iPhone 4S leads online smartphone buzz

We've already seen?fish wielding tools and?ravens socializing, and now we're seeing another hint to the inevitable world domination by animals. This?bearded dragon has mastered the video game?Ant Crusher on its owner's cellphone. Sure, the game seems perfectly tailored to the … Continue reading →

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Expedia shareholders to gain from spinoff: report

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's disgraced Olympus Corp ironed out its crooked accounts on Wednesday after a 13-year fraud, with a $1.1 billion dent in its balance sheet triggering speculation it will need to merge, sell assets or raise capital to repair its finances. The 92-year-old maker of cameras and medical equipment filed?…

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"First of all, ew" - 'Shit Girls Say' becomes a hit: viral video spotlight

We've already seen?fish wielding tools and?ravens socializing, and now we're seeing another hint to the inevitable world domination by animals. This?bearded dragon has mastered the video game?Ant Crusher on its owner's cellphone. Sure, the game seems perfectly tailored to the … Continue reading →

View the original article here

Report: Most people still don't trust online info

NEW YORK (AP) — Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed the rise of social networks and mobile technology that's put the Internet at an arm's reach, day and night — yet a new study has found that people are even more distrustful of the information they find online.

Three-quarters of Internet users find the Web an important source of information, but most people still don't deem the content they see online reliable, according to a report out this week from the University of Southern California's Center for the Digital Future

Such are the deep chasms among Americans' attitudes about the Internet.

In 2010, 15 percent of Internet users said they find only a small portion of online information reliable. That's greater than the 7 percent who were likewise skeptical of the vast majority of information they come across on the Internet.

The mistrust is especially true for social networks. That said, people don't look to social networks for reliability. Rather, they visit the sites to socialize and share photos, updates and videos.

Trust grows when it comes to established media outlets and government websites. In 2010, 79 percent of Internet users said they found content posted on government websites reliable, about the same as in 2003, the first year the center looked at that question.

Jeff Cole, director of the Center for the Digital Future, said Americans tend to be more trusting of government and big media.

"Other countries are better at distinguishing good information from (the) unreliable," he said. In repressive regimes where media is closely tied to the government, citizens grow adept at filtering truth from propaganda.

When it comes to privacy online, Americans are actually more concerned about businesses than the government, the report found. Nearly half of U.S. Internet users said they are worried about companies watching what they do online, compared with 38 percent who said the same for the government.

Looking ahead to the next decade, Cole expects tablet computers and other touch-screen devices to largely replace personal computers and with them, the clunky computer mouse.

The center has surveyed more than 2,000 U.S. households each year since 1999. The latest report is a look back at the past decade of Americans' Internet use. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

View the original article here

Chris Dodd's Defense of SOPA Makes Him Sound Like a Despot

It's pretty problematic how former Senator Chris Dodd is vehemently?defending the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) with the same argument that despots have been using to justify censorship for years. Now the head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and one of SOPA's most outspoken proponents, Dodd's logic sort of folds back onto itself. "Hollywood is pro-Internet. We stand with those who strongly oppose foreign governments that would unilaterally block websites and thus deny the free flow of information and speech," Dodd said on Tuesday at the Center for American Progress. "So I want to make it clear right at the outset that our fight against content theft is not a fight against technology. It is a fight against criminals."

Related: Bring on the Anxiety Parade for the SOPA Alternative

We've heard this line before. Indeed, targeting "criminals" serves as a handy, sweeping justification for any ruling power to whittle away at civil rights in the name of the law. In learning more about the history of web censorship, we stumbled across some startlingly of the similar instances in which what are the anti-Internet regimes -- here's a list -- explained how they're actually fighting crime, rather than freedom when the block people from visiting websites.

Related: The Web Collectively Protests Congress's Censorship Law

The Great Firewall of China is probably the most famous government Internet censorship efforts. The government can apparently add new keywords to block certain kinds of sites or even specific kinds of content whenever it wants. Take earlier this year when China shunned the Nobel Peace Prize Committee and blocked news sites from reporting on Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned Chinese dissident who won this year's prize for standing up for freedom of speech. Why'd they do that? "Liu Xiaobo is a criminal," the Chinese Foreign Ministry explained.?

