As the computer repair center for Oakland, Wayne and Macomb Counties, Concise maintains a client list that resembles the “who’s who” in the Michigan small business community.   They are good, and they are growing out of their digs in Bloomfield Hills. One of the reasons that Concise is so well respected in their industry is because they take the time to explain and teach at the same time.   Let’s face it, the information highway has its own language today.   Computer techies have always had a vernacular that tended to exclude the rest of the non-techie world.   Making things worse for us non-techies today, is the next layer of computer- speak: abbreviations of all the words that we had no clue about from the beginning. The staff at Concise will now lead the pc tech support field by offering a series of articles with those definitions of words from the computer tech support world.   This is the first offering in what Concise hopes will be a long series of definitions from the computer tech speaker. HONEYPOTWikipedia defines a HONEYPOT in computer speak, as a trap set to detect, deflect, or in some manner counteract unauthorized attempts to obtain use of information systems. A HONEYPOT consists of a computer, data, or a network site that appears to be part of a network. But, the Honeypot is actually an isolated and unprotected deadend which appears to a hacker as valuable information. Simply put, a HONEYPOT is a seductive decoy.   It lures the attacker into a harmless area of your system where it could be isolated, detected, and hopefully discovered by cyber police. Another use of the Honeypot is to isolate spam.   Spammers abuse vulnerable resources such as open mail relays.   Some system administrators have created honeypot programs that masquerade as these decoy resources to discover spammer activity. There are several capabilities that honeypots provide to the administrators and the existence of such seductive bait systems makes abuse more difficult or risky for the spammer. Honeypots can be a powerful countermeasure to abuse from those who rely on very high volume abuse (e. g. , spammers).   These honeypots can reveal the apparent IP address of the abuse and provide bulk spam capture (which enables operators to determine spammer’s URLs and response mechanisms). HONEYNETSTwo or more honeypots on a network form a HONEYNET. Typically, a HONEYNET is used for monitoring a larger and/or more diverse network in which one honeypot may not be sufficient. Honeynets and honeypots are usually implemented as parts of a larger computer trouble shooting system. A HONEYFARM is a centralized collection of honeypots and analysis tools. The next visit from a Concise Computer Consulting technician should go smoother.   And, when the topic turns to setting up a Honeyfarm for your small business’s computer system, you will immediately understand that you are not about to purchase a bunch of bee hives. Concise Computer Consulting services the small and medium sized business community as well as residential homeowners.   Concise offers every kind of on site computer service:  laptop repair service, online pc repair, pc tech support and computer trouble shooting. Concise also offers Remote access configuration, Virtual Private Networks (VPN), Web site design, Server Administration, and Preventive maintenance in the metropolitan Detroit area.   In addition, Concise diagnoses, installs, and manages both wired and wireless Local Area Networks, and even resells computers, laptops, and servers for Dell and IBM. When you are experiencing computer problems, the time and money lost in productivity grows by the minute. Give us a call if you are having technology troubles and let us get you back up and running . . . often within hours. Jeff Atto of Concise Computer Consulting, LLC, located at 2150 Franklin Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI.   Please contact us for any question about your home computer or laptop.   248-745-8255My email address is info@concisePC. com and our website is http://www. concisePC. comThis press release was submitted by Right Now Marketing Group, LLC.

“There’s too much to learn!” “Everything changes so quickly!” “I just don’t understand!”

These are all common reactions to the overwhelming challenge of learning to use a personal computer. The volume of information, the pace of change and the intimidating technical language can make learning about computers seem like an unattainable and unrealistic goal.

However, with the right strategy, learning about computers doesn’t have to be impossible. In fact, thanks to numerous opportunities on the Internet, free computer learning courses are available to everyone and, with a structured approach; you can overcome the barriers to learning about computers and find yourself mastering computer skills quickly and painlessly.

The first step on your path to learning about computers is to tune out all of the ridicule from your friends, forget your precocious eight-year-old niece’s computer skills and focus on yourself. You can do this by defining what success means to you. Do this by setting a few compelling and attainable goals that are relevant to you and assigning them realistic timelines. Make sure these goals are observable and measurable so that you know when you’ve achieved them and can celebrate your success.

For example, if you’ve never touched a computer before, you might set a goal of being able to turn the machine on and to launch three of your favorite programs by the end of your first month of learning. Or you might focus on a specific area of learning about computers, such as navigating the Internet, and set a goal of being able to find two free computer learning courses on a program you would like to learn. Your first goal should be challenging, but not overwhelming. If you stay in your comfort zone, you won’t advance, but if you set goals you can’t achieve, you’ll quickly become discouraged. By achieving some success early on, you’ll be more motivated to challenge yourself to learn faster. This will also make learning about computers fun, which will keep your motivation at a high level.

