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Choosing the Right Motherboard for you

The motherboard is the heart of any computer. It is that big flat board inside the computer that everything is connected to. It performs the role directing information and connecting components. A motherboard is often overlooked when choosing components. This is a scary thought as the motherboard determines system performance as much as every other component.

Choosing the right motherboard does not have to be a problem, even though there is a lot to consider. We will start off with the larger parts and move onto the things that are less essential.

Firstly is the socket type. The socket is where the processor (CPU) connects to the motherboard. There is no compatiblility between sockets, so it has to be the right one. The socket connection needs to match the connection of the processor you have or the one you intend to buy for the computer.
Most older Intel Pentium 4s utilize socket 478. Newer ones use socket 775. AMD chips utilised socket A for a long time, but now the AMD Athlon 64 series and Semprons use socket 939. Just check with someone as to what yours or your intended one will have.

Your choice of chip will have a lot to do with your needs, but choosing one with an up to date socket type will ensure slightly longer motherboard life as you can upgrade the chip for a while.

DDR is the RAM of choice for most systems, but some newer systems, which includes all Pentiums with socket 775 use DDR2. These two kinds are not interchangable and have a different number of pins. Both DDR and DDR2 come in different speed ratings measured in MHz. DDR has a usual 400MHz denoted as DDR400 or PC3200, while DDR2 can go a little higher and comes in slightly faster speeds. Just make it match what the board needs.

A motherboard must be chosen carefully, to both match all the other components and fit in the case you choose. A little bit of research before you buy will save a lot of hassle later on.

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Epson Inkjet Cartridge

Epson Inkjet Cartridge is a perfect use in Epson stylus Inkjet Printers. Epson cartridges are generic versions utilizing system matching compatible premium quality inks. The cartridges are designed to bring out the full potential of the printer. Epson cartridges ensure stable operation and most of all ensures highest level of the print quality.

If you care about output quality more than anything else and you’re on a tight budget for purchase price, then Epson Inkjet Cartridge may well be your inkjet of choice. It offers among the best overall output quality of any inkjet, period. It ensures low volume, low cost, good qulaity and ability to reproduce lifelike photographs.

Epson printer cartridges are subjected to slight agitation for the settled colorant particle to re-disperse. The printer ink is restored to its fully dispersed state by the high sped flow induced by the initial filling action of head cleaning. This helps the users to print with ink with a uniform concentration.

Epson inkjet manufacturers are building faster products that create vivid, crisp images. Epson’s Stylus Color 850 and 850N inkjets; for instance, are 20 percent faster than their predecessors. These new inkjet printers are versatile, too; they handle envelopes, transparencies, labels, fabrics, photos, and various sizes and weights of paper.
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ECG paper signals are usually recorded standard grid papers in hospitals.

ECG paper signals are usually recorded onto standard grid papers in hospitals as a routine clinical examination for diagnosis of possible cardiac failure. There is a need to convert the existing ECG paper records into electronic forms for efficient retrieval for clinical uses. This paper presents a system prototype designed to convert ECG paper records into electronic ECG recording forms so that they can be either efficiently retrieved as needed, or analysed by ECG signal processing algorithms, or transmitted through computer networks for clinical purposes. In the current system prototype, the scanned binary images of ECG paper records are analysed by using image processing techniques, such as filtering and thinning procedures. The extracted ECG waveforms are then stored and indexed in ASCII data files.

A window based user-friendly interface is also incorporated to provide users with easy access to the system. Experimental results on sample ECG paper records are very encouraging and show promise of efficiency in ECG data storage and retrieval and easy manipulation for clinical uses. This paper also briefly discusses other possible alternative techniques such as frequency domain analysis being investigated in the current system prototyping for ECG paper record conversion.

