TOKYO: Bend it, write on it, read it - just don't try to fold it into a paper plane. Electronic paper is Japan's answer to rising raw material costs, depleted resources and booming demand for printed matter from emerging markets such as China and India. At a high-tech fair in Tokyo this week, Japanese firms showed the latest versions of what is still considered a niche product, ranging from thick, sturdy readers to thin displays that look like plastic sheets and can be bent.

E-Ink, which manufactures Sony's Reader tablet, says consumers will eventually embrace the energy-saving technology as the cost of paper and fuel goes up. "The BRIC nations like India and China are consuming so much paper as their economies expand that the cost of A4 size paper is up 20 to 30 percent," said Ryosuke Kuwada, vice president for E-Ink corporation's Asia pacific region, referring to an abbreviation that groups Brazil, Russia, India and China.

"As people try to wean themselves off pulp paper, the push for electronic paper is going to intensify," he added. Japan, known for its beautiful hand-made paper as well as its cutting-edge technology, has already been trying to combine the two.

Companies such as Fujitsu and Sony use electrophoretic displays, or EPD, for everything from watches and mobile phones to electronic readers. The display sends electronic charges along a grid embedded in the e-paper which cause tiny black and white particles to move, creating text and images.

"This is going to be a new kind of personal tool that businessmen would carry in their bags. It will be yet another powerful tool after the cell phone," said Yoshiaki Kageyama, director of Fujitsu's e-paper division.

SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp.'s operating systems run most personal computers around the globe and are a cash cow for the world's largest software maker. But you'd never confuse a Windows user with the passionate fans of Mac OS X or even the free Linux operating system. Unless it's someone running Windows XP, a version Microsoft wants to retire.

Fans of the six-year-old operating system set to be pulled off store shelves in June have papered the Internet with blog posts, cartoons and petitions recently. They trumpet its superiority to Windows Vista, Microsoft's latest PC operating system, whose consumer launch last January was greeted with lukewarm reviews.

No matter how hard Microsoft works to persuade people to embrace Vista, some just can't be wowed. They complain about Vista's hefty hardware requirements, its less-than-peppy performance, occasional incompatibility with other programs and devices and frequent, irritating security pop-up windows.

For them, the impending disappearance of XP computers from retailers, and the phased withdrawal of technical support in coming years, is causing a minor panic. Take, for instance, a longtime technology journalist, Galen Gruman is more accustomed to writing about trends than starting them. But after talking to Windows users for months, he realized his distaste for Vista and strong attachment to XP. "It sort of hit us that, wait a minute, XP will be gone as of June 30. What are we going to do?" he said. "If no one does something, it's going to be gone."

So Gruman started a Save-XP Web petition, gathering since January more than 100,000 signatures and thousands of comments, mostly from die-hard XP users who want Microsoft to keep selling it until the next version of Windows is released, currently targeted for 2010.

On the petition site's comments section, some users proclaimed they will downgrade from Vista to XP ó an option available in the past to businesses, but now open for the first time to consumers who buy Vista Ultimate or Business editions ó if they need to buy a new computer after XP goes off the market.

Others used the comments section to rail against the very idea that Microsoft has the power to enforce the phase-out from a stable, decent product to one that many consider worse, while profiting from the move. Many threatened to leave Windows for Apple or Linux machines.

Microsoft already extended the XP deadline once, but it shows no signs it will do so again. The company has declined to meet with Gruman to consider the petition. Microsoft is aware of the petition, it said in a statement to The Associated Press, and "will continue to be guided by feedback we hear from partners and customers about what makes sense based on their needs."

Gruman said he'd keep pressing for a meeting. "They really believe if they just close their eyes, people will have no choice," he said.

In fact, most people who get a new computer will end up with Vista. In 2008, 94 percent of new Windows machines for consumers worldwide will run Vista, forecasts industry research group IDC. For businesses, about 75 percent of new PCs will have Vista. (That figure takes into account companies that choose to downgrade to XP.) Although Microsoft may not budge on selling new copies of XP, it may have to extend support for it.

