Computer Technology News

Archive for November, 2009

Not surprisingly given the immense popularity of the game and its diversity, there are lots of different chips with which you can play poker – in real life and online. This article aims to introduce you to the most common types of chips and will regurgitate the best advice and tips from poker gurus regarding chip selection.

Since gambling was first invented, men have used all sorts of materials as chips or tokens with which to make bets. Every sort of material has also been used in recent times to manufacturer the coin-like chips used to play poker, commonly referred to as gaming chips.

Among the most common materials used nowadays are plastic, clay, composite, and acrylic composite.

A Brief History of Chips A clay chip, what is commonly referred to as a clay chip, is actually a composite with some clay filler mixed into a durable high impact polymer matrix. Modern, so called clay chips are a regular feature in James Bond-type casinos and casino scenes. They are quite expensive and hard to come by because of their popularity. Their standard diameter is 39mm; weight ranges between 8grams and 11. 5grams in most casinos.

Most home game poker players use composite metal core chips. They are heavy and, most important, very durable, so they can be used or a long time without the need for particularly care and concern to ensure they hold up. These chips are injection molded from a particulate filled thermoset plastic around an internal metal slug. Almost all metal core chips are manufactured in either Taiwan or China, with Taiwan, generally, producing a better quality due to higher control measures.

The highest quality chip is, for obvious reasons, the casino chip, know as the gold standard. When we say they are the highest quality, this means that they are the best when it comes to security – an important issue in poker and particularly in casinos – and general durability and ‘feel’.

A limited number of bonded companies are US-based. When it comes to their chips, most casinos have a unique and quite secret blend composition that they request in the manufacturing process. This is one of the primary defenses against counterfeiting.

Most modern casino chips are a synthetic polymer acrylic composite with a laminated center. The only avenue available to acquire real casino chips is to buy them from the casino at face value or from a reseller that will usually include a hefty mark-up. Casino chips vary slightly in weight, however most weight in around 10g.

The cheapest type of chip is the plastic chip. These can be purchased almost anywhere and range in quality from the extremely cheap to the slightly pricy. They vary in quality too, from supermarket to quite serious gaming variety. Although they are fine for general play, plastic chips do not offer much in the way of security and are easily damaged. A beginner should purchase plastic chips because it’s economically but if once they start to play a lot, it’s quite important to get a good quality chip and one that allows for some degree of security.

When you want to trade up from plastic chips, you should be sure to request samples from manufacturers so you can figure out what sort of chip meets your needs for quality and security. Manufacturers vary one from the other and it pays meet due diligence.

When you buy chips, be sure to get a carry case as well. The most common varieties are plastic, vinyl, and metal.

Choosing Your Chip Set It’s not just a question of picking the right type of chip, you also need to consider how many chips you want in your set. How many are you going to need to play with?

The general rule of thumb is as follows:

3-4 Players 300 chipset is usually enough

4-6 Players 400-500 chipset will suffice

6-8 Players 500-650 chipset is required

8-10+ Players 1000+ chips depending on numbers

The above ranges are suggested number only. You can’t really have too many chips, but you can have too few. Many chip sellers maintain an open stock of chips so you can purchase more as you need them. Again, you can never have too many but you must be sure you have enough to play with the number of players and the stakes that you prefer, so be aware of that and consult with the manufacturer, perhaps, to get their recommendation for the number of chips you’re going to need.

Hard Disk: An Introduction

Hard Disks are used to store information. All information on computers are stored in files. Hard disks store the majority of information on today’s modern computer. Hard disk drives (HDDs) can be critically damaged by static electricity, shock, and other factors, often resulting in failure or the loss of valuable data. In many cases it may become necessary to recover information from your hard drive. Such retrieval is quite possible.

Hard Disk Failure

*Physical Failures

Physical failure occurs from sudden switch off, power failure, sliding them off desks and cheap components. As for data loss, data is only magnetic impulses on the surface of a hard disk. And ridiculously small bits of magnetism at that! When the magnetic impulse fades, or changes position, trouble starts.

Drive Alignment Drift is another cause of problems. Mechanical devices are subject to wear and tear, heat and cold, loosening tolerances etc.

The small changes in the read/write heads wouldn’t matter usually, as data still gets written in the same place as it will be read later. However, there is some data that hardly ever gets re-written, and that is the Sector ID Headers.

*Logical Failures

*Master Boot Record Failure

Technically, when the Master Boot Record is working correctly, the master boot code scans the partition table for the active partition, finds the starting sector, loads a copy of the boot sector from the active partition into memory and then transfers control to the executable code in the boot sector. If the master boot code cannot complete these functions, the system displays a message similar to the MBR error.

*Boot Sector Failure

The boot sector is a region of a hard disk, floppy disk, and other similar data storage device. It is loaded to memory and executed as a part of the bootstrap sequence. The boot sector contains a small computer program that is loaded on the operating system into memory and transfers the control.

Most boot sector failure occurs by the defection of boot sector virus. Boot sector viruses are usually spread by infected floppy disks. In the past, these were usually bootable disks, but this is no longer the case. A floppy disk does not need to be bootable to transmit a boot virus. Any disk can cause infection if it is in the drive when the computer boots up or shuts down.

