There has been a real interest shown in electronic book readers of late, even to the point of some industry experts predicting that these new generation of digital book readers will result in ebook sales eventually overtaking those of paperback and hardback copy. If that is to be the case, with thinking being more towards eco friendly, carbon neutrality and generally protecting the environment, it needs to be asked, "Will these digital ebook reader devices be good for the environment."
It needs to be pointed out that the introduction of electronic book readers into the home, school, collage and university facilities across the globe would result, in the short term at least, in an instant benefit. Less natural resources and raw material used, such as wood for the paper, gas for the production of the book and the ink used in the printing process, is the first area to be addressed, but when you look further into it, the savings to the environment can be far greater in the long term.
Let's start by saying, this is not about online shopping, it is about digital production and delivery. With online shopping the product still has to be delivered to your door, even after the possible thousands of miles it has traveled prior to that, but digital deliver is just that. No last mile delivery, no storage, in fact, very minimal impact on the environment no matter what continent you order it from.
To get to this point, the technology has to be available to more people, or should I say affordable to more people. Yes we know, historically new technology is always more expensive when it first appears, but it seems to me that the electronic book readers manufacturers are missing a rather big trick here. If these devices were more affordable to the masses then the masses would embrace them and when that happens we will be in the realms of serious benefits to the environment.
The way things had been going , eat-paper was only perceived as a temporary alterative to printed paper, a way of receiving your purchase instantly but never a replacement for hard copy. This stemmed from the short comings of eat-paper in the early days of Digital Book Readers, hard to read, bad contrast and short battery life, but this has changed. With the advent of eat-ink paper technology came the answer to those problems, exceptional battery life from the improved contrast and a real paper like quality to the screen background and a text that can be read in the strongest of sunlight.
Those advancements have pushed electronic book readers right to the edge of a quantum leap into the mainstream. Authors are starting to publish straight to the ebook format at launch. Two of the most famous authors to have done this are Stephen King and Dan Browne, both released their ebooks at the time of launch of the Kindle2 and Sony Edition range of eat-book readers paving the way that others will follow in greater numbers.
As the Green Press Initiative have reported that the US alone is responsible for the use of twenty million trees every year for book production alone. Then add to that the reported ninety five million (95,000,000) trees used in the newspaper industry every year, you can see how, if reading devices become the norm, that these numbers can be reduced quite considerably.
We are all getting more conscious recycling wise but at one point, the GPI stated that landfills held 25% of paper products omitting, through decomposition, toxic greenhouse gas methane. Not all that pollutant is from the disposal of book admittedly, but carbon dioxide produced during printing and production of hard copy is. Over 12 million tons of carbon dioxide are produced annually from the production of traditional books, and you can guess where that ends up. That equates to a shockingly on-Co Friendly nine pounds of carbon dioxide for every book produced not taking into account carbon produced from transport or premises.
Neither taken into account is the immeasurable amount of carbon produced through illegal deforestation that is occurring globally. Much of the timber from these areas could end up in paper used for printing, who knows. Then there is the scars left on many landscapes through out the country from legitimate logging operations, tropical forests in Indonesia lose four and a half million acres, the Boreal forest Canada two million acres annually, with two thirds ending up as paper for reading or writing and over six million acres of forest in America's South Eastern region going the same way.All the above environmental disasters can and would be greatly helped if electronic book readers do in dead take that leap. As you can see from the areas highlighted above, digital ebook readers do have a big part to play in the protection of raw materials, natural resources and the ultimately environment but only if we allow them to.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
How to Remove a Spyware Popup and malware popup
If you notice a popup randomly appearing when you use your computer, there is a good chance that your computer may be infected by a spyware. It's best to get rid of the spyware as soon as you can, because other than being annoying, the spyware can also spy on what you do and send this information to someone else via the internet. The spyware can spy on your surfing habits and the things that you type on your computer, including your user names and passwords.
It's better if you know the name of the spyware that you want to remove, but the following steps should work for most spyware.
1. Start with using an online virus scan. Certain spyware will disable anti-virus software on your system so if you can use an online scanner, do so.
2. Download and install spyware and adware removers like Spybot and AdAware. Once you have these two tools installed, immediately update them so they can detect the very latest spyware and adware. Once they are updated, run them. These tools are a great help in scanning your computer specifically to find malware that are hiding on your system and probably disguised as something useful. They will also remove Windows registry entries that the malware plant. Be sure to restart as soon as the tools are done with their work.
