Technology is Your Friend - Now How to Manage it All

Technology can seem like your best friend or your worst enemy. The truth is that technology is always your friend-you just have to know how to manage it. By taking control of the technological tools available to you, you can streamline your life, effectively manage your time, and essentially get your life back. This article provides some of the technology tools you can use and the ways you can manage the technology in your life better.

All-in-one systems
 
There are several all-in-one technology systems to help to streamline and organize your life. For example, many cell phones now have multiple features such as calendars, contact systems, email, notes and more. Imagine all this functionality, packed into a little device that fits in your purse or pocket. The drawback of an all-in-one system is that if something happens to the device then all of your information goes with it, right? Not exactly. Sync this device with your computer and create an automatic backup file that will protect your precious data.

Taking it one step further, you can also sync this with your email system (Outlook, Yahoo!, Gmail, etc.). Most email systems have a calendar, notes section, and contact system, which creates an additional backup of all your information. This prevents you from having to double-enter information like email addresses and appointments, and provides anytime, anywhere access from any computer or mobile device.

Let's use Mary as an all-in-one device user example.....

Mary is an advertising road warrior, traveling from client location to client location. Mary uses her iPhone as her all in one system. She takes photos of clients products for her records, keeps their contact information in her address book, takes notes using the handy notepad, and emails them to herself as needed. She also keeps track of her appointments thanks to the convenient calendar.

Every night when Mary gets home from her busy day, she simply places her iPhone on its cradle and hooks the USB to her computer. All of the information she has added to her iPhone for that day automatically updates on her computer. Mary uses Yahoo! as her email provider. When the iPhone finishes its sync with her computer, her computer automatically syncs with her Yahoo! In 1-2 minutes and one simple placement of the phone on the cradle, Mary has connected her phone information to her computer and her email provider.
Mary manages her technology instead of her technology managing her.

Voice-activated systems
 
We've all been there. We are driving in our car and a million thoughts race through our minds - all the things we have to attend to, and all of the urgent emails that impatiently await our reply. Unfortunately, unless you pull over every time one of these thoughts pops into your brain, then you have to wait until you get to your destination, which by then you have forgotten half of what you thought of while driving.

A voice activated all-in-one system, like Jott, is an easy way to manage everything you have to juggle in your daily life (and remember while driving or doing something else). It connects all of your technology for you, and all you have to do is speak what's on your mind. This is especially helpful for the technologically challenged. Simply set up your Jott account at http://www.jott.com, call the Jott toll-free, tell Jott where you want your message to go (in your calendar, in an email to a friend, on your to-do list, or to a friend), and then wand your message. Voila-it's done. Voice activation is a great, virtually hands-free way to manage all of your technology with the sound of your voice.

Be consistent-use it regularly
 
Whether it's an all-in-one device, a voice activated system, or another piece of technology you use to manage your life, the key to managing it is to use regularly and consistently. Put your system in place and make it work in whatever way makes the most sense for you. The more you use, the better you will get to know it and the easier it will become to use.

Technology may interest you or it may frighten you. Either way, technology just keeps get better and better and learning how to use it now is sure to make your quality of life better and better, too.

Lifestyle Mentor, Personal Coach, Author, Educator, and Entrepreneur, David B. Bohl is the creator of Slow Down FAST. To learn more about this step-by-step strategy for Living YOUR Life YOUR way, and to sign up for his 9 FREE Tips for Finding Happiness in a Fast-Paced World, free teleseminars, free Special Report, free bi-monthly ezine and more, go to: http://www.SlowDownFAST.com

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The Evolution of Technology - The History of Computers

While computers are now an important part of the lives of human beings, there was a time where computers did not exist. Knowing the history of computers and how much progression has been made can help you understand just how complicated and innovative the creation of computers really is.

Unlike most devices, the computer is one of the few inventions that does not have one specific inventor.

Throughout the development of the computer, many people have added their creations to the list required to make a computer work. Some of the inventions have been different types of computers, and some of them were parts required to allow computers to be developed further.

The Beginning

Perhaps the most significant date in the history of computers is the year 1936. It was in this year that the first "computer" was developed. It was created by Konrad Zuse and dubbed the Z1 Computer. This computer stands as the first as it was the first system to be fully programmable. There were devices prior to this, but none had the computing power that sets it apart from other electronics.

