For most of us our day starts with a ring tone of an electric alarm clock. Then as we get ready in the morning we use a couple of other devices ranging from an electric shaver to an electric iron. The point here is that we have hardly started our day and most of our morning is spent using various electronic devices and components. The list of electronic products that we use in a week would be so long that most of us would be shocked on seeing the amount of dependence on these products. As you must have realized by now, these Electronic products and components form a major part of our daily life. They either provide us a useful function or they entertain us.

Irrespective of the purpose they perform, we all would agree that we can't survive without these products.

These electronic components have become a major part of our daily life, whether we think so or not. Our dependence on these electronic gizmos is only increasing everyday. Nobody needs to be a technology expert to realize that electronic components play a major role in our lives.

In recent years, the electronics segment has undergone a tremendous transformation. All this has contributed to a new way of life. Miniaturization and integration are the key factors that have fueled the tremendous growth of portable electronics technology. Electronic components & devices have been reduced to hand held devices.

Electronics devices are used for everyday functions. Some of these are the ones that are purely for our interest and entertainment. Electronic devices and components like WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) technology, applications such as Voice Over IP (VoIP), web surfing, movie play back, MP3 player, portable gaming devices and camcorders are some glaring examples which provide us entertainment everyday. Items like computers and cell phones are now a necessity rather than a luxury. The consumer electronics segment of devices and components gets improved more and more every year to provide us more functionality, convenience and satisfaction. The gap between entertainment and functionality for the usage of these electronic products and devices is getting closer every day. Electronic devices today are compact, lightweight and functional along with a long life cycle due to the high quality electronic components in their production. The electronic market is changing every day and rapidly evolving.

Some of the products being offered today are Portable electronic devices such as Portable Media Players (PMPs), Smartphones, & GPS-PDAs, laptop computers, hand-held devices such as cellular telephones, personal media devices including the iPod from Apple.

Robot is a term with which almost all of us are quite familiar with. But most of us are unaware about the technical insights or aspects about these wonders of electronic trade. A robot is defined as "reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator", designed to move materials, parts, tools, or specialized devices through various programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks. It has a mechanical body and an electronic nerve system to drive it.

But the robot cannot perform task on its own. It does not have brain as we human being do. So how does a robot work. Here is the answer. For a robot to do something as desired and useful, we need to program it with some kind of intelligence. This can vary from hardwired logical circuits implementing some low-level reflex code to microcontrollers. In an advanced robotics systems, the control system can go up to neural network control systems running on powerful microcomputers networked together.

When someone decides to build a robot, the first thing that he would need is a robotic kit. Now the question arises what is a robotic kit. Well a robotic kit is your blueprint and comprises of all the tools and parts that a person would need for building a robot.

Robotic kits are available online along with manuals and robotic books which are of great help in building a robot. These robotic kits are available in various dimensions, depending on the customer's requirement.

The robotic kit includes the mechanical parts required for building a robot like metal or plastic parts, mechanical components & electrical motors. It also includes a manual which helps in building the robot. Robotic books are of great help and an added advantage to those interested in this field. Such books have all the latest updates about robots.

In Advanced robotics systems, the control system can go up to advanced neural network control systems running on powerful microcomputers, networked together. To be able to build a robot, a person needs to understand and learn all the aspects of above mentioned fields. Robotics is not a hobby, it requires skills, dedication and lot of hard work. Besides the obvious - mechanics, programming, and electronics, there are the less obvious skills of diligence and genuine curiosity.

Some of the robotic parts are:.

Sensors: which detect the state of the environment.

Actuators: which modify the state of the environment.

Control System: which controls the actuators based on the environment as depicted by the sensors.

The most developed robot part, in practical use today, is the robotic arm and it is seen in applications throughout the world. It is used to carry out dangerous work such as dealing with hazardous materials. It used to carry out work in the medical field such as conducting experiments without exposing the researcher.

In the past, spy gear and equipment were only found in Hollywood and fiction books. Well, those days are over! Spy tools and equipment are now directly available to the public. If you have been considering the hire of a private investigator or detective, you will want to keep reading.

While PI's and detectives may be your best bet in specific situations, there are many spy and surveillance tools on the market that will provide the same results at a fraction of the cost. Let's look at infidelity and some solutions that can be delivered discreetly right to your door.

