There are many reasons to own a laptop computer, especially so for newly college bound students. For parents looking to find a perfect graduation gift for their children, a laptop computer is one of the greatest investments you can make in a student’s education. Even with the state of the economy, when budgets are tight, laptops are inexpensive and easily attainable for many families. Their portability and abundant benefits and functions are sure to be appreciated by all students.

Below are the top five reasons why a college student should own a laptop:

1. Completing Web Based Assignments:The most important reason to own a laptop is to get your school work done. In an increasingly technological age, more and more schoolwork is becoming web-based. College schedules require students to be constantly on the go, so an advantage of owning a portable computer, or a laptop, is that you can connect to the internet virtually anywhere and complete any assignments without worry. Most colleges provide free wireless internet throughout the campus making it a very laptop friendly community. Depending on certain areas of study, some majors and classes involve using computers in class and working in various computer programs.
2. Keeping in Touch: Oftentimes, college is the first time that many young men and women leave home. For the students who are moving away from home, it is a great way to keep in touch with family. Built in web cams and microphones are standard on most laptops and make it much more personal to communicate via the web! Students can take pictures and record videos, edit them and send them home for their family and friends to enjoy, completely paperless and without a single stamp or postage fee!
3. Convenience and Style: Laptops are at the cutting edge of fashion. They are sleek, slim and stylish. They are lightweight and very portable. They have long battery life and use less energy than a desktop computer, so students will not have to worry about carrying multiple cords, plugging in constantly or running up an expensive electricity bill. There are also special laptop bags and backpacks available that provide protection for the laptop. They are also very affordable and stylish.
4. Taking Notes: Students will be able to take notes directly onto their computers. In large lecture classes, the professors can be hard to keep up with when taking notes by hand. The built in microphone comes in handy to capture the lecture, and much more information can be recorded through a laptop with less time and effort. Professors also release their PowerPoints and digital notes to the students to follow along with, where you can make notes directly through your laptop computer. Electronic copies of textbooks are available that are often considerably less expensive than hard copies.
5. Inexpensive and Affordable: In recent years, it has been more economical to purchase a desktop. However, prices have reduced significantly and for hundreds of dollars less than a desktop computer, a student can purchase a convenient, stylish and high quality laptop! With laptops students can store their music, movies, pictures and documents. It can be used for school as well and entertainment! Laptop computers have many functions and supply the user with plentiful storage, giving parents and students more bang for their buck.

Many people are familiar with and use Bluetooth wireless technology. This technology comes installed in many phones, mp3 players and other electronic devices. For people that want to get rid of the wires on their mp3 though there is a much better alternative. Kleer wireless technology has many advantages over Bluetooth for listening to music. So let us explore what these might be.

Kleer technology was developed specifically to come up with a better way of transmitting music wirelessly. The biggest issue with Bluetooth is its lack of fidelity. Kleer has succeeded quite well in this regard. The transmission and reception is CD quality digital sound. This is light years ahead of Bluetooth, which can only do as well as 320kbps/s. Most of the time, with most Bluetooth devices, this optimal is rarely even approached. Kleer does not suffer any loss of quality for most audio recordings.

There were other issues that were also nicely resolved by this new wireless protocol. The channel that Kleer uses (RF-based) is not subject to interference or drops that can happen with other wireless devices. Transmissions are clear and they stay that way.

One cool feature is that up to four users can listen to the same wireless transmission. This is not likely to matter much to most people but it does open us some interesting possibilities for using the technology.

A really big bonus that goes along with the clear channel reception is the systems power use. Kleer uses fewer channels than Bluetooth to transmit its signal. This saves power which means you can go longer between charges. Kleer can also pack in more in a smaller space since it can reduce the size of the batteries needed to power earbuds or the transmitter. The technology also adjusts power use according to its detection of how far the sound needs to be sent to the receiver.

The final kicker is the distance and robustness of the signal being sent. The technology has the capability of being sent over much greater distances than Bluetooth, which breaks up over extremely short ranges. With Kleer you can easily walk around a large room with a stationary device in one central location having no trouble delivering quality sound to your wireless device.

So why isn’t Kleer everywhere yet? One problem is that the technology is relatively new. The manufacturer (Kleer) guards its protocol tightly and with its tight control over a great new sound delivery system, they are able to charge a lot for its use. So the price point for its use is currently over 100 dollars. As time goes on and more devices offer Kleer it is possible the price will come down.

