Create a Great Computer Work Station in a Small Space
by: Aldene Fredenburg
Don't have a separate room you can designate as a home office? You can create a comfortable and functional computer work station in remarkably little space. A corner of your living room or bedroom, even a spare closet, can provide plenty of room.
First measure out the amount of space you can allocate for your work station. Then, start to plan. You need a surface for your computer monitor or laptop, and room underneath for your hard drive. If you have a printer and/or a scanner, this also needs a work surface, ideally with storage space underneath for printer paper and other supplies. You may also want space for an additional external backup hard drive. Measure all your equipment and furnishings and play with a floor plan.
If you can find a ready-made work station that fits into your space, great. If not, make one. A 24- to 30-inch core door thrown over a couple of two-drawer filing cabinets makes a handy desk, but takes up quite a bit of room, and it may or may not be comfortable for you depending on your height when seated. An alternative would be to check home improvement stores like Home Depot for components like counter tops, shelving, and legs that can be assembled in a number of configurations. (Check the kitchen section of the store!) Assembling a desk with an L- or U-shape allows you to spread out your work. If you want an L-shape, make sure the extra arm is to the right of the monitor if you're right-handed, to the left if you're a leftie.
You'll need shelving to store CDs, computer manuals and other reference books, computer accessories and supplies, project files, and inboxes. Magazine holders make great containers for computer manuals and other documentation, and can be filed on a shelf along with reference books. Use bookcases as boundaries for your office and as additional storage space. The tops of the bookcases can also provide additional work space in a pinch, or display space for personal items to give the area a homey touch.
If you have a closet you can spare, remove the doors and replace them with louvered doors that can be folded out of the way while you're working. Install a work surface spanning the length of the closet, and then build shelves above it. You can also create storage space beneath the counter, but leave an area open to slide in a comfortable office chair.
If you have a CPU for a monitor, make sure the depth of the closet will accommodate the CPU; or consider upgrading to one of the newer, compact flat screen monitors. Or use a laptop -you'll have room to spare. You might also consider building or buying a rolling cart for your printer that can be stored in the closet when not used, and pulled out while you're working. Also consider a pull out work surface or a folding table which can be tucked into the closet when not in use. Additional storage space can be built along the sides of the closet.
You'll need both electrical outlets and a phone jack (or cable outlet if you use Roadrunner) in or near your work space. If you can install them, great; otherwise you'll need to run extension lines in from elsewhere. Make every attempt to provide easy access to all outlets and jacks; having a surge suppressor with several plugs attached to the back of the closet right above the work surface should make life much easier for you. If you have to run extension cords over a high traffic area, run them through protective conduit that allows you to put them underneath carpet without causing accidents. Don't run unprotected cords underneath carpeting; a worn cable can create a fire hazard, and people can trip over the bump!
If you've managed to renovate a spare closet, all you need to do is close the doors to hide your office space. If it's in a corner of the bedroom or living room, think about setting up an ornamental folding screen to block off your view of the office; remove it when you're using the office, or leave it up for some privacy.
Take a few moments during the planning phase to think about the look of the work space. Your choice of materials, colors, and design accessories go a long way to creating an attractive area that's an enjoyable, comfortable place to work.
About The Author
Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern New Hampshire and frequently contributes to Tips and Topics. She has published numerous articles in local and regional publications on a wide range of topics, including business, education, the arts, and local events. Her feature articles include an interview with independent documentary filmmaker Ken Burns and a feature on prisoners at the New Hampshire State Prison in Concord. She may be reached at amfredenburg@yahoo.com.
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Starting Your Computer Career: More Questions To Ask A Tech School Before Writing The Check
Starting Your Computer Career:
More Questions To Ask A Tech School Before Writing The Check
by: Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
If the school offers a placement service, ask to talk to the people working in that department and ask them how they go about placing graduates.
Most schools offer a list of companies that they've placed students with.
Get this list and start calling some of these companies.
Ask to speak to their HR department, and ask them for their opinion of the school.
Even if they don't say a lot, their tone of voice can speak volumes.
Ask to meet some of their teachers, and don't be afraid to ask them how long they've taught at that particular school.
If the average teacher has been there a while, that's a good sign.
If there seems to be quite a bit of turnover at the school, that's not as good a sign.
Another key area is the availability of the computer labs during...
Starting Your Computer Career: More Questions To Ask A Tech School Before Writing The Check
Computer printers > Starting Your Computer Career: More Questions To Ask A Tech School Before Writing The Check
Clean Up Your Computer Now
Clean Up Your Computer Now
by: George Williams
How do you think your computer will run if you don?t perform regular maintenance on it? If your computer is running sluggish, if it periodically needs to be rebooted or doesn?t boot up as quickly as it used to, it sounds like it?s time for a Clean Up. The following instructions below will give you step by step instructions on how to ensure your PC continues to operate at its fullest potential. These instructions are relevant for machines running Windows XP and using Internet Explorer.
