Video/Graphic Card

A video cared or graphic card is a device that allows for the visualization of images on your computer monitor. Without the card you would not able to view images, you can’t play games or see colors in your computer. The main purpose of video card is to generate and output image to a display. Each motherboard supports only a limited range of video card formats so always check with your motherboard manufacturer before making a purchase. If you have little bit knowledge, you may just cine home with correct video card. There are sixty types of video cards that range in price and specifications. If you are going to purchase a video card you should know, which card is right for you, there are a few things that you must understand first. Like you know about your computer configuration, purpose and uses of the computer.

Video cards are also now being placed onto the computer motherboard to help bring the cost down on computers. When the video card is connected to a monitor, it serves as the visual link between you and your computer, allowing you to view and manage your computer’s software data. If the video card is integrated in the motherboard, it will use the computer RAM memory (lower throughput). If Ram is not integrated in the motherboard, the video card will have its own video memory which is called Video RAM or VRAM. The memory capacity of most modern video cards range from 128 MB to 2.0 GB[8]. Since video memory needs to be accessed by the GPU and the display circuitry, it often uses special high speed or multi-port memory, such as VRAM, WRAM, SGRAM, etc. The memory clock rate in modern cards are generally between 400 MHz and 2.4 GHz.

As per power demand, the power of video cards has increased. Present fast video cards tend to consume a great deal of power. While CPU and power supply makers have recently moved toward higher efficiency, so the video card use good amount of electricity in a computer.

The three types of card slots that we will discuss further;
1. PCI Slot: The PCI slot is short for peripheral components Interconnect and is not exclusive with any one processor type. PCI was the first expansion slot made by computer manufactures but the PCI performance is limited. There are many other several value cards that offers good performance.

2. AGP Slot: The AGP slot is short for Accelerated Graphics Port. AGP has many versions and it was first designed for 3D gaming. There are two version of AGP 2.0 and 3.0 are sold, but now AGP 1.0 is no longer in use.

3. PCI Express: This is the latest slot and it is much better or much faster than PCI slot or AGP slot. The PCI express replace the PCI and AGP slots for the extended performance ability. One more important thing is that, PCI and PCI Express are not compatible and are very different products.

Before buying video card, you must also know the requirements and specifications of the CPU, that the new video card is compatible for your CPU or not. When we refer to requirements and specification, we mean the CPU type and its speed. For example 1600 MHz range is suggested for 3D gaming or graphics. For 3D gaming the minimum CPU requirement is 2.4 GHz.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is an open specification that enables low-bandwidth, short-range wireless connections between computers and peripherals devices, like cell phones, personal data assistants (PDAs) and mice. Bluetooth model lies in its convenience for wirelessly transferring information and small data files between devices. Nor is it a replacement for the cables needed by high-bandwidth peripherals. Bluetooth offers a replacement for IrDA (Infrared Data Association).

Bluetooth is a cable-replacement technology designed to wirelessly connect peripherals, such as mice and mobile phones, you can connect with your mobile to mobile, or your desktop or laptop computer. Bluetooth is an inexpensive, low-power, and short-range radio-based technology. When we talking about IrDA, its supports wireless communication between peripherals and computers, it has two limitations. First, IrDA devices must be very close, not more than about 1 meter apart. Second, the communicating devices must have a direct line of sight to each other. Because it depends upon radio waves, however, Bluetooth communication overcomes these two limitations, when you are using Bluetooth, you can communicate at ranges of up to 10 meters. This makes Bluetooth communication much more flexible and robust as compare to IrDA. It’s also important to note that because Bluetooth excels at low-bandwidth data transfer, its not need to use high-bandwidth.

What Bluetooth Does Best

The main features of Bluetooth technology are —low cost, low power, and radio based— encouraged the concept of a personal area network (PAN). A PAN envelops the user in a small, mobile bubble of connectivity that is effortlessly available at any time. You don’t need to add IP address; you don’t need to add modem and other devices. Bluetooth gives you freedom from cables and potential ubiquity. It provides ranges of up to 100 meters.

