UND-Pilsa Blog

No matter how careful you are, without dependable protection the screens on all portable electronic devices will get scratched. The fact that we use the devices in our active daily lives puts them in constant danger of being scratched.

One of the best ways to protect them is now available through a company named Clear View Skins the skins that they offer are nearly invisible and they will provide your portable electronic devices with an unbeatable amount of protection against scratches without changing their size, shape or appearance.

The film that the Clear View Skins screen protectors are made from was originally developed to protect the leading edges of military helicopter blades.

The quality of the film that is used to produce the Clear View Skins and the fact every Clear View Skins screen protector is specifically designed to fit the individual electronic device makes them the perfect screen protector for all of your portable electronic devices.

The Clear View Skins screen protectors will fit in most carrying cases, providing an extra measure of protection while allowing you to remove the device from the carrying case to charge it in a dock or play it through a home speaker system.

If you are looking for dependable protection for your portable electronic device at an affordable price check them out at: (http://www.clearviewskins.com).

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The need for notebooks is skyrocketing at the moment. Those searching for the new montevina platform could be kept waiting as manufacturers have given warning of potential shipment shortages. I think the bad thing for manufacturers is that it doesn’t look like any factor will diminish this demand for laptops. The amazing thing is that even when you get the latest thing out it’ll sooner or later be out of date.

One of the increasing trends is gaming notebooks. These days you get higher specifications for your cash because the next best thing is always poised to be released. Laptop computers can now genuinly be used for gaming by us due to the advanced performance of new computers. Even more indredible these days I think is how slick the designs are becoming especially when you think about much speed is in them. Desktops are bigger and use more energy so no matter how good gaming notebooks have become desktops will always operate faster. Gaming notebooks are the benchmark of speed for the laptop business and it will be good to see how the approaching technology performs.

Custom laptops will always be about because the mass offerings don’t provide the spec the particular niche consumers require. The main thing with custom notebooks is that you can aquire higher spec parts. With that in mind you typically get to specify the cpu, ram, hard drive and software. Despite there being numerous of laptop computers in the market its not likely you will discover a lot of choice of powerful portables. A custom made notebooks this problem. There are numerous small laptop assembelers here and there that offer super service. Because of this consumers will forget about the big brand name.

We are observing some fairly awesome stuff at the minute and I’m curious what will be introduced next. I ignored to speak of the giant growth of internet devices and notebook computers. The Asus Eee just created a new specialist division. I think the market would like to see larger notebooks that weigh a lot less than the present systems. If you employ slightly less more efficient parts then I figure this is very doable already. Market trends signal that gaming notebooks will become more mobile in the next couple of years. All the companies are seeking to introduce the next best noteboo so it’ll be interesting to survey.

I found a few great gaming laptops from rizeon.

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Today’s compact yet powerful front video projectors may leave you with a too bright an image to watch! This being especially so if you intend to watch a projected image in a darkened room - which after all, is most often the case with a home theater setup.

Defining ‘Screen Gain’

Prior to proceeding with our discussion, it is important that one has a full understanding of what the term ’screen gain’ is all about.

It may sound strange that we talk about ‘gain’ when in reality a projector screen is nothing more than a passive device. Yet there is - it is all a question of how the screen surface distributes the reflected light.

Screen gain is a measurement of the reflectivity of the screen surface. It measures the ability of the screen to direct incident light back to the audience.

The gain number represents the ratio between incident light and reflected light. A flat matte white surface has a gain of approximately 1. A gray screen has a gain less than 1 and therefore, it attenuates incident light. Reflective screen surfaces have gains greater than 1; these projection screens direct more incident light back to the audience.

Gain is always measured in front and perpendicular to the screen at the point of maximum brightness; this represents peak screen gain and occurs at the zero viewing angle perpendicular to the screen surface.

For a screen with gain greater than one, the gain drops as one moves to the side and view the screen at an angle to the perpendicular drawn from the center of the screen. The angle at which screen gain falls to half the peak is referred to as ‘half gain viewing angle‘. A person viewing the screen from this angle will see the image half as bright as the person seated at the center. The more one moves further away from the center, the dimmer the projected image will be.

The higher the peak screen gain, the narrower the supported viewing angle. This is the price one has to pay for a higher screen gain - the higher projector screen gain at the center is in fact achieved by directing more light towards the center viewing positions rather than allowing for a uniform reflected light over a wider angle of view.

Projected Image Brightness:

Matching the projection screen gain with the ambient light and the video projector output is essential if you want to ensure that you will end up with a correct level of projected image brightness.

This is an extremely important issue. Do not forget that a basic requirement for a great movie experience is a comfortable environment. This means that the time one spends watching a movie should be as comfortable as possible. Exposure to a bright projected image is uncomfortable on the eyes - even when this is for just a few minutes, least imagine when watching a two-hour movie.

