Enigma on Web

For anyone with even a mild addiction to the online world, a netbook is an attractive bit of kit. The ability to surf the net anywhere with a wireless or 3G connection, using a real keyboard and operating system whilst retaining lightweight portability is… well, awesome. However, there are a couple of things worth remembering if you’re considering dropping your hard earned cash on one of these go-anywhere mobile internet devices. Here’s a thought-provoking list of questions to ask yourself before reaching for your wallet and buying a Netbook. What Operating System Do I Want? Many netbooks these days come with either Windows XP (which is usually pretty speedy on the hardware supplied) or Windows 7 (which much of the time isn’t). If you’re anything like me, you’ll be just as interested in using your netbook with one of a variety of OS choices that are freely available online. Hardware compatibility and driver issues can cause a lot of problems if you’ve not properly th...

You’re ready. You’ve read, researched, poked, prodded, and are now armed to the teeth with technical information. It is time to set foot onto the field of battle and claim a great laptop deal for your own. You will buy, you will save, and you will be victorious. Ah, but not so fast! You may have read a great deal about what to look for when buying a laptop computer, but you may not know what to avoid. This is at least as important, as there are a surprisingly large number of landmines throw in the path of consumers. Just Say No To Single Core Processors You opened up the Wal-Mart advertisement and – my God! They have a laptop for just $200. You rush out the door, buy it, and bring it home. All is well until you open Windows Task Manager and see just one graph bobbing along, spiking violently whenever you open a web browser. Multi-core processors are so common that Intel dropped the “Duo” and “Quad” names from the company’s new processors entirely. Some single-core proc...

I need to define my topic... I need to understand the scope  of my topic Intute Investigate annotated academic sites ( advanced search ) INFOMINE Search annotated academic sites and subject databases ( advanced search ) AcademicInfo Subject Guides Browse subject guides with descriptions of relevant sites I need to see  related  topics Google Uncover buried sites using "related searches" Bing Search for your topic, then drill down "related searches" I need to  refine and narrow  my topic SurfWax Search for your topic, then click "Focus" (top) to show similar, broader, and narrower topics iSeek Education Ask a question or search a topic in this database of "trusted resources" - use "targets" to refine search Wikipedia Drill down “Contents” to explore subtopics I need to choose a controversial issue Hot Topics (Google Custom Search) Begin your search on selective hot topic sites IDEA Portal Browse or ...

Forums can be a great way to encourage audience participation, and to change a website from a one dimensional entity into a full fledged community. There are a number of well developed open source forums out there on the web to help you create that, each with their own benefits. This review breaks down some of the best software out there in 2011 with a focus on everything from lightweight forum solutions to the all singing, all dancing heavyweights. Vanilla URL: http://vanillaforums.org/ Features URL: http://vanillaforums.org/features/embed-vanilla License: GPL Runs on: PHP / MySQL / Postgres Vanilla has always prided itself on clean underlying code, bringing together web standards, code reuse and css to create a product that kicks lumps out of 1990′s bulletin software that we’ve become accustomed to on the web. With many of the forum software solutions out there on the web carrying a technical burden of tables and bloatware, Vanilla brings with it a fresh approac...