Why is junk e-mail

Why is junk e-mail

* It is an intrusion. You went to the trouble of getting an e-mail account and learning how to use e-mail, and you're probably paying a monthly (if not hourly) fee for the privilege of getting e-mail. Now, in addition to messages from your friends, relatives, and possibly your place of work, you keep getting bothered with dumb little messages trying to sell you "E-Z" credit or "live online video porn" for only $5 a minute. Do you like it when telephone salespeople call you at your home? Why should you feel any different about junk e-mail? Someone is contacting you and DEMANDING your immediate attention while trying to sell you something you don't want.

* Every piece of junk e-mail costs you. Either directly or indirectly, you are paying for every junk e-mail message you get. If you pay for your Internet or online service per minute or per hour, then the minute (or more) you take to look at each junk e-mail message is coming directly out of your pocket. Even though it may figure out to only be pennies per message, if you receive enough junk e-mail it will start to add up. Nobody is going to go broke because of junk e-mail, but you shouldn't have to pay for the "privilege" of reading it and throwing it away. Indirectly, junk e-mail (and especially spam) costs us all in terms of higher costs for Internet/online access. The more junk e-mail that gets sent, the more time and space it takes on a service provider's network, and the more Internet traffic it creates. In the extreme case, service providers will have to buy larger storage and faster computers to keep up with the flow of unwanted e-mail into their system, and the Internet, already suffering from overuse, will just get slower, costing millions (or even billions) of dollars to upgrade (else be stuck with slow networks). Could this actually happen? It seems unlikely, but if junk e-mail is not dealt with before it becomes a really big problem, I think that the Internet could run into a scenario like this, with hundreds of unregulated "spammers" blasting out millions of junk e-mail messages a day.

* Other people are making money off of your e-mail address. You paid for it, so why shouldn't you have some kind of control over it? I don't know how much a list of e-mail addresses costs, but it seems to be enough to be keeping several companies in business. I had an internal business e-mail address that was also capable of sending and receiving Internet e-mail. One day I used that address to write to a company that sent me junk e-mail and complain. The very next day I received junk e-mail at that address from a completely different company. I cannot prove that my address had been sold, but that seems like the most reasonable explanation to me, given the circumstances.

* E-mail should not be an advertising medium. If this goes on unchecked, will you eventually get as many junk e-mail messages as pieces of junk mail? Every day I get between 1 and 7 different flyers, bulk-mail advertisements, credit-card applications, etc., in my (postal) mailbox. If I started getting that kind of deluge in my e-mailbox, checking my e-mail (and deleting junk e-mail) might become a full-time (and unpaid) job. Given the proliferation of junk postal mail, it seems reasonable to imagine that junk e-mail will go the same route or even worse, since it is significantly cheaper to e-mail a thousand people (I could do it for free from any of my e-mail accounts) than to mail them directly.

* There is no organized way to complain/report junk e-mail abuse. You can't call the police, you can't call the Better Business Bureau, you can't call the phone company, and most of the time you can't even contact whoever sent you the junk e-mail because they hide their address (ironic, isn't it?). If your child has their own e-mail address, there is nothing to stop pornography or other companies from sending ads directly to them, and nobody you can contact to complain. How scary is that?

General Hardware Troubleshooting Tips

General Hardware Troubleshooting Tips

Regardless of the problem there are a few steps that must be taken whenever troubleshooting a hardware problem. These may seem rather insulting to most people, but one must never forget to do them; if they are not done you might very well waste allot of time and possibly create a new problem from fiddling around in your computer chasing down a phantom. Here are some quick steps:

1. Power Cords - Make sure that all of the power cords are firmly in place on all of the devices that could possibly be causing or attributing to the symptoms you are experiencing (i.e. If nothing shows up on the monitor make sure that the cords are attached to both the monitor and the computer itself). Then trace the cords back to the wall and make sure that the other end of the cord is attached to a power outlet or surge protector.
2. Outlet Power - It is not uncommon to blow a fuse; if the outlet in question is not receiving power than you should not expect any of the devices connected to the computer to receive power. You can test this simply by looking at the device and seeing if any LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) are lit. If there are no LEDs lit, try pluggin in a device that you know works into the outlet, such as a clock or radio.
3. Power Button - This step goes hand-in-hand with the last step. Many people don't think to check for this because many computer devices stay on all of the time (i.e. monitors, printers, power supplies), and as such do not check the power button. Also, some devices have two power switches on them, and both must be in the "on" position in order for the device to work (i.e. there is a power button both on the front, and on the back of most computers).
4. Communication Connections - Once you've settled that the power to your devices is fine, the next step is to make sure that the device has all of the connections needed for it to communicate. This step consists of making sure that these cables are firmly connected at each end, and that they are connected at the correct port/interface. Do not forget to check internal connections; if your computer has been bumped it is possible for some connections inside to pop loose.
5. Device Configuration - This steps provides both hardware and software configuration. There may be jumpers or switches on the hardware that need to be configured. If these accidentally got moved or switched the device would fail to work properly. Also, most hardware ships with configuration software (i.e. Wireless cards); make sure that the software configurations are compatible with what you are trying to accomplish.
6. Follow Instructions - Computers are not evasive when they report errors; all too often we just do not understand them, or are confused by the amount of information that is given. Many times there are suggestions on how to fix a problem accompanied with an error message. Simply follow the steps the message suggests; even if the suggestion seems to be ridiculous follow it so that you can discard it as a possibility.
7. Windows Recognition - If you go into the Control Panel, open the System dialog, click on the Hardware tab, and then open the Device Manager, you will see a tree-like structure of all of the hardware that is attached to your computer. Look under the appropriate category (Monitors, Graphic Adapters, etc.) and click on the item/items that you are having problems with then click on properties. The dialog that opens will inform you if the operating system is having any know troubles with the device.
8. Update Drivers - If possible, try connecting to the internet and going to the manufacture's web site to download the latest drivers for your hardware (this requires that you now the model specifications of your hardware). Often conflicts can arise when you install new hardware and software; although these are unanticipated, once found the developer will fix the problem and post updated drivers.
9. Refresh Device Manager/Reinstall Device - This step falls into the "I don't care what the problem is, I just want it fixed" category. Open the device manager again and delete the devices that are not working properly. You will probably be prompted to restart your computer, if not restart it manually. When the computer restarts the hardware you deleted will be detected again and be reinstalled with the default configurations. If you cannot find the device in the device manager try to uninstall all software that came with it and reinstall using the disks that were provided.