A Tricky Matching Process!

Ambient Light Conditions, Image Brightness & Screen Gain

A projected image is at its best when viewed in total darkness - this helps take away any visual distractions - rendering it easier for the viewer to get deeper immersed into the movie action.

In the home, achieving a completely darkened room is almost impossible except in the case of the dedicated home theater setup. The amount of ambient light present has an impact on the resultant projected image contrast. This calls for the need to increase the image brightness to maintain the correct level of image contrast.

The tricky issue is to arrive at the correct level of image brightness for a pre-set level of ambient light. This in view that projected image brightness is a function not only of the projector output, but also of the screen gain, and image size.

The explanation that follows should help you get a better understanding of the relationship that exists between these three inter-related parameters.

Display Brightness and Screen Gain

The brightness output level of your projector is a measure of the projector output power in terms of light intensity. Please keep in mind however that the resultant projected image brightness is a different issue. Image brightness falls in proportion to the area of the projected image size - the bigger the projected image is, the dimmer it will look for a fixed level of projector brightness.

The projected image brightness - more specifically the Luminance level for a projected image, is a measure of the light reflected from the projector screen area. It is measured in foot-Lamberts, and is defined as:

ANSI-lumens of your projector divided by the square footage of Screen.

(Note that one foot-Lambert is equal to 1 ANSI lumen per square foot.)

To arrive at the actual level of light reflected from the screen surface, the above result must be multiplied by the projector screen gain.

A useful reference here is what has been defined as ‘sufficient brightness‘ by the Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers, also known as SMPTE.

In standard 196M, the SMPTE determined sufficient brightness for showing motion pictures in a darkened room using a unity gain matte white projector screen, as 12 - 22 foot-Lamberts. In practice, the luminance target level is set to about 16 foot-Lamberts, while the average bright scene brightness level in a movie theater is typically 60% to 75% of this target value.

Display brightness is in itself an entirely subjective term; what’s more, it is all relative to the amount of ambient light falling on the screen surface.

The following rules of thumb would surely come to assistance in this respect:

1. The contrast ratio between the projected image and the ambient light level falling on the screen should be at least 5:1. This is necessary for the eye to perceive a real impression of brightness. If this contrast ratio is not achieved, the projected image will not be considered of adequate brightness level.

2. When viewing takes place under normal ambient light conditions, the luminance level should be close to 50 foot-Lamberts. This level of luminance is derived from the fact that SMPTE indicated a target level of image brightness for a CRT TV as 50 foot-Lamberts, this in view that a TV is normally viewed under normal ambient light. One may argue that TV is a totally different technology - this is true, but this target level for image brightness or luminance, still holds good for most circumstances.

How does all this translate in practical terms?

If one is viewing an image in typical very low ambient light conditions (say less than 2 foot-candles - equivalent to approximately 22 Lux), then the minimum required light level ‘illuminating‘ the screen surface should be around 10 foot-candles to achieve sufficient image contrast.

For a matte white projector screen surface with a screen gain of one, this translates to a minimum of 10 foot-Lamberts in terms of light ‘reflected‘ from the screen for image brightness. This is close to the SMPTE typical requirement for average luminance when viewing pictures in a darkened room.

Similarly, if viewing were to take place under normal ambient light room conditions (typically 10 foot-candles or 110 Lux), applying our first rule of thumb to achieve the required contrast level would result in a luminance level of 50 foot-Lamberts (approx. 540 Lux) for the same matte white projector screen surface. This is also in line with the target luminance level detailed in rule 2 for viewing under normal ambient light conditions.

Note:

• Light illuminating a surface is measured in lux (Lx = lumens/m2), or foot-candles.
• Light reflected from an area (luminance) is measured in candelas/m2 (cd/m2) or foot-lamberts (fL).

Now, let’s consider as an example what will happen with different projector screen gains for say a given 1000 ANSI-Lumens projector and a 100″ diagonal screen size.

Projector Screen Gain	                 1      1.5      2
Image Luminance in foot-Lamberts	30	45	60

It is clear that our 1000 ANSI-Lumens projector would produce a too bright an image when the latter is viewed in a darkened room, even when using a standard matte white projector screen with unity gain. Similarly, use of this projector in conjunction with a projector screen surface having a gain of 2 may result in a too bright an image even when viewing takes place under normal ambient light conditions.

Andrew Ghigo - A Telecoms/Electronics engineer by profession, with specialization in digital switching and telecoms fraud management systems.

Editor and publisher of http://www.practical-home-theater-guide.com - a site dedicated to all home theater enthusiasts with the scope of serving as a comprehensive home theater guide to home theater systems, product reviews and home theater design.

This article is an excerpt from a series of guides appearing under the

home theater screens section of the site.

