ADG Page: January 2015

Tuesday 20 January 2015

HTML

What is HTML?

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is a syntax used to format a text document on the web. These documents are interpreted by web browsers such as Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.

HTML can be created as standard ASCII text with "tags" included to pass on extra information about character formatting and page layout to a web browser. The fact that HTML is, in essence, ASCII text is what makes it so universally compatible. This fact also makes it easy to edit: almost all computers are equipped with a text editor that can be used to edit HTML.

What are Tags?

Tags are what we use to structure an HTML page. Tags start with a '<', then the command, and end with a '>'. For example, the center tag is '<center>'. To stop centering something, we need an ending, or closing tag. Closing tags look exactly like opening tags, except after the first '<' there is a '/'. In other words, the closing tag for center is '</center>'.

HTML Structure

An HTML document has a definite structure that must be specified to the browser. The HTML's beginning and end must be defined, as well as the document's HEAD (which contains information for the browser that does not appear in the browser's main window) and its BODY (which contains the text that will appear in the browser's main window). The use and order of tags that define the HTML structure are described below.

<html>                      Marks the beginning of your HTML
  <head>                  Begins the heading section of an HTML document
    <title> ... </title>Gives an HTML document a title that appears on the browser menu bar, also will appear on search engines or bookmarks referencing your site (must appear between the <HEAD> ... </HEAD> tags; should be straight text, no tags
  </head>                  Defines the end of the heading
  <body>                    Defines the body of an HTML document (text contained within the <BODY> … </BODY> tags appears in the main browser window). Can be used with "BGCOLOR", "TEXT", "LINK", and "VLINK" attributes
</html>                   Defines the end of your HTML document.

Saturday 17 January 2015

Six Advantages of Cloud Computing in Education

Cloud computing entails using a network of remote servers hosted on the internet as opposed to a local server. This helps cut IT costs as well as simplifies content management processes for schools and educational systems.

Advantages that would be especially useful for both students and educators:

Back Up: An important function of the Cloud is that it automatically saves content, making it impossible to lose or delete any valuable material. This means that even if a computer crashes, all documents and content will remain safe, saved, and accessible in the cloud.

Storage: The Cloud allows its users to store almost all types of content and data including music, documents, eBooks, applications, photos, and much more.

Accessibility: Any data stored in the Cloud can easily be accessed from almost any device including mobile devices such as phones or tablets.

Collaboration: Because the Cloud allows multiple users to work on and edit documents at the same time, it enables effortless sharing and transmission of ideas. With this feature, group projects and or collaborative lesson plans can be optimized for both teachers and students.

Resource and Time Conscious: With the availability of content online, it is no longer necessary for teachers to spend time and resources printing or copying lengthy documents or lesson plans. Now, students are able to access homework assignments, lesson notes, and other materials online.

Assignments: I love that the Cloud allows teachers to post assignments online. Students are able to access these assignments, complete them, and save them in a folder to be reviewed later. This means no wasting time turning in papers at the beginning of class as well as no passing germs around during those pesky flu seasons!

Image File Format

JPG, GIF, TIFF, PNG, BMP. What are they, and how do you choose? These and many other file types are used to encode digital images. The choices are simpler than you might think.

Part of the reason for the plethora of file types is the need for compression. Image files can be quite large, and larger file types mean more disk usage and slower downloads. Compression is a term used to describe ways of cutting the size of the file. Compression schemes can by lossy or lossless.

Another reason for the many file types is that images differ in the number of colors they contain. If an image has few colors, a file type can be designed to exploit this as a way of reducing file size.

Lossy vs. Lossless compression

You will often hear the terms "lossy" and "lossless" compression. A lossless compression algorithm discards no information. It looks for more efficient ways to represent an image, while making no compromises in accuracy. In contrast, lossy algorithms accept some degradation in the image in order to achieve smaller file size.

A lossless algorithm might, for example, look for a recurring pattern in the file, and replace each occurrence with a short abbreviation, thereby cutting the file size. In contrast, a lossy algorithm might store color information at a lower resolution than the image itself, since the eye is not so sensitive to changes in color of a small distance.

