TP-Link TL-PA511 KIT Review

Today I’m doing a review of the TP-Link AV500 Gigabit Powerline Adapter starter kit. For those of you that aren’t aware of the powerline/homeplug standard it basically allows for internet (and LAN) access through your electrical circuitry within your home.

I’m also going to see how it stands up to a Gigabit connection and an older set of 85mbps powerline/homeplug adapters. I have been using Solwise 85mbps homeplugs for a few years now (they were one of the early models on the market) and one of the things that really bothered me about them was the very slow transfer rate of files from my NAS to my PC, download speed from the NAS was around 700kb/s and upload roughly the same. Considering I Get around 9mb/s on WiFi when I am back in the other side of the house (where WiFi reaches) this was quite a poor result for me. I have recently purchased a couple of TP-Link TL-WA901ND access points in order to upgrade the WiFi in both sides of the house and the homeplugs were the only thing holding me back in this half of the house where I have my ‘Zone 2′ AP running.

TP-Link offer 200mbps, 500mbps and wireless versions of their powerlines. I am reviewing their top of the range 500mbps gigabit adapter today. The product comes in their familiar green-coloured packaging with TP-Link’s 3 year warranty clearly stamped on the top of the packaging.

The TP-Link TL-PA511 KIT comes with the following:

• 2x AV500 Gigabit Powerline Adapters
• 2x CAT5 cables (ethernet)
• Resource CD
• 2x Purchasing Guides
• Quick Installation Guide

One thing I did notice was that CAT5 cables were supplied instead of CAT5e, this does mean that despite the adapters being equipped with Gigabit ports the max transfer rate we could see with the provided cables would be 100mbps (0.1gbps). I assume the reason is that, as with every other homeplug/powerline on the market, you will never see a full 500mbps because of varying quality in the electrical circuitry in your home, distance, intereference etc etc. All of that should be revealed with testing!

Now that we have the box contents out of the way, let’s get into the adapters themselves and testing.

The adapters themselvs come in white, with ventilation holes on either side of the units. When in use they get warm, but nothing to be concerned about. Each adapter has three LEDs, starting from the top and working our way down to the bottom we have the power LED, the powerline LED (green = data rate is more than or equal to 80mbps, orange = data rate is between 48mbps and 80mbps, red = data rate is less than or equal to 48mbps) and the ethernet LED which flashes when data is being transferred.

Pair button located next to the Gigabit ethernet port

TP-Link states that the maximum range for their homeplugs is 300 metres within your home. As previously mentioned, each unit comes equipped with a Gigabit ethernet port. The link between the two units is encrypted with 128-bit AES encryption. Simply plug one unit near your modem/router/switch and make sure the power is switched on, then press the pair button (located next to the Gigabit port) for 1 second. Next head over to wherever you intend to plug in your second homeplug unit, plug it in, ensure it is powered, connect an ethernet cable up to the device(s) that require internet and press the pair button on the second unit (for 1 second).

Pair button located next to the Gigabit ethernet port

Allow 60 seconds for the devices to pair together. Note: You do not need to connect ethernet cables up at this point, it may just be easier to do so incase you intend on placing one or both of the devices behind furniture etc. The units are rather energy efficient, they conserve up to 85% power when inactive (no data transfer) – this is particularly useful at night when very little data is likely to be travelling through your powerline/homeplug adapters. In my case, no data whatsoever will travel down the units at night as my phone (and any other device that receives e-mail, updates, notifications etc) are always in the WiFi Zone 1 during the night and not in the extended Zone 2.

Methodology:

All runs were repeated 3 times with the average result used (providing no erroneous data was collected)

All runs were recorded using LAN Speed Test by Totusoft (http://www.totusoft.com)

Both powerline/homeplug adapters were reading/writing data to a Gigabit NAS (Synology DS210J) however in order to avoid a bottleneck when performing the Gigabit CAT6 cable test I ALSO opted to run a LAN Speed Test between two computers as my NAS will not read/write much faster than 30mb/s and 20mb/s respectively. (240mbps and 160mbps) but a Gigabit CAT5 cable should be able to read/write much faster than this.

For the 500mbps TP-Link adapters: One test (3 runs) with both adapters side by side, one test with both adapters approx. 25 metres away from each other, one test with both adapters approx. 40 metres away from each other.

For the 85mbps Solwise adapters: One test (3 runs)with both adapters side by side, one test with both adapters approx. 25 metres away from each other, one test with both adapters approx. 40 metres away from each other.

For the direct Gigabit connection: One test (3 runs) with one 15m CAT6 cable running from one computer to the Gigabit switch and then to the NAS (both the computer and the NAS have a Gigabit NIC).

For the direct Gigabit connection between two computers: One test (3 runs) with one 15m CAT6 cable running from one computer to the other (both computers have a Gigabit NIC).

TP-Link adapter located in loft for 40m testing

Testing:

Hardware used: Belkin CAT6 cable (15m), 1x Synology DS210j, Linksys Gigabit Switch, 3x PC’s (i7 930, ASUS R3E // Xeon E5-2630, EVGA SR-X // i3 2120, MSI P67A-GD53).

Immediate Observations: It appears that the Gigabit CAT6 cable was able to read/write faster than what most are reporting with their Synology DS210j NAS, still the figures aren’t too far out and I reckon that most of the examples of max read/write that I found online were from users installing green/eco 5400rpm drives whereas I am using a 7200rpm drive in my NAS. There could still be a SATA controller limitation with regards to read/write speeds on my NAS though.

Without further ado, here’s the results:

Please bear in mind that all results are averages of 3 runs, however each LAN Speed Test run comprised of a MINIMUM of 10 packets (for the large byte count runs) and a MAXIMUM of 1000 packets (for the small byte count runs), this means that the actual average is the number of runs multiplied by the number of packets. I decided to do it this way to ensure that discrepencies/erroneous data was kept to a bare minimum as powerline/homeplug networking can be adversely affected by as little as appliances being switched on/off around the home.

Results:

Graphical Representations (Click to Enlarge):

First of all we can see that there is next to no difference between the two adapters when it comes to reading and writing very small files (1000 byte test performed). All of the results obtained are well within the margins of error. Things get more interesting when we start to test read/write speeds of 10,000,000, 100,000,000 and 300,000,000 byte file sizes. We can see that in each test the TP-Link adapters outperformed the older 85mbps Solwise adapters even when the TP-Link adapters were positioned 40 metres apart and teh Solwise adapters were positioned next to each other.

It is only at this point that we start to realise just how far the technology has progressed and I expect to see further improvements in longer distances with the release of the AV2 standard back in January 2012. It shouldn’t be long before we see some AV2 devices out there on the market! Writing speeds (to the NAS) on the TP-Link was consistently slower, which is to be expected as that is upstream. Interesting to note was that the Solwise adapters had a faster upstream than downstream when positioned next to each other, although by only 2-4mbps with all 4 packet sizes testes and this is still well within the margins of error.

In this test, I wanted to try and show the limitations of the NAS. We can see that writing a test packet from one computer to another computer (both running standard 7200rpm drives) the results strongly outperform those obtained from writing a test packet to the NAS. This is a limitation of the controller within the NAS.

One interesting thing to note was that the NAS caught up with the computer to computer transfer speed when performing the read test, which is rather odd because the computer it was uploading the test packet to was running the same hard drive, and a 6 core CPU instead of a dual core i3. Nonetheless it’s interesting to note that the NAS performs better at pushing data to your computer than receiving data from it. Both of the result sets shown in the two graphs above were collected using a standard 15 metre CAT6 cable. 

