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15 Ways To Read An RSS Feed
Copyright © 2004 Steve Shaw No doubt you have seen those small orange 'XML' or 'RSS' buttons beginning to spread across some of your favourite web sites. Perhaps you have clicked on one out of curiosity, only to be faced with a barrage of angle...
Autoresponder Email Service vs Software
A followup autoresponder is essential for any web based
business. The question is should you sign up for an
autoresponder email service or buy a software or script with a
one time investment?
To answer this simply: It really depends on your...
Microsoft Great Plains on Ctree or Pervasive SQL – what to do – tips for IT manager
As you probably know, when Microsoft purchased Great Plains Software – the whole strategy for Great Plains Dynamics/eEnterprise line was changed. Initial GPS strategy was to maintain DB platform independence – via it’s C-written engine...
More Cool Sites Everyone Should Bookmark
Despite all the hype over search engines, personal recommendation still serves as one of the best ways people find and use websites on the Internet. In that spirit of person-to-person sharing, we again tour the web to find the best, most helpful,...
The Art of Feathering in Photoshop
Some people are startled on how wonderful images look with blurred edges. They certainly don’t know how easy it is to do it. It is called a feathered edge in Photoshop (PS). You can put in many feathered images together to get a wonderful collage...
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Keep A Diary Of Your Computer
Keeping a diary of your computer can be a valuable asset if
something goes wrong. Imagine for a moment the consequences
if your hard drive failed or worse, someone stole your
computer. And whilst having a reliable and recent backup is
an essential step on your way to recovery, having a diary
is a major advantage.
If you use a computer for your business then like me your
computer has probably become a tool that you rely on. I am
in the internet business and frankly without my computer I
am out of business. Picture the consequences to your
business and your livelihood if suddenly you arrived home
to find the place on your desk where your computer was a
blank space.
Thieves love computers. They are reasonably portable, and
readily salable. If the owner stores all their CDs in an
attractive rack close by, that's easy to carry away too,
and all the better the price.
So why would you keep a diary, what is a diary, what does
it contain?
Why keep a diary?
Let's assume worse case; you're computer is stolen. Replacing
it is reasonably simple; a visit to the local PC shop and in
all likelihood a far better (and cheaper) machine than you
had before. But now you have the new computer home, how are
you going to set it up so that you can have all of the things
you had before? Your email messages for example, that proposal
you were writing for Monday's deadline, and that E-Book
that you're halfway through and will make a fortune in
six months time.
You'll have probably had a dozen or more projects in
progress (can you remember what they all were?). What about
your web site and the software you use to make changes to it?
And there may be accounting records for debtors, inventory
and purchases.
Most backups don't include software. Backups are almost
invariably copies of the data files. My message is that
as well as restoring all of your data, you also need to
restore your 'software environment'. Without this you
can't work with your data.
So the purpose of a diary is to keep a track of what your
software and hardware environment is made up of.
What is a diary and what does it contain?
I have a simple notebook in which I enter changes that are
made to the physical computer (it's hardware) and but
especially changes or additions to the software. There
is a single page for each component (software and hardware
of the machine).
For example if you needed to install a new software program
then you would create a new page heading and make a diary
entry of the purchase. This would include the name of the
software product, version, and where it was sourced, date
and payment method. Some software has a serial number so
this should also be recorded. And if you register the
software also keep a note of the date and method
of registration.
The source of software might have been the purchase of a CD
from a shop in which case recovery is a simple matter
(assuming you've kept the CD somewhere safe). But if you
download software, or the CD was stolen with your computer,
then getting another copy and reinstalling can be difficult
and frustrating.
If you downloaded the software then you at least need the
URL where you purchased the software from.
If you have a record of the software's acquisition then you
can prove to the original supplier the fact of your purchase
and most suppliers will provide a copy (perhaps with a small
handling charge). Obviously if you can't prove your purchase
then bad luck you're going to have to buy it again!
As an aside, whenever possible make a backup copy of all
software you purchase before you install it. Most software
is readily copyable, both technically and legally. Every
software license agreement I have ever seen allows the
software to be copied for a legitimate backup purpose. And
as with any backup, it should kept at a different location
than the computer.
In addition, if you make any upgrades to the software then
full details of these should also be recorded.
Similar records should be maintained of your hardware. As a
minimum, record serial numbers of all hardware items, along
with cost, date and where purchased. For an insurance claim
or Police report these are vital facts.
I also find it useful to keep a page devoted to my internet
connection. This includes all the details needed to connect
such as TCP/IP address (or phone number if on dial-up),
sign-in and email address and passwords, server details such
as pop and smtp names and any security options you've
selected. Whilst all of this information is relatively simple
to setup again, without the details it can be very
time consuming.
