Computer and Technology Today

Digital Signage - The Growth and Reach of Narrowcasting Technologies
By Dennis Goddard


We've all seen the proliferation of digital signage popping up in retail outlets, department stores and gas stations everywhere. You know, the ubiquitous screens that range in size anywhere from the small display screen right above the gas pump to the big, LCD monitors that overhang the aisles in department stores and big retailers, like Wal-Mart or Sears. Ever increasingly, or so it seems, we see these digital signs running messages outside store doors, in parking lots, office lobbies and train stations, between product shelves inside stores and mostly, perhaps most most effectively, near checkout counters in both small and large retailers.
It seems that digital signage is popping up wherever we, as consumers, have time on our hands while we are busy doing other things - or, even better, not doing other things. Whether it is a few minutes while we are occupied (but not preoccupied) filling our gas tank, or for many minutes - that can seem to stretch into hours - while we patiently (or impatiently) wait our turn in a medical office, nowadays it is typical that we can just turn our heads and tune into a stream of news, sports scores, financial tips and human interest pieces that entertain us, while what draws our eye is interspersed with focused advertising that delivers an advertiser's message. Welcome to the world of digital narrowcasting!
Unlike a human salesperson, digital signage is intended to be non-invasive of our privacy, or at least less invasive and more welcome than traditional sales pitches. A salesperson is not, whether welcome or unwelcome, right in our personal space demanding our attention. Rather, we are already in a space and location where an advertiser can give us the opportunity to pay attention to his or her message - or not. In turn, we are given a mixture of entertainment content and commercial messaging, and we can choose whether to be entertained by the content and listen to the advertiser's message. Alternatively, we can choose to completely ignore the "salesperson", the product and the pitch altogether.
With innovative, entertaining content planning and well thought-out positioning, most customers will actually pay attention to strategically placed digital displays, and will be receptive to the narrowcast content and messages that are delivered. The truth is that there are times and situations where the consumer craves distraction. We've heard of instances where digital signage in dentists' offices has been displayed to the patient while he is in the dental chair itself, and not in the waiting room.
Advertisers can utilize this new media to deliver older, tried-but true ad strategies. (Think of Coca-Cola's now century-old formula of "branding - putting the Coke brand name in front of the public eye irrespective of whether or not the customer is going to actually buy a soda at that time. Coca-Cola isn't particularly interested if the person pumping gas and seeing the Coke brand at the pump goes in and buys a Coke. It knows that later, at a restaurant perhaps, the person who pumped the gas will order a Diet Coke, and if they don't sell Coke's brand the waitress will be forced to ask if a Diet Pepsi will do.) But the true worth of digital signage is in the adaptability of its message to the place, situation and time where the programming is displayed. Take the checkout counter, for instance. A customer lining up at the payment counter has idle time, and a proper combination of useful information and product advertisements will focus their attention and create receptivity to the products and services being offered right at the checkout. (It is the same reasoning that prompts retailers to place chewing gum and candy bars right at a child's eye-level, so that he or she will beseech an already impatient parent to purchase gum or a Mars bar just to get through the checkout line without a hassle.) Studies confirm that the checkout counter is an area where customers are most receptive and most likely to buy impulsively. Parents are on to this, yet digital narrowcasting aimed at simplifying their lives and their shopping experience are nonetheless effective in influencing even this group to make the spontaneous, unanticipated purchases that drive up revenue.
Unlike static posters and standup displays, digital advertising software gives the customer a dynamic experience. An almost endless number of messages can be played on it. And unlike human salespeople, it never gets exhausted and does not commit the faux pas that a tired seller who has spent a tiring day with demanding customers might. Each sales pitch is delivered with as much enthusiasm as the first time. Therefore, the quality of its performance, which can be quantified and optimized, is uniform come hell, high water or demanding customers. By directing customers to what it is they are likely looking for in a particular area of a store, the capabilities of the most up-to-date digital advertising software can, in fact, soothe demanding customers by making their shopping experience less challenging,
Unlike printed materials that show the same ads for all areas of a store, digital signage is completely programmable and can follow different sequences or run completely new presentations in every section or strategic area within a location. It is even time-sensitive and can pitch different products according to time of day and the shelf-lives of products that are themselves time-sensitive. Should the competition comes up with new strategies, digital signage can quickly be reformatted to immediately respond to a competitor's marketing strategies.
Last but not the least, the presence of digital signage and narrowcasting technoiogies in-store conveys an image of a company that is modern and dynamic. In a time where change has never been so pronounced, a company that imparts an image of being at the leading edge of technology, and even pushing the envelope, sends a subtle but important message that it has the latest and best goods or services that consumers are looking for.
For more information on digital signage, narrowcasting and digital advertising software, please visit our website at http://www.ek3.com or call 1-866-353-8324 to speak to us at EK3 Technologies Inc. about business solutions and services that capture your audience and deliver your message.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dennis_Goddard