I didn’t use the Home Plug adapters for this, I just wanted to put these results out there to demonstrate that the Home Plug / Powerline standard still has a long way to go before being a viable replacement for CAT5e/CAT6 within your home IF this option is available to you. Obviously if you can’t run ethernet cables in your home’s walls (like is the case for me) then the Home Plug standard is the ideal solution for you and with the new AV2 standard already released to developers earlier this year, we should see another boost in performance, however we still do have to bear in mind that this will likely still be very much dependant on the quality of your internal electrical circuitry throughout your home.

Additional Testing:

These tests are very good at giving us a broad overview of how a particular device works however I wanted to show you just a couple of screenshots of downstream and upstream speeds to and from my NAS through these TP-Link adapters (40m apart).

For comparison, the older Solwise 85mbps adapters had an upstream/downstream of around 600-750kb/s, and transferring data wirelessly from within Zone 1 of the house (wireless AP connected directly to Gigabit switch) gives me an upstream/downstream of around 9.5-11mb/s.

This makes the TP-Link kit roughly 6x faster when performing an upstream operation, and 10x faster in downstream.

Just out of curiosity I also tried the TP Link utility software provided with the unit, it also states an expected throughput of around 80mbps between the two units, the same reading as is displayed by the green powerline LED on the unit itself.

Concluding Thoughts:

This kit provides a very stable connection (tested for over a week now with no loss of connection) for a very affordable price tag, (http://www.amazon.co.uk – £52.70). I was particularly impressed by its ability to maintain a strong connection and upstream/downstream speed when connected roughly 40 metres apart especially considering that our internal electrical wiring isn’t the most modern around.

One thing that did have me scratching my head were the data rates than the powerline LED claims to be getting. I am getting a solid green even when the adapters are plugged 40 metres apart yet my LAN speed tests show me getting 23-37mbps which would indicate that I should be getting a red LED on my powerline (Red = data rate less than or equal to 48mbps). I realize that it could also be the wireless between my TP-Link WA901ND access point and my USB dongle but this adapter and access point has shown to be able to push and pull as much as 9.5-11mb/s across so I very much doubt that.

The AP is connected to the second TP-Link adapter with a CAT5e cable. At the end of the day it doesn’t really bother me as i’m really pleased with teh speeds I’m able to get already, and I realise that LAN Speed Test isn’t the be all end all of network speed test software out there, having said that I wouldn’t pay too much attention to the LED’s although it does make the unit look nice! I also liked the idea of the 128bit AES encrption on the units.

One thing that I mentioned at the start is that I’d consider changing is the inclusion of CAT5 cables, they can only transfer 100mbps max whereas CAT5e/6 can transfer up to 1000mbps and despite the units not actually able to surpass the 100mbps limit of those CAT5 cables, the unit itself has a gigabit switch, from a marketing point of view I’d include CAT5e cables, especially considering that the price difference between the two is a matter of pennies even for a customer only buying one cable so I’d imagine that bulk buying cat5e over cat5 really wouldn’t set you back by much more.

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Apple iPhone fingerprint scanner will make 'biometrics' a household name

By adding a fingerprint scanner to its newest mobile phone, Apple Inc. is offering a tantalizing glimpse of a future where your favourite gadget might become a biometric pass to the workplace, mobile commerce or real-world shopping and events.

Although Apple’s executives said at Tuesday’s launch that its Touch ID technology embedded into the iPhone 5S’ home button would only provide fingerprint access to the phone and its own online stores, analysts said Apple’s embrace of such technology, called biometrics, would be key to wider adoption.

“It really propels biometrics into the mainstream,” said specialist Alan Goode, the U.K. -based managing director of research consultancy Goode Intelligence.

Jonathan Ive, Apple’s senior vice president of design, hinted of its future in a video presentation at the launch.

“Touch ID defines the next step of how you use your iPhone,” he said, “making something as important as security so effortless and so simple.”

Passwords and personal identification numbers (PINs) have long been the mainstay of access to devices, bank accounts and online services, despite their poor record. Many passwords can easily be guessed, while others can be hacked by brute-force attacks – essentially a computer program running through all possible permutations.

They also involve one too many steps for lots of users: Apple said that half of smartphone users don’t bother to password-protect their devices.

Hence the appeal of biometrics, which take something unique to the individual – a fingerprint, an iris, voice or facial features – as authentication.

Apple’s move may not have an immediate impact beyond improving the way users unlock their devices and interact with Apple services like iTunes and its App Store.

But that is itself a significant step. Apple has more than 500 million iTunes accounts. Anything that increases security and removes steps in the payment process is bound to boost online purchases.

It will also raise the comfort levels of companies supplying the content to a mobile commerce sector expected to reach $40-billion next year in the United States alone, according to Euromonitor estimates.

Users afraid of using their mobile device to make purchases online or in the real world because they fear it will be stolen or their password seen may feel liberated using a fingerprint, said Michael Chasen, CEO of SocialRadar, which is building location-based mobile applications for social networking.

For mobile commerce, he said, that could “be the missing piece.”

Beyond the web, Apple could combine the Touch ID with its existing “Passbook” app that stores coupons, tickets to events and boarding passes on an iPhone and allow event organizers and airline companies to validate those documents, said Sebastien Taveau, chief technology officer at California-based Validity Sensors, which makes sensors for other manufacturers.

“Apple wants to make deals with music and entertainment companies with very strong opinions on digital rights management,” Taveau said. The fingerprint scanner, when used in transactions with these companies, could “reassure all these industries”.

Biometric security should also appeal to enterprises nervous about allowing the personal devices of employees on the office network, analysts and industry insiders said.

“If this has been implemented right, every enterprise that enforces a password or PIN lock on the device will begin using the fingerprint sensor instead,” said Song Chuang, Singapore-based research director at Gartner.

Apple is not the first to try to make biometrics work for the consumer.

Fingerprint scanners have already found their way into laptops, external hard-drives and electronic wallets. Companies like Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., Fujitsu Ltd. and Pantech Co. Ltd. have incorporated fingerprint scanners into their mobile phones.

But none has really taken off.

Partly, that’s because of cost and partly because there’s been little in the way of an ecosystem to build support for the products.

“Biometrics have been historically viewed as a more expensive ‘nice to have’ component, rather than a ‘must have’,” said Bill Morelli, an analyst at IHS.

Also, fingerprint scanners have tended to make things harder rather than easier for users.

Chuang at Gartner said it could take users up to six swipes for a sensor to “learn” a user’s fingerprint. “This is not a great user experience,” he said.

All things, say some, that Apple was put on this earth to fix. Ben Thompson, a Taipei-based industry observer who writes a blog at stratechery.com, said Apple was focusing on the apparently trivial problem of entering a password – but one that irked users dozens of times a day.

“It’s classic Apple to expend tremendous energy on simplifying a small irritation, even if it’s not a classic feature list item.”

The badly kept secret of Apple’s biometric plans had already given the industry a boost long before Tuesday. The company has been filing patents on biometric security since at least 2009.

“Apple has been working on it for more than two years and they have extremely competent engineers,” said Validity’s Taveau.

Apple reached out two to three years ago to Microlatch, an Australian company, to license and test its peripheral fingerprint sensors. Apple asked it to build a Bluetooth connection to the phone and accompanying software, Microlatch managing director and founder Chris Burke said, so Apple could gauge user reactions and habits, particularly in e-commerce strongholds like China.

“In their roadmap it was clear there would be fingerprint scans, so they’d plot their course, rather than just trying something,” Burke said in a phone interview.

Last year Apple also paid about $350-million for AuthenTec, a key player in fingerprint sensors and until its purchase a supplier to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Hewlett-Packard Co, Dell Inc, Lenovo Group Ltd and Fujitsu.

Apple’s moves have reawakened interest in the space.