Another page should be devoted to the operating system. My
current computer was purchased about 18 months ago and came
with a copy of Windows 98. I subsequently upgraded to
Windows 98 SE, then earlier last year I bought an upgrade
copy of Windows XP. And so to rebuild the software environment
I'd need to reinstall Windows 98, perform the upgrade to SE
and then perform the upgrade to Windows XP. Without a few
notes in my diary I'd probably not remember the sequence of
events. Likely my new computer would have a copy of Windows
with it and so this page would be unnecessary. But if you're
only replacing a failed hard drive then this information
is necessary.
Perhaps you think hard drives don't fail. I live in a small
town with a population of 30,000 people. A good friend owns
the only computer shop. He advises that not a day goes by
when at least one person doesn't come in with a broken
hard drive.
One last thought, throughout your diary make notes of any
special options or features that you install or set.
About the Author
About the Author:
Grant McNamara has over 20 years experience in IT,and specializes
in multi-lingual web site and software development and training.
His web sites are http://www.selling-it.com/ and
http://www.translateme.co.nz/ mailto:grant.mcnamara@selling-it.com
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| Tucows Downloads - Download Freeware and Shareware Software |
| Download freeware, shareware, and demos. Maintains over 45000 software titles that are tested, rated, reviewed and ready to download. |
| www.tucows.com |
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| Free Software Downloads and Software Reviews - Download.com |
| Download shareware, freeware and Demo software for PC, Mac, Linux, and Handhelds categorized into categories, plus software reviews. |
| www.download.com |
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| Computer software - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| This includes application software such as a word processor, which enables a ... Application software is often purchased separately from computer hardware. ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Shareware.com - Search for shareware programs and free software ... |
| Search for shareware programs from more than a dozen downloadable software directories. |
| www.shareware.com |
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| Jumbo: Free & Shareware MP3 files, Games, Screen Savers & Computer ... |
| Source of free and shareware computer programs and utilities for PC and Mac. Evaluate software and read product reviews. Download games and screen savers. |
| www.jumbo.com |
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| Computer Software in the Yahoo! Directory |
| Browse categories featuring sites devoted to computer software, including shareware and freeware download sites, operating systems, desktop customization, ... |
| dir.yahoo.com |
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| IEEE Software |
| IEEE Computer Society's magazine covering all aspects of software, including software engineering. |
| www.computer.org |
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| Free Downloads on ZDNet | Shareware, Trialware, Evaluation Software |
| ZDNet's Software Directory is the Web's largest library of software downloads. Covering software for Windows, Mac, and Mobile systems, ZDNet's Software ... |
| downloads.zdnet.com |
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| FSF - The Free Software Foundation |
| Free software is a matter of liberty not price. Think of "free" as in "free speech". |
| www.fsf.org |
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| Apple - Software |
| Software products for your digital life. ... The perfect addition for professional review. QuickTime Broadcaster. Encoding software for live events. ... |
| www.apple.com |
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| Open Directory - Computers: Software |
| In Partnership with AOL Search. about dmoz | report abuse/spam | help. the entire directory, only in Computers/Software. Top: Computers: Software (38471) ... |
| dmoz.org |
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| freshmeat.net: Welcome to freshmeat.net |
| About: The Web browser is probably the most frequently used software today, ... Web professionals can use the software for functional testing and regression ... |
| freshmeat.net |
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| Software - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF) |
| Listing of the GNU software packages. |
| www.gnu.org |
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| Sun Software |
| Get enterprise-class software--Solaris 10 OS, the Java Enterprise System, ... Sun Java StorageTek Software reduces cost and complexity with a single, ... |
| www.sun.com |
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| Internet Real Estate.com -- owns and operates a portfolio of the ... |
| SOFTWARE.COM · SWEEPSTAKES.COM · PHONE.COM PODCAST.COM ... Software.com | Sweepstakes.com | Phone.com | Podcast.com | Shop.com | Safety.com ... |
| www.internetrealestate.com |
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| Joel on Software |
| A weblog by Joel Spolsky, a programmer working in New York City, about software and software companies. |
| www.joelonsoftware.com |
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| Amazon.com Software: Computer & video games, business, accounting ... |
| Online shopping for computer & video games, business & office productivity software, software from Microsoft, Apple, Adobe & more; accounting, antivirus, ... |
| www.amazon.com |
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| IBM Software - Home Page |
| IBM home page for all of its software products, including Lotus and Tivoli, with keyword search, category browse and AZ product names. |
| www.ibm.com |
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| Opera web browser: Homepage |
| Copyright © 2006 Opera Software ASA. All rights reserved. Skip navigation. Opera Software ... Copyright Opera Software ASA . All rights reserved. ... |
| www.opera.com |
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| Google Directory - Computers > Software |
| Search only in Software Search the Web ... Software Categorized by Letter: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z ... |
| www.google.com |
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