Car can run on water and nothing else , so why do we need oil ? Big Question

Waterfuel - so why do we need oil ?This is quite interesting using what they call HH2 gas, this company is working on using water to power cars or weld things. Currently they have a test vehicle which runs as a hybrid with water and fuel but they say they can run exclusively on water alone...
While the technology may not be as unique or breakthrough as the reporter and company spokesman claim (it seems to be based on an electrolytic process commonly known as "Brown's Gas."), it's still a great story to watch, and then do some fun follow-up research on.
I wish there was some more info about this but for now this video will do. Hopefully we can see this technology in service sooner then later

LCD TVs getting slimmer

Sharp, Hitachi and JVC are taking the bulk out of large LCD televisions.

All three manufacturers are showing off LCD TVs at the Ceatec electronics trade show in Japan this week, with panels that are less than 25 mm thick. The TV stand and the electronics add bulk, but the electronics can be put in the base of the stand or in a unit that connects to the TV wirelessly.

Hitachi showed off the thinnest model at the show, a 37-inch TV with a panel that measured only 19 millimeters thick. Sharp showed off a 52-inch TV with a 20-millimeter thick panel. There are 25 millimeters to an inch. A typical thin LCD panel on the market today is about 50 mm thick, according to Hitachi.

JVC's was the thickest of the three at 22 millimeters, but the company also likes to point out that it will be selling its thin LCD TVs in some markets in early 2008. The sets will start at 42 inches and get larger from there. Hitachi won't come out with its thin TV until 2009 and Sharp has been tight lipped about when it might release its thin LCD.

All three manufacturers are fairly vague about how they accomplished their respective feats. Hitachi says it's the light source it's putting in the TV, however, the company won't say what the light source is. JVC is using a fluorescent light source, not LEDs, but it won't get more specific than that.

Everyone is also tweaking the performance of their TVs in other ways. JVC, for instance, showed off a technology for reducing image noise in LCD TVs. Software in the TV creates a 3D simulation of images coming across the TV. It then tweaks the 2D image that will come across the TV to you by data it obtains in the 3D simulation to make a more accurate image.

Hitachi, meanwhile, said it will try to make a lot of news at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. The company wants to move upmarket in TVs by emphasising, among other factors, industrial design.

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How to Evaluate DLP, LCD, Plasma TV and HDTV Quality

How to understand the difference in quality between DLP, LCD, and Plasma TVs.

Steps

1. Know the environment where you will use the TV. The level of ambient light will be a major factor. Also know the viewing distance--this will determine the size or resolution that will look the best.
2. Know the program material that will be viewed. Most video sources including DVDs are 480. HDTV signals are usually 1080 sometimes 720.
3. Understand the strengths and weaknesses of each technology to make an informed choice--see tips below.
4. Carry a few test DVDs into each store so you are always seeing the same scenes. Note that the setting (viewing distance/angle, especially ambient light) will make a difference in the perceived quality. The settings/calibration can make some difference too.
5. Keep notes with model numbers and relative rankings between units since you will likely not be able to compare all models side-by-side at one store.
6. Don't buy much more than you need in size, resolution, or technology. If you have the space and easy access, getting a used previous generation top-of-the-line CRT rear-projection TV from for the large dark rec room might be just the ticket.

Tips

• Each technology has its strengths and weaknesses and so you have to pay attention to different aspects to access the total quality of a TV in the intended environment.
• DLP is thinner than CRT/LCD rear projection TVs. They are also brighter so more suitable where there is more ambient light. Its weakness is in producing dark blacks, especially closely spaced dark and light features. Use scenes with a fine high-contrast texture, such as a white cliff face with black speakles. The best latest DLP TVs will look good, while others will look washed-out, gray and blury. Another good scene is a distant view of a forest with a mixture of rich green leaves and black shadowy underbrush.
• LCDs tend to look like computer screens with unstable shimmeriness especially on silvery medium-light grays. Dark blues and grays approaching black are usually not well produced. Watch fast scenes like sports with a small ball (tennis, golf) as LCD refresh rates are not as fast. Watch slow panning scenes for artifacts that don't move with the panning scene. One cause for this may be variation in pixel response due to manufacturing tolerences. Another cause may be the smoothing technology to upsample a TV or DVD signal to 720 ro 1080--this is true with other technologies too. There are differences in the implementations, so it matters too.
• Plasma is considered to be the best. It can look hyper-real or exaggerated or lack that movie-theatre film quality of projection TVs. There are however considerable differences between models. The burn-in problem is not as bad as the earlier generations and with careful use, not much worse than normal CRT direct view TVs of decades ago. Plasma is a superheated gas and as such generates heat which may require extra cooling if already a concern in your home

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• .

Learn About Plasma TVs

This is an article on the benefits of plasmas.

Steps

1. Realize that plasma tv's are not that expensive. Most good 42" plasmas cost about the same as a good 50" DLP or LCD rear projection TV, and they tend to cost less than flat panel LCD's of the same size.
2. Know that most plasmas don't necessarily have the most pixels. The larger (40" and up) flat panel LCD's most often have the highest resolution. While this is important, it is not the MOST IMPORTANT part of a TV.
3. Don't just buy a plasma or other flat panel TV to "save space." This is occasionally a concern of people, but really most people buy a plasma because they want to wall mount a TV.
4. Be aware that pretty much ALL HDTV's are "horizontal rectangles" otherwise known as widescreen and have an aspect ratio of 16x9 as opposed to traditional 4x3. This includes high-def LCD's, Plasmas, CRT's, and Projections.
5. Burn-in is not really an issue with plasmas anymore. It can happen, but it is difficult to get, even with video games. If burn-in does occur, it is usually reversible, which is why most experts in the electronic industry now call this "image retention" rather than "burn-in."
6. Plasmas are not obsolete. LCD's and plasmas are about the same age as far as the technology goes and the availability to consumers. Additionally, a good plasma does not use much power.

Tips

• Look at the picture quality and decide what looks best to you and costs what you want to spend.
• Make sure to discuss accessories (cables, power centers, mounting brackets, etc.) and how to connect your plasma to all your sources.
• Talk with knowledgeable sales staff and they will help you pick out the right TV to fit your individual needs.
• Ask the personal preference of the salesperson if you like them and they seem knowledgeable.

Warnings

• Read reviews, read magazines and visit your local consumer electronics store to see how the sets actually look

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• .

How to Hack the School Internet Filter (8E6 R3000)

Internet filters work well (possibly a little too well). Some internet filters are so sensitive that they even block out sites that are appropriate for school environment. This guide will show you a simple way to get around the filter even if the settings in Internet Explorer are locked.

Steps

1. # Go to www.google.com/xhtml.
2. Type "Codeen Proxy" into the box and search.
3. Look at your results and click the one labeled "NNtime Proxy lists: records 1 to 50", or something similar to this.
4. Open a second browser window and go to Portable Apps [1] and download "Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition".
5. After your download finishes, open the application, and extract the files to a folder of your choosing (it doesn't matter where just as long as there is sufficient space).
6. Go into the folder where you extracted Firefox and launch the application.
7. After firefox loads go into the settings (Tools>Options...), click on the advanced tab, and click network settings.
8. After the settings window opens, click "manual proxy configuration".
9. Go back to the first window you opened and copy an ip address of your choosing and paste it into the box just below "manual proxy configuration". After that, type the corresponding port number into the box to the right of the ip address.
10. AFTER the above steps have been completed, click ok to apply all settings and close the window. Then click ok again to close the preferences menu.
11. You should now be ready to visit any website you heart desires without being blocked by the internet filter. Enjoy!