Swedish biometric component maker Fingerprint Cards AB, for example, has seen its share price rise 1,400 per cent in the past year. The company predicts the industry will ship up to 100 million consumer electronic devices embedded with fingerprint scanners this year, rising to more than 1 billion in 2015 as biometrics finds its way into TV remotes, gaming consoles and cameras.

There are downsides to fingerprint technology. It is not as accurate as companies touting its benefits make it sound, and PINs and passwords can be reset or changed if someone steals them.

“Fingerprint recognition is not perfect,” said Geppy Parziale, biometrics expert and CEO of Invasivecode, a firm that develops applications for Apple’s mobile devices. Then there’s the problem of the fingerprints themselves: acquiring a large enough set of them to test the accuracy of such devices is complicated by privacy and legal issues, Parziale said.

But if anyone can bring this technology into the mainstream, experts say, it’s Apple. It has, for example, embedded the scanner into the iPhone’s home button, while other mobile devices usually have it on the back, making it awkward for the user and increasing the number of failed attempts.

Samsung and fellow South Korean electronics manufacturer LG Electronics Inc. have had problems incorporating the technology into finished products.

LG’s head of domestic marketing, Ma Chang-Min, last month said the company had abandoned efforts to include a fingerprint sensor to the back cover of its flagship G2 smartphone “as we need more work to improve reliability and usability.”

That gives Apple a headstart. It can also build the sensing and security deep into its operating system and the A7 mobile chip which Apple itself designed, putting it ahead of rivals such like Google, which develops the Android mobile OS and licenses it to manufacturers like Samsung, said Taipei-based KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

But its edge may not last.

Microsoft Corp, for one, is building fingerprint recognition into the latest update of its Windows operating system and, said Taveau of Validity Sensors, “it is fair to assume that the Android community won’t be long to react.” - source

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Is this the death of 34B Bra?

The bra has been around for over a century and we still can't find one that fits. It's been estimated that as many as 85 percent of women in the U.S. wear the wrong size for their frame. If you've ever found your bra strap hanging down by your elbow, you're familiar with this fact. It's not only slightly embarrassing in a high-powered meeting, a poorly-fitted bra can cause sagging, neck and back pain. You'd think by now we'd have a better solution, aside from paying a custom fitter upwards of $400 to fix the problem.

"The entire bra purchase process is flawed," Dustin Cohn, Chief Marketing Officer for Jockey International tells Yahoo Shine. "Women are asked to measure their breasts with a tape measure. A woman's breasts are three dimensional, so it doesn't make sense to measure them with a two dimensional method. This changes the way bras support a bigger, bustier woman."

Jockey, the brand once known best for making men's sporty underwear, is strategizing a new way to mass market bras with more customized fits. But first they need women to let go of everything they know about the bra alphabet (A,B,C and so on.)

The company's self-created measurement system, called the Fit Kit ($20), involves 10 new and complicated numeric sizes (shaved down from 55), which are based on measurements of the shape of women's breasts (i.e. volume) rather than actual bust size.

It all sounds promising. "But is anyone ready for measurements like 1-30, 7-36 and 9-42?" asks the New York Times' Stephanie Clifford. The volumetric sizes number 1 through 10 in cup size from small to large, and then combines with band size. So instead of being a 32-B, someone might find they're a 2-32.

The kits are a do-it-yourself compliment of customization. Each comes with color-coded measuring tape, cups, protective lingerie wash bag and video instructions for taking measurements. The bras, which start at $60 and come in five styles, are sold separately.

"It's the closest thing to a custom bra that you'll find," says Cohn.

Still, it might take some adjusting. "I wish their sizing system was more translatable to the standard system," writes blogger Charla Welch, of Bra Crusader, in her review of the kit.

But Jockey isn't the only game in town revamping the fitting process. True&Co, an online retailer, combines mathematical principles with a questionnaire to measure customers for size. “We have an algorithm that defines 2,000 body types,” True&Co's Michelle Lam told the New York Times back in February.

If you're not ready to part with the traditional ABC's of bras, consider a few tips from the pros for finding the right fit.

First take your measurements. There are plenty of simple step-by-step instructions online (like this one) that take the confusion out of the numbers game.

Prepare to road-test. Don't rely on what the tag says because all bras fit differently. The bra should lie flat against your breastbone, the nipple should be at the center of each cup, the cups should not have wrinkles, and the back of the bra strap should rest in the middle of your back, not hike up. Straps should not be loose or you will not get the proper support. Avoid demi's if you have full boobs and want good support. "It helps to think of your bra like a seesaw," Susan Nethero of Intimacy Boutiques tells Redbook. "If the band is too loose and rides up in the back, the girls will sag. If it is level all the way around or lower, they'll be lifted."

Take care of your bras. Wash by hand or in cold water on the delicate cycle in a lingerie bag. And always air dry. Bras can last for two years if you take care of them well, according to Good Housekeeping. Still, don't expect your bra to stay the same over time. Like anything else, they tend to stretch. Nethero suggests buying a bra that fits best on the last hook so you can use tighter hooks as it loosens.

If all else fails, you can skip the whole thing. One recent study claims you'll stay perkier without any long-term support at all. Given the complicated process of finding that support, it's something to consider. - source

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World's Fastest USB 3.0 IP

Here you will see demonstrated the fastest USB 3.0 IP in the Universe*. Or at least the fastest published numbers that isn’t marketing hype.

This demo shows SuperSpeed USB 3.0 effective throughput:

1. SuperSpeed USB 3.0 can really move data.
2. Synopsys USB 3.0 IP can really move data.

The demonstration includes our USB 3.0 xHCI Host Controller, USB 3.0 Device Controller, and USB 3.0 PHYs.

You have to actually watch the video to get see the effective throughput.

First, I have to say that that is about the most awesome thumbnail picture of me yet. Thank you YouTube!

Second, we optimized the PC systems as follows:

• RAM Drive on the Mass Storage Device side – This is a lot faster than a flash drive, an HDD, or an SSD. There’s no SATA or PCIe for the data to pass through, so there is zero latency from an additional protocol. The RAM is right next to the USB controller so there is basically zero read/write latency.
• Windows 7 with an MCCI USB 3.0 xHCI Host Stack – Somehow MCCI engineered this so it’s faster than stacks we’ve seen packed with off-the-shelf Host cards.
• Nothing else is running on the USB bus or PCIe bus on the PC. Very little is running on the PC.
• Standard PCs built with standard parts with SSDs (which aren’t really necessary but we wanted to make sure)
• Our IP – Our USB 3.0 PHY IP, Our USB 3.0 Host IP, and Our USB 3.0 Device IP.

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Tepid Chinese response to new iPhone highlights Apple's challenge ahead

BEIJING -- The iPhone's magic as China's must-have smartphone is eroding.

Last year, eager buyers in Beijing waited overnight in freezing weather to buy the iPhone 4S. Pressure to get it -- and the profit to be made by reselling scarce phones -- prompted some to pelt the store with eggs when Apple, worried about the size of the crowd, postponed opening.

Just 18 months later, many Chinese gadget lovers responded with a shrug this week when Apple Inc. unveiled two new versions of the iPhone 5. Today's market is glutted with alternatives from Samsung to bargain-priced local brands.

"There was no big change, no surprise at all," said Gu Lanjun, a 29-year-old employee at a Shanghai bank. Having bought the three most recent iPhone models as soon as they were released, she said, "I won't update this time."

That lacklustre reception suggests Apple faces a struggle in defending its shrinking share of China's crowded, increasingly competitive smartphone market and its premium prices.

That matters, because China is a key part of Apple's growth plans. CEO Tim Cook told the official Xinhua News Agency in January he expects this country to pass the United States as its biggest market.

"Apple's market position in China has stagnated," said telecommunications analyst Jan Dawson of the research firm Ovum, in an email.

