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Mixed results for green IT goals

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Fri, 3 Jul 2009 05:46:00 -0700

The Greening ICT Strategy requires 40% recycling by 2010

A majority of public sector employees do not know about environmentally friendly IT targets set out in government's Greening ICT Strategy.

The strategy calls for government IT to be carbon neutral by 2012, with office carbon emissions down 11.5% by 2011.

One of the commissioners of the report says there are scattered trends toward compliance with the strategy.

However, a survey of IT managers in the public sector showed 60% did not know there were any targets to aim for.

The report, titled "The Path to Green Government", was produced by environmental charity Global Action Plan and commissioned by networking giant Cisco.

It is estimated that information and communication technology (ICT) accounts for one-fifth of the Government's carbon emissions. The Greening ICT Strategy was intended to put the government in a leadership role in the sustainable use of ICT.

A large proportion of carbon emissions can be blamed on the manufacture of new equipment, so a principal focus of the initiative is to make the best use of existing equipment.

However, there is more to the plan once procurement is slimmed down, according to Cisco's head of public sector Neil Crockett.

"There is another, much bigger debate about how ICT can enable other things to happen, like building management, travel reduction, flexible working," he said.

'Pockets of excellence'

The Global Action Plan study was conducted by direct surveys of ICT managers in the public sector - local and national government, education, healthcare and so on - as well as a questionnaire in the magazine Computer Weekly.

Some 60% of respondents said that they were unaware of the Greening ICT Strategy, and among those who were aware, nearly one-third said that they had made no changes to their own ICT usage and procurement, and had no plans to make any such changes.

The problem, according to Global Action Plan director Trewin Restorick, is poor collaboration and knowledge sharing across the sector.
"What we saw was pockets of excellence, areas where the public sector is making both cash savings and carbon savings through smarter use of ICT," he told BBC News.

"But what we discovered was that those pockets of activity tended not to be part of a wider strategy within the public sector. They were very much piecemeal initiatives, which suggests they were being driven by keen individuals."

One straightforward route to knowledge sharing is that between IT managers and those who pay for the energy that the equipment consumes; more than two-thirds of respondents said that they were neither responsible for paying for the energy, nor did they see the bill.

Less than half had calculated their department's "carbon footprint".

"For an ICT manager, if they're not paying the energy bills - which are both volatile and going up - they have no interest in knowing what the long term impact of the product is," he said. "So you get managers buying stuff without thinking about utilising the assets they've got."

While the longer term goal to ameliorate the effects of climate change are a driving force for compliancy, in 2010 the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs' Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme will come into effect.

Under the scheme, each large private sector business and public sector organisation will tally up its carbon emissions, with a price tag of 12 pounds per tonne of emissions. Organisation will be placed into league tables; depending on where they fit, they will or will not get the money back.

The concern is that public sector money can, if the sector performs badly, be siphoned off into the private sector - a loss both in monetary and in ideological terms.

"'Health service money goes to Tesco's' is not a great headline," said Mr Restorick.

Groundswell

Catalina McGregor, government deputy champion of the Cabinet Office's CIO/CTO Council Green ICT Delivery Group, said a report from her office due for release in late August will comprehensively detail how each department is doing in unprecedented detail, from intelligence departments all the way to museums.

While its results are mixed, she told BBC News that signs of progress were widespread and that Mr Restorick's assessment may be a bit wide of the mark.

Lots of firms spend money to keep their servers cool

"I'm a little gun-shy to say that folk aren't working well together, because they are," she said. "It's very rare that something central is taken up by local [offices] to this extent on a voluntary basis. It's true that there are no 'big sticks', no incentives, no budgets; but there is a groundswell of support for the green ICT programme."

Rebecca Willis, vice chair of the government's green watchdog the Sustainable Development Commission, pointed out that despite commitments from government, signs of overall change were still lacking.

"The Greening ICT Strategy is an encouraging step towards making government IT more sustainable," she told BBC News.

"However, government electricity usage is continuing to rise, and it is likely that one of the big reasons for this is the proliferation of computers, laptops, chargers, lobby televisions and the air conditioning of server rooms. It's clear that ambition levels need to be raised."

Israel's Nuclear Weapons Program

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:42:00 -0800

Israel is believed to possess the largest and most sophisticated arsenal outside of the five declared nuclear powers. Israel has never admitted possessing nuclear weapons, but abundant information is available showing that the capability exists.

A short essay on the history of Israel's nuclear weapons program
April 1997 revelations about Israeli-South African nuclear collaboration
The center of Israel's weapons program is the Negev Nuclear Research Center near the desert town of Dimona (the center is usually identified simply as "Dimona"). A nuclear reactor and plutonium production facility was built by France at this facility in the late 1950s and early 60s. All of the production and fabrication of special nuclear materials (plutonium, lithium-6 deuteride, and enriched and unenriched uranium) occurs at Dimona although the design and assembly of nuclear weapons occurs elsewhere.

October 1997 news stories about workers health and safety at Dimona

This is an image of the Dimona facility taken by a US Corona spy satellite in 1971 (Mission 1115-2, 29 September 1971, Frame: 52, 53). It is physically impossible to take a similar image within the atmosphere as Israel jealously protects the airspace above Dimona. In the 1960s an Israeli Airforce Mirage was shot down when it accidentally ventured too close to Dimona.

A closeup of the same Corona frames.

Side-by-side comparison of a Corona image and the much lower resolution SPOT commercial imaging satellite. The SPOT image lables the Dimona nuclear reactor dome and Machon 2 which houses the plutonium separation plant.

Satellite images courtesy John Pike at the Federation of American Scientists, see the FAS Intelligence Resource Program page. The SPOT Image was acquired and exploited by Peter Zimmerman

The Dimona Reactor Dome (courtesy Mordechai Vanunu) (34 K)

Mordechai Vanunu (17 K)
The most specific and detailed information to be made public about its nuclear program came from a former mid-level nuclear technician named Mordechai Vanunu. Vanunu had worked at the Machon 2 facility, where plutonium is produced and bomb components fabricated, for 9 years before his increasing involvement in left wing pro-Palestinian politics led to his dismissal in 1986. Due to lax internal security, prior to his departure he managed to take about 60 photographs covering nearly every part of Machon 2.

Mordechai Vanunu (35 K)
After travelling around the world for several months in Bohemian style, he converted to Christianity in Australia. The religious group he associated with has an activist anti-nuclear bent and he soon decided to make public his knowledge of Israel's nuclear weapons capability. He made contact with the London Sunday Times which flew him to London and began preparing an exclusive news story. Unfortunately for Vanunu, the Israeli government had found out about his activities and the Mossad arranged to kidnap him and bring him back to Israel for trial.