Bluetooth doesn’t require you to think about setting up a connection or to push any buttons. When two or more Bluetooth devices enter a range (Up to 30 feet) of one another, they automatically begin to communicate without you having to do anything. Once the communicating begins, Bluetooth devices will setup Personal Area Networks or Piconets. The best part is: The devices take care of the entire setup process, and you can go about your business.

Free of charge, you don not have to pay a single penny for this service. Its not an extra cell phone or cable bill that you have to add in your budget. Simply by the technology and you’re done. All you need to do is connect it with what you are using.

Synchronization of Data Devices:

Do you want to transfer your mobile address book to your laptop contact system and your Blackberry contact list, or sync your calendars? Do it wirelessly with Bluetooth.

The system is also allows you to transfer data via Bluetooth. You can transfer or print photos from your Bluetooth-enabled camera straight to a Bluetooth-enabled printer for prints, or you can store your photos in your laptops or desktop.. Or transfer e-mail messages from phone to phone. You can transfer you data any time or anywhere, you don’t need to wait for signals, you don’t need to plug cable and then connect with your laptops or pc. You can directly connect with your laptops or pc.

You don’t require any special software or data cables for the devices to communicate with one another. That’s why its much more convenient for people who move around a lot with their electronics.

Power Consumption:

As a cable-replacement technology. To conserve power, most Bluetooth devices operate as low-power, 1 mW radios (Class 3 radio power). This gives Bluetooth devices a range of about 5–10 meters. This range is far enough for comfortable wireless peripheral communication but close enough to avoid drawing too much power from the device’s power source.

Security:

When we are talking about security. Security is a challenge faced by every communications standard. Wireless communications present special security challenges.
Bluetooth technology is no exception. Bluetooth builds security into its model on several different levels. At the lowest levels of the protocol stack, Bluetooth uses the publicly available cipher algorithm known as SAFER+ to authenticate a device’s identity. The generic-access profile depends on this authentication for its device-pairing process. This process involves creating a special link to create and exchange a link key. Once verified, the link key is used to negotiate an encryption mode the devices will use for their communication. In addition to the operational features, Bluetooth has several security features built into it that provide authentication, authorization, and encryption.
When two Bluetooth devices establish a communications channel, they both create an initialization key. A passkey or Personal Identification Number is input and the initialization key is created, and the link key is calculated using it. Then the link key is used for authentication. Without your permission nobody can access your Bluetooth.

Optical Mouse

How does an Optical Mouse work?

The mechanical mouse was created in the early 1970’s. The optical mouse is a great improvement over the mechanical mouse. The Optical mouse was coined in 1999 by Agilent Technologies; the technology uses a tiny camera that takes thousands of pictures per second to determine position and speed.

The optical mouse uses a very small light emitting diode more commonly referred to as an LED which is red in color. This LED bounces light off of a mouse pad or desk surface onto a CMOS (Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor).

Optical Mouse process:

First the LED produces a red light that is emitted onto a surface. Then the light is reflected off the surface back to the CMOS sensor. The CMOS sensor sends each image that is reflected back to a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) for analysis.

Using the thousands of images that the CMOS sends to the DSP for analysis, the DSP is able to detect both patterns and images and can determine if the mouse has moved, at what distance it has moved and at what speed. It is also able to determine if move mouse little bit or you click on any button of mouse, which are then sent to the computer that the mouse is hooked up to.

At that point the coordinates have been received by the computer and will show the movement of the mouse, usually by its cursor on the computer screen. When you move your mouse, your computer is updated with mouse coordinates more than hundreds of times per second, because mouse movement is so fast, the appearance of the mouse cursor on your computer screen is very smooth.

Benefits of Optical Mouse

There are many benefits to using optical mouse over manual/mechanical mouse. The mechanical mouse uses a tinny rubber ball, on the other hand, optical mouse uses LED , the main advantage of LED is that there is no way for the LED to stick or get dirty. This leads to high reliability. Many people complain that their manual mouse get dirty or it will not work properly after some time. But in Optical a mouse usually work well for years without a malfunction and there is no complain.

Today technology is too advanced and uses an LED and CMOS instead of a rubber ball to measure tracking; you can feel much better response and performance. Another great reason is that, you can use Optical mouse on lots of different surfaces, you don’t need to buy mouse-bad. Manual mice need a mouse pad made out of a special material to function optimally, optical mice do well on almost any kind of desk top or materials.