Tips

• Not all codeen proxies work, so if it doesn't work the first time just try another one until you get one that does work.
• To keep things quick, Firefox will retain proxy settings and can be stored on a flash drive.
• This may also work on other internet filters as well.

Warnings

• This is EASILY detectable by the School Division's IT dept. Even if you get away with it once or twice, be prepared to get caught.
• If you have nosy teachers, keep all unused windows minimized to avoid suspicion.
• If teachers decide to walk over and ask to view the windows on your task bar, consider an application called "acehide". It allows you to set a hotkey to entirely hide a window from view, off the taskbar and even off the ctrl-alt-del menu.
• Alternatively, you can also just resize the task bar so it's off the screen. You can always pull it back up later, and if you need the start menu, just hit the windows key.
• You can also use a program called WinXHide which helps hides programs with a combination of 2 keys.This would be better than a hotkey as teachers may see wat key you are pressing.

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How to Bypass a School Filter

Ever surfing the net and your favourite page comes up blocked by that annoying filter? Here's how to get past it.

Steps

1. Find a proxy site. Just do a search for "free online proxies". this will provide you with a number of proxies to bypass filters.
2. Some schools' filters block most proxy sites, so you have to find one that works.
3. When you find a proxy site, type the name of the site you want to access into the box. Most sites have a checkbox that says "block scripts". It is better to uncheck this
4. Some schools use proxy services (such as Bess) to do the filtering. It may be possible to disable it by going into Internet Explorer and choosing Tools>Internet Options>Conections Tab>Lan Settings... and unchecking the "Use a proxy server for your LAN". It can be reenabled prior to leaving. In the likely event that this ability is disabled, one can use a registry editor to change the value of "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ProxyEnable" to 0.
5. Hit the go button and you will get to your favourite site!
6. Pr0xy DragonProxy and that type of thing. If you can, locate a system is that the same location as you. If not, a proxy works very slowly!
7. If none of these work, download and install Firefox and manually change the proxy seetings by going to Tools > Options > Connection Settings > And change the Proxy Settings to a proxy. Go to ask.com and search proxy lists.
8. Some web filters only block the domain name for restricted websites. Therefore, if you you try to browse to the IP address of the website, it may work.
9. If the web filter blocked even the IP address of the site, you can take each number in the IP and convert it to a Hexadecimal format. Then in the browser enter http:// 0x(hex1).0x(hex2).0x(hex3).0x(hex4). There is a script at http://helpfulhacks.com/blocked/ that will do this for you.
10. Another easy way is to download a program such as OperaTor. It automatically connects to servers and there is almost no setup. This can be slow though.

Tips

• Use a number of different proxy sites so you are less likely to have one blocked.
• When you go to Google to search for proxies, use Quotations and reword some words like web with say, network.
• Ask your friends or other resources for sites.
• The best idea to stay out of trouble at school is to not go to blocked and or banned websites at school.
• Another piece of software you can use is called Pingfu, which can be found at http://www.artofping.com.
• Some filters dont block https:// sites, it may be possible to access a cgi proxy through a site such as https://www.junkblender.com
• If your school blocks a certain proxy sometimes you can google it then click on "cahched" which will display the page and be able to use the proxy. Adaptive firewalls will catch this and permanently block the site. Also putting spaces in words like p r o x y . a b c 1 2 3 . c o m is a way to search the proxy without the filter catching it.

Warnings

• Don't be stupid. This basically means that you don't just use your proxy to look up inappropriate material. If you do that, you deserve to be caught—not to mention that a lot of schools can track that anyway, even if you did delete the history.
• Don't assume your schools IT Administrator is dumb. He/She would have studied pretty hard to get to where they're at. So if you think you are automatically smarter than them, don't even think about trying this. However, if you know you are smarter than them, feel free to do this.
• The school will still keep track of your history, so don't go looking up things you shouldn't.
• The school may block certain MIME types e.g. mp3 files. A proxy will not let you download these.
• Don't do this if your school uses SonicWALL Content Filter Service, you'll get in trouble.
• CIPAFilter will analyze each page for context-sensitive words. Certain schools will log if you go to a an already banned site, be warned.
• Don't use Firefox 1 or Opera. It will also get you into trouble. If you want to get past the school filter try Firefox 2 which you can get from download.com . It's great and it has no censors, so nobody knows you're using it or downloaded and deleted it.
• Don't tell other students your proxy! Nothing is more annoying than the rat who ruins your Internet access. Of course this ruins the 3rd tip.
• Some schools employ a remote desktop administration system, allowing them to actually monitor your computer's screen from the IT Office, as well as the option of controlling your computer remotely with their mouse and keyboard.. If this is the case, they will see you visiting a proxy website, and you will be found out.

How to Hack Into Security Cameras Via Internet

Have you ever wanted to see what was going on in a bakery on the other side of the world. How about seeing into top secret labs. Or maybe even a police car's dash camera. With the following information you can not only see through the eyes of "Big Brother", but you can zoom, pan, tilt, capture & save images, and even reset the directions the security cameras face!

Steps

1. Open up your favorite browser (mine is firefox, it works best).
2. Using the browser do a google search of any of the following links(numbers 3-36)(some of the links below are actually websites, like if they say "Site:" before the link, so go to the site using Firefox):
3. inurl:/view.shtml
4. intitle:”Live View / - AXIS” | inurl:view/view.shtml^
5. inurl:ViewerFrame?Mode=
6. inurl:ViewerFrame?Mode=Refresh
7. inurl:axis-cgi/jpg
8. inurl:axis-cgi/mjpg (motion-JPEG)
9. inurl:view/indexFrame.shtml
10. inurl:view/index.shtml
11. inurl:view/view.shtml
12. liveapplet
13. intitle:”live view” intitle:axis
14. intitle:liveapplet
15. allintitle:”Network Camera NetworkCamera”
16. intitle:axis intitle:”video server”
17. intitle:liveapplet inurl:LvAppl
18. intitle:”EvoCam” inurl:”webcam.html”
19. intitle:”Live NetSnap Cam-Server feed”
20. intitle:”Live View / - AXIS”
21. intitle:”Live View / - AXIS 206M”
22. intitle:”Live View / - AXIS 206W”
23. intitle:”Live View / - AXIS 210″
24. inurl:indexFrame.shtml Axis
25. inurl:”MultiCameraFrame?Mode=Motion”
26. intitle:start inurl:cgistart
27. intitle:”WJ-NT104 Main Page”
28. intitle:snc-z20 inurl:home/
29. intitle:snc-cs3 inurl:home/
30. intitle:snc-rz30 inurl:home/
31. intitle:”sony network camera snc-p1″
32. intitle:”sony network camera snc-m1″
33. site:.viewnetcam.com -www.viewnetcam.com
34. intitle:”Toshiba Network Camera” user login
35. intitle:”netcam live image”
36. intitle:”i-Catcher Console - Web Monitor”
37. After you Google a link you'll see some Google shearch results, click on any one of them.
38. Then you will either see a whole bunch of images of a security camera ,or the screen of a single camera.
39. Once you have clicked on one of the images or have loaded the link with the single camera you are ready to have some fun. Using the control panel on the left of your screen you can use the arrow buttons to pan the camera, the zomm buttons to zoom in or out, and even swith between different preset postions.
40. If you are really creepy and doing this to spy on a preticular person I guess you can scroll down the control panel and click "Capture Image" to take a picture of the cameras screen, but like I said you would be really creepy or maybe your just looking at seenery, that's your bisness.
41. After you get tired of one camera go back and click on another one.
42. HAVE FUN SPYING ON PEOPLE!!!

