Protect your laptop from thieves with a Power-On Password!

I have so many friends and other people I know who have at one point or the other complained that their laptop computers have been stolen by some very cruel homo sapiens!

But I think there is one way which many laptop owners fail to use so that thieves can not have easy meat over their laptops. This is by simply setting up a power-on or boot-up password on their laptops. With a power-on password set, the user is prompted for a password every time the laptop is switched on. As far as I know, it is very difficult to crack this password and it can only be reset by the laptop's manufacturer. This means that once the thief gets hold of your laptop they will not be able to use it and therefore it will be useless. With this in mind it might be easy to recover the laptop especially if you report the theft to police. Definitely, if all laptops had their power-on password set, that would greatly discourage the common PETTY theft of laptop computers. I think PETTY theft of laptops and mobile phones is a global phenomenon. Is this true in your country? In my home country, Malawi, laptops and mobile phones are a big target for these shameless thieves.

The power-on password is set using the computer's BIOS setup utility. If you don't know this and you want to set up one, then ask any person who is much knowledgeable in computers to do it for you. But remember not to forget the password as you might lead yourself into a self-lockout. Also remember not to choose an easy-to-guess password. It is always good and advisable not to use personal information for passwords. Lastly, but not least, keep the password secret to yourself!

Cheers!

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Reducing Computer Stress

As an academic in Computer Science, I find that I spend most of my time doing my work on a computer. This can be very stressing and exhausting. Here are some tips I use to try to avoid this stress:

1. Make sure that the room you are working in, is well ventilated. Open the windows wide open so that fresh air circulates in the room
2. Make sure that your room is well-lit so that eyes are not strained due to poor lighting
3. Drink lots of water so that your body is kept well hydrated. Doing something on a computer like programming is a highly demanding cognitive task, therefore the brain cells need to have proper blood circulation and we can't have proper blood circulation in a dehydrated body
   
4. Make sure that you eat enough food before sitting on a computer. We are not talking about sports drinks here but rather food rich in proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, fats etc . Hey! Am talking of a balanced diet.
5. Remember to do some physical exercises such as hand grip exercises, chest pull exercises, running etc at some point during the day
   
6. Avoid staring on the screen for a long time. To do this you could be looking outside your window every five minutes or so, so that your eyes get relaxed.
7. Take some time off that computer screen. It helps a lot.
   

I use these tips myself and they seem to work. I suggest you try them.

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