OROCOS Project  

Posted by J Thosuly in

What is Orocos?

Orocos” is the acronym of the Open Robot Control Software project. The project's aim is to develop a general-purpose, free software, and modular framework for robot and machine control. The Orocos project supports 4 C++ libraries: the Real-Time Toolkit, the Kinematics and Dynamics Library, the Bayesian Filtering Library and the Orocos Component Library.

Orocos Libraries
  • The Orocos Real-Time Toolkit (RTT) is not an application in itself, but it provides the infrastructure and the functionalities to build robotics applications in C++. The emphasis is on real-time, on-line interactive and component based applications.

  • The Orocos Components Library (OCL) provides some ready to use control components. Both Component management and Components for control and hardware access are available.

  • The Orocos Kinematics and Dynamics Library (KDL) is a C++ library which allows to calculate kinematic chains in real-time.

  • The Orocos Bayesian Filtering Library (BFL) provides an application independent framework for inference in Dynamic Bayesian Networks, i.e., recursive information processing and estimation algorithms based on Bayes' rule, such as (Extended) Kalman Filters, Particle Filters (Sequential Monte methods), etc.

Orocos is a free software project, hence its code and documentation are released under Free Software licenses.

Target audience

Robotics or machine control in general is a very broad field, and many roboticists are pursuing quite different goals, dealing with different levels of complexity, real-time control constraints, application areas, user interaction, etc. So, because the robotics community is not homogeneous, Orocos targets four different categories of “Users” (or, in the first place, “Developers”):
  1. Framework Builders.

    These developers do not work on any specific application, but they provide the infrastructure code to support applications. This level of supporting code is most often neglected in robot software projects, because in the (rather limited) scope of each individual project, putting a lot of effort in a generic support platform is often considered to be “overkill”, or even not taken into consideration at all. However, because of the large scope of the Orocos project, the supporting code (the “Framework”) gets a lot of attention. The hope is, of course, that this work will pay of by facilitating the developments for the other “Builders”. The RTT, KDL and BFL are created by Framework builders

  2. Component Builders.

    Components provide a “service” within an application. Using the infrastructure of the framework, a Component Builder describes the interface of a service and provides one or more implementations. For example a Kinematics Component may be designed as such that it can “serve” different kinematic architectures. Other examples are Components to hardware devices, Components for diagnostics, safety or simulation. The OCL is created by Component Builders.

  3. Application Builders.

    These developers use the Orocos' Framework and Components, and integrate them into one particular application. That means that they create a specific, application-dependent architecture: Components are connected and configured as such that they form an application.

  4. End Users.

    These people use the products of the Application Builders to program and run their particular tasks.

End Users do not directly belong to the target audience of the Orocos project, because Orocos concentrates on the common framework, independent of any application architecture. Serving the needs of the End Users is left to (commercial and non-commercial) Application Builders.

Source : Click here

Breastfeeding  

Posted by J Thosuly in

The Latch

Any good lactation consultant will tell you: Latching is everything. Here's how to do it:

  • Position the baby on her side so she is directly facing you, with her belly touching yours. Next, prop up the baby with a pillow, if necessary, and hold her up to your breast; don't lean over toward her.
  • Place your thumb and fingers around your areola.
  • Tilt your baby's head back slightly and tickle her lips with your nipple until she opens her mouth wide.
  • Help her "scoop" the breast into her mouth by placing her lower jaw on first, well below the nipple.
  • Tilt her head forward, placing her upper jaw deeply on the breast. Make sure she takes the entire nipple and at least 1 1/2 inches of the areola in her mouth.

The Holds

1. Cradle
Position your baby on your forearm, her head in the crook of your arm. Support her bottom with your other hand. Pull her in close to you, belly to belly, with her ear, shoulder and hip in a straight line.

2. Football
While useful for all women, this position is particularly helpful for mothers who have had a Cesarean section. Place your baby on a pillow, tucked close to your side. Rest your arm on the pillow to bring your baby's mouth up to your breast; support her head with your hand.

3. Side-Lying
This position is also helpful if you had a C-section or want to rest while nursing your baby. Lie on the side you will be breastfeeding on. Place your head on a pillow and draw your baby in close to you, using your arm to support her bottom. Use your other hand to bring your breast up to baby's mouth.

