NI extends leading PXI innovation with six new product announcements

INDIA: National Instruments introduced six new PXI products including a real-time embedded controller, PXI Express system expansion modules and high-speed data storage products for streaming data to and from disk. These announcements follow the introduction of more than 40 other NI PXI products this year and further extend the possibilities of PXI across diverse industries. With such numerous product introductions, NI continues its leading innovation in the ever-growing global PXI market.

The new high-value NI PXIe-8100 RT embedded controller incorporates the Intel Atom D410 processor and is designed specifically for deploying embedded real-time measurement and control applications. By using the new controller with NI LabVIEW system design software, engineers can gain efficiency in a variety of test, measurement and control applications.

The NI PXIe-8364/74 are the first NI PXI Express remote control modules that make it possible for engineers to interface multiple PXI Express chassis directly to a single host computer using any expansion topology, without requiring complex custom solutions. The modules’ simplified interconnectivity and industry-standard PXI-based architecture increase system design efficiency and overall system performance in a variety of high-channel-count data acquisition and high-speed automated test applications including RF and semiconductor test.

NI also announces upgraded NI redundant array of independent drives (RAID) products for high-speed record and playback, RF test and high-channel-count data acquisition, including the new 24 TB option for the NI HDD-8265 high-speed data storage enclosure. With these new options, engineers can now stream 100 MHz of real-time bandwidth for more than 13 hours continuously.

For advanced parallel signal intelligence (SIGINT) and communication intelligence (COMMINT) applications, engineers can combine four NI HDD-8265 modules in a single PXI Express chassis to achieve up to 2.8 GB per second of streaming data to and from disk. Other new NI RAID options include 3TB HDD and 1TB SSD versions of the NI 8260 in-chassis RAID module.

All these new products further expand the already broad NI PXI platform, which currently includes more than 450 different PXI products. Engineers and scientists can mix and match a variety of NI PXI products and control their entire systems with LabVIEW software, making it possible to address virtually any engineering challenge.

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The Problem with Mobile Sites

The mobile version of Cult Of Mac.
The banner and ad follow the user. 

This has been a growing annoyance. I've noticed that mobile sites often aren't just reformatted websites that make are easier to navigate on a small screen, but they're also incredibly crippled. For example, Cult Of Mac is one of my favorite sources of Mac news. However, the mobile site is an atrocity. The title bar follows you whole navigating, blocking the article and comment section. Plus, they've recently added an ad section that also follows your view. They've cut down on the usable space, and that's exactly what you shouldn't have on a mobile device. They already get money from a page view on the ad, why does it need to follow the user? As for the title bar, why does it need to follow you, when tapping the bar at the top of an iOS device brings you to the top of a page? Worst of all, you can't actually turn off the mobile version, even if you select the full site.

It doesn't stop with Cult Of Mac, many mobile sites have dumbed down interfaces that are overly simplistic. Gawker sites don't allow users to log in or comment when they're using a mobile device, and not all the comments are visible. Their desktop interface is horrible on computers, and especially bad on a mobile device.

Not all websites do this wrong though. Engadget, for example, allows user to read stories and comment, just as they could when browsing from a computer. Yet they've still designed an interface that works for a smaller screen. The blogger service, which I use here, allows users to view stories and comment. I actually like using it on my iPhone, which is more than I can say about most mobile pages.

With the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets, perhaps website owners will wake up and put a bit more effort into the design of their mobile sites. Right now, most of them are, without a doubt, terrible. Hopefully, this changes soon.

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Samsung announces high-performance mSATA SSDs for ultra-slim notebooks

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: Samsung Electronics Co. has announced volume production of SSDs (solid state drives) that support the Mini-Serial ATA (mSATA) interface. The drives are designed for use in ultra-slim notebooks such as Ultrabook PCs.

“Samsung’s compact mSATA SSDs will provide performance of the highest quality in helping to deliver the advanced ultra-slim PCs that consumers have been wanting,” said Myungho Kim, VP of memory marketing, Device Solutions, Samsung Electronics. “Samsung plans to continue providing timely delivery of advanced SSD solutions, while preserving its leadership position in the SSD market for notebook PCs.”

Combining Samsung’s new high-performance mSATA SSDs with the latest multi-core processors will help PC manufacturers to substantially improve performance of their Ultrabook-class portable PCs up to that of notebook PCs, in meeting ever-increasing consumer needs.

The new Samsung mSATA SSDs will be available in 256, 128 and 64 gigabyte (GB) densities as main storage devices, and also at 32GB for caching. They measure 50.95 x 30 x 3.8 millimeters and weigh a mere 8g.

The new SSDs will be part of the highly popular Samsung PM830 product family that was introduced earlier this year. They make use of Samsung’s advanced 20 nanometer class** NAND flash memory components which incorporate the toggle DDR interface.

Utilizing high-performance SATA 6Gb/s controllers based on Samsung’s own technology, the new mSATA SSDs can operate at the industry’s highest sequential read and write speeds of 500 megabytes per second (MB/s) and of 260MB/s respectively, under optimum conditions. This is, more than six times the speed of hard disk drives typically offering a data transfer rate of 80MB/s. The Samsung SSDs also enable faster system boot-ups (in the 10-second range) and will transmit five DVD files in about a minute.

In addition, the Samsung mSATA SSDs feature an advanced hardware-based security solution including 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) protection, which will prevent unauthorized access to data on a lost or stolen notebook PC.

Beginning this year, the market for Ultrabook-class mobile PCs has been growing rapidly and is expected to expand beyond that of tablet PCs as early as next year due to outstanding performance characteristics, more advanced processors and use of the Windows 8 operating system. According to market research firm IHS iSuppli, the Ultrabook share of global notebook shipments will exceed 40 percent in 2015.

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Elliptic Tech first to market with "chipset" tech compliant with new standard

OTTAWA, CANADA: Elliptic Technologies, a global leader in security IP and content protection solutions has announced the release of its HDCP 2.1 Software Development Kit (SDK). The software suite is the first commercially available solution in the market that complies with the recently released standard HDCP 2.1 or High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection 2.1, a key security technology used to protect premium content.

The digital media market is booming and the demand for robust solutions to protect high-value content continues to increase. Elliptic is at the forefront of the security technology with a comprehensive portfolio of highly integrated DRM and content protection solutions which have been delivered to lead customers worldwide.

The Elliptic HDCP 2.1 SDK is a complete and cost-effective content protection solution for digital audio/video entertainment content in the wireless and wireline home network environment. The solution is targeted at OEMs, network operators, service providers and Over The Top (OTT) content providers. It can be seamlessly integrated into embedded components for use in tablets, media centers, DVDs, Smart HDTVs, Set Top Boxes, Game Consoles, Streaming Controllers and other consumer electronic products.

