Welcome to Michael's Article Collection

10 Tips for Tech-Writers

Tech-writing is a tricky business. It’s not a very high profile industry, so there’s not much support around. Follow these 10 quick tips, and you’ll be well on your way to a satisfying tech-writing career.1) Follow a sensible career path… STEP 1: Start in a team STEP 2: Stay only just long enough STEP 3: Manage yourself STEP 4: Manage a team STEP 5: Go contracting (depends on the market) 2) Kno. . .

Finally… A Finger Fone!

Maxwell Smart look out… the Finger Fone is here. Japanese telecom giant, NTT DoCoMo, has developed a real-life finger telephone they call “FingerWhisper”. Just stick your finger in your ear!Due for release in 2005, the phone consists of just a wrist band – just like a watch. Instead of an audible ring tone, the band vibrates when you have a call. To answer incoming calls, you just tap together . . .

Online Anywhere? The Truth About Centrino…

Is the futuristic world of connecting to the Internet from anywhere already upon us, or is Centrino little more than a great Intel marketing campaign? The name “Centrino” is Intel lingo meaning your notebook possesses 3 specific qualities: It’s a Pentium-M, of the Intel 855 chipset family, and it has a Wi-Fi module. Simple! If you’re a geek…To the rest of us, “Centrino” means you can connect to. . .

The Importance Of Email Backup

Viruses, software failures, power failures, human errors, hard drive failures are only a few examples of what could destroy the data on a hard drive, including all documents, pictures, emails and other files! Most home computer users don't need an expensive backup solution; as they only need to burn the folders with important documents and pictures to a CD-RW from time to time; this ensuring th. . .

Cisco Certification: Cabling Cisco Devices

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) is a cable that has four pairs of wires twisted inside it to eliminate electrical interference. UTP cables are connected using RJ-45 connectors that have eight connector pins. The data equipment that is used for internetworking is classified as Data Terminal Equipment (DTE e.g. router interfaces) and Data Communication Equipment (DCE e.g. A WAN connects DTEs throug. . .

Cisco Certification: Selecting Cisco Products

You must understand the business requirements of the network before buying a product. Based on the requirements, you can select the appropriate Cisco products.Today, WAN technologies most often take advantage of high-speed connections, such as T-1 and E-1. Additional WAN technologies exist, including Frame Relay, ISDN, and dial-up asynchronous connections. ISDN or dial-up is used if infrequent . . .

Cisco Certification: The Cisco Three-Layered Hierarchical...

Cisco has defined a hierarchical model known as the hierarchical internetworking model. This model simplifies the task of building a reliable, scalable, and less expensive hierarchical internetwork because rather than focusing on packet construction, it focuses on the three functional areas, or layers, of your network:Core layer: This layer is considered the backbone of the network and includes. . .

Kill The Messenger (Service)

You are familiar with the software applications that you run on your computer, but you may not be familiar with the dozens of programs running in the background on your computer. These programs, called "services" handle tasks like event logging, spooling files to the printer, and networking. One of these services, the Messenger Service, can be reconnoitered by spammers. The original purpose of . . .

Understanding Dot Pitch

Looking for a monitor and want a better understanding of all the options available? Well in this article we will explore the Dot Pitch. Dot Pitch is a measurement of the smallest visual component on the display (a Dot). At the highest resolution (more on this in the next article) each pixel will equal the one Dot, at lower resolutions a pixel will encompass more than one Dot.The Dot pitch is. . .

Internet News Services Explode Online

It seems no matter how much information comes available online, people thirst for more. To illustrate this point, just take a look at all the online news services sprouting up on the web like garden weeds. With the click of a mouse you can instantly search thousands of news sources for specific and timely information on virtually any topic you choose. Heck, if you're a real news junky, you c. . .

Avoiding Blacklisting: Making Sure Your Email Gets Through

We all know that email is probably today's most popular way to advertise. Every day our inboxes are filled with messages from people who want our business--whether we asked for the contact or not. Email is today's biggest communication factor; but why shouldn't it be? It's all but free to use, and it's almost instantaneous. But there is one problem with advertising via email that you may not. . .

Cache In Your Chips And Get A Bus!

Computer related terminology could sometimes be daunting to newcomers. These are relatively new words or hybrids of words, already in existence. Someone with a degree in English, for example, could not necessarily guess, the function of a particular devise, by its name. This is because such a devise never existed in history or in the history of the English language.Tolerance and patience is req. . .

