Moving West
Guest post of the week by Deangelo Spencer
It all started when I made the trip out to visit my cousin in Aurora a few years ago. I immediately fell in love with Colorado and thought it was the most beautiful place I had ever been. I’m from Florida where it’s humid and hot all year, and I just couldn’t get enough of the dry, cool air up in the mountains. When it came time for me to go back home after my visit, I was so sad. I immediately started looking for a job out there, and I couldn’t wait for everything to start coming together. I always knew that I wouldn’t stay in Florida forever, I just hadn’t found a place that made me want to move yet. I was lucky enough to find a job within six months and then I was on my way. I was so excited about my move that it didn’t even seem stressful. When I got to Colorado I blissfully unpacked my things while humming show tunes. Since I didn’t know the area too well I searched security systems aurora and got my security system set up for peace of mind. I have been as happy as can be since then and I am so glad I made the move.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing, is a technology that is changing the way enterprises look to meet their IT hardware and software requirements. Cloud computing is a mix of the latest ideas, technology and delivery models including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS), and other models in the IT sector that use the Internet for delivering services to the user.
Users can access infrastructure namely, the servers, software, and data center space or network equipment; the required computing platform and solution stack for a building an application, covering the cycle of development, testing, deployment, hosting and maintenance; and also most of the regular software applications; these are all provided cheaply and efficiently over the Internet.
Cloud computing seems to be all the rage right now. Here is a lowdown on how it actually works:
Cloud Computing is computation, software, data access and storage services that don’t need end-user knowledge of the particular physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services. You can actually compare it with the electrical power grid, you don’t require the specialized knowledge to use it. Just plug in the device and you will be ready to go!
Here are some examples of cloud services:
• Gmail
• Hotmail
• Facebook
• Amazon EC2/S3
• Salesforce.com
• for gamers there are Sony’s PlayStation Network or Microsoft’s Xbox Live.
Recently, Apple launched its iCloud service too, letting you wirelessly sync your music, apps and files across all Apple gadgets you own (and even with family).
If you want to have a location independent business, Cloud Computing is the way to go! Instead of running applications locally on your computer and store data your self, they run on a shared data center maintained by the best industry experts.
Here are some advantages of going with the “cloud”:
1. Decreased costings.
2. Scalability and speed.
3. Innovations.
4. Convenience.
There is a blog called chillisync that recently released its chillisync review of computing services. Be sure to check it out!
Carnival Conquest
This is the ship my mom and I are boarding for our December cruise. I had been trying to contain my excitement but I can’t anymore! Yikes!
Carnival Cruise Lines’ Carnival Conquest cruises off the coast of Cozumel, Mexico. The ship is longer than three football fields and can accommodate a maximum of 3,700 guests and 1,200 officers and staff. Carnival Conquest departs New Orleans every Sunday for week-long cruises to western Caribbean ports. (Photo by Andy Newman/CCL)
Win Free Ipad While Shopping – Black Friday Shopping 2011
For those who are going to the Natick Mall in Framingham on Black Friday, the store is having a promotion and you can have a chance of winning a free Apple Ipad 2. They are doing a twisted scavenger hunt. You have to be vigilant and look for codes to text and enter as they are located all over the mall. Here’s more info.
Good Luck!
Bookstore
This guest post from Werner Rogers
Books are my life and it’s always been that way for as long as I can remember. Something about reading just calms me down and takes me to another place and I think it’s great that kids can get into reading and it makes them smarter, too. That’s why when I got demoted at work a few years back I saw it as an opportunity to do something new – open a bookstore! It’s not the best time to be an independent bookstore owner but you know what? I didn’t want to let that stop me. I went to www.bank-card-processing.com and had the payment logistics worked out, found some vendors to sell me the good stuff and rented a little spot on North Avenue. Business is booming! I think it has something to do with selling coffee, too, and having such a warm and cozy place for people to work but at the end of the day I don’t really care what’s making it happen. I’m a successful entrepreneur when it comes to books!
