Comments: Computers and Older People

Online Chat Rooms - More Than Just Virtual Friendship

Online Chat Rooms- the best teacher Chat Rooms- newest form of pen friendship

Virtual friends, even in the past were fun- you could just be yourself with the person you wrote to without any inhibitions. The newest form of this pen friendship is of course net friendship and there is no better way to make friends that to log on to online chat rooms. With lifestyles becoming hectic, wee office hours and more net savvy people, online chat is here to stay. With new technological innovations everyday, the cyber space is rapidly changing from the virtual space it has been. These days, you can talk real time and see the person you are chatting with through a video chat.

Networking on Online Chat Rooms

Social networking sites are good to network your way in finding people with similar sets of interests and professional preferences. But online chat rooms are better by a notch- you can find the room for exactly what you are searching for. Topic based sites are definitely a lot quicker and hassle free for any one. Say if you are looking at setting up a charity group, you might find a room specifically aimed at this. Most of these rooms are adjusted so that you do not have to bother about the communication going out of context. In fact, some of the best online chat rooms are commonly visited by very knowledgeable people and you can easily look at improving your knowledge base.

Respecting the Age Requirement Norms in Chat Rooms

Many online chat rooms require a minimum age requirement of 18 years to enter the chat portal. This is not to be mistaken for the chat room being inclined to either adult content or violent. This in fact is a good idea because often kids find it difficult to attend to the chat room norms and end up messing with the topic of discussion. Privacy also becomes an issue if kids participating in an adult chat room do not know how to protect themselves. Tender souls may be surprised and shocked at very naïve and innocent acts of adults and may lead adults to be more conscious unnecessarily.

Especially user created rooms and private rooms may be a zone where kids should no way be allowed as it could be offensive to both the child and the adult. So, it is better to choose a chat site that monitors the age requirement norms well.

Live chat sessions in online chat rooms can be the best way to experience the cultural diversity in the world. We all have studied in social science in our school days about how the Indians or the Japanese lived but such knowledge is of no use if we do not get real time experience. Chat rooms are the best way where by we can know about cultures from across the globe without actually visiting the places. And all this socializing and knowledge is free with the free online chat !

Gaming Hardware Guide - Learn What It Takes To Make A Gaming Computer

So you're into gaming, and you're looking to turn that shabby computer into a gaming powerhouse? You do not need unnecessarily expensive gaming computer though, you just need some decent gaming hardware.

If you do not exactly know what gaming hardware is, I've put together a guide explaining what it takes to have a gaming computer. You do not needily need all of these components, so I've broken them down by level of importance.

3D Video Card

First and foremost, if you have to have a decent video card to play the latest 3D games. You can have the best computer around, but if it has a cheap video card, 3D games will appear to run as slow as if you had a slow computer. You do not necessarily need the latest video card, because at the rate they come out it will be outdated in a few months anyway .. unless of course you have $ 500 burning a hole in your pocket and you really want to.

CPU

Since your CPU is the heart of the computer, this one is kind of obvious. Like most things, you do not need the fastest CPU around, but if you want a real gaming computer, you'll want something at or around 3 gigahertz (or 3000+ for you AMD enthusiasts).

You'll also want something that has a fast front side bus. It's usually best to find a motherboard and cpu that have similar front side bus speeds, because they work together, and the overall speed of the front side bus will only be as fast as the one with the slowest speed on it. It's kind of like driving a sports car on a highway with a 55 mile per hour speed limit, the car might be able to go 155, but the highway will only let you go 55.

Memory

Also known as Ram, it's what applications and games use to store information, the more the better. It's good to have at least 512 Megabytes, but real gamers have 750 megabytes, to 1 Gigabyte or more. Memory is extremely cheap these days, it's one of the cheapest and simplest upgrades you can do.

It's not only the amount that matters though, they also come in different times. DDR2 is the fastest, cheapest memory you can get right now. If you have SDRam, you'll probably want to upgrade your motherboard and CPU so you can have faster memory. It's kind of drastic, but your games will most likely be sluggish if your equipment is that old. Regular DDR is good enough for gaming, it just does not have the throughput that DDR2 does.

Motherboards

Today's fastest motherboards have faster Front Side Bus. The Front Side Bus (or FSB) is essentially the highway that runs from the CPU to the Ram, the bigger the highway, the more traffic it can handle at once, making calculations faster. Another thing to watch out for is what kinds of hard drives it supports. If you want SATA or SCSI drives, either your motherboard needs to support them, or you need to purchase an expansion card to plug them into. You'll also want a motherboard that supports the fastest computer memory you can get, which is currently DDR2.