Related: Hollywood Dominates the Debate at Internet Censorship Hearing

But SOPA is about enforcing copyright law, Dodd might contend. Even the tech companies that oppose SOPA admit that they're open to finding better ways to protect intellectual property, though Harvard law professor Jonathan Zittrain recently told The Atlantic Wire that the government hasn't done any real data-driven research to prove that it would even be effective. The problem with the law, critics say, is less the intended purpose than it is the possible execution. Indeed, Chinese government has taken this position too and should the U.S. government join, it could open up even more censorship around the world.?"In China 'copyright' is one of many excuses to crack down on political movements," Chinese blogger Isaac Mao told CNN recently. "If a new law like SOPA is introduced in the U.S., the Chinese government and official media will use it to support their version of 'anti-piracy.'"

Related: Tech Companies Not Taking a Stand on Censorship Are Being Blacklisted

The Indian government is less consistent than China in how it censors the web, but the reasoning is often the same. Just this week, India's acting telecommunications minister Kapil Sibal spoke out about blocking content on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter in order "to remove disparaging, inflammatory or defamatory content before it goes online." (Read: keep citizens from criticizing the Indian government.) How do they justify that? The digital rights advocates at the Electronic Frontier Foundation explain:

The world’s largest democracy has been known to censor online content from time to time, typically under the guise of national security or obscenity. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team is tasked with issuing blocking orders, while Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows police commissioners to identify and order the blocking of material that contains a threat or nuisance to society.

Again, it's not specifically about censoring the internet. It's about punishing criminals.

Related: The Titans of Silicon Valley Rally Around the SOPA Alternative

Syria's been particularly duplicitous about misinformation lately, but blocking the internet in the name of the law has been going on there for years. In 2008, The Economist reported on the censorship problem in Syria by focusing on how the government interpreted laws quite broadly, not only to censor the Internet but actually convict bloggers of crimes:

For "defaming and insulting the administrative bodies of the state", the president of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, Mazen Darwish, was recently sentenced to a salutary ten days in jail. His real crime was to report on riots in an industrial town near Damascus, Syria’s capital. Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based lobby, said his case brought the number of journalists and "cyber dissidents" imprisoned in Syria to seven. …

For several years Syria has been an enemy of the internet. The security services keep opposition figures and even ordinary bloggers under surveillance. The main internet service-provider bans 100-plus websites. Most sites carping at President Bashar Assad’s government are silenced, as are many Kurdish and Islamist sites. A yellow screen flashes up with the words "Access Denied".

So Syria is extra bad because they not only block the sites, they throw bloggers in jail. Because they're criminals, the government contends.

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25 Computer Security And Online Safety Articles:

01.) 2006 Security Watch

02.) About Encryption and Making Your System Secure

03.) Beware Internet Explorer Plug-Ins

04.) Computer Viruses that Come a Calling

05.) CounterSpy 1

06.) Department of Defense Crackdown on Secuity - 2006

07.) Fighting of Viruses_Advancements in AntiVirus Sofware

Suites

08.) Fighting Spam

09.) Finding the Security Suite that meets your needs

10.) How Many Spyware Items are Infecting my Computer

11.) Name Rank and Social Security Number

12.) Parental Peace of Mind

13.) Phishing for your Identity

14.) Protection You Can Afford

15.) Securing Your Computer System

16.) Spam Buster

17.) Surfing the Web Anonymously

18.) The Advancement of the Keylogger

19.) Trojan Horses

20.) Website Security Rules of the Road

21.) What are Intrusion Detection Systems

22.) What the Heck are Botnets

23.) Who are the Players in the Antivirus Industry

24.) Why Do I Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me

25.) ZoneAlarm

25 eZine Marketing Articles:

01.) Why Publish an eZine

02.) Making Money from Selling Advertising Space

03.) Mailing List for Affiliate Marketers

04.) Which One is More Important - Product or Mailing List

05.) Publishing Your eZine - the Pros

06.) Publishing Your eZine - The Cons

07.) Deciding the Nature of Your eZine

08.) Churning out eZine Content

09.) The 3 Best eZine Formats

10.) What You Need to Start an eZine Publication

11.) Converting Every Visitor into Subscriber

12.) Converting Every Web Page into Subscriber Snatching

Devices

13.) Ad Swap Magic

14.) Building Your List with Articles

15.) Building Your List with Paid eZine Advertising

16.) Refrain from Buying Bulk Mails

17.) Weakness in Safe List

18.) Using Free Reports to Build Your List

19.) Landing Page Success Tips

20.) Building Your List with Give Away Ventures

21.) A Popular Autoresponder Marketing Technique

22.) Autoresponder Improvements

23.) Autoresponder Marketing Techniques

24.) Do The Two Step

25.) Improve Your Sales With Autoresponder Improvements

25 Web Design Articles:

01.) 5 Important Rules in Website Design

02.) 5 Ways to Keep Visitors Coming Back

03.) Generating Revenue with Good Planning

04.) Good Design Practices

05.) How To Have Websites Built For You The Cheap Way

06.) The Importance of a Sitemap

07.) Improve Usability of Your Website

08.) Building Your Mailing List with Downloads

09.) Make It Easy To Buy From Your Site

10.) Mistakes To Avoid When Using Web Templates

11.) Pros and Cons of Flash-based Sites

12.) Reducing Load Time Through Image Optimization

13.) Search Engine Friendly Pages

14.) The Importance of A Good Design

15.) Ways To Improve Sales Through Your Website

16.) Web Design Elements You Should Avoid Having on Your

Site

17.) When Is the Right Time to Redesign

18.) Who Is Your Audience

19.) Why Hire A Designer

20.) Why You Should Use Graphic Templates

21.) Is it Easy to Create Our Own Website

22.) Should I Create a Website

23.) The Key to Better Websites-A Navigation

24.) The Key to Better Websites-B Design

25.) Website Customization

25 Basics of Investing Articles:

01.) Avoiding Impulse Spending

02.) Rebates - Reward or Rip Off

03.) Spend Wisely to Save Money

04.) The Budget

05.) Why Should I Make a Budget

06.) About Online Trading

07.) Choosing A Broker

08.) Determine Your Risk Tolerance

09.) Determining Where You Will Invest

10.) Different Types of Bonds

11.) Different Types of Investments

12.) Different Types of Stock

13.) Getting Your Feet Wet

14.) How Much Money Should You Invest

15.) How To Know When To Sell Your Stocks

16.) Investing Basics

17.) Investing for Retirement

18.) Investing Mistakes to Avoid

19.) Investment Strategy

20.) Long Term Investments for the Future

21.) Stabilize Your Current Situation Before You Invest

22.) The Importance of Diversification

23.) Understanding Bonds

24.) What Is Your Investment Style

25.) Why You Should Invest

40 Self Improvement Articles:

01.) Your 7 days program to self-improvement

02.) Why is it important to improve your self

03.) Unlock your self improvement power

04.) Self improvement and success

05.) Motivation, the heart of self improvement

06.) Build your self esteem, a starter guide to self

improvement

07.) Harnessing your attraction power

08.) Unleash your creative thinkink

09.) What Innovation Can Do to Your Life

10.) Adventures in Creative Thinking (creative problem

solving)

11.) The Powers of a Positive Attitude

12.) Your 7 days program to Positive thinking

13.) Power through the people

14.) The Road to Intuition

15.) Creating Effective and Efficient Relationships

16.) 10 ways to empower your communication

17.) Happy as You Want to Be

18.) 10 ways to start taking control

19.) Setting Your Goals - Easier Said, Easily Done

20.) Time management and personal growth

21.) Your 7 days program to Stress management

22.) Your Recommended Daily Allowance for Relaxation

23.) The Way to Wellness It's time to start a Healthy life

24.) How to Become an Ideal Leader

25.) Things You Thought You Knew About Leadership

26.) The Spiritual Challenge of Modern Times

27.) Do Yoda Proud: Meditation 101

28.) 5000 Year-Old Medical Secret Unearthed

29.) Why Coaching is the Way to Go in Team Management

30.) The Game of Life Start your own coaching

31.) Life Mapping

32.) 10 questions you should ask to yourself

33.) Impossible is Just a Word

34.) Life is About Choices and the Decisions We Make

35.) Energy Healing 101 - Pranic, Tantric, and Reiki

36.) Genuine Happiness Comes from Within

37.) Enjoy your life - change your point of view

38.) Inspirational quotes than can improve yourself

39.) Your 5 minutes daily program to Stress management

40.) To Go or Not to Go Herbal, that is the Question?

