admin, Author at My System Journal

Why You Shouldn’t Worry About These Mysterious Files

Posted on November 20, 2013December 8, 2013 by admin

If you’re scared of files that start with a “~$” and for good reason, the first thing that you need to know is that there is no reason for you to be scared when you see this file.

That’s probably because you haven’t created the file yet and it still appears in your Documents folder.

In most cases, besides the strange punctuation, the file name looks familiar but can be opened with a common application. However, when you try to open it, an error message is obtained causing the confusion as to what this file might be.

So, if you’ve wondered what this file really is, it’s really a temporary file and which has been created by Microsoft Word or Powerpoint. This is why, in most cases, the file goes away as soon as you close the file that you have just opened.

These temporary files have almost the same name except for the “~$” that replaces the first two letters of the file. For example, if the file that you have created is StackOverflow.docx, then its temporary file would look like ~$ackOverflow.docx.

As for opening these files, you can’t because they’re not normal .docx or .pptx files.

There are other times when you’ll see one of these temporary files without actually opening a document and this is because a file in either Powerpoint or Word did not close correctly due to a Windows crash.

Actually, you’re not supposed to see these files because they’re meant to be hidden and which means that someone has set up Windows to display these files. All you have to do is hide or display hidden files in the View tab which is located in the Folder Options dialog box.

The Benefits of Live Banner Ads

Posted on November 18, 2013 by admin

By Ted Dhanik

Banner ads are one of the most popular forms of display advertising that are used online today. Study after study has proven that these ads are typically successful at growing a company’s client base and potential sales.

Due to the sheer number of ads that consumers come across every single day, it’s crucial for advertisers to use ads that stand out among the crowd. Unfortunately, if ads don’t have a unique, eye-catching appeal, most viewers will not remember the ad. If a client doesn’t notice or remember an ad, they’re less likely to think of that brand when they need to purchase an item.

There are a few things that companies can do to make their ads more memorable and engaging. One tip is to avoid static banner ads. Today, the most successful online ads are live banners. Banner ads that feature animation and videos tend to be more memorable for viewers than static ads. Banner ads should be dynamic and interactive. Many businesses still rely on static banner ads which means that a live banner will stick out.

While it is often more expensive to use dynamic banners, they are undoubtedly more successful at achieving their intended goal. The goal of any ad is to eventually lead to sales. However, advertising has more to do with growing brand recognition and creating an idea in the minds of potential clients. In order for ads to bring in new clients, they have to create interest for the ad viewers.

Author bio: Guest post is provided by Ted Dhanik, CEO of engage:BDR, supplier of high performance marketing solutions. Ted Dhanik is a passionate blogger who helps form trends in display advertising. Visit www.teddhanik.com for more information on Ted Dhanik.

One Click For All Your Marine Needs

Posted on November 17, 2013September 15, 2014 by admin

Shopping for marine parts can be quite difficult if you are using older marine engines or one that is uncommon. You can never be certain if shops carry the parts you need, and the best way to find out is to go to their store personally. Going from one marine store to another can be exhausting, but at the time, this was one of the very few ways to find parts and to be able to see exactly what you are buying. This method is slowly being replaced with something called electronic shopping.

Electronic shopping refers to the purchase and acquisition of products through the use of the internet and a credit card account. The e-commerce industry has boomed in a lot of countries and it has made shopping easier for everybody. Thankfully, the marine industry followed suit shortly after and now you can see the actual part that you are buying without even having to leave your chair. There are plenty of online stores that sell pretty much everything. Products vary per store, but generally, most parts can be found online. Their enginerange includes, but is not limited to, Evinrude, Mercruiser, and Suzuki. They also carry various mercury and Suzuki marine parts to suit your needs.

Traditional methods of shopping for such products are slowly on the decrease as the technology develops in the industry of e-commerce. It is only a matter of time before everything that we need can be purchased with a single click and delivered to our doorstep.

4 Tips to Consider When Conducting a Search Over the Internet

Posted on November 16, 2013December 8, 2013 by admin

While the first thing that you need to find the right information that you are looking for on the Web is a search engine, a little know-how goes a long way in helping you find what you are looking for as soon as possible.

So, with this in mind, here are 4 tips to consider when conducting a search over the internet:

#1: Learn how to search from the search engine itself

If you are using Google, then the best way to learn how to search can be done by using Google’s “Basic search help” as well as “Tips & Tricks” pages. You can be sure to find a number of tricks and shortcuts too.

#2: Look for a phrase

If you’re looking for an exact phrase and not pages that contain each of its words, then the best way to do this is by putting the phrase in quotation marks. You’ll find that the number of searches it throws back are far lesser (since it looks for an exact phrase match) than otherwise.