Number of Color

Images start with differing numbers of colors in them. The simplest images may contain only two colors, such as black and white, and will need only 1 bit to represent each pixel. Many early PC video cards would support only 16 fixed colors. Later cards would display 256 simultaneously, any of which could be chosen from a pool of 224, or 16 million colors. New cards devote 24 bits to each pixel, and are therefore capable of displaying 224, or 16 million colors without restriction. A few display even more. Since the eye has trouble distinguishing between similar colors, 24 bit or 16 million colors is often called TrueColor.

File Types Explained

TIFF is, in principle, a very flexible format that can be lossless or lossy. The details of the image storage algorithm are included as part of the file. In practice, TIFF is used almost exclusively as a lossless image storage format that uses no compression at all. Most graphics programs that use TIFF do not compression. Consequently, file sizes are quite big. (Sometimes a lossless compression algorithm called LZW is used, but it is not universally supported.)

PNG is also a lossless storage format. However, in contrast with common TIFF usage, it looks for patterns in the image that it can use to compress file size. The compression is exactly reversible, so the image is recovered exactly.

GIF creates a table of up to 256 colors from a pool of 16 million. If the image has fewer than 256 colors, GIF can render the image exactly. When the image contains many colors, software that creates the GIF uses any of several algorithms to approximate the colors in the image with the limited palette of 256 colors available. Better algorithms search the image to find an optimum set of 256 colors. Sometimes GIF uses the nearest color to represent each pixel, and sometimes it uses "error diffusion" to adjust the color of nearby pixels to correct for the error in each pixel.

GIF achieves compression in two ways. First, it reduces the number of colors of color-rich images, thereby reducing the number of bits needed per pixel, as just described. Second, it replaces commonly occurring patterns (especially large areas of uniform color) with a short abbreviation: instead of storing "white, white, white, white, white," it stores "5 white."

Thus, GIF is "lossless" only for images with 256 colors or less. For a rich, true color image, GIF may "lose" 99.998% of the colors.

JPG is optimized for photographs and similar continuous tone images that contain many, many colors. It can achieve astounding compression ratios even while maintaining very high image quality. GIF compression is unkind to such images. JPG works by analyzing images and discarding kinds of information that the eye is least likely to notice. It stores information as 24 bit color. Important: the degree of compression of JPG is adjustable. At moderate compression levels of photographic images, it is very difficult for the eye to discern any difference from the original, even at extreme magnification. Compression factors of more than 20 are often quite acceptable. Better graphics programs, such as Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop, allow you to view the image quality and file size as a function of compression level, so that you can conveniently choose the balance between quality and file size.

RAW is an image output option available on some digital cameras. Though lossless, it is a factor of three of four smaller than TIFF files of the same image. The disadvantage is that there is a different RAW format for each manufacturer, and so you may have to use the manufacturer's software to view the images. (Some graphics applications can read some manufacturer's RAW formats.)

BMP is an uncompressed proprietary format invented by Microsoft. There is really no reason to ever use this format.

PSD, PSP, etc. , are proprietary formats used by graphics programs. Photoshop's files have the PSD extension, while Paint Shop Pro files use PSP. These are the preferred working formats as you edit images in the software, because only the proprietary formats retain all the editing power of the programs. These packages use layers, for example, to build complex images, and layer information may be lost in the nonproprietary formats such as TIFF and JPG. However, be sure to save your end result as a standard TIFF or JPG, or you may not be able to view it in a few years when your software has changed.

What is CAD?

Computer Aided Design (CAD) is simply, design and drafting with the aid of a computer. Design is creating a real product from an idea. Drafting is the production of the drawings that are used to document a design. CAD can be used to create 2D or 3D computer models. A CAD drawing is a file that consists of numeric data in binary form that will be saved onto a disk.

Why should you use CAD?
Traditional drafting is repetitious and can be inaccurate. It may be faster to create a simple “rough” sketch by hand but larger more complex drawings with repetitive operations are drawn more efficiently using CAD.

Why use AutoCAD?
AutoCAD is a computer aided design software developed by Autodesk Inc. AutoCAD was first introduced in 1982. By the year 2000, it is estimated that there were over 4 million AutoCAD users worldwide. What this means to you is that many employers are in need of AutoCAD operators. In addition, learning AutoCAD will give you the basics for learning other CAD packages because many commands, terms and concepts are used universally.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has been called the way of the future. It opens doors by making applications and technology more accessible than in previous years. Companies that would normally require enormous amounts of startup capital may only need a fraction of what was previously required to succeed.

