Get a Terra-Drive and Back up That Computer

July 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
External hard disk enclosure from behind. On t...

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A lot of people don’t know how to do a back up of their computer. It’s so easy and completely automated for people now, with new programs doing all the work for us. Wizards allow us to click a “Next” button until it says “Finished.” 

It’s as easy as plugging in a USB plug. Multiple hard drives can be used for different kinds of files on a single computer, where more than one drive can be used at a time. 

Getting enough space to back up the entire systemis essential – get all the information on one drive by getting one with ample room for what is there. A terra-drive is recommended; with an entire terrabyte to transfer the back up to, nothing is going to be lost and there’s room for everything. 

Use a Different Drive for Different File Types 

A photographer in Oregon uses his terra-drives to store his photos and he has several of them. One is for sceneries, one is for portraits, another is for animals, another is for journalistic or artistic shots, one is for his family photos and the last one is for his computer back up. 

Each one sits next to the other on a shelf above his desk with a hub connecting them all together and to his pc at the same time.
Many of the new solitary hard drives come with software to help someone back up their computer onto them, and it’s a matter of clicking a button to get it done. It’s so easy now, nobody has an excuse for not doing it. Our advice? Just do it.

 

 

Filed Under: Eco Friendly Business, Environmental Awareness, News Tagged With: , ,

California Reps Talking Consumer Protections Online

July 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Congresswoman Mary Bono (CA-45) is interviewed...

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Websites gather information about us when we‘re online, even if we don’t understand or offer the information. First they get our email addresses and it goes from there in a ripple effect until some people are sorely exposed; and that’s when they get information about us legally. 

Once gathered, our information is given or sold to others, it’s put on lists, it’s used to advertise to us and it’s even used in demographics for businesses unknown to us. There are increasingly sophisticatedways of gathering this information including recording what we search for on Google, who will then show ads tailored to our previous searches. 

California Gets Extra Protection 

Luckily there’s California, Inland Rep. Mary Bono Mack who pointedly questioned the need to ensure Internet privacy through added regulations. If regulations are added, then they should be very specific in every detail so as not to create a blanket rule. 

Another thing she’s pushing for is rules to make Internet retailers and services have protections in place for every customer they deal with so no information can be stolen. This rule is in place right now, but many companies enjoy an unmonitored lack of ethic and do – or don’t – as they please. 

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) agreed that self-regulation hasn’t worked so far, and expressed that it’s time to move forward. But still Bono Mack dug deeper, saying a broad regulation creates a government overstep, citing ‘not enough proof’ or the ‘appearance’ of a sale causing substantial harm to consumers, as examples. She wants detailed regulations that will make businesses protect citizens from being harmed for their patronage.

 

 

Filed Under: Environmental Awareness, Green Products, News Tagged With: , ,

eCyling is the New Way to Go Green

May 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
International Recycle Symbol 

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As the use of electron products grow so does the amount of old and discarded electronics. We all know someone who is always buying the latest gadget just to discard the barely used one they recently bought. We also know that if we were honest with ourselves we probably have more than a few discarded electronics around our house. Rather than just through out old electronics make a conscious effort to eCyle and go green.

Rather than just tossing your old and outdated computer see if there is a way that you can reuse the gadget. We all have an old computer that we used through college that is just gathering dust since we replaced it. Donate the computer to a local Good Will location. Not only will this give your old computer a new life but it will help to cut down on the energy and resources that are used to make the products themselves. Every time you find a new home for an old electronic you are finding a way to reuse something.

Another way to eCycle is to actually recycle old electronics. After cell phones and computers have broken there is really not a lot that can be done to save them. Rather than just tossing something away recycle the gadget. Even if the electronic will not turn on it will still contain valuable resources that may be used to extend the lives of other devices. Like reusing an entire product, reusing any piece that went into production saves energy and the environment.

 

 

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Get Paid For Recycling Your Old Electronics

March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Do you have a lot of old electronics sitting around that you’re just never going to use anymore? You can now get rid of those old, used electronics while making a few extra dollars. More places are opening up where people can get paid for recycling your old electronics.

You turn to the Internet to sell your textbooks, movies and music so why not get rid of your old electronics while making some money? You’re doing something good by recycling and making some side money from it.

People everywhere are using cell phones. We all have old cell phones lying around the house after you’ve upgraded to a new phone.  Some people try and sell them while others don’t really know what to do with them. There are multiple websites and stores that will allow you to recycle your old cell phones. Some companies will pay you and others don’t.

You can also earn a little extra cash when you recycle your old ink cartridges that are used up. Websites like Ecycle Group will pay you for cartridges and if you recycle 20 used inkjet cartridges or even 10 tones you won’t have to pay to ship them out to the company.

If you go into your Apple store to purchase a new iPod, you can get 10 percent off if you recycle your old iPod. If you don’t feel like selling it on eBay this could be your next best option.

Recycling your old electronics is not only good for the environment, but you could also earn a little extra side money. Who wouldn’t want to make some easy cash?