“We have worked very closely with our leading HDCP customers and other industry partners to ensure that our products are not only compliant with the latest standards, but can also be deployed quickly and effectively in a variety of applications,” said Vijay Dube, president and CEO of Elliptic Technologies. “Our robust and proven content protection solutions are highly regarded in the industry and help cut development costs, time to market and give our customers a competitive advantage in their field.”

The Elliptic HDCP 2.1 SDK is based on the latest specification HDCP IIA Revision 2.1 and it supports all mandatory elements of copy protection (authentication, key exchange, content encryption, system renewability), as well as enhanced locality check features and robustness rules support. The solution runs efficiently in limited resource environments and it can be implemented within frameworks such as ARM TrustZone, where security critical components are embedded and executed in trusted environments and non-critical components are executed by the host OS, such as Android.

HDCP is a preferred security method to meet the desire of consumers to enjoy their high definition movies, videos and entertainment media anywhere, anytime while respecting the desire of media producers to protect their investments in programming production. The specification is endorsed by Sony, Panasonic, Intel and high definition content owners Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment and others.

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Android Phones Track Everything You Do

You thought location tracking was a big deal? Wait until you hear this. Android, Blackberry, and even Nokia phones have software, called Carrier IQ, built into the OS, and on every phone. The developer who discovered it described it as a rootkit. It tracks everything from the numbers you dial, the messages you send or receive, and even the encrypted web searches you do. Even https requests are stored without encryption to your carrier. If you used your phone to do something, that information is available to anyone. The software then takes all this collected data and sends it back to the companies' servers. Imagine that, your carrier has every text message you've ever sent. Suddenly those sexts don't seem like a good idea, huh?

There's no way to remove or opt out of the software. The only thing you could possibly do is root your phone, and install a rom that doesn't have the software. But good luck with that. You'd have to find a stabile rom, one that works on your phone, and one that has specifically removed this software. Not to mention the difficulty of applying a rom. Even experienced Android users occasionally brick their phones trying to find a working rom. Buying a new phone every time something goes wrong is very expensive.

So, if you don't like the idea of sending your carrier everything on your phone, don't get an Android, Blackberry, or Nokia phone. On the other hand, if you're the kind of person who walks around naked, keeping a journal that you share with strangers, and you don't mind sending out all your text messages, phone numbers, web searches, and personal data, then you're probably fine with an Android, Blackberry, or Nokia phone. Big Brother's watching you through your Android, Blackberry, and Nokia phones.
via CultOfMac

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Lenovo jumps to No. 2 PC rank in Q3, challenging HP’s lead

EL SEGUNDO, USA: Riding a strong surge in shipments, China’s Lenovo in the third quarter jumped one rank to become the world’s second-largest PC brand, surpassing Dell Inc.—and mounting the most serious challenge to Hewlett-Packard Co.’s (HP) hegemony that the market has been seen in more than three years.

Lenovo’s global PC shipments in the third quarter rose to 12.5 million units, up 14.5 percent from 10.9 million in the second quarter, according to the IHS iSuppli Compute Platforms Service at information and analysis provider IHS (NYSE: IHS). This strong growth dramatically exceeded the growth of the overall PC market, which expanded by only 5.5 percent during the same period, causing Lenovo’s share of global shipments to rise to 13.9 percent, up from 12.8 percent in the second quarter. Lenovo’s performance also enabled it to rise from the third position to take the No. 2 ranking in the market, surpassing Dell.

With its strong performance, Lenovo managed to close its market share gap with No. 1-ranked HP to just 4.2 percentage points. This represents the closest any company has come to taking the lead position from HP since the second quarter of 2008—more than three years ago—when Dell came within 2.7 percentage points of the perennial market leader.

“Lenovo continues to capitalize on strong demand for PCs in its home market of China,” said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst for compute platforms research for IHS. “While PC sales in the United States, Europe and many other regions are suffering because of weak economic conditions and rising competition from media tablets, desktop and notebook sales remain red hot in China. This is allowing Lenovo to outgrow US rivals—and putting it in position to contend with HP for market leadership.”

Lenovo delivered sequential growth of 12 and 16 percent in its desktop and notebook PC shipments. Beyond its home-field advantage in China, Lenovo’s performance was aided by its venture with NEC and the acquisition of Medion. Lenovo’s rise to second place is all the more impressive considering the company was ranked fourth as recently as the first quarter of 2011.

HP: To PC or not to PC?
HP in the third quarter expanded its shipments by 5.9 percent to 16.3 million units, up from 15.4 million in the second quarter. This was roughly in line with overall industry growth.

Former HP chief executive Léo Apotheker in August said the company likely would spin off its PC division. Observers noted the company may have considered this move because it has faced slowing growth in the overall PC market, combining with dwindling profit margins amid tough competition from Asian rivals.

In October, new company chief Meg Whitman reversed this decision. However, this came after Apotheker’s statement cast major uncertainty on the future of HP’s PC business, causing the company’s stock price to fall and resulting in the loss of some distribution deals in China.

PCs come up short
Global PC shipments increased to 90.4 million units in the third quarter, up from 85.6 million in the second quarter. Shipments rose 2.6 percent compared to 88.1 million one year earlier, short of the IHS iSuppli forecast of 6.8 percent growth.
“While third-quarter PC shipments came in lower than our predictions, the attainment of any growth at all represents a victory for the market,” Wilkins said. “This increase in sales comes at a time of weak consumer sales and a strong challenge from alternative platforms—specifically the media tablets. In this environment, all growth is progress.”

Asian tigers keep charging
Asian-based PC makers, including Lenovo, outperformed their top-tier US-based rivals in the third quarter.

Asustek Computer Inc. of Taiwan delivered the best performance among the Top 5 brands, with 36 percent sequential growth. Acer achieved the third-best results after Lenovo, with shipments increasing by 6.8 percent.

Outside of the Top 5, Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd—ranked seventh and eighth, respectively—also reported very strong year-over growth of 27 percent and 36 percent in the quarter.

Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.

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LDRA tool suite supports QNX Neutrino RTOS and QNX Momentics tool suite

WIRRAL, UK: LDRA, the leading provider of automated software verification, source code analysis, and test tools, has announced that its LDRA tool suite now supports QNX Software System Limited’s QNX Momentics Tool Suite and QNX Neutrino Realtime Operating System (RTOS).

This offers a best-in-class approach fine-tuned for development needs and compliance to industry standards. Increased government scrutiny and new standards have created a compliance burden that challenges time-to-market goals and threatens to explode software development costs. By providing compatibility with QNX technology, LDRA confronts the burden of regulatory compliance and unrealistic schedules, which in turn supports companies’ efforts to build reliable, safety-critical systems without sacrificing development speed or cost.