VBA, or Visual Basic for Applications, is the simple programming language that can be used within Excel 2007 (and earlier versions, though there are a few changes that have been implemented with the Office 2007 release) to develop macros and complex programs. The advantages of which are:

– The ability to do what you normally do in Excel, but a thousand times faster

– The ease with which you can work with enormous sets of data

– To develop analysis and reporting programs downstream from large central databases such as Sybase, SQL Server, and accounting, financial and production programs such as Oracle, SAP, and others.

Macros save keystrokes by automating frequently used sequences of commands, and developers use macros to integrate Office with enterprise applications – for example, to extract customer data automatically from Outlook e-mails or to look up related information in CRM systems or to generate Excel spreadsheets from data extracted from enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

To create an Excel spreadsheet with functionality beyond the standard defaults, you write code. Microsoft Visual Basic is a programming environment that uses a computer language to do just that. Although VBA is a language of its own, it is in reality derived from the big Visual Basic computer language developed by Microsoft, which is now the core macro language for all Microsoft applications.

To take advantage of the functionality of the Microsoft Visual Basic environment, there are many suggestions you can use or should follow. Below we will take a look at a few hints and tips for VBA security and protection in Excel, a more in-depth understanding of which can be gained by attending a VBA Excel 2007 course, delivered by a Microsoft certified trainer.

Password protecting the code

As a VBA Excel user you may want to protect your code so that nobody may modify it and to protect against the loss of intellectual property if people access source code without permission. This is easily achieved in the VBE editor by going to “Tools/VBAProject Properties/Protection”. Check the box and enter a password.

Hiding worksheets

In any or all of your Excel workbooks you might want to hide a worksheet that contains sensitive or confidential information from the view of other users of the workbook. If you just hide the worksheet in the standard way the next user will be able to simply un-hide it, but by using a VBA method to hide and password protect a worksheet, without protecting the entire workbook, you will be able to allow other users access without affecting the confidentiality of the data.

Protecting workbooks

There are different levels of protection for workbooks, from not allowing anyone access to the workbook to not allowing any changes to be made to it, i.e. setting the security to ‘read only’ so that no changes can be made to the templates you have created.

The system registry is an important component to practically every computer, and it would actually be considered a pile of electronics if the system registry was not included. It is essential for computers based on Windows, since it is the storage location for the hardware, software, and pretty much everything that makes the computer run.

Changes and updates go directly through the system registry for storage, but sometimes things do not always go as smoothly as we wish. Not many know what to do about an error accessing the system registry, but it must be fixed in order to keep your computer running.

An error accessing the system registry is not very uncommon, and it usually occurs when old files or updates are still located within the registry. The error can occur when new updates are downloaded, new programs installed, or even when new software is being added to your computer. A window will usually pop up stating “error accessing the system registry” and not much can be done until the error is fixed.

It can result from old updates being left in the system, or even old files that were not deleted when a download or installation was incomplete. The best way to get rid of the error accessing the system registry is to find out the problem, get rid of old files, and start fresh with new updates and software to keep your computer running smooth.

Because the error accessing the system registry can occur for a number of different reasons, it can sometimes be hard to locate the specific problem. The first step is to determine what exactly triggered the error, such as a new download, new software being installed, or updates occurring to current software on the computer.

The error is most common when updates occur or when updated software is installed, since most likely older versions are still being kept within the registry. In this case, the error accessing the system registry can be easily correct. First off, the installation or update needs to be stopped. Then the system registry can be accessed by the computer owner, and software can be purchased or downloaded to fix this problem.

One of the best options for getting rid of an error accessing the system registry is a registry fix program, since it goes in and does all of the work for you. Rather than trying to find the damaged files and delete them yourself, the program knows exactly what to look for and get rid of for the error to go away.

Not only will a registry fix help to get rid of the problem occurring now, it can even help to get rid of any files and old updates that may cause problems in the future. It is beneficial for clearing your computer of any unnecessary files or programs that may be causing it to run slow, and can even prevent an error accessing the system registry in the future.

A registry fix program can either be downloaded online or purchased at an electronics store, and is a great way to fix an error accessing the system registry. It does all of the work for you, and can even improve the overall performance of your computer. It can get rid of old files, partial updates, or even programs that are no longer needed, and is perfect for fixing your error accessing the system registry.

The 0×800ccc0d error will often show when you try and send / receive email messages in Microsoft Office Outlook. The error generally occurs when your computer cannot connect to the mail server for whatever reason – leading it to show an error message when you try and download the messages to your PC. Although this problem is actually very common, it’s quite easy to fix if you know what’s causing it & how to fix the issue.

