Techno And Science News | Rssonmyspace.com

iPod Is Dominating the Market, and There Is More to Come

iPod contributes 12-14% of total company revenues, a number industry experts believe will continue to increase. With this increase comes pressure on gross margins, as the blended iPod gross margin of 20% compares unfavorably with Apple’s corporate average of 27-28%. The iPod helped augment Apple’s growth by expanding its addressable market from the core computer market, which continues to grow, but at slower rates. To increase penetration of the rapidly growing MP3 player market, Apple launched the iPod Mini internationally in July 2004, and HP’s iPod launch is scheduled for later in summer. http://www.ipodreviewforum.com

Apple’s entry into the digital music player market (MP3 market) with its popular iPod expanded the company’s addressable market and signaled a turn in Apple’s strategy. The iPod is a cultural phenomenon that is capitalizing on the convergence of digital consumer electronics and the computer, and Apple’s position as an early mover enabled it to achieve the number-one position in the marketplace. iPod adoption continues to accelerate, with little indication of a slowdown. It took Apple approximately 18 months to sell its first million iPods, but its second million came in six months and its third million came in four. In fact, it appears that only its suppliers can slow it down, in particular the hard-drive vendors, which are having a difficult time meeting demand. Industry experts believe that iPod’s growth will remain strong in the foreseeable future and do not expect any significant customer fallout stemming from Apple’s inability to meet demand.
Read the rest of this entry »

There is no doubt about it, using computer games is a great way to encourage children to expand their realm of thinking. Your options for entertaining your child may seem numbered. Many people allow their children to spend quite a bit of time in front of the television. But, what good does that do? If you want them to learn something while they are zoned out, you are completely lost. But, if you flip on the computer, download a great game, you may actually be able to encourage them to learn more and you will encourage good thinking skills as well.

Thinking is not something that everyone can do well. Now, we are referring here to the thought process that goes along with solving problems. For many children, this is something they struggle with. Mom or Dad always takes care of the problems. If something isn’t right, just call mom or dad. Even on the television, that is full of real life and imaginary “problems” that need to be solved, there is no encouragement for children to come up with the solution. What happens then? They just sit and watch and let someone else handle the problem.

But, what happens when they are older or in a situation where they have to solve the problem at hand? Do they know how to analyze their thoughts, ideas, and to find the right solution? Many don’t. But, if you would like your child to be the one who does know how to flip the switch on and solve the problem, consider allowing them to sit in front of the computer as opposed to the television.
Read the rest of this entry »

In the first part of this free CCNP / BSCI tutorial, we looked at how leaving one simple word out of our route redistribution configuration – “subnets” – resulted in an incomplete routing table when redistributing routes from RIP to OSPF. (If you missed that part of the tutorial, visit my website’s “Free Tutorials” section.) Today, we’ll look at redistributing OSPF routes into RIP and identify another common redistribution error.

We are using a three-router network. R5 is running RIP, R1 is serving as a hub between R5 and R3 and is running RIP and OSPF, and R3 is running OSPF.

To begin this lab, we’ll add three loopbacks to R3 and advertise them to R1 via OSPF.

R3(config)#int loopback33

R3(config-if)#ip address 33.3.3.3 255.255.255.255

R3(config-if)#int loopback34

R3(config-if)#ip address 34.3.3.3 255.255.255.255

R3(config-if)#int loopback35

R3(config-if)#ip address 35.3.3.3 255.255.255.255

R3(config-if)#router ospf 1

R3(config-router)#network 33.3.3.3 0.0.0.0 area 1

R3(config-router)#network 34.3.3.3 0.0.0.0 area 1

R3(config-router)#network 35.3.3.3 0.0.0.0 area 1

R1 sees all three of these routes in its routing table.

R1#show ip route ospf

34.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

O IA 34.3.3.3 [110/65] via 172.12.123.3, 00:00:55, Serial0

35.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

O IA 35.3.3.3 [110/65] via 172.12.123.3, 00:00:45, Serial0
Read the rest of this entry »

Phone cards are an excellent way to stay in touch with family and friends without ending up with an astronomical phone bill at the end of the month. But before you choose the phone card that seems to be the cheapest available, be sure you know all the details of how that particular phone card works.

Some phone card companies have a service charge for each call you make using the card. That means that you’ll lose several minutes each time you use the card – typically anywhere from four minutes to eight or even ten. If you have a phone card company touting their “three-cent a minute” rates, be sure of their service charges. If you’re also losing an additional ten minutes for every connection you make, the rates go up considerably.

One gimmick used by phone card companies is that they give you a price “per unit” instead of “per minute.” The significance is that there are different costs for different phone calls. You may pay only a penny or two per unit, but you may find that you’re being charged several units per minute. For example, if you pay two cents per unit and you’re phone call costs ten units per minute, you’re paying twenty cents a minute – significantly higher than the many reputable phone cards. Per unit cards may very well be a good deal, but find out how many units you can expect to pay for phone calls before you shell out the money for one of these cards.
Read the rest of this entry »