The Online Actos Blog

The refresh cycle of the core product lines by Microsoft has started last year with the launch of the long-awaited upgrade for the client and server versions of Windows. The release of Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 may be considered important milestones in 2009 but for Microsoft partners, this is just the calm before the storm.

Windows is the foundation of everything that the software giant offers and the upgrades have provided a lot to build on. And with the release of the Windows Server 2008 R2, it has shipped a greatly improved version of Exchange Server 2010, its core e-mail server platform. The new hosting services platform features enhanced storage capacity, improved unified messaging and an improved Outlook Web Access client, among others.

And here comes the icing on the Microsoft cake. As we go into 2010, expect more key upgrades for SharePoint, Office, SQL Server, BizTalk and a couple of components of Dynamics among others. These products are going to build on the new Windows versions. Most of these new releases will also be designed to interact with one another which open cross-selling opportunities. For instance, the introduction of the new interface for Outlook and the latest Office 2010 release are going to enable a couple of features that can be found in the Exchange Server 2010.

But perhaps there is no other product that offers more ties to other new offerings by Microsoft than SharePoint. Whether we’re talking about the new release for SQL Server, Visual Studio or Dynamics, partners are all taking about the product’s connectivity features with SharePoint.

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Replacing or repairing a chipped windscreen can be a simple or tedious experience of possessing a car, depending on the approach you take. Windshield replacement is not an easy process; it demands strength, a stable hand, and a willingness to follow instructions carefully.

All cars are different, most of the time, taking out a windscreen requires loosening the urethane that supports it in place, then lifting it out its position with caution. Once this step is done, using the a utility knife the left over urethane must be cleared away to make room for the new windshield. The new windscreen is then affixed into position, and secured with bolts. The most important step is to make sure that the new urethane seal is applied the right way, because any leakages can cause wind to enter the car, totally ruining the experience of driving.

You do not always need to replace your windscreen if it has a chip, it may be feasible to repair it instead of replacing it. Windscreen repair is a considerably easier procedure. Repair kits can be found in nearly every auto parts store, and involves sealing off the chip with resin. The resin dries clear, and once the process is finished, it is almost impossible to tell that the windshield was ever chipped off. Windscreen repair kits can be unreliable when used to fix large cracks, however, and can sometimes make the problem worse, demanding a replacement. This job is often better left to professionals.

If you decide to let a professional deal with your windshield problems, you may be delighted to find that very often you do not need to bring your car to the garage. Many companies offer mobile repair services, which can be completed in a matter of an hour or less, even if the windshield requires to be replaced completely. Mobile windshield repair services are able to perform the service at the comfort of your own home, or at work, making it an extremely convenient one.

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With the impressive performance of the new Windows 7, it shouldn’t be surprising to find Microsoft looking to bury Windows XP. After all, the operating system may have served us well but it has already been around for about a decade. Clearly, the technology provider would rather consumers purchased new machines with Windows 7.

Windows XP was bound for retirement a few years back but Microsoft had to resurrect it in order to address the demand for cheaper, smaller and low power machines such as netbooks.
But Windows 7 has been found to run almost as efficiently on netbook hardware and dedicated servers as Windows XP. And while consumers still have the option to pick netbooks that have Windows XP in them, Microsoft will cease offering the OS to netbook manufacturers as early as next year.

Given the chance, the old OS would be shelved sooner. According to Don Paterson, Microsoft Netbook chief, while Windows XP is going to be available for a while longer, it might not enjoy as much market share once the holidays come around. He adds that Microsoft is going to implement heavy marketing campaigns for Windows 7 and not its predecessor although that Microsoft ever conducted much marketing for Windows XP as far as netbooks are concerned is still questionable.
The company just made the old OS available, Paterson says. And because of this, consumers who are more familiar with Windows as compared to Linux naturally opted for Windows XP netbooks.

If PC makers stopped providing netbooks with Windows XP on them, consumers will just start to move on and use Windows 7.