Filed Under: Environmental Awareness Tagged With: , ,

Why Recycling Electronics Is Important

March 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When you recycle your old electronics, you’re helping keep a lot of harsh chemicals and products out of the landfills. These are products that are such a huge part of our everyday lives. Many people can’t even live without their cell phone. Help keep the environment clean and recycle your old and unused electronics. It’s safe for the environment and the responsible thing to do.

Majority of the electronic devices that we use on a daily basis contain harsh chemicals that are bad for the environment and currently filling up the landfills. Each television has anywhere between five and eight pounds of lead. Now image thousands of televisions sitting in a landfill. Newer cell phone has batteries that contain lithium in them, which could be highly explosive.

About two percent of waste that’s solid in the landfill is electronics that were tossed out. According to reports, out of the 40 million computers that become obsolete, only 18 percent of them will be recycled. The other 82 percent will be sitting in the landfills destroying the environment. Reports also stated that 40 percent of lead and 70 percent of the heavy metal sitting in landfills all are from our old electronics.

In the United States alone we have about three billion electronics that we’ve compile up. By recycling these products you’re actually doing good because you’re decreasing the amount of harmful chemicals that are going to end up being released.

There’s now an electronics-recycling program that’s nationwide called eCycling. Thanks to this program, many companies that sell electronics are offering this great program.

Even though you are recycling your old computers and cell phones, many companies will recommend that you completely erase everything off the hard drives. This is just a safety precaution since you have a lot of private information on these devices.

Help save the environment and recycle all your old electronics.

Filed Under: Environmental Awareness Tagged With: , ,

The 411 On Recycling Electronics

March 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

We always get happy and excited when we purchase a new electronic item. Whether it’s a computer or cell phone we can’t help but quickly check out all the new features we’re getting. Once you’ve started using your new gadget, you’re left with your old cell phone or computer just sitting there. While many people are quick to just toss these items in the trash, doing this is actually harmful to the environment.

There are so many reasons why people should recycle their electronics that they no longer use. According to multiple reports, there are more than 40 million computers that are not being used anymore and only 15 percent of those are actually being recycled. This means that 85 percent of those 40 million computers will end up in the landfills. Also making the trip to landfills are your unused cell phones, computer parts, printers, ink cartridges and other gadgets you no longer use. These electronics actually contain chemicals like mercury that could be bad for the planet.

For the most part any kind of electronic device is recyclable. You can recycle your old beat up computer, cell phones, MP3 players and empty ink cartridges and toners. If you’re not sure about what electronics you can recycle, give your local recycling company a call to see what they will take.

You can recycle by doing two things. Simply bringing it in to a recycling center or donate it to a company that will refurbish the parts and give them to those in need in electronics, but are unable to afford new ones for themselves or their family.

Once you’ve got all your used and broken electronics, locate a recycling center near you. Major electronics stores will offer a recycling program and if they don’t, a simple Google search will also help you find one near you.

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Recycle Your Used Electronics

February 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you look throughout your house you’ll probably find a few old, unused cell phones, maybe some empty ink cartridges and a broken computer that probably won’t even turn on anymore. While it’s easy to just put the used electronics up on eBay, the older the item, the harder it will be to sell.

You can donate your old electronics that are a little broken or your can recycle any old, unusable electronics. Recycling companies will take your electronics and pull out parts and put them into different electronics to fix those. When donating remember to ask the person there for a slip stating the estimated total value of the donation you made. Any donations can be written off at the end of the year when you file your taxes.

When donating ask where the items are going. There are some organizations that will offer some of the items to families of low-income that need electronics but can’t really afford to purchase them.

Try to donate all your items at once, if your recycling center isn’t near by, you could be spending a lot of money on gas. Try to make one to two trips.

Contact the stores where the electronics were purchased. Some offer a special recycling program where you can get a discount when your repurchase what you’re recycling. For instance, Apple has a program where if you donate your old iPod, you’ll get 10 percent off the purchase of your new iPod.

If you’re looking to get rid of a ton of empty ink cartridges, contact your local supply store. Places like Office Max and Office Depot offer free shipping when you send it your empty ink cartridges.

Before recycling any old electronics, make sure you unplug them at least 24 hours before bringing them into the recycling company mailing out. The products should be completely cooled off before they’re sent out.

Filed Under: Environmental Awareness Tagged With: , ,

Predictions for the Future of Clouds: Will It Rain?

February 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Cloud computing has become an impressive option for many businesses and individual users.

Although many experts believe that the upcoming year will bring a revolution in cloud computing that makes it easier and safer for everyone to take advantage of this technology, there are still plenty of computer security experts warning users to take the proper precautions and watch out for security threats.

In the upcoming years, it seems likely that the cloud will spread. For some, it might rain a little. For most people, though, it will offer an opportunity to use advanced computer technology at minimum cost.

