Broadband: a Digital Divide

As consumers and providers alike are all to well aware, broadband speeds experienced within metropolitan areas far exceed that of speeds experienced within rural parts of the country. With super-fast broadband, or ADSL+2 scheduled for roll out next year, some predict the divide is only going to widen.Predictions show that people living in rural areas could even be waiting decades before they experience speeds close to that of their metropolitan counterparts.As mentioned, next year, BT plans to implement its ‘next generation’ ADSL (ADSL+2) which promises speeds of up to 24Mbps. As with the current broadband situation though, your average speed will depend greatly on how far you are from your nearest BT exchange. And for some rural residence, this can be hundreds of miles. Rural consumer concerns not only lie with the speed that they receive though, but also the extra cost they have to pay. "There is a growing digital divide as people in built-up urban areas are able to take advantage of cheaper broadband and 'free' line rental, while those in the country are left languishing on more expensive packages" said Michael Phillips from Broadbandchoices.co.uk.“Unbundled services” is the term given to when a provider (ie. Tiscali, TalkTalk, Pipex, etc) installs their own equipment within one of BTs exchanges. This allows providers to offer consumers far more competitive broadband deals than they would prior to unbundling. As this can cost providers anything in the region of £30,000 though, they tend to reserve such services to urban areas, where development tends to be more cost effective.

Starting A Lucrative Pet Sitting Business

While the idea of a pet sitting business may some odd to many, it is actually a very lucrative industry. The home-based & commercial pet sitting industries are literally exploding in popularity in the U.S. and abroad.Currently, pet sitting businesses are one of the easiest, less riskiest & most profitable businesses to start as there are no substantial costs to look after pets. Over 40 million U.S. households own at least one dog, and Americans spend over $34 Billion a year caring for their animals. In addition, over 47 Million U.S. households own more than one pet.The statistics and market trends speak for themselves. The fact is owning a home-based or commercial pet sitting service can generate anywhere from several thousand to several hundred thousand dollars in additional income, regardless of which region or country you reside in.There is a fast-growing trend, not only in the U.S., but Canada, and other countries to find a loving, caring pet sitting service in their area, and in most cases, price isn't much of a factor. Many surveys have been conducted, and pet owners are choosing independent pet sitting services over the mainstream kennel.Think about it? Why would a pet owner drop their little companion off at a kennel where they are caged for most of the day, while they are off at work or on vacation. A pet that is not cared for equally as it is accustomed to, whether it be for a day or several days can impose a damaging psychological effect.For about the same price, more or less, a pet owner can look to Magazines, Newspapers, Direct Mailings or the Yellow Pages where they can bring their pet to a loving, caring place such as a home pet sitting service. Not a jail cell.As a pet sitting business owner, referrals will come gradually in a concerted manner. The most difficult part during the start-up phase of this kind of business is finding the first five to ten clients. After that, the client referral snowball will begin as your clients will refer others to your business and pretty soon, you'll need to hired help to take care of all of the pets.Please keep in mind, that there are numerous types of services you can provide, such as visiting the owners home to take pets for walks when they are absent, or by keeping a watchful eye over the pet owners home by not only caring for their animals but also watering their plants, maintaining their aquarium, performing security checks, or mowing their lawn. In addition, you can arrange for doggie-day-care outings and arrange for dogs to play in the parks. You can also provide taxi services to the veterinary appointments and grooming visits, and also deliver pet food to homes & other places.Before the first year is out, a home based business could pull $100k USD income, while a commercial pet sitting service at a public location can generate up to $500k USD and more.You are ultimately the one that determines how much money you'll make in the business as you'll be the one that attracts clients.If you take an active approach, you will soon learn that owning and operating a pet sitting business can be extremely profitable.If you are a little apprehensive about diving into this kind of business because you don't know how to attract new clientele, do not worry. Start-Up costs for this business is minimal to non-existent using various forms of advertising, including:1.) Listing your Business in the Yellow Pages, 2.) Distributing Flyers in the mail or door-to-door at places of businesses or residential areas, 3.) Community T.V. Bulletin Boards, 4.) and Web Sites which you can develop for FREE plus many others.From Internet Advertising, to Radio & T.V. Pay-Per-Lead Programs, to Direct & Co-Operative Coupon Mailings, we can honestly say that it will be easy to find new clients as demand is high.As far as hard costs go, there really is none, except Pet Food and maybe a few special leashes.As a pet sitting business owner, you will need to learn the business inside and out, including day to day operations, marketing techniques, the skills you need to know for short and long term success, avoiding costly mistakes, zoning issues "for commercial businesses", essential resources, etc...If you've been looking to start your own business, and be your own boss, with a minimal risk and virtually no startup costs, with a potential to earn six-figures a year doing what you love, then a pet sitting business may be just for you.

