Electronics – Even In The Bathroom

It should come as no surprise that today, in addition to branded bathroom cabinets, the best bathrooms have integrated technology. Electronics, in the form of sound systems and computers, have a role in the bathroom. Consider wiring your bathroom with surround sound and hooking up your MP3 player, or installing a flat screen television with internet access to enjoy movies, music, and even a digital fireplace – all in the middle of your bathroom. Electronics do have their place in the bathroom.

Your Bathroom Can Be Advanced Too

Even if you don’t opt to install computers in your renovated bathroom, there are plenty of pieces of technology you can choose from. Consider installing touch operated fixtures, heated towel racks, or spa tubs in high quality bathroom suites. Even today’s shower enclosures have advancements like multiple shower heads and steam settings. Additions like these can take every bathroom to the next level and are often relatively inexpensive.

Today, creating the ideal bathroom space means technology. Whether you do it yourself or work with a contractor, adding the latest bathroom advancements or electronics, the renovation will add value to your home and help you create the best bathroom suite you can.

The people that see electronics as a hobby may thrive on finding new or unique ways to incorporate them into every possible facet of their lives. This can include such things as having three or four electronic devices hooked up to one central unit so that they can follow the action on each one of their favorite sports betting sites at the same time.

Others who enjoy using electronics may employ the many ways they can be used to enjoy watching or keeping up with several offerings of their favorite sports at the same time. These people take advantage of such things as TVs with advanced electronics like direct tv that allow them to view one or more channels at the same time, or allow them to switch from one game to the other easily.

Those who work in the field of electronics, as well as extreme electronics hobbyists, may find themselves constantly searching for new information and developments in the electronics field. When they find a source that provides current, accurate information, they may become a frequent visitor to that site or subscribe to a specific publication that gives them the information they need.

As electronics continue to insinuate themselves in every area of our lives, sports enthusiasts will probably keep on thinking up ways that they can utilize them to enjoy their favorite pastime: eating, sleeping, and breathing sports. Those who aren’t so crazy about sports will likely find themselves thinking up ways that electronics can help tune the sports out.

When you get right down to it, your computer is made up of circuit boards assembled in a kind of “Lego” push in/click fashion. These circuit boards are connected together providing the basic operating system for your computer. If you want better sound, then you would swap out your old sound card for a new and improved one. You can even build your own version of a playback device to enhance to music listening. This same principle applies to improving your video game playing or movie watching on your computer. It just comes down to a question of what circuit board you are swapping out.

One of the easiest improvements you can make to your computer is adding more RAM. As with anything involving you’re computer you’ll be going into your device and moving things around. This is why you need to backup your data before you begin an DIY project. Once you’ve backed up, you’ll be good to go and can find plenty of “How to” videos to guide you through the process.

Image via Wikipedia

Information on the internet is dominated by the use of the modern search engine. These days if you see something on a search engine in the top slot, that is almost always where you go to obtain your information. There are plenty of companies out there who are paying big businesses a ton to be on top of those spots. With that being said there are also a number of companies who are manipulating the search engines in order to increase traffic to their site.

This is a problem in the search engine industry. It’s not about creating content, but rather stealing reads by making the mistake of believing that it’s ok to just throw in keywords. The good news for those who are fed up with seeing the wrong things at the top of search engines is that it won’t last for long. These days search engine technology is fighting back.

The first thing these companies are doing are seeking out the places that are trying to steal key words and they are putting them out of their search engines altogether. You can’t expect that there are going to be a number of companies who can continue to operate like this and get away with it.

They are also doing what they can to get rid of sites that are keyword jamming. They are requiring a balance between content and keyword. It’s known how important the search engine is to most people so these companies are doing their job to make them clean and usable.

Surely I am not the only one who suffers from this lack of technology; this intense lack of an email program’s ability to read the body of a message, see any form of the word”attach”, and prompt the sender to actually attach the intended document, picture, file, etc. BEFORE the message is actually sent. How difficult can it be? Has this magical feature been invented already? Did I somehow miss all the news and hype about this? Surely this would not require an overhaul of one’s PC circuits nor installation of complicated hardware.

