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Google have recently brought out a new tool in which you can sync the items on your Microsoft Office Outlook Calendar with your Google Mail Calendar.  It is a great application which is ideal for anyone who is always on the go!  You can schedule the application to sync the calendars as often as you want.  This means that any changes you make in your Outlook Calendar will be synced to your Google Mail Calendar!  Check out the images below to compare the calendars (click on the image to make it larger)…

It is pretty easy to set up.  There is a great tutorial on the Google Website which is worth ready whilst setting up the program!  For those who knew it the application is very similar to the SBS 2003 Server Setup.

So far we’ve been really impressed!

What exactly is computer memory and what does it do?

Memory in industry is known as RAM (Random Access Memory), its main job is to momentarily remember information for different tasks to be completed.  The computers CPU (Central Processing Unit) is then able to access the information, stored in memory, very easily and quickly.  In simple terms the CPU could be described as the boss of a company, it tells the different parts of the machine what to do.  For example, if you were to open up an application program like Microsoft Word, the CPU then brings the program into memory.  Therefore, as the program has been brought into memory you are able to perform the task at a quicker rate because you’re not waiting around as long for the program to load as the program is ready to be accessed in memory.

A process can be started by simply just typing something on your keyboard.  The CPU interprets what you have done and tells the hard drive to load the information required into memory.  Once the information is in memory, the CPU is able to access the information quickly, especially when compared to having to access the information itself.  In simpler terms, this is a bit like saving your files in a certain folder on your computer, because you know where they are you can find the files quickly, whereas if you were to save then in any old place you could be searching for the file for ages.

How does memory affect performance?

Adding memory to a computer, in most cases, increases the performance of the machine significantly.  If a machine doesn’t have enough memory to store the required information the computer creates what is called ‘virtual memory’.  This means that the CPU reserves space on the hard disk for the data which simulates additional RAM.  This process, known as swapping, considerably reduces the performance of your computer (slows it down a lot)!  So you get an idea of how much slower here are some figures, for an average machine it takes 200ns (nanoseconds) to access RAM, compared to 12,000,000ns to access the hard drive.  So you get an idea of how big the difference really is, think of a basic task at home like washing up…instead of it taking 3 1/2 minutes to wash up, it takes 4 1/2 months.

What difference is made when upgrading memory on a PC or Laptop (usually)?

When you add more memory to a PC or Laptop you notice the difference straight away…

• Programs open quicker,
• Web pages open faster,
• Your machine can cope better with multi-tasking,
• General jobs are performed much faster and reliably

If your machine is getting a slow and you can afford it, it’s well worth increasing the memory!

PollDaddy is a free poll and survey application which can be added to websites, blogs, social networks etc.  The application seems to be flexible and easy to create polls/surveys to your specification.  You can select pre-designed skins or use your own CSS.  There are various styles of questions you can ask, varying from multiple choice to long answer questions.  PollDaddy also analyses all the information from the polls and surveys for you.

We think that this would be ideal for a small business or charity to get a quick opinion of their site connections/site visitors etc.  However, there are larger packages (which you have to pay for) which would be ideal for a larger company.  The tool has been used by a variety of well known companies, for example, FOX and PC World.

It’s worth a look!