Tips

• Watch out on one of these links one guy has the cameras in his shower & bedroom.
• Only works on security cameras that are conected to the net.
• If YOU CAN'T PAN THE CAMERA check the top of the control panel. If it displays "Locked" that means these people are smart and actually care about their cameras security, that sucks for you hackers.
• If any of the links do not work, don't delete them just add "disconnected" next to them, in parantheses, thank you!
• Please feel free to vote for, discuss, and share this article!!!

Warnings

• Do not try this with out using a browser you could get in some deep trouble!
• Don't try this at school if you have teachers walking around the computers.
• DON'T STAY ON THESE LINKS TO LONG(30 minutes is a good limit) YOU CAN BE TRACKED DOWN. Of course, you can always Change your IP Address (Windows) and they can't do anything.

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How to Hack Computer Passwords

Here are 2 ways to change passwords on a Windows XP computer if you have forgot or dont know the password.

Steps

1. If you are still logged on to the Administrator account you can change user profiles using the following steps:
2. Go to the green "Start Button" and click "Run" then in the text box type "cmd" without the quotes.
3. Type "NET USER" then press "ENTER"
4. Then again type net user Compaq_owner then press Enter
5. To change password press enter 2 times
6. reset password to what ever you want.
7. # If you are Logged out of the computer and cannot figure out the password at the start up screen, do the following:
8. Restart the computer and toggle the F5 button.
9. You will get screen that will ask you if you want to boot with command prompt (that is one way) or boot in safe mode without command prompt.
10. The computer will boot in safe mode in a small window and you will see a menu that asks which account you want to access. We know that the other accounts you can't get into but there will be a new acount called "COMPUTER ADMINISTRATOR".
11. Click COMPUTER ADMINISTRATOR and go to settings/control panel/user accounts
12. Remove password.
13. Print out this page and have on hand for reference if you forget the steps.

Tips

• To practice bypassing passwords for speed make a password you know and restart the computer and get the timing right for the boot F5 menu.
• Speed, Speed, Speed the faster you can do these simple steps and get in and out the better.
• Dont tell people that you can get in there computer, just get in and leave them some goodies of some kind. Be creative and have fun.

Warnings

• Do not delete files that are not yours.

How To Convert VHS to DVD

There's more than one reason to convert your old VHS tapes to DVD. VHS tapes and VCRs are fast becoming an obsolete technology-many may argue that they already are. If there's any footage that you want to preserve that's currently in a VHS format, now's the time. VCRs are still available, as are services and machines that will help you convert your VHS tapes to DVD. If you continue to wait, you'll see fewer and fewer opportunities to make this change and save your VHS footage.

Another concern is damage. Even if your VCR doesn't eat your VHS tape, the film in it will slowly degrade over time-whether you play it often or you don't. VHS tapes can start falling apart in as little as 3 years, whereas DVDs can last anywhere form 20 to (some say) even 250 years. Whether it's your favorite blockbuster movie or a sentimental home video, you should make the switch from VHS to DVD sooner rather than later.

1. Use a Combination Unit. If you have a combination DVD/VHS machine, you may be able to easily transfer data from a VHS tape to a DVD. Check to see if the DVD component of your DVD/VHS machine has a recording option. If it does, you should be able to insert a blank DVD R (or DVD-RW) into the DVD tray of your machine, insert the VHS tape that you want to transfer into the VCR portion of the machine and then follow the steps in your particular machine's instruction manual to complete the process. You will not be able to modify the video, so if you need to altar the menus or chapters, you should not use this method. Otherwise using a combination unit is the simplest and fastest way to convert a VHS tape to a DVD.

   Note: You may need to finalize your burned DVD before removing it from the DVD/VCR unit, otherwise it might not play in standard DVD players.

2. Use a Video Camera. If you have a digital video camcorder, you can use it as an intermediary to convert your VHS tapes to a DVD format. You'll need to hook your VCR up to your video camera using composite video cables (the red, white and yellow cables). If you don't have these, you'll need to purchase them from any electronics store. Attach these cables to your VCR's video out port and to the video in port on your camcorder. Different makes and models of camcorders work differently, so your best bet is to read your camcorder's instruction manual to determine the exact steps. With the press of a few buttons you should have your VHS data on your video camcorder. You can then transfer that data to a DVD by connecting your camcorder to your computer or DVD burner.

   Note: You may need an analog-to-digital converter to use between your VCR and camcorder if your camcorder does not have this feature built in.

3. Use a Computer. You'll need an analog-to-digital converter to use as a middleman between your VCR and computer to convert VHS data into a format that your computer can recognize. There are a variety of converters available. Depending on the quality and precision you're looking for in your new DVD, you may need to do some research to determine which product is best for you. You also need to ensure that your computer can burn DVDs. Just because it can burn CDs does not automatically mean it burns DVDs as well. Devices like Hewlett-Packard's DVD Movie writer solve this problem by providing the analog-to-digital conversion and the DVD burning hardware in one machine.
4. Use an External DVD Burner. Believe it or not there are machines made for just this purpose. If you have a lot of VHS tapes to transfer to DVD, or you don't mind buying some extra hardware, purchasing an external device might be the way to go. For $100-$150 you can get a decent DVD burner that will hook right up to your VCR and create DVDs from your VHS tapes in no time.
5. Use a VHS to DVD Conversion Service. If you don't want to deal with wires and buttons and the responsibility of converting your VHS tapes into DVDs yourself, there are a variety of VHS to DVD conversion services that would be happy to create a DVD for you-for a fee of course. Sites like Home Movie Depot and APM Studio will transfer your VHS tapes to DVD for anywhere from $10 to $30, depending on what specific services you require.

Make a TV Antenna With a Potato

This guide will show you how to make a TV antenna with a fruit or vegetable and an aerial lead.

Steps

1. Purchase a fruit or vegetable. Oranges tend to last the longest and potatoes work well too.
2. Buy an aerial lead.
3. Attach the aerial to the fruit or vegetable(the pin inside the tip of the lead is the only part that should be pressed into the fruit or vegetable.)
4. Take a piece of electrical tape or similar and tape the lead onto the fruit or vegetable so it does not become dislodged.
5. Plug the other end of the aerial lead into the back of your television.

Tips

• You can also do this with your PC. Just buy an aerial adaptor and plug the aerial lead back into the adaptor.

Warnings

• This does not work in some cases and you have to move it around alot.

Things You'll Need

• Fruit or vegetable (an orange or potato)
• A common cable cord
• Electrical tape
• A T.V.

How to Use Aimersoft DVD to iPhone Converter

iPhone supports only MPEG-4 and H.264 video, but DVD is MPEG-2 and VOB file, so you have to convert your DVD to the right format, then you can use iTunes to sync the DVD movie to your iPhone. This guide is mainly about how to use Aimersoft DVD to iPhone Converter to convert DVD to iPhone, it should be easy to understand.