Of course, demand is a huge driver. Many have been able to turn their brilliant idea into a sellable product – at least long enough to (hopefully) break even on the investment it took to get the product to market. I still recall my astonishment at the success of the “Pet Rock” back in the 1970s. Since then, there have been hundreds of other endeavors like that. Some successful and continuing (Facebook, YouTube, Google); some that were a flash in the pan, and not worth mentioning.

I’m no wunderkind. But in my travels on the road of life, I’ve had a few light-bulb moments for “new technology” products. I don’t have the engineering background, talent or skill to create these things. So I rely on time and others to realize the need for them, and to create them.

That said/admitted, here is one of my favorite ideas that I hope to see soon:

The “Time Bank Register”: A type of game where you can enter the amount of time you spend doing innocuous things like standing in line at the grocery store, waiting on hold on the phone to speak to a human being, sitting in a massive traffic jam. I suspect many would be surprised at how much time is spent on these value-less activities. Like a bank checking account, you could deposit this wasted time, and make withdrawals for the activities you REALLY want to spend your time on: a few more days of sunning on the beach, a few more hours with a loved one, a few more minutes of that precious commodity known as sleep. Perhaps it should be called the “Reality Time-Check” game.

However, at one point someone finally realized that in nearly every circuit board which has ever been made, there was actually some gold which could be harvested and recycled for a bit of profit. Of course, this was slow, tedious work which tended to only yield a fairly small amount of gold. And by “a fairly small amount,” remember that gold is rarely less than $300 per ounce- and often, all of the gold which could be harvested out of a single circuit board would amount to a few quarters on the resale market.

However, another wise person whose name has been lost to history finally figured out (in a brilliantly blinding flash of the obvious) that amongst all of these circuit boards, there was actually still a lot of useful hardware. Since the logic gates which govern circuit technology are reasonably universal, often times they can be reused for more than just what their mineral components may be worth, and placed into new or refurbished pieces of technology. Once that has occurred, this technology may be resold and the ultimate profit for the technology’s salvage becomes reasonably high. So while gold is great, technology is even better.

If you don’t have a Nintendo Wii, now is the time to get one. The Wii has many games available that can help you get the exercise you need. For example, the Wii Fit is a complete system that comes with a balance board as well as other accessories designed to help you get into shape.

Wii Fit has such games such as tennis, volleyball, yoga and even fun balance games. Once starting one of these games, you will have no idea that hours have passed because you will be having so much fun.

EA Sports Active is another Wii game that many people use. This one comes with a personal trainer that can help you along in your exercise program. There are also 6-week challenges that you can do in order to stay focused and on track. It works by utilizing the balance board as well as other accessories. The balance board can also weigh you so that you can keep track of your weight loss progress.

There are three levels: beginner, intermediate and expert. If you are just starting out, you will want the beginner mode, as that is still difficult for many people. By the end of the 6-week challenge, you will find that you can go farther distances without becoming out of breath. You will also notice that you have more energy and that you aren’t feeling as lazy.

The best part of all of that is that you will soon see your muscles toning up as well as the weight coming off of your body.

In the world of video games, it used to be that when it was time for an addition to a particular video game, the game was released as a new version and gamers—or their parents—had to buy a new game to get new adventures and improved functions. With the evolving and growing technology in video games these days, that is no longer the case. While new games are always being released and the purchases will not slow down anytime soon, there are new ways for updating existing games and adding more fun or fixing glitches without buying a whole new game.

Many video games have software patches that fix problems or add additional adventures to the games. Gamers can go to specific websites and download these software updates, if the game is PC based. For those video games that are on game consoles such as Nintendo and Playstation, there are new ways to download software updates via online connections that are available options. This is a newer feature that is being further developed. This software enables users to enjoy furthering the game and prolonging interest as well as the life of the game. This is fun and saves money as well. Even if the updates require a small fee—which many do not—it is rarely even close to the price of a new game.

