THE INTERNET AND YOUR BUSINESS.

The internet is an online interconnected computer networks that share or circulate information around the network. The present advancement in technology has presented us with diverse form of electronic devices (ranging from Tablet, Laptop, Palm top, Smartphone, PDAs, etc) that are internet enable and this has now reduced dependence on hard copy materials/printed materials (Paper Advertisement, Billboard, poster of all sortetc) Life is gradually shifting towards online services where deluge of information is obtained with convenience when compare to the hard copies materials. For instance, if one desire to know what is happening in his/her surroundings, normally the individual is to go to the vendor and purchase newspaper, but with your electronic device today, be it smartphone, tablet, PCs and what have you, all that you need is to hit your browser right in the comfort of your room or bed and you will be provided with more than you have requested on online.Increase the effectiveness of your advertisement, Print advertising is static, while the web is dynamic and boundless. Once you have a website up and running, let your print advertising include your website address where pictures, text, tables and forms can help you get your message across.

                                        WHY DO YOU NEED A WEBSITE?

 

Website is an online data that is always available to communicates with prospects and customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and present you beyond your locality. With a website, the location of your business is not a barrier to your clients/customers who are spread abroad because your services can be accessed anywhere in the world and you can as well be contacted. You need a website because that is what market youwhere you are absent, your customers can get to know you and your products via your website at their convenience. Your website can be better in a way than passing out your business card catalogue to thousands of people. Having a website is like opening a door and inviting potential customers into your business. So, do not wait and procrastinate any further, expand your reach across the world.

Gathers customer/client feedback, answer questions by using forms and customized email address that suite your business to allow your clients to communicate with you effectively. Whether your website is built for customers or employees, web–based communication and email communication are cost–effective and time–saving devices.Another outstanding benefit of your website is that, it get you found by the search engine like google.com, ask.com, Youtube.com, ebay.com, amazon.cometc. that people use to find what they need. Sells directly at e–commerce can dramatically reduce expensive overhead while delivering a 24/7 ‘sales force’. Even if you don’t sell your product online, your website gives you the opportunity to distinguish your company or organization from the crowd and provide you client easy access to you with 95% confident.

Reaching today’s consumer. Today’s emerging generation has never known life without a digital world of connection. According to statistics, over 78% of the world population are online and if you add the growth of social media (Facebook, Google+, Skype, twitter etc) to that, it becomes evident that without a credible web presence, you don’t exist for an expanding segment of your target market.
The interesting aspect of business today is competition. The sooner you gain a presence on the web, the better it is for you and your business. Your competitors know this too. Increasingly, your clients are making their decisions based on the standard of your website. A useable and engaging website can help to level the playing field between the local and global companies. The advantage you have been on the web cannot be over emphasized and time will definitely fail us to tell you the nitty gritty. You are reading this article now because we are on the web. Join the web today to enlist your business among the global business.
Do you want to grow your business online? Contact us todayfor your website

Computer Program that Lets Users Learn Keyboard Shortcuts With Minimal Effort.

A computer scientist from Saarbrucken has developed software which assists users in identifying and learning shortcuts so that they can become as fast as expert users. This new interface mechanism is easy to integrate in programs using a toolbar, a menu or ribbons as a graphical user interface.

If somebody wants to shift text elements within a Word document from one position to another, he usually uses the mouse. This procedure is rather cumbersome for the user, since he first needs to click and highlight the text element before he can put it at the appropriate place. The user could avoid such complications by using a few shortcut keys, so-called hotkeys, instead. Certain hotkeys correspond to mouse clicks regarding the actions they perform. Nevertheless, users frequently do not know enough keyboard shortcuts to work with them efficiently, or are not aware of the available combinations.
Gilles Bailly, researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics and the Cluster of Excellence at Saarland University, wants to change that situation. By making the shortcuts readily accessible to everybody, he wants to increase the use of hotkeys among less-experienced users and help them maximize expert performance by using consistent shortcuts. To accomplish this, Bailly developed a special interface mechanism in collaboration with other researchers from several universities. It enables hotkey browsing, supports physical rehearsal and assures rapid hotkey identification.
"To see the hotkeys, the user needs to press a certain key button," explains Sylvain Malacria from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

