ComputerActive - a comprehensive online guide for computer users

The owners of the computers know well that these famously efficient machines are, putting it lightly, quite ‘demanding’ by nature. Although some of you may not agree with it, every day there is one problem or the other with treasured PC – keyboard and mouse not working, hard disk not detected, software corrupt, etc. And people like me – honestly – can’t stand such messages owing to their frequent appearances. However, where SciTech World provides efficient answers to your queries, we are still in search of answers to more of the computer-related problems which the mentioned magazine cannot provide, thanks to their limited space.

But, if you wish to know how to stay safe on Facebook or secure on the net, or burn DVDs in WinXP or Vista, you should not feel down. The writer has found a website which provides you not only solution to your many computer- and internet-related queries but also helps you through its different sections – news, reviews, downloads, useful videos and write-ups, etc. It’s called Computeractive.co.uk.

The news section provides you with what’s-going-ons of the information technology world. Here you get what the Microsoft is planning to do shortly, where FB developer stands and what are the changes likely, if any, to come to the social networking. When I was browsing this section, there was a news item which attracted me a lot and I clicked on it - ID thieves advertising on YouTube. I thought it might interest you, too.

Many people are quite choosy when it comes to antivirus, or any other, software. They think that not every software can be of use or solve their problems. And they are very much correct in this notion – in fact, this approach helps them avoid many mishaps which otherwise could make their e-life scary. Computeractive has this section of reviews where you find scrutiny of, or recommendations for, different softwares and hardwares. This will help you choosing the best software for your use at home or work.

The step-by-step guides section is potentially very helpful for a person looking for quick repair of their PC or trying to find a solution for their bad internet connection, etc. Although this section has the capacity to encircle many queries which may be related to many fields, it is cleverly designed and is not so scrambled. This is because it’s been divided into many sections – Software applications, Online, Hacking and cyber crime, Home networks, Desktop computers. So, go ahead and check the solutions of problems in their relative categories.

Yet, that’s not all!

The site has to offer many softwares for downloads, forums to discuss the related issues with the experts, articles and blogs which, also, will help you out as a good assistance. When you are online, do check the site by entering www.compouteractive.co.uk. 

As you like it -- print without ads!

Besides picturing a room in which nothing is in its proper place, to me the word ‘mess’ connotes web pages which are thickly dotted with those magical money-making ‘patches’ of different sizes and colours.

But what can one do when you need to print a page which is so stuffed with ads? You are lucky if the site offers a ‘printer-friendly’ version, but what if it does not? Either you would go for the layman’s trick of copying the material and pasting it in a word processor or you just bear those ‘non grata’ ads in your printouts. And while the former is a consuming job, the latter, besides costing you, is harmful for the environment as it will consume more pages than needed. Hence, we need another solution which will be both less time and tree consuming, in other words, give us the authority to print what we like.

Enter printwhatyoulike.com. The genie-like website will print only what you choose from the chock-a-block page, be it only an image or just a paragraph from a lengthy post of a blog. It is all in your hands.

With quite a simplified layout, the website claims, at the top of the site to be saving both money and the environment. All you have to do is to enter the URL of the page you want to print and hit ‘Start’. Alternatively, the site offers itself for a trial and gives a direct link where you can ‘format’ the page as you like.

When you have entered the URL in the box provided, it will take you to the ‘print preview’ with a left panel containing different tools to edit the page. If the page has a lot of stuff and you only need a few things, you can select them and click ‘isolate’ button on the left panel which will remove other things and give you the page with the material you chose.

But, if there is a site or blog which you want to print without ads and other ‘distractions’, simply click on what you want to be removed and click ‘remove’. Apart from this, the website also gives you a facility of decreasing the font size and changing the font face.

Furthermore, the option of merging many pages in one place gives you the opportunity of printing the contents of two or more pages in one print. For example, while you are formatting some site, you can click ‘Add Page’ and enter www.dawn.net. It will make the latter’s content appear below the former, making it appear as a single page. Once you are done with the editing, you can also save it in HTML and PDF versions. Hey, doesn’t it make the site really useful?