With video games and the resulting software becoming increasingly popular and the game consoles becoming more intricate and able to go online wirelessly and so forth, updating via software online will likely continue to increase. Software has changed so much in recent years, it is next to impossible to keep up with all the updates and changes, with video games and all other programs as well. Technology is amazing and is growing by leaps and bounds every minute, it seems.

When you combine the fun and intensity of video games with the popularity and creativity of Marvel comic book characters, there is a something divine that happens. If you grew up reading comic books, the video games based on those characters help the story and the heroes and villains come to life. Following is a list of three of the best video games that have been based on a character from Marvel Comics.

The Incredible Hulk
This game for the Sega Genesis was great for two reasons: It had great villains and it gave the player the opportunity to switch back and forth between the Hulk and Bruce Banner. While this may not seem like a useful tool, it was because you could switch to the human counterpart and slip by some scenes unnoticed and then get back to the green rage that made everything fun and exciting.

Captain America and the Avengers
Superheroes just don’t get much more popular than Captain America and the Avengers. Whether you are a little kid or a grown adult, you will get pumped up every time you play this game and here Captain America shout, “Avengers Assemble!” You might even get goosebumps a time or two. This was an arcade game at first, but you may be able to find it on a video game disc for your gaming system if you look hard enough. If not, you might find a vintage video game website that allows you to play online.

Marvel: The Ultimate Alliance
This Marvel video game is unique because it allows the storylines of the various characters to crossover during the game. You can choose to be one of your favorite characters, including Captain America, Spider Man, Wolverine or even Iron Man. As you play, you can add characters to your team and move through various storylines while fighting the villains. As the title implies, this is one of the ultimate games for you to play if you are a fan of Marvel Comics and you enjoy the intensity of gaming.

Video Games Lead to Increased Teen Violence
We’ve all heard the “fact” that violent video games lead to violent teens. However, if you look at the statistics surrounding juvenile crime in the country, you will see that the rates are at the lowest they have been in three decades. In fact, studies show that the people who are in prison for perpetrating violent crimes viewed less media than the people who are free and walking the streets. The main contributions to teen violence are the individual teen’s home life and their mental stability, not video games.

Video Game Makers Target Children in Their Marketing
While many video games are made for children, this is not the main market that video game companies think of when marketing their products. Most of the video game players are adults who grew up playing games and continue to do so into their adult years. More than 60 percent of the market for game consoles is over the age of 18. That is also why so many of today’s video games have an “M” rating, meaning they are for mature audiences. Unfortunately, many parents do not consider this and they let their kids play the games anyways.

Video Games Isolate People Socially
Many of today’s games are very sociable. In fact, it’s one of the favorite pastimes for friends to do when they get together. About one-third of the people who play games,  like online casino games,  playwith a brother or sister and a large number also play with parents and spouses. Most games are also designed for multiple players and you can even play hundreds of games online and talk with people from around the world who are playing the same game.

It’s easy to get excited when playing video games. Unfortunately, that excitement often results in spilling your snacks or soda all over the couch, the floor and even the video game controllers. Luckily, it is not a total loss if you get soda or other liquids in your controllers. Here are some things you can do to clean them.

Take it Apart
It might seem like a daunting task to take your video game controller apart to clean it, but what have you got to lose? If you don’t take it apart, it’s probably ruined so at least you have a chance to salvage it by going inside the controller to clean it. Most controllers have a bottom piece that screws on so you can start by loosening the screws and removing it. Be sure to keep the screws in a safe place so you don’t lose them once you have taken them out of the controller.

Remove the Parts
Once you remove the bottom plate of the controller, you will see many parts. Remove the circuit board, the cable, the contact parts, the plastic buttons and any other parts inside the controller. Make a mental note of how they are arranged so you can get the controller back together once you are finished.

