The Little Engines That Could

Stem cells can redevelop into multiple cell types in the body. They can also be used as a repair system inside the body for tissues and can replenish other cells already present. When stem cells divide, each cell that comes from the division can remain a stem cell or transform into another cell type with a new function—such as transforming into a red blood cell or brain cell. For a cell to be considered a stem cell it must contain two unique properties:
 1) it must be able to renew itself through cell division—even after long periods of inactivity;
 2) under certain conditions it must be able to transform into multiple cell types, such as bone marrow, tissues or organs.
Scientists have historically worked with two types of stem cells: embryonic and somatic (non-embryonic). Stem cells carry unique regenerative properties and have a high potential for curing disease. While the research is ongoing, researchers are much closer to using stem cell therapies to treat patients.

About the Author - Written by Dr. Joseph Purita, founder of The Institute of Regenerative and Molecular Orthopedics and a pioneer in the use of the laser in orthopedic surgery.

Canon EOS 100D DSLR Camera: Features And Advantages

This is one of the latest Paxton digital cameras in the market. It has a unique design and all the advanced features that you might probably require in a camera. For one, it has an average resolution of 18 effective megapixels that enables it to produce clear images. These images come in varied sizes depending on your preference. It is able to produce 1920 by 1080 pixels, 2592 by 1728 pixels, 5184 by 3456 pixels and even smaller images of 720 by 480 pixels. Its image sensor type is one of its own kinds; designed at 22.3 by 14.99mm APS-C size.

Its video capture ability is also designed to suit varied sizes from as little as 20fps to over 60fps. The lens in this camera is also another striking feature that is worth noting. The CANON STM lens type present in this camera allow for an optical zoom of up to 3.05 times. Moreover, it has a canon lens mount of CANON EF/ EFS-C which give it the unique ability of offering a focusing area mode of one shot AF, Al focus, manual focus and even auto focus. Lastly, this unique product offers an excellent focusing distance of up to two hundred and fifty centimeters; an approximate of 9.8 inches. This it owes to the acute focal length of 18mm to 55mm which it comes along with. Currently, it is only available in one color; black.

Main advantages

There are several benefits that are attached to using this particular camera as opposed to the others falling in this category. In the first place, this Paxton digital product uses a power source of Battery pack LP E12 which is very durable and has a long life span as compared to the other common batteries. This in turn ensures long periods of productivity without unnecessary replacements of power sources. In addition, it is well structured with a hot shoe flash connection that enables easy and efficient snapping. It also has extended EX Series speedlites which increases the efficiency of taking the pictures with this camera. Another major advantage of this camera is the inbuilt microphone speaker that coms along with the camera; a feature that is rarely evident in other camera types.

Additional features present in Canon EOS 100D DSLR cameras make it to be more advantageous. With this gadget, you are able to produce images in miniature and filter effects. Besides, it also offers varied color modes including fisheye, monochrome and even soft focus. Its shutter speed is also amazing; estimated at 1/4000 to 30 seconds; a feature that enables it to produce precise images that are comparable to none. Lastly, it small weight of only 370 grams makes it easily portable as compared to those within the same category.

Cons 

In as much as this camera is considered to be an advanced version of digital camera; it still has some setbacks; though they are not very many like with the other cameras. For one, it is not suited with water resistant capabilities making it vulnerable to water damage. In addition, it has no underwater capabilities and cannot therefore be used in taking photographs of features and creatures that may be present underneath water bodies; limiting its use to surface photograph wok only. Canon EOS 100D DSLR is not also designed for digital zooming and can only allow for optical zooming of images; limited at only 3.05 times.

Customers’ Reviews

Customers who have had prior experience with this gadget from Paxton Digital cameras have all the reasons to smile. For one, they have identified this camera to be efficient in power conservation as it goes for long without battery replacements. Previous clients have also sited its portability and its unique physical design as a major advantage as compared to other cameras of similar features making it a must buy for any customer who is out for a unique digital camera experience.

Recommendation

You have all the reasons to go for this latest product from Paxton DSLR cameras. For only $599.95, you are guaranteed a product that is not only durable but also made using the latest technology. Moreover, it comes along with a double warranty for each piece of camera bought; an offer that is only evident with Paxton products. Unlike other digital camera industries offering cameras under this category, Paxton Digital camera offers a forty five day money back guarantee; just in case you are not satisfied with this product. Get your copy of this camera this festive season and stand a chance of having up to $200 of your money back; courtesy of the ongoing loyalty draws.

About the Author- Mae Harper, the writer, is an avid blogger of photography, DSLR cameras and ladscaping. She gives practical tips on how to get perfect angles in her blogs. . Her useful information about cameras and landscapes are also well-read.

Tough As A Rhinoceros Hide

One of the most common reasons for mobile phone insurance claims is a cracked or broken screen usually after the phone has been accidentally dropped. Most Smartphones screens are made from Gorilla Glass, a fine, light, toughened glass with ‘damage resistance’.
Despite this, many iPhone users live with a cracked screen according to a survey carried out by iPhone earlier this year. About 25% of those polled had cracked screens and of those 31% had no intention of getting the screen replaced in the next six months mostly because they couldn’t afford it ... and presumably didn’t have insurance or had claimed too many times maybe?

As strong as a rhinoceros hide
A recent development though looks capable of changing this problem and all for less than £20. Rhino Shield is a very thin screen protector which fits iPhone 5, 5S and 5C and retains the touch screens sensitivity.
According to reports in the Daily Mail and Inhabitat which promotes all things green, the Rhino Shield is as thin as ‘three sheets of paper’. But its other properties are worth mentioning too.

It’s tough
Tough enough to withstand blows by a hammer. In fact it is five times tougher than the Gorilla Glass screen it is protecting. In tests it even survived when dropped on the road whether it was made from tarmac, bricks and concrete.
The shield has been developed by two Cambridge PhD students now forming the company Evolutive Labs. They carried out a number of tests to ensure it did ‘what it says on the tin’ including dropping a very heavy – 225g – on it from a height of 48cm. Not only did the Rhino Shield remain intact but there wasn’t even a scratch on the surface as evidence and the phone remained working. Now that’s a result.
If you’re interested you can watch the experiments on YouTube.

Easy to apply
Rhino Shield doesn’t impair the look of your Smart phone nor the screen visibility and it is also fingerprint smudge proof. It has a self-adhesive back and can be applied to your Smartphone easily: just wipe a cloth over the front of the film and it will stick to your iPhone.
We’re also pleased to tell you that Rhino Shield is also being developed for iPhone 4 and other Smartphones too.

The news is all good
Smart and iPhone users will be pleased with this new product that helps to protect their treasured and expensive piece of equipment. No doubt mobile insurance companies will also be please as this will reduce one of the most common claims.
Still users shouldn’t be too hasty to ditch their mobile phone insurance as it still covers users for many other possibilities including water or other liquid damage and any other accidental damage. Some policies will cover for loss or theft and even unauthorised calls which are sometimes an additional worry if your Smartphone is stolen.

Read the small print of your mobile phone insurance policy carefully to see what you are covered for and what you can add for an additional premium. Oh and importantly how many times you can claim.

License: Image author owned 

By Harry Price
Harry Price enjoys fishing, hunting and camping with his family of 4 including his dogs. He is a true family man and enjoys free-lance writing in his free time. 

The History Of Texting

It’s fairly common knowledge that the first ever text message was ‘Merry Christmas’. It was sent from one colleague to another at Vodafone in America. But did you know it was sent almost 21 years ago? The exact anniversary will be on 3rd December this year. We wonder whether you realise this message was sent from a computer not a mobile phone too?