BREASTFEEDING

Best for baby
Reduces incidence of allergies
Economical - no waste
Antibodies - greater immunity to infections
Stool inoffensive - never constipated
Temperature always correct and constant
Fresh milk - never goes sour in the breast
Emotionally bonding
Easy once established
Digested easily within two to three hours
Immediately available
Nutritionally balanced
Gastroenteritis greatly reduced

Solar Eclipses  

Posted by J Thosuly in

One consequence of the Moon's orbit about the Earth is that the Moon can shadow the Sun's light as viewed from the Earth, or the Moon can pass through the shadow cast by the Earth. The former is called a solar eclipse and the later is called a lunar eclipse. The small tilt of the Moon's orbit with respect to the plane of the ecliptic and the small eccentricity of the lunar orbit make such eclipses much less common than they would be otherwise, but partial or total eclipses are actually rather frequent.

Frequency of Eclipses

For example there will be 18 solar eclipses from 1996-2020 for which the eclipse will be total on some part of the Earth's surface. The common perception that eclipses are infrequent is because the observation of a total eclipse from a given point on the surface of the Earth is not a common occurrence. For example, it will be two decades before the next total solar eclipse visible in North America occurs.

Geometry of Solar Eclipses

The shadow cast by the Moon can be divided by geometry into the completely shadowed umbra and the partially shadowed penumbra.

Types of Solar Eclipses

Three general classes of solar eclipses (as observed from any particular point on the Earth) to be defined:
  1. Total Solar Eclipses occur when the umbra of the Moon's shadow touches a region on the surface of the Earth.
  2. Partial Solar Eclipses occur when the penumbra of the Moon's shadow passes over a region on the Earth's surface.
  3. Annular Solar Eclipses occur when a region on the Earth's surface is in line with the umbra, but the distances are such that the tip of the umbra does not reach the Earth's surface.
In a total eclipse the surface of the Sun is completely blocked by the Moon, in a partial eclipse it is only partially blocked, and in an annular eclipse the eclipse is partial, but such that the apparent diameter of the Moon can be seen completely against the (larger) apparent diameter of the Sun.

A given solar eclipse may be all three of the above for different observers. For example, in the path of totality (the track of the umbra on the Earth's surface) the eclipse will be total, in a band on either side of the path of totality the shadow cast by the penumbra leads to a partial eclipse, and in some eclipses the path of totality extends into a path associated with an annular eclipse because for that part of the path the umbra does not reach the Earth's surface.

Total Solar Eclipses

A total solar eclipse requires the umbra of the Moon's shadow to touch the surface of the Earth. Because of the relative sizes of the Moon and Sun and their relative distances from Earth, the path of totality is usually very narrow (hundreds of kilometers across).

Animations of Solar Eclipses

Here are three animations that illustrate observations in a solar eclipse. The first demonstrates generally the case of a total solar eclipse; the next two are simulated views of two recent solar eclipses from unusual vantage points, one from the Moon and one from the Sun (these last two were constructed using the program Starry Night).
In these last two simulations, the shadow cast on the Earth is the penumbra, which can cover a region thousands of kilometers in diameter. If the eclipse is total, the path of totality traced out by the umbra is much narrower.

Appearance of a Total Solar Eclipse

If you are in the path of totality the eclipse begins with a partial phase in which the Moon gradually covers more and more of the Sun. This typically lasts for about an hour until the Moon completely covers the Sun and the total eclipse begins. The duration of totality can be as short as a few seconds, or as long as about 8 minutes, depending on the details.
As totality approaches the sky becomes dark and a twilight that can only be described as eerie begins to descend. Just before totality waves of shadow rushing rapidly from horizon to horizon may be visible. In the final instants before totality light shining through valleys in the Moon's surface gives the impression of beads on the periphery of the Moon (a phenomenon called Bailey's Beads). The last flash of light from the surface of the Sun as it disappears from view behind the Moon gives the appearance of a diamond ring and is called, appropriately, the diamond ring effect (image at right).
As totality begins , the solar corona (extended outer atmosphere of the Sun) blazes into view. The corona is a million times fainter than the surface of the Sun; thus only when the eclipse is total can it be seen; if even a tiny fraction of the solar surface is still visible it drowns out the light of the corona. At this point the sky is sufficiently dark that planets and brighter stars are visible, and if the Sun is active one can typically see solar prominences and flares around the limb of the Moon, even without a telescope (see image at left).

The period of totality ends when the motion of the Moon begins to uncover the surface of the Sun, and the eclipse proceeds through partial phases for approximately an hour until the Sun is once again completely uncovered. Here is a movie of the 1994 total solar eclipse (3.1 MB MPEG; Source; here is a QuickTime version, but note that it is 15 MB in length).

