http://eratostenes.info/index.php/ Articles at Eratostenes.info - Free Article Directory en-us http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/save-money-on-your-printing-budget-with-a-print-manager.html http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/save-money-on-your-printing-budget-with-a-print-manager.html Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:09:01 -0700
The print manager also allows you to set costs of each page printed, setting specific costs depending on the printing quality or whether it was done in color or monochrome. Administrators can also have the power to stop any print jobs in progress or set restrictions and permissions to various computers or users on the network. The program is packed full of useful features to help you have full control over the printing in your organization. It can set various limits such as on the number of pages that can be printed by a specific user and it can even distinguish keywords in documents that should or should not be allowed to be printed. Its detailed reports and statistics feature will tell you precisely how the software is helping you.

O&K Print Watch also lets administrators view copies of any documents that have been printed. These copies are stored by the program in the form of pictures. The software doesn't just provide details about all the print jobs carried out, but it also allows administrators to set any required prohibitions or permissions. The software's built-in server provides easy access to all of the reports which can be viewed within any browser. The software is incredibly fast and efficient as well, even working with as many as seven-hundred printers with one server!

O&K Print Watch is a particularly versatile print manager, fully functional regardless what operating system the client computers are running. The software also works on any edition of Windows from NT4 to Server 2003 and above. It also has multilingual support and is exceptionally high performing and reliable. For any corporation where a considerable amount of printing is done, there is simply no other solution which is as effective as O&K Print Watch.

There is more information on O&K Print Watch at the official website; http://www.prnwatch.com. There is also a trial version available which supports up to five printers, otherwise fully functional for twenty-one days. For those interested in purchasing the full version, there are various licenses available, depending on the number of printers that you have in your organization. The site has all of the information that you need. Why not visit today and start learning about how to save money on your company's printing budget. ]]> http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/is-the-custom-application-dead.html http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/is-the-custom-application-dead.html Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:20:23 -0700
The lure of software packages is difficult to ignore, especially with the damage done to corporate budgets and IT departments by the recession. The perceived cost savings, speed and overall ease of implementing an off-the-shelf software solution makes them, seemingly, the perfect choice for undermanned enterprise IT managers trying to stretch their budgets.

At least, the benefits look good on paper... but do they really stack up in an actual enterprise environment?


THE TRUTH ABOUT SOFTWARE PACKAGES

The benefits of packaged applications are often described as "built-in best practices", which then should result in:
1. Lowering overall costs
2. Reducing the risk associated with implementing new applications
3. Quicker and easier implementations

Taken together, these benefits mean that an enterprise IT team will have an altogether smoother time when packaged software is involved. Delivered as a tested and standardized solution, off-the-shelf software purports to only require minor tweaking to work with most enterprise IT systems. That makes these applications better than custom-built systems... right?

Maybe not.

It appears that the love-fest between CIOs and packaged software is over.

Recently, the COO of an energy company told me that he was tired of being held hostage by his ERP vendor. In this executive's opinion, for the last 14 years his company has been constantly struggling to meet business needs with packaged apps. They were more costly to implement than planned, hard to upgrade and customize, and ended up causing problems across their IT environment.

Best practices aren't necessarily one-size-fits-all, especially in corporate IT. What works for one IT environment may burn another to the ground. This is where off-the-shelf software falls short - most of it might work with your enterprise, but parts of it will need more than just "tweaking" to work with your business. With large amounts of customization, package implementations become very brittle and expensive, often resulting in difficult upgrades and an inability to respond to changing business needs.


NOT DEAD YET - CUSTOM APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

Even with the hidden issues inherent to packaged software, there is still a general belief that these applications have a leg up on custom development when it comes to time to market. In addition, business users typically don't know exactly what they need from an application, making custom development a long, risky endeavor.

This type of uncertainty and constantly changing scope used to be a death knell for custom development, and a catalyst for a host of other problems:
- Longer build times, often due to last minute changes or project restarts
- Unexpected costs and overages from these changes
- The looming idea of project failure, based on project length and expense, making the risk too great for most CIOs.

All of which were, in turn, associated with the process of custom development.

The entire custom application development process received a bad reputation, due to an inability to address rapidly changing business needs and react to change. Faced with this challenge, savvy developers have begun to adopt a way to maneuver around these ever changing requirements - the Agile method.


AGILE DEVELOPMENT AS THE MYTHBUSTER

So how does Agile address a business's lack of certainty about what it needs, the crux of the problem with custom development?