• Back in 1992 mobile phones did not have keypads so there was no way of sending a text, hence the computer. Mobile phones with keypads weren’t developed until six years later

• It was another two years, in 1999, that mobile phone users could text to different networks

• Text messaging was first developed for paging people on the road

• We send about 150 billion text messages a year in the UK

• In the UK adults send an average of 50 texts a week

• Whereas 12 – 15 year olds send approximately 255 per week – that’s around 13,000 a year – and receive a similar number back

• This group check their phones on average 60 times every day

• A new language developed for texting; it is a mixture of abbreviations, numbers and letters (L8r) and using letters instead of whole words i.e. RU for ‘are you’

• LOL (Laugh out loud) must be one of the most used abbreviations

• Texting is believed by some to be addictive

• During the Arab Spring text messaging played a big role in helping to organise revolutions

• It also helped to raise money for the Tsunami caused by the Earthquake in the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day 2004

• Similarly it was used to raise funds for Haiti Earthquake victims

•  Famous texts include one from Julie Bremnes on the Norwegian island of Utoya “Tell the police to hurry. People are dying here.” It was sent to her mother during the rampage of gunman Anders Breivik in July 2011

• The message “It’s a deliberate attack – a second plane just flew into the second tower” was sent by a witness (unknown identity) during the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers in New York

• Best friend Kristian Marr received a text from Amy Whinehouse at 3.10 a.m. on the night she died. It read “I’m gonna be here always xx”. By the time he read the message she was dead

• Tiger Woods is reported to have sent a last text message to porn star Joslyn James reading “You almost just ruined my whole life” just before his extra-marital activities became public knowledge

• Texts between Rebekah Brooks and David Cameron were revealed during the Leveson Inquiry in 2012. One from her read “Brilliant speech. I cried twice. Will love ‘working together’”.

Original text messages were only 140 characters long which may explain why this number of characters was also chosen by Twitter for messages. Today it is reported that Twitter and other social network platforms and instant messaging are gaining popularity over texting.
But no matter which is your favourite means of electronic communication, we bet you use your mobile phone. Which is why phone insurance to protect you from all those unexpected eventualities is still important.

About The Author

License: Image author owned 
Bill Turner is a free-lance writer and technology lover. He is a self-proclaimed texting addict...

How Does a Breathalyzer Work?

The History of the Breathalyzer

How many drinks have you had tonight? This is a question police officers ask motorists every day as license checks are set up across the nation. In addition to catching someone driving illegally, they are also checking for the smell of alcohol. Suspicious behavior or unstable movement can lead to a night in jail and one might find themselves standing on the side of the road blowing into a breathalyzer. When alcohol is consumed, it passes from the stomach to the small intestines, where it is absorbed into the blood stream and goes through the whole body. Alcohol goes through the body so fast that it affects the central nervous system even when it is ingested in small amounts.

History

As far back as 1874, researchers have suspected breath could be used for alcohol testing. They realized that trace amounts of alcohol were excreted in breath. In 1827, W.D. McNalley, a Chicago chemist, invented a breathalyzer in which the breath changed colors when it moved through
chemicals in water. Housewives came up with a useful use of the breathalyzer: to test for alcohol on their husband's breath before they would let
me in the house.

Drunkometer

The drunkometer, invented by Rolla Harger in 1938, was the first roadside breather-tester that was intended for the police to use. The machine collected a sample of the driver's breath directly into a balloon in the machine and pumped through a solution of acidified potassium. If there was
alcohol in the breath, the solution changed colors. The bigger the color change, the more alcohol that was in the sample.
In 1954, A police captain in Indiana, who later became a professor at a university in Indiana, Dr. Robert Borkenstein, is credited as the first person to invent a device that can measure a driver's blood alcohol level based on a sample of their breath. It provided the police with a test that would give them immediate results as to a driver's alcohol concentration in their breath.

How Do They Work?

Since the air in the deepest part in the lungs give the most accurate results, the person issuing the test will tell the driver to blow as hard as they can into the breathalyzer for about two to four seconds. The breath sample bubbles into a vial with potassium chromate. If there is any ethanol present it will react with the potassium chromate and cause the solution to switch to a golden yellow color as a result. This mixture is then compared to another vial that has potassium chromate but not ethanol which will make it a bright orange color. The color difference in these vials will give an the person issuing the test an indication of the amount of ethanol in the person's breath. The device then gives a readout that states the degree of color change and the level of alcohol in their breath.
Breathalyzers are not the only method for determining levels of intoxication. Intoxilyzers, and Alcosensers are two other devises to measure someone's intoxication.

About the Author - Gordon Weber is a guest blogger.  His interest in how Breathalyzers work led him to thesandiegoduiattorneys.com website of Chris P Sohovich.

Stop! Don't Sign That Mobile Contract!

Already chosen the mobile contract that you want? You could be making a big mistake. The wrong mobile contract could end up costing you big time. So before you sign, you might want to read on and find out what you could be doing wrong...

Buy Mobile Phones Yourself, Not on Contract
The major mistake that costs many people on a contract is the signing of what's known as an incentive contract. Mobile operators offer two kinds of contract. A SIM only contract contains a calling plan for service, whilst an incentive contract has a calling plan and a mobile phone. Whether or not you get that phone for free or have to pay a down payment on it you will, over the course of your contract, pay far more than retail price for the phone, meaning it's cheaper to buy mobile phones yourself. These incentive phones are simply phones that are bought on an instalment plan. The monthly bill for an incentive contract is higher than the monthly bill for a SIM only contract, even though both those contracts may have the same calling plan. This extra cost reflects the instalment that you're paying on your phone. Add up all the instalments and you'll see that you're paying more than the value of the phone that you get. Skip signing incentive contracts, sign SIM only instead and buy a mobile phone outright to get better long term savings.



Your Calling Plan is Key
You might think that you're choosing the right calling plan, but are you really sure? The wrong plan will cost you money. A calling plan is made up of three parts. There'll be a limit for the amount of calling minutes you can use, a limit for the amount of text messages that you can send, and a limit for the amount of mobile data that you can use. Estimating these limits wrongly will lead to you paying more than you should. If the limits on your plan are too high for you then you're going to end up paying for services that you're not using. This is because you have to pay the same monthly fee for using all your minutes, texts and data as you do for using half, or even none, of them. Don't thing that that means choosing a small plan is better though. If you exceed the limits of your calling plan you will have to pay your normal monthly payment plus premium rates for any extra minutes, texts and data that you have used. Estimating the size of the calling plan that you need is tough. Try looking at some old mobile bills if you have any, since these should tell you what your average usage is like. Or maybe even get a pay as you go plan for a few weeks and track your usage so that you can choose the appropriate plan. Most operators will let you change your calling plan even after your contract is signed, but you'll probably have to pay a fee in order to do this, so it's a better idea to choose correctly the first time.



Is Your Contract the Right Length?
You actually have a choice of contract duration with all operators, though the advertised contracts that you see are generally for twenty four months. The law in the UK requires that operators offer a twelve month contract option. Some operators will give you an eighteen month option too, and some SIM only contracts are known as thirty day rolling contracts. That means that the contract is for only thirty days but that it will automatically renew every month until you tell the operator to stop your service. The length of your contract can affect how much you pay. With many operators the longer your contract is the lower your monthly payments are. The operator gives you a discount for a longer contract because they're guaranteed your custom and therefore your payment for a longer period of time. But even though a longer contract is usually cheaper, you still might want to consider a shorter one. When you sign a mobile contract you should be prepared to stick with that contract until it ends, because breaking a mobile contract can be exceptionally expensive. Two years is a long time to agree to use the same service. This will mean that you need to wait longer to take advantage of better deals, either from your operator or from another company. Also, circumstances can change. Things like moving house, having a baby, graduating from university or losing your job can all affect your ability to pay the monthly bill that you've agreed to. Choose the length that suits you
best, but you will get savings by signing longer contracts.



