Archive for May, 2008
With the technology available to us today we are no longer tethered to our homes and offices when we have the need to access our email or the Internet. With portable computers, hand held devices, and aircards we now have the ability to work or play from virtually anywhere in the world.
What Is An Aircard
An aircard is, simply put, a device that connects to your laptop via your USB or PCMCIA slot. The device becomes a wireless modem for your laptop, allowing you to have the same type of Internet access you would at home or in the office when plugged into your network or phone line. Mobile carriers that use SIM card technology will give you the ability to switch between using your SIM card in your aircard or in your cell phone, so long as you have the data plan enabled on it.
Where Can An Aircard Be Purchased
An aircard can be easily purchased from your mobile carrier for use on their network. Aircards purchased from your carrier will be locked to their network; this means that you can only use your aircard on their particular network. This can restrict you a bit when traveling, especially internationally, because you are tied to your “home” mobile network. You have the ability, additionally, to purchase an aircard directly from a retailer that specializes in mobile products. These aircards will be unlocked and can be used on any wireless network.
Locked vs. Unlocked
The main difference between buying locked or unlocked aircard will often be price. Mobile carriers can offer aircards that are locked to their network at heavily discounted prices. However, you will often need to be tied into a minimum of a one year contract with your carrier. Additionally, if you switch to another mobile carrier you will need to purchase a new aircard to ensure that you have one that works on your new network. Purchasing an unlocked aircard will, initially, be a more expensive investment but consider the benefits. You will not be locked into a length contract with your mobile carrier, giving you the freedom to switch between carriers; this can be especially useful if you are a frequent international traveler since it’s often more cost effective to use a local cellular provider when traveling in foreign countries. Depending on your mobile provider, you can often ask them to provide you with an unlock code for your aircard device; a quick phone call to explain your travel needs should take care of this with them.
Cost
Depending on if you opt for an aircard from your provider or an unlocked card from another retailer, your aircard can be purchased for under $300. Many providers will often provide the aircard to you for free if you agree to sign a two year contract with them. The biggest expense that you will need to keep an eye out for is going to be the cost of the data plan. If you plan on using your aircard frequently then it will be worth it to you to sign up for the unlimited data plan offered by your carrier. Choosing a plan with a low data allowance can get you into trouble with high bills at the end of your billing cycle if you happen to go over your limit. An unlimited data plan can often be found for about $49 a month.
Choosing An Aircard
Before making your decision to purchase an aircard consider talking to your mobile carrier to find out what they can offer you in terms of type of aircard and rate plans. It may be as simple as changing your plan to include unlimited data, many carriers will then offer the aircard to you at no additional cost. If you are considering going the route of purchasing your aircard from another retailer be sure to do your research on the products you are considering.
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If you are a fan of Steely Dan, you’ll understand that one aspect of Walter Becker’s music is that he’s always been a perfectionist. In much the same way that a top author ensures there are no extraneous words; with Becker, no notes are ever wasted.
It has now been 14 years since Walter Becker - one half of Steely Dan - last offered us a solo studio recording - 11 Tracks of Whack.
It was back in 1994 that 11 Tracks of Whack, Becker’s debut solo outing, was released. It proved that the songwriter and musician had more to offer than he could through the medium of Steely Dan. And that is despite the idiosyncratic nature of the band’s music.
“When I write a song, it matters very much whether it’s intended for me,” Walter explains. “If it is, I can do what I want, within my own frame of reference. I take full responsibility.”
Yet, despite this, the 12 tracks that comprise Circus Money were a collaborative endeavor. During the three years of the album’s creation, he was working with Larry Klein, who produced and co-wrote all but one track.
“Writing songs with Walter Becker,” says Klein, “is like playing tennis with John McEnroe. It keeps you on your game.”
Also on top form were the musicians assembled for the recording sessions. Drummer Keith Carlock and guitarist Jon Herington, have both toured widely with Steely Dan, while keyboardists Ted Baker and Jim Beard were newcomers.
Walter is responsible for all the lead vocals as well as playing bass. “The bass gave me a more powerful position to define the direction I wanted the music to take…I became something of an expert on various sub genres (of Jamaican music), such as songs about motorcycles and/or featuring motorcycle sound effects; songs about the barbers versus the dreads, and songs about various judicial procedures.