Currently, if the company can afford it, then they can have access to the full Microsoft Suite, ERP applications, CRM applications, accounting software, and a host of other applications that will improve productivity within a company.

The past of cloud computing is bright, but the future of cloud computing is even brighter. Here is what you may need to know about trends in cloud computing.

Proactive Application Monitoring

Proactive application monitoring technology is currently available, but predictive technology and software will soon make this more robust and accurate. Companies will be able to foresee disaster and avert it, mitigating damage to their systems. This will prevent downtime and make the company safer.

Technology to Ensure Uptime

Companies need uptime guarantees. With low-power processors, data centers will become more affordable, allowing companies to acquire seven to ten data centers around the world in different time zones and thereby allowing them to guarantee 99.9 percent uptime. This will keep companies from losing money and falling prey to their competitors. In the future, this concern will be near obsolete. Because of this, many small hosting companies like GloboTech Communications are offering cloud services to ensure better uptime, while big players like Hivelocity and Amazon are also leveraging this new technology.

Cloud Computing’s Role in Disaster Recovery and Remote Access

Cloud computing enables and enhances remote access and faster disaster recovery. When companies have an emergency information security strategy with security penetration tests, companies can maintain their competitive edge within their respective industries.

With cloud computing, some companies that didn’t recognize a breach may recover within minutes instead of hours. Losing proprietary data can cripple a company and even cause doors to close. Every company should migrate to cloud computing for this reason.

Cloud Computing Becoming More Robust

Cloud computing is becoming more about “fit and function” than about the “hype” surrounding the new technology. Most companies can benefit from cloud computing, but some companies have suffered failed projects during the migration phase because the technology is still in the developmental stages. Typically, migrations fail because of inaccurate or missing data.

Data accuracy must be ensured to avoid catastrophe or business interruption. Service providers must ensure that the migration of all data occurs without mishap. Technicians can still make configuration mistakes that compromise the safety of company data. In the future, migrations will be seamless, and technology will be more robust.

The Ability to Validate Identities through Trusts

In the future, cloud security systems will be able to validate identities through a “centralized trust.” Identity-based security is thought to be more secure than current forms of security. More people will begin to trust cloud computing when this happens.

Centralized Data is the Future in Cloud Computing

Centralized data is expected in abundance in the future of cloud computing. This allows companies to create huge databases. Patient care can be improved with centralized data in huge databases. Better stock market decisions are also possible. Centralized data is a way of the future.

More Capability

Mobile devices that rely on the cloud will become more powerful and thinner because all applications will be web-based. All mobile devices will store data that resides in the cloud, and designers can add more capability and lower costs of the phone. One example of this concept is Apple’s iCloud.

Hybrid Cloud Computing Increases Efficiency

Hybrid cloud computing is expected to help businesses become more efficient by optimizing business process performance. Businesses are excited about hybrid cloud computing because it enhances internal infrastructure and applications. The ability to scale the strengths of local networks and cloud computing is coveted by designers.

Mobile Optimization for Cloud Services

Mobile commerce is on the rise. Cloud computing applications require fewer resources and are recommended for mobile devices. Accessibility is increased because fewer resources are required. This is why cloud computing is recommended for business and personal applications.

Commodity Hardware

Pundits predict that by 2020, low-cost hardware will make it easier to configure advanced data centers capable of complex algorithms at fast speeds. This will increase uptimes and improve user satisfaction. In fact, some pundits commented that “servers and storage devices will look like replaceable sleds.”

Low-Power Processors

Low power processors are expected to lower the cost of operation in large data centers. Users can expect to reduce electricity bills significantly. Low-power ARM chips will make this possible in the upcoming year. With 64-bit capability, uptake should be accelerated. These low-power ARM chips will be used in conjunction with RISC chips and enterprise software to yield an economical and environmentally-friendly solution.

Faster Interconnects

Cloud computing is still in its infancy stage. By 2020, cloud computing is expected to be a permanent solution in many organizations. Data centers will be automated and will support scalable software architecture.

Cloud Computing Will Help Businesses Optimize Their Investments

Cloud computing can help companies optimize investments and scale operations. In the future, new low-power processors and other chip technology will help businesses operate to their full IT capacity. With more innovation, greater revenue potential is possible. Companies can re-invest in their products and services with higher profit margins. Scaling investments will also lead to greater operational agility.