The LDRA support for the QNX Momentics Tool Suite and QNX Neutrino RTOS brings a boost in quality and performance that can accelerate time to market. The QNX Momentics Tool Suite features application profiler and system profiler tools, which enable developers to visualize performance and operations at the system level across multiple cores, chips, or boards. Using these tools, developers can quickly identify and correct bottlenecks and deadlocks, and better manage resource utilization.

LDRA’s static and dynamic analysis capabilities include specific implementations for regulatory standards. Developers gain application feedback tailored to the specific safety-critical industry standards they must meet. LDRA tool suite users may quickly and efficiently achieve the highest possible certification standards due to this tuned and optimized monitoring of code coverage, identification of untested code, and auto generation of test harnesses.

Following the avionics standard of DO-178B, many industry standards—IEC 62304 for medical, IEC 61508 for industrial safety, and the newly ratified ISO 26262 for automotive—demand focus on requirements traceability as well. LDRA’s superior MC/DC code coverage is ideal for ISO 26262, which requires more strenuous code coverage requirements. As well, the LDRA tool suite traces all application requirements and offers bidirectional graphical insight into the relationships between the requirements, code, and tests, exposing process-level problems that are difficult to find. The improved compatibility enables greater insight and compliance with the targeted industry standard.

The LDRA solution serves as a frontline of defense for medical, industrial safety and automotive markets where industry standards are taking on an increasingly significant role as system complexity increases. In combining the strengths of system-level performance monitoring and requirement traceability within a standard-specific framework and compliance check, the regulatory process is streamlined. With better management of the development process, developers can concentrate on innovation, knowing that the tools support and enforce the software quality fundamental to certification of the product.

“Key trends driving today’s eHealth market—aging populations, rising health care costs and demand for remote access to medical diagnosis and treatment—have caused medical-device manufacturers to create telehealth and telemedical devices,” noted Kroy Zeviar, business alliance manager, QNX Software Systems. “Issues such as portability, wireless connectivity, compelling user experiences, safety, data security, quality, and reliability have become paramount. By working with leading experts such as LDRA to provide compatible technologies, we can help customers deliver solutions that manage system complexity and software compliance.”

“Similar shifts are evident in other industry sectors as well,” confirmed Ian Hennell, LDRA’s operations director. “Entrenched hardware assets are being replaced with software solutions in industrial automation, automotive and medical, and the need for an end-to-end software environment that traces all system requirements to prove proper design, code and test through development to certification has been painfully obvious. For many of these companies, the need to comply with industry standards is new. Our goal in ensuring that our tools work in conjunction with leading software providers such as QNX Software Systems is to enable such companies to streamline their processes in their efforts to deliver reliable, safe and secure embedded systems.”

The LDRA tool suite can verify applications created with the QNX Momentics Tool Suite, not only in the desktop simulated environments, but also on the target device. Using network communication to download the executable to the target, LDRA monitors and analyzes the execution history and unit test data. Comprehensive static and dynamic analysis can be run on the target system with the benefit of full report management from a common platform. Thanks to LDRA Eclipse plug-ins, developers can choose to use either the LDRA GUI interfaces or those of QNX Momentics Tool Suite.

The QNX Momentics Tool Suite is a comprehensive, Eclipse-based integrated development environment with innovative profiling tools for maximum insight into system behavior. Developers gain at-a-glance views of real-time interactions, memory profiles, and shorten their debug times—all factors that can lead to faster time to market. Using this suite, developers can target the QNX Neutrino RTOS, a full-featured, robust OS optimized to meet the constrained requirements of real-time embedded systems.

The LDRA tool suite offers complete lifecycle software testing covering all phases of development from requirements traceability, modelling, coding, analysis and test. Extensive compliance checking for both programming and industry standards, as well as requirements traceability establishes the LDRA tool suite as the most comprehensive, best-in-class software testing environment for mission- and safety-critical software.

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Mu Dynamics allies with Atlassian to intro industry-first continuous performance management solution for app developers

SUNNYVALE, USA: Mu Dynamics Inc., the leader in validating and testing applications and application-aware networks, announced that Blitz has been integrated with the Atlassian development tool, Bamboo, a Continuous Integration (CI) server. Atlassian has made Blitz available on its Plugin exchange, in use today by leading application development organizations.

Integrating Blitz and leveraging its unique, cloud-based application load and performance testing service empowers Bamboo app developers to quickly and affordably identify the performance of their applications in real-time during the entire development and deployment process. This continuous performance management offered by the integration of Blitz and Bamboo guarantees app developers a better user experience for their customers.

Blitz was created to address the unique needs of the rapidly evolving application development market. Only Blitz makes testing a continuous and integrated part of the development and deployment process. By being incorporated into the Atlassian Bamboo CI server, Blitz now enables Bamboo developers to load and performance test their applications as a part of the continuous development and deployment process. Tests can be run the moment changes are checked in, ensuring those changes don't degrade performance. By tracking Application Performance Index (Apdex) scores as part of the build process, developers can also quickly detect and remediate application performance issues in the staging process -- an industry first.

"Blitz gives our app developers something they haven't had before -- true continuous performance management," said Jens Schumacher, Atlassian Bamboo product manager. "Developers can, extraordinarily, for the first time, make changes to applications and obtain continuous feedback on the impact on app performance."

Application Performance Management (APM) has become critical for cloud applications as the continuous integration development model delivers regular updates to both developing and "live" applications. By integrating Blitz into the CI process, developers now have the tools to ensure that changes to their application do not vitiate performance. And Blitz does, fast, through its elegant user interface (UI) and at an affordable price for developers through its Development, Staging, Deployment and Operations functionalities.

"By integrating Blitz into the Atlassian Bamboo CI server, developers can now proactively quantify the performance of their applications throughout the entire development process -- something that is absolutely critical for a high quality end-user experience," said Ajit Sancheti, co-founder, Mu Dynamics. "Blitz succeeds where other solutions fail. Traditional performance testing tools suffer from confusing user interfaces, which make them difficult to use and challenging to incorporate into the Continuous Development process demanded today."

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Oh yeah

Не удержалась)

http://www.taaz.com/makeover/virtual-makeover.html

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Holiday sewing - santa, corsets and rosettes - oh my!

Are you sewing gifts this Holiday Season? Or just sewing because it's that time of year? Don't forget about my Brassy Apple patterns and ePatterns! 

Sew up something for you, your friends, kids, teachers and more! 

Here's 2 scarves from the Brassy Neck Scarf Pattern booklet...

How about the Maddie Bee sewn up Santa Style?!

and my personal favorite - Shaggy Mosaic Jeans!
This guy is sporting a pair of Honky Tonk HO HO jeans for the "home on the range" type boy...

And this cutie is "melting hearts" with her bright and colorful pair! 

and this apron started it all! The Kitschy Corset can be made up so many ways! Really fun for bridal gifts too :)

Make it a handmade Holiday this year! 