It has been noted that the Jamaican influence started on 11 Tracks of Whack. Becker explains, “I had started listening to that (Jamaican music) way back in those days and at one point Donald (Fagen) and I actually experimented with the idea of doing an album with reggae-type beats on it in the Eighties…It’s always fascinated me the way they use the same elements of rhythm and blues playing, but they turn them around in a way and yet they still get a great feel on it, you know? And as a rhythm section guy, those rhythm sections are sort of the ultimate — the tightness of it, the complexity of the feels.”
John McLaughlin Discography:
11 Tracks of Whack – 1994
Circus Money – 2008
Circus Money Track Listing:
Door Number Two
Downtown Canon
Bob Is Not Your Uncle Anymore
Upside Looking Down
Paging Audrey
Circus Money
Selfish Gene
Do You Remember The Name
Somebody’s Saturday Night
Darkling Down
God’s Eye View
Three Picture Deal
Artists performing on the album:
Walter Becker - Bass guitar
Keith Carlock - Drums
Jon Herington - Guitar
Jim Beard - Keyboards
Ted Baker - Keyboards
Marek Norvid has been in the music business since he was the entertainment officer at Newcastle University back in the 80s. In the late 80’s he set up RPM Music which is one of the few independent records stores still in existence in the UK. You can visit cdxpress.co.uk to check out the latest classic rock releases.
:: What is structured cabling?
Modern computer LAN (local area network) wiring has the concept of structured cabling.
With today’s high speed networks, people realize that the networking system must be broken up into shorter chunks that allow workstation wiring to be concentrated, with each cable length short enough to support the high data rate.
Based on aforementioned reasons, structured wiring standard has been developed to help define a computer wiring system that stays within the maximum wiring distance for various LAN topologies. For example, the horizontal cable wiring length is 100 meters for 100BaseT networks.
:: What do we do to observe the 100 meters wiring standard?
In order to achieve the wiring concentration standard, telecommunication rooms (wiring centers) are placed at planned locations in a building. These telecom rooms are then interconnected to provide the total network connectivity for the building.
This can be explained in a three stories building. At one same corner of each floor, a telecom rooms is constructed; these telecom rooms are then connected by backbone wiring (cables run vertically through the floors and link all telecom rooms together).
On each floor, a telecom room concentrates all workstation cables for that floor. Each workstation has a wall mounted jack. The network cable is terminated at that jack and runs directly to the telecom room. The cable may run in wire trays or conduit, or be draped over supports such as a drop ceiling. For larger floors, more than one telecom room may be needed.
:: Horizontal Cabling
The horizontal wires, which run from workstations on the same floor to the telecom room, are then terminated on punchdown termination, or directly onto a patch panel. The punchdown terminations or patch panels could be rack mounted (19” or 23” racks), cabinet mounted or wall mounted.
In the telecom room, network equipment such as a hub or switch is connected to each station cable, which electrically terminates the cable run. The hub or switch then passes the computer signal on to other work stations or servers, or even to other telecom rooms for ultimate connectivity with the entire network.
:: Vertical Cabling (Backbone Cabling)
Telecom rooms on each floor are then connected together by backbone cabling (also called vertical cabling for floor to floor connections). These backbone cablings typically are done from floor to floor to floor.
Usually telecom rooms should be located directly above one another in order to minimize the cable runs length, but this also varies from building to building.
With the emerge of Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet, fiber optic cable is the most appropriate choice for backbone cabling since they provide much higher bandwidth than traditional Cat5, Cat6 or even Cat7 twisted pair copper cables. Another advantage of fiber is that fibers can run much longer distance than copper cable, which makes them especially attractive for backbone cabling.
:: The difference between backbone cabling and horizontal cabling
Since backbone cabling typically passes through from floor to floor, the cables used for backbone cabling have very different requirement than the horizontal cablings.
1. Fire ratings. Backbone cables must have standard imposed fire rating specifications. Typically this is OFNR (Optical Fiber Non-Conductive Riser) rated. If the backbone cable passes through plenum area (spaces in the building used for air return in air conditioning), the cable must be OFNP (Optical Fiber Non-conductive Plenum) rated.