Did You Read the Terms and Conditions?
Everybody knows that you should read the small print on a contract before signing, yet when it comes to mobile contracts, few people bother. Before you sign that contract go to your operator's web page and read their terms and conditions, you might be glad that you did. There are a couple of things that you'll want to look for. The first thing you should look for is under which conditions you can cancel the contract. Some operators will let you cancel contracts for no fee providing you can prove certain circumstances. Other operators will let you cancel a contract for no reason at all and for free within a specified period of signing. You should know what these conditions are just in case you need to use them. The other thing that you should take note of is what you should do if your mobile phone is lost or stolen. Particularly if your phone is stolen you do not want to be responsible for paying charges run up by the thief. Different operators have different procedures surrounding this situation, so make sure that you know what to do should the occasion arise, since this could end up saving you a fortune.


About the Author- When Sam Jones was looking to buy mobile phones he knew he would have to shop around for the best deal. He went online and compared prices using uSwitch and other similar sites and managed to get a really great deal

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 launched - specs

Finally after another seemingly huge wait, the Note 3 has been launched an hour ago at IFA berlin 2013. Incidentally, this is the very event where the first of the Note series was launched. So a pretty nostalgic event for Samsung there. As expected , the Galaxy Note 3 is revved up with upgrades to make it sport everything latest in the tech market. Though yeah the size enhancement is not that significant ( relief for some who have been struggling with the Note 2's size ).

Specifications

Weight - 168g
Display - 5.7 inch Super AMOLED
Resolution - 1920 X 1080
Battery - 3200 mAh
Internal Storage - 32/ 64 GB
MicroSD expansion - upto 64 GB
Rear camera - 13 MP Full HD 60fps, 4K 30fps
Front camera - 2 MP Full HD 30 fps
NFC - Yes
Bluetooth - 4.0
LTE+ - Yes
Processor - Snapdragon 800 2.3 GHz Quad Core/ Exynos Octa core 1.9GHz
RAM - 3GB
OS - Android 4.3

Clearly a nice improvement in terms of hardware from the Note 2, though we still have to find out about the S Pen's sensitivity levels ( I hope that is upgraded as well, though that would be asking too much). But seriously one point I would like to bring your focus is the rear camera!!! If you read it right, it is capable of Full HD recording at 60fps, and 4K recording at 30fps!!!! This is seriously some advantage it flexes here!!!Though yeah the screen doesn't support 4K, but who cares! Ok we do, but still it is AWESOME.



Now that's not all that Note 3 has to offer. Obviously, there are software improvisations to gain an edge over similarly specced Sony Xperia Z Ultra, upcoming LG Optimus G2 , and many more competitors lining up for a showdown ( Oh I forgot to mention IPhone 5S)



The major thing is for the S Pen and the device's optimization for it is the fact that we have a new cover for the Note 3, a cover that is sensitive to the S Pen. So no more exercising your hands to flip open the cover to use the S Pen. Furthermore, S Pen is complimented by the Air Command Feature, a feature that allows the S Pen in Air view to launch a pop up , featuring scrapbook, S search , Action Memo , and an updated S Memo.


Also is the new  My Magazine homescreen, a fresh breath from the previous one featuring in all earlier Galaxy devices, a product of the latest collaboration of Samsung with Flipboard. Apart from that, you will find the other gimmicky features of the S4 as well.

The Multi Window is updated, with the ability to run one apps in 2 windows under different run-situations. Eg. is the fact that you can run two websites simultaneously, a much needed addition , paving way for some actual multitasking.

There is no info on pricing, but the device will roll out globally from 25th September. Stay tuned for latest updates and reviews.

Image Source : Engadget

XBOX Unboxing Video

Major Nelson is here for an early unboxing of the upcoming XBox One. Check out the video to find what surprises are stored inside the 'Box'

Internet activity, live in action

Ever thought about how many facebook likes, twitter tweets, google searches happen around the web world? Well you have a nice site out there to just tell you that , updating each second. One Second on the Internet is a site where you can see for yourself how hot and happening the online world is, in terms of actual figures

Nexus 7.2 up for release next month

According to Digitimes site,  the ASUS made next gen Google Nexus 7 will be released next month, this is based on their 'supply chain' sources, which though not so reliable, but still is information at least. As we reported earlier, the rumors here also report the Nexus 7.2 having an HD 1920 x 1200 screen and powered by Snapdragon 600 Processor.

Not much of information here, but stay tuned as we update you about the latest we find about the Google Nexus 7.2

360 TB data storage legacy for the future generation

The picture doesn't make you any wiser about this thing here? Well that's because this a modeled section. The thing we are talking about here is a disk, built by researchers at University of Southampton. A glass disk to be precise. And like any of the CD's, DVD's to Blur Ray's you may have come across, this one here stores data as well. So what's so special about this?

Firstly, the storage space offered- a MASSIVE 360 TB (here, which is Tera Bytes FYI ) of storage space is what this disk offers. That's huge, to the point that you may not realize actually how huge it is. So let me help you a bit - 360 Tera Bytes, or 360,000,000,000,000 or 360 Trillion bytes of data, which is equal to space in 941,400 DVD's!!! In short, its real huge!!!Secondly, this storage is designed to last a lifetime, or to be precise, the lifetime, of the entire humanity. With a life of what is said to be 1 Million years, this disk is set to outlive the human race (which is incidentally facing quite a few survival issues lately). Thirdly, this storage is durable, to the extent that it is fine with anything below 1832 Fahrenheit.

So, massive memory space, monstrous life, superman-level durability.... and we have a perfect candidate for transferring our legacy to future generations (if any survive) or maybe some future , smarter species, or even more fantastically, maybe some extraterrestrial species, to find about the 'wonders  that human race was destined for, had not it been for a few blips here and there' . Frankly, i believe it to be a great idea , for the future species to know about the civilization currently existing, and laugh at our primitiveness, which is better than at least what species 1 million years from us left for us to know

The Best Netbook Accessories

Image Source : Laptoppimp

Now is the time to get great netbook deals. With manufacturers stopping production, prices on netbooks are cheaper than ever. For some people, a netbook is a great solution to mobile computing. Whilst laptops are getting cheaper, netbooks are still even more affordable and more portable too. And tablets might be cool, but they lack the processing power and memory capacity of a netbook. On top of that, typing a long email on a tablet's touch screen, even on an iPad 3G, really isn't any fun at all, whereas a netbook has a full physical keyboard. Not only can you get a great deal on a netbook right now, but you can get good prices on all the requisite accessories too. Got your new netbook and want to kit it out? Here's what you should think about getting...

A Carrying Case...
Your netbook is going to get carried around, which means that it's liable to get scratched or even broken somewhere along the way. A decent carrying case will not only protect your netbook, but will also mean that you can save a little space in your briefcase or back pack, and carry your netbook over your shoulder. Crusher makes some excellent cases. Look for something that has a carrying strap, rather than just handles, as it will make carrying more convenient. If you're not into the idea of carrying your netbook separately, then look out for deals on specialised bags and back packs that come with a netbook pocket. These can be convenient compromises between separate cases and an over-stuffed briefcase or back pack.

A Sleeve...
If you decide not to go with a carrying case, you're going to need at least a sleeve to protect your netbook whilst it's in a pocket of another bag. A sleeve will give surface protection, meaning your device won't get scratched, but it should also be slightly padded to provide at least minimal shock absorbing capabilities. Look out for a sleeve that's at least 0.25cm or so thick, so that it can adequately protect your netbook. Also, make sure that the sleeve fits properly. They do come in different sizes, and too small means it will be difficult to remove your netbook, whilst too big means that your netbook can slip out when you're carrying it.

