Computer Advancement Paves Way for Good Education

You see them everywhere. Nearly every person possesses some form of mobile Internet. Cell phones are not the only PC upgrade. Tablet PCs are now the latest in computer advancement. These handy portable gadgets are equipped with Internet, Flash, speakers and more. Just having the Internet on a tablet PC makes it easier for people to be in class no matter where they are.

Most online classes are accessible from a tablet PC. Technology has made it easier to get people where they need to be. There is almost no excuse to say you could not attend class. Wi-Fi signals are abundant in nearly all cities and towns. As long as your tablet PC has wireless Internet capabilities, you have a connection to class!

Tablets have another advantage. Since they were introduced to the cell phone market, they are part of cellular networks. This can allow students the opportunity to join video conferences for class from their phones.

Some schools have tailored their online programs so efficiently that students can access their classroom through their cell phones. Online universities often have special software, called apps, to make school more convenient. You can download the apps onto your cell phone and input your school user ID and password to access your class.

Nothing can stop you from receiving your deserved education. Even if you do not have a portable computer, or smartphone, you can still go to school online. Having a steady Internet connection and a good computer will also get you to your classes.

Filed Under: Computer, General Tagged With: , ,

The Competition Between Apple and Android

it's real :)

Image via Wikipedia

There are several competitors in the mobile technology field, but Apple and Android are the clear leaders of the pack. They both have comprehensive app markets and high cell phone sales. There are some differences, however, that might eventually make one do better than the other.

Apple

One reason why Apple has done so well in the cell phone industry is because of their iPod. For a long time, the iPod was the best device for listening to music. Apple combined the concept of their iPod with a cell phone to create the iPhone. To date, the iPhone is still the best smartphone for listening to music.

Apple’s app market is another reason why they are able to compete so well. Every one of their apps is tested before it is released to the market, making them have one of the most secure platforms for users.

Android

Android may have entered the competition late, but they are now strong competition. Their app market is growing at a phenomenal rate, and you can find pretty much any app on Android that you can find on Apple.

One reason why Android is so popular is because they have a huge selection of phones. This is because their operating system is open-source, making it easier for developers to launch new phones. For instance, you can buy an LG Android phone, an HTC Android phone, and more. This is a huge advantage for Android because they may beat out Apple based on their large selection of phones.

The competition between Android and Apple is still raging, and it will be interesting to see which competitor comes out on top. Will it be a battle between app markets, phone options, or something else?

Filed Under: Computer, General, Software Tagged With: , ,

Apple Versus Android Affects Us All

 

Image representing Apple as depicted in CrunchBase 

Image via CrunchBase

The advent of the smartphone goes past the usual hyperbole involving new inventions. The device has the potential to alter nearly every aspect of human life. The technology has already replaced mainstays such as voice recorders and alarm clocks. In the future, smartphone might even replace wallets –complete with picture of kids.

 

The biggest question the future of the smartphone faces might be, which operating system will the majority of people use? The smartphone market in the United States is currently dominated by Apple and Android. Google owns and operates the Android, which has been the more flexible of the two systems.

Android phones are made by several companies, which Apple has keep its operating system only on its in house products. There are advantages to both methods. It is easier for developers to test applications on Apple products, while the abundance of the Android has allowed it to rapidly catch-up with Apple.

Android robot logo. 

Image via Wikipedia

Which system will dominate the highly rigid Apple or the more open Android? Apple recently announced that it would collect 30 percent of fees from applications that require subscriptions. This move angered developers, and it displayed the type of power that smartphone operates hold. Losing out on Apple customer’s business is worst that putting up with Apple’s heavy demands.

Smartphones are a vital part of the economy and people’s personal lives. As reliance on smartphones grows the importance of a company’s philosophy grows. Even though Apple might be an innovator, its rigid practices might turn against it.

In the fight for the smartphone market, customer service and perception will matter. In the fight to be the dominant operating system the winner will affect the lives of virtually everyone.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Computer, General Tagged With: , ,

Making Your Desktop More Efficient

Your computer is your lifeblood. It’s a strange thing to say, but these days it’s true. You are on your computer all the time. Whether it’s for work, school or just for fun you spend an enormous amount of time working on your laptop or PC. So, since you are on your computer so much it’s imperative to have it as organized as possible. You want to make sure that you can be at your most productive on your computer. Here are a couple of applications that can really streamline your computer.

The first thing you need is a top notch web browser. The best one on the market is Google Chrome. This fantastic browser allows you to see your favorite web pages on neat and clean tabs. Opening multiple tabs will never looked cluttered and it’s got easy to reach bookmarks. This is monumentally important to how you surf the web.

