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Review: MoneyMoose
2008-01-21 15:00:00
There are many financial and business related blogs on the Internet. Most, if not all of these blogs take the world of finance very seriously. I don't blame them, I take it very seriously at times myself.Every now and then I come across a Web site that seems to go against the grain. In this case, a blog called MoneyMoose takes a more light-hearted, and humourous approach to the business world.Web Site: MoneyMooseDescription: MoneyMoose.com provides a humorous take on the oft serious and unfunny world of business and money today. It features the latest business news and commentary, guides for investing your money, and some financial quick tips. It's even got some graphics. Fancy graphics.Design The design of MoneyMoose is nice and easy to navigate. Two sidebars, one on the left and one on the right provide the navigation, while the actual content is displayed between them. The author has chosen nice, complementing colours that are easy to look at and also makes the text on the...
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Entrecard - The Good and Bad
2008-01-18 15:00:00
Some time ago, I joined Entrecard, which allows you to advertise your blog's business card (a 125x125 pixel image) on other blogs. You do this by earning Entrecard credits, and then spending those credits advertising on other blogs.Recently, there has been talk about whether Entrecard is good to join, and whether traffic generated from it is good or bad traffic. Just as with other new ventures, Entrecard has both good and bad points that I will outline in this post.About EntrecardEntrecard exploded on the blogging scene a few months ago and has since been growing very quickly. In the past, there have been many companies and Web site s that have promised to increase traffic to your blog, and most have failed. Entrecard, in my opinion, has succeeded, to some degree.Entrecard is free to join for anyone with a blog. All you need is to design a 125x125 pixel image, called a business card, for your blog and upload it to Entrecard. You then place the Entrecard widget on your blog.You then ...
More About: Good , The Good

Dell Inspiron 6400 - Three Unknown Base System Devices
2008-01-16 15:00:00
I am not a fan of Windows Vista, which is the reason I still use XP. I am used to XP, have learned to make it work the way I want it, so I'm not in a hurry to upgrade.About a year ago, someone I know purchased an Inspiron 6400 laptop from Dell and tried to get XP installed on it instead of Vista. They had no luck and ended up with Vista. Recently, they have decided to remove Vista and install XP on that same laptop, and asked me to do it. No problem, at least until I ended up with three devices that weren't recognized by XP.If you have an Inspiron 6400 and have noticed three Base System Devices in the device manager, then I will explain how to correct that issue in this post.Hardware and Windows XPAs I mentioned above, I recently was tasked with installing Windows XP on a Dell Inspiron 6400 that once had Vista installed. The one problem I encountered was that all the hardware installed was new, so XP didn't have any drivers included.I went onto the Dell support Web site and dow...
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Review: Listen. Are you Listening?
2008-01-14 15:00:00
I recently reviewed a blog that was focused on the movie industry, only it had replaced humans in each movie with cats. For this week's review I will look at another movie site that provides movie reviews and previews without the cats.The author of this week's blog has provided a blog that includes links to some upcoming movies as well as short and sweet reviewsWeb Site: Listen . Are you Listening ?Description: A blog consisting of film reviews.Design The design of Listen. Are you Listening? is very simple with the content on the left side and a navigation sidebar on the right. The background is simply white, and the text a dark grey, which provides a nice contrast for reading.The title of the blog at the top is in green and the tagline is in a very light grey, which does make it hard to read. Choosing a darker green and grey can make it easier to see.The font size chosen for the blog is very small and can be hard to read for some. Increasing the font size for the content and t...
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DNS Issue when Accessing a Web Page
2008-01-11 15:00:00
I recently experienced a problem that looked like a DNS error. The error appeared in the web browser after trying to load a Web page. I have never seen the error message before, but after reading the message it was easy to determine it had to do with domain name servers.After doing some testing, and then research, I was able to find a solution to the problem.The ErrorWhen attempting to load a Web page, the following error was displayed in the Web browser:You are seeing this page because the current domain is not configured in the current set of name servers or your domain is being parked.This is usually just a temporary error while the domain is being added. Once the domain is configured this page will expire and your correct site will be shown.If your system administrator is having you use the wrong resolving name servers you will want to notify them of this mistake right away.If you are looking for free resolving name servers (for desktop and personal computers) we suggest you use...
More About: Networking , Page , Issue