Wash the Shell
After removing all the parts, wash the remaining shell with warm soapy water. Use a small scrub brush (like a toothbrush) to clean the small spaces. You can also use a cotton swab for the tiny places that the bristles on the toothbrush cannot reach.

Clean the Small parts
The plastic buttons can be cleaned in a bowl of warm soapy water while the rubber parts should be cleaned with a dry cloth and compressed air. Dry each part with a soft cloth and set them back on a flat surface so they can air dry. Clean the circuit board with rubbing alcohol to ensure it is clean as well.

Put it Back Together
Now that everything is clean and dry, put it back together and see if it works. If it doesn’t, at least you tried.

Dance Dance Revolution is a game played where you follow the characters on the screen in order to mimic their dance moves. By stepping on the giant dance pad that comes with the game, you can learn new dance steps as well as get a great cardio workout.

EA Sports Active is great if you want to stay on a workout plan. You can customize your workouts and even try the thirty day challenge to keep you on track. There are three levels of intensity. Beginner is for those that are new to exercise and also to the Wii way of working out. Intermediate is for those that exercise pretty frequently and need more of a workout than the beginner mode can give. Expert is for those that are highly experienced and in shape, and want an awesome workout in order to feel the burn. There are also many different single workouts you can do, such as step aerobics and yoga.

Punch-out is a great game for upper body strength. Punch-out lets you box your way to the top. By using the Wii remote and the nun-chucks, you can punch your way through different characters in order to raise your skill level and fight against higher levels. If you add the balance board, you will get a total-body workout that promises to be intense.

All of these options are enabled by new microchip technologies that use full body movement, weight, balance, and advanced system interaction to get maximum results.

Use a Soft Cloth
To clean your discs of any dust, oil or dirt, the best thing to use is a dry soft cloth. This can either be your t-shirt or a cloth specifically made for cleaning discs. Bathroom towels, paper towels and other materials are too rough for disc cleaning so never use these materials as they may scratch your discs rather than clean them.

Rub from the Inside Out
Many people make the mistake of cleaning their video game discs in a circular motion. While this may look like it makes sense, this can cause damage to the disc. Instead, start at the center of the disc and rub in a straight line to the outer edge. This will help remove any dust and oils without damaging your disc.

Fill In Scratches with Toothpaste
As weird as it sounds, toothpaste is a great way to fill in the scratches on your game disc. Spread a thin layer of plain toothpaste over the entire playing side of the disc and then wipe it clean with a damp soft cloth. Allow the disc to dry and the scratches should no longer be a problem. If the scratches are deep, however, the toothpaste may not fix it.

Keep the Disc in the Case
It’s tempting to leave your video game discs lying around so they are easy to get to. But by doing this, you leave it vulnerable to dirt and dust and scratches. Take the few extra seconds to put your disc in its case after each use to avoid any major problems with it in the future.

When you are betting through any online sportsbook, you have to keep specific things in mind in order to get the best return on your bet. Unless you are aware of some of the standard tips, you are better off enjoying online casino games, which will provide you with just as much entertainment but without the tension of how your team is doing. However, for those who are interested in learning about betting on your favorite NFL teams online, here are a few simple rules you should follow to improve your odds.

• Know your limit and always keep your betting amount consistent. Experts say that those who are emotionally attached to a specific team will bet more on them but in actuality, you have a better chance of gaining if you bet equally on each game. With a moderate amount, you stand to lose less per game. It is a type of addiction, so be sure you are doing this for fun and do not get too emotionally involved.

• Reading the injury report will help you understand who the better team will be overall. In football, all eleven players are needed for a successful match and the team with the best eleven players tends to do better overall in the game. Injury reports will inform you of who the stronger team is during the game.

• Be sure to have multiple sportsbooks active if you are a regular bettor. Only using one sportsbook and betting on the same lines will more often cause you to lose. With multiple sportsbooks, you increase your chances of winning. Diversify your bets and never stick to the same old thing. Learn from you mistakes so that you do not repeat history.