If you are someone who participates in the world of social media(and let’s face it, most of you do) then you might want to look into going with a program like Tweet Deck for your social media interests. This program allows you to both send and receive your social media updates and tweets all from one time. It will flash a box when a new Tweet or status update arrives. It’s the best way to absolutely streamline your efficiency on the computer.

These tools and programs are there to make things easier on you. Do your best to get them today.

 

Filed Under: Computer, General, Software Tagged With: , ,

Understanding the Copyright for the Linux Operating System

Understanding the Copyright for the Linux Operating System

The Linux operating system is really just a clone of Unix, also known as a work-alike for the Unix operating system, and it was written completely and entirely from scratch, never using a single line of the AT&T code. Neither the USL or the Berkeley campus of the University of California was actually involved in the creation or writing of the Linux operating system. People from all over the world, from Finland to Australia have contributed to the development of Linux, and it is hopefully going to continue to grow, change and evolve as people from all over the world continue to work on it.

The Linux operating system is copyrighted under the GNU General Public License or GPL terms. This is a specific type of license that is written by the FSF or Free Software Foundation, and the purpose of this license is to make sure that people can not restrict the distribution of the software. In brief, what it says is that although you can charge anything that you want to give a copy to someone, you absolutely cannot restrict that someone from giving their copy away for free. What it also generally means is that the source code has to be made available as well. This is especially important for programmers. The GNU General Public License also states that anybody that modifies the program has to make his version of the source code available and free for distribution. Rather than restricting how the Linux operating system is used, Linux guarantees that it will grow, spread, evolve and be developed for many years to come.

Filed Under: Linux, Operating System Tagged With: , ,

The Development of Linux

The Development of Linux

A man named Andrew Tanenbaum, who was a computer science professor in the Netherlands, who was a specialist in OS system design write a work-alike educational version of the UNIX operating system during the 80s and called it Minix. He did this so that his students could take it home and learn how to use Unix on their own home computers. A student in the University of Helsinki, Linus Torvalds, began searching out new ways that he could get more out of the Minix software during the spring of 1991. This was originally a program that could switch between printing out AAAA and BBBB. Later on this project mushroomed significantly and became more about exploring task switching capabilities that the Intel 80386 chip had.

There were numerous wars between Torvalds and Tanenbaum along the way. They were not all out wars as much as friendly competition between the two gentlemen as they worked to explore everything that Unix would be capable of. Officially anyone is capable of creating a UNIX based operating system provided that it will pass X/Open tests. In reality, the Linux operating system is just an offshoot from the Unix operating system, but it is a freely available open source operating system and so it has been developed and experimented with often throughout the years thanks to Linus Torvalds.  The project has mushroomed significantly through the years and now there are hundreds if not thousands of different Unix and Linux distributions to meet a wide variety of different needs.

Filed Under: Linux, Operating System Tagged With: , ,

The History of Unix

The History of Unix

Back during the latter half of the 1960s, before personal computers even really existed, there was a company called Bell Telephone Laboratories that was working with GE as well as MIT’s Project MAC in order to write a computer operating system that was known as Multics and intended for use in mainframe computers. At some point Bell Labs decided to withdraw from the project, and then in April 1969 a group of men got together to sketch out an OS (operating system) that would actually meet the needs for the Bell Labs people.

Much development followed, thanks to Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan and Ken Thompson who created the first system, which would be called Unics, and then eventually would be called UNIX, which was a play on Multics. Later on, the C programming language was invented by Dennis and Brian, and this was a major boon for portable and reusable code that would be capable of being used on any computer platform, and by 1973, the UNIX operating system was rewritten as Version 4 completely in C.

An article about UNIX was published by Ritchie and Thompson in a technical journal, and several different universities reached out to Bell Labs because they were interested in UNIX. They had to sign a non disclosure contract, but then this allowed them to get tapes and manuals about UNIX for educational purposes online. Many universities decided to use UNIX in their curriculum, and so it spread like wildlife while computer science students developed and experimented with it. From this, BSD was born as Berkeley Software Distribution, and MIT also joined in and participated in the development of the software, helping UNIX to become what it is today.

Filed Under: Computer, Operating System Tagged With: , ,

How to Speed up Your Computer Operating System

There is nothing worse than a computer operating system that is slow and unresponsive. You’ve got things to do and waiting for the computer to keep up to your pace can be frustrating and leave you contemplating getting a completely new computer.

Don’t rush out and buy a new computer as there are numerous things you can do to speed up your system.

1.    Get your desktop cleaned up – It seems like a good idea to save everything to the desktop as your documents and pictures are readily available and easy to see. If your computer is running slowly one of the first things you should do is get everything you can off the desktop. It is recommended that you keep the hard drive as clean as you can and purchase an external hard drive as a regular stopping point to save your documents.