CCNA 640-801 Preparation & Exam Review

The CCNA certification equips you with networking skills to design, plan, install, configure and operate small to medium size computer networks. CCNA certified professionals can install, configure, and operate LAN, WAN, and dial access services for small networks (100 nodes or fewer), including but not limited to use of these protocols: IP, IGRP, Serial, Frame Relay, IP RIP, VLANs, RIP, Etherne. . .

What To Expect At The Cisco Testing Center

Candidates can register for the CCNA exam (640-801 exam or 640-821 INTRO or 640-811 ICND ) at Pearson VUE or Prometric testing centers. In order to do their best, candidates should know what to expect at the testing center for the Cisco CCNA certification exam. Since testing center guidelines may vary from one center to another, we recommend that the candidates call the local testing center to . . .

Let The Email Wars Begin

Things just got a lot hotter in the hyper-competitive world of online email providers. In response to Google's announcement that their soon-to-be-launched "Gmail" service will offer users 1 gigabyte of email storage, Yahoo! announced an upgrade of their free email service to allow users 100MB of free email storage along with other enhancements. Microsoft's Hotmail will surely also announce a fr. . .

What is Contract Programming? An Alternative to the Confo...

What is contract programming, you ask? Well, when companies need specific computer programming expertise, for temporary periods of time, they generally hire a contract programmer or an employee of a consulting firm. Contractors almost always have a higher hourly wage than a salaried employee and are often paid for overtime. Contracts can last from one to three months to many years, depending on. . .

Your Computer May Be Infected. Here's How To Check.. (NOT...

NOTE: Please take time to read on - it may be vital for your PC's security. If you are not in the mood, just save it or print it out for later reference.A recent research revealed that 80% of the computers today is infected with these dangerous spyware and most of the users not aware of it. (Your computer could fall into this lot too.) The most dangerous fact is, even though the anti-virus soft. . .

The Benifits of Assembling Your Own Computer

Thinking about getting a new computer, but with all the choices out there are you getting a little overwhelmed? Well why not look into building your own computer? By building your own computer you can get all the options you really want, whether you need a graphics design machine, game machine or just a simple word processor. You can tailor the computer to your specific needs. Now I know wh. . .

5 Ways To Make Night-And-Weekend-Computer-Life Rich

Are you a computer-worm? Do you thrive on a computer 24/7? A “computer-worm” is analogous to “book-worm” – a person who spends most of the time working on a computer. Do you expend most of your time reading or writing emails, chatting with friends, watching movies, listening to music, cyber-window-shopping, etc? Do you relegate your important tasks of completing a school assignment, working on . . .

Easy to Execute!

Plug and play equipment or hardware solves the problem of driver installation, re-starting routines, and generally speaking, “hassle”, for those who are not technically proficient.If your computer supports “Plug and Play”, then, as the name suggests, you simply plug it in and play. For people who are “word perfect”, plug and play might sound somewhat misleading. Peripherals, such as your mouse. . .

CCNA 640-801 Certification Primer

The Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Certification is meant for career enhancement as well as gaining knowledge of the LAN/WAN technologies currently available for implementation. Hence, CCNA Certification can be obtained by IT professionals who have been a part of the industry for a considerable time and are interested in furthering their career in terms of role enhancement and salary.. . .

Alien Intruders!

You probably didn't casually invite, or extend a formal attendance request to, these undesirables known as viruses.Regardless of your opinions, such cyber-nomads may call on you, complete and active, with their destructive payloads.So what is a virus?A virus is a program that can self replicate or reproduce itself. These programmable pirates have a special talent for attaching themselves to exe. . .

Optimizing Your Dead Links!

I have been reading, with great interest, all the online advice about how to optimize a website. We have a financial planning business in Victoria, BC. Like most towns, there are lots of financial planners, investment advisors, insurance agents, brokers, dealers, and Starbuck’s locations here. Somehow we needed to find a way to stand out, perhaps by getting our meta-tags in order.For a time, we. . .

Postal Service Wants 5 Cents an Email

You may have received an email about how the US Postal Service is trying to push through a bill that would allow them to charge 5 cents per email. I can understand why people would think that it's true. The Postal Service had nothing to do with the email being sent and they aren't going to give you anything for the 5 cents. Sure sounds like a government agency. The email is a hoax. Wha. . .

