Even Your Printer Has DNA

Yes, it’s true. In an effort to snare counterfeiters, the US government has persuaded some color laser printer manufacturers to encode each page with identifying information. The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has recently proven what many have suspected for a long time - that at least some laser printers embed a secret machine identification code on every page they print, which reveals when the page was printed, and the serial number of the printer on which it was printed.

You might might not think it’s a big deal that your printer’s serial number is embedded on every page. But if you registered your printer with the manufacturer when you bought it, the manufacturer knows that you are associated with that printer’s serial number. In a recent article, the Internet Patrol mulls the disturbing potential impact of this.

The EFF’s Machine Identification Code Technology project, which has been investigating this for some time, has released the results of their success in identifying the hidden machine identification code which is printed by a Xerox DocuColor color laser printer. The results are startling, and troubling, and sure enough, the code is there. It looks like a bunch of yellow dots - a sort of printer braille, but if you know how to read them, they clearly translate to the date and printer serial number. You can see the EFF’s machine identification codes at their Machine Identification Code Technology project site.

Explains the EFF, "Imagine that every time you printed a document, it automatically included a secret code that could be used to identify the printer - and potentially, the person who used it. Sounds like something from an episode of "Alias," right? Unfortunately, the scenario isn’t fictional. In a purported effort to identify counterfeiters, the US government has succeeded in persuading some color laser printer manufacturers to encode each page with identifying information. That means that without your knowledge or consent, an act you assume is private could become public. A communication tool you’re using in everyday life could become a tool for government surveillance. And what’s worse, there are no laws to prevent abuse."

Bad Kitty!

If you find this story interesting, and you have a Lexmark printer, you should read about the Lx-CATS spyware that comes free with certain Lexmark printers.

BOB RANKIN… is a tech writer and computer programmer who enjoys exploring the Internet and sharing the fruit of his experience with others. His work has appeared in ComputerWorld, NetGuide, and NY Newsday. Bob is publisher of the Internet TOURBUS newsletter, author of several computer books, and creator of the http://LowfatLinux.com website. Visit Bob Rankin’s website for more helpful articles and free tech support.

If, for some reason, you can’t get an exact replacement for the transistor that you want to replace, you can refer to one of the transistor substitution guides or book, and try to identify a “near replacement”. Beware, however. A substitution guide will sometimes list a replacement for your part, even though the two parts are not very similar. The most commonly used transistor substitution guides is the Philips ECG semiconductors Master Replacement Guide. Selecting the right transistor parameters or specifications for the equipment you repair will avoid callbacks from customers. Callbacks or repeated repairs due to wrong transistor substitution will cost you extra money and a waste of time.

Some important transistor parameters are:

Maximum collector-to-base voltage (VCBO) – The replacement part should have a VCBO rating equal to or higher than the original.

Maximum collector-to-emitter voltage (VCEO) – The replacement part should have a VCEO rating equal to or higher than the original.

Maximum emitter-to-base voltage (VEBO) – The replacement part should have a VEBO rating equal to or greater than the original.

Maximum collector current (IC) – The replacement part should be able to handle as much (or more) collector current as the original.

Power dissipation (PD Watts) – The replacement part should be able to dissipate as much (or more) power as the original part.

Gain (hFE) – The replacement should have a gain equal to or better than the original and it should be as close to the original specification as possible.

Gain-bandwidth (fT) – the replacement should have a transition frequency equal to or faster than the original and it should be as close to the original specification as possible.

Below is a table of application requirement and important specification that you can use for guidelines when comes to transistor substitution.

Application Requirement and Important Specifications

1. General purpose low level amplifier and switching transistors. Spec- hFE, IC (max), fT, VCEO

2. Power switching applications. Spec- VCEO, VCBO, hFE, IC (max), PD (max)

3. Low level IF/RF amplification. Spec- IC (max), fT, VCEO

4. Audio amplification. Spec- IC (max), PD (max), hFE, VCEO

5. High voltage transistors. Spec- VCEO, VCBO, IC (max), fT

Remember, the replacement transistor should not run hot and if problem still persist, try another replacement number or get the original number if possible. Do not overlook that the surrounding components also may caused the transistor to run hot even if original number is used.

Jestine Yong is a electronic repairer and writer. For more information about electronic repair please visit his website at http://www.noahtec.com

Remember when PCs first came out and you had 4K of RAM? Then the Atari 1600 came out with 16K of RAM. The price tag on that thing was astronomical.

We have come a long way from those early days. Today your standard PC has 32 bit processors and a minimum of 128 meg of RAM and even that amount will barely run anything.