Types of Broadband Internet Access
2008-01-09 15:00:00
I remember when I first connected to the Internet I used a 56Kbps modem over the phone line. Back then, that was considered fast as many users were using 14.4Kbps or 288Kbps modems. Since then, however, the Internet has evolved and so has the connection methods.In this post I explain broadband, and the various types of options available to a home user. This post will not touch on all options, but it will explain the types of connections currently common today.What is Broadband ?The term "broadband" is a common term you here when discussing an Internet connection. Up until the last few years, most people used modems over a phone line that would download data at a rate of up to 56kbps. Back then the World Wide Web was made up of mainly static HTML pages and nothing more than that.Today, the Web has become more of a social and multimedia medium than just plain static HTML pages. This is one of the reasons people are switching to broadband or high-speed Internet connections. Broadband in...
More About: Technology , Networking , Access

Review: Poopsies
2008-01-07 15:00:00
After taking a short vacation during the holiday season, I have returned to publishing posts, and reviews to Technically Easy. This week I have reviewed a blog that is focused mainly on a subject that I have very limited knowledge about: anime.Anime is very popular among some people, however, I have never gotten into that type of animation. The authors', yes there are two, of the blog Poopsies are indeed fans of anime, as well as toys, manga, and video games. They have created the blog Poopsies to share their interests in the topics, but does it flow nicely together and stay focused on their topics?Web Site: PoopsiesDescription: A blog about anime, manga, video games, toys and figures and other related things.Design The design of Poopsies is a standard, simple design with the content on the left side and an navigation sidebar on the right. The blog does use light colours for the text, with gray for the content text and heading, and pink for the navigational text. This can make...
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Review: Moviecat
2007-12-24 15:00:00
I enjoy reading blogs and Web sites that are humorous, mainly because life can be serious at times, so reading something funny is a change of pace. Many of the funny Web sites, however, can have recycled content, or content that I have seen many times before.This week, I review a blog that, if you are a cat person, can be seen as amusing. I, myself, am more of a dog person, but I still found this week's site rather impressive. I review the blog Moviecat this week.Design Moviecat consists of a simple design with both left and right navigation bars. At the top of the left navigation bar is a compact and simple menu for navigating around the site. There is also a list of film reviews created by the author and some advertising.The right navigation bar consists of the site's sponsor's, some other advertising and some links the author has enjoyed in the past. One thing that stands out with the navigation bars is the amount of advertising. It appears to drown out some of the conten...
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Alexa and Traffic Rank
2007-12-21 15:00:00
There is much debate about using the traffic ranking data from Alexa . Some sites, such as the paid review sites, use it to determine the amount of traffic your site receives. Many individual webmasters don't care much for the data as it doesn't present an accurate picture of traffic.I don't put too much stock into the actual ranking on Alexa, as it may not provide a complete traffic picture. I do, however, know that many sites and individuals use it as sort of a gauge as to the amount of traffic your site gets. In this post I'll explain what Alexa is, and provide a simple, yet controversial method of increasing your traffic rank.About AlexaAlexa is an Internet company founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat. Amazon.com acquired Alexa in 1999 for $250 million in Amazon stock, and is currently a subsidiary of Amazon.com.The company offered a toolbar that visitors can download and install for free. This toolbar is still available and is used by Alexa to record traffic t...
More About: Traffic , Rank , Web site

Internet Explorer Not Connecting to the Internet
2007-12-19 15:00:00
Recently I received an e-mail from someone who was having trouble getting Internet Explorer to connect to the Internet. Various other programs, such as e-mail, were able to connect, however, the browser was having difficulty.As I always like to do, I decided to see if I can help. It is more difficult via e-mail to solve computer problems, but a few checks and some investigation I was able to determine the issue behind the browser. I provide my findings in this post.Connection IssuesThe person having issues explained that Messenger and Outlook were connecting no problem, but Internet Explorer was display a message indicated the Web page could not be displayed. Seeing as Messenger and Outlook were both connecting, I immediately eliminated any connection issues to the Internet Service Provider. I decided to concentrate on the browser itself.At first, I thought it may me a DNS cache issue. I had the user run ipconfig /flushdns from the command prompt to attempt to clear any local DNS ca...
More About: Security , The Internet