A typical electrocardiograph runs at a paper speed of 25 mm/s, although faster paper speeds are occasionally used. Each small block of ECG paper is 1 mm2. At a paper speed of 25 mm/s, one small block of ECG paper translates into 0.04 s (or 40 ms). Five small blocks make up 1 large block, which translates into 0.20 s (or 200 ms). Hence, there are 5 large blocks per second. A diagnostic quality 12 lead ECG is calibrated at 10 mm/mV, so 1 mm translates into 0.1 mV.
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DVR cards

A DVR card looks quite similar to the common computer video card in many PCs. However, when it comes to functioning, there are a lot of differences between them. DVR cards come with software that can be used to display and record information from multiple cameras at the same time. These are installed in computers to allow them to function as digital video recording (DVR) systems.

DVR cards are mostly used in surveillance systems to process the information received from a source such as a camera and pass it on to a storage device like a hard disk. In such a set up, there is more than one video out port. At these ports, the output from the security cameras is plugged in to the card. Once installed inside a computer, the card becomes active and is instantly recognized by the machine thanks to the accompanying software. Once properly installed, this card allows the user to digitally record signals on to his hard drive and then view it instantaneously.

Depending on need, you can also choose the quality of storage. DVR cards frames per second (fps) ranges are 30, 60,120,240 and 480. The fps also determines the time for which recording can be done. For a hard disk having 80 GB disk space, at 30 fps one can record for 320 hours. Similarly, at 120 fps, for an 80 GB hard disk drive, one can record for up to 80 hours. If you have a 960 GB hard disk, you can record for a whopping 3840 hours at the rate of 80 fps, which translates into 160 days or nearly 5 months.
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Dumping Old PCs Is Not “PC”

-According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, nearly 250 million computers will become obsolete in the next five years. Unfortunately, less than 20 percent of PCs retired in the U.S. are recycled most years, instead creating what is being termed “e-waste.”

To help reverse this trend, the U.S. government recently passed legislation that imposes penalties and fines on companies that do not practice environmentally proper IT disposal. According to a survey conducted by HP, the majority of companies-especially small-to-medium businesses (SMBs)-underestimate the security, financial and environmental impact of technology equipment disposal. Key findings include:

• 70 percent of respondents underestimate the cost of disposing of PCs;

• 66 percent of executives with purchasing authority are unaware of the financial implications of ignoring environmental regulations when disposing of IT equipment; and

• The biggest concern regarding disposal of IT equipment is data security and privacy.

So, what is the “politically correct” way to dispose of aging technology equipment? IT leaders like HP are increasing their commitment to real-world solutions that help customers achieve environmental responsibility, while also helping them get a better return on their IT investments.

E-Cycling computers and their components can be done to build new computers. HP helped its customers recycle more than 140 million pounds of hardware and print cartridges last year-the equivalent weight of 280 jumbo airliners! More and more retailers are also offering recycled products, which helps keep them out of landfills and other disposal sites.
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Dual-Core Processor Wars: AMD X2 vs Intel Pentium D

There’s a war going on and the latest battle continues to offer the promise of good prices to consumers looking for the best stuff for their computer.

Since the inception of dual-core processors a little while back the race has been on to see who can get the better chip with this dual-core processor technology.

During the final days of the single-core battles, there was a stalemate between AMD and Intel. Intel’s clocked higher but were unable to match the speeds that the AMD managed at lower clock speeds.

The oldest difference between them has been their suitability for specific tasks. AMD have had the gaming sector in the bag, especially in terms of the value for money possible with their lower clocked chips, which could be overclocked to the same speeds as their top models. Intel has the crown for general performance. When it comes to office related tasks, Intel processors are able to outperform AMD chips in these areas.

As the ability to clock the chips any higher became more and more difficult technically, the next step was to just add another core, theoretically allowing twice as much number crunching in a dual-core processor. This is not exactly how it works however.

Modern operating systems and programs have not been designed with multiple-core or dual-core processors in mind. They were designed to make use of one core on one processor. The major expense that went with multiple processor computers was the circuitry needed to split tasks up amongst the processors and sharing cache.

Dual-core processors simply act like two places for tasks to go. Instead of single tasks getting split up and performed in two different places, as is the case with traditional single core processors, single threads get split up amongst the cores. This essentially means that each program gets assigned to a core.
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