3. Fix your Windows registry. After the spyware and adware entries have been removed from the Windows registry, you should use a registry cleaner to fix any errors in the registry. Because the registry is very important to the smooth running of Windows, it is important to make sure that the registry is cleaned and optimized.
It's better if you know the name of the spyware that you want to remove, but the following steps should work for most spyware.
1. Start with using an online virus scan. Certain spyware will disable anti-virus software on your system so if you can use an online scanner, do so.
2. Download and install spyware and adware removers like Spybot and AdAware. Once you have these two tools installed, immediately update them so they can detect the very latest spyware and adware. Once they are updated, run them. These tools are a great help in scanning your computer specifically to find malware that are hiding on your system and probably disguised as something useful. They will also remove Windows registry entries that the malware plant. Be sure to restart as soon as the tools are done with their work.
3. Fix your Windows registry. After the spyware and adware entries have been removed from the Windows registry, you should use a registry cleaner to fix any errors in the registry. Because the registry is very important to the smooth running of Windows, it is important to make sure that the registry is cleaned and optimized.
How to Stop Spyware - how to protuct your computer from spyware and malware
I've come across many people who struggle with spyware. Almost all of the time, the users have no idea how the spyware got into their computer systems, and have no idea how to stop spyware. This article will run through the various steps that anyone can take to stop spyware.
1. Make sure your system is staying current with all the operating system updates. Windows will automatically download and install updates if you allow it to, and you should. Without your needing to keep track of what new updates are available, this is as convenient as it gets. Windows will download the updates in the background and when it's ready, install them to keep your computer current. Staying current will reduce the chances that a malicious program can exploit previous security flaws that could have exposed your system.
2. Install a good anti-virus program and ensure that it's constantly being updated. A good anti-virus program will help you by detecting already existing virus and spyware, as well as stop them as they come in. Many people forget to keep the anti-virus updated; they assume that it's enough to install the software. Not so. Keeping it updated means that it can keep up with the latest virus and spyware. If it's not updated, it may not be able to detect them.
3. Get your firewall up. Newer versions of Windows come with a firewall that greatly increases the security of your computer. A firewall will block inbound network-based attacks. This is especially important nowadays because most computers are connected to the Internet. When connected to the Internet, it is possible for anyone to attack your computer and plant spyware or other types of malware on it. A firewall will greatly increase the difficulty for them to do this.
4. Stop using Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is often targeted by malware on the web. For example, when you use Internet Explorer to browse certain web sites, a script will run and Internet Explorer gets infected by spyware. Because of how it's designed, Internet Explorer is easier to exploit and many spyware take advantage of this to get into the system. To make things worse, Internet Explorer is closely integrated with Windows, so exploiting Internet Explorer means its trivial for the spyware to reach the rest of Windows from there. You can consider using Firefox or Opera as excellent alternatives to Internet Explorer.
5. Use more than one spyware cleaners. When you use spyware cleaners to clean your system of any spyware, be sure to use more than one cleaner to ensure a more complete coverage.
6. Optimize your Windows registry. Spyware programs usually write entries into the Windows registry in order to do their dirty deeds as well as avoid detection. Spyware cleaners will be able to weed out these entries but the registry is likely to need maintenance or optimization after that. You can use registry cleaner software to automatically maintain and repair errors in the registry in order to avoid Windows errors caused by errant registry entries as well as improve general system performance. It's important to choose a good registry cleaner because the registry is an integral and crucial part of the Windows operation system.
1. Make sure your system is staying current with all the operating system updates. Windows will automatically download and install updates if you allow it to, and you should. Without your needing to keep track of what new updates are available, this is as convenient as it gets. Windows will download the updates in the background and when it's ready, install them to keep your computer current. Staying current will reduce the chances that a malicious program can exploit previous security flaws that could have exposed your system.
2. Install a good anti-virus program and ensure that it's constantly being updated. A good anti-virus program will help you by detecting already existing virus and spyware, as well as stop them as they come in. Many people forget to keep the anti-virus updated; they assume that it's enough to install the software. Not so. Keeping it updated means that it can keep up with the latest virus and spyware. If it's not updated, it may not be able to detect them.