With Agile, developers start with a high level set of business needs to guide their team. The team then addresses the most glaring or important need, and shows a working demo to the business users within a very short period of time. User feedback is solicited to add more detail, and then iteratively and continually to build-out the system. By embracing and expecting change upfront in the project, IT and the business can work together, building the right solution based on business feedback and priority.

Embracing change actually leads to a swifter implementation - teams work faster as they deliver on only the most important business needs. Agile practitioners sometimes refer to the final applications as "lean" and "fit to purpose" which means the size and complexity of the application is reduced, making it easier to keep up with future business change. Add this practice to a development environment that supports this type of iterative/agile development process, and handling change gets even simpler - in turn, making these applications "evergreen" and able to deliver greater ROI for the business - no more software aging!

The cost and risk associated with custom development are also reduced, the former through smaller team sizes and delivery speed. Risks are minimized as development teams are tasked with delivering working application functionality every two weeks - project and progress visibility is out in the open and there are no processes to hide behind. Either the team is on track or it isn't and everyone can see it, increasing transparency to the larger business as a whole.

Finally, tools cannot be discounted in bringing custom applications back from the dead. While Agile is focused on working efficiently and effectively, corporate IT shops need the right tools to deliver working software and to make the change process as fast and low risk as possible. Ideally, the best application development tools will streamline application change and automate back office functionality, like building and deploying, gathering actionable feedback and providing project transparency across the enterprise.

So are custom applications dead? Hardly. The promise of packaged software seems too good to be true and, for many businesses, it often is. Adding the Agile method, along with the right tools to the mix, makes custom applications much less expensive over the life of the application and provides enterprise IT with a more flexible option. Perhaps we should be asking: "Is off the shelf software dying" instead?


ABOUT OUTSYSTEMS

OutSystems' Agile Platform is used by IT teams around the world to rapidly develop and manage flexible web applications and business processes using agile methodologies. The integrated platform unifies the two life-cycles of application development and business process management within a single, powerful environment - enabling the automation of business processes and delivery of flexible web applications that are built for continuous change.

Companies use the Agile Platform to integrate, develop, deploy, monitor and change web apps and business processes - delivering business value in weeks rather than months or years.

Introduced in 2001, with over 6,500 installations, OutSystems' Agile Platform has been honored with multiple CODiE and JOLT awards and is supported by an active community of more than 1,700 developers, 500 certified practitioners and over 50 implementation partners. Its free Community Edition is also available at http://www.outsystems.com/download.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

- Visit us at http://www.outsystems.com
- Send us an email to info@outsystems.com
- Check out the About Agility blog at http://blog.outsystems.com/aboutagility
- Take a look at what's happening at OutSystems on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/outsystems
- Access and download OutSystems presentations at http://www.slideshare.net/OutSystems/presentations
- Watch OutSystems videos and Demos at http://www.youtube.com/outsystems
- Watch and share OutSystems pictures and photo albums at http://www.flickr.com/photos/about-agility/ ]]> http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/data-loss-more-than-possible.html http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/data-loss-more-than-possible.html Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:00:38 -0700
We work with data, we live with data and we rely on data, we take as given that our data will always be there, when we need it. Text, images and videos are sometimes beloved memories, sometimes they are essential for our economic success. We use anti virus software to protect our data, but we often ignore the fact that the most likely reasons for data loss are not coming from the outside, but are always existing in our own computer: The most devastating loss of data is simply caused by hardware failure. And that your hardware will fail is (from an statistical point of view) for sure. The faster hard-drives become the higher is the load on the pieces inside which are becoming smaller and smaller, and while mechanical parts in cars are relatively massive and covered in oil a hard drive does not have this kind of protection and cannot be easily maintained. So its not a surprise that this devices, with parts which spin a few thousand times per minute will let you down, if only you use them long enough. And if they do they will take all your data with them.


Solutions:

The risk of loosing data can be reduced, by getting new hardware early, but still there remains a significant risk, especially when the hardware is stressed in extreme ways, as it is normal for laptops, if you carry them around while they are not completely switched off. Of course you also can manually create backups to external devices every few days, but this will only enable you to restore the data of the latest backup and if you are working a lot with your data you will not only loose a lot of time for creating the backup but you also will loose the last days of work.


Much more secure are solutions which do continuous backups to external media or even online.

The advantage of online backups is on the one hand that the device, which keeps the data, cannot be lost or damaged and that the source and the backup are physically separated. Also an interesting option comes into play, since you can easily and securely access the data which is stored online from every computer anywhere in the world if you only have internet access.