However, the site has a couple of drawbacks. While it has the options of ‘undo’ and ‘redo’, I really missed a ‘reset’ button that can be used when needed. And a more serious flaw is that when we add another page or website, the first one adopts the newly-added page, making the first one look disfigured with fonts and images displaced from their original locations. This, somehow, I felt, blurs the charm.

The website can also be used as a type of game in which you can ‘play’ with different websites and blogs and give them a new look.

So, go ahead and PrintWhatYouLike.com. 

Guide to a Successful Career - MindTools.com

Time management, priorities settings, performances, mind maps, presentations, meeting minutes, deadlines, effective emails and letters, problem solving – you name it, all point to one’s mature stage of life: career. The world of jobs is quite hectic: the dwellers are always busy in outshining their colleagues, accepting challenges, experimenting new methodologies and devising innovative designs in their respective industries. The career-seekers hardly think of resting.

Despite working restlessly for days and nights, they seem to have a fear of being labeled as in- or less-competent in the house. What is needed is that they conquered this fear – by hook or by crook.

However, MindTools.com claims that acting upon certain golden principles can bring you the ‘big time’. The website gives you an opportunity to grasp what it takes to go ‘upstairs’ in your career and provides with interesting-to-read small write-ups on various topics related to time and stress management, communication and information skills, memory improvement tips, project management and decision making, etc.

This easily opening site has quite a simple layout with easy-to-locate links in the categories menu. For example, the visitors find articles about risk analysis, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), flow charts, etc. under that button of Problem Solving. This behavior of the site makes possible easy access to various sections quick.

Where there are people, take it from me, you’re sure to find some amiable, meek and cooperative who make the journey pleasant, and some arrogant and jealous of others success trying always to pull others’ legs. Some are so attractive in that they only mind their own business so as to keep the environment swift and, so, making the achievements come naturally. However, many are always ‘into’ others’ personal affairs and life that they would trap anybody to take out some time to listen to their not-so-naïve commentary about others. This many a time results in hurting the person discussed which ultimately jeopardizes the peaceful and work-friendly environment at offices. Well, you can deal with this situation claims the site in its Good Manners in the Office article. Here you get to know the official ‘manners’ which you can adopt and add to the peacefulness of the office environment.

I personally believe that how much your salary is directly affects your performance at work. You simply can’t accept your employee to work for millions while offering them quite meager amount to spend – not their fault, it’s natural, in fact. However, we can’t deny that this, like many other things, comes into the account of the employee to actually persuade the boss to give him a pay raise. Communication skills of Mindtools.com will help in knowing how to do that professionally.

If someone is not aware of how important time management is, sentence him to death. I’m sorry but that’s how any professional will react to such a non-serious and amateur attitude. Managing time epitomizes erecting the scaffolding for the organization which makes construction of success reality. Such message you get while browsing the site which offers help with almost every aspect of your professional life. Your visit to the site will also have you see how to beat procrastination – the trait which the present writer has always deplored in himself.

Having stress management and practical creativity as its segments, the site offers you a complete guide to the ‘essential skills for an excellent career’ which will surely make you numbered in the efficient professionals in your organization, company, etc. To know more just log on to www.mindtools.com.

Digging the archives

It was just a couple of weeks ago that I was watching a documentary on the life of Barack Hussain Obama, President of the United States, on a history channel. The ‘biography’ of the man presented a detailed account of how Obama has lived his life to date. The footages of the documentary were awesome. They must have sought help of some old library in order to gather so many historical movies and photos, I thought. However, when the credits were showing at the end of the documentary, www.archive.org was mentioned to have been consulted for movies besides names of different libraries and other institutes. Yup, I made a visit to it, then.

And, lo! What I got was a website packed all types of discourses related to ‘human knowledge’. Whether you wish to find an old tune related to Asian or African culture, want to cast an eye on how the technology evolved through centuries, seek to freshen up your soul, or crave for an important documentary, the site is for you! I could locate cartoon movies of my favourite characters, Casper and Popeye, as well. This is not all, though.