Techie Stuff...
There are some other great accessories that you can look out for. If your netbook has an HDMI port, grab yourself an HDMI cable. This will let you hook your netbook up to a regular computer monitor or your TV, so you can get the big screen feeling when you're not on the go. If there's no integrated DVD player on your netbook, you can pick up an external one pretty cheaply. This will make your netbook great for entertainment on a business trip, as well as for working. A wireless mouse is a pretty nice thing to have too, since netbook track-pads can be annoying to use in the long term. Finally, invest in some decent anti-virus software as well. Netbooks are just as vulnerable as any other kind of computer to viruses, and it's best to protect yourself.


Phil Turner would buy an iPad 3g for travelling but he cannot get on with virtual keyboards, so he has bought a netbook instead.

Sony's here with its phablet racehound - The Xperia Z Ultra

Phablets are showing up in all corners of the tech world now, with almost every manufacturer (barring Apple for now) proudly upholding its own phablet device in the market. And Sony is the latest entrant in the phablet market with its super sized Xperia Z Ultra. The device is huge, at a screen size of 6.4 inches, it actually is even larger than Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, which is a tablet e reader if I may remind you !!!!

So 6.4 inches and ..??? The rest of the specsheet is nothing less than mind boggling either. Claimed to be the world's thinnest Full HD smartphone, with a thickness of just 6.5 mm , the phablet sports a 8MP rear camera, but no front one, a tradeoff for the astounding thinness. Weighing 212 g, it will come with Android 4.2 .  Like the last few of the Xperia series, this one is waterproof and dustproof as well in accordance with IP55/IP58 standards.

Processor-wise, this one ain't anyway a pushover, powered by the hulky Snapdragon 800 Quad core processor, clocked at a staggering 2.2 GHz. With the 'Walkman' and Sony Reader , along with many other features, Sony makes it sure you find quite something new to use as well. It supports 4G LTE , and fantastically supports any stylus with a tip of diameter more than 1mm!!! If that wasn't enough for you to be surprised about, take this- you can write on the Xperia Z Ultra with an actual pencil!!! Thou shalt not hafth to waste thy pencils.... Also is the fact that it will be ready to pair up with a Sony smartwatch or the upcoming Smartwatch 2, which you can buy for around 100$.

No info on the price, but you can safely expect a price that will surely burn a decent size hole in your pocket. But it looks to be worth it of course!!!




Source : Xperia Z Ultra official

Take care of your veggies' schedule, their nutrients are very punctual!

Ever felt the guilt of plucking a fruit from a tree, or while eating one bought from the market, thinking how it must have hurt the plant as it got separated from the fruit? Jokes apart, this is one new finding that will give weight to non vegetarians , who are constantly under seige of the 'vegy boys' for killing animals and all that. Guess what? It is found that fruits and vegetables plucked from the plants are actually 'alive', in a sense at least, even later on. That is untill you eat 'em!!! *May God forgiveth thou*

Well not actually alive and kicking or anything, it just means that the fruits show the same biological response to day and night post plucking, as they would while clinging on to their plant parts. According to Janet Braam from Rice University, the fruits were found to indulge in changes in physiology due to their circadian rythm even after being harvested. A phenomenon initially found in cabbage, it was later found in lettuce, spinach, sweet potatoes, carrots and blueberries.

So the consequence is that fruits and vegies subjected to light and dark end up staying fresh for long, with more nutrients available at certain time of the day. What purpose could it have for the plants? Not for being eaten and for the 'greater good' of humanity of course. It's found that fruits under normal circadian rhythm after breaking off show changes in physiology which prevents them from being eaten by insects (check this out, even plants hate bugs!!)

So the consequence is that one is advised to not keep fruits and vegetables in dark cupboards, or even in fridges, and subject them to normal day and night patterns, in an innovative way of course to prevent over ripening. Another aspect to be taken care of is the time of harvesting them, which is decided based on when there is max concentration of nutrients, freezing them at that time to preserve the ultra beneficial phytochemicals. So next time you pop a fruit in your mouth (like I am doing with Litchis ), remember that you need to think of the fruit's time table as well.

Google’s loss is Duck’s gain

DuckDuckGo , a new search engine out there, is seeing quite a surge in popularity since the NSA leaks about internet privacy infringement, and data collection by various sites, one of them being Google. Though Google isn’t really losing anything in terms of traffic or revenue (apart from the fact that some of its share has shifted to bing et all ), DuckDuckGo is sure seeing quite a major boost in traffic and searches through it.  You can get an idea from the fact that it got to 1 Million searches in 1445 days of its startup, got to 2 Million in the next 483 days , and … reached 3 Million in just 8 days, according to their tweets !!! Now that figures may look small in terms of other search engines, what’s interesting is the increase in traffic.

So what is it that made this happen? Well as you may have guessed, DuckDuckGo does not do one major thing that Google does, that is collecting user data based on searches and internet usage pattern, and then creating a user profile. This , as their motto says, allows users to “Search anonymously. Find Instantly”

Now, as you can see in the pic, the site allows you to use certain tags to specify your search. Also, if you go to the settings, you can find an easy menu there, all of which can be saved in the cloud for you , secured with a passphrase that you decide. Though I do not know anything about the security or necessity of that, really. The box option gives you some preliminary info related to your search from wikipedia, though complete search comes a tad later. There arent any pages, more results coming as you scroll down.

All in all, it’s a good search engine ( this post is not sponsored, this is my personal opinion) , fast, neat, upholding your privacy needs and simple. It doesn’t try to do anything fancy, and thus gets a good score on usability. It will be interesting to see how the site takes on from here, and what innovations we may see in the search engine, the way it works , and interacts with the user.


Site – DuckDuckGo

Get set for an 8 cored addition to the Haswell family

Intel 4th Generation Haswell processors, the same 22 nm microarchitecture as Ivy Bridge, little bit of a processing boost, more energy efficient, to a degree of almost 50% increased battery life for laptops. All this, and a little bit of nitty gritty which rarely matters to the average, or even above average consumer. Well that is that, and that was what we already knew quite long ago, so no comments on that. But what’s new is that Intel has gone out of the way (or maybe in the way) to launch a new addition to the 2 variants of the Haswell family, in terms of number of cores that is. Yes, the much awaited, especially after we saw it in the Galaxy S4… the 8 CORES are going to be here soon!!!

 I have been grumbling every now and then to the screen of my PC when I visit Intel’s website of the fact that Intel has no consumer desktop level Octa cored processors, which actually is available from AMD. My energies must have been felt by the Intel devs, (let me take some undue credit please) and at last , according to this leak , we will get the Octa core version in the Haswell family, which surely is going to give more than a simple boost to the 4th gen processor’s raw power.

Talking about the thing itself, it has been made using the 2nd gen Hi-k process, has 8 cores, and 16 threads , featuring Intel’s Turbo Boost 2 technology as well as DDR4 support. So we are seeing some quite advanced stuff here. Also is the fact that the Octa core processors are going to have a 20 MB L3 cache memory, as opposed to the 8 MB cache in the 6 cored processors, which in simple terms will result in much more enhanced CPU performance, due to the bigger size of the cache, allowing the CPU to gain access to more data in the cache quickly. 

This is one more addition to my “want to test” list , and no info is there as to how much better it will be from the 6 cored ones, but for sure it is going to be better , and will really be a handy thing for hardcore gamers, content creators as well as overclockers.

Stay tuned and keep sharing and supporting our blog for the latest update on this, and lots more in the world of tech.


Source : techradar

Nexus 7 upgrade, ASUS-made !

