faucet. Then again, there’s no need to wait until then; you could take preventive measures such as checking washers and gaskets for wear and/or cracks, and in cases where necessary replace them with Watersense models. That would not be a daunting task, for a search for faucets online would yield some quality, leak-proof, life-time warranty faucets and hoses products.

It was also interesting to read about Purdue’s thoughts on an environmentally friendly campus. They came up with two concepts — automated faucets and hand dryers.