A partial solar eclipse is interesting; a total solar eclipse is awe-inspiring in the literal meaning of the phrase. If you have an opportunity to observe a total solar eclipse, don't miss it! It is an experience that you will never forget.

Photoshop Tutorials  

Posted by J Thosuly in

You are looking at very useful Graphics Tips articles!

· Adobe Photoshop Tip: The Frank Miller Sin City Effect

· Adobe Photoshop Tip: Photoshop Facial

· Photoshop Quick Tip #10: Force Free Transform Handles into frame

· Photoshop Not-so-Quick Tip #9: Photoshop's Extract filter

· Photoshop Quick Tip #8: On-target Cloning

· Adobe Photoshop Elements Tip: Comic Art Effect

· Adobe Photoshop Tip: Comic Art Effect -- Photoshop Action

· Adobe Photoshop Tip: Simple Transparent Desktop effect ...without cheating

· Adobe Photoshop Tip: Attack of the iPod People

· Photoshop Quick Tip #7: Adding a Style to Photoshop's Styles Palette

· Photoshop Quick Tip #6: How to use Transform to Scale to Specific Percentages.

· Photoshop Quick Tip #5: How to lock the transparency of a layer.

· Photoshop Quick Tip #4: How to change ruler units.

· Photoshop Quick Tip #3: Create a new document the size of another

· Photoshop Quick Tip #2: Action and Shape Sharing

· Photoshop Quick Tip #1: Use Threshold to find an image's darkest and lightest areas

· Adobe Photoshop Tip: Comic Art Effect

· Adobe Photoshop Tip: The Lord of the Rings Tutorial: The Extended Director's Cut

· Adobe Photoshop Tip: The Lord of the Rings Tutorial

· Adobe Photoshop Tip: Matrix Code Retooled

· Adobe Photoshop Tip: Simple Matrix Code

Rootkit Revealer  

Posted by J Thosuly in

RootkitRevealer is an advanced rootkit detection utility. It runs on Windows NT 4 and higher and its output lists Registry and file system API discrepancies that may indicate the presence of a user-mode or kernel-mode rootkit. RootkitRevealer successfully detects many persistent rootkits including AFX, Vanquish and HackerDefender (note: RootkitRevealer is not intended to detect rootkits like Fu that don't attempt to hide their files or registry keys). The reason that there is no longer a command-line version is that malware authors have started targetting RootkitRevealer's scan by using its executable name. RootkitRevealer execute its scan from a randomly named copy of itself that runs as a Windows service. This type of execution is not conducive to a command-line interface. Note that you can use command-line options to execute an automatic scan with results logged to a file, which is the equivalent of the command-line version's behavior. Since persistent rootkits work by changing API results so that a system view using APIs differs from the actual view in storage, RootkitRevealer compares the results of a system scan at the highest level with that at the lowest level. The highest level is the Windows API and the lowest level is the raw contents of a file system volume or Registry hive (a hive file is the Registry's on-disk storage format). Thus, rootkits, whether user mode or kernel mode, that manipulate the Windows API or native API to remove their presence from a directory listing, for example, will be seen by RootkitRevealer as a discrepancy between the information returned by the Windows API and that seen in the raw scan of a FAT or NTFS volume's file system structures.

Browser User Agents  

Posted by J Thosuly in

So by now you are probably wondering, why bother trying to identify browsers? Not only would it be poor design to incorporate browser sniffing into a site, but it would also be unreliable since many browsers allow the user to set their own agent string. Well, if you are curious about questions like market share, and trends in the Internet community, examination of agent strings is still the only practical way to get a meaningful and sizeable snapshot of which browsers are being used on the web.

And I should add that people who set their agent string to "None of your business" or some rude four-letter words, are not being counted. In other words if you prefer to use Galeon and you would like the rest of the world (including statisticians, economists, lesgislators, spin-doctors, advocates etc) to know that there are a few Galeon users in the world, the best way to have a say, and in effect vote for Galeon would be to use the standard agent string that shipped with the Galeon distribution. The logic behind this simple analysis was based on the small sample of agent strings that I had collected and the few browsers that I was using (various versions of lynx, Links, Netscape, Mozilla, MSIE and Konqueror).

