Computer Chit Chat

Archive for the ‘This and that’ Category

A recent encounter with a virus took my computer out of commission for almost a week. We actually had to wipe the hard drive and start from scratch. Good thing I only had the desktop and not a network of computers or I’d have really been in trouble.

GFI gave me a heads up on their new product, GFI Languard. GFI Languard is a network security scanner suitable for networks of all sizes including soho (small office - home office) such as the one I’d like to create in the future. This product has won awards year after year since 2002. It’s no wonder it is considered the #1 Windows commercial security scanner (voted by Nmap users for two years running).

What GFI LANguard does is scan the entire network for computers and then scan the computers for areas vulnerable to attack. Once the network scan is complete the software creates a report of which computers are vulnerable, what the vulnerabilities are and what the solutions are to those problems. Once you’ve got the report you can apply service packs, updates, patches as well as address other issues immediately with a couple of clicks.

I was fascinated by how many things a LANguard network audit can reveal, including which machines have weak passwords, where USB devices are connected, where unauthorized software was installed and what hardware has been added or removed since your previous audit. It will also tell you hardware specifics including memory, processors, display adapters, storage devices, motherboard details, printers, and ports in use.

GFI LANguard is available for companies with ten or more ip addresses and can be purchased directly from GFI or through one of their resellers. GFI recently announced that a fully functioning freeware version that will scan up to 5 ip addresses is available.

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• The cost of software

I have known about the software named Dragon Naturally Speaking for many years. When I was in computer sales I sold more than a few copies. Never having used it, I thought that what it did was type what you say. I didn’t know until I saw the below video, which was made by a fellow blogger named Brett, that Dragon can also transcribe recordings.

How cool is that! Brett’s also shared some information on how Dragon will quickly pay for itself, part of which I’ve shared below.

This is an excerpt from a white paper discussing how bloggers can earn more money through several different monetization and freelance writing services. It shows that bloggers that utilize Dragon Naturally Speaking can earn more money through these various services and how fast these extra earnings will pay for the software itself.

Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 Blogger Break Even Analysis with TextBroker.com Earnings

I would like to walk you through several different scenarios to help all of us understand better what our words are worth.
I would like to start first by talking about a company that pays people to write. They pay them to write based on the number of words that are written. The company is called text broker.com and they are out of Germany and relatively new. I’m starting with TextBroker.com because the business model is very simple. The models will get more complex as I go through some of the other popular blog revenue sources.

Text broker.com will pay a person approximately 7/10 of a cent for a single word. They charge their customers approximately 1 penny per word. And they sell this service at increments starting at 100 words and go up from there.
That’s what they do; now let’s see how Dragon Naturally Speaking can pay for itself!
So, I’d really like to talk about how much you can earn from them based on how fast you type.
If you type 35 words per minute, and you typed for 50 minutes straight, you could theoretically type 1750 words.
Now at seven tenths of a penny per word, that work would be $12.25 per hour assuming that you take a ten minute break every hour. If you work four hours a day doing this, that would be forty-nine dollars per day.
If you could type 105 words per minute, that would be 5250 words in a fifty minute period of time. At that rate, you would earn $36.75 per hour assuming the same ten minute breaks every hour.

Obviously you can earn more if you can type faster.
If you could type 150 words per minute, then under this formula you could earn $52.50 per hour. That’s almost 5 times more than you can earn if you type thirty-five words per hour.
So in this example there is definitely a value in typing faster!
There is a cost associated with being able to type as fast as well. You could go and take a typing class and learn how to type 150 words per minute. That might take you many months of school, and many years of practice.
It’s also possible, that you may never be able to achieve that speed with your fingers.
Alternatively, you could buy Dragon NaturallySpeaking and be able to do it before the night was out. Dragon NaturallySpeaking costs $99 for the basic version and $199 for the preferred version.
As I write this, there are coupon code or discount code offers that you can use to save more money off that price. The coupon codes vary from $25-$50 off the price. Typically a bigger discount is offered for the preferred version, which I use myself.
Now in our example, if you bought Dragon NaturallySpeaking for ninety-nine dollars, and you did not use the coupon code to save twenty-five dollars, you would be able type 150 words per minute, and if you could previously type 35 words per minute, then based on the extra money that you could earn by typing faster, you would be able to pay for Dragon NaturallySpeaking in less than three hours of work using textbroker.com.
It kind of seems like a no-brainer. In many ways, it is a no-brainer with one exception. Not everybody writes for textbroker.com.
If you consider how much additional money you might earn by using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, and consider how much more work you could do by being able to type at 150 words per minute, then you might be able to figure out how long it will take you to pay off the software with your earnings.
I will cover a number of other situations, which will highlight this using other examples where people that typically write a great deal, could benefit from using Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
If you have an example that you would like to share, please let me know, and I will be more than happy to share it with everyone.