Review: Suburbian Queen
2007-12-17 15:00:00
All the previous blogs that I reviewed had a set focus that was easy to determine once you read the blog. This week's review is a little bit of a change. There are probably millions of blogs on the Internet, and a great many of them are personal blogs where the author just rights about anything. I review a blog that falls into this category this week.Suburbian Queen is written by a mother of 2 who obviously enjoys writing on her blog. Although the focus may be a little hard to determine, her posts are far from boring.Design The design of Suburbian Queen is a simple design with the main content on the left, and a navigation bar on the right. The provides an easy to read layout for the blog.There are a few flaws that I can see in the current design of the blog. The first is the background image. I found it too distracting, and think a solid grey colour, or a faded image in the background would be better. Another issue I found with the design in the fact that all text is bolded....
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RSSHugger - A New Method of Generating Blog Traffic
2007-12-14 15:00:00
When I started this blog several months ago, one of the big questions was how to generate traffic. There is a lot of advice on the Internet about how to accomplish this goal, and for the most part it takes time.I have recently noticed, however, the many new sites that are appearing specifically targeting blogs. These new sites are designed to help generate traffic to our blog, and in this post I will discuss one of these new sites called RSSHugger.What is RSSHugger?RSSHugger allows a blogger to publish their blog's feed and increase traffic to their blog. It was started by Collin LaHay, an experienced entrepreneur, search engine optimizer and Internet marketer (according to the about page on RSSHugger). The original goal of RSSHugger was to get 50,000 blogs to sign up with a $10 fee, however, the goal has now been increased to 250,000 blogs within the first year.Collin has changed the sign up procedure in that a blogger no longer needs to pay a fee to publish their RSS feed on the...
More About: Blog Traffic , Traffic , Blogging , Blog , Method

Tips To Speed Up Windows XP - Part 2
2007-12-12 15:00:00
I recently wrote a post titled Tips to Speed Up Windows XP, which provided easy ways of speeding up Windows XP. Many of those tips were easy to implement, and depending on your computer, you may not have noticed any large performance gain.In this post I will explain how to gain possible even more performance gain but stopping unneeded Windows XP services. This is a more advanced method of gaining performance from your computer.About Windows ServicesA Windows service is an application that can be started when Windows starts and runs in the background until either it is stopped, or Windows is shut down. Services can be set to automatically start, start when it is needed (manual) or be set to disable, which means it never starts. Each service that is started is loaded and runs in the background.The easiest way of displaying a list of installed services, as well as see which ones are currently running is to do the following:Click Start->Run to open the Run dialog.Type services.msc and c...
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Review: The Path To Total Financial Freedom
2007-12-10 15:00:00
There is much information on the Internet today that discusses how to make money online. Everyone appears to have a method that works for them, but what it all comes down to is hard work and dedication.In this review I look at, not only a ways of making money, but also of increasing your traffic and online presence as well. This week I look at the blog The Path To Total Financial Freedom .Design When I first viewed the blog, I noticed that it consisted of a left navigation sidebar and a content section. As I scrolled down the page I quickly realized that the design of the blog was the weakest part of it.Although there is a navigation bar on the left, it didn't help provide an easy means of navigating through the blog. A blog will usually consist of a category list and an archives selection method. Although there is an archives list further down the page, I had trouble finding anything that resembled a categories list.The sidebar was confusing as it consisted of many jumbled a...
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Entrecard - An Easy Way to Get More Blog Traffic
2007-12-07 15:00:00
There is some buzz surrounding the newest way of generating traffic to your blog, and it costs nothing. It is a unique concept and is very easy to implement on your blog and use it on other blogs. Entrecard was founded by Graham Langdom, the creator of the Million Dollar Wiki, and is completely free to those who want to use it.I will provide an overview of what Entrecard is exactly and how you can use it to generate traffic.How it WorksThe who premise of Entrecard is based around a business card for you blog and credits. Every blog on Entrecard is allowed to upload on 125x125 pixel image to act as their business card. This business card is then placed on another blog as advertisement for your blog.This means that what image you upload has a great effect as to how many visitors your will get. If you create an interesting business card, then you will probably get many visitors.Now before you can submit your business card to any blog, you will first need to earn credits. Credits are th...
More About: Blog Traffic , Traffic , Blogging , Blog , Easy