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Notebook forecast to grow 8.8 percent in 2012; Ultrabook to play key role

TAIWAN: According to the survey conducted by DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, affected by the economy downturn, the Japan Earthquake and the Thailand Flood, the notebook industry sees a mere 1 percent YoY growth in 2011. However, Ultrabook and the launch of Windows 8 in 2012 are expected to spur an 8.8 percent YoY growth for the notebook industry in 2012.

Regular notebook is expected to grow by over 10 percent and its shipment volume is estimated to increase from 173.4 million in 2011 to 194.6 million in 2012. On the other hand, compromised by the rising popularity of tablet PC, netbook’s shipment volume is expected to fall from 22.4 million in 2011 to 18.6 million in 2012, representing a 17 percent decrease. Netbook’s weak performance placed a dent in the growth momentum of notebooks, and notebook’s YoY shipment growth rate has reached a plateau, declining from 20 percent over the past few years to 5-10 percent.Source: DRAMeXchange, Taiwan.

In light of the uncertain global economic outlook in 2012, PC-OEMs are seeking new opportunities. The Ultrabook concept, proposed by Intel at Computex 2011, was well-received by major brand vendors in hopes that Ultrabook can revive NB market demand. TrendForce believes that whether or not Ultrabook can become a big hit in 2012 is contingent upon its cost and price.Source: DRAMeXchange, Taiwan.

Ultrabook’s exterior design and performance remind people of CULV notebooks. However, Ultrabook adopts the superior ULV processor, which provide better performance and longer battery life, not to mention that Ultrabook’s instant on technology gives it an edge over the traditional NB. The only thing that holds the consumers back is Ultrabook’s costly price. The Ultrabooks’ prices launched in 2011 average over $1,000, much higher than the prices of NB ($550-650) and making it difficult for the Ultrabook to obtain large market share.

For that reason, Intel aims to lower the price of Ultrabook from $1,000 to $699 by 2H12. It is expected to help increase Ultrabook’s market share if Intel’s effort turns out successful. At present, the NB supply chain is striving to lower the cost. In terms of Ultrabook’s key components, CPU and chipset account for 25-30 of the total cost, SSD for 25 percent, LCD for 10-15 percent. Lowering the cost of key components will be the key to a higher market share for Ultrabook in 2012.Source: DRAMeXchange, Taiwan.

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Zebronics intros 2.1 multimedia speakers

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Top Notch Infotronix, India’s leading supplier of products and accessories for Computers, Consumer Electronics and Communication under the brand ‘ZEBRONICS' has launched its latest 2.1 multimedia speaker set, the Zeb-SW4100RUC dubbed the Sound Monster.

The new model features a bass reflex wooden 5-inch ported subwoofer and 4-inch magnetically shielded satellites, adding to Zebronics’s extensive lineup of speakers, one of the widest range in the industry.

The ZEB-SW4100RUC speaker set features front-mounted volume and bass level controls on the subwoofer and a 3.5mm input for any MP3 player or cell phones. With its high-gloss, black-satin finish complementing the smart contemporary styling, Zebronics' latest offering in the consumer electronics segment is a vibrant and smart 2.1 multimedia speaker system. The ZEB-SW4100RUC offers a very friendly user interface coupled with a fully functional remote control for ease of operation. The bass/volume controls adds to the clarity and crispness of the music output.

The most attractive feature perhaps is the SD/USB input facility which enables direct playback of music from memory cards and data storage devices, so users can just plug in a pen-drive or an SD card and enjoy their desired music. That is truly convenient, especially in the present times when users like to carry their favourite audio collection in portable and mobile devices.

The ZEB-SW4100RUC is also a pretty unique well-designed PC multimedia speaker system with easy-to-use connectors, extra input and output ports and a remote control. The build quality is excellent so if you are looking for these features in a 2.1 speaker system, you should definitely give it a consideration.

The trendy design ZEB-SW4100RUC, a fitting addition to the modern bookshelf or table, is now available at an affordable price of Rs 1950/-, including one year warranty.

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Lenovo lines up two new AIOs for SMBs

BANGALORE, INDIA: Lenovo, the world’s 2nd largest PC maker and the market leader in the All-In-One (AIO) desktop segment in India recently launched two powerful AIOs: the ThinkCentre Edge 71z and the ThinkCentre Edge 91z. The new range has been designed specifically keeping in mind the entrepreneurs and small businesses, with sleek designs and spectacular features for performance, productivity and space saving.

Small businesses need to take advantage of PC hardware and software innovations like faster processors, stability and security, that are most likely to make them more competitive. With a good line up of products for the SMB segment, Lenovo is evolving as a preferred partner in this category with both consumers as well as small businesses. Today, it enjoys a leadership position in the AIO segment with market share close to 45 percent.

Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 71z is the company’s latest mainstream all-in-one AIO powered with Intel Core i5 power efficient processors and upto 8GB RAM enabling better stability and speed. The Edge 71z is more eco-friendly than its predecessors enabling greater energy savings along with 20” widescreen display for stunning, high-resolution visuals and standard digital display port for Dual Independent Display.

With the ThinkCentre Edge 91z, small details make a big difference. The AIO brings with it VESA mount (A device used to mount conveniently on a wall) with multiple mounting options and can be fitted anywhere in your workplace. The 21.5” full HD 1080p LED Infinity Screen enables clearer display and the optional 1GB AMD Radeon discrete graphics card provides superior multimedia capabilities. The Edge 91z cuts the clutter and space that a traditional desktop demands, creating a pleasant workspace.

Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 71z and 91z will be available at all Lenovo Exclusive Stores (LES), and are available in the market at an attractive price starting from Rs. 26,400/- + tax and Rs. 43,500/- + tax, respectively.

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Это что-то!

Ну, даже не знаю как это назвать :) Увидела у знакомой такие фото и захотела себе такое же. Поржем вместе :)
Ах, и самое главное - я не являюсь представителем Мери Кэй(я вообще не покупаю там косметику). 
Это я так, на всякий случай.

                   

Санта Барбара?

О ГОСПОДИ!!!!!!!!!!))Гнездо какое-то)

Ы-ы-ы-ы...

Юля,блин)

Все, наиздевалась))) Вывод: короткая  стрижка- не мое.

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IT services market recovers slightly in Q3 of 2011

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Following a disastrous second quarter of 2011, IT services contract signing activity picked up slightly in the third quarter. However, both the number of deals signed and the total contract value (TCV) recorded during the quarter were below the levels tracked in the same period of the previous year, according to Ovum.

In a new report, the independent technology analyst firm states that the total contract value (TCV) of deals announced in the three months to the end of September was $27.3 billion, up 43 per cent on the dismal $19 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2011, but down 9 per cent compared with the third quarter of 2010.