2. Physical securing. Physical securing for vertical riser cables is also different than horizontal cables. So is the cable strength, since vertical riser cables need to have enough strength to support its own weight.
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:: Choices of connectors
Over the years, a large variety of fiber optic connectors have been designed for most fiber optic installations. Lightwave equipment manufacturers have never standardized on any one connector type, they actually provide a selection of connectors for their equipment interface.
It is very important to choose the fiber connector type for your applications. You should maintain a connector standard throughout a fiber optic project.
:: The components of a fiber connector
For most fiber optic connectors, the major components are ferrule, connector body, connector cap and strain-relief boot.
Ferrule
The ferrule is the center part of the connector. It contains the optical fiber in a center hole. Ferrule can be made from ceramic (Zirconia), stainless steel or composite material.
Ceramic ferrule is the most popular material since it has stable temperature characteristics. The most common ceramic is Zirconia which is a white hard ceramic material. Ceramic ferrule is used for both single mode and multimode connectors. It offers the lowest insertion loss and the best repeatability.
Connector Body
Fiber optic connector body can be steel or plastic. The body design differs from connector to connector. The connector body provides the mechanism to hold the ferrule and other parts together. It also provides the locking mechanism for connector mating. The most common locking mechanisms are push-pull, snap-in, thread on and twist-on.
Connector Cap
Connector cap often has the same material as the body: either steel or plastic. The cap can be screw on, twist lock or snap-on for connector mating.
Strain-relief Boot
Strain-relief boot is the part connecting the connector body and the fiber cable. It is often made from rubber. Although it looks minimal, it is actually one of the most critical parts in a connector. It provides strain relief on the optical fiber to prevent micro-bending, breakage and provides mechanical support for fiber and connector handling.
:: Legacy Fiber Connector Types
The following list shows the legacy connector types that have been deployed in numerous fiber optic networks for many years.
ST Connector
ST connector was once the most popular fiber connector. It was well-liked for both single mode and multimode fiber connections. The average insertion loss for a ST connector is about 0.5dB.
ST connector has a twist-on locking mechanism which is not susceptible to loosening in vibrating environment. It is most often used in LAN networks.
FC Connector
FC connector is popular for single mode applications. It has the lowest insertion loss and the best repeatability. It has a thread-on locking mechanism.
SMA connector
SMA connector is a pretty old connector type which is mostly used for multimode applications. Today it is still being using on medical equipment.
There are two types of SMA connectors on the market: SMA 905 and SMA 906. The only difference between them is that SMA 906 has a straight ferrule while SMA 905 has a step-down ferrule.
D4 Connector
The NEC D4 was probably the first connector to use ceramic or hybrid ceramic/stainless steel ferrules. It uses a smaller ferrule than SCs or FCs. It was widely used in telco networks in the 80s to early 90s and some may still be in use.
FDDI connector
Besides the SC Duplex, you may occasionally see the FDDI duplex connectors which mate to their specific networks. They are generally used to connect to the equipment from a wall outlet, but the rest of the network will have ST or SC connectors. Since they both use 2.5 mm ferrules, they can be mated to SC or ST connectors with adapters.
Biconic Connector
Biconic connector’s yellow body indicating a SM version - mutlimode versions were usually black. Biconic connector was developed by a team led by Jack Cook at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, NJ.
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As the number of people that have cell phones is rapidly growing, so is the number of people that are becoming addicted to their phones. When these phones were invented, they were intended to make life easier. Today there are some people that do not have a life because they do not know when to turn them off.
You probably know a person who is a cell phone addict. It could be the person who leaves his phone on in the hospital even if it is against the rules because he is afraid he will miss a call. Or the phone user who sends text messages all day from work when he should be doing his job. These same people will have an anxiety attack if they forgot their phones at home and cannot enjoy what they are doing until that phone is back in their hand.
Unfortunately, cell phone addiction may become more widespread as greater numbers of children are using cell phones. One study showed that Japanese children didn’t make friends with peers who didn’t have the phones. Another showed that three quarters of Hungarian children owned cell phones. A study in Italy showed that one quarter of the adolescents had multiple cell phones while in Great Britain 36% of college students surveyed admitted that they could not live without their cell phones. An unexpected result form the British study was that 7% of the students stated that they had lost a job or a relationship over their cell phone use.