Steps

1. Prepare Software. Download Aimersoft DVD to iPhone Converter.
2. Load DVD File. Then install and run Aimersoft DVD to iPhone Converter. Load your DVD into the program: click "Load DVD" button or directly click the “File -> Load DVD folder” in the main interface, then select your DVD-ROM in the pop-up window and press the "OK" button. You also can click “Load File” button to import IFO file from your computer hard disk. For Windows Vista user, you may have to run this program as administrator (right click the program shortcut and click run as administrator).
3. Select the Chapters you want to Convert. You can convert your whole DVD by highlighting the title which contains all the episodes of the DVD, such as the title 01 in the following screenshot. Or if you like, you can select certain chapters to convert: Press the little button before “Check All” on the interface to find all the chapters in the file.
   This software fully supports all kinds of DVD, such as regular DVD movie and DVD MTV. DVD MTV will have several titles, so you can select the desire MTV to convert.
   
4. Select the Output iPhone Video Format, Subtitle and Audio. To Format: Click the “Format” combo-box on the interface, the result of setting will be shown on the list, select iPhone Video MPEG-4 (*.mp4), and you will get output format iPhone MP4.
   To Subtitle: Regular DVD movies usually have several subtitles, like English, French, German, etc. You can select anyone of these according to your preference. You also can select “No Subtitle”. To Audio: Select Audio the same as way as you selected Subtitle. After all these things done, click “Start” to start the conversion.
   
5. Transfer the Video to iPhone. You need iTunes version 7.30 or later to sync music and video to the iPhone. If you don’t have iTunes yet, you can download free from iTunes Download Center If you already have iTunes, just create a play list: Drag your music and video to the list, connect your iPhone to computer via USB cable, then click iTunes “File -> Sync iPhone”, and it's done.

Tips

• Note: This software not only supports the iPhone, but also supports iPod and Apple TV. It can convert DVD in resolution from 320*240 up to 1280*720. So you just need one software to convert DVD to iPhone, iPod and Apple TV.
  The iPhone can support M4A, MP3 and AAC audio formats, if you want to rip audio from DVD to iPhone, just select the format you prefer, such as "MP3 - MPEG Layer-3 Audio (*.mp3)".
  This software embeds two encoders XviD & H.264. H.264 takes longer time to convert DVD, but provides better quality and small file size.
  
• For more DVD to iPhone Converter, you can refer this DVD to iPhone Converter review iPhone

Warnings

• Ripping DVDs that are not yours is illegal.

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Make Laptop Screens Readable Outdoors

It isn't easy to see the screen of your laptop when you move outdoors. The glare can make it a useless exercise unless you know what to do. So, if you'd like to sit outside and type to the tune of the whistling birds and the sit amidst the warm breeze, here is how to improve the outdoor laptop experience.

Steps

1. Get a laptop that already has a high luminosity (brightness) if you can. This means that you'll have to compare the candela/square meter figures.
2. Choose a matte display over a glossy one. This will help to avoid any reflections. If you already have a glossy one, you can always buy a special foil that makes it matte.
3. Try to find a wall socket somewhere close by. The reason for this is that high luminosity usually means high power consumption (screens need the most energy in a laptop).
4. Consider either buying or DIYing a 'laptop hood'. This is white on the outside (to reduce heat buildup) and black on the inside (to reduce glare). Or, you can stick your laptop into a simple cardboard box. This will prevent heat build-up for the laptop and other items, such as USB mice.
5. Find a bit of shade if possible and experiment with different angles to find the position which gives you the best readability.

Tips

• You might also purchase a long extension cord for outdoor usage that will provide you with power, to avoid chewing up the battery. If you do this, make sure it is not dangling on walkways or hanging off anything that could catch people and pets.

Warnings

• Heat build-up. The sun can make a black/dark-colored laptop very hot and not only painful to touch but also damaging for the components.
• Watch out for the ghost!! :)

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How to Wholesale Consumer Electronics from China

China is now the undisputed biggest source of all our consumer electronics, producing more hi-tech products than any other country.

So how easy is it to buy directly from China and take advantage of the profit margins from their cheap prices?

Steps

1. Getting The Newest Gadgets
2. Online sellers know the power of being the one carrying new products. Even better are unique products. If you're sourcing electronics direct from the source in China you will be ahead of the pack for selling new products, and you could even be the only person in your country selling certain models.
3. What About Communication Problems?
4. A common reason why small and medium electronics retail business owners are nervous about looking for suppliers in China is that they're uncertain about communicating with Chinese businesses. There's no longer any cause for concern: all electronics export companies in China will have at least a few staff who are good at communicating in English. Also, you'll easily find product descriptions and price quotations in English, from these Chinese electronics companies which are getting better at marketing to international importers.
5. How Are Electronics Delivered From China?
6. You've heard of the 'global village' - although China is a long way away, it's actually not hard to ship products in any quantity from there to any international destination. Your suppliers will probably be able to advise on what's best for their products.
7. Choose couriers like DHL or FedEx for small or urgent shipments. Talk to forwarders in China or Hong Kong for assistance setting up larger shipments via air containers or sea freight.
8. Wholesalers, MOQ
9. Many would-be importers from China are put off by demands from Chinese suppliers for large first orders - in the range of thousands of pieces, and commitments to buy more. A better way to get into importing from China is often to form a relationship with a professional Chinese wholesaler.
10. The Chinese electronics wholesaler ElectronicsMass.Com, for example, already has close supply relationships with local factories and so can offer all the low-priced new products with low minimum order quantity. This enables new importers to test different products' success with little risk, by buying a range of samples and starting with small quantity orders, before committing to large bulk purchasing.
11. Drop-Shipping - The Perfect Import Business?
12. New importers from China are often nervous about building up stock which they can't sell. High value items like electronics can add up to a big business risk, if you are holding stock waiting to sell it.
13. One solution to this difficulty is dropshipping. You can advertise the products you've found from Chinese suppliers, but only pay for them when you receive orders. The Chinese dropshipper then delivers straight to your customer. You keep the profit without the risk, and without the hassle of handling and packing goods.
14. Low Risk Payment To Chinese Suppliers
15. With online wholesalers you can usually choose to pay in many international currencies, and even submit payment "the eBay way" - through Paypal secure online ordering. Paypal offers total protection for buyers, and dealing with their approved online electronics wholesalers will give you extra peace of mind.
16. Can You Afford NOT To Source From China?
17. China has been described as the world's factory. The unbelievably cheap production costs for consumer electronics in China are well known to everybody.
18. Online wholesalers simply let you put those products straight in your cart, without all the hassle - and middlemen - normally associated with the import trade. With no sales taxes added or hidden charges, the price you pay.

Tips

• About ElectronicsMass.Com
• ElectronicsMass.Com is a Professional Electronics Exporter and Wholesaler with direct cooperative factories located in China Mainland. Consumer Electronics, Latops and PC Parts,Car Audio and Home Electronics are our main products. We also keep on developing more and more new and good products to meet the demand of our customers.
• Serve the entire wholesale/distribution business helping you do the direct wholesale and distribution from China and create cost advantage/profit for you to further develop your business in your local country.
• Good quality+Reasonable price+Excellent after-sales service=Long time relationship
• Welcome check out ElectronicsMass.Com(http://electronicsmass.com) and start reaping your China importing profits now.

www.wikihow.com

How to clean your DSLR and take care of it

Opening up your expensive dSLR camera to clean it may seem intimidating, but it doesn't have to be scary as long as you prepare properly and use the right tools. You open your camera to the elements every time you change the lens, and dust or grit can sidle in there to sabotage your images. That doesn't mean you should keep your camera sealed up in an antiseptic box.

