วันศุกร์ที่ 30 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2552

What Kind of Printer Should You Purchase?

There are many brands of printers available. Each brand might have many printers that fit your price range. So how do you decide what to purchase?

With so many brands and printer types available, it can be a major chore just to decide on where to start.

Lets see if we can help you to make a short list and have a jump off point.

First you need to decide what kind of printer you require. If you are thinking of using a printer for business and are printing multiple pages then a laser printer is what you should be looking for. Laser printers use a fine powder ink called toner. A toner cartridge will last much longer than an Ink jet cartridge. A laser printer also prints much faster than an inkjet. Laser printers are available in both black and white printing and color printing.

If you purchase a color laser be prepared to pay $100 to replace each color. If you are looking to print photo quality images then you should be looking at an Inkjet type printer. Most new inkjet printers use four or six colour printing. That is black plus three colours or black plus five colours. Most photo quality printers have six colour printing. Ink should cost about $15-$17 per colour for non generic ink.

Finally the type of paper you use makes a big difference in the quality of your print. If you are printing photo's purchase good quality photo paper.

Epson and Canon make very good photo quality inkjet printers.

About the Author:
Evan Freedman is an author for The Computer Geek Web Design and for CSSZafco.com, distributor of computers and accessories. Evan has been diagnosing and fixing computer for over 25 years. Please visit the site to view a huge assortment of Computer Technology.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Evan_Freedman

The Atomic Clock and the Network Time Server

The atomic clock is the culmination of mankind's obsession of telling accurate time. Before the atomic clock and the nanosecond accuracy they, employ time scales were based on the celestial bodies.

However, thanks to the development of the atomic clock it has now been realised that even the Earth in its rotation is not as accurate a measure of time as the atomic clock as it loses or gains a fraction of a second each day.

Because of the need to have a timescale based somewhat on the Earth's rotation (astronomy and farming being two reasons) a timescale that is kept by atomic clocks but adjusted for any slowing (or acceleration) in the Earth's spin. This timescale is known as UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) as employed across the globe ensuring commerce and trade utilise the same time.

Computer networks use network time servers to synchronise to UTC time. Many people refer to these time server devices as atomic clocks but that is inaccurate. Atomic clocks are extremely expensive and highly sensitive pieces of equipment and are only usually to be found in universities or national physics laboratories.

Fortunately national physics laboratories like NIST (National Institute for Standards and Time - USA) and NPL (National Physical Laboratory - UK) broadcast the time signal from their atomic clocks. Alternatively the GPS network is another good source of accurate time as each GPS satellite has onboard its own atomic clock.

The network time server receives the time from an atomic clock and distributes it using a protocol such as NTP (Network Time Protocol) ensuring the computer network is synchronised to the same time.

Because network time servers are controlled by atomic clocks they can keep incredibly accurate time; not losing a second in hundreds if not thousands of years. This ensures that the computer network is both secure and unsusceptible to timing errors as all machines will have the exact same time.

Richard N Williams and Richard Hawkesford are technical authors and specialists in atomic clocks, telecommunications, NTP and network time synchronisation helping to develop dedicated NTP clocks. Please visit us for more information about an NTP server or other network time server solutions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_N_Williams

วันจันทร์ที่ 26 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2552

Are the New iPods to Come Out Worth It? How to Choose a Media Player

There are many options out in the market right now if you're looking for a new portable media player for your music, video, and photo collections. You don't have to buy the latest popular players or wait for some of the new iPods to come out. Now what should you look for in a media player when deciding to purchase one? The options may confuse you but you just have to narrow it down to several key factors. These factors are drive space, format player/screen size, and software. Let's take a look at each in detail to help your buying decision.

1) Drive Space - The models of the different players out there have drive spaces ranging from 500 mb to over 300 GB of storage. Consider the amount of space you'll need. If you're planning on carrying your entire music collection, then go for a large space capacity drive. If you'll just be listening to a small playlist of less than 200 songs, any player under 4 gb will do. If you're planning on storing several large videos, consider a player with at least 8 gb of space.

2) Format - Media players will undoubtedly play the usual .mp3 and .wma formats for your music. Only some players support MPEG-4 video format. Choose one with video playback features if you're looking to download, copy, and watch videos. Usually the higher capacity media players with drives exceeding 4gb comes with video playback. If songs are all you're concerned about, ignore the players with video support.

3) Player/Screen Size - This feature is simple. If you want a larger usability screen, buy one with a larger screen ( 2.5 - 3" ). If screen size is not important, ignore this factor. Some players don't even have a screen to begin with.

4) Software - You may choose players based on the type of software used to sync, copy, and load songs. Popular brands like the Zen, Zune, and iPods each have their own software for managing songs, videos, and photos. Look into the programs ease of usability and versatility.

Think of these four factors and take them into consideration when purchasing a music player. You don't have to wait for the latest hot new iPods to come out or any big name mp3 gadgets. Why buy a player full of technical features you don't need? It's always about simplicity and necessity over fancy bells and whistles.

Check out mp3playerreports.info for more information on the different types of media players and accessories available.

Zhi Huang is a freelance writer, internet marketer, and fitness enthusiast.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Zhi_Q_Huang

Why You Should Not Scrimp on a New PC

If you've bought a cheap computer before it's quite likely that after a short while of using it, you noticed the speed at which it could perform tasks seemed to rapidly decrease. As soon as you got your favourite programs on it such as iTunes, Windows Messenger or Photoshop you began to notice that you'd be spending more and more time waiting for programs to open or perform simple tasks. And god forbid you have one of the latest versions of Norton Internet Security or a similar antivirus program. Then your PC would slow down to a fraction of the speed it appeared to work when you first set it up.

This scenario is all too common. Retailers offer these beautiful looking PC's, packed with technical jargon, plus tons of free software you don't want, don't need and won't use. They offer them with the latest operating system such as Windows Vista or Windows 7 and they also throw in a flat screen monitor all for not more than a few hundred pounds. Sounds great right?