The error will normally show in this format:

• No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.
• The server could not be found. (Account:account name, POPserver:’mail’, Error Number: 0×800ccc0d)

The causes of this error are numerous, and are basically where your PC will be unable to connect to the various mail services it requires to download / send the emails it needs. Each time you check your “email” in Outlook, it basically downloads your messages from a selection of email servers. These servers store your messages and allow you to receive your mail anywhere you have an Internet connection. The problem that you’re seeing can be caused by the likes of incorrect login details, damaged registry settings or a faulty Internet connection – and basically prevent your PC from connecting to the servers it requires to run.

The first step to fixing the 0×800ccc0d error is to use ensure that your Internet connection is working correctly and your login details are correct. All email servers require you to log in with the correct details before they can allow you to download your emails – so by clicking onto Outlook’s “Options” menu, and then to “Email Accounts”, you should ensure that your login details are typed in correctly to the program. On top of that, you should ensure your Internet connection is working by loading up a random website, as well as temporarily disabling any firewalls you may have on your system.

It’s also recommended that you use a “registry cleaner” to fix any of the damaged or corrupted settings which may lead the 0×800ccc0d error to show. Registry cleaners scan through the registry of Windows – which is a central database that stores all the files & settings your PC needs to run. These software tools are very popular because of the way they are able to fix a huge number of problems on your system – allowing your computer to run as smoothly and reliably as possible. It’s often the case that the registry database of your PC will either become damaged or corrupted, leading your software to behave in very strange ways. Fixing these issues with a registry cleaner should ensure the 0×800ccc0d error will not show again.

Many organisations are adopting the ITIL process lifecycle to enable them to manage business and technology changes more effectively and efficiently.

Strategy (SS)

The purpose of the ITIL process strategy lifecycle stage is to define a strategy that a provider needs to execute to meet an organization’s business objectives and outcomes. Value creation begins in the strategy lifecycle stage with an understanding of the organizational objectives and customer needs. The strategy lifecycle stage covers strategy generation that aims to improve the alignment between the service provider’s capabilities and the business strategies.

The strategy publication covers the principles of management which are useful for developing management policies, practices and processes across the ITIL service lifecycle. The guidance includes the development of markets to be served, characteristics of internal and external provider types, service assets, the service portfolio and implementation of strategy through the lifecycle of the process. Major topics are financial management, demand management, organizational development and strategic risks.

ITIL Service Design (SD)

The purpose of the design stage of the lifecycle is to design IT resources, together with the governing IT practices, processes and policies, to realize the strategy and to facilitate the introduction of these resources into the live environment. Critical success factors are quality delivery, customer satisfaction and cost-effective service provision.

The design lifecycle stage enables service providers to design appropriate and innovative services underpinned by IT to meet current and future agreed business needs.

The design guidance covers the design principles and methods for converting strategic objectives into portfolios of service assets. The publication guides organizations on how to develop design capabilities for service management. Key topics are service catalogue, availability, capacity, continuity and service level management.

Service transition ensures that new or changed services meet customer and business expectations as documented in the service strategy and service design lifecycle stages.

The transition lifecycle stage covers the transition of an organization from one state to another while delivering the capabilities for service operation and continual service improvement. This stage aims to plan and manage changes efficiently and effectively whilst controlling risks and delivering knowledge for decision support.

The transition guidance covers practices in change management, service asset and configuration management, release and deployment management, change evaluation and knowledge management and places them in the practical context of service management.

Service Operation (SO)

Service operation is the management of the day-to-day operation of services. The focus is achieving effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery and support of services to ensure value for the customer, user and the service provider. As strategic objectives are realised through service operation, it is a critical capability.

Knowledge about the ITIL service operation lifecycle stage enables operational managers to make better decisions in areas such as managing the availability of services, controlling demand, optimizing capacity utilization, scheduling of operations and avoiding or resolving service incidents and managing problems.

The operation publication combines practices in event, incident, problem, request, access, service desk, application, technical and operations management practices.

ITIL Continual Service Improvement (CSI)

Continual Service Improvement aims to align the IT services to the changing business needs by planning and implementing improvements to IT services that support business capabilities.

The ITIL CSI guidance provides practices on linking improvement efforts to outcomes. The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) approach provides a closed loop feedback mechanism for prioritising improvements from different perspectives.

The ITIL CSI publication includes advice on service measurement, demonstrating benefits and value delivery with metrics, assessing capability maturity, baselines and benchmarking. The guidance combines principles, practices and methods from quality management, change management and capability improvement.

To find out more about IT service management and cobit, visit http://www.connectsphere.com

Android is a Linux based mobile device operating system developed by the Open Handset Alliance led by Google. Android is mainly used in Smartphone and tablet computers. Android is open source i.e. its features can be extended to incorporate new technologies as they emerge.