Infidelity and Affairs

If you are ever unfortunate enough to suspect your spouse or partner of infidelity or cheating, take a small amount of comfort in knowing it is quite easy to confirm. Fortunately, human nature is predictable when it comes to infidelity. Certain aspects of this behavior have remained constant for centuries. One common factor is that the parties involved WILL communicate. This can be capitalized upon to easily expose the affair. Over the centuries, the only thing that has changed is the medium by which the communication takes place. Once an adulterer would have scribed a note to their lover on papyrus reed. Now messages are sent behind your back via SMS, covert e-mail addresses and chat networks. Verbal communications take place over cell or land-line phone and in person. Don't think you have the ability to intercept these exchanges? Think again! The following are some tools that will transform you into a 007 agent overnight.

- Key Loggers: Hardware device that inconspicuously plugs into the back of a computer. It will record every keystroke a user makes.

- Spy Software for the personal computer: Will perform the same function as a key logger but with much more robust features. These applications will take screen shots, record web addresses and even e-mail you the results.

- Spy Software for cell phones: Records text messaging, call histories and caller ID's.

- Covert Voice Recorders: These small devices can be placed in a room, car office or wherever you need to record conversations. They are voice activated and can record days worth of conversation.

- Telephone Data Loggers: Will log all call data.

In addition to the equipment above, the following tools are extremely effective in exposing infidelity.

- GPS Trackers: Small covert devices can be placed in the glove-box or under the seat of a car. When plugged into your computer after, a complete record of where that vehicle has been will be displayed.

- Semen Test Kits: Will detect semen in undergarments, on bedsheets or other material. Stains can be years old and most detection kits will still work.

- Covert Hidden Cameras: These come in many shapes sizes and are hidden in everything from tissue boxes to light fixtures.

Well, if you are new to the IT networking field, you probably feel it's quite fascinating or it's very overwhelming, trying to understand all of the different Interior Gateway Protocols (IGP's) that can be used to route packet information within a network.

If you are feeling overwhelmed by it all don't worry, you're not alone; I felt the same way. That's why I wrote this article to help you quickly understand the major differences between EIGRPv6 and EIGRPv4.

In a nutshell, the overall operation and features of EIGRPv6 are still the same as they are in EIGRPv4. But, EIGRPv6 does differ from EIGRPv4 in the following ways:

* EIGRPv6 is configured (enabled) directly on Cisco router's interfaces; this means EIGRPv6 can be configured (enabled) on a router's interface, without having to configure (assign) a Global IPv6 address on the interface and without using the "network" command while the router is in router configuration mode.

* Also, when configuring (enabling) EIGRPv6 on a Cisco router, the EIGRP routing process must be configured (assigned) with a "router-id" (by using the router configuration command "router-id"); if a "router-id" is not configured (assigned) the EIGRPv6 routing process will not start.

* The EIGRPv6 routing process also uses a "shutdown" feature; meaning an EIGRPv6 routing process will not start until the routing process has been placed into "no shutdown" mode. (by, typing the "no shutdown" command while the router is in router configuration mode)

* Also, on Passive Interfaces; EIGRPv6 is not required to be configured.

* Lastly, EIGRPv6 use the router configuration command "distribute-list prefix-list" to perform route filtering; and when configuring route filtering the "route-map" command is not supported.

I invite you to visit my website were you'll find the latest information regarding Cisco IPv6 Design and Implementation Techniques.

Most people have heard of computer viruses and the problems that they can cause. But there is another group of software that can be equally destructive. They are called Trojans or Trojan horses.

Trojans get their name from the famous Greek myths. In the story, the Greek army were besieging the city of Troy. Unable to break down the defenders they hit on an alternative plan. They built a wooden horse, which appeared to be a gift to the people of Troy. But once it was pulled inside the city gates, Greek soldiers hidden inside the wooden horse emerged and opened the gates.

A computer Trojan works in a similar manner. You may download an innocent looking program and install it on your computer. But at the same time a Trojan is installed that can cause harm.

For instance, you may decide that you want a new screen saver. You do a Google search and find a site offering nice free ones. When you download the screensaver, unknown to you a number of other programs have also downloaded in the background.