Nuance is allowing us to offer our readers a 25% Discount Coupon CODE Exclusive for Dragon Naturally Speaking, but you must click the image below and use this code (DNSMSBG) Together. Code will not work from other sources.

Get Dragon Naturally Speaking using Discount code DNSMBG. You can get 25% off Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred.

If you’re interested in reading the rest of the white paper, it’s available at http://www.softduit.com/mavenmappersinformation/category/software/dragon-naturally-speaking/

Thanks Brett, for the terrific info and letting me share it! I found the video and white paper very interesting and informative, and it gave me food for thought. I plan on picking up Dragon for myself after my next computer upgrade.

This post sponsored by Nuance.

• Work smarter and healthier with Dragon
• The cost of software
• OIO Publisher on sale for $20

After putting in more than ten years in the computer industry I like to try and keep up with what’s happening in the industry. It’s partly habit and partly a desire to keep my knowledge of the field current. Sometimes I just don’t have time to read through tons of articles or visit a bunch of different sites. My favorite way to stay informed is by visiting sites that highlight what’s new and what’s hot at the time. Gadget Advisor is one of these sites.

Gadget Advisor hand picks their articles in order to offer visitors an overview of the biggest computing and tech news and the hottest gadgets at a quick glance. Those that are really into software releases and upgrades will look forward to more articles like their Blaze Media Pro review. One of my favorite articles on the site is about the Best Extensions for Firefox. The article offers lots of information and has become one of their most popular. The other article I found really useful is 34 Recommended Software Downloads of the Best Windows software. I’ll be checking back in hopes of seeing more of this type of article from them in the future.

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If you live in an area where Charter offers service then you’ll want to keep reading. Charter Communications is a company that offers cable television, high speed internet and phone service. The more services you get from them the more money you save. Charter is giving a car away to one lucky winner in their Save Green, Go Green Giveaway. Anyone that signs up for one or more Charter services receives an automatic entry into the contest. The one rule of this contest is that entrants must live in an area that Charter services to be eligible to win. You have to love a contest without a bunch of rules!

The prize is a 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid car, valued at over $24,000. What a fantastic prize! With the price of gas being what it is whoever wins this car is going to save a lot of money. They’ll not only save a lot of money by not having to buy a new car but they’ll save a lot of money on gas because the car is a hybrid. This Honda gets up to 45 miles per gallon on the highway. Holy cow! I’ll spare you the engine and transmission details except for saying that it’s a 4 cylinder so it gets great gas mileage. Instead I’ll tell you that it’s got a 160 watt sound system with a built in usb audio interface/mp3 player input. Why is that important? Well, since you won’t have to make payments on the car and since you’ll be saving a fortune on gas, you’ll actually be able to take a drive and listen to some music without worrying about how to afford the gas.

This contest is a win-win situation for you because you can save money with Charter’s packages and by spending less on gas. The planet wins because a hybrid car is better for the environment, which is good for everyone. I wish I lived in a Charter area.

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Ever see a phone number you don’t know on your caller id and wonder who it is? I have voicemail and yet every day when I come home I see between two and six calls from a number I don’t know that didn’t leave a message. When I see one on there several times a day and/or several days in a row I try to do a little investigative work. I’m sure there are lots of other people like me trying to find out who their annoying callers are.

Callerbase is a reverse lookup database. To use it you type the number you want to learn more about into the search box. You also have the option of searching by state or area code. Each time I used it I got results including whether the number was a land line or a mobile number, who the carrier was, what city and state it was located in and the ability to purchase more detailed information about the phone number. Both US and Canadian numbers can be searched using this site.

• Let’s chat about mailing lists
• How do you sell online?
• You can win a wii if you live in a Charter area

Many people are interested in managing their time and maximizing their income. If they aren’t they should be, because time truly is money. Expenses are also a part of money that it’s crucial to track. That’s what makes Journyx Timesheet such a great find. Journyx offers a free online time and expense management solution that can be used by anywhere from one to ten users. Because it’s a software solution, there are no more books and ledgers to keep, so you’ll save money on those items and the man hours it took to use them. Even if you have some one tracking all of this info in Excel it’s a good idea to check it out. If you use Journyx you’ll be freeing up yourExcel guru’s time to work on other projects.