Cleaning is easy enough that you can happily take your dSLR with you into all sorts of environments safe in the knowledge that you can deal with any imperfections creeping in.

That said, the sensor is the most sensitive part of your camera (obviously) so only monkey with it if you're completely happy with what you've read here. Remember, if something goes wrong you could have a hefty bill, so take it one step at a time.

The basic tools you'll need for cleaning your SLR's sensor are a rocket blower, sensor cleaning swabs and sensor cleaning solution. These are available from specialist camera shops, as well as online. We bought our kit in handy packs from cameraclean.co.uk.

For cleaning your lens you'll require lens cleaning solution and lint-free cloths. It's important to use cloths that don't shed tiny lint fibres -- this will defeat the purpose of cleaning. These are available from high-street stores, as well as specialist retailers and online. We bought a pre- packaged lens-cleaning kit from Jessops.

Take the test

First, you should establish whether your sensor actually needs cleaning. Although cleaning doesn't have to be a major operation, there's no point in tempting fate by poking around if your sensor is already pristine.

To test for dust and blemishes, set the camera to a small aperture, say around f/16-22, and take a picture of a plain white surface, such as a piece of plain white paper. Have a look at the resulting image on a computer and zoom in to hunt for tell-tale blemishes.

To make any blemishes show up clearly, adjust the levels of your images. This alters the contrast so dark bits show up even darker, making flaws easy to spot. Open your image editor's levels histogram and pull the left and right handles to the middle. This will boost the contrast and show up any imperfections.

Keep your area tidy

Changing lenses is best done in dust-free, neutral environments, where the risk of contamination is low, but this isn't always possible when snapping in the field. Cleaning, however, should always be carried out somewhere away from the elements.

Dust and clean the area you'll be working in, and avoid wearing clothes that may shed lots of fibres while you're working. Contaminating particles will be invisible to the naked eye but will show up when you start snapping, so roll up your sleeves and don't take any chances. A good lamp is also useful so you can see what you're doing.

It's also worth cleaning the outside of your dSLR before you start. Use a soft cloth to clean any oil off the surfaces of the camera and check for dust, dirt and grit in the nooks and crannies. Dampen the cloth slightly if necessary. Avoid pre-moistened wipes with chemicals in, unless they're specialist camera wipes.

Read the flipping manual

Dig out the manual -- you know, that thick book that came with the camera. Although most dSLRs operate on the same basic principles, every camera has its own way of working, and you need to know how your camera likes to be cleaned. On our battered Canon EOS 30D, the cleaning mode is easy to find.

Your dSLR will have a sensor cleaning mode. This involves locking the shutter open to gain access to the sensor. It is vitally important that you know how this works as a shutter mishap while you're finicking about inside the camera could have disastrous consequences. Go read that manual...

Lock up your mirror

Once you have read the manufacturer's cleaning instructions, turn your camera on and set it to cleaning mode. It's essential that the camera remains on -- if the power goes off, the shutter curtain will drop.

If it closes on any of your cleaning tools, the shutter curtain and mirror could be damaged, and that's not good at all. So make sure the battery is fully charged or, even better, attach your SLR to the AC adaptor.

The mirror, a clear piece of glass angled in the front of the exposed camera, will flip up out of the way. You don't need to worry about cleaning this as it doesn't affect image quality. When you put the camera into cleaning mode, the shutter curtain will also flip and the sensor is exposed -- sort of.

Ready to blow

With the mirror and shutter out of the way, the sensor is still protected. Your camera's sensor is too delicate to completely expose it to the elements, so it has a protective filter in front of it known as the Optical Low Pass Filter. When we talk about cleaning the sensor, we really mean the sensor's defensive filter.

The first thing to do is take your rocket blower and use it to gently blow dust and dirt off the surface of the sensor filter. Avoid touching the filter itself with the tip of the blower as this could damage it.

Always use the blower before swabbing or brushing the sensor. This is to ensure that you've removed any particles of grit, which are potentially worse than dust motes as they can scratch surfaces. A scratch in the sensor or lens could refract light and will leave a permanent ugly mark on images. Once you've blown dust off the sensor, you could also use a special brush to gently sweep the surface.

Never use compressed air on the sensor -- it will freeze on the sensor surface, possibly causing very serious damage. Always go with a mechanical blower, which will provide gentle, dry air to float those pesky dust motes away.

Swab the decks

Ensure you've bought the correct size swab for your sensor. Manufacturers will list SLRs on their Web sites. If in doubt, go for smaller sizes as you'll be able to use more than one swab to cover the whole sensor. We used Eclipse swabs and cleaning solution, and our trusty Canon EOS 30D required size 2 swabs.

Take a clean swab and squeeze two to four drops of cleaning solution on to the end. Don't saturate the swab or you'll end up with excess solution on the sensor.

Place the swab at one side of the sensor and gently wipe all the way across in one smooth motion. Try and make sure you get into the corners and cover the whole surface of the sensor.

Turn the tables

When the whole sensor has been covered, turn the swab over and bring it back the way you came. Ensure that each stroke across the surface of the sensor uses a fresh, clean side of the swab. This stops you redepositing dust on to the sensor. Once you've used both sides, throw the swab away and don't reuse it.

If the swabs are smaller than the sensor and you need more than one swipe to cover the whole surface, use a fresh swab. If there's any excess solution visible on the sensor, use a fresh swab with a couple of drops of fluid to remove it. Swabs are cheap enough to not stint.

The sensor should now be clean. Remove the swab and chuck it away, then exit cleaning mode and fit the lens back on. Repeat the test in Tip 2 to see the results. If dust is still showing up, repeat the cleaning process.

Wipe through a lens

Cleaning the sensor is important, but it isn't the only factor in image quality. The lens is just as important. Simple lens-cleaning kits are available from most camera stores as this is a much simpler operation than cleaning the sensor. Simply blow dust off the lens with your blower and clean it with lens tissues, or a soft cloth.

Remember that scratching the lens will cause problems with light refracting off the jagged surface of the scratch, so use the blower to dislodge particles first.

To clean the lens, pour some lens-cleaning fluid on to the cloth and then wipe the surface of the lens. Never drip fluid straight on to the lens. When you've cleaned the whole thing, polish off any excess fluid with a dry part of the cloth.

Keep it clean

Sensors, mirrors and internal components may be delicate, but cameras are generally well-sealed and pretty sturdy beasts. You won't have to clean your camera too often, unless you notice dirt on the outside or blemishes on your images.

It's pretty straightforward to ensure your SLR stays clean: keep it in a bag when not in use, give it a wipe every now and again, and make lens changes quick. It goes without saying that you should keep caps on lenses and the camera body whenever the lens is off, even if it's only for a few minutes.

Next time you get a pair of shoes and that little sachet of silica gel falls out, don't chuck it away. Instead, stick it in your camera bag to absorb moisture.

If, after following the above steps, you find yourself faced with a bit of dust or an imperfection you just can't shift, don't panic. Professional cleaning services are available, and although they are more expensive than the DIY route, they produce guaranteed results.

http://digitalliving.cnet.co.uk/

Oracle rejects BEA's $8.2 billion price tag

BEA Systems said Thursday it is willing to sell itself for $8.2 billion, but the price was rejected as "impossibly high" by Oracle, the only company that has publicly expressed interest in the software maker.