3. Get your firewall up. Newer versions of Windows come with a firewall that greatly increases the security of your computer. A firewall will block inbound network-based attacks. This is especially important nowadays because most computers are connected to the Internet. When connected to the Internet, it is possible for anyone to attack your computer and plant spyware or other types of malware on it. A firewall will greatly increase the difficulty for them to do this.
4. Stop using Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is often targeted by malware on the web. For example, when you use Internet Explorer to browse certain web sites, a script will run and Internet Explorer gets infected by spyware. Because of how it's designed, Internet Explorer is easier to exploit and many spyware take advantage of this to get into the system. To make things worse, Internet Explorer is closely integrated with Windows, so exploiting Internet Explorer means its trivial for the spyware to reach the rest of Windows from there. You can consider using Firefox or Opera as excellent alternatives to Internet Explorer.
5. Use more than one spyware cleaners. When you use spyware cleaners to clean your system of any spyware, be sure to use more than one cleaner to ensure a more complete coverage.
6. Optimize your Windows registry. Spyware programs usually write entries into the Windows registry in order to do their dirty deeds as well as avoid detection. Spyware cleaners will be able to weed out these entries but the registry is likely to need maintenance or optimization after that. You can use registry cleaner software to automatically maintain and repair errors in the registry in order to avoid Windows errors caused by errant registry entries as well as improve general system performance. It's important to choose a good registry cleaner because the registry is an integral and crucial part of the Windows operation system.
Transfer Your Old Documents to Windows 7
One of the most requested services I receive from clients is to transfer documents from their old PC to their new one. While this is probably one of the easiest tasks for me it's a pretty confusing task for the average PC user. In this article I'm going to show you how to transfer your old documents from Windows XP or Vista to Windows 7.
Requirements:
1 External hard drive large enough to hold your documents, pictures, desktop and music.
1 USB cable for your external hard drive.
When I transfer a clients documents from their old PC there are a few folders I know I need to backup. These folders would be "My Documents" or Documents, Favorites and Desktop. The music, pictures and video folders are inside the "My Documents" or Documents folder. On a typical Windows XP PC these folders will be listed in the following directory:
C:\Documents and Settings\"user-name-here"\My Documents
C:\Documents and Settings\"user-name-here"\Favorites
C:\Documents and Settings\"user-name-here"\Desktop
Let's go ahead and begin the copy\transfer process:
1. Select all three folders
2. Right click the selected group of folders and click copy
3. Open your external usb drive and right click, then select paste. This will copy those 3 folders to the external drive.
4. Once your data has been copied to the external USB drive unhook it from your current computer.
5. On your new Windows 7 pc connect the USB external drive.
6. Open "Computer"
7. Find your external drive and open it.
8. Select all three folders, right click, click copy.
9. Click the windows globe on the bottom left.
10. Click computer.
11. Double click C.
12. Double click Users.
13. Double click your username (the person you are logged in as).
14. In this click "organize" on the top left, then click paste.
15. Select Yes to overwrite the existing folders and say yes to moving Pictures, Music and Videos to their new folders.
It's really is simple as that. These steps will also work for moving documents to Windows Vista.
Requirements:
1 External hard drive large enough to hold your documents, pictures, desktop and music.
1 USB cable for your external hard drive.
When I transfer a clients documents from their old PC there are a few folders I know I need to backup. These folders would be "My Documents" or Documents, Favorites and Desktop. The music, pictures and video folders are inside the "My Documents" or Documents folder. On a typical Windows XP PC these folders will be listed in the following directory:
C:\Documents and Settings\"user-name-here"\My Documents
C:\Documents and Settings\"user-name-here"\Favorites
C:\Documents and Settings\"user-name-here"\Desktop
Let's go ahead and begin the copy\transfer process:
1. Select all three folders
2. Right click the selected group of folders and click copy
3. Open your external usb drive and right click, then select paste. This will copy those 3 folders to the external drive.
4. Once your data has been copied to the external USB drive unhook it from your current computer.
5. On your new Windows 7 pc connect the USB external drive.
6. Open "Computer"
7. Find your external drive and open it.
8. Select all three folders, right click, click copy.
9. Click the windows globe on the bottom left.
10. Click computer.
11. Double click C.
12. Double click Users.
13. Double click your username (the person you are logged in as).
14. In this click "organize" on the top left, then click paste.
15. Select Yes to overwrite the existing folders and say yes to moving Pictures, Music and Videos to their new folders.
It's really is simple as that. These steps will also work for moving documents to Windows Vista.