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Offering secure public Internet access is not as easy as it may seem. As the IT manager for a mid-sized public library, it’s become apparent to me that creating a secure network of library workstations for use by the public is more important than ever before. System administrators have the responsibility of protecting the library’s networks and systems, while ensuring quality and speedy service to all patrons. Offering public Internet access requires a dynamic security plan that is constantly under revision, taking into account the technical changes of the times. Traditionally, the software options available for help in this regard come at a significant price, often forcing libraries to spend thousands of dollars securing their computer rooms.

Sold per module or license, many of these software solutions offer a variety of features, but often fall short of actually securing the workstation. Plagued with stability issues, it’s not uncommon for many of these security solutions to crash and leave an administrative-level desktop open for public use. After test-driving a seemingly endless amount of pro-active protection software packages, the PC’s I administrate were still accumulating spy ware, browser hijacks, and tracking cookies on a daily basis. That is, until I came across the completely free software solution that actually does what others claim to — tightly secure any and every Windows 2000/XP Pro workstation.

The Public Access Computer Security Tool is a complete software security system designed by, and offered freely through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Designed for any public access computer that runs Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional, it helps keep workstations secure by restricting public access to the machine, and creating customizable profile environments to meet patron needs, without compromising the ever-important administrative access to the terminal.

So how does the Public Access Computer Security Tool work? By utilizing three separate layers of pro-active security restrictions (system restrictions, profiles, and profile restrictions), patron access is limited to a desktop completely configurable by the Administrator, and locked down at the policy level. This results in a computer environment that performs flawlessly, despite the “heavy use” factor that’s become synonymous with the public access computing world.

After installing and configuring the Public Access Computer Security Tool on our library’s ten public access Internet machines, the days of spy ware, instant messengers, and search bars are now behind us. I’m confident our public access terminals are now properly secure. Stability is not an issue any more; the operating system itself is reconfigured to disable access to sensitive parts of the machine. There’s absolutely no way for patrons to intentionally or accidentally disrupt the functioning of the computer, as they are limited to the software we’ve given them access to.

Best of all, libraries on the tightest of budgets can use the Public Access Computer Security Tool for every public access terminal in the building, and not owe a single dollar. The software is completely free and requires no license/registrations. As an IT administrator, if you’re shopping around for public access solutions, I suggest you check out the Public Access Computer Security Tool. Further information and links to downloading the tool at available at: http://www.pacomputing.org/PACTool/pactoolhome.aspx.

Jim Frank is the Head of Computer Services for the Berwyn Public Library. He can be reached by emailing jiminberwyn@gmail.com. A support forum for the Public Access Security Tool can be found by visiting http://www.securepc.org. (NOTE TO EDITORS: This article may be edited for publication in your newsletter or on your website, but must include the author’s name, and the title of the article.)

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Want to knwo what I’ve been up to for the last few weeks? Here it is. This shouldn’t bore you - it’s meant to be engaging and useful. Energize your camping trips and feel secure while you’re gone.

Gear

We went up to the mountains to camp a while ago. My family is important to me - we needed to make sure everyone was safe in the country. The web makes it so much faster and easier to find the right camping tents for a camping trip. Timing was everything - the tent had to ship the same day or we couldn’t make it. The website I used was really helpful. Tent arrived as expected. It only took a few days for shipping. We ended up having a beautiful camping experience - lot’s of hiking. Had a blast!

Security

So…I had to protect my house while we were gone. Got a home security alarm. We’re a young family and are starting to accumulate some valuable things. You know it feels like such an invasion just to think about theft. Monitoring a security system is the way to go. It’s a tiny bit more expensive, but much safer we think. Installing the security system was a breeze. We are more willing to leave the house now for long periods of time. More vacation here I come!

Enregize

Hiking everywhere and cooking your own food for an entire week is tiring! Whoever was the genius that packed the efusjon drinks deserves…another efusjon drink. Not only are children exhausting and worthwhile, taking them camping triples the effect. Glad to have efusjon nearby. The ‘a’ team at efusjon has a home at STartup4less.com. Go check ‘em out. Get in before it’s too late - get on the ‘a’ team at efusjon. Get in on the opportunity now!