BEA, which is under pressure from billionaire investor Carl Icahn to find a buyer, said it was worth $21 per share, which is a 24 percent premium to the $17-per-share bid that Oracle offered on October 12.

Oracle said BEA's price represented an 80 percent premium to its shares before activist shareholders started pushing for a sale of the company, and nearly 11 times BEA's revenue from software maintenance services in the last 12 months.

"Nobody would seriously consider paying that kind of multiple for a software company with shrinking new license sales," Oracle President Charles Phillips said in a letter to BEA's board.

He said Oracle was standing by its $6.7 billion bid, which expires at 5 p.m. PDT Sunday, adding "at which time Oracle will move on and evaluate other potential acquisitions."

Shares of BEA had closed at $17.53 on the Nasdaq, down 2 cents as investors appeared to also believe that the $21 price set by the business software maker may be too optimistic. Some analysts still thought a deal was possible as BEA's software, called middleware because it helps connect business computer systems, could be added to Oracle's database programs to help it better compete with SAP.

"Nobody is more interested in this than Oracle," said Bart Narter, an analyst with financial research and consulting firm Celent. "I think there is a lot of posturing. Maybe they'll get a little higher price. Maybe."

Representatives for BEA could not be reached for comment. The $21 price had marked the first time BEA gave a price point for negotiations with Oracle, the world's third largest software company with a market value of about $100 billion.

"Over the last several weeks, Oracle has repeatedly asked us for the price at which we would be willing to begin negotiations," BEA's board said earlier on Thursday. BEA is "prepared to authorize negotiations with third parties including Oracle at a price of $21.00 per share," it said.

Talk of a buyout for BEA began in August when Icahn said he had begun acquiring shares in the business software maker and called on its board to put the company up for sale. Chief Executive Alfred Chuang had rebuffed the billionaire activist investor, who boosted his stake to about 13 percent, making him the company's biggest shareholder.

Besides Oracle, other companies that have been touted as possible buyers of BEA include IBM, Hewlett-Packard and SAP.

An SAP spokesman said the company was not interested in buying BEA, while representatives for Hewlett-Packard and IBM declined comment. Icahn could not be reached for comment.

Jefferies & Co. analyst Katherine Egbert said earlier on Thursday another suitor may be talking to BEA behind the scenes. "For the BEA board to make the claim that they are worth $21 (per share) without any detailed supporting analysis could mean that they have another interested party," she said.

BEA said that after consulting with its investment bank, Goldman Sachs, it believes Oracle or another company would still see earnings benefit if it paid $21 per share or higher.

But Phillips said in his letter, "We believe that your counterproposal at $21 per share price is an impossibly high price for Oracle or any other potential acquirer."

www.news.com

Imagine Me Without You

High-tech restaurant without waiters

Gone are the days of slow service and surly waiters at an automated restaurant in Germany.

Diners at the newly-opened restaurant in Nuremberg can now place their order using a touch-screen computer. Their meal then arrives via an elaborate spiral rail network that descends from the second floor ktichen. While the restaurant has a futuristic concept, the food served there is traditional, and it seems to be a hit with diners.

Senators want probe of Comcast's BitTorrent 'discrimination'

Comcast's reportedly aggressive filtering of BitTorrent and other file-sharing traffic is drawing calls for a U.S. Senate hearing--and a renewed push for Net neutrality laws.

Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) on Friday sent a letter asking Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) to convene a hearing as soon as possible to investigate "the topic of service discrimination by phone and cable companies."

The request isn't new: Dorgan and Snowe both made a similar plea after reports that Verizon Wireless had initially refused to carry a reproductive rights group's text messages.

The senators suggested the incidents indicate "Congress should consider adopting targeted regulations to protect consumers and ensure a vibrant and open communications platform."

They're referring, of course, to Net neutrality rules, which Dorgan and Snowe proposed once again earlier this year after a similar effort failed to pass last year. That's the idea that broadband operators like Comcast and Verizon should not be allowed to block, impair, or discriminate against any content that crosses their pipes--or charge companies extra fees for the privilege of getting their traffic prioritized.

Many Democrats support the regulations, but Republicans have largely rejected them, claiming the market is sufficient to sort out perceived discrimination problems as they arise and that new regulations would stifle investment in new broadband services.

Verizon, for its part, ultimately allowed the reproductive rights group's messages, citing an "outdated policy" that caused the company to decline to carry the group's alert system. Comcast also denied blocking access to any Web sites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services, but it acknowledged "delaying" some Internet traffic in the interest of improving other subscribers' surfing experiences, particularly during highly congested periods.

A Democratic Commerce Committee aide told CNET News.com on Friday that Inouye had received the letter but wasn't sure when--or if--a hearing would be scheduled.

www.news.com

Accused speeder to cops: My GPS proves your radar gun is wrong

GPS-based tracking devices don't just help you figure out where you are and where you're going, they might also help you avoid a speeding ticket. Shaun Malone of California is contesting a speeding ticket in that state by arguing that his GPS-based tracking system shows that the officer's radar gun was wrong.

Malone, a 17-year-old who was clocked doing 62 MPH in a 45 MPH zone on July 4 of this year, has more than just a GPS on his side. As the AP reports, his stepfather Roger Rude is a retired sheriff, and is pushing Malone to fight the ticket. (As an aside, how awesome would it be to be Sherriff Rude?)

Ironically, Malone's parents had the GPS system installed in order to track the whereabouts and speed of their son, whom they readily admit has a lead foot. In fact, he has already been grounded for having gone over 70 MPH after the GPS was installed. Nevertheless, Malone's parents say that the data on the day in question shows that their son was not speeding in the vicinity of where the ticket was issued.

While many GPS systems don't log travel details extensively enough to be used as a defense against a moving violation, Malone's car was outfitted with a device that could do just that. According to Rude, all recorded plots on Malone's route show him to be driving under the speed limit. At the same time, Rude says, GPS-systems are clearly more reliable than radar systems, which, while good, are "not an infallible tool" and are subject to human error.

A Sonoma County traffic commissioner has to decide whether the GPS system can be accepted as a basis to challenge the ticket, but ex-sheriff Rude is prepared to push his case in court in the event of an unhappy outcome.

The debate is likely to come down to how often the GPS device calculated and reported ground speed. Petaluma police lieutenant John Edwards told the AP that since GPS is satellite-based, there's a delay involved, and that Malone may have sped up and slowed down in the window between measurements, which could be as long as 60 seconds.

GPS tracking systems like the one in Malone's car are becoming an increasingly popular way for parents to keep tabs on their kids, an outgrowth of the initial use of such devices in car fleets and trucking. Many consumer-oriented GPS navigation systems also have these capabilities, but Malone's was hardcore: the system would even e-mail his parents in the event that he drove too fast.

http://arstechnica.com

UK government: Schools shouldn't sign licensing agreements with Microsoft

Concerns over Microsoft's Office 2007 and Vista licensing terms have prompted a UK government agency to warn schools against signing licensing agreements. Becta, the UK's education technology branch, has also filed a complaint with the UK's Office of Fair Trading, alleging that Microsoft engages in anticompetitive practices in the academic software license marketplace.

Becta and Microsoft have been in talks over the issue, but they have yet to result in a solution acceptable to both parties. For the time being, Becta recommends that schools avoid Microsoft's subscription licensing program. School Agreement covers all of the PCs at a school, which means that admins don't need to keep track of the licensing status for every PC. The program also provides participating schools with all application and OS updates made available during the term of the agreement.