Credit Card Payment in the Cloud

Online businesses rely on credit cards to send and receive payments. A paper released in 2010 shows that cloud computing really could help solve many of the problems that businesses face regarding payments. The paper, PCI-Compliant Cloud Reference Architecture, caused a big stir among many major online retailers, including Amazon Web Services.

Multiple Virtual Machines in the Same Cloud

If credit card payments in the cloud seemed unlikely a couple years ago, having multiple virtual machines running in the same cloud sounded like an absolute impossibility. That’s changing very quickly. Advances in computer operating systems and cloud technology have converged to make it possible for someone to run multiple virtual machines from the same cloud.

It’s called the multi-hypervisor approach, and it has gotten a lot of interest from companies such as AT&T Wireless, Amazon Web Services, and Verizon Wireless. It’ll be interesting to see what types of useful applications these companies can create to bring this technology to the rest of the world.

Is There a Storm Coming?

For all of the advantages that cloud computing could offer within the next year, there are plenty of experts stating that it is important for cloud users to make sure they are properly protected from security risks.

One of the biggest concerns comes down to trusting the cloud. Some computer users worry that the cloud won’t really complete applications as promised. They might worry, for instance, that a credit card transaction won’t be completed. Many experts claim that developers are creating improvements in areas of user control, but it is important to consider that most computer systems have similar limitations. In the long run, the cloud is just as reliable as other services. In the near future, it might even outperform conventional methods.

Other naysayers claim that cloud computing has plenty of great things to offer, but that business users will eventually find that they only want to use it for certain services. Processing a credit card payment is imperative, so they claim business owners are likely to use conventional approaches. Tracking web traffic, however, is not quite as essential. Online business owners might, therefore, use cloud technology to track users on their websites.

This makes the erroneous assumption that the cloud can only handle menial services. The cloud currently gives individuals and online business owners access to lots of money-saving, imperative services. Clients keep using the cloud because it works well for them. In the future, these strengths will only improve.

Image: http://www.thewestindiannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Cloud-Computing.jpg

Filed Under: Environmental Awareness Tagged With: , ,

Keeping Your Computer Virus Free

February 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Let’s be honest here. No one wants to have virus problems on our computers. We pay good money for them and why destroy our computers with those annoying viruses.

While we all want the best protection from viruses on our computer, we also don’t want to have to pay an arm and a leg for it. Why pay expensive prices when you don’t have to?

Want to know the easiest way to save money on your computer virus protection software? Just get the smallest combination of the software you can get free, make sure you’re computer is completely clean and don’t download any software or programs you’re unfamiliar with.

Here are other things you can do to keep your computer free of pesky viruses.

First, get your pop-up blocker going. Both Internet Explorer and Firefox come with a pop-up blocker automatically. The pop-up blocker will basically block and pop-up ads that normally come up when you browse the Internet. This is a great and easy way to avoid any viruses that could hard your computer.  To get the pop-up blocker going all you need to do is active it under tools than options on your web browser.

Don’t download anything you get in your e-mails from someone you don’t know. This means documents, photos or attachments. NOTHING. The most common viruses happen when someone sends an effected file via e-mail. If possible, have it set that when you open all your e-mails, none of the attachments will download automatically. Some e-mail providers have an option where the attachments can download automatically for you.

Make sure you’ve got your Firewall on. PC users will have the firewall protection built in, which will be the first thing that will protect your computer from any viruses. If you look in your Control Panel, click your Firewall option in your security section. Make sure it’s not active.

If you’re not using your computer, make sure your modem isn’t on. Usually your modem is going to have a button that will remove your Internet connection. If not, turn the power off or unplug it.

Filed Under: Environmental Awareness Tagged With: , ,

Why Should We Recycle?

January 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Everybody nowadays knows of the paramount importance of recycling and most metropolises in the world offer a recycling plan, but what just is recycling and how advantageous is it actually to us and the surroundings? Recycling is the method of changing all the important parts of a product into a completely new product; this action is done to economize on the consumption of energy, power and resources.

In cities the most common recycling products are products made out of paper, cardboard, glass etc. Taking the time to put your newspaper, bottle etc into the recycling bin can save everyone from the environment harm, from the production of new materials and the ending of our natural resources. Here we will discuss some points that justifies why should we recycle.
Most of the manufacturing factories release carbon dioxide to the environment which is a major factor in global warming and also in air pollution. The percentage of Carbon dioxide released in the product manufacturing from the scratch is more when compared to gas emitted when a recycle product is used for the same. Garbage is being disposed mainly in open land areas and in cities these waste land areas can be seen very near to residential localities.

Waste products are not treated properly and hence the chance to get attacked with many diseases is more. Improper treatment of garbage contaminates water and this leads to water pollution which again spreads many diseases to the people living in nearby areas. Usage of recycled products in our daily life will help to save energy a lot when compared to using new products. For example making of new paper needs more energy that making a recycled paper.

Think creatively: Used toilet papers rolls and food containers can make good storage containers. If at all you can’t use, don’t throw them away in normal trash, put them in a recycling bin.

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