PCTechNotes :: PC Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

Go To My PC Review

Anthony — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 01:49:07 +0000

toQuite possible one of the most useful applications developed in the last 10 years Go to My PC has everything that one needs to access their computer remotely; from your smart phone, smart tablet or computer.

What is Go To My PC?

Go To My PC is an application designed by Citrix Online that allows users to remotely access their home/work PC or Mac computer, and start working just as if the computer is right in front of them. In fact the user sees their actual computer screen embedded within the screen of the device in use.

The technology is quite simple. A “tiny footprint application” is installed on the desktop. An even smaller application is installed on an iPad, iPhone, smart device or another computer. The two tiny applications “talk” to each other allowing the user to remote access the distant desktop. Once the link is established the screen in the desktop is embedded into the screen of the smartphone/tablet/remote computer, and the user works as if they are right in front of their desktop computer.

Uses for Go to My PC

While there are countless applications the three most common are:

Two Places at Once

You really can be in two places at once when you have Go To My PC. A train-ride to work means you have 30 or 40 minutes free to work on your computer at home. A business trip, which previously involved several hours of unproductive downtime no longer need be so. When you’re stranded in your hotel, pull out your iPad and get to work it’s easy.

OMG Moment!

You’re 2,000 miles from home and just realized that you downloaded the wrong version of the upcoming presentation onto your flash drive, and the presentation is in 45 minutes! No problem. Log on to Go To My PC, attach the correct version contained on your hard drive into an email, and send it to yourself. You can even edit it first before you send it!

Saving Time

It would be wonderful if none of us had to work at night or on the weekends. Unfortunately for many professions this is not the case. If you must work during your personal time, wouldn’t it be nice if you could do it from the beach, your home or your family hideaway? With Go To My PC you can. You no longer need to drive to the office to complete your work; do it from wherever your PC or smart device has a connection!

Does it work with both Macs and PCs

Yes, completely.

Go To My PC has been a lifesaver in my household. I hope that it does the same for you.

Original Post: Go To My PC Review - Computer Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

The USB Port – An Electronic Savior Is Born!

Anthony — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 01:57:52 +0000

If you probably do not know what the common term USB stands for, you may not appreciate the invention as a whole. The people who have seen both sides of the computer age can appreciate this new invention, as it has revolutionized hardware and peripheral connection to a PC. The Universal Serial Bus transmits information from any kind of hardware source through to the CPU of the computer or the device that has such a connector. Today, almost all the electronics that have a CPU and are sizeable enough to accommodate one will come with such a USB port option. Therefore, it is now possible to use one single port type to attach your mouse, your keyboard, the printer and a number of other peripherals to your computer.

This invention has made interlinking and communication so easy. The USB connectors have evolved from such channels as the Universal serial buses, which used serial ports as the connecting channels from any hardware to the bus. Some of the changes that have seen because of this revolution include:

1. The ability to connect printers through a high-speed channel

In the past, these printers would have a parallel port, which had specifically one channel through to the computer. If this channel would be damaged, printing would not take place.

2. The ability to include high-speed external storage to our systems

These would also come with external parallel ports, which would fail to transmit most of the time, and would be very slow in doing these kinds of transmissions.

3. Inclusion and faster access to networks through modems

Modems earlier on would use serial ports, as did some versions of printers and other devices like PDAs and some digital cameras. Any normal PC at the time would only have room for two of these ports. Well, meaning that if you would want to simultaneously use two or more devices on your PC, it would prove difficult. Even if this would happen, the whole process would be painfully slow.

4. Exclusion of card usage

Cards were the only faster way of transmitting data from one source to the other. However, this proved to be a tedious task as you would have to open the PCs case and fix the card inside its holder.

5. Introduction of USB charging options

We have also seen the development of USB charger for our phones and other smaller devices, which are now being used more often, as they prove to be far more convenient than normal socket chargers.

As you can see, we can all thank whoever saved the day through introducing USBs!