#3: Be as specific as possible

Let’s say you are looking for articles that show you how to manage bookmarks on an iPhone running Safari on iOS 7. Don’t just type “manage bookmarks” in the search bar but type as many keywords as possible such as “manage bookmarks iPhone Safari iOS 7” to find exactly what you need.

#4: Try the ‘advanced search’ option

If you’re not able to find what you are looking for from Basic Search, then it’s a good idea to try narrowing your search by using ‘Advanced search’ in the process. You can do this by clicking the gear icon that you can find to the top right hand corner of your screen.

3 Ways to Keep Your Data Secure

Posted on November 9, 2013December 8, 2013 by admin

Let’s face it: data security is not easy whether this pertains to mobiles, tablets, smartphones or even laptops.

It shouldn’t be surprising that these devices are goldmines of personal information to thieves and which is why they are popular as well.

So, keeping this in mind, here are 3 ways you can protect your data:

#1: Encrypt everything

One of the easiest ways to protect your data is to make use of the in-built hardware encryption on your Android or iOS device. If enabled, you can be sure that without a passcode, noone will be able to read anything on your mobile. While iPhone and iPad users will be pleased to note that their data is already encrypted, Android users will have to go through a lengthy but easy process to encrypt their data.

#2: Watch out for malware

Android, unlike Apple, is far more vulnerable to malware since Google does not check apps before they go live on Google Play. It’s for this reason that malware creators has begun to offer free device wallpapers as well as games so as to infect one’s device. For this, make sure you check what’s on offer by Lookout, Avast and Kapersky in the form of antivirus and security apps to help secure your phone.

#3: Protect your data from border agents

Border agents are allowed to confiscate any devices you are are carrying and even copy its contents. Since these checks are done to prevent terrorism, there’s nothing that you can do to avoid them. However, instead of allowing them to download sensitive information, you can actually leave your hard drive behind and instead boot your system with an SD card or a USB.

How to Increase Website Traffic

Posted on October 30, 2013 by admin

Online business owners are always searching for new ways to increase website traffic. The idea is that more traffic means more sales. If you can get enough people to your website, there is a chance that at least some of them will purchase your products and/services. But just because you have created an attractive website doesn’t mean consumers can find it, let alone buy products from your online store. This is why many online business owners invest in internet marketing campaigns, or search engine marketing tactics designed to improve your search engine results and get more people (traffic) to your site.

But there is one problem. Online marketing campaigns are long-term investments. They are also expensive. Whether you want to invest in search engine optimization or search engine marketing, professionals in the field will tell you that you won’t see the results you’re looking for overnight. You have to be patient. A typical search engine optimization campaign can take anywhere from six months to a year to yield satisfying results. The same is true for internet marketing.

Since online marketing requires a lot of time and money, many business owners end up cutting corners by purchasing traffic generation services that rely on black hat techniques, or search engine marketing tactics that are against Google’s quality guidelines. The internet is brimming with companies that offer these services. However, you don’t have to resort to black hat techniques to get more traffic to your site. Here’s how to get more traffic to your website without investing in a long-term internet marketing campaign.

Purchase clean and organic website traffic packages. If this seems like a simple solution to your problem, it is. Certain internet marketing companies are offering online business owners the opportunity to buy website traffic. It’s as simple as buying a package. How many visitors do you want? Depending on your budget, you can purchase a package with a certain number of targeted visitors. For example, you can purchase 100,000 targeted visitors for your website for $115. Do you have a larger budget? You can buy 500,000 premium visitors for $650.

How is this possible? Your campaign is run on high-quality sites, making your website visible to high-quality targeted visitors. The real question is: Does Google allow this type of service? It depends. It’s important to find a company that works within Google’s quality guidelines. Make sure that the company is known for using white hat techniques. Also make sure that the company you go with offers “clean and organic” traffic. Finally, it needs to be safe for AdSense.

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This article was sponsored by Trafix Tech, a company that offers premium website traffic solutions, including guaranteed methods to improve organic traffic to websites. Visit the website to learn more about website traffic generator services.

5 Things to Keep in Mind When Switching Email Accounts

Posted on October 27, 2013November 7, 2013 by admin

If you’ve used an email address for a long time, there might come a day when switching accounts might be necessary.

To say the least, this is a real hassle which will require one to make a number of changes. So, with that said, here are 5 things to keep in mind when switching email accounts:

#1: Avoid using your ISP’s email address

Just in case, you are switching from SBC to Comcast, you might feel that you should use the ISP’s address. Refrain from doing so as you’ll face the same hassle when you switch providers again. Instead use a web-based email service that will last no matter which service provider you choose.

