The /root Home Directory of the Linux Root User - Linux Training Online - Linux Concepts & Terms

When you start working with Linux OS (operating system) and learning how to user Linux, you will soon discover that there are several Linux terms that are similar, the same, or somehow related.

For example, the terms: root user, / (root directory) and /root (the home directory of the root user) are similar and related.

Now you will learn about the /root directory, which is the home directory (path) of the root user and how this relates to the / (root) directory and the /root (home directory) of the root user.

Linux Tips: Articles having names ending in "Linux Concepts & Terms" are designed to help you with Linux "geek-speak" (Linux "lingo"). By learning the Linux "lingo", you will more easily understand Linux concepts and how to use Linux. And this is an excellent way to get practical Linux training. First, You Need to Learn a Bit About Linux User Types and Linux Home Directories

Every Linux user has a "home" directory that is typically used for the data files created by the user.

By default, all users have all permissions (rights, capabilities) to their own home directories and this enables them to create data files and directories in the home directory.

The Linux user that exists on all Linux systems and is used to do system administration tasks is named root and this user has all permissions to all of the Linux system. No other Linux users have this capability - they only have limited permissions to the system.

Linux users that are created and used for day-to-day Linux tasks are regular (a.k.a. non-root) users.

Linux Tips: When using Ubuntu Linux, keep in mind that by default, the root user is locked (unusable, disabled). To run Linux system administration commands as the root user, you run the Linux sudo command (along with the commands), rather than logging in as root - or using the su command to log in as root. The /root Home Directory of the root User

By default, all non-root user home directories are located in a directory named "home", below the / (root) directory - in the path of /home.

For example, for a Linux user named cwest, the home directory is in the path of /home/cwest.

The home directory for the bbest user is in the path of /home/bbest.

However, the home directory for the root user is named "root" and is below the / (root) directory. Therefore, the home directory for the root user is in the path of /root. So, the path for the root is: root, root - hurrah - fun eh?.

The root user keeps: data files, Linux scripts, downloaded Linux software programs, and other Linux system administration files, in directories that are "in" or "below" the root user home directory - in the path of /root.

Now you can learn Linux the easy way - by watching all these terms and concepts clearly described, step-by-step in a Linux video tutorial!

Similar Linux Terms: /root (home directory of the root user), root user, and / (root) directory in the Linux file system

The root User - The Linux System Administration User

The root user has all permissions to all of a Linux system and is used for Linux system administration

The / (root) Directory

The root directory is represented by a / (forward slash) in the Linux file system. All directories in the Linux file system are "off of" or "below" the / (root) directory.

How To Earn Gold In World Of Warcraft Burning Crusade The Easy Way!

Earning gold in World of Warcraft as we all know can be a very difficult process IF you don't know the secrets to do so.

How would you like to earn ridiculous amounts of gold with very little effort on your part?

Now YOU CAN!

If you don't believe me, try the following method and see how it works out for you.

How to earn 100-200g per hour

There is a great place to mine Fel Iron in Hellfire that a lot of people don't know about. To get to this location, proceed with the following steps...

Fly back to the dark portal in Hellfire.
Jump off the side of the platform.
Make your way around the back of the portal.

Once you are here, you can do full sweeps up and down the land behind the portal
There are approximately 25 spawn points with 3-4 normally active on any one sweep.
Also, to make things even better, there are no mobs back there.
On my current, server I VERY rarely see anyone else back there so the competition is extremely low.

In about an hour of running up and down I got 100 ore, 15 eternium ore, 3 primal fires and 2 primal earths! Plus a quite a few gems.

Give that method a try. If you find it useful then I'm sure the WoWGoldEZ guide will help you earn even more gold!

Content is updated on a regular basis with new and up to date content. Plus with the one time payment of only $12.95 you will become a lifetime member and receive 24/7 help + lifetime updates!

Join WoWGoldEZ today. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Morphing Software Review - Top Morphing Software Programs

What can you do with Morphing Software

Morphing software programs provide the tools to add exciting and unique visual effects to web graphics, advertisements, screen savers, music videos, educational software and movies, emails, presentations, greeting cards, and many other types of electronic documents. Use your amazing morph pictures and movies in numerous ways. You won't be disappointed with the professional quality of your Morphing software program projects.

What is morphing software? Image morphing is a great visualization process. It can be used for entertainment and to educate. Morphing software programs are used regularly to create special effects for music videos, television commercials and movies.

Image morphing is used to compute a transformation, a metamorphosis, from one image to another. This procedure is called "morph". The whole concept is to display a series of images, that when they are put together with the first images, will show the transition from one image to the other.

In a morphing series of two faces, the middle image will look incredibly life-like, as a real person, but one can easily see it is neither the person in the first or second image. The image in the middle is half influenced by the left and half influenced by the right image.

It will cost you a lot less to purchase and use Morphing software than complex animation software. But the results will be very similar. Your first morph will make you feel like a professional comedian and artist all in one when you complete your first morph.

Morphing Software benefits:

You can experiment with your morphing software for free without any repercussions.

Age your child's photos year by year using a morphing software program.

Morph yourself into a shapely new figure, wearing the latest fashions and create the latest and greatest hair style for yourself or others.

Have fun expressing yourself shaping reality your way.

Morph funny greeting cards to keep your family and friends rolling with laughter.

Morphing software is a great way to show the world your creative style.

You can be dramatic or funny by using morphing video software.

Make your dog a cat, you and your husband can be children again for unforgettable footage.

Morphing software allows you to spend an hour or just a few minutes depending on the details you create morphing your own masterpiece that will show your family and friends your dramatic flair or that will keep them laughing or deeply touched.

