Home & Small Office Computer Guide

I was surprised to see figures recently that show that sales of camera phones are booming around the world. If the current trend continues manufacturers will be shipping around 847 million camera phones a year by 2009.

Where I live a camera phone that has a 1.3 megapixel capacity is considered big news but out there in the wider world it is possible to pick up a camera phone with an 8 megapixel capacity and that figure could well increase in the near future.

Camera phones that pack that much punch have a better resolution than many consumer-level digital cameras and many American households are opting for a camera phone instead of a straight digital camera.

But don’t be fooled, a camera that takes pictures is not the same as a phone that takes pictures. You may think that a camera phone offers a level of convenience that is missing from a digital camera but that may not be the case.

Perhaps all that makes me sound like a Luddite but I’m not. I have a camera phone and I have a digital camera and the phone is great for phone calls while the camera is great for photographs.

One of the more important things to think about when making the purchase is what you have to do to transfer the images from the phone to your computer. Is it as simple as plugging it into your computer or do you actually have to email the photos to yourself?

Battery life is another important factor. It’s great to be able to take heaps of photos with a digital camera but the battery size and life of a camera phone may severely limit the numbers of photos you can take before you need a recharge.

You don’t want to be in the position of having to decide whether to grab that last great snap or retaining enough battery life in your phone so that you can be available for that important phone call that could arrive at any time.

Also compare the cost – is your camera phone going to be used predominantly for phone calls? If it is going to be used for that purpose is the added convenience of being able to take photos worth the extra price

Finally, analysts believe that despite such big megapixel numbers industry analysts think that ultimately the biggest demand will come down to cameras in the 3 megapixel range. Is the quality going to be the same from a low megapixel phone camera as it would be from a consumer-level digital camera?

Does this herald the end of the music CD?

Are we at the dawn of the music USB?

Probably not but a Canadian group, the Barenaked Ladies are releasing their latests set of music on a reusable 128 meg Flash Drive that will plug into a USB port.

For just $30 you will get 29 songs in MP3 format along with some album art, photos, videos and more.

Once you’ve downloaded the music to your computer you can use the flash drive for other things.

Without a doubt the best way to network computers at home or in the office is via cabling running from a router out to every machine. Of course the cabling really does need to be concealed because cabling left lying around the floor is going to become a hazard very quickly.

Wireless has proven to be a great solution for anyone who can’t run a cable network but it is not a foolproof solution. There are still many factors to be considered before and during the installation of a wireless network. Many of these factors will be influenced by the brand of wireless router that you buy because that router is the heart of the network.

One of the major problems to be considered is speed. Wireless is not as fast as cable and the transfer speed that many manufacturers claim is often completely unobtainable. In fact the reality can be as much as half of what the manufacturers claim and that speed can be further reduced by the distance that the data has to travel and by what stands between the computer and the network hub.

If you are going to be moving really big files around the network then you will notice the drop in speed but for normal home usage the transfer rate is usually quite acceptable.

Another factor that needs to be considered is security.

Unless access to the router is secure anyone within wireless range will be able to use your bandwidth. Fortunately most routers come with the ability to be secured and you should always use them in secure mode.

Unfortunately at least one popular router here in Australia will not operate in secure mode with anything but matching hardware from the same manufacturer.

The wireless environment where you will be using the wireless network also needs to be considered. Is your network the only one in the immediate vicinity or are there others close by.

One way to find out is by downloading Netstumbler 0.4.0 from http://www.netstumbler.com. Install it on the computer that controls your network, run it and it will give you a report on other wireless networks that might be conflicting with yours.

Tomorrow I’ll talk about the various wireless routers that are available.

If you’re worried about your kids spending too much time online playing games or chatting then perhaps this may be just what you’re looking for.

Southern California startup Woog Laboratories Inc. today introduced PC Moderator™, http://www.pcmoderator.com, a parental control device that tackles the problem of computer addiction, particularly among teens.

PC Moderator lets parents effortlessly, and with less conflict, limit the amount of time their children spend while they play games or chat online. Unlike parental control software, PC Moderator operates independently of the computer and cannot be easily hacked by tech-savvy teens. Easy configured, PC Moderator is compatible with most desktop computers, operating systems and applications.

The small device easily and securely locks to the desktop computer’s VGA (or DVI with optional adapter) video port. During setup, parents choose passwords and time limits for up to 8 users. PC Moderator simply shuts off signals to the display when the user is unauthorized or time is not allowed. PC Moderator contains a battery-backed clock and microprocessor enclosed in a compact 18-gauge, stainless steel case.

According to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study, the time children spend on the computer has doubled over the past five years. As of 2004, ten percent of 8-18 year olds use the computer for more than 3 hours daily. Thirty-five percent report having their own computer.

Of particular concern are massively multi-player online games, widely considered addicting. One such game, Everquest, referred to by many players as “Evercrack,” received broad public attention for its highly addictive nature.

“With the phenomenal response to World of Warcraft, the world’s most popular online game, we’re worried that more teens are at risk for computer addiction,” said company founder Dr. Kenneth Woog. “The problem has gotten so bad in China that the government is now requiring online game manufacturers to incorporate anti computer-addiction time limits into their games.”

PC Moderator is now available at www.pcmoderator.com for $79.95 with a money-back guarantee.