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Choosing an online shopping cart is a big decision. Unlike a traditional brick and mortar business, your website is your only chance to impress potential customers. It needs to project a professional image to capture the trust of your visitors. The shopping cart is a particularly important part of your website because it deals with people’s personal information and credit card numbers. People are nervous about online purchases and need to be assured that they are giving their credit card numbers to a reputable company.

There are several types of ecommerce shopping carts available. They range from merchant services, which require no programming skills, to fully integrated shopping carts that require custom programming. The three main categories of shopping carts are:

• Merchant services such as eBay and 2Checkout
• Hosted shopping cart services
• Fully integrated shopping carts

Merchant Services

Most shopping carts require you to have your own merchant account and gateway. A merchant account is a bank account that allows a business to conduct credit card transactions and the gateway allows the transaction to be conducted over a secure connection. It’s okay if you don’t have a merchant account or gateway. Merchant service shopping carts allow you to use their merchant account, gateway and shopping cart for a higher cost.

Merchant services are beneficial for very small businesses or those that are just starting and don’t have a lot of orders. Merchant services provide the merchant account, gateway, hosted shopping cart and will maintain your customer’s personal information. They usually require a set-up fee between 50 and 200 dollars, transaction fee between 30 and 75 cents, and 5% to 10% of each transaction. Because you are using their merchant account, your customer’s credit card statement will show the merchant services business name not yours. In some cases, customers will not recognize the charge and may dispute it.

Merchant service shopping carts have an administrative interface, which allows you to login to your account to add products, prices and shipping options. The shopping cart generates the html for the purchase buttons and you simply copy and paste the html into your web pages. When your customer clicks on the purchase button, he is taken to another website to enter the credit card information. This indicates to the customer that you are a small business. Some potential customers will abandon the shopping cart rather than enter their credit card information on a website they know nothing about.

Once your business grows to the point where you are processing over $1000 a month, it’s more cost effective to apply for your own merchant account and switch to either a hosted shopping cart (little or no programming) or a fully integrated shopping cart (programming required).

Hosted Shopping Cart

The hosted shopping cart is a great solution for a small business that is processing over $1000 a month but does not have the resources to create or customize a fully integrated shopping cart. Hosted shopping carts are similar to the merchant services because they provide an administrative interface for you to enter products, pricing and shipping options. They will generate the html for the purchase buttons, which can be copied and pasted into your html pages.

Hosted shopping carts face some of same problems as merchant service carts because your customers will be transferred to a different website to enter the credit card information. Some hosted shopping carts allow you to customize the shopping cart so that it has the same look and feel as your websites. Customizing your shopping cart may require some programming skills, but it could also prevent customers from abandoning their shopping carts.

The main difference between the merchant services shopping cart and the hosted shopping cart is the name that appears on the customer’s credit card and pricing. Hosted shopping carts allow you to use your own merchant account and gateway, which means the customer’s credit card statement will show your business name next to the charge. This can decrease your charge backs.

If you are using your own merchant account and conducting over $1000 of transitions each month, the hosted shopping carts can be less expensive than merchant services. Your merchant account will probably charge a monthly fee between 20 and 60 dollars, transaction fee between 10 and 50 cents, and a percentage of the transaction, usually ranging between 2% to 3.5%. In addition to the merchant fees, your shopping cart service will also charge a monthly fee between 10 and 30 dollars and could charge a transaction fee. These fees sound more expensive than the merchant service option, but if you are processing over $1000 a month and growing, it’s better to pay flat monthly fees than continue to be charged 5 to 10 percent of the each transaction.

Fully Integrated Shopping Carts

The fully integrated shopping cart is a great option for any business that can afford it. The shopping cart will be dynamic and will have the same look and feel as your website. The ZIP Baby Potty Training Store is a great example of a fully integrated shopping cart. Fully integrated shopping carts like this contain features that are not found in merchant service or hosted shopping carts. For example, you can discount items, display customer reviews, assign products to multiple categories, display out of stock notifications, sort products and prices, and display shipping estimates without requiring the customer to create an account.

Integrated shopping carts require advanced programming skills and can often be used with your own merchant account or with a service that allows you to use their merchant account for a higher fee. There are many integrated shopping carts available. Free carts require the most programming skills, but if you don’t have the programming skills necessary to customize a free shopping cart, there are many companies that specialize in customizing fully integrated shopping carts.

Your choice of a shopping cart can have a dramatic impact on your business. Your website is the first and only impression you get to make so you’ll want to make it as professional as possible. While shopping for a shopping cart system, put yourself in your target customer’s shoes and browse the Internet. Review your competitor’s websites as well as those outside your industry. Make a list of shopping carts that you find appealing and research them thoroughly before choosing one.

Copyright 2004 Danna Henderson. All Rights Reserved.

Danna Henderson started ZIP Baby in order to provide parents with comprehensive potty training information and a large selection of potty training products. For more information visit the ZIP Baby Potty Training Store .