Original Post: The USB Port – An Electronic Savior Is Born! - Computer Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

Top Reasons of Popularity of Windows 8 Since its Launch

Guest Author — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 02:12:53 +0000

Windows 8 has become the hot topic of discussion nowadays since its launch in October’12. Windows 8 has been found friendly for not only desktops and laptops it has been doing wonders in hybrids and tablets as well. With the understanding Windows has become easier and simpler. Windows 8 is a complete package of advanced and high-end technologies. There are several reasons behind the popularity of Windows 8 some of them are tagged below.

Touch enabled

Windows 8 has gained popularity as it is touch enabled. This feature of Windows 8 pre-backed apps with Modern UI with mouse and keyboard/ track pad.

Dirt Cheap

As per the Microsoft’s standard Windows 8 is found dirt cheap when compared to any other operating system.

Less Confusing

Handling Windows 8 is easy as it is less confusing. Windows 8 is found to be straight forward for the PC users.

Boot times are quick

The boot time in Windows 8 is quicker than any other operating system from Microsoft.

Faster

When Windows 8 is compared with Windows 8 it has been found that Windows 8 is faster which is quite obvious.

Better life is better

The better life of laptops and desktops with Windows 8 as their operating system has considerably good battery life.

Great Appearance

The appearance of Windows 8 is graceful cleaner and simpler.

Pretty Good Internet explorer

The internet explorer 10 in Windows 8 is simple as well as slick. The Flip Ahead, a new feature in IE, has made it appropriate with Windows 8.

Improved Data recovery and security

Windows 8 offers better security to the data and information.

About the author: Claudia has been handling with Vmware Training Course for a long time now. She has collected all necessary information related Windows 8 since its launch. Her Blog has it all,She has been promoting the importance of technology in career development, She has been supporting the significance of technology in business progress,Her articles are informative and yet very interesting, follow me @ITdominus1.

Original Post: Top Reasons of Popularity of Windows 8 Since its Launch - Computer Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

Need To Do A Lot Of Bulk Printing? Here’s How You Can Guarantee Quality From Your Print Shop!

Anthony — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 01:08:49 +0000

There are some professions that normally require one to do a lot of printing. For instance, when you run an advertising firm, you will often find that people come to you when they need to get materials such as brochures and flyers for various purposes. In such cases, it is essential that you try and offer them the best in terms of quality without having to charge them too much for the service. If you use a third party print shop to do such work for you, you would need to consider doing a number of things to facilitate this including:

Negotiate for lower rates

If you are sure that you are going to use the same printer over and over again, you could ask them to give you lower rates for the service. This way, you can spend much less on the printing, and this in turn means that you will end up charging your customers less and stay profitable.

Review your working relationship with them from time to time

It is a good idea to take stock of the relationship you have with the printer from time to time. This way, you can analyze the quality of the service they offer you in terms of printing, ensuring that you never have to suffer from degradation in quality. One of the perks of doing this is that it also encourages the printer to stay on their toes as far as such printing is concerned; the fact that they know that you are keeping an eye on quality at all times means that they will strive to keep the quality up.

Get into a written contract with them

If you need to get very high quality and low prices and are going to need bulk printing over a long period, you could also decide to get into a written contract with the service provider. In such a document, you could provide information such as the kind of quality you expect them to sustain over the entire period, as well as your commitment to provide them with a continuous stream of income. This way, you can ensure that you will be able to hold them accountable as far as issues such as quality and cost of printing are concerned.

In summary, when you have to use printing services from third parties in such settings, it’s always a good idea to go out of your way to ensure that you get good value for money. The above are just a few of the things you can do to facilitate this.

Original Post: Need To Do A Lot Of Bulk Printing? Here’s How You Can Guarantee Quality From Your Print Shop! - Computer Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

Tips to Grow Your Google Authorship

Guest Author — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 05:07:35 +0000

Google solidified the fact that there are some web pages that hold more authority than the others. This ranking is based on web user’s satisfaction with regards to a certain topic. If before, web traffic was the main criteria for ranking higher, the emergence of social media has leveled the playing field between established and up-start web pages. However, the search engine puts a premium to writers that are perceived as experts in a certain field.

Therefore, here are some tips to grow your Google authorship:

1) Increase your Google+ audience

Google has an Author Rank algorithm that gives a higher ranking to writers that have a bigger following. Therefore, the Google+ profile is a highly quantifiable benchmark of an author’s clout. Essentially, the goal is to increase the amount of followers, re-shares and +1 recommendations. Thus, regular updates, sharing content, building relationships, joining online communities and dishing out comments will get the job done.

