Laptop computers and the PVP effect!Written by Tom Fox
Roll over lumbering desktop computers, limber laptop is here, and it's here to stay! For a while now notebooks have outstripped their ageing desktop PC siblings, easily winning gold medal in computer sales olympics. We will illustrate how PVP effect has contributed greatly to increase in popularity of notebook computers.(P) Portability: Firstly it may be stating obvious, but people buy laptops because they can take them anywhere. Office workers need no more be confined to their claustrophophic cubicles. Instead those statistic charts and data reports can be compiled on a train, in comfort of an arm chair, or even on beach! Portability equals flexibility, but alas this hasn't always been case. Todays ultra portable laptop computers have a come along way since bulky, sewing machine sized machines of late seventies and early eighties. Indeed one of first portable computers was built by IBM, and this machine (IBM 5100) weighed in at a hefty 50lbs! Today's corridor warriors would have trouble lugging that puppy from meeting to meeting, unless of course they subjected themselves to an intensive dose of steroids :)
| | Detangling the Web--Beware SpywareWritten by Matt McGovern
Did you know that most major Web sites--some of them popular and respected Web sites--download unwanted spyware on your computer when you visit? At its most benign level, spyware is used by Web sites to track your browsing and purchasing habits. Taken a step further, spyware might even capture personally identifiable data and credit card information. * SPYWARE IS NOT THE SAME AS A VIRUS A misconception for many is that anti-virus software protects from these unwanted intrusions. But that's not case. Just as a "virus" in real world is different from a "bacteria" or "parasite," same can be said of a virus in cyber- world. It's NOT same as spyware. Anti-virus software protects against KNOWN computer virus attacks. A virus is best described as malicious programming code intended to replicate itself and in so doing render a user's computer system or network inoperable. Spyware is something different. It's meant to stealthily co-exist with your computer's system and program files, tracking and reporting information through your Internet Explorer browser--usually without your knowledge. Like a parasite, spyware infects host with hooks into your computer's registry and system files--hooks that you most likely don't know about. * TOUGH STUFF At it's most insidious, spyware parasites can actually hijack or take over your Web browser--making it non-responsive to your commands, and forcing you to sites against your will. Recovering from a spyware infection can sometimes be a daunting and frustrating task. But luckily there are resources available to help guard against getting infected by this silent menace.
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