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Shick Tube-Veyor Corporation was founded in 1956 by William F.
Ungashick, an aeronautical engineer. Today, Shick is an industry
leader in providing single source automated ingredient handling
systems and equipment. Shick designs, manufactures, installs and
services systems for customers primarily in the baking industry.
Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, Shick has approximately
165 employees located in Missouri and Singapore. The firm
selected Encompix (www.encompix.com) because it has filled the
manufacturing software requirements of Engineer-to-Order
companies since 1992. The company name reflects the commitment
to developing business application solutions that encompass the
complex areas of project-based and job-based manufacturing.

Additional new Encompix clients include Global Vehicle Systems,
Air-x-hemphill (AXH), Komline-Sanderson, and Pattern Equipment &
Prototype (PEP).

In the increasingly competitive world of engineer-to-order and
project-based manufacturing, companies have to operate at
maximum efficiency to compete with not only domestic firms, but
also the growing number of overseas competitors. The companies
that will thrive in this environment are those that are
continually looking for improvement.

According to Thomas R. Cutler, spokesperson for the ETO
Institute (www.etoinstitute.org), “Encompix has experienced
strong levels of success because this year few other
manufacturing software companies truly understand the specific
issues and nuances facing the engineer-to-order segment of the
manufacturing market.” Encompix provides ETO manufacturers with
a competitive advantage by improving bottom line results.

Encompix www.encompix.com Roger Meloy 513-733-0066

# # #

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Preparing to pass the BSCI exam and earn your Cisco CCNP? Route summarization is just one of the many skills you’ll have to master in order to earn your CCNP. Whether it’s RIP version 2, OSPF, or EIGRP, the BSCI exam will demand that you can flawlessly configure route summarization.

Route summarization isn’t just important for the BSCI exam. It’s a valuable skill to have in the real world as well. Correctly summarizing routes can lead to smaller routing tables that are still able to route packets accurately - what I like to call “concise and complete” routing tables.

The first skill you’ve got to have in order to work with route summarization is binary math more specifically, you must be able to take multiple routes and come up with both a summary route and mask to advertise to downstream routers. Given the networks 100.16.0.0 /16, 100.17.0.0 /16, 100.18.0.0 /16, and 100.19.0.0 /16, could you quickly come up with both the summary address and mask? All you need to do is break the four network numbers down into binary strings. We know the last two octets will all convert to the binary string 00000000, so in this article we’ll only illustrate how to convert the first and second octet from decimal to binary.

100 16 = 01100100 00010000

100 17 = 01100100 00010001

100 18 = 01100100 00010010

100 19 = 01100100 00010011

To come up with the summary route, just work from left to right and draw a line where the four networks no longer have a bit in common. For these four networks, that point comes between the 14th and 15th bits. This leaves us with this string: 01100100 000100xx. All you need to do is convert that string back to decimal, which gives us 100 for the first octet and 16 for the second. (The two x values are bits on the right side of the line, which aren’t used in calculating the summary route.) Since we know that zero is the value for the last two octets, the resulting summary network number is 100.16.0.0.

But we’re not done! We now have to come up with the summary mask to advertise along with the summary route. To arrive at the summary route, write out a mask in binary with a “1″ for every bit to the left of the line we drew previously, and a “0″ for every bit to the right. That gives us the following string:

11111111 11111100 00000000 00000000

Converting that to dotted decimal, we arrive at the summary mask 255.252.0.0. The correct summary network and mask to advertise are 100.16.0.0 252.0.0.0.

For the BSCI exam, emphasis is put on knowing how to advertise these summary routes in RIPv2, EIGRP, and OSPF. For RIP v2 and EIGRP, route summarization happens at the interface level - it’s not configured under the protocol. On the interface that should advertise the summary route, use the command “ip summary-address”. Here are examples of how the above summary route would be configured on ethernet0 in both RIPv2 and EIGRP.

R1(config-if)#ip summary-address rip 100.16.0.0 255.252.0.0

R1(config-if)#ip summary-address eigrp 100 100.16.0.0 255.252.0.0

The main difference between the two is that the EIGRP command must specify the AS number - that’s what the “100″ is in the middle of the EIGRP command. Since RIPv2 does not use AS numbers, there’s no additional value needed in the configuration.

For OSPF, the commands differ. If you’re configuring inter-area route summarization, use the “area range” command. The number following “area” is the area containing the routes being summarized, not the area receiving the summary.

R1(config)#router ospf 1

R1(config-router)#area 1 range 100.16.0.0 255.252.0.0

If you are summarizing routes that are being redistributed into OSPF, use the summary-address command under the OSPF routing process on the ASBR.