Downloaded Fonts not Showing in Windows
2007-12-05 15:00:00
I recently decided to design a logo for a new blog that someone I knew was about to start. While looking through the fonts installed on my computer, I couldn't find the right font to use. I didn't have any additional fonts other than the ones that were installed with Windows XP, so I decided to search online for some new fonts.I was able to find two fonts that I thought would work for the logo, so I downloaded and extracted the fonts into the correct directory. When I opened up Photoshop to use the new fonts, they didn't show up in the list. I also checked Word to see if they appeared there, but they weren't available in that application as well.I decided to look into the problem and see if I can get the fonts to work properly. I did manage to fix the problem, and have provided to solutions you can try if you are having problems with installing fonts.Extract and Copy MethodMost fonts that you download from the Web are usually compressed inside zip files. To use these fonts, you ...
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Review: tenforty
2007-12-03 15:00:00
Many blog authors like to write about personal experiences, which can be a refreshing change to those who like to read blogs. It's nice to read about someone's experiences on what they have done, or would like to do. For those that write a blog on their travels, the photos they take and display add to the enjoyment of the blogs as many of the photos provide a windows into another country and culture.In this post I review a blog that provides both great content and photos to locations in the eastern part of the world. You may not understand the title: tenforty, but once you read the description of the title on the blog you will understand.Design When I first looked at tenforty one word came to mind: blue. The entire site is mainly various shades of blue. If you are not a fan of that colour, then this may not be the blog for you. Blue is my favourite colour, however, I do have my limits to the amount of blue that I like to see.Unfortunately, the right navigation bar's backgrou...
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Tips to Speed Up Windows Xp
2007-11-30 15:00:00
Although Windows XP is not the newest operating system from Microsoft (Windows Vista is the new version), I find that there are still many people that prefer XP over Vista. I, for one, am one of those people that prefers XP instead of Vista. I find it a faster more reliable operating system.I have been using XP for many years now, and have at times looked for ways to tweak the operating system to get the most performance out of my computer. There are many tweak tips on the Internet, many true and many false, but I have decided to put together a simple list that you can use to make you version of XP run faster.Simple XP Speed Tips There are a few simple changes that you can make to XP that will help speed up the system. Some of the tips provided here may also make your system more stable and secure.Stop unneeded programs from starting when Windows XP starts. This is perhaps one of the quickest ways to speed at least the startup of XP. This may also increase the stability of your syste...
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Getting Colour Values from Web Site Templates
2007-11-28 15:00:00
Many of us aren't the greatest Web site designers, or just don't have time to design one, and because of this we rely on templates that others have created. The only problem with this is we may not understand how the entire Web site is designed with regards to files used and the layout of the site.One issue that I have recently read about is getting the values for the site colours to use with Google Adsense. The template user wanted to know how to get the colours from the template to blend in the Adsense ads with the site. The problem a user may have is reading the cascading stylesheets that come with a template to find the correct colours. In this post I will show how to retreive a colour from a Web site without look at the cascading stylesheets.Using an Image EditorThis method may seem long when you read it, but it basically involves taking a screenshot of the Web site, pasting it into an image editor and then retrieving the colour.In this example I will use Windows Paint and Wi...
More About: Design , Templates , Site , Colour , Values

