Technology | Home Technology Resource

Home Technology Makes Life Easy

Home Technology sounds like misnomer, doesn’t it? Home equals cleaning your room and doing the dishes; technology means smart cars, $100k computers and Disney World. You certainly do not have a smart car.

Yet, even the humblest homes, in the US, are technological wonders.

Think about it.

You come home and unlock your door; you probably have a doorbell and a porch light, right? You may even have a smart lock and/or surveillance cameras. You turn on your living room lights and then use the bathroom.

After that, you rummage through the refrigerator and find a packet of frozen food; you throw the pack into the microwave and cook it for 2 minutes. You need something extra, so you pull out the blender and make yourself an energy drink with your favorite protein mix.

You pull your meal from the microwave and then wander over to the couch, pick up the remote and turn on the TV. You roam through the Direct TV menu and then decide to pay for a showing of Avatar. You also decide to record the movie so you can watch it later, as well.

You are really glad you made that decision because just when you do, the house phone rings. You decide to ignore it because your voice mail will pick up a message and you can listen to it later. Unfortunately, whoever it is wants your attention right now, because your cell phone starts ringing. You turn down the sound with the remote and answer your cell. It’s your sister who asks you to please bring your coffee machine to the family gathering tomorrow. You agree and then settle back to watch the movie.

When the movie finishes, you throw your dishes in the dishwasher and head to your computer, turn iTunes on random and do some Internet searching for better prices for tires for your car. After a nice hot shower, it’s back to the computer, to surfing to find the best directtv deals. Later, you set your alarm and settle down for a good night’s rest.

You have just experienced an evening of convenient home technology.

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Mobile phone, Science and Technology

Furnishing Your Home Theater

Today, one of the most popular additions to any home is a home theater. Creating a space that is comfortable and utilizes the latest technology can provide you with the ability to watch television and movies, as well as play games and surf the Internet, in an environment that is as luxurious as the most high-end theater. Understand a bit about the technology, including these LED TV’s, can help you create the home theater of your dreams.

First, note that these LED TV’s are not a new technology. Instead, they are simply an extension of traditional television technology. The back lights the unit with LEDs (Light-emitting Diodes) instead of CCFLs (Cold-cathode Fluorescent Lights). When you are pricing a unit, a good tip is to keep this in mind.

Next, while to many of us thin is always better, this isn’t always the case in the world of LED television. A popular type of these LED TV’s is the ‘edge lit’ model. This model is thinner and can help you create a more streamlined look, but many experts believe the overall quality of these units suffer. It is often better to purchase a standard LED television instead.

Finally, for those looking to have not only a cutting edge home theater, but to save money as well, the LED television requires less power than any other model of television currently on the market. Purchase of these types of TV’s for your home theater may help you save money on your power bill at the end of the month.

Filed Under: Home, Technology Tagged With: Home cinema, Technology, Television

Figuring Out Your New Gadget

Image by via

New gadgets can be confusing, even if you’re used to technology. Every make and model is different, making it hard to navigate around a new device. If you are having trouble, here are a few tips to help you out.

Your best bet to solving your problems is to read the owner’s manual that should have come with your device. The table of contents should lead you to an area of the booklet that will help you fix any problems you are having. However, owner’s manuals can sometimes be confusing, and some devices don’t even come with an owner’s manual, but there are still other options.

If you really can’t figure your device out, you may want to try searching the Internet. Start with a search engine; from there you should be able to find plenty of information on your device. Blogs are going to be useful to you because other people are probably having the same problems figuring out their gadget as you are. If you can’t find an answer to your questions, you may be able to find a site where you can ask a question and an expert will help you out.

Visit a local technology store such as Best Buy or the store you bought your gadget from. If you’re trying to figure out your phone, bring it in to your service provider’s local store. An employee at any of these places should be able to help you out.

If all else fails, simply play with your device. Experiment with different buttons and menus to discover its features. You’ll probably be more likely to remember you way around the gadget.

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Best Buy, Electronics, Gadget

Common Causes of System Crashes and How To Prevent Them

System crashes are annoying and time consuming. Every time your computer crashes you have to restart the computer and wait patiently to start using the applications and software programs. If you are experiencing a number of system crashes it is important to try to find the source of the problem to prevent it from happening again.

Here is a list of some of the most common reasons system crashes occur.

Viruses and Spyware. The number one reason for system crashes is because your system contains a virus or spyware. One of the reasons viruses were invented was to try to crash out systems. If you experience a system crash you should immediately run a virus scan as well as a malware scan. This could prevent the problem from happening.

