Archive for April, 2011
How to Find Out Your PC’s CPU Temperature
0If you’re having problems with your PC shutting down randomly then over-heating could be the cause of the problem.
The problem is, other than grabbing hold of your processor with your hand it can be very difficult to monitor the temperature of your processor and other components.
Thing is, every PC has built in sensors that monitor temperature, fan speed, processor speed and a mountain of other information. The trouble has always been accessing the information, but luckily you can access the temperature data via a free Windows app called CPUID Hardware Monitor.
The software, available here, is freely downloadable and installable and once running will allow you to monitor the temperature of your processors, hard disks and graphics cards.
There is zero configuration required with Hardware Monitor, and temperature records can be logged in .txt files for fault finding.
If you suspect your PC is overheating them try Hardware Monitor as a first step towards diagnosing the fault. If you need ideas on how to solve overheating issues, try this article.
Ubuntu 11.04 “Natty Narwhal” Released
0Canonical have released the latest version of Ubuntu, version 11.04 – codenamed Natty Narwhal, to the general public for immediate download as of today.
The latest Ubuntu version features a brand new user interface including a new program launcher that extends from the top left corner of the screen to fill the left hand side of the screen. (more…)
VOIP Telephony Explained
VOIP is one of the latest technology buzzwords to trouble both businesses and consumers alike. Most have a basic understanding of what it means but for those that don’t:
VOIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol and essentially it’s a system designed to allow ordinary telephone communication over networks designed for use by computers, i.e. corporate networks and the Internet. There are several advantage (and a few disadvantages) to this system when compared to a traditional telephone system, and we’ll go over these in more detail further into the article, but for now lets talk briefly about a typical telephone network so that we can better understand the differences when it comes to VOIP.
A “Traditional” Telephony Network.
You see, ordinary telephone networks operate over their own proprietary cabling infrastructure (in the UK it’s owned by BT) which uses a single pair of wires to transmit un-encrypted audio from point A to point B. In the middle of points A and B will be one or more telephone exchanges which allow calls to be routed from place to place. You’ve all seen old films where a caller rings the operator and is “patched through” to the other party, in reality the way these exchanges work is pretty similar.
When you pick up a phone and dial, your local telephone exchange listens for the sounds that the buttons on your handset make, and it decides what to do with the call based upon that information. For instance, in the UK if you want to call someone in the same area code then the number would start with anything from 1-9, so the exchange would know that it had to handle the call itself. But if you needed to dial someone in another area code then you would dial the full number, which starts with a “0″, so the exchange would know that it needs to forward your call to another exchange, the one in your recipients area code to be exact.
This principal forms the building blocks of all public telephone networks, with numbers being distributed according to geographic area to make directing the calls easier.
When businesses have their own private telephone exchanges, all internal calls (desk to desk) are handled by that exchange (and hence there are no call charges), but when you need to dial a normal telephone number, you usually have to press an access code first (usually 9). This is so that your employers private exchange knows to forward the call to the nearest public exchange, where it will then be forwarded through the public network to the appropriate phone line.
How is VOIP Different?
The fundamental difference between a traditional telephone setup and a VOIP one is the way that the telephones and the exchanges connect together. Whereas all “traditional” telephone systems need to be directly connected to an exchange via a pair of copper wires, a VOIP system can utilise cabling designed for computer networks (commonly known as Ethernet cabling).
In a VOIP system, the phone will either be connected to a local VOIP exchange (in the case of businesses) or to a VOIP exchange elsewhere via the Internet. There is no requirement with a VOIP system to have a dedicated cable running from your home or business to your local exchange, instead the signal can be sent over any Internet connection to which the VOIP phone is connected to.
In the above example, blue lines represent physical connections via a pair of copper wires, red lines represent connections over the Internet, in this way
Also, whereas with a traditional system the telephone number is tied to the physical phone line, in a VOIP system the telephone number is usually associated with the telephone, so your VOIP telephone number will move with you from place to place.
Next Page: VOIP in The Home
Q&A: Should I get an Android Phone, or Wait for iPhone 5?