One problem, he said, might be that Apple's high price limits it to targeting the top market tier, and customers in that segment who want an iPhone already have one.

The two models unveiled this week "will largely be sold to existing subscribers and won't win many converts," Dawson said.

Earlier iPhones became status symbols in China even before they were formally sold here.

Buyers paid hundreds of dollars for handsets brought in from Hong Kong and modified to work on China's phone network. Companies treated them as luxury goods, buying hundreds at a time to give to important customers as Chinese New Year's gifts.

Now, Apple faces increasing competition. Samsung has made inroads into its premium market segment. For the mass market in a country with an average annual income of only about $4,000 per person, less than one-tenth the U.S. level, newcomers such as China's Xiaomi offer smartphones that run Google Inc.'s Android system for as little as 799 yuan ($125).

The rapid growth of the lower segments where Apple doesn't compete has helped to shrink its share of the overall market even as its sales grow.

Apple's share of China's smartphone market fell by nearly half, from 9.1 per cent to 4.8 per cent, over the past year, according to research firm Canalys.

Apple appeared to be trying to capture some of that lower-tier market with this week's announcement of the lower-priced 5C. But the company's website said it will start at 4,488 yuan ($712) in China, well above analysts' expectations of as little as 2,500 yuan ($400).

"People were expecting a much cheaper version to expand the market to the mid-tier segment. But that didn't happen," said analyst C.K. Lu of Gartner Inc. "We don't see much is going on in the China market with this new product launch."

Investors gave Apple's two new iPhones a similarly lukewarm reception.

Shares fell 6 per cent in U.S. trading on Wednesday following the announcement. Apple stock has fallen nearly 30 per cent since peaking at $705.07 when the last iPhone came out.

Apple also disappointed observers by failing to announce an agreement with China Mobile Ltd., the world's biggest phone company by number of subscribers, though Apple had promised no deal.

After this week's announcement that Japan's biggest mobile carrier, NTT DoCoMo, would support the new iPhone lineup, China Mobile is the last major holdout. A tie-up would require Apple to create an iPhone that runs on China's homegrown mobile standard but would give it a partner with 750 million subscribers.

The latest iPhone release also marks an upgrading of Apple's marketing in China. For the first time, the new model will be released in China at the same time as it debuts on Sept. 20 in the United States and other major markets such as Britain, Japan and France. In more than 100 other countries, it will not go on sale until December.

But advance orders for the iPhone 5S and 5C have been "much lower" than for previous models, according to Zhang Xue, a saleswoman for China Telecom Ltd., one of two Chinese carriers that support the iPhone.

"Customers are much calmer when they face the new iPhone lineup," Zhang said.

Apple still has plenty of fervent admirers in China, but some complained the latest iPhones offer too few technical advances.

Liu Guanlin, a junior at the Beijing Contemporary Music Academy, said he traded up from Samsung Galaxy to an iPhone because Apple's operating system seemed more stable. But he said the 5C didn't look like it would be worth the money.

"I have lots of Apple products, yet my complaint about the iPhone is it lacks innovation," said Liu. "I can't see major breakthroughs in the latest models, which is disappointing."

Others complained Apple failed to live up to its stylish design standards.

"The covers look garish. It will take people back to 10 years ago," said Gu, the Shanghai bank employee. "I would rather wait for the iPhone 6 and if there still is not much change, I will think about switching to another brand." - source

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DLNA extension enables multi-screen delivery through Set-Top-Box

MSOs and other service providers will soon be able to deliver multi-screen content directly through set-top boxes, in addition to – or instead of – the broadband channel. The enabler will be the DLNA CVP-2 guidelines published today.

Service providers have long been able to securely distribute IP-based content through broadband networks and broadband routers and still maintain security for the content. Previously, secure multi-screen distribution of MPEG-based pay TV content delivered through the set-top was not possible.

While the prospect of creating a home network using a set-top/gateway is no doubt enticing, success will depend entirely on encouraging the participation of enough service providers and consumer electronics (CE) companies.

"DLNA’s new CVP-2 Guidelines provide the industry with a foundation to significantly enhance consumer enjoyment of premium content offerings from their service provider. Content providers' rights are preserved, devices will have greater functionality, and consumers will have greater viewing device options. This is a win for all stakeholders,” said Tom Lookabaugh, chief R&D officer, CableLabs. CableLabs is a contributing member in the DLNA group, contributing to the development of the technology.

As of now, few companies have publicly committed to using DLNA CVP-2 – even among the contributing members. In addition to CableLabs, they include Comcast, Cox Communications, and Time Warner Cable, Broadcom and Samsung.

That said, interest in the technology has begun to percolate. At the recent CES, companies that showed technology or demonstrated support for DLNA CVP-2 included ARM, Broadcom, Access, AwoX, JetHead, SiliconDust, Videon and ViXS Systems.

Joerg Eggink, product director at Access, said, “…we're already seeing very high levels of interest from our broadcast and CE device customers.”

Karthik Ranjan, ARM marketing director, operator relations, said, “The ARM ecosystem has invested heavily in HTML5 technology within the mobile market, which will in turn provide huge commercial gains for the Pay TV sector as it will have access to the constant and rapid innovation.”

David DeAndrade, a fellow in Comcast’s office of the CTO, is a spokesman for DLNA. He said in an interview with CED that there have also been some European satellite and telco service providers who have been involved, though they did not participate at the official “Contributor” level.

He acknowledged that the adoption of DLNA CVP-2 will have a chicken-and-egg element to it. The technology will require a critical mass of both service providers and CE companies. Given that, it’s notable that Apple has not participated in the effort so far.

“Success will invite more service providers in, and more CE companies in. If we get a good launch this could very well become a success,” DeAndrade said.

DLNA CVP-2 is implemented using open source technologies including linux platforms, HTML5, MPEG-DASH, and DTCP-IP, the digital rights management (DRM) software that authorizes and enables sharing within a home network.

Support for DLNA CVP-2 is also built into the RDK software stack, DeAndrade noted.

Products will have to be certified before being marketed. Certification is expected to begin in September. There will be five or six organizations that will perform certification testing around the world. In the U.S., the University of New Hampshire will be one.

DLNA expects certified products to hit the market at the end of this year.

DLNA CVP-2 provides several advantages, but the topline benefit is the ability to deliver video in a home network through a set-top or gateway, as opposed to an Ethernet/Wi-Fi router, no other equipment required.

Display devices can include PCs, Blu-ray players, game consoles, laptops and other mobile devices. Every device that would connect in a DLNA CVP-2 would need to be enabled with the technology. In many cases, that might require a simple app download for CE devices.

It is up to the CE companies to create those apps for their products. The way the technology is set up, the CE device will go out and discover the gateway, and access the remote user interface (RUI).

Because the RUI is HTML5-based, it can be consistent across all devices.

Once connected, the viewer can then go through the menu of content available. If Comcast were to adopt this technology, for instance, that would all go through the X1 platform.

The number of devices that could be supported would depend on the number of tuners in the set-top/gateway; gateways typically have 4 or 6.

It would be up to service providers to provide support pages that explain what the service is, what devices will be supported, and where to download apps for devices that can be used but didn’t come with the necessary software already installed.

Service providers would need to install a DLNA server.

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Voluntary Resignation: The Philippine Law

Voluntary Resignation

Resignation is defined as the voluntary act of an employee who finds himself in a situation where he believes that personal reasons cannot be sacrificed in favor of the exigency of the service and he has no other choice but to disassociate himself from his employment. (Virgen Shipping Corp. vs. Barraquio, G.R. No. 178127, April 16, 2009 citing Valdez vs. NLRC.)

The key is that resignation must be a “voluntary act”, and that the employee must have knowingly and voluntarily dissociate himself from his employment for his own personal reasons. It does not cover cases where the employee is forced to resign with the use of threats, intimidation, coercion or manipulation, or where resignation is imposed as a penalty for an offense.

