Tag Archives: Technology

Low-Cost Technology Solutions For Small Business

Technology for Small BusinessIt’s nearly impossible to start a small business without utilizing technology. Unfortunately, many small business owners don’t have a ton of money to spend on extras. Luckily, there are plenty of low-cost technology options for business owners. Technology can make a real difference in a business. The main benefits of using new technology are that it can make a business owner more productive, which in turn makes the business more profitable.

Online Business Training

Most small business owners don’t want to simply start their business and then stop expanding. They want to start their business, learn, grown and evolve. Online business training can help owners accomplish their goal of always improving. With knowledge, business owners can continually expand their business. There are plenty of free, online business training opportunities for small business owners. The best part is that training can be self-paced, so you don’t have to forgo other duties in order to attend a training session.

Open-Source Software

Do you want some piece of software, but it’s just way too pricey for your budget? Most of the time, you can find a similar alternative to the original software for free. This is called open-source software and it’s free to download and use. Open Office is one of the best open-source software packages. You can create spreadsheets, presentations and graphics, build a database and save files to Microsoft Word format, all for free. Just make sure to read user reviews first.

Time Tracking

There are plenty of free or low-cost technology options out there to help you with time tracking. Some business owners need to track their time because they bill clients on an hourly basis. Other entrepreneurs simply want to see how they’re using their time to hopefully become even more efficient. There are all sorts of time tracking technologies available, from desktop applications, bookkeeping software and online tools.

Invoicing Services

Depending on what type of business you run, you may not need a full-on bookkeeping service to manage the details of your company. Sometimes, basic invoicing services are all you need to keep track of things. There are tons of online payment options for when you need to request payment and get paid. PayPal, for example, is free to use for basic users and works just fine for many small startups.

Remote Desktop Applications

Many small business owners are on the move. If you only have info updated on your computer, what will you do when you have to hit the road but still need access to your files, address book and calendar? Some electronics will automatically sync. For example, your Apple computer, iPhone and iPad will all sync so that the information is the same from one device to the next. If you don’t have Apple products, you can use desktop applications like GoToMyPC or LogMeIn to connect you with everything, even if you’re not sitting behind your own desk.

Written by Beth Gadd
Beth runs a small business in IT related field. She operates at home while also has her virtual offices set up recently. She believes having an executive office in central business area for meeting clients definitely helps to build the creditability of her business.

by Liz Posted on January 20, 2013
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Using Light and Shadow in Computer Animation

As with any artwork, one of the key factors that will bring an animated scene to life is the use of lighting. This involves the ability to control the interplay between light and shadow. Lighting is important because it will make the difference between a character falling flat or appearing three-dimensional, using tools like reflections and refractions. To get started with using lighting to create a computer animation, it’s helpful to take a closer look at how colour and lighting work within the framework of an animated scene.

Observing Lighting in the Natural World

One of the best ways to get started with using lighting effects in the confines of a program like 3DS Max or Maya is to get outside and observe how lighting works in the world around you. Taking a walk with a sketchbook and observing natural shadows, reflections, and colours around you can fine-tune your skills when it comes time to mimic these effects in an animated atmosphere. Take special note of lighting around bodies of water, and at different times of day.

Using Shadows to Create an Effect

To make lighting effects really stand out, you’ll need to employ the use of shadows in your computer animation. Shadowing is important because it can enhance the overall composition of a scene, while also defining character features. When creating shadows using 3D software, you can choose between focusing on shadows from a primary light source, or from multiple sources in the scene. 3D packages allow you to control shadows by turning the shadow casting feature on or off on each light source. Render settings can also be changed on each object to determine whether or not they will cast shadows.

Autodesk 3ds Max

Creating a Main Source of Light

In nature, the key source of light is the sun, which hits the earth from a particular specific direction. You can mimic this effect in your animated scene by choosing a single light source. This will be the dominant light in your scene, which will help set the mood and create the shadows that will bring your animation to life. This main source of light could be from the sun, an indoor lamp, or streetlights in an outdoor setting. You can then create more interesting layered lighting effects by adding in secondary sources of light as well, according to your composition. Playing around with the direction of your main source of light using your toolbar can create a variety of interesting effects.