There are a few downsides to the School Agreement program, according to Becta. Microsoft doesn't provide sufficient clarity into the buy-out costs should a school decide to get out of the program, says Becta. The agency is also concerned that Microsoft's academic subscription setup doesn't allow schools to obtain a perpetual license—unless they make a buy-out payment. Lastly, Becta would like to see Microsoft drop its all-or-nothing licensing requirement—all PCs on campus must be a part of the program, even if they're not capable of running Vista or Office 2007.

Becta also has some more specific concerns regarding Vista and Office 2007. It believes that Vista's feature set isn't enough to justify upgrades at this point. In the case of Office 2007, Becta would like to see stronger support for the ODF format used by OpenOffice.org and better interoperability with Microsoft Works.

Schools that have already signed up for Microsoft's School Agreement are encouraged to "consider their renewal and their buyout options," according to Becta.

Microsoft, like other software vendors, likes subscription licensing models because they provide a stedy stream of revenue over a product's lifecycle instead of incremental revenues centered around major releases. Unfortunately for the software giant, the elongated release schedule for Windows—there was over five years between the releases of Windows XP and Windows Vista—have left some licensees doubting the value of Microsoft's licensing programs.

A report released last summer by Forrester Research questioned the value of Microsoft's Software Assurance subscription licensing program. It looked at the average annual cost of a SA agreement and found that it ended up costing companies significantly more money over a four-year period. Those costs increased if a new version was delayed even more.

Realizing that overly-long release cycles are not good for business, Microsoft is attemting to shorten the time between major releases. The company is targeting a 2010 release for the next version of Windows.

Microsoft has vigorously defended its licensing programs in the past, telling Ars in the case of the Forrester report that the findings were not in line with the feedback the company had received. The company was not able to offer comment on this story prior to publication, however.

http://arstechnica.com

Russian crackers throw GPU power at passwords

Russian-based cracking "password recovery" company Elcomsoft hasn't really been in the news since 2003, when Adobe helped make "Free Dmitry" the new "Free Kevin" by having one of the company's programmers, Dmitry Sklyarov, arrested for cracking its eBook Reader software. But Elcomsoft has remedied the lack of press attention this week with its announcement that it has pressed the GPU into the service of password cracking.

With NVIDIA and AMD/ATI working overtime to raise the GPU's profile as a math coprocessor for computationally intensive, data-parallel computing problems, it was inevitable that someone would make an announcement that they had succeeded in using the GPU to speed up the password-cracking process. Notice that I said "make an announcement," because I'm sure various government entities domestic and foreign have been working on this from the moment AMD made its "close-to-metal" (CTM) package available for download. The Elcomsoft guys didn't use CTM, though. They opted to go with NVIDIA's higher-level CUDA interface, a move that no doubt cut their development time significantly.

Elcomsoft's new password cracker attacks the NTLM hashing that Windows uses with a brute force method. The company claims that its GPU-powered attack speeds up the time it takes to crack a Vista password from two months to a little over three days.

Elcomsoft claims that they've filed for a US patent on this approach, but it's not clear what exactly they're attempting to patent. A search of the USPTO's patent database turned up nothing, but that could be because the patent hasn't made it into the database yet.

Ultimately, using GPUs to crack passwords is kid's stuff. The world's best password cracker is probably the Storm month, assuming that its owners are using it for this. As many as ten million networked Windows boxes—now that's parallelism.

Apple's new star, the Mac computer

For years, Apple has really been two companies: a mature, slow-growing one paired with a new, dynamic one, with the upstart driving the company's renaissance.

Apple's vibrant business was, of course, its iPod unit, and its stodgy old business the Macintosh division. Indeed, the company in January dropped "Computer" from its name.

But since the name change, something funny has happened: The Mac business has been the star, as iPod sales have started to look a bit anemic.

"Apple managed to pull the digital music player market into the mainstream and penetrated it pretty quickly," noted Tony Ursillo, an analyst with investment firm Loomis Sayles, which owns Apple's stock. "It's a maturing market at this point."

In contrast, Apple's computer business "has lots of running room" to outgrow the broader market, Ursillo added.

While the company sold a record 2.1 million computers in its most recent quarter, its sales accounted for little more than 3 percent of the worldwide PC market, based on data from industry research firm IDC, meaning there's plenty of room for it to take share from competitors.

So far, the change in the two businesses' fortunes hasn't affected Apple's overall robust financial health. The company posted record sales and earnings for its past financial year, far exceeding Wall Street's expectations. And many analysts expect the company's strong Mac sales to continue at least for the near future.

But becoming dependent for growth on its computer products could be a difficult bet in the longer term, given that the PC industry is mature, and competition over market share can be intense. And it highlights the importance of the company's iPhone effort - both as its next big growth driver and as a replacement for slowing iPod sales.

Indeed, even though the iPhone has been on store shelves less than four months, it "is already more important" than the iPod for Apple's future growth, Ursillo said.

That the iPod is no longer Apple's top growth driver would have been hard to fathom even a year ago. At that point - just five years after Apple unveiled its first iPod - its music players for the first time accounted for a larger portion of its full fiscal-year sales than its computers.

That achievement was built on years of torrid sales growth.

In contrast, the company's computer sales had grown much more modestly.

But in its fiscal year that ended last month, Apple's computer business grew 39.9 percent to $10 billion, marking a record sales year for the Mac - and a pace that was more than twice that of the overall PC market.

But just as consumers seemed to be getting excited about the Mac, their enthusiasm for the iPod seemed to ebb. Apple's iPod sales grew just 8.2 percent last fiscal year to $8.31 billion.

The Mac is faring well in part because the iPod and now the iPhone have attracted new customers to Apple's other products, analysts say. And consumers fed up with crash- and virus-prone Windows PCs have been increasingly receptive to Apple's longtime message that the Mac is an easier-to-use, more stable and safer computer.

Additionally, the move to Intel chips in the Mac has allowed the company to offer more competitive hardware - and attract consumers who need to have a computer that can run Windows-only programs.

"There's no one thing that is most important. It's a combination of all the above," said Bob O'Donnell, an analyst who covers the PC industry for IDC.

There's less consensus about what's happening to the company's iPod business. Some analysts argue that the company's media-player lineup was simply in need of the revamp Apple announced last month, or that all the iPhone hype has drawn consumers' focus away from the iPod.

Others chalk the slow growth up to the "law of big numbers," the idea that while the business is still growing significantly in dollar terms, the large base it's growing off of makes percentage growth more difficult.

For their part, Apple representatives say they are unconcerned with the company's slowing iPod business. They note that unit sales of iPods are still healthy - up 31 percent last year - and the product still dominates the market. And sales of the devices picked up after the recent revamp, they say.

"We are shipping the best iPod lineup ever as we head into holiday season," company Chief Financial Officer Tim Cook said on a conference call Monday.

But with the average price consumers pay for an iPod falling, the company faces the prospect of having to sell more and more iPods to bring in the same amount of money from them - at the same time that at least some analysts think Apple has saturated the market.

No one really expects iPod sales to fall off a cliff; instead, many analysts expect them to rebound this holiday season. But the best of times for the iPod may be past.

In fact, some analysts think the market for portable media players is starting to give way to that for music-playing cell phones such as Apple's very own iPhone.