10 Web Traffic Articles:

01.) 7 Surefire Ways To Increase Your Traffic

02.) Heres Why Paying For Your Traffic Is A Smart Move

03.) How To Generate Traffic Using Only Free Methods

04.) How To Monetize Your Traffic

05.) How To Use A Tell A Friend Script

06.) Search Engine Optimization

07.) Top 5 Ways To Low Cost Traffic

08.) Using Google Adwords For Laser Targeted Traffic

09.) Using Overture Yahoo To Get Website Visitors

10.) Viral Marketing 101

10 Affiliate Marketing Articles:

01.) 3 Things All Affiliate Marketer Need To Survive Online

02.) 3 Ways To Boost Your Affiliate Commissions Overnight

03.) A day In The Life Of An Affiliate Markete

04.) Easy Affiliate Profits Using PPC

05.) How To Become A Super Affiliate In Niche Narkets

06.) The 3 Most Common Affiliate Mistakes

07.) Using Camtasia Can Increase Your Affiliate Checks

08.) Using Product Recommendations For Profit

09.) Which Affiliate Networks To Look For When Promoting

10.) Which Affiliate Program Should I Choose

10 Google Adsense Marketing Articles:

01.) 3 Reasons Why Adsense Is Essential For Content Sites

02.) 5 Ways To Improve Your Adsense Earnings

03.) Avoid Getting Your Adsense Account Terminated

04.) Don't Get Caught With Adsense Click Fraud

05.) Google Adsense The Easiest Money To Make Online

06.) How To Start Making Money With Adsense

07.) Monetizing Your Website With Adsense

08.) Monetizing Your Website With Adsense.

09.) Using Other Peoples Info To Increase Your Adsense Cash

10.) Who Else Wants To Make Money With Adsense

10 Email Marketing Articles:

01.) 3 Quick And Easy Ways To Build A Profitable Opt-In List

02.) 3 Things To Avoid When Emailing Your List

03.) 4 Crucial Things You Need To Do To Build Your List

04.) 4 Ways To Get Your Opt-In List To Trust You Quickly

05.) 5 Things To Consider When Publishing A Newsletter

06.) 7 Ways To Make Money Using Nothing More Than Your List

07.) How To Build A List Of Eager Subscribers

08.) How To Get Your Subscribers Begging For More

09.) How To Grab Their Attention With A Subject Line

10.) Use Articles To Build Your List

40 Ebay Marketing Articles:

01.) eBay: The First 10 Years

02.) EBay Income Possibilities.

03.) What You Need to Know BEFORE You Get Started on eBay

04.) A Beginner Guide to the Different eBay Auction Types.

05.) Staying Out of Trouble with eBay Listing Policies

06.) Learning the eBay ingo?

07.) 5 Simple Steps to Posting Your First eBay Auction

08.) An eBay Seller Checklist.

09.) What Your eBay Reputation Really Worth?

10.) Is the eBay Customer Always Right?

11.) 10 Sure-fire Ways to Kill Your eBay Business

12.) 10 Steps to Successful Selling on eBay

13.) eBay ?Part Time or Full? How to Decide

14.) How to Think Like an eBay PowerSeller

15.) How to Use eBay to Grow Your Other Businesses

16.) Taming the eBay Search Engine

17.) How to Choose the Right eBay Product Category

18.) eBay Title Writing Tips.

19.) eBay Description Writing Tips.

20.) 10 Tips for Increasing Your eBay Response

21.) An Introduction to Bidding and Buying on eBay.

22.) Your Rights as an eBay Buyer

23.) 10 Ways to Avoid Being Ripped Off on eBay

24.) How Important is Your Buyer Reputation?

25.) How to Check an eBay Seller Reputation (and Why You

Should Do It

26.) Understanding the Different eBay Auction Types

27.) When to uy Now?and When to Bid.

28.) eBay Auction Buyer Tips and Tricks.

29.) When and How to Withdraw Your eBay Bid

30.) You Won that eBay Auction! Now What Do You Do?

31.) The eBay Buyer FAQ.

32.) SafeHarbor; eBay Own Scotland Yard.

33.) Using PayPal on eBay.

34.) How to Get eBay Coupons.

35.) Introducing the New eBay uyer Credit?Program.

36.) Tips and Tricks for Using eBay Search.

37.) When Things Go Wrong: How to Resolve eBay Disputes.

38.) Watch Out for eBay Automobile and Computer Scams.

39.) Tips for Buying Collectibles on eBay.