According to data from Ovum’s IT Services Contracts Analytics tool, the number of contracts announced also increased to 416, from 384 in the second quarter of 2011. However, this was down 12 per cent on the number tracked during the third quarter of 2010.

Ed Thomas, Ovum analyst and author of the report, commented: “After another uninspiring quarter, there is the very real possibility that annual TCV for 2011 will be the lowest in eight years. Vendors will now be looking to see if there will be a repeat of last year's dramatic fourth quarter, when a bumper crop of megadeals propelled TCV for the three months to the end of December close to the $50 billion mark.”

After falling to its lowest level since 2000 in the second quarter of the year, private sector TCV increased in the third quarter, although it still fell some way below the total recorded in the same period of 2010. In the three months to the end of September, TCV derived from private sector clients was $9.2 billion, up 31 per cent on the previous quarter of the year, but down 21 per cent on the third quarter of 2010.

Activity in North America picked up after a terrible start to the year, with TCV of $3.1 billion derived from the private sector, higher than the total generated in the first six months of the year. In Europe, private sector TCV came in at just under $3 billion in the third quarter, with more than one-third of the total derived from the UK.

However, the overall lack of significant activity in the private sector over the first nine months of 2011 is the primary reason for the low level of TCV recorded so far this year. The value of deals awarded by businesses worldwide in the first three quarters of the year was just $25.6 billion, down from $36.1 billion in the same period of 2010 and the worst performance since 1999, when TCV of $23.5 billion was recorded in the first three quarters.

“The drop in demand for IT services among enterprises has been most apparent in the US, the world's largest and most mature outsourcing market,” said Thomas. “In the first nine months of the year, just 145 deals involving US businesses have been announced (the lowest return since 2001), and the total value of these deals came to a meagre $4.6 billion. To find a lower TCV in the first nine months of a year, it is necessary to go back more than a decade, to 1997, when deals worth a combined $4.1 billion were announced.”

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OmniVision’s OV6930 high-performance camera supports medicare-accepted disposable medical device

SANTA CLARA, USA: OmniVision Technologies Inc., a leading developer of advanced digital imaging solutions, announced that its ultra-compact, high-performance OV6930 CMOS image sensor performed exceptionally well in a recent 448-patient clinical study on Avantis Medical Systems’ Third Eye Retroscope.

The study, published in the March issue of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, demonstrates that the Third Eye Retroscope can increase the accuracy in diagnosing adenomas, or pre-cancerous polyps, by 23.2 percent when used in conjunction with a traditional colonoscope.

The Third Eye Retroscope is an FDA-cleared, disposable, catheter-based camera for use with a standard colonoscope that provides a continuous backward-looking view while the colonoscope provides the usual forward view. In 2010, Avantis received a Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement code for the Third Eye Retroscope. The companies believe that this recognition by Medicare and Medicaid, combined with the favorable results from this recent clinical study, may significantly accelerate the adoption rate by healthcare providers in the United States.

“The OV6930’s excellent low-light sensitivity and image quality enabled the Third Eye to perform extraordinarily well in the clinical study, drastically improving colonoscopy accuracy,” said Matthew Whitcombe, senior marketing manager, OmniVision. “Moreover, by providing this superior performance in a form factor with an exceedingly small footprint, the OV6930 allows for ultra-compact camera designs, making these medical procedures minimally invasive for the patient.”

“With currently more than 150,000 cases of colorectal cancer reported annually in the US, and more than 400,000 in Europe, it is the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the US and Europe,” said Doug Gielow, VP of sales and marketing at Avantis. “However, using today’s advanced imaging technologies, it can be highly preventable through early detection. Now that this product is Medicare approved, we hope to see greater adoption of this technology by healthcare providers, who can now submit claims for reimbursement. We’re extremely excited to watch the disposable medical imaging market grow as physicians and patients continue to experience the added benefit of our medical imaging solutions.”

The OV6930 is a CMOS image sensor designed specifically for use in medical devices. With a packaged footprint of only 1.8 x 1.8 mm, the OV6930 is an ideal solution for endoscopic applications that require a small profile, including bronchoscopy, colonoscopy, gastroscopy, OB-GYN and urology. It combines ultra-low power consumption with OmniVision’s best-in-class OmniPixel3-HS technology, enabling low-light performance of 3300 mV/lux-sec.

Its 1/10-inch array is capable of operating up to 30 frames per second (FPS) in 400 x 400 HVGA or 60 FPS in 400 x 200 resolution, providing RAW serial output. The low-voltage OV6930 allows cabling up to 14 feet, and is now shipping in volume to multiple medical device customers.

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iPhone Most Popular Smartphone

A recent study done by the Nielsen Company revealed that the iPhone is still the most popular smartphone. However, despite this, there are more smartphones running Android than iOS. This is because Apple is the only distributer of iOS, whereas Android is on a variety of manufacturers and carriers.

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New iOS Hardware Shows Up in iOS 5.1 Beta

Apple released the iOS 5.1 beta to developers just a few days ago. Some developers look to make sure their apps work correctly with the new OS, other dive into it, looking for hints of future Apple hardware. One of the first signs that new Apple hardware is in the works is from these betas. What did they find? New iPhones, iPads, and an Apple TV update.

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The American Internet Censorship Bills

If you want to do something, go here: http://americancensorship.org/.
An info graphic is below, with more updated information.

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Bomgar leverages Intel technology to extend remote support below OS

JACKSON, USA: Bomgar announced it can enable IT support professionals to remotely troubleshoot and resolve issues below the operating system level by using Intel technology. Bomgar users can now access devices powered by Intel Core vPro processors to power up or down and reboot PCs, read and update the BIOS, reimage the drive, and more, all from a remote location. As a result, IT service desks can further reduce onsite visits and decrease end-user downtime, simultaneously increasing technician productivity and customer satisfaction.

Bomgar has worked very closely with Intel to develop a seamless integration between the widely-adopted Intel vPro Technology and the Bomgar enterprise remote support solution, resulting in an unprecedented opportunity for IT service desks. After provisioning its Intel vPro Technology-enabled devices, a support organization simply needs to configure Bomgar to match the settings. Support technicians can then use their centralized Bomgar solution to remotely access and control desktops and laptops at the sub-OS level, even when the devices aren’t turned on.

“Today, when an operating system isn’t functioning or a device crashes, the support technician typically has to do a desk-side visit or ask the end-user to send in the broken machine,” said Troy Harrison, VP of product management at Bomgar. “With the new Intel vPro-enabled Bomgar solution, service desks can handle those types of support tickets remotely; eliminating a lot of travel time and shipping fees, while also decreasing time to resolution. This means lower overall IT support costs and ultimately better end-user support and satisfaction.”