Lifeboat Distribution to Distribute Commence Database Management Software

Commence Corporation a leading provider of database management and desktop development tools has announced that they have entered into a distribution agreement with Lifeboat Distribution, the international specialty software distributor for database management, application development, and other technically sophisticated products. Under the agreement, Commence Corporation’s desktop database management tools will be made available to Lifeboat’s worldwide network of solution providers. The Commence tools enable software development professionals to rapidly prototype, develop and deploy business applications in a fraction of the time and cost of alternative solutions.Commence products have won numerous industry awards and are well-regarded for their intuitive design, flexibility and scalable architecture. They have proven to enable independent or team-based developers to create business solutions for diverse markets such as healthcare, government, finance, legal, manufacturing and construction. Commence products are currently utilized by several thousand businesses in twenty-two countries around the world.“Although Commence is best known for their CRM applications, they have a powerful set of underlying development platform tools that previously have only been available through OEMs”, said Dan Jamieson, Vice President and General Manager Lifeboat Distribution. “We are pleased that these tools will now be generally available to our network of solution provider partners as they look to grow their businesses and meet their customers’ application needs.”Larry Caretsky, president of Commence Corporation, said that he was pleased that Lifeboat has agreed to represent the company’s products. “Partnering with Lifeboat brings a significant business opportunity to thousands of value added resellers, integrators and solution providers. The Commence application development toolkit will enable their reseller channel to deploy customized database applications for even the most challenging industry requirements”, he concluded.About Lifeboat DistributionLifeboat Distribution, a subsidiary of Wayside Technology Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: WSTG), is an international specialty software distributor for virtualization, security, application and network infrastructure, business continuity/disaster recovery, database infrastructure and management, application lifecycle management, science/engineering, and other technically sophisticated products. We help software publishers recruit and build multinational solution provider networks, power their networks, and drive incremental sales revenues that complement existing sales channels. Lifeboat Distribution services thousands of solution providers, VARs, systems integrators, corporate resellers, and consultants worldwide, helping them power a rich opportunity stream, expand their margin+ services revenues, and build profitable product and service businesses. About Commence CorporationCommence Corporation (www.commence.com) is a leading provider of desktop database management, customer relationship management and application development tools. The company’s products are designed to provide small to mid-size businesses with flexible solutions that leverage the web to provide an integrated platform for managing front office business operations. Commence supports thousands of users through a worldwide distribution network, with outlets in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Commence products have been sold under private label by IBM, AT&T and Compaq Computer.

