Archive for November, 2009

Can you imagine what we will be downloading in another twenty years? I mean who would have ever thought that you could record sound with digital quality fifty years ago? Now we routinely download whole albums worth of music in a couple of minutes to ipods that hold thousands of songs in the space the size of a zippo lighter!

What I wonder is what will we download in the future? We can get degrees on line now, which means that we are actually downloading our future doesn�t it. Sounds kind of funny, but true to say that in the future we will be downloading our future. Will we download our jobs? I mean more and more people are working at home aren�t they? I could see the next wave of employment being over the internet where you never actually see your boss or maybe you will see him in downloaded form. That would be kind of weird wouldn�t it? It would be cool in the sense that you could be dressed however you want and you could be making funny faces at the boss and you wouldn�t even have to be behind his back� �that is unless you were being downloaded by your boss simultaneously. Weird!

Seriously though we download our airline tickets and our boarding passes. Will we be able to download our passports in the future too? That would be pretty convenient wouldn�t it? Or would it? Would it open up all sorts of doors to identity theft that are currently closed in the non-digital system. We are all starting to learn about how dangerous it is to talk with people that we don�t see. For instance all of the men who stalk young children on the internet, that would never have a chance if the children could see them. Makes a case for the utility of judging by the outward appearance doesn�t it? I mean we all do it every day with each encounter that we have. We are simply playing the numbers really because we have to. Sure there are exceptions, but a terrorist is more likely to look Arab than another ethnicity isn�t he (oops, it would have been more correct to say he or she wouldn�t it?).

Probably the coolest thing that I have heard about recently that you can download is your TV. No more need for TIVOS right? Well sort of. If you download the program you are forced to watch the commercials, albeit less of them and from only one company per show. Do the benefits outweigh the costs? I sure think they do in this case but as we have seen, not always � do they?

Is your business suffering from crime, or are you worried that you haven�t done enough to protect it? There are many different security measures you can take to ensure that your business, your stock, your employees and your customers are safe, and one of these is by installing a CCTV system.

We�re used to seeing CCTV operations in our streets and in our shops, perhaps even in the place where we work, but would you put it in your business, and if so, why?

Peace of mind

Whether you have been the target of vandals or have experienced robbery or attacks, you need a security system that gives you peace of mind. Whilst a CCTV system can�t always stop an attack, it can be a deterrent and it can provide valuable evidence that helps to identify the perpetrator, or to give the police a better idea about what took place. The knowledge that a CCTV system could make a would-be burglar change his or her mind or capture their face on tape if they decide to go ahead is the reason that many people invest in CCTV systems

Adaptable

Unlike many other security measures, CCTV is adaptable. This means you can start off with a small, relatively basic system and add cameras and monitors as and when you need to. You can decide to have static cameras in strategic places and remote-controlled cameras elsewhere. A good CCTV supplier can help to tailor a package that fits your needs.

Protects your staff and your customers

Your staff may have been subject to attack or verbal abuse, and your customers may not feel safe in your store and so your sales drop. A visible CCTV camera helps to protect your most important assets � your employees and your customers. For example, a monitored system could pick up the signs of trouble before anything actually occurs and staff can take immediate action.

It�s worth considering whether you and your business could benefit from the installation of a CCTV system.

In Americas 230 year history the government seems to have forgotten that there job is to run the government as the people see as best and not the government telling the people what is best for them.

The most recent example is the Internet gambling Ban signed into law last week by President Bush. The bill makes it illegal for banks and credit card companies to transfer money to casinos for the purpose of wagering on sports or games of chance, like roulette, blackjack and poker.

These games are harmlessly enjoyed regularly by millions of Americans everyday, but some people become addicted to these games so the government is telling all of its citizens that no one is allowed to play these games in an online casino.

This is not the first case of the government going against the wishes of the people, in the early 1900�s the government decided that the consumption of Alcohol should be banned, because some people were developing health and mental problems related to drinking too much. So rather then educating the people on the ill effects of prolonged Alcohol abuse the American government banned Alcohol.

But instead of reducing the consumption of Alcoholic beverages it increased, and because the government was not allowing the production or importing of Alcohol, organized grime got into the moonshine business, and eventually the Government saw the error of their decision and repealed the law.

Another great example of a failed policy to protect the people is the war on drugs that the government has been aging since the early 1980�s Billions of tax dollars a year goes into the war on drugs, but what are the results?

The price of drugs has risen, and to support their habits many drug addicts have had to commit acts of robbery and murder to get their drugs.

The American prisons are packed full of people whose only crime was possession of these illegal drugs.

Instead of being an industry that is regulated and controlled you have people selling these drugs to kids in school playgrounds, and shooting each other to protect their territory.

Had the government decided not to criminalize drugs but make it a heavily controlled industry, they could use the tax money for social programs like schools ad to give Americans universal health care.

Please do not misunderstand me I am not in favor for legalizing hard drugs, but the current system is not working at all, but I am all in favor for legalizing online casino gambling.

