Tag Archives: FIRST

The Very First Internet Advertisements

The Very First Internet Advertisements

When the internet very first started out, not many Americans could afford a computer let alone, access to the internet. This of course took some time and eventually it became easier to access. However, not a lot of Internet advertisements were seen because companies had not yet come up with ideas as to advertise their product. Not many companies had their own product websites yet either. Through progress and time, they slowly started to appear on the Internet. Now they are all over the Internet, trying to sell their products as well as their services to potential online customers.

The very first Internet advertisements were basically quite simple, straight to the point and also the location where the products could be located. Then the consumer market for these companies started to improve the Internet advertisements with the new software programs that were coming available for certain types of computers.

Some of these upgrades included multi media as well as flash player just to name a few. This opened the door for the creators of the Internet advertising world. Animation and different color displays with better resolution could be used. By the year 2000, almost any big department store could be found on the Internet, as well as their Internet advertisings.

Sales increased, and it was obvious that more consumers were in fact able to view products and information on the products through the use of the Internet. This became a flood of technical Internet advertisement for even more companies. Even during the season that were not holiday related more Internet advertisements were used for many companies. Now, there are so many Internet advertisements on the Internet that some of the websites a lot of people often go too are being congested or over run by these Internet advertisements.

Even now, with the bigger companies having their own web sites they still rely on forn on Internet advertising on different smaller sites such as gaming sites and others. Knowing this will promote their offers and their store web sites even further. Of course the Internet advertisements also include some kind of sales pitch, they all go back to the same origin, promotion of products of the stores.

You have to take into account too, that major businesses are starting to promote their businesses as well by the use of the Internet advertising, such as spas and gyms, or different restaurants in the area. So as far as Internet advertising goes, for now, there are virtually not many limits set. It used to be somewhat difficult to obtain “space” on the Internet but that is obviously nor the case now.

As you see more Internet advertisements, then you can see the proof of the space over the World Wide Web and all the possibilities it now has to offer.

None the less, some consumers feel there are too many Internet advertisements being placed on the internet causing more chaos than there used to be, when so many were not listed on different websites. This of course if called progress, and everyone knows you can’t stop progress very easily.

First Video Game Systems to the Latest in Gaming Consoles

First Video Game Systems to the Latest in Gaming Consoles

The history of video games has come a long way. Today, you will see video game consoles integrated with state-of-the-art graphics technology and amazing sound quality that can rival your home entertainment systems. There are even gaming consoles that has different features that can rival your home PC.

For example, you will find that some gaming consoles available today have realistic graphics and Hollywood-like acting. Computer generated 3D characters even contains facial expressions and body movements almost similar to the real thing.

If you play with these consoles, you will see that the characters in it move very much like real people. But, in fact, these characters are the product of the latest 3D technology available. Not only that, characters in these games even have human like features. Some even have beards, different eye colors, and some even have hairs that moves just like the real thing.

Other integrated features that you will see in some gaming consoles available in the market today are the memory cards, where you can save your game progress, joysticks and steering wheels to add a little more realism to driving and flight simulation games, simulated guns to add realism to shooting games, and even vibration feedback to controls.

There are even gaming consoles available in the market today that can be connected to the internet. With these feature, you can join multiplayer games in the internet and play with other people from all over the world. So, if you get bored fighting AI (artificial intelligence) from regular games, you can buy a game that is available for massively multiplayer online role playing games or MMORPG.

However, before you go out and buy the real thing, you should know where all these games started. Just like any other invention, gaming consoles or gaming systems started out as having rough graphics, simple sounds and very simple game play.

In the early years of video game systems, you will find that it all started out in a simple game that was called “Tennis for Two”. This particular video game was introduced back in 1958 and was consisted of two horizontal lines across the screen, and a short perpendicular line that represented the net.

This particular game was the root of all video games and from here, video game developers started competing and producing different games and came to the point of having great graphics and sound quality.

In the mid 70s, a company called Atari came out with a video game system that revolutionized the world of video games. It was called the Video Computer System or VCS. This system became one of the hottest selling gaming systems in its day. As you see today’s latest gaming system, you will find it hard to believe that people even bought these things.

However, you have to consider the fact that in the past, because of the early technology in graphics and sounds, and 3D graphics were virtually non existent, these video gaming systems were considered as state-of-the-art. And, many people enjoyed playing with it. If you were born in this era, and played with these video game systems, you know how much fun it is to play with.