The common practice of allowing an employee to resign, instead of terminating him for just cause so as not to smear his employment record, also fall under the category of voluntary resignation. (See J Marketing Corp. vs. Taran, G.R. No. 163924, June 28, 2009).

Resignation Notice

The Labor Code requires the employee to give an advance notice to the employer of his intention to resign. The notice of resignation must be in writing and must be served to the employer at least one month prior to the effective date of his resignation.

Resignation notice usually takes the form of a letter (commonly called “resignation letter”) addressed to the employer, expressing the employee’s intention to terminate his employment. It must state the date when resignation is to take effect because of the 30-day notice requirement under the law. It may also contain the reason or justification of the employee for filing his resignation, although legally, this is not important. The employee may resign for whatever reason, or even for no reason at all. Thus, in legal parlance, voluntary resignation is also called “termination by employee without just cause.”

Resignation letter normally contains explicit words expressing employee’s intention to terminate his employment. However, lack of explicit words stating the employees intention to resign is deemed not crucial, as long as the employees intention to resign can be deduced from letter itself. In one case, the Supreme Court held that a memorandum written by the employee containing his deep resentment towards his superior juridically constituted a letter of resignation. Even if the employee did not expressly indicate his intention to resign (neither of the words “resign” or “resignation” was mentioned), the resentful and sarcastic tone of the memorandum was held to be sufficiently indicative of such intention.

Effect of Failure to Tender Resignation Notice

If the employee fails to give the employer one month advance notice of his intention to resign, he may be held liable for damages.

Instances when Notice of Resignation is Not Required

The employee may resign even without serving any notice on the employer for any of the following reasons:

1. Serious insult by the employer or his representative on the honor and person of the employee;
2. Inhuman and unbearable treatment accorded the employee by the employer or his representative;
3. Commission of a crime or offense by the employer or his representative against the person of the employee or any of the immediate members of his family; and
4. Other causes analogous to any of the foregoing.

Resignation under any of the instance enumerated above is also called “termination by employee with justcause.”

You may want read the whole article here and you might learn a lot from the Q&A part of the website.

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Snapchat Deletes $3B Facebook Bid

Snapchat's whole premise is "now you see it, now you don't," and that might be true of the $3 billion in cold cash Facebook is said to have dangled in front of Evan Spiegel, its 23-year-old CEO. "I'm amazed at the amount that Facebook offered for Snapchat," said Asymmetric Insights analyst Alan Webber. "To me, that's absolutely incredible. Whether they're actually worth more or not, I don't know."

The furor around popular technology startups shows no sign of letting up. The latest big-money rumor centers on Snapchat, the company behind the eponymous 2-year-old smartphone messaging app that has yet to earn a cent. Its would-be suitor, Facebook, reportedly made an all-cash US$3 billion offer in recent weeks. However, Snapchat turned it down.

The offer and subsequent snub came as Snapchat reportedly was considering a potentially more lucrative deal: a $200 million round led by Chinese Internet firm Tencent Holdings that would value it at $4 billion.

Price Wasn't Right

Snapchat cofounder and CEO Evan Spiegel seems to believes the company is worth more than the $3 billion Facebook was willing to part with, and won't seriously consider a buyout or investment until early next year at the earliest, according to The Wall Street Journal , which cited sources close to the matter.

However, investor Benchmark Capital played a role in the decision to reject Facebook's offer, according to a New York Times report. Benchmark was an early investor in Instagram and apparently was disappointed when the company behind the popular photo-sharing app agreed to be acquired by Facebook for $1 billion last year.

Instagram could have found success by itself or found higher offers, in Benchmark's view. Around eight months after the Instagram sale, Benchmark made a $13 million investment in Snapchat.

Ephemeral Messages

Snapchat allows users to send ephemeral messages to each other that expire for good, typically within 10 seconds after recipients view them. In September, Snapchat users sent 350 million such messages daily -- up from 200 million in June -- according to the company.

Spiegel apparently believes there's plenty of room for growth, although Snapchat has not revealed its number of users.

"Facebook is great as a platform, but there's not a lot of real instant interactivity going on in the context of the engagement or what's taking place there," Alan Webber, technology industry analyst at Asymmetric Insights, told the E-Commerce Times. "I think Facebook is looking for other opportunities for people to engage faster and quicker. Not quite Twitter-level, but something more like instant messaging, which is what Snapchat is."

Social Media Boom

The commotion around Snapchat comes at a time when social media and smartphone messaging services are enjoying a boom in the marketplace. Twitter held its initial public offering last week and saw its stock soar 70 percent above the $26 price the company established, carrying it to a $25 billion valuation, despite its lack of profits.

Pinterest, meanwhile, last month raised $225 million for a $3.8 billion value, though it has not yet monetized its popular website.

Instagram's lack of profitability -- though it recently has started displaying ads -- didn't dissuade Facebook from snapping it up. Borrowing a page from Snapchat's playbook, Instagram last year launched Poke, an app that mimics Snapchat's key vanishing-act functionality.

The Young Crowd

Facebook may be particularly keen on Snapchat due to its popularity among young audiences, who are increasingly aware of the risks of public-facing social media to their future prospects should they post unflattering information about themselves or others.

More of Facebook's users are accessing the service through smartphones, which increases mobile ad revenue, but fewer young teens are visiting the site on a daily basis.

"As moms and dads and grandparents continue to start getting on Facebook, the kids are worried their activities are going to be seen by their parents," Gordon Owens, digital marketing professional at GO Digital WSI, told the E-Commerce Times.

"The kids in my life -- their parents have required them to be friends with them on Facebook as a caveat of them being on Facebook. I'm sure the kids are quick to adopt anything the parents haven't heard of, especially Snapchat. The whole premise is that everything you do goes away and it's not a permanent record," he noted.

"I'm amazed at the amount that Facebook offered for Snapchat," Asymmetric Insights' Webber said. "To me, that's absolutely incredible. Whether they're actually worth more or not, I don't know. It's one of these shots at a younger audience, which is what Snapchat has."

The Third Man

Snapchat is not without its controversies. The company's founders, Spiegel and CTO Bobby Murphy, as well as its investors, are being sued by Reggie Brown IV, who claims he was the third cofounder of Snapchat and was kicked out of the company by Spiegel and Murphy.

The two tried to cover up his ouster, Brown alleges.

Meanwhile, it's up for debate whether Snapchat has a real shot as a successful, independent entity in the long term.

"Facebook would be a logical move -- but the same time, when you look at some of the new technologies that are out there, Facebook is starting to get a little long in the tooth," Webber noted. It's a fairly old technology. I think [Snapchat] has to start monetizing, or they're going to have to look for a really great platform to integrate into."

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Likes vs retweets driving website visitors

In the absence of empirical data, websites typically provide equal prioritization to driving visitors to either retweet or like content. If you only have space for one option (such as in content listings), which one should you use? According to research compiled by Allyson Kapin at Frogloop, Facebook likes provide greater web traffic than retweets:

• According to Mashable, Twitter received about 0.38 clicks per tweet, while Facebook received 3.31 clicks per engagement. In other words, Facebook “likes” gets almost 8.7x more clicks than a tweet. “But engagement activity has a short life on Facebook, with less than 20% of likes occurring after 24 hours,” said Vadim Lavrusik of Mashable.
• Eventbrite users shared events on Facebook almost 4x more then they did on Twitter. Eventbrite says Facebook has greater reach with almost 600 million users and an emphasis on user’s inner circles of friends, family and colleagues. Editor’s Update: Eventbrite has a big blue FB pop blue button saying “Share this link on Facebook.” This is probably one of the main reasons why FB is shared 4x more then on Twitter.
• Over the past six months, a typical tweet made up about $.80 in ticket sales on Eventbrite as compared to Facebook, which was about $1.34.
• When Eventbrite users shared the event link on Facebook after they RSVP’d, ticket sales increased by about 20% per share compared to a pre-purchase share. “The findings apply broadly to all e-commerce businesses, because the foundations of e-commerce are shifting as the social graph becomes a meaningful influence in driving transactions,” said Tamara Mendelsohn, Eventbrite’s director of marketing and former senior analyst at Forrester Research.