Windows XP recommends that you run the operating system with a minimum of 64 meg. Anyone who has tried to run Windows XP on 64 meg of RAM knows that the PC itself runs at a snails pace. You can actually follow the redraw rate on your windows applications as they open up. Painful doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Given that fact, when you then take the recommendations for running Windows Vista with 512 meg of RAM one can only imagine what the actual requirements will be to run the system anywhere near what would be acceptable. We’re probably talking about somewhere in the area of 1 gig. Maybe even 2 or 4 gig depending on how heavy your applications are. That is simply a mind boggling amount of memory when you go back as recently as the late 1990s when your highest end network systems didn’t need more than 256 meg of RAM.

While 64 bit processors are slow to hit the ground running, eventually they will be a requirement as 32 bit processors simply won’t be able to do the job anymore because 32 bit processors can’t address more than 4 gig of RAM. As a matter of fact the current Intel Pentium 4 (EM64T) and AMD Athlon 64 (AMD64) desktop computer processors can handle 1024GB (1 Terabyte) of memory. You read correctly; 1 Terabyte. It won’t be long before software manufacturers take advantage of all that power.

Looking at today’s games it is painfully clear that only 1 gig memory just isn’t going to cut it. In most high end games there is a 20% increase in frames per second just going from 1 gig to 2 gig of system memory.

The experts all agree that with the rapid progress in technology both on the hardware and software end the period in time where computer memory requirements stabilize will most likely never come to pass until we have physically reached the point where we can no longer count that high. Eventually there is only so much bologna that we’ll be able to stuff into that 5 pound bag. So it is not inconceivable that in the near future, possibly as near as the next 4 or 5 years, a typical system memory requirement will look something like this.

Windows 3000. Minimum memory to run operating system, 10 gig. Memory to run Windows Work Suite XXXP, 50 gig. If running simultaneous triple bilateral supercharged processors suggested memory is 100 gig.

While the above dramatization may sound quite amusing and even a little absurd, it’s really not as far out of the realm of possibility as it sounds. If you have any doubts then I suggest you dig your Atari 1600 out of the closet.

——————————————————-
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Computer Memory
——————————————————-

A fuse is a very thin wire, which either melts or vaporizes when too much current flows through it. The thin wire may be made of aluminum, tin-coated copper or nickel. The resulting open in the circuit stops current flow. In electronic equipment, most fuses are cylindrical glass or ceramic type with a metal cap at each end! The current rating also can be seen in one of the two metal end caps. There are two popular physical sizes: 1 – ¼ X ¼ - inch and 5X20mm. The 1 – ¼ X ¼ - inch size is used in many automobiles. You’ll find both sizes in many electronic equipment, but the smaller 5 X 20mm has become more common. Fuses are available with current ratings from 1/500 Ampere to hundreds of amperes.

Purpose of Fuses

The purpose of a fuse is to open an electronic circuit when current flow exceeds a certain amount, determined by the rating of the fuse. Opening a circuit under high current conditions can save electronic components from damaged and prevents overheating, which could cause a fire.

Types of Fuses

There is two basic types of fuses: fast acting and slow blow. The fast acting type will open very quickly when their particular current rating is exceeded. This is important for analog meter movements, which can quickly be destroyed when too much current flows through them, for even a very small amount of time. Slow blow fuse have a coiled construction inside. They are designed to open only on a continued overload, such as a short circuit. The purpose of coiled construction is to prevent the fuse from blowing on just a temporary current surge.

Do not use a slow blow fuse in place of a fast acting fuse. It may not open fast enough to prevent components damage under a high current condition. It’s not harmful to replace a slow blow fuse with a fast-acting fuse, but it will probably open up unnecessarily every now and then when the equipment is first switch on. A blown fuse can tell you something about your service problem. Often the glass case of the fuse appears clear, and you can still see the broken pieces of the fuse element. This means you have the kind of problem that causes a slow, gradual overload on the power supply. Some fuses even die of old age. But if the inside of the glass fuse is discolored, and there is no trace of the fuse element (the center connector), you know that the center connector was destroyed quickly and violently, using a lot of heat. The fault was a short circuit or other problem that caused a lot of current to flow very quickly.

Is some cases a fuse will open up fast enough when there is a surge so that other components aren’t damaged. If this is the case, replacing the fuse with one of the same type and rating restores operation. Unfortunately, a high probability exists that if a fuse blew, something in the circuit it was protecting shorted out. In this case, a replacement fuse blows right away. The blown fuse can easily be replaced by a new one, after the overload has been eliminated when come into replacement. Use only the same current and voltage ratings as the original. The common type and current rating of a fuse in a monitor are slow blow 2A to 5A. When you buy replacement fuses, get several – you can easily use all of them while you’re troubleshooting an elusive problem.