The problem is if you buy a cheap machine like this you will end up with the above scenario. You may think "This machine has got 4gb of RAM, it must be good" But the problem is unless you really know your stuff about PC's you will be fooled. RAM for instance is important and generally the rule of thumb is the more the better. But what a lot of people don't realize is RAM runs at different speeds depending on the quality of it and the quality of the components around it. If you had say 4gb of cheap DDR400 RAM and 2gb of DDR2 800 RAM you'd be far better off with the second option. What a lot of people don't realize is the retailers know how you think and know which buttons to press in order to get their sale. If you saw a PC advertised as Duo Core, 4 gig of RAM, 500gb hard drive, DVD-RW and some fandango graphics card you'd likely be blown away. The problem is these components in the cheaper options are likely cheap unbranded ones. The Duo Core processor is probably a very low spec, low speed one, the RAM is most likely a cheap low speed RAM, the hard drive is of the older IDE variety and the graphics card is just about good enough to play space invaders. Sad as it may be many manufacturers now spend more on the case than they do on the components within it. If it looks the part people will buy it. There's nothing wrong with having a nice case but would you have the chassis of a Ferrari with the engine of a mini?

Generally more and more people are getting into a force economy. Buy a cheap PC. When it goes wrong just out of warranty or has ground to a complete halt a few weeks after buying it, just buy a new one and give the other one to the kids. This is just money down the drain.

You should reckon on spending around £450/500 on the PC alone (forget the monitor) to have a quality piece of equipment that will last and be a joy to use. These middle of the range PC's are far more likely to be upgradeable to prolong their useful life in the future and the components are more likely to be a named brand with decent speed ratings.

If you use the PC for work then you will be far more productive with a decent spec one. Even if it's just for home use, who wants to be sitting around for ages waiting for the PC to react to something or run a virus scan.

The long and short of it is you get what you pay for but paying too little can be a complete waste of your hard earned cash.

http://www.pcrec.co.uk

PC Recovery is a small family run Home PC repair business operating in Essex and Kent.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Orams

วันศุกร์ที่ 23 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2552

Pink is the New Black When Buying Laptops

The days of the dull gray or black laptops are numbered, now we are able to match our laptop to our outfits or choose our favourite colors with the addition of colorful laptops from many of the large computer companies. Pink laptops in particular are gaining popularity among women (and even a few men). It's no surprise with the invent of those funky apple iPods and even more recently the release of their new color range, who wouldn't want a laptop to match their iPod or even to show off your favourite color at your local cafe rather than the run-of-the-mill black or gray one, a shiny new pink laptop is the way to go.

Many of the large computer companies - Dell, Samsung, Asus, Sony to name a few - now offer laptops in various shades of pink. Dell has also added several color options (pink being one of them) to their sleek, high-performance laptops. The addition of color was a good idea; they have proven incredibly popular and everyone from customers to reviewers raves about them.

When you are looking to buy a new laptop, there are several things you need to consider.

Weight
Carrying a laptop around all day, can get hard on the back. So how mobile do you want to be? How much weight are you prepared to carry? An extremely lightweight laptop really limits your accessory options, but can be a godsend in other ways.

Size
Similar to weight, size is mainly an issue of comfort and mobility. The bigger the laptop, the more space you need to set up, the bigger a bag you'll have to carry and juggle on the train, the more accessories and additional hardware you can fit. And, the bigger screen.

Screen Size
Screen size is probably the biggest determiner of laptop size. If, for reasons of vision problems, gaming addictions, or any other reason you need a large screen, well there isn't much anyone can do about it. If on the other hand, you are comfortable with a small screen (and accompanying small graphics, fewer words per screen, and webpage scroll bars) then your options open up a great deal.

Peripherals
DVD-ROM, flash drive, extra disk drives, touch sensitive screen, and all the other fun extras that you can get may be what you want or need in a laptop. The trade off here is both weight, and price. These extras all weigh something, and can cost quite a bit. Compare your budget with your wish list and only include what is needed.

Memory, RAM and Other Stuff
What do you plan to do with your laptop? What programs you're going to be running determine how much memory you'll need. They also have a great deal to do with what type of video and sound card you want to look into. If you don't plan on doing anything more then word processing and making spreadsheets, you can keep extras to a minimum. On the other hand, if you love to game, you've going to want to max out your memory, and everything else.

Price
Usually the greatest trade off is price. A laptop can run up to several thousand dollars. The more extras you get, the higher the price gets. I strongly suggest you set your budget before you start shopping. That way you know your limits before you start looking at options.

If you're ready to start checking out laptops, there are quite a few things you need to consider. Take this information as a starting point to get you going, and start exploring your options.

Visit Pink Laptops Shop to shop for a great range of Pink Laptops.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Emma_Dickman

Obama, Me and the Blackberry

I have quite a few things in common with Obama, and even more things dissimilar. The one similarity however that has surprised and intrigued me is his open affection for his blackberry. I didn't agree with him on many political and social issues, but boy do I get him when it comes to his feelings about his blackberry. To come between me and my blackberry is like coming between an NRA fanatic and his gun; "The only way your going to get it is to pry it from my cold dead hands!" This may seem extreme to anyone who has not experienced the power of what that little machine can do.

Blackberry aficionados tend to be people with busy lives who want to maintain order. We want to remain personal and personable without appearing to work at it. There are those who are blessed with a natural recall that allows them to remember names, faces, dates and personal information. They will, with ease, meet someone they have not seen for a period of time and greet them by name and personalize the contact by asking about a family member by name. The person who is greeted will then feel special and pleased at having been remembered in such detail. Well I am not like that. I need a cheat sheet! My blackberry is my cheat sheet. I can quickly store info about a person along with their phone number and even their face (if they would allow a photo). My recall of faces is just fine; it's all the other details after that which are problematic. It is just not cool to say "I know you from somewhere, I recognized your face, just tell me your name and who you are and what you do again?"

My blackberry also entertains me and keeps me healthy. My exercise routine would not be complete without the accompaniment of my music, which my blackberry provides. I have uploaded on my blackberry's mp3 over 100 songs, which gives me more than enough time to engage in a 30 - 60 minute workout routine. While walking I can listen to something and not miss any callers who may wish to contact me during that time. With the addition of the Bluetooth, I am hands free to accept my calls, and once the call is terminated, I am once again surrounded by my music. It is all so convenient.