40.) Taking Advantage of low?eBay Auctions

25 VIRAL MARKETING ARTICLES:

01.) 3 Steps to Find 廮reebies?to Add to Your E-book

02.) 6 Ideas for Viral Marketing

03.) B2B Marketers Do It, Too

04.) E-Books and Affiliate Programs

05.) Folksonomies - a New Viral Marketing Tool

06.) Four Good Reasons to Use Viral E-Books

07.) Getting a 壣uzz?On

08.) Houston Museum of Natural Science Went Viral

09.) How to Get and Use E-Mail Addresses for Viral

Advertising

10.) Humor Turns E-Mail Viral

11.) Start Viral Marketing Campaigns Using E-Books

12.) Successful Forum Viral Marketing

13.) The Many Facets of Viral Marketing

14.) The Subservient Chicken

15.) Using Chat Rooms in Viral Marketing

16.) Using E-Mail to Achieve Objectives

17.) Using File Sharing in Viral Marketing

18.) Using Forums in Viral Marketing

19.) Using Videos in Viral Marketing

20.) Viral Marketing Goes Mobile

21.) Viral Marketing using Forums

22.) What an E-Book Can Do for You

23.) What Works & What Doesn't in Viral Marketing

24.) Why and How E-mail Viral Marketing Works

25.) Your E-Book is your Viral Salesman

Search Engine Optimization An Introduction

SEO, the acronym of Search Engine Optimization, leads us to a series of clues to understand the modus operandi (the working method) of search engines.

It is the process of improvising the visibility of a website via the"unpaid" searching, also known as the organic, algorithmic or the natural way of searching. The higher on the page, more the visitors the site will receive. SEO is about making small modifications to parts of a website. Viewing individually, these changes seem like incremental improvements, but when combined with other optimizations, they could have a noticeable impact on the site`s user experience and performance in organic search results.

Search Engine Optimizers

SEOs are the consultants who carry out the optimizations on behalf of a client. They make the client web site "search engine friendly". Users watch or read websites but they can only read the programming code with which they are developed. Though the SEOs target different kinds of search, in forms of images, sounds or video, they are a part of the page which the engines cannot decipher. For this reason, the positioning work is based on HTML tags and text.

The leading searching sites use "automatic indexers" (also known as web spiders, robots or crawlers) to find pages for their algorithmic search results. Pages linked from other search engine indexed pages do not need to be submitted because they are found automatically. Here comes the use of SEO tactics.

There are millions of ways today to increase your site exposure. There are new strategies popping up each day and the basic techniques are way forgotten. There are many trends along the way from coupon marketing, credit card marketing, social networking to making tabs.

Some are about following the rules involving no deception. It ensures that the search engine indexes the content and subsequently ranks. It is about effective marketing, making efforts to deliver the quality of content the user wants. It is about the accessibility keeping the uniqueness of the gist. Again there are attempts to improve rankings in ways disapproved. Search engines on finding the use of illegal ways reduce their rankings or delete them from their databases.

SEOs - a good Marketing Strategy?

SEOs may give a high return on investment but on the contrary the algorithms of the engines might change and hence no guarantee.

"To be a good SEO is crucial, but the key lies in quality.

Speeding Up A Windows 7 Computer

Everyone wants a fast Windows 7 computer. This is especially true of people who play games. So the question is what makes a Windows 7 computer fast? How can you speed up your Windows 7 computer without paying an arm and a leg to increase the speed.

Several things make a computer fast. The most important is keeping it clean. A new Windows 7 computer is like my 2 car garage in 1985. At that time it help 2 cars no problem. Today is holds no cars. There is no room because other stuff has been stored there.

The same is true of most computers today. When they were purchased they were fast because they were empty of software. Over time software accumulated in the computer. The most egregious software is memory resident software. Often we use programs for a short time and then never again. However, these programs often have memory resident components that slow down the computer. A clean computer is a fast computer. How to clean is computer is the focus of another article.

In this article the focus is on what makes Windows 7 fast. So the first step is to measure Windows 7 speed. There are benchmarks and diagnostic programs that measure performance and speed. While they do a good job, they are not the measure on what a computer user considers fast. To me fast is responsive. Windows 7 has a responsive measurement tool called the Windows Experience Index. It is a measurement scale ranging from 1.0 to 7.9 currently. Newly purchased computers typically score in the range of 3.4 to 4.5.

To find the Windows Experience Index, click on START, then point to COMPUTER, click the right mouse button (the other mouse button), and use the normal mouse click to open PROPERTIES from the bottom of the menu. the overall rating is displayed smack dab in the middle of the display. A click on the Windows Experience Index to the right of the overall rating number should reveal the rating for each of the Windows Experience Index categories.

The Windows Experience Index measures Processor speed, Memory speed, Graphics card desktop performance speed, graphics card 3D gaming and business performance, and hard disk transfer rate. It rates the overall performance of the computer as the lowest score in any of these categories.