Computer Viruses And How They Work
By Fred Roe


If you are alive, then more than likely you have heard of a computer virus. You may not know what it is exactly, but more than likely you have heard of them, and you may even be a little fearful of these mysterious things that you've heard can wreak havoc on your computer.
This will be an overview of what viruses are and how they work, so that you can be educated about them. For right now, there are basically four types of virus terms that you should concern yourself with. They are: viruses, trojan horses, worms, and e-mail viruses.
Viruses
A virus is basically a small piece of software that attaches itself to a useful program and begins to disrupt your programs and the functioning of your computer. For instance, a virus could attach itself to something like your spreadsheet program, and every time that you run and use that same program, the virus runs itself too. It even has the chance to continue to reproduce and spread itself to other programs and create further problems.
Trojan Horses
A Trojan horse, just as the name implies, is a computer program that comes in disguise as one thing, but it really is something else. For example, you may be thinking that you have a computer program that is actually a computer game, but what it really is is a program that causes damage when you run it, possibly even erasing your entire hard drive.
Worms
What a Worm does is search for security holes in networked computers. Once it finds such a breach in the network's security system, it copies itself to the computer and then it begins replicating itself over and over again.
E-mail Viruses
The way that e-mail viruses do their damage is by traveling as an attachment to an e-mail message. It is able to replicate itself by mailing itself to dozens of the folks in your e-mail address book. And although some e-mail viruses require that you double click them to launch them, some of them don't.
Fred is a computer repair technician with Atlanta Computer Repair company Nerds Next Door. If you have any questions, or would like information about computer repairs in Atlanta, visit our website at http://www.AtlantaComputerRepairs.net
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How To Run Great PC Audio
By Ryan B


For some people this area is the least important, for others it's everything. Whether you're a hardcore gamer, web surfer or general PC user you can usually get away with using a cheap set of speakers plugged into the motherboard. This provides adequate sound and media that is needed for day to day computing. If you wish to take your audio to the next level, there are a number of ways to go about it. Upgrading the sound from your computer doesn't have to cost a fortune, a simple set of $80 - $150 speakers will provide your with quality sound. You would be surprised with what you can get for that price. Speakers that we recommend in this price range are, the Creative I-Trigue® 3400 2.1 (2 speakers 1 sub woofer) with titanium speakers for $139.00. The Logitech X-530 5.1and X-540 5.1 surround sound at $129.00. As you can see $130.00 will get you a good set up.
If you wish to take it a little further, purchasing a sound card for your PC will boost its performance even further. Cards such as the Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Value at $59.00 and the X-Fi Xtreme Audio at $99.00 will get you great sound. Running these cards with a set of Logitech G51 5.1 for $219.00 or the Inspire T7900 7.1 system at $149.00 will get you the best sound you could ask for. If you have a little more cash to spend, around 600 dollars on audio equipment, we recommend the Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 audio pack. At $469.00 this may be out of your price range, but provides you with fantastic sound, for games, TV, music and movies. Used with the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer at $199.00 will allow you to run your speakers at there full potential.
If you wish to use your PC for a main entertainment unit, and have $1000+ to spend, you can choose to run your set up how i do. Running a sound card in your PC, hooked up to external AMP, i currently use a Pioneer mini system. Running the sound through this unit will provide you with awesome audio, and capable of using a CD player, DVD player, TAPE deck, VCR and Record player through the system. If you have the money to purchase a home theater system/mini system and a great set of speakers, this is truly the best way to go.
Feel free to visit our site for more software reviews and computer tips, plus keep updated with the latest PC news.
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How To Permanently Delete Files - The Quick, Dirty, And Correct Way
By John Cao