Like most PDA's today, the blackberry is also able to go on the internet and access files and e-mails. For me this was not a big seller. I access the internet from my desk computer and don't care to watch video's or read e-mail on such a small screen. But for those who love their social networking, IMing or texting, the blackberry can do all that for you also.

If all these features above don't do it for you, well this last feature is the one that sold it for me. I suspect that this feature may be the one Obama and I love the most. Like most PDA's the blackberry can store appointments, names and addresses as well as other data. However, the blackberry also syncs up with my Microsoft outlook program. What that means is that although I am away from my desk I can still make an office appointment without worrying about my schedule availability. My blackberry is synced to my office calendar at the end of every day and again at the beginning of the work day. The two calendars match without taking valuable time to manually input or delete updated entries. For the busy professional this is a work of genius.

After reading that President Obama would be denied his blackberry for security reasons I felt an empathetic rush of pain. Having experienced the intensity of love that one can have for one's blackberry, I began to worry about how he will adjust to being forcibly separated from such a large part of his life. On the campaign trail he had been trying to kick the nicotine habit, I don't know how successful he was at that. Now he was being asked to kick the blackberry habit. Sometimes I think service to this country asks too much! Well President Obama, I want you to know I am here for you. Did I mention that I am a psychotherapist? I will be glad to provide you some supportive therapy during this adjustment period. Your fellow blackberry addicts salute you and admire you for the sacrifice you are making for your country.

Allison Bonilla MSW, LCSW
Awareness Counseling Center
2425 S. Volusia Ave. Ste. B-4
Orange City Fl. 32763
(386) 774-1330
http://www.awarenesscounseling.com
http://sanityinsight.blogspot.com/

Allison Bonilla has been in private practice for 10 years in Orange City, Florida. She has been in the field of Social Work for over 20 years. Her experience includes working with children and families in crisis situations, through governmental agencies. She has been a presenter at various professional conferences. She also volunteers with her local church. Her Masters in Social Work was obtained at Adelphi University in New York. She is a Licensed Master of Social Work in New York State, and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Florida.

She is a professional Christian Counselor who successfully integrates a biblical world view with psychological theories in an attempt to assist her clients achieve optimal health. Her approach is holistic, with a strong slant towards Cognitive Behavioral theories. Allison Bonilla is a member of the North American Association of Christians in Social Work, and National Association of Social Workers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=A_Bonilla

Maximizing Your iPod's Features and It's Capabilities

Now that you have bought the iPod you always coveted, it is time to make sure you get the maximum out of it. iPods don't come cheap, and that alone justifies the effort in taking a few precautionary measure that will help you get the most out of your iPod. Besides, the iPod's features are sure to make it your favorite device for personal entertainment on the go, so let us see what we can do to appreciate the iPod more than we do already and help extend the usability.

You need to keep these aspects involving common sense in your mind always while using your iPod to maximize its features:

1. Keep Your iPod Cool - As far as IPods go, being cool is best. That means ensuring that your IPod is as near room temperature (72° F or 22° C). Do not keep it in strong sunlight, near appliances radiating heat, on the dashboard or in the glove compartment. The more the iPod heats up, the lower its lifespan.

2. Use Your iPod Regularly - Regular use of your iPod ensures that the battery charges and discharges regularly. This prolongs both the battery life (how long your battery can power the iPod) and lifespan (how long before you need to replace the battery). An iPod that is used regularly will last longer than an iPod that is seldom used.

3. Turn Off - You can either use the hold button to prevent the iPod from waking up due to movement or switch it off when you don't want it. This helps conserve battery power and delays the necessity for another charging cycle.

4. Disable Wi-Fi - If you keep the Wi-Fi capability enabled always, the circuits tend to consume a lot of power even if you are not connected to a network. It is wise to enable Wi-Fi only when you need it.

5. Backlight Off - Keep the backlighting of the LCD screen off will help conserve a significant amount of power.

6. Applications - There are several applications available for the iPod that keeps the screen from becoming dim or turning off. The applications should be used sparingly in order to maximize the iPod.

Ms. Pinky is a Computer Support Specialist for more than 25 years. Has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Engineering, MS Research work in Systems Engineering.

Get more free computer tips on her blog at http://www.computerhelpdeskandsupport.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Pinky_Mcbanon

IT Support in Agricultural Sector

IT support in the agricultural value chain

During the last decade, use of fragmented IT systems and support for agricultural purposes in Norway has increased dramatically. However, very little analytical and empirical research has been carried out to determine current situation of IT in animal and plant production.

The aim of this research was therefore to investigate the effectiveness and functionality of using IT support in agricultural value chain. For this reason one conducted qualitative research study, which was contained the depth interviews and questionnaires in order to map certain actors processes and tasks and their degree of IT utilization. The modeling languages were used to present the IT support in the processes and tasks at the farm and certain companies in the value chain. Results of the assessment showed significant differences between using IT tools in animal and plant production. Presenting the statistics gave a better understanding about the correlation between the treatments. However one observed that there is no significant effect of one given variable over the other except in one observed situation that is the degree of experience in IT utilization may help a farmer to get a part time and full time job which adds more value to their income and as a result in the entire chain. Another interesting observation was that senior farmers were more experienced and expert in IT utilization than the younger ones. The various complicated systems appear to be confusing for some farmers. This suggests that the effective utilization of IT support may increase flow of information and knowledge among farmers if they are implemented and tested efficiently with better functionality. One proposed several new mechanisms in certain systems that farmers apply mostly in order to spare their time, add more value to the value chain and users satisfaction. There was also suggested an attempt which may be employed in a pilot project for the process improvement purposes. A simple system may give the users a better usability and satisfaction in the agricultural sector.

Note:

Please note that I have presented IT solutions for software and business process improvement in the value chain. The more detailed analysis will be given upon your request.

This is a short report about my investigation on this problem approach.

Many companies that experience a few negative results do not have a program for controlling risk. Take some Norwegian companies in agricultural value chain as an example. Having conducted many interviews, several uses of IT technology emerged as consistent. Framers in remote locations found the IT programs varied in their usefulness, but all agreed that in the areas of knowledge and efficiency, the technology was preferable to the way things were done in the past.