Things to consider:

At first its really important that the transfers are encrypted while you create the backup and also when you wish to access the data later, otherwise you never can be sure that your private data stays private. Bad enough that most people still think, that emails are a private form of communication. And second the solution or tool you use should be able to keep file versions, so data which is overwritten often is still existing in previous versions. And finally the processes should be automatic and in the background, so the level of data security is not depending on when the user did trigger your last backup, since this can be forgotten easily at the end of a stressful day.


Two solutions which provide all this are for example www.CloudOnlineBackup.com and www.PowerFolder.com. While Cloud Online Backup is more for home users which need a fast cost efficient and easy backup, PowerFolder is more for companies, which want to become independent and wish to add sharing and sync features without a centralized server structure, or with an own in-house online cloud storage. ]]> http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/youtube-downloader-converts-videos-for-those-with-slow-internet-connections-and-mobile-devices.html http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/youtube-downloader-converts-videos-for-those-with-slow-internet-connections-and-mobile-devices.html Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:08:08 -0700
Free YouTube Downloader comes with a built in converter so you can download virtually any type of video format. The downloader will automatically convert it to the desired format. It can convert formats that include DivX, Xvid, MGEG4 and H.264 as well as VI, MP3, MP4 and MKV, just to name a few.

The downloader is guaranteed to be free of malware, spyware and viruses. Complete instructions on how to obtain the downloader and install it are available on the site at http://youtubedownloader.com. If English isn't your native tongue, don't worry. The site can also be viewed in Spanish, French and Portuguese.

There are a number of reasons why you might need a converter. The primary of which is a slow Internet connection. The Digital Divide is alive and well, and many Americans still don't have access to high-speed Internet. A slow connection or viewing an HD video causes buffering delays while streaming video but with this software, one can easily rectify that problem.

Others may want to view a video on a mobile device. Free YouTube Downloader will allow you to view the videos you want on devices such as iPods, iPads, MP3 players, MP4 players, Zune and PSP.

There are also times when you find a video you want to view, but work or other time constraints prohibit you from doing so at that particular time. With this downloader, you can easily download and store the video for a later, more convenient viewing time. It's a great way to save the original video in the event that it's altered or removed by the author at a later date.

There's also a large community of users who are willing to provide help and support if you encounter a problem. If you need to include confidential information or can't use the forums for some reason, you can email the creators of the downloader for assistance.

For more information, visit the website at http://youtubedownloader.com ]]> http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/how-well-are-you-managing-your-inventory.html http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/how-well-are-you-managing-your-inventory.html Tue, 24 Aug 2010 23:09:35 -0700 Selling goods in multiple channels means dealing with multi-channel inventory planning. It may at first sound exaggerated, but how well you plan and manage your inventory often determines your customer service level and profits. Right since the multichannel distribution was in its infancy, to a situation called NOW where it is the very need of the product-based companies, the guru mantra of inventory management has been just one: Streamlining and Managing Inventory.

To explain the point mentioned above, let us take the scenario of Company A and Company B, both of which are let us say, in Home Appliance industry. Both A and B would have multiple distribution centers, and the objective of both would remain the same- shorten the delivery time to the customer and earn maximum profit.

While A recognizes the importance of managing inventory in the following ways, it stresses on keeping an automated track on its inventory:

• Cost of storage space
• Cost of stock movement
• Cost of time spent managing the inventory
• Any cost of damaged or stolen inventory
• Type and quantity of stock in-hand
• Type and quantity of stock lying at the secondary and tertiary level
• Type and quantity of stock-out and over-stock

So Company A knows WHAT its sales distribution channel has and WHEN. The customer satisfaction ratio hence increases and so does the ROI.

Company B, on the flip side, rests on the idea that it can manage inventory through emails and excel sheets. It sets the Minimum Stock Level (MSL) at every distributor and stockiest level manually. Unlike Company ‘A’, there are no reminders or alerts to upgrade the inventory level, so ‘B’ places a dedicated employee that checks the MSL and updates the sales head. There are also no real-time inventory updates, which company ‘A’ experiences by automating their inventory and sales management. Maintaining excel sheets may also be error-prone, while Company A enjoys 100% error-free and real-time updates about its inventory.

‘B’ thus loses its focus on Inventory Management, which results in ordering too many of one thing, or too little of something else.

What does ‘B’ need to manage effective inventory?