- source

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SIP the Future VoIP

The term SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is slowly becoming more main stream. Mainly recognized in business context, it can be described in the most basic of terms, internet phone service for businesses. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is what makes internet phone calling possible and has grown in leaps and bounds with the likes of Majic Jack, SKYPE and Vonage to name a few.

SIP however is used to connect internet phone trunks to an end’s user PBX system using a set of specific protocols which are compatible with the phone system they are using. Many phone systems connect both to analog or SIP, but some are designed only for SIP, such as the Microsoft SIP trunking solution. In which case you would look for Microsoft Lync Most VoIP providers are hosted solutions while SIP can be on-premise.

Call Paths vs. Phone Lines

SIP providers charge based on the number of trunks while others will pay for usage with a cap on trunks. Each trunk can carry one call path, which means only 1 person can be making a call. However supposing there are 15 employees, this does not mean you need 15 trunks. If it were a plain old telephone service (POTS), then yes you would need 15 lines for the business.

However, with SIP trunks, you want to calculate the needs of the business in regards to call paths. How many people do you think will be on their phones at the same time? If you are an outbound call center, then the answer is obvious – 15. However for a lawyer’s office the answer might be 7, in this case you would only need to order 7 trunks.

Bandwidth

The second consideration for SIP growth is bandwidth capabilities. In the case of internet phone service, the greater the bandwidth, the better the call quality a user will experience. For example a G711 codec allows 80-85k per call path which means there is less jitter, dropped calls, and overall better clarity of voice. With a G729 however, there is less bandwidth allotted per call and that is no good.

Think of it in terms of mono and stereo, mono works fine, but isn’t nearly the same as stereo – but stereo tracks mean larger files and that means larger space. If you don’t have enough space, you can’t use stereo. For people with restricted bandwidth, the G729 is what would be used allocating only 30-35k per call path less quality but the user will experience fewer issues too.

Cost Savings

SIP trunks began gaining notoriety in the 90’s and more and more businesses have been able to jump on board migrating away from their POTS or even PRI’s (1 PRI allows for 24 lines) and began seeing the return on investment though ongoing savings. Users of SIP can save anywhere from 30% to 70% on their telephony expenses.

Additional advantages of SIP which influence popularity

Mobility: With a SIP based system, users can configure calls to ring to different places based on configuration settings. For example, if a client rings your office phone and no one answers, it can roll forward to any specified device such as a cell phone, home office, or another person in your department.

Easy Growth: As the company expands with new employees or employee turnover, SIP allows users to be easily added through the phone system, without having to install additional lines. You can add extensions as well where a business does not have to order direct dial numbers.

This means if you have someone who needs a phone, but not their own dedicated number, you can add them as an extension like x103. This saves a business company as direct inward dial (aka DID) numbers, can cause the monthly charges to add up. Although it is mainly the role of the phone system to input the configuration settings, it would not work if the sip trunking provider wasn’t capable of making it actually happen.

Virtual Numbers: Another advantage SIP has over traditional telephone lines is the ability to use a number with any area code. So if your business resides in Washington DC, but you want to run a marketing campaign in California advertising a 626 area code, you an order a 626 number and have it ring to your location’s IP address.

This is impossible to do with traditional phone service because the lines are physical, not virtual, however with VoIP or SIP it is one of the big advantages a company can benefit from – especially those who want consistent numbers with the same area code for their telecommuting employees.

Traditional phone service is not going away anytime soon, however with the rise in SIP deployments for businesses large and small, it is getting a run for its money. Expect to see more internet phone usage over the next few years as more and more carriers and wholesale providers jump on board and invest in developing more advanced technologies.- source

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The Huawei B593 LTE Family

The Huawei B593 4G LTE CPE Router. There are many sub models such as the HUAWEI B593U-12, B593s-82, B593s-42, B593u-501, B593u-513, B593u-91. They are designed to meet the 4G LTE Band requirements for different markets. They incorporate similar configuration and even have the same functions.

Source: http://www.3g-solution.com/sdp/95544...ay_router.html

Confirmed sub-model listing *updated 29 April 2014*:

HUAWEI B593u-12: FDD DD800/900/1800/2100/2600MHz (Cat3)
HUAWEI B593s-22: FDD DD800/900/1800/2100/2600MHz & TDD 2600MHz (Cat4)
HUAWEI B593s-82: FDD DD800/1800/2600MHz & TDD 2300/2600MHz (Cat3)*
HUAWEI B593u-91: TDD 2300/2600MHz (Cat4?)
HUAWEI B593s-601: FDD 1800/2600MHz & TDD 2300MHz (Cat4?)

*This model does not support 3g

And maybe these models also exist:

HUAWEI B593s-58: TDD 1900/2300/2600MHz (End of Life Announcement)
HUAWEI B593s-58b: TDD 1900/2300MHz
HUAWEI B593s-42: TDD 3500MHz (End of Life Announcement)
HUAWEI B593s-850

EDIT: This document seems to list all/most possible B593 models:
B593u-12
B593s-12
B593s-22
B593s-31A
B593s-42 (End of Life Announcement)
B593s-82
B593u-91
B593u-501
B593u-513
B593s-516
B593s-601
B593s-931

Marketing blurb:

The HUAWEI B593 Router is the first LTE TDD wireless broadband router in the world, supporting LTE TDD/FDD 800/1800/2300/2600MHz up to 100Mbps download speed. Access for up to 32 WIFI devices marks as an ideal home entertainment and information exchange hub. It supports multiple devices and provides simultaneous high speed access, perfect for SOHO's and small businesses with its connectivity options.

FEATURES:

Ports:
* 4 x LAN
* 2 x USB

Transmission speed 4G (MAX)
* Download 100 Mbit/s
* upload 50 Mbit/s

Transmission Speed 3G (MAX)
* download 42.2 Mbit/s
* upload 5.76 Mbit/s

WI-FI: 802.11 b/g/n

Additional antenna location: two antenna ports

SIZE: 190 mm x 35 mm x 176 mm
WEIGHT: 500g

Operating systems it's compatible with:

* Windows 2000/ Windows XP/ Windows Vista/ Windows 7
* Mac OS 10.5/ Mac OS 10.6/ Mac OS 10.7
* Linux

The unit is a breeze to setup with all vital info provided on a large label on the port side of the unit. WiFi security and SSID are predefined and okay to use. For the sake of amusing your neighbours, might I suggest:  http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/co...me_youve_seen/

While WPS is supported, it is turned off by default so a quick visit to the router's config page is required. Both WLAN and WPS have dedicated buttons on the one side of the unit - very handy indeed. The WLAN button activates/deactivates the wireless broadcast while the WPS button controls the WPS broadcast for devices that support it.

On that note, wireless on the unit is not particularly strong. I found in the config that the output power is set by default to 90%. Upping this to 100% hardly improved matters so I personally resorted to a repeating strategy. Hello WPS!

An absolute brilliant range of little devices are the Huawei WS3xx line-up. While other functions are supported, I picked up a few WS322 with the sole intention of repeating my wireless signal.

Key to a good repeating strategy is the central location of the base unit ie. the B593 LTE CPE. The repeaters are then placed at the peripheral of the WiFi range and configured to repeat the WiFi signal. This is quite a simple thing to do, of anyone needs help, just shout.