It wasn't until 1942 that any business saw profit and opportunity in computers. This first company was called ABC computers, owned and operated by John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry. Two years later, the Harvard Mark I computer was developed, furthering the science of computing.

Over the course of the next few years, inventors all over the world began to search more into the study of computers, and how to improve upon them. Those next ten years say the introduction of the transistor, which would become a vital part of the inner workings of the computer, the ENIAC 1 computer, as well as many other types of systems. The ENIAC 1 is perhaps one of the most interesting, as it required 20,000 vacuum tubes to operate. It was a massive machine, and started the revolution to build smaller and faster computers.

The age of computers was forever altered by the introduction of International Business Machines, or IBM, into the computing industry in 1953. This company, over the course of computer history, has been a major player in the development of new systems and servers for public and private use. This introduction brought about the first real signs of competition within computing history, which helped to spur faster and better development of computers. Their first contribution was the IBM 701 EDPM Computer.

A Programming Language Evolves

A year later, the first successful high level programming language was created. This was a programming language not written in 'assembly' or binary, which are considered very low level languages. FORTRAN was written so that more people could begin to program computers easily.

The year 1955, the Bank of America, coupled with Stanford Research Institute and General Electric, saw the creation of the first computers for use in banks. The MICR, or Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, coupled with the actual computer, the ERMA, was a breakthrough for the banking industry. It wasn't until 1959 that the pair of systems were put into use in actual banks.

During 1958, one of the most important breakthroughs in computer history occurred, the creation of the integrated circuit. This device, also known as the chip, is one of the base requirements for modern computer systems. On every motherboard and card within a computer system, are many chips that contain information on what the boards and cards do. Without these chips, the systems as we know them today cannot function.
Gaming, Mice, & the Internet.

For many computer users now, games are a vital part of the computing experience. 1962 saw the creation of the first computer game, which was created by Steve Russel and MIT, which was dubbed Spacewar.
The mouse, one of the most basic components of modern computers, was created in 1964 by Douglass Engelbart. It obtained its name from the "tail" leading out of the device.

One of the most important aspects of computers today was invented in 1969. ARPA net was the original Internet, which provided the foundation for the Internet that we know today. This development would result in the evolution of knowledge and business across the entire planet.

It wasn't until 1970 that Intel entered the scene with the first dynamic RAM chip, which resulted in an explosion of computer science innovation.

On the heels of the RAM chip was the first microprocessor, which was also designed by Intel. These two components, in addition to the chip developed in 1958, would number among the core components of modern computers.

A year later, the floppy disk was created, gaining its name from the flexibility of the storage unit. This was the first step in allowing most people to transfer bits of data between unconnected computers.

The first networking card was created in 1973, allowing data transfer between connected computers. This is similar to the Internet, but allows for the computers to connect without use of the Internet.

Household PC's Emerge

The next three years were very important for computers. This is when companies began to develop systems for the average consumer. The Scelbi, Mark-8 Altair, IBM 5100, Apple I and II, TRS-80, and the Commodore Pet computers were the forerunners in this area. While expensive, these machines started the trend for computers within common households.

One of the most major breathroughs in computer software occurred in 1978 with the release of the VisiCalc Spreadsheet program. All development costs were paid for within a two week period of time, which makes this one of the most successful programs in computer history.

1979 was perhaps one of the most important years for the home computer user. This is the year that WordStar, the first word processing program, was released to the public for sale. This drastically altered the usefulness of computers for the everyday user.

The IBM Home computer quickly helped revolutionize the consumer market in 1981, as it was affordable for home owners and standard consumers. 1981 also saw the the mega-giant Microsoft enter the scene with the MS-DOS operating system. This operating system utterly changed computing forever, as it was easy enough for everyone to learn.

The Competition Begins : Apple vs. Microsoft

Computers saw yet another vital change during the year of 1983. The Apple Lisa computer was the first with a graphical user interface, or a GUI. Most modern programs contain a GUI, which allows them to be easy to use and pleasing for the eyes. This marked the beginning of the out dating of most text based only programs.
Beyond this point in computer history, many changes and alterations have occurred, from the Apple-Microsoft wars, to the developing of microcomputers and a variety of computer breakthroughs that have become an accepted part of our daily lives. Without the initial first steps of computer history, none of this would have been possible.