After you’ve met your first goal – and you will! – take a little time out to celebrate your success. Brag to a friend or family member. Treat yourself to a reward for overcoming all the fear, doubt and uncertainty that comes with tackling such a daunting task. Once you’ve tasted a little success and gotten your feet wet, you’ll have a much clearer idea of what you want and need to learn. If you’ve learned how to launch your three favorite programs, you might realize that you really want or need to master one of those programs. If your goal was to navigate to some free computer learning courses, you might soon realize that you need to understand the features and functionality of a specific site. While it’s tempting at this point to dive in and learn all there is to know, resist that temptation, or you’ll risk becoming overwhelmed. Remember to read sections of the web site that will teach you how to use the site properly. You can often find these under sections like FAQs, How it Works and Getting Started.

To keep your learning on track, identify your ultimate goal and then break that down into smaller steps and goals to get you there. Once you’ve broken down your end goal into a collection of smaller, bite-size chunks of skills to learn, make sure you assign dates to each of them so that you have a timeline with which to work. Again, it’s important to challenge yourself, but don’t set timelines that are so aggressive that they seem unrealistic. Once you know all the things that you need to learn and by when, it’s simply a matter of finding the resources for learning about computers by exploring the Internet, bookstores, libraries and classroom options, such as local community colleges. There are also several free computer learning courses online that will get you started in the right direction. Most of these courses allow you to learn at your own pace and will give you a great start to learning computers with little or no financial obligation. With a little research, you can find a reputable online computer learning courses, and be on your way to materializing your goals for learning about computers in no time.

Tackling the enormous undertaking of learning how to use your computer can be overwhelming. However, by breaking it down into manageable tasks and setting your own pace for learning, you’ll be a computer guru on your own terms in no time.

Motherboard is the foremost computer part that you should consider when assembling a PC. It is popularly called the heart of the computer since all components are connected to it. Basically, it relays information from and to all components. So when you assemble a PC, buy the motherboard first.

Buying a motherboard can be easy and convenient since they are already sold at a motherboard online store. All you have to do is list all your motherboard requirements and conveniently shop at a motherboard online store. If you’re unsure of your motherboard requirements, below is a rundown of the usual requirements. › Continue reading…

Everyone hears the term motherboard and wonders exactly what it is? This term is so loosely defined that it gets confusing very quickly to the average computer user. A motherboard is the information transfer hub of your computer system. It could be called the chassis of your computer.

The motherboard will contain connection points for your CPU (Central Processing Unit), Hard drive, RAM (Random Access Memory), Video Card, and Power Supply as a general rule of thumb. Motherboards come from a variety of Manufacturers such as ABIT, ASUS, Foxconn, Asrock, MSI, Intel, and Tyan. Each of these suppliers provides a slightly tweaked board for your computer use. › Continue reading…

PCs are phenomenally flexible, configurable devices. That’s kinda why we love ‘em so much. But there are limits to what you can achieve. And most of those are defined by your choice of motherboard, all of which means clarity of purpose is paramount. Identify what you want from your PC and make sure you have a motherboard to match.

This month we’ve selected a trio of motherboard pairings to suit three popular usage models: small-form factor systems with HTPC capability, overclocking rigs and high-end multi-GPU gaming monsters.

Before we come to the boards in question, what of the seminal AMD or Intel question? Actually, at the moment it’s often not much of a quandary thanks to the feebleness of most of AMD’s processor product range. We’ve said it before, but it’s seriously bad news for the entire PC industry to have AMD struggling to keep Intel honest.

If the much needed 45nm die shrink of the AMD Phenom family of processors doesn’t close the gap significantly, expect to see Intel push up the prices. For now, if performance is a priority, AMD chips are frankly uncompetitive, even at the more affordable end of the spectrum. But throw issues such as power consumption, form factor and HTPC considerations into the mix and it’s a very different story.

For the HTPC-centric category, we’ve therefore turned to a pair of brand new AMD-compatible boards with the latest and most sophisticated integrated chipsets, the GeForce 8200M from NVIDIA and AMD’s 780G. If there’s an Intel-powered alternative that comes close to these two for small-form factor media PC prowess, we’ve yet to see it.

Palit’s N78S and the Gigabyte GA-MA780GM-S2H are both micro-ATX boards with all passive cooling and fancy new DirextX 10 capable integrated CPUs. Indeed, they both represent our first taste of a new take on multi-GPU graphics rendering from NVIDIA and AMD, dubbed ‘Hybrid SLI’ and ‘Hybrid CrossFire’ respectively.

The basic idea behind both is the pairing up of the motherboard’s integrated GPU with a discrete graphics card. But the details diverge enough to make them substantially different propositions.

Pairing Up

Both solutions allow users to boost the performance of an add-in graphics card by running it in multi-GPU mode with the integrated graphics chip. According to claims from both NVIDIA and AMD, the result is a big boost in performance for low-end graphics cards. In practice, it’s an overly complex and inefficient way of achieving barely acceptable 3D performance, but more on that later. Hybrid CrossFire’s abilities more or less end there. The more attractive of the two by far is Hybrid SLI, represented by Palit’s N78S and its NVIDIA GeForce 8200M chipset. That’s because Hybrid SLI cap also act as a power-saving measure for high performance PCs. In this scenario, users can switch between a powerful but noisy and glutinous graphics board and the onboard integrated GPU from within Windows.