Hard Drives

Hard drive speed may not sound important, but it can be one of many bottle necks that your computer runs into if it's not up to par with the rest of your computer. If you purchase regular IDE hard drives, you'll want at least 7200 rpm (rpm = rotations per minute, the more rotations the faster the drive).

If you want real speed though, you'll want a Serial ATA hard drive (SATA), which is one of the fastest hard drives you can get without buying server grade hard drives (SCSI), which are pretty expensive. Your motherboard has to support SATA or SCSI though if you plan to purchase these kinds of hard drives, or you have to have a PCI expansion card to plug them into.

Sound Card

If you want gaming quality sound, then you definitely need to replace that stock or built in sound card for a decent gaming sound card. And if you want the full effect, go for a dolby 5.1 surround sound enabled sound card for that super crisp sound your games can produce. Mix that with some 5.1 enabled speakers, and your gaming experience just took a new turn.

Computer Cases

Ok, so computer cases are not that important for speed, but if you want your new gaming computer to look slick too, then you need a nice colored case. Your friends will be jealous, and you will finally be able to look at your computer and smile, because it looks so awesome.

Portable iPhone Charger: What Are The Options?

Nothing is worse than having an amazing smartphone with little or no battery power. Seeing the dreaded "20% battery remaining" pop up as soon as you leave for the day is something I never want to see. Having a portable iPhone charger handy can keep your iPhone charged when it matters most. There are many portable iPhone chargers which can keep your iPhone charged when you are away from the USB or wall outlet, but which is the best? Below are four general categories of portable iPhone chargers to help you make your decision easier.

Standard Car Charger
Car chargers have been around long before the iPhone and continue to be a popular choice. Often times accessory packages include a car charger, which means in most cases users have a car charger for their iPhone from the start. While the car charger is a staple in portable chargers, its functions are quite limited. It's most obvious restriction is the fact you have to be in or around your vehicle to power up.

Battery powered charger
Battery powered mobile device chargers simply transfer the power from standard batteries (such as 2 AA) to your iPhone. Usually they are relatively cheap to buy plus easy to keep charged. Simply pop in the 2 AA (or similar) batteries and you're ready to go. One tip for if you plan on using a battery-powered charger regularly is to use rechargeable batteries. This will save you countless trips to a store as well as save money over time.

iPhone charging case
Charging cases are easy to use and provide ongoing power to your iPhone. Charging cases are basically an iPhone case that has a battery inside. The case surrounds all or most of the iPhone, and it charges an iPhone by connecting to the charging outlet at the bottom of the device. The case can be charged by plugging its charging cord into your computer's USB port (typically a micro or mini USB). Along with an improved battery life, iPhone charging cases also protect your iPhone from being damaged.

iPhone solar charger
iPhone solar chargers are great for anyone who is regular outdoors or by a window. There are two main categories of iPhone solar chargers- solar charging cases (similar standard charging cases) and off device solar chargers (connect to the iPhone via a charging cord). Most solar chargers are also capable of charging up from a USB which is a great way to charge the device faster as well as if there is no sun. With solar chargers you can continue add power to your charger without the need for batteries or an outlet.

Human Brain Computer Interfaces Start Now - Where Do We Go From Here?

I have very little doubt that in the future we will have computer chips on our skulls permanently attached or implanted underneath our skulls for human brain/computer interface. Perhaps you can get a PhD in any subject you want merely by purchasing the chip and having it implanted. Maybe you can get multiple PhD's in the subjects of your choice and then try to cross pollinate all that information in your mind to come up with new discoveries and innovations.

For those that don't want to think too much they may use these interfaces as communication tools for thought-swapping in a social networking type system. It's hard to say exactly how this will play out or which of these technologies will be available first, perhaps they all will be available over time. We are already starting to see it happen now, albeit with smart phone wristwatches and Google Glass. Still, is human evolution biology, that is to say is our human bio system, prepared for this next leap of technology? I'd like to discuss this with you if I might.

On October 29, 2013 Manufacturing (dot) net had an article titled; "Google Expands Sales of Internet-Connected Glasses," and now more people can buy these to test them out for the low price of $1500. Okay so, may I ask some important questions?