A simplistic morph only takes a few precious minutes but the laughter and ther memories can be everlasting.

Important Features of Morphing Software

First decide exactly how you would like to use your morphing software then look for these features

Feature Set – This is the toolbox for the morphing software. A bigger tool set does not always mean it is a better. Look for morphing software that meets your specific needs and allows you to create the types of morphs that you want.

Setup and Installation- simple setup and installation is a must. Shop for easy exports and imports these are a must. Remember if you purchase a technically difficult morphing software you will not end up using it.

Ease of Use- Remember that morphing software uses a multi-step process and it requires your attention and time being paid to the details if you would like to have the best results.

Real Time Playing- Real Time Playing allows you to view your results right away as you are editing your morph. Beware that not all morphing software has this feature. With most morphing software you will have to save your morph to a file then open the file and load it to another program in order to view your morph.

Customer Support – It is important to purchase a morphing software program that offers good sound manufacturers support. Look for a help index, FAQ's, email, tutorials and other support forums.

With morphing software you can have a grand ole time discovering your imagination all over again by trying new effects. You will enjoy using your new creations to make your family and friends roll with laughter or cry with the tenderness of your morphs.

Top Morphing Software

Fantamorph - can be found at http://www.voiceintegrity.com/fantamorph.htm

Morpheus

Satelite TV for PC - A Review of PC Satellite TV

Satellite TV for PC is a great invention that enables you to watch sport, movies, music, news, weather, kids channels from anywhere in the world. To get the most out of your money you need to choose a satellite TV to PC package that is going to cater to everything you want from satellite TV.

In addition to finding a package at a good price you should be looking out for whether the software provides a large number of channels, whether it gives good coverage over a variety of genres (sport, music, etc), and whether you need to pay a one-time fee or recurring.

What I found answered all of these criteria, and more. I chose the Satellite TV for PC Elite Edition as it provides an unbelievable number of channels (over 3000) and I can use it anywhere in the world, which is perfect as I travel quite a lot. Due to the one-time low price of the software I wasn't expecting anything extra special, but I was pleasantly surprised. It is an amazing piece of software that is outstanding value for money.

Just before writing this I was notified of the new Titanium version of satellite TV for PC which promises over 4000 channels. Once again the price is unbeatable so I will show you where to get it from with some great bonuses at the end of this article.

Often when friends ask me about PC satellite TV the most common question is whether it's legal. For some reason they try and keep a bit quiet about it! While I'm not saying that all computer satellite TV is legal (as I don't know them all), I can say that my recommended software certainly is.

satellite TV for PC should really come with a health warning. There are so many channels to keep you entertained that if you're anything like me you may end up addicted to watching it! The good news is that if there are any films or sport that you want to watch you can more than often find it.

Before I chose this software I took a look at a few others. One important thing to note is that some require a fast internet connection in order to work at its best. The software I have will work even on 56k connection. Although many homes now have a broadband connection, it is good to know that if you travel you will still be able to use the software on a slow connection.

Satellite TV for PC Elite Edition along with the Titanium version come bundled with bonuses such as free unlimited mp3 music and movie downloads so it's the perfect time to grab your satelite TV to PC software now.

Using VoIP is a Smart Way to Economize

Does your telephone monthly bill cost too much? Are you chafing at the additional fees and taxes the telephone company has charged you? If you answered yes to these two questions then VoIP is just right for you.

Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP is one of today's prevailing communication technologies. Imagine making telephone calls using the Internet through your computer or your telephone. That is exactly the technology VoIP brings to you that no wonder, it is gaining lots of users from all over the world.

What makes VoIP favorable is not just the way it's engineered to let people choose the medium where they'd want to communicate. It's actually the prudence of VoIP in letting users avoid wasting money that makes it worthwhile.

When you use VoIP for telephone calling, low cost is a guarantee. You can save up to $50 or more on your monthly telephone bill. And this is actualized through VoIP's "limited" and "unlimited" calling plans.

Limited calling plans enables you to call someone for a limited time. This could cost you for as low as $15-$20 monthly. On the other hand, unlimited calling plans let you talk till you drop at any given time. And this is not just applied to local domestic calls. There are also unlimited plans for long-distance calls. Imagine how practical this is if you make dozens of long distance telephoning. Certainly, a hearty amount of savings will be generated for you in a course of a year.

However, if you turn out to be someone who makes phone calls internationally then VoIP is still for you though unlimited calling plans doesn't apply to these. What generous telephone company would ever charge you as low as $.10 per minute for international calls? Only thru VoIP can this be achieved. If you get lucky, you may find a VoIP provider that offers unlimited calling plans for international calls among its own subscribers. Visualize the rewards if you have relatives to call in other countries.

Furthermore, if you travel oftentimes, you'd better take advantage of VoIP. You only have to bring your adapter and hook it to high-speed Internet then you're ready to go. Calls will be made through someone's VoIP number and it doesn't matter wherever the person is. This means no long distance fees on your hotel and cellular phone bill.

Also, VoIP provides three-way calling, voice mail, etc. and using such comes with no fee, which is impossible if done through a landline phone company.

And best of all, unlike your regular phone company, in using VoIP, you will not charged taxes and regulatory fees.

Nokia 6230i - Faster, Sharper, Smarter

Cashing in the huge popularity enjoyed by the Nokia 6230 – a feature rich, voice centric phone, the company has offered an improved version of it. The new Nokia 6230i maintains the same simplistic charm of its predecessor while including more features. The Nokia 6230i represents a sizable amount of target audience, so its success is critical for this Finnish mobile phone manufacturer's position.