“By adopting PCs based on Intel Core vPro processors across the enterprise, IT organizations can greatly improve user productivity and reduce IT costs due to fewer service calls and faster response times,” said Rick Echevarria, VP and GM Business Client Platforms at Intel.

“When combined with Intel vPro Technology, the Bomgar remote support solution will enable customers to provide leading edge PC support and business process automation capabilities. The close collaboration with Bomgar is making a big impact for business customers, and we look forward to continued engagements that further enhance remote management capabilities for enterprises.”

The Bomgar remote support solution with Intel vPro capabilities will be available in January 2012.

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Pickering Interfaces appoints Scientific Devices as new rep for Australia

CLACTON, UK: Pickering Interfaces, a fast growing worldwide manufacturer of signal
switching modules and instruments announced the appointment of Scientific Devices Pty. Ltd as its representative for Australia.

"We are very excited to be working with such a well known brand like Pickering," says Mark Lotter, National Sales & Marketing Manager for Scientific Devices. "Our customers appreciate the fact that we are always looking for new brands to add to our product portfolio. Our innovative approach to selling combined with our line of varied and latest technology products makes us a considerable resource in Test and Measurement.”

Bob Stasonis, Pickering’s Sales and Marketing Director, added: “Scientific Devices 40 year plus reputation for servicing their customers is second to none in the region. Their market presence, combined with their complimentary product range, assures that our mutual customers have access to the right products for their application. We are very excited to work with Scientific Devices.”

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Pennywise presents

Beckie over at Infarrantly Creative is running a series called Pennywise Presents. Gift ideas, decor and more all under $10.00! 

Today I am sharing an idea, so hop over there to see what it is and search through the others that have been shared!

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Asia Pacific server market continued double digit growth in Q3 of 2011

SINGAPORE: The Asia Pacific server market continued its double digit growth in the third quarter of 2011, with year-on-year shipment growth of 23.9 percent and revenue up 18.5 percent compared to the same quarter last year, according to Gartner Inc.

“Asia Pacific remained the strongest region for server shipment growth during the third quarter of 2011,” said Gartner principle analyst Erica Gadjuli. “Greater China (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan in combined) ruled 69.7 percent of the region’s total market, up 2 points from the same quarter last year.”

Server shipments in other major markets in Asia Pacific experienced double digit growth year on year: 20 percent in Australia, 14 percent in South Korea and 18 percent in Singapore. Meanwhile vendor revenue rose moderately from the same quarter last year with 6 percent growth each in Australia and Singapore and 2 percent in South Korea.

Asia Pacific as a region recorded the fastest year-on-year growth in the x86 server platform during the quarter, up 29 percent in revenue and 25 percent in shipments. Besides the virtualization implementation on x86 servers that forged ahead in this region, demand from internet companies continued to be part of the main driver for server growth, especially in China. Revenue from RISC/Itanium Unix servers increased 11 percent from the same quarter of 2010, fostered by core infrastructure build out predominantly in the financial and telecommunication sectors.

Despite a modest increase of 8 percent in unit shipments, blades saw more rapid growth in revenue (14.5 percent) compared to the same quarter of 2010. For the period, rack optimized servers climbed the fastest with 32 percent in shipment and 22 percent in revenue.

Tables 1 and 2 show the top five vendors in Asia Pacific server market for the quarter. HP remains the leader in shipments with 25 percent of the total market and IBM led by revenue with 42 percent share.

Table 1: Asia Pacific: Server Vendor Revenue Estimates, 3Q11 (Thousands of U.S. Dollars)Source: Gartner, USA.

Lenovo more than doubled its revenue from the same quarter of 2010, as shown in Table 1, driven mainly by its aggressive move in China across all major verticals. Similarly, Dell was second in-line in witnessing a robust year on year growth in the third quarter, owing its success mostly to Internet companies buying its DCS offerings.

Table 2: Asia Pacific: Server Vendor Shipments Estimates, 3Q11 (Units)
Source: Gartner, USA.

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Decreased LCD shipment in October; Raen and HKC have positive outlooks

TAIWAN: According to the shipment report of top ten global LCD monitor brands and SIs in October published by WitsView, TrendForce’s panel research division, October shipment by brands dropped by 5.2 percent compared to September, while October shipment by SIs decreased by 8.8 percent.

The shipments decline by brands and SIs was due to: advanced distribution by downstream vendors in August and September, pull-in strength for October sales decreased affected by the expansion of the Europe debt crisis and weak global economic momentum. Shipments by SIs experienced more pronounced decline compared to brands in October as their production capacity was cut by the long weekend October 1st National Holiday in China.

In terms of the Q4 shipment outlook, a decrease in shipment demand is due to several factors:
a) Orders were made in advance inQ3;
b) The flood in Thailand has indirectly impacted shipments of LCD monitors for PC bundles due to HDD shortage;
c) While panel prices are expected to stabilize in the Q4, there is no momentum to support a rebound as demand grows weak.

Only 19W and 23.6W products will experience tight supply due to panel supply decrease. Since downstream vendors will generally remain conservative in stocking up, WitsView forecasts SIs and brand vendors to experience shipment decline between 1 percent and 5 percent in the Q4.

Panel makers are aggressively nurturing joint venture SI makers such as Raken Technology Ltd (a joint venture by LG Group and Amtram Group) to consolidate downstream outlets and digest huge panel production capacity as feeble global economic environment puts the panel industry in long term oversupply condition.

In such phenomenon, Raken’s contracting scale has grown from 300K units in 2010 to 1 million in 2011, with its shipment number is expected to double next year. Its drastic growth against market trend makes Raken a strong contender among the LCD monitor SIs. China LCD monitor and TV SI, HKC, on the other hand, has been growing quietly but steadily and is expected to pose a total monitor shipment volume of 5.5 million to 6 million this year while its TV production volume is expected to reach 1.5 million to 2 million units. The company is surely not to be underestimated in the future.

1Q11~4Q11 LCD Monitor Top10 SIs and Brands ShipmentsSource: WitsView, Taiwan.

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Social media’s impact on traditional communications

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: The extent to which social media is affecting traditional communication channels has been revealed, with almost half of UK consumers stating that their use of platforms such as Facebook has adversely affected their use of email services, according to Ovum.

In a new report, the independent telecoms analyst unveils the findings of a survey it conducted into the impact of social media on traditional forms of communication among UK consumers.

Forty-five per cent of respondents claimed that social media had caused a decline in their use of email. In addition, 40 per cent said that it had reduced their use of fixed voice services, 34 per cent said it caused them to make fewer mobile phone calls, and 29 per cent said the number of text messages they send had declined.

Mark Giles, Ovum telecoms senior analyst and co-author of the report, commented: “The results of our survey show that social media is negatively impacting all forms of communication provided by telecoms companies.