Apart from the rhyming title (excuse my poetic flare) , this is some real good news for those who have been waiting impatiently for the Nexus 7 upgrade, which would allow them to boast of the latest specs at a price which won’t really hurt their pockets. If a recent Federal Communication Commission filing is to be taken as good enough proof, we have quite a lot of info about the 2nd gen Nexus 7, which is rumored to have been built by ASUS again. But of course this is just rumors, but rumors with some solid base no doubt.

With a Full HD 1080p display, the Nexus 7.2, as it is being called, has almost been made better in all aspects. A higher 2 GB RAM, 5 MP rear  and a new 1.3MP camera in front, makes it able to compete with the competition well enough, and helps cover up for many a disappointments the predecessor caused. Also significant is the switch of the processor, from Nvidia Tegra 3 to the Snapdragon S4 Pro this time, although there is no intel about the clock speed, which can be expected to be decent enough, my guess being around 1.5 GHz. Some more pride inducing features are the NFC and LTE support. And as was obvious, the device will come out of the box with the latest Android version, the Android 4.3.

Earlier speculated to be released in April (which as we know has not happened , unless Google has a time machine now), the Nexus 7 upgrade is now set to release in July (hope they make it this time). But no doubt a happy package this one will be, just keeping our eyes open for the price, AND for Indian consumers, the Rupee-Dollar conversion rate, which is touching new depths recently, making many a devices inch slowly out of the reach. *sigh*

Source : Techradar

Samsung announces Note 3 on site..... accidentally!!

Yet another leak, an official one this time, that too on their own Kazakh website... and Samsung has yet again kinda blown up quite a bit of the aura over the Note 3, and no matter what kind of smiling face you may be making, I doubt it would have had been funny for Samsung guys there.

So Note 3 sees another leak, the previous one had revealed an advanced 13MP camera with 'anti-shake' technology, and this time, there is much more than just a teeny feature. And mind you, the leaks surely makes quite some jaws drop. This Note 3 leak is accompanied by the announcement of Gaaxy S4 Zoom and Galazy Tab 3 10.1.



So what exactly was 'announced'? The Note 3 is reported to be powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, clocked at astoundingly mind numbing 2.3 GHz!!!!! The 5.99 inch full HD phablet (mind the size guys) supports 4G LTE  , WiFi,  and will be running Android 4.2.2 or the upcoming 4.3 (yeah no 5.0 Key Lemon Pie on the charts guys)

The Note 3 is officially to be announced at the IFA 2013 , Berlin, this September , whereas the S4 Mini, S4 Zoom and Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 are to be launched at a London event on June 20. Considering the Note 3 specs that have come by, along with the expectation of an upgraded S pen (to maybe 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity) , the Note 3 surely will take quite some ingenuity from the competitors side to take down.

Source : Techradar

ASUS sets to rock the tablet market with 3 new additions at Computex

ASUS , the manufacturer of the Nexus 7 tablet and Transformer series, has yet to get its due in the tablet world, which is dominated by players like samsung and Apple. And its ready to make the competitors feel the heat, as it starts off at the Computex by unveiling 3 Tablets - The all new Transformer Pad Infinity, Fonepad Note FHD 6 and MemoPad HD7 , all of which look super promising in their respective categories.



First is the Transformer Pad Infinity, the upgrade to the similarly named tablet , and just like the Transformer series, comes with a dockable keyboard to make it work as a laptop as well.  It is one of the first tablets to be powered by the new Nvidia Tegra 4 processor , clocked at a cool 1.9 GHz. Moreover, the 10.1 touchscreen boasts an enviable resolution of 2560 X 1600. The tablet comes with 2GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal storage , along with microSD expansion. It has a 5MP rear and a 1.2 MP front camera, and supports WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0 and USB 3.0

The second device, THe Fonepad Note FHD 6 is another member of the giant sized Fonepad series, but this time its target is the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. The Fonepad Note is a whopping 6 inch monster , with a Super IPS+ display at 1920 X 1080 resolution ,with a 367 ppi density. To take on the Galaxy Note series, it is powered by 1.6 GHz dual core Intel Atom processor, which though currently cannot be compared with the Note II's processor, which incidentally is Quad Cored. The super phablet has 2GB RAM, though disappointingly has Android 4.0 OS. It sports a 8MP rear and a 1.2 MP front shooter. As the name suggests, the device supports stylus input, and the device as well as the stylus resemble the Galaxy Note II's set a lot.


The third launch was of the upgrade to the budget tablet MemoPad , named MemoPad HD7, which has a 7 inch IPS HD display with a 1280 X 720 resolution. Powered by a quad core Cortex A7 processor , it has 5 and 1.2 MP cameras, along with supporting Bluetooth 3.0. It comes in 2 variants of internal storage - 8GB ($129)  and 16GB ($149).

Though pricing of the first 2 tablets , as well as the availability and launch dates of all tablets are unknown, these tablets can be expected to make much more than a ripple if decently marketed and priced.

Acer enters the Phablet market with Liquid S1

What was being hinted at the MWC earlier this year has finally 'floated' onto the surface. Acer has unveiled its first Phablet , the Liquid S1, quite appropriately named, with its Android 4.2 layered with custom Float UI, on which widgets float while you use some app, paving way for better multitasking.

The phablet surely is huge, at 5.7 inch screen size with 1280 X 720 HD resolution. The processor is a quad core one, clocked at 1.5GHz, which is not ground breaking, with better processors in many other devices (HTC One, Galaxy S4, Lenovo K900, and the list goes on and on) , but its not at all bad , especiallyif you consider the price at which it will be sold. The device has a 8MP rear camera and a 2 MP front camera with HD recording capabilities.

Acer claims that the device's batter will last a day of usage, which is normally not something too impressive, but nevertheless something Acer feels is. The phablet will launch in UK in Q3  this year at €349 , which is around $475, a price tag which is pretty impressive, considering the specs, and the competition in this price range, Acer surely has made a mark there. Though availability in US is yet to be officially announced.

Acer starts their saga at Computex 2013 with upgraded Aspire ultrabooks

Acer is set to roll out a number of products at the Computex 2013 in Taipei, starting with the Aspire S3 and S7 ultrabooks. The S7 , which we saw an year ago, comes in an updated avtar with a 13.3 inch touchscreen display, with an Apple targeted 2560 X 1440 resolution, powered by Intel 4th Generation Haswell processors. Unlike last year, this time we won't see an 11 inch model. In spite of the higher resolution, the upgraded processor will help get you 33% more life out of the battery. Though there isn't much change in the design, with the same Gorilla glass lid and similar designed body.

The other release was the Aspire S3 ultrabook, which is similar in looks with S7, except not having the Gorilla glass. Its display is similar to that of S7 last year (IPS 1080p touchscreen) which is not half bad either. The S3 will also have the 4th gen Haswell processors, and an option of adding Nvidia GT735 GPU.

S7 is priced starting at €1450 , while the S3 is priced at €999, which is pretty competitive enough for Macbook series, though we have to surely look at WWDC for the next gen Macbook Pro .

The 'world's thinnest Laptop' unveiled by Razer

The well known gaming peripherals manufacturers has been putting quite some work in new waters, with first   unveiling the Edge gaming tablet, and now what they claim to be the 'thinnest gaming laptop' - the Razr Blade , at a thickness of 0.66" (16.8mm). Thickness is one thing, but what matters more is the performance , for a device dedicated for hardcore gaming, and believe me, the laptop is gonna seriously slice the competition.


The 14 inch HD+ LED screen has a resolution of 1600 X 900. Powered by the to-be-launched Intel 4th Generation Processors, named as Haswell, it surely has beaten Apple, which was looking to try to be the first to unveil a 4th Gen processor powered laptop , in the next of the Macbook series. Leaving that aside, the Blade has the muscle power of the latest NVidia GeForce GTX 765M GPU 2GB GDDR5 VRAM , which is more than enough to take on anything you throw at it, and that means something really.