The Nokia 6230i is a classic candy bar shaped handset that is aimed to strengthen the mid-range portfolio of Nokia mobile phones. The handset is fitted with an active TFT color display which is noticeably brighter than the earlier offering. The display is capable of producing up to 65,536 colours across 208 x 208 pixels. The display is an ideal backdrop for rich multimedia contents of the Nokia 6230i.

Nokia 6230i continue to adhere to Nokia mobile phone's trademark of easy user interface even in its new animated 3D menu graphics. 5-way navigation key with a set of configurable soft keys makes it even easy to use the Nokia 6230i. The handset is equipped with a 1.3 megapixel camera which can shoot pictures with resolution as high as 1280x1024 pixels. The Nokia 6230i record video in the 3GPP QCIF video file format for up to 1 hour. You can get prints of images shot by the Nokia 6230i by pairing the device with a compatible printer via Bluetooth.

This triband handset is also an avid web surfer. Built in GPRS and EDGE technology, a WAP 2.0/xHTML browser is incorporated with the Nokia 6230i just for that purpose. Local exchange of files and information via Bluetooth, Infrared and USB is faster. You can use the handset to play your favourite songs and videos, tune into any FM station or even play highly interactive built in Java games.

Nokia 6230i

Nokia Cellular Phone - A Step By Step Guide To Upgrade Your N80 Nokia Cellular Phone

If you�ve got a Nokia cellular phone you probably have no idea of the tips and tricks out there for your phone. I hope to share some of that knowledge with you here.

Do you need to upgrade your Nokia cellular phone N80 to N80ie or internet edition? The Nokia N80ie is the same hardware as the N80, just the firmware is different. So you can do a firmware upgrade on your stock Nokia N80 and turn it into an N80ie! Why should you want to do this? The Nokia cellular phone N80ie has VoIP/sip support which allows you to make WLAN phone calls, better WLAN support, new internet applications and some bug fixes.

The upgrade process is confusing but this step by step guide should help you out. Before you begin you�ll need a USB cable, NSS (Nemesis Service Suite), Nokia Software Updater (NSU) and Nokia PC Suite to back up your data. You first need to determine if you have a branded or unbranded Nokia cellular phone N80. The Nokia updater software will not let you upgrade the firmware if it determines you have a branded Nokia phone. But that�s ok as you can unbrand it! This step also works if you want to change the region your phone is in from say Europe to somewhere else.

Install the Nemesis Service Suite (NSS) and choose to not install virtual USB drivers. Connect the USB cable to the Nokia cellular phone N80 and select PC Suite mode. Run the program and in the upper right hand corner click on the magnifying glass icon. The software will run some tests and then when it�s done click the Phone Info tab. In the Production Data Edit section click the Read button. The status bar will show that it�s reading values and then there should be a number in the Product Code: field. If you want to change regions then enter the product code for the new region. Choose carefully as you cannot change this value again until a new firmware is released. Before entering the new product code, write down the old one! The product codes can be found on the internet. Enter in the new product code, click the Enable check box and then click the Write button.

At this point you could backup your phone with the Nokia PC Suite. Once you�ve backed up your data, run the Nokia Software Updater. This will check your phone and let you know if there are any firmware updates available. Expect a very long wait while the software runs its checks. Also expect to run the check a few times before it will find the firmware upgrade. When it finds it, follow the prompts to get the firmware loaded. Do not touch the Nokia cellular phone, USB cable, computer, microwave, telephone, radio or anything at all nearby while it is upgrading the firmware. Better yet just leave for awhile and then come back to check on it. After it has upgraded the firmware you are done!

Microsoft Dynamics GP Consultant Selection Overview

If you think about purchasing Microsoft Great Plains as your company ERP solution, the important part if finding Microsoft Business Solutions VAR or if you are mid-size or small operation – probably just Microsoft Great Plains functional and technical consultant. Microsoft Dynamics GP is successor of former Great Plains Software Dynamics/eEnterprise, and modern Microsoft Great Plains is pretty complex MRP system, so if you think one person is capable to support all the module, plus provide technical consulting: installation, data conversion, massage and migration, integration with your legacy applications, train your people in all the modules: GL, Manufacturing, Sales Order Processing, plus implement web based GP Business Portal – you are probably a bit idealistic and should think about experienced consultant who can do implementation and at the same time be your project manager, capable to manage third party consultants, who specialize in specific modules. In this small article we would like to orient you:

• Nation-wide consulting companies. We should give you well-known names here. These companies typically present in major business metros and are pretty aggressive in their marketing and sales campaigns. At the same time these companies might be at the high end of consulting rates and very robust in their collection policies. Good point here is this – nation-wide companies are capable to bring over resources from other offices to support all the spectrum of GP modules

• Regional consulting practices. These MRP consulting companies typically specialize in several product lines and hit regional and local clientele via aggressive direct mail and telemarketing. In comparison to nation-wide MBS VARs regional companies have to subcontract technically challenging projects offshore or to GP ISV, so what out if you will get the job done under the same umbrella

• Remote Support MBS consulting companies. These implementation partners typically have few offices within USA or Canada, from where they do sales and project management. Remote support is typically done from country side support centers or even from offshore facilities

A Free Satellite TV System Is Better Then Buying One

Why on earth would anyone in their right mind go out and buy a satellite system in this day and age, when there are people who give them to you for free. The two top satellite service providers are giving them away right now, when you sign up for any of their stellar programming packages. No one is really quite sure why they do it, because they have the most channels available and the best overall customer satisfaction ratings, of any other service provider anywhere.