We clearly see the pitfalls that ‘B’ could have avoided with detailed and dynamic automated sales reports. They let you easily track your inventory, see what is on stock, spot sales trends, and use historical data to better forecast your manufacturing needs. These reports also alert you when it is time to reorder for stocks that are running low, or manage the stock that is lying in excess.

Like ‘A’, if you also feel the push to manage your sales processes and streamline your inventory, you ought to know and implement the 2 important things- ‘When to Order’ and ‘How Much to Order’. Give your business a chance to experience excellence by automating your service and repair processes!

]]> http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/world-of-chat-messenger-version-2.4.html http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/world-of-chat-messenger-version-2.4.html Mon, 23 Aug 2010 01:15:21 -0700
World of Chat has now updated its free Instant messaging service, World of Chat Messenger is a program that may be installed simply onto your pc, once installed it sits on your computer desktop allowing you to chat live to people online, World of Chat Messenger also has the option to Video chat.

Our messenger is simple to install, you just have to download the file, once downloaded run the program and follow the onscreen instructions, you should be online in minutes.

Once installed you will notice that World of Chat Messenger is colourful and eye catching its also very easy to use with lots of easy options, and not cluttered by too many confusing gismos that many messenger programs suffer from.

You don't have to register to use World of Chat messenger either, you can simply log on as a guest if you are just starting out, however once you have registered you will be able to create a profile, where you can add more details about yourself and your personality.

You can have many different conversations open on World of Chat Messenger; you can also manage your friends list, by accepting friend requests denying them, or adding and deleting friends, you can also block them.

World of Chat Messenger has had many different upgrades, with their being more help and more skins on the messenger, it also allows both webcams to show on the same messenger window at the same time.

Also we have multi language support for our messenger now.

Plus you also get access to the main chat rooms at World of Chat via the messenger in a similar way yahoo messenger does.

You can find out more information about the World of Chat messenger at http://www.worldofchat.co.uk . You can download the World of Chat messenger from http://www.worldofchat.co.uk/wocchatmessenger.html ]]> http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/use-advanced-xml-converter-to-reliably-and-quickly-convert-xml-files.html http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/use-advanced-xml-converter-to-reliably-and-quickly-convert-xml-files.html Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:06:04 -0700
Many XML converters are limited by what sort of file sizes they can handle, however, Advanced XML Converter is an exception. It does not matter how large or complex your XML files are and Advanced XML Converter will always be able to work with them. The software is designed in such a way so that it does not have any limitations regarding file size or complexity and even with the biggest files of all, the speed of conversion is consistently high and reliable. Even more impressively, especially for those to whom time is particularly important, you can also convert multiple XML files at the same time. Work can be done quickly with this highly optimized and efficient solution. Using Advanced XML Converter, developers do not have to worry about writing complex XML transformations and you don't need to worry about XML style sheets either. Simply put, any XML file can be cleanly and quickly converted.


Converting your XML files with Advanced XML Converter is a three step process. To begin with, you simply need to choose the XML file to be converted. Once this has been done, the software will parse the XML file and display the structure of the XML. This gives you the opportunity to review the content and select fields that you want to be converted, if you don't want to simply convert the entire file. Secondly, you choose the output format and, depending on the file type you specify, you may have some additional options available. Finally, the software will then run through the conversion process, saving the file into the format that you specified.

Advanced XML Converter is presented in a flexible and user-friendly interface, providing developers with the perfect solution for saving time and obtaining the most accurate results possible. You can also set up a number of different export parameters to fully customize the job. Advanced XML Converter also provides an opportunity to save money on advanced database development packages. This solution provides a far more affordable solution being priced at only $49 for a single user license. There are also even cheaper licenses available for those who only need to work with a specified format. To find out more, visit http://www.xml-converter.com . ]]> http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/parental-control-software-lets-you-know-how-your-computer-is-being-used.html http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/parental-control-software-lets-you-know-how-your-computer-is-being-used.html Mon, 09 Aug 2010 07:11:35 -0700
Time Sheriff is not just for monitoring children's usage of the computer. It is also an effective solution in companies as well, giving administrators an effective way of monitoring how the company resources are being used. It will tell you how much time a specific user is using a certain program, for example. The software can also set up rules and restrictions and it can do things like intervening when a user's logged on time is up. Limits for particular applications can also be set. The software will also inform you who is using the PC and how long they have been logged in for.