I based the original logic on strings like the following:

Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 4.0)
Mozilla/4.78 [en] (Win98; U)

The logic for this was very simple:

If the first word is 'Mozilla/4.0' If the second word is '(compatible;' use the third word as the browser type Else Treat it as Mozilla/4.0. Else Carry out remaining checks.

This is based on the observation that MSIE always claims to be Mozilla/4.0. There was a flaw in this logic however. It turned out that there were many agent strings like:

Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.0; Windows NT 4.0) Opera 6.04  [en]

On the face of it this would seem to be Opera 6.04 pretending to be MSIE 5.0 pretending to be Netscape pretending to be Mozilla/4.0.

This means that an agent string such as the one above is no longer counted as MSIE. The new browser and robot detection logic has been placed in a seperate script called agent_id. This contains two perl subroutines, which_browser() and which_robot(). If you feed an agent string to these routines they should return the name of the browser or the robot.

In order to test the script you could save the agent_id to /MyPath/agent_id, and use a script like the following:

#!/usr/bin/perl

require "/MyPath/agent_id";

while(<>){

$agent = which_browser($_);

print "$agent\t$_\n";

}
You can now feed the browser agent strings to this script and it should print the results as browser and full agent string (separated by a tab).

Some Blogger Clues  

Posted by J Thosuly in

Have stucks in blogging around ?, try links below, hopefully you'll find something useful ;)

Google - BLogger Buzz

Google - Blogger DMCA Violation Reporting

Google - Blogger In Draft

Google - Blogger Help

Google - Blogger Known Issues

Google - Blogger Spam Blogs Reporting

Google - Blogger Status

Google - Blogger TOS

Google - Blogger WishList

Google - Recently Updated Blogs <--- have some scripting ideas for this ?? ;) Google - What Blogger Accounts Do I Have?

Blogger Forum

..happy blogging :)

"Transactional"  

Posted by J Thosuly in

Parent, Adult and Child

We each have internal models of parents, children and also adults, and we play these roles with one another in our relationships. We even do it with ourselves, in our internal conversations.

Parent

There are two forms of Parent we can play.

The Nurturing Parent is caring and concerned and often may appear as a mother-figure (though men can play it too). They seek to keep the Child safe and offer unconditional love, calming them when they are troubled.

The Controlling (or Critical) Parent, on the other hand, tries to make the Child do as the parent wants them to do, perhaps transferring values or beliefs or helping the Child to understand and live in society. They may also have negative intent, using the Child as a whipping-boy or worse.

Adult

the Adult in us is the 'grown up' rational person who talks reasonably and assertively, neither trying to control nor reacting. The Adult is comfortable with themselves and is, for many of us, our 'ideal self'.

Child

There are three types of Child we can play.

The Natural Child is largely un-self-aware and is characterized by the non-speech noises they make (yahoo, etc.). They like playing and are open and vulnerable.

The cutely-named Little Professor is the curious and exploring Child who is always trying out new stuff (often much to their Controlling Parent's annoyance). Together with the Natural Child they make up the Free Child.

The Adaptive Child reacts to the world around them, either changing themselves to fit in or rebelling against the forces they feel.

Communications (transactions)

When two people communicate, each exchange is a transaction. Many of our problems come from transactions which are unsuccessful.

Parents naturally speak to Children, as this is their role as a parent. They can talk with other Parents and Adults, although the subject still may be about the children.

The Nurturing Parent naturally talks to the Natural Child and the Controlling Parent to the Adaptive Child. In fact these parts of our personality are evoked by the opposite. Thus if I act as an Adaptive Child, I will most likely evoke the Controlling Parent in the other person.

We also play many games between these positions, and there are rituals from greetings to whole conversations (such as the weather) where we take different positions for different events. These are often 'pre-recorded' as scripts we just play out. They give us a sense of control and identity and reassure us that all is still well in the world. Other games can be negative and destructive and we play them more out of sense of habit and addiction than constructive pleasure.

Conflict

Complementary transactions occur when both people are at the same level. Thus Parent talking to Parent, etc. Here, both are often thinking in the same way and communication is easy. Problems usually occur in Crossed transactions, where the other person is at a different level.

The parent is either nurturing or controlling, and often speaks to the child, who is either adaptive or ‘natural’ in their response. When both people talk as a Parent to the other’s Child, their wires get crossed and conflict results.

The ideal line of communication is the mature and rational Adult-Adult relationship.

So what?