So you would think that alone would be enough to draw new customers from far and wide and it does with more and more people switching to cable every day. Maybe it is a temporary promotional package, that they have forgotten to cancel. If that is the case, don't say anything to them when they bring the system to your home or business and install it all for free for you.

Maybe they will never remember to stop giving away all the great state of the art satellite equipment and everyone will just go on getting it got free forever. Dish Network and Direct TV are both doing it and its a fantastic freebie. They let you pick through all their choices in satellite receivers and dishes and decide what you want and all you pay for is the great programming you receive from them.

If you want to join Direct TVs family of high definition viewers you will have to pay a few bucks for their high definition receiver, but its still a "give away" deal. Their receivers are all loaded to the top with great features. The DVR receivers will allow you to record up to one-hundred hours of programming, while you are away at work or busy with something else. You can even record one program, while you are watching another

If your not up to surfing through the over two-hundred and fifty channels that you can get from either of them, you can easily create your own menu of all your favorite programs, that shows up on the screen at the touch of a button. Want to find a program or movie and you don't want to spend any time looking for it? Just enter the name of the movie or even an actor in it, into the automatic search function and there it is on your screen, with a brief description of the story line and a list of all the actors in it and any other relevant information on the movie.

There are so many other one touch features for you to use, such as instant replays in slow motion so you can watch Janet Jacksons Super bowl half time strip show over and over as many times as you want to. So when you are ready for the step up to satellite TV contact Dish Network or Direct TV for you free satellite TV system and remember not to remind them that they don't have to give all the great stuff away any more.

An Overview of HTC S620

At the first blush many people may find the HTC Excalibur S620 is a bit strange. It is a rather flat, broad looking phone with a complete QWERTY keyboard and a large display. The back of it has a rubber layer that makes the HTC S620 a comfortable phone to hold. Looking further, one can see that HTC has added small finishing touches to the phone.

This includes a silver stripe along the side of the phone and a metal surface around the keys. This makes the looks both handsome and petite. The camera lens and a mirror on the back of the phone are helpful for making a self-portrait. The connection line for a head phone and the charger are neatly covered by a rubber flap underneath the HTC S620.

The other thing that strikes the attention of the first time viewer of the HTC S620 is the host of keys. But it may not seem to be peculiar when you consider that HTC has fitted a complete QWERTY keyboard on a phone with a size of 2.17 x 1.18 inches. If you think it would be difficult to find the number keys among the others then HTC has a solution for this. In sharp contrast with the black letter keys, its number keys are silver in colour and easily distinguishable.

Moreover, other keys like the function keys, selection keys, keys for Internet navigation and answering or ending a call are all just above the QWERTY keyboard. What more, there is pressure sensitive scroll key and the return key to the right of the LCD display, which can be used in the entire menu. But these keys are particularly handy on Internet.

The HTC S620 is very user friendly as it is a Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 based phone. So, many people will recognise functions that they already know from their computer on the HTC S620. This sleek-looking phone also supports quad-band GSM/EDGE/GPRS and it is enriched with Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® capabilities that give you a wide-range of connection possibilities.

Sleek Style That Delivers

Stylish handsets with ultra slim profiles and functionality to match have been tempting quite a few among us. We have been fascinated with the brilliance in design and have wanted to touch the precision engineered silhouette of sleek mobile phones. Samsung D900 is one such phone from Samsung Electronics that has left an undeniable impression on our psyche with its ultra slim looks, exquisite design and a host of highly advanced features and functions.

Sporting a thickness of only 12.9mm, the D900 model from Samsung is definitely making its presence felt. The high quality magnesium surface of the handset blends perfectly with its elegant contours. There is no doubt about the fact that the Samsung D900 is an attractive phone. However, the sleek looks and attractive profile are just one of the many facets of the D900 mobile phone from Samsung. There is more to the Samsung D900 than just the great looks.

For instance, the handset can double up as a digital camera in an instant. There is an integrated 3.13 megapixel digital camera with auto focus and micro mode options that make this possible. Phone users are thus assured of great shots, each time and every time. One could use the D900 mobile phone for recording video clips as well as for video streaming. The videos recorded are in MPEG4 format and can be shared with friends, family and colleagues – just like that.

This mobile phone can be used in an offline mode. One can check important official documents on the move or access email accounts at the click of a button. Working away from offices and workstations becomes a distinct possibility with the Samsung D900.

The 262 K color screen of the Samsung D900 mobile enhances the pleasure one would get in using it. Comprehensive memory, backed by external microSDTM slot for additional storage, is another definite merit that takes the hassle out of storing files and images in the Samsung D900.

Mobile Phones

LG Prada - The Name Says it All

The LG Prada is one of the most anticipated mobile phone of all times. Its manufacturers prefers to call it the Prada phone by LG instead of the more common tendency to name a mobile phone in an alpha numeric series. Though the LG Prada do have such a name too – LG KE850, but all seems to be content with LG Prada. The Italian fashion designer's sensibility in the LG Prada's designing is not confined to the handset's exterior. A Flash-based user interface, where icons selectively fades out when not in use says volume about the overall beauty of the handset.

The most impressive thing about the LG Prada is probably its 3-inch, 400x240 screen. The handset's designers have decided against any keypad to accommodate a screen of this size in such a small phone. The Prada phone from LG is their first handset model with a completely touchscreen based control system. All of the phone's function is controlled through the touchscreen save the basic call buttons.

