Discount Computers

Of course, once your computers are networked together and
sharing Internet access, the next step is to make your internal
network a little more useful. One of the best things you can do
with your wireless network is use it to share your files and
folders.

File sharing implies a system in which users write to as well as
read files or in which users are allotted some amount of space
for personal files on a common computer, giving access to other
computers as they see fit. The latter kind of file sharing is
common in schools and universities. Look Out for Security.

Before I tell you how to share folders, a quick word of warning:
if you don’t have encryption set up on your network, then
everything you share will be available for others to view. This
means that anyone could bring their computer close enough to
connect to your wireless connection (and in many cases, your
neighbours are close enough), and they could see everything
you’ve put in a shared folder.

How do you get around this? Well, unfortunately, there are only
two things you can do: only share things that you wouldn’t mind
other people seeing, or turn on encryption for your network. If
you want to change shared files from other computers as well as
just uploading and downloading them, you definitely need
encryption. For more, see ‘Dealing with Security Threats:
Wireless Encryption’.

Automatic Sharing

Here’s some good news: if you’re happy to put your shared files
in a special folder, you don’t need to do any extra
configuration. Windows automatically shares your ‘Shared
Documents’ folder when you create a wireless network, to give
you a space to share pictures and music across your network. To
access the Shared Documents folders, just open My Network Places
using the Start Menu.

Sharing More

Of course, most people want to share more than one folder. I,
for example, want to be able to access Word documents I’m
working on from any computer on my network, without saving them
outside My Documents. Luckily, you can access any files across
the network, as long as they are in the same folder together.

To share an existing folder, simply right-click it and choose
‘Sharing and Security’. Tick ‘Share this folder on the network’
in the box that appears. If you want to be able to change the
files from other computers, you should also tick ‘Allow network
users to change my files’ — if you don’t do that, then the
files will be read-only when you use another computer to access
them.

Remember that sharing files over the network can be slow,
depending on how fast your wireless equipment is. Because of the
way Windows works, you should try to avoid keeping lots of files
in the same shared folder, as it can slow down the network more
than you might expect.

You Can Even Share Drives

You can share whole drives, if you want to. You should never do
this for your whole hard drive, though, as it is very dangerous
– anyone who could get access to your network would be able to
see everything on your computer, including all sorts of private
information that you probably wouldn’t want them to have. Worse,
if you had it set to allow the network to change files, your
computer could get messed up big time.

Where drive sharing becomes useful, then, is to share removable
drives. You can right-click anything from a CD drive to a floppy
drive, and share it over your network. The procedure is the same
as turning on sharing for a folder, except that there is an
extra step where you need to click to confirm to Windows that
you understand the risks involved.

Once a removable drive is shared, you can do all sorts of
things. You can use software that needs the CD to run as long as
the CD is in one of your computers, or you can save to floppy
disk from computers that don’t have floppy disk drives — the
possibilities, as they say, are endless.

With a little lateral thinking, you can take this even further.
Devices like digital cameras and mp3 players almost always
appear in My Computer as drives while they’re plugged in –
turning on sharing for these drives basically means that you’re
sharing the devices across the whole network. It’s really neat
to be able to plug your camera into one computer and then
download the photos on to all of them — give it a go!

About the author:

Original Source: Articles-Galore.com

Information supplied and written by Lee Asher of CyberTech SoftShop

Suppliers of the DeadEasy
Ebook Maker and Publishing Wizard.

If you take a lot of pictures, or are getting ready for an event
where you’ll want to have lots of quality photos to include in
your family album (i.e. weddings, holiday get-togethers), you’ll
want to know more about photo editing software that is both
affordable and easy to use. Here are some software programs for
editing photographs and graphics that you may want to check out.

Virieu has a free photo editing program that is easy to use, and
is compatible with most computers. With the program, you can add
captions to your pictures, ‘frame’ your portraits digitally, and
make your photos into backgrounds for your screen or to send out
in your email by using the fade and shade features that come
along with the program. The programs will also show you how to
darken or lighten certain sections of the picture, so that you
can remove certain items from your photograph. You can try the
editing software out for free during a 21-day trail, and then
the service is $29.00. www.reallusion.com also has a wide
variety of editing equipment to try that will make any picture
you take look professional and impressive. You can take
advantage of the muscle-based facial enhancement feature, so
that you can ‘fix’ the faces of the people you take pictures of
to create a more flattering photograph.

Other products from the company include the Effect 3D Studio, a
graphics editing and design program that allows you to make
animated graphics no matter what your skill level is. You can
also purchase CrazyTalk, a program that allows you to create
animated talking characters for PowerPoint and DVD
presentations. Most computers are equipped to download the
programs (a Windows 98 or higher is usually acceptable), and you
can try the products out before you purchase any of the
programs.