Defragmenting. When you save a large number of files on your computer it takes up hard drive space. When you delete them those spaces stay there. This causes some software programs to be installed in a number of different spots on your hard drive. When you go to use that program it has to find the files and if they are in different spots it could cause the system to crash. Try to defragment the computer so that all files are put together. This could prevent system crashes from happening.

Overheating. Another common cause of system crashes is because the cooling system on the computer is not working. When a computer gets overheated it will shut off and try to heal itself by letting it cool down. Make sure all your cooling fans are working properly. If not fix them as this may fix the problem of system crashes.

Filed Under: Computers, Technology Tagged With: Anti-Virus, Hard disk drive, Spyware

Purchasing Home Theater Systems

If you have been looking at home theater systems and imagining just how good one would look in your home, here are a few tips to help you pick the one that is exactly right for you.

Measure first, and then buy. You have to be realistic. That ultra-loaded, comes-with-everything home theater isn’t going to bring you maximum enjoyment if it doesn’t fit in the room or area that you are dedicating to it. Moreover, unless you were planning on it already, you don’t want to have to go through a major remodeling job just to make sure it fits.

Consider the room’s construction. Not only must fit, you must also check to make sure the floor is solid enough to support the weight of the “master unit” on the one you buy. In addition, if you are going to hang speakers, you want to make sure you have enough room between the ceiling and floor as well as study anchors for the hooks and holders that will support the speakers.

Comparing Prices

Once you have all your measurements, then you’re ready to start comparing prices. Even if you know exactly what you want, and know where you can get it, go ahead and use online resources as well as other information sources to find the best price. You might be surprised at how much less the same or similar home theater systems cost at one store than at another.

If you have written proof of one store’s price, show it to the manager at the store you wish to purchase the system from. He may honor his competitor’s price.

Filed Under: General, Technology Tagged With: Home cinema, Surround sound, Wal-Mart

Computer Tips: Learning to Type at the Speed of Light

A good computer user knows how to type at a very quick speed. However, most computer users do not start out typing at the speed of light. It takes a little practice, patience and some help to develop typing skills that are this quick. If you are trying to develop your typing speed so that you can type faster here are some ways that you can do it.

Typing Tutorials. There are dozens of typing tutorials out there. These software programs can help computer users learn the basics of typing. These programs start out easy such as learning where basic keys are on the computer. They will then work up to words, phrases and then working on not looking at the keys. If you are serious about learning to type at a faster speed these tutorials are a great way to help you learn what you need to learn.

Practice. Many computer users did not use any type of program or software device to help them learn how to type faster. Instead, these computer users were able to learn through practice and patience. They slowly built up their speed over time and quickly started to learn how to type as fast as they do.

Type Everything. A good way to practice at home is to try to type everything out. You can type out letters, write out lists of chores and other items. This will allow you to test and develop your typing speed without having to invest in the software programs that can costs hundreds of dollars.

Learning to type isn’t a difficult task. However, it does take time, energy and patience. With the right amount of each you will be able to break old habits and start typing at the speed of light.

Filed Under: Computers, Technology Tagged With: Speed of light, User (computing), Words per minute

Computer Tricks: How to Find Out CPU Type and Speed

For some computer users the make and model of their central processing unit is common knowledge. In fact, some people know this information better than their name and address. However, for other computer users this information is a foreign concept to them. They have no idea what processor or CPU type they have or what the speed is.

While this type of information isn’t something that people will need to know for daily purposes it is important. Specific computer programs and applications require a minimum computer processing unit and processor speed. Without knowing what processor or CPU your computer has you could purchase a wide number of computer programs that won’t work on your computer system. Luckily, there is a quick and easy way to check what type of CPU your computer has. Here is how to do it.

For Windows Users

Step 1. Start by clicking the start button that is located in the bottom left corner of your screen.

Step 2. A menu will pop-up on your computer screen. There will be an option titled computer. You will need to right-click on the option computer.

Step 3. A dialog box will pop-up next. Inside the dialog box there will be various options. Choose the option properties. A box will pop-up that gives you all the information that you need for your CPU. This information will give you processor type, make, model and the speed that you have.

For Linux Users

For Linux users you will simply type in the command prompt “less/proc/cpuinfo” this will give you the information that you want.

For MAC users.