The breakdown summary concerned four major areas: IT Support, Accounting, Sales and Delivery and the health of the crop.

IT Support

All found IT Support helpful and use it frequently. It is faster and easier to track crops and animals, production and sales using various programs. It's also easier to track government regulations, international trends and purchasing.

It was also made clear that these programs should be as simple and user friendly as possible. Their more advanced uses, requiring more knowledge of computers and applications, were almost universally not being used and certainly not being used to the potential envisioned by the programmer.

Accounting

The farmers interviewed represent a viable random sample. Without exception they preferred to use an outside source for accounting. For many, this was a safeguard to ensure compliance with governmental regulations. For all of them it was simply an area with which they were unfamiliar and therefore not comfortable. Many of them lack the education necessary to use an IT accounting program and they do not possess sufficient time in which to learn one.

Sales and Delivery

One area where everyone used and greatly appreciated the programs was in sales and delivery. All of the programs afford the farmers the ability to check market conditions to ensure the best price, keep current on trends and even check international trends and markets. This helps boost sales and increase profit. As a side benefit, it helps make decisions that also save in transportation by informing a farmer of the places where the market is saturated and where there is a need. This increases the profit margin all around.

It was also very useful in tracking what items needed to be purchased and to make the necessary purchases. This was seen as one of the most favorable aspects to these programs.

Health of the Crop

With the ability to check current problems and look for solutions quickly and easily, using various IT solutions, these programs earned high marks from the farmers. For animal crops, they were able to track diseases and perhaps prevent diseases. It also helped in culling sick animals from a herd.

For plant crops it afforded the ability to use aggressive preventative measures well in advance of destruction. The loss is often incalculable.

In short, all concluded that the basic aspects of IT Technology are helpful while the more advanced applications are not as useful as hoped.

Summary of gathered questionnaires:

• Nearly 31% of the farmers (who replied to the 26 questionnaires) use IT tools but they are not very proficient in it.
• Nearly 65% are comfortable using IT tools and around 54% use them in practice.
• 30% of the farmers produce corn and 38% out of corn producing farmer's use IT tools while producing corns.
• 58% of the farmers producing plants use IT. Nearly 77% of the animal producing farmers use IT.
• 76% were men and 24% were women.

A farmer in animal and plant production does not use all types of IT tools. That is why they did not answer to some alternative questions connected to various tools. We illustrated graphs for each question and estimated the numbers of replied questions.

In my statistical analysis I attempted to show the results of my investigations. The variables were captured and evaluated against each other. One found that they are related but there is no significant effect of one variable over the other. However in one case I explored that there is a direct relationship between IT utilization and getting a part time or full time job. This may add value not only to farmer's income, but also the entire chain. Another significant finding was that senior farmers are more experienced in using IT support than the younger ones. This helps younger farmers to learn how to apply certain programs properly in order to fulfill the farm tasks.

It is essential to mention that as opposed to experimental investigation, the results apply to some company's first layer infrastructure, which is information and communication technology and farmers, IT utilization in Norwegian agriculture sector. One may not carefully control the value as it may be done in formal experiment. Thus the results are not generally applicable to a wider range across many organizations in Norway. However the outcome of this investigation may help us to do the analyses in order to explore the systems that have better and less IT support along with improvement possibilities in IT support.

IT Support comparison and their quality in the value chain

Quality is a difficult property to measure, in itself. Since it applies to the eyes of the holder, it is hard to define an absolute measure with which the whole audience may agree. Similarly with value, it depends on whose viewpoint, from which a person is looking, as to what the value may be. For the purposes of this study we will use the International Standard Quality Vocabulary

(ISO 8402-1986) definition:

"The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to meet stated or implied needs" (Hofman et. al, 1999)

The purpose of using IT in a value chain is to:

a) Increase efficiency
b) Reduce costs
c) Provide a functional and efficient communication

One identified some of the actors in an agriculture sector in Norway. These actors have various IT solutions in order to reduce their own costs, have a better communication with their users and improve their efficiency. However, does this contribute to the value chain in a way to produce results along with the complete chain in Norway? The answer is yes. Because some of the actors in meat production, such as Gilde, have a process in which they exchange information about how many animals are slaughtered, frozen or distributed in the year to the market with the other concurrent actors in the meat industry. The purpose is to maintain the balance in the market. This is a positive property that helps actors add more value in the value chain. One may observe that such positive quality in the Norwegian agriculture market is not practised in some industrial

countries where high and intense competitions are the key factors to increase the capital and the internal quality of production in order to be the best in the market. They try to weaken the other concurrent rivals that have the same production in the market.

Bondelaget has annual meetings to find better ways in order to increase the quality of information and communication. They attempt to find ways for developing better coordination tools in order to make the communication and flow of information easier among farmers, retailers, suppliers and the other actors in the value chain. Such effort will be a great help in increasing the quality of information technology in such a value chain.

Felleskjøpet provides courses such as electronic learning, filed injection course ( åkesprøytekurs) and courses for planning the cowshed/cow house for the farmers. The purpose is to aide farmers to increase the production and knowledge in animal and plant manufacturing. The user interface quality of this actor's website due to shared knowledge with the farmers is good. However in their online web site where farmers may log on and purchase a product or surf around, there is a tool that is missing. This tool may be designed to give technical support to the farmers without logging on to their account on the site. It is important for a company to share knowledge and increase the user interface quality. This is one of the factors in common information spaces through formal and informal communication. One observed the same logging function in order to access the information on the other actor's web site, such as previously mentioned, Gilde, Animalia and that they should provide knowledge and information for the farmers on line that requires logging on the website. Would such authenticity be necessary for sharing the information?

Sharing knowledge will increase cognizance among farmers in animal and plant production. This quality of knowledge sharing will add value to the value chain.

Many of the farmers, irrespective of their age, have limited time to spend regularly on the computer for interacting with IT, and limited exposure to IT systems in general. They either work on their farm or are occupied with their part time and full time jobs. For this reason they need easier IT tools in order to use in the farm and better communication with retailers and actors. There is also a need for a decrease in the number of fragmented IT tools and systems. Automating the systems that farmers employ may be a solution to this issue.