In order for you to download, edit, and save your photos on your
computer, you’ll need a digital camera to take your pictures
with. Brands like Canon and Olympus have great digital cameras
that are easy for you to use, and produce quality photos that
you can save on your computer. You may also want to pick up a
book or two with some more basic information on photo editing
software, so that you’ll know which programs are easiest to use
and most affordable. You can also find new and used photo
editing programs, such as Instant Photo Editor on sites like
www.amazon.com, with complete CD-ROM instructions on how to make
sure you edit great photos every time you use the program.

About the author:
Mansi gupta enjoys writing about photo
editor.

Compatibles?

“First a little history…” In 1938, the first invention that
would lead to the laser printer and toner cartridge was
patented. The process, knows as “electro photography”, used a
dry printing method, not that different than today’s laser
printer. It was 1948, however, before the commercial application
of electro photography because available.

In 1959, the first automatic reproduction machine, the Xerox
914, which used a dry printing process. In 1978, the fine tuned
technology was applied to the computer printing needs of
business and private citizens. Physically large and with a large
price tag as well, the Xerox 9700 laser printer that used a
toner cartridge wasn’t affordable by individuals except the
wealthy.

Everything changed in 1984 when Hewlett Packard began to market
the “LaserJet” printer. This printer came with a replaceable
toner cartridge that was not difficult to change, although it
could sometimes bit a little messy. The really problematic part
was that people who used the LaserJet had stacks of expensive
but empty toners stacked in the storage room or wherever they
could find to store the toner cartridges.

This problem was quickly resolved by environmentally aware
designers by re-manufacturing the laser toner cartridge. This
significantly reduced the cost of using laser printers.

“What’s happening today?…” Nowadays we have the luxury of
having a laser printer on our desk at home if we want that type
of printing. The as well as the initial outlay for the printer
has become quite affordable and provides a unique, very
professional looking print out.

Today, laser printers are manufactured by many companies and the
price tag is only slightly more than the common ink printer
(though colour laser printers are still quite expensive the gap
is getting smaller). The laser toner cartridge costs have been
reduced so that it is reasonable to use the laser printer at
home as well as at the office. In fact the toners are usually
much cheaper when you take into account the larger number of
pages you get for the amount you pay (the industry uses the
terminology ‘cents per page’ or CPP)

Basically there are 2 types of cartridges, originals and
non-originals and there are 2 types of non-originals being
compatibles and remanufactured (this goes for inks also as does
the information below). Otherwise known as non genuine, after
market this is how they work:-

- Compatibles are actually a brand new cartridge manufactured to
work in the same way (without breaking the trademark, copy
protection laws) as the same original cartridge with the same
machines. The benefit you gain from these is obviously cost
savings with at times massive savings up to around 50%. The
downside is they are not as environmentally friendly as
remanufactured toners and there are the occasional failures and
complaints about lower quality (though failure rates for the top
companies making these are within industry norms and not
significantly higher than those of the original manufacturers
themselves) – Remanufactured toners however are a little
different as they take an empty original (it should have only
been used ONCE) and fill it with toner. As long as you buy from
a reputable retailer it will have also been checked to determine
if parts need to be replaced as well as toner refilled. You also
get good cost savings as you do with compatibles but the
environment wins out big time as you helping ‘close the loop’ by
reusing an empty original. Once again the same applies as above
with quality and failures (both negligible in my experience as a
retailer in this industry).

NOTE: Its worth making a special note here that disposing of
empty toners is a problem worldwide as the plastic they’re made
of takes so long to break down and the toxicity of the toner
inside. In many countries today there are programs available
where you can get rid of your empties without just throwing them
in the bin. In fact if you hunt around you’ll probably find a
company will pay you for them as they need a constant stream of
empties coming through so they can remanufacture them.

Something to keep in mind…. When purchasing a re-manufactured
laser toner cartridge, be sure to read the box carefully and
ensure you are selecting the right toner cartridge. The first
time you purchase a re-manufactured toner cartridge, the box may
look entirely different or very plain because these inexpensive
toners are often not packaged in fancy, colourful boxes like the
name brands. But then they don’t cost what the name brand toners
do, either.

“The bottom line…” If you use a reputable retailer for your
home/office supplies they should have a clear policy in place
not only about faulty toners but what happens if a cartridge has
somehow caused damage to your machine (this would be very
unusual by the way). Under these circumstances this policy
should give you a full warranty to have the equipment repaired
ASAP at no cost to you.

With my clients when they ask what I suggest I always recommend
they try a non-original to see for themselves the quality etc.
In any case the trick is to be able to make an informed choice
with someone you trust so at least if something goes wrong the
people you bought from haven’t skipped the country.

About the author:
Andrew James has owned target="_blank">The Cartridge Specialists (Melbourne) since
2004 selling ink & toner cartridges, and other printing/office
supplies. As a regul