Rebecca Blain is a professional hobbyist writer who enjoys taking care of her fish and educating people about how to build your own computer which you can learn about here: http://www.build-your-own-computer-tips.com

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HTML Explained: Part 2

Get started creating web pages using text files and HTML code! This article is a continuation of HTML Explained: Part 1, which gives a general overview of HTML. Here, we're going to get into the nitty gritty of the code itself. Once you see how simple it really is, you should RUN, not walk to the nearest bookstore and grab your own copy of a handy HTML manual. All right, let's begin.

In viewing the source of web pages, you may have noticed a lot of these things: . They're called HTML tags, and they're what the computer uses to interpret the HTML code.

NOTE: in this article I had to add spaces to all of my HTML tags so that I could display them without actually having them work. There are two HTML tricks to actually "shutting off" HTML tags, but neither of them function properly in this submission box.

The HTML tags shown here will display like so: but in reality you're supposed to type them like so:
<fake tag></fake>

A friend of mine describes HTML tags as "on/off switches." An easy example which you may be well-familiar with, is the Bold command. To "turn on" Bold, type (but with no spaces). All of the text that comes after the Bold tag, will then be Bolded. To "turn off" the bold characteristic, type . Any text that comes after the "bold off" tag will unbolded.

It's worth mentioning that in all cases, all text that falls between an "on" or "off" HTML tag will take on the characteristic of that tag descriptor. How much text can you put in between two HTML tags? As much or as little as you want. That means, you can use just a couple of HTML tags to design paragraphs and paragraphs of text.

What are some other HTML tags that web designers frequently use?

and (for italics)
and (for underline)
(to create a single line break).
In most but not all cases, if you activate an HTML tag by enclosing it in these: s, you must also deactivate it at some point, as in and for italics shown above. An exception to this rule is , or paragraph separator tags, and or line breaks.

Specifying Multiple Text Characteristics Within a Single HTML Tag
HTML tags work in different ways, depending on the aspect of the design they're controlling. As I mentioned above, you can control all elements of web design via HTML code--page separation, text formatting, image placement, design layout, and hyperlink insertion. For this reason, one HTML tag can include multiple variables. This sounds a lot trickier than it is.

For example, a tag with multiple variables enclosed all in one of these: , can be used to format text. An equals (=) sign is used to specify multiple characteristics within a single HTML tag. To tag a section of text for font specs, begin with:

(but with no end spaces).

If you wanted to, you could also include a color for the text within that tag. The color is entered in the same way as the font face and size, and is named within its own set of quotation marks either in a basic name such as "black" or "red", or a 6-digit numerical code that begins with a number sign.

So, an HTML tag that designates a paragraph typed in Arial font at the 2nd smallest size of type, in the color black, would look like this:

All of the type that came after this HTML tag would take on the characteristics above. Once you wanted to "shut off" the font characteristics of that blurb of text, you would type the tag .

Using HTML Tags to Add Images to Your Web Page

Now suppose you wanted to add an image to your webpage. And let's assume the image was already located in the folder of your website where images are stored. In order to make the image appear in your NEW web page, you need:

1. the complete web address of your website (such as http://www.wordfeeder.com),

2. the folder (or subdirectory) on your server where images are kept, and
3. the file name of the image (ends in .jpg).

The HTML code used to "pick up" an image from a source is IMG SRC. As always, it belongs inside those handy bracket-things. So your tag would begin:

By typing that HTML tag with the specific web address and folder information/filename within quotation marks, the computer knows the origin of the image, and will then "hyperlink it" into your web page.

If you're ever unsure of the filepath of an image you need, go to the webpage where it's located and then right-click the image. Under "properties", you'll find the complete URL path that must be typed in between the two quotation marks that fall inside your Image Source tag.

Note: you do not need to "shut off" an image tag.