Sending the same information to various actors several times year results dissatisfaction. Farmers receive a certain schema for example from Mattilsynet or the other actors and must write the same information every time. In such a case it is required to register the general information about each farmer in the database and ask for supplementary information or a change of information to save time and frustration.

One argues further that, if these requirements are not met, much of the advantages of the value chain are lost, as the end-user is not contributing to the expected gains in the business process.

The most significant factors are:

a) A high degree of technical competence of systems support staff
b) User's understanding of the system
c) Ease of access for users to computing and technical facilities
d) User confidence in systems

IT tools utilization measurement

The trend of using the various IT services and tools is progressing in the Norwegian Agricultural sector, especially in the last two decades as this trend has geared up. Development of a good deal of software has occurred in order to help farmers to increase production. We measure quality of IT support by analysing inherent characteristics in programs and systems that fulfils the market's demands according to ISO 9000-20001

To measure the effectiveness of IT support in the value chain, we need to design questions and provide the answers in such a way that we may determine if these goals are being met. We determine whether these tools are used effectively by seeing how many users employ such programs.

Usability, degree of complexity & functionality of current tools

Companies have achieved to present the necessary tools and programs on the web sites in order to offer them to the farmers. They have the basic functions in their programs and system. However the quality of communication systems differs from each other. Some companies in the value chain have a better invoicing support system than the other actors. For instance Felleskjøpet's online order system has a missing SMS system that may simplify the invoicing process through sending the text messaging. However Gilde has fulfilled such a task by providing a text messaging system for making an appointment. Such a function makes it easier for farmers to send and make an appointment by simply using a cell phone.

The accounting programs are meant to simplify the accounting task. However the complexity of the various accounting software make the accounting task difficult for a farmer.

The following table shows an overview of the complexity of using various accounting programs used by farmers in plant and animal production. Those who are able to use the program are shown by "1" and those who do not use the program and believe it is complex are shown as empty space.

As one investigated through various software to explore the functionality of the programs, they all seem to have necessary functions. However the more a program is made secure with more functionality, the more there is complexity in using the program.

From the analysis, it holds those farmers who use more computers with their usage of the planting planners (Fertilizing program), Storfekjøttkontrollen, and then their sheep volume increases. However they decrease their usage in some accounting programs, such as Duett, as a farmer gets more familiar with the other programs. As we have the reason is complexity of the programs, another reason is unfamiliarity of rules.

There are also other elements that contribute to the value of IT. A summary of these comments is:

a) In the plant production software planning value is achieved by expediting the slower process of using consultants to advise on planting programs. The consultants are still required in some more complex requirements.

b) The numbers of various software products offered by IT vendors take a lot of time to install, look at, and then try to evaluate its usefulness. Farmers are reluctant to keep doing it.

c) The amount of time a farmer is prepared to invest in learning a new program is limited, because of their time pressures. Therefore a program with strong introductory and simple installation instructions would do a lot better in the market.

d) It may be argued that there is evidence of value for the farmers if they have adopted the technology. There are factors that determine the likelihood of this adoption shown in the statistical results of the report.

e) The farmers have readily embraced low-level automation, such as farm equipment, and whether the need to have off-farm jobs requires this technology, or off-farm jobs may now be taken. . Having an off-farm job increases the likelihood of a farmer adopting more IT processes in order to manage their farm tasks.

I received few responses from farmers over the age of 58. This means it is difficult to determine if age alone affects the adoption of IT.

Improving IT support for the value chain

Farmers require having automated tools that make the IT tools easier. Many of the companies have their automated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Felleskjøpet, Animalia and Gilde's Slaktweb system, with their assistance provisions and additional training, indicate that farmers feel they need support to help with the adoption of IT in their daily working life.

With only 50% of farmers generally using the Internet to contact with actors, it shows that implementation of many IT value chain processes through this medium needs additional training to assist farmers to make the change to this method of conducting business. While it is very efficient for businesses to offer these services, they will truly achieve those cost savings when more farmers accept this medium of interaction. In fact if companies in the value chain find ways to support the end-users, they stand to add more value in the entire chain.

The coordination tools are various on the websites of some actors. These tools may be email and text messaging. Felleskjøpet has a habit of attracting farmers and increasing their awareness in some aspects such as production and planning along with providing the goods. Gilde's slaughtering registration processes and farmer's tasks for making appointments for the slaughter have sufficient functionality and usability. That is why 57 to 69% of farmers employ the system more than using the telephone 3, 8% in animal production.

Having the same items and programs for the farm introduced on websites of companies, in order to show farmers how to use the system available as a parallel dialogue while the system is being used, will greatly increase the confidence of the end-user (the farmer) resulting in an increased usage of the system and more widespread efficiency gains from the value chain's business process transformations.

Practical Quality evaluation of processes in value chain

To evaluate the reliability of productivity in various departments at each value chain's company requires having some documentation from those companies to place a number on their reliability and quality of their products. It will allow us to learn the exact data in order to evaluate and compare results between IT products and software among various companies. Also required is an annual benchmarking report for comparison of IT systems and tools among the various companies. It is also required to measure quality according to ISO certifying. It is proposed that the ISO certifying be evaluated by a neutral position in order to not influence productivity and quality.

It is significant to control the processes by measuring them step by step. Each company in the agricultural value chain needs a constant process improvement by using the quality standard.

One proposes that actors in the agricultural sector apply process dimension in ISO/IEC 155041 in order to to insure the quality of processes in the value chain.

To improve all these processes a company needs to identify their significant problems and possible solutions for processing improvement in order to implement the desired solutions.

The IT companies that provide software for the agriculture sector in Norway need to adopt their IT solutions for improving the programs according to the Norwegian adjustment.

Farmers real need and processes maturity level in the value chain

As we mentioned earlier in this report there are many fragmented systems in the market for helping farmers to perform their daily tasks in the animal and plant production. These programs have almost the same functionality such as reporting, inbox, outbox, calendar and some systems have online coordination tools with the value chain's companies' advisors and consultants. (See the attachment software)

IT companies are aware of the farmer's desire to use easier products. However developers have more focus on technical aspects of developing such programs instead of concentrating on the real needs of farmers in using software. It is desirable that analysts and designers focus on making integrated packages that contain all these functions and decrease the number of manufacturing various programs in the market. A farmer wants to use a program that helps him to add more value to his products and bring more income to yearly earnings.