Review: Web Mash
2007-11-26 15:00:00
With Technically Easy I try to write posts that are both informational as well as helpful. I am a more serious blog as compared to other blogs. There are many types of blogs that people have authored, informational, personal, witty, or funny, as is the case with Web Mash .It is nice to just get away from the pressures of life and just kick back and laugh and just have fun, and that is just what this blog provides.Design The design of Web Mash is a fairly simple design with a single left navigation bar and then the main content page. The title of the blog is simple and pushed into the upper left corner. It took some time for me to see that and know that click the title is how to get back to the home page. The reason for that is the images in the content captured my eyes first.The font family and font size chosen for the blog is nice and large and easy to read. If you have trouble reading small fonts, you should have no problem reading this blog. It is sometimes rare to find a blo...
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About Colour Management
2007-11-23 15:00:00
For those who like to edit and print your pictures with the same colours you see on a computer monitor, then learning how to manage colours is very important. Although the colours may look similar between a printed photo and how it is displayed on a computer monitor, chances are that there is some colour differences.In this post I will discuss what colour management is, and how best to use it to reproduce the colours in the photos you see on your monitor.Devices and Colour sIf you were to show a thousand people various shades of red and ask each one to point to the true red colour, you will probably get a thousand different answers. Each person has their own opinion on what the colour red looks like. Devices to some degree are no different.There are many devices that deal with colours: scanners, printers, digital cameras and monitors. If they all displayed the same colour the same way, then there wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, each device displays colours differently so if yo...
More About: Management , Digital Cameras , Scanning

Automating Computer Maintenance
2007-11-21 15:00:00
I have written several posts in the past regarding regular computer maintenance. Keeping a regular maintenance schedule is important if you would like to protect yourself against viruses and spyware, as well as maintaining the computer performance. My latest post title Regular Computer Maintenance provided a tutorial on performing some standard maintenance on your computer.In addition to the information provided in that post, there is an automated way of virus and spyware scanning as well as defragging your hard drive, all without you having to worry about it in the future. This post explains how to accomplish this.The ToolsBefore we begin to automate the maintenance tasks it is important to first introduce the tools that will help us. We will be using a virus scanner, spyware scanner, and a defrag program. The tools I have chosen are all free, and can be run from the command line, or a DOS prompt.The tools are:Virus Scanner - AVGSpyware Scanner - Spybot - Search & DestroyDefrag...
More About: Security , Windows , Tena

Review: Matts Nutts Blog
2007-11-19 15:00:00
There is much information on various Web sites devoted to SEO, WordPress or blogging in general. Many simply display the same information that is provided on other sites, while others provide the information in a badly designed Web site.This week I look at Matts Nutts which is focused on SEO, WordPress and blogging. The blog provides original posts with a nice clean design that will help others succeed in the world of blogging.Design When I first looked at Matts Nutts I was immediately impressed with the look of the blog. I found it very easy on the eyes with a nice selection of colours. All colours on the blog seem to fit together nicely with none of the colours feeling out of place. I thought even the search bar with an completely different colour than the rest of the blog was a nice touch. It made the search bar stand out with is a nice plus if you would like to find specific information.I like the fact that the header wasn?t too big and allowed at least one full post to app...
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Scanning Photos and Negatives Resolution
2007-11-16 15:00:00
I have began archiving the photos and negatives that are conveniently stored away in boxes. It is a great undertaking, but one that I?m sure I?ll enjoy. I describe my organizing method in my post titled Data Archiving Method. The one issue I have had, however, is determining the resolutions I will use for the digital archives.There are many questions about resolution with regards to scanning. I haven?t found any conclusive evidence on which resolutiosn to use, but I have made up my mind as to which ones I will use.PhotographsOne of the most debated points with regards to scanning pictures, negatives, and slides is the resolution to use. The general consensus is to print at 300dpi (dots per inch), so what should we be scanning the original in at? The answer to that question is it depends. Let?s take a look at how resolution plays a roll in the printing of a picture.Suppose you have a 4x6 photo that you want to scan in and eventually print. You scan the document in at 300dpi with th...
More About: Photos , Scanning , Resolution

Free Web Site Statistics
2007-11-14 15:00:00
I have seen many posts in various forums regarding where to get Web site statistics. There are many statistics package that can be purchased and installed on a Web server, but many Web site authors are on a host that they don’t own.The two most common online statistics packages available are Google Analytics and StatCounter. I have used both in the past and will be reviewing them in this post.Google AnalyticsMany people recommend this as their choice for keeping track of their Web site statistics. It provides a very detailed look at the visitors to your site, and is completely free to use.The statistics are organized into different sections: Dashboard, Visitors, Traffic Sources, Content and Goals. With the exception of Dashboard, the remaining sections all have subsections that provide more detailed information.The first view that is shown when accessing Google Analytics is that of the Dashboard. This page provides an overview of your Web site statistics over the past month. Item...
More About: Free , Site , Statistics