Until next time, I’m out. Hope these work out for you!

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Buying a new computer is an exciting event for most people. Many consumers find it fun to unpack and put together their new PC, expecting it to look clean and flawless. But many are disappointed when they find tacky Microsoft and Intel stickers cluttering an otherwise sleek design.

The stickers either fade and peel themselves off over time-making the computer look even worse-or the consumer has to delicately and painstakingly peel off the stickers by hand in order to make the obtrusive logos disappear.

Finally a company with some influence is doing something about it. Dell, the PC giant, is having talks with both Microsoft and Intel about omitting vicarious advertising from its machines.

Dell doesn’t care that other companies’ logos are seen on their computers as much as it cares about saving some extra dough. For them, putting the stickers on each computer takes a lot of time, and therefore money, especially considering Dell is the world’s largest PC maker, currently supplying more than 16 percent of the worldwide PC market. As the Chinese and Latin American markets continue to grow, putting those pesky stickers on each machine becomes what Dell has called “a significant bottleneck.”

Certainly Intel and Microsoft are going to fight to keep their logos on every machine they power-including Dell’s-so stay tuned. But perhaps our days of picking off pesky logo stickers are numbered.

Jonathan Munk writes articles for major Logo Design companies such as LogoDesign.com and LogoWorks.com.

Visit LogoDesign.com, an excellent resource for Logo Design news, articles, tips and information.

Read what USA Today says about LogoWorks

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The Blu-ray Disc belongs to a new generation of optical discs capable of staging high density data. Blu-Ray technology is based on a blue-violet coloured laser. The blue laser operates at a wave length of 405 nm, while older technology such as DVDs and CDs are based on red and infrared lasers that works at 650 and 780 nm. Since the wave length is shorter with a blue laser, the new Blu-ray technology makes is possible to store much more information

The advantage with the Blu-ray technology is that the laser beam can be focused much more tightly at the surface of the disc. Tight focus means that a smaller spot will be produced on the surface on the disc, and when the spots become smaller there will naturally be room for more information on each disc. The minimum spot size of any laser depends on a naturally accruing phenomenon called diffraction. The narrow beam of light sent out from a laser will always diverge into a wider beam eventually, due to the natural diffraction of waves. Diffraction will also occur the waves meet an obstruction. By reducing the wavelength of a laser, we can affect the diffraction.

In Blu-ray technology, the diffractions is also affected by the fact that the lens used to focus the light has a higher numerical aperture than the lenses found in ordinary DVDs - 0.85 instead of 0.6. Blu-ray technology based appliances are also equipped with a dual-lens system of supreme quality, and the cover layer has been made thinner in order to prevent unwanted optical effects. All this makes it possible for a Blu-ray laser to focus on much smaller spots. The optical improvements are accompanied with a new method for encoding data which makes it possible to store even more data on the Blu-ray disc.

The standard for Blu-ray technology has been developed as a joint venture between several major manufacturers of PCs and consumer electronics, including Sony and Philips. The group is called the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). The first Blu-ray recorder was launched in Japan in 2003, by Sony. Today, Samsung, JVC, Matsushita (Panasonic) and LG Electronics are all examples of companies using Blu-ray technology in their products. Hewlett Packard has announced that they will release desktop PCs equipped with Blu-ray technology in late 2005.

The main competitor for the Blu-ray technology is the HD DVD format which is also capable of storing more information than a normal DVD. The Blu-ray technology does however allow for more information per layer than the HD DVD format - 25 GB compared to 15 GB. The Blu-ray technology will on the other hand most likely be more expensive to support, at least initially, which can make the HD DVD a tempting alternative. In a Blu-ray disc, the data is stored extremely close to the surface. This made the first Blu-ray discs extremely vulnerable to scratching and many users preferred the tougher HD DVD discs. Since 2004, all Blu-ray discs are coated with a clear polymer called “Durabis” which makes them much more durable. According to the developers of Durabis, the TDK Corporation, a coated Blu-ray disc will work even after being attacked with a screwdriver.

