MSN Smileys, Emoticons, Emotions and Avatars

The MSN Smiley and Emoticons Age has arrived

Communication is something that play a vital role in our daily lives. True enough, technology has effectively grasped the situation and has been rigorously devising ways on how to enhance these modes. Such innovations introduced today are that of SMS or Text Messaging, Mobile or Cellular devices, Instant Messaging and Video Conferencing. Each has their own way of making the manner of communication more lively and among the notable rave for most people today is that of getting smileys, emoticons and avatars to bring color towards how they would want to express their hidden identities.

While some find this awesome, there are sites that have made such opportunities as a stepping stone towards mischief as well. Some carry Trojans, viruses and hoax, supposedly harmless in a sense, but actually silently break some system files in computers, unknown to the person behind it. If such files or cookies can get past technology armed individuals, then anyone can just imagine how people who are clueless would be aware of such malicious acts unseen by them.
On the positive side, similar to that of blogging or article writing, these have gotten their share of creative minds and putting them into existence, most of which have been praised by people who have become addicted towards these add-ons.

Animation and cartoon enhancements are something that most people would always search for, and if one would look for them in the top search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN, millions of sites would turn out that can provide such emoticons, display pictures, avatars and emotions. Here are some good sights to check out that have such instant messaging enhacements from Idleplay:

Iconburst
Emoticonzone
Avatars and Emoticons
MSN Names and Meanings

Computer Troubleshooting: Formatting a PC as the Last Resort

The worst part about troubleshooting computers is having to format the entire system due to one reason or another such as:
1. Virus Infections
2. Spyware or Malware infections
3. System Corruption
4. Upgrading to higher specifications
5. Operating System conflicts
6. Hardware Failure

Formatting a computer may be easier said than done. Certain things should be done as well prior to anything else, and these include:
1. Back ups of files and important documents and spreadsheets
2. Software for Installation
3. Hardware Software Drivers

In most cases, formatting a computer is the last option a technical person would resort to. It is likened to simply taking out the trash. The bad thing about it is that sometimes, hardware replacements such as the Memory Chips, Motherboards, or even video cards can do the trick. Often, these solutions come at a point where it becomes a maze. Finding the right solution for the entire dilemma may either be fast or slow and in whichever case, even the best technicians will be scratching their heads for solutions.

I found this out trying to format an EPOX motherboard. I recall some years ago when I was still assembling and selling computer packages that this motherboard was indeed troublesome and was not that saleable. It was priced at a very low price, to bring down the price of the entire package for computer desktops. Hang ups and conflicts were said to occur after a certain period and surely, this has been something that I experience now. I only catered then for Jetway and ECS motherboards, two of the cheaper brands, but cost efficient backbone of a computer. To this day, I still use the ECS motherboard and it has been already 5 years without problems. Mostly, it is the software conflicts, but when one talks about hardware, this motherboard has given me less problems compared to this EPOX motherboard.

The lesson to be learned? Well, gather feedback first prior to anything else. Sometimes feedback on computers may be varied, but unless you experience it, well believe me, the experience is something you would want to discount. Besides, taking some time to compile such situations will be worth it, especially if it means lessening the headaches for products such as EPOX who offer cheap prices and cheap quality.

Simplicity of Understanding HTML Programming

How hard is it to understand HTML programming? Honestly, there are various softwares available, starting from the standard Microsoft Frontpage that comes along with usual Micosoft Office programs that are automatically needed by people to process documents and spreadsheets. Incidentally, people don’t give much attention to the Frontpage program, perhaps because they do not really maximize the bundled software package that Microsoft offers to its market base.

However, there are other developed software programs to make web page creation easier. For the other software developers who are exposed to programming, a lot will be surprised on how people can simply use the notepad as its main source for making attractive web pages. So it is really more on the scripting that needs focus for people to be able to understand what webpage authoring is all about. Of course, the creativity part is also another factor, since how can a person be able to produce an output if he has no vision of what to expect once his webpage is available online.

Free ware sites such as yahoo geocities and tripod offer basic tutorial and basic commands to allow people to put up their own webpage in the simplest form possible. After going through the usual commands and basic scripts needed for proper functionality of the webpage, this lights up their interest all the more and brings tem to more advanced techniques such as flash, embedded sounds or videos to enhance their web pages.

Web page can be typified towards making promotional materials as well. Advanced programs such as Macromedia Dreamweaver and Fireworks have provided web programmers a more extensive manner of being able to produce fine web pages with various techniques and enhancements. But a word of caution to aspiring web developers. Some designs and scripts may need time for a web page to load, and waiting is something that most people have little patience of. Hence, web pages should be done in its most simplest form but at the same time effective manner. It is more than just showing of complexity of knowledge and rather should be how a person is able to access a website without having to wait for the entire page to load up.

Waiting time may become a reason for people to browse other web sites that can immediately show their content, something that should be put into consideration prior to actual programming by web developers on the Internet.