2) Use Google+ Circles to target audiences

Social media users can be tapped to increase traffic into a website. Therefore, the circles function of Google+ can help break down audiences into smaller specialized groups based on their interests. This is the platform’s advantage over Facebook or Twitter which shares posts to all audiences. The impact of the material can be amplified if it is shared in the right circle. However, creating too many circles can cause audience consolidation problems in the future.

3) Make use of Google+ Hangouts

When compiling the tips to grow your Google authorship, the Hangouts feature will come in handy. In this video chat platform, an author can communicate for up to ten fans at once and it serves as a breeding ground for a healthy conversation among people with the same passion. Meanwhile, Hangouts on Air adds the capability of broadcasting a live video session to a certain audience.

4) Content is currency

Just like money, Google+ posts can be treated as an investment to grow one’s authorship. To lengthen the life of the content, you must look for the most searched topic in relation to your website. Then, create write-ups that revolve around this subject and post them in your website. The topics must be transcendental so that its relevance will not expire. When the traffic for the content has waned down, post its link on Google+ for a second wind. Unrelated posts may confuse Google’s algorithm on what your blog really is about.

5) Update your posts regularly

In a span of days or months, your mood may change. What you like then can be part of your hate list in the future. Likewise, more meat can be added to your incomplete posts. Thus, placing simple updates in unlimited posts makes the content fresh. Placing asterisks for statements in bold letters or strike throughs for deleted statements can also add emotion to your views.

6) Connect to a community

Google+ places a premium on websites that get more authentic comments and link wheels. To strengthen this approach, it is widely advised in the tips to grow your Google authorship that you must create a community and place links of your posts here. This will help you know what the audience feels first-hand in order to make improvements.

Make the most out of your Google+ account and authorship by following these quick tips. It’s only a matter of time before authorship and your social networking pages become more important than ever.

About the author: This article was written by Chris, who also specializes in tech, social media and cloud based web hosting.

Original Post: Tips to Grow Your Google Authorship - Computer Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

Chat Room and Forum Trolls: What Can Owners Do?

Anthony — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 01:36:14 +0000

Trolling is an internet phenomenon that has become increasingly widespread as social networking sites, forums and chat rooms have become more popular. A troll is an individual who repeatedly posts derogatory comments to or about another person online, with the intention of provoking a reaction. They post anonymously to avoid being held responsible for their hurtful actions. For those being bullied by trolls, there is plenty of advice online. They are usually told to report the troll to the owner or moderator of the website on which the offensive posts appear. This article aims to advise website owners and forum or chat room moderators on how to deal with trolling and ensure the site remains a pleasant and welcoming environment.

How to spot trolling

To be able to spot a troll, it’s important to learn the difference between trolling and arguing between website users. Discussions that take place online can often get heated, as people feel confident enough to aggressively state their point of view behind the protection and anonymity of a computer screen. The difference between a troll and an argumentative user is that they will repeatedly pick on particular victims, and they will consistently post provocative comments whenever they join in a conversation on the site. Their aim is not to create a healthy discussion, but to intentionally aggravate others, which they perversely see as an achievement to be proud of.

When to take action

When a user reports another user for trolling, the website owner or moderator should look over the accused troll’s posts to determine whether they have been purposefully and repeatedly targeting the individual who reported them. If there are only one or two offensive posts, a polite warning to the author is the usual first step, in addition to deleting the posts. If the posts are breaking libel and defamation laws, it is reasonable to ban the user completely from the site, or at least to disable their account. A forum’s approach to tackling trolls should generally depend on what the forum members are happy to tolerate and what the consensus says is acceptable. However, when laws are being broken, it is the moderator or website owner’s responsibility to remove all evidence and take preventative measures to ensure it won’t happen again.