Testing Fuses

Turn the power off and remove the fuse from the circuit to check with a multimeter set to the lowest ohms range. Connect the probes to both end of the fuse. You may check the fuse while it still in circuit. A good fuse should showed continuity or read 0 ohm. A blown fuse is open which reads infinity on the meter.

Jestine Yong is a electronic repairer and writer. For more information about electronic repair please visit his website at http://www.noahtec.com

Flash memory is a form of EEPROM memory, which is Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory. It allows more than one location to be written to and erased in just one operation. Flash memory is what is called non-volatile. That means it does not need power to retain the information that is on the chip itself. Also, flash memory has very fast read access times, though not quite as fast as volatile DRAM which is used as the main memory in PCs. Flash memory, however, is more shock resistant than a computer hard disk drive. It is because of these features that flash memory is so popular in devices such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants.

Flash memory was invented by a gentleman named Fujio Masuoka who was a doctor working for Toshiba in 1984, when he came up with this invention. The name for the memory itself was actually suggested by Dr Masuoka’s assistant, Mr. Shoji Ariizumi because he said that the erasure process of the memory contents reminded him of a flash camera. Thus the name flash memory.

Dr. Masuoka presented his invention at the annual IEEE meeting of Integrated Electronics Devices in 1984 that was held in San Jose, California. Intel, one of the biggest manufacturers of computer chips, saw the amazing potential of this invention and unleashed its first NOR type flash chip to the public in 1988.

These chips have very long erase and write times. But their full memory interface allows random access to any location. This makes it perfect for program code storage that doesn’t have to be updated frequently such as the BIOS of your computer. It can endure from 10,000 to 1,000,000 erase cycles. NOR based flash was the foundation of early flash based media that could be removed and replaced.

In 1989 NOR flash memory had some company in the form of NAND flash memory. This was developed at both Toshiba and Samsung. The benefits of this type of flash memory over NOR flash memory is that it has faster erase and write times, it’s density is higher, and the cost per bit is much lower. It also has ten times the endurance of NOR flash memory. The one drawback is that unlike NOR flash memory which allows random access, NAND flash memory allows only sequential access. This limits its use to mass storage devices like PC cards and memory cards and makes it much less useful for computer memory.

The first NAND removable media format was what was called SmartMedia. After that a number of others followed such as MMC, Secure Digital, Memory Stick, and x-D Picture Cards. Today a new generation of these formats is busting onto the scene with the RS-MMC or Reduced Size Memory Card, The TransFlash, the miniSD, which is a variation of Secure Digital, and the new USB hybrid memory card and intelligent stick. These new formats are very small, usually under 4 centimeters squared.

No doubt the advancements in this type of memory will continue for many years to come. Who knows? Maybe one day our cell phones will be able to fit in a pill box.

——————————————————-
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Computer Memory
——————————————————-

All capacitors have a certain amount of resistance to the passage of AC current. ESR (Equivalent Series Resistance) is the sum of all internal resistances of a capacitor measured in Ohms. An ideal capacitor has ZERO ohms ESR. From the diagram below you can see a resistor in series with a “PERFECT CAPACITOR”. The value of the resistor is called ESR. Electrolytic Capacitors have a tendency to increase its ESR overtime due to drying or corrosion. High ESR is a frequent problem in today’s electronic circuit. Even a 1 or 2 ohms rise in ESR can cause complicated problems. Under normal conditions the ESR has a very low value, which stays that way for many years unless the rubber seal is defective, in which case the electrolyte’s water component gradually dries out and the ESR creeps up with time. The increase in ESR increases both voltage drops within the capacitor and the heat, produced in the capacitors due to resistive heating. If you don’t check for ESR, you may be in for a “TOUGH DOG” repair. High ESR is the first sign of a capacitor failure. High ESR will cause complete circuit failure, over heating of capacitor, loading of the circuit, overstressing of other circuit components and other undesirable effects.

Why should I use an ESR?

Because measuring an electrolytic capacitor with an analog or digital capacitance meter can MISLEAD a technician into believing that a defective capacitor is good. This can waste your precious time and you are unable to repair the equipment. Which means you can’t charge your customer! If you don’t test for ESR on the capacitor, you will always miss the bad capacitor. Normally, these bad capacitors have high ESR reading which your normal multimeter or digital capacitance meter can’t measure. Only by using the ESR meter, you will be able to measure the ESR on the capacitor and you will not be fooled by capacitors with bad ESR. ESR meter can even work IN-CIRCUIT, which means you don’t have to solder out the capacitor in order to measure it using normal capacitor tester, which would not be accurate anyway.