Review: Weight Loss Weapons Blog
2007-11-12 15:00:00
I mentioned in my last post that I will post reviews of Web sites and blogs for free. This is my first review and I am very familiar with the parent Web site of the blog that I have reviewed. The blog is managed by someone I have conversed with on Website Babble and have witnessed the development of the Web site.The focus of the Weight Loss Weapons blog is simply the author sharing his experience about losing weight, but without the pills and the programs. Does the blog provide enough information to help you with losing weight that is easy to read and follow? Read the review to find out.Design The design of the Weight Loss Weapons blog is very similar to the parent Web site, although the blue colours seem to be a little darker on the blog. This may have been done to set the two apart. In general, the blues that the author chose are nice and are easy on the eyes. This allows you to read the content without being distracted.The navigational bar is to the right, but the list i...
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Free Web Site or Blog Review
2007-11-09 15:00:00
I have been thinking about how generating backlinks is a great way of getting exposure for your Web site or blog. It takes time an effort to generate backlinks to your Web site, and it is a never ending experience.I have decided to help out those who have a Web site but are having trouble getting others to link to them. I?ll even go one step further than provide a backlink: I?ll write a full review about the Web site in a future post.The details about getting a review of your Web site can be found in this post.Requesting a Review To get a review done about your Web site, you simply need to contact me in the e-mail address provided on Technically Easy. When you do send an e-mail, include the following:Your Web site name.Your Web site URL.A description of your Web site.Your name and e-mail address. (Don?t worry these won?t be published in the review).I?m interested in relatively new Web sites and blogs to help them out, but I do have my limits. I won?t review sites that only have a...
More About: Free , Blog , Site

Forum of Helpful Web Site Advice
2007-11-07 15:00:00
I attempt to provide useful advice on various technologies in use today on Technically Easy. There are many times that I find myself looking for answers to some of my technological questions on other Web site s.When I started this blog I was new to blogging and to some degree Web site management. There are many aspects to designing a Web site that I hadn?t thought about before. I have found a very helpful Web site that I?ll share with you in this post.Website Babble Forum sThe Web site is called Website Babble, and is a forums frequented by those who have experienced many of the pitfalls of Web site management. The administrator of the Web site is Lisa, who many know online. She has created a successful online business through her Web sites. This is what many of those who start Web sites strive to be like.In the past, I have registered to various forums and Web sites only to not login after the first time. I also found that on many of those forums it seems that asking certain quest...
More About: Advice , Blogging , Site

Different Methods of Connecting Multiple Computers to One Internet Connecti
2007-11-02 14:00:00
One of my most popular posts is titled Connecting Multiple Computers to Broadband which explains how to connect a router to your modem to allow many computers to connect to your Internet connection. The post explained the simplest method of connection multiple computers, but there are other ways to connect multiple computers.I will explain several other methods that you can use to connect computers to one Internet connection.Number of Computers to Connect to a RouterI have noticed that one of the most frequent questions that I get about connecting multiple computers is "how many computers can I connect to my router"? The answer to this question is the same as most other tech answers: "it depends."Each router only has so many ports that you can connect a computer into, and each connected computer requires the use of some of the router?s memory. That?s right, a router has internal memory. From what I have read, the new versions of the Linksys WRT54G router actually has less memory tha...
More About: Technology , Networking , Methods

Data Archiving Method
2007-10-31 14:00:00
I have recently begun backing up my data such as photos (both digital and film), videos, and other files so that in case something happens, I will not lose my irreplaceable data. There is always much discussion on the best ways to archive data, and I have my way. Many may agree and disagree with my method, but this one works for me.In this post I will explain my method, as well as the reasons I chose to use the tools and storage devices.Organizing and Labelling the Data Before I begin to archive the data, I first organize the data, as well as set some labeling standards. The archival process is much easier once you have organized all your files, photos, and whatever else you will be archiving.If you plan to scan photos, slides, negatives, or other documents, you should separate them into groups, either by date or people. This will help you to keep certain items together within your archives.Once you have organized your data, you should create a labeling scheme to make it easier for y...
More About: Technology , Method