Dealing with repeat offenders

Sometimes it can be very difficult to get rid of trolls. When they set themselves a mission to cause offense to a particular individual or group, they use all their technical skills to achieve it. The most common way to overcome being banned from a forum or chat room is to set up a new account. Moderators can take measures to prevent this, for example banning anyone using the troll’s email address or IP address from creating a new account. Nonetheless, persistent trolls are willing to set up new email addresses to register again, or use a proxy server to hide their IP address. Unfortunately, when a troll is desperate to access a website and post inflammatory messages, they will find ways to overcome any roadblocks. In such cases, moderators should advise the well-behaved users to avoid communicating with the troll and to report any messages or new profiles that may belong to them. If the troll doesn’t get the attention and reaction they desire, they will hopefully get bored and move on.

Find out more

There are many sources online providing advice on how to deal with trolls, such as the Guardian’s Dealing with trolls: a guide, the BBC’s Q&A: Who are internet trolls – and how is the law changing? and online internet guide Knowthenet’s Trolling Overview. For legal advice on trolls, contact your local police, who will put you in touch with their cybercrime experts.

Original Post: Chat Room and Forum Trolls: What Can Owners Do? - Computer Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

Creating Your First Web Site

Anthony — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:24:46 +0000

You bought your hosting account, domain name and you have an idea. So, now that it’s time to start your website, you might be wondering how you actually go about doing it. Do you have to start scarfing down textbook after textbook of HTML, PHP and CSS knowledge? While this could be helpful if you really want to do everything yourself and you have months to learn the languages, the truth is that you can create a website within a few minutes without much technical knowledge. In fact, you don’t need to know the first thing about programming to get your website started. These are the exact steps that you need to take to create your first website.

Install a CMS

Log into your cPanel account (or whatever control panel your host is using) and select the script installer program. There are several different script installers commonly used with cPanel, but the two most popular are Simple Scripts and Fantastico. Both of these are similar and they mostly have the same scripts.

A CMS allows you to create, edit and manage content. It also allows you to add a template to your website so that you can dress it up and make it look good. While there are many CMSs, the easiest one to use is WordPress. However, if you want a CMS with better customizability, then Joomla or Drupal are better.

Just select the CMS of your choice, type in a username and password and click the “Install” button.

Find and Install Template

While you don’t necessarily need a template, it will make your website look and function better. There are both paid and free templates. Paid templates are often better, but they can cost $20-$60 for a good one. If you want to start a business with your website, then it might be good to invest in one of these. If you just want a blog to share your thoughts, then a free template will be ideal.

You can find free templates by just going to your favorite search engine and searching “free (CMS) template.” Just replace (CMS) with the name of your CMS, such as WordPress or Drupal. Look through the templates until you find one that you like. Before downloading it, be sure to check reviews to ensure there aren’t any viruses or bad files linked to the template.

Now just download the template and keep the ZIP file somewhere easy to find. Log into your CMS’s admin panel and click the “Appearance” or “Design” link, depending on your CMS. Select the template’s ZIP file and the template will be uploaded and added to your website.

Test the Site

The last thing you need to do is visit your website and make sure that everything worked. Click all of the links, look at the design and use the features to see if they work. If not, then go back to your admin panel, uninstall the template and then install it again. You can also contact the host’s support team for additional help.

Conclusion

Setting up a website is incredibly easy. You can even do it in a few minutes with very little technical skill. Most of the work is done for you, you just need to tell the software what to do. Check out Reviewpon, if you need any other tips on setting up your web hosting.

Original Post: Creating Your First Web Site - Computer Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

New Top Level Domains Are Coming

Anthony — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 02:24:49 +0000

Just when you thought there wasn’t enough domain names and extensions out there, it’s about to get even busier!

Optimal Hosting reports that a whole new set of top level domains names are getting ready to be released to the public. This good news is that if you ever had a domain name that you always wanted and was already taken in .com, .net and .org form, you can probably snag it up with one of these new domain TLDs.

The new domain names come in a wide variety of angles and depending on the current nature of your business, you may be able to find great value in owning one of them. If you run an online store or have a business in any of these niche markets, you may be able to grab an excellent domain to represent your business.

Some of these new domains will include:

.Store
.Blog
.Home
.Movie
.App
.Music

While the regular .com and .net domain names will probably always be the most sought after of all TLDs, there is hope that these new domains will bring life and interest to marketers in these niches. Obviously if you were able to secure a domain name like “rock.music” or “michaeljackson.music” there would be some nice value to it. Only time will tell if the new domains will catch on.