Efficient business models are also possible with cloud computing. With greater efficiency, companies can bring innovative and superior products to market faster than competitors.

Better Overall Security and Assumed Reliability

Currently, designers are working hard to ensure people that cloud computing is the way of the future. It will be the preferred method of hosting applications, platforms, and services. By 2020, it will no longer be a topic of discussion, and experts will be more concerned with how companies can use big data to solve complex problems with cloud computing than with convincing people of its usefulness.

Data center physical security is just as important as data encryption. While minimum encryption regulations may be increased from the current 256-bit SSL, physical access to data center facilities may require biometric scans in addition to electronic pass. These facilities will also be protected by advanced alarm systems.

In addition to physical security, firewall and VPN technology will be improved to protect data transfer. New firewall policies, although not fully defined, will limit VPN traffic to specific IP addresses and ports. With upgraded firmware, breaches will be less likely to occur.

What is the Future of Cloud Computing?

The future of cloud computing is bright for the companies that implement the technology now. While these are some trends that are expected in the future, the future is not limited to these trends. Remain abreast of the latest developments to help your company maintain a competitive advantage. This will make your company more profitable and productive when it can complete tasks faster and more efficiently than the competition.

Thursday 15 January 2015

Acharya Patanjali - Father of Yoga

The Science of Yoga is one of several unique contributions of India to the world. It seeks to discover and realize the ultimate Reality through yogic practices. Acharya Patanjali, the founder, hailed from the district of Gonda (Ganara) in Uttar Pradesh. He prescribed the control of prana (life breath) as the means to control the body, mind and soul. This subsequently rewards one with good health and inner happiness. Acharya Patanjali's 84 yogic postures effectively enhance the efficiency of the respiratory, circulatory, nervous, digestive and endocrine systems and many other organs of the body. Yoga has eight limbs where Acharya Patanjali shows the attainment of the ultimate bliss of God in samadhi through the disciplines of: yam, niyam, asan, pranayam, pratyahar, dhyan and dharna. The Science of Yoga has gained popularity because of its scientific approach and benefits. Yoga also holds the honored place as one of six philosophies in the Indian philosophical system. Acharya Patanjali will forever be remembered and revered as a pioneer in the science of self-discipline, happiness and self-realization.

Varahamihir - Eminent Astrologer and Astronomera (499-587 CE)

Renowned astrologer and astronomer who was honored with a special decoration and status as one of the nine gems in the court of King Vikramaditya in Avanti (Ujjain). Varahamihir' s book "panchsiddhant" holds a prominent place in the realm of astronomy. He notes that the moon and planets are lustrous not because of their own light but due to sunlight. In the "Bruhad Samhita" and "Bruhad Jatak," he has revealed his discoveries in the domains of geography, constellation, science, botany and animal science. In his treatise on botanical science, Varamihir presents cures for various diseases afflicting plants and trees. The rishi-scientist survives through his unique contributions to the science of astrology and astronomy.

Acharya Sushrut - Father of Plastic Surgery (600 BCE)

A genius who has been glowingly recognized in the annals of medical science. Born to sage Vishwamitra, Acharya Sudhrut details the first ever surgery procedures in "Sushrut Samhita," a unique encyclopedia of surgery. He is venerated as the father of plastic surgery and the science of anesthesia. When surgery was in its infancy in Europe, Sushrut was performing Rhinoplasty (restoration of a damaged nose) and other challenging operations. In the "Sushrut Samhita," he prescribes treatment for twelve types of fractures and six types of dislocations. His details on human embryology are simply amazing. Sushrut used 125 types of surgical instruments including scalpels, lancets, needles, Cathers and rectal speculums; mostly designed from the jaws of animals and birds. He has also described a number of stitching methods; the use of horse's hair as thread and fibers of bark. In the "Sushrut Samhita," and fibers of bark. In the "Sushrut Samhita," he details 300 types of operations. The ancient Indians were the pioneers in amputation, caesarian and cranial surgeries. Acharya Sushrut was a giant in the arena of medical science.

Semaphore

A semaphore is a variable or abstract data type that provides a simple but useful abstraction for controlling access by multiple processes to a common resource in a parallel programming environment.