R1(config)#router ospf 1

R1(config-router)#summary-address 100.16.0.0 255.252.0.0

I speak from experience when I tell you that practice makes perfect on the BSCI exam, especially with binary and summarization questions. The great thing about these questions is that there are no grey areas with these questions - you either know how to do it or you don’t. And with practice and an eye for detail, you can master these skills, pass the exam, and become a CCNP. Here’s to your success on these tough Cisco certification exams!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages.

For a FREE copy of his latest e-books, “How To Pass The CCNA” and “How To Pass The CCNP”, visit the website and download your free copies. You can also get FREE CCNA and CCNP exam questions every day! Pass the CCNA exam with The Bryant Advantage!

Understanding ASP.NET Validation Controls

After you create a web form, you should make sure that mandatory fields of the form elements such as login name and password are not left blank; data inserted is correct and is within the specified range. Validation is the method of scrutinizing that the user has entered the correct values in input fields. In HTML you can perform validation either by checking the values at client-side or after submitting the form at the server-side. But these methods in HTML take lots of time to create and maintain the code. Moreover, if the user has disabled JavaScript then he or she may not receive the message regarding the error.

Therefore, in ASP.NET you can use ASP.NET Validation Controls while creating the form and specify what ASP.NET Validation Controls you want to use and to which server control you want bind this. ASP.NET Validation Controls are derived from a common base class and share a common set of properties and methods. You just have to drag and drop the ASP.NET Validation Control in the web form and write one line of code to describe its functionality.

This reduces the developer time from writing JavaScript for each type of validation. Moreover, through ASP.NET Validation Controls if any invalid data is entered the browser itself detects the error on the client side and displays the error without requesting the server. This is another advantage because it reduces the server load.

The five types of ASP.NET Validation Controls in ASP.NET Framework include:

• RequiredField Validation control: prompts message if any input field is left blank. This validation control can also be used to prompt message to the user if he or she has left any input field with its default value.

• Range Validation control: Prompts message to the user, if the data entered in the input field is not within the range of the values specified by the Maximum and Minimum properties of the validation control.

• Comparison Validation control: Allows the user to compare two values and check for comparisons such as equality, greater-than, less-than etc. In addition you can check whether the data entered in the input field is of the data type as specified by you.

• RegularExpression Validation control: Allows you to validate if the format of a certain input field is correct or not. You can check the validation of the commonly performed formats such as social security numbers, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and postal code.

• Custom Validation control: Allows you to define your own condition for validating the data in the input fields. Two validation functions can be performed using Custom Validation control: first on the server-side and second on the client-side. These functions contain logic defined by you to validate the input fields. These functions returns the True value and False value, if the condition you specified is correct or not respectively.

If the control’s value does not validate to what you have specified in the validation control tag, the web form displays an error message. Moreover, you can customize the format of the error message by using the control properties such as BackColor, BorderStyle, and BorderWidth. In addition, you can use Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) to format an error message.

To access online version of the above article, please go to http://www.dotnet-guide.com/validation.html

About the Author

Visit http://www.dotnet-guide.com for a
complete introduction to .NET framework.
Learn about ASP.NET, VB.NET, C# and other related technologies.

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THE ROSICRUCIAN COUNCIL OF THREE:

A Thelema/OTO leader who became a Mason in 2003 told me that I am silly to talk about the Rosicrucian Council of Three because it is no longer in existence. Yes Clymer, Paine and Franklin are all dead physically despite the machinations and rituals to prolong life that these people often do use. When Lincoln was a member of it he had Paschal Beverly Randolph as a fellow member. This Randolph believed he was able to do what Crowley and Cagliostro and many others of their ilk said they could do. That has to do with the continuance of the soul rather than the body and I can assure you this is not as impossible as it may sound. Crowley’s personal name for himself as this soul entity was Perdurabo which means something akin to soul continuance. I believe Thomas Jefferson and Frederick Douglas are two people who owe their fame and even their existence to the Randolph/Levi/Cagliostro genetic and soul knowledge genetic programs. I have dealt with the esoterics of these things in other books.

Edward Kelley was the specialist for John Dee who used the scryring stones that Franklin’s Hellfire Club had in London where Franklin’s home has provided evidence connected to trepanning and eating Thalami. A woman who wanted to marry me had a sister who killed her mother and the courts let this sister off with time served because the court believed the mother was indeed using these rituals to take over her daughter’s body. Anderson’s Constitutions is the reforming construct or detailed plan for the structure of modern Masonry and this family was those Andersons. I have been told by many people who have heard these things from my lips that it is revolting and hard to believe. David Icke got duped into thinking they are able to change shapes and it appears he may still believe they are extraterrestrial beings or descended therefrom.

