There’s been no slow down in the laptop market. Manufacturers are aiming to keep up with this but have warned that supplies could be small. It doesn’t seem like anything will hold back the rise of laptops at the moment. This is a business that is looking to develop on so many things all in one go so new trends and buzz is created all the time.

More manufacturers are realising that gaming notebooks is becoming big enough niche to enter. The price tags on new technology usually falls quick these days because everybody is always searching for the new thing to come out. In my opinion notebooks are pretty good for gaming. Performance is far advanced than before. Compact components that perform faster and are operate at lower temps also means that gone are the days of the giant laptop computers for gaming. Desktop Pc’s are greater in size and use greater amounts power so no matter how much better gaming notebooks have become desktops will always perform faster. I do not give it too long before we see ultra lightweight gaming notebooks on the streets.

Sometimes the popular mass market laptop computers just are not adequate for what we need them for so custom laptops will forever be about. On occasions, with larger companies the reliability of the main components is not that great. In my opinion being able to specify the cpu, ram and hard disk is optimally catered for the more hardcore users out there. Premade laptop computers are targeted for normal uses and not upto doing more specific tasks. Specialist users need custom notebooks for this reason. You can find of companies who sell straight to the buyer so there is a lot of choice too. The fact that there are options and rivals makes its very viable.

We’re observing some fairly awesome stuff at the minute and I question what will come next. A particular development I haven’t spoken off is the growth of inexpensive ultramobiles. I was never predicting so many people to like the product. I personally think that we’re likely to see feather weigth 15″ notebooks in the near future too. Manufacturers must be laboring on a solution to this by now. Manufacturers are packing more power into laptops and it looks like gaming notebooks will become thinner and lighter. Every year we get new products so who’s guessing what we’ll see next.

I’d personally recommend http://www.rizeon.com/gaming_laptops/page.php

As most of us had heard of p2p networks and services like Kazza and limewire what we don’t think about is that businesses are responsible for the activities on there networks. When an employee, vendor, or customer is on your businesses network do you know what they are doing? Well for businesses like Hotels, Internet Café’s, or Public Access Points you are at highest risk for users to abuse you network. You will need to restrict cretin activities or you will find you ISP terminating your service or worse getting sued from the RIAA or MPAA. For the rest of the business owners you might want to understand the risks of lax network security and the true cost you could pay. Employees might want to surf the internet when they are at break or though out the day. This can be fine if you have web filtering. Some issues faced with web surfing at work is that if an employee downloads or installs peer 2 peer software. The biggest problem with most peer 2 peer programs that 80%+ of the contend hosted in the networks is stolen copyrighted content or viruses. This means if the owners of the content notice the download your business is liable for the theft. Other issues are viruses and Trojan programs that might compromise your Businesses data.

Understanding the issues is the first step to preventing your business from liability. Most businesses that have avoided this issue are implementing Web filters, Network Security, and employee training. Some the of things you can do is make sure you have a firewall installed and understand the ports that peer 2 peer software uses and then you are on your way to blocking the software. Here is a list of the most popular P2P programs and networks. Hotels, internet cafes, public wireless spots, etc. should block these ports to avoid any copyright issues with the use of their internet access.

* BearShare, Mopheus, Limewire, Gnutella

6346 and 6347 TCP, UDP

* Kazza, Grokster

1214 TCP, UDP

* Autonp, BeNapster

6699 TCP

* Napster, Duskter, Gnap

6700 TCP

* Inapster, Jnap, WinMX

6701 TCP

* Edonkey

4661, 4662, 4665 TCP, UDP

* iMesh

4329 TCP

The above listed is just some of the most common peer 2 peer network software & ports. It is always recommended to consult you networking vendor to insure you have the most up to date software and hardware to protect you business. In addition to port blocking there are other things can do to help you businesses network. Impose network policies for all users and keep all you network protection software up to date (Anti-virus, Spyware, Ad blockers). Provide Training to you users to explain the risks of the internet. One of he biggest risks to business networks are the users and the only way to insure network safety is to make sure the users fully understand network policies. Once your users have an understanding of the risks online and fully understand there responsibilities as a network user. You are that much closer to a safe digital work place. As always most local network consulting firms can provide what I have discussed and you may need to take additional step to meet the needs of your business. With HIPPA and Sorbian Oxley there is no reason to risk liability on your company’s networks. As we see in the media every day more and more businesses have been learning the hard way about corporate liabilities.