An IDC analyst estimated that at the end of 2008 nearly 60 percent of consumer PCs and almost 70 percent of business PCs worldwide will still run XP. Microsoft plans to end full support ó including warranty claims and free help with problems - in April 2009. The company will continue providing a more limited level of service until April 2014.

Efforts like Gruman's grass-roots petition may not influence the software maker, but business customers' demands should carry more clout. "You really can't make 69 percent of your installed base unhappy with you," the analysts said.

Many who read this article may find these recommendations to be old news. However, think about the number of family, friends, and associates that ask you for help fixing their PC and I believe you will understand why I chose to write this article.

These recommendations for a healthy & secure PC are by no means a complete list of everything you can and should do. It is however a great start if you want to keep your computer running properly for an acceptable period of time. It will also help prevent some of the most common issues related to PC security.

HDD Fragmentation

Believe it or not, many people have never even heard of hard drive fragmentation, or the process of Defragmentation. In a nutshell, when you install software or create files and data, the Operating System stores this data on your hard disk drive. The most efficient way of storing this data would be in one continuous disk file. However, files are not always stored this way, or are initially stored this way and later become split up, or fragmented. Because of this, when the data or file is retrieved, the hard drive must be searched in multiple places just to combine data that makes up one file. This slows things down tremendously. If you are running Windows XP, you should perform a disk defrag at least once every two weeks, more if possible. All of my systems run this process automatically once every week in the evening hours.

Games & Disk

Intensive Software

If you're a gamer, or regularly use disk intensive software, the above Defragmentation process will help. However, you can also take another step to make things move a little faster. If you have two physically separate disk drives in your system, I suggest that you use one primarily for the Operating System and related software, and devote the other physical disk for installing games and other disk intensive applications. This cuts down on the competition for disk resources between your Operating System and other applications. There are other things you could do as well, such as configuring the appropriate type of RAID where multiple disks appear to the operating system as one big logical disk drive. However, this takes a little more planning to get the most out of your drives.

Virus & Spyware Protection

The bottom line here is; make sure you have installed some sort of anti-virus and spyware protection. Furthermore, don't just assume that the default configuration of the program is best suited for your environment. For instance, I can't tell you how many people I know whose computer has contracted a serious virus because of just one minor but very important task. When the anti-virus software pops up a message and tells you that your subscription is about to expire, don't just hit the ignore button. Take a five minute break from what you are doing and renew your virus signature subscription. Not only will this keep you up to date on newer viruses, it will allow your software package to update to newer versions. The same thing goes for spyware protection. There are plenty of free spyware protection solutions out there, none are perfect, but most do the job.

Software & Hardware

Firewall Protection

If you are not using a firewall, then you are just asking for trouble. Actually, there is a significant chance that your system is already compromised if you have no firewall protection at all. Many cable/DSL router combo devices have built in firewall protection, and this is at least a good start. However, if you have Windows XP SP2, go ahead and enable the built in firewall as it will provide you another level of protection. Oh, yes, and when the system pops up a message about whether or not to allow a certain application or communication to take place, don't just hit the ok button, read it thoroughly then make a decision.

Installing & Uninstalling Applications

Just about every time you install a new application or piece of software you increase the time it takes to boot your PC and in some cases decrease its performance. One thing that drives me crazy is printing software. I cannot understand how or why printer support software could total 400MB in size, but they sometimes do. Not only that, they tend to load all kinds of unnecessary real-time running applets. HP printers are notorious for this. Be very aware of what it is you are loading and only load those components that you need. Even some off-the-shelf software packages load adware and other not so helpful applets. Also, when you uninstall software, not all the software gets uninstalled in many cases. One thing I suggest is to purchase a registry cleaner. This can dramatically decrease boot times and in many cases increase the overall performance of your PC.