“The trend is being driven by younger age groups. While it could be argued that younger users will change their habits with age and trend towards the habits of older users who are more reliant on traditional forms of communication, it would be naive to assume this. This is because players such as Facebook are constantly innovating, and are likely to increase their communications capabilities.”

According to the report, while it had initially been thought that social networking would only have an impact on email volumes, its impact is far more wide-ranging. Neha Dharia, Ovum analyst and co-author of the report, commented: “The functional development and increasing availability of social networking platforms on mobile devices is seeing communication via social media eat into more traditional forms of communication such as voice.

“As a result, telco voice and messaging revenues and telcos’ increasingly outdated pricing models are coming under pressure as a new wave of substitution threatens to sweep the telecoms market.”

According to the report, telcos will try to defend themselves against the threat by offering more inclusive minutes and text messages at lower prices. Some operators have sought to charge a levy on over-the-top applications, such as Whatsapp and Skype,that reduce operator revenue and use a significant amount of bandwidth.

Dharia added: “Other operators seem to be utilising a wait and watch approach to social media applications, with some stating that there has been no impact on revenues. However, their stance is likely to change in the future as the battle for voice and messaging heats up.”

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How Apple Uses Location Tracking to Improve Retail

If you preorder an item at an Apple Retail Store from the iOS Apple Store app, you may find employees are already fetching your item as you walk in the store. It might seem creepy at first, but it really cuts down on the time you're waiting to have your preordered item fetched, and it's actually pretty cool.

When you order through the iOS App, it uses iOS 5's new check-in feature to wait until you're at the Apple Store. It then tells the employee assigned to your order that you've arrived, and what you ordered. Within a few minutes of arriving, they may already have your item, without you even needing to ask for it.

Those concerned about privacy don't need to worry. All this does is help employees be prepared to get your products to you faster. But, if you don't like the feature, you can disallow the Apple Store app from using your location. Honestly though, it's a cool feature of the app, and it makes picking up preordered items easier and quicker than ever.
via CultOfMac

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Modified iPhone 4 Spontaneously Combusts

The media is frenzied over the story about an iPhone 4 spontaneously combusting on a plane. Apparently, the phone heated up, and a spot began to glow red on it. It also smoked. It was extinguished immediately.

It's a scary idea, but they continually omit the most probable reason for the phone combusting: it was modified. Leave it to the media to overhype an iPhone related story to get page views.

As you can see from the photo above, the iPhone 4 in question had the rear glass panel replaced by one that had the Steve Jobs Apple Logo. Therefore, it's easy to see the explosion was caused by the owner's tinkering. Either he broke something internally while adding the new case, causing the battery to short, or the new back panel didn't allow heat to dissipate like the Apple case, causing it to overheat and burst. 

It's most likely the first cause, so if you decide to replace the back panel on your iPhone, be very careful while your phone's innards are exposed. You may also want to either order direct iPhone components, or avoid materials that could trap heat, like wood or thick plastics. Metal back panels can interfere with the signal, so glass is probably the best option after-all. It's possible that the material of the back lent to the iPhone overheating, but it's more likely that in replacing the panel, the user touched something he shouldn't have. Let this be a lesson, always be careful when tinkering with your electronics. 

via MacRumors

Update:
After looking at the phone more, I'm not sure it was a modified iPhone. Most tribute backings I could find had "Steve Jobs" written under the Apple logo. So, it's possible this was a normal iPhone 4. We'll have to wait until we get more info to be sure. 

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ADLINK COM Express type 6 module provides Extreme Rugged solution for mobile environments

SAN JOSE, USA: ADLINK Technology Inc., a leading global provider of ruggedized embedded products, announced the release of its latest Ampro by ADLINK Extreme Rugged COM Express module, the Express-HRR for mobile applications running in harsh environments.

The Ampro by ADLINK Express-HRR is a COM Express Type 6 module based on the quad/dual-core 2nd Generation Intel Core i7 processor and Mobile Intel QM67 Express Chipset. Following ADLINK's Rugged By Design methodology, the Express-HRR is ideal for use in environments prone to severe shock, vibration, humidity, and extended temperature ranges.

"The strength of COM Express has always been its flexibility and modularity," said Jeff Munch, CTO of ADLINK Technology and chair of the COM Express COM.0 R2.1 Subcommittee. "We see our digital signage, transportation, and military customers building industry-specific applications powered by our COM Express modules, like the Extreme Rugged Express-HRR. Delivering an effective, standards-based product that supports vendor interoperability gives our customers many more solution options than would a non-standard COM Express design."

The Ampro by ADLINK Express-HRR is a modular, power efficient solution for mobile applications running in space constrained, extreme rugged environments. The Express-HRR is compatible with the COM Express COM.0 Revision 2.0 Type 6 pinout, which is based on the popular Type 2 pinout, but with legacy functions replaced by Digital Display Interfaces (DDI), additional PCI Express lanes, and reserved pins for future technologies. The new Type 6 pinout also supports the SPI Interface, which was unavailable in COM.0 Rev. 1.0.

The Ampro by ADLINK Express-HRR is powered by a quad- or dual-core 2nd Generation Intel Core i7 processor and offers up to 16GB ECC 1333MHz DDR3 memory in two SODIMM sockets; three DDIs for DisplayPort/HDMI/DVI/SDVO; eight PCIe x1 and one PCIe x16 (Gen2) for graphics (or general purpose x8/4/1); as well as two SATA 6 Gb/s, two SATA 3 Gb/s, Gigabit Ethernet, and eight USB 2.0 interfaces. The Express-HRR is validated for reliable performance in extended temperatures ranging from ‑40 degrees C to +85 degrees C and features a 50 percent thicker PCB for high vibration tolerance.

ADLINK Technology's Extreme Rugged modules, boards, and systems are designed for harsh environments from the ground up. Robust test methods, including Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT), ensure optimal product design phases and meet stringent requirements, such as extended temperature range, MIL-STD, shock and vibration, and long-term reliability.

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Suppliers Shipping 4-inch Screens for Apple

A counterfeit iPhone said to look like the next iPhone model

Before the release of the iPhone 4S, there was a lot of hype surrounding the idea of a new design for the iPhone, one that features more screen space on the front of the device. By reducing the amount of space on the front of the phone that isn't the screen, they'd be able to increase the screen size to 4 inches without increasing the size of the device by much.
However, Apple released the iPhone 4S instead of a completely redesigned iPhone. But that doesn't mean the rumor must die.

Now people believe that the iPhone 5 that had been described in leaks was actually the next generation iPhone. To add some truth to that, a source has claimed that Hitachi and Sony have begun shipping 4 inch displays for an iOS device, as well as displays for the new iPad 3.