Integrated with simple graphics, simple sound effects and simple game play, it was relatively easy to play with. The whole family can really spend hours on end to play with video game systems in the past. Everyone can play with these simple machines, even children.

Today, since game developers are taking games to another level, adding realistic graphics and realistic sounds, each game are now rated by the ESRB or the Entertainment Software Rating Board. You will see that each of the gaming title will contain letters, such as E, T, M, and AO. These letters represent on who can play the game. E represents Everyone, T represents Teens only, M for Mature gamers, and AO represents Adults Only.

More and more games today are integrated with realism of violence and gore where it can really affect your child’s psychology. This is why it is important for you to check the ESRB rating before buying a particular game.

There are even games available today that can recreate the battlefield in World War II. You can even see bodies around the simulated Normandy beach that are either decapitated or a realistic person spurting blood calling out for a medic.

You can easily see how long video game systems have come in terms of graphics and sound quality.
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New High School Is First In Arizona Schools To Have No Textbooks

New High School Is First In Arizona Schools To Have No Textbooks

Empire High School in Vail, located on the edge of Tucson, is the first in the Arizona schools to be all-electronic. Instead of textbooks, the 350 students use wireless, Apple laptop computers to research, organize their data, write and graph assignments, and create class presentations.

The Arizona schools Empire High is a new school with a blank slate. Arizona schools officials could hire new teachers committed to technology-based teaching and purchase computers instead of textbooks. The Arizona schools officials wanted to move teachers away from habitual teaching from textbooks, cover-to-cover, and gave area students the choice to attend Empire or another school.

Having researched schools in other states prior to the all-electronic decision, Arizona schools officials found students who were clearly more engaged in their studies and unusually enthusiastic about school. One reason was that they took a more active part in the lesson process, rather than everything being “fed” to them. Another advantage to laptops over textbooks is that groundbreaking information takes five to six years to get into textbooks, especially in the science fields. Of the few all-electronic schools across the nation, many are doing well from the perspective of both the students and the educators. The Arizona schools officials clearly felt they could enhance their students’ educational experience with technology over textbooks.

Replacing textbooks with laptops for other Arizona schools would prove expensive at 0 each. For Empire, they took the usual 0 to 0 cost per student for a complete set of textbooks for four years, as well as the cost of a computer lab, and used this money to purchase the laptops and added technology needs.

Some new challenges had to be faced by the Arizona schools’ new Empire High and research was done to address them. They had 350 students, who needed to be continuously and reliably connected to the Internet at high speed. All the laptops had to be configured to best suit the needs of the students for learning. The needed educational material had to be located on the Internet and integrated into lesson plans. A method for students to submit assignments across the Web was needed. These were problems they knew had to be resolved before the school year began.

What the Arizona schools officials had not planned on was a different sort of technological problem. It seems that many students who used home computers for gaming, surfing the Internet, and X-Box, had a difficult time translating these skills to those needed in school, such as using word processing software, saving documents to specific locations, and being able to retrieve the files later. Skills training had to be added to the lesson plans.

For other schools that are interested in setting up an all-electronic school, the Arizona schools officials advise that it must be a public choice. You cannot force such drastic learning changes. Include the parents and teachers in the planning at the ground floor.

After a year, the system is working well overall. The Arizona schools plan to increase enrollment at Empire High to 750 students in the near future.

