Is your computer breaking the law?

Chances are, the answer is probably yes.
There is an article on Tech Republic about the 10 laws you may be breaking without realizing it.
Some of these laws you may never even have heard about.

Here are some of them:
The Digital Millenium Copyright Act(DMCA): If you make of copy of anything that is copyrighted that isnt yours, you are in violation. This means 5 years in federal prison, and a $250,000 fine for the first offense.
How does this affect you? If you forward that email joke and the author gets upset, you are guilty.

The No Electronic Theft Act(NET): If you make a copy of a song to give to a friend or relative, or if you download a video, or transfer a movie that you own to a portable device(whether or not you lend it to someone) you are in violation.

If you are traveling with electronic gadgets(laptops, PDA's, digital cameras, etc.), Customs and/or the Border Patrol(even the TSA) have the authority and the willingness to order you to allow them to inspect your device before you are allowed back into the United States. Courts have upheld that the 4th Amendment to the Constitution does not apply to personal effects at border crossings.

And, finally, Cyberstalking and cyberbullying. While federal law doesnt forbid you from writing that angry letter to a business you are unhappy with, several state laws are broad enough to interpret an angry letter as "stalking/bullying."

Just another reason to be polite.

On Buying Computer Parts

When you are buying new parts for your computer, or when considering most other electronics purchases as well, there are things you remember before purchasing.

Because there is such a profusion of choices and prices here are some guidelines to help you buy the part or piece of electronics that is right for you:

• What are you going to use it for? Think about what you want to do with it, not just today, but will it still meet your needs tomorrow?
• What is your budget? You should always buy computer parts that are slightly better than what you think you need. Alway buy as much capacity, storage, speed or whatever as your budget allows. By not being cheap, you will allow yourself room to grow into the full capacity of the component(this dos not necessarily apply to TV's or stereos).
• Complexity is not always the best. Just because a component is complex or offers tons of "extra" features, does not always mean it is the best part for your needs. Yes, you should buy the most capacity or your component, but "capacity"(speed, storage, etc) does not equal "features"(the ability to record TV, being able to output to five different devices all at once, etc.) Dont be afraid to ask the salesperson questions(although you will get better answers if you shop at a store that specializes in the item you are buying).
• Highest price is not always the best. Even though you are trying to get the best product for your money, the highest priced item for your budget isnt necessarily the best item for your needs. Be sure to read the side of the box(es) and compare features and capacity. You may find out that the highest priced item in your budget range may not be supported by the computer you have.

There you have it; a few guidelines that I hope have not confused you even more.

Laptops and power plugs

The most common problem with laptops (aside from Windows issues) is the power plug, aka power jack or AC adapter.
Because laptops have to be made to exacting specifications, there is little to no room to reinforce the AC adapters position on the motherboard. This means that the rougher the user is on the equipment, the sooner the plug will be worked off of its mounting.
If a person is continually jamming the plug in or, more commonly, yanking out the cord then the more likely they are to pull the adapter off of its mountings.

How easy is this to repair? That depends on the make and model of the laptop; some brands are far easier to disassemble and reassemble than others. Also, it depends on the extent of the damage.
If the problem is found when the plug is "a little wiggly," then its a relatively quick fix because the mounting points can be reset and reinforced.
If the first time the problem is noticed is when the user notices a "strange rattle where the power plug was," then it is probably too late and its time for a new laptop.

The bottom line is: be gentle with your power cord, and it will outlast you.

Getting your computer RAIDed

More computer are being sold with a type of hard drive storage called RAID; so I thought I would talk a little about what RAID is, and what it does.

RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive, depending on who you ask) Disks. It is a way of improving performance, improving stability or safeguarding data.

RAID comes in several different types: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and several others.

The most common (for consumers) types of RAID are 0 and 1.
RAID 0(zero) is two hard drives hooked together to make one larger hard drive. This is called "striped without parity," and provides both larger capacity and faster performance than single hard drives.
The downside to RAID 0 is that if one drive fails or is corrupted, then the data on that drive is lost.
When I say "parity" I mean the ability to detect errors in the stored data. Also called "error correction."

RAID 1 is "mirrored;" two or more hard drives are connected together so that each one is an exact duplicate of the other. Thus if one drive fails or is corrputed, then the data on the other drive remains safe. RAID 1 is "mirrored without parity".

So know you know if a salesman says RAID 0, you know it means data spread across two hard drives and RAID 1 means data duplicated across two (or more) hard drives.