Being a Controlling Parent can get the other person into a Child state where they may conform with your demands. There is also a risk that they will be an Adaptive 'naughty child' and rebel. They may also take opposing Parent or Adult states.

Be a Nurturing Parent or a talk at the same level as the other person to create trust.

Watch out for crossed wires. This is where conflict arises. When it happens, first go to the state that the other person is in to talk at the same level.

For rational conversation, move yourself and the other person to the Adult level.

Meditation Benefits to Cancer Studied  

Posted by J Thosuly in

Melatonin has been shown by a number of studies to significantly inhibit breast cancer in animals and tissue cultures. Preliminary studies in two new independent research programmes suggest a link between meditative practice and increased melatonin as measured by the major metabolite (six-sulphatoxy-melatonin) in the urine.


In the first study of its kind, Ann Massion and others at the University of Massachusetts Medical Centre recorded the difference between melatonin levels of eight experienced meditators and a control group of eight non-meditators. They found a higher level of melatonin in meditators than in non-meditators.

Neuroscientist Ranjie Singh at Saybrook Institute, Western Ontario Research Park, used a similar technique in a study of 12 healthy meditators and another three with cancer. He sought to learn if a combination of mantra intonations, visualization, specialised breathing and deep meditation could stimulate the pineal gland, as measured by melatonin. When differences in urinary levels on a single day were compared before and after practice of the combined techniques, all subjects showed increases in melatonin, varying between seven and 1,000 per cent.

Based on these results, Singh suggested that endogenous stimulation of the pineal should be ultimately healthier and more effective than ingestion of melatonin tablets, which only temporarily increases melatonin. He is now measuring tumour size changes in cancer patients who are using the technique daily. The team at the University of Massachusetts has launched a long-term study of the effect of meditation on women with early stage breast cancer.

Italian physician Paolo Lissoni has achieved intriguing results in administering 40-milligram daily doses of melatonin to cancer patients with advanced tumours and life expectancies of less than six months. His work was described by William Regelson in the June 1996 issue of Let's Live.

Automatic Tank Gauge System  

Posted by J Thosuly in

Routine applications for storage systems include:
  • Complete storage tank inventory weight measurement within a fractional percent
  • Complete level monitoring for inventory history and measurement scheduling
  • Level controls that activate a high/low alarm and stop or start machinery
  • Level controls that monitor flow/no flow conditions
  • Dry Bulk - Aggregates, minerals, cement, lime, sand, foods, plastics, chemicals, wood waste and "dry other" materials
  • Liquids - Potable water, wastewater, fire protection, chemicals oils & slurries
Level Controls (LC) provides a wide range of direct digital connectivity options for direct connection to PLC and PC digital interfaces. This digital connection is in addition to traditional methods of analog outputs and relays to exchange data for use by a control and monitoring system. Digital interfaces offer greater data resolution, simpler wiring, as well as more data than the traditional analog data exchange methods. The digital interfaces are available as on-board signal processor options for inprocess industries where speed and dedicated devices are essential. For bulk inventory systems, the built-in serial data exchange of LC signal processors provides local information displays and the ability to consolidate the digital data for lower installed costs.

All of the interfaces are LC designed and developed to provide optimal data exchange of operational and setup parameters rather than relying on third party interface add-on cards. This assures a better understanding of the bus interface requirements in which LC can help customers select the best interface for their data exchanges. Desired data arrives as requested without internal system delays or multiple data strings. Different data can be requested from the signal processor without having to reconfigure the signal processor in the field. Analog and digital interfaces are modular and available for single and multi-point indicators/controllers giving you the ability to connect LC signal processors directly to your Allen-Bradley Remote I/O Network, Modbus or Siemens Profibus. Weight/level information is input in digital form, eliminating the need for special software with the flexibility of communicating with a variety of factory busses. Wiring costs are significantly decreased. Indicators and controls are offered with different communications options. Consult factory.

Flexible interconnectivity to a wide range of digital busses offers accurate and efficient transfer of system data and operating parameters.

Digital interfaces offer greater data resolution, simpler wiring, as well as more data than the traditional analog data exchange methods. Communication options available include Allen-Bradley Remote I/O, DeviceNet, KM Serial, Modbus RTU, Profibus-DP, and serial.

Features:
  • High Resolution - Avoids multiple conversion errors from analog to digital and back.
  • Simplified Installation - Documented interfaces. Multi-drop from same cable.
  • Flexibility - Use the appropriate interface and system grouping for optimal system performance and to minimize installed costs.
  • Easier System Validation - No need to check multiple current loop interfaces and scale factors. Digital data arrives in pre-assigned data registers exactly as calculated from the signal processor.