Do you know that ESR meters can perform other wonders besides checking the ESR of a capacitor? Some digital ESR meter have the features of checking:

» Low ohms resistor such as 0.22 ohm, 0.33 ohm and etc.

» Horizontal yoke coil winding of a picture tube, inductor and primary winding of a transformer – If a shorted turn is present, the inductance drops dramatically and the meter will show the ohms reading.

» Horizontal output transistor (HOT) in a monitor or TV – If an open-circuit reading is obtained, the short-circuit is elsewhere. If the short-circuit remains, the transistor is faulty.

» Short-circuit in the track, usually trace to the components - You can use the ESR meter to locate short-circuits on printed circuit boards by measuring the actual track resistance. If the reading increases as you probe further along the track, you know you’re going in the wrong direction!

» Speakers, amplifier etc - The pulses have a fast rise/fall time, so it would probably make a crude RF signal injector as well.

» The condition of both the normal and rechargeable batteries – Flat and faulty battery will have high ESR.

Jestine Yong is a electronic repairer and writer. For more information about electronic repair please visit his website at http://www.noahtec.com

Nobody likes a cluttered desktop
OK, maybe somebody somewhere in the world likes a cluttered desktop, but it is the goal of most office workers to keep their work area clean and clutter-free. Many studies suggest that such an environment is conducive to creativity, brainstorming and productivity. Whether or not this is true, it looks bad and low-tech.

Wirless is hot
With the introduction of new Wimax standards (the underlying technology driving wireless USB and wireless FireWire, among other emerging wireless technologies) just about everything except the power supply and monitor are commonly found in a wireless format.

Welcome Wireless VGA
The limitation on a wireless VGA (adaptable to DVI or HDMI) is no more - retailers are now offering wireless VGA adapters capable of transmitting a wireless signal to your monitor. The monitor still requires a power adapter, but you now have the flexibility of locating your computer in another room or section of the office. This is very useful when dealing with a media center or a computer powering multiple remote displays.

Most vendors do not have residential permits for these devices…yet
Right now, unfortunately, these are not approved for residential use by the FCC. This problem, however, should be resolved soon so wireless VGA can be a reality in residential areas. For now remember that you need not be tethered to your computer while working in an office.

Preston Wily is the marketing director for Sewell Direct, an internet retailer of computer hardware and accessories such as a wireless VGA adapter.

Why are there faint areas or gaps in my print out?

* Unlikely, but your paper may need changing due to its deterioration due to its age.

* Check that the type of paper you are using in your printer matches (’Media Type’) the setting in the printer software ‘Main Menu’ or ‘Print’ dialog box.

* You may need to clean the print head nozzles. These can be cleaned by employing the ‘Head Cleaning’ utility from within the printer software interface you get when you want to print or by going via the ‘Control Panel’ (found via ‘My Computer’) and selecting the printers section. After the cleaning operations are carried out by the printer, a check pattern will be printed to show that the ink cartridge nozzles are clean. If there are still poor quality areas, repeat the operation.

I have white horizontal lines appearing?

* You may need to clean the print head nozzles - see above

* If your printer has a light flashing indicating low ink levels for a cartridge, then change it.

* Check that the type of paper you are using in your printer (’Media Type’) matches the setting in the printer software ‘Main Menu’ or ‘Print’ dialog box. The colors are not what I thought they’d be?

* Clean your print head nozzles - see above

* You’ve not chosen the color option in your printer software interface. This has happened to me many times. By default, my printer software had black selected for all printing.

* Specific types of paper have one side only that can be printed on. Ensure that it is loaded correctly in your printer.

* Check that the type of paper you are using in your printer (’Media Type’) matches the setting in the printer software ‘Main Menu’ or ‘Print’ dialog box.

* What you see on your monitor will never be identical to what you get on your print out. It shouldn’t be that far out, but if it is, then you you may have a color calibration issue between your monitor and software package that you are using.

Finally;

Never buy brand name inkjet cartridges. Get what are called compatible ink cartridges. They are much cheaper and produce the same quality results. www.ink-cartridge-store.com shows you the range of such products available nowadays.