2I’ve been asking myself that very question. There are bound to be thousands of smartphone users who’s contracts are due to expire over the summer, and with that comes the joyous (or loathed) opportunity to upgrade handset for the next 18-24 months.
Problem is that over the last year or so the competition in the smartphone market has heated up; Android has come on leaps and bounds in terms of market share, and Nokia have now hitched their horse firmly to the Windows Mobile wagon. Even Blackberry have debuted a new version of their OS this year, all of this is good news for consumers though as new technologies find their way into the hands of ordinary punters.
Apple normally aim for a June/July release for new iPhones, but with the infamous “Antennagate” issue of the iPhone 4, Apple could be forgiven for making sure they get it right this time round, which fuels the rumors that the new iPhone might not see the light of day until September. Problem is, Apple are always very secretive when it comes to things like this, the first thing the press normally knows is when Apple announce a special event with a few days notice. No one can predict when, or if, this years announcement will come.
What we can predict are the specs of Apple’s new handset. Most people will put their heads on the line and say that the new version will feature the same A5 dual core processor found in the iPad 2, likewise it will probably feature 512MB of memory and be available on both AT&T and Verizon in the US (and probably all UK networks). There are also rumors of a radically redesigned casing (following on from the iPhone 4′s reception problems) and an enlarged screen to bring it in line with some competitors. If it is delayed until September then it will likely be running iOS 5 as apposed to the current release; iOS 4.3. But no word on what new features this is likely to bring with it.
Getting back to the initial question, my personal opinion is to wait the extra couple of months for the iPhone 5 to be announced before making a decision. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve gone to market and come back with a product that just a few weeks later is “old tech”. You could ALWAYS say this with any consumer product though; demand drives innovation and subsequent products will always be improvements over their predecessors. But with Android handsets still struggling to match the performance and usability of the iPhone 4 (in this writers opinion), it’s hard to imagine a world where the iPhone 5 doesn’t outperform even the bleeding edge of Android handsets.
Sony Wades into Tablet Market
0Sony have announced that they intend to enter the highly competitive tablet PC market with two models due to arrive in August 2011.
The first, the S1, is a standard high-end tablet PC featuring a 9.4″ capacitive touchscreen. The second, the S2, Sony are hoping will give them the edge in the market due to a unique design:
The S2 features dual 5.5″ displays which Sony hope will better enable multi-tasking as well as make the device itself more portable. Sony inform us that the two screens can work independently, or as a single screen depending on what you want to do. For instance, you could choose to watch a film on the top screen while browsing the Internet on the bottom one.
Sony haven’t released much in the way of technical specifications for either tablet, but they have confirmed that both will run Android 3.0, though the S2 will definitely feature a bespoke skin, we’d say.
Sony is working hard to integrate these devices into peoples lifestyles, and both tablets will feature a number of ways to integrate with other electronic devices in your home. The S1, for instance, contains an IR transmitter that will allow it to function as a remote control for your TV/DVD/Blu-ray player, with Sony promising that this feature will work particularly well with it’s BRAVIA line of consumer electronics. Infra-red technology might seem like a step back, but we’ve lost count of how many times people have asked if they can use their iPhones as a remote control, so maybe it’s not such a crazy decision after all.
Both devices will also feature access to Sony’s Qriocity platform which will primarily be used to stream music and video direct to the tablets. Sony have also said that users will be able to enjoy first generation Playstation titles on their tablets, via Qriocity. Does this hint at a tie in to the Playstation Network? If so, PS3 owners may want to look into the Sony S1 or S2.
No word on price either from Sony, but an August 2011 launch is expected.
Q&A: Can I leave my Laptop Charging all the Time?
0You can, but you really really shouldn’t.
There are two reasons for this:
The first is that the battery charger for your laptop will constantly draw power from the wall outlet, whether the laptop is charging or not, so you’re going to waste electricity and therefore increase your energy bills.
The second is slightly more complex. Even though most laptops these days come with some form of over-charge protection to prevent damage to the battery, using your laptop with the battery constantly at near-full capacity is still not good for it. Laptop batteries are designed to be filled right up and then run right down to nothing, in fact the better you stick to this habit the longer your laptop battery will last.