You may or may not know that when you drag items to the trash on your computer, they aren't permanently deleted. Just watch an episode of your favorite CSI show, and you'll see that its possible to recover files that haven't been deleted properly. And while I'm sure you're not guilty of any CSI type crimes (or are you???), I'm sure you want to figure out how to permanently delete your files and keep your private things private -- after all everyone has to have some secrets!
Why emptying your recycling bin doesn't permanently delete your files
When you tell your computer to empty its recycling bin, your operating system only deletes the records it has of the files you want to delete. Yet the files still remain on the hard drive memory.
Here's an analogy: If you think of your files as books in a library and you decide you no longer have use for a certain book. Emptying the trash is equivalent to removing the entry in the library's card catalog. The book is still there but not easily found by everyday visitors. But if someone really wanted to find it, and had a clue where to look, they quite possibly do so since it is still physically there.
What it means to permanently delete a file
To permanently delete a file, you need to not only delete its record, but also overwrite the physical portion of the hard drive where it lives. A low level format is equivalent to replacing your private file with random bits (1's and 0's). Continuing with the library analogy you need to remove remove the book, shred it, light up in flames and possibly replace it with a different book
A simple way to permanently delete?
According to Microsoft, there is a keyboard shortcut in Windows to, quote, "permanently delete files". You do this by selecting your file and hitting SHIFT+DEL. Convinced? Neither am I. What they're really explaining is a shortcut from having to move the item to the trash and then emptying the trash.
Take it a step further
Here's a poor man's version of permanent deletion. Delete your files, empty your recycle bin, and run Disk Defragmenter located in the Start menu under Accessories/System Tools. What this will do is optimize your hard drive by rearranging (most) of your files, and in doing so will most likely overwrite the files you want permanently deleted. Nice!
Do it right and do it better
While performing a defragmentation will probably do the trick, it's really not a viable solution. Waiting for disk defragmentation is not something I'd do every time I wanted to do a permanent deletion. The defragmentation process is waaaaay too long. The right way to how to permanently and quickly delete files is to use a program specifically designed for that purpose. You're in luck too because most Windows operating systems have a command line tool called CIPHER to do the trick!
Here's how to use CIPHER:
1. After closing all windows, open up a command window.
2. Type the following: cipher /w:driveletter:\foldername where driveletter and foldername correspond to the drive a location of where your deleted file used to live.
3. Sit back and enjoy your freedom and privacy while your file is truly permanently deleted!
Here's an example:
I have a picture I want permanently deleted which stored on my computer at the following location:
C:\images\scandalous_picture.jpg
After deleting this picture and emptying the recycle bin, I would type the following (in a command prompt) to ensure that I can still run for senator (as long as they don't catch me in the airport bathroom):
C:>cipher /w:C:\images
I can then move on to my life of privacy and carefree surfing!
You can do better!
Although I'm comfortable working with the command prompt, you may not be. No worries, there are plenty of other graphical based software tools that perform true permanent file deletion. This article gives even more compelling reasons to delete personal files and refers a graphical based deletion tool called Evidence Nuke.
John Cao is a full-time software engineer that specializes in high performance computing. While spending most of his waking hours in front of a computer, John helps others enhance their computer experience by recommending the latest software, hacks, and shortcuts.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Cao