Battery backup units are like smart surge protectors; they constantly monitor the power being sent from your electrical outlet. While power is present, the battery backup unit will charge its internal battery while powering the devices you have connected to it. Whenever power is lost, the battery backup unit will immediately begin powering your devices with its battery. When power from the electrical outlet becomes available again, the battery backup unit will switch back to charging the battery. This way, your computer remains operational and you’ll have an opportunity to save your work and safely shutdown.

The amount of time that a battery backup unit can supply power to your equipment varies among manufacturers and models. Obviously, the longer or more devices it can power, the more expensive the unit will cost. However, current $80 models will keep the average computer and flat screen monitor powered up for approximately twenty minutes. That is more than enough time to save your work and safely shutdown.

Some battery backup units come with software for your computer. With this software (and usually a USB connection from the battery backup unit to the computer) your computer can be safely shutdown while unattended. This is a great feature to have since there’s a great possibility that the power loss will happen while you are away from your home (or asleep in your bed!).

Another benefit of using a battery backup unit is that your hardware is protected from dips and spikes in electrical power. Your equipment is provided with a clean stream of power, which can extend the life of the devices you have connected.

Also, battery backup units aren’t limited to powering computers and monitors. If you have a home network (cable modems, routers, switches), you should consider buying an extra unit. This way, whenever the power flashes off for a brief period of time, you can continue transferring files or browsing the internet uninterrupted. If you’re into playing video games, consider hooking up your favorite consoles. Losing hours spent in a game can seem nearly as crushing as losing your reports or homework!

So, for under $100 your unsaved work can be preserved and your equipment can last longer. However, there is one small catch. The batteries in your backup unit will not last forever. You can expect to replace them every few years or less, depending on how often the battery was used. The good news is that the batteries are very easy to replace and usually cost $30 – $50. That’s a great bargain considering the service they provide.

There are many UPS manufacturers out there, but I can personally vouch for APC units. I’ve installed numerous APC units over the past few years and have had no trouble with them at all. The smaller units come with software (as mentioned above) that automatically shutdown the users’ computers. In fact, they came in handy just a few weeks ago when a nasty storm rolled through the area and knocked the power out. Thankfully, the only inconvenience from the storm was having to power up a few workstations the next morning!

Humans apply style and design to just about everything. Furthermore, humans associate color with moods and ideals, and these moods and ideals may vary depending on culture and gender. The colors you choose to use with your website should align itself with the sort of audience that you want to attract. First, let’s look at how to apply colors to page elements and then a closer at how colors are associated with moods and ideals across gender and culture.

Applying Color to Page Elements with CSS

There are several different methods of assigning colors in CSS. Some of these methods are easier to read and understand while others offer more flexibility (and are used more often).

Using Color Names
You can assign a color simply by using one of the 16 color names in your CSS definition. The colors are: white, black, silver, gray, red, maroon, purple, fuchsia, blue, navy, teal, aqua, yellow, green, lime, and olive. You assign them in the following manor:

color: red;

If you were assigning them to a paragraph tag, you would do it like this:

p {color: red;}


Using RGB Values by Percentage
You can assign a color by defining the RGB (Red Blue Green) values separately with percentages. For example, this would give you a shade of purple:

color: rgb(90%, 48%, 90%);


Using RGB with Literal Values
This option allows you to use the literal RGB values to assign a color. The following code results in a pretty orange color:

color: rgb(245, 178, 17);


Using Hexadecimal Values
Hexadecimal values have been around for a long time and are used in other applications and programming languages. If you use Photoshop or do any programming, you’ve probably seen these before. Using hex values seems to be the most popular, so I’ll spend a little more time explaining it.

Hex values use the following format: #RRGGBB, which defines a pair of digits for Red, Green, and Blue. Unlike base 10 (which is how most humans make measurements), hexadecimal is base 16. The values range from 0 to 9, and then A to F (which simply take the place of 10 to 15). Since hexadecimal uses a pair of base 16 numbers to represent a number, 256 (16 x 16) separate values are possible for each color, and 16,777,216 (256 x 256 x 256) combinations. That’s a lot of colors!

To make the point clear, #FF0000 is pure red, #00FF00 is pure blue, and #0000FF is pure green.

Here’s a tip for hex colors if color values are in pairs. You can use a shorthand format to reduce a value like #44FF22 to #4F2 by using only the first value in each pair.

Color Associations Among Cultures and Gender

People associate colors with different feelings or ideals and these can vary between genders and across cultures. Numerous studies have been done to see which colors are interpreted in what ways. The table below lists common colors and their associations.

Colors can have different meanings to different people depending on their culture and gender. This next table lists common colors and their significance to different cultures as well as their preference among men and women.

I hope this has helped you to learn the different ways to style your site with colors in CSS, as well as the impact color choices can have on your audience. I’ve listed a few references below that will help you with your colors as well as CSS in general. Also, if you’re new to CSS and want a good introduction to the subject, see my other article: CSS Basics – The First 5 Steps Towards Mastery

References

• Stylin’ with CSS: A Designer’s Guide by: Charles Wyke-Smith
• The Zen of CSS Design by Dave Shea and Molly E. Holzschlag

Other Helpful Color Sites

• Colorcom
• Causes of Color

There are 3 tips you can use to improve your help desk experience (and in turn, help you get on with your day):

1. Learn the lingo. This is something you should do before you have a need to call for help. It can turn a ten minute conversation into a one minute fix. You probably use and depend on a functioning computer every day. Why wouldn’t you at least want to learn what things are called? Think about it. You depend on a car (or a bus, a subway, a train) to get to work, right? I am sure you know that a car has tires. I am also sure that you know that a car has windshield wipers. These are simple things that people who drive cars know. You might not know how they work, but you know what they are called. That is all I, and other IT folk, are asking of you.
2. Explain in the clearest way possible what has happened. The solution most often lies in the details. The guy on the other end of the phone or email message can’t read your mind (it’s true!). Before you call or send an email asking for help, make sure you can at least explain what you were doing before the problem started. Believe it or not, saying something is “slow” does not help us figure out anything. Details, details, details! Also note how tip #1 comes into play here. If you know what things are called, you can probably sum up your troubles in one quick sentence.
3. Be patient and try not to become upset. The brilliant people manning the help desk are there because things go wrong. We are here to help you with your problems. When you call for computer help, please be patient; especially if you are not exercising tips #1 and #2. Also, please don’t yell or cry. While it may help you to feel better, it does not help us to troubleshoot your problem. “Nothing is perfect” is a fact of life and the world of computing is no exception. Please, don’t take it out on us.

So there you have it. I guarantee that if you put these three tips into practice, your help desk team will be able to get you back up and running more quickly than ever.