Product Review: Affiliate Mistakes Special Report

In his ebook "Affiliate Mistakes Special Report," Chuck McCullough teaches you how to spot and avoid or correct ten simple, yet costly errors that can seriously damage your efforts to promote affiliate programs successfully. Instead of writing about the broad based generalities of affiliate marketing, Chuck takes you by the hand and teaches you why most affiliates never make a dime in commissio. . .

Is Someone Stealing Your Source Code?

That's a question that worries many people on the Internet. And some people go to great lengths to hide their source code.There are several reasons you might want to conceal the source code of your web pages: if you have web pages that rank highly in the search engines, you don't want people to see your meta tags you don't want people copying your web page design or java scripts you want to pro. . .

5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Website

When designing your website, remember to avoid useless and confusing features, however “cool” they may seem to be. Usually, keeping things simple and consistent are the best way to go. Here are five easy ways to improve your website and make it more appealing to your visitors.Put your logo on every page of your site, and in the same location. Usually, the best place to put it is in the upper. . .

How to succeed with the Search Engines

The Cold Hard Facts…..One of the most important factors in being successful in your business is to learn how to rank high in the search engines. It has been said that the search engines can account for as much as 95% of all the traffic to your website! If you fail to take advantage of the major engines you could be neglecting almost ALL of your targeted traffic!I don’t know of any business tha. . .

Cut Out the B.S. in Your Internet Marketing

Are you getting disgusted with your results as an internet marketer? Staying up until two in the morning looking for that information that will give you that extra edge over everyone else out there? Slowly changing your goal of working for yourself into a dream again instead of the reality you once knew it to be?Think of the last great idea you had and never used. What made you give up on it? N. . .

Five Free Tools To Help Make Your Business Grow

One of the great things about the net is all the free things you can find and use. Uh-oh, there's that word again, "free'. It's got to be one of the most over used words ever, especially on the net! Still, it never fails to thrill, or set the pulse racing! We love the idea of freebies, of getting something useful, cool, beautiful, profitable, functional and a whole list of other things with. . .

What You Should Know About Installing Screensavers

Do you remember that frustrating feeling when you find an interesting screensaver and can't install it on your computer? This article will help you to never have it again. Back to when Windows 95 started to find its home on many computers there was just half a dozen of screensavers preinstalled with the system. All you could do was selecting one of these. It was as simple as boring. Luckily tho. . .

What to Do if You Fall in Love With More Than One Screens...

If you don't know where one screensaver goes when you install another one then this article is for you. Learn about the standard way of switching between installed screensavers and get prepared to a much more convenient one. It was a great surprise for me to get dozens of emails complaining about what I myself would have never thought of. Many people installed my Rainy Screensaver ( http://www.. . .

Windows Screensavers Explained

In this article you will find some background information about screensavers and their history. You will also learn how Windows screensavers differ from other programs and how you can use it to your own advantage. Also there are some tips for users owning laptops, notebooks or CD-burning devices. Have you ever asked yourself a question like "What is a screensaver actually?" I did. And now I wil. . .

5 Ways To Make Money Online Today

If you are not sure exactly what you should be doing online, don't worry! In this article I'm going to show you some of the best ways to make money online in the year 2003.Become an affiliate:This is probably the easiest and the hardest way to make money online. It's easy as it cost's you nothing to join an affiliate program, but it's hard because so many affiliates fails. The stats are 95% of . . .

Brand Your Website's URL With a Favicon

Have you ever noticed that when you look at your browser favorites menu or the address bar, some entries have their own little icon beside their URL? It's called a "Favicon" (a graphic file with a .ico extension) and it's placed in the root directory of the web site. Everytime you bookmark a site that has its own favicon.ico file, it is added to your browser, and it will be visible from then on. . .

CD ROM Business Cards

Created properly, an extremely effective marketing tool. It's a great concept, - and it has a 'cool factor' of 300%. Many people will pop these into their drive just because of image appeal alone. What's really neat is when one is so well done, so informative, so interactive, that everybody wants one. This type of viral marketing can be very effective and create residual traffic to your busines. . .

Ethics

Ethics - in a profession or trade - is that branch of philosophy which studies the principles of right and wrong in human conduct. Is your business ethical? What I mean is "Does your business do the right thing when faced with that decision?" It's a simple question, which many businesses struggle with. I just don't understand the struggle part? I have worked for companies that believed they w. . .

How Do You Deal With Internet Fraud

SummaryInternet fraud should be addressed as two specific issues: fraud that uses Internet technology as an integral part of the fraud; fraud that is already taking place by other means and the Internet is merely another method of delivery.Methods exist that stop fraudsters misusing the technology, which can be rapidly implemented, but factors such as industry acceptance and concerns over poten. . .

