Ravi's Gadgets

Procrastination is the thief of time – and money too, at the PC. Your Internet connection, equipment and power cost you. Some tasks are no fun – but don’t let them pile up. Constant dithering and delaying will wreck your health, wealth and reputation.

Here are 10 tips for helping you stop procrastination dead:

1/ Before you even sit down, sort out in your mind what’s ‘urgent’, ‘important’, both, or neither. (If an ‘urgent’ task isn’t ‘important’ and the deadline passes, so what’). An ‘urgent and important’ task should normally come before an ‘important’ task. If you have a poor memory (like me) write or type a quick list of your Top Five To Dos for the session, and delete or amend as need be.

2/ All other things being equal plan on doing easy tasks before difficult short tasks before long tasks. Always have something concrete to show for worktime in front of your PC.

3/ As far as you can YOU decide what’ important’ and ‘urgent’. There are bullies about – bosses, colleagues and customers – who think their merest whim is law. Learn to say ‘No’ politely. They may not like it, especially at first. But you’ll grow.

4/ If you need help for your work, get it now, not later. If it’s not there now, you can ask later – more chances. If you leave it till later, it may have gone off earlier so no chances….

5/ You’re there going thru your emails, databases and memos and suddenly out of nowhere, new jobs appear. The tendency is to ‘do what’s on top of the pile’ first. Don’t. Put it into the right place in your existing list.

6/ Do you get distracted easily’ Try and be aware of this, and stay aware of what tasks need doing – and by when.

7/ Are you more energetic and creative morning, noon or night’ Can you reschedule your targets to take this into account’ Or do you just plod along, whatever’ You may be a tortoise or a hare, but you can still win your own personal race if you plan ahead.

8/ Don’t give up your breaks. You need to pace yourself. But put a time limit on all breaks, surfing, chatting or just daydreaming can eat into worktime with disastrous results. A rushed job is rarely your best shot, or a true reflection of your abilities.

9/ Be particularly wary of long lunch breaks, and overeating or drinking. If your afternoon’s festooned with urgent and important chores, you’ll feel inclined to procrastinate bigtime if you’re hung over, stuffed to the gills, or dead beat.

10/ Give yourself a treat if you hit all your deadlines. Doesn’t have to be chocolate! And don’t procrastinate on rewarding yourself when you deserve it.

Use these tips to stop procrastination at the PC (AND off), and it’ll boost your free time and make you happy and healthy computing thru 2006 and beyond!

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Pros

1. Easy to install: Most of the network cameras on the market are plug and play and/or have very simple to follow instructions for both the hardware and software end.
2. Comparatively cheaper than other security systems: Instead of paying a highly trained technician to install a complex CCTV system, and pay him on an ongoing maintenance arrangement- you can have a network camera security system that can stand on it’s own against CCTV and traditional security systems.
3. Works with your existing computer network: If you already have a home network, then the network camera works with your settings, so you don’t need to pay more for the proper security infrastructure.
4. Provides peace of mind: watch your home, watch your childs room, watch your vacation home, watch your pets while you are on vacation, etc
5. See remote areas: as far away as across the globe, or your own front porch from a centralized area. Can even remotely view your children at the nursery (depending on the nurseries policies though this is becoming more standard)
6. Flexibility: Prefer not to be tethered to the security control panel or hire a full time security professional to monitor things, then get security alerts which you can view from cell phone, laptop, or PDA device, and provide multiple users access to the various security assets.
7. Receive alerts via email when detects motion, either when someone visits your home, or when your children leave home to hang out.

Cons

1. May have poor image quality depending on model and configuration, and wireless cameras in general have poorer image quality on the lower to mid range.
2. For more bells and whistles, like sound recording, scheduled emails, and motion capture, it varies greatly from model and software description.
3. Generally, outdoor surveillance equipment is more costly, especially if you want the ability to remotely pan/tilt, zoom in, zoom out, and want a waterproof camera. However for a home system this is probably not as urgent as opposed to for a business situation.
4. Drains computer network resources, so if you don’t have a speedy computer, then there’s a chance of a slight slow down in your collective resources.

