Metodo de medicion de combustible en una embarcacion fluvial.

Se expone una forma de mejorar el método de medición de combustible en una embarcación fluvial, específicamente en un remolcador. El marco de referencia sobre el que se basa este artículo, es la estrategia utilizada para establecer la cantidad de combustible presente en los tanques de la embarcación. El método que hasta el momento se viene utilizando, produce un error influenciado por factores de perturbación, como la inclinación y la forma de tanqueo del remolcador. Se buscó desarrollar un método alternativo que redujera el error entre el combustible entregado y el medido en la embarcación. Este nuevo método logró ser independiente de la inclinación sin necesidad de utilizar un inclinómetro o instrumento de medida de ángulos.
Palabras claves: medición de niveles, centroide, punto de sondeo, sensores de presión.
Abstract
This paper exposes a way to improve the method of fuel measurement in a river vessel, specifically a tugboat. The framework of this article is the need of a strategy to establish the amount of fuel volume that is contained in the tanks of the tugboat. The method, that have been used so far, produces errors influenced by disturbance factors such as the inclination and the shape of the tanks of the tugboat. It is needed to develop an alternative method that reduces the error between the fuel which is provided by the suppliers and the measured one in the tugboat. This new method tries to be independent of the inclination of the boat with no need of using a clinometer or instrument of angle measurement.
Key words: level measurement, centroid, test point, pressure sensors.
1 Introducción
El marco de trabajo en el cual surge este método de medida de combustible es el desarrollo de un proyecto en la modalidad universidad--empresa. El proyecto denominado "Sistema de Telemetría para Remolcadores", involucra una empresa del sector carbonero de la región caribe colombiana y la Universidad del Norte como centro de desarrollo tecnológico, y comprende: la construcción de un sistema de adquisición de señales, el desarrollo de un sistema de posicionamiento de la embarcación y la creación de un sistema de gestión de operaciones del remolcador.
La necesidad más importante que la empresa desea suplir con el desarrollo del proyecto, es el monitoreo continuo de la cantidad de galones de combustible en los tanques de los remolcadores, que permita tomar decisiones desde el punto de vista logístico, que apunten a la reducción del rubro correspondiente a gastos operacionales del estado de pérdidas y ganancias. Este proyecto, concebido para el desarrollo de un prototipo, involucra un remolcador con seis tanques de combustible repartidos uniformemente, es decir, tres a cada lado de la embarcación. Si bien los tanques son iguales con respecto a su contraparte del otro lado, los tanques de un flanco del remolcador son diferentes entre sí y no son prismas rectangulares rectos. Adicionalmente, debido a que el medio en el cual el remolcador se encuentra trabajando permite modificaciones en el plano horizontal del marco de referencia de la embarcación, el método de medición del nivel de combustible que se seguía hasta el inicio del proyecto, incluía errores que afectaban la operación logística de la empresa. De esta forma, se desarrolla un método experimental de medición, lo más independiente posible, de inclinaciones proa-popa y estribor-babor.
En la sección (2) se presentan la configuración de los tanques del remolcador que funcionó como prototipo, sus formas, método de medida empleado hasta entonces y los problemas que involucraba.
Posteriormente, en la sección (3), se presentan los conceptos matemáticos que permitieron la búsqueda y desarrollo de un método alternativo, así como la elección de una estrategia de sensado conveniente para el caso particular.
En la sección (4) se presenta un resumen del desarrollo de la estrategia con base en lo expuesto en la sección (3). Finalmente, en la sección (5) se muestran los resultados y conclusiones.
(2) Antecedentes: tanques y sus propiedades, método de medida anterior
El remolcador utilizado para el desarrollo del sistema prototipo, cuenta con dos motores de propulsión, dos generadores eléctricos y seis tanques de almacenamiento de combustible, denominados bodegas. Las bodegas se encuentran repartidas de forma tal que las tres de un flanco sirven al motor y/o generador del lado correspondiente. Las bodegas se denominan, de proa a popa: bodega 1, bodega 2 y bodega 3, adjuntando a la clasificación la palabra estribor o babor, dependiendo de la ubicación del tanque, tal y como se muestra en la figura (1).

Blind deconvolution of the aortic pressure waveform using the Malliavin calculus

1. Introduction

In this paper, we present a new approach to monitor central arterial pressure using the Multichannel Blind Deconvolution (MBD)[1, 2]. A multichannel blind deconvolution problem can be considered as natural extension or generalization of instantaneous Blind Source Separation (BSS) problem [3, 4]. The problem of BSS has received wide attention in various fields such as signal analysis and processing of speech, image [5, 6], and biomedical signals, especially, signal extraction, enhancement, denoising, model reduction, and classification problems [7-9].

The MBD is the technique that allows the estimation of both an unknown input and unknown channel dynamics from only channel outputs. Although one cannot place a sensor [10] to directly measure the input, yet, it may be recovered from the outputs that are simultaneously measured at the multiple branches of the system. The MBD technique distinguishes itself from other techniques that apply a predetermined transfer function [11, 12] to interpret sensor data. The other techniques cannot account for individual differences nor can they account for dynamic changes in the subject's physiologic state.

The physiologic state of the cardiovascular (CV) system can be most accurately assessed by using the aortic blood pressure or CAP [7, 13, 14] and flow. However, standard measurement of these signals, such as catheter, entails costly and risky surgical procedures. Therefore, most of the practically applicable methods aim to monitor the CV system based on peripheral circulatory signals, for example, arterial blood pressure at a distant site. Various methods have been developed to relate the peripheral signals to the CV state. These include blind deconvolution [15-17] methods for recovering the CAP signal from the upper-limb arterial blood pressure, and the estimation of CV parameters such as left ventricular elasticity, end diastolic volume, total peripheral resistance (TPR), and mean aortic flow from arterial BP measurement [18, 19]. A chronic challenge of these previous methods is that the dynamics of the CV system, which relates the aortic and peripheral signals, is unknown and time-varying as well. So this problem turns out to be an ill-posed system identification problem because we are asked to identify both the unknown system dynamics and input signal using the output signal measurement alone.