He calls this special key the modifier. On an Apple keyboard, this function is taken by the command key; at a Windows computer, by the control key. As soon as the user has pressed the modifier, the software overlaps the icons on the screen, as for example all the symbols in a toolbar for a Word document, with shortcuts for a few seconds. Thus, the interface mechanisms shows small boxes in which every equivalent keyboard shortcut is displayed. In so doing, users who rarely use the computer are given the essential hints to apply the shortcuts until they know them by heart. The program supports them by proposing the hotkeys very quickly; they need only press the modifier key. To use the shortcuts more generally, the user frequently has to repeat the same finger moves. In this way, the user keeps remembering the key combinations. Professionals, on the other hand, can expand their shortcut knowledge and accelerate their working speed by using this mechanism, which the researchers named "ExposeHK."
"If the user is in the middle of a workflow, he does not need to remove his hands from the keyboard and reach for the mouse. He is able to enter his commands into the computer directly," says Bailly. To test their software, the researchers ran some studies. They asked participants to identify icons in toolbars and select them as fast as possible. To do that, the participants could either follow the instructions of a speaker, who was reading the key combinations to them, or they could use the mouse or the new software's hotkey display. After that, the test participants had to choose which of the methods was easiest to manage. Most of the participants decided in favor of Bailly's mechanism. The study results show that amateurs used the keyboard shortcuts four times more often after they had sampled them for a few minutes. "It's no matter if the user forgot a shortcut. The only thing he has to do is to press the modifier again and the shortcut overview pops up," Bailly explains.
He could observe how positively the user community responded to his software when he exhibited it at a Human-Computer Interaction research conference (ACM CHI) in Paris. "With our mechanism, we offer the user a simple and elegant solution to operate efficiently. And it is neither expensive to integrate nor to learn," says Bailly. He is therefore confident that his mechanism will be available every conceivable application soon. Read more

Microsoft Excel 2007 and beyond- The Logical If Function

 

Microsoft excel is a spread sheet application package designed mainly for statistical and mathematical computation. The built in function in Microsoft (MS) excel makes if uses simple and logical, hence relieving it user(s) of most common computational task like computation of student results, Salary payment sheet, pension sheet and more. This is only achievable by inputting logical formula into cell(s)

The logical If Function.

IF(logical_test, value_if_true, value_if_false,)

The major thing to note here is these three items between the round brackets of the word IF above. These are the arguments that the IF function needs. Here's what they mean respectively;

logical_test

The first argument is what you want to test for. Is the number in the cell equal to or greater than 80?

value_if_true

This is what you wish to see when the logical IF is true/yes. That is, if the answer to the first argument is YES. (Award an “A” grade if the referred cell value is >=70 for instance)

value_if_false

This is what you want to do if the answer to the first argument is false/NO.

Should the above explanation made no sense to you, open spreadsheet on your system by following this direction “Start>All programs>Microsoft office>Microsoft excel” for practical illustration and do the following:  

 Fig 1.0  

 

I.        Enter Fig. 1.0 data into the spreadsheet (MS Excel) you just opened. 

II. Place your cursor on cell D4, in the “Grade” column and input/type =IF(C4>=70,"A",IF(C4>=60,"B",IF(C4>=50,"C",IF(C4>=45,"D",IF(C4>=40,"E",IF(C4<=39,"F"))))))onlythe logical formula in red should be typed into cell D4. 

 III.        Hit the enter key on your keyboard to activate the command. If you have done it according, “B” will appear in that cell (D4). To have grade displayed in the rest of the cells in grade column, place your cursor on cell D4 where grade “B” is and copy the content of that cell painstakingly. Now, select the rest cells in the grade column which has no grade for scores and paste the content of D4 that you have just copied. If you have done it correctly, all the scores should have grades now accordingly.

Note; what you copied from cell D4 is not the displayed “B” but the formula that produced “B”

                        Fig 2.0

                                  IV.        The next task is to format the remark column so that each cell in that column can have either “pass” or “Fail” remark according to student score. In same manner, place your cursor on cell E4 and input/type =IF(C4<40,"Fail","Pass") then hit the enter key to activate the command. If you have typed it correctly, “pass” will be seen in that cell. Now, place your cursor on cell E4 with the remark “pass” and copy it content carefully. Select the rest cells in the remark column where there is no remark and past the copied information to have remark display against every score in the spreadsheet.

                                                  Fig 3.0

Note;Ensure you have all the commas, double quotes and bracket in the correct places, otherwise Excel will give you an error message. The right angle bracket “( >)” is known as Conditional Operator.

 

Summary

The whole grammar above means just three (3) things:-

I.              logical_test: Is the value in cell C4 greater than or equal 70?

II.            value_if_true: If the answer is Yes, display the grade "A” or if it is >=60, display grade “B” or if it is >=50, display grade “C” or if it is >=45, display grade “D” or if it is >=40, display grade “E” or if it is <=39, display grade “F” 

III.           value_if_false: This also draw response from II above.

All of the three (3) put together give IF(logical_test, value_if_true, value_if_false,)

You tell Excel what you want to check for in the cell, then what you want to do if the answer is YES, and finally what you want to do if the answer is NO. You separate each part with a comma, Proper double quote and close every opened bracket.