Mordechai Vanunu revealing details of his capture (39 K)
For an even bigger image (57 K) click here.
He was successfully lured into a trap by a female Israeli agent named Cheryl Bentov operating under the name of "Cindy". His sudden disappearance before the publication of the Sunday Times story was mysterious at the time. The story was finally published several days later on 5 October 1986. A few motnhs later Vanunu's status as a prisoner of the Israeli government was confirmed when it was revealed that he would stand trial. Despite being essentially incommunicado, Vanunu managed to reveal details of his capture in dramatic fashion when he wrote the information on the palm of his hand, and held it up for news photographers as he was being whisked away from the courthouse.
As described by Vanunu, the Dimona complex has nine buildings ("Machons", Hebrew for "facility") including to the reactor building. The plant employs 2700 people.

Control room of the Machon 2 plutonium separation plant (courtesy Mordechai Vanunu) (31 K)

*Machon 1 is the reactor building with its 60 foot silver dome.
*Machon 2 is where Vanunu worked, along 150 other people. From outside, *Machon 2 is a nondescript two story windowless building 80 feet wide and 200 feet long. The above-ground structure houses an air filtration plant, some offices, storage space, and a worker's canteen. Also in the structure is the entrance to limited access elevators that transport people to the six underground levels, extending eightly feet below the surface. This hidden area houses an automated Purex plutonium separation plant, plutonium fabrication and reclamation shops, and fabrication shops for bomb components made out of lithium deuteride and beryllium. The separation plant is housed in a production hall (called "The Tunnel" that occupies the first four levels. Level 5 is the fabrication area for plutonium, lithium deuteride, and beryllium. The Tunnel normally operates one 34 week long "production campaign" each year, being closed for servicing and refurbishment the rest of the year.
*Machon 3 is a chemical plant that produces lithium-6 deuteride and also processes natural uranium and fabricates reactor fuel rods.
*Machon 4 is a waste treatment plant for the radioactive effluent from the plutonium extraction process in Machon 2 . This plant presumably converts the waste products for convenient disposal, and may also separate the uranium for reuse.
*Machon 5 coats the uranium fuel rodes with aluminum.
*Machon 6 is the physical plant for Dimona, providing power and other services.
*Machon 8 (there is no Machon 7) contains a laboratory for testing and process development. This building houses Unit 840, which operates gas centrifuges for enriching uranium.
*Machon 9 houses a laser isotope enrichment plant, also for enriching uranium.
*Machon 10 produces depleted uranium metal for anti-armor ammunition use.
Bomb components made of plutonium, lithium-6 deuteride, and beryllium are fabricated in level 5 of Machon 2. They are transported by convoys of unmarked cars to the warhead assembly facility, operated by Rafael north of Haifa.
The principal uncertainty in evaluating Israel's weapon production capability is the actual power level of the Dimona reactor. It has long been believed that Israel has upgraded the reactor repeatedly to increase its plutonium production. Vanunu claimed that Israel possessed 100-200 nuclear weapons (implying some 400-800 kg of plutonium) and can produce 40 kg of plutonium a year. This production figure indicates an average operating power of 150 MW thermal. Analysts generally discount figures this high, and the consensus is that it was initially operated at 40 MW and was upgraded to 70 MW sometime before 1977. A 1996 study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) produced a somewhat lower range of estimates, concluding that Israel has produced 330-580 kg of plutonium through 1995, enough for a stockpile of 80-150 efficient weapons (the extreme estimate range was 190 to 880 kg).
Vanunu provided information indicating that the uranium fuel is subjected to burnups of 400 MW-days/tonne, a figure similar to that used by the US early in its weapons production program. This results in a high grade plutonium with a Pu-240 content of 2%. According to Vanunu 140 fuel rods are irradiated for periods of about three months before discharge for plutonium extraction. At 70 MW the Dimona reactor would consume some 48 tonnes of fuel a year and produce about 18 kg of plutonium.
Vanunu also claimed that Israel possessed fusion boosted weapons, and has developed hydrogen bomb technology. He provided information about both lithium-6 and tritium production. He stated that initially tritium was produced by a facility in Machon 2 called Unit 92 by separating it from the heavy water moderator where it is produced in small amounts as a by-product. In 1984 production was expanded when a new facility called Unit 93 was opened to extract tritium from enriched lithium that had been irradiated in the reactor. The large scale production of tritium by Israel has been confirmed by South Africa, which received a shipments of tritium totalling 30 g during 1977-79. This clearly indicates tritium production on a scale sufficient for a weapon boosting program. It is difficult to find any other rationale for such a large tritium production capability except some sort of thermonuclear weapon application.