Because of the practical difficulty in measuring the arterial pressure waveform near the heart [13, 15, 20], several mathematical transformation methods have been developed based on a generalized transfer function approach [21, 22]. Over the years many methods have been suggested for blind deconvolution for estimating central aortic pressure and flow [3, 9, 19, 23, 24]. One of the most popular and effective techniques is to assume an FIR model [1] and IIR model [18, 19, 25] for the modulating channels/paths and to estimate the coefficients [26] of this model. Through the inversion of the FIR filter, we get the original source signals. The principal assumption underlying these methods is that the arterial tree properties are constant over time and between individuals. A few methods have therefore been more recently developed towards "individualizing" the transfer function [1, 12, 21 ] relating peripheral artery pressure to central aortic pressure. These methods essentially involve (1) modeling the transfer function [11, 23] with physiologic parameters, (2) estimating a subset of the model parameters [7,15] from the peripheral arterial pressure waveforms and/or other measurements from an individual while assuming values for the remaining parameters, (3) constructing a transfer function based on the estimated and assumed parameter values [26], and(4) applying the transfer function to the measured peripheral arterial pressure waveforms to predict the corresponding central aortic pressure waveform. While these methods attempt to determine a transfer function that is specific to an individual over a particular time period, only a partial individualization is actually obtained. Perhaps, as a result, these methods have found only limited success with results not much, if at all, better than the generalized transfer function approach.

In this paper, we suggest characterizing the channels of the single-input, multi-output system model of the arterial tree by linear and time-variant FIR filters. If we make only one of the FIR filter parameters changing over time, then the problem is handled by the Ito calculus [27,28], while, if we make more than one of the FIR filter parameters changing over time, then the problem could be handled by the Malliavin calculus [29] as we propose in this paper.

This way, the ambiguity in the order of the impulse response is compensated by the time variations of the filter parameters [29-31].

In this paper, we introduce a method that could estimate time-varying parameters/coefficients. It is based on the stochastic calculus of variations (Malliavin calculus) 28, 32-35]. We derive a closed-form expression for the unknown time varying FIR filter parameters by using the Clark-Ocone formula [30]. This will enable us to find a stochastic differential equation (SDE) for each unknown time-varying parameter of the FIR filter. Each SDE is function of PAP and some other unknown deterministic parameters. The unknown deterministic parameters are estimated through Monte Carlo simulation methods.

The proposed method is then applied to noninvasive monitoring of the cardiovascular system of the swine. The arterial network is modeled as a multichannel system where the CAP is the input and pressure profiles measured at different branches of the artery, for example, radial and femoral arteries, are the outputs. The proposed method would allow us to estimate both the waveform of the input pressure and the arterial channel dynamics from outputs obtained with noninvasive sensors placed at different branches of the arterial network. Numerical examples verify the major theoretical results and the feasibility of the method. In Section 2, we describe the blind deconvolution problem, conventional solution methods. In Section 3 we introduce the proposed method based on the Malliavin calculus. In Section 4, we present the results for the reconstruction of single-input CAP from two distant measures outputs PAP. Finally in Section 5, we provide summary and conclusions. The Appendix contains the technical derivations of the proposed method.

2. Problem Formulation

2.1. Multichannel Dynamic Systems

The cardiovascular system is topologically analogous to a multichannel dynamic system. Pressure wave emanating from a common source, the heart, is broadcast and transmitted through the many vascular pathways. Therefore, noninvasive circulatory measurements taken at different locations (as shown in Figure 3) can be treated as multichannel data and processed with an MBD algorithm. Figure 1 illustrates, in a block diagram form, the relation between the central aortic pressure waveform u(t) and the peripheral arterial pressure waveforms [y.sub.i] (t). The arterial channels [h.sub.i](t) relating the common input to each output represent the vascular dynamic properties of different arterial tree paths as characterized by finite impulse responses (FIRs). The main idea is therefore to determine the absolute central aortic pressure waveform within an arbitrary scale factor by mathematically analyzing two or more PAP waveforms or related signals so as to extract their common features. An ancillary idea is to then determine the parameters of the determined central aortic pressure waveform.

We estimate the FIR filter coefficients by the conventional methods in Section 2.2. We introduce our proposed method that is based on Malliavin calculus in Section 3. We will be working in the probability space ([OMEGA], F, P). To simplify the exposure, we shall assume that we have only two measurements outputs of a modulated version of the source signal that are given as

[y.sub.1](t) = [h.sub.1] (t) * tu() + [[epsilon].sub.1](t), (2.1)

[y.sub.2](t) = [h.sub.2] (t) * tu() + [[epsilon].sub.2](t), (2.2)

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

where u(t) is the unknown source signal (central AP), [h.sub.1](t) and [h.sub.2](t) are unknown filters (hemodynamic response at time t) or arterial paths, "*" is the convolution operation, [y.sub.1](t) (femoral AP) and [y.sub.2](t)(radial AP) are the observed measurements, and [[epsilon].sub.1](t) and [[epsilon].sub.2](t) are the measurements noise. The objective is to deconvolve [y.sub.1](t) and