A useful way to think of a semaphore is as a record of how many units of a particular resource are available, coupled with operations to safely (i.e., without race conditions) adjust that record as units are required or become free, and if necessary wait until a unit of the resource becomes available. Semaphores are a useful tool in the prevention of race conditions; however, their use is by no means a guarantee that a program is free from these problems. Semaphores which allow an arbitrary resource count are called counting semaphores, while semaphores which are restricted to the values 0 and 1 (or locked/unlocked, unavailable/available) are called binary semaphores.

Sleeping barber problem

The problem

The analogy is based upon a hypothetical barber shop with one barber. The barber has one barber chair and a waiting room with a number of chairs in it. When the barber finishes cutting a customer's hair, he dismisses the customer and then goes to the waiting room to see if there are other customers waiting. If there are, he brings one of them back to the chair and cuts his hair. If there are no other customers wai

ting, he returns to his chair and sleeps in it.

Each customer, when he arrives, looks to see what the barber is doing. If the barber is sleeping, then the customer wakes him up and sits in the chair. If the barber is cutting hair, then the customer goes to the waiting room. If there is a free chair in the waiting room, the customer sits in it and waits his turn. If there is no free chair, then the customer leaves. Based on a naïve analysis, the above description should ensure that the shop functions correctly, with the barber cutting the hair of anyone who arrives until there are no more customers, and then sleeping until the next customer arrives. In practice, there are a number of problems that can occur that are illustrative of general scheduling problems.

The problems are all related to the fact that the actions by both the barber and the customer (checking the waiting room, entering the shop, taking a waiting room chair, etc.) all take an unknown amount of time. For example, a customer may arrive and observe that the barber is cutting hair, so he goes to the waiting room. While he is on his way, the barber finishes the haircut he is doing and goes to check the waiting room. Since there is no one there (the customer not having arrived yet), he goes back to his chair and sleeps. The barber is now waiting for a customer and the customer is waiting for the barber. In another example, two customers may arrive at the same time when there happens to be a single seat in the waiting room. They observe that the barber is cutting hair, go to the waiting room, and both attempt to occupy the single chair.

Solution

Many possible solutions are available. The key element of each is a mutex, which ensures that only one of the participants can change state at once. The barber must acquire this mutex exclusion before checking for customers and release it when he begins either to sleep or cut hair. A customer must acquire it before entering the shop and release it once he is sitting in either a waiting room chair or the barber chair. This eliminates both of the problems mentioned in the previous section. A number of semaphores are also required to indicate the state of the system. For example, one might store the number of people in the waiting room.

Implementation

The following Python code guarantees synchronization between barber and customer and is deadlock free, but may lead to starvation of a customer. The functions wait() (originally P, for the Dutch proberen = try) and signal() (originally V, for the Dutch verhogen = raise) are functions provided by the semaphores.

5 characteristics of Cloud Computing

On demand self services

Computer services such as email, applications, network or server service can be provided without requiring human interaction with each service provider. Cloud service providers providing on demand self services include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, Google, IBM and Salesforce.com. New York Times and NASDAQ are examples of companies using AWS (NIST). Gartner describes this characteristic as service based.

Broad network access

Cloud Capabilities are available over the network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms such as mobile phones, laptops and PDAs.

Resource pooling

The provider’s computing resources are pooled together to serve multiple consumers using multiple-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to consumer demand. The resources include among others storage, processing, memory, network bandwidth, virtual machines and email services. The pooling together of the resource builds economies of scale (Gartner).

Rapid elasticity

Cloud services can be rapidly and elastically provisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out and rapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can be purchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service

Cloud computing resource usage can be measured, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the utilized service. Cloud computing services use a metering capability which enables to control and optimise resource use. This implies that just like air time, electricity or municipality water IT services are charged per usage metrics – pay per use. The more you utilize the higher the bill. Just as utility companies sell power to subscribers, and telephone companies sell voice and data services, IT services such as network security management, data center

hosting or even departmental billing can now be easily delivered as a contractual service.

Multi Tenacity

Is the 6th characteristics of cloud computing advocated by the Cloud Security Alliance. It refers to the need for policy-driven enforcement, segmentation, isolation, governance, service levels, and charge back/billing models for different consumer constituencies. Consumers might utilize a public cloud provider’s service offerings or actually be from the same organization, such as different business units rather than distinct organizational entities, but would still share infrastructure.