Interface specifications at a glance:

  • Allen-Bradley I/O (AB RIO) SVS 2000, Weigh II, MVS, ultra-wave
  • ControlNet System 2020
  • DeviceNet SVS 2000, System 2020
  • Ethernet System 2020
  • InterBus System 2020
  • ModBus Plus System 2020
  • ModBus RTU MVS
  • Profibus ultra-wave, System 2
Source : Click here

Your Pregnancy: Week 34  

Posted by J Thosuly in

Your Baby

By the end of this week, your baby may weigh as much as four pounds and measure 16 inches. As the uterine and abdominal walls stretch and thin, more light reaches the womb, causing her to open and close her eyes in response. It also helps her know day from night so she can cycle between activity and rest.

Your Body

Think you are seeing a lot of your doctor now? In two weeks you will be asked to start coming in each week until you deliver. Your doc will keep an eye on your blood pressure to make sure it's not abnormally high, which may affect the placenta's ability to deliver blood and nutrients to the fetus. Also, your pelvic area may feel numb with tingling brought on by pressure from the growing baby.

Do's and Don'ts

Do pack your hospital bag with some reminders of home. Consider taking a long T-shirt to wear during labor (instead of the standard-issue hospital gown), a headband or ponytail holder to keep your hair off your face, and extra pillows to make you more comfortable after delivery.

Health

In upcoming weeks, you will be screened for the Group B streptococcus (GBS) virus. If passed on to the baby, GBS can cause meningitis, pneumonia, or worse. Experts say one in four pregnant women is a carrier, but there's good news: GBS is easily treatable, requiring only that you be given antibiotics during delivery.

Mom to Mom

I wish I'd known that..."Not all labor is dramatic. The early signs were so subtle that I wasn't sure I was in labor." --Nancy Sciolina, Ione, CA

Shopping

Your shoes may feel tight on your feet since you're retaining water, so it's time to indulge in one of pregnancy's best perks: shoe shopping! Look for a pair that doesn't rub and is roomy enough to provide a finger's breadth between its tip and your big toe. Choose shoes with thick soles for stability, and straps or laces that you can loosen as your feet expand.

Exercise

Try this simple exercise to gear up for labor: Sit cross-legged on the floor or in a chair. Line your shoulders up with your hips and place one hand on your belly and the other hand on your back, just above your waist. Take a deep breath, expanding the belly as you inhale (a "belly breath"). Exhale while contracting your abs to pull your belly button in. Squeeze and hold, then release (but don't go all the way back to the expanded position). Repeat. Each squeeze-and-release counts as one contraction, so aim to do 25, five times a day.

Relationships

Share your worries about becoming a mom with your partner. This way, he'll know that you don't have all the answers and that you need his help to figure out your new role.

Siblings

Baby showers traditionally take place in the last four to six weeks of pregnancy. Bring your firstborn to your baby shower and have her sit in a special place next to you. She can participate in the games, regale the crowd with her songs and stories, and perform a fun and important big-sister task: unwrapping presents. So she doesn't feel left out, prepare a goody bag filled with little presents and treats for her to take home.

Twins

Start thinking about where you want to set up a nursing station. Breastfeeding two babies can take a long time, and you deserve a convenient area in your home to do it in. It should have enough space for everything you need, like a comfortable chair, food, beverages (nursing moms drink tons of water!), a telephone, and a remote control if a TV is within viewing distance.

Harvesting Herbs  

Posted by J Thosuly in

Herbs are at their peak of flavor when they've just been harvested. Midmorning, just after the sun has dried the leaves but before it's too hot, is the best time of day to harvest. You can cut back as much as 3/4 of the plant without harming it. If the leaves are dirty, rinse them quickly in cold water and dry them with paper towels.

The best time of year to harvest is before the flowers bloom. You can prolong the optimum harvest time by pruning off the flower buds as they form, but even the most attentive bud-nipper will find that the harvest season will eventually come to an end, and it's time to think about preserving some of your crop.

Freezing is the best ways to preserve herbs. An easy way to freeze herbs is to place them in ice cube trays, cover with water, and freeze. Once they are frozen solid, place your herbal ice cubes in a plastic bag.