Make Mobile Phone Batteries Last Longer

There is certainly nothing more irksome than having the cell phone die out when you are midway in an important conversation. Almost all users of mobile phones have had this experience. The tiny battery indicator appears to be on full charge but then suddenly drops off the display without any forewarning. We do find that some cell phone batteries last much longer than others. The only possible reason for this must be how you care for and maintain your battery. We have to learn from those whose battery live longer their secret technique.
It is quite likely that all batteries are as different as the phones they come with. But there should not be seriously different when it comes to the power they supply. It is reported that an average life expectancy a well-maintained cell phone battery can be range between 350-400 full charge cycles. In other words, if you find it necessary to re-charge your mobile daily, then you should expect to get anything from 12 to 14 months of effective use. After this time you should reasonably expect to see the battery deteriorate and lose its power faster over time. Much depends how frequently you use your mobile. If you use your mobile less often and therefore only need to recharge it every 2 or 3 days, then you could see the life or your battery last even beyond two years.
The assured way to get the most out of your cell phone battery is to adhere strictly to the manufacturers charging instructions. If you disregard the instructions, then you can only have a shorter life expectancy of your battery. Besides, the battery will also lose charge much quicker. So remember to scrupulously follow the initial charging instructions as they are contained in the user manual. Usually the manufacturers recommend you to allow the battery to completely lose all of its charge before the first recharge.
Sharp changes in temperature can also reduce the life-span of your cell phone battery. Little realizing this fact, most people leave phone in the car during extreme weather conditions - both hot as well as cold weather. Yet another mistake most cell phone users commit is to leave their phone plugged into the car's charger at all times. What these people need to know is that every time the engine is restarted, the phone starts a charge cycle unnecessarily thus wasting a charge cycle. Please bear in mind that cell phone batteries only have a fixed number of charge cycles before they begin to wither away. But it should also be said that your battery could deteriorate if you do not charge it often enough.
If you are an occasional user, you may let it keep losing all of its charge as often as possible. If you are planning not to use your phone or you are going to an area where there is no signal, then the right thing is to turn off the phone. This is the most effective and simplest way of prolonging battery life. You should – even more so - switch off when you are in a roaming area as constant search for a signal depletes the battery faster. Also make sure to turn off the vibrate mode and use only the ring mode. The vibrate mode consumes a lot of power and rapidly drains the battery. Even the ring volume must be kept as low as possible.

Turn off your phone’s rear light. The back light may make the phone easier to read but this light also uses battery power. If you switch off the light, your battery will surely last longer. Minimize the use of all fancy features. Avoid using the camera, internet and games. Accessing these features will result in a large drain on the battery. Bluetooth should also be turned off when not in use as it also drains your battery fast.

Advancing your Career

To survive and prosper in current competitive setting, it is not only what you know. Also, you have to be qualified. You must excel the crowd - be impressive, memorable,  credible, liked and trusted. Maya Sullivan once said that success is not a destination, but this is a journey. Follow the provided tips to better your career. 1. Surpass expectations; deliver your results on head of time. 2. You should manage your time efficaciously. 3. You need to make a career plan with training requirements and goals. 4. Also, you need to move away from daily operations. 5. It is recommended to develop strong relations with your colleagues, senior executives/managers. 6. Find a mentor and accept guidance in the career. 7. In addition, you should know the organization's goals vision, business strategies, values. 8. Create options to further business/own goals. 9. Solicit feedback plus evaluate the decision for targets of continuous improvement. 10. Effectively communicate to people at various levels of the organization. 11. Create and maintain rapport with people who might influence the work. 12. Plan, prioritize and arrange your work. 13. You should manage your own reactions and emotions. 14. Balance the requirements of your professional and personal life. 15. You need to give yourself quarterly observations, identify the accomplishments. 16. Become your sales team and market your capabilities. 17. Devote yourself to womb-to-tomb learning. 18. Be action oriented and decisive. 19. You should commit to professionalism and excellence. 20. And at last you ought to be self-disciplined

Free Laptop- How To Get Your Hands On One!

If you are a bit skeptical about the veracity of some advertisements on the internet about free laptops, you have all the reason to be and nobody is blaming you for thinking that way. But what if some people would attest that there are indeed companies who can give away free laptops, what would you do? Well it wouldn’t surprise anyone if you would log on to the internet and find a company who would prove that certain promos really exist and yes, some companies do give out free laptops in exchange for something else, of course.

Laptops are some of the few gadgets that anybody would surely love to have. Almost all people these days need laptops. Students, employees, managers, office workers and people from different walks of life would love to have one in order to make their work easier and to keep abreast with the events in the world. Nobody would be surprised to hear that more and more companies would use laptops for their promos in order to entice their customers or clients to patronize their products or their services.

In the internet you can find a lot of free laptop programs that you can find if you want a free laptop to be given to you. But there’s a catch however. You surely can’t have that laptop just like that, don’t you think so? Well, there’s no need to worry. Nobody will force you to reveal your account numbers and your pertinent information. You don’t have to deposit a certain amount of money in order to have it because if that’s the case, why waste your time and money for a silly promo? Why not buy a laptop right there on laptop stores, right? So what do you need to do? You simply have to subscribe to these free laptop programs and there you’ll have your dream laptop.

To make sure that you are not dealing with a scam, here are few tips you will have to bear in mind.

•Read the whole program. Examine all the details including the terms and the conditions.

•Ask about the hidden information. Verify everything that is written before you finally agree to the terms and conditions.

•Ask about shipping charges and subscription fee.

•Ask if you have to pay for hidden sign-up fee.

•Check on the company’s profile.

•Find out about the different sites that are tested to really give free laptops.

Finally, when you are able to do all of these things, you can have the free laptop that you are wishing for. Not everybody is lucky enough to have the chance, so grab the opportunity by browsing the internet for free laptops programs now!

One last thing to remember that there is no obligation or payment required to sign up with these free laptops offerings. All you need is your email address where you will be getting your verification email. You can use a free hosted email like Hotmail, Gmail, or Yahoo mail which makes it extremely easy to sign up with these programs

Introduction to LCD technology

If you are currently looking for a new monitor or high definition TV, you might have noticed that many are using the LCD technology. This is all fine but what exactly is LCD and how does it affect the image quality?

LCD is an acronym for Liquid Crystal Display a technology used largely on televisions, laptops and computer monitors. It is worth mentioning that LCD is not the same as Plasma although they do produce the same results in terms of image quality.

LCD uses the properties of polarized light to display images. Liquid crystal solution that is divided into individual pixels is inserted between two transparent polarized panels and sandwiched together to form a LCD screen. In the early days the LCD technology was mainly used on small digital products like watches, calculators and portable video game devices. Over the years the technology has been improved considerably and consequently imported to other devices like laptops. It took some time before LCD monitors and TVs became widely available because the earlier models had many drawbacks namely the lack of image quality. This tendency was inverted with the introduction of affordable LCD TVs and monitors.