If I choose to play some hands of blackjack or poker from the comfort of my home what rights does the government have to tell me not to, and what sense does it make that I can not play in a casino over the internet, but I can drive down the street to the local casino and play there.

To enforce this ban millions if not billions of dollars of software and computer hardware will be needed to monitor all of the banks transactions and that money will come from taxes instead of the government taxing online casinos or even having all the online casinos government controlled then they get all the profits to be used to improve the lives of the American citizens, millions of which are bellow the poverty line if not homeless.

The American government needs to start re-thinking its policy of treating its citizens like small children, or the American people need to demand a new government.

The answer is yes, and I am going to explain what a mother board is in this article so you can understand not only that they exist but also in what capacity that they exist. A mother board (or mobo for short) is the main circuit system in a complicated electronical system like a computer which is the most common thing in which they exist. It is the command station, if you will, and if you are going to add anything on to the system it will have to go through and be compatible with the mother board.

Since a computer is the most common location for a motherboard we will choose to describe the mother board as it relates to the computer. Usually it will consist of a processor (i.e. intel Pentium, or athalon, etc.), and a main memory, and then the circuitry that make it the main board.

Other names for the mother board of a computer include the main board, or the logic board, or the system board. It is the brain or the central nervous system of that machine what ever it may be. Other components of a computers hardware such as the monitor, or drives, or the keyboard, or the video card, or the modem (you get the idea but I need more words to give this article the proper length that is required) will be attached into the main board via wire connections. These devices need to be compatible with the system board if the user who installed them wants these devices to work on that computer. These devices are (in our previous analogy) the peripheral nervous system or the PNS that relays information to and from the CNS.

The reason that most people don�t know much about the mother board is that they only worry about it when they are looking to buy a new computer. And even then it is not in the terms that are being explained here it is merely in terms of the components of the main board. How fast is the processor? How many megahertz? How much memory capacity does it have? How many gigs? This is a sad fact because the mother board is perhaps the most important part of the computer and works so well that it never even crosses the mind of the user normally. Yet it gets no credit where credit is due!

Why should I get a document shredder? How much should I spend on a document shredder? What features are available and what is the best document shredder for my type of business? These are some of the questions I will answer for you in this article.

First, why should I have a document shredder for my business or for my own personal use? The answer is easy. Every day more crime relating to stolen or found documents is occurring. Fraud, Identity Theft, Corporate Espionage, Con Games, and Forgery are some of the examples of crime that can happen to anyone, any time.

The information contained in your documents may not seem like the stuff in spy movies, but the threat to you individually as well as to your business exists. Your documents contain a lot of things you take for granted. Sensitive information about upcoming plans, stock options, and other business related material can be a bonus to thieves. Thieves, to steal your identity, can use your personal information like mother�s maiden name, social security number, credit card and pin numbers, birth date and more.

There are many reasons why document security is important. There are other aspects to document security that are important as well, but in this article we will remain on the topic of document shredding.

How much you should spend on a document shredder depends on your business. How many documents you need to shred daily, the size of the documents your business uses, how sensitive the information in the documents is, and more are factors to consider when choosing a document shredder. That little desk model document shredder that you saw at the office supply store might not be adequate to your needs.

The DOD, (Department of Defense), has standards for the destruction of sensitive documents. This is the top of line for document shredders and probably a bit much for your business. I include this information to show you the wide range of document shredders that are available for your own document security.

The largest of these that shreds a high volume of documents into very tiny pieces can run upwards of $20,000. The small ones you see at your office supply store can run as low as $30.

One of the features that create this disparity in cost is durability. How many documents can it shred before needing maintenance or a replacement. One made of plastic parts will not last under heavy use, while one made of durable metal will. Obviously, if your company does not shred but a couple of documents per day, a cheaper document shredder might work for you.

How secure are the documents you will be shredding. Some document shredders only cut the document into strips of varying width, depending on the document shredder you choose. High-tech thieves can piece together uniformly shredded documents. If the information is worthwhile to them, they can retrieve it. If your company really wants to destroy sensitive documents, you need to consider a document shredder that cuts the paper up into bits, rather than just strips. These document shredders are more expensive, but a lot more secure.

Also, some of the better shredders not only shred paper documents, but also CDs, Plastic Film, Key Tape, ID Cards, Video Tapes, Floppy Discs, Microfiche and other classified media. If your company also has sensitive material stored on these other forms of media, you may want to purchase a document shredder that does more.

Dust creation is another factor, especially for those who are shredding a high volume of documents and other material. Some document shredders have an internal vacuum to dispose of dust, so if your business does a high volume of document shredding, you may want to ask about this feature.

Noise is another factor to consider with any size shredder that you plan to purchase. Try before you buy is a good thing to keep in mind. If it is noisy, you will be happy you tried it out before you started using it in your office.

How difficult is it to clear paper jams? How safe is it? Is it easy to put your fingers into the area where the blades are? How easy is it to take apart and clean? These and more are questions you should consider when choosing the document shredder your business will be using.