Hardware Maintenance

By Victoria | Published: April 30, 2013

No matter how common it is now to have a computer or some kind of gadget, it is still an investment. And, as such, the best way to take care of your investment is to make sure this is maintained properly. Maintenance for a computer is not only about updating and installing security software. It is also about hardware upkeep.

cleaning computers
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First, ensure that your computer area is always clean. It is better not to eat or drink in the immediate area and not to smoke. Next, on a regular basis, you must clean your hardware. Make sure your computer is off and unplugged before doing any cleaning. If you warranty allows, unscrew the case of your computer. Get an air spray or compressed air can and spray the hard to reach areas so you remove any collected dust or particles. Do this at least 4 inches away to avoid damage. After, re-screw the cover and wipe this with a clean, dry cloth. Regular maintenance will prolong the life of your computer.

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The Realities of Owning a Gadget

By Victoria | Published: February 24, 2013

Ok, so we know that gadgets are essential these days. We cannot NOT have at least a mobile phone. These days, it is just not the smart thing to do. The Internet and all smart gadgetry have becoming so heavily intertwined in our lives that it is impossible to separate them. Business and business processes are created now and have been upgraded and improved to reflect the changing face of technology.

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So if you are just getting a mobile phone or a smart phone now, know the realities of having this connectivity. You will be reachable at all times from anywhere in the world. If you work in an office, there is a chance your work hours will mix with personal time so you need to be able to manage this well. If you are a freelancer, you need to be able to decide over the times you are connected and not.

Owning a gadget can be stressful but the advantages and benefits now far outweigh the discomfort.

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Reading Gadgets

By Victoria | Published: January 19, 2013

If you love to read and you are also a person who likes to be on top of technology, then no doubt you would be pleased over the direction gadgets are going. If you are that super reader, the one who would bring a book to a coffee shop or a doctor’s clinic and be totally ok reading while waiting, is the smart phone or the tablet your answer to becoming the super, modern, book reader?

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Here are some things to consider when thinking about gadgets and your favorite activity of reading. A gadget and a smart phone share the same thing: they can compress a library of books so you can bring all your favorites around with you. If you enjoy your regular paperback, then a smart phone will be more than enough. But if you also read graphic novels or comic books, a tablet is the way to go.

At the end of the day, take stock of your reading habits. This will help you make an informed choice.

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What is Malware?

By Victoria | Published: December 30, 2012

Today is a time when connectivity means something so wide and important it is inescapable. The advent of the Internet forever changed the way we communicate with each other and every year we just see addition after addition in the number of gadgets and hardware that keep us connected all the time.

Decades ago the main concern for communication was confidentiality. The fax machine was the tool most business people used to send confidential information. Today all kind of information is sent online and the concern now is protecting one’s gadget, one’s identity, and one’s business information from theft.

Malware is the term used to define malicious software, software that can disable your software and hardware and gain access to your online data. Arming yourself against malware of any kind is one way to ensure your own online safety as well as the well-being and longevity of your gadgets and computer.

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Yield – Continued

By Ernest | Published: December 10, 2012

The previous post using the yield statement gives us the following output which shows the ease of using blocks in programs which can be used to pass on parameters to the other parts of the same statement.

The code from the previous post gives the output:
Hi There
Hi There
Hi There

The code between the curly braces is associated to the method three times and within that yield command is called three times in succession, each time calling the code contained within the block giving the three output code in the form of the greeting. We will discuss the concepts behind the ‘yield’ statement in the next posts as we continue to build-up up our skills while aiming to use more of the simplified methods used in ruby to further shorten the code making it easier to implement and use..

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Is a Kindle Good Enough?

By Victoria | Published: November 30, 2012

There are so many gadgets in the market today that it is easy to get lost in this sea. You may be tempted to own one of every new ‘in’ thing. But if you stop and examine what you really need, you may find that you do not need so many different gadgets.


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Take the many tablets in the market. The most popular ones are the iPad and the Samsung Galaxy tab. But there are more affordable tablets offered by book retailers like the Nook by Barnes and Noble and the Kindle from Amazon.

Let’s look at the Kindle. If you want a tablet just to be able to read all kinds of books and to carry thousands of books at a time, maybe all you need is the Kindle. The Kindle Fire now comes with a colored touch screen enabling eBooks and graphic novels to be read as well. The good thing is the Kindle Fire is much more affordable than the iPad or the Galaxy tab.

Taking this as an example, examine your needs and you may find that you can live happily with just a few gadgets.

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How to Choose a Tablet

By Victoria | Published: October 31, 2012

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Tablets have become the rage over the past two years. Now, a good number of people own a tablet or two. Because of the ease and popularity of the touch screen and the undeniable power of the internet, tablets have become an important piece of machinery to own. And there are many technology giants who produce tablets so purchasing one can be a confusing activity.
When choosing a tablet, think of the following tips. Think about your use. If you just want to browse the web, look at pictures, read books, then any tablet will be fine. But if you intend for this to be used for business or for gaming, choosing one with the appropriate screen size, specs, etc. is important. Consider your OS or operating system. If you are going to use your tablet for work, getting one with a Windows OS might be the best fit for you. Finally, check for the features like WiFi capability, storage space, and application compatibility. These three things will help you greatly in choosing your tablet.

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Using the

By Ernest | Published: October 10, 2012

It might be almost similar but relatively different in a big way for blocks may appear only in the source adjacent to a method call which means it should be written on the same line as the method’s last parameter and it is not implemented once it is encountered but, Ruby rather remembers the context by which the block of code appears then enters the method. Within the method itself, the block of code may be called as if it were a block in itself by using the ‘yield’ statement. After the block of code has been executed, control returns immediately right after the call to the yield statement. Sample use of ‘yield’:

def threeTimes
yield
yield
yield
end
threeTimes {puts “Hi There”}

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Using thw [] for conditional processing

By Ernest | Published: August 10, 2012

The process shown below is and example of using the [] to have the program execute a condition that searches the contents of an array till a match is found. It goes from the top to the bottom to check each and every member of the array to look for a match doing the requested process if it is found and returning nothing if nothing is found.

class BookList
def [](key)
if key.kind_of?(integer)
return @Books[key]
else
for C in 0…@Books.length
return @Books[i] if key == @Book[i].name
end
end
return nil
end
end

Though the above shown method is quite detailed and goes through the array thoroughly, there is a n easier method which we will show with the next post making the whole process not only easier but process faster.

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Getting Started and how to open Programs : Part 2

By Ernest | Published: June 10, 2012

Save the text file with the following filename “first1.rb” and we now go into the syntax checking function and the facility provided to show the syntax check verbosely. The following code shows how code is checked for syntax correctness and returns the result of the said checking by typing the following code :

$ ruby :cw first1.rb

The “-c” flag initiates Ruby’s syntax checker while the “w” flag shows the result of the syntax checker. If there is no issue with the code being checked you get a “Syntax OK” result which means you can execute the code for there are no syntax issues. Type $ruby first1.rb on the command line and you get the result ” The concatenated line is : This is my first Ruby Program “

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