Leaning with Intent

Archive for December, 2008

The battle between the most popular search engines have been going on for years, and it seems that the top players are Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. Google is currently leading, but Microsoft is not giving up, and we can see that in its recent strategy and actions. This year, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft signed an agreement, which would result in HP personal computers shipped with Live Search set as default. It is an important event, because most people do not bother changing the default settings, as people are usually content and lack time or technical knowledge to do so. This might mean that Microsoft’s search engine will gain a lot of new users in the upcoming months/years, and we will see if this will be enough to turn the tide. Many people might say that it is unfair that Microsoft’s search engine will be set as a default, because it breaks the rules of fair competition. Many people will say that customers should have right to choose what search engine they prefer. I agree with that statement and I also strongly believe that we, as customers, should have a choice of which search engine to choose. However, let’s not forget that we have a choice of which search engine to set as a default and nobody can force us to use Microsoft.

While a lot of tech geeks are buying a new computer every year or two, there are also people who don’t pay that much attention to their hardware. This might be because they do not use their computers as often, or because they prefer to spend money on something else. Of course, this means that many programs or even operating systems such as Windows XP might not work as smoothly as the user would like. There are some tricks to improve the performance of your machine by disabling some features which Windows XP has enabled by default. One of the things which many people recommend is to disable indexing. Basically, indexing keeps a record of all files on your hard drive, but this is not something crucial or something that you would take advantage of, unless you are performing a search. You can disable it to get a performance boost by going to Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> Administrative Tools and double-clicking Services. Next, you should scroll to the indexing service, double click it and select Disabled from the Startup pull-down menu. This should improve your computer’s performance if your PC is not up to date. There are a lot of tricks like this to speed up your computer without buying new hardware, and often it is a good idea to take advantage out of such tips, instead of spending money.

If one monitor is not enough for you, you can always buy another one, if that will satisfy your needs. Both of them can be connected to the same computer if your graphic card supports that. There are many benefits of having at least two monitors:
1. You will have more than one desktop. This will give you more space to put all the necessary files you use. That can be quite handy if you work with many files like, for example, images.
2. Different monitors might be used for different purposes. One of them can be set to serve you as a working space (with emails etc) while another can be designated to serve as an entertainment station to play games, watch DVDs and listen to the music.
3. Many 3D games like Unreal Tournament or Microsoft’s Flight Simulator enable multiple monitors in order to enhance the gaming experience. Not many players have such a setup, but those who do, really appreciate it.
4. In business environments multiple monitors can be very handy as well, in order to allow employees to see more data on many monitors.
Ultimately, the decision whether to have a dual monitor setup is up to you, so you should take into account your needs.

In the recent years, we have been observing the influx of wireless devices. For example, there are more and more wireless keyboards models of computer mouse available, and many computer users are switching to this type of devices. I had many different keyboards and models of mouse. Some of them were wireless, so I am going to state my opinion. First of all, I am a person who likes my computer to be reliable, and I appreciate that I do not have to change batteries in my mouse or keyboard, which are not wireless. Wireless devices might be “cool”, but they are less reliable, because you might run out of batteries at any time, especially if you are not watching their life. Secondly, wireless devices are more expensive, because you need to buy batteries for them, and even if you use rechargeable batteries, they will not last longer than 3 years. Finally, I can say, that it is a matter of preference. If you do not mind taking care of your batteries on a regular basis, go for wireless devices. You will feel more comfortable knowing that you do not need to connect them anywhere, and that you can get rid of so many cables surrounding your computer.