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Vance Hunt has provided home-user help desk style support for his consulting company for over 6 years. Making his home in beautiful Southern California, Vance provides general computer Q&A for users via his weekly column.

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Icon of Vance HuntFriday, February 22, 2008
Itty Bitty Speakers.
By Vance Hunt
 
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Q: I find myself in a need to host a SQL server that is accessible from the web - I was thinking of using MS SQL 2005 express.  Only issue is I have a dynamic IP address, and I'm getting tired of looking at the current IP address every time I need to connect.  My ISP will provide me with a static IP address - but it is outrageously expensive.  Is there a way to make my dynamic IP address more permanent?
 
A: More permanent can really depend on perspective and your ISP - my ISP connection dumps straight into a wireless router that never powers off, and has had the same dynamic IP address for around a year!  On the other hand, my mother who only recently got DSL, gets a new IP address very frequently.  In any event, I'm right with you when it comes to "that's a pain...."

Don't pay for a static IP.  Instead, look at using a free service such as DynDNS.com.  Steps are very simple.  Create a free account, choose a third-level domain name of your choice to use in conjunction with their second-level domain names (you choose your domain name to be BobSmith.DynDNS.ORG for example), use their form to create a host record, and you're done.   From there, you're computer is found using your name, which never changes so you don't need to keep sending out new IP information.  If your next question is "does it auto-update when things change?" the answer is - not on it's own.  But they do have a desktop client that monitors your public IP address and automatically updates your host record for you so you don't have to - ever.



Q: My son came home from collage to visit me over the weekend, and noticed that my computer uses the desktop speakers he got when he was a freshman in high school.  He teased me a little because he says they are old and outdated and I should get new ones.  Personally, I like them - they are a little bigger than the one's I've seen on desktops at work, but it comes with an additional bass part I haven't seen elsewhere.  Do speakers have a "shelf life" like other computer components?
 
A: Absolutely not.  Desktop speakers come in two flavors: crappy and expensive.  I swear that those little plastic speakers bundled with new computers actually have the ability to make things sound worse.  And I am including those that need to be plugged in.  If the speaker set doesn't have a separate bass unit, you just are not going to get anything but a mid-range and tweeter sound which makes things sound hollow and lifeless.  The flip side is that when manufacturers started giving those low-end speakers away, they came out with high-end systems that can provide the same sound experience as a home theater.  Finding the in-between that use to come standard with new home desktop units is very difficult, so if yours are still working, and sound good to you when you play music - keep 'em!




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