The Dragons or Pendragons of the Arthurian/Grail/Merovingian continuum are admitting or proclaiming a lot of this nonsense in books by De Vere and Sir Laurence Gardner in recent years. Those two authors appear to have had a falling out but just as I know the Illuminati/Alumbrados name has had many revivals I suspect these people use names and apparent conflicts to keep people confused. We all have heard that the Masons and Catholic Church have a serious blood feud but this is just for show. This book (America’s Assassinations and Aspirations) will show Lincoln had gone against the Rothschilds just before they were involved in bringing Crowley/Cagliostro back to the world stage through the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. L. Ron Hubbard Jr. said the start of Scientology was the death of Crowley who his father took part in a soul transference with.

This is why Lincoln was assassinated even though he was a member of the Rosicrucian Council of Three. The Bush family has not gone against these real managers or shadow world governing forces. That is why they are ‘Teflon Presidents’ and able to support the Merovingian drug enterprises and war machines as well as BCCI, the S & L or Enron debacles without suffering what happened to the Kennedy boys. The media is owned or controlled by the Rothschild/Rockefeller/Dupont complex including Katharine Graham who recently retired as head of the American Publisher’s Association.

About the Author

Author of Diverse Druids
Columnists for The ES Press Magazine
Guest ‘expert’ at World-Mysteries.com

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Once again another phone call with Raymond McNally of RTDWebsolutions prompts me to tell you about a prime piece of “real estate” on your own computer, the HOME PAGE of your own internet browser!

When you click HOME where is it taking you?

Mega-giants online would love to persuade you to have
their site loading each time you go HOME, but is that an
efficient way to use it? No, it is not.

Your own HOME PAGE should take you to the numerous
links YOU need and use, at the click of your mouse.

By that I mean, if you have numerous startpage programs,
affiliate program links, online banking links, website stats,
administrative functions for your own website, etc., that
you routinely check on - instead of filing them under your
FAVORITES (and having to remember what stands for
what), create one single HOME PAGE that can take you
anywhere you need to be - all with the click of your own
mouse!

Picture this - you open your browser or click HOME during
the day and you are automatically at a page that is useful -
for YOU!

And it’s simple to set up! Even someone with zero website
building capabilities can have their own personalized
homepage up and running in no time using something as
simple as NOTEPAD on your own computer.

You do NOT have to upload it either - unless you have your
own domain and would enjoy accessing your list anywhere
in the world anytime - just consider burying it deep inside
your website and password protecting it first. Truly, this
puppy can just sit on your own hard drive and can be modified
as needed instantly!

Here’s how to do it…

First, open WINDOWS EXPLORER, head to your C DRIVE,
and create a new folder on your own C drive (up under
FILE). Call this new folder HOMEPAGE. Close Windows
Explorer.

Then:

1. Click open NOTEPAD

Note: Since certain codes do not lend themselves to
article writing, please remove the * in the examples below
and type SHIFT/COMMA to open a link and SHIFT/PERIOD
when closing your link.

Also, where I have typed ENTER, you will type *BR* again
substituting the appropriate keys for the * to create a hard
return.

2. Type *B* Startpage Programs */B* ENTER

This creates a bolded heading called Startpage Programs,
your first category.

Now, gather all your startpage program urls and copy and
paste them one by one under this category. Be sure to type
ENTER (see above) after each line of code to ensure they
are one below the other.

Also, please note that you can easily add the NEW WINDOW
“target” to each of your links. Just before the closing * (see
above) of each of your links, insert:

one typed SPACE and then “target=_blank”

Now each time you click a link, it will open in a new window
for you.

Here’s a sample link:

*a href=”http://www.mystartpagelink.com” target=_blank”* MyStartPage */a*

On your HOME page, you’ll see a clickable link called
MyStartPage.

You must insert some sort of name after the URL and close
the a href reference with the */a* code to complete the link.

So, after getting your startpages organized…

3. Type *B* Affiliate Programs */B* ENTER

Again, go out and gather together all the programs you
check on a regular or even infrequent basis. Enter the
links given to you by that particular program, one by
one, again inserting the NEW WINDOW code into each of
your links, and typing the code for ENTER after each affiliate
url.

4. Repeat the above as many times as needed to create
the categories you personally need for things you routinely
check on.

5. When you are through, SAVE the file to your C Drive
inside the HOMEPAGE folder you initially created. Be sure
to give your newly created page an HTM extension, for
example: homepage.htm

Now, open your browser and click on TOOLS (sorry Netscape
users will have to find their setting for the startpage on their
own *smile!*).

The window pops open and the first thing you’ll see under
the GENERAL tab is “Home page.”

In the address bar type in:

file://C:/HOMEPAGE/homepage.htm

Click APPLY. Voila! you are finished!

You can add and delete programs and headings at will
anytime just by reopening this htm page into NOTEPAD,
making your changes, and selecting SAVE. That’s it, it
really is simple.

Now whenever you choose to “GO HOME,” your own
browswer will open to something YOU need, your own
organized page to work from! Enjoy!