Mock-up of an Israeli Bomb (courtesy Mordechai Vanunu) (46 K)
It is quite difficult to develop gas fusion boosting technology like that used in US weapons and weapons tests are probably essential. Although radiation implosion weapons could be developed without testing, they would tend to be large and heavy and would perhaps be incompatible with Israel's available delivery systems. It is quite possible then that a Sloika/Alarm Clock type system has been developed using lithium-6 deuteride fuel surrounding the plutonium core (in fact a weapon mock-up photographed by Vanunu appears to be this type of weapon). Tritium could be used to spike the fusion fuel and boost the yield, just as the Soviets did with the 400 Kt "Joe-4".
Bomb components made of plutonium, lithium-6 deuteride, and beryllium are fabricated in level 5 of Machon 2. They are transported by convoys of unmarked cars to the warhead assembly facility, operated by Rafael north of Haifa.
Hersh reports (without any stated source) that Israel has developed an extensive array of tactical nuclear weapons: efficient compact boosted fission bombs, neutron bombs (allegedly numbering in the hundreds by the mid-eighties), nuclear artillery shells, and nuclear mines. With an arsenal that is quite possibly in excess of 100 weapons it is likely that some of the nuclear materials would be applied tactical weapons. Boosted bombs are doubtful, as are neutron bombs, due to problems with development in the absence of a significant testing program. Neutron bombs also require very large amounts of tritium (20-30 g per weapon) which would impact the production of plutonium quite seriously (each gram of tritium displaces 80 grams of plutonium production). Artillery shells are also doubtful due to their wastefulness in plutonium. Tactical weapons are probably aircraft or missile delivered, or are pre-emplaced mines.
Burrows and Windrem claim (without indicating a source) that Israel has produced 300 warheads, including those that have since been dismantled. They place the current arsenal at about 200 weapons.
Several reports have surfaced claiming that Israel has some uranium enrichment capability at Dimona. Vanunu asserted that gas centrifuges were operating in Machon 8, and that a laser enrichment plant was being operated in Machon 9 (Israel holds a 1973 patent on laser isotopic enrichment). According to Vanunu the production-scale plant has been operating since 1979-80. The scale of a centrifuge operation would necessarily be limited due to space constraints, and might be focused toward enriching depleted reactor fuel to more efficiently use Israel's uranium supply. A laser enrichment system, if developed to operational status, could be quite compact however and might be producing weapon grade material in substantial quantities. If highly enriched uranium is being produced in substantial quantities, then Israel's nuclear arsenal could be much larger than estimated solely from plutonium production.
Reports that Zalman Shapiro, the American owner of the nuclear fuel processing company NUMEC, supplied enriched uranium to Israel in the 1960s seems to have been authoritatively refuted by Hersh.
Israel produces uranium domestically as a by-product of phosphate mining near the Dead Sea but this amounts to only 10 tons a year, and is grossly insufficient for its needs. Israel has addressed this shortfall by reprocessing the low burnup spent fuel to recover uranium (which most nations do not do). It is also known to have purchased at least 200 tons of natural uranium on the world market under an alias. A major source though was some 600 tons of uranium provided by South Africa in a quid pro quo for Israel's assistance on its weapons program. Combined with uranium recycling, and the possible use of enrichment to stretch the uranium supply, these quantities may be sufficient to account for Dimona's fuel supply to the present date (1997).
Israel can undoubtedly deploy nuclear weapons using its capable air force. The aircraft and crews dedicated to nuclear weapons delivery are located at the Tel Nof airbase. Originally the F-4 Phantom II acquired in 1969 was probably the designated carrier, today it would be the F-16. The F-16 has an unrefueled radius of action of 1250 km, extending out to western Iran, the shores of the Black Sea, Riyadh, or the Libyan border. With refueling it can travel much farther of course, and an unrefueled one-way mission could take it as far as Moscow.
Israel also possesses medium-range ballistic missiles: the Jericho-1 (Ya-1 "Luz") with a 500 kg payload, and a range of 480-650 km (operational since 1973); and the Jericho 2 (either Ya-2 or Ya-3) with a 1000 kg payload and a range of over 1500 km (operational since 1990). Under development is the Jericho-2B with a range of 2,500 km. These missiles were almost certainly developed specifically as nuclear delivery systems (although chemical warheads cannot be ruled out). About 50 Jericho-1s and 50 Jericho-2s are believed to have been deployed. Israel also has a 100 or more US supplied Lance tactical missiles, with a range of 115 km (72 miles). Although these were supplied with conventional warheads, they could have been outfitted with nuclear or chemical ones.
Jericho 1
This is believed to be named Luz and designated YA-1 by Israel. It is based on the French missile MD-600 built by Dassault and was developed during the 1960s.
SpecificationsLength: 10 mWidth 1.0 mLaunch weight 4500 kgPropulsion: Two stage solid propellantRange: 500 kmPayload: 500 kg
Jericho 2
Jericho-2 development is indigenous, and started soon after the Jericho-1 was deployed. Test launches began in 1986 and the first two had ranges of 465 km (1986) and 820 km (1987). The Jericho-2 shares the first two stages of the civilian Shavit (Comet) space launch vehicle, which has launched Israel's four satellites, the Offeq-1, 2, and 3 reconnaissance satellites, and the Amos communications satellite.

S havit space launch vehicle, Offeq-2 launch on 3 April 1990 (13 K)
SpecificationsLength: 12 mWidth 1.2 mLaunch weight 6500 kgPropulsion: Two stage solid propellantRange: 1500 kmPayload: 1000 kg
The Jericho 1 and 2 are deployed near Kfar Zachariah and Sderot Micha in the Judean foothills, about 23 km east of Jerusalem (and about 40 km southeast of Tel Aviv). Located a few kilometers to the northwest is Tel Nof air base. Images of the missile complex made by commercial satellites have been published in recent years, and September 1997 Jane's Intelligence Review published a 3-D analysis of high resolution pictures taken by the Indian IRS-C satellite.
The complex is compact - smaller than 6 km x 4 km. The missiles are mobile, being deployed on transporter-erector-launchers (TELs), and are based in bunkers tunneled into the side of the limestone hills. There are no signs of missile silos. TELs require firm, accurately leveled ground in order to launch, and maximum missile accuracy requires pre-surveyed launch points. Consequently there are a number of prepared launch pads (paved culs-de-sac) connected to these bunkers by paved roads. Images of an actual Jericho 2 TEL indicate that it is about 16 m long, 4 m wide, and 3 m high. It is accompanied by three support vehicles (probably a power supply vehicle, a firing control vehicle, and a communications vehicle). The Zachariah missile base was enlarged between 1989 and 1993 during the Jericho-2 deployment. A few kilometers north of Tel Nof is the Be'er Yaakov factory where the Jericho missiles and the Shavit are believed to have been manufactured.
From its deployment location in central Israel the Jericho-1 missile can reach such targets as Damascus, Aleppo, and Cairo. The Jericho-2 can reach any part of Syria or Iraq, and as far as Teheran, and Benghazi, Libya. The Jericho-2B will be able to reach any part of Libya or Iran, and as far as southern Russia. The short range of the Lance limits it mainly to battlefield use, although the Syrian capital of Damascus is in range from much of northern Israel. According to Jane's World Air Forces, Israel has three Jericho-equipped missile squadrons.
Also located at the site are a group of 21 bunkers thought to contain nuclear gravity bombs. Five of the larger ones are about 15 m wide and 20 m long, and rise 6 m above ground.
Israel has taken active steps to prevent nations that are officially at war with it from acquiring nuclear capabilities. The bombing of the Osiraq reactor in Iraq in 1981 is the most famous case, but an earlier sabotage of the reactor core in France prior to shipment is probably attributable to Mossad.
Israel's official policy is that it will not be the first nation to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East. In contrast to the coy hinting of some undeclared weapon's states, Israel thus actively denies possessing nuclear weapons. Its obvious capability in this regard has thus established de facto deterrence, while minimizing (but not eliminating) domestic and international controversy.