Wednesday 14 January 2015

आर्यभट

Nagarjuna

Aacharya Charak

Acharya Kanad

भास्कराचार्य दुतीय

Microsoft Windows XP

Introduction

There are many new and exciting features at your fingertips in Windows XP. Some of these features are making their debut in Windows XP but they are built off of Windows 98. There are new tools you can use to get the most out of your computer experience, and other technologies that run in the background, making your computer run more efficiently and reliably.

First, what you can't see, Windows XP has great capability in the behind-the-scenes running of your computer. Overall security has been improved. Performance is at an all-time high, allowing you to use more programs and have them run faster than ever. Windows XP is dependable and stable, so you can always rely on the performance and effectiveness of your computer. Best of all, compatibility with other programs is better than ever. Windows XP is designed to make you have less work to do with the least amount of hassle.

Start Menu

Clicking Start displays a menu that lets you easily access the most useful items on your computer. Clicking All Programs opens a list of programs currently installed on your computer. The list of programs on the Start menu is divided into two parts: the programs displayed above the separator line (also known as the pinned items list) and the programs displayed below the separator line (also known as the most frequently used programs list). The programs on the pinned items list remain there and are always available for you to click to start them. You can add programs to the pinned items list.

Programs are added to the most frequently used programs list when you use them. Windows has a default number of programs that are displayed on the most frequently used programs list. When that number of programs is reached, the programs you have not opened recently are replaced by the programs you used last.

All Programs – The all programs menu holds all of the applications that come with Windows XP or ones that you have installed that are supplied by the university or ones that you have installed yourself.
My Recent Documents – is a list of the most recent documents that you have worked on.
Control Panel – NEW! It now has its own menu. Control Panel is full of specialized tools that are used to change the way Windows looks and behaves.
Help and Support - NEW! The Help and Support Center is your comprehensive resource for tools and information. Use Search, the Index, or the table of contents to gain access to the extensive online Help system.
Search – NEW! This use to be called Find, this option allows you to search for files and folders on your computer.
Run – This option allows you to specify a program to run if it does not have an entry in the All Programs Menu
Turn Off The Computer – NEW! It is the same as the Shutdown option from Windows 98. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO USE THIS OPTION BEFORE YOU TURN OFF THE COMPUTER.

The Control Panel

To open Control Panel, click Start and then click Control Panel.

Control Panel is full of specialized tools that are used to change the way Windows looks and behaves. Some of these tools help you adjust settings that make your computer more fun to use. For example, use Mouse to replace standard mouse pointers with animated icons that move on your screen, or use Sounds and Audio Devices to replace standard system sounds with sounds you choose. Other tools help you set up Windows so that your computer is easier to use.

When you first open Control Panel, you will see some of the most commonly used Control Panel items organized by category. To find out more information about an item in Control Panel while in Category view, hold your mouse pointer over the icon or category name and read the text that appears. To open one of these items, click its icon or category name. Some of these items will open to a list of tasks you can perform, as well as a selection of individual Control Panel items. For example, when you click Appearance and Themes, you will see a list of tasks such as Choose a screen saver along with individual Control Panel items. If you open Control Panel and do not see the item you want, click Switch to Classic View.

Display Properties

Windows provides different options for the look of the screens. To get to the display options in Control Panel click on Display then on the Appearance tab. This is the screen that will appear:

Under Windows and Buttons you can change the look of a Window Box to the XP style (above) or you can select Classic style, which is the style that was used in Windows 98.
Under Color Scheme you can choose different color for the windows boxes.
Under Font Size you can choose between small, normal, and large icons.

Mouse Settings

The mouse option can also be found in the Control Panel under Mouse.

Mouse Properties allows you to choose whether you want it as a right-handed or left handed mouse, the double-clicking speed, and also click-lock: which is a NEW! feature. This enables you to highlight or drag without holding down the mouse button. You can choose your pointer, the pointer speed, and the visibility of the pointer. You can choose how many lines you can scroll over when using the mouse.

Setting a Screen Saver

A screen saver is a program that displays moving graphics or words on your screen when you are not working. To choose a screen saver, select Display in the Control Panel then choose the Screen Saver Tab.

Use the Screen Saver pull down menu to choose a screen saver. If there are settings that you want to change for the screen saver, use the Settings button. The Wait prompt allows you to change the time it takes for the screen saver to appear while the computer is idle.