Has anyone considered the problems with brain cancer, having those electronics so close to the brain - or will the extra electro-magnetic energy actually help brain waves and cognition? These are questions I dare to ask as we brave this new technology - can anyone legitimately answer these questions? We were lied to about cell phone microwaves on the brain and some Swiss studies prove it, now the cell phones are no longer the same power setting - today much less, still we need to know as we start interfacing with the brain, we cannot afford to screw this up.

Perhaps there is a way around this problem. We do have to worry about visual degeneration diseases of the eyes, and perhaps we can solve this problem by taking the frequency at which these devices operate, running another similar frequency which is very close, and the difference between those two frequencies will cancel each other out and be set at a proper biorhythm frequency for an increased immune system or faster cognition - remember the brain is an organic electro-magnet device, so it will enjoy frequency at the proper doses and settings.

It may also be that when the human mind, optical nerve, and visual part of the brain as it is trying to move between nearsighted objects such as Google Glass' micro screen and off into our visual range in the real world that it will tax our brain in a new way, making more connections between our eyes and visual part of the brain. This may over time and use of these devices cause our brains to develop more strongly in those regions. Could this in turn make us smarter, become part of our add-on memory, and take human cognition to an entirely new level?

I believe it can if we are careful not to dismiss the challenges ahead when it comes to frequency pollution, and the potential for cancer or degenerative eye diseases using these high tech tools. Please consider all this and think on it.

The History of Hair Extensions

Hair extensions might seem like a new invention but in reality hair additions have been around as far back as the Egyptian times when both men and women work wigs. Since then hair pieces have been in and out of fashion ever since.

In 1800 fake hair was frowned upon and women left their hair to be natural until the Romantic era was in full swing when women wore elaborate Apollo knots. Come the mid Victorian era and hair pieces were used a lot more extensively. Then strangely in the early 20th century Edwardian women wore false hair additions to create the pompadour hairstyle which looked like a woman was wearing a teapot on her head. How that became fashionable I don't really know!

Around the 1920's less hair was the big thing so hair pieces took a dive around that time and it wasn't until the 1940s when long hair came back into fashion and women starting indulging again. Then in the 1960's big hair was back with a vengeance. Coils were the in thing or the updo as better known to us were seen of many women, this was created by very extravagant human hair pieces. Wigs made from real or fake hair were commonly worn around this time too and carried on into the early 70's. Come the 80's and big hair was in but only natural hair. Famous singers wore wigs but that was about it.

In the 1990's hair pieces or wigs became a lot more affordable to everyone, not just the rich and famous. The famous spice girl Victoria Beckham has been credited for the latest fashion of human hair extensions. When she first got together with her now husband David Beckham it was a time when public interest in the couple was at a all time high and they were both photographed all the time and would be found on the cover or most newspapers and magazines. With this sort of publicity everything about the couple was scrutinised. At that time pictures of Victoria were on the front of every paper or magazine with many different hair styles on view. Some days she had short hair, the next she had long and it was obviously these styles were created thanks to hair extensions. She even spoke about them and explained they were created with natural human hair which caused slight controversy as to where the hair came from.

Since then the trend has become much more widespread with lots of different people using them for different reasons. Teenagers looking for long hair have extensions as do older women trying to replace thinning hair. And many women use them just for special occasions. There are many different materials they are made from including a whole range of fake synthetics ones to gorgeous natural European hair.

Permanent hair extensions can cost a few hundred pounds for each application and they only last up to around 4 months. There are lots of different methods of attaching the hair some safer than others. With permanent hair extensions usually a small group of hair strands are collected which the hair is attached to. There are different types of adhesive including wax, glue, or heat all of which are not that great for your hair. When it comes to removing the extensions chemicals are needed and these can often leave hair damaged. Another option is to have the hair weaved on. It is known as 'wafting' and is a much safer option as no chemicals are needed.

The clip-on hair extensions come in a variety of different colours and lengths are the best option for non permanent hair pieces. They are very easy to use and as long as you get the right hair colour and texture of hair, no one will know your hair is fake. In fact I have sat next to a work colleague for months not realising that her long hair was in fact clip on hair pieces. It was only whilst getting ready for our Christmas works do that she pulled her hair off! I was shocked to say the least as her natural hair was just shoulder length and I had no idea.

How To Find Money In Your Budget For Charity

"I would love to give, but there are so many worthy charities out there that I can not decide." "The rich are able to afford to give to charity." I'm not rich. " "We should take care of those in need in our own country before we give to other countries." All are common excuses (or even reasons) for not giving up a little bit of what we have to help others who need. Most of us feel bad for those with less than us, and want to help, but can not see their way to finding funds within their budgets to reach out. Yet, each of us in North America, regardless of our imports, have the capacity to "discover" methods by which we can assist those people who are less fortunate than we may be. Yes, even the poorest of us can do so, and definitely the wealthy can redirect money to others, if we choose.