Brian Wilson
CCNA, CSE, CCAI, MCP, Network+
Slimjim100@gmail.com
http://www.middlegeorgia.org
http://www.Middlegeorgia.info

Outokumpu Copper Franklin, a leading producer of copper and
copper alloy sheet, strip and tubular products has been on the
lean journey for two years, working to reduce waste throughout
the metalworking organization. The firm’s internal efforts to
reduce inventory and work towards production smoothing were
being hampered by a disconnection between the customers’ needs
and the company’s production efforts.

Metalworking Production and Purchasing September 2005 issue
features an article titled, “The Metalworking Lean initiative
and the Role of e-Kanban”; Thomas R. Cutler
(www.trcutlerinc.com) the leading manufacturing journalist in
North America authored the feature.

There are many variables that drive the goal of waste
elimination, none as keen as the need to be competitive in a
global economy. As metalworking organizations implement these
lean programs, no action item is providing the rapid benefits of
e-kanban. According to Cutler, estimates suggest that almost a
third of all metalworking manufacturers are presently engaged in
some type of Lean Manufacturing initiative.

Datacraft Solutions’ e-kanban: Real Time Production for
Metalworking Manufacturers

The company recently implemented an e-kanban solution by
Datacraft Solutions (www.datacraftsolutions.com) and according
to Scott Stringer, Outokumpu Operations Manager, “The e-kanban
system linked us and our customer’s production efforts real
time. We are now only producing what our customers are buying
NOW. There is no more “we need to build this just in case” due
the lack of linkage.”

Datacraft Solutions’ e-kanban: Savings for Metalworking
Manufactuers

The Datacraft Solutions’ e-kanban system has achieved savings
for Outokumpu Franklin in several key areas:

* It has reduced to zero the need for Outokumpu to build
inventory. All production is now initiated based on the
immediate needs of our customers. Inventory turns for e-kanban
parts are now at 62 turns per year.

* Time spent by customer service communicating on expedited
parts issues has practically been eliminated. They estimated
that customer service staff was spending 40% of their time on
just expediting part orders, as well as the chaos that this
created on the shop floor.

* Sales have increased with the benefit of the e-kanban program
because the copper manufacturer no longer uses capacity to build
parts without an order to buy NOW. 100% of production capacity
is utilized to build parts that are already sold as soon as they
hit the shipping dock.

Datacraft Solutions www.datacraftsolutions.com Matthew Marotta
800-819-5326

Sunday, my Windows computer decided it would start going crazy, and began rebooting randomly. I decided that before it went any further, I’d better pull all my latest data off that computer and onto my Mac Mini.

By the end of the evening, it was clear I was going to need a new computer. I had already planned on switching over from my Windows computer to a Mac, but the planned switch was originally supposed to be later this year. Well, needless to say, the timetable got pushed up.

There were several things that had been keeping me from switching. First, the cost of the Macs is quite a bit more than PC’s. Well, sort of. If you built a PC with the same basic configuration as a Mac, it’s about the same price, if not a little more. But Mac goes high end.

Second, there’s the learning curve. Let’s face it. Macs and Windows PCs do not operate in an identical fashion. Although they have many similarities (ie point and click with the mouse), they are not the same. So it takes time to get used to a Mac after using Windows since 1995 and earlier.

Finally, there’s the software. It’s a common misconception that you can’t get all the programs for Mac that you can for your Windows PC. While the programs are certainly not equivalent, I have yet to find a Mac program that cannot replace a Windows program I had.

Plan A, then, was to slowly make the transition to using my Mac Mini, while simultaneously continuing to use my Windows computer. My PC had other ideas. So Sunday night, I ordered an iMac. It came yesterday, three days after I ordered it. Brent Fuchs, my Mac consultant and photographer helped me set it up, and we pulled the last few files off my Windows PC.

