How Do Technological Advances Affect Business in IT?

Hello everyone, I am writing this short article to educate users on what happens when peoples machines are too slow or too ‘old’ But what is old? 1 year, 5 years 10 years? There is no definitive answer, I have a 5 year old PC that I have looked after and it still zips a long and has no problem when it comes to e-mails, word processing and web browsing. Which is exactly what a business PC needs? So don’t ditch your old PC’s after 2 years and spend a ridiculous amount of money buying new ones, in fact… In most cases an upgrade my only be necessary and as long as you are running weekly virus scans, disk clean-ups and defragmentations your PC should remain healthy.

A lot of the technology market is driven by big companies, they force old products out by stopping all support for them, let’s take Microsoft’s windows XP for example, XP no longer has mainstream support and will stop receiving extended support in April 2014, so what happens after that? You are forced to buy a new operating system thus contributing to the market to keep it running, are you doing this out of choice? I guess not. Don’t get me wrong, you will be glad you did upgrade but people should be able to choose, luckily most of the time they can.

How do you know if you need a new computer or just an upgrade? Well there are a few things to look for, now ask yourself:

– Does my PC struggle to load basic webpages, even though I have a broadband connection?

– When I access data does my PC suddenly make a loud spinning noise?

– Can I not run some games or applications due to insufficient hardware?… Read More

Type 2 Diabetes – New Technology for Weight Loss and Diabetes Control!

For Type 2 diabetics who need to lose excess weight, keeping track of calories and carbohydrates can be confusing enough at home, but when you are on the move it can be downright discouraging. Self-monitoring is an important part of any weight loss program, and computerized tracking systems can help, according to a report in the Journal of Science and Technology in September 2012.

Investigators at the University of Florida in Gainesville, United States, looked at the use of computerized tracking systems as part of the two-year Pounds Lost study. Non-diabetic, overweight men and women were given four different diets high in nutrients and low in calories and fat.

A computerized tracking system gave the participants feedback about their eating plans and physical activity levels… to help them decide what to eat and what activities to perform.

Those who used the system the most often in the first eight weeks of the study lost the highest amount of weight. By week 32, the participants with a high use of the system lost 8.7 per cent of their body weight, compared to those with a low use of the system, who lost 5.5 per cent of their beginning body weight.

From these results, it was concluded self-monitoring with programs such as smart phone applications could be a help for diabetics needing to lose weight and suggested that similar programs could be useful for people with Type 2 diabetes fighting obesity.

The University of Florida’s Diabetes Center of Excellence lists some interesting computerized systems for diabetics on the go. Two of them:

  • Glooko,and
  • iBG Star,

even allow diabetics to download their blood sugar readings directly from their glucometer to the iPhone or iPod touch. No need to worry about typing errors.

Diabetes Companion, Wavesense Diabetes Manager, and Glucose Buddy, GoMeals, … Read More