Nuclear Weapons

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:24:00 -0800

Israel has not confirmed that it has nuclear weapons and officially maintains that it will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East. Yet the existence of Israeli nuclear weapons is a "public secret" by now due to the declassification of large numbers of formerly highly classified US government documents which show that the United States by 1975 was convinced that Israel had nuclear weapons.
History
Israel began actively investigating the nuclear option from its earliest days. In 1949, HEMED GIMMEL a special unit of the IDF's Science Corps, began a two-year geological survey of the Negev desert with an eye toward the discovery of uranium reserves. Although no significant sources of uranium were found, recoverable amounts were located in phosphate deposits.
The program took another step forward with the creation of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) in 1952. Its chairman, Ernst David Bergmann, had long advocated an Israeli bomb as the best way to ensure "that we shall never again be led as lambs to the slaughter." Bergmann was also head of the Ministry of Defense's Research and Infrastructure Division (known by its Hebrew acronym, EMET), which had taken over the HEMED research centers (HEMED GIMMEL among them, now renamed Machon 4) as part of a reorganization. Under Bergmann, the line between the IAEC and EMET blurred to the point that Machon 4 functioned essentially as the chief laboratory for the IAEC. By 1953, Machon 4 had not only perfected a process for extracting the uranium found in the Negev, but had also developed a new method of producing heavy water, providing Israel with an indigenous capability to produce some of the most important nuclear materials.
For reactor design and construction, Israel sought the assistance of France. Nuclear cooperation between the two nations dates back as far as early 1950's, when construction began on France's 40MWt heavy water reactor and a chemical reprocessing plant at Marcoule. France was a natural partner for Israel and both governments saw an independent nuclear option as a means by which they could maintain a degree of autonomy in the bipolar environment of the cold war.
In the fall of 1956, France agreed to provide Israel with an 18 MWt research reactor. However, the onset of the Suez Crisis a few weeks later changed the situation dramatically. Following Egypt's closure of the Suez Canal in July, France and Britain had agreed with Israel that the latter should provoke a war with Egypt to provide the European nations with the pretext to send in their troops as peacekeepers to occupy and reopen the canal zone. In the wake of the Suez Crisis, the Soviet Union made a thinly veiled threat against the three nations. This episode not only enhanced the Israeli view that an independent nuclear capability was needed to prevent reliance on potentially unreliable allies, but also led to a sense of debt among French leaders that they had failed to fulfill commitments made to a partner. French premier Guy Mollet is even quoted as saying privately that France "owed" the bomb to Israel.
On 3 October 1957, France and Israel signed a revised agreement calling for France to build a 24 MWt reactor (although the cooling systems and waste facilities were designed to handle three times that power) and, in protocols that were not committed to paper, a chemical reprocessing plant. This complex was constructed in secret, and outside the IAEA inspection regime, by French and Israeli technicians at Dimona, in the Negev desert under the leadership of Col. Manes Pratt of the IDF Ordinance Corps.
Both the scale of the project and the secrecy involved made the construction of Dimona a massive undertaking. A new intelligence agency, the Office of Science Liasons,(LEKEM) was created to provide security and intelligence for the project. At the height construction, some 1,500 Israelis some French workers were employed building Dimona. To maintain secrecy, French customs officials were told that the largest of the reactor components, such as the reactor tank, were part of a desalinization plant bound for Latin America. In addition, after buying heavy water from Norway on the condition that it not be transferred to a third country, the French Air Force secretly flew as much as four tons of the substance to Israel.
Trouble arose in May 1960, when France began to pressure Israel to make the project public and to submit to international inspections of the site, threatening to withhold the reactor fuel unless they did. President de Gaulle was concerned that the inevitable scandal following any revelations about French assistance with the project, especially the chemical reprocessing plant, would have negative repercussions for France's international position, already on shaky ground because of its war in Algeria.
At a subsequent meeting with Ben-Gurion, de Gaulle offered to sell Israel fighter aircraft in exchange for stopping work on the reprocessing plant, and came away from the meeting convinced that the matter was closed. It was not. Over the next few months, Israel worked out a compromise. France would supply the uranium and components already placed on order and would not insist on international inspections. In return, Israel would assure France that they had no intention of making atomic weapons, would not reprocess any plutonium, and would reveal the existence of the reactor, which would be completed without French assistance. In reality, not much changed - French contractors finished work on the reactor and reprocessing plant, uranium fuel was delivered and the reactor went critical in 1964.

The United States first became aware of Dimona's existence after U-2 overflights in 1958 captured the facility's construction, but it was not identified as a nuclear site until two years later. The complex was variously explained as a textile plant, an agricultural station, and a metallurgical research facility, until David Ben-Gurion stated in December 1960 that Dimona complex was a nuclear research center built for "peaceful purposes."

There followed two decades in which the United States, through a combination of benign neglect, erroneous analysis, and successful Israeli deception, failed to discern first the details of Israel's nuclear program. As early as 8 December 1960, the CIA issued a report outlining Dimona's implications for nuclear proliferation, and the CIA station in Tel Aviv had determined by the mid-1960s that the Israeli nuclear weapons program was an established and irreversible fact.

United States inspectors visited Dimona seven times during the 1960s, but they were unable to obtain an accurate picture of the activities carried out there, largely due to tight Israeli control over the timing and agenda of the visits. The Israelis went so far as to install false control room panels and to brick over elevators and hallways that accessed certain areas of the facility. The inspectors were able to report that there was no clear scientific research or civilian nuclear power program justifying such a large reactor - circumstantial evidence of the Israeli bomb program - but found no evidence of "weapons related activities" such as the existence of a plutonium reprocessing plant.

Although the United States government did not encourage or approve of the Israeli nuclear program, it also did nothing to stop it. Walworth Barbour, US ambassador to Israel from 1961-73, the bomb program's crucial years, primarily saw his job as being to insulate the President from facts which might compel him to act on the nuclear issue, alledgedly saying at one point that "The President did not send me there to give him problems. He does not want to be told any bad news." After the 1967 war, Barbour even put a stop to military attachés' intelligence collection efforts around Dimona. Even when Barbour did authorize forwarding information, as he did in 1966 when embassy staff learned that Israel was beginning to put nuclear warheads in missiles, the message seemed to disappear into the bureaucracy and was never acted upon.

Nuclear Weapons Production

In early 1968, the CIA issued a report concluding that Israel had successfully started production of nuclear weapons. This estimate, however, was based on an informal conversation between Carl Duckett, head of the CIA's Office of Science and Technology, and Edward Teller, father of the hydrogen bomb. Teller said that, based on conversations with friends in the Israeli scientific and defense establishment, he had concluded that Israel was capable of building the bomb, and that the CIA should not wait for an Israeli test to make a final assessment because that test would never be carried out.

CIA estimates of the Israeli arsenal's size did not improve with time. In 1974, Duckett estimated that Israel had between ten and twenty nuclear weapons. The upper bound was derived from CIA speculation regarding the number of possible Israeli targets, and not from any specific intelligence. Because this target list was presumed to be relatively static, this remained the official American estimate until the early 1980s.

The actual size and composition of Israel's nuclear stockpile is uncertain and the subject of many - often conflicting - estimates and reports. It is widely reported that Israel had two bombs in 1967, and that Prime Minister Eshkol ordered them armed in Israel's first nuclear alert during the Six-Day War. It is also reported that, fearing defeat in the October 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Israelis assembled 13 twenty-kiloton atomic bombs.