*Accidentally Deleted Data

Some time some how you may delete a file thinking we don?t need it any more, but in a week or or two you may realize that it is a needed one. It happens to the best of us, but fortunately there are ways to get these lost files back.

When it comes to data on your computer, it is almost impossible to accidentally remove it beyond recoverability. Even if you are intentionally trying to completely wipe a file from your hard drive it is exceedingly difficult.

*Cross Linked Files

A file system error that corrupts the contents of an existing file by writing data from another file into the same cluster. Running Scandisk or a similar program cleans up the problem, but one of the files is no longer usable.

*Bad Sectors

It is a portion of the Hard disk that cannot be used any more. If a part of the disk get bad sector which contains data then those data is to be recovered before use. When you format a disk, the OS will mark all the unusable sector as bad sector, however, this does not affect the overall performance of the disk as the damaged space is considered unusable.

Hard Disk Data Recovery

*Replace the (Circuit Board) PCB

Upon a Hard Drive circuit board failure, it is possible to get back the data by carefully replacing the PCB of the hard drive.

*Replace the Firmware

Hard disk firmware is the information that is used by the computer that allows it to correctly interact with the hard disk. It may be replaced or updated by the matching firmware.

*Replace the Head Stack

There are common situation that may be due to head failures. There is a small chip located in the head stack that is called PREAMPLIFIER. Working with preamplifiers always includes some difficulties, because, practically, they can not withstand static discharges. If re-soldering is needed, one should follow a number of rules to protect a preamplifier from static damage caused by careless finger touching. Although this task is very risky and it should be done in a high secured lab specially created for this task.

*Move the disk to another Drive

In some cases complete functionality of the Hard drive may be disabled while only the internal disk plate is without any damages or errors. In those situations, it is possible to move the disk to another drive.

*Spin-Stand Testers

Hard drive manufactures and their head media; preamplifier and read channel suppliers do have very accurate, very expensive “magic machines” called Spin-Stands. These are used for testing and experimenting with heads and disks. They are used mostly by researcher and development departments.

*Magnetic Force Microscopes (MFM)

Magnetic force microscopy is a powerful tool for high-resolution magnetic imaging of most data storage media. As the density of magnetic media is higher, the bit becomes smaller than the wavelength of light, so optical techniques can not resolve it. General MFM is capable of imaging the magnetic domain of several tens of nanometers. Also, MFM is almost simultaneous with measuring the surface characteristics of topography and roughness of the same area with sub-angstrom vertical resolution.

Recovery Softwares

*SpinRite 6. 0

SpinRite is a stand-alone DOS program designed to refurbish hard drives, floppy disks and recover data from marginally or completely unreadable hard drives and floppy disks and from partitions and folders which have become unreadable.

*Ontrack data recovery software

Ontrack Data Recovery offers the industry’s highest quality and cost-effective do-it-yourself data recovery software solutions for almost any data loss situation covering servers, desktops or laptops for all media, operating systems and file types. Ontrack’s EasyRecoveryTM family of products is unmatched in its ability to recover/repair from all causes of lost data.

*Recover My Files

Recover My Files data recovery software will easily recover deleted files emptied from the Windows Recycle Bin, or lost due to the format or corruption of a hard drive, virus or Trojan infection, and unexpected system shutdown or software failure.

For more Data recovery topics http://www. pc4safe. com

1. Durability
If you are using your new computer for work, home and family use as well as everyday emailing, you are going to need a touchpad keyboard made out of quality materials to last. With so many touchpad keyboards on the market, be sure to spend some quality time in an electronic store “test driving” keyboards.
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2. Design
Depending on your business or need, the design of your touchpad keyboard needs to make sense. If you are a business traveler, you will no doubt need a laptop that has quite keys, a touchpad mouse built into the laptop to conserve space and most definitely a couple USB ports and possibly a docking station for your business needs. If the next touchpad keyboard you purchase is for a high-tech or medical business, you will to buy a water resistant and dust/particle resistant keyboard as your next purchase. What about an ergonomic keyboard or an ergonomic computer mouse? Depending on your preference, there are lots of keyboards out there that focus on wrist safety.
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3. Color, Imprint Finish and Other Keyboard Finishes
Will the numbers and letters last on the keyboard finish? It may not seem like a lot to ask of a touchpad keyboard but if you are going to invest in a keyboard, you want it to last. Investing in a quality keyboard with imprint finish- which protects the text printed on the keys from rubbing off over time, is always something an avid computer user should keep an eye out for. Does color matter to you? Perhaps you haven’t thought about color before, but several companies are making custom keyboards with rainbow of different color choices to choose from.
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4. Touch pad mouse Vs. Cord Mouse
On your mission to find the perfect keyboard, you should ask yourself whether you should get a touchpad keyboard with a touchpad computer mouse already built into the keyboard or if you would benefit more from a computer mouse that is separate from your computer keyboard.
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5. Size
Again, depending on your computer needs, will you need a hand held computer more than a full desktop computer or a laptop? Most people want a full-size keyboard for typing even if their computer screen is small. Some touchpad keyboards can fold in half and some are even made of silicon and can be rolled up into a tube!
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6. The Right Fit For You
At the end of the day, it comes down to what touchpad keyboard works for you. If you need a keyboard with quiet keys, or a touchpad keyboard for use in your dental office that needs be water resistant, or perhaps you are a mechanic that needs a touchpad keyboard that needs to withstand dust, grease as well as cordless, there are several options to choose from. The biggest gift you can give yourself is time to test drive all of the keyboard options that are out there. The worst thing would be to spend the money on a complete computer set and find that you have wrist discomfort, super loud clicking keys or the unique folding design really lacks in quality. Just like each of us use our computer keyboards differently, each of our keyboards should therefore be a little different.