There are issues with using a larger screen. The resolution would change, meaning developers may have to update the graphics in their apps, as they did when Apple switched to retina displays. Also, if Apple's not careful, they risk falling into the same problems Android phones face.

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Uptown

I've got things to talk about that aren't tree peonies. Funny though, because I have no recollection of what they are. I've been digging in the troves of iphoto and found these from a photo shoot of a fancy interior designer. I wish I could have snapped a photo of the room it went into but it was all hush hush and no pictures please. Big black lacquered square dining tables with walls lined with magenta silk shantung and a crazy massive chandelier situation. I needed a photo name badge to enter into the service ahem servants entrance. Outside the building Gossip Girl was shooting.

There is a small thrill in peaking into lives like that. And an even bigger sense of relief coming home to a chubby cat, a studio littered with spent stems, and a life that doesn't demand once weekly manicures. Things as they are are okay by me.

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Spa

Иногда нужно себя баловать маленькими радостями:-)

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Autonomic signs new contract that will allow cloud enablement of IBM software via ARC-P cloud

CARY, USA: Autonomic Resources, a GSA IaaS Cloud provider has recently executed the necessary contractual agreements with IBM to allow for SaaS enablement of IBM’s software assets. Utilizing Autonomic’s ARC-P cloud as the delivery method, government agencies will soon be able to utilize IBM technologies in utility based, elastic compute offerings.

Autonomic has initially decided to focus on several of the Tivoli software assets including: Tivoli Endpoint Manager (TEM formerly BigFix), Tivoli Identity Manager (TIM), Tivoli Access Manager (TAM), and Federated Identity Manager (FIM). Also included in the ARC-Platform will be products from the Tivoli Maximo family.

Autonomic worked diligently with IBM to leverage its GSA IaaS ARC-P cloud to allow government customers access to technologies in an as-service model. The combination of shifting budgetary targets, conditional funding streams, and cloud first / future first policy initiatives has driven the need for utility based compute. One of the key benefits identified in cloud computing is that government won't have to overhaul its software and hardware every few years, removing political, budgetary and integration headaches.

“The traditional reseller model is under-going significant change; the ability to simply turn paper orders over is quickly losing value in the channel. IBM has indicated it is looking for channel partners that can deliver more for the customer. The ability to SaaS enable IBM assets is a key differentiator that Autonomic brought to the table.” stated John Keese, president of Autonomic Resources. “We understand the security requirements, hold the correct contracts, and have the proper cloud platform to deliver this for IBM and their customers. We are quicker and more nimble, and it is why we are first to our market with these offerings.”

Autonomic plans to SaaS enable a number of the products and will not be limited to IBM products only. Additional offerings include a number of Commercial Open Source stacks as well as Microsoft Exchange and Autonomy E-Discovery. Autonomic will be applying the same government security processing it has under gone for its IaaS platform to its SaaS choices.

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Aurrion wins $13.9 million contract to advance electronic-photonic integration

GOLETA, USA: Aurrion Inc., a world leader in silicon photonics, announced that is has been awarded a $13.9 million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) multi-year R&D contract through the Electronic-Photonic Heterogeneous Integration (E-PHI) program.

Working in collaboration with the University of California at Santa Barbara, the California Institute of Technology, the University of Virginia, the University of Washington and Rockwell Collins, Inc., Aurrion will develop new technologies and architectures for electronic-photonic integrated circuits on a common silicon substrate.

Dr. Greg Fish, Aurrion’s VP of Research and the Principal Investigator, explained that the components developed in this program will not only meet the performance of native substrate devices but exceed them, leading to a dramatic enhancement in systems.

“E-PHI is enabling key More-than-Moore technologies. The key innovation is leveraging both CMOS and MEMS silicon processes to produce 3D heterogeneous electronic/photonic silicon circuits that use diverse materials for photonic components yet are still processed and interconnected at wafer scale,” Dr. Fish said.

Using established foundry infrastructure, the technologies developed in this program are expected to dramatically improve both the performance and cost of complex photonic systems in multiple markets such as optical sensors, next generation transceivers and high performance computing.

“By combining the best photonic materials for the required functions closely integrated with electronics, we will demonstrate 3D chip scale systems that can achieve optical bench performance on a single silicon substrate,” Dr. Fish said.

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Buttress Email Issues via PCCare247’s Expert Microsoft Support

Often PC users end up calling online tech support providers for some of the most trivial issues affecting their email accounts. A category wherein a whopping majority is affected by Microsoft’s Outlook Express, searching around for popular ways and tools to organize mails in meaningful and easy ways. Likewise, in the endeavor searching hard to optimize their Outlook Express and seeking good riddance from all issues on hand.

So, in case if you also belong to the same group go ahead and read on and get knowledge about all such tools which can shrink your inbox and make it easier for you to find the required information.

PCCare247’s Quintette to Optimize Outlook Express

Before scrambling to call up Microsoft Support, PCCare247 has earmarked a few easy techniques to get your Outlook Express in fighting shape. Starting with:

• Organizing messages swiftly

Outlook Express boasts of a utility through which PC users can organize messages by date and arrange them according to the conversation.

For turning on the conversations go on to the View tab and from the Conversations group select the Show as Conversations check box. Once done, reduce the size of a conversation with Clean Up feature, deleting duplicate messages in the Conversation.

On the Home tab, in the Delete group, click Clean Up, and then click Clean Up Conversation.

• Accumulating Similar Messages

Organization of folders allows users to group messages related to each other. In this case, one is at a liberty to group messages on the basis of topics, projects, contacts or other categories making sense.

To create a new folder in Outlook 2010, on the Folder tab, in the New group, click New Folder. For creation of a new folder in Outlook 2007 or in Outlook 2003 go on to the File menu, point to New and then click Folder.

• Creating Search Folders to find messages quickly

Search Folders are a convenient way of searching around for predefined collections of email messages. Instead of storing messages they are virtual folders offering a view of all messages stored in a mailbox; depending on attributes defined.

To create a Search Folder in Outlook 2010, in Mail, on the Folder tab, in the New group, click New Search Folder. For creating Search Folder in Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2003, go to Mail select File menu, point to New, and then click Search Folder.

• Utilizing mailbox rules for routing mails

Creation of rules for Outlook means automatically performing actions on both incoming and outgoing messages based on an established criterion. For instance, messages can be automatically forwarded to a manager sent by a certain person as soon as they arrive. The category sales can be assigned to all messages by including the word "sales" in the Subject line. Routing mail efficiently not only organizes the mailbox—but also frees up time for performing other tasks.

• Junk filters for reduction of unwanted mail

Distracting and unwanted messages can be kept out of the Inbox by using Outlook Junk Email filters. Filters used for sending email can be sent to a separate mail folder in the Mailbox. Once done the contents of the folder can be reviewed to ensure no legitimate messages are sent in order to avoid any subsequent flagging.

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