Israel could potentially have produced a few dozen nuclear warheads in the period 1970-1980, and is thought to have produced sufficient fissile material to build 100 to 200 warheads by the mid-1990s. In 1986 descriptions and photographs of Israeli nuclear warheads were published in the London Sunday Times of a purported underground bomb factory at the Dimona nuclear reactor. The photographs were taken by Mordechai Vanunu, a dismissed Israeli nuclear technician. His information led some experts to conclude that Israel had a stockpile of 100 to 200 nuclear devices at that time.

By the late 1990s the U.S. Intelligence Community estimated that Israel possessed between 75-130 weapons, based on production estimates. The stockpile would certainly include warheads for mobile Jericho-1 and Jericho-2 missiles, as well as bombs for Israeli aircraft, and may include other tactical nuclear weapons of various types. Some published estimates even claimed that Israel might have as many as 400 nuclear weapons by the late 1990s. We believe these numbers are exaggerated, and that Israel's nuclear weapons inventory may include less than 100 nuclear weapons. Stockpiled plutonium could be used to build additional weapons if so decided.

The Dimona nuclear reactor is the source of plutonium for Israeli nuclear weapons. The number of nuclear weapons that could have been produced by Israel has generally been estimated on the basis of assumptions about the power level of this reactor, combined with estimates for the number of delivery vehicles (aircraft, missiles) assigned a nuclear mission.

Information made public in 1986 by Mordechai Vanunu indicated that at that time, weapons grade plutonium was being produced at a rate of about 40 kilograms annually. If this figure corresponded with the steady-state capacity of the entire Dimona facility, analysts suggested that the reactor might have a power level of at least 150 megawatts, about twice the power level at which is was believed to be operating around 1970. To accommodate this higher power level, analysts had suggested that Israel had constructed an enlarged cooling system. An alternative interpretation of the information supplied by Vanunu was that the reactor's power level had remained at about 75 megawatts, and that the production rate of plutonium in the early 1980s reflected a backlog of previously generated material.

The constraints on the size of Israel's stockpile include several potential variables, several of which are generic to any nuclear weapons program. The Dimona reactor may have operated an average of between 200 and 300 days annually, and produced approximately 0.9 to 1.0 grams of plutonium for each thermal megawatt day. Israel may have use between 4 and 5 kilograms of plutonium per weapon [5 kilograms is a conservative estimate, and Vanunu reported that Israeli weapons used 4 kg].

The key variable that is specific to Israel is the power level of the reactor, which is reported to be at least 75 MWt and possibly as high as 200 MWt. New high-resolution satellite imagery provides important insight this matter. The imagery of the Dimona nuclear reactor was acquired by the Public Eye Project of the Federation of American Scientists from Space Imaging Corporation's IKONOS satellite. The cooling towers associated with the Dimona reactor are clearly visible and identifiable in satellite imagery. Comparison of recently acquired commercial IKONOS imagery with declassified American CORONA reconnaissance satellite imagery indicates that no new cooling towers were constructed in the years between 1971 and 2000. This strongly suggests that the reactor's power level has not been increased significantly during this period. This would suggest an annual production rate of plutonium of about 20 kilograms.

Based on plausible upper and lower bounds of the operating practices at the reactor, Israel could have thus produced enough plutonium for at least 100 nuclear weapons, but probably not significantly more than 200 weapons.

Some type of non-nuclear test, perhaps a zero yield or implosion test, occurred on 2 November 1966 [possibly at Al-Naqab in the Negev]. There is no evidence that Israel has ever carried out a nuclear test, although many observers speculated that a suspected nuclear explosion in the southern Indian Ocean in 1979 was a joint South African-Israeli test.

Sources and Resources
Avner Cohen and William Burr, Israel Crosses the Thresshold, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May/June 2006
Israel Crosses the Threshold, National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 189, April 28, 2006
Bibliography of Israeli Nuclear Science Publications by Mark Gorwitz, June 2005
Israeli Nuclear Forces, 2002, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, September/October 2002
The Bomb That Never Is by Avner Cohen, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May/June 2000, Vol 56, No. 3 pp.22-23
Israel and the Bomb, a supporting repository on the National Security Archive web site for Avner Cohen's book Israel and the Bomb (Columbia University press, 1998), including declassified documents.
Obsessive secrecy undermines democracy By Reuven Pedatzur Ha'aretz. Tuesday, August 8, 2000 -- Cohen published "Israel and the Bomb" in the United States, and a Hebrew translation of the book has appeared here. In the eyes of the defense establishment, Cohen has committed a double sin.
Fighting to preserve the tattered veil of secrecy By Ronen Bergman The publication of Dr. Avner Cohen's book and of the Vanunu trial transcripts set off alarm bells for the Defense Ministry's chief of security, who is striving to protect the traditional opacity regarding Israel's nuclear affairs.
Blast, from the past to the present By Yirmiyahu Yovel Ha'aretz. 28 July 2000 -- If, in the context of the peace agreements and talks with the United States, Israel were to confirm its nuclear capability - while committing itself to no nuclear testing and pledging to build its defense system on conventional weapons as in the past - maybe then it might achieve at least de facto recognition, if not international legitimacy, for its nuclear weaponry, to be used only as a "last resort" and a tool for safeguarding peace after Israel withdraws.
The Third Temple's Holy Of Holies: Israel's Nuclear Weapons Warner D. Farr, LTC, U.S. Army, September 1999
Israel: Plutonium Production The Risk Report Volume 2 Number 4 (July-August 1996).
Israel: Uranium Processing and Enrichment The Risk Report Volume 2 Number 4 (July-August 1996).
Israel The Nuclear Potential of Individual Countries Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons Problems of Extension Appendix 2 Russian Federation Foreign Intelligence Service 6 April 1995
The Samson Option. Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy Seymour M Hersh, [New York: Random House, 1991]

Who Will Kill Obama ???

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 08:49:00 -0800

The big night mare in u.s.a. , Who will kill obama? Will the new elected American president have the same fate of john kennedy?!
Some politicians think that the new American president barack obama will make a great change in the American strategy and foreign policy especially towards the issues of the middle east .
will take some highly impressive decisions on behalf of the Palestinian state and its capital Jerusalem. He will be the man of the match . he will also make the American army withdrawal from Iraq. these two remarkable points will of course evoke the enemies of peace who have always been against fair and justice . the Jewish councils in America and israel will not standstill while their big dream of eliminating out the Arabs and establishing their greatest country will son die out. Hence ,they will plot against obama and shout him !!!
on the other side ,the white Americans .who still think that obama was from African origins , can not easily accept him if he were to impose another policy and also if he fails to achieve the goals for which many Americans vote for him . As a result , obama might face a shot in head .consequently , the earthquake ; the civil war will destroy America and a fatal collision will arise between the black and the white .
{it is only a nightmare}

Shopping Of Mp3 Player

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:30:00 -0800

TrekStor 2GB Digital Audio/Video Player With 1.4in. Screen, Black:

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noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 03:22:00 -0800

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Drive Traffic, Google Adwords, Make Money Online

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 03:12:00 -0800

You can do this through by sign up with google adwords. This is a pay-per-click advertising service used by Google.You create keywords so when people search for those certain keywords your ads will come up.You can determine how much you want to pay per click. You can also use Yahoo to display their ads.