Because of their distinct advantages, optical mice are fast becoming the standard in computer stores around the world. Another benefit is that digital processing often results in smoother, more accurate performance than prior technologies. There are typically no special PC requirements for optical mice and installation is usually as simply plugging the device in to the computer.

Why are laptops more popular?

Many people think Should I buy a laptop or a desktop?. Information technology is not only advancing at a great pace but it is making lives better. We have been using desktops since 1940 when the first computer was invented. However, the increasing dependence on computers has given an impetus to develop more advanced computers like laptops or notebooks. Nowadays laptops are gaining ground these days due to its portability.

According to the market research firm Current Analysis, laptops sales increase by ed for 53 per cent of the total personal computer market, up from 46 per cent during the same period last year. Due to its demand, companies have reduced prices and improved the quality of laptop. As compare to desktop price, laptop prices have come down 17 per cent during the last year while desktop price has dipped only 4 per cent. The reasons for this laptops are portable, easy to maintain, longer batteries, Wireless capability and many more features. xtra battery – optional but would be recommended. One of the major problems of laptop users is battery life. Especially when these batteries have been used for a long time, batter life span turns to be somewhat unreliable. So battery backups is a good idea. Extra battery – optional but would be recommended. Especially when these batteries have been used for a long time, batter life span turns to be somewhat unreliable. So that’s why battery backups is a good idea. In laptops we can use external drives, sometimes our drives are full, in that case external hard drives for storage purposes, or an external DVD writer to burn files. There are a lot of other accessories that could make your laptop even better. Some are needed, some are optional. Just browse computer stores, you would be finding external fans, laptop cleaners, etc. You’ve purchased a lot for your laptop, why not spend a few more to make it better.

What is the difference between the laptops and desktops?
Generally, desktop usually come with a vertical chassis, which typically sits on the floor under a desk. A monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers are all attached to the tower (CPU) separately. Its very difficult to maintain.

On the other hand, Laptops are small, battery-powered, lightweight (1-3 kg) and ideal for those who require portability, like business people who travel or students who could then easily move from one place to another place. In laptops, we have many features like we have DVD player, laptops can also be used as portable entertainment systems. In laptops all accessories are integrated (mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc) but external ones may be attached, as well. The prices for these accessories are same for both laptop and desktop PCs or may little bit difference.

Nowadays laptops come equipped with integrated wireless networking features (like Intel Centrino mobile technology) so that users can use high-speed internet connection anywhere. Desktop computers usually come with a wired network card, but wireless cards can be purchased.

Are the components in these two computers similar?
There are little bit differences, Laptops usually have liquid crystal displays and smaller SO-DIMM (Small Outline DIMM) chips for their RAM. In addition to a built-in keyboard, they may utilise a touchpad (also known as a trackpad) or a pointing stick for input, though an external mouse or keyboard can usually be attached.

They both have basis components like:

* Processor
* Memory
* Mass Storage
* Removable storage
.Peripheral controller/adapter
Can laptops be repaired and upgraded?
Desktop computer are easier to upgrade, as compare to laptops components.

In desktop computers, users can easily swap components like sound cards and modems. RAM, a bigger hard drive, or a new DVD drive is also easy to add to a desktop computer. In desktop computer we can add new monitor, like a 21-inch screen from a 15-inch screen, or a flat-panel LCD display from a bulky CRT monitor.

But in laptops, its not possible to change screen, yes we can change other devices like CD-ROM, RAM, we can add additional speakers, we can repair both desktop or laptops.

What are Viruses and how we protect our computer from virus?

Computer viruses are small software programs that are designed to spread from one computer to another and to interfere with computer operation.  A virus might corrupt or delete data on your computer, use your e-mail program to spread itself to other computers, or it may be deleted everything in your computer.  Viruses are very easily spread by attachments in e-mail messages or accessing internet. That is why it is essential that you never open e-mail attachments unless you have to check or running scanning on that file.

Viruses also spread through download on the Internet. They can be hidden in illicit software or other files or programs you might download.  If you want to stop virus attack , you have to run your antivirus software regularly or  run live updates  of antivirus, stay informed about recent threats, and that you follow a few basic rules when you surf the Internet, download files.