And it was a good thing, too. Brent was also scrapping the PC for parts to sell online. I had an email in my inbox this morning that the remainder of my PC had officially died, actually smoking when Brent was testing some hardware.

I’m looking forward to using the Mac full-time. It is certainly more stable than Windows, and a lot more user-friendly. Granted, it is different, but I think after a couple of weeks using it full-time, I should be used to it.

Now to get all new software.

Tim is the owner and senior web designer at T&S Web Design. His company has developed and maintained website for dozens of small businesses and organizations. Tim also maintains a blog with free website advice for small business owners, GetASiteOnline.com.

Want to see a free persuasive speech example?

So, you’ve read about finding your own persuasive speech topic, and you want to see an example of an entire persuasive speech? I’m happy to let you see one of mine for free… even though it’s part of my new book, even though you might give it yourself without giving me credit, go ahead!

Give me credit if you can… but I hope it’s a great example for you so you can learn to write your own speech, and that you might like the content and think about buying my book.

(Actually - remember the following insight in case you ever write a book - turning part of my book into a speech made that section better! When you write your persuasive speech, you can do a typed version, edit that on the computer, then read it out loud, then change the parts that don’t sound natural. I ended up using the speech incarnation of this instead of the pre-speech version in my book.)

I don’t think the whole speech will fit here, but you can download it here: http://pulsemed.org/Achieve%20Health%20Goals%20Free%20Persuasive%20Speech.doc

Toastmasters International’s Professional Speaker Manual #5 - Motivation - “Acheive Your Health Goals”