2.    Get rid of programs you don’t use – Over time the programs you use changes. Every time you install a program it links between the program and the operating system. The more programs you have on the computer, the more your operating system has to work. If you’re not using the program anymore, it’s a good idea to uninstall it and free up that connective space.

3.    Get rid of viruses, Spyware and Adware – Every computer is susceptible to viruses, some you may not even know you have. Over time your browsing history is going to accumulate extra Spyware and Adware as companies try to market their products. Spyware and Adware load into your computer’s memory and inevitable slow it down.

If all else fails it may be time to reinstall the operating system and the program  you use. In many cases this is the best thing you can do when the other things you’ve tried don’t work.

Filed Under: Internet, Operating System Tagged With: ,

Installing the Linux OS

Installing the Linux OS

There are a number of different ways that you can use Linux on a computer. One of the most common methods is simply to allocate some of your hard disk drive for Linux use, and then you can just put whatever software you want to on it. It can also be possible for you to use a Linux distribution without actually touching the hard disk at all. You can do this by bringing the software over from a computer that is on the network, or by utilizing a DVD or CD. Usually when people are talking about installing Linux, they are talking about storing Linux software on a hard disk, which is generally the best way to make it happen.

In order for you to install the Linux operating system on the hard disk, the first thing that you are going to need to do is to find a section on your hard disk where you can put the Linux distribution of your choosing. There are all kinds of different ways that you can divide a hard disk into multiple sections, and this is going to make it possible for you to have two different operating systems on the same space so that you can simply swap back and forth between the two as however it suits you.

Once you have divided up your hard disk you can use a setup disk or install disk to put Linux in your partitioned space. Follow the instructions closely and make sure that you are doing everything as directed in order for your install to go as planned. It is not hard by any means to install a Linux distribution, but it is necessary for you to do it right in order to best benefit from the distribution of Linux that you install on your machine.

Filed Under: Linux, Operating System Tagged With: , ,

Finding The Best Web Hosting Company

What is the best invention this century? Of course it is the super information highway – the Internet. What an amazing piece of technology, it connects people from around the world and allows people to learn and communicate. It is basically the biggest multimedia library in the world and it is free! What more could you want? If you like communicating then the internet was made for you. The internet is a world wide phenomenon that has been in the headlines since it first began. There has been lots of stuff written about the good and the bad aspects of the net but everything in life has a paradox so it is hardly surprising.

One of the best parts of the internet is that it is so easy to have your own space where you can share with the world your own likes dislikes etc. Maybe you are good at something and would like to share you talent with the rest of the world. Then the internet is ideal for sharing this. All you need is a bit of web hosting space and you are off. You don’t even need any website or designing skills; you can use Microsoft Word or any publishing software and create you website like any other document. As long as you can use a computer and am willing to learn a little it really is easy.

People do seem to get confused when it comes to domain names and web hosting. So what are they? Well to have a website on the internet the first thing you need to buy is your domain name, this is the www. Mysite.com part. Then you need “web hosting” which is paying for a company to store you website on their server. A server is a computer that is on all the time that “hosts” your website, in other words stores the website. You can make your own computer become a server but then for people to view your website at all times this needs to be on all the time, which is why most people use a hosting company. You pay them to make sure the site is online at all times.

Not sure which web hosting company should you go for? There are hundreds and all trying to get your business. You need to work out which company is offering the most and at what price. Not all companies offer telephone support. This is a must for any novice and is most important, you want to be able to pick up the phone and ask for help when needed. You want the option to upgrade your storage space. You may only want a small site initially but if your site does well and you need more space you want to easily upgrade. You may also need extra bandwidth when your site gets more hits.

The best way is to visit a web hosting reviews site and read hosting reviews of different hosting providers to select best hosting provider .

You may want even more, like a content management system which allows you to simple add, edit and delete your own content without any knowledge of html, php or any programming language. All you see is a nice user friendly interface with simple usability. At a fee some companies offer this software and it is a great and fast way of adding content to your website.

Maybe you want to sell products over the internet which will mean you will need an ecommerce website with a shopping trolley feature. This is all very good if you have the programming skills necessary to create this, but few of us do in reality. So to have this feature we need to pay for this. Some web design companies offer this although the price can vary.

So what happens once you have your eCommerce website with shopping trolley facilities and you have the hosting you seem all set but your getting few visitors. You may be wondering why no one is actually viewing your site. Well this is because of the vast amount of websites and competition out there.  Site engine optimization is a full time job in its self, I know I do it! You can pay a company or someone to do all the hard work for you but it takes times and the results may not be instant.

Finding a hosting company that offers all these things is a tough task. There are some though. A company that offers domain registration, web hosting, web design, optimization, 24/7 customer support and email is the ideal hosting company.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: , ,
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