Norwegian agriculture's goal for farmers is to increase productivity in plant and animal production and provide healthy food for the market along with adding value to the value chain. The tools that are provided in the market are not utilized as much as expected. The reason is that farmers have a tendency to employ easier programs. For example, the fertilizing program is used a great deal, which proves that the program is user-friendlier than the other programs such as Duett.

Business process improvement in the value chain

It is significant to take the business processes improvement in consideration. The improvement of processes will be cost effective. If a company in the value chain wish to change processes dramatically, they might receive the profit, although the risk is always involved. One may not address these issues directly since one does not have the exact and detailed mapping of each company's processes and tasks in the value chain. However one proposes the improvement attempt for the processes and tasks, which are presented and mapped earlier in this report.

Companies do not need to change the processes dramatically in order to improve business processes. We focus on coordination and communication support in the value chain. As I presented earlier farmers employ various communication tools due to order a product such as grain feed or make an appointment for the slaughtering proposes or sample analysing or delivery. One of such tools is text messaging by mobiles, which may be used effectively. We may apply text messing for ordering or making an appointment. I propose to integrate a certain mechanism in the ordering system in order to ease the flow of information and better communication.

Harmonizing the work processes & IT support

Harmonizing the work processes and IT support plays a significant role in agricultural sector. One presented the present situation in the value chain. It is relevant to explore the right balance in work places and IT usage. It was proposed applying a pilot project for harmonizing the processes for coordinating and communicating purposes among actors in the value chain. However one wish to mention that process improvement may happen through applying various plans in each company in the value chain. We may utilize the right functionality in processes without doing the total change.

One utilized modeling languages in order to show the processes and tasks. We understand each company have their several goals, tools, culture and standardization. Applying merely one modeling language to illustrate these needs may not be applicable for all actors in agricultural sector. We should pay attention how actors operate in each process in order to make the right balance.

The best modeling solution to start the process improvement is to model a process from high level.One proposes to consider the following in harmonizing and process improvement:

• Adopting business reengineering
• Finding the real customer's need
• Tasks should be adding more value in the value chain
• Adjusting processes with business
• Changing fast and directly the processes that need to be altered
• Specifying IT platforms in form of high level
• Identifying the necessary problems which should be changed in the start phase
• Predicting the outlook of change by doing a simulation

Conclusion

One employed the objective and subjective discussion to investigate farmer's work processes and tasks, which are supported by appropriate IT systems. One evaluated and analysed the degree of IT utilization among farmers in agriculture sector and their usability and efficiency. There were presented qualitative research method such as questionnaires and depth interviews with executives and farmers in order to evaluate and analyse the current situation.

In order to have a better environment, the IT tools should be functional and efficient. It also should be available simple and cheap method of communication.

In conclusion, therefore, it is fair to say that farmers will lose focus and interest if a complex application is utilized without safely conducting better implementation and testing on the system's usability, functionality, simplicity and efficiency, then all the effort and workload will not be conducive to bettering the business. This will in the end, lead to a less success, and the value chain will face many challenges.

For future success for data communication among actors in the value chain, constant control and measuring must be maintained, while at the same time, increasing usability with new technologies may only help to improve an already satisfactory system.

http://www.maria-johnsen.com

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Maria Johnsen - EzineArticles Expert Author

วันพุธที่ 21 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2552

Laptop Bags - Choosing the Best One

If you own a laptop, I would highly suggest you look into getting a bag that will fit your laptop so that you can not only keep it safe, you can also carry around pens, papers and books without having to have a separate bag. Yes, laptop bags are just like backpacks but generally are a little smaller and easier to tote around. If you're looking for a specific bag for your computer, I'm going to show you a few tips that you can use in order to find the perfect one.

Measure your laptop - Know the dimensions of your computer before you go out and buy one. Since all laptops aren't created equally, you won't want to buy a bag and find out it's too small. If you have to, go to the store and test the bags out. Most stores won't have a problem with this. If you find one that you like, either buy it in the store if it's a good price or write the model down and find it online. It's usually cheaper to buy online rather in the store.

Look at the options - There are so many options when it comes to a bag. You'll find that they have compartments, zipper pouches, and more. You have to know what you want when you're looking for a bag. If you want something simple, get something simple because these are generally cheaper. If you want more options, you're going to find yourself paying a little bit more.

These are the 2 main things you should look for when looking for the perfect bag. Bags will usually run you anywhere from $20 to as much as a $100. Do your research and you shouldn't have a hard time finding a bag.

Find the top 10 laptop bags as well as more of Tom's work all at http://www.FINDcollegecards.com/blog

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Data Center Design and Revision - Do Your "Level" Best

When you are design or revising your data center structure, there is a lot to consider. You must decide how much processing power and storage you need to begin with, and ensure that the solution's scalability guarantees that you will never outgrow it. You will have the processing power, the storage area and the throughput that you need to get your work done, in the present and in the future, if you pay attention to the details up front.

Whether you do the work yourself or contract it out, there is a great deal of high-tech expertise involved. It is important that you stay current on the technology and the procedures, as they are constantly changing. Nothing stays the same except change, so be prepared to review your data center operations at least monthly.

Level 3: Concurrent Maintainability

According to The Uptime Institute, which developed the tiered classification approach to site infrastructure and established a common benchmarking standard, a Level 1 data center is susceptible to disruption from both planned and unplanned activity. This is because there is just a single path for power and cooling, without redundant components.

Level 2 facilities with redundant components are somewhat less susceptible to such disruptions, with their raised floors, UPS devices (Uninterruptible Power Supply) and generators. But there is still a single-wired distribution path throughout, meaning that maintenance of the critical power path and other parts of the site infrastructure will require a system shutdown.