Android, Inc. was founded by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sear and Chris White in Palo Alto, California. On August 17, 2005 Google acquired Android Inc. making it a subsidiary of Google Inc.

On November 5, 2007, the Open Handset Alliance publicly announced their first product, Android, a mobile device platform built on Linux kernel version 2.6.

Android provides a broad spectrum of applications and services to its user. Users can fully customize their mobile phones to their interests. The first Mobile phone that has used Android was the HTC Dream, release on 22 October 2008.

Here are some features of Android Operating System.

1. Layout: The layout is mainly based on VGA, 2D graphics library and 3D graphics library based on OpenGL ES 2.0.
2. Storage: For data storage SQLite is used.
3. Connectivity: Android supports GSM/EDGE, IDEN, CDMA, EV-DO, UMTS, Bluetooth, WI-Fi, LTE, NFC and WiMAX connectivity technologies.
4. Multi Lingual Support: It supports multiple languages.
5. Messaging: Android supports SMS and MMS including threaded text messaging and Cloud to Device Messaging (C2DM).
6. Web Browser: It is mainly based on the open-source WebKit layout engine and Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine.
7. Java Support: Most of the applications are written in Java but they run on Dalvik, a specialized virtual machine designed specifically for Android.
8. Media Support: Android supports WebM, H.263, H.264, MPEG-4 SP, AMR, AMR-WB, AAC, HE-AAC, MP3, MIDI, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, WAV, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP and WebP media formats.
9. Hardware Support: It can support wide variety of hardwares including video/still cameras, touchscreens, GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, barometers, magnetometers, dedicated gaming controls, proximity and pressure sensors, thermometers, accelerated 2D bit blits and accelerated 3D graphics.
10. Multitasking: Android supports multitasking.
11. Multi-touch: It supports multi touch natively, but previously it was disabled at the kernel level. An update was released by Google which enables multi-touch natively.
12. External Support: Now the majority of Android devices support microSD slot and can read microSD card formatted with FAT32, Ext3fs or Ext4fs file system.

There are millions of applications available for Android which can be downloaded from Google Play, formerly Android Market. The latest version that is available to phones is Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Phones with global coverage such as iridium 9555 are the in thing nowadays especially for those who need to be in the wilderness for some mind blowing adventures. However, this is not for ordinary use. While this can be advisable to other people with extreme lifestyle and extraordinary jobs, this type of phone is not for the average individual. While ordinary mobile phones can be used on the streets, at home, inside vehicles and inside the office, they are usually unattainable in high seas, desert, mountains and other remote areas. In such areas where coverage is limited, a satellite phone can be your best friend.

Advantages of Satellite Mobile Phones

Iridium 9555 receives and delivers phone calls through a satellite that orbits the earth. Maintaining such an advanced communications method is highly technical that is why the charges are quite high due to its maintenance requirements. However, if you would take a look at its advantages, its charges for the services is all worth it. Satellite mobile phones have a stronger signal and subscribers won’t have to experience dropped calls. Another good thing about satellite mobile phones is that they are equipped with voicemail with indicators and incoming phone number so users will still know if they have calls waiting for them on an area with low signal strength.

Because of its stable signal, you maintain contact with friends and family at home while you are on your hunting trip or on your travel adventure and more importantly, you can send messages or call authorities right away during emergencies. No matter where you are as long as there is a clear line of sight to satellites in the sky, you will get signal and send out your emergency calls when you need to.

Disadvantages of Satellite Phones

Satellite phones also have its share of disadvantages. For one, such type of mobile phones only work when there is a direct sight of line to the sky, therefore, they don’t work inside the buildings or in covered areas. Satellite telephones also find it hard to get coverage near tall buildings or during bad weather so it is not advisable for one to buy this type of mobile phone for everyday use. Iridium 9555 phones are also bigger than the typical cellular phones therefore they are not handy and they can be an inconvenience to carry around. Per minute charges of this type of phone is also higher compared to regular phones.

iPhone is an incredible machine,but when everything goes wrong it’s hell. Here are some tips, that will help you solve the most common problems.

1) I lost all my contacts!

Re-import those who are in the SIM card. Go to: Settings / Mail, Contacts, Calendars / Import SIM Contacts.

2) My touchscreen is crashing for no reason!

It might be the case that your touchscreen might act out and not let you start apps. This is caused by the proximity sensor. The sensor is malfunctioning, and is wrongly detecting the phone as always being in call mode. You must tap the phone at the top left side of the device. Restart the iPhone and voila!