Trojans can cause a number of problems. Their payloads maybe designed to cause destruction to your computer files. Other Trojans download spyware that can be used in identity fraud. They can also be used as a way for hackers to get control of your computer. The hacker can then use your machine as part of a 'botnet' of compromised computers.

You can avoid your computer being taken over by following sensible online security measures. Install antivirus software on your computer and make sure it is up to date. This is usually also effective at detecting Trojans. There is also anti-Trojan capabilities in most antispyware software.

Avoid downloading files from unknown sources, and opening unknown attachments that you receive by email. You should also beware of file sharing sites that are notorious for being rife with spyware and Trojans.

In 1907, Samual Simon of England took out the first patent on the printing process using screens. John Pilsworth adopted the process and used it to create multicolor prints which opened the door to all kinds of new applications that we see today.

One of those applications is the silk-screening of a media disc surface. If you have ever bought or rented a DVD or CD, any art on the face of the disc was most likely silkscreened. The difference in appearance of a store bought CD as opposed to a duplicated CD is noticeable because store bought CDs are mostly replicated and the face of the disc is printed using a silkscreen method. Much in the same way as shirts or other items are silkscreened.

The process used is the same as used for shirts, or specialty items. It uses a screening process that runs colored UV ink over the screens in a separate run for each color being used.

To silk-screening a CD or DVD, the screening machines have round indentations in a table top for the discs to be automatically set into. The machine is entirely controlled by robotic CNC and places, screens, and removes the disc all automatically with an operator running the machine. A Robotic arm operates the actual screens and lowers each disc onto the table as it is rotated into position on the table.

A pre-measured color of Ink is applied by a controlled dispenser and then a squeegee spreads the ink across the screen in a smooth controlled fashion which in turn transfers the ink to a target disc. With t-shirt silk screening, many times the squeegee is done by hand but with the discs, it is all operated by an expensive CNC robotics machine.

After each color is applied, the automated table rotates to the next position but will actually skip one position to allow some air-drying between coats. This allows for two set of discs being screened at once. Each position on the system wheel has a different color and different screen.

Ink is applied in an exact measured amount so that there is no dripping or bleeding while it spread through the screen with a squeegee. The inks used for the process are specially formulated for silk-screening on to a lacquered CD or DVD surface,

After the ink is applied, the discs move to a station on the table that is equipped with UV lamps which cures the ink. After they pass through the UV lamp station, they are removed from the replication press by a robotic arm and stacked onto an output spindle for spindle bundling or packing.

Silk-screening a CD or DVD will give the disc a store bought look and can actually accomplish prints that can not be done with Ink Jet or Thermal printing. Some disc artwork requires that the inside depressed ring be filled with ink to give the finished product a completely flat surface and with a printed duplicated disc you can not accomplish that effect. Silk-screening allows for a much more complicated print layout onto the surface of the disc.

There are many companies that perform CD/DVD silkscreening and you can even have it done to blank discs. Check around for the best price that will fit your budget.

This learning activity consists of a series of questions that the student answers by circling the correct responses. The learning activity is "conditional" because the user has a choice of answers and the learning activity will respond a certain way, depending upon the answer that the student selects. You can choose to have the student answer questions and give a score at the end, or you can use this as a learning tool and direct the student to the correct answers. For the purpose of this example, we are going to direct the student to the correct answers. The student can be directed to a particular answer by means of text or audio instructions. After the student answers the series of questions correctly, he sees a congratulations screen specific to the learning activity.

Functionality:

First, instructions appear describing the learning activity, with directions. The student then answers the first question by clicking the choice that he wants. If the answer is incorrect, he hears "Wrong" and sees text indicating that the answer is incorrect. This text can also include hints or directions to the correct answer. The student must answer correctly to proceed. After successfully answering the question, the student continues to the next questions until he completes all questions. He then sees a message indicating what the answers mean, usually with audio congratulations and applause.