1.Intro
a.Hook
i.How much is your health worth? Is anything more important than well being?
ii.Is it worth more than your money? Could you enjoy your money without your health? Maybe you’ve heard the saying that in the first part of our lives we use up our health getting money, and then in the second part we have spend all our money to get our health back
iii.Most of us live how we want until our health interferes - then we want ASAP to escape the disease that came from our lifestyle so that we can hurry up and get back to the same way of life that made us sick.
iv.Good living requires more than generally ignoring your health and occasionally running from disease. Good living has to include well being, an even higher standard of comfort, peace, and physical and mental capacity.
v.You might easily agree that well being is important, but do you have have realistic goals for achieving more well being? Have you put these goals high on the daily priority list?
b.I want to suggest three things to you - that you:
i.Face the facts about what wellness is, and your state of health
ii.Create wellness goals
iii.Achieve them
c.Hopefully, we share some Common Values, Beliefs, and Wisdom:
i.Self improvement is essential to a satisfying life
ii.Persistence and Discipline are keys to success in any endeavor
iii.I’d like you to apply your interest in self improvement to your well being, and do it with discipline and persistence.
2.Preview
a.Tonight, I’m going to give you some insight on the difference between avoiding disease, and striving for well-being.
b.I’m going to clarify for you what well being is, and what the benefits of striving for it are.
c.I’m going to make it crystal clear why it’s common sense to live in a way that prevents disease.
d.Finally I’ll give you examples of wellness goals, and then tell you how to increase your chances of achieving them.
3.Stories
a.First, let’s talk about a writer who had a life-changing experience.
i.Norm Cousins was the editor of the Saturday review for 40 years, and wrote a dozen books and 100’s of essays.
ii.In the ’60s Cousins was stricken with a crippling and life-threatening disease.
iii.Western medicine had no solution for him, so he devised his own healing regimen that consisted primarily of laughter. He watched endless episodes of Laurel and Hardy, and Abbot and Costello, and laughed his way back to health. He wrote a book about this experience called Anatomy of an Illness
iv.He subsequently participated in a UCLA task force to examine the impact of positive emotions and attitudes on human illness, and out of that grew a mind-body research center named after him
v.It took a life-threatening disease to turn Norman Cousins’s interests and priorities toward prevention and well being.
vi.But one of the marks of wisdom is the ability to learn from other people’s mistakes without having to make them yourself
vii.We can learn start putting well being first right now. We don’t have to wait for a life-threatening, or quality of life-changing disease.
viii.Besides, if we did, there’s no guarantee that if we did wait, we’d be able to recover as Cousins did. Our very life may depend on getting it right the first time.
ix.According to Chinese medicine’s oldest book, from 200 B.C., “The sages of old didn’t treat the sick they treated those who were well… If a disease has already broken out and is only treated then isn’t that like waiting for thirst before digging a well or waiting until the battle begins to make your weapons?”
b.One objection to living preventively is this: Everyone wants to bring up the old farmer who ate 10 pounds of sausage and eggs, smoked 4 packs of cigarettes, and worked 10 hours in the fields EVERY DAY and finally died peacefully in his sleep at age 99 - Obviously, I’ve exaggerated some things- but these people with strong constitutions who can live however they want and still feel good are rare, and notice in the example, he did physical exertion 10 hours a day! The rest of us don’t get much exercise, and sit in chairs and on couches most of the day, so we’re more sensitive to stress and what we eat. As Plato said, “We have made of ourselves living cesspools and driven doctors to invent names for our diseases.”
c.But what about the weak constitution? Is there any hope for them? One of my favorite movie quotes is from the 13th warrior - a weaponless arab swordsman teams up with a group of friendly Vikings who give him one of their swords - he says, “I can’t fight with this- It’s too heavy!” The Viking Leader laughs and declares, “Grow Stronger!” Young Theodore Roosevelt was a nearsighted, asthmatic, frail bookworm. Because of his frequent asthma attacks, he also loved the outdoors and fresh air. He always took numerous hunting and camping trips. When he was twelve, his father challenged him to develop his physical stature, and he responded, spending hours in the gym. In college, he rowed, boxed, rode horseback, and camped. He became a cowboy, and then a sheriff. At 40, he resigned from his Navy post to lead the “Rough Riders” a volunteer cavalry unit, in the war against Spain and became known for his heroism in battle. He was mountain climbing when his vice-presidency ended with McKinley’s assassination, and he won re-election after that term. After presidency, he went on an African safari to hunt big game, and then immediately toured Europe. He was shot while campaigning at age 54 - the bullet had punctured his right lung, but he still gave his scheduled speech before going to the hospital (remember that next time you think about bowing out of your TM commitment!). A year later, he explored the River of Doubt in Brazil. He died of a heart attack at age 61, but in those years he lived more life than 3 average men, and live more vitally because of his devotion to exertion.
d.What is wellness? Most of my patients come to see me because they’re desperate to get relief from some pain or disease - these are great motivators! But sometimes I get others who go through my health questionnaires for some other reason, and they invariably realize they had more health problems than they had thought. They either weren’t paying attention to them, or they had unknowingly lowered their standards to match their slowly eroding quality of life. So, even people who don’t think they have any diseases still may not experience optimal wellness.