Purchasing & Downloading Items On The Internet

When you download or purchase any software from the Internet, make sure you pay close attention to everything you are agreeing to or checking off on the various pages that lead up to the final purchase or download. As with everything else, make sure you read the fine print. You may be agreeing to download and install something you don't need or may impact the security and performance of you PC. Also, how many more mailing lists do you really need to be on? How many Internet Explorer tool bars do you need? Most of these tool bars should be renamed to 'adware /spyware bars'

OS and Application Patches

In a nutshell, if you are using Windows XP, make sure that automatic updates are turned on. This is very important. Microsoft releases security and bug fixes routinely and some of them are critical in nature. Something people tend to overlook is updating and patching their applications. For instance, Microsoft Office has critical security patches and performance enhancements available in the form of patches and service packs. It's not just Operating System bugs that can put you at risk, applications can too.

Updating Drivers

Similar to the above, hardware manufacturers routinely update their drivers. This includes video cards, sounds cards, capture cards, system boards, you name it. Some manufacturers have started to release automatic updates for their hardware, but many have not. Make sure you check these sites regularly and when a driver update is available, install it.

Children's Downloads

This is a really big one. I cannot tell you how may times I have been told by people that they have no idea how something got installed on their computer. Usually their second sentence contains 'one of my children must have downloaded it'. The first thing that comes to mind is 'why do parents let kids download whatever they like in the first place.' Not only can this severely impact the security and performance of your computer, who knows what your kids are getting their hands on.

Do you know what one of the most frequently installed application installs I see on a teenagers machine is? Kazaa, BearShare, eDonkey, all P2P file sharing programs. I don't care what anyone says regarding how convenient and safe these applications are now, they are wrong. Monitor what your children are doing/downloading on the Internet. Install a parental-control software package if needed.

Rebuilding Your OS

If you are not familiar with system imaging software, I suggest you read up on them. One of the most popular packages is 'ghost' and it's been around for quite some time. I rebuild my systems pretty much on an annual basis. When I first configured them, I used an imaging package to create a complete image of the basic OS and application install. This allows you to not only re-install the base operating system and applications by hitting just one button, but can save you big time in the event of a system disaster.

Conclusion

Normally it's quoted that it's all part of common sense and very basic. Well, if this is what you as your profession then yes, the statement is trur. But many people don't know these things or did know about them at all or have forgotten what they were initially told. So many PCs are in such bad shape and it's beyond my knowledge as to how the average person even deals with it?

Ever dream of designing a toaster that sears a design of your own making on a piece of bread? If that's the kind of project you might like to tackle in your spare time, Microsoft has a new program that could help.

At the Embedded Systems Conference this week in San Jose, California, Microsoft is set to introduce a low-cost hardware and software bundle designed for hobbyist developers of small devices. "There are tons of people out there that love to tinker with the OS and hardware," said Mike Hall, software architect for Windows Embedded at Microsoft.

For US$200 to $400, a hobbyist or academic researcher can buy a package that includes Windows CE 6, developer tools, Visual Studio and a hardware reference board from one of five hardware vendors. Windows CE is Microsoft's operating system that typically powers small portable devices such as car navigation systems, music players like the Zune, medical devices and robotics. Please note that Zune refers to Microsoft's digital audio player, client software, and online music store released to the United States on November 14 2006.

In addition to a toaster that imprints an image on a piece of toast, Hall has seen hobbyists use Windows CE to build home automation and security products and robots.

Microsoft is also trying to make it easier for commercial developers to create products based on its embedded software. Often, developers have an expertise in a specific area like user interface or multimedia, but they may lack the core skills required to port the operating system to new hardware, Hall said. As a result, Microsoft has built a Windows CE certification program "so that new customers working with CE can find certified developers to work on their custom applications and designs," he said.

Microsoft also plans to introduce packages of software designed for specific markets. The first such package will be called POSReady, which will include the operating system and other technologies often used in machines like cash registers and information kiosks. Microsoft already offers such a POS (point of service) bundle, but a new one will come out next year as part of the effort to make similar packages for different device categories. "We're leaving it open for additional 'Ready' offerings as we move forward," Hall said.