Many computers today have quad-core processors running at 2.5 to 3.2 GHz with DDR3 memory. Such systems typically score in the 6.9 to 7.2 range for CPU and memory speed. Generally, CPU and Memory are not a major consideration in making a Windows 7 computer fast. My laptop running an Inter i3 dual core 2.13 Ghz CPU and memory performs in the 5.9 to 6.1 range.

Disk drives in computers are Serial AT Attachment (SATA) drives. They rotate at 7,200 rpm. This is typically twice the 3,000 rpm at which automobile engines cruse. Laptop drives may run at 5,400 rpm. High performance drives operate at 10,000 rpm. So why the focus on rpm speed. A large part of disk performance is the time it mechanically takes to move the disks read/write mechanism. Part of that mechanical performance is the rotational speed of the drive. So 5,400 rpm drives are slower than 7,200 rpm drives. Most SATA drives have a Windows Experience Index of from 5.6 to 5.9.

What remains is the graphics card performance. That is the area which makes the Windows experience index run in the 3.4 to 4.5 range.

How do we make our Windows 7 computer more responsive? Changing processor and memory are costly. They are likely the fastest components already. Changes there make no sense. With Windows XP, increasing the computer's memory size from 256 MB or 512 MB to 3 GB or 4 GB noticeably improves performance. Most Windows 7 computers today come with 3 GB to 6 GB of memory. Windows 7 64-bit Edition can use more than 6 GB. My computer has 16 GB of memory. However, application programs mostly are written to use no more than 4 GB or memory. So most of the 16 GB memory is unused. Right now my computer seems to be using 10 GB of memory. Increasing memory size in a Windows 7 computer is not likely to result in a noticeable improvement in responsiveness.

It is possible to improve responsiveness with a faster disk drive. This requires disk drive replacement. Two drives can improve performance: 1. Solid State Drives (no moving parts) and 2. High RPM drives (10,000 rpm). Both types of drives are expensive with Solid State Drives (SSD) being the most expensive. Solid State Drives also wear out over time (several years) depending upon use. The smaller the SSD, the quicker it wears out. SSD are the fastest drives because there are no mechanical parts.

One disk drive strategy is to get a small 128 MB SSD that only holds Windows 7 and the application programs and place the remaining data on another larger SATA drive. The Windows supports the Windows paging files and temporary file area. These areas are constantly used by Windows to store and retrieve data while you are working on the computer. Making that storage and retrieval process faster makes Windows more responsive. Word, Excel, Pictures and Music files stored on another slower drive do not make the Windows 7 computer less responsive because we expect some delay every time we retrieve one of those files. My computer uses a 128 GB SSD for Windows. It has a Windows experience Index of 6.8. All my data is stored on 1TB SATA drives with a Windows Experience of 5.9. I have not tested 10,000 rpm drives as yet to determine their Windows Experience Index. The Windows Experience Index is not published for any drives because it depends in part on the motherboard and CPU to which the drive is attached.

The last area is the graphics cards. Because their Windows Experience Index score is low they offer the greatest potential for improvement. Graphics cards are advertised with high performance chips (chip sets) from ATI or Nvidia typically. They have graphics memory on the card. Fast graphics chips and more memory on the card can speed up and make games more responsive. They should make the 3D business and gaming graphics Windows Experience Index higher.

In contrast a card with a high 3D performance and a low desktop performance our computer may not make our computer as responsive as we hope. Also how we use our computer can be important. In my case I run four (4) monitors each with 1920 by 1200 resolution. So having two Digital Video Interface (DVI) connectors on a graphics card is important because I need two graphics cards to support the four monitors. Configuring the cards for responsive performance requires that the motherboard of the computer have graphics card slots (Peripheral Connect Interface Express - PCI Express connectors) that run at the highest PCI Express speed (16X speed) from both slots simultaneously.

The final consideration is the graphics card memory interface. The interface can be 64-bit, 128-bit, 256-bit or higher. Here the larger number is better. If you are a gamer and get the best performing chips (chip set) on a graphics card that only has a 64-bit interface you could find the gaming performance less than expected. Not being a game player (except for Solitaire) I may be incorrect here. In the case of four monitors, a $100 card that has a 256-bit memory interface produces a Windows Experience Index rating of 6.8 for both Windows Desktop and 3D Graphics performance. Finding a good performing and moderately priced graphics card requires a look a the specifications and specifically the memory interface. Cards with a 320-bit memory interface or higher can be very expensive. Actually, some cost more than my motherboard, CPU and 16 GB of memory.