Do some research, and you will be better at understanding the way everyone bets. Do not get emotionally attached. Instead, learn to enjoy the game.

The best way to save money on anything, including electronic purchases, is by using coupons and discount offers from such websites as offers.com. These can sometimes let you save as much as fifty percent, depending on the amount that is offered. Others can make it easier to apply for rebates, which can also take a lot off the original purchase price, even if you did have the pay the entire amount up front.

Take advantage of end-of-the-model-year sales and holiday sales. New models of electronics come out every year, just like with cars, sometimes even more frequently, and right before the new models are ready to be introduced is a good time to save. Likewise, many stores put electronics on sale during the holiday season, especially on “Black Friday.” If you can get there early enough to get the few that will be available, you can save a bundle at this time.

Look in the classified sections, both print and online, for electronics for sale. These may be brand-new and the buyer did not realize it wouldn’t fit or could not be installed until it was too late. Rather than go through the hassle of trying to return it, he is offering it for sale.

Look at buying floor or display samples. These are usually marked down; if they aren’t, you can ask that they be, especially if you see a scratch or ding on them. The warranties will probably be just as good on them as they are on the new-in-the-box ones.

Humble Beginnings

The founders of Infocom met at MIT, while they were working on their undergraduate degrees. After becoming friends, they wrote Zork 1, which went on to sell over a million copies. A text adventure, Zork had no graphics of any kind. Instead, the player read the words on the screen and typed in a command for his character, i.e., “walk north” or “kill troll with sword”. Zork required the player to solve many different puzzles by using maps, items, and in some cases, good timing. It was lauded for challenging the intellect and stirring the imagination of its players.

National Success

From its humble beginnings at MIT, Infocom grew, and over the next several years, it published many bestselling games in a variety of genres. Zork spawned two sequels and even a prequel, and games like Trinity, Sorcerer, and Planetfall were loved by millions of people. Infocom’s games were marked by witty, descriptive writing and brain-teasing puzzles. The company initially offered a phone number that people could call to get hints for these puzzles, but later began publishing “Invisiclues” – booklets for each game with clues written in invisible ink – so the reader could only reveal the hint she needed at the time.

Infocom’s Downfall

Though the matter is up for debate, most posit that the fall of Infocom was brought about by Cornerstone, a financial software product that the company spent a significant amount of time and money developing but that failed to bring in much revenue. Many think that Infocom’s investors pushed the company into producing the product, but perhaps the company’s leaders were overambitious. Regardless, Infocom’s games are still revered among many video gamers.

Computers are essential to life as we know it today. They are everywhere, but just who invented them? The computer is something that has evolved from many different designs and inventions, developed over time by various people over many years.

A mechanical calculator was built in Germany in the 1930’s. This was considered the first binary computer and was used to do mathematical calculations. It was refined by the 1940’s to use old movie film to store programs and data; the first not to use paper tape or cards. A 1941 version had a memory of 64 words.

What were referred to as personal computers from then through the 1950’s and 1960’s were able to do mathematical calculations. They weren’t able to do everything like the computers of today, but were sophisticated for the time. Their concept and the ideas of their builders were still visionary nonetheless. The different types that appeared throughout the time period featured switches and dials built into bulky large boxes.

The paperclip computer was a device in the late 1960’s based on a book that described a working computer built out of homemade supplies. Programs were stored on a magnetic drum and the device had units for input, output, control, and arithmetic. The main units of this system correspond to most modern digital computers, even though the machine looked nothing like a home computer.

Machines that began to take on the appearance of modern PCs in the early history of computers began to appear in the 1970s. The first successful mass produced computer was made by Apple in 1977, while IBM and Microsoft developed several computers in the 1980’s. Several entered the mainstream, such as Atari, as computerized video games became a cultural phenomenon, but it is also impossible to leave out the Commodore 64, since it was one of the most popular individual computer types on the market.

The reliance on more powerful gaming systems, as well as word processors, secured the high demand for better computers. Today, there are computers everywhere and inside just about anything electronic.