Vista to Windows 7
I've been a Windows user since 1992, and I've seen the operating system experience some major ups and downs. I feel very confident that with their latest installment, Windows 7, Microsoft will hit a new high note. The upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 is relatively seamless, but it isn't without its problems. One repeating issue that I've observed, particularly with Toshiba notebooks, is a message during the Compatibility Check portion of the upgrade which reports that the process can't continue until "Toshiba HDD Protection" is removed.
For those of you who have Toshiba HDD Protection installed on your machine, but don't know what it does, it alerts you when your hard drive vibrates, tilts, or moves off balance to prevent mechanical damage. Although it's a somewhat helpful service, Windows 7 doesn't find it to be up to snuff. It gets kind of annoying anyway. Although the removal process is relatively simple, it can take you a while if you don't know where to look, so I'll break it down for you. You'll need to be a local administrator to properly pull this off (you need to be one to upgrade to Windows 7 anyway).
First, you need to get into Device Manager. You do this by opening up the Control Panel and navigating to System Devices, where you'll find a Device Manager link in the left menu pane. Once in Device Manager, locate and expand the System Devices list. From System Devices, select Toshiba HDD Protection, and select uninstall. Once the uninstall is complete, open up explorer and navigate to WindowsSystem32drivers. In this folder, locate "thpdrv.sys", and delete it. Now, just restart your PC, and carry on with your Windows 7 upgrade
For those of you who have Toshiba HDD Protection installed on your machine, but don't know what it does, it alerts you when your hard drive vibrates, tilts, or moves off balance to prevent mechanical damage. Although it's a somewhat helpful service, Windows 7 doesn't find it to be up to snuff. It gets kind of annoying anyway. Although the removal process is relatively simple, it can take you a while if you don't know where to look, so I'll break it down for you. You'll need to be a local administrator to properly pull this off (you need to be one to upgrade to Windows 7 anyway).
First, you need to get into Device Manager. You do this by opening up the Control Panel and navigating to System Devices, where you'll find a Device Manager link in the left menu pane. Once in Device Manager, locate and expand the System Devices list. From System Devices, select Toshiba HDD Protection, and select uninstall. Once the uninstall is complete, open up explorer and navigate to WindowsSystem32drivers. In this folder, locate "thpdrv.sys", and delete it. Now, just restart your PC, and carry on with your Windows 7 upgrade
TI Graphing Calculator 84 Plus
Have you been required to purchase a TI graphing calculator 84 plus for a math or science class? Many students are faced with this task every year. For some, particularly those who come from a household with troubled finances, this could pose a problem. However, there are ways to find these models for up to 50% off, you just have to know where to look.
Now, typically, we are conditioned when faced with purchasing a TI graphing calculator 84 plus model, to go to a local electronics store in our town and buy one new. This is often the first, and biggest mistake people will make. In doing so, you are limiting your ability as the consumer to take advantage of competition between businesses thus resulting in lower prices, also, you are not exploring other alternatives (will explain later).
The first thing you should do as the consumer, is utilize a tool that you probably use on a regular basis, your computer. The reason for this is that you have access to hundreds of competing vendors right at your finger tips. You can price compare and find the lowest price much easier than taking time to drive around town seeking low prices in the low competition businesses sparsely located in the area.
Now, we know that we can find better prices and higher competition simply by shopping online, we want to determine whether or not we want a brand new product, or go the route of used or refurbished (the other alternative mentioned above in paragraph 2). This is important as you can find fantastic deals and savings on TI graphing calculator 84 plus models that are used or have been refurbished, sometimes over 50% off the retail value. While in fact you can still find good deals on brand new products, it is recommended that if you want to save BIG to go refurbished or used.
After determining whether or not you want to go refurbished or brand new, you can take your own route. If going new, simply browse the various online electronics vendors (preferably non main-steam vendors, vendors like best-buy or wal-mart are mainstream), and compare prices till you find one that you think is fair.If you are going to go the used or refurbished route, there are dozens of reputable auction sites that you can find fantastic deals at for your TI graphing calculator 84 plus model.