The new generation of LCD monitors have been improved especially in terms of energy consumption and the much needed image quality. Nowadays the main advantages presented by LCD technology are centered in the fact that it allows the screen to be much thinner than the traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) and consumes less power because they work by blocking light rather than emitting it. The life expectancy of a LCD screen, although it can vary considerably among the different brands, lasts on average for up to 60,000 viewing hours. In the end the LCD technology provides a significantly superior image than the old CRT monitors and TVs.

Research Commentary: Desperately Seeking the "IT" in IT Research—A Call to Theorizing the IT Artifact

The field of information systems is premised on the centrality of information technology in everyday socio-economic life. Yet, drawing on a review of the full set of articles published in Information Systems Research (ISR) over the past ten years, we argue that the field has not deeply engaged its core subject matter—the information technology (IT) artifact. Instead, we find that IS researchers tend to give central theoretical significance to the context (within which some usually unspecified technology is seen to operate), the discrete processing capabilities of the artifact (as separable from its context or use), or the dependent variable (that which is posited to be affected or changed as technology is developed, implemented, and used). The IT artifact itself tends to disappear from view, be taken for granted, or is presumed to be unproblematic once it is built and installed. After discussing the implications of our findings, we propose a research direction for the IS field that begins to take technology as seriously as its effects, context, and capabilities. In particular, we propose that IS researchers begin to theorize specifically about IT artifacts, and then incorporate these theories explicitly into their studies. We believe that such a research direction is critical if IS research is to make a significant contribution to the understanding of a world increasingly suffused with ubiquitous, interdependent, and emergent information technologies

Accounting for the Contradictory Organizational Consequences of Information Technology: Theoretical Directions and Methodological Implications

Daniel Robey, Marie-Claude Boudreau

Department of Computer Information Systems, College of Business Administration, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia 30302-4015
Department of Computer Information Systems, College of Business Administration, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia 30302-4015

Although much contemporary thought considers advanced information technologies as either determinants or enablers of radical organizational change, empirical studies have revealed inconsistent findings to support the deterministic logic implicit in such arguments. This paper reviews the contradictory empirical findings both across studies and within studies, and proposes the use of theories employing a logic of opposition to study the organizational consequences of information technology. In contrast to a logic of determination, a logic of opposition explains organizational change by identifying forces both promoting change and impeding change. Four specific theories are considered: organizational politics, organizational culture, institutional theory, and organizational learning. Each theory is briefly described to illustrate its usefulness to the problem of explaining information technology's role in organizational change. Four methodological implications of using these theories are also discussed: empirical identification of opposing forces, statement of opposing hypotheses, process research, and employing multiple interpretations

A Conceptual and Operational Definition of Personal Innovativeness in the Domain of Information Technology

Ritu Agarwal, Jayesh Prasad

Information and Management Sciences Department, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-1110
University of Dayton, Department of MIS and Decision Sciences, Dayton, Ohio 45469-2130 Key Words: Instrument Development; Innovation; IT Adaption; World-Wide Web; IT Implementation; Personal Innovativeness

The acceptance of new information technologies by their intended users persists as an important issue for researchers and practitioners of information systems. Several models have been developed in the literature to facilitate understanding of the process by which new information technologies are adopted. This paper proposes a new construct that further illuminates the relationships explicit in the technology acceptance models and describes an operational measure for this construct that possesses desirable psychometric properties. The construct, personal innovativeness in the domain of information technology, is hypothesized to exhibit moderating effects on the antecedents as well as the consequences of individual perceptions about a new information technology. The construct was developed and validated in the context of the innovation represented by the World-Wide Web. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Protect Your Computer Against Viruses With a Good Backup Plan

Didn't the antivirus just say it cleaned the infection? So why's it back? Because the antivirus has been taken over by the virus. It can only stop something that it either knows about, or looks like something it's seen before (heuristics). If it didn't catch the virus in the act, it's too late. The warning could have been the virus trying to make you feel like it was removed and not think about it anymore.

But I did everything right!

Most security professionals are brave enough to admit that they've fallen victim to malware once or twice. The delivery mechanisms play on our instincts, and all the knowledge in the world will occasionally fail when we're enticed by something that goes straight to the core of our being.

So you did everything right, and got a virus. Now what?

This is why you back your stuff up

This is why you do it. It's for when all the best practices and precautions fail. Backups are the panic button. You press it and hope your backup scheme was good enough.

You might as well reinstall everything

That's probably not what you wanted to hear. You'll never be sure it's gone unless you restore everything from a clean backup. Find all your installation CDs, get your backup disks, write down what needs to go where and go at it.

You should probably make up a restoration plan in advance of needing it. Even people who always remember to backup often forget to plan the restoration. A restoration plan is a check on the backup plan.

But backing up is hard

It's only hard if you don't plan ahead. As long as you have your operating system and application installation disks, you only need to back your personal files up. This is where good organizational systems shine. If you scatter documents and files all over your hard drive, you'll have a rough time backing up. If you keep it all in a few well-planned paths, you just copy them over to your backup media.

Don't let it happen again

So you've recovered, have your backup and restoration plan, and are more confident. So what now? The best thing you could do is practice not being tricked by deceptive e-mail subjects from malware distributors. Go in to your spam folder and start looking. Seek out lists of common malware spam subjects. If you know your enemy, they're less likely to win again.

The 3 Tips on Laptop Backup Solutions

In this article I give a few tips on how to backup your Laptop. For the Dutch audience I suggest that you look also for different providers than the typically Dutch ones like KPN and UPC.

Tip 1

Of course you can choose an extra hard disk to backup your documents. When you choose the backup facilities of the provider of your anti-virus maker like Norton 360 it works fine, but what happens when your hard disk and laptop is stolen or if your children borrow your backup hard disk to download their favorite CSI series and they throw away your previous backup from your hard disk hard disk?

Tip 2

Then consider looking for an online backup system. It is easy to use and you don't have to think about what was your last backup. Another advantage is that the online providers store up to 28 days of your backups. So, if a virus hits your computer you can go back a few days before the attack.