The LG Prada not only looks great, it works the same way too. Integrated camera module of the LG Prada is 2.0 megapixel which is, in the present context is average. What set the LG Prada apart from the chavs is its lens from Schneider Kreuznach. Even an novice photographer would understand how critical is the quality of lens is for a good photograph. Added to it are high end imaging aids like autofocus, zoom and flash to make the camera capable of capturing the perfect frame of a perfect moment, no matter how unexpected.

Functional aspects of the LG Prada are varied. The handset supports triband GSM mobile network. For users for whom internet on the go is critical, the LG Prada is endowed with GRPS and EDGE technology completed with a WAP2.0/xHTML browser. Sending and receiving emails with attachments of popular MS Office files and viewing them on the Document Viewer is also a possibility.

Mobile Phone deals

Mobile Phones

Lg prada

WOW Gold Secrets - Part 3

Congratulations! If you are reading this, then you have completed the first two lessons and you have acquired approx. 1,000 gold cash. You are now ready to start earning more gold than you ever thought possible!

What do you think is the most profitable item to sell on the auction house? Motes? Primals? Cloth? Herbs? If you answered with any of those, you are wrong and that is probably why your toon's pockets are not overflowing with gold.

Here are the two, best selling items on the AH: BOEs (bind-on-equip items) and recipes!

In order to make large sums of gold in World of Warcraft, you need to sell BOEs and recipes.

The reason why BOEs and recipes are the best selling items is because they are in limited supply. They must drop from a mob in order to be found. Not only are they the best selling items, they also make it far easier for you to get rich.

How many gaming hours did it take to farm your 1,000 gold? 10 hours? 20 hours? Twenty hours is probably an accurate number to farm 1,000 gold in loot. (By the way, I commend you for completing this necessary task.)

By comparison, how long do you think it would take to farm a BOE item or recipe? Since the drop rate on both is an extremely low percentage, let's just say it takes 100 gaming hours for every BOE that drops. And that is probably a modest estimate considering that I have seen only THREE epic BOEs drop in my entire World of Warcraft gaming experience.

But wait! Who said you have to actually farm BOEs and recipes to get them? That would be a precious waste of your game time! Wouldn't you rather be running Karazhan or Gruul's lair instead of killing mobs and hoping a BOE item or a recipe drops? Of course you would!

How do you acquire BOEs and recipes? You buy them on the trade channel or the AH.

A typical scenario might go like this: Another player is selling an epic BOE sword on the trade channel for 500 gold. Before you send him a whisper, you go to http://wow.allakhazam.com/ and do a search for the sword. You discover the sword is indeed worth 500g. Apparently this player has done his homework and is asking the correct price for the sword. Send him a whisper and say, "I'll buy it, but it's only worth 100 gold to me". Most likely he will proceed to promptly cuss you out. But 8 times out of 10 he is desperate for cash (otherwise why is he selling the item on the trade channel?) and he will take your offer. This person will complain and try to get you to pay more, but your answer is always NO. If he doesn't sell it to you, fine. If he does, then you turn around and put the sword on the AH with a 24-hour auction and a buyout of 500 gold or more.

I made at least 20,000 gold by using this exact strategy, and I had fun doing it! You will quickly develop a reputation of being a "reseller". This is both good and bad. The bad is that people will get angry with you, mostly because they are envious of your ability to barter and make gold. The good part is that very soon players will come to you with BOEs and recipes because they know you have the cash to purchase whatever you want.

You should limit your purchase price to 20% to 30% of the "median AH price" found on the Allakhazam website. This leaves a safe margin in case you need to resell something at a much lower price than the listed median price.

You now have knowledge very few wow players possess. But do you have the skills to implement? Only you can answer that. In the meantime, for those who want an advanced lesson on earning gold within World of Warcraft, please continue with my tutoriral by reading Lesson 4.

Troubleshooting And Repair Power Supply The Easy Way

Troubleshooting linear power supply was quite easy as compare to switch mode power supplies (SMPS). AC voltage enters to the primary side of linear transformer and then converted the AC into a lower or higher AC voltage depending on the secondary winding. The output AC voltage is then rectified and filtered by a diode and capacitors to produce a clean DC voltage. If there is a problem in the linear transformer circuit, I can say that it is very easy to locate the fault. This is somehow different in the case of a switch mode power supply. The designs were complicated and some technicians found it quite hard to fully understand how the switch mode power supplies work.

The working principle of switch mode power supply is different from the linear type. First the AC voltage will flow to a full wave rectifier (bridge rectifier) which produces an uneven DC output and then filtered by a large capacitor (usually 220 micro farad and up to 450 volts). The clean DC voltage will then flows to start up resistors and to the input of switch mode power transformer. Once the voltage passed through the high ohms resistor (start up resistors) the voltage would drop to a value where it then flows to the VCC supply pin of Pulse width modulation IC.

Once the PWM IC received the voltage it will output a signal to drive the transistor (or FET) and produces a changing in magnetic field in the transformer primary winding. The changing magnetic field induces voltage in the secondary windings. Each of these AC voltage produced by the secondary windings is then rectified, filtered, and regulated to produce a clean DC voltage. One of the main DC output voltage is the B+ that supply to flyback transformer (for TV and Monitor Circuit)

The output from the B+ voltage supply is then connected, through a “feedback” loop (which consist of optoisolator ic and an error amplifier TL431 IC), back to the PWM IC. When the voltage from the B+ supply rises or drop a bit, the PWM IC will act to correct the output.

If you still do not understand the above explanation, please do not be discourage because you can always buy technical books and schematic diagrams and read it till you get the whole idea of how a SMPS work. You can ask a repair friend or even surf the internet for a better and easy explanation.