Media, being a strong moving force, has changed almost every aspect of our lives. Our outlook towards world politics, social issues, ancient cultures, etc has been changed exceedingly. Issues like feminist movements, eradication of caste-system and demand of equal rights for all human beings are product of awareness which media – in one form or the other – have been spreading. However, there remain certain ‘technical’ aspects of media and politics which need a careful study plus observation. Many quality videos related to such topics related to state, constitution, laws, forms of government and topics, such as, Faith in Exile: The Lesson of Tibet, and The Ground Truth: The Human Cost of War are offered to you on the site. Going through News & Public Affairs section will improve your judgment of world media and politics.

Turmoil which our country has been going through for many years now has ‘compelled’ people to take interest in news and current affairs sections of media. Political analysis programs are in vogue now and, that’s why, news readers and analysts are more famous than film stars these days. I feel that the youth of the country is now trying to trace history back to the partition of the subcontinent. But, is there any connection between mishandlings of the past and the present situation of our country? Well, the answer is not at all simple. However, Internet Archive can help you by providing the documents of that time, or discourses about what had happened then. Talks between Gandhi-Jinnah Talks and Verdict on India will surely interest you.

Audio section puts forth valuable audios related to different fields like religion, music, (audio-)books, news, etc. There’s a special feature namely Way Back Machine which will give you timeline of any website you enter into the field available through which you can see what changes have been made to that particular site over time.

The site’s layout is quite simple which makes it easy to locate what you are looking for. But, what seemed to me a drawback of the site is that it seems to be more English language- and America focused, i.e., it needs more content to add related to different countries and languages. However, there are many other features of the site as well which will prove to be an asset for students of all ages. To see how it can help ‘you’, log on to www.archive.org .

The Fourth Estate - Media

“We are being controlled. We are being force-fed lies. We don't even know it. I can't present truth, they don't allow truth, and they hide it well enough that I can't find it.” Chomsky’s words.

Media we call it! The sources that keep us updated with the events happening around the globe and spread ‘information’ everywhere. They reach to almost every single soul on the planet. We are impressed by the fact that media reaches almost everywhere in no time, and that they show us the ‘inside stories’ which seem otherwise impossible to get revealed. This, in short, gives them power to secretly herd us anywhere they want to.

And, the history bears witness, power corrupts.

Are we sure all media are true? When we witness that we are being literally flooded with information from all sides through media, shouldn’t we try to cast a critical look on news items or other snippets we are thrown at – question their authenticity?

Answers to both the questions are ‘No’ and ‘Yes’, respectively. The reason is that media influences us the most and, hence, we should not buy each and everything from them. You may ask: How to decide between what is true and what is false? Well, it merits a detailed answer and you can check it on Media-Awareness.ca – the site which has much to offer to judge objectivity in news.

This website maintains for you, along with their analysis, news, research, educational games and a body of different interesting assignments to enable you see the difference between ‘good’ and ‘evil’. For instance, the website operates on the word ‘cool’, which, I think, is the second most manipulated word after ‘terrorist’. The site gives a planned activity and a lesson-type discussion to do with the children and asks to “[R]einforce the idea that we tend to think of cool as an external thing, but the best kind of cool comes from inside.” That’s a wrap-up for you; details are on the site. I would also recommend ‘Junk for Jungle’.

It also offers you a set of activities, e.g. The Anatomy of Cool, Be a Tobacco Buster, etc. along with resources to carry out with your family and children so as to understand what actually lies underneath otherwise innocuous media messages. You can browse such activities and resources by clicking either For Teachers or For Parents, according to your respective status.

The section for teachers has a pack of information which will familiarise them with media studies, provide them developmental resources, and telling them how to handle on-campus net facilities. The last of which provides teachers to help youngsters realise importance of surfing safe. Besides, the section has a feature which is a bit more teaching related comparatively: the Lesson Library. It provides teachers option to find a lesson related to media divided in grade- and subject-wise. This would definitely be proved to be a good asset for teachers to let their students be aware of media issues.