Since I have quite a large residence, I opted to deploy 3 * WS322 in Repeater Mode. This worked brilliantly but I did notice a few quirks I'm still unsure of. For instance, occasionally I'll get no traffic on the network. Through trial and error I found that by unplugging one or two repeaters, and later plugging them back in, solved the problem. It seems to me that too many WS322 units screws up routing in the network but this is only a hunch. I had an idea that my B593 LTE CPE may be faulty so it has actually been returned and I've got a new one now. I'll report back if this phenomenon persists.

Another oddity I've discovered is that speeds are bets when right up close, or directly connected, to the B593. For instance, my gaming PC is only 1.5 metres away and, while still on wireless, obtains much much better speeds than my phone or tablet. Speedtest have always maintained *not* to test speeds over wireless and I guess this is one of the reasons why.

One major gripe, and Huawei are not alone in this, is that there is no app for controlling the B593. Configuring the unit over a phone is a chore in microfiche efficiency.

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Samsung Mass Producing High-Performance 128-Gigabit 3-Bit Multi-Level-Cell NAND Flash Memory

SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it has begun mass producing a 128-gigabit (Gb), 3-bit multi-level-cell (MLC) NAND memory chip using 10 nanometer (nm)-class* process technology this month. The highly advanced chip will enable high-density memory solutions such as embedded NAND storage and solid state drives (SSDs).

“By introducing next-generation memory storage products like the 128Gb NAND chip, Samsung is extremely well situated to meet growing global customer needs”

“By introducing next-generation memory storage products like the 128Gb NAND chip, Samsung is extremely well situated to meet growing global customer needs,” said Young-Hyun Jun, executive vice president, memory sales & marketing, Device Solutions Division, Samsung Electronics. “The new chip is a critical product in the evolution of NAND flash, one whose timely production will enable us to increase our competitiveness in the high density memory storage market.”

Samsung’s 128Gb NAND flash is based on a 3-bit multi-level-cell design and 10nm-class process technology. It boasts the industry’s highest density as well as the highest performance level of 400 megabits-per-second (mbps) data transfer rate based on the toggle DDR 2.0 interface.

Utilizing 128Gb NAND flash memory, Samsung will expand its supply of 128-gigabyte (GB) memory cards, which can store as many as sixteen 8GB full HD video files. Samsung now will also increase its production volume of SSDs with densities over 500GBs for wider adoption of SSDs in computer systems, while leading the transition of main storage drives in the notebook market from hard disk drives (HDDs) to SSDs.

Demand for high-performance 3-bit MLC NAND flash and 128Gb high storage capacities has been rapidly increasing, driving the adoption of SSDs with more than 250GB data storage, led by the Samsung SSD 840 Series.

Samsung started production of 10nm-class 64Gb MLC NAND flash memory in November last year, and in less than five months, has added the new 128Gb NAND flash to its wide range of high-density memory storage offerings. The new 128Gb chip also extends Samsung’s 3-bit NAND memory line-up along with the 20nm-class* 64Gb 3-bit NAND flash chip that Samsung introduced in 2010. Further, the new 128Gb 3-bit MLC NAND chip offers more than twice the productivity of a 20nm-class 64Gb MLC NAND chip.

Samsung plans to keep introducing leading-edge SSDs and embedded memory storage solutions with high-quality features, in accelerating the growth of the premium memory market.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in technology, opening new possibilities for people everywhere. Through relentless innovation and discovery, we are transforming the worlds of televisions, smartphones, personal computers, printers, cameras, home appliances, LTE systems, medical devices, semiconductors and LED solutions. We employ 236,000 people across 79 countries with annual sales exceeding US$187.8 billion. To discover more, please visit www.samsung.com.

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Understanding the Mini-facelift

The problem with the question is that for each of us, what constitutes a mini facelift or full face lift is different. For some surgeons the difference between a mini and full facelift have to do with the length of the scar, for some the difference has to do with whether or not the deep tissue (SMAS) is supported.

There is a trend in plastic surgery for surgeons to invent surgeries. This is no where more apparent than in facelifting. So heres the truth about what is going on. Surgeon X decides to name his facelift a superspeedy lift, or whatever. Other adjectives including quick, lifestyle, swift and basically anything else that can imply a quick and easy procedure have been used. Surgeon X now claims they are the only surgeon experienced in that specific technique.

In actuality true, every surgeon does any procedure in their own unique way. But in reality, the important parts of the procedure are actually not unique at all. These are all variants of the S lift or MACS lift. The trick is in the marketing. Why would anyone NOT want a procedure that sounds so simple?

For me, what I call a mini face lift , is a procedure that is appropriate for about 80% of people. The other 20% need a more aggressive lift. My mini-facelift involves an incision from the hairline to just behind the earlobe (hiding well within the creases of the ear and side burn) with elevation of the skin for approximately 5-6 cm (about half of the cheek down to the jawline). Liposuction (PAL) is done on the neck.

Sutures are used to reshape and lift the deep tissues (the most important part of the procedure). The skin is lifted mostly vertically (opposite the direction of sagging with aging) and removed and closed without tension. Similar to a MACS lift. I guess I could name it a no pain face lift and probably have people lining up to get it but for now I will continue to keep things above board and hopefully at least my patients can see through the smoke and mirrors.

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Tablet PC History that Maybe You Don't Know

As we all know iPad is not popular all over the world, and maybe you will think that tablet PC is a recent invention, in fact, tablet PC is the result of many years of development and evolution. Perhaps you don't know that the tablets that are appearing on the market the two years are quite a bit different than the early versions for its long history.

The first appearance of what we would think of as a tablet today came in the early nineties. For the most part these were more like early laptops than they were like the current tablets. These tablets for the most part were developed into laptops mainly because nobody could figure out a good way to enter data into them that didn't use a keyboard. The addition of the keyboard created the shape of the laptop as we know it today. These early models did however serve to prove that there was a market for a portable computer and this led to the development of other technology.

The next step in the history of the tablet was the development of the PDA and the smart phone. Most of the technology that went into the current generation tablets has come directly from smart phones. The real leap forward was the decision to put an operating system on the smart phone, this truly made them portable computers. From there it was hardly a huge leap to realize that putting a bigger screen and more computing power on a smart phone would have a variety of uses. This is basically what Apple did when they brought out the iPad which was the first of the real tablet PC.

The iPad has proved to be surprisingly successful on the market. When it was introduced nobody was entirely clear on just why you would want one. After all they do basically the same thing as a smart phone or a laptop. The iPad has sold well, so more and more manufacturers begin to produce a scale of tablet PCs, especially for the android tablet PCs. This does lead to the conclusion that the success of the iPad had more to do with marketing skills of Apple. However, iPad is expensive to most of the average person, this certainly leads to the manufacturer followers imitate the iPad. So more and more cheap android tablets similar to iPad begin to appear on the market, maybe this is also the way that makes tablet PCs popular all over the world.

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Crab Legs Health Benefits

Overview

King crabs, also known as stone crabs, are a family of crustaceans found mainly in cold seas. They are very large in size, in short supply, and have a tasty flesh that makes them a delicacy. King crab legs are an especially popular delicacy that offers many nutritional benefits, including a healthy dose of omega-3 fatty acids, protein and many vitamins and minerals.

Background

The most commonly caught and sold species is the red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus). According to the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, the best meat of the king crab is in the legs. Unlike other crabs, king crabs have only six legs (versus eight). The body of the crab offers little meat and usually goes to canners. King crabs were plentiful until the early 1980s. Then came a shortage caused by water temperature changes and other environmental conditions. Since then, the price has more than doubled and they are less available.