© Theresa Cahill - All Rights Reserved. Feel free to distribute this article. Please keep it intact and with the resource box included below.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Theresa Cahill, a two decade veteran of marketing, is the owner of http://www.mywizardads.com and invites you to take a look at the services of MWA and download fr.ee helpful information and more at http://www.mywizardads.com/sitemap.html

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Homeland Security - Protecting our Borders and Ports through
Biometric, RFID, Sensor and Surveillance Technology

Homeland Security Focused on Addressing Illegal Immigration and
Terrorism through Stronger Borders and Ports

By Ann-Marie Fleming, www.BorderandPortSecurity.com ,
www.HomelandDefenseStocks.com November 2005

Securing our ports and borders has become a major focus of
Homeland Security, in particular since the events of 9/11.
President Bush has made addressing problems with illegal
immigration, terrorist activities, and illegal smuggling of
weapons and drugs a high level priority of border and port
security. In October, the President signed the Department of
Homeland Security Appropriations Act for 2006, which allocates
$30.8 billion in discretionary funding for the 2006 fiscal year.
The bill apportions $7.5 billion towards illegal immigration and
gives $139 million towards the improvement of border technology
and intelligence capabilities to include cameras and sensors
among others.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff stated before the
US. Senate Judiciary Committee, “President Bush has placed
ever-increasing importance on border security and has devoted
significant resources to this challenge. The President believes
- and I agree - that illegal immigration threatens our
communities and our national security. The ability of
undocumented individuals to enter our country represents an
obvious homeland security threat. Flagrant violation of our
borders undercuts the rule of law, undermines our security, and
imposes particular economic strains on our border communities.
When we do not control our borders, we also risk entry into the
U.S. of terrorists or others wishing to do us harm.”

RFID Biometric Convergence:

A key initiative towards the achievement of secure borders and
ports to ensure the facilitation of lawful travel and trade, an
accurate immigration system and the overall protection of
visitors and citizens is the U.S. Visit program. Under this
program, foreign visitors are required to have their index
fingers scanned as well as a digital photograph taken for travel
document identification matching purposes. According to the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), US-VISIT entry procedures
are currently in place at 115 airports, 15 seaports and in the
secondary inspection areas of the 50 busiest land ports of
entry. Exit procedures are operating at 12 airports and two
seaports with procedures to be deployed to the remaining land
ports of entry by December 31, 2005.

Under the Visa Waiver Program, 27 nation’s such as Australia,
Austria, Norway, Belgium, Japan, the United Kingdom, France,
Germany and many more countries, had to meet a congressional
mandate that required, as a first stage in the multi-stage
border and port security strategy, for passports to have the
digital photographs in passports by October 26, 2005. The next
step according to DHS is a policy requiring these countries to
produce ‘e-passports’, which entails an RFID chip that can store
biographic information, a digital photograph and other biometric
details to be integrated into passports by October 26, 2006.

This technology, under the U.S. Visit Program, allows for faster
and more secure identification of illegal activity, and provides
for more efficient border and port travel for visitors to the
United States, while increasing the ability to share information
among federal, state, local and foreign agencies.

Homeland security technology expert Brian Ruttenbur, Equity
Research Analyst, Morgan Keegan & Co. explains, “What really
pushes countries and government officials to move are mandates
with deadlines and funding attached to those. The US Visit has
really pushed that along in enforcing the requirements set forth
in the program in terms of biometric authentication, and
governments have found the funding for those types of issues.”

Sense Holdings, a provider of biometric and micro-sensor
identification systems that target the homeland security market,
sees the convergence of RFID and biometric technology as an
effective security solution. The Company’s CEO, Dore Perler
explains, “The use of RFID and biometric technologies is almost
a perfect fit in the development of an easy to use intuitive
security system. As a layered approach, the RFID requires little
or no action from the end user, leaving only the biometric
component. Essentially this doubles the security of the system
without requiring any additional effort from the end user.
Incorporating multiple RFID triggers facilities notification to
the end user that they are not authorized prior to using the
biometric or approaching the system terminal, thus minimizing
the wear and tear on the biometric while correspondingly
allowing the process to proceed faster for those authorized.”

Domestic and International Opportunity:

“The biometric side of the business is going to grow extremely
fast all because of the enhanced border and visa security act
that was passed in 2002 by Congress, which is forcing every
country in the entire world to go with biometric sensors and
biometric travel documents. I see the EU Visitor Information
System and UK e-borders spurring into multiple programs and
there is going to be biometrics on every travel documents in
five to ten years down the road and that’s going to be National
ID Cards, Visas, and Passports all with biometrics. The U.S.
will be one of the last nations of the first world countries, to
adopt a biometrics national id card,” describes Ruttenbur.