Media means not only news and current affairs programs. Advertising, video games and movies can also be considered parts of media. And when it comes to video games and movies, the site argues, also inculcate in youth violent and deviant behaviours. Parents should move to stop their children from getting content which is violent, stereotyping and, the unfortunate of all, adult rated. We should worry because they are not only a span of a couple of hours; it’s a matter of what they’d grow up to be.

Well, a separate section has also been ‘reserved’ for girls in the site. It will provide almost the same information but with a girl-specific perspective. For example, you’ll find a small article on video games where they encourage parents to make it possible for females to buy games which either have no men and women stereotyping or are in line with their very nature – it may include, the site has it, the ones requiring problem solving or strategic skills, and involving interaction.

Although the site’s focus seems to be on youth, the site has a lot to give to adults in its researches and discussion section where they can have material suitable for their ager level. For example, they must be tempted to know ‘How to Detect Bias in the News’. Well, for all the aforementioned stuff, log on to http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/index.cfm.

How about this?

Perhaps it was Aristotle who said that people’s intelligence cannot be understood by their answers, but by the questions they ask. And if it comes to asking questions, we tend to think about Rudyard Kipling’s ‘six honest serving-men’ who help us get complete information.

However, the last of them, that is ‘How’, is what many of us are very familiar with. Let’s see how:

Many of us often complain against being unable to lose fat. How many actually know how to? Many of us have a lot to share with the people. But, how many of us know how to write? Teachers complain about students being not interested in their lectures, but do they know that they can make their lectures interesting by introducing innovations?

So, as these questions reveal, there are many things which we want to do in our life but, unfortunately, do not know how to. But, folks, rest easy now. You can all avail this opportunity of knowing ‘How to’ at a website that offers hundreds of topics — problems, processes, etc. — and tells us how to do them. Allusions are to the site eHow.com.

Along with being ‘light’ in terms of loading, this quite orderly designed website greets visitors with clear reference to all the sections at the outset. You have boxes with quick links such as How to of the day, Top how to, etc. These will let you know what the others have been looking for.

The function of the website is quite clear: it tells how to do things; and lays a listing of categories of articles from which you will have to pick the one you want to go for. For example, one may choose from the categories related to education, career, business, entertainment, fashion and personal care, home decoration, health, etc. You also have a section of internet and computers where you would be able to locate articles explaining how to, for example, add music to word documents, calendar to Excel spreadsheet, etc. Yet, there are more advanced topics as well.

The same goes for other sections like relationships and family, personal finance, parenting, etc. What gives the website a feeling of relief is that you can expect almost all the topics related to just about everything – from simple tree planting to how to deal with difficult people at workplace. So, you have anything in mind, just go ahead and chances are that you would find it here.

However, seeing is believing, as the saying goes. Many may not be able to get things which are told to them in black and white; they need to actually witness the processes. For such people, the videos section will be of a great help. Although this sections works independently from the articles section and has not as many topics enlisted as in the earlier, you will find videos which will show you how to do things such as make fried rice. Likewise, you will get videos related to different categories.

This website is also a platform where you may write short essays (of almost 500 words) for the website and you will be paid. However, the essays have to be written on some ‘How to …’ topic, which will, then, be added to the articles on the site.

In short, the eHow will prove to be a very good resource for people who want some easy tips on how to do things at home, office, etc., and get effective results. What you need to do is to type in the address bar www.ehow.com  and hit Enter.

Sleep tight!

Let’s face it: a tight sleep is only a fantasy for many of us! Insomnia (which includes both, inability to get to sleep and to stay asleep), restless legs, recurring nightmares and hallucinations, sleep terrors, etc all seem to have joined hands in ruining our rest. Or how many of us have not noticed people who complain about being unable to sleep because their bed (or even pillow) has been changed? Or the ones who get to sleep in no time at anywhere – be it office, restaurants, even inside a car – after closing their eyes? Isn’t speaking, walking, sleeping, grinding teeth, snoring or groaning during sleep commonplace? Yes, such things happen in the strange realm of sleep.