Paul Colbert of Blu Ray World is an author of various articles relating to new technology and innovations. All content may be used freely but may not be altered in anyway without prior written consent by webcashflow LLC and a link back to Blu-Ray-World.com must be given.

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If you are like most student’s, money isn’t exactly growing on trees. Choosing the right laptop can be a matter of saving yourself a lot of heartache and money at the same time.

In this article I am going to over the most common uses that a student has for a notebook as well as talk about the most important components you should have for these uses.

Most student’s will list the obvious things that a laptop is needed for; stuff like word processing, e-mail etc. The reality is that today’s student’s are using computers more than ever for a lot more. The average student’s list may look something like this:

- Word Processing
- E-mail
- Internet
- Music Downloads
- Possible Video Editing
- And More…

Every one of the above can now be part of the student’s functions when using a notebook. You may or may not need some of the above, so I will also go over that below.

Let’s go over the 5 most important notebook components for today’s student.

CPU - In short, the CPU basically evaluates and executes commands given to it. So a faster CPU will be able to execute commands quicker, right? Yes, but having the latest Intel or AMD chip is definitely not needed. Depending on your memory and operating system you can get by just fine on a 1.0GHZ processor, or even less. Most of the newer systems come with more than 2.0GHZ, and you may want this if you are doing any video editing or something that requires faster processor speeds.

Memory - The amount of memory that your prospective notebook features has a big impact on how fast applications will load, and generally how fast your computer will run. For this reason, memory is one of the most popular computer upgrades available. Newer machines will come with at least 256mb of RAM (memory), but if you are going to be using Windows XP I highly recommend getting more. You can get by running 256mb of memory while using Windows XP, but it will slow.

I remember when I replaced my 256mb stick of RAM for 512 megabytes — It felt like a totally new computer. If you are on a very strict budget stick with 256mb. If you need more, either find a laptop that already carries 512+ megabytes of RAM or get a RAM upgrade. Getting a memory upgrade actually isn’t that expensive.

Hard Drive - If you are the type of student that loves having a lot of music files or videos, you are going to want a bigger hard drive. Getting at least a 60 gigabyte hard drive would be the perfect solution in this case. If you aren’t going to be downloading music all the time or putting big files on your notebook, than 40 gigabytes or lower will work fine. Most new laptops come with at least a 40 gigabyte hard drive.

CD-RW - This is probably one of the most used parts on a student’s notebook, hands down. If you download music and want to transfer it to a CD, you are going to need a CD burner. If you want to burn DVD’s you are going to have to go one step further and get a DVD-RW drive. If you don’t need any of these functions, having a normal CD or DVD reader drive will work great.

Internet - Pretty much every student needs to connect to the internet. With such a wealth of knowledge available online, virtually every student is connected now a days. Pretty much every laptop you find will be able to connect to the internet in some way, but you most likely want something that will work on your campus. For this, you want your potential notebook to have a wireless internet card.

Ok, those 5 parts can’t be everything to look out for, right? You are right; there are a few more things that can actually be quite important to some students.

Weight - If you are constantly carrying your laptop around campus you don’t want something that will break your shoulder. If weight is important to you, look for something in the 6-7 pounds range.

Display - If you don’t need something ultra big, look for a screen size of around 15 inches. Most people agree that 12-14 inch screens do not provide comfortable viewing. Bigger than 15 inch screens are nice, but also add more weight to the laptop.

One last important note before you head out and get your baby… Plug in to an outlet as much as possible. Laptops do not run on batteries forever, and you are wise to save your batteries power for when you really need it.

Taking the time to really go over what you need a notebook for and then finding something that will meet those needs will save you where it matters most — The pocketbook.