So to conclude, if you want to find your TI graphing calculator 84 plus model for cheaper than they go in retail, buy online. However, if you want excellent savings, sometimes over 50% off retail, buy online, and specifically look for used or refurbished TI graphing calculator 84 plus models. The deals are out there, just waiting to be taken advantage of!
Now, typically, we are conditioned when faced with purchasing a TI graphing calculator 84 plus model, to go to a local electronics store in our town and buy one new. This is often the first, and biggest mistake people will make. In doing so, you are limiting your ability as the consumer to take advantage of competition between businesses thus resulting in lower prices, also, you are not exploring other alternatives (will explain later).
The first thing you should do as the consumer, is utilize a tool that you probably use on a regular basis, your computer. The reason for this is that you have access to hundreds of competing vendors right at your finger tips. You can price compare and find the lowest price much easier than taking time to drive around town seeking low prices in the low competition businesses sparsely located in the area.
Now, we know that we can find better prices and higher competition simply by shopping online, we want to determine whether or not we want a brand new product, or go the route of used or refurbished (the other alternative mentioned above in paragraph 2). This is important as you can find fantastic deals and savings on TI graphing calculator 84 plus models that are used or have been refurbished, sometimes over 50% off the retail value. While in fact you can still find good deals on brand new products, it is recommended that if you want to save BIG to go refurbished or used.
After determining whether or not you want to go refurbished or brand new, you can take your own route. If going new, simply browse the various online electronics vendors (preferably non main-steam vendors, vendors like best-buy or wal-mart are mainstream), and compare prices till you find one that you think is fair.If you are going to go the used or refurbished route, there are dozens of reputable auction sites that you can find fantastic deals at for your TI graphing calculator 84 plus model.
So to conclude, if you want to find your TI graphing calculator 84 plus model for cheaper than they go in retail, buy online. However, if you want excellent savings, sometimes over 50% off retail, buy online, and specifically look for used or refurbished TI graphing calculator 84 plus models. The deals are out there, just waiting to be taken advantage of!
Update USB and Device Drivers to Fix USB Not Working Problems
USB not working? A lot of USB devices, like USB mass storage device, printer, scanner, keyboard, mouse and so on, tend to have device not recognized, unknown device and not working problems. There are two issues that can cause hardware not working problems.
Driver Errors Or Driver not Installed Properly
The commonest cause that lead to hardware not working is that the driver is corrupted or not installed properly. If so, there should be some error messages like USB device not recognized, unknown device and so on.
All computer hardware need drivers before it can work on Windows system. Some don't need a installation CD, because Windows is integrated with some general drivers which can be used instead of the original one from CD. But most of the time, they can work only after the drivers are installed from the installation CD. When you add a new device to computer, you should install the driver for it first.
If a existing component is not working properly, it may result from corrupted or outdated driver. You should download a new one from the website of the manufacturer and install it. That will solve the hardware problem that caused by outdated and corrupted device drivers.
Outdated or Corrupted USB Driver
When you attach a device to computer and there is even not an icon or message shows up at the lower right corner, that means your USB driver is corrupted or outdated. USB driver is used for detecting USB devices that are attached to computer. Without it, Windows will not be able to recognize printer, scanner, camera and so on. If so, you should update it to solve the problem.
Driver Errors Or Driver not Installed Properly
The commonest cause that lead to hardware not working is that the driver is corrupted or not installed properly. If so, there should be some error messages like USB device not recognized, unknown device and so on.
All computer hardware need drivers before it can work on Windows system. Some don't need a installation CD, because Windows is integrated with some general drivers which can be used instead of the original one from CD. But most of the time, they can work only after the drivers are installed from the installation CD. When you add a new device to computer, you should install the driver for it first.
If a existing component is not working properly, it may result from corrupted or outdated driver. You should download a new one from the website of the manufacturer and install it. That will solve the hardware problem that caused by outdated and corrupted device drivers.
Outdated or Corrupted USB Driver
When you attach a device to computer and there is even not an icon or message shows up at the lower right corner, that means your USB driver is corrupted or outdated. USB driver is used for detecting USB devices that are attached to computer. Without it, Windows will not be able to recognize printer, scanner, camera and so on. If so, you should update it to solve the problem.
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