Level 3 facilities allow planned site infrastructure activities without interrupting computer hardware operation; this is called concurrent maintainability. There must be enough capacity to simultaneously carry the load on one path while testing or repairing the other. In this way, preventive maintenance, component repair/replacement and system tests can be performed without a service interruption. According to The Uptime Institute, Level 3 facilities provide upwards of 99.982% availability.

Constant Monitoring
A reputable vendor can ensure that your company's unique needs are fully met with a uniquely customized and dedicated server environment. The best firms monitor their servers 24/7 and upgrade them as necessary to prevent over-utilization or over-loading. Full server administration is provided, at no additional charge, by many of these top firms, and most are not afraid to give you a "maximum uptime guarantee" - just ask for details and you will even get in writing.

There are no shortcuts and you cannot afford to compromise. There are any number of firms whose people, products and services are first-rate, and the industry (and its equipment) is in a constant state of development and improvement. There are many, many vendors that continue to push the technology envelope to serve you and your company better, faster, more cost-effectively and with guaranteed security.

A scalable solution, one that is constantly monitored and continuously refined, is the goal for your data center. Doing your due diligence up front so as to ensure the selection of a trusted, capable vendor is extremely important. Reviewing your situation on a regular basis is also crucial. Don't ever sign on to anything you don't understand, so if you need some high-tech advice, get it from a trusted source before beginning any negotiations with service companies.

After founding his first security firm in 1990, Scott McQuarrie built several security-related companies into regional and national powerhouses over the ensuing years. Since 2000 he has focused his sales and marketing efforts on the Internet, which opened up a virtually unlimited, international market for his flagship product line, EZWatch Pro

The EZWatch Pro brand has come to stand for world-class expertise in electronic security, video surveillance and the myriad technologies involved in both fields. From small houses to gigantic international airports, there is an EZWatch Pro solution to meet any and every residential, business, commercial and government security challenge.

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Computer Services Business Lead Qualification Tips

If you own or manage a computer services business, you may be wondering about how you can consistently find high-quality clients that build relationships and provide ongoing services revenue.

Many IT companies struggle to establish the right criteria to secure great client accounts. When you fail to have a consistent process for qualifying your leads, you will find yourself scrambling to get good clients and working way harder than you need in order to stabilize your computer services business. The following 4 lead qualification criteria can help you find more great clients all the time.

Proximity. A potential client for your computer services business needs to be geographically close to you. In most areas, this means within a 30-60-minute drive from your location. Proximity has an impact on the types of networking events you attend and everything else you do from a marketing perspective. Proximity will also be an important benefit to stress as you are building a long-term support contract plan. This way, you can build long-term relationships with your ongoing clients.

Size. Make sure with your computer services business that you are targeting potential clients with 10-50 PC's ... those that we call Sweet Spot Clients(TM). Basically, prospects have to be big enough that they need a real server. Typically, this level of investment is required once a small business reaches somewhere between 10-100 employees. You can also measure size in annual revenue. A good prospect for you will have $1 - 10 million in annual sales. Know all the details of prospect size because that information will help you with your marketing efforts, particularly when you plan direct mail campaigns.

Existing IT Assets. Most of the time your computer services business prospects will have their own e-mail domain. You will want to address how their users retrieve and send e-mails when meeting with them, because it's going to be an important way to qualify them as good candidates for your services. Many times prospects will have a dedicated server, which will indicate that they have more serious IT needs and probably would be receptive to the solutions you offer.

Platform Match. If your expertise is in Microsoft Windows, will you be able to adequately and profitably support a potential client's largely Mac-focused environment? As part of your lead qualification process, be sure to ask about predominant OS/NOS platform investments to make sure that you're not embarking on an unsupportable-platform wild-good-chase. Or at the minimum, make sure you have a competent contractor or partner that can help to bridge any of your own company's skills gaps.

In this article, we discussed 4 lead qualification tips for finding great clients. Learn more now at http://www.ComputerServicesBusiness.com

Copyright (C), ComputerServicesBusiness.com, All Rights Reserved. Learn how your computer consulting business can get more of the best, steady, high-paying clients in your area. Sign-up now for free computer consulting business tips, strategies, and best practices from the field-tested, proven Computer Consulting Kit Home Study Course.

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วันศุกร์ที่ 9 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2552

3 Simple Solutions on How to Make Your Computer Go Faster

How to make your computer go faster? Know your computer. That is one of the most important things to take note of when you decide to ramp up the speed, or restore it to its former glory not so many months ago. Information is one of the most important aspects of upgrading or tweaking your CPU and OS. The central processing unit and the operating system are part of a much larger picture; a picture in which you need to know about. What kind of memory are you running? How much? What is the speed of the memory? What about your computer chip?

You should have all this information and more before you decide to do anything and people often slip up and spend gargantuan amounts of money because they did not realise what they had under the hood in the first place. Once you have all the information then you can start to increase the speed of the computer. One of the best ways to do so is to upgrade the memory, because more than likely, you have been installing recent programmes on a machine that was assembled before it was published.

Programmes are pretty scalable, but when too many are installed on a system or if you are working with huge files, you need to ramp up the memory and remove one of the bottlenecks of the system. Memory, especially RAM (or random access memory) is pretty affordable nowadays, even hard disks come pretty cheap. Buying one will solve plenty of problems for you. Another way is for you to defragment your disk. You may have heard this advice somewhere before, but there is a darn good reason why that advice is there in the first place. A fragmented hard drive means that data is strewn about.

This means that to launch a programme, Windows has to go through the motions of re assembling the fragmented data into a coherent code before the programme can launch. This causes massive slowdowns and system hangs even and you need to address this issue pretty quick. It is a good idea to defragment your drive once every 2 to 4 weeks, and this makes sure that you have a speedy hard drive that can launch programmes quick.

Also, the registry is one of the main chokes on a computer system; meaning that the tiny file that resides in your system core has the capability of slowing your system down to a crawl if it is not maintained. Zero values left by programme uninstalls, null values from bad code, corrupt data and command lines left behind by viruses and malware are just some of the examples of how your Windows registry can be left a debilitating mess.

All you need to do is to download a good registry cleaner, which will take care of 100% of these problems and then some. They are pretty advanced nowadays and can even settle clutter from your browsers, system files and trailing debris left behind by bad uninstalls. These are 3 simple solutions on how to make your computer go faster.