"When Apple did the iPhone, it really signaled the potential end for the stand-alone iPod," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, a tech consulting firm.

www.siliconvalley.com

$100 laptop delayed by bugs

A nonprofit developing a low-cost laptop for poor children said that a production delay will cause a shortage of computers available in the United States and Canada as part of a holiday-giving program.

The $188 (£92) string-pulley-charged XO laptop was scheduled to go into production at a Chinese factory in October, but it is now slated to begin by 12 November, said Mary Lou Jepsen, chief technology officer for the One Laptop per Child Foundation.

"We had some last-minute bugs. We've resolved them," she said in a recent interview, adding that the group expected to produce 100,000 laptops this year.

An October launch would have given the group time to produce and ship tens of thousands of laptops to Peru and Uruguay, the first two countries to order the laptops.

It will now be tough to get those laptops to South America by December, in time for kids to use them over their summer holidays, and also meet orders for the foundation's Give 1 Get 1 program for people in the United States and Canada, she said.

For $400 (£195), Give 1 Get 1 provides buyers with a laptop of their own plus a second machine to a poor child overseas.

The laptop features a string-pulley to charge its battery, a keyboard that switches between languages, a digital video camera, wireless connectivity and Linux open-source operating software tailored for remote regions.

The display switches from colour to black-and-white for viewing in direct sunlight -- a feature unavailable in laptops at least 10 times more expensive.

It needs just two watts of power compared with a typical laptop's 30 to 40 watts, and does away with hard drives, relying instead on flash memory and four USB ports to add memory devices. The group is experimenting with a device that uses cows to generate power to charge its battery.

The fourth quarter is the busiest time of the year at computer plants in China, which produce the bulk of PCs from companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Apple.

Jepsen said some laptop customers in the United States and Canada would be able to get their PCs before the holidays, but they would be shipped on a first-come, first-served basis.

The foundation will accept orders on its Web site, from 12 November.

The foundation's goal has been to sell the laptops for $100 (£49).

(Reuters)

Apple TV gets ready for YouTube

Thousands of hours of user-generated video madness will soon be available through Apple TV, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs announced on Wednesday.

Jobs revealed the partnership with YouTube during his talk at the D: All Things Digital conference in California. Starting next month, Apple TV users will be able to select 'YouTube' as an option from the device's main menu and view thousands of the most viewed and most popular videos on the site.

Apple TV is designed to connect a widescreen television with content purchased or downloaded over the Internet by a Mac or PC. Until now, however, UK Apple TV users looking for content were mostly dependent on music videos they had purchased through the iTunes Store. (In the US it's slightly different -- users there are also able to download television programmes and movies from iTunes). There's no browser inside the interface that would let users access other Internet videos, though they could move their home videos to Apple TV.

Now, Apple has designed a hook into YouTube that will let Apple TV owners access the most popular videos that have been converted into the H.264 standard, said David Moody, vice president for Mac hardware marketing at Apple. The full catalogue of YouTube videos will be available later in the year, as YouTube converts the rest, Moody said.

Apple also announced that it will make a higher-capacity version of Apple TV available from Friday. The current Apple TV product costs £199 with a 40GB hard drive, but from 1 June a version with a 160GB hard drive will also be available, costing £269.
www.news.cnet.co.uk

Which is better: plasma or LCD?

Your next television will probably be big and flat. But the industry is divided on which technology you'll choose to improve your view of the world.

Flat-screen televisions are taking over the world, according to executives speaking in San Diego at the DisplaySearch US FPD Conference on Wednesday. Old CRT televisions are quickly becoming obsolete as high-definition LCD and plasma televisions turn heads with high-definition images.

Plasma TVs dominate the market for flat-panel televisions larger than 40 inches, while LCD televisions reign among smaller sets. The line is starting to blur, however, as LCD TVs grow larger and reduce the cost advantage of plasma displays.

LCD televisions are making inroads because the cost of manufacturing LCD screens larger than 30 inches has fallen, said Tim Alessi, director of product development and advertising for LG Electronics. LG, as the world's leading LCD company through its joint venture with Philips, and the second-largest plasma TV company behind Panasonic, is in a unique position to evaluate the competing technologies, he said.

Potential customers who are thinking about purchasing a large television will note the quality of moving images on a plasma screen as well as the wider viewing angle, said Yoshi Yamada, chief executive officer of Panasonic North America. High-definition plasma displays also tend to cost half as much as comparably sized HD LCD displays.

However, LCD panels are lighter, and the cost advantages could disappear in the coming years as technology improves, as it did in the market for LCD monitors and laptop screens.

Plasma should continue to be the choice for sets that are larger than 45 inches or so, while LCD TVs are quickly replacing CRT sets smaller than around 35 inches, Alessi said. The battle lines have been drawn in that middle ground, which coincidentally is expected to be the average TV size toward the end of the decade.

(www.news.cnet.co.uk)

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About LCD TV

LCD TVs are hot. But do you know anything about the technology behind the screen? Later this year we will see the first of 100HZ LCD TVs along with a dramatic improvement in performance.

LCD monitors and TVs are the fastest-growing display technology in the world. Here's everything you need to know about how they work and how they're made.

Available in all shapes, sizes, and resolutions, liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are everywhere these days — from the screen on your notebook computer and the big-screen HDTV in your family room to the airline information screens at the airport and electronic menus at your local fast food joint. In fact, it seems like everyone and their brother is either manufacturing or selling LCD TVs, which are the most popular LCD product category for consumers.

Some of the brands you probably immediately recognize like Samsung, LG, and Sharp. Others you may have heard of include Westinghouse, Vizio, Polaroid, and Syntax Olevia. Then there are the companies, such as Chi Mei Optoelectronics and AU Optronics, you might not know at all. Yet all of these names are important in the world of LCD displays — from manufacturing to retailing.

Long time coming
LCD technology isn't new. In fact, the first discoveries of liquid-crystal birefringence — the ability to split beams of light into two polarized planes — were made in the 1880s in Austria. In the 1950s and 1960s, RCA Corp. performed detailed research into liquid crystals, investigating the possibility that they could be the basis of a new lightweight, low-power display technology.

In the 1970s, after RCA discontinued its efforts, Japanese companies, spearheaded by Sharp and Casio, took the lead in commercializing LCDs, including monochrome calculators and watches. Color LCD screens made their debut in the 1980s, followed by overhead projection panels and notebook computers in the early 1990s, and small, low-resolution televisions.

For years, the largest LCD TVs and monitors couldn't exceed 30 inches without manufacturing sleight-of-hand, such as precision stitching of smaller panels to achieve larger sizes. The real breakthroughs came about the turn of the 21st century when the first one-piece, 40-inch diagonal LCD panels were introduced.

Today, single-cut LCD panels with diagonal sizes of 108 inches have been shown, and 1080p LCD HDTVs as large as 52 inches are available at retail for less than $4,000. To put things in perspective, Sharp's 28-inch LCD monitor from 1999 — a breakthrough product at the time — was priced at $15,000!

In recent years, prices have dropped so fast on LCD HDTV products that it's causing major headaches for well-known brands. What's behind this downward price pressure? Lots and lots of manufacturing capacity, particularly in Taiwan and China. In less than a decade, LCDs have gone from an expensive niche technology to ubiquitous. Many analysts even predict they'll kill off the venerable cathode-ray tube (CRT) in the near future.

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