You can do a lot of things with Journyx. Yes, Journyx manages payroll functions such as employee timesheets, attendance and vacations. But Journyx can also mange projects, expenses and client invoicing. To better understand what Jourynx does you really need to sign up for the free demo like I did. After downloading the complete version for free you can log in and play. Go ahead! Give it a test drive. Create a test project. While ideal for people that are self employed or those that own small businesses, Journyx could be used by any individual wanting to be more efficient and manage time better. Even bloggers can make great use of it to track how much time they spend working on their blog.

If you want to read about some , just visit their website.

• The cost of software
• Work smarter and healthier with Dragon
• How do you sell online?

Fuelmyblog and Tsheets.com want to know what people do in the first five minutes of their working day. One lucky person who answers this question on their blog will win an 80Gb iPod Classic or an 8Gb Nano.

You probably know Fuelmyblog as one of the most popular online blogger communities. TSheets is an affordable monthly service that offers a web-based timesheet system created to track hourly time from any computer or mobile device. The Tsheets website is well laid out and easy to understand. To use their language, it’s Triffic.

So, they want to know what I do in the first five minutes of my working day. I get up on a work day at 4am. I usually begin work at my day job at 6am. When I get to work the first thing I do is clock in. Then I go into the office and turn on my computer. Then I put the radio up on top of bookshelf on top of my desk (the only place I get reception) and turn it on. I open Outlook first and then the different apps and folders that I use all day. Then I go into the kitchen and make a pot of coffee. Then I go back to my desk and check my voicemail and email. By then almost ten minutes has gone by and I need that coffee. So, there you have it. That’s what I do in the first five minutes of my working day.

What do you do in the beginning of your work day?

• How Dragon Naturally Speaking increases earnings and pays for itself
• Journyx, free time and expense management software
• And the winner of the Computer Chit Chat Christmas Contest is…

I found out today that companies can now get customized Visa gift cards made. When I was in computer sales I won many gift cards and they all looked the same, you couldn’t tell which company you’d been awarded the card from once you took it out of the envelope. Companies can now get gift cards made with their logo on them, making it the perfect reward or award, or just a great way of saying thanks. There’s no minimum, so even small businesses are able to participate. What an ideal thing for a small business looking for a way to promote their brand! Take a look at these customized gift cards. They might be the perfect solution for you to thank an employee or client, award a prize or provide an incentive.

• Journyx, free time and expense management software
• Any small business owners out there?
• Let’s chat about mailing lists

Earlier this year a laptop belonging to Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield NJ was stolen and it contained the personal information of more than 300,000 people, me being one of them. It was at that time that I was forced to consider identity theft, and first heard of life lock.

Lifelock is a company that guarantees to protect the identity of their clients. Everyone can benefit from Lifelocks’s services. Hard working adults, both individuals and couples are common targets, but they are not the only victims of identity theft. Children are a big target because their identities are often left unchecked until they’re maturing and turning into adults so their identity may have been compromised long before. Noone deserves to be the victim of identity theft, especially a young person just starting out. People who have had their identities stolen are usually denied credit, because their credit has been damaged. Many people are judged by employers on the merit of their credit which could mean not getting a job or promotion. Here in New Jersey many find themselves not being eligible for insurance or paying a lot more for it because many of the auto insurance companies now factor your credit into your rate.

Noone is too old or too young to be concerned about identity theft. Every person should know the status of their credit and what’s on it. And anyone with credit should consider protecting it with Lifelock.

• The cost of software
• Let’s chat about mailing lists
• How Dragon Naturally Speaking increases earnings and pays for itself

Click Here for a Chance to Win a Nintendo Wii! Charter area residents that visit this site and register are put into a drawing for a complete Nintendo wii video game console system. The wii will come with everything needed to play out of the box including the console, a stand, sports games, one remote, one nunchuk, one sensor bar, one ac adapter and one av cable. Now that’s a great prize, because the wii is a really fun and hot game system. It is the best video console idea yet in my opinion, because it’s fun for the entire family while promoting exercise and movement.

While at the site Charter area residents can participate in an auction. The item being auctioned is a lifetime of Charter high speed internet. Qualified residents, determined by zip code, that are 18 years or older can participate. It doesn’t matter if you are a current Charter customer or not if your zip code is within the specified areas. People that meet the geographic requirement can preregister to bid from yesterday March 5, 2008 through March 11, 2008. Bidding begins on March 12, 2008 and ends on March 26, 2008. The bids will start at $10, and there is no reserve.

Good luck to all, for both the wii and the lifetime high speed internet!

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