Buying the Perfect Computer – The FIRST Time

Buying the Perfect Computer – The FIRST Time

So you’ve finally decided it’s time for a change. No matter what advice you follow that old work horse of a desktop computer you have has outlived its usefulness with slow loading applications and a continuous rise in operation noise.
Searching for that Perfect Computer can be about as much fun as purchasing a new car and about as frustrating also when sorting through the various brands while trying to decide which “bells and whistles” best fit your needs. Besides all that trying to return something that is so large can be both inconvenient and very difficult to do.
So making the right decision the
FIRST time is the wise path of choice.
For starters you’ll need to decide what you want to do with your computer. Are you into the video game scene or are you someone who likes to just surf the internet and occasionally do some book keeping with simple word processing software?
If you’re into video games you’re going to want a machine that can handle the high level of graphics and superior sound quality.
On the other hand if you’re not into all that high adrenalin stuff can probably get by with a less expensive system. Although, if you want to stay on the safe side I would recommend going with something more “high-end” so you don’t have to spend another large chunk of change to upgrade the system you just bought.
There are two basic routes you can take when purchasing a new computer.
1) Purchase a “Brand Name” Computer
2) Purchase a “Clone” Computer
A “BRAND-NAME” computer is one that is manufactured by a company that is recognizable by name.
Some Advantages/Disadvantages of “Brand-Name” computers include:
Advantages-
Customer Support- If you are experiencing problems with your computer you will have the option to contact a representative of the company that you purchased the PC from to get help in solving your problem.
Customer support is probably the best reason to buy a brand-name computer.
Warranty- Having a warranty is always nice since it acts as a type of security blanket for you.
In case a part on your computer should fail you should be able to get the item fixed at no charge just as long as the warranty has not expired.
Read and understand a company’s warranty policy BEFORE you purchase a computer from them.
This way you’ll have a good understanding of the procedures to follow in case a problem should arise.
Pre-installed Software- Many companies will include software packages that are all set up and ready to go for you on your computer.
Although, a disadvantage of buying a brand-name computer with software pre-installed is that you usually end up with more than fits your needs and usually just results with the wasting of space on your storage device.
Additional Support- Most brand-name computer companies are also able to provide you with web sites that may provide you with current software updates, user manuals, or basic troubleshooting help.
Disadvantages-
The use of Proprietary parts- the term Proprietary refers to products that are unique to an individual company and that company only.
So if a part was to malfunction on your computer after warranty and you needed to replace it you could not just go to your local computer store and purchase any old part even if it was intended for the same function as the item that failed.
You would be forced to buy the exact same item that came out of the computer or else the computer would more than likely cease to function correctly.
Having to buy proprietary parts usually involves the need to place an order which means you’ll have to wait for the part to arrive or you’ll have to send your computer into the company or an authorized dealer of that company for repairs.
People with a home based business would probably not be too happy with that situation at all.
Integrated/On-board parts- In the computer world when you hear the word integrated or on-board it means that a particular part such as the modem or sound port where you plug in your speakers, is built-in or part of the computer main board (Also known as the Motherboard).
This means that if any of these items should fail, you can’t just remove them from the computer and replace them with a new part. They are usually soldered directly to the main board and are stuck there.
Although, some computers do provide a way to disable a malfunctioning device which will allow you to install your own store bought device to take the place of the broken part.
From a computer technicians point of view this is not always easy to do.
It just depends on what brand of computer you currently have. Meaning some are easier to work on than others.
A “CLONE” computer is a clone or a copy of its brand-name counterpart with the exception that instead of company specific or proprietary parts, the items used to make a clone computer are from several different companies instead of only one.
Let’s say that if you were to go to a local company that builds “clone” computers, and you tell them what you need, chances are they don’t use parts that are specific to only that type of computer like the brand-name computer companies do.
This is a good thing because it means that they will probably use components that are interchangeable with many different brands and are easy to come by if needed.
Some Advantages/Disadvantages of “Clone” computers include:
Advantages-
Cost- compared to brand-name computers the clone will generally be easier on your pocket book when purchasing one with similar features as its brand-name counterpart.
This is most likely due to the money that is saved by not offering the high-end customer service. Although, that may not be the only reason for the lower prices.
Easily Accessible Replacement Parts- Since the clone computer was built with parts that are not any one company specific, you can buy parts for the clone computer that can be used even if the brand is different from the one that was in the computer when you originally bought it.
Note: Before you buy any parts, it is necessary to make sure that the replacement parts are compatible with your particular computers system requirements.
Either consult the manual that should have came with your computer or get help from a knowledgeable friend or repair person.
Disadvantages-
Warranties- Unless you purchase a service plan you will typically not have as an attractive warranty as you would with a brand-name computer company.
Whatever you do just make sure you understand how long the warranty is for and as to what kind of repairs the warranty covers before you make the purchase.
Customer Support- With brand-name computer companies you are usually provided with a 24-hour toll free number that you can call if you have questions or concerns with your computer.
Clone computers are more than likely not going to have a 24-hour help service, but rather you will be forced to only be able to call during regular business hours.
Also, it is more than likely that there will not be any one website that you can go to in order to find out information concerning troubleshooting questions you may have.
For service it may be necessary to take the computer back to the store that you bought it at or you may have to do some research on the individual parts that went into the computer and visit the manufacturer’s website for troubleshooting tips.
Finally, if all else fails you can certainly take what you have learned from this article and being that you know what you need now, but don’t know where to go and get that “Perfect Computer”, the best resource at your disposal are the very men and woman that work at your local electronics shop.
It is their duty to help you get hold of that “Perfect Computer” that best fits your needs. All you need to do is tell them what you plan on using that computer for and they should be more than happy to help you from there.
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