Mac users will need to click on the Start button. From the start they will select Run. In the run prompt box type “msinfo32″. Select OK. You will be given some options choose the system summary and you will have all the information that you are looking for.

Filed Under: Computers, Technology Tagged With: Central processing unit, Clock rate, Computer program, Dialog box, Microsoft Windows

Computer Tricks: Creating A Graph in Excel

Many people who use the program Microsoft Excel wish to be able to add a graph into the excel sheet. Graphs are a great way to represent the data that is present in the sheet in a visual way. However, unless you know the exact steps to take to create a graph in Microsoft Excel it can be very confusing for computer users.

Here is a walkthrough of how to create a graph in Microsoft Excel should you be using Microsoft Excel 2007.

Step 1. The first step is to create labels for all the data that you want to appear in the graph. You will play the labels in Row 1. This means the first label should be located in cell A1, second label in cell B1 and so forth.

Step 2. You will now have to input all the data that you want to have the graph, graph out. You will put the data under the labels. This means everything for A1 would be in A2 and stuff for B1 would be in B2 and so forth.

Step 3. You must now highlight all the information that you wish to graph. Highlighting is done by clicking and dragging the mouse across the data you want graphed.

Step 4. Click on the second tab located on the top of the screen. This is titled Insert.

Step 5. Under Insert there will be a list of options. Choose the option titled Charts. This will cause several options to appear on the screen.

Step 6 . You will now be required to choose the type of chart or graph you wish to have in your excel sheet. Once you have made your choice click on the graph you want.

Step 7. The graph will automatically be made by Excel and placed into your Excel sheet. You will be able to change any text in the graph as well as the title of the graph if you wanted to. This can be done by simply clicking on the text and changing it by hand.

Filed Under: Computers, Technology Tagged With: Excel, Microsoft Excel, Second wine, Spreadsheet, USMLE Step 1

Computer Tips: Speeding Up Computer Boot Time

Think about how long it took to turn your computer on today? Unless you have a recent computer chances are you experienced a wait time anywhere from three minutes to twenty minutes. It might be surprising to find out that most computer boot times shouldn’t take that long. While there is nothing you can do if your computer’s boot time is slow due to the age of the computer there are certain things that you can do to try to speed up your computer’s boot time.

Software That Loads on Boot. Boot times can be delayed because there are certain software programs that are set to load upon startup. This will prevent the computer from starting when it should. If you notice that certain software programs load when you start up the computer you can easily disable the software program to load when you click on it. This will speed up the boot time by a few minutes.

Check for Adware/Trojan Viruses. Another common problem that will delay the boot process is the issue of adware and trojan viruses. Many of these programs are designed to slow the computer down, especially during boot time. Running an antivirus and antispyware program will spot any of these problems and clean them up so your boot time is quicker.

Overloaded System. It is important to make sure that you do your regular maintenance on your computer. Longer boot times can be caused by temporary Internet files being filled up, cache being filled, defragged files and registry errors. A routine maintenance can fix these problems and could help speed up the boot time of your computer.

Doing these three basic steps should help you speed up the boot time of your computer. However, if it doesn’t there is always the option to leave the computer in stand-by or in hibernate mode. This will allow you to skip the long boot times and turn the computer on quicker because there is no need to upload the software and programs again.

Filed Under: Computers, Technology Tagged With: Booting, Computer program, Microsoft Windows, Operating system, Speed, Temporary Internet Files

Using Ares for your Music Downloads

Ares is one of the best programs to use if you like to download movies, documents and music. This program also allows you to share files with other Ares users. Ares is a large network and this means that there are several music files that you can find on the program. If you like to listen to music at home as you work, this is the best option to use. This tool allows you to download music at no charge. Another advantage of this program is that it allows you to stream music live.

It is easy to find on various sites on the internet. Some of the sites offer the program at no charge. It takes a short time to install this program and once the download is complete it; you can find it on your desktop. If the program is not on available in your “Exceptions”, you can add it using the “Add Program” option. This will make it easy for you to trade files without worrying about them being blocked by your firewall.

To activate the program, all you have to do is double click on the icon on the shortcut that appears on your desktop. To use the Ares program, click on the search option and then pick the particular file that you are searching for. During your search, you need to include a keyword to make it easy for you to find a particular file. The keyword can be the name of a song, artist or music genre. The Ares program will show you the results of the search as soon they are found. Double click the option that you are interested in to start the download.

Filed Under: Internet, Technology Tagged With: Computer file, Double-click, Recreation, Uploading and downloading, Web Design and Development