Using Reflections

Although the primary source of light hitting your character may come from a central source, you can also use light reflections to brighten up your scene. Lighting reflections help create highlights and enhance colour. These effects are caused by light from the primary source bouncing off of reflective surfaces, such as water or a mirror. When you’re using 3D animation software, you’ll find that there is a built-in system to help calculate the effects of bouncing or reflected light. This might be called radiosity or global illumination depending on your software. Ray tracing is another digital technique that’s used to calculate the effects of light reflection.

Using Soft Lighting

Your main source of light will enhance shadows and define your subjects more sharply. There are other forms of soft lighting that can create a warm, realistic glow. Using the fill light feature of your software will add a soft glow to the scene which doesn’t cast any more shadows unless you specifically program them in. They help lower the contrast between light and shadow created by your primary source of lighting, which is useful for more realistic scenery.  Back lighting is another perspective to use, using a lighting source behind your subject to create a soft rim effect around the edges.

Using different angles and degrees of lighting in your animated scene will have a strong impact on the final rendered outcome. The interplay between light and shadow will set the mood and tone of a scene; illuminating important details and helping you tell your story. To get started with using the tools provided by today’s animation software, it’s helpful to first determine what type of effect you’re trying to achieve. Tools like radiosity and fill lighting can help you achieve these goals and create a greater sense of realism.

by Liz Posted on January 15, 2013
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The Rise of Video Conferencing

Any business owner who worries about the costs involved in communicating with clients will want to do all they can to spend less. Telecoms are pretty expensive if making regular calls to customers based overseas, while to go to meetings, it often involves travelling via plane, train or even by car. Travelling to meetings is expensive at the best of times, but if there was an alternative, you would consider it, right? Powwownow video conferencing is just that, but you might want to know what it is and how it works.

Video conferencing involves talking to people via video calling technology from just about anywhere in the world. Although it’s relatively new, a growing number of companies of different sizes are taking it up because of the many benefits it brings in terms of greater ability to communicate with people worldwide, saving money and time, all of which are important for any business in this day and age.

Perhaps the most appealing aspect of video conferencing to many businesses is the fact it can help them to save money. Arranging a video conference call is surprisingly cheap, even if doing so with someone in another country, while doing that can be just as effective as having a normal meeting without the need to spend a small fortune on travelling to another meeting place.

Aside from saving money on travel and/or telecommunication costs, it’s also useful in terms of saving time. Travelling to a meeting can take up a lot of time which could be better spent on performing important tasks in the office, and because a conference call requires no travelling whatsoever, it can be done in next to no time. Conference calls can take just a few minutes to set up which makes it worth considering if you want your company to improve its ability to communicate with clients worldwide.

This article was provided by John, an IT professional who enjoys sharing technology news and updates on his pages simplelize.com and tech-crash.com.

by Liz Posted on January 9, 2013
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Advantages Of Converting MP4 to DVD

Technology continues to manufacture newer formats of media as well as newer models of electronic devices where this formats can be enjoyed. One of the latest formats ever introduced is the MP4. However, not all homes have electronic devices which can allow them to play videos of the MP4 format and because of this, it has become a necessity to convert Mp4 to DVD. So what are the advantages of converting MP4 to DVD mac?

Burn MP4 to DVD

Videos Can Be Played In Other Devices: One of the advantages of converting MP4 to a DVD format is that it allows a particular video to be watched and viewed through other forms of media. You can even play the video in a Windows computer provided that your Windows Media player can read it. Furthermore, the video becomes playable as well in your standard DVD player.

Videos Can Be Enjoyed By The Whole Family: As mentioned prior, converting files from MP4 format to DVD format gives not only you, but your whole family the opportunity to enjoy any exciting video that would normally be inaccessible by the average family.

Quality Picture and Sound: The fact is that converting a video from the MP4 format to a DVD format can sometimes improve the visual and audio quality of the video being converted. There are times that it is more enjoyable to watch a video through a DVD player than from a small handheld electronic device.