See Also
Using Opt-In Emails To Generate Traffic
How to make money from youtube
Make money online with your camera
Selling Your Products Through ClickBank

Technorati

Using Opt-In Emails To Generate Traffic :

With opt-in e-mails, you can pay a service of a small or large fee (depending on the number of people you want to see your site) for them to email their HUGE subscriber list.people who are subscribed to these sites get paid a few cents to read these emails.

They are also targeted by their interests! So if you have a music site you can have the service, email your site for all there music lovers. Here is a great place for this service, Blast Your Ad .

See Also
How to make money from youtube
Make Money Blogging
Using Advertise To generate Traffic
Make money online with your camera

Technorati

Use Web Directories To Increase Your Traffic :

You can submit your site to web directories that have high traffic Volume for free.
This is different than submitting your site to search engines, because With web directories, people can actually clicking through different categories to find your Site listed instead of searching for terms on Google where you would be competing with Millions of other sites for keywords.

People also can search through directories on the web, but Competition is much lower than Google, for example, you have a better chance of Someone clicking on categories on the web directories. There are high traffic web Directories you can submit to for free as: craigslist.org & dmoz.org.

Craigslist is a San Francisco web directory that lists of items for sale, classified Ads, jobs, etc.It has obtained so great that people have been posting ads on the national level and Not only those who live in San Francisco. It's a great way to get listed in a high rankingdirectory for free. Just be careful to read the terms of posting your site, as they don't MLM want scams or other marketing schemes listed on the site or you can get Banned.Dmoz.org is a web directory you can list your site in their directory open Project that has thousands of other site listings in many different countries. It's Another high-ranking site that you can use to improve your site's ranking and traffic.

Finally, Trafficswarm is a technique in which others will view your site only for viewing Thiers.It is basically a program similar to the banner exchange.You get Credits for all sites that you view in their directory and, in turn, for each credit you Receiving,You can also pay to signup for their premium Membership in which you do not have to view other sites and they simply send visitors When your site for a fee. You can simply sign up for Trafficswarm 's free And try it. It is a good way to get free traffic to your site, if you do not mind viewing Other sites that would be of interest to you.

See Also
How To Make Money Online
Affiliate Marketing
Make Money Blogging
How to make money from youtube

Technorati

Creating a slide show with Windows Movie Maker

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:12:00 -0700

Creating a slide show with Windows Movie Maker - Windows XP comes with a small program called Windows Movie Maker that most photographers may not have realised could be a useful tool. Peter Bargh shows you how it can be used as great tool for creating fun slide shows.
Windows Movie Maker is primarily designed for movie editing, but we are going to show you a small and interesting technique to create really nice audio visuals from your photographs.

The program is accessed from the Windows Start menu's Accessories folder and when opened brings up a window with an area to drag and drop picture, video or music files which can be grouped in collections. The panel to the right which shows the work in progress and a strip below where you drag your images or videos and arrange them.

Right, so lets get started!

Step 1
Think of a theme. Mine is going to be Basket #7. Oxley Bank a small building like sculpture situated on a hill at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park created by Winter/Hörbelt.
I found this fascinating item with great shapes and took a series of pictures from inside and outside to show the fantastic wire frame sculpture at, hopefully, its best.

Step 2
Right click on the Collections icon on the far left panel to creates a sub menu collection, I'm calling mine Basket. Then make sure this collection is selected. If you cannot see the Collections view select Collections at the top next to Tasks.

Step 3
Go to File>Import into Collections (Ctrl I) and locate the pictures on your computer's hard drive. I like to prepared mine in advance, doing any necessary cropping and editing in Photoshop and place them in a folder. You can have any number of pictures, but I always found somewhere between 10 and 20 is enough to prevent your viewers from being bored (and it keeps the show short and download light), in this one I'm going to use 16.

Click on the first file icon and, while holding down the shift key, click on the last file to select all the files you want to import. Then, click import.
Thumbnails of all the pictures will appear in the Collection window. It doesn't matter what order they are in or how big the originals were.

Step 4

Click on the thumbnail of the picture that you want to appear first in your AV and drag it to the video strip at the bottom. Click on "Show Timeline" to view the time line if it's not already showing.

Then select your second picture, and drag that to the video strip. You will see that it butts up next to the first image. Repeat this with all the images in the order you want them to run. Now you will have a strip of 16 images and if you click on any one of them that image will appear on the panel on the right.

You can drag the left hand side of that panel left to increase the preview size or to the right to decrease the size, allowing more space for your collection thumbnails.

Step 5
On the base of the preview panel (right) there is a set of video player controls, click the rewind button to take your slide show back to the start, or you could click and drag the marker (blue line) back to the start of the images selected. If you now click the play button on the right hand panel you will see a basic slide show of all your images. Each has a default duration of 5 seconds. If you want a larger or shorter duration, go to Tools>Options and click on the Advance tab and set the desired number of seconds in the picture duration box. This has to be done before you drag the images from the collection to the video strip.

If you want a different duration once you've dragged them, you can click on the thumbnail in the video strip, then hover over the edge until you see the cursor change then drag it left to shorten the duration or right to lengthen it, you will see a red back and forwards arrow to help. The advantage of doing this is that it gives you the option of variation throughout the show.

Step 6

Currently the show just snaps from one frame to another but now its time to add a snazzy transition between each frame.

Go to Tools>Video Transitions and the collections window is replaced with a Transitions window. Here you will see a selection of icons demonstrating the type of effect you will can apply between frames. These range from simple fades and dissolves to page curls and sweeps through to more complex effects. We will go for the simple fade.
Click on the Fade icon and drag it roughly between two of your images on the video line. This will snap in between and a fade will automatically be added. Repeat this process adding a transition between each shot. If you decide you dont like one of the added effects just right click the white mark under the timeline to delete it.

Step 7
Next thing to do is add an audio soundtrack, if you are fortunate enough to be a musician you can add your own music, if not you will either need to buy some royalty free music or find a site that has some free downloads.

I've used Nocturnal Vigil (Pt.2) by Brannan Lane & Tom Larson BrannanLane.com from http://music.download.com website. Do a Google search for free mp3 downloads to find other websites that provide royalty free music.

Step 8
Once you have downloaded your music drag it to the collections window and then down to the audio/music strip at the bottom of window. Don't worry about it being longer than your slide collection we will trim it later.