The last part of performance is the network interface. Computers with a 100 Mbps or 1 Gbps interface are common. Few if any computers operate at the original 10 Mbps Ethernet speed. The speed is not so important here. Internet speeds are typically slower. The Verizon FIOS speed is often slower than 35 Mbps. This is under the 100 Mbps of most computer Ethernet interfaces. So then what is important to understand about network performance? It is simple, when a network is not working well, a Windows 7 computer slows to a snail's crawl. With a malfunctioning network interface (or any Universal Serial Bus - USB interface) it looks like someone poured liquid nitrogen over the computer so it is frozen solid. This can also happens when the batteries in your cordless mouse die.

So a responsive Windows 7 computer is determined more by graphics card performance and memory interface, as opposed to CPU speed, Memory speed, and disk drive speed. Any network, USB or mouse problems tend to stop everything. Keeping the computer clean from unused and memory resident software helps as well.

Pete the Nerd
"Your Friend on a Technically Challenged Planet (c)"
(c) P D Moulton

Pete is the original Dial-A-Nerd. Advertised in the 1990 USA Today classifieds, Dial-A-Nerd concept was created in the late 1980's to provide telephone computer help. Dial-A-Nerd became the Dial-A-Nerd Radio show on WJFK Radio and then the Technically Correct TV Show on WMAR ABC Channel 2 in Baltimore.

Pete has worked on computer before the earliest days of personal computers. In his early years working in data communications he personally met some pioneers of the Internet, but he never met Al Gore.

How To Collect A Money Judgment

Chances are, if you've been awarded a civil judgment in court, you're also one of thousands of frustrated judgment holders that have yet to see a dime. You're certainly not alone... roughly 80% of judgment holders have never been paid.

Most believe that when they've won a judgment the court will ensure the judgment is paid - but the shocking truth is: the court will not enforce your judgment. The responsibility to make the debtor pay sits squarely on your shoulders.

Our court system provides many powerful remedies to collect judgments from unwilling debtors... Unfortunately, unless you know where the debtor's assets are located and how to use the court system to initiate those procedures, you're out of luck.

The good news is that the judgment is valid and enforceable for an average of 10 years, and it's renewable in most states. Better still is the fact that interest accrues on judgments, so if it's a couple of years old it's worth considerably more today than it was the day it was awarded.

Before you'll be able to make the judgment debtor pay up, you'll need to locate him/her and his/her assets. This is referred to in the judgment recovery industry as "skip tracing."

The first step in the process is building a profile of your debtor. You'll want to make sure that all of your details are correct from the very beginning; like the spelling of the debtor's name, the last known address, the social security number and date of birth of the subject (if available). This way you'll have accurate information when it's time to act through the court system. I could write an entire article on skip tracing - and I probably will, soon - but for now I'll just say that in order to seize anything, you have to know what and where it is.

Some very basic asset information may already be known to you... such as where the debtor is employed, or if the debtor owns a home or business. If the debtor has ever written a check to you, the information about the debtor's bank account will probably be readily available from the bank where you deposited the check. If this information is not available, you can also outsource the work to an asset investigation company for a nominal fee.

There are other legal discovery procedures in your toolbox, as well. As a judgment holder you can legally compel the debtor - or anyone else with knowledge of the debtor's assets - to appear in court to answer your questions about finances and assets. In addition to the debtor examination, you can use a subpoena to demand specific types of documents like bank statements, employer check stubs, deeds, etc. You can even ask the judge to instruct the debtor to turn out his/her pockets and surrender any cash or valuables they may be carrying. This is a powerful, yet frequently under utilized enforcement tool!

Once the assets have been located there are several legal procedures at your disposal. In most states asset seizures are initiated by issuing a writ of execution (or writ of garnishment or fieri facias) from the court, and providing that writ along with specific instructions to the county sheriff's civil department, who acts as your levying officer and carries out your directions.

If you've determined where the debtor works, in most states you can initiate a garnishment of wages. A wage garnishment orders the debtor's employer to withhold typically 25% of their disposable income every time the debtor gets paid, and send it to you.

Another common collection method is the bank account garnishment. If you know where the debtor banks, you can have a garnishment served there. Once the garnishment is received, the money in the account is frozen - nothing goes in, and no withdrawals are allowed. Anything that was in the account at the time the garnishment was served is turned over to you.