The Accessories Menu

Calculator – it can be set for simple or complex math operations.
Command Prompt - MS-DOS, the acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, is an operating system with a command-line interface used on personal computers.
Notepad – A simple text editor.
Paint – A paint program for editing pictures.
Word Pad - A low level word processor.

WordPad

You can use WordPad to create or edit text files that contain formatting or graphics. (Use Notepad for basic text editing or for creating Web pages.) You can add special formatting such as boldface, italic, and underline. WordPad has many features but if you already have a capable word processor (e.g. Microsoft Word) it is recommended that you use that.

To open WordPad, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click WordPad.

Paint

Paint is a drawing tool you can use to create black-and-white or color drawings that you can save as bit map (.bmp) files. You can also use Paint to send your drawing in e-mail, set the image as a desktop background, and save image files using different file formats.

To open Paint, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Paint.

Multi-Tasking

One of the most useful features of Windows XP is multi-tasking. Multitasking is the process of running two or more programs at the same time. With this feature you can quickly copy information from one program to another. A NEW! Feature in Windows XP is grouping in multitasking. It groups different documents all from the same program together.

Shortcuts

Shortcuts are icons that can be placed on the desktop or in the Start Menu. They represent programs, folders and files that are on the computer. Since they only represent items, they can be copied, moved and deleted without any harm to the actual program, folder, or file.

To Create a Shortcut on the Desktop:

Use the right mouse button to click on the desktop (anywhere not in a window), a menu will appear.
From the New menu choose Shortcut.
This dialog box will walk you through the process of creating the shortcut. Once you find the file by clicking on the browse button, you can name the folder or file anything you like. If you make a mistake in the previous dialog window click the Back button. Then click Finish and you will see the shortcut on your desktop.

My Computer

In My Computer you can browse through a hierarchy of folders on your computer and all the files and folders in each selected folder.

To start My Computer

You can either double-click on the My Computer icon on your desktop or you can go to the Start Menu and select My Computer.

You can select a number of different views to look at My Computer.

To access any file click on the drive that it is stored on and locate the file.

Changing Your Desktop

To change your desktop, click on the Start Menu, and then the Control Panel, select Display, and then click on the desktop tab.

There are many choices to choose from! Highlight the one you prefer, then click apply, and then click OK. You can also create your own by clicking on the Browse button and locate a picture that you have saved then click apply, then click ok.

When you click on Customize desktop, there are more advanced options such as the look of the icons, and a New! cleanup tool feature for your desktop to make it less cluttered.

Making Your Own Icons

This will allow you to create the icons that appear on your desktop.

Click on Start, Programs, Accessories, and Paint.
From the pull down menu bar, click on Image and then select Attributes.
Enter 32 Pixels in Height and Width. Click Ok.
A small white box appears. Then create an icon using the Paintbrush or Pencil Tools.
Select File, Save As. Name the file and click Save.

Replacing the Shortcut on Your Desktop

Replacing the Shortcut allows you to change the standard icons to ones you have created.

Right-click on the shortcut and choose Properties.
Click on the Change Icon button.
Click on Browse and locate the icon you saved.
Locate the file and highlight it. Click Open. Then click OK.

Quantitative and Qualitative Data

Quantitative Data

The term qualitative data is used to describe a type of information that can be counted or expressed numerically. This type of data is often collected in experiments, manipulated and statistically analyzed. Quantitative data can be represented visually in graphs, histograms, tables and charts.
Some examples of quantitative data include exact counts ('there were 789 students who attended the rally') or a type of measurement ('it was 78 degree Fahrenheit yesterday at 2 PM').

Qualitative Data

Qualitative data is extremely varied in nature. It includes virtually any information that can be captured that is not numerical in nature. Here are some of the major categories or types:
In-Depth Interviews: In-Depth Interviews include both individual interviews (e.g., one-on-one) as well as "group" interviews (including focus groups). The data can be recorded in a wide variety of ways including stenography, audio recording, video recording or written notes. In depth interviews differ from direct observation primarily in the nature of the interaction. In interviews it is assumed that there is a questioner and one or more interviewees. The purpose of the interview is to probe the ideas of the interviewees about the phenomenon of interest.
Direct Observation: Direct observation is meant very broadly here. It differs from interviewing in that the observer does not actively query the respondent. It can include everything from field research where one lives in another context or culture for a period of time to photographs that illustrate some aspect of the phenomenon. The data can be recorded in many of the same ways as interviews (stenography, audio, and video) and through pictures, photos or drawings (e.g., those courtroom drawings of witnesses are a form of direct observation).
Written Documents: Usually this refers to existing documents (as opposed transcripts of interviews conducted for the research). It can include newspapers, magazines, books, websites, memos, transcripts of conversations, annual reports, and so on. Usually written documents are analyzed with some form of content analysis.