But, wait a minute; do we know much about such phenomena?

Whether you answer is ‘Yes’ or a big ‘No’, in either case, you would surely be interested in knowing about the strange facts about the problems mentioned in the first paragraph of this write-up besides many others which we encounter in everyday life. Sleepeducation.com is the website which opens the doors of knowledge and information about Sleep to everyone. With an easy left aligned menu, the site is packed with authentic knowledge about studies, disorders, and case studies all related to sleep.

The homepage of the site has shortcuts in form of boxes to different sections of the site. How sleep affects children, women and men, respectively, and what the connection between growing old has with sleep are the first thing which the navigation offers. The section gives some tips on how to make your child have a sound sleep and, as a result, have a 'smiling face, happy nature and natural energy'. It also gives a brief text on how to solve problems faced by children.

A short account informs us that women tend to sleep early and their sleep is more likely to be disturbed easily than men’s. What surprised me a bit is the fact that, according to this site, women are more likely to feel ‘unrefreshed’ even after a full night of sleep. Of course, many factors are responsible for that, for example, depression, some illness, bad sleep habits, or physical or hormonal changes occurring in their body. Following is a brief description of some common sleep disorders found in women and the medical issues related to them.

When it comes to men, work, work and work seems to outshine everything in the list of priorities. We often hear women complaining about their men that they spend more time doing office work. The remaining small fraction of clock they spend thinking, well, again about ‘work’, they nag. The underlying fact is not that they’re only underestimating wives and home, but they are also damaging their health by not sleeping sufficient. They think sleep is kind of a hurdle in doing work and being productive for their company. In their case as well, factors like work demands, tight schedules, etc are working in the background. Having stated the sleep disorders found in men the site explains how men can sleep better.

The subsequent section contains different ‘tools’ to evaluate your sleep and whether your sleep habits are normal. Sleepiness scale shows, for example, how many times you actually need to sleep or doze off when you feel you’re tired. What type of problems you are actually having in your sleep patterns will be analyzed by Sleep Evaluation which is actually a questionnaire. With another evaluation form, specifically for teens, the site also gives you a format of how to maintain sleep diary.

The Sleep Studies section, which is a technical section, will inform you about how sleep disorders are detected by the doctors. It will let you know about methods like Overnight Sleep Study, CPAP Study, Home Sleep Test, Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT) and Nap Study. This section is in line with what the disclaimer by site states, i.e. we should make any decision in the light of any information found on this site; rather, we should go for a ‘sound medical advice’ by a reliable doctor.

Next is the section which I enjoyed reading. Titled Sleep Disorders it gives you information about around 70 disorders – some of which are common as air, while some are quite rare – divided into primary and secondary disorders. Including the disorders I mentioned in the first paragraph, you can find information about from Jet Lag, Shift Work, Idiopathic Insomnia, OSA, and Insufficient Sleep Syndrome to bedwetting, confusional arousals, leg cramps, long sleep, short sleep and (notorious) snoring. This section helped me find out why our driver dozes off even while driving, why I’m unable to get to sleep before 4am, how my uncle can manage to work even after having only 2 hours’ sleep round the clock, and many other things. The level of our fear alleviates when we know causes behind certain happenings, doesn’t it? The section also has tells us about common treatments for the disorders in shape of medication to therapies.

Sleep Hygiene will explain to you how to keep sleep hygiene in order to ‘stay healthy by keeping your mind and body rested and strong’. Taking the essence of the word ‘hygiene’, the page has 16 tips on how to sleep better and, consequently, feel better. It guides us to avoid taking naps which many people are fond of, and to avoid sleeping pills as much as possible. The site also contains a type of dictionary containing brief definitions of the terms related to sleep and treatment of sleep disorders.

Albeit persons like me who like to have knowledge intended for a layman would not be happy with the technical sections, this site will increase your awareness about seemingly innocuous sleep disorders and how to control them. Well, the rest I leave to you, folks. Type www.sleepeducation.com and there you are! (Yawns)