Other potential assets include business income and equipment, rental property income, under the table income, real property (houses, lots, etc.), personal property (automobiles, heirlooms, recreational vehicles, boats - even livestock!). If you discover that someone owes money to your debtor, you can also intercept that to satisfy your judgment. It pays - literally - to look beyond the norm when considering what assets you can seize to satisfy your judgment.

I should note here, that not all assets are subject to seizure to satisfy civil judgments. These are called "exemptions" and usually include child support, welfare, disability, social security and retirement income. Also, it would irresponsible of me if I didn't acknowledge that not all judgments are enforceable. The adage "blood from a turnip" comes to mind, so it's only fair to let you know that only about 50% - 60% of judgments are actually collectable. But all-in-all, if you find non-exempt assets then there's a great chance you'll be able to enforce your judgment.

How to Build a Strong Credit Record and Rating for Your Business

Having a healthy credit record and rating for your business is absolutely vital in these difficult economic times where the amount of money available to borrow is in short supply. Being able to prove that your business is able to pay its financial commitments is imperative when banks are making lending decisions. It is also important to remember that it is not just banks who lend money - every time you (or a supplier) extend credit they are effectively lending money and you need to be sure that if you extend credit to anyone that you will get paid.

The importance of having a strong credit record and rating

Companies understand that company credit reports are available on every registered company and these are readily available from credit rating agencies. Company credit reports are based on a variety of factors which are used to build a credit profile of a business.

Company credit reports will typically include a rating - A credit rating will typically take into account accounting factors such as whether there are any County Court Judgements (CCJs) recorded against the company, the length of time the company has been in operation and the background of its directors.

Also typically included in company credit reports will be information that can be used to build up a picture of their financial stability. Some agencies have started working with telecoms and utilities companies to build up payment data to show if the company can a) afford to pay and b) how quickly they will pay.

So let's now have a look at some methods you can employ to help build a good credit rating:

1.Complete your report and accounts and ensure they are delivered to Companies House on time

Research completed by a leading Credit Referencing Agency shows that companies who submit their accounts to Companies House in the last possible month are 8 times more likely to go into liquidation than those who file their accounts early. Filing your accounts on time and in full, shows credit rating agencies that you have nothing to hide - transparency is king! It isn't to say that a business that doesn't file until the last minute will enter insolvency, it's just statistically proven that this more likely to happen. Also by being completely transparent you may even see an increase in your company credit rating on your company credit report.

2.Pay your bills on time

Ensuring your company has enough cashflow is a major issue. However by holding back and not paying bills on time sends out warning messages that your business is in financial trouble and at risk of going out of business. Credit rating agencies are constantly building up payment data from third party sources and using this information in their reports. If you haven't done so already, consider restructuring your payment policy so that all payments are made by direct debit.

3.Pay suppliers within agreed timescales

This doesn't mean you have to pay your suppliers in advance or even within 14 days, but it does mean that you should set up realistic payment terms with your suppliers and stick to them! A credit rating agency may not use this information within their rating algorithm however they may show this information on their reports.

4.Check your own group's credit records carefully

Remember it's not just your report that companies can see when they view your report. Many credit rating agencies will now show the records of other organisations within your organisation's group or your parent company. Whilst these records may not directly affect your company credit rating it could have an impact on the person reviewing your company group as a whole.

5.Check out your existing and potential customers

In order to ensure a healthy credit record for your own company it is important that you are dealing with companies that are able to pay for any products / services they order. Many business owners do not feel the need to credit check their existing clients due to long standing relationships or the thought that the company is too big to fail - however the recession has shown how quickly this can change.

6.Take account of security threats

Shaking off a poor credit rating can take a long time even if it was caused by fraudsters and not your own business practices. As such it is important that you keep an eye on your company details (that are registered at Companies House) to ensure that no-one has attempted to change your details (a common practice amongst fraudsters).

7.Co-operate with your auditors

Being completely open and honest with your auditors is always a good idea as it shows full transparency of your financial records. Having positive comments from independent auditors can have a positive effect on your credit rating. Trying to hide information or not being completely honest will usually lead to a negative comment which in turn can lead to a negative effect on your rating.

8.Check your own record on a regular basis

It is vital to keep an eye on your company credit report and check this on a regular basis. By checking it regularly you can ensure that any old information is updated thus updating your credit rating.

Conclusion

Company credit reports are playing an increasingly important part in business today. Available online, they are both low-cost and high quality. Since more and more businesses decisions are based on information within credit reports, it makes sense to actively build a healthy record.

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