Are Autoresponders An Important Part Of Internet Marketing?

Setting up and using email autoresponders on your site is an easy way to make repeated contact with your visitors. Studies have shown that more than 60% of a site's visitors who eventually end up buying a product or service don't do it on their first visit. An E-mail autoresponder is one way to encourage your visitors to return and make that purchase!It can be simple to set up and use an autore. . .

The security risks and ways to decrease vulnerabilities i...

IntroductionThis document explains topics relating to wireless networks. The main topics discussed include, what type of vulnerabilities exist today in 802.11 networks and ways that you can help prevent these vulnerabilities from happening. Wireless networks have not been around for many years. Federal Express has been using a type of wireless networks, common to the 802.11 networks used tod. . .

Upload??...Download??......Help!!

How do I upload an ebook to my site? How do I download an ebook or program? I seem to be getting this question a lot lately as well as a specific request to write an article on this subject, so here is the info on how to download and/or upload. First of all, let me explain the difference. A download is when you "pick up" an ebook, program, etc. from another computer and bring it "down" to your . . .

Can You Really Make It Online ?

A good day or (night!!) to all you lovely people out there in cyberspace.Today I am going to talk about finding success on the net. For some three years now I have been designing and marketing websites , newsletters and articles.I started out in it as an hobby , but soon realised that I could make a career out of it.It has been a roller-coaster ride so far with it's fair share of ups and downs.. . .

PC owners - the largest criminal gang ever?

The year is 1981. IBM has just released the Personal Computer; a low cost machine it hopes will create a winning brand. Several models are produced in quick succession accompanied by an ad campaign featuring a Charlie Chaplin figure. The message is clear: It’s cheap and it’s cheerful.The growth vector for the product turns out to be a software application called a spreadsheet. Its many early fo. . .

Gotta Know Now Software Watches Web Pages For You

Too many days I found myself constantly checking the same financial news web pages for any news about the companies I was currently invested in. Between clicking on these web pages and constantly clicking on other financial web pages to obtain stock quotes, I was driving myself crazy and wasting a lot of time that belonged to my employer. After all he does not pay me to surf the web. But if I. . .

Checklist For Reviving A Dead Computer

It's not something we like to think about but your computer will fail, if you keep it long enough.It may be a simple problem,such as the floppy drive not reading the disk to a major system crash. Because computers are run by operators,User Error is the most common cause of computer malfunction.When the user is at the computer,he or she may add or delete certain files.Or he/she may remove or exc. . .

The Importance Of Right Fat Consume For The Health

THE FAT TYPES AND THEIR EFFECTSHigh consumption of fat or of the combination fat and carbohydrates causes obesity, heart disease and other health problems. However the different types of fat have very different effects on the health. Here is a survey of the different fat categories and their effects:Mono-unsaturated fat - This type of fat prevents heart disease and circulatory disease in modera. . .

The Top Seven Strategies for Website Success

Whether you're concerned with business-to-business, or business to consumer, whether your organization is large or small, commercial or nonprofit, these are some fundamental questions around your Website and technology strategy that should be addressed. Otherwise, you risk missing opportunities, and not maximizing the return on your investment in your online presence.If you haven't visited you. . .

An Easy way to Deal with Email Viruses and Worms

If you feel intimidated when someone tries to teach you something new on the computer, this article is for you! In the course of my career, I’ve worked with many people who I knew were smart but were convinced that they couldn’t learn how to do new things on a computer. At some point, they’d convinced themselves that they weren’t one of those “computer people”. I would try to teach them how to . . .

Internet in Russia and Ukraine - Part 2. Major RuNet and ...

This article offers an updated list of the Russian and Ukrainian search sites to webmasters and website owners who seek to expand internationally. To read General Information on RuNet and UaNet, please go to http://www.azurel10n.com/ar_runet1.htmRussian Search Engines and DirectoriesYandex.ruFounded in 1997 as a search engine and directory, the site currently provides some additional search and. . .

Do-It-Yourself Keyword Optimization

The first step in a search engine optimization campaign is to choose your keywords or keyphrases for each of your web pages. Keywords are the terms that search engine users type in the search box to conduct a query. The right keywords are those that: clearly describe the purpose and content of your site, and, allow your site to show up as close to the first results page as possible. A good po. . .