Razer Blade has 8GB DDR3 RAM, and storage in form of SATA III SSD only, with 128, 256 and 512GB variants. It has USB 3.0 ports, and supports Bluetooth 4.0 . You can preorder the laptop from tomorrow, that is June 3 , at a pretty decent starting price of $1800,  with higher price for higher SSD storage.

You can check out the official video below. Do comment and rate it, and stay tuned for the latest updates in the world of technolgy





Source : Razer

Check what you take when you cough, say anaesthetists

The normal cough syrups or lozenges that you may take for that common cold induced cough may end you in a tight spot in a future surgery,thats what the Australian anaesthetists say. A group of anaesthetists , led by Dr Helen Crilly, have asked the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration to ban around 53 various cough medicines and lozenges , which contain opioid cough suppressant pholcodine, the prolonged use of whose has been researched to lead to allergic reaction during surgeries upon administration of muscle relaxants.

1 in 10000 people were found to show anaphylaxis normally during surgeries upon giving muscle relaxants, the number increasing to 1 in 6000 in case of patient exposed to pholcodine containing medications. Though fatalities are low, at 1-2% , but the anaphylaxis could cause brain damage in other cases.

There is quite some reason to believe that pholcodine is the culprit for the increased allergic response to the muscle relaxants. In US, where cough suppressants do not contain the opioid, the incidences of anaphylaxis are less. Also, it was found that the cases for anaphylaxis to muscle relaxants decreased in Norway after pholcodine containing cough medications were banned there.

Though there is scope for more work to be done to actually come up with a solid association between the two, the evidence up till now can be considered bewaring enough for patients to check on their dosages.

Microsoft ammends ways, surface pro now in 256GB version launched

Image Source : microsoft.com

There was an interesting fact about the windows 8 powered Microsoft Surface Pro tablet, that the 64GB version actually offers only 28GB of usable storage space, after taking into count the space pre-booked for the OS and its updates. Combined with the fact that the tablet does not have a microSD slot, this was one of the super criticized points. And it seems Microsoft has learned something from the mistake, and have launched a 256GB storage space containing Surface Pro, in Japan. Incidentally, this tablet is a replacement for the 64GB model, as the latter was not launched there at all.

The 256GB Surface Pro costs around $1175 , converting from its cost in yen (119,800 yen), and will be available with exclusive Touch covers when it gets into the market on June 7. A 128GB model will also be available. To remind our readers, the Surface Pro is an Intel Core i5 processor powered, tablet, which doubles up as a laptop with a dockable keyboard. The multi touch screen also supports stylus, the same type as the S Pen in case of Samsung Note series of devices.

Although launched in Japan, there is no official word as to the availability of the 256GB version in other parts of the world, as to which we will constantly keep you updated. 

Samsung Galaxy S4 mini launched - compared with S4

After what seemed an ages of speculations since the launch of Galaxy S4, finally Samsung has officially launched the trimmed down device , the Galaxy S4 Mini , which according to JK Shin,  CEO, IT and Mobile communication division at Samsung, is " for more compact and practical usages" .

So to what extent exactly has Samsung trimmed down the S4 here? Well, frankly quite a bit. With a 4.3 inch qHD Super AMOLED display in contrast to the 5 inch of the S4, it weighs a light 107g , 23g lighter than the S4. Coming to the processor, the S4 mini is powered by a 1.7 GHz dual core processor, which though won't let users feel much difference in normal use, but surely can be expected to be not as fast as the Quad or Octa core processor of the S4 , but only in terms of some processor hungry apps which may show up in the future. For now, based on the data itself, its difficult to imagine the extent of difference that would show up in usage, if any that is.

The S4 sports an internal memory of 8 GB expandable to 64 GB, and a RAM of 1.5 GB. The camera of the S4 mini is also at a lower level, at 8MP for the rear one, and 1.9 MP for the front camera, both supporting HD recording. The OS will be the same as S4, being the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. The battery is of a lower capacity as well , at 1900 mAh.



In terms of software feature, the S4 mini will hold in itself the same characteristic set of apps as the S4 to give a similar 'life companion' experience , like the Sound&shot feature , integrated ChatOn , Samsung Hub, WatchOn, Samsung Link (available in select countries), apart from apps like S Travel and Google Mobile services. S Health, Adapt Display and Adapt Sound are few health apps downloadable from the Samsung apps site.

It will be in 3 variants, 4G LTE, 3GHSPA+ or dual sim 3G, and with the kind of specs we are seeing, it should ideally see a decent price cut as well, 'coz consumers won't be impressed at all without this one, in the light of how the device stands up to S4. Though yeah, it still is more than a match for S3 in itself, so not too disappointing it is. It can be considered a decent smartphone , as long as it has a justifiable price tag.

How To Know You're Getting The Best Mobile Security

Image source : smallbiztechnology.com

Mobile security is a tricky subject that many people don’t fully understand. While a good security app should be similar to a desktop security program, there should also be some additional features like an SD card scanner and SIM card lock to protect your mobile device. These are the features and options that you should look for if you want the best mobile security app.

Scan Everything
The mobile security app should be able to scan everything so that it can alert you if you are about to download a virus. This doesn’t just include files from the Internet. It should also include apps from official and third-party sources, external files from your computer and any other file that you are about to download.

The app should also be able to scan SD cards. Many hackers give out free SD cards that are infected because the virus will infect your device as soon as you insert the card. A scanner will be able to check the card to see if there are any malicious files.

Most mobile security apps can scan files, but sometimes the scanner is limited and it can only check files from the browser. This is good, but not good enough if you want the best security.

SIM Card Lock
While many people are worried about hackers, the truth is that theft is more common than hacking. It’s relatively common for someone to steal a phone, switch the SIM card and then use the device. Normally there is nothing that can stop this type of activity, but a good security app will have a SIM card lock feature.

This will lock the phone if a new SIM card is entered so that the person cannot use your phone. You can change the SIM card if needed, but you must enter a password to keep the phone from locking.

Phishing Protection
Phishing is much more common on mobile devices because people tend to fall for these scams more often if they see the phishing message through a mobile device. This reason for this is that users often trust the sender more if they see the message on their smartphone. Another reason for this is because most smartphones are connected to an email inbox, social media accounts and other messaging services.

This feature will ensure that you don’t give away your personal information and it will also block common phishing messages.

Constant Updates
Some free and poorly supported mobile security apps are rarely updated. This is a problem because hackers are always creating new viruses and exploiting programming bugs to infiltrate mobile devices. The best mobile security app should have constant updates so that the app is as ready as possible to stop a hacker and block malware.

The app should at least have monthly updates. Weekly updates are better, but even many of the best apps don’t offer this frequency.

Locate Device and Remote Wipe
Phones are much easier to steal than desktops or laptops. They also tend to contain more sensitive information. A good security app should help you find your device if you lost it. This is usually done by sending a GPS signal that can be easily tracked from another smartphone or computer.

The app should also allow you to remotely wipe the information stored on the smartphone. This means that the thief won’t be able to access or steal the information on your device because it will all be erased.

Continuous Scanning
The last feature that you should look for is continuous scanning. The app should keep checking your device to see if there is any malicious activity occurring behind the scenes. Many viruses will remain dormant until you do a certain action. The app should be able to block and remove the virus before it becomes active so that it doesn’t hurt your device.

Conclusion
There are many great mobile security apps available for users, but you must ensure that you are getting a comprehensive one if you want to keep your device safe. Constant updates and the ability to scan everything isn’t enough. The app should also consider problems that are unique to mobile devices like theft and SD cards.