In my experience, if you use your ink cartridges infrequently, then you will find yourself having to use the cleaning utilities practically every time you do use them. So I suggest printing out a b/w and color text page (say, 200 words with black, red, blue and yellow colors) on a regular basis (once a week?) even if you are not using the printer. You will save ink in the long run as the cleaning utility will use a lot more than your weekly maintenance pages.

This article may be reproduced in its entirety provided the resource paragraph below is included and all urls kept active.

(c) Paul Curran, CEO of Cuzcom Internet Publishing Group and webmaster at Ink Cartridge Store, providing discount bulk buys and also best laser toner supplies.

While spy cameras can be used by anyone, wearable spy cameras usually serve the purposes of law enforcement. These little unnoticeable cams are ideal for private investigators, cover surveillance, and secret agents but this doesn’t mean that they are not available to the public. Several companies launched models buyable by regular people.

Nearly everyone has seen a James Bond movie and remembers the high tech cameras inside pens or glasses. This is no longer a dream. Specialized shops sell spy cameras perfectly hidden inside sunglasses, pagers, pens, and other everyday items. Wearable spy cameras are also found in several other items as well. They can be attached to a helmet, for example, to record a bike ride or parachute jump. Such cameras come with added features like being waterproof, small or lightweight. There is also the possibility of having a camcorder in your backpack and a lens mounted on your hat that can record events without being held.

Of all the possible types of wearable spy cameras available to the public the most appreciated are the concealed ones, such as a pen camera. They are very easy to hide since people usually don’t look for them. Hidden in plain sight, such cams will record important evidence, like a testimony, or just about anything one might want to record with or without the people involved giving permission. Problems can arise if subjects don’t consent to being filmed, but it doesn’t matter in many instances, such as catching a cheating spouse.

Whether someone wants to do a little espionage, have fun, or take pictures where regular cameras are restricted, a wearable spy camera is perfect.

Spy Cams provides detailed information about spy cams, hidden spy cams, pinhole spy cameras and more. Spy Cams is affiliated with Discount Laptop Computers.

You will have many factors to consider when deciding on which computer equipment to buy. The bewildering amount of choices can seem overwhelming. This guide will help you compare computer equipment features, and help you to examine and sift through many of the basic items before you buy a new computer. If it be a desktop PC, laptop, discount/surplus computer, a refurbished computer or a computer accessory, this quick guide will help you to get the most for your money.

With today’s computer equipment almost any of them will adequately handle what most people need to buy a new computer for; word processing, basic office, internet surfing and email. Which you can buy for about $1000. or less! But if you are into digital videos, photo editing, music, or manage a large database you will need more than the basic Desktop PC or Laptop. This higher end computer will cost you around $1500-$2000.

(CPU) Processors:
There is always a lot of change in the computer market, but no matter what the upgrades there is always two basic choices to be made when purchasing computer equipment:
1) brand 2) speed. To buy a new computer that handles standard office and Internet tasks any processor will work.

Need more ‘power’ in your computer equipment? Then the Intel Pentium4 or the AMD Athlon XP (great for graphics and photos which use a lot of memory space) are for you.

If you buy a new computer one or two levels from the top you will only lose about five percent per tier performance but you can save a couple hundred dollars!

(RAM) Memory:
Memory is most important because optimum running of your computer equipment is dependent on enough RAM. The minimum amount should be 256MB, for better performance you should get 512MB. If it is affordable to buy a new computer with more, you should. It’s worth it because you can keep more applications open and it will easily handle memory hogs like Photoshop and music applications!

Monitors:
When buying your computer equipment look for a monitor that is at least 17" with a resolution of 1280 by 1024 pixels. A Desktop PC with a 19-inch monitor gives you 20 % more screen area. If you can spend $300-$450 on a monitor when you buy a new computer you might want to get a 15" LCD because it has the same viewable area as the 17" CRT and takes up much less space.

Hard Drives (storage):
Most hard drives in today market will provide more than enough storage. The basic computer equipment comes with 40GB or larger, which is plenty for most tasks. But for working with graphics, video, music, or large databases 80GB should be the minimum you settle for. 7200-rpm drives give better performance. But for the best performance get a computer with 8MB of cache.

Warranty and Tech Support:
A one-year warranty on most computer equipment is plenty, because most problems seem to happen in the first year. If you want you can get an extended two to three year warranty for around $150. to $200. As of this writing, if you buy a Dell you can get priority call routing to tech support for a year for only $39.

For more information on buying a new computer visit our website. Be sure to check out our computer directory near the bottom of the page for our recomended online resoruces to get the best deals on your next computer.
Check out our Blog! http://a1-computers.blogspot.com