Tip 3

If you consider to backup your computer through an online provider look for possibilities in the US. In the Netherland there are some very good providers, but if you look at their price/service ratio it is worth looking in the US or England. Due to the exchange rates they are much cheaper. For instance a two year contract with Mozy compared with KPN safes you around 25 dollars.

Actually if you compare the service of online backup with the price of a external hard disk, do not wait and go for the online system. The three major parties in Netherland are KPN, Mozy and Carbonite.

Click Read More If You Want To Know More About Online Backup? To find out more about the specific Laptop Backup Solutions from Mozy click here. Or visit our website greatbackupsoftware.com

Carbonite Vs Mozy - A Legit Comparison

When it comes to the industry of online backup services, there are always two names that enter the pictures: Carbonite and Mozy. These are considered to be two of the most popular online backup utilities existing on cyberspace. If you want to get the best out of backing up your files online, then it is just the right thing to see a legit comparison between Carbonite and Mozy to see how one is different from another.

Carbonite has been present on the web for four years now and it is very well known for its reliability on recovering backed up files ever since 2006. On the other hand, Mozy was founded in 2005 and has been tendering unlimited and accessible storage ever since as the most convenient way of backing up and accessing files. Simply put, both Carbonite and Mozy work at its best in order to give out superior services as far as online backing up of files is concerned.

Looking at the pros of Carbonite, you can see how advantageous it is. The interface of Carbonite can be easily understood and used. While you are working on your computer, Carbonite does what it has to do without sacrificing the speed of your computer.

There is also no problem about major issues such as storage capacity because Carbonite offers unlimited storage for both Windows PC and Mac users. Data are encrypted in order to safeguard them from unauthorized access. Wherever you are and anytime you want, you can access your files that are backed up using Carbonite. Another good thing is its being an automatic backup service which means there is no more need to worry about backing up the files.

However, there are noticeable cons that Carbonite still needs to resolve. For one, its technical support is only available during weekdays at office hours. Beyond that designated hours, you can still be able to call, chat or email but the response needs additional fees. Another issue has something to do with the slowing down of the backup process after reaching a particular amount of storage. Also, there is a tendency for more than 4GB files to be skipped over which necessitates the user to manually add the files to the list instead.

There are also other good points about Mozy. Free subscription is available for up to 2GB of files. If you want unlimited storage, you can pick MozyPro which also makes it possible for a multiple computers to have web-based backup that has an unlimited storage space. Regarding technical support, Mozy offers an around the clock tech support that can be taken advantage of any time of the day, any day. Backing up of files with Mozy is hassle-free because it is fast, automatic, and secure. Encryption of data is prioritized by Mozy so that unauthorized access of files cannot be done. Furthermore, the interface of Mozy is more than just user-friendly

Categories of Autoloading DVD Duplicators

DVD duplication technology uses a red laser to make copies of DVDs on recordable discs. DVD duplicators can also be used to duplicate CDs and most disc copiers feature a dual drive that can support both CD/DVD-R and CD/DVD+R formats. Some disc copiers can also be used for printing. The principle advantage of autololoading (or automated) disc copiers is that they minimize the need for human intervention in the CD and DVD duplication / production process. Unlike manual DVD copiers, they don't require an operator to load and unload the drives. Users only need to load blank discs into the machine, start it, enter the number of copies needed and return to pick up the duplicates. There are three main classes of autoloading dvd copiers:

- Standalone Autoloading DVD duplicators: These disc copiers are simple to use and operate very much like manual standalone CD or DVD towers, with the added benefit of automation. They are available in smaller models that are compact and portable, as well as larger copiers suitable for the duplication of large volumes of DVDs and CDs.

- PC-Based Autoloading DVD duplicators: These models are connected to a PC via either a USB or Firewire interface - or a combination of the two. The PC connection allows you to create your CD and DVD directly from a host PC, giving you more control over duplication / publishing since you can run application and production software on the PC. The operator doesn't need to burn a master disc before the duplication process because the system creates disc images on the host PC hard drive.

- Networkable Autoloading DVD duplicators allow network-wide access from multiple clients to the autoloading dvd copiers.

Determining Which Disc Copiers Best Suit Your Needs

Given the extensive variety of DVD duplicators available on the market today, deciding which disc copier or duplication / publishing system to buy can be quite confusing. The general guidelines below highlight some of the factors you should consider when choosing disc copiers.

--> The speed factor: both manual and autoloading dvd copiers feature drives that record at different speeds. If speed of recording is a primary concern, select the disc copier with the highest recording speed that you can afford. Keep in mind that manual disc copiers are faster then autoloading DVD duplicators because there is practically no limit to the number of drives that can be added. Also, manual loading and unloading is generally faster than autoloading. If you need to copy DVDs and CDs quickly and at low cost, your best option is probably a manual tower duplication system

---> Minimal user intervention, ease of use and portability: Nothing is better than standalone autoloading DVD duplicators if what you need is ease of use and unattended operation. Compact models are more suitable for use in remote locations since they are easy to transport.

--->What kind of end product do you need? Choose a DVD duplicator system that both copies and prints if you need custom printed discs, but if all you need is duplicates of the master (original) disc, then a standard disc copier is a better choice

--->Volume or size of duplication tasks: Autoloading DVD duplicators are recommended for high volume duplication. Although manual disc copiers are typically faster, automated disc copiers require almost no physical intervention

---> Multiple duplication jobs: PC-based or PC-connected autoloading dvd copiers allow users to run multiple jobs using a host PC, without any human intervention for fast production of archived jobs, while providing more control over the production process

---> If your organization has multiple clients or users who need access to DVD disc duplicators, your obvious choice is to invest in networkable autoloading dvd copiers that make it easy to create large numbers of custom discs with very little user intervention

Whether you need corporate disc copiers to distribute business-related information (sales brochures, training manuals, etc.), or you simply want to make copies of CDs and DVDs to give to your friends, you'll find exactly what you need among the extensive array of manual and autoloading DVD duplicators on the market.

CD and DVD Duplication - Lasers

Laser technology is a vital component of CD Duplication, in fact it is the foundation upon which the technology of CDs developed and therefore integral to the processes involved. As CD technology has developed over the past 40 years, so too have the lasers used developed and advanced to produce new capabilities and uses of CDs.