e.What’s the difference between disease treatment and wellness? One means ignoring reality until a negative thing happens, then running from it. The other means envisioning a positive, and striving to attain it. Our own experience teaches us how miserable a life is that consists of sticking our heads in the sand and then putting out fires. Hopefully, you also have some experience with making positive goals and achieving them, and the school of hard knocks has taught you it’s the better way.
f.If you haven’t committed to wellness, created health goals, and aren’t striving to achieve them, then you’re just waiting for your health to disappear.
g.Thomas Edison said, “The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition,” and a co founder of Johns Hopkins University and one of the most influential and exemplary MD’s ever, William Osler said, “One of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine.” In Chinese medicine, we look at acupuncture, herbs, drugs, and surgery as medical interventions for disease, to be used as a last resort- when they are needed, it means we already failed to live well. The norm these days is that almost everyone is so out of balance that they need some degree of medical intervention. No one ever taught us how to live well, to safeguard our energy, to balance ourselves with the seasons, etc.
h.Albert Schweitzer was a doctor who spent 50 years in Africa fighting leprosy and sleeping sickness, and for that won the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize. He once said, “It’s supposed to be a secret but I’ll tell you anyway. We doctors do nothing. We only help and encourage the doctor within.” He also said, “Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his willhis personal responsibility.” Most of us have given up some of our power over our own well being. We want the physicians and scientists to solve the problem of health for us. Instead of changing our exercise and eating habits, we try the next miracle pill. To be sure, drugs are necessary in many situations, but only because our lifestyles took us to a place of disease. As Schweitzer says, we need to take responsibility for our own health. You have more power than you think over your well being - take responsibility for it, and make it happen!
i.Car maintenance
i.If you never changed the oil in your car, the engine wears on itself, and eventually can seize up beyond repair. The common sense of preventive measures is why we have schedule maintenance check-ups, 6 month dental cleanings, and yearly physicals.
ii.However, most medical checkups are too short, and are focused on disease, not wellness. They aren’t thorough enough to help you live in optimal health.
4.How can you fact the facts about well being and the state of your health?
a.I’m putting a lot of information in the Prevention and Optimal Living book I’m writing. To help you measure your state of health, and see how constructive your lifestyle is or isn’t, I’ve created a series of quizzes - they’ll also be in my book, but I’d be happy to get you the rough copies if you just can’t wait.
b.But you need to know what you can expect from wellness: Comfortable breathing, no pain anywhere in your body, the ability to go into any reasonable environment without getting a cold or flu, a reasonable appetite, perfect digestion, the perfect bowel movement - comes out easy, doesn’t smell, and doesn’t require a whole roll of toilet paper to clean up, no PMS, perfect vision and hearing, easy, restful, restorative sleep, staying asleep all night, and waking up refreshed and invigorated, staying alert and energetic throughout the day, emotional balance, serenity, peace, patience, and an open heart and mind
5.What are some Examples of the Goals I want you to set for yourselves?
a.The most important things you can change to improve your wellness are your eating habits, exercise, rest, and emotions.
b.I’m going to exercise 3 times per week, or even more primary: I’m going to try every form of exercise I can until I find the ones I love to do.
c.I’m going to eat the foods that Chinese medicine says will balance out my patterns of imbalance.
d.I’m going to do a relaxing or spiritual activity for a half an hour, 4x per week
e.I’m going to have a peaceful dinner with friends or family at least 3 times per week.
f.All of these will help you achieve greater well being and prevent more disease.
6.How Can You Achieve Them?
a.With persistence and discipline. We’ll never be perfect, so the most important thing is that you make progress. John Wooden, the most winning college basketball coach in history said, “Success is being as prepared as you can possibly be- being the best you that you can be.” He also said, “People usually know what they should do to get what they want. They just won’t do it. They won’t pay the price. Understand that there is a price to be paid for achieving anything of significance. You must be willing to pay the price.” But don’t get overwhelmed- If you don’t start, you’re continuing to fail. Just pick one thing to work on, and get started. Just do it!
b.Another key is teamwork. If you find someone, a group of people, or even just one person who also wants to commit to well being, you can meet weekly to talk about your progress and help each other. If you have trouble during the week, you can call them. Just knowing there are others with the same purpose will refresh your enthusiasm.
c.Cicero said, “Men decide far more problems by hate, love, sorrow, joy, hope, or fear, than by reality, authority, or any legal standard.” So, get to know what well being is, and learn to love it. Identify your unhealthy habits, and develop a seething hate, a real disgust for them. Healthy people like healthy people, so you’re more likely to find love and romance when you nourish your own well being - unless you’re looking for a really sick partner, or a partner who digs really sick people,. Think about what a pity it is that some people are killing themselves day after day, whether intentionally or out of ignorance, with their poor lifestyles. Develop a positive and hopeful picture of your future and how important well being is to it - most likely, every dream and goal you have already assumes that you will feel well enough to enjoy it once you achieve it.

About the Author

Brian has been a public speaker for five years, a guest on national radio shows, is president of his local speaking club, teaches medicine, and is the author of Powerful Body, Peaceful Mind: How to Heal Yourself with Foods, Herbs, and Acupressure (http://www.pulsemed.org/).