Woog Laboratories, Inc., founded in 2004, develops products to assist parenting in a high-tech world. Its patent-pending PC Moderator parental control device provides simple, hack-proof control for enforcing time limits on computer use.

If you’re in the market for a new cell phone or mobile phone then this will certainly interest you.

Wirefly an online leader in one-stop comparison shopping for cell phones and wireless service plans, today released its current list of best-selling cell phones. Of the 10 most popular phones going into the holiday shopping season, the top 7 are camera phones.

The top ten are:

1. Motorola RAZR V3 (Camera Phone)

2. Motorola E815 (Video and Camera Phone)

3. Samsung PM-A740 (Camera Phone)

4. Motorola V330 (Video and Camera Phone)

5. Audiovox 8910 (Camera Phone)

6. Motorola V220 (Camera Phone)

7. Motorola i850 (Camera Phone)

8. Motorola i710

9. Motorola V188

10. Motorola V260

Over the years there has been much hype about computers producing the paperless office. Of course, if that were ever going to be the case why were printers every developed?

But if you still believe that we will see a paperless office here is what could be the final nail in the coffin for the paperless office concept.

It’s a USB pencil sharpener and it even comes with a flashing light just to enhance your pencil sharpening experience.

But that’s not all because just to keep this amazingly useful little gizmo company there is also a USB shaver for men and a USB nail care system for the ladies.

Hmmmm - where will the silliness end?

A major cause of computer failures is a little, but very expensive problem known as blown caps.

Capacitors (or caps) store electricity and they are used in that capacity in a number of locations on the mother boards that go inside your computer. Capacitors can last for many years and then again they can pop their corks in much less time … although it is unusual for that to happen too quickly.

In this photo you will see part of a motherboard and the capcitors are the tall cylindrical items circled in red and green.

The ones circled in green look quite good - the silver top on each of them appears to be quite flat. If you look at the ones circled in red you will notice that the silver caps are bulging - some perhaps more than others - and that is what a blown cap looks like.

A badly blown capacitor will be leaking brown corrosive fluide down the sides and onto the copper tracks but whether they are mildly blown or badly blown the result is still the same. The computer will begin to malfunction and the motherboard is ruined and needs to be replaced.

In the last week or so Dell announced that they were setting aside $300 million to cover the costs of replacing motherboards with blown caps in swome of their workstations. And now there is a report on Cnet that Hewlett-Packard, Apple and other brands that are using Intel motherboards are all facing similar problems.

After my wander into the world of the weird and whacky as it relates to USB I thought I should hurry up and make sure that you understood that this really was a serious technical blog.

And so to prove my bona fides I offer you this - it’s known as the Monster Drive and it really does offer some serious data storage and transfer capabilities.

The Monster Drive is made by US Modular and the base model - a 2GB version costs about the same as a 512MB flash drive.

It fits in the pal of your hand and has enough storage capacity to hold around 600 MP3s or over 350 photos.

It also comes in 4GB and 6GB versions and can be used with Windows or Macintosh without the need for any drivers.

And for the ultra techno geeks here are the technical specs:

2GB, 4GB and 6GB high-capacity, high-performance USB Portable Pen Drive
Industry standard USB 2.0 interface

Reliable storage performance for any device with a USB port, including PCs, digital media players, handheld computers & other portable devices

Low power consumption

1500G shock resistance rating

Ultra lightweight & compact (weight 16 grams)

Media type: Glass

Rotational speed: 4,200 RPM

Media transfer rate: 52.4-99.6 Mbits/sec

Transfer rate: 3.3-6.5 Mbytes/sec

Seek time (avg.): 10 msec

Error rate (unrecoverable): 1 per bit

Head load/unload cycles: 300,000

Voltage: 3.3/5.0 VDC +/- 5% Auto Detect

Current (write): 275 mA

Current (idle): 18 mA

Dimensions: 42.8 X 36.4 X 5.0 mm

Temperature: 0° to 65° C operating

Relative humidity: 8 to 90% operating

Shock (half sine): 175G (2ms) operating

Vibration (swept sine): 1G 0-pk (5-500 Hz) operating

You can find out more about the company behind the product and some of their other state-of-the-art storage devices here

I’ve just seen a report that suggests that AMD processors outsold their Intel counterparts in the US for the first time in October.

Sales of desktop computers and notebooks with AMD chips accounted for 49.8 percent of PCs sold in domestic stores compared to Intel’s 48.5 percent according to a report on Cnet.

I have to admit that I’m not really surprised because for some time now I’ve been hearing reports that the latest Intel chip runs HOT and no amount of cooling can keep it at a reasonable temperature. Hot chips tend to cause sudden reboots and that seems to have been the experience of many just lately.

On the other hand AMD manage to keep turning out chips that work and go on working and obviously the heat and reboot issue has caught up with Intel.

And you thought that USB was all about data transfer from peripherals to the PC?

Well maybe these three little numbers will change your mind.

Here’s a USB cup warmer - ideal for keeping your coffee hot while you’re lost somewhere out on the Web

You can find out more about it here

How about a massage ball to help relieve the stress and tension when that script isn’t working or your ISP has suddenly gone down in the middle of a upload?

You can find out more about them here

And then for just $US69.00 you can have a USB Aroma Generator. It comes with three different cartridges and each will last for around four hours. Hmmmm.

You can find out more about this one right here