An Example of a Circle Answer Conditional Activity:
INSTRUCTIONS:

Fractions are fun! In this learning activity, you will choose the correct fraction that fits the description for that line in the table. (Note that this method of instruction is directed answering. You do not have to do directed answering. You could have the student make the best choice.)
Picture or chart indicating questions and answers available: Example, fill in for your learning activity:

Fraction Description Choices Score
Fraction greater than 1 1/2 22/23 9/6 5/8 2/4 9/12 1 (if correct and since we will not let them go to the next line until the correct fraction is chosen, this will be the correct score)
Fraction equal in value to 4/5 1/2 3/4 22/23 25/20 20/25 8/25 1
Fraction less than 2/4 1/2 6/12 1/3 22/23 7/12 5/10 1
Total Score 3

This process continues for each row. After answering successfully, the following message is given to the student, along with applause:

Ending Text Message (may be a picture) Audio is generally applause. Example, replace for new activity:

Fractions are fun! Congratulations!

Below are some variations of the forced answer sequence examples where this method of learning is useful:

Example: 1 To test your understanding of company regulations about what you can and cannot say during a presentation, circle the items that you cannot say during the XXXXX presentation.

Items are listed from 1-10. (As each item is circled, the student is informed whether the selection was correct. There are five items that cannot be said during a presentation -At the end of ten tries, or if all the correct items are selected, applause is given, and a score indicates whether the right five choices were finally selected).

Example: 2 Any form that needs to be filled out correctly, like evaluation forms. You can guide the student through a section of a form and indicate how to properly fill it out.

Classes, courses, and groups may be used in many different ways to organize, manage, and track your training depending upon the internal organization and design of your Learning Management System (LMS). In some systems, creating an online class may be separate from a course. It all really depends on how the Learning Management System treats each of these distinctions. For example, a course may contain the content of an online-learning module that could include one or more lessons and possibly (but not necessarily) a test, to gauge knowledge gained and show mastery of the course material. Classes can be used to deliver the content to specific students at specific times according to the Learning Management System's internal organization and constraints.

In some systems, classes may be used to group individuals for many other business purposes, like enrollment. For example, a company may enroll all of its new hires in a New Hire class for the month of August. Groups may then be assigned to the class, to allow its members to communicate with each other, and with the assigned "instructor" who will manage their new-hire orientation. New hires may have various types of course material that are used in their training. Some of those elements may be:

- Workplace safety and security.

- The company time clock or timesheet.

- The company purpose and goals.

- Company products.

- Personnel policies.

- Intellectual-property and non-disclosure agreements.

- Emergency-response procedures.

- Benefit documents.

Two special enrollment methods deserve mention: e-Commerce and self-registration. E-Commerce functionality is normally used when you want class members (who are approved to take a course) to pay for its content. Self-registration functionality allows class members to sign up for course material at their discretion, and may or may not be used in concert with e-Commerce.

These enrollment methods are normally used to admit students to traditional online classes (or to physical instructor-led classes), and to collect payments for taking them. However, e-Commerce and self-registration functionality also may be used in other creative ways, such as, to automatically run and administer an online Company Store that sells useful materials and training to:

Company employees - for example, to collect payments for in-house materials and training, in organizations where all divisions and groups operate as cost/profit centers.

Customers - often, to sell them additional copies of a company's product documentation.

Association members - to help raise a company's visibility in its field.

Professional practitioners in the company's industry-which can also raise a company's visibility in its field.

I have only briefly described a few ways that you can use classes, courses, and groups to further your company's business objectives. Hopefully, these ideas will inspire you to find other creative applications of the Learning Management System you use in your own organization!

Blu-ray disc, which is also known as BD or blu-ray, is a format for storing optical disc media. It is generally used for high-definition video storage and data storage. This disc looks like any ordinary disc and has the same dimensions.

The name of blu-ray Disc comes from the blue laser that is used for reading and writing this type of disc. It is a combination of the word "blue" that stands for blue-violet laser and `ray` standing for optical ray.

Since it has shorter wavelength of around 405 nm, so it can store substantially more data than a DVD that uses a red or 650 nm laser. To give you more details, a dual layer blu-ray disc has the capacity to store 50 GB, which is almost six times of the capacity of similar dual layer DVD.