Broadband USB Modems are used for accessing internet connection wirelessly. The device is compact and can overcome the flaws of earlier methods. Just by plugging the gadget into the USB port of laptops, users can start accessing internet connection. There is no longer the need of connecting by means of long drawn wires or by ‘phone dial ups’ for getting connected to the internet. Internet accessibility is thus made easy with broadband. The modems are available with several companies such as Vodafone, 3 Mobile, O2 mobile and others. These service providers of broadband bring quality service and users can really enjoy availing broadband networks. It is also becoming increasingly common to find a free modem with broadband service providers. Most of the UK based broadband providers are known to supply a free modem to their customers. However, if people want to get it from marts, they can find it at amazingly low price. The cost of Broadband USB Modems are kept cheap so as to enable everyone buy it easily. Customers aspiring to connect wirelessly to broadband without an interruption, can easily do so with the aid of modems. The gadget being very compact can be carried with ease. It easily slides into one’s pocket and people can carry it with them wherever they go. Once connected to the internet with the aid of the Broadband USB Modems, it becomes possible for the user to download files of all kind. It can be gaming, music, videos and other sort of files. The users thus can easily store them in the memory of their personal computers. They can later on access these files so as to stay entertained in life. Playing games and listening to music has always been frivolously entertaining for people. Users thus feel delighted to download and store the files for their personal entertainment. The best thing about modems are that the users do not have to open their computer in-order to install it. Once connected to the USB port of laptops, the drivers are automatically installed on the computer. So, the USB modem is unlike the PCI ADSL modem where the card has to be installed separately in the computer. This actually makes the USB a user-friendly device. Information about the latest modems launched with mobile broadband deals and about companies that offer the gadget can be gained from the internet. One can get detailed information about these modems from various websites. The details include price, availability and features of the device. So, having learned about the gadgets, one can easily place an online order for the modem of their choice. It is possible to find the best modems by placing online orders. Moreover, the gadget is delivered at the residence of the customer after an online order is placed.

Established in 2005, Focus Electronics (H. K) ltd. Co. grows rapidly and now occupies an area over 1300 square meters for production base, we focus on manufacture and development of computer peripherals products and hot sale high-tech digital products, such as USB flash disk, MP3, Digital photo frame, PC-Pen, Mini laptops, and so on. To meet the requests of our customers, our products have passed CE, ROHS, FCC certificates. Now we successfully established business relationship with customers from U. K, U. S. A , Germany, Portugal, Italy, and Australia. We focus on the very concerns of customers, with fast lead time(we can offer delivery WITHIN 24 hours), reasonable manufacture direct prices to meet low prices requests. Last but not least, We offer life-long quality guarantee for all of our products. We are growing with our customers, for the past years of successful experience. we know the key point for expending your brand and enlarging your business. we believe quality is the life for any serious company and for any long-term cooperation under any condition. We treasure your increase in business!   Why choose focususb. com? With a young and dynamic team boasting rich experience in both technology and marketing management, Focus Electronics is a quality based trustworthy manufacture?we are constantly surprising our customers with eye-catching new high-tech products to make your company eye-catching and refreshing! Quality products and valuable services make us stronger and make your business bigger! We sincerely welcome customers from home and abroad to join us in Focus Electronics, if you are interested in our products and services, please do not hesitate to contact us, thank you.

For Immediate Release

Discuss the Evolution of Municipal Wireless Networks with Cisco Systems at the 2008 Government & Health Technologies Conference and Expo

2008 – Toronto, Canada – The Evolution of Municipal Wireless Networks – Demise or Transition? This is the question Cisco Systems’ Geoff Cargill will address at the 2008 Government Technologies Conference and Expo,2008 at the Design Exchange in the Heart of Downtown Toronto. Geoff Cargill is Business Development Manager, Public Sector – Government and Education for Cisco Systems

Municipal and government sponsored wireless networks have reached a critical inflection point in their evolution. The hype of municipal wireless that dominated headlines from 2004 to 2006 has given way to predictions on the demise of pervasive Wi-Fi for outdoor use. But what has really changed? Has it really failed? This session will discuss that rather than a complete demise there is a transition underway. An evolution that is necessary to address the underlying problems that were encountered in some of the first generation of outdoor wireless network deployments. Attendees will learn the history of municipal wireless networks, what happened, and what’s next.

To register for Early-Bird Passes please visit http://gov. wowgao. com/registration OR call (416) 292-0038 Ext. 812.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Today, networks are an essential part of business, education, government and home communications, and Cisco’s Internet Protocol-based (IP) networking solutions are the foundation of these networks.

