Technology News

South Africa

Email Spam….How to Stop it

Personally , these bloody idiots with their viagra pills and their nigerian scams fill my mailbox daily. I get between 20-30 per day. I am sick and tired of these idiots wasting my time. This is 547 min in my year (9 hours) !!!! On SPAM!!

Whats more - they go out of their way to make sure their letters dont end up in my spam box , and therefore it takes me an extra 3 sec to scan the heading and delete the message. This means that 1.5 min out of my day is wasted. This means that 9 hours of my year - or one full work day - is wasted on spam email - something that doesent benefit me at all. Now time is money - and these bastards are wasting it.

Whats worse is - when you try to get rid of spam - there always are a few legit messages that get caught in the filter as well. So there appears to be no compromise. Heres an article I picked up which will help you to great lengths to get rid of spam email , without compromising the important stuff….:

(Read on …)

How to Clean an LCD Screen

I going to clean my dusty 17 LCD when I decided to ask good old Google if water and a cloth was ok , just in case….damn….that was close….

Heres what I found….:

LCD screens are commonly found in laptops, PDAs, iPods and high definition TVs. If you look around your home, you will
probably see 5 or more of these screens in your presence. They are everywhere!

However, anyone who owns any type of LCD screen knows there is one minor problem with them. These screens or displays gather dust and dirt like there is no tomorrow. Just within a few weeks of purchasing your once pristine LCD screen, it starts picking up lint, dust particles, and smudges — ruining your full enjoyment of this technical marvel.

Once you see your favorite LCD screen picking up a bit of dust, you immediately grab a tissue or paper towel and some water to clean it. DON’T! Or you will made a big mistake and you could possibly even do permanent damage to your delicate LCD screen.

(Read on …)

Windows Vista - Which Version to get?

Windows Vista comes out in SA in the first quarter of 2006. We had the opportunity to test the beta version of the program , and found it to me incompatible with just about everything.

My advice : Wait at least a year for Microsoft to wake up to the fact everyone does not have the monster computers and Neo-Space superpower that they have.

This is what Matt Peterson had to say about the different versions of Microsoft Windows Vista that will be availible if you must place with the software:

With the commercial release of Windows Vista right around the corner many users are preparing to upgrade to the latest Microsoft operating system. The software giant has created serveral editions of the Vista OS to meet the needs of home and business users. At first glance the list of Vista editions may seem unnecessarily confusing. Let’s take a look at these new versions so you can decide which one works best for you.

Windows Vista Starter This edition is the bare bones version of Vista. It only supports Aero Express, so there are no glass or transparency effects. This version will not be available to users in the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, or other high income markets.

Windows Vista Home Basic This edition is built for the average home user with basic computing needs. The features in Windows Vista Home Basic form the foundation for all of the other editions of Windows.

Suggested retail price for full package product, $199.00. Suggested upgrade retail price, $99.95.

Windows Vista Home Premium This is the Vista edition for homes with advanced computer needs. It will help you use your laptop or desktop PC more effectively as well as enable you to enjoy new, exciting digital entertainment experiences, all with the benefit of added security and reliability. Windows Vista Home Premium includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center.

Suggested retail price for full package product, $239.00. Suggested upgrade retail price, $159.00.

Windows Vista Business The Windows Vista Business operating system is designed to meet the needs of business organizations of all sizes. For small businesses, Windows Vista Business will provide a more stable operating system, and hopefully less need for dedicated IT support. For larger organizations, Windows Vista Business provides several new administrative improvements, reducing the time your IT staff spends on deploying PCs and the day to day support requirements that come along with a large business environment.

Suggested retail price for full package product, $299.00. Suggested upgrade retail price, $199.00.

Windows Vista Enterprise Enterprise is designed to provide higher levels of data protection using hardware based encryption technology. It also includes tools to improve application compatibility and enables businesses to standardize by using a single operating system disk image.

This edition will only be available to customers who have the Microsoft Software Assurance or a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement.

Windows Vista Ultimate The Ultimate edition is the most comprehensive versions. It combines all of the features of the business platform, as well as digital entertainment features you would get with a Media Center PC. For the person who wants one system that is great for working from home, on the road, and for entertainment, Vista Ultimate is the OS that lets you have it all.

Suggested retail price for full package product, $399.00. Suggested upgrade retail price, $259.00.

Matt Peterson is a Senior Consultant for N2 Network Solutions, a Phoenix IT Consulting Firm, providing Microsoft Exchange Consulting and Windows Server Integration