Every wonder why seemingly every website has an annoying blinking animation or game that asks to click here?

Well that answer is marketing, but wondering how leads to the answer of Wunderkind Jonathon Gay. As a child, Gay became interested and apt at working with computers. So much so that by the time he was in high school his science fair projects were sophisticated enough to earn the attention of professional programmers. By the time he was a senior in high school Gay was working for the company Silicon Beach, which released his first commercial product, Airborne! a black and white game for the Macintosh. Gay had bigger plans than building games for the Apple II or Mac. Before leaving home to attend Harvey Mudd College, Gay contributed to Superpaint 2, a revolutionary program that allowed both simultaneous bit map painting and vector drawing.

Foreseeing a market for graphics, Gay formed his own company. FutureWave Software company built a drawing program, before moving on to software for the emerging market of Internet programmers. Future Wave Software released FutureSplash Animator, which created vector based animations. As a vector based program the animations adjusted to screen size, unlike pixel based programs.

With the advent of Netscapes plug in features turned FutureSlash into a more viable product. Soon major sites such as msn.com and Disney’s Daily Blast were using FutureSplash. Gay had gone from high school standout to the big time. Soon major companies such as Macromedia were taking notice.

In December 1996 Macromedia purchased FutureWave. With a team of developers behind it Flash animations would soon become an Internet staple. Flash enjoyed the advantages of being vector based, bandwidth friendly and browser independent with those advantages, Flash spread. Some would say like a weed.

Back to those annoying, “look at me” animations. Those are almost certainly Flash, but so are useful tools again. The tutorial that showed how to make a Bobbie Flay style meal or the YouTube video showing the after effects of visiting the dentist both probably used Flash Media Player. Much like the Internet Flash has greatly evolved. And like any technology it has been abused. But with out Flash the Internet would be, well, less Flashy (or not as animated).

Even if you don’t yet have access, you can always use a friends’ computer, go to a library, or visit an Internet café if one exists near where you live to do your research. The type of information you want to look for is whether you get enough features and perks to justify the cost. Most of the time, they are relatively inexpensive because of the competition; there are almost countless providers out there.

If you are lucky, you can even have Internet access included in your cable TV and/or telephone plan. Various top named cable providers offer high-speed access; speed being one of the top features to look for. You can easily get a fast service and connection, and there is no reason to have long wait times for websites to load or to send email.

Email is another feature that you can no longer do without. In addition to reliability, you also want to know how much storage space you have, and whether the provider’s system experiences any significant downtime. This is something you want to assess about the system overall before you buy into the service. You can also consider extras such as website hosting and domain registration, if you’re inclined to get into the technical side, as affordable additions or standard features of the service.

With so much information online, you can use the Internet to find Internet deals. Don’t hesitate to browse forums, blogs, review sites, or your favorite trusty search engine to find information. If something is worth talking about it, you can be sure someone is out there to post useful information that you can use in your decision.

The first thing you need to know is that the law states that copywritten images or sounds are only to be used with expressed written consent of the people who own the rights to them. This means if you wanted to make a five minute short film and use a popular bands music for your soundtrack you could be in violation of the copyright law unless you get their written permission and usually that comes with a fee.

Now, sites like YouTube are generally passive about copyright infringement for 2 reasons: 1.) The sheer volume of videos that exist with copywritten images are huge and unless the company that owns them complains it would be very difficult to remove them, not to mention time consuming. 2.) In most cases the companies themselves don’t care because the images are used as good advertisement for the show or in some cases they are tribute videos from fans. This makes it in bad form to ask them to remove them from the site.

So what does all this mean for you? Well it means that first and foremost you should be aware that when you are making a video and setting it to popular music that there may implications for you financially and legally. And while it is unlikely that anything would happen to you it doesn’t mean it couldn’t so it means you should be very careful before doing it.