You can also include multiple variables within a single image tag. For example, if you wanted to left-align the above image, you'd edit the above tag to look like this:

Hyperlink Tags for Email and Website Addresses

Ever wonder how webmasters create live links? A live link might say something like, "Click here for more info!" and then when you click there, you're suddenly transported to a new web page. A live link is simply type covering a website address. Check it out:

Visit Wordfeeder for more info!
That's HTML code for "hyperlinked text". It looks weird, but think about it this way. The first part in that's enclosed in these: , is what turns on the "make the following words into a link that leads to the address I am typing here" function. The end tag, is what "shuts off" the "hypertext linking" feature and will then let you resume typing in normal, unlinked text.
As you can see, by typing a few simple HTML tags, you can create some pretty amazing things. This article is just the tip of the iceberg. I hope that the explanations and examples shown have at least provided a basic understanding of HTML for you. A great way to learn is by "studying" other people's web page code from the View>Source window. You practice by copying their HTML code into your own fake pages, and filling in the "meat" between their "on" and "off" tags with text and images that suit your own purposes. But be careful. If you paste HTML incorrectly, you can totally wreck and corrupt your document.
For folks who want to get into serious design, I highly recommend that you buy a comprehensive HTML guide. Once you get the hang of HTML, there's no telling what you can create!
Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

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HTML Explained: Part 1

Want to save money while promoting your web-based business? Of course you do. Here's some advice on the matter, from a freelance copywriter who knows: it pays to learn the basics of HTML.

If you're like me (stubborn), you've probably been dodging HTML for many years. All that code mushed together... it's distressing to look at! But here's the thing: HTML is your friend. He might be ugly, but he's a good guy to have on your side.

Once you get a basic understanding of how HTML works, the gibberish starts to make sense. And that's when you'll realize how easy it is to create web pages for your own business without having to 1. pay a designer thousands of dollars, or 2. purchase one of those expensive web design programs.

Let's start with a general explanation. HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. It's the basis for every single design element you see on a web page: layout, copy, image placement, links, music, animation, etc. People who design their sites using fancy web page creators with buttons and copy/paste features are merely controlling the HTML code via the program's graphic overlay. Underneath it all, the code's still there in its pure form. You can see it if you go to a webpage and then click View>Source from the top menu.

Easy Web Page Creation

You can create a professional-looking web page using HTML and the bare minimum of tools: a text program (such as Notepad) to write and save files in, a Web browser to view the files, and a photo-editing program such as Photoshop.
Ever visit a webpage and then click View>Source so you can stare at the "guts" and try to make sense of it? The text program that opens that page is the same one you'll use to create your own web page from scratch. Keep in mind, a text program is NOT the same as a word-processing program, such as Microsoft Word. If you use Word, you may accidentally save your file as a .DOC, and in doing so, create all kinds of coding problems that make your page look crazy. NEVER create web pages in Word!

Here are three salient points about writing HTML code.

1. Your text editing program does not recognize paragraph returns when you type them with the Enter key. You will separate your text manually, using HTML tags such as and .

2. HTML code does not differentiate between capitals and lowercase. Your tags can be typed either way and they'll still work no matter what.

3. HTML doesn't recognize Smart Quotes- those curly quote marks that Word and other word processing programs like to convert your straight quotes (or inch marks) into when you least expect it. HTML also doesn't recognize "curly" apostrophes (as opposed to straight ones, or footmarks). If you use these in your web documents, the computer will interpret them as code and fill your web page with gibberish. So DON'T USE SMART QUOTES OR CURVED APOSTROPHES!

Creating a Text Document: the Basis for Your Web Page

Start a new file in your text program such as Notepad, then save it with the .html extension. For example, you might name your file, "myfirstwebpage.html". Later, after you've entered your code into the text program, view the page as it will appear on the web by using a web browser such as Explorer or Netscape. Click File>Open, and then enter the name of your file. Viola! There's the web page that YOU created! The great thing about this feature is that you can keep on saving your text file and refreshing the browser page to track your progress.

Keep in mind that the pages you create and save as .html files won't be available for viewing on the internet until you publish them. This is done by purchasing a web hosting package through one of the major web hosting companies; for example, GoDaddy.com. You're required to "rent a space" for each web domain you own. But that's a topic for another article entirely.

Now that you know how easy it is to create your own web page, it's time to uncover the "secret" to HTML! HTML is logic-based; and for those of us who love a good logic puzzle, this is truly a beautiful thing. If you're ready for some HTML web design revelations, read HTML Explained: Part 2!

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

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