These are but a few advantages of converting MP4 videos to DVD formats. It opens up more opportunities as well as options for the average person.

by Liz Posted on November 20, 2012
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The Internet Makes Locating the Best iPhone Apps a Breeze

Every single day there are more and more men, women, and teens that begin using an iPhone, which is considered to be one of Apples most popular and innovative creations ever. While this is a device that is well known for having a wide assortment of very handy features and functions, a vast majority of users also make use of a wide variety of applications that are designed to be used with this amazing mobile phone. This is exactly why there are so many users that turn to the internet to locate the best iPhone apps that are available.

 Best iPhone Apps

There are quite a few different sites on the internet that provide visitors with a detailed list of several different choices in helpful applications that have been voted by a number of iPhone users as being some of the most popular. This is an advantage that can be extremely beneficial for a person that has no idea of the applications they should use. Not only do a lot of these sites list the individual names of these applications, but there is also a large amount of other information that can be discovered as well. There are some sites that even go as far as listing all the pros and cons of specific applications.

Some of the Best iPhone Apps According to the Votes of Numerous Users

While it is true that everyone’s opinion can be very different, the following is just a few of the top choices that are regularly sought after by a large number of users.

  • Camera+ App – While the standard camera that comes featured on this mobile phone is very good, the Camera+ app is even thought by many to be a whole lot better. A wide variety of different editing features and special effects that can be obtained has made this one of the top choices of many. It makes cropping pictures extremely easy, and uploading photos to Facebook is also a breeze.
  • Angry Birds (Seasons) – There are tons of men, women, and teens alike that have become addicted to this popular hit game title. It automatically updates with each new season, such as the Chinese New Year, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and many others.
  • Doodle Jump – This is considered by tons of people as one of the best iPhone apps that can increase a person’s hand and eye coordination as the player is being bounced all around while trying to become proficient at attacking aliens and UFOs.
by Liz Posted on October 20, 2012
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Home Wireless Network Security Tips

Home Wireless Network Security Tips

Many people have home wireless systems setup to browse the web, watch movies, listen to music, and do all sorts of things wirelessly. The problem is that most people don’t know the first thing about making their home network secure. Fortunately, securing your home network can be done very easily if you just follow the following few tips.

Change Default Passwords

Routers and modems generally have web access that allows users to modify settings and manage the equipment. This is great unless someone you don’t want to access the admin panel gets access. The default passwords are easily guessed by other people so it is always a good idea to change the default logins.

Turn on Encryption

Encryption is a vital part of any wireless network. Encryption scrambles the signal that is transmitted between your computer and the wireless access point. This is good because it makes sure that other people aren’t able to “listen in” on your internet activity. A similar example is using websites that utilize TLS or SSL secure encryption.

Change the Default Network Name

Routers and wireless access points usually come from the factory pre configured with a default network name, or SSID. An example of this is the network name “linksys” which is what Linksys uses for all of their products. You can tell if your wireless router is a Linksys by looking at the barcode. If someone doesn’t know what your SSID is, they can’t access your network. Change your default SSID and disable the broadcasting of your SSID and your network will be as good as hidden.

Enable Firewalls

Firewalls can prevent unauthorized access to your computer and your wireless access point. It is important to make sure they are enabled.

Image source: ww2.cox.com

by Liz Posted on September 16, 2012
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How To Transfer Vinyl Records Into Digital Format

If you are a fan or collector of vinyl records and want to share your stuff, then I offer you to find out the ways on how to transfer your vinyl records into digital mp3 format or burn a CD. What are the main reasons to digitalize your vinyl records? First of all it happens that the purchased records are only available on vinyl, so that you won’t be able to buy the CD or download it from the Internet. Sometimes it’s possible to find the digital copies in very poor quality, but this seems to be a bad solution for the real melomanes.

The next reason is the possibility to damage the vinyl disk while listening to it all the time. Having a few CD copies or the digital variant on a PC you won’t face the problem like that. In addition you will be able to listen to your favorite songs outside on a portable MP3 player or iPod.