The internet is a great place to learn about a variety of things you may not have had access to years ago. You can learn about medicine, world news, and the latest in movies and music. But perhaps you didn’t know that you can use the internet to begin to retrace your own family history. There are various companies that can trace your family history for you and while they do a good job they can also set you back a pretty penny.

So how do you trace your own family history with the whole world wide web to navigate through? The answer is simple and can have you discovering cool and interesting things about your family in no time.

The first is to start at home. Get on your computer and write out a comprehensive list of everyone you know in your family. Don’t forget to include your mothers maiden name as well as your grandmothers maiden name. Any woman who came through your family could be a descendant of another family. At some point you’ll have a pretty long list. Once you get far enough down make sure you try and keep everything straight. Things can get confusing once you branch out. When you get to far enough back that the memories and the history become fuzzy, then it’s time to get online.

As you go farther back it will help to find information about where someone lived. This will help you narrow your search down. Perhaps a person lived in Chicago, Illinois, then you can search through the city of Chicago database to find any information you can on that person. It could have an address, social security number, or copy of their birth certificate or death certificate. From there you can do a google search to narrow down the person’s name based on their city. This should pop up any other relevant information there. Then it’s a game of connecting the dots. You have to be patient but if you are then you can reap the rewards of a rich family history.

Around the time folks at CERN invented the Web so that scientists across the world could work together watching the birth of taus, muons and antihydrogen, another smaller invention was popping up in small pockets: bulletin boards. Most common modems were 300 baud rate. In simple terms, the speed was reminiscent of an ant pulling a barge across dry land. You could actually see the text build . . . a single letter at a time. Later, if you decided to invest in the cutting edge upgrades, you could purchase 1200 and 2400 baud rate modems. Lightning fast, you witnessed full lines building so quickly that the letters almost blurred. Stunning technology.

Many bulletin boards were sites run by various university science departments. These departments were often more than willing to allow public access, wanting as much good press as they could get. Others were privately run by computer savvy individuals with fanatical streaks ranging from social deviant to political activist. Their bulletin boards were the next generation underground. To gain access you needed only to apply.

The more eccentric sites were the most interesting. Each site had “rooms” where clusters of computer aficionados lived with their software egos hanging on flag poles for everyone to see. These sites were an amusing place to go when there was nothing good to watch on TV—the forerunner of Facebook. It was often most informative to enter a site room mute, simply watching the verbal interplay of self-proclaimed geniuses jousting their opponents with words of sarcastic wit—somewhat like watching a bad afternoon soap opera where post adolescent self-professed geniuses flexed their muscles.

All good things eventually end or are reinvented. Baud rates moved to 56K, and CERN’s invention spread. Bulletin boards went the way of the dinosaur. Eventually the internet of today will be seen in the eyes of nostalgic mental wanderers as a departed old relative, as muons and quarks become old hat and ch’i driven webs allow Facebook and Twitter to become myth. As Einstein and Dirac well knew, the only constant is change.

The Economic Impact of Computer Viruses

Many companies rely heavily on the integrity of their data for their daily operations. By itself, a computer represents an investment but there is so much more to think about. Personal and business financial records, operating systems and other software; all this represents an investment. It makes sense to protect these from the destructive actions of malicious software.

On the business side, viruses can result in the loss of man hours. Non-functioning computers can be a serious blow to productivity. This is even more acute with small businesses that do not have their own IT department. They have to rely on outside help to resolve virus issues, which can further strain their already meager budgets.

Antivirus Software Options

Today there is really no excuse for not having some level of protection for your computer. While antivirus software usually has to be purchased there are many free options available. They are still efficient at preventing infection, as well as searching for and removing most viruses from computers.

With so many providers of antivirus software searching for software reviews helps when trying to choose one. It is also possible to download trial versions and protect your computers while assessing them. It makes sense to set the program to automatically scan at certain times. The frequency of scanning really depends on how much the computer is used. Free software options generally provide prompts to upgrade to paid versions. Clearly, there is no obligation and this depends on the budget, but this small expenditure can save you greater costs down the road.