Here I would like you to download a free SMPS article by Sencore and I found it to be a great help for you who are still struggle on how SMPS work and how to troubleshoot when it fails. You must ask your self what is the purpose and its function of the components in the SMPS circuit and how to check them if they fail. Find out on your own the function of these components in SMPS circuit:

Bridge rectifier,

Filter capacitor,

Start up resistors

Chopper/Power FET

Pulse Width Modulation (PWM IC)

Current sense resistor

Switch mode power transformer

Optoisolator/optocoupler

Error Amplifier IC (TL431)

Secondary diodes

Secondary filter capacitors

Push yourself further by searching the internet for the datasheet of a PWM IC part number. For example, UC3842 PWM IC is mostly used in SMPS. Do you know what the function of pin 5 of this IC is? Do you know which pin the VCC supply enters? Do you know what the actual voltage that flow to the IC is? Do you know which pin that drives the power FET? Can I get a replacement for this IC? And so on………

Let’s take a soldier as an example. Soldiers not only good in handling rifle but also knows all the details about it. They know how to dismantle and assemble back their rifle fast (imagine in the middle of war the rifle jammed-they can repair it fast). They know how much each bullet cost, how far the shooting distance, how big is the diameter of the bullet, how many cm the length of the bullet and so on. Hope you don’t get bored with the soldier’s story, did you get the ideas?

Any SMPS that comes across my repair bench, I would not immediately repair it, in fact I will take couples of minutes to analyze the circuit design and see it from all angles before I begin to repair. Troubleshooting SMPS is not limited to only one procedure in fact many electronic repairers have their own unique ways and methods to solve SMPS problems. Some prefer to use light bulb to isolate SMPS faults while others like to use resistors. Troubleshooting SMPS is fun and flexible but in some cases could make you get very frustrated too.

Remember, don’t limit yourself to only one or two sources to get you understand and be able to repair SMPS. If you have the budget, get the books that have related to SMPS repair-study and start doing practical about it. Share your problems with other fellow electronic repairers and the most important thing is don’t give up. There’s lot of mountain in the journey of our live and you yourself have to climb and conquer it. All the best!

You Owe Your PC to a Circuit Board Screwed onto a Piece of Plywood

It all Started with a simple integrated circuit board screwed onto a piece of plywood.

You owe your laptop or PC to a kit for flashing lights.

How was it that in our time the Personal Computer (P.C) and the laptop computer came about to be?

It all started with the invention of the transistor in 1949 by Bell Labs – the research arm of the "phone company". . The transistor was nothing more than a solid state electronic switch. The transistor or integrated circuit replaced the much larger vacuum tubes of the day. Vacuum tubes were large, hot and unreliable. Transistors performed essentially the same functions as tubes but were smaller , lighter , cooler and more reliable All said and done they were better ,smaller and more efficient than the vacuum tubes they replaced. . And transistors did not "burn out" like a vacuum tube.

Transistors allowed a trend of miniaturization that has led all the way to our present portable small laptop / notebook computers which can run on batteries. It is hard to visualize for us today that computers used to house large office buildings themselves – along with maintenance backup support staff and even their own air conditioners to remove the great amounts of heat the early, primitive computers produced.

In 1959 engineers at Texas Instruments figured out how to put more than one transistor on the same base and connect these transistors without wires. Thus the next step was born – the integrated circuit. The first integrated circuit consisted of only six transistors. Current computers have in the range of 100 million transistor equivalents.

In 1969 Intel introduced the 1 k memory chip. This was much larger than anything else produced at the time. Through coordination of Intel with a Japanese calculator manufacturer named Busicomp the next step was made where a generic multipurpose chip was devised. What made this step important was that no one chip could do a number of tasks. Previously each chip had a purpose that was burnt in. Now one integrated chip could do a number of different functions. One single integrated circuit chip was almost an entire computing device. The successor to this multi purpose integrated circuit or "CPU" was what went on to the basis of our whole generation and concept of personal computers/

In 1973 some of these microcomputer kits based on the initial 8080 Intel integrated chip were developed. In the hands of hobbyists these kits were put together and were nothing more than blinking lights. However the impetus was on. Many of these early hobbyists went on to become computer industry giants. With Intel introducing an even much more powerful microprocessor chip the computer industry was on its way.

A company MITS introduced the "Altair Computer Kit". The Altair was the impetus for fledgling software companies, such as Microsoft and Lotus, to write software programs for these early computers. Among the early innovators and producers of software in this field was Microsoft with its first version of Microsoft "Basic".

Along came the computer industry leader and stodgy monolith IBM to introduce the first "personal computer" in 1975. The model 1500 was beyond piddly compared to today's dollar store calculators and cost only $ 9,000.

Next came a smaller "upstart "Computer Company which came to be called Apple Computer. Apple computer introduced the Apple I computer in 1976 for the princely sum $ 695. Believe it or not original "Apple 1 computer" consisted of a main circuit board screwed into a piece of plywood. Talk about IBM having to hold its laughter The Apple I appeared to be such a home garage made amateur none professionally made product that the case and power supply were not even included. The buyer of the Apple I had to scrounge or source this himself. IBM thought the Apple I was nothing more than a foolish fad. A minor inconvenience that would soon go away and disappear. Yet department heads started buying these simple computers for uses in business departments. This was in spite of serious advice from IBM experts to corporations about the perils and shortcomings of these toy computers and outright threats by IBM salespeople to IT staff and heads.

The Apple I was followed in 1977 by the Apple II. The Apple II because of its enormous success set the standards for nearly all the important microcomputers to follow, including the IBM PC.