Cisco enables people to make powerful connections—whether in business, education, philanthropy, or creativity. Cisco hardware, software, and service offerings are used to create the Internet solutions that make networks possible—providing easy access to information anywhere, at any time.

About the 2008 Government and Health Technologies Conference & Expo:

The 2008 Government and Health Technologies Conference and Expo will focus on the latest IT products and solutions being developed and sought after in the healthcare and public service sector, including Web 2. 0, Patient Monitoring Systems, Document Management, Business Intelligence, Mobile Data Systems, RFID Solutions, Biometrics and much more.

As one of Canada’s leading annual IT conference and exposition, the event features ground breaking IT applications that aim to educate key IT professionals, Government officials, developers, architects, engineers and medical professionals with the necessary tools and techniques for the reliable, effective management of all public information services across Canada. For more information about the event, please visit http://gov. wowgao. com

About WowGao Inc.

WowGao Inc. is an award winning leading event management company that produces, since 2003, internationally renowned conferences and expositions that address the latest innovations and developments in the information technology industry. Our featured events include:

Government & Health Technologies Conference and Expo, April 15 & 16, 2008

Wireless & Mobile Expo and Conference, July 15 & 16, 2008

RFID Forum, July 15 & 16, 2008

Financial Services Technology Forum, October 2008

For more information about the events, please visit http://www. wowgao. com/

For conference inquiries:

Conference Producer

(416) 292 – 0038 ext. 840 | conference@wowgao. com

WowGao Inc. | www. wowgao. com

GAO Group is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. GAO Group has marketing, sales, customer support, manufacturing and R & D facilities in various countries, with most of its staff located in Canada, USA, Europe and China.

The first Member Company, GAO Research Inc. , was founded on June 2, 1992 and it quickly established its reputation as an R & D power house in the embedded industry. GAO Group has continually grown and has become a conglomerate of fast growing companies with an enormous international customer base and an extensive network of VARs, distributors, resellers, and strategic partners in diversified industries worldwide.

With the aim of providing unparalleled services to its enormous customer base spread out over the world, GAO Group has developed and deployed state of the art technologies among all its facilities to support such functions as e-commerce, inventory management, CRM, project management, and supply chain management.