***************************************************
Cody Kahl is creator and writer of Toshiba Laptops Guide - A site
dedicated to providing only the best toshiba laptops information.
Cody believes in quality, and this free resource proves it.
***************************************************

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Current sense resistor is usually located in the switch mode power
supply section. Newer version of monitor-the b+ (boost) circuit
also have this current sense resistor. If you repair electronic
equipment especially the switch mode power supplies, the current
sensing resistor is connected to the source pin of power FET (field
effect transistor) and the other end to HOT GROUND. The value of
current sense resistor is in the range of 0.1 ohm to about 1 ohm.
The values are depends on the design of each power supply.

In monitor power supply where pulse width modulation (pwm) ic UC3842
are used. Pin 3 of this power ic is called I-sense which means
current sense and this pin is connected to source pin of POWER FET.
The purpose of this current sense circuit is for overcurrent protection.
This circuit usually samples the voltage drop across a resistor in series
with the switching fet transistor. If the current rises abnormally due to
some short circuit in the secondary side such as a shorted secondary diode
or horizontal output transistor (HOT), the voltage will exceed a reference
level and shutdown the pulse generator which is the PWM ic. This circuit
provides protection to components in the event a problem occurs.
In some cases where overload happen-the power section will blow and
most of the time the components changed are fuse, power fet, pwm ic,
zener diode and current sense resistor.

Do you know that a small change in this current sense resistor value
have a great impact on the secondary output? A little change in value
say from 0.22 ohm to 0.44 ohm can caused your ouput voltage to drop
into half! I have seen a lot of repairer can’t detect this type of
problem (low output voltage) due to that they used analog or digital
meter that don’t have the low ohms range. You can’t differentiate
if the low ohms resistor has its value changed by using normal meters.
I personally use the Dick Smith ESR Meter which have the capabilities
to check resistor value down to 0.01 ohm! If you don’t have this
special meter you may just direct replace the current sense resistor
to see if the generated secondary output will back to normal voltage.

Another tip is that if the current sense resistor in the monitor
B+ circuit have changed value it will caused the output in the
boost circuit to become low and you will have a small width display
and of course the high voltage will become low as well. Instead of
24Kv it becomes 15-18Kv.

Jestine Yong is a electronic repairer and a writer. For more information on electronic repair please visit his website at
http://www.noahtec.com/electronic-repair-articles.htm

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Switching cell phone providers allows consumers the opportunity to purchase [or get for free after rebates] a new phone periodically. I recently made the switch and was given the usual list of phones to choose from. Being the thrifty guy that I am, I chose the one that had the least cost to me once rebates were factored in. No, I did not get the plain jane freebie model, rather I snagged Samsung’s SGH-x427m phone. Let’s take a look at this unit and see how it stacks up.

When I showed the Samsung phone to a friend, he asked me if it was a camera phone. Nope. However, it does have multi media messaging capabilities unlike its companion model the SGH-x427. The phone’s main features include 40 ring tones, a calendar, a 500 name phone book, a to-do list, a memo pad, and a wireless Web browser. Most cell phones boast a speakerphone, which the Samsung curiously does not have. The screen is bright and colorful and the buttons are easy to access.

The SGH-x427m weighs a paltry 2 1/2 ounces. It is a flip phone housed in a tiny, but attractive gray case. This particular model was made for Cingular, a similar model was made for AT&T, and the cost of the phone retails for around $100-120. With rebates your outlay should be minimal if not free. Of course, that means signing up for the two year plan with Cingular.

Reception has been good with few dropped calls. I haven’t experienced much static, but then again all my calls have been in the vicinity of a metropolitan area.

For the features that this phone offers, the price, the cell phone plan and for battery life — which is good — I give this phone a 3-star rating. It isn’t the plain jane freebie model, nor is it the top of the line can-do-everything model. Consumers interested in something better will want to shop elsewhere.

When Matt isn’t doing product reviews he runs the Aviation Employment Board at http://www.aviationemploymentboard.com and the Corporate Flight Attendant Community at http://www.corporateflyer.net and http://www.cabinmanagers.com

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