Freezing or preserving in olive oil are the best ways to preserve herbs, but many gardeners prefer drying because it is easy and doesn't require any special storage. Here's a tip to keep the dust and bugs out of your herbs while they are drying:

Hang your bundles of herbs in a cool airy place, and place a paper bag over them. Make sure your herbs are tied in bundles small enough that they don't touch the sides of the bag when they are covered, and tie the end of the bag closed. Check back in about three weeks. When the herbs are dry they will crumble easily into jars for storage.

Free EMF to SVG File Convert Tool (Convert EMF To SVG)  

Posted by J Thosuly in


The best free EMF to SVG Converter int the world! EMF to Vector Converter does convert EMF to SVG format.


Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)
SVG is the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) scalable vector graphics format (SVG). Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is an XML markup language for describing two-dimensional vector graphics, both static and animated, and either declarative or scripted. Images can contain hyperlinks using outbound simple XLinks. It is an open standard created by the World Wide Web Consortium.You can open svg with Micrsoft Visio, Inscape, CoreDraw, etc.

Windows Metafile (File extension: .wmf, .emf)
Windows Metafile (WMF) is a graphics file format on Microsoft Windows systems, originally designed in the early 1990s and not commonly used after the rise of the World Wide Web and the widely used graphics formats such as GIF and JPEG. It is a vector graphics format which also allows the inclusion of raster graphics. Essentially, a WMF file stores a list of function calls that have to be issued to the Windows graphics layer GDI in order to restore the image. Since some GDI functions accept pointers to callback functions for error handling, a WMF file may include executable code. It is somewhat similar in purpose and design to the PostScript format used in the Unix world.

WMF file is a 16-bit format introduced in Windows 3.0; a newer 32-bit version with additional commands is called Enhanced Metafile (EMF). EMF is also used as a graphics language for printer drivers.

EMF to SVG Converter (EMFConverter) converts enhanced metafiles (EMF) and Windows metafiles (WMF) to SVG etc.

It has the following features:

1. 100% free tool, you can use it freely, without any limits.

2. It supports converting a file folder of emf or wmf files to svg files.

3. Converting with mutlple threads.

4. Automatic remember the settings.

5. Showing the progress of converting.

6. Showing all the file lists that converted.

7. If you need the vc++ source codes, please contact here.

... ...

Download

Mini Home Use Mobile Phone Signal Repeaters / Boosters / Amplifiers  

Posted by J Thosuly in

NEW LAUNCHED mini mobile phone repeater (wireless signal booster amplifiers) are able to buy. Featured by easy installation and portable size, mini mobile repeaters are suitable for residential use.

The mini signal boosters provide inexpensive solution for enhance mobile phone signals. They are mainly used for signal blind zone caused by complicated landform, obstacles, indoor signal shield and so on. It provides interior wireless coverage by amplifying and rebroadcasting the exterior cell phone signals.

Tayx Ltd's out-standing RF engineering brings you strong output power mini repeaters able to serve 8 to 25 meters radius, excellent for cover a meeting room, hotel room, classroom etc.

The mini repeater series are featured by universal design. Full range repeater products applicable for boosting worldwide mobile phone signals. Including GSM900MHz, GSM1800MHz(DCS), CDMA800MHz(GSM850), CDMA1900MHz(PCS), and new 3rd generation (3G) frequencies.

The even more admirable dual band mini repeater range could provide comfortable wireless cell phone signal boosting solution for two mobile phone bands in the meantime.

The coverage of each mini repeater system is depends on outdoor signals:
Outdoor signal 3~4 bars (-85db), repeater could serve 1-2 meters radius(15 square meters)
Outdoor signal full bars (-75db), repeater can boost 8 meters radius(200 square meters)
outdoor signal double full bars (-50db), repeater cover 25 meters radius(2000 sqm)

One set of mini repeater including all necessary equipments, consist repeater machine, outdoor antenna, 30meters 50-3ohm cable, indoor antenna and power adaptor.

The installation of mini repeate is very easy. Connect outdoor and indoor antenna into antenna socket and plug into power adaptor is okay. The signal indicator will turn on if have got enough signals from outdoor antenna.

For areas which have very weak mobile phone signals, you need to install professional mobile phone repeaters along with high gain outdoor antennas. The high power of professional repeaters ensures you to cover bigger areas or for several rooms. The professional repeaters including GSM Repeater, CDMA Booster and 3G Amplifier.

Ginseng - a herb to reduce stress?  