Using Time Sheriff is a pleasure, providing you with a rewarding experience with its simple yet highly effective interface. Setting up the various restrictions and rules is a fast and efficient process that is also very easy, regardless of your level of IT knowledge. When the software has been set up, it will simply run in the background using very little in the way of system resources. Running unobtrusively, the program uses the Windows access rights to manage all of the permissions and restrictions that you set. This makes the software almost impossible to circumvent, even for the most computer savvy of people.

Time Sheriff also has a further layer of protection using a master password which only the administrator needs to know. This means that you will have full control over who can turn the software on or off or change the settings. Without the master password, the program cannot be circumvented in any way and settings cannot be changed. Using the master password also gives you the power to run any restricted applications such as those which have already run out of the pre-defined time limit. With these features, administrators have complete control over their computers while the other users can be constantly monitored.

Regardless of whether you need a solution to monitor the employees of your company or monitor children at home, Time Sheriff is the ideal solution for parental control software, providing you with all the features that you need. It is powerful and easy to use, giving you all the power you need at your fingertips. Unlike many other parental control solutions, it actually allows you to set time limits and more. To find out more, visit the official REFOG website at http://www.refog.com/parental-control-software.html. ]]> http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/how-to-find-the-best-keylogger-software-for-your-computer.html http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/how-to-find-the-best-keylogger-software-for-your-computer.html Mon, 09 Aug 2010 06:32:31 -0700
If children are allowed completely unrestricted access to the family computer with no monitoring, they can quickly, and easily, find themselves in situations that they simply are not equipped to handle. Online chat rooms and instant messaging are prime examples of mediums that can cause trouble. This is because there are many unscrupulous users out there with malicious intentions, such as older individuals posing as someone else with the intention of luring younger children out of home. These inappropriate relationships can easily go unnoticed by parents who don't have any form of computer surveillance installed on their family computers.

Teenagers can also get themselves into trouble on the Internet such as by downloading illegal music or movies and then getting discovered. Sometimes they may be posting inappropriate pictures of themselves which could later lead to problems in the future when they get found out.

Children and teenagers are not the only people at risk on the Internet, however. Using keylogger software, you can also monitor your spouse, which is a highly effective way of seeing what they are getting up to on the computer when you are not around. If, for example, you have any suspicion that your spouse is visiting inappropriate websites or chatting in an inappropriate manner to members of the opposite sex, keylogger software will reveal all. While a keylogger won't prevent these activities by itself, it will let you know exactly what is happening before the situation gets out of control.

REFOG Keylogger is one of the most respected and popular solutions out there. This keylogger software works on any Windows-based computer and most importantly, it runs completely invisibly so no one except for the computer's owner needs to know that it is running. This means that users will not be able to hide their activities or tamper with the software in any way.

When the software has been installed, it will record every single keystroke made. It will log all the web history and track all the applications that are being used. It will also take screenshots as frequently as specified, giving you a very thorough visual history of what your computer is being used for when you are not present. The program also has a password protection feature, providing a second line of defense just in case someone finds out that keylogger software is monitoring them. Additionally, the software is updated automatically so you do not have to do anything other than sit back and see the logs. To find out more, visit http://www.refog.com/. ]]> http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/touch-screen-jukebox-software-for-your-home.html http://eratostenes.info/index.php/computers/software/touch-screen-jukebox-software-for-your-home.html Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:05:00 -0700
The true power of the jukebox software is its uncanny ability to display music, karaoke, and music videos in meaningful ways. Jukebox Jockey operates off a concept of views, each view defines a way to sort and display media. Some of the included views include Decades, Genres, Artists, Playlists, and more but new views can be made by the developer to create even more interesting ways to view the media on your device.

Once you've found the song you want, just choose add selected or drag and drop it into the queue! Jukebox Jockey will play the song you've requested in order, or you can move songs around as you see fit. Don't worry, because if there is no song in the request list, the jukebox software will automatically pick a song from the current Random Play Filter. You can set the Random Play from any of the artists, decades, genres, playlists, and more!

Keeping your PC jukebox secure from your sneaky family members or friends isn't a problem either. Jukebox Jockey Media Player Home has security functions build in that allow you to lock down your digital jukebox from unwanted intruders. Just switch it over to party play mode and nobody will be able to hack into your sensitive files.

If you are planning on putting together a digital jukebox for your home's game room, bar, living room, or kitchen you have to give Jukebox Jockey Media Player 1.1 Home a try. There is a 30 day free trial that you can download from the website and the price of the software is sure to fit within your budget. http://www.jukeboxjockey.com ]]>