About the author : Katelyn Roberts works with Sarah Hendricks who is a security expert on protecting users and businesses from hackers and data leakage. Users in the office, at home, or working remotely are all subject to attack. Sarah has teamed up with Mobile antivirus software at NQ.com anti virus software to keep mobile devices protected nation wide!

With Intel Haswell, laptops to get a major battery life boost

This is what Intel itself claims, according to whom, the 4th generation Haswell processors are going to be a great upgrade over the Ivy Bridge microarchitecture in terms of being as much as 20 times more energy efficient, without compromising on the performance side. That would be a much sought relief to consumers as well as laptop and macbook manufacturers, who have been facing the battery life issue for quite some time, temporarily though.
The Haswell processors , with the nanoseconds ticking, are going to be launched next month at the Computex show in Taipei.
With this launch will start a race among the laptop manufacturers to offer the latest of intel 'inside' , and from current speculations, Apple could be winning this race this time, with its Macbook range looking towards being among the first to get the 4th gen Haswell upgrade. according to reports, which are going to see the light of the day at WWDC (Apple Worldwide Developers Conference) on June 10

Source : Techradar, ComputerWorld

Who Is To Blame For All The Malware In 2013?

Image Source : pcmag

You know those Trojan horses and other viruses, worms, and malicious software that somehow end up on your computer? It is said over and over again that these objects are planted by people, organizations, and companies that have nothing better to do. However, where does most of the malware originate?

Top Malware-Producing Locations Worldwide
According to some of the latest Infographics produced, China, the United States, South Korea, Russia, and Taiwan are the top five producers and spreaders of malware. Is this a surprise to people? That is a discussion for another time.
Here is a look at some numbers brought to you by the Alien Vault Open Threat Exchange Program (in number of malicious ip addresses):

• China- 95,249
• United States- 60,346
• South Korea- 16,115
• Russia- 13,367
• Taiwan- 12,504

Common Malware Distribution Routes

Malware (a.k.a. Viruses, spyware, Trojan horses, worms) can infect a computer in many different ways. However, it usually follows some common distribution paths.

• Direct infection-This type is becoming too obvious so it is more rare than the other usual ways of dispensing malware onto computers. Still, it is worth mentioning because sometimes malicious operators still feel like they have nothing to hide—including viruses they intentionally decide not to hide in a file. 

• Indirect infection via .exe file-Many people become a victim of a seemingly “innocent” free software download. Usually the infection is not spread until the user attempts to open the file to install and run it. However, sometimes the infection starts even while the software is still downloading. The less-evil forms of this kind of infection are the software packages with free toolbars and gadgets that seem to sneak onto your start menu, desktop, and task bar before you have the chance to say “no.” At the very least, it slows down your computer. At the worst, it infects it with a nasty virus.

• .PDF, .Zip and .RAR files-The infection for these file extensions starts in a similar way as does for the downloading and/or installation of .exe programs. The malware is delivered to the computer either during the download or installation process—or perhaps both. The level of severity ranges from spy and tracking devices all the way up to full-on PC infection.

• HTML or flash content-Right there on any given web page or multimedia video could exist viruses, spyware, worms, and more. It's hard to detect unless you have a program on your computer that alerts you of such. Website owners are highly advised to have their content protected with a scanner. They also should alert visitors to help them feel secure about visiting a particular page or domain.

Other Viral and Malicious Surprises

You may not even realize it, but most of the common viruses and malware are associated with popular operating systems. Harmful content that infects computers are more often than not derived from Windows and Mac OS components.

It should also be noted that that the top five types of malware worldwide include as follows:

• Scanning host-580521
• Malware domain-201177
• Malware ip-71890
• Spamming-61389
• Malicious host-51477

This information is provided by Alien Vault's Open Threat Exchange program. It was derived from records ranging from the dates February 2oth to July 20th, 2012.

Malware is Everywhere

Malware is not just in the five major countries mentioned earlier in this article. It exists everywhere, and you need to do your part to stay safe. Scan your computer as often as possible and be very careful what e-mails you open, what links you click, and what sites you visit.


Guest Author: Erin Walsh is the Director of Public Relations for Boost Software. She is an avid blogger that enjoys sharing her knowledge with the everyday computer user, by helping them with common errors especially error 1722, error 1719, error 0x80070424, and error 0x80004004. She also specializes in helping pc users update drivers, especially the most problematic ones such as toshiba drivers, no sound, motherboard drivers, chipset drivers, lenovo drivers, nvidia drivers and hp drivers.

Waterless Urinals; 'Ur-ine' For A Surprise!

Yes, it may sound odd that an unpleasant body fluid can be effortlessly disposed of in a urinal without the assistance of any water and, additionally, not leave behind any objectionable odor.  Well, thanks to the wonders of technology, waterless urinals are becoming increasingly popular; and the technology is astoundingly simple.

How Does It Work?

The simplicity of the workings of a waterless urinal is sheer genius.  ‘Simple’ and ‘genius’ at the same time?  It might sound like a paradox, but it’s really not.  The process goes like this:
1) Urine flows down the waterless bowl and goes through a special strainer.
2) The urine continues its flow through a special sealing liquid which is nothing more than an oil-based fluid.  In fact, even vegetable oil could serve as the oil component.
3) The urine collects in a waste pipe, below.
Now, here is where it gets quite interesting.  Since urine is denser than oil, your high-school science class would tell you that oil, then, would be the liquid that would produce the top layer or ‘floating’ layer. The  heavier-weight urine will remain below the lighter-weight oil; and once this happens, the urine is, in essence, trapped under the oil.  Then…
4) Any air bubbles will rise to the top and escape, which leaves the urine in a virtual oxygen-depleted environment.  The odor is trapped under the oil and has no way to escape out into the room.
5) Once the urine is trapped in the waste pipe, simple displacement sends it into the regular plumbing system. It’s important to note, also, that urine combined with water helps to heighten the natural odor of the urine.   With water lacking, the odors, yet again, are absolutely minimized.

Speed of Urine-Flow Is Key:

One might wonder why the urine hitting the oiled fluid doesn’t break the sealing liquid just enough and, therefore, allow odors to quickly escape.  That thought was taken into account and the potential for that problem was eliminated.  Due to the urinal’s design, the urine is slowed down just enough before it hits the oil; and, in addition, the flow speed is minimized due to no water being present in the bowl.

Two Types of Waterless Urinals:

There are two varieties of waterless urinals, cartridge based and non-cartridge based.  The cartridge based units use a replaceable, pre-filled cartridge that holds the sealing liquid.  Eventually, in any waterless urinal, the sealing liquid becomes ineffective and new cartridges are effortlessly inserted, within minutes, into the units.  Non-cartridge based urinals simply have new oil introduced into the drain hole of the unit.  The oil, on its own, settles as it should.

Water—It Needs To Be Conserved:

Here are some startling facts concerning water, which make the utilization of waterless urinals even more compelling:
Fact #1:  Global demand for water will outweigh supply by 40% once 2030 rolls around
Fact #2:  Americans flush away 5.7 billion gallons of clean drinking water every 24 hours
Fact #3:  A single flush, even from a low-flush toilet in the U.S., uses 6 liters of water which equates to 1.6 gallons of clean drinking water
Fact #4:  Less than 2% of the water on earth is the water humans and land animals need to survive
And a big pat on the back should go to the designers of the new Dodger’s Stadium that underwent a $100 Million renovation—an impressive transformation project that included all waterless urinals in the men’s restrooms—Now, THAT’s a homerun!
Many companies like Clearwater Plumbing are very savvy with this technology so finding a competent contractor these days is not too challenging.  Waterless urinals herald a major breakthrough in clean, efficient, waterless technology.  That technology saves money, saves water and saves the environment!