With lasers being a vital part of the Duplication process, not just in reading CDs, the development in laser technology has therefore had important implications for CD Duplication, while the laser process used during duplication will impact the lasers used at the CD reading stage.

Originally, CAT lasers were used to read CDs, with an infrared wavelength of 780 nm. Subsequently the wavelength has been reduced to produce DVDs, using a reading wavelength of 650 nm, while Blu-Ray discs use a lower wavelength still of a violet wavelength of 405 nm. This development of using smaller wavelength lasers has been to increase the amount of data that can be stored onto a disc. Particularly with the development of using discs to store imagery and video, rather than just audio and ROM data, much more data has been needed to be stored on a single disk. With the physical size of discs remaining the same, this data has had to be packed much closer together in order to fit it all on. As a result, lasers with shorter wavelengths have had to be developed in order to read this now more compact data storage.

Inevitably, as well as requiring a shorter laser wavelength to read a disc, so shorter laser wavelengths have been required in order to 'write' the data onto the disc during the CD and DVD Duplication process. During Duplication, a laser is used to change the reflectivity of the disc surface, with these variations in reflections detected by the laser in the disc reading device. It therefore follows that the changes in reflection of this disc must be shorter, and therefore the laser that creates them must also be so.

Lasers used during Duplication are called Laser Beam Recorders (LBR). These laser machines can vary the wavelength of the laser, depending on what is needed and what the disc is to be used for, to create CDs, DVDS, Blu-ray and other disc types. LBRs use either Photoresist Mastering or Non-Photoresist Mastering (also known as Dye-Polymer mastering) to write to the discs. Photoresist mastering uses discs with light-sensitive surface materials that change reflection when exposed to the laser, while Dye-Polymer mastering use discs with a Dye-Polymer surface material which evaporates when exposed to concentrated energy produced by the laser at the required points on the disc. Each of these techniques has different benefits, and also requires a different laser setup to write to the different disc types.

Lasers used to Duplicate a disc are much more powerful than those used to read the disc. This makes sense, as a reading device does not want to alter the disc surface and affect the data stored on it, whereas this is the exact purpose of a LBR. An LBR needs to operate at a power setting that produces enough energy to alter the surface of the disc, which is currently around 200mW, while disc readers run at around 5mW. This allows readers to run at a lower power, saving energy, and also allows a significant differentiation between the two power settings to avoid readers inadvertently causing damage. In order to allow this, disc surface materials that can be moulded at the higher power setting while remain unaffected at the lower setting of the reading lasers have to be selected.

Lucy Lewis is new at writing articles, with her charming and inquisitive mind she wants to explore the literacy world in a whole different light. So watch out for further articles.

How to Determine If Your Managed Service and IT Support Is Sufficient for Your Business

In the current economic climate no one wants to waste money. It is a big reason so many companies outsource their non-core activities, like Managed Services and IT Support, in the first place. But how is a business owner to know if his or her IT Support is doing the best job it can?

Responsiveness

Probably most important is how quickly your outsourced IT Support can respond to issues that arise. Things like viruses, servers going down, etc can crop up for a variety of reasons and interrupt the work flow of your company. Does your IT Solution have the ability to react instantly to these situations? Are they proactive, meaning they are even able to anticipate serious problems before they arise? A good IT Support solution has proactive monitoring that alerts them of potential issues before they come to a head. And when serious issues do arise, they can respond on multiple tiers. Tier 1, immediate phone support and the ability to remotely connect to affect a solution. Higher tiers would incorporate more in-depth analysis, and if needed, an on site visit ASAP.

Technological Savvy

Simple put, does your Managed Services IT Support team know what they are doing? Do they have any certifications? How long have they been in business and can they provide recommendations from satisfied clients? Do they promise they can do things that they have consistently failed to do, or do they deliver? Don't be satisfied with excuses. They are there to ease your burden, not add to it. They may be the nicest group of guys in the world, but if they are not up to date on the latest, pro-active, technologies, and are unable to quickly diagnose and repair issues, then you should move on.

Personable

I include this because it is important that your employee base know they can contact tech support, and not be condescended, or chided, but treated with respect. If your employees do not feel comfortable bringing up a situation that occurs, that helps absolutely no one, and potentially will cost you money.

To summarize, I think these are the base line factors you need to consider when evaluating your Managed Services and IT Support solution. In my next post I will speak more about specific items to look for when choosing on a solution. Until then, see ya later!

Looking for talented and qualified IT professionals to help you with your IT support? At, we can help your company by offering professional IT computer consulting services at affordable rates. Contact us now for IT Support in Dallas, or anywhere in the US

Golden Days of The Video Cassette Recorder (VCR

Remember those days of the 80s and early 90s when our favorite stop in the local market would be the "Video Library" that succeeded in delighting us each time we went there. The era that was ruled and dominated by a gadget loved by one and all, old or young - the Video Cassette Recorder or more commonly the VCR.

The 80s was a time when cable tv had far from reached India in any form. It was a time where just one tech was to shine - the Video Cassette Recorder. As it so happened, the people had no choice whatsoever in watching programmes on the Television as the only channel available was the Doordarshan (more popularly DD) and later the DD Metro which in fact seemed a big bonus! It seemed just a perfect setting for something like a Video Cassette Recorder to make its presence felt and counted.

The Video Cassette Recorder opened up to the Indian people a whole new world of entertainment that was unknown prior to this. From watching just the news or documentaries sprinkled sparsely with a pinch of weekly serials, the common man now had the luxury of enjoying movies at the comfort of his bedroom - right from the old classics to the latest flicks of Bollywood.

Video Cassette Recorders used removable video cassettes (video tapes) which used magnetic tapes to record videos on them. What this meant was, not only could one watch prerecorded cassettes for films but they could also record shows and broadcast from the television that could be played on later! This was pure magic!!! Of course, there was on offer a cheaper variant of the VCR which we called the VCP - Video Cassette Player - which could only playback the cassette but not record.