Internet Relay Chat: Still The Best Internet Therapy for Stress

Internet Relay Chat may have died for me a long time ago, but somehow, I found myself once again trying to look for old buddies and friends who may possibly be around. Well, it wasn’t surprising, my former channel #lounge was no longer registered to me, and well, using my old handle seemed to be passé in a way so I just decided to be me.

When I chatted, it was an entirely new world for me. There are some familiar handles but most of them I cannot remember anymore. Even when it comes to trying to meet new people, my approach and confidence was unlike before. I was totally groping for form. Whichever the case, well, the people who make up IRC are still the same. Rude, obnoxious and some entertaining and great to converse with.
Of course I do not expect the same warm welcomes I had before, besides, I am a lot older now and most of the people who chat are usually a lot younger than me. Undernet still has the good quality of people compared to other servers. I tried Dalnet but the level of approach for some people still cannot be compared with that of Undernet.

Well, I met two or three girls, two I got to talk on the phone the other holding the same profession I have. Well, it is a nice way to kill time, especially for loners like me. I just hope I don’t run into childish people like before, but for sure, many of them are still lurking around. Oh and of course, there are still the infected handles, which, if anyone would happen to encounter, should not be accepted, otherwise its not only your IRC client that may infected but your whole computer as well, so be cautious!

Maximizing Online Storage with Yahoo Group Features

People always have this problem of saving their files or finding the best way to access them wherever they are at anytime. Sure, there are compact discs, the usual USB drive and the standard diskette, although the latter has a limited capacity, around 1.3 megabytes allowed only. For the people who are not that acquainted with the web, using the many resources like sites that offer a certain storage quota where they can store there files temporarily may be something due for consideration.

Of course, this is only limited towards the people who are not that well-versed of the web. Although some are already practicing such, the limitation is that the need for an Internet connection becomes the only hindrance for such.

The Yahoo Groups offers such a storage capability, even allows a person to store pictures separately from the files. All that is needed is for a person to create a yahoo group, and name it as he wishes. Of course the existence of a yahoo account makes it easier, especially for validation procedures.

For more information just visit the Yahoo Groups for a more detailed summary and procedure.

Information Tecnology, MBA and perhaps a Doctorate Degree

In my years of experience, handling Information Technology work and quickly excelling towards a managerial position, I found this work more of fun than being a professional. They say that the best way to excel at something you do is to find it easy to deal with and at the same time the hunger for advanced knowledge. Thanks to the Internet and various exposures to exhibits, IT shows and such, I can say that it has successfully been a big part of my career at some point.

Thus in 2005 became my year to explore other opportunities, those of which are in the other business related side. Continuing where I left out in 1998, I found the completion a resounding fulfillment of sorts, since it is so ironic that I stopped then to pursue my career in Information Technology. While I am sure that I have not covered all aspects of the IT career, venturing out into the business world and once again attaining a lead role, particularly an officer level status as of late have become two of my good sides in the professional side of my life. While I know it will take another couple of years to be able to establish my name again in this new role, combining my stored knowledge with my marketing endeavors shows great promise.

To this day, I am still fascinated with the fast evolution of technology, but at the same time, business practices need a new look, and hopefully, I will be able to do the same in the coming years and perhaps consider advancing to my next dream, that of which is to start my final goal, that of which is to attain a Doctorate Degree at the only other school I have not been able to go to, that of which is the University of the Philippines. Once accomplished, I have completed my task, that of which is to go to the top three schools in the country today, the others being De La Salle University where I got my Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Applications Majoring in Computer Applications and just recently at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business where I got my Masters in Business Administration Degree.

Funny Thing Called "BUGS"

No developed system is perfect. Definitely, there will be glitches, most of the time minor. These are often referred to as “bugs”, a defect in a routine program or code. Many would say that this is the bail out word that programmers and system developers use once their finished program is unable to create the necessary output, or worse, in times where in the system would suffer from a critical error that could eventually lead to system crashes or downtime. A good example is the operating system we are using, whether this be Microsoft Windows or Linux. There are periodical update patches that are advised to be download most of them critical to safeguard our computers from such untoward intrusions like “hackers” or the more commonly known “viruses” from creating havoc in our computers.

To declare that a company has a perfect system really depends as to how the programmers are able to effectively translate the workflow of a company’s operation into a working system. This is one reason why it takes some time before a systems development project group takes on the system architecture that they have laid out to meet their superior’s or client’s needs. Properly identifying these critical points is a must. Shortcuts to processes must be put at a minimum otherwise, this would just open the door for bugs, leading to criticism on the part of the project development group, and most likely leaving the door open for bugs to arise.

Systems development is really more than meets the eye. It needs a more thorough and deeper analysis of how to translate daily operations and procedures are done, and at the same time serving the necessary output expected from it. Systems should never be deemed as fully accomplished. They can be termed as developed “according to what the end user needs” but should also be left open for further enhancements. Especially in our day of age, most companies need more than just figures and graphs to determine the actual corporate stature, most top officials would want to go deeper, to the last centavo as they would typically term it. These are things not usually included in a developed system, rather a summary of the performance of that entity. Though these may not be categorically identified as “bugs”.