Here are the steps:
1. Open up Internet Explorer
2. Next click on the word Tools up at the top of your screen.
3. Click Internet Options.
4. In the middle of that box you?ll see a section called Temporary Internet Files. Click the Delete Files button.
5. Click the box Delete offline content too, then OK.
6. Once that is done, click the Delete Cookies button within the Temporary...
Clean Up Your Computer Now
Computer printers > Clean Up Your Computer Now
Drop On Demand Printers
Drop On Demand Printers
by: Bill Smith
Most HP and Epson printers are drop on demand printers. They use electrical pulses to fulfill requests for ink. The ink is expelled out of the print head by a bubble which forms as a reaction to being heated. Once the ink is propelled out of the cartridge, the bubble cools, contracts, and forms a vacuum of sorts, which pulls more ink into the nozzle.
HP DeskJets and BubbleJets are popular examples of printers that use this technology.
Epson printers work on the same principal with the exception of a minor twist ? they use a transducer to produce the droplets in what is referred to as piezoelectric DOD.
So what about the ink ? does it matter what kind you buy as a replacement?
The answer is yes, it does matter.
The ingredients that go into ink play a huge role in the quality of your printouts. All ink manufactures work to strike the delicate balance between print quality, time it...
Drop On Demand Printers
Computer printers > Drop On Demand Printers
Are Color Laserjet Printers Worth The Money?
Are Color Laserjet Printers Worth The Money?
by: Stuart Simpson
The next printer you?ll want on your desk is a color laser printer.
Forget those cheap outdated inkjet printers.
They are cheap for one reason, to get you to buy ink.
I?m not making that up.
It came right from an executive of a leading inkjet printer manufacturer.
Do you have a black and white laser printer?
These gems are the best for the home office.
Cheap, guilt free printing with high quality usually reserved for a large office.
The price is right on the home models.
You can almost buy one for the cost of a black and a color ink cartridge.
But let?s talk about color laser jet printers.
A color laser jet works just like a black printer except it has 4 toner cartridges.
Each one has its own life.
The base printers I was looking at had a recommended monthly volume of...
Computer printers > Are Color Laserjet Printers Worth The Money?
Keeping your Computer Safe On The Internet
Keeping your Computer Safe On The Internet
by: Jeff Manke
In these days of an increasingly web connected world, the computer user can take several steps ensure that their computer is protected from hackers, spyware and viruses. Here are the top four things you need to do to keep your computer spyware and virus free.
Use virus software and update it regularly
Viruses are a constantly evolving threat to computers. Every week malicious hackers create more computer code that through greater sophistication is becoming more malicious. I am a fervent minister to all of my clients that they install and update their computer virus software on a regular basis. That being said many people call me to fix what viruses have wrought.
I like Norton Anti-virus you can find them at http://www.symantec.com
Install software updates as they become available
Keep your software up to date with...
Keeping your Computer Safe On The Internet
Computer printers > Keeping your Computer Safe On The Internet
Get Rid Of Spyware From Your Computer
Get Rid Of Spyware From Your Computer
by: Ismael D. Tabije
The Internet has revolutionized the whole ambit of communications and has proved to be a boon to mankind. However, its privacy and security is being threatened with Spyware, which can intrude into the computer and cause great damage to the whole system. Most malicious Spywares can access the valuable personal data that might be stored in your computer and cause financial and personal losses. If you don?t protect your computer from spyware, it will be just like keeping your doors open to unwanted elements.
Your computer can get affected with Spyware or Adware very easily but this happens mostly through ?pop up? ads, downloadable games, music and screensavers. Spyware is a term which covers a vast variety of illicit software that has the capability to intrude, intercept and take control of the operations of the computer that it invades without the approval of the owner or user of the computer....
Get Rid Of Spyware From Your Computer
Computer printers > Get Rid Of Spyware From Your Computer
Health Risks Due To Long Hours At Your Computer
Health Risks Due To Long Hours At Your Computer
by: Hege Crowton
Did you know that spending long hours at your computer can put your health at serious risk?
Most people does not even consider that possibility, but t does, Working at a desk is extremely hard on your body, and I would like to share this with you so maybe you can avoid some of the most common health risks.
The most common of them all is back pain.
BACK PAIN: Its Types and Treatments
Are you fed up with taking all the treatments for your back pain which you feel do not work? Are you a constant patient of physical therapists, chiropractors? Is your back pain causing you distress and trouble because you can not do the activities you wish you could do? Have you been advised surgery to correct your back's structural abnormalities?
Back pain may be classified into two types: acute or short term, and chronic. It the low back pain is short-term, it is most probably due...
Health Risks Due To Long Hours At Your Computer
Computer printers > Health Risks Due To Long Hours At Your Computer
Who Plays Computer Games?
Who Plays Computer Games?
by: Tony Brings
Playing computer games was once reserved for the geek of the class who would shut himself away until the early hours of the morning with no company apart from a joystick. This has changed significantly as the standard of graphics and game play has improved and the use of computers is even more widely accepted. The advance of the Internet has also made sure that online gaming has become increasingly popular allowing people from all around the world to play against one another or in huge online tournaments. The appeal has spread significantly to what it once was.
The first generation of gamers are growing older now and this is coinciding with the introduction of next generation console games that look and sound much better than was ever dreamt possible ten or twenty years ago. AS such, many of these early gamers continue to play console games and computer games meaning what was predominantly a children?s...
Who Plays Computer Games?
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Computer printers
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