3) My iPhone fell into water

First thing you need to do is turn it off. You must then wait until all water has evaporated before turning it back on. Speeding the process up by using a hairdryer is not recommended. You should rather leave your phone in a warm room, with a temperature not exceeding 40 Celsius degrees. After a day or two, you can try turning it back on. If the water in question is pure, the odds of your phone working are higher. An iPhone that falls in seawater is less likely to work again.

4) How to recover a completely crashed iPhone?

Switch to DFU mode. Connect the iPhone to the computer and start iTunes. Press and hold the main button-Home button-and the “On/Off” button for 10 seconds.

After these 10 seconds, release the “On/Off” button but keep holding the main button until iTunes displays that it has detected an iPhone in recovery mode. You should then release the main button. To exit DFU mode, disconnect the iPhone and press the “On/Off” button to restart it.

5) What to do when your iPhone screen is blocked?

Some users have their very own solution: “tap 3 fingers on your screen for 2 or 3 consecutive times, but not too hard.”

6) I lost my apps after an update!

Open iTunes, connect your iPhone, click the “File” menu and transfer your purchases.

7) The “Home” button doesn’t work anymore!

Try calibrating your “Home” button.

Open an app-doesn’t matter which one- then press the “On/Off” button until the “slide to power off” slider is displayed. Release the “On/Off” button, then press the “Home” button to return to the home screen.

This procedure calibrates the “Home” button. If the problem persists, it could be a hardware issue, resulting from dust inside your phone for example.

8) My iPhone won’t turn on!

Try resetting it. Press and hold the “On/Off” button and the “Home” button for a few seconds until you see the Apple logo. It could be that your battery is drained. So before that, recharge or connect you iPhone.

9) Ever since I installed iOS 5.0.1, my iPhone keeps rebooting, what can I do?

Remove the SIM card from your phone. Activate 3G and Cellular Data and reinsert the SIM card.

10) I can’t connect to the internet, weird uncontrollable issue!

In iOS4, there are some wifi connectivity problems where certain conditions apply. If, after having tried the solutions put forward in this chapter, you still encounter the issues, you must update the phone. These problems were solved by Apple with the iOS5 update. Updating your system is therefore a more reliable solution.

Perhaps one of the most underrated features of high-end laptops today is the LED backlit keyboard. There are some people who wouldn’t buy a laptop without it, and other who doesn’t even know it exists as a feature. We’re going to dig into the pros and cons of owning a laptop with this kind of keyboard so you can make the decision for yourself.

Positives: Reasons In Support Of Using a Laptop with an Illuminated Keyboard

1. The most obvious reason: You can use your laptop in the dark!

Many people aren’t able to type without looking at the keys, and if you often find yourself on your laptop in bed at night (with the lights off), having an illuminated keyboard can be a big help.

2. You’re probably using a better computer when you have a backlit keyboard.

One other good reason for owning a laptop that has a backlit keyboard is you’re probably using a better computer when you have a backlit keyboard. This delivers the additional advantage of having other components that are considered “high-end” or “high performance”, which is certain to protect against making the mistake of buying a computer that runs slowly and doesn’t perform well with games (if you’re into that)..

3. It just looks cool.

And then there’s the fact that having an illuminated keyboard is aesthetically pleasing. This is important since it makes you feel good about your purchase, and perhaps allows you to further enjoy whatever it is you’re doing on the computer. Once you take that into consideration, then it seems sensible to own a laptop that has a backlit keyboard.

But that is the good side of laptops with illuminated keyboards. There is also a negative side. Here’s a discussion of some of the negative aspects.

Cons: Points Against Buying a Laptop with a Backlit Keyboard

1. They’re often more expensive.

If you are shopping for a laptop that runs well and is affordable, you might find that these laptops often more expensive. That’s clearly a bad thing. It could be enough reason for avoiding buying it at all.

2. They use more battery power.

This is fine if you always use your laptop plugged in, but if you travel a lot and expect to use the battery power often, you may find yourself with limited usage time.

3. You simply don’t need it.

A final legitimate reason to avoid buying a laptop that has ones of these keyboards is that you simply don’t need it.. Everyone should consider this point very carefully, considering that it can result in be a reason to steer clear of these computers. You may be better suited spending the money on other features that are more useful to you. owning a laptop that has a backlit keyboard

So that is that. These are the disadvantages and benefits of purchasing a laptop that has a backlit keyboard.. It certainly is not ideal for all of us, yet it definitely is good for some. Hence, think diligently about the reasons mentioned above. Hopefully your final decision process will be aided greatly by the pro and con information brought to you here.