The advent of VCRs in India gave a perfect opportunity for the business in the form of "Video Libraries" to flourish! Every local market had at a minimum 2 to 3 libraries to boast of, all of whom could comfortably survive despite t competition as the demand much overdid the supply by a huge margin. I still remember our very own "Micky Video Library" and the "Lords" library which were such hot spots in those times, the first one ironically being located in a small narrow lane was just a tiny little room with a collection of some hundred videos. The latter was a much more dignified a place with a far bigger collection of both Hindi and English movies and an air conditioned shop to flaunt! But to be honest it hardly mattered, as what was important was to get that latest release on the first chance - damn if it was pirated or if you had to shell out a few extra bucks!

The early VCRs were top loading models where you inserted the cassette in a slot that popped out from the top of the VCR on pressing the "Eject" button. It was later followed by the more sleek and improved versions of VCRs that were front loading, had a more appealing and modern feel to them, not to forget the constantly improved features being added One such feature I remember was the availability of a "Timer" where you could actually set the time at which the VCR would start recording!

It was not just Video Libraries that flourished. Video Cassette Recorders provided a remarkable opportunity for small time technicians and engineers with so many of these "Video Repair" shops that sprung up. The VCR functioned with a revolving "Head"with a small little pin which read the magnetic tape on the cassette. As was expected, with the dust and physical contact, invariably you would be faced with a situation where your "Head" went dirty and you needed either a "head cleaner" sprayed on it to get it cleaned, or in extreme cases, you had to take it to one of those repair shops.

The VCRs also ushered in an age of many different and new forms of entertainment revolving around the Television. Besides just movies, they also opened up doors to the Pakistani Plays which are remembered even till date. It brought to our homes some lovable characters from plays such as Dhoop Kinare and Tanhaiyan that became a part of our lives and live with us even today. And then there were those "Film Magazines". I am not talking about the Fimfares or Star Dusts. The VCRs brought in the concept of video magazines such as "Leheren" which became a household name. They were basically around one hour shows that gave you the news from the Hindi Film Industry - something that today's channels are full of and has now become such a taken for granted thing! At those times, such video magazines were your only re source to actually get live snippets into the lives of film stars or to watch the shooting of a film! Such an exciting thing it used to be!

A thing most reminiscent of those times was the quality of video that you got to watch - what was in the common language referred to as the "print" of the cassette. So often did you have to return a video as "the print" was so bad! So unlike the CDs and DVDs of today where there are no issues with the quality that you get to watch. But somehow, remembering it today, one somewhere in his heart wishes for those little nick-nags that today's over-perfect world has totally eliminated:(

And how can one forget that "Counter" you had in those days on the VCRs. It was a small three digit counter with revolving dials that showed numbers 0-9 on each dial to represent the length of the video that had been played:) Starting from 000 it went on to 999 and was such a simple and a remarkable display of how a basic little concept could be put to such pertinent use! It was later replaced by a digital counter with the introduction of more enhanced and improved VCRs which offered a digital display. Again it is one of those things that make you wonder - do we really need all this advancement! Why have we forgotten to keep things simple:(

How can one ever forget that sound of a video cassette "Rewinding" and that distinct "thud" with which it stopped or when you pressed that "Stop" button! My heart goes out to those times:oops: Its truly is such a high reliving those moments from the past. I remember how the summer break meant so many films on the VCR, daily visits to the video library - which had even started home delivery and the phone services - some even going as far as providing a printed list of movies they had in their store! I even recall that as kids we used to get an extra VCR on hire for a few days as you could interconnect them with your VCR with a cable and actually make copies of the cassettes. To think of it now, how did I ever take that much of trouble to record a cassette! But then, that was the magic of those times.

One just is forced to think - why does technology have such a crab mentality where it needs to pull someone down to be able to climb up:( Why does each new technology have to kill its predecessor. Why can't the old and the new coexist? Why cant we have the old with the new. I am only thankful and feel privileged to have experienced and used these winners of the past.

Thanks for joining in, see you next week, same day, same time with another pick from the past in The Lost Technology...

Write A Program is a technology blog that includes news, views, articles and opinions on mobiles, gadgets, computers and latest technology trends/news. Visit us here

Cool Tech Gifts for Under $100

Tech gifts are getting more and more affordable as more internet tablet and other tech products are being marketed and sold en masse. The competition among tech companies is always stiff indeed, but the winners become apparent pretty quickly. This article lists the most promising and thought provoking tech gadgets available for under $100. Here's the list:

• Without a doubt, the Archos 28 internet tablet - a mini Android tablet made by Archos, is a must for this list. This touch screen MP3 player is revolutionary in the sense that it packs a lot of punch for its size. With a 2.8" touch screen and a thin casing under 10mm, this pocket sized internet device and multimedia player blows most others out of the water in terms of compact size and internet browsing speed. For under $100, the Archos 28 is a steal! No other mini tablet fits the bill quite like the Archos 28. This pocket tablet is truly a necessity for every tech gadget enthusiast this holiday season.
• Another Archos product makes the list, too. The Archos 3cam Vision is an unbelievable "all in one" touch screen mp3 player. For under $100, you get it all: an mp3 player, video camera, video player, photo viewer, fm radio and transmitter, and fm and audio recorder. The Archos 3cam Vision is one spectacular touch screen MP3 player package at a spectacular price.
• Third on the list is Apple TV. At just under $100, Apple TV allows you to wirelessly stream HD videos, movies, music, TV shows, photos and more - straight to your TV from your computer from its very compact transmitter unit that fits in the palm of your hand. Watch all your favorite movies with this trendy yet functional device. Pretty cool.
• The Novatel MiFi also makes the list. MiFi is a compact wireless router that acts as a mobile hotspot for your internet device. This cool compact hotspot finder is a great buy at under $100 (if you sign up for a 2-year contract with Verizon Wireless.)