What are the ways to put the vinyl records on CD?
First you can check out an easy and cheap method by using Audacity program. This soft will help you to slice the audio and clean it up of the noise. In the same time you will need an additional program for burning the audio to CD. The easiest, but the most expensive method is to buy a turntable. It will record your vinyl directly to CD. I recommend you to buy a turntable in case you need to transfer a great number of discs.

What tricks are required for burning your vinyl on CD?
- First of all choose the vinyl records you are going to convert.
- Then take a record player and USB to transfer the output files. There can be a format problem with the recorded files. In this case you will need a media converting software as well.
- After having converted the files to Audacity compatible format you are free to edit and clean up the audio according to your needs.
- Next step is to install a CD burner on your PC. With the help of burning software you will be able to transfer the record music on CD and make as many copies as you wish.

As you can see the transferring of vinyl records into digital formats is an easy but time consuming process. Follow this guide and enjoy your precious music collection without any limits and quality loss.

Bought to you by SoundTaxi – iTunes converter software.

by Liz Posted on August 19, 2012
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VPN Services versus Proxy Services

Proxy Services & Advantages:

A proxy server is mostly used in business although it can be used at home. Proxy server is like a middle man or intermediate between your computer and primary server. It keeps your computer and web server separate from the global network.

When employees are doing some work it gets recorded on the primary server which is the main server so instead of checking the information on main server the faster way is to check it on a proxy server.  Proxy cuts down the time due to cache memory. It increases speed and efficiency on that network. Another use of it is filtering. If management doesn’t want employees to check certain website then proxy works as a filtering device.

When a connection is made, it does happen that website sees only the proxy address. A proxy service can be used from any location in the world and you can keep your location secret. So the advantage is proxy services are helping in protecting the identity of a computer as well as the location. True identity is not revealed. You don’t need to invest with proxy and download it free.

Disadvantages:

One of the major disadvantages of proxy service is, there is no encryption unlike the VPN service. Information transferred is transparent and can be easily sniffed.

Secondly the connections are slow and insecure. There are some free proxy services which contains spam and are also used for promotional offers for asking the end user to download some kind of software and at times it is mandatory.

VPN Services & Advantages:

VPN (Virtual Private Network) services establish secure network connections which are used by business but at the same time it can be accessed from home. Proxy only keeps the web browsing secure whereas VPN not only keeps browsing safe but also protects, emails, chats, VOIP, etc. and encrypts all the communication. It even keeps your IP safe. The cyber criminals and other foreign sites cannot harm your PC and provide a safe network for browsing and transferring files.

Even at public places Wi-Fi is secure and speed is high. It is stable, reliable and requires no software installation. These are provided by private suppliers and they render high quality service. It also unblocks websites like MySpace, YouTube, Facebook etc. So whether you are in China, New Zealand, Germany or France, there would be no worries. In fact, Germany VPN is one of the highly recommended VPN.

Disadvantages:

Good things are expensive thus a high cost is associated with high quality. You need to invest for best VPN service and not all VPN providers are trustworthy so it’s important to research well before taking up a VPN service.  The cost increases with bandwidth and speed. Sometimes technical problems arise due to high VPN standards of technology. Mix and match of the equipments has to be performed perfectly.

by Liz Posted on August 6, 2012
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Expect The Unexpected From Windows 8

Microsoft have always been known to make innovative software and operating system such as Windows XP and Windows 7. This year, they have announced the release of its new product, Windows 8.

Windows 8 have been in the making for almost 3 years. It is set to be released October of this year. Beta  version of the product have been available to the public since it was announce by Microsoft in 2011.

What to expect in the new Windows 8? Here are some features that you can look forward from this new OS.

·         Windows 8 is designed to work on both PC and ARM-based tablets.

·         Unlike its predecessors, Windows 8 comes with a built-in anti-virus, making your files and your computer risk-free.

·         It is touch centric. It will have a new user interface called Metro interface, a tile-centric UI wherein each tile is equivalent to one application.

·         You may miss that start button at the taskbar, but it will be present at the on its “charms”.