There are questions as to whether cell phone addictions are actual addictions, such as an addiction to drugs would be. There are some similarities. Cell phone addicts use their phone to make them feel better. These users even seem to increase their phone use over time to get the same feeling that they had when they first began using them. There are also some anxiety issues when the user does not have his phone available. With regular addictions, there are usually some changes to the brain, from alcohol addiction to food addiction. There may have to be a study done on the brain of a cell phone addict for this trend to be considered an actual addiction.
Until then, you may have to look for the signs yourself if you are worried about a loved one being a cell phone addict. Again, the signs of an addict are someone that can not stay off his cell phone for any length of time. The person may become irritated if someone does not answer his voicemail or text message quick enough. He refuses to turn his phone off, even in areas where cell phone usage is restricted. If he has forgotten his phone at home, he can think of nothing else until he can get home to get it.
If this sounds like one of your children, there is something that you can do. If you have a premium cell phone plan, you can drop it back to the basics and limit the amount of time the child can spend on the phone. The youngster may not like it but will become adjusted to less cell phone usage as time goes by.
Cell phones do make life easier, but you should not lose sight of the fact that there is a life without them.
You just got a new cell phone or you want to personalize your current cell phone visit this article on cell phone accessories.
Cell phone rates are as varied as the companies that provide service. To compare rates, you first need to decide what features you want in your plan ranging from how many minutes you want per month to free text messaging. You should also take into consideration the area in which you live, as some service providers may not be able to connect with your region.
Alltell is one of the most popular service providers and is available in most areas. The company now offers the My Circle program which allows you free unlimited calls to any network anywhere. One rate for an individual plan was $49.99 which included 750 anytime minutes with a $.40 rate for additional minutes. There were unlimited night and weekend minutes and mobile-to-mobile minutes. My Circle with this plan included five people.
For a comparable plan from Sprint, this company offered 700 anytime minutes at a rate of $69.99 a month. This plan included unlimited nationwide direct connect and unlimited nighttime and weekend minutes as well as mobile-to-mobile. Additional minutes had a charge of $.45 per minute..
T-mobile, another popular wireless provider, had a rate of $49.99 for 600 minutes. They offered unlimited nighttime and weekend minutes as well as unlimited mobile-to- mobile. The company offered MyFaves unlimited minutes. Myfaves is similar to My Circle and includes unlimited calls to five people. Additional minutes were only charged $.20 per minute.
Verizon only offered 450 minutes in their individual plan at a rate of $39.99. This plan included free nighttime and weekend minutes but mobile-to-mobile calls were charged at a pay-as-you go rate. The company also charges you for text messaging. The rate for additional minutes was $.45.
For a 900 minute individual plan, Alltell charges $59.99 and increases MyCircle to include 10 people. All the rest of the anytime minutes and rates remain the same. Sprint offers 900 minutes at a rate of $69.99 while T-mobile offers 1000 minute plan at $59.99 while the rest of the both of their plans remains the same. Verizon offers a 900 minutes plan at $99.99 and their rate for additional minutes decreases to $.40 per minute.
The highest rated plan that Alltell offers is 6000 anytime minutes at a rate of $199.99 per month. The number of people in MyCircle increases to twenty and the rate for additional minutes drops to $.20 per minute.
Sprint offers a plan for 4000 anytime minutes at $199.99 per month. The only difference in the rest of this plan from the less expensive one is that the rate for additional minutes falls to $.40 per minute.
T-Mobile offers a 5000 anytime minute plan at a rate of $139.99 per month. The rest of the plan remained the same as the less expensive plans.
Verizon offers an Unlimited plan for $139.99 a month. This plan allows you unlimited calling anytime anywhere, which eliminates all charges for additional minutes. This plan also offers all other services such as text messaging for free.
By comparing the above rates, it seems that for regular individual service Alltell may be the wireless provider that you may want to choose, while for the maximum amount of minutes for a reasonable price, you may want to go with Verizon. In the long run, the choice is yours.
You just got a new cell phone or you want to personalize your current cell phone visit this article on cell phone accessories.