AutoCad Alternative
Computer Aided Designs or CAD as it is most commonly called helps the designers in several fields to be able to come up with a logical, mathematically scaled and three-dimentional geometric models in a cleaner slate with lesser human errors. If there is an error, it is easier to correct unlike if you drew with a pencil over paper. Simple models such as a screw, to a more complex models such as the mouse you use with your computer, to even a more complex model, your dream house, or the human anatomy, can be computer drawn with the aid of the computer and the software. It is with such software that movies are able to show humans doing an impossible role.
Our technology is going towards more advanced and better features at a much lesser price beating the competitor. It is now more accessible for budding designers to delve into CAD operation. With a free trial of the AutoCAD alternative, one can see if the field is for him or for her. If you are a parent of a child who often draws buildings, trucks and robots, you should consider that child talented. You ought to support what talent there is to start with so he or she can be developed into a seasoned designer. Maybe one day the plane you will ride came from his or her little mind.
Age Does Not Matter In Fulfilling Your Education
There may be people who were not privileged to get an education for one reason or another. The basic education is usually given by the government for free. That is for the primary and secondary levels. The tertiary level is oftentimes not even part of the plan by many financially-deprived families.
The children are forced to earn a living so that they can eat that day. As life has been with most of them, they have learned to survive and face the hardships naturally. With dedication and optimism, some of these would be the bright people of the future.
Knowing that education is key, such people continue to pursue what they have set aside for the moment during their younger years. With today’s technology it has become easier for them to be equipped. At WaldenU.edu the dream can be a reality. Walden University’s online degree programs are varied. Why not learn about Walden and see your options?
Test The Waters With Surveys
When you are in business and you need to launch a product, you just do not do it without trying to figure out if the market you have as a target will buy it. It is one thing if a person likes or even loves your product. It is another to actually buy it.
Having a product available already even before you tried to learn or test the waters, so to speak, if it will get sold, is a sure way to go down the way of bankruptcy especially if you just took up a business loan. If you do just that and you get successful, it is merely a result of chance. Your next product choice may not be as successful.
Part of the business planning is the surveying. It is the logical way to study the market. You should study the market to know which part of your survey will benefit you and the market.
For example you are thinking of selling Angry Birds plush toys online. The survey may include, “Do you like to have Angry Birds plush toys?” Instead of merely giving a yes and no options to answer, you make a scale instead from 1-5, 1 being the least and 5 being the most liked. You should also include, “Will you buy Angry Birds plush toys online?” A sub option can also be included for those who answered at least 2, can be, “When are you buying?” Give options like “in a month,” “in 3 months,” etc.
Before plunging into business, use an online survey software.
Computer Based Training
In keeping up with the latest computing technology, our company is slowly migrating computers from Windows xp to Windows 7 along with installation of Microsoft Office Suite 2010. Everyone n the office are also starting to receive installations of faster computers and dual monitors which will help displaying various sort of applications side by side. This will help employees’ self-efficacy.
As with other new things, some forms of instructions are required in order to operate at its full capacity. This is why employees from our company are slowly being sent to trainings of choice whether it be computer based training or Classroom based instructions for Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010. This is happening in batches of 12 until everyone is educated and well versed. The training department hired a locally based company to do the instructions and an online based training with a different vendor. My training is not until a January, so I started poking around.
I bumped into a site called CBT planet that offers Computer Based Training for Microsoft desktop applications including MS Office 2010. They have training videos that are easy to learn, concise, and not overly technical that the video will look like it’s talking about rocket science. The company also offers comprehensive training for other platforms and programs such as Cysco training, Comp TIA amongst others.
Original Inks
About a decade ago you have never heard of printer ink that is not original. Genuine toner cartridges are known to be expensive and people still used dot matrix to its limit. Today, you will often hear about CISS which is continuous ink fed to the printer by using ink tanks and tubes directly to the ink containers that looked like the cartridges. They work pretty well and good if what you printed are just for reporting or for the moment’s presentation.
What is the advantage of genuine ink cartridges when you can buy replacements a lot cheaper?
Quality. If you compare both printouts of the same image, the original still looks better with more vivid colors.
The replacement is just slightly less vivid so if you are making presentations for reporting, replacements will do but if you wanted them to last longer like photographs, always go for original ink cartridges.
Now, you can buy the originals at almost half the price.