The very core of the early computer world – IBM "International Business Machines" – the master of the profitable mainframe computer industry had been awoken from its deep profitable slumber by a small upstart computer maker with a simple computer system that began its product cycle as an integrated circuit board screwed onto a piece of plywood.

Samsung E900 - More Than Just A Pretty Face

Fashion mobile phones have the worst reputation when it comes to functionalities and usability. Many aesthetically pleasing mobile phones disappear from the market without a trace because of being too fiddly for an average mobile phone user. Only a few mobile phones since the very starting of fashion phones have been able to sustain themselves with a longer shelf life. The Samsung E900 is one of the example where the functional aspect is not effected by its designing concepts and vice versa. The handset design that drew many comparison with one of its rival – the LG Chocolate especially because both the sliders features touch sensitive navigation pad.

Though the LG Chocolate looked a bit more stylish, the Samsung E900 has the advantage of an impressive feature list in its kitty. The Samsung E900 is fitted with a 2.0 mega pixel camera with digital zoom and integrated flash. The camera uses the handset's 2.0 inch. 262k colored TFT display as its viewfinder to capture great pictures. Distance and lighting condition hardly matters with the Samsung E900. The integrated camera is capable of recording videos as well.

A healthy 80 Mb user memory and external memory card support makes the Samsung E900 big enough for anything from your favourite tracks to listen to on the integrated music player to videos that could be viewed on any external screen via TV Output. The phone has a Document Viewer to view and even edit office documents in popular formats received as email attachments. The Samsung E900 is designed for those who seeks an extra edge from their mobile phones. With its Flight mode, you can work with your office documents and use other of the phone's functions while on a flight. This triband handset features Blue tooth and USB connectivity for quick sharing of information locally.

Nokia 95 - A Mobile, Multimedia Computer

Nokia, the innovators of many a models of mobile phones have perfectly mastered the art of wooing spectators with beautiful creations one after another. Mobile phones belonging to a vivid category of price, have made way from the house of Nokia to the store shelves and stayed within the hearts of users all across the globe. Now, with an intension to gift a mobile computer in the name of a mobile phone, Nokia comes up with a name N95 – a multimedia computer in the disguise of a mobile gadget. Sufficiently stylized and powered to tame demands of any life style.

A two-way slider embarks the list of awe-inspiring features that the phone incorporates. It is the first Nokia phone with supports for HSDPA (3.5G) and downloadable speed up to 3.6 Mbps. The Nokia N95 includes a stereo FM radio, visual radio, and a music player. The music player of the Nokia N95 phone supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ , and WMA music file formats. Users can arrange music files and manage their music with an innovative music arrangement application.

A plethora of voice-based functioning like voice dialling, voice record and voice command include in the long list of features of this phone. A 5 megapixel camera, equipped with Carl Zeiss lens, add to the attraction of the phone and performs optimum role of high-resolution image capturing. A second camera with the phone helps user to take part in a video call. A Maps program with the GPS navigation control helps users to find maps of more than hundred countries. However, added to the glitz and glory of this phone it weighs only 120 gm.

For a Nokia N95 user, the phone with inbuilt 64 MB RAM, 160 MB of internal storage memory, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, uPnP, infrared, EDGE and SIP support, spells multitude functions. And with all these functions on offer, Nokia N95 is in noway less than a multimedia computer, which by virtue of its portability can be carried within a pocket.

Types of Backups

Backups are created to avoid situations of losing precious data. Backups can be created on daily basis, weekly basis, or monthly basis. Backups prove useful at the time of data loss, data inaccessibility, software malfunctions, drive corruptions etc. Before we know the types of backups an individual can perform, the basic backing up process should be clear. Windows offer built-in backup facility which proves easy for the backup creations.

The Windows Backup utility provides various types of backups. One should carefully choose the backup type according to his / her needs. There are different combinations of backups available; Normal, Copy, Incremental, Differential, and Daily.

Normal Backups

A normal backup is the first step to any backup plan. When the Normal backup option is selected; all the selected files and folders are backed up and the archive attribute of all files are cleared. Normal backups are the most time consuming process but prove more efficient at the time of restoration than other backup types.

Copy Backups

A copy backup option is not considered as a planned schedule backup, all the selected files and folders are backed up. Archive attributes of the files are not cleared while this option is selected.

Incremental Backups

Incremental backups are the fastest backup process. An incremental backup backs up the files and folders which were last created or modified or changed since last normal or incremental backup.An incremental backup backs up files that are created or changed since the last normal or incremental backup. After the backup is performed the archive attributes of the files are cleared. Restoration of data from an incremental backup requires the last normal backup and all the following incremental backups. These backups need to be restored in the same manner as they were created.

Note: If any media in the incremental backup set is damaged or data becomes corrupt, the data backed up after corruption cannot be restored.

Differential Backups

Differential backups backs up those files which were created or changed since the last normal backup. Archive attributes of the files does not get cleared after taking the backup with the differential backup method. The restoration process of files from differential backup is more efficient than an incremental backup.

Daily Backups

All the selected files and folders which have been changed during a day are backed up with Daily Backups option. The data is backed up by using the modified date of the files and the archive attributes are also does not get cleared with this option.

Normal backup is easy, fast and effective backup process which can be performed every night. But at times the created backup files can also get corrupt, damaged, deleted or become inaccessible. In this case, MS backup recovery software can help to recover the lost backup files. The bkf repair software offered by various data recovery companies proves effective and result-oriented bkf file repair software. The bkf repair software repairs and recovers the corrupt bkf archives and .bkf files which get corrupt, damaged, and inaccessible due to virus attacks, improper system shutdown, file deletion, accidental deletion media corruptions etc.