Keep in touch for update in the future.

Use your smartphone as a Wi-Fi hotspot: Tethering

The connection uncertainty among digital service provider over the years has strongly encouraged multiple phones for individual to minimize missing important calls experience. It is common today to see an individual with multiple smartphone with different service provider, the BIG question now is: Should this individual also pay for multiple internet services?  

It is of commonly knowledge that the entire mobile services provider now provide daily or weekly or monthly data plan to their subscribers depending on the choice of service by the subscriber. It will interest you to note that advancement in technology has unveiled us with the  possibility of sharing data plan of a smartphone among other smartphone, tablet or laptop via tethering by using one of the smartphone as wi-fi hotspot as outline below.

Guide to tethering in smartphone

What is Tethering?

Tethering is the use of smartphone to offer internet access to other Internet-enabled mobile device such as PDAs, Laptop, IPhones etc. In a simple term, Tethering is the process of sharing a smartphone internet access among others.   The connection is made either with a cable (USB or serial) or wirelessly through bluetooth or Wi-Fi or the good old days IrDA (infrared). Tethering enables users to go online from their laptops or PDAs in situations where there is no other means of Internet access: If you are already paying for data service on any of your smartphone and your service provider does not require any extra fees for using your cell phone as a modem for your laptop, tethering can also save you money, since you will not have to pay for separate mobile broadband service or buy additional hardware just to get your laptop connected to the internet. With tethering, you can share the data plan of your smartphone with other devices such as a tablet or laptop.

A smartphone's small screen is not in most cases convenient to be used for browsing as compare to that of tablet when it comes to web or streaming videos from the net. But tethering offers you the opportunity to use your smartphone as a portable Wi-Fi hotspot, and share its data connection with your Wi-Fi-only tablet. This setup is called tethering or internet sharing, and many smartphones provide this feature, including iPhones, BlackBerrys, Windows Phones and, of course, Android handsets.

General guide to tethering

To every smartphone (Android, iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows Phones) tethering means the same thing in all mobile operating system, but is the method of setting them up that differs. As pointed earlier, Tethering is when you turn your smartphone into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot and share your phones 3G/4G data connection. Once you have turned tethering on, any device with a wireless connection can connect to the internet via your smartphone's connection and this is where security issue will be of importance.

It is important to note that is not all smartphones that support tethering, but most popular models do, including the iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S3, Nokia Lumia 920 and BlackBerry Z10. Tethering is not limited to the use of Wi-Fi to share your smartphone's internet connection: some now allow you to connect a laptop or tablet possibly through a universal serial bus (USB) cable. Alternatively, you might be able to use Bluetooth.

Regardless of the connection method, it's important to check whether your mobile tariff allows tethering before using your smartphone as a Wi-Fi hotspot. In some cases, the mobile operator can prevent the option from appearing on your handset if tethering is not part of the deal. iPhone owners can attest to this because Personal Hotspot does not show up in the General settings menu in most iphones.

Available alternative to tethering if one is denied by phone manufacturer.

First, and most obviously, you could switch to a different operator or tariff (or request a bolt-on to your current tariff) that allows you to use your smartphone as a Wi-Fi hotspot. That might mean paying more each month, but it's likely to work out cheaper than the alternatives.

If you haven't already bought a tablet, you might consider buying one with 3G or 4G support. You'd then have to get a data-only SIM card for it, and either pay monthly or pay as you go for this separate tariff.

How do I setup tethering on my device?

The process is straight forward that involves enabling the hotspot option on your phone and most importantly, configuring wireless security with a password to prevent other people wireless device into your connection, then connecting your tablet to the wireless network just as you would with any hotspot. If you have configured your device properly, tethering just work.

In some cases, You will have to enter the password once to connect, but on subsequent occasions, your tablet connect automatically.

Some major challenges of tethering

Some of the major problems in tethering (i.e using your phone as a portable Wi-Fi hotspot) are that your tablet will assume it is connected to a fixed data plan or broadband line and ignore all mobile data plan limitations thereby using the bandwidth extravagantly. The implication of this is that, it will use up your limited monthly data allowance very quickly. What your smartphone would have ignored during browsing normally on mobile data plan (downloading application updates and any other large data files) your tablet would assume its ok with tethering and download everything downloadable during access thereby consuming bandwidth in great amount. Hence, you are strongly advice in your own interest to either disable automatic updates or download. Better still, maintain a close attention on download behaviors and how much data is being used by looking in your phone's settings or through a dedicated application you may have installed earlier.

It will be wise decision to disable the hotspot running on your smartphone when you are no longer using to prolong your battery life.