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The Benefits of Open Source
If you are a building a website or a forum, chances are you are using a web editor or paying for message board services. The costs of using these "out of the box" products can add up, especially if you are trying to grow your business. Let's look at some good "open source" options for you to consider. You may be surprised at how much money open source can save you. What is open source? The webopedia describes it as follows: Generically, open source refers to a program in which the source code is available to the general public for use and/or modification from its original design free of charge, i.e., open. Open source code is typically created as a collaborative effort in which programmers improve upon the code and share the changes within the community. Open source sprouted in the technological community as a response to proprietary software owned by corporations. Not all open source programs are worth downloading, but there are a few that merit further attention, including: 1. PHP Originally called Personal Home Page, PHP is the backbone of many message boards. Yes, you can use proprietary software such as vBulletin, but you will pay a licensing fee and fees for updates. For one site, the cost may not be prohibitive, but if you run several sites your costs can easily become a significant part of your budget. Search the internet for a free PHP provider such as PHPBB2. 2. Web Templates Finding decent templates does not have to cost you dearly. There are sites offering some very well made templates that would cost you as much as $100 if purchased separately. Naturally, "everyone" downloads the copies, but you can modify it accordingly to give it your own look. The best ones are CSS derived and web standard compliant. 3. Web Browsers Internet Explorer isn't the only name in town when talking about web browsers. Yes, they are dominant, but so many web savvy folks have tired of Microsoft's dominance and are switching to Netscape, Firefox, Opera, and Safari to name a few. 4. Email Client Thunderbird is the name of another project developed by the people who brought to you Firefox. With Thunderbird you can send and receive email, stop SPAM, and add plugins to design the program the way you want it to look. 5. Office Software MS Office rules as WordPerfect barely hangs on. Still, there are options to these two productivity suites in the form of OpenOffice .org. A big freebie associated with this site is the *pdf maker, saving you lots of money over purchasing Adobe Acrobat. Certainly OpenOffice isn't as snazzy as MS Office, but for the price -- F-R-E-E -- it is worth a look. Are all open source products great? No, absolutely not. Some proprietary software developed by corporations are far superior and worth it to you if you do not have the time or inclination to make a move to open source. Still, open source provides a wonderful alternative to cash strapped and Microsoft weary web developers. In a day when corporations throw their considerable influence around, it is nice to see developers donating their talents to the worldwide web. Become a part of the growing open source movement today! Matt Keegan is an article writer and web designer who enjoys using various open source programs. Please visit The Article Writer at http://www.thearticlewriter .com for samples of some of his work.
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Computer Consulting 101 PC Troubleshooting Advice While most small businesses really do need to find a good local computer consulting business to take care of their computer problems, there are some computer problems that are simple enough for even a technophobe to handle. At Computer Consulting 101, we've found there's one very simple piece of advice that often doesn't get communicated to non-technical small business end users: When in doubt, reboot first. Have You Invited A Spy Into Your Computer? Yes, it's true. You may have inadvertently invited a spy into your computer. This spy is known as "spyware, adware, or trojans", and once it is in your computer it starts taking statistical information as you travel the Internet. In some cases, it may send you pop-up ads and slow down your computer. A wired .com article, mentions it "could even collect your credit card information". Cisco Certification: A Survival Guide To The Cisco Cable Jungle One of the most confusing parts of beginning your Cisco studies is keeping all the cable types separate in your mind, and then remembering what they're used for. This often occurs when a CCNA or CCNP candidate starts putting together their own home practice lab, and they suddenly realize that they have the equipment to run labs, but not the cables. 404 Error Pages: What Are They And How Do You Create One? We've all seen them, you've been browsing a website and you click a link and nothing loads apart from the words '404 Error' along with the usual stuff. Selecting the Perfect Big Screen TV Selecting a TV isn't as easy as it used to be in years gone by. Rather than going to the local department store and choosing a console that would take up a large portion of the living room, we now have other options. Along with those options comes the chore of locating, comparing and narrowing down a multitude of models to just the right one for your viewing needs. Help, I Need a New HDTV! (Part 5 of 5) Feeling overwhelmed in selecting a new TV? With all the choices these days, you may feel like, "Where do I start?!" Home Video? Bring it On So you got yourself a digital camcorder. If you want to be able to edit and produce awesome home videos, you'll need some tools. Advantages and Guidelines of Automated Testing "Automated Testing" is automating the manual testing process currently in use. This requires that a formalized "manual testing process", currently exists in the company or organization. Troubleshooting Computer Freeze (Lockup) Problems How familiar does the following sound? Your computer was working fine, but then suddenly started locking up (aka hanging or freezing), rebooting itself (crashing) or shutting down spontaneously? If you know only too well what I am talking about, then read on! Performing the simple steps below can fix the majority of lockup cases. Consumer Electronic Information: The Basics of the DLP Projector Projectors have come a long way in the past few decades. The desktop fossils that were once used to show home movies or classroom filmstrips are a thing of the past. With today's technology, you can now experience a projected movie that emulates a full-blown theater flick, without the time, effort and hassle of standing in line at the local cinema. Things You Can Do To Speed Up Your Computer Upgrading your processor will always speed up your computer, but sometimes this will not be the best thing to do. The first thing you need to do is find out where the bottle neck is in your system. The first step you would take to finding this out is by using the computers task manager. You can tell in here how much the computers resources are being used. If you want a more advanced diagnostics program then click on start, then run and type in perfmon. A program will now open and you will be able to monitor all of your computer components. How to Protect your PC from Spyware in the Cyber Age Wouldn't you be shocked to find that your personal sensitive information, like files, credit card information, operating system / software and other non-disclosed data to be penetrated by unscrupulous prying eyes? Even worse... How To Increase Computer Speed And Performance - Great Tips & Tricks Many computer users are worried about their computer's performance. After spending lot of bucks, still they cannot have that charm of using PC as they had expected. Here I am going to explain some major tricks which are used by many computer users which help them to take efficient use of their CPU. Flash Your nVidia Video Cards BIOS You will need the following: Computer Geeks and Garden Gnomes First and foremost before I begin my ranting it is worth mentioning that there are many very helpful and considerate people out there in the cyber wilderness who devote much of their time to providing open source and free scripts of all variations from PHP, CGI and Java to name but a few. They provide dedicated support, do not insist on payment, and spend much of their free time helping you avoid having to part with your hard earned cash to get free programs and scripts up and running on your websites. Why Build Your Own Gaming Computer? The best way to get the gaming computer that you want, that will provide optimum performance is to build your own computer. If you think you do not have the technical knowledge or are not capable of building a computer you are wrong. I'm pretty certain that I could teach my mother (who has a hard time working a VCR) how to build a computer. If you can plug a sweeper into a wall outlet and use a screw driver, you too can build a computer. Cisco Certification: What To Expect On Exam Day Cisco Certification: Taking Your First Certification Exam Repairing A Corrupt .RAR/.ZIP Archive Step 1: Palm PC critique I met an entrepreneur who hole heartedly disagree with an article in Advertising Age by Bradley Johnson that Palm Pilot can keep their market share through brand name. We discussed RIMM Research in Motion and my stock in that company and I defended the wireless venue, but he went into a tirade, luckily I used a digital recorder and got most of it; basically here is his critique: How To Speed Up Your Aging PC And Make It Healthier Too With a little tweaking and with proper tools, you can get a faster, healthier PC, virtually immune to spyware infections and browser hijackers. How is this possible? Find out about the latest tools and how they work.
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