Category Archives: Computers – Desktops, Laptops, Netbooks

Why Backups are Important for Businesses

Backing up your files is important if you have any critical data on your computer or on a server. Failing to back up your files can leave your vulnerable to a hacker, a corrupted server or a computer that becomes infected with a virus. Anyone who runs a business or has big projects saved on their computer should invest in disk to disk backup services.

Backups can be done using flash drives, dvd, external hard drives, etc

Having multiple copies of your data allows you to keep working on a secondary copy if your original is ever compromised. Instead of telling a customer that you don’t have their order information, you can call up your backup file to confirm any order that your customer has made.

Your boss isn’t going to be impressed if you aren’t ready for the big client meeting because you accidentally deleted the file that you were working on. It is likely that the client is going to be left with a lot of questions while you are left without a job after the meeting is over.

It is never a good idea to leave your files open to attack. It is easy and affordable to purchase additional copies of your data that can be stored and retrieved from almost anywhere in the world.

Should Your Cloud Be Public or Private?

Cloud computing seems to be in all of the computer headlines recently. Everywhere you look, someone is making some sort of reference to the cloud. Large companies all over the world have quickly adopted this new computer model. There are so many reasons that cloud computing is better, but there are two very different forms of cloud computing out there. Should you put your business into a public cloud, or is a private cloud a better solution. In order to find the answer to this question, it is important to know the differences in each type of cloud hosting.

Welcome to the Public Cloud

A public cloud hosting environment is also known as a shared cloud hosting environment. All of the virtual computing services are provided over an Internet connection. This Internet connection is public. There is little to no control over the access or the cloud infrastructure. This type of cloud hosting has several advantages. Public cloud hosting solutions offer simpler software, hardware and administration. There is also no expense associated with trying to develop an in-house cloud solution. All of the resources in a public cloud hosting environment are shared across the Internet. This means that companies will not have to manage or administer any of the hardware that is located within the cloud’s infrastructure. Public cloud hosting environments can be scaled up to meet a company’s needs. As a company grows, the public cloud hosting environment can grow with it.

 

Welcome to the Private Cloud

This sounds like some sort of private club, and it can be called several different things. The most common is private cloud, but some businesses refer to these cloud systems as an internal or enterprise cloud. A private cloud hosting environment does not serve all of the data through a public Internet. All of the data goes through a company’s private intranet. Private cloud hosting solutions cannot always be scaled up as quickly as a public cloud can. In a cloud computing private cloud environment, the computing power capacity is often determined by the hardware or software that is located within the private cloud.

Determining which cloud hosting solution is right for your business will really depend on your individual businesses needs. There are several companies out there that offer a wide variety of cloud hosting solutions. Scalematrix offers secure private cloud solutions, hybrid cloud solutions and cloud storage solutions.

In the end, determining which cloud hosting solution is best will really depend on your budget. Prices vary based on each service and provider.

How to Disable the F1 or Any Key in Windows

I’ve had my laptop, an HP Compaq CQ40-340TU, for almost 3 years now and, to be quite honest, it’s been mostly problematic using this after the first 8-10 months. It’s supposed to run on Windows Vista, but it was running too slowly so I had to downgrade the operating system to XP SP 3 (which is why I didn’t bring it in for repair.. plus this was purchased in Cebu 😀 ). I even wrote a tutorial on how to slipstream the SATA drivers and how to complete the whole downgrade process on my other blog. Since I was only using compatible drivers, eventually, everything else started failing.

Key Tweak - Keyboard Remapper - my savior!

I’ve long wanted to throw this one out or sell this. However, when I decided to restore this back into shape a couple of weeks ago, it actually cooperated and worked almost seamlessly. ALMOST. I had ONE tiny little problem – the F1 key got stuck.

Yeah, it’ll open up tens to hundreds windows of the Help Center. Since I disabled most of the Startup applications here, including Help Center because I don’t think anyone actually still uses it, it only opened up multiple instances of dialogue windows. It pissed me off bad enough that I had to finally resort to disabling it for good.

No, it’s not that there’s anything wrong with thehingesof the F1 key. I had to remove it completely and tried all sorts of things to disable it physically from being pressed, but it didn’t work. What sucks is it will slow down the whole bootup because it’ll continuously give the command to open my computer’s system information window. So, I searched for a way to tweak the registry to disable the F1 key completely and found a solution to my problem – Key Tweak.

Key Tweak actually works by editing the registry so you can map the keys or to reassign them. I’ve tried to do the registry editing manually to no avail. I tried 2 other applications before this, and they didn’t work as effectively.

So, how do you use this to disable any key on your keyboard? Read on.

Disclaimer: Please make sure you backup your registry before doing this. I cannot be blamed for any damage this software may cause on your computer. It worked for me and I sure hope it’ll work for you too.

 

Who Should Use Key Tweak?

Why would anyone use this program to disable keys? It can be for some various reasons:

  • You got one or more keys that are stuck.
  • Some of your keys are no longer functioning properly.
  • You hate accidentally pressing function keys when playing games, etc.
  • You want to assign / remap different tasks on the function keys or your any other key.
  • You have a persistently problematic laptop like mine. 😀
  • You want to play a prank on someone else. 😀

Key Tweak will edit this registry entry for you:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout

Again, I suggest you backup your registry first before continuing to the step-by-step procedures.

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Gadgets I Own and My Wish List

I admit, I’m not a gadget freak. I can go on a day or months without a new gadget and I won’t mind. Heck, when I first moved on from the Nokia 3210, it took me over 2 years before I finally decided to reward myself a Nokia 7610 for working so hard for years. 😀

Nokia 7610

I guess it’s the practicality of it all that keeps me from buying the latest gadgets. As they always say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it… or in my case, don’t replace it. So, for the past decade, I’ve only had 2 mobile phones and I only had to replace the first one ‘cause it was already broken. This is the one I’m using now, and I even got it as a prize from a Twitter giveaway (oh and I won another one from an international giveaway) – my Nokia 5230.

My Nokia 5230s

But, because of my brother, I gradually developed this love for gadgets, especially after I owned my first Apple iPad (again, I won it as a prize). I’m saying first because it’s no longer with me, but I’m planning on getting a new one – an Apple iPad 2 probably.

My Apple iPad

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My Fonts Addiction

C’mon, be honest. 😀 With dozens of sites that offer free downloads of fonts, I bet you have hundreds installed on your desktop or laptop.

Okay, I guess I’m just trying to find someone who’s addicted to fonts as I am. 😀 But, some may argue that my addiction to installing fonts on my computer can be justified by the fact that I’m a graphics / web / blog designer. And I use that excuse every time someone teases me to stop downloading more fonts already. 😀

Did you know that the terms font and typeface are actually NOT synonymous or interchangeable? Check these Wikipedia articles on fonts and typefaces. They’re pretty interesting. 🙂 But, to avoid confusion, I’ll just use font for this post. I don’t think I need to be politically correct here anyway.

As of today, I have 1,245 fonts installed on my computer. I have all sorts of fonts – serif, sans serif, script, ornamental, and even symbols / dingbats. Have I used all of them? No. Not yet, I mean. 😉

I want more fonts!!

Ever since I realized that I have this knack for playing with words or texts to come up with simple yet eye-catching posters, banners, etc., I started to accumulate more and more fonts almost weekly. My main download site is DaFont.com, of course. 🙂

Here are a few samples of my designs where I played with font styles, weights and sizes:

A banner I made for our monthly comments contest over at Orange Magazine TV’s blog:

  • The image, I borrowed from Deviantart. The quote, I read it somewhere.

Quit smoking banner I made for a blog post about it

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