Microsoft Goes SAASy
Flashback
Used to being the unchallenged leader during the early days of information technology, Microsoft never had it as easy since the advent of the internet. No matter the hot new internet technology, Microsoft was forever caught napping. It was never the innovator and forever a laggard in terms of success. Google trounced it at search and online advertising, Yahoo at instant messaging and consumer mail, Blogger, Wordpress and Typepad were far better at blogging software, it never even appeared on the battle ground of social networking with MySpace and Facebook ruling the roost.
But there were certain markets, especially corporate markets, in which Microsoft continued at have a strangle-hold, which kept its cash registers clinking, and at a frantic pace at that. These were the PC OS market with its Windows series, MS Office for Office suites, and its prize cash cows – MS Exchange and MS Sharepoint for enterprise messaging and collaboration.
Now, the above mentioned software are essential for every enterprise, and 5 to 10 years back, Microsoft did undoubtedly offer the most robust solutions available. In those days, since every body was eyeing the juicy big business enterprise segment, with their thousands of users implementations and IT budgets bursting at the seams, it was for that audience these software were developed. So although Exchange and Sharepoint required dedicated servers, complicated implementations and dedicated IT to man and maintain the system, nobody really minded, because these mega enterprises had the money and staff to spare.
The Present
But there was a segment which minded it, the small to medium size business (SMB), segment which had neither the staff, nor resources, nor the inclination. Since not many alternatives were available, they either had to bear the burden, or do without these technologies altogether. But in recent times, things have started to change. In the past 3 years or so, a new approach has emerged, spurred on by technology improvements and increased bandwidth – the software as a service approach. And its primary market is the small to mid sized business segment.
In a recent SaaS survey conducted by Cutter Consortium, nearly three-quarters (72%) of the people who responded reported that they are using Web-based solutions to fill unmet needs. More than a quarter of the respondents (28%) are hoping that these solutions will cut their costs by 20%-30%.
It is true that there was some initial skepticism initially about the viability of SAAS solutions, in that it involves letting go of some control and allowing the organization’s critical data lie on a third party SAAS vendor’s servers. But the benefits of this approach have been so overwhelming, and due to providers like salesforce. com and HyperOffice providing SAAS solutions effectively over the years, that organizations across the board, from small to mega enterprises, have been converted.
Microsoft Plays Catchup
With the enterprise market saturated, Microsoft has also been eyeing the relatively untapped small to mid sized business market in the past few years. Considering the success of SAAS with this segment, Microsoft has introduced offered a succession of software offered as a service in recent times, under the Microsoft Office Live banner. But the real success story with this segment was “hosted Exchange” and “hosted Sharepoint” solutions offered by independent vendors; many of them certified Microsoft partners. First, a little refresher:
What is Hosted Exchange (and how it differs from Exchange Server)?
Every company needs dedicated company email for its employees, as well as some basic productivity solutions to lubricate everyday working (task management, calendars, address books). To cater to these universal needs, Microsoft developed Exchange Server whose major features consist of electronic mail, calendaring, contacts and tasks. The front end client for Exchange through which employees access all this information is usually Outlook, but Exchange also supports mobile and web based access (called Outlook web access or OWA for short). But implementing Exchange is hardly easy, as it includes setting up a dedicated server, undertaking a complex Exchange implementation, in addition to additional anti spam and anti virus implementations for the security of the server. Also, dedicated staff needs to be hired to monitor the system and keep it running, and to manage a myriad of complexities that may arise, since Exchange is a vast solution.
Under hosted Exchange however, all aspects of implementation and maintenance of the Exchange implementation are outsourced to the servers of a specialized “hosted services” provider. Customers still get the most of the features of Exchange – dedicated email, shared calendars/contacts/tasks, and premium features like mobile and web access to information (typically at an extra cost). But unlike an in house implementation, where everybody accesses Exchange over the local network, in this case it is accessed over the internet. This approach is especially beneficial for small to medium businesses which are saved the huge costs of in house implementation and instead have to pay a reasonable monthly subscription.
What is Hosted Sharepoint (and how it differs from Sharepoint Server)?
Apart from basic email capabilities, companies also need the ability to manage the company’s information, stored in documents, and the ability for employees to work together on this information. This is what SharePoint, Microsoft’s browser-based collaboration and document management platform does. It can be used to host and create a company’s web site that includes shared workspaces and documents, as well as specialized applications like to do lists, discussion boards, wikis and blogs. But Sharepoint’s power is coupled with its complexity. It’s implementation is no less cumbersome and costly than Exchange. Moreover, it is not end user friendly. Subject matter experts cannot share their knowledge directly; they always have to either go through IT intermediaries, or undergo specialized training which consumes time and diverts attention from competencies.   Knowledge is not dispersed freely through the organization, but is choked by having to pass through the IT bottleneck.
As with hosted Exchange, under hosted Sharepoint, all aspects of a company’s Sharepoint implementation and management are outsourced to third party vendors. Customers can still access all of Sharepoint’s features over the internet, but for a reasonable monthly fee.
Microsoft Takes the Big Services Plunge
As long as the hosted market was not sizable, Microsoft was content selling Exchange and Sharepoint as software products, and let its partners and independent vendors do the hosting. But considering the bourgeoning of the SAAS market lately, and its future outlook, coupled with tough competition from “alternative” collaboration and messaging offerings like Google Apps, Gmail and HyperOffice, MS finally In Oct. 2007, Microsoft finally took the plunge when it announced hosted Sharepoint and Exchange for enterprises with more than 5,000 seats – titled Exchange Online and Sharepoint Online. In Feb 2008, it went one step further by opening these services to all organizations, irrespective of size.
The Hot News – Microsoft’s “Hosted Service Bundles”
Keeping with its recent rapid movement, on July 8, 2008, Microsoft made another announcement, introducing a novel, if not controversial strategy. In addition to offering its hosted services as single offerings, it announced that early in 2009, it would also offer them as “bundles”, a combination of services at a reduced total cost.
Microsoft has introduced two “bundles”, titled the Deskless Worker suite and Information Worker suite. The deskless worker suite is priced at just $3 per user per month, and will include Exchange Online services as well as read only access to Sharepoint Online services. This is supposedly targeted at workers who typically spend only a very small part of their day in front of the computer. The information worker suite is priced $15 per user per month and includes a full range of offerings including Exchange Online, Share Online and Live Meeting, Microsoft’s web conferencing software.
An Assessment
Great Solution?
At first view, it would seem that Microsoft has come out with a great offering. The entire range of Microsoft’s best of breed enterprise applications, rolled into one, available at a very affordable monthly fee. Exchange online for email, calendars, address books, task management and access over the web and mobile; Sharepoint Online for collaboration and customized portals for teams and partners; and LiveMeeting to conduct audio and video conferencing with multiple participants no matter where they are. All at the customers disposal, in a single offering, at an imminently reachable $15.
A good opportunity to validate the parts – as in they have the right idea messagin, project collaboration, document management, Outlook sharing, couple with online meetings.
Think Again
Whenever something seems so perfect, it always makes sense to bring ones guard up, and look closer. The first phrase to reconsider is – “rolled into one” or “all in one”. Does it mean that all of Microsoft’s great offerings have been integrated into a single, seamless solution, with all aspects communicating with each other? Or does it mean something else.
Well, it means something else. All in one refers more to “all in one pricing”. The services remain exactly as they were; only they will cost less when purchased jointly. Individually, Microsoft sells hosted Exchange Online for $10; SharePoint Online for $7. 25; Office Communications Online for $2. 50; and Office Live Meeting Online for $4. 50. So a joint pricing of $15 means a saving of $ 9. 50 per user per month.
Moreover, even the separate components of Microsoft’s new offerings are bare bones solutions, requiring implementation and configuration, before a workable solution is set up. This is effort most small to mid sized businesses are not equipped to make, nor do they want to make. Although the pricing of Microsoft’s bundles may be very tempting, a major reason companies go to “hosted service” providers in the first place is that in addition to hosting they also offer “managed services”. All aspects of configuration, integration and maintenance are their hassle. If all the components – Exchange, Sharepoint, LiveMeeting and Office Communications; are to be integrated into a single seamless solution, that will require massive implementation.
So, although Microsoft’s offering looks enticing from a distance, it is hardly the end to end, ready to use solution businesses are really looking for. Microsoft offers all pieces of the puzzle, but they remain separate pieces that don’t fit together. Even the measly priced Deskless worker suite has attracted a lot of flak. The verdict is that it caters to an imaginary class of worker who needs only read only access to company information. Although real life workers of this class don’t access the company’s information systems as much, they often interact with the system in critical ways. An example is a nurse who may need to keep the hospital’s drug stock updated.
Hosted Service Provider’s Perspective
With Microsoft jumping into the fray, and at very competitive prices at that, traditional providers (Microsoft Solution Providers) of Exchange and Sharepoint hosting are certainly feeling the heat. Setting up Microsoft infrastructure on their servers, and further selling it as a service offered them a steady and ongoing revenue stream. But Microsoft offering such services directly will certainly cut into their pockets as they can hardly hope to compete with Microsoft’s pricing.
Microsoft was well aware that the latest announcement would pinch hosted service partners bad, and not intending to cut them out of the picture completely, it made another announcement intended to keep them interested. Partners can resell Microsoft’s new hosted service offering and pocket a percentage of the ongoing revenue. Partners will receive 12 percent per user, per month, up front for a first-year contract, and 6 percent per user, per month, of the ongoing subscription fee. So in the first year, resellers of hosted services will receive 18 percent margins on the subscription value, and 6 percent for subsequent years. But in spite of this carrot, partners are still smarting, because reselling Microsoft services won’t be nearly as profitable as letting out on premise implementations.  
Some Microsoft solution providers are worried that this puts them in the feast-or-famine mode of trying to find the next project to generate consulting revenue as opposed to recurring revenue streams associated with keeping Exhange and SharePoint servers running.
There is Hope
Although hosted service providers who provide bare bones hosted Microsoft products will feel the competition from Microsoft’s new offerings, but there barely are any vendors who do just that. A vital part of what these companies do has always been adding value by offering integration, consulting and management services on top of the basic Microsoft products they host for their customers. And this need for integration, management and consulting still remains because Microsoft will merely offer basic hosting of its products, while end customers need ready to use products, without the hassle of implementing and managing the application.
So, these companies can continue to do what they’ve been doing all along and still attract customers – host Exchange and Sharepoint on their servers, and build solutions on top of that and offer them to customers as services. Alternatively they can resell Microsoft’s hosted services by adding value added services on top of that, and attract a premium price. One example could be offering support for email on iPhone and Blackberry that stripped down hosted Exchange does not. Or a company could integrate all the components of Microsoft’s bundle – Sharepoint, Exchange, LiveMeeting and Office Communications, into a single seamless solution with a centralized console.
The Search for Truly “Complete” Solutions
Although with this announcement, Microsoft didn’t quite deliver what it seemed to offer, the need it sought to address is nonetheless very pertinent. The need for a truly end to end, integrated messaging, collaboration and web conferencing solution, with each component fitting seamlessly into the whole and communicating with every other component. Solutions which don’t require any hardware, downloads or maintenance and are ready to use from day one. Solutions which come at an affordable monthly subscription.
So, do end customers have to wait for a couple of years before somebody else takes up this challenge? The answer is a resounding “certainly not!”. Although Microsoft may make it seem like it was the first to serve this compelling need (not that it really did serve the need), it was for the precise reason of pressure from rival products that Microsoft took the “bundled hosting” plunge. Google for one offers many compelling alternatives to Microsoft’s Exchange and Sharepoint with Google Apps, Google Pages, Gmail et all. But even Google’s star products are piece meal, and it hasn’t so far come up with a truly integrated end to end solution. Moreover, it doesn’t have a web conferencing solution at all, which would be vital in a totally complete solution.
But there is a another category of solution providers, who may not be as big as Google and Microsoft, or get that kind of frenzied airtime, but they have for years offered very compelling solutions to small and mid sized businesses. Many of these solutions would put the biggies to shame, and are in intimate touch with the real needs of the small to mid sized business segment. To present my case, I shall discuss the web based application HyperOffice. HyperOffice has been operating in the “Exchange and SharePoint Alternative” domain for years, and they’ve built their solution bottom up, based on experience. It would not be wrong to say, that they’ve been doing for years what Microsoft promised to do just now, and did not do even that.
Now to assess HyperOffice on the basis of the parameters we have defined for a truly end to end solution.
Exchange Features
HyperOffice includes business email, shared contact management, shared calendars and shared task management. It also includes Outlook integration and can be used to power the Outlook accounts of your employees as if Exchange were running in the background, only that its not. Users can access their accounts on their desktops using Outlook or online using any Mac or PC browser and all information is automatically kept in synch. Moreover users can also access and synch their accounts from mobile devices like iPhone, Blackberry etc.
Sharepoint Features
As an alternative to Sharepoint, HyperOffice includes a publisher tool which can be used to set up dedicated intranet and extranet workspaces for employees, departments, partners or clients. The publisher allows for deep customization of the workspaces according to user needs. Users can finely manage the appearance, layout, pages, interlinking of these workspaces. In addition they can choose from a range of collaboration tools to add to each workspace – document management, calendars, address books, to do lists, task management, forums, IM, polls etc.
HyperOffice also includes a rich online document management tool. It allows for easy online storage and organization of all file types and allows people to collaborate on documents using features like versioning, notifications, locking, overwrite protection etc.
Web Conferencing
Keeping with growing travel prices and increasing openness of companies to web conferencing as a mode of communication, HyperOffice has recently introduced HyperMeeting, its web conferencing tool. It is as robust as any web conferencing solution, with the ability to conference with upto 125 participants, file distribution, presentations, application and desktop sharing, whiteboard etc.
Integratedness
The best thing about a solution like HyperOffice is that all parts fit perfectly into the whole. This makes sense, because even in a business, all parts are forever interacting with each other, and so it should be with a collaboration solution. Consider the following scenario – A web conference needs to be set up. Since it is a meeting, invites need to be sent out to all the participants. So an automatic invitation tool will be involved. The invitation tool will need to talk to address books so that the right recipients are selected. Moreover, to ensure that participants don’t have clashing schedules, calendars will need to be compared. Before the meeting is undertaken some documents may need to be distributed to the participants, and collaborated on. So the document management tool would be involved. The conference may relate to an important milestone in a project. So the project management tool would be involved. This is only one situation in which one can envision different parts of the system having to interact with each other; there may be a myriad of other such situations. The synergies that are to be had in such a system are tremendous.
In HyperOffice, different parts of the system come together simply, logically and effectively. It’s no wonder that it’s been nominated for many awards under the “design” category. The solution allows users to set up workspaces for individuals with tools like email, personal document libraries, address books, calendars, to do lists, links, reminders etc. On the second level workspaces can be set up for groups with looks like document management and collaboration, shared calendars, shared address books, group tasks, web conferencing, forums, polls, chat etc. This is a great example of the coming together of messaging, collaboration and web conferencing features.
Moreover, HyperOffice includes a myriad of other features which can only come after years of experience working with clients. These are the ability to integrate the solution with Outlook, mobile access for devices like iPhone and Blackberry, and the ability to manage documents and drag and drop upload documents directly from the desktop.
Another great aspect from an administration point of view is the ability to manage everything from a central console. All aspects of collaboration are contained within HyperOffice and users don’t have to look in different directions and learn a myriad of software for different uses.
Tailored for SMBs
Big names like Microsoft and Google always eye the bigger customers of the range of around 5000 seats because of the juicer profits to be gotten from those clients. So both the products and the services offered around these products take shape with that segment in mind. Smaller companies like HyperOffice, however have been developed specifically for the small to mid sized business segment, and refined through years of experience. The onus is on developing ready to use products with easy “push button” functionality.
HyperOffice just needs a signup and can be set up almost instantly. It is an end-user’s tool, as just about anybody can get on the system and publish information or use the tools. No technical expertise is required to implement or use it. Moreover, they also offer free training and support services to assist companies along the way. If a customer chooses, they can easily scale down the solution, and choose only a subset of the tools offered based on its needs and comfort level, rather than the entire suite.
Conclusion
In conclusion, although Microsoft has opened its hosted solutions to all, they still remain suitable for organizations which are largish if not large. Vendors could also resell Microsoft’s bundles by throwing in integration and management services, but then they will ask for a premium price and the low price tags won’t remain. Frankly, even in their hosted avatar, Microsoft tools are still not suitable for small businesses because they never were developed for this segment, and the effect will always be of trying to squeeze a big foot in a small shoe.
Clearly, the lesson for growing organizations is that although Microsoft and other big names have rather belatedly gotten on the “Small to medium sized business” bandwagon, one has to cut through the hype, and look in all directions for the best solution. And more often than not, the most compelling solutions will come from elsewhere.
 