·         Charm bar is the new start bar in Windows 8. It is located at the lower left corner of the screen for PC users, and at the lower-right corner for tablet PC users.

·         Multitasking is much faster in Windows 8. You can easily boot it up, and closing applications can be done automatically.

·         It will feature two touch keyboards – one is a traditional QWERTY keyboard, and the other is the thumb keyboard.

·         You can login using your Microsoft account a.k.a. Windows Live ID, and will let you synchronize your files on the Windows SkyDrive.

·         A newer version of Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 10, will be included in this OS.

·         You will now be able to boot Windows 8 on your USB using Windows To Go.

·         USB 3.0 is supported by this new OS.

·         You can now login using 2 new authentication method: picture password, which lets you draw 3 gestures, and PIN login.

·         You can download or buy new applications using the Windows Store.

The new Windows 8 will come in 3 versions:

·         A 64-bit version

·         A 32-bit version

·         A 64-bit version with developer tools

It will also come in four editions:

·         Windows 8 Basic

·         Windows 8 Pro

·         Windows 8 Enterprise

·         Windows RT

To have your Windows 8 running on your PC, you should have the below minimum requirements:

·         1GHz or faster 32-bit or 64-bit processor

·         1GB (32-bit) or 2GB (64-bit) RAM

·         16GB for 32-bit (or 20GB for 64-bit) free space on HD

·         Directx 9 graphics device

·         Screen resolution of 1024 x 768 or higher to be able to run Metro-style apps.

For tablets, below are the minimum requirements needed to run Windows 8:

·         DirectX 10 graphics device with WDDM 1.2 or higher driver

·         10 GB free space

·         ’Power’, ‘Rotation lock’, ‘Windows Key’, ‘Volume-up’, ‘Volume-down’ buttons

·         Touch screen with resolution of 1366×768

The new Windows 8 will be the next big thing in the computer world. Surely, everyone can’t wait to try their hands on this new OS by Microsoft.

by Liz Posted on August 1, 2012
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Finding the Best VPN Provider in China

Early in 2010, the Chinese Government has issued a ban on a number of websites and social networks. Not only has this affected millions of Chinese users, but it also had a ripple effect to the website owners too as the Chinese population constituted a huge part of global internet traffic. Social Networking phenomenon Facebook and micro-blogging site Twitter were gone, and so were video streaming giant YouTube and even the largest free email provider, Gmail.

The ban called for the blocking of these websites and continuous blocking of more websites daily through the so-called “Great Firewall of China” stating that visiting these sites were not good for the Chinese people, and instead pushed for support for their local sites. Aside from this, the Chinese government has also initiated monitoring activities, further risking the privacy of all users in China.

Proxies have been an immediate solution but eventually turned out to be more of a temporary fix, as proxies by nature do not provide advanced measures to avoid detection which resulted into proxies also being blocked eventually in China (although a handful still work), Which leaves VPN as the only logical choice.

A Virtual Private Network provides users with IP addresses in a multitude of locations outside China through a secure and encrypted connection, which allows for free and unrestricted access to the internet. While most sites would claim they offer the best VPN for  China, a user should be responsible and look out for the best offer and service he could get for his money’s worth.

Here are a few tips on looking for that VPN service that suits you:

  • Research, Research, Research: There are a number of available best VPN services offered in China, but a few of them have already gotten blocked by the Great Firewall. The top search entry may not always be the best option.
  • Choice of Protocol: A VPN service uses different forms of encryptions using a number of available protocols to them. Back in 2010, PPTP, L2TP, and IPSec normally work in other countries but are easily detected in China’s sophisticated security and monitoring activities. Find a service that uses Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP), or Secure Shell (SSH) to enjoy browsing privately.
  • Constant Vigilance: What works in 2010 may not work in 2011, or 2012, and so on. The Chinese Government recognizes that by constantly being on the lookout for threats in the internet, they have to be as vigilant and creative as those trying to find their way in. As they move in to focus on one area, another area opens up. Always be on the lookout for what or where may work. Changing Services according to security and protocols is important.
by Liz Posted on July 22, 2012
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