Karen spent her career on teaching and is now enjoying her retirement in Nebraska where she writes about Fort Worth plumbers and many other topics.

Transcription Systems And Client Data Management Systems

No matter what kind of business you are running, you will have some kind of a transcription service provider who is providing you transcription services. These services may be provided to you via human based transcription agents or software based digital transcription or some kind of mix up of these methods. Ideally, your transcription company would have given you a control panel of sorts which allows you complete control about managing your transcription needs.
Depending on the service provider, they may provide you with a simple set of tools and attached services. On demand, they could provide you with more powerful tools. Either way, some of the general facilities can become tricky to use if you aren’t familiar with the concept.

Login Credentials
A control panel for your data – audio and text – is provided to you by default. One way of understanding this control panel is to think of it like your email Inbox on the web. In your web mail, you do all your mail scenarios like checking for new content, replying to folks, organizing content into folders and other mail related activities.
Similarly the transcription control panel allows you to do the various transcription scenario tasks.  There are three tasks that come to our mind right away. Two of them involve uploading and removing audio files that are submitted for transcription. The other task is the process of downloading text files that contain the transcript information. While these are the basic tasks, there are a lot of additional tasks that can be performed.
Before we can get into that, a few more words about login credentials. If the quantum of transcription that your company generates is huge, then it is not feasible for one person to handle everything in the control panel. In this case, the transcription company will provide you with multiple login credentials. In most cases, the main person, which is probably you, will be given full administrative rights. Other users of the same control panel may have limited access.
For instance, users with standard login privileges may only be able to see the transcript text files and cannot really make any changes or delete files. You could also designate access areas like some users of a particular business department being able to access certain files only. These are advanced features which may not be available from all transcription companies.

Additional Tasks
Earlier we mentioned how there are additional tasks that are possible via the control panel. These are minor enhancements and don’t mean much on their own. However, when taken together, they make a world of difference.
The uploading system allows you to upload files directly from your computer directly to the transcription company’s facilities. An enhancement that is available from some transcription service providers is that they update each file with an estimated time of completion. For instance, if you should update some dozen hours of audio recording, in a few minutes of time, the file status would be updated with an estimated time of processing.
This may not mean much to you but when you are dealing with hundreds of audio files, it will help you in a grand way to know when a particular file would be completed. A scenario to illustrate this would be to know that you have about a hundred files in queue for transcription. You notice that the very first file in the queue has a transcription time of ten hours while the rest have transcription times ranging from a few minutes to half an hour.
If you want to, you can prioritize the files right there from the control panel. If such an option is not available, you can always fire away an email to the service company to put that lengthy file at the end of the queue so as to speed up the other files. There will always be times when this minor feature could end up playing a key role.

Freedom To Manage
A nice thing about these web based control panels is that they are web based. Your control panel which gives you control to your information is just like any other website such as yahoo or google. You can visit these sites from your home computer, work PC, tablet, mobile phone and any other device you use to access the internet.
This means, you can be productive while on the move. More and more of us are finding ourselves working while we are mobile. Our workforce is getting mobile. So, web based control panels are a simple but effective system.
The author dictates a lot of his work and audio typing turns it into text. For such audio typing service conveniences, he always turns to the best in the business, 1st Class.

Intel 4th gen Core processors launch date announced–quite some nanoseconds that is

Source : Intel Twitter Official

Well Intel has announced the time left for the launch of the 4th generation member of the uber successful Core series of processors, named Haswell , and as you can see in the pic, that is the value in terms of nanoseconds. For your convenience, I calculated it down, and it ends up being 38 days from now. Frankly, its really hard to keep excitement down for me, because you can safely expect your personal computer and lappy to break some power limiters with the 4th gen monster inside.

If you remember from earlier, Intel  4th gen processors are to get a voice and gesture control option in them . The Haswell has the same 22 nm microarchitecture as the 3rd gen Ivy Bridge, but it has better energy efficiency, more power (double the CPU and GPU as Ivy Bridge), and many expected security advancements. It will be upto a quad core version only, inspite of many wanting octa core PC’s after Exynos 5 Octa core in Samsung Galaxy S4, but that will be the case for the Intel 5th generation Broadwell , which will be made in 14nm microarchitecture. Though I am wishing for things to reach to 16 cores by then. Intel 4th gen Haswell has , by the way, new cache design, and more excitingly, possible support for the 20GB/s Thunderbolt !!!

Overall, the reason I postponed buying a laptop has at last arrived, and maybe we will see some great devices with ‘Intel inside’. Stay tuned for the latest updates on this new family of processors, as well as devices powered by them.

Get ready for a flexible LG smartphone this year

LG is set to launch a smartphone with flexible OLED display by the end of this year, as told by LG VP Yoon Bu hyun . This is sure to complement the fact that LG is to launch curved televisions, which seems a stupid idea at first, but closer inspection reveals that curved TV can be interesting enough to wait for at least. But talking about the smartphone, this surely marks the start of the flexible devices era, with earlier reports coming on Samsung using ‘flexible’ plastic OLED display in the Note 3.But hey stop your fantasies again, though I admit the image does inspire some really wild ones, but though we know the LG device will have  a flexible screen, we don’t know HOW flexible it will be…. and that , along with our knowledge of the fact that we don’t have flexible internal components, tells us that we need to reign our dream horses , as we may end up just seeing a slightly curved, laterally or out of plane, device. Well we will keep you updated on this, and everything latest in the ‘flexitech’ domain.

 

Source : Techradar

Samsung Galaxy S4 for $168!!!!

 

Samsung Galaxy S4, yeah the latest one, and yeah I am not bonkers here, is being offered up for an ultra humble $168, by Walmart. Now when I heard this, the first thing that went off at 140 dB in my brain was – WHAT IS THE CATCH??? Well the catch is a 2 year contract that is bundled up with the device, with AT&T , apart from a few pre booking steps to learn and conquer.
 The method is -

1. Purchase a $25 pre order card
2. Wait with your heart thumping at high rates and suffer the torments  of high norepinephrine in your blood till a Walmart rep contacts you upon the phone arriving at the store
3. Orders then get filled on first come first serve basis
4. Purchase the phone, and then use the $25 card on something else ( that’s not funny I know)

The device will be available with Sprint at $249, though if you switch from another carrier, you get a $100 instant credit, T-Mobile at $149, Verizon, US cellular , Spire and Cricket as well, whose pricing is not yet known. It is to be understood that buying directly from AT&T will cost $199 , a tad costlier (look at me saying that word here! xD) than walmart one. For small kiddies with less pocket money , or maybe for some people who for some unfathomable reasons don’t want the S4 , you can get S3 at $39.88 with 2 year contract with AT7T or Verizon.

I sooooooooo wish I lived in US !!!! *sigh*

Nvidia Tegra 4 gets ready to rock the specs chart, powering the ZTE N988

ZTE is set to launch the first Nvidia Tegra 4 powered smartphone, named the ZTE N988 , which according to GSM Insider, has got the necessary approvals from Chinese approval authorities. The device is set to make some shivers run through the smartphone giants' camps, of the likes of Samsung, Apple, HTC with the 5.7 inch 1280 x 720 resolution sceened device , powered by 1.5 quad core GHz Tegra 4 processor, which as we know is WAY ahead of the Tegra 3, 2 gigs of RAM, has a 13 MP shooter with LED flash, and comes with Android 4.1.2. What's more, it is even lighter than the Apple IPhone 5, at 110 g.
No word on the price or date of release, but it is expected to set out in July this year.
So clearly one to watch out for, due to the fact that ZTE is known for its reasonable price devices.