Recently, I visited Ocho Rios, Jamaica. My wife and I took none of the guided tours, ate at none of the tourist attractions, bought nothing from cruise ship-sponsored kiosks. Instead, we walked two miles back through the town center, beyond the acceptable tourist spots, through the local farmers market, behind the preparation areas hidden behind the pallets of local foods, among the local garden and "plantation" areas, and into the residences bordering the market. From there, we were able to see the contrast between the tarpaulin-roofed homes to the mansions of Mick Jagger and other "rich and famous" homeowners. It was overwhelming. But how could we, with only a hundred dollars or so, make any difference? And what right did I have to act so voyeuristically, peering into the desperate lives of these people as if they were zoo animals on display?

This private dissection served a purpose: it made me think, "how can I help?" I came up with several solutions.

First, I write for a living. That day, I began a new manuscript, calling on the images and experiences that day in Jamaica. I will be publishing it within the year, and every penny of revenues will be directed to Ocho Rios. If I were to simply hand over the cash to a relief agency, much of it might not make it into the hands of those in need. I expect to earn only a modest amount from this book. I know a couple from Jamaica who will take the money I earn each year, proceed to the farmers market, and discretely distribute money to several of the vendors. Every penny. What difference will it make? For a brief period, those families will benefit. And there is one solution, for each of us who cruise or take vacations in countries like Honduras, Belize, Jamaica, etc. Take half of the money that you had intended to spend on souvenirs, tours and local trips for yourself, and give it away discretely. Not willing to part with fifty percent? How about 10%? Any amount will help immediately.

Currently, I am involved in setting up a charitable housing project for low-income families in my home town. Habitat buildings homes for those with need, as well. These are worthwhile ventures. But, how about homes built for those with means, wealth? As an illustration, Family A plans on having a custom-built home constructed with a budget of $ 400,000. Two choices ca be made here that will generate a significant amount of charitable money. First, add 10% to the budget, to be donated to the charitable cause fund base. Or, insure that the costs be reduced by 10%, and donate that money to the cause. Now, locate tradesmen that are willing to donate one week of their time, free, to the construction of the home. Get them to set the fee that they would charge, and that money gets donated to the helping pot. Approach local lumberyards, and insist that they donate 10% of their costs to the charity. Be sure that the finances are transparent, so that everyone who has contributed can see that the money is going where it was committed. No one is out of pocket. Everyone has done their duty to help others. And you, the homeowner, has more than a "green" home. You have a home with a heart, of which you can be proud!

Donating time is one of the easiest ways to give to the world around you, and is as valuable as any money tossed into the pot. Use your own unique skills to make a difference.

How about our daily budgets? Start by monitoring, for six months, your food budget, your entertainment budget, your housing and clothing budget. Now, commit to trimming 10% of any or all of those budgets, and donating the amount to a charity for only two months of the year. It makes a difference quickly, and the "leaving out" of your budget diet will improve the health of your conscience.

How do we cut housing costs? Many utilities and local governments offer tips on how to conserve energy. Follow these guidelines, and part with only half of your savings. Any grants and rebates available can be similarly forwarded to charity, without cost to you.

How about clothes? I have a system of cycling my clothes to cut costs. My clothes start off as "going out on the town" wear. As they age, they become casual wear. Soon, they are working wear for doing household chores. Finally, they become rags, or are donated to thrift shops or recycling depots.

The food budget is the easiest in which to cut costs. One day a week, substitute high-quality foods for lower-cost items. Make every second alcoholic beverage a lower-cost item than you will normally drink (it may also lead to drinking less. Wonderful, is not it?). Make and buy meal items in bulk. Typically, you save between 6-14% in this manner. There are dozens of other strategies. But do not just cut costs and keep the savings. Be generous to others.

Lastly, a simple change in attitude will help you find an abundance of resources to share. Instead of looking at giving as an option, and as a task, look at it as an opportunity to play a more involved role in the world. Like your cup of coffee, embracing the world is addictive. Unlike tobacco, it is healthy and invigorating. It is not your duty to help others. It is your pleasure! Look different, not at the world, but at yourself, and how you see the world will change. Make a difference in yourself, so that you can make a difference in the world.