Brief History of Computers The word “computer” was used during 1613. This was used to address a person who works on computations and calculations.   This term continued to be used even until the mid-20th century. However, before the end of the 19th century, people had been using this word in reference to anything that process computations or calculations. From then on, computer was used to describe any machine that processes data through a set of commands. Today, computers are more sophisticated since they function according to integrated circuits making them billion times better in data processing. Modern computers are smaller and work faster compared to earlier versions. New breed of computers can now process data over shorter period of time and occupy smaller portion of space in your offices and homes. As time passes, computers come up with more and more designs and features. In fact, some computers are as small as wristwatch that is powered by a regular watch battery. Additionally, personal computers and other computer-integrated devices emerge to address the growing demand for faster and more efficient computing devices. Modern computer started in two technologies, namely programmability and automated calculation. During earlier times, the only documented mechanical device which applied the technology of programmability was the theater made by Hero of Alexandria. Types of Computers Since several applications and designs were created, experts classify computers into three major categories. Microcomputers – These computing devices are the most widespread computers these days. Microcomputers are commonly used in schools and at work.   These computers are termed microcomputer because they use single chip microprocessors. Among the computing devices that fall into this category are the desktop computers, laptops, PDA’s, notebook computers, tablet PC’s and programmable calculators. Netbooks and palmtop computers also belong to this classification. Minicomputers – These are also referred as the midrange computers which fall in the category of multi-user computing systems. They are in between the ranges of the biggest multi-user systems and the smallest single-user devices. Among the known minicomputers are the ones from IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems.   These include POWER, Itanium and SPARC-based structures. Mainframe computers – these computers have the capacity to process huge amounts of data in short period of time. Most government agencies, corporations and banks use this kind of computers. These computing devices are attuned with the structures of the computers made during the 60s. This implicates that both classification and processing capability are affected. The only distinction between mainframe and the supercomputer is that the latter relay all its power in executing several programs fast while mainframe systems use its capability to execute many programs simultaneously. Uses of Computers Aside from just computing and data processing, computers nowadays have established more functions such as the following: Word Management and Processing – Computers these days use software that automatically revise or correct misspelled words and erroneous grammar. Internet – Through the use of computers, people can now search the World Wide Web and access numerous amounts of information. This also allows sending and receiving electronic mail (email), and video conferencing. Other uses include mathematical computations, digital video and audio composition, telecommunications, travel, mapping and business security.