Click Here to improve computer performance. Logan Albright helps thousands of people optimize their computers through a proper computer check up. He is an authority on troubleshooting computer problems at http://www.pcaholic.com.

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Will DRM Free Music Kill Apple?

Yesterday, in a move that garnered worldwide media attention, Apple computer did the unthinkable: They changed the pricing model of their music. The change was not exactly earthshaking in nature, at least according to the vast majority of media. Apple was merely changing track prices to 69¢, 99¢, and $1.29, and moving away from the flat 99¢ per track that has been the model for so many years.

This marks a major concession on the part of Steve Jobs, as it had been his goal to keep pricing at 99¢ per track, pretty much forever. What did change yesterday were the fundamentals of Apple's business model. It was ignored by the vast majority of the non-tech media, as they fell over themselves to explain the new pricing model. You see, yesterday, Apple computer freed their music of all Digital Rights Management. For the first time in the history of the iTunes music store, users would be able to purchase any track, transfer it to any music player, and copy it an unlimited number of times, to any medium. Nothing is off limits. Before, you could play your music

The techie crowd has been clamoring for this since the introduction of the iPod. Apple gave users some concessions when they struck a deal with EMI, and began offering their tracks DRM free. This has not had a substantial effect on their business. However, something else did. Amazon.com premiered their completely DRM free music collection, and charged 89¢ per track for the same music that Apple offered. This gave Amazon an estimated 10% of online music market share. Apple was basically cornered by Amazon, and forced to negotiate for DRM free music in the iTunes store.

To understand how this new offering changes their business model, we have to find examine the state of things less than a month ago. iTunes was built for the sole purpose of moving units of the iPod. This would provide an end-to-end product that music lovers would use to manage an Apple approved music device. Apple offered music in a format that would be controlled , and keep most iPod users from transferring their music libraries to another(cheaper) device. They also controlled the number of machines that the songs could be played back on. It was set at a maximum of 5. This hypothetically fine for 1 person, but if you have an entire family that has MP3 players, you are going to run into sharing problems. Another problem was that Apple only allowed you to download your music once. No more. If you didn't make a backup, and your hard drive failed, you were out of luck. That is, unless iTunes customer service allowed you to re-download. You prayed they would allow you to do so. Again, this was the state of things.

With Apple removing DRM from tracks, they no longer have any control over where users take, or put their tracks. Sure, they can stick with an iPod for the simplest music experience, but more tech-savvy users are not locked into iTunes. They are free to explore other options for managing their music, and that exploring may take them off the Apple axis, and into the Amazon shop. The fact that you can store music on an infinite number of machines, means that it is less likely you will lose your music in the event of a hard drive crash. This means less money for Apple in the form of "redownloads", where people pay again for music they have already bought.

In order to combat this, the iPhone and iPod Touch both connect directly to the iTunes music store. This makes the impulse buy far easier, as the music store is now contained directly on the device. Apple is placing all of its bets on a self-contained music delivery system, by which they can bypass Amazon altogether. Simplicity and ease of use have always been tandem strategies for Apple, but this move is their most risky yet. They are betting on the fact that most users won't want to go to the trouble of transferring music to another device.

As usual, we'll have to leave the answers to history and iTunes users. My guess is that most users will stay with the platform and device they are used to, and that Apple will continue to milk iTunes for all it is worth. As for me, I'll be staying with Amazon. Who needs to pay 99¢ when you could pay 79¢ for a DRM free track all along?

Kurt Hartman is Head of Employee training for Mobile Fleet Service. That doesn't leave him much time to listen to music. It does, however, allow him to write articles. It does, however, allow him to write articles about the tire industry, over on his otr tire blog. While there is no music there, he does encourage you to stop by and say "Hi". He also prefers that you buy your music from Amazon... If you want to stay with iTunes, he respects that decision as well.

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The Best Windows XP Registry Fix

There is no one best Windows XP registry fix, I think you have plenty of options when it comes to choosing registry cleaners for Windows XP. Hundreds are available online, and it is up to your own inquisitiveness to choose which is the best, weigh their features and in some cases their price - and make that decision to download. Why all the hype about the Windows Registry? Well for many important reasons. The registry was written to simplify the entire computing process, even from the simpler Windows 95 machines that were around not so long ago.

The reason for this is that the amount of data executions that a computer goes through a day is enormous and engineers over at Microsoft realised that they needed an efficient way to track all the activities of the Operating System as well as have a sort of 'instruction guide' for launching the thousands of different configured programs out there. Not to get too technical, there are many shared .DLL or system files that Windows and other programs use to launch themselves, and with the expansion of Flash, Java, Active X and other third party systems, it has gotten pretty complicated.

While it would not be a problem for Windows to 'remember' what goes where, a compartmentalised filing system with all this data would be extremely messy, so engineers needed a consolidated core where all activities of the operating system would be logged in. This would include program installs, uninstalls, removal and installation of hardware, changes to the OS, program updates - you get the picture.

It would also be filled with command line instructions, written in code, of how certain programs are launched. So it would be a sort of a log book as well as a guide Windows can refer to whenever it needs. The problem with having everything in such a vulnerable singular location, is that it is an easy target for nefarious software as well as more prone to the normal wear and tear of computer use.

The flip side of this is that it would be much easier to track where problems came from and repair them with a single tool. Having a registry has its ups and downs, but the philosophy behind it is pretty good. It is an efficient filing system, in one location that maintains the integrity of the OS and everything in it, as well as a memory bank of all activities in the OS.

To maintain its function, you would need to fine tune it and send it for clean up once in a while, because problems in the registry are common and have been linked to some common problems; which include computer hands in XP, slowdowns and even outright crashes. What is the best Windows XP registry fix? The answer lies in the quality of registry cleaner that you get. Looking at the feature list, the ease of use and the history behind the program are guaranteed indications whether or not you have a quality product in your hands.

Click Here when windows are unable to load registry. Logan Albright helps thousands of people optimize their computers through a proper computer check up. He is an authority on troubleshooting computer problems at http://www.pcaholic.com.

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