Why Bother To Wipe Hard Disk Drives

When you delete a file from your hard disk, it may seem as if it is gone forever. In truth, however, this is not the case. The seemingly permanent process of file deletion actually leaves the file data still on the hard disk. When a file is deleted, it is simply marked 'deleted', and the space that it occupies on the disk is accordingly marked 'ready for use'. Hence, it may be overwritten when more disk space is required, but this is by no means certain, unless the entire hard disk is filled with data.Now, the actual data that make up the file is still on the hard disk, even after deletion. This makes it available for recovery, usually done using specially designed data recovery programs. MSDOS, in fact, has a built-in UNDELETE command which may recover recently deleted files.The reason why file deletion is not as thorough as it can be is a simple one; resource management. Actually overwriting every bit of every file that is to be deleted will use more resources than would be practical, for everyday use. And in fact, this simple file deletion is usually sufficient for the basic user's needs.However, security considerations might necessitate the complete erasure of a given hard disk or collection of hard disks. When reassigning hard disks, for instance, or switching computers around, confidential data might need to be deleted. To lessen the possibility that this data is recovered, a hard disk wipe may be performed.When a hard disk wipe is performed, the entire area of the hard disk is actually overwritten with random data. This means that the data that used to be on the hard disk becomes much harder (practically impossible) to recover after such a process. Almost no traces of the previous data that used to be on the disk is left, making a hard disk wipe a secure improvement upon ordinary file deletion.The metadata or information on the data that used to be on the hard disk is also wiped clean, since the entire space of the hard disk is overwritten. The randomness of this data used to overwrite depends on the algorithm used to generate it. Some hard disk wipe programs give users the choice to select the algorithm they want the program to use. However this is not as necessary for hard disk wipe programs as it is for file shredder programs, which wipe individual files. This is because when it is the entire hard disk that is wiped, the degree of randomness of the overwriting data is not anymore as important.Performing a hard disk wipe is often as easy as clicking a few buttons in a specially designed hard disk wipe program. Some programs are set to run automatically when a CD containing the program is placed into the computer containing the hard disk to be wiped. This makes it easier to perform batch wipes on many computers at once, and makes the hard disk wipe a feasible security solution for multiple hard disks.

Your Home Theater How-to Hookup

I love the movie theater experience. The large screen that sucks you into the story. The sound that literally shakes your seat and comes at you from all sides. The darkened room. As I get older though, budget, family and other responsibilities keep me from going to the theater as much as I would like. So how about the next best thing--bringing the theater going experience to you. I am talking about home theaters.Who wouldn't want a crystal clear picture, surround sound, all connected to give you a great home viewing experience? Of course, if you are like me both budget and lack of expertise can keep you from making the jump. I will attempt to lay out the basics for you here.Obviously, you need to start with a quality HDTV. HD stands for high definition. HDTV's give you a very high resolution image which give your picture great clarity. This is the central piece to your home theater system and can take up the majority of the price. HDTV's can range from several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.When it comes to home theaters and TV's size does matter. You can get smaller HDTV's and the picture will be excellent but for a home theater you want to get something that is 32" or larger for the best experience. The picture quality on a larger TV may not be quite as good as the smaller sets, but the difference is minimal and it is worth the sacrifice in picture quality to get the larger set.After you choose what size TV is best for you, the quality of the image is your next concern. Resolutions range from 720p to 1080i to 1080p. The better the resolution the more the TV is going to run you. The easiest way to decide what resolution is satisfactory to both your eyes and your wallet is to go to the store and compare and contrast the different options you are considering.Once you have selected your TV, sound is your next issue. There are tons of options when it comes to sound. Many people, especially those with less technical knowledge, will choose a bundled system. Bundled systems tend to take up less room, have less wires to deal with, and are easier to install.However, other people may choose to customize their sound systems. If you choose to do this you have an almost infinite set of choices. The real issue is that it will take a lot of tweaking and trial and error to make sure all the components are working together. Do not skimp when it comes to speaker and cable quality. You may have a great sound system that will be worthless with cheap speakers or wires that dampen or dull the sound.For most people, a ready made system will be fine and will satisfy all your home theater needs. If you do decide to customize be sure to do your research well. Either way, enjoy that theater experience in the comfort of your own home!