For example, experts estimate that the Mydoom worm infected approximately a quarter-million computers in a single day in January 2004. Back in March 1999, the Melissa virus was so powerful that it forced Microsoft and a number of other very large companies to completely turn off their e-mail systems until the virus could be contained. The ILOVEYOU virus in 2000 had a similarly devastating effect. In January 2007, a worm called Storm appeared — by October, experts believed up to 50 million computers were infected. That’s pretty impressive when you consider that many viruses are incredibly simple.

How Do I Know If My PC Has a Virus?
Here are some signs that your system might be infected:
•          Runs consistently more slowly than normal.
•          Stops responding or locks up often.
•          Crashes and restarts every few minutes.
•          Restarts on its own and then fails to run normally.
•          Applications don’t work properly.
•          Disks or disk drives are inaccessible.
•          Printing doesn’t work correctly.
•          You see unusual error messages.
•          You see distorted menus and dialog boxes.

In many cases, a virus resides inside your computer in an inactive state, waiting for a certain event to happen. Like having a physical virus in your body, you can have a virus in your computer system and not even know it. A virus can wait patiently in your system and attack only on a certain date. Of course, in the time between the moment you contracted the virus and the time it made itself known to you, you may have innocently spread the virus to others.

Stop Viruses Before They Attack

A computer virus can do extensive damage. It can crash your hard disk, destroy all your  important data. The most usual symptom of a computer virus is erratic behavior. The destruction can happen at any time or anywhere in your computer. Viruses can spread quickly through today’s intricate cyber world. If your computer starts to act a little weird, the first thing to do is to check for a virus.

If you find a virus in  your computer, you will stop viruses before they enter your computer. You can do this by purchasing a good virus protection program. Such a program will check all files for viruses. Once installed, an antivirus program can be set to work in the background. It will check all files before they enter your computer and will alert, if a virus detected by anti-virus, it will inform you immediately, and then you can remove that virus from your computer or sometimes antivirus can also remove that virus from the computer.

Keep Virus Protection Software Up-to-date

New viruses are coming everyday. It seems that there are many people in the world who have a lot of time on their hands and a slightly warped idea of how to use their intelligence. Luckily, companies like McAfee, Symantec, and Panda Software are constantly scouting for new viruses and updating their antivirus software tools. They use any of a growing arsenal of weapons to detect and fight viruses.

You must update your antivirus program on a regular basis. The company will provide you constant updates, if they find new virus. You have to update your antivirus on regular basis so that your computer is completely protected from viruses. Some newer antivirus programs automatically update your antivirus protection as well as the antivirus definitions when you log onto the Internet through a process called live update or online virus scan. They will inform you, that is new definition or new updates.

To keep you protected as much as possible, I recommend purchasing antivirus software that updates automatically. If you update your virus protection manually, please update regularly. a daily update may be a good idea in today’s virus-infested atmosphere.

How Technology effecting our lives

Today’s world is full of pieces of technology that we take for granted, the microchip has truly revolutionized the way in which we live and do business. The world we see would not be recognizable to people of a few generations ago and nowhere is this truism greater than in the world of computing. Hence it is important to stay up to date with technology news; while many may think that this type of news is purely for geeks it is clear that all of us should have at least a passing interest in news of technological developments.

Technology almost touches all of our lives in some way and hence technology news is a vital resource that can keep us up to date with developments and ways in which the world will be changing. For example we can take the case of onset of digital television which is affecting most of the people. In the same way, news of technologies that may make our cars safer and more efficient is important to all those who drive on our roads.

The point to be noticed is that the technology now covers such a diverse range of subjects that it would be foolish for any reporting company not to write stories on the genre. Technology can apply to elements of the medical industry as well as the automotive industry. It is this diversity that makes technology news articles so interesting to read and why subscribers from all over the world regularly catch up theses stories.

We ca take the case of computers, we all are living the world of computers and can be truly said that it is a computer age in which we are living a period where computers are becoming increasingly important to our way of life. Ultimately we are becoming evermore reliant on our computers and without them we would be lost; there are even news stories of some now being addicted to their computers and handhelds. This is the extent that technology has encroached upon our lives that people now do not feel the need to unplug from this. Computers become more powerful and have greater and greater applications it will not be long that we will plan our lives around the computer.