The blu-ray Disc was invented by the Blu-ray Disc Association. It is a group of companies that represent computer hardware, consumer electronics, and are also involved in motion picture production. There are more than 180 member companies in this association, from all over the world. The current board of directors consists of companies like Apple Computer, Inc., Warner Bros. Entertainment, Dell Inc., Thomson Multimedia, Hewlett Packard Company, Sharp Corporation, Hitachi, Ltd., Twentieth Century Fox, LG Electronics Inc, Sony Corporation, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Sun Microsystems, Inc Ltd, TDK Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Pioneer Corporation, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Walt Disney Pictures.

There was a time when blu-ray disc was competing with the HD DVD format, but soon most of the leading companies announced that they could no longer find buyers for their HD DVD players and recorders. Hence blu-ray emerged as the clear winner of the format war.

There are many myths regarding this technology since it is comparatively new. In this article we will try to clear some of those. The first myth is that internet connection is necessary for supporting this format. It is absolutely untrue. Internet connection is not needed for basic playback of blu-ray supported movies. It will only be needed for extra features like downloading value-added services, web browsing, watching latest movie trailers etc. You will also need internet if you want to authorize the managed copies of those blu-ray movies that are transferred over your home network.

The second myth is regarding down-converting analog outputs. Blu-ray players will not down-convert the signals of analog output unless your video contains ICT or Image Constraint Token. Since most of the movie studios like Sony, Fox, Disney, MGM, Paramount, and Universal do not use this feature so you will not be having much trouble with this.

Another question is regarding supporting mandatory managed copies. Well, the blu-ray format will have mandatory managed copy (MMC) in order to enable customers to make legal and authentic copies of blu-ray movies, which can be easily transferred over the home network.

Since it is a new technology so it is obvious that the first generation products will be somewhat expensive as there will be low production volumes. But manufacturers are planning a wide range of blu-ray products like players, drives, recorders, media, writers, etc and hence product volumes are soon expected to rise giving way to lower prices.

It is a general expectation that blu-ray will soon replace DVDs and most of the big movie studios have hugely supported this format compared to DVDs monopoly. They have already released movies in this format and plan to continue the same. But it is a high probability that DVDs will also not become completely extinct. Chances are that these two formats will co-exist for some time. That is the reason why most top consumer electronics brands like Panasonic, Philips, Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Pioneer and LG have introduced products that can read and write CDs, DVDs as well as blu-ray discs.

A large format printer is a highly effective means of producing copies of digitized images such as maps, paintings as well as office documents. However; in many cases when printing is being done, scanning is also an integral part of the process and this is the exact reason printers are available with scanning capabilities as a secondary component. When working with images that have been stored or are being stored on microfilm, scanning capabilities are a must, but there are a few other factors to consider. For instance, in many cases, an inkjet printer is the most desirable for image resolution. Also, another technological option that is now available is UV curable inkjet printing.

The Epsom Stylus DX4800

one popular printer-scanner that is available on the market is the Stylus DX4800 by Epson. It is a multi functional wide format printer scanner copier that is capable of standing up to the heavy use that a machine of this type often receives in a commercial setting. It is capable of resolution up to 5760 X 1440 dpi. Speed is another notable feature of this unit, because it is capable of producing up to 20 copies per minute. Although its scanning width is smaller than the HP DesignJet at 216mm X 297mm and also the printing width is less the overall quality of the images that it records and produces is exquisite.

The HP Designjet 815 MPF

Still one more popular choice, is the Designjet 815 MPF scanner printer, manufactured by HP. With a resolution of 2400 X 1200 dpi, this unit makes an excellent choice for someone that needs a multifunction scanner-printer that can accommodate microfilm, as well as other scanning jobs. One notable feature of this feature laden large format printer scanner is its ability to handle thicker more rigid media that other similar printer scanners have so much trouble accommodating. Still one more notable feature, is its ability to print media as wide as 42 inches and as long as 50 feet.

Animation; the term gives an instant thought of cartoons and films based on computer graphics but prior to this a technique called Phenakistoscope was there which had simple drawings which moved simultaneously giving the effect of animation. There were several animated features created by using these drawings which differed from the previous one. This method disappeared by the end of the twenty first century and drawings were directly scanned or drawn into computers. The computer animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. 3D animations give the impression to look at characters from all angles like in real life. It can be grouped under various terms:

Cel-shaded animation:

It is also called cel-shading or toon shading which is designed to make the computer graphics to look as if hand drawn. It is used to copy the style of a comic book or cartoon characters.

