Do you need a dual monitor setup or large monitor to be more productive? It depends on who you ask. People who have used a dual monitor setup wouldn’t want to go back to a single monitor. Those with large cinema sized monitors wouldn’t want to return to a small sized monitor. Widescreen monitors boost your productivity. You can focus on getting work done and spend less time on moving windows around.
A dual monitor setup creates a physical separation between your applications, can be used with a laptop and allows you to rotate the monitors. You can have one setup in landscape(horizontal) and the other in portrait(vertical). If you need to work with long documents, a dual monitor setup gives you the freedom to rotate your monitors. One large monitor means you can put two applications side by side on the screen just like the dual monitor setup, but you won’t be able to rotate the monitors. You can use Winsplit Revolution to help easily organize your open windows. A single large monitor doesn’t have edges of two monitors causing a distraction. However, a large monitor is more expensive than 2 24 inch monitors.
Will multiple monitors work for you? Consider the following:
Do you need have two applications side by side with a physical separation between them?
Would you need to have one application in landscape mode and the other in portrait?
Do you have a laptop and do you need an additional monitor to work more productively?
What is your budget? A large monitor can cost about $1000 or more.
Are spreadsheets and databases interchangeable? No. Most people use a spreadsheet like a database, but that doesn’t make it one. Spreadsheets and databases allow you to store and manipulate data. Spreadsheets are better at making charts and graphs and manipulating calculations. Databases are better at storage and retrieval of large sets of data.
What is a spreadsheet? A spreadsheet is a table of data or values arranged in rows and columns. Spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel are also called spreadsheets. You can use spreadsheets to manage your checkbook, calculate your mortgage or create pie charts. Spreadsheets also allows you to pull data from a database, so that you can create a chart or test out new calculations.
You can use a spreadsheet to insert data into a database. A database is a collection of data or records organized for fast search and retrieval. It contains one or more tables that contain values arranged in fields and records. A field contains a single piece of information and a record has a set of fields. A table is a collection of records. Databases like MySql and MSSQL allow you to store large sets of data, used by many users at the same time and build applications with them.
Which one do you use? It depends on your project. You need to consider the following questions:
How many records are you going to be working with?
Who is going to use this data?
Do you want to control how the data is entered?
How are you going to use this data?
For example if you are in charge of membership for your local users group, you may have 200 or more members. You need to track names and contact information. Do you use a spreadsheet or a database? By looking at the above questions, you see that you have a small number of records, you are the only person who needs to use this data, you don’t need to control how the data is entered and you are going to use it to email them an newsletter. A spreadsheet is the best choice for your project. This is fine until you have reached the 2000+ members mark. Then you are going to need a database. A database lets you open the data to multiple users, manage a large set of data and control how other users are going to enter the data. For your members, you can create a website that allows your members to update their own contact information.
For your next project involving data, consider how you are going to use the data before you decide on using a spreadsheet or a database.
On Friday, June 4th, SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 was a success. SpaceX is a private company that is working to develop a family of launch vehicles. Their goal is to reduce the cost of going into space and increase the reliability of space exploration. With this test launch, we may see the beginning of commercial space travel. The Planetary Society which supports commercial space travel hailed the launch as a “great achievement”.