From a touch screen mp3 player to a mini Android tablet, this holiday season is guaranteed to be jam packed with tech gadgets all under $100 each. It can't get any more affordable than this. And just think; you get to stay up to date on all the latest tech items without putting a dent in your wallet. You might even have enough left over to buy your favorite internet tablet devices for everyone on your holiday list, too

Projectors: Your Technical Questions Answered: Automatic Features

Nearly all rental projectors are equipped with certain automatic features, which may include auto focus, auto setup, auto input signal search, automatic keystone correction, and more. But should you always use the automatic features, or does it ever make sense to correct and adjust your image manually?

Automatic Focus

In nearly any situation where you're using a projector, you will tend to use the automatic focus feature. In older devices, you may need to focus the first image manually, then the automatic focus can take over from there.

In newer devices, the auto focus feature appears to work like magic, honing in on the clearest, crispest image with the touch of a button. Additionally, some projectors also feature remote focus, which allows you to use the remote control to auto focus your presentation.

Once you've activated the auto focus feature, you will likely not need to use it again during your presentation, unless the projector is moved or repositioned.

Auto Setup

An auto setup feature allows for easy, one-button adjustment of input and picture display, which is ideal for non-techie or occasional projector users. The auto setup feature also allows a projector to be used efficiently in multiple locations, and easily moved or repositioned.

This is truly a "plug and play" feature that is appreciated by many. There is no need to perform this function manually if your rental projector is equipped with an auto setup feature.

Auto Input Signal Search

Put simply, this is an automatic feature that allows your rental projector to determine what form of input (laptop, DVD, etc.) you are using for your presentation.

This feature makes setup quick and simple. If your rental projector does not have this feature, you may need to select the input manually.

Automatic Keystone Correction

This is an excellent feature, although not essential. The automatic keystone correction will ensure that your image is squared to the projection screen or surface. If your rental projector does not include this feature, then you would simply reposition the projector, the table or flat surface on which it rests, or the screen itself to remove any keystoning (a distortion of the image that appears as a trapezoid or parallelogram instead of a rectangle of square).

How can you tell which features your rental projector includes? Ask to see the specs before you rent, or look at the materials included with the rental equipment itself. Most rental projectors include a setup guide that lists the features of that specific unit.

Simple Tactics to Trace Your Lost Laptop

There are thousands of laptops that get stolen each year. While most of them are never recovered, only a mere three per cent get traced back to the rightful owner. Vigilance is a must when you are roaming around in a public place with your laptop. However, a single moment of lapsed attention is enough to lose it. Therefore, it is extremely important that you make all the arrangements for tracing your laptop the minute it gets stolen.

One sure shot way of retrieving your lost device is by installing an anti theft software. Apart from that, it is advisable to label your laptop openly. You can include your name, email address and phone number in the label. You may also add something like "return for reward". Do not include your street address in your contact information, in case your device falls in the hands of a criminal. But you may insert the information in your screen saver. If you are lucky, you may get your laptop back without any hassle.

Make a separate record of all the information on the laptop that confirms your ownership. This may include the unique serial number of your device, the brand and model number and other information of the like. You may even consider recording the content of all the important files that have been created by you and cannot be easily found, in case a thief is trying to erase and destroy all traces of previous ownership.

Report the loss to the police and provide them with all the identifying information of your laptop. If they recover your laptop, they will be able to identify it as yours with the help of the serial number and other information. The information obtained from the anti theft software embedded in your device will also help them recover it. Also report the loss to the manufacturer of the laptop. Give them the serial number of your device. If, someone calls the technical support and supplies the same serial number as yours, the representative should make a note of the caller's telephone number and all the other information that will help trace the location of your laptop.

The most effective solution is to embed a certain tracking software. Most of these software solutions come equipped with a program that can make the device go into lock down status the minute it is reported as lost. Since this state of the machine will make the thief incapable of accessing it, your data will remain safe and untouched. They are also programmed to update their location, status and other recovery data on the server. All this information can help in tracking down your lost laptop. There are many such software options available. Snuko is one such software that can help trace your laptop with its many detective-like features.

If you have not preinstalled any software, you may check sites like eBay and Craigslist for your lost laptop. You may even check the local pawn shops and the used laptop dealers in your area. Usually, stolen laptops are quickly sold. Chances are you may find yours, too.

Snuko UK Limited, a subsidiary of Snuko PLC, is a UK registered IT and Security Company specializing in securing people's computers and smart phones. For further information, please visit: http://snukoantitheft.wordpress.com/2010/11/25/simple-tactics-to-trace-your-lost-laptop/

Psyko 5.1 Gaming PC Headset

By this time you might be reading lots of reviews and sites that give you update about latest electronics product of the market. Here is one such product you will love to avail either for you or for you close ones. Read more information about Psyko 5.1 PC Gaming Headset. This electronic gadget is not designed as a headphone rather it is designed as a gaming headset. With this head set you can have 3D effect that you can get in any of your room system. It includes 5 speakers in the bridge with a sub-woofer located at each ear. This headset system is ideal for any teen-ager gift as with the most up-coming PC games this will go hand to hand. This can be a best combination for any of your PC game. This can be also defined as Psyko's audio gaming PC headset.
This head set is created with a user friendly technology that enables any gamer to hear the exact sound coming from which direction while in game. Well, before any more discussion about this electronics gadget, it should be mentioned here that though this head set is not designed as usual audio headphone, it does not means that it cannot be used as a regular one, rather it will work the same or more better way then the regular head phone.
The head from Psyko has highly unique aesthetic quality. This entire headset is made up with transparent plastic and can be adjustable according to your need. The ears of the head set can be adjusted easily and it supports you in removing microphone as the microphone is also removable. Psyko 5.1 PC Gaming headset need to get connected with earphone that gets hooking up with the amp that you plug into the wall or multi-plug unit. You can adjust the volume as the amp supports adjustable volume and bass. All you need is to have a set-up of 5.1 surround sound.
Since this an up-coming gadget it may cost you little more expensive. But one thing you should remember while buying that this can be a last pair of head phone you are availing because this ultimate head set is going to serve you for a long time. If this is for your friend, you are going to get heartiest thanks as this upcoming gadget is going to give your friend the ultimate gaming effect for the first time. If you are planning for a game in your Christmas or New Year's gift and are ready to pay cash for that, then this can be an ideal gift for the person.