Morph target animation

It is stored as a series of vertex positions. In each key frame of the animation the vertex will move to a different position. This can be used for animating cloth, skin and facial expressions.

Skeletal animation

This is also referred to as rigging and is an technique for the vertebrates. This technique works by constructing a series of bones and each bone is associated with some portion of characters visual representation.

Motion capture

It is a procedure for digitally recording the action movements. It can be used in video games to animate the characters of the game and in film making it refers to the technique of recording the action of human actors.

Crowd simulation

It is the process of reproducing the movement of a large number of objects or characters and used when there are more characters than that can be animated using the other methods.

The industries that are using 3D animations are interior designing, medical visualizations, architecture naval architecture and corporate presentations. There are several interactive 3D animation software that enables one to visualize and redesign a room. These are used by architectures for designing homes for their clients. This can be used in medical field training for explaining various concepts, phenomenon and surgical techniques to give a better and clear vision to the scholars. Then in naval field it is used in designing of ships by making a 3D ship model which helps in quick progress of ship building projects. In corporate world too it is used for preparing impressive presentations and interactive websites.

The 3D animations are very realistic and are used for giving special effects in movies. The film and advertisement sectors provide ample opportunities for the growth of animation industry. The employments of computers and software's have fastened the pace of animation industry. The growth of its use in gaming industry has made it a fast growing and dynamic field. To provide an in depth description of product we now no longer depend on still images, 3D animation is the answer to create an interactive environment where an individual can relate to the objects and enjoy the virtual world created around him. We can say that with its diversity and effectiveness has left no field untouched by its impact.

Today's feature laden office copy machines offer a multitude of function options for a buyer to choose from. Also, just like all other electronic hardware, as their features have increased, so too has their size and price shrunk. This means that almost any business can now afford to purchase a copy machine with standard feature items such as memory, scan, print and fax to name just a few of them. So, why even stop to think about it? Because one always has the option of purchasing a basic, or less feature laden model to reap impressive savings.

Multiple Size and Weight Options

Size is one of the choices that you are going to have to make. Copy machines for the home and office now come in sizes ranging from that of a small counter top sized kitchen appliance, all the way up to a full sized standing commercial model. How and where it is going to be used and how many people are going to be accessing it are factors that would go into determining the actual size of the copy machine that you will end up purchasing.

Three Types of Print Technology

The actual print function on today's modern copy machines is available in three styles, those being laser, inkjet and color laser. As a general rule, the copy machines that employ inkjet technology will tend to be the less expensive of the three. However; while an inkjet printer will provide higher quality graphics, laser models will provide higher quality text printing.

Advanced High Tech Feature Options

Beyond all of the previously listed basic copy machine options that there are to select from, you get into more complex and technologically advanced feature options such as hard drive memory and optical recognition, or scanning abilities. In fact, it has come to the point that options that you would expect in a personal computer are now available in many full featured modern copy machines.

It really wasn't all that many years ago that office copiers had one basic function and that was, you guessed it, making copies. Over the past handful of years though, more and more features and functions have been integrated into what was once a simple, one task machine, to create what is commonly referred to now as a multifunctional Copier. These new copy machines are now capable of so many more office tasks that used to require a number of machines to accomplish. Also, the tasks that they perform are now accomplished much more quickly and efficiently.

Now they are Far More Affordable

Now just about every office has at least some type of multifunctional copier in it. Also, these new technological wonders are finding their way into more and more peoples homes as well. Cost is the one major factor that has contributed to their meteoric rise in popularity, because now one can easily be purchased online for around $100.

So Much Smaller

Basically, a full featured, multifunction copier is going to have copy, scanning, as well as printing capabilities but they can come with a built in fax capacity also. The amazing thing is that as more functions have been fitted into these newer machines, their size has shrunk considerably. Larger faster commercial high volume multifunction copiers still can be quite big but newer compact models can be found that are no larger then a small counter top kitchen appliance.

Advanced Memory Capacity

Other features include built in memory capacity that allows for the storage of images and text that can be later printed or faxed. Now most of the multifunctional copiers featuring memory will also have a memory stick that plugs into them. With the memory stick, text and images can be taken off of a computer that is hooked up to the Internet and transferred directly to the copier.