1. Latency and radiation, in the early wireless mouse, mouse delay is indeed not a small issue, but with the development of the mouse chips and wireless technology, in the general household or office use, currently on the market the mainstream wireless presenter laser pointer delay was not obvious, to meet the needs of these users. But for professional gamer, you may most of the wireless presenter remote does not apply. In fact, all electronic products have radiation, but radiation of different sizes, the mainstream market, wireless mouse uses 2. 4GHz wireless technology, there is a small part of the adoption of Bluetooth wireless technology, but in radiation issues, we did not specifically measured Wireless product radiation data, but from a technical point of view, two kinds of wireless technology, radiation is very small, can be ignored. Therefore, because the delay and radiation refused wireless mouse, it now seems somewhat unreasonable. 2. wireless presenter with USB and wired mouse has one of the biggest differences, wireless mice need batteries, while a wired mouse can be powered through the computer, so the wireless mouse the size of the battery power consumption can affect the user’s use of cost This is also one of the largest User response issues, some of the power consumption of the wireless presenter greater need for frequent replacement of batteries, an increase of the latter part of quite a number of User use of cost, but from the market point of view, the battery life of about 3 months product is a good choice, and users may consider using rechargeable batteries to save the latter part of the cost. In addition, the mouse, after the internal load cell, will definitely increase the weight of the mouse affect the friction with the mouse pad, wireless mouse on the market are used for single-and double on the 5th battery, but also the use of 7 batteries. Therefore, the battery life and wireless mouse weight was not a small problem. 3. Wireless mouse is not suitable for playing games, for this reason, right? For some professional players or the game operators demanding gamers, the wireless mouse does not have advantages compared to wired mouse is mainly reflected in terms of performance, but also on the market designed specifically for gamers gaming mice, such as the Logitech G7. The suitability of the wireless mouse to play the game, in fact, the game type, the relationship between users needs more. And therefore it can not completely negate the wireless mouse is not suitable for playing games,unless with a hard drive dock, but in competitive games, the use of the wireless mouse pro has not yet appeared. 4 For the use of 2. 4GHz technology, wireless mouse, in the first use, you must go through rate matching process, for some users than wired mouse, this process may seem cumbersome. Therefore, although the wireless mouse adapter also uses USB interface, but the first use, you must go through the matching process. 5. Early wireless remote presenter, high prices are not acceptable to every consumer, but with the proliferation of wireless mouse products on the market low-end wireless mouse has an equal footing with wired mouse, but if the wired mouse with the same grade-phase ratio, the wireless mouse price will be higher, so the price factor is also the User is not a reason to buy the wireless presenter mouse.

