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December 02 Determining Photo Web Site RequirementsWhen trying to determine what type of web site you need and how many photos it will support, the size of the photos and the amount of web site storage space are the critical considerations. To help you determine, how large each photo will be (in megabytes), here's a web site that can provide a good reference - http://web.forret.com/tools/megapixel_chart.asp - and below is an example of how you would use this web site to help you determine how much web site storage space you will need.
Step 1 – Look up your camera on the web site. Let's assume we have a 5 Megapixel (MP) camera that is not on the list. We will use the 5 MP camera under the "Standards" list. Clicking on this link shows us that a 100% JPG (JPG100) image will consume 1.5 megabytes (MB) of storage space. The JPG or JPEG image format is the most common format and is the best format for the web. It is the smallest in size of all the formats and provides good quality for viewing on a web site.
Step 2 – Estimate the maximum number of photos you will have on your site at any one time. Suppose you will have no more than 200 photos at any one time on your web site. Total storage required = 200 photos X 1.5 MB = 300 MB Add 20% to the Total Storage Required as a buffer. This makes the total 450 MB of space needed for 200 photos.
Step 3 – Find the lowest cost web hosting plan that gives you enough storage space. Fortunately, most web hosting companies will easily accommodate the space we need in their lowest priced plan. At HelpMyWebsite, the Economy Plan ($3.99 per month) gives you 10 Gigabytes (GB) of storage which will easily accommodate our example needs. To quickly build a website with photos, you can use Website Tonight and the built-in Photo Gallery, or an add-on photo gallery, to get started. These are all included for free with any domain name purchase.
August 08 Internet Web Filters and Parenting ControlsAs a parent and a computer professional, I'm always looking for ways to protect my family from the darker side of the Internet while not preventing them from doing what they really need to do and not sucking up all the bandwidth of our Internet connection. Over the years I have looked at many different reviews of Internet filtering software for the home and tried various Parental Control software packages. No matter if it is Net Nanny, CyberPatrol, Parental Filter (free software), Microsoft Live OneCare Family Safety software, or the built-in Vista Parental Control software; they all suffer from the same shortcomings
Recently, I started using a new service called OpenDNS. OpenDNS is primarily a Domain Naming System service. (DNS is how your computer knows how to find something like www.yahoo.com.) On top of this service, they provide Internet filtering that you can configure from their web site. The service is free and is supported by adds that appear when you use their search engine or a website is blocked. Some of their main features are as follows: Content Filtering
I've been using it for about 1 month and like the service so far. It covers my entire home network just by configuring my DHCP router to use the OpenDNS servers instead of my ISP's. I encourage you to check it out. If you have questions or want assistance setting it up, please feel free to contact me at jeff.copeland@helpmyoffice.net.
Jeff Copeland
April 21 Web CollaborationWeb collaboration can save you and your business time (and maybe money). Do you need to find information, find people, find places, get directions, arrange a meeting, share documents, work with others in another location, be notified of changes, learn from expert opinions, have your information follow you wherever you go, keep track of friends, family, or business associates; or get your ideas and products in front of a large audience? Whew!!! That's a lot! If you answered yes to any of these, Web 2.0 is for you.
The following services and tools offer these capabilities. iGoogle Google Apps
Digg Del.icio.us - bookmarks that follow you wherever you go and are ranked by other Internet users. MeetUp MySpace Microsoft OfficeLive Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007
Windows SharePoint Services
WebEx (now part of Cisco)
GoToMyPC
TeamViewer
Microsoft Live Communication Server (instant messaging, internet meetings)
Some of these are hosted solutions and some of these you can implement in-house.
More Vista TalkWell...I recently helped one customer move from an older Windows XP laptop to a new Windows Vista laptop. So far so good. It did not have Windows Vista SP1 when he bought it from the store and Windows Update would not present him with the option to install SP1 because he had some .NET Framework security updates that failed to install. Come to find out, his laptop had all the correct .NET Framework versions so we downloaded the larger version of SP1 from Microsoft and installed it ourselves. It really seemed to make a difference in the performance of the laptop. He had one problem with a "no-name" USB hard drive but that was about it.
I also went ahead and recommended Vista SP1 for a customer who was still using Windows ME!
 I figured if she had to learn something new, she might as well learn Vista instead of XP. Either way, she will be MUCH happier than she has been with Windows ME!  So...I still issue the Vista warnings regarding older hardware and the non-SP1 version of Vista. But if you have mostly newer printers, scanners, monitors, video cards, and external hard drives, you may be fine with Vista. Just make sure you get plenty of RAM.
-- Jeff March 28 Windows Vista – Is it right for me?From what I’m hearing from my customers, I’m recommending that people stick with Windows XP as long as they can. If you do decide to upgrade or get a new PC with Vista, please remember the following guidelines: · You need 1 gigabyte of RAM for normal everyday use; for multimedia applications and heavy use, you should go ahead and get 2 gigabytes. · If you are upgrading an existing PC, check with your video card manufacturer, your printer manufacturer, and any software you run to make sure it is compatible with Windows Vista. This seems to be where most of the heartache and wasted time comes from. · If you can wait until Service Pack 1 is released, you will be better off since most of the kinks will be worked out already.
July 26 Password Management
Personal Password Management How many website user names and passwords do you have? If you are inundated with them like me and can never remember the password, try the Password Minder program by Keith Brown. Install this nifty utility on your PC and only have to worry with one master password from now on! Operating Systems - Which One?The computer operating system you use depends on a number of factors:
The table below gives you a good start on deciding which one is right for you.
Remember, you don't always have to have the "latest and greatest." Sometimes it pays to led others lead (or bleed) the way while you are being productive!
Viruses and Spyware DefinedWe've all heard of viruses and spyware but do we really understand the terms? Here's some quick definitions and what you need to know to protect your computer and data.
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