Digital cameras- Wi-Fi transmitters

Now, we are emerging out of the world of digital cameras as they have many limitations with them. A couple of gigabytes, usually once you’ve filled their onboard memory chips, you’re saddled with a bitter choice, then either miss out on some gorgeous new photos or delete some gorgeous old ones. Even if you copy the photos to your home computer, how many of your friends ever get to see them, so we can say that it is merely a option to settle with the limitations of the camera.

But now you can let your camera handle it, thanks to new photo gear with wireless Internet access built in. A few such cameras have begun popping up, and there’s also a little device called Eye-Fi, a camera memory card that also turns almost any digital camera into a Wi-Fi photo transmitter. It’s very awful and impressive to see your photos popping up on the Internet without having to plug in your camera.

That’s exactly all happens with the $100 Eye-Fi. It’s a two-gigabyte SD memory card, the kind that fits into millions of cameras. But there’s Wi-Fi on board, along with the memory. The Eye-Fi comes with a USB gadget that plugs into your Windows or Macintosh computer and installs the software. You can program the card to recognize several hotspots, so you can set it to work at grandma’s house as well. You can also tell it to automatically copy photos to a host of Internet services like Flickr or Facebook.

Insert the Eye-Fi card into your digital camera, and bust a few snapshots. If you’re in Wi-Fi range, your pictures will immediately start uploading to your computer. The images pop up in a corner of your PC screen one after another as Eye-Fi cranks them out. And the photos also appear on the online photo service of your choice.

Instead of these features Eye-Fi card have some limitations as it is useless for accessing many free public hotspots in places like libraries. Many of these require users to log in to a Web browser before they can connect to the hotspot.

Remote Sensing

Remote sensing is the science and art of obtaining information about a phenomena without being in contact with it. Remote sensing deals with the detection and measurement of phenomena with devices sensitive to electromagnetic energy

There are two kinds of remote sensing. Passive sensors detect natural energy (radiation) that is emitted or reflected by the object or surrounding area being observed. Reflected sunlight is the most common source of radiation measured by passive sensors. Examples of passive remote sensors include film photography, infra-red, charge-coupled devices and radiometers. Active collection, on the other hand, emits energy in order to scan objects and areas whereupon a passive sensor then detects and measures the radiation that is reflected or backscattered from the target and the examples are Radar.

Remote sensing makes it possible to collect data on dangerous or inaccessible areas where it is not possible to take data , photos, or nay information we want to take, that is not possible to reach there, remote sensing helps in that areas and evaluate all observations we need from that. Some examples are like the effects of climate change on glaciers and Arctic and Antarctic regions, and depth sounding of coastal and ocean depths.

There are some very useful applications of remote sensing as follows:

• It provides a unique perspective from which to observe large regions.

• Sensors can measure energy at wavelengths which are beyond the range of human vision (ultra-violet, infrared, microwave

• Global monitoring is possible from nearly any site on earth.

Generally, speaking remote sensing works on the principle of inverse evaluation. The common example of this is to verify the type of animal from it’s footprints. The quality of remote sensing data consists of its spatial, spectral, radiometric and temporal resolutions. Using these four types of data, the results taken out from remote sensing are very accurate and significant. Evaluation from size of a pixel that is recorded in a raster image – typically pixels may correspond to square areas ranging in side length from 1 to 1000 meters comes under spatial significance. The number of different frequency bands recorded comes under the spectral significance. Radiometric resolution refers to the number of different intensities of radiation the sensor is able to distinguish. The temporal resolution is simply the frequency of flyovers by the satellite or plane, and is only relevant in time-series studies or those requiring an averaged or mosaic image as in deforesting monitoring. So, by the combination of all these four types of significances we are getting out the results from remote sensing which are very helpful to us.

As we can see in the military, in the time of war, remote sensing plays a very important role which can help in many ways. Digital image processing with help of remote sensing also plays a vital role in processing of satellite images. Object-Based Image Analysis is a sub-discipline devoted to partitioning remote sensing (RS) imagery into meaningful image-objects, and assessing their characteristics through spatial, spectral and temporal scale.