Nutrition Basics

An Alaskan king crab leg (134g) cooked and served plain, provides 130 calories, 2.1g of fat, .2g of saturated fat, and zero trans fat, carbohydrate, sugar and dietary fiber. One leg of the aforementioned serving size provides about 26g of protein, making it an excellent source of protein, though it is much leaner than the same amount of beef. Although king crab is a source of cholesterol, containing about 71mg per serving, it need not be avoided for this reason as saturated and trans fats (which are not in crab legs) have a far more negative impact on blood cholesterol levels.

Rich in Omega-3 Fat

Most of the fat in a king crab leg is heart-healthy unsaturated fat (.2 gram of monounsaturated fat and 0.7g of polyunsaturated fat). King crab is rich in a class of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids known for their health benefits and found in all seafood: omega-3 fatty acids. One serving provides 614mg of omega-3 fatty acids, making it an excellent food source for this nutrient. According to the American Heart Association, omega-3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory and help prevent low-density lipoprotein (LDL or "bad") cholesterol from adhering to artery walls.

Good Food Source of Vitamins

Like other types of seafood, king crab legs are nutrient-dense, making them a healthy food choice. They are a good food source of vitamin C, offering 10.2g per serving, or 13.5 percent of the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), 68.3mcg of folate, or 17 percent of the RDA and a whopping 15.4 mcg of vitamin B12, or more than 200 percent of the RDA. Vitamin C aids in wound healing and strengthens the immune system, and folate and vitamin B12 are important for red blood cell formation, among other functions.

Excellent Food Source of Minerals

King crab legs are an excellent food source of magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, zinc and copper. One leg offers 84mg of magnesium, or 20 percent of the RDA; 375mg of phosphorus, or more than 50 percent of the RDA; 53.5mcg of selenium and 10.2mg of zinc, nearly 100 percent of the RDA for each; and 1.6mg of copper, or about 75 percent of the RDA. These minerals perform a variety of functions in the body, including red blood cell and protein formation, bone health, and immune system function. Unfortunately, king crab legs are high in sodium because they are a salt-water species. One leg contain more than 1,400mg of sodium, so those watching their sodium intake should eat king crab legs with caution.

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Light and Infrared Irradiation in Cctv Systems

Over the past few years we have witnessed the appearance of day night CCTV cameras, all featuring a “miraculous” capability to amplify by many hundred folds the camera “minimum illumination” by removal of the IR cut filter and by turning off the color circuit. Usually, the day mode sensitivity ranges from 1 lux to 0.25 lux and leaps to 0.01 ~ 0.0001 lux for the camera's night (B/W) mode. This “miraculous” increase is not real; it is a measurement trick by exposing the CCD (Charged Coupled Device) to high power infrared emission and specifying it inadequately in a very low lux value.

Lux and Infrared power are not the same. Lux is a photometric unit that measures point to point illumination (dependent on the quantity of irradiated light and the distance between the light source and the illuminated object) while Infrared power is a radiometric unit - measured in Watts . Illumination makes it possible for us to see while infrared irradiation is invisible to the human eye.

The distinction amongst illumination and infrared irradiation is in the frequencies, or the wavelength. The wavelength of the visible spectrum ranges from 400nm (violet) to 700nm (red) which is divided into a rainbow of colors from red to orange to yellow to green to blue and to violet.

CIE (Commission International de l'Eclairage) also known as International Commission of Illumination, has clearly stated the measurement of light, known as photometry, applies only to the visible portion of the optical spectrum and includes units such as nit, lumen, candela and lux. Measurements of human's eye sensing ability have shown that the efficiency is highest to green color (100% at around 555 nm) and it declines to 50% near orange (around 610 nm) and blue (around 510 nm) and less than 10% near red ( around 650 nm) and violet ( around 470 nm). Humans do not sense radiated waves in the ultraviolet (below 400 nm) or the infrared (above 700 nm) regions.

CIE standards are quite complex but it will be sufficient to comprehend that the value for a green light source(555nm) with 1W of luminous flux, is equal to 683 lumen, which for a point to point measurement equals 683 Candela . In contrast, 1W of red (650 nm) luminous flux equals only 68 candela and 68 lumen and 1W of infrared (over 700 nm) radiant flux equals 0 lumen, 0 candela and 0 lux.

The problem is that few people know what lux and infrared radiation are, or how illumination and radiation are measured. One of the devices for measuring illumination in lux is the illumination meter, also known as a light meter. The light meter includes a filter and is calibrated to measure only light units within the visual optical spectrum as defined by CIE. This filter is similar to the IR cut filter preventing all infrared radiation from passing in order to keep the measuring accurate. That is why all the known exposure meters, light meters and other illumination measuring equipment will read 0 lux or some residual value when exposed to infrared radiation.

In CCTV light meters are used to measure the scene illumination observed by a security camera, but should never be used to measure infrared irradiation, because its reading will be 0 lux, or a residual reading like 0.001 lux, even though the scene may be exposed to considerable quantity of IR radiation.

In order to understand very well the significant impact that these measurements have in designing a CCTV system we must first understand how a CCD (Charged Coupled Device) works.

The CCD sensor is designed to resemble the human eye, with similar color sensing efficiency. That is why CCD sensors are most sensitive to the green (550nm) region of the spectrum and drop to 0 sensitivity in the ultraviolet (under 400nm) region. CCD sensors however do sense infrared radiation over 700nm and up to 1000nm (some are more sensitive and can sense up to 1200nm).

The CCD sensitivity is much lower in the IR region and drops to only 5-10% efficiency or less, as shown in a typical CCD efficiency graph.

Even though the sensor's sensing efficiency in the IR region is very low, at day time infrared radiation which is heavily radiated by the sun, by hot objects, by human body and by incandescent or halogen light bulbs must be prevented from reaching the color CCD. If such IR is radiated into the optical path of a color CCD, it will cause heavy disturbances in the processing of color pictures. That is why every color CCD (or CMOS) sensor must be fitted with an IR cut filter that blocks the infrared radiation from reaching it. As explained above, sensors are far less sensitive to infrared radiation than to visual spectrum. Therefore the concept that the removal of the IR cut filter increases the camera sensitivity a hundred or even a thousand times is a simple case of distortion, induced by the improper use of a light meter for measuring infrared irradiation.

The common inaccurate test for the night mode of a day night camera is performed by introducing a powerful infrared radiator (incorrectly named IR illuminator) for irradiating infrared onto a dark scene. The test is carried out by connecting a CCTV camera (with its IR cut filter removed) to a waveform analyzer for measuring the output signal. The day/night camera is placed to observe an IR irradiated scene. After that the light meter is positioned into the scene to measure the infrared irradiation in lux.

This is a misleading test that generates false results. We will get an IR induced B/W signal into the waveform analyzer with a value like 20 IRE, while the light meters will read 0 lux or a residual value, such as 0.01~0.0001 lux, which is used in the camera's technical chart to define sensitivity or its minimum illumination. You should be aware that IRE is a unit of signal level or strength and is not associated to infrared radiation in any way.

The correct but more “difficult” lab test of a CCTV camera's sensitivity or minimum illumination is performed by placing a standard 2000 lux source with a test chart in front of the camera (connected to a waveform analyzer) with its IR cut filter removed. After the initial are inserted in front of the light source until the video signal measured drops to 20 IRE. The minimum illumination will than be calculated on a basis of the neutral density filter reduction factor. Neutral density filters are available in different transmittance factors and reduce the luminous intensity by ratios such as ½, 1/16, 1/50, 1/100 etc. The neutral density filters are very similar to those used in auto iris smart lenses.

This is why whenever you see a day/night camera with a minimum illumination values like 0.001 lux or even 0.001 lux, try to keep in mind one thing – marketing strategies sometimes weight more than common sense.

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