Either way, with the release of the new domain names there will definitely be a lot of promotion and buzz. You can bet that there will be plenty of web hosting companies coming up with discounted offers and promotions to try and lure in new customers that would like to create a site of their own with the new domain names and the vast amount of words that will be available.

The new domain TLDs will launch later in the year, so be sure to keep your eye open and ready for the influx of news and buying once they are released.

Original Post: New Top Level Domains Are Coming - Computer Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

Various Corporate Internet Security Concerns

Anthony — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 01:13:18 +0000

Large businesses and companies normally have a dedicated IT department which takes care of the security issues concerning their employee’s Internet use. Most security and network engineers make use of antivirus software and attachment filters on the email servers of the company to find any irregularities. The problem however is that, every time such safety measures are employed and are supposed to be maintaining the network all secure, some other channels (e.g. USB, wireless devices, etc.) are used to bring data in the system. Although some risks connected with such channels can be eliminated using the same approach of content filtering or firewall, others are just harder to handle not unless employees are restricted from using the channels which are believed to place the network of the company at risk.

Many administrators are trying to steer clear of such dilemma by making their network wireless. However, many wireless networks are deemed unsafe, in fact, even those utilizing WEP encryption. This is actually the major security problem associated with wireless networks. Network administrators and engineers using wireless devices must hence employ the layered tactic that entails policies as well as prevention of invasions. If this is made in order to harmoniously work with antivirus software and firewalls, then a considerable degree of security can be obtained.

But then again, network administrators and engineers will now need to transfer their attention on another corporate Internet safety risk factor in which the antivirus and firewall and layered tactic combination does not cover, and that is remote access. One way in order to tackle this problem concerning remote access is through the use of applications and tools which enable the server to determine if a computer that is attempting to gain access to it is actually safe or not.

A lot of corporations are faced with the problem of enabling networks and users to communicate with their very own network for productivity’s sake and restricting such connections altogether. Of course, total banning is just not possible since it could greatly hinder or limit development in the company. The Internet and the makeup of networking alone are actually in non-cooperation with the optimum degree of safety which may be utilized against it. Therefore, it fundamentally lies on the people to remain constantly vigilant when it comes to practicing safety measure for the benefit of keeping the integrity and efficiency of their network as well as computers.

Now that you know about corporate internet, what about intranet? Look at vauzo.com.

Original Post: Various Corporate Internet Security Concerns - Computer Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

Technology Solutions for the Restaurant Industry

Anthony — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 03:12:08 +0000

Technology is in filtrating all areas of life, including how we eat. If you are a restaurant owner, you need to know what technologies are currently being used to stay competitive. Here is a short list of some of the more popular technologies being used in this industry.

Online Reservations

Many restaurants are offering online reservations. Consumers are increasingly using the internet and their smart phones to do everything from email to taking notes. Making reservations to their favorite restaurant is no different.

There’s a company called Open Table that offers a reservation platform. They are a bit pricey, but it’s cheaper than hiring a developer to build your own. There are some free open source platforms out there too.

Online Scheduling Software

This is something that will improve the productivity and efficiency of your staff. It is likely that most of your employees have smart phones. Most packages integrate so your employees can quickly check and edit their schedules from their phones.

There are even companies like Kalloop that will poll your employees to find out what their availability is. If you want to check them out, here is their website – http://www.kalloop.com/.

Tablet Menus

Many forward-thinking restaurants are now allowing their customers to order from a touch tablet that resides at each table. The menus are programmed in and they can just tap to order.

This means they don’t have to wait for a server to come to their table anymore. When they’re ready for their second martini, all they have to do is tap and a runner brings them what they need.

Not only is this is a nice gimmick to draw customers in, it can significantly increase your value per ticket. People are more likely to order more when they can do it the instant they want it.

Many restaurants also put games on there so they can play while they wait for their food. Of course, they are seeing advertising for their desserts and drinks while they play.

Original Post: Technology Solutions for the Restaurant Industry - Computer Tips, Tricks and Tweaks