Laptop batteries really don’t like being left fully charged all the time, it causes the barriers between the chemicals inside the battery to break down quicker and thus the amount of time your battery will last on a single charge is reduced. If you want to maximise the use of your laptop battery (and this applies for other mobile devices as well), is to run the battery almost completely down and then charge it all the way back up to 100% before disconnecting it from the mains. You can still use it while it’s charging, just don’t disconnect it after it reaches 50%, instead allow it to go all the way back up to 100% before disconnecting from the mains.
How to Embed Images in Excel 2007 / 2010
2There are a few reasons you might want to insert an image into an Excel spreadsheet. Maybe you’re keeping a catalogue of products that you offer, or you need to track information for which photos are of assistance to you.
The best way to do this is by using “comments” which have featured in all versions of Microsoft Office since Office 2000. By using comments you can keep the rest of your spreadsheet information available whilst maintaining near-instant access to the pictures, just like in the example below.
In Office 2007/2010 it’s relatively simple to embed images in comments, the first thing to do is to create your comment, simply right-click the cell and then click “Insert Comment”, as below:
This will produce a comment field for the cell in question. The next step is to right-click the BORDER of the comment box, this will bring up another menu, which you can use to edit the properties of the comment:
Click on “Format Comment” and you’ll bring up a new window, click the “Colours and Lines” tab and you’ll see the following:
Under the “Fill” section, click the “Color” dropdown box and then click “Fill Effects” at the bottom of the list. This will bring up a further window, as below:
Click the “Picture” tab (as above) and you are then able to select a picture from your computers hard disk. Once you’ve selected your picture, click OK and then OK again on the formatting window. Your picture will now appear in the comment box for the cell you’ve specified:
Your picture comment will only appear when the mouse is moved over the appropriate cell, but it’s still good as a point of reference should you need a reminder. It’s advised to only include small images (no high res. photos) in order to keep your Excel workbook size down, but if you’re only using the workbook on a single PC, this is less important.
How to Set a Static IP Address in Windows 7
0There are a number of reasons that you would want to setup a static IP address on your Windows 7 PC. One of the major ones is that you want to get away from automated DHCP addresses on your network. Or maybe you want to share resources that are on your PC with other devices on your network and you need your PC’s IP address to be consistent.
Whatever your reasons, it’s very easy to achieve, in this quick walkthrough I’ll show you how.
The first step is to find out what your current (DHCP) IP address is. This will give you an idea of what range of IP addresses you can use for your PC. To do this, click the start menu and type “CMD” in the search box, then press Enter. This will open a command prompt.
In the command prompt, type the following:
[box] ipconfig /all[/box]
Then press Enter. This will bring up details of all of your PC’s network connections, including IP addresses. It should look something like this:
The important things to get from this are you PC’s current “IPv4 address”, “Subnet Mask”, “Default Gateway” and “DNS servers”. Write these numbers down, you’ll need them to arrange a static IP.
Next, you’ll need to open Control Panel, then click “Network and Internet”:
This will bring up a few further options, of which you need to select “Network and Sharing Centre”, this will open up the following Window:
On the left hand pane, select “Change Adapter Settings”, this will open up a new window with all of your network adapters listed:
You’ll need to right-click the appropriate adapter and select “Properties” from the menu, this will bring up the details for your network adapter:
As above, select “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” from the list, then select “Properties”. This will bring up the IP address properties for your adapter:
By default, your system will be set to “Obtain an IP address automatically”, to setup a static IP address, change this option to “Use the following IP address”.
Now this is where you need to use the information noted down from the command prompt window earlier.
Copy the information noted down from “ipconfig /all” into the appropriate fields in this window. if you only have one value for “DNS Server” do not worry about it.
Once the information has been copied across, click “OK” to apply the settings.
Congratulations, you’ve now setup a static IP address on your Mac. To confirm it has worked, open a web browser and navigate to any web page (or refresh this page if you’re doing it now), you shouldn’t notice any difference in performance with your network connection.