Watch Makers Discover Part Standardization

Like countless other consumer products, the way in which modern wrist watches are manufactured has undergone incredible changes since the Industrial Revolution that broke during the turn of twentieth century. This important period in world history ushered in entirely new ways to mass produce products for a growing world population.In every facet of manufacturing there were incredible technological advances that improved efficiencies and helped reduce production costs.Most of us have heard about the way Henry Ford changed the way automobiles were built by developing the production line assembly method. Cars would constantly roll off the Ford assembly line as workers would fit various parts to the chassis in a precise order and within a predetermined time.What few of us think about are the other changes that made this type manufacturing operation possible. Absolutely critical to the success of the mass production line was the development of standardized parts, components that are nearly identical to each other.Prior to the development of mass production assembly lines, most mechanical assemblies, including watches were built from components that were made individually most often by different producers. This meant that very often, parts from one machine be it a car, locomotive or sewing machine, could be not be used on another machine.A good example of the obvious draw backs to building machines individually can be seen in a tragic story from World War One. The French developed a machine gun, the Chauchat that was built one at a time by individual craftsmen. Though the plans for the gun called for the same dimensions, differing production methods and the whim of the builder resulted in each weapon literally being a one of a kind creation.For the troops in the field, this nonstandard way of manufacturing had tragic sometimes fatal results. French Army and U.S. Army troops that had been issued the gun quickly discovered that the parts were not interchangeable, meaning that the parts from one gun could not used on another.A second even more serious drawback was that the loading and firing mechanism in the guns would often jamb owing to the lack of integrated quality control methods. All in all, the Chauchat was a disaster for the troops that had rely in it during the brutality of trench warfare.A far less daunting problem was faced by those in the watch making and watch repair business. Like the Chauchat, the parts from one brand or even model of watch could not used to repair the same make and model. A major change in how watch parts were designed and manufactured came from the Bulova Watch Company.In the early nineteen twenties Bulova introduced the world’s first wrist watch designs that incorporated standardized parts manufactured to very close tolerances. The major benefit to this change in engineering and design strategy was that watch makers could use the parts from one Bulova watch to repair any other Bulova watch regardless of the model. Another additional benefit to watch repairers was the ability to keep spare parts on hand and as a result, the time needed to repair a Bulova watch was greatly reduced.As other watch producers adopted the practice of parts standardization and integrated quality control, the reliability of wrist watches was greatly increased. The use of standardized components meant that those parts that subject to wear did so in more consistent and predictable way, requiring far less maintenance and repair than those timepieces assembled as one of kind items.Sadly, as with most old line businesses that saw significant change and as watches became more trouble free, the once wide spread trade of watch repair has largely disappeared.

Sony Psp Slim: the Game Console

The new Play station Slim from Sony created a revolution in the field of gaming console. The model was launched by Sony on 2007 in competition to the Nintendo DS Lite, another gaming console brand. The new Sony PSP slim model with 189 grams is 33% lighter and 19% slimmer than the original PSP system. This model was launched in Europe on September 5 and in the U.S. on 6, 2007. The Sony PSP Slim got launched in Hong Kong on August 30, 07, while it arrived in the North America on September 5. The new Sony PSP Slim and Lite model gaming console offers several other tweaks and improvements from the older generation. To target the original PSP generation's poor load times for UMD games, the new model Slim has doubled its the internal memory to 64 MB to improve load times and accommodate for an improvement in the web browser's performance. The new model PSP slimmer from Sony comes with a battery that has a reduced capacity of about 1/3. With more efficient power usage, the runtime of the PSP is almost the same as its predecessor. Older model batteries will still work with the PSP Slim & Lite which extends the amount of playing time on the PSP Slim & Lite. The new Sony PSP Slim comes with a new enamel coated finish that can prevent scratches and smudges. The serial port is also modified as to accommodate a new video-out feature. This new model PSP Slim from Sony has a new UMD loading tray design that will make it more efficient in terms of size, while the Wi-Fi switch is now moved to the top of the console and the memory stick slot to the upper left. The new model has speakers repositioned on the front of the PSP near the top of the screen.