Step 9
You could, at this stage, add video effects from the tools menu, these include aged film, pixellated, sepia tone and water colour which basically put a filter over the photograph. I dont personally like these as I prefer to do any artistic effect in my image-editing program before importing into the program. If you do decide to add them, but later decide you want to remove them, you will need to increase the size of the timeline using the plus ( ) icon enough to see video effect icon on the timeline (between slides), right click to delete.

Step 10
Now to add a show title. Click Tools > Title and Credits and choose whether to add a title at the beginning or in the timeline. I'm going to add mine to the first frame so I click on the first frame in the bottom strip and on "Add title on the selected clip". Enter the text you want to use. This should be the title of your show and maybe your name. You can set the way the text displays by clicking on the change the title animation link and also edit the font and its colour. When done click okay. Preview this using the play button in the right side window and adjust the length of the first frame and the position of the title in the bottom strip so that it all moves through smoothly.

Step 11

Click Tools > Title and Credits again and this time Add credits at the end. Now add your credits. I put the title again, the location, the producer, and the music and musians. It's like having a mini film credit list. Put the title in the top panel and then split the section below putting the whats in the left and the whos in the right. Click done. This will add a blue screen at the end with fancy scrolling credits.

Step 12
Last thing to do is cut the music strip by clicking the mouse at the end on the time line and click on the trim icon below the preview window on the right or from the menu Clip > Split (Ctrl L) and add a fade by right clicking on the Audio/Music strip at the bottom and choose Fade Out. Click on the unused end piece and press the delete button to remove it.

Step 13

Play the movie by clicking on the arrow in the right hand preview and check the music works, the fades look good and the durations of each clip are ample. If not make more adjustments. If they are click on File > Save Movie File (Ctrl P) and choose a suitable playback format. I used High Quality Video (large) from the other settings drop down.which creates a 640x480pixel display with 25 frames per second.

Well I hope this tutorial makes creating Audio Visual shows an easy option in a program you may never have realised you had. Please rate the tutorial using our scoring system, also add a comment to say how easy or hard you found it to do and don't forget to submit your efforts to our download section.

The finished product which took about 15mins to create is below. Enjoy.

Create a Vintage Film Style Video Using Photoshop CS3 Extended

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:53:00 -0700

please, click on pictures to see it on Natural size and For clearer vision

Photoshop CS3 Extended allows you to edit video and animations. Also, you can convert an existing video into a Smart Object and apply filters to it. This time we're going to give a video a vintage feel and mock it up inside an old TV screen.

Final Image Preview:

Before we get started, let's take a look at the video we'll be creating. Click the screenshot below to view the final video. As always, the layered Photoshop file is available via our PSDTUTS Plus membership.

Step 1:

Photoshop CS3 Extended has the useful feature of editing videos and animations directly inside of it. This time I'll show you some of the basics of video editing in Photoshop. Before getting started, you must know that Photoshop can edit any video as a Smart Object. This opens endless possibilities to create amazing outcomes to our videos by adding effects, filters, and more.

Let's begin, for this tutorial we'll start by creating a new blank document 640 pixels by 480 pixels. You can choose the Preset Film and Video and change the Width value. Go to Layers > Video Layers > New Video Layer From File, and search for any video in your computer.

I used this video, which was filmed about a year ago. It's of my friend Ariel rafting the Espíiritu Santo river here in Bolivia. As you can see, the video layer is on your Layers Palette right now. Convert it into a Smart Object (Right click on the layer miniature's name and click on Convert to Smart Object). Then name it "Video." Now, to set up your workspace, go to Window > Animation to show the Animation tools.

Step 2:

First, we'll edit the Levels of the "Video" layer. Click on Create a New Fill or Adjustment Layer > Levels in the Layers Palette. This will create a new Levels Adjustment Layer for the entire video. Use the following values.

setp 3:

Then add another Adjustment layer by clicking Create a New Fill or Adjustment Layer > Photo Filter. Set the color to #704302 and the Density to 100%. This way the "Video" layer turns into a nice sepia tone. Also, as you can see, each layer added turns into a new layer in the Animation window.

Step 4:

Here comes the fun! We're going to animate some objects in Photoshop. We're trying to get a vintage style video. First, we're going to create some random lines moving across the screen. Draw some vertical lines, three or four, using a 2px soft Brush, then delete some parts of the lines using a soft Eraser with the Opacity and Flow each set at 50%. Also, add all the layers into a new group named "New Video."

Step 5:

Go to the Animation (Timeline) window. Click on the arrow to explode the "Lines" layer. You'll see three rows: Position, Opacity, and Style. Each row can contain any number of Keyframes. When you create a keyframe you're setting a modify point for your layer.

Photoshop will create the motion between two keyframes. You can modify these three values on each of your layers as many times as you want. You can create a combination of several positions, opacity values, and layer styles over the timeline.

The movie has 20 seconds in length, the frame rate is 30 frames per second, so that means the movie has 600 frames. By default the timeline measure is in seconds. Below there's the control tools, there's a Play button, a Next button and Prev frame button. Also there's a slide to enlarge the size of your timeline viewing.

One of the most important tools in this window is the Current Time Indicator slider. It's the blue triangle over the timeline. By moving this slider you're selecting a unique frame-second to add a keyframe in. Armed with this knowledge, let's add some effects!

Step 6:

Drag the Current Time Indicator to 00:00f. Click the Time-vary stop watch (The tiny clock) of Position row. This will create a yellow rhombus over the Time line where the slider is located; This is a Keyframe. Now using the Move Tool (V) drag the "Lines" layer just a little to the right. This will be the first position of the motion.

Step 7:

Now we'll animate the Opacity of the "Lines" layer. Click on the Time-vary stop watch (The tiny clock) of the "Opacity" row. You'll see a gray rhombus appear. Then go to the Layers Palette and set "Lines" Opacity to 0%. By changing the opacity the gray rhombus will become yellow.

Step 8:

To create the second keyframe of animation drag the Current Time Indicator slider a few frames forward in the timeline. Then using the Move Tool (V), drag the invisible "Lines" a little bit to the right.

In the Layers Palette change the "Lines" Opacity to 75%. As you can see at the bottom of the image below, there's two more keyframes in both the "Position" and "Opacity" rows.

This is the hardest step of the entire process. If you miss this your first try, don't give up; just repeat the steps in order. By now you can use the Play button of the Animation window to start viewing the result: a motion fade in effect for the lines.

Step 9;

To complete the "Lines" sequence. Drag the Current Time Indicator slider just like in the previous step, a little bit forward. Then using the Move tool (V), drag the lines to the right, not to much, but no to few. Finally, set the "Lines" Opacity to 0% once again. If you click Play, you'll see a fade in + motion + fade out animation.