Quantitative Vs. Qualitative Data

Some methods provide data which are quantitative and some methods data which are qualitative. Quantitative methods are those which focus on numbers and frequencies rather than on meaning and experience. Quantitative methods (e.g. experiments, questionnaires and psychometric tests) provide information which is easy to analyze statistically and fairly reliable. Quantitative methods are associated with the scientific and experimental approach and are criticized for not providing an in depth description.
Qualitative methods are ways of collecting data which are concerned with describing meaning, rather than with drawing statistical inferences. What qualitative methods (e.g. case studies and interviews) lose on reliability they gain in terms of validity? They provide a more in depth and rich description.
Quantitative methods have come under considerable criticism. In modern research, most psychologists tend to adopt a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, which allow statistically reliable information obtained from numerical measurement to be backed up by and enriched by information about the research participants' explanations.

Saturday 10 January 2015

11 simple ways, that allow you to run your PC smoothly

Computers have the tendency of slowing down with age. But, you can keep your machine running for a long time, if you follow some basic commandments. Here are 11 simple ways, that allow you to run your PC smoothly:

1. Run cleanup programs regularly

If you aren’t aware of any good cleanup program, we’ll recommend you one. CCleaner is an useful app which help you find and delete caches and other temporary files which creates backlog in your system.

2. Remove useless animations and special effects

Some of the features or animations takes up a lot of memory and removing those can speed up your machine. If you use Windows 7, disable resource hungry “Aero” theme. Simply Right click on your desktop and choose “Personalize” after which choose “Window Color” Tab and uncheck “Enable Transparency”.

3. Update your Antivirus regularly

Viruses and malware can seriously reduce your speed drastically, so it is highly advisable to eliminate it at the very source. If you use some free antivirus, there are chances that it can be a virus itself! Instead, you can opt for Microsoft’s Security Essentials antivirus software. You can schedule daily and weekly scans for your system.

4. Upgrade RAM for multitasking

If you multitask or if you are into heavy gameplay and picture editing, increasing RAM can be a good option. It is economical and easy upgrade which can give new life to your system. Use “Memory finder” tool from Newegg to figure out your system needs. If you are tech freak, you can do it yourself or else hire a technician!

5. Invest in SDD

Solid state drive or SDD increases your load timing. HDD which is the traditional hard drive is being replaced by faster SDD, which is solely based on flash memory and have no moving parts unlike HDD. SSD are getting cheaper now and they result in faster startups and uploads.

6. Control App launches in you system

If you feel that your system is taking too long to boot, you can limit the number of programs and apps during the startup. To go through such list, click Start and search for “msconfig”. Next, click on startup tab and you will notice that list. You can uncheck the extra apps from the list and you are sorted!

7. Search for resource hogging processes

A computer runs multiple processes at a time but you should know about these processes. On Windows, click on Taskbar and choose Task manager and notice any unwanted process running or hogging up your RAM and also Google your doubts. If you find something fishy, toss it out.

8. Install fresh Windows after Virus infestation

Antivirus do their job well but it is tech advice that one should perform fresh installation of Windows after you recovered your machine from malware or virus attack. You should have your data backup as it will erase everything completely. Simply plugin the USB or CD after shutdown and follow on screen instructions.

9. Clear your internet cache

If you struggle while surfing, it might be browser’s fault and not that of your system. Every browser comes with different set of instructions, but in general, navigate to Settings tab and look for history and cache.

10. Refresh computer index

Re-indexing your computer can greatly speed up your system. The process is long but worth opting for. On Windows, use “Disk Defragmenter” app and schedule weekly de-fragmentation.

11. Restart your machine regularly

If you leave your machine on or on standby mode for longer duration, programs take more memory than usual. Turn your system off when idle or when not in use, so that it can get rid of heavy resources and it also installs updates which are launched regularly.

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