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Thursday, January 31, 2008

Tips to Maintaining Your Printer by Yourself

It is easy to forget about your printer as you go about your computing needs. It sits there on your right hand side and springs to life when needed. Or at least it is supposed to. If you do not take a minute or two, a couple of time per week, you may find some interesting words coming out of your mouth when streaks or paper jams occur.

Keep it clean

This is easily said and done. The printer heads are the biggie in this area. Printer heads are definitely prone to clogging. If they are not used on a regular basis, or if they are used at a quick clip, they will clog. Every now and again take out the printer cartridges and give a quick clean with a non-linting cloth or moistened Q-tip. If you do use your printer quite a bit think about all those pieces of paper rolling through the printer. It is unlikely that each and every piece of paper will roll through without a shard or tear coming off the paper. These shards will attach themselves to the rollers or other inconvenient printer elements. It is wise to open up the printer every now and again and give it a quick wipe down with a moistened Q-tip.

Turn off and cover

It may seem like many of these tips involve the printer heads, and they do. The printer heads are the area where most preventable maintenance issues occur. Most people, me included, are prone to turning off the computer but not the printer. This leaves the printer heads exposed to the air and possibly drying out. At the ends of the day turn off the printer at the printer. Not from the power cord but at the printer. This will cover the printer heads. Particularly if you are in a dusty region, or if you have a pet, cover you printer. Dust and hair are killers for a printer.

Use the printer

One of the biggest ways to take care of your printer is to use it. Many people really do not use the printer all that much, myself included. This is a digital age and everything tends to stay on the computer. At least twice a week print something that will use all the printers’ workings. A colorful website will do but give it a bit of a workout and most of the other maintenance issues will never arise.

When Business Data Goes Bad!


Every business collects data. Whether it's something as simple as keeping track of contacts or as complicated as a full-scale inventory, data is vital to every business' bottom-line.

All important data is stored in some sort of database - sometimes it's a small Microsoft Access database or an enterprise-level Oracle database - but the database is always the nerve-center of the business.

Any statistic you need or information you must find can be extracted from a properly designed database. And that's the key: there is only one correct way to design databases.

This is where many businesses run into trouble. Errors occur, data is wrong, and headaches abound when a database isn't designed following a strict set of rules. How do you know if your database isn't designed well? Think about your business and answer these questions:

1. Are you keeping track of information in Microsoft Excel?
If you're only keeping track of information in Microsoft Excel, then you're not using a database. Excel is wonderful for crunching numbers, but not for storing related data. Using Excel as a database, even for basic information, is like using a hammer for brain surgery. Technically it's possible, but it's not the right tool, and you'll likely end up with a massive headache when you're done.

2. When entering information, do you repeatedly type the same word or phrase?
A tell-tale sign of bad databases is the need to purposely duplicate data. For example, entering someone's name in two different places means the database is designed improperly, creating an environment that's doing more harm than good. Typos always happen, but in a well-designed database they don't create nearly as much trouble.

3. Do you have to work hard to get simple statistics?
This is the ultimate test of bad business data. If something as simple as showing all sales from last month or showing all of your contacts that live in a specific town takes you more than 10 seconds to accomplish, your time is being wasted.

So what happens when you find your database lacking? The best plan for moving forward is to organize all of your information. Write down what you currently track (either on paper or digitally), what you would like to keep track of, and what you need your information to tell you.

Once you have a handle on what information your business relies on, you can begin planning to have a database designed, or start shopping for industry-specific software. Always remember, designed well, a database can save your business time, money and frustration. Designed poorly, and they'll hurt like a hammer to your head.