There’s no need to reboot or swap monitor cables around. Connect your monitor to the motherboard’s video-out port and allow the NVIDIA driver software to do the rest. That includes completely powering down the add-in GPU and its cooling fan. Clever, eh? Hybrid graphics with DirectX 10 support isn’t the only common feature. These boards also share the honor of sporting the first integrated chipsets to boast full hardware acceleration of all three of the important video codecs, VC-1, AVC and MPEG2. In both cases, this comes courtesy of the latest 2D video engines from NVIDIA and AMD, known as PureVideo HD and UVD. That’s precisely what you need, of course, to guarantee smooth playback of full 1080p Blu-ray discs.

Home HD Motherboards

If these two home cinema-centric boards are remarkably similar, there’s also not much between the P35 pairing we’ve selected for the overclocking showdown. The fact is, Intel’s P35 remains the weapon of choice, if it’s pure CPU speed you’re seeking. Remarkably, that remains the case even with the arrival of NVIDIA’s swanky new 790i, a chipset we suspected might just topple the P35 chipset from its position of king of the overclockers.

It’s not uncommon to see P35 hit bus speeds in excess of 500MHz without the need for hit and miss tweaking of northbridge voltages. Even Intel’s latest X48 chipset typically tends to run out of puff around 475MHz. In that context, attention to detail and execution will separate MSI P35 Platinum from Asus’s trusty P5K3 Deluxe.

But what of high-end motherboard design to form the basis of multi-GPU performance PCs? Until recently, the pickings were a bit thin. Intel’s X38 and X48 chipsets are fine things indeed, in terms of performance. But thanks to NVIDIA’s decision to lock SLI technology down to its own chipsets (unnecessarily in our view), the X38 and X48 only support AMD’s competing CrossFire platform. That meant SLI fans were forced to go with the somewhat substandard NVIDIA 680i or 780i option. But not anymore. NVIDIA is back on form with the 790i. It will be an extremely tight contest for top honors. If that’s the theory behind all these boards, how do they perform in the silicon?

Perhaps the most intriguing motherboards here are the AMD-compatible micro-ATX pair. In concert with a low voltage dual-core Athlon 64 processor they deliver truly spectacular power efficiency. Both of the boards are within spitting distance of 100 watts running at full CPU load and idle around the 50 watt mark.

That’s for a full system with 2GB of RAM, hard disk and optical drive. That represents as little as a quarter of the consumption of a high-end quad-core rig. It also translates into extremely unobtrusive operation that’s a perfect match for a home cinema installation Less impressive is the performance of its much-touted DX10 integrated GPUs, in 3D mode at least. Neither are capable of anything remotely resembling a pleasant gaming experience. And frankly neither pack enough grunt to make the Hybrid dual-GPU option at all attractive.

Where things get more interesting is the contest for home cinema prowess. And that must go to the Gigabyte thanks to its HDMI port and fully driver-supported 2D acceleration core. Add in a low-voltage AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor and you have a motherboard and CPU combo with full HD capabilities for just $l80.

As for the P35 overclocker’s boards, it is mostly one-way traffic. A result of 520MHz is an impressive bus speed to hit for any Intel-compatible motherboard. The fact that the Asus P5K3 Deluxe can achieve it without any voltage tweaks makes for an extremely user-friendly overclocking platform. You can be confident you’ll get the most out of any CPU with this motherboard.

Our only doubt involves the fact that it’s a DDR3 motherboard. In theory the higher clockspeeds of DDR3 memory should be a boon for overclocking. In practice, a pair of quality DD2 memory DIMMs do the job just tine. Factor in the current utterly ludicrous price of DDR3 memory sticks and the benefits just don’t add up.

Performance per Pound

All of which just leaves just the big ticket X48 and 790i pairing from MSI and Asus respectively. There’s no doubting the all new Striker II Extreme from Asus is a sickeningly desirable thing. Everything from its feature-packed BIOS, to the hardware power and reset buttons and the northbridge heatsink pre-plumbed for water cooling, reek of quality, class and most of all expense.

The 790i chipset also brings NVIDIA’s SLI platform bang up to date with DDR3 and proper PCI Express support, as well as decent overclocking headroom. As good as it is, however, it simply cannot be worth nearly $450. Particularly when it offers less overclocking oomph than Asus’s own sub-$l50 Intel P35 board. The performance advantage of the 790i chipset is far too slender to make any real world difference, too.

The spoils must therefore go to MSI’s X48 platinum. It’s a lean, mean enthusiast board at a sensible price. Yes, it does lock you into AMD’s CrossFire platform in terms of multi-GPU support. But until NVIDIA puts the intere

sts of buyers ahead of its own selfish desires to maximize revenues from SLI chipsets, the perfect multi-GPU platform simply isn’t possible.