#2: Give a month’s time for overlap

If you’ve opened a new Outlook or Gmail address, then don’t cancel the service right away. Take at least a month to get a feel of the new address and to read any new messages that drop into your old email before you’re ready to make a complete switch.

#3: Inform friends and family

Inform your friends and family by sending them an email, using the Address Book, that you’ve changed your address and to make the necessary changes as well.

#4: Set up auto-forward

Some ISPs allow one to auto-forward all emails to a new address. This way, you won’t have to keep checking the email at the old email address every time either.

#5: Update auto-mailers and online accounts

One thing’s for sure: you’ll have to update your Amazon, Twitter, iTunes accounts with the new address manually. That can be a real headache but you’ll have no choice but to carry it out.

4 Steps to Secure Your PC Adequately

Posted on October 20, 2013November 7, 2013 by admin

Good security for your PC or laptop requires a bit of effort especially if you want to keep the contents of your hard drive, email, passwords and USB drives safe.

To say the least, it’s important to have a certain degree of security on your system without going paranoid.

With that said, here are 4 steps to securing your PC adequately:

#1: Strong Passwords

Regardless of what people say, strong passwords that are unique, random and long enough are still the best way to keep your digital information safe. For this, the best solution so far is to use a password manager such as KeePass or LastPass. While both of them are relatively neck and neck when it comes to being user-friendly, LastPass can be used to access your data across a number of devices.

#2: Encrypting email

Using a web-based email address instead of an email desktop client (like ThunderBird) might be easier to use. However, it becomes difficult to keep the contents of your email from people who’d like to snoop, not unless you use an OpenPGP public-private key encryption service. You’ll have to create a key pair and a revocation certificate as well.

#3: Go Public

Now let people know that you are using encrypted emails which involves uploading your key to a keyserver where other people can find it. Also, you can publish the public key generated on a blog, personal website etc.

#4: Test it with Adele

Now is the time you can test your encrypted email by creating one which is to be sent to Adele, the OpenPGP email robot. Create one in plain text, and which will make it easier and send it to adele-en@gnupp.de. Make that the ‘Sign Message’ and ‘Attach my Public Key’ options are selected in the OpenPGP menu. Adele will respond in a few minutes informing you as to whether the signing was successful or not.

3 Wi-Fi Security Myths to Discard

Posted on October 16, 2013November 7, 2013 by admin

Securing your wireless network remains one of the most important tasks that must be dealt with no matter what you think.

Seeing how vital this is to any business, let’s look at 3 Wi-Fi security myths that must be done away with:

#1: Don’t broadcast your SSID

Every wireless router has a network name (Service Set Identifier) associated with it, and is broadcasted to users within its range to be located by users on their PC or device. While it might seem like a good idea to stop your router from broadcasting this information, there are a number of devices that can see the network name. In fact, hiding it can pique the curiosity of Wi-Fi hackers in the process.

#2: Disable your Router DHCP Server

With this myth, you disable the DHCP server and manually assign an IP address to each device for the reason that devices that aren’t assigned with an IP address won’t gain access to your network. That is hardly true as a hacker can easily find the IP addresses being used by your network and use one of them for a compatible device.

#3: Limit your router’s IP address pool

Since every device in the network will be assigned an IP address by the DHCP (Dynamic Host Control Protocol) server, the idea that limiting this pool of IP addresses will secure your network because you can control the number of devices by this method. That’s hardly true for the reason mentioned above.

Brain Produces Natural Painkillers When Socially Rejected

Posted on October 15, 2013October 15, 2013 by admin

By Phineas Upham

We know what happens to our feelings when someone rejects us; they get hurt. But what happens in our brains when someone rejects us? A new study reveals that the brain produces natural painkillers when an individual is socially rejected, Science Daily reports.

According to a study published in Molecular Psychiatry by a team from University of Michigan Medical School, the brain not only produces natural painkillers during social rejection, it produces more of it if the individual has more resilience. According to the article, the team used a brain scanning system to track the release of a chemical in the brain during social rejection while online dating. The article states that the study focused on the same area of the brain that responds to physical pain. Prior research has shown that when an individual experiences physical pain, their brain dampens the pain signals by releasing chemicals called opioids into the area between neurons.

“This is the first study to peer into the human brain to show that the opioid system is activated during social rejection,” David T. Hsu, Ph.D., a research assistant professor of psychiatry and lead author of the paper, told Science Daily. “In general, opioids have been known to be released during social distress and isolation in animals, but where this occurs in the human brain has not been shown until now.”

Hsu also told the paper that the personality of the participants had a lot to do with how much opioids were produced by the brain. According to the article, the people who scored high on the resiliency trait test were able to produce more of the chemical during social rejection. What’s more, participants with the most opioids produced in the brain reported being in a better mood than the other participants.