Posted by J Thosuly in

Many health benefits have been claimed for ginseng, but, as with many other traditional remedies, little has been proven. As ginseng is a plant that is freely able to grow by anyone, there is little incentive for drug companies to invest in large-scale trials, which means that most of the studies we have are the efforts of enthusiastic amateurs and perhaps-biased Chinese researchers.

The primary health benefit claimed for ginseng is that it reduces stress without otherwise harming the body - something like alcohol, only without the side effects. The few studies that have been done have shown a few other benefits: it was proven to slightly reduce the risk of flu in old people, for example. The most controversial claim (again, one that is made for many traditional medicines) is that ginseng helps to fight cancer - but while this has been shown to be true in animals, it does not seem to have any effect in humans.

Red ginseng has a few extra health benefits: it even further reduces the risk of cancer in some animals, and has also been proven to be an effective treatment for impotence, although nowhere near as effective as real impotence medicines such as Viagra. Similarly, wild ginseng has the same effects as normal, domestic ginseng, but is a lot more powerful. Many of the problems with studying ginseng come from the sheer number of different types on the market and different places they are grown, as every variety seems to produce slightly different effects.

Studies from China make somewhat vaguer claims for ginseng, including one government-funded study that concluded that ginseng increases quality of life. It seems likely that this is more of an attempt to promote Chinese agriculture than anything, however.

In the end, the only real proven benefit for ginseng is that it reduces stress, and, indeed, this is the reason most people take it. As a stress treatment, ginseng can be very good, but dont expect the world from it.

Planet X / Nibiru - What is the difference?  

Posted by J Thosuly in


After the discovery of the Planet Pluto in 1930 CE, astronomers soon noted that earlier theories regarding the hypothetical influences of such a planet on the orbits of Planets Uranus and Neptune were not validated by the existence of only Pluto. So eventually in the 1970s after computers were becoming commonplace, a computer-generated model of this "Planet X", as it was called, was created. It was determined that Planet X would have to be at least five times bigger than the Planet Earth. They also calculated the length and shape of its orbit around the Sun as well as the number of years necessary to complete such an orbit.

The term "Nibiru" comes from the Sumerian cuneiform stone tablets and writings that are 6,000 years old. The term Nibiru means "Planet of the crossing". The Sumerian culture is the first recorded civilization on earth, then called Sumerian, today's Iraq. It has been known throughout ensuing time periods as Sumer, Mesopotamia, and Babylon, all the same location for where earth's first culture shows up on earth. The Sumerian Culture is the oldest known civilization we know of based on the artifacts and monuments that still remain.

Stories throughout the english version of the bible, today's modern version, speak of many events that changed the coarse of humanity in our past. If we look at the stories in the bible as historical accounts of what actually took place, then we need to research the origins of these stories. The hebrew version of the bible, known as the Old Testament, which is a much older version than the english translation, is derived from the stories of the Sumerian Culture. When we trace the origins of the Old testament we can see that it is also based on previous translations from subsequent older languages throughout history.

The Sumerian culture, the first civilization to invent writing as a complete written language, recorded stories that have been preserved through the modern day biblical passages found in the Old and New testament. All of which speak of a time when man lived among their living gods here on earth. The Sumerians had 7 sacred tablets that explained our creation. These stories preserved in stone, are now told to us in the form of the english version, "7 days of creation".

They also had a story of a great flood, and how one of the Gods choose to give a certain Sumerian man knowledge on how to build a boat that could withstand the great flood. All the stories in the bible are just translated versions of the original Sumerian Texts that we still have today preserved in stone, unchanged.

The Sumerians tell us that their Gods, taught them all the amazing knowledge that the Sumerian Culture possessed, 6,000 years ago. They called their Gods, "anunnaki" which is translated to mean "those who from heaven to earth came"..

They have left us artifacts and stone tablet pictures that say the anunnaki came from another planet within our own solar system. They call this planet "Nibiru" which is where the anunnaki come from, according to the Sumerian translations. The Sumerians say that the anunnaki live on Nibiru, which has a 3,600 year orbit around our sun. All the other information they state including the color of the outer planets, and even the distance between the planets, has been proven to be accurate. We sent space probes out in the 70's that took the first pictures in color, which confirmed the Sumerian descriptions.

The Sumerians were the first to invent over 100 of the first's for a modern culture. All academic references to the origins of writing, math, science, medicine, astronomy, lead to the Sumerian Culture and their amazing artifacts. We still use their math, medicine, science, time, music, astronomy, and many other fields, even to this day.

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