Remember that despite the cons, the benefits outweigh them as they provide great security results at a lower installation and maintenance cost than traditional Closed Circuit Television systems at luxury hotel rooms.

There’s never been a better time to buy a digital video camera. Prices are lower than ever, the camcorders are packed with features, and editing software is cheap and easy to use.

Unfortunately, there’s also never been a more confusing time to buy a digital video camera. There are so many different formats competing for your money, it’s almost impossible to know which one to go for. Should you buy a Mini DV camcorder, or a DVD camcorder’ What about solid state (flash memory), or hard disk’ And is now the time to bite the bullet and buy a high definition video camera’

Confusion reigns, and it’s not helped by manufacturers releasing new models with improved features and lower prices every few months.

Thankfully, there are steps you can take to reduce the confusion and give yourself a clear idea of which type of video camera is the best for you.

Below are seven questions you should ask yourself before you studio a single feature list or read a single review.

• What do I want to use the camcorder for’

• Will I be mostly using it indoors or outdoors’

• Do I want to edit the footage I shoot’

• Do I want the camcorder to be a stills camera too’

• How important is the quality of the video I shoot’

• Is audio quality important

• Will I use a tripod with the camcorder’

The answers to these questions will influence which type and model of camcorder you buy. For example, if you want to be able to edit your video footage on a PC or Mac, you should choose a Mini DV camcorder. And if you are likely to use a tripod, you should choose a camcorder which loads its media from the side or top, rather than one which loads from the bottom.

By answering these questions and learning what the jargon that manufacturers are so fond of means, you can make sure that when you come to buy your camcorder, its exactly what you want and not a costly mistake.

On September 26, 2006 in Lawrence, MA, an unusual story spread on the news. The story was about an old lady who encountered a burglar inside her house. According to her story, she was awaked by a stranger wearing black clothes and carrying a curved knife in his hand. The burglar never demanded for anything big from her except for an amount of $40. The victim resisted and insisted that she have no money and forced the burglar to go out of her house. The story becomes unusual because it seldom happens that a burglar leaves a home without getting something or even kills the resident.

Good enough that the 85-year old lady was not hurt by the burglar and her house was left intact. The old lady could have been killed by the burglar; her daughter who was sleeping that time may have also been harmed. The old lady admits in an interview later that after the incident her peace of mind was robbed and felt that she is no longer safe in her own house.

Not all burglary incidents are as clean and harmless as the story. Most of the time, such incidents are too destructive that it does not just harm property but also life.

If the old lady could have installed a burglar alarm system in her house maybe the burglar may have been captured by the police. Also, she could have locked her bedroom immediately before the burglar broke into it.

Burglar alarms are very important security instruments. The importance of these instruments is not just limited to securing property and life but also giving peace of mind to residents.

These tools are commonly used in stores and other business establishments. In fact A-MED Productions they were designed to be mounted in such establishments. Nowadays, burglar alarm kits are already available for home installation.

Here are ways on how to acquire burglar alarm kits for residential use:

• Know the physical attributes of your home. Particularly, take note of the entry points in your home like windows, doors, basement exit, fire exits, etc. When these entry points are integrated with the alarm system, you have a higher chance of detecting unauthorized entry.

• Look for security companies that offers burglar alarm system kit installation. Asking the police department for lists of companies is a more effective way of looking for a security company that is trustworthy. Upon finding several prospect companies, ask for a written quote and invite them for a home inspection.

• There are several types of alarm systems. In many cities, there are alarms that do not make sounds but can detect movements and can alarm the police directly. There are also alarms that sounds loud to let you and neighbors know of an illegal entry and can drive away burglars. The next type is the telephone relayed alarm that when an illegal entry is detected, the system dials the police or the security company’s number and plays a recorded message alarming the latter that something wrong is going on. These three are just some of so many types of burglar alarm systems. Look for one that you deem most suitable for your home and your location.

• Draft a good physical plan where you want to put the control panel, the keypad and other necessary component included in the kit. The control panel is basically a switch that turns the alarm on and off. Make sure that this important component is installed in the most strategic location.

• You may also choose the general alarm. There are alarms that do not just detect movements but as well as temperature changes, flood, smoke, etc.