A computer network is the practice of linking two or more computing devices together for the purpose of sharing data. Networks are built with a mix of computer hardware and computer software. This interconnected system will share services and interact through a communications link. A computer network is very helpful in a business. Most of the time a business will have more than one computer set up and it often very beneficial to network all of the computers in the office. A local area network (LAN) will connect your company’s computers. This will allow them to share and exchange different types of information. If you haven’t considered networking your office computers, listen to these reasons. There are several types of computer networks. A computer network can be very simple, such as only connecting two computers or a computer and a printer, or it can be very complex, connecting millions of computers and devices. Here is a list of different computer network types. The smallest type of network is a Personal Area Network (PAN). This type of computer network connects a computer to a number of devices. These devices may include, but are not limited to, printers, PDAs, and telephones. Usually these are located very close to a computer. A Local Area Network (LAN) is used to network a small geographical area. An example of this type of computer network is a home network with two or more computers or computers that are connected in a workplace. A version of a LAN is a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). A Campus Area Network (CAN) is ideal for a university but they are also found in industrial facilities. This type of computer network connects computers in a number of buildings. This is generally accomplished through bridging and routing. A Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) consists of any number of interconnected LANs and WANs but it will not extend certain boundaries, such as those of a town, city, or metropolitan area. Many of these are operated at public utilities and are used by businesses and individuals in the area. A Wide Area Network (WAN) is a step up from a MAN. This type of computer network can cross metropolitan or even national boundaries. The best known WAN is the Internet. This computer network uses routers and public communication links to carry data. Many WANs are run by private companies and restricted, unlike the Internet. Although these are the MAN types of network that most users come across there are other computer networks ranging from as small as a Desktop Area Network (DAN) to a very large Global Area Network (GAN).