Ram

Random Access Memor (RAM)

A type of computer memory that can be accessed randomly; that is, any byte of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes. RAM is the most common type of memory found in computers and other devices, such as printers. There are various types of RAM, including Static RAM (SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR-SDRAM), & RDRAM (Rambus DRAM).

CPU

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The CPU is the brains of the computer. Sometimes referred to simply as the processor or central processor, the CPU is where most calculations take place. In terms of computing power, the CPU is the most important element of a computer system. There are currently two manufacturers that own the majority of the market, Intel (Pentium & Celeron) and AMD (Athlon & Duron). There are two general flavors of processors:

• Socket - When the heatsink and the processor are completely removed from both the motherboard and each other you will observe that the processor itself is very small and very flat. The processor will only take up a portion of the "board" you remove. The board is there in order to separate the numerous pins you will find on the underside. The processor will usually be somewhat raised above the surface of the "board" in order to allow maximum contact with the heatsink.
• Slot - The slot form processor is being phased out, and you will not be able to find one on current x86 machines. This form of processor is much easier to install, but costs much more to manufacture. Intel felt that their market share was being threatened by lower cost AMD socket processors, and halted producted of their slot processors. You can recognize this processor from it's built-in heatsink and PCI-like contacts. To install this processor you simply push it down into the contacts.

Mother Board

Mother Board

The main circuit board of a microcomputer. The motherboard contains the connectors for attaching additional boards. Typically, the motherboard contains the CPU, BIOS, memory, mass storage interfaces, serial and parallel ports, expansion slots, and all the controllers required to control standard peripheral devices, such as the display screen, keyboard, and disk drive; sometimes you will find that the motherboard has other integrated devices such as an audio card and video card. The motherboard is the largest circuit board in most computers and is held on by several screws.

All about Computer..

Microsoft first began development of the Interface Manager (subsequently renamed Microsoft Windows) in September 1981. Although the first prototypes used Multiplan and Word-like menus at the bottom of the screen, the interface was changed in 1982 to use pull-down menus and dialogs, as used on the Xerox Star. Microsoft finally announced Windows in November 1983, with pressure from just-released VisiOn and impending TopView.

Windows promised an easy-to-use graphical interface, device-independent graphics and multitasking support. The development was delayed several times, and Windows 1.0 hit the store shelves in November 1985. However, the selection of applications was sparse, and Windows sales were modest. As we can tell by simply looking around any office or computer lab, Windows sales have increased, and today, according to OneStat.com, the Windows OS is installed on 97% of all computers.

Since it's inception Windows has been widely criticized among the geek community for the numerous bugs and incompatibilities present within the operating system. Although these observations may have some foundation in the past, they are perpetuated by it's envious little brothers, Linux and the Macintosh OS. These operating systems share a relatively small share of the market, and are constantly alleging unfair business practices (some of which are true). Today the Windows XP OS rivals all others for stability and ease of use, which is quite an accomplishment for having to implement an operating system that must operate on technology developed by hundreds of manufactures, unlike the Macintosh OS which only must run on machines developed by Apple. With that being said, any machine as complex as Windows is bound to have some bugs, and we will learn some strategies that could be used to not only fix, but to prevent them.

Troubleshooting PCs is one of the most difficult subjects to teach. There is something very instinctual about it, but that urge has to be tempered with scientific research and facts. There are no answers here, only methods to approaching and solving problems. In this class you will learn different methods of PC Troubleshooting and how to invoke these methods by using different aspects of your PC.

90% of being a successful troubleshooter is having a strong familiarity with the parts and the functionality of the parts in question. Once you know the makeup of a system you can better narrow down the source of your problem by eliminating components that could in no way be causing your problem.