Step 10:

Now we have a three keyframes animation for one layer, and it's less than three seconds. So we need to repeat the lines animation across the time line. For this, go to Layers pallete and duplicate the "Lines" layer. Then go to Animation window and Shift + click all the keyframes of "Lines copy" layer. Once you have select them all, drag those frames forward, maybe near 10:00f.

Repeat the process, duplicate the "Lines copy" layer, select all the keyframes of "Lines copy 2" layer, and drag them forward. I did this just three times, though you could do it as many times you want. Try to not have two or more keyframes at the same time on your timeline, because the lines will look bold on the final video. Again, see the result by clicking the Play button.

Step 11:

To make the lines effect softer, convert each one of the "Lines" layers into a Smart Object. Then change their Opacities to 50%, 70%, and 50% respectively.

Step 12:

Create a new layer above the "Lines" layer and name it "Noise." Then press D to load the default colors. Go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Once you have your favorite clouds, go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise, and set the Amount to 30%. Also, set the Distribution as Uniform and select Monochromatic.

Step 13:

Set the "Noise" layer's Opacity to 25% and its Blending mode to Color Burn.

Step 14:

In the Animation window, drag the Current Time Indicator slider to 00:00f. Then click on the Clock Position row and free transform the "Noise" layer increasing the width as in the image below. Then drag the Current Time Indicator slider to 20:00f (the last frame) and move the "Noise" layer to the right. This way you'll get an animation for the noise.

Step 15:

Now if you want to add more grunge details to your video, add another layer of lines below the "Noise" layer, but this time make them more bold (Brush 3px). Follow the same steps for the basic lines (Steps 6 through 9). The differences are the following: Set a larger space between the keyframes and the first keyframe isn't in the 00:00f. If you want to get a better result, repeat this adding lines process three or four times.

Step 16;

Now just because we can we'll add some Subliminal text to our video. You can use it to add a signature to your work too. The steps are the same. First, create keyframes and change their layer's properties.

Draw any text into a new layer named "Subliminal image." Place this below the "Noise" layer. This time we'll animate only the Opacity, and for a very short time to make a subliminal image. Create a 0% opacity keyframe, then another 88%, and finally another at 0%.

Step 17:

Now we'll add a dark border to our video. Create a new layer above the "New Video" group, Ctrl + A to select all, Ctrl + Alt + D to Feather the Selection. Then set a 50px radius. Ctrl + Shift + I to inverse the selection. Then using the Fill tool and a black foreground, fill the selection.

Step 18:

Put everything into a new Group and name it "Full video" (I'm bad with the names).

Step 19:

Paste this image into a new layer above everything, and delete the screen. I used the Magic Wand Tool with a Tolerance of 50 for this.

Step 20:

Now convert all the "Full video" group into a Smart Object. If you want to edit the video later, Double-click on this layer. Now using the Warp tools distort the image to match the screen shape. I used some guides to make the work easier. Also, add a Drop Shadow to the TV layer. You can add more effects and layer styles if you want. I kept it simple this time.

Step 21:

To render your video go to File > Export > Render video. Select the folder and name the file. Choose Quick time Export (If this option is disabled you need to get Quick Time 7.4.X or higher). By clicking on Settings and then Adjustments you can select a lot of options for render quality. This time I'll use the default settings. Finally, click on Render.

Conclusion:

Our final movie file can be viewed here. Editing video using Photoshop is not always easy work, but you can get excellent results with a little bit of patience. Try this tutorial to add a signature to your videos or to add vintage effects to your next video blog post.

Create a PowerPoint Design Template

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:12:00 -0700

A Design Template is a pre-made slide or set of slides that you get when you click File > New in PowerPoint. For example, if you are designing something for the office, then your employer may have a Logo that needs to be added to each presentation. Instead of adding the Logo to each slide, you can set up a Design Template, and add the Logo to that. The template will then be available from the dialogue box when you click File > New.

Or, if you have Power 2003, when you click From Design Template in the Task Pane. You'll then see the available designs appear:

What you're going to do now is to create your own Design Template that will appear on the dialogue box or on the Task Pane. But to get an idea of what you'll be doing, select any of the Design Templates, and click OK.

When you do, you'll see a New Slide dialogue box. Select the first one (Title slide). PowerPoint will give you the following new slide:

Insert another slide by clicking Insert > New Slide from the PowerPoint menu at the top. This time, select the Bulleted list. You'll then see the following slide appear:

The point about all this is that you don't have to do any work formatting the background, the fonts, or the text box positions. All that has been taken care of in the Design Template....

You've already created a Master Slide in a previous section of this course, so we won't go through everything again. But if you have a presentation open in PowerPoint, click File > Close. Then click File > New. In PowerPoint 2003, select Blank Presentation from the Task Pane on the right hand side. You'll get a slide with a bulleted list. Locate the blank slide in the Task Pane, and click the arrow:

From the menu, select Apply to Selected Slides, as in the image above.

In PowerPoint 2000, you'll see the New Presentation screen again. Click on the General tab, then select Blank Presentation. Click OK, and you should see the New Slide dialogue box appear. Select the Blank slide, as in the image below:

For both 2000 and 2003 users, once you have a blank slide, click View > Master > Slide Master from the menu bar at the top of PowerPoint:

You will be taken to the Master Slide view, and the slide should look like this:

From here, you can redesign any of the areas you see above. First, we'll add a background.

Click Format from the menu at the top of PowerPoint. From the Format menu, select Background. You'll see this small dialogue box appear:

Click the black arrow on the dropdown list, and select Fill Effects:

From the Fill Effects dialogue box that appears, click the Picture tab on the end. Browse for a picture on your computer. The one we're going to insert is amongst the file that you downloaded at the start of the book, in the folder called backgrounds.

Your dialogue box will then look like this:

Click OK. When you get back to the small Background dialogue box, click Apply. Your Master Slide will then look like this:

With the background in place, we can format the other areas. Highlight the text in the Title area "Click to edit Master title style". Change the Font to Arial, and the size to 36. Click Format > Font from the menu bar, and select a colour for the Font. We went for a light blue colour:

Format the rest of the AutoLayout areas in the same way. Don't forget the Footer area at the bottom. Format the slide number and date, if you prefer:

We went with a dark blue colour in the main text area, and Arial for the font. For the footer, the font was again Arial, but size 12 and in white.

If you want, you can resize and move any of the text areas. We did this before when setting up the Master Slide, so won't go through it again.

When you're happy with your Master Slide, click Close on the small dialogue box. Or click View > Normal from the menu bar at the top.

When you get back to the main screen, you should see the formerly white blank canvas you started with change to that of the background you added for the Master Slide.....

Now