Microsoft is also changing the names of some of its embedded products. Windows Embedded CE will be called Windows Embedded Compact, and the next version is forecast for release next year. Windows XP Embedded, the operating system that runs PC-based products like ATMs and industrial control systems, will be called Windows Embedded Standard. The next version of that software should come out this year.

Brief about Windows Embedded CE

It is an operating system and development platform designed for small footprint devices.

CE provides a 32-bit native hard real-time, small footprint operating system, unified kernel, and familiar embedded development tools. This makes CE the right choice for a variety of smaller footprint devices ó ranging from power conscious GPS handhelds to real-time, mission critical industrial controllers.

Examples of devices built with Windows Embedded CE include; Set-top boxes, thin clients, digital media adapters, VoIP) phones, navigation devices, medical devices, portable media players, home gateways, digital cameras, networked digital televisions,and PDAs.

With a full suite of development tools, Windows Embedded CE streamlines the development process and offers your team the following key advantages:

Cisco Computer Systems was established in 1984, and since then has become a leader in the production of the hardware and software required for Internet Protocol-based networking. Cisco products are now so widely used that it's almost fair to say that the Internet couldn't function without Cisco routers, switches and software.

This means that people with expert knowledge in this area are in very high demand, and hold some of the highest-paid jobs in the industry. This also explains why Cisco computer certifications are so popular and so well-respected.

CCNP is certification for networking professionals offered by Cisco. The CCNP is the second-highest level of Cisco certification behind the Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE). After completing the requirements for the CCNP, candidates are prepared to install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot complex routed LAN, routed WAN, Switched LAN networks, and Dial Access Services. Prerequisites for the CCNP are Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) status, as well as the successful completion of a qualifying exam.

Candidates must then pass the CCNP expert examination. Five CCNP specializations are offered: Security, Network Management, LAN ATM, Voice Access, and SNA Solutions.

To earn your CCNP, you first have to earn your CCNA. Then you're faced with a decision - take the three-exam CCNP path, or the four-exam path? They're both quite demanding, so let's take a look at each path.

Four-Exam Path

The four-exam CCNP path includes the Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks (BSCI) exam, Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks (BCMSN) exam, Building Cisco Remote Access Networks (BCRAN), and Cisco Internetwork Troubleshooting (CIT) exam.

Three-Exam Path

The three-exam path combines the BSCI and BCMSN exams into a single exam, called the Composite exam.

The question is as to what order should be followed? After earning CCNA, it's recommended to begin studying for the BSCI exam immediately. You will find the fundamentals you learned in your CCNA studies that will help you a great deal with this exam. You're going to add to your CCNA knowledgebase quite a bit when it comes to OSPF and EIGRP, as well as being introduced to BGP.

OSPF is a routing protocol that determines the best path for routing IP traffic over a TCP/IP network, and EIGRP, a Cisco proprietary routing protocol loosely based on their original IGRP. EIGRP is an advanced distance-vector routing protocol, with optimizations to minimize both the routing instability incurred after topology changes, as well as the use of bandwidth and processing power in the router.

There's no preference between the Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks (BCMSN) and BCRAN exams. Remember, BCRAN is a qualifying exam for the Cisco Certified Network Professional CCNP certification. It's the acronym for Building Cisco Remote Access Networks. BCRAN exam will certify that the successful candidate has important knowledge and skills necessary to describe, configure, operate, and troubleshoot WAN and remote access solutions. The exam covers topics on General knowledge of WAN technologies, implementation and operation, planning and design, and troubleshooting. Taking the Cisco Internetwork Troubleshooting (CIT) exam is recommended to be the last. You'll be using all the skills you learned in the first three exams to pass the CIT. It's a very demanding exam, and it's a little hard to troubleshoot technologies that you haven't learned yet.

The Eye-Fi wireless SD memory card, its USB card reader and its packaging is shown in this photo taken in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Eye-Fi looks just like a standard 2-gigabyte SD card, but its embedded Wi-Fi circuitry allows the card to wirelessly connect to a home router and automatically upload digital camera pictures to a computer or Internet sharing site.