Two key the goals for the integration of biometric and RFID
technology in terms of border and port security entails both
accuracy as well as efficiency to help facilitate faster border
crossing with an increased level of security. “The competitive
advantage of implementing a technology based solution, such as
RFID, biometrics, or a combination, comes not from the
technology itself, but from the improvements to business
processes that would be impossible without the devices. We are
very excited about the future of RFID integration with
biometrics and as a stand alone technology. Issues that have
plagued industry are now able to be resolved with the
incorporation of wireless LANs, RFID, and biometrics. Sense is
positioning itself and developing new product lines to address
these long time burdens,” states Perler.

Surveillance Systems:

The tragic events that took place in London with the bombings
within a major transit system have placed a growing sense of
urgency on the need for effective surveillance technology. As
Ruttenbur discusses, “I think that the next step to see across
the borders will be camera systems getting rolled out. We have
seen a number of announcements from the New York Transit
Authority, the New Jersey Transit authority that they are
starting to implement camera systems that monitor the platforms,
trains, buses etc.”

According to Corby Lawrence, Director of Business Development
for SYColeman, a division of L-3 Communications, “The roll-out
of such camera systems must be planned, built, and implemented
with a major focus on real-world operational effectiveness.
Simply installing huge volumes of cameras and sensors and
displaying the information on dozens of CCTVs exceeds the human
capacity to detect threat activities within an area of concern.”

L-3 Communications has addressed this global problem with its
PRAETORIAN surveillance software. Created by Sarnoff
Laboratories and recently purchased and commercialized by L-3,
PRAETORIAN is the industry’s only surveillance system capable of
integrating multiple cameras and sensors into a single, 3D
“game-like” display, permitting fly-through abilities. “With
PRAETORIAN, operators can finally have full situational
awareness, even in complex security environments such as borders
and ports,” stated Lawrence.

As the war on terrorism across the globe expands, and public and
private “homeland security” and related funding increases, the
demand for surveillance is anticipated to continue its growth.
Law Enforcement Associates (LEA) is working to take advantage of
the intensified need for surveillance technology through the
Company’s Under Vehicle Inspection System. As described by the
Company, the Under Vehicle Inspection System views the underside
of vehicles entering and exiting secure areas/facilities for
explosive devices and contraband. It is deployed on military
bases, oil refineries, ports, United Nations and NATO Locations,
embassies, nuclear facilities, and government installations.
Paul Feldman, LEA’s CEO, reveals, “Providing the needed security
at border entry points and ports is a very tasking job. Our
borders are vast and are difficult to fully monitor. The amount
of freight that comes into our seaports is staggering. LEA has
proven that their security products can play be an important
part of the “overall security” plan to help in border and port
security.”

Sensor Technology:

The focus on sensor technology with applications in border and
port security is increasing. Ruttenbur anticipates growth in
sensor programs for cargo screening, which are just starting to
emerge, as well as rollouts in the next several months for
additional sensor programs that entail body scanners first in
airports, then in other locations.

Sense Holdings is currently developing explosives sensor
technology based on Micro Electro-Mechanical Sensors (MEMS) with
plans on integrating this technology with biometric
identification. “As the needs for Homeland Security escalate and
become more complicated, there is a growing demand for
innovative detection technology to ensure and enable security on
a variety of levels. Along with developing technology that can
accurately identify explosives and harmful material, the use of
this technology must also be secured. The integration of
biometric identification with effective explosives detection
ensures that the activities are monitored, tracked and that the
technology is only being used by authorized personnel, while at
the same time helping to facilitate secure communication of
sensor activity,” describes Perler.

Law Enforcement Associates has entered the detection market with
their explosives detection kit, the EDK123, which according to
the Company provides a fast, reliable field test for detection
of trace nitrates that are found in 85% of all explosives,
including TNT, Dynamite, Sentex, RDX and ammonium nitrates. It
is currently being used by our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Global Security:

As the United States works towards an actionable security plan
to protect our borders and ports, it is becoming clear that
homeland security is more accurately defined as Global Security.
With the continuation of worldwide terrorist activity, it is
clear that security can no longer be understood and evaluated in
a domestic context alone. With a global perspective on security
and the potential threats that we face, innovative and effective
technology can be more clearly identified to address the needs
for securing travel and trade. This quest points towards an
industry that will continue to grow; one that will be here for
the long run as it continues to evolve to meet the diverse
challenges that global security demands.

Ann-Marie Fleming Ann-Marie Fleming completed her MBA in the
United States, where she attended Webster University. She also
holds an Honors B.A from the University of Toronto. She has over
fifteen years of experience within the financial industry to
include retail banking and brokerage, investment banking, and
mortgage brokerage within the United States and Canada, with a
firm background in corporate research.

Disclaimer: www.InvestorIdeas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp,
www.HomelandDefenseStocks.com/Companies/HomelandDefense/Disclaime
r.asp

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