Essential Tips For Backups, Data Safety - Avoiding Data Recovery

Backup, backup, backups!

If there's one thing I've learned in 20 years and 12,000 data recoveries, it's that everybody doesn't back up their data sometimes. Computers may be dumb, but they know when you don't have your data backed up - because THAT's when they break. Don't let your computer fool you - back up new data daily.

It's important that you keep two alternating backups, and an additional spare piece of media. This means to have one disk (or tape, or thumb drive) labeled "EVEN" (for even-numbered days, one labeled "ODD" and one spare. Eventually, something will go wrong with a backup. For example, if an error occurs on an "EVEN" day, and you put in your "ODD" backup, you may ruin both. Instead, put in the spare. If there is a problem, you've saved your extra backup (from the day before yesterday) and have not wasted all your hard work. If there is no problem, and it was only a temporary glitch, then put your spare back on the shelf, reformat the "EVEN", and carry on with your backup.

What's the best thing to make a backup on?

There are a lot of ways to back up your data. Most new computers come with CD-R, or CD-RW drives. Most PCs still come with floppy disk drives (and you can get one for a Mac). There are Zip drives, tape drives, USB "thumb" drives, and more. My current favorites are External FireWire or USB 2 drives, and CD-R for full backups, and USB thumb drives for smaller amounts of data.

There are quite a few external drives on the market today and if you have a computer that's less than three years old, you probably have the ports for hooking these up. They usually come with backup software as well. As of this writing, the drives are mostly under $200. Once installed, it's a good idea to leave these drives off except when backing up. That way, a power spike or other environmental event that may destroy data on your hard disk will be unlikely to damage the external hard disk.

For CD-RW drives, I recommend using CD-R media only, as it's too easy to overwrite a previous backup using a CD-RW disk. This is a good form of backup for large amounts of data (they hold more than 650 MB), and each disk is inexpensive. But it leaves you with a lot of plastic disks sitting around. That's why I typically use them only for large backups. Heat, bending, and scratching are the enemies of CD disks. Incidentally, while it's hard to do CD-ROM recovery, it is possible to recover CDs that are damaged.

Zip drives come in sizes from 100 MB to 750 MB and cost from $60 to $200, while additional disks cost around $10 each. These are sensitive to dust, shock, too much heat, and big magnets. Remember to alternate backups with Zip disks as a damaged Zip drive can damage a Zip disk. Zip disk recovery is possible, but tends to be less successful than recovering other media.

Floppy diskettes don't hold very much (1.4 MB), but cost a few cents, and are easy to carry around. Almost all PCs have them, and quite a few Macs do. Floppies are sensitive to heat, magnetic fields, dust, bending and other rough handling.

Tape drives should only be used for very large amounts of data. They are relatively expensive and slow. They're great on large networks for after-hours backups, but they're easily damaged. Tape recovery is difficult and expensive.

I am an unabashed fan of USB thumb drives! These are actually memory sticks with a USB plug on the end that act like portable hard disks. They are sturdy - I accidentally let one go through the wash in my shirt pocket. After it dried out, it still had my data on it (don't try this at home)! While we've been successful performing USB data recovery, in this case, it wasn't even necessary! They come in sizes from 64 MB to more than 2 GB. They can be shared and used on PCs and Macs without reformatting. You can buy one at a local computer or electronics store for $35-$150.

What's the alternative to backing up your data? Well, as every drive eventually fails, it's pricey data recovery or data loss, which can be devastating

Be safe. Back up your data.

Still Backing Up Your Data To A Tape Drive?

When it was determined that computers needed a good place to store the information they created, the tape drive was invented. This is a very old piece of computer technology, and as a result, you can imagine that it is not usually used for any but the most necessary of applications.

First of all, tape drives operate in the same way as a video tape does – it consists of a magnetic tape that is spooled out, written to, and then re-spooled. If you remember trying to cue a VHS or BETA tape to the correct part of a movie, then you can probably guess one of the biggest problems with using tape to back up important data that you may need to access quickly.

If you need to get back to a particular piece of data, then you have to run the entire tape up until that point to get it back. This is due to the fact that information is saved sequentially onto tape media. One benefit of tape media is that if you make the tape long enough, you theoretically have an unlimited amount of storage space. Therefore, huge corporate computer networks that have terabytes or more of information sometimes still use tape drives but they're much faster than the old models some of your reading this may be accustomed to.

Tape drives also spool slowly in general, which is done to make sure that the tape is not damaged while it is being written to. If just one part of the tape is damaged, the entire backup is pointless and the tape often is simply disposed of.

As you can either imagine or guess, these types of data storage were not widely available for a very long period of time. While there were some old computers that used small tape drives to get programs or games into the computer, most personal computers did not have a lot of backup storage capacity until the floppy disk was invented and finally provided an alternative to the tape drive.

So what are the main problems with tape drives?

There are quite a few to be frank. Tape is a very fragile material and one of the main problems that tape drives have is the tape itself getting snagged, bent or even broken at any point on the tape itself. Once this happens you need to start the entire backup process again with a fresh tape or you'd have to splice the old tape together again (not recommended). The information stored on data tapes is in a magnetic format so exposing the type to any type of electro-magnet or x-ray device can wipe the entire tape clean.

For the home computer user there are lots of different backup options that are far superior to tape drives - not that any home user is still using a tape drive to backup information to surely? For example, you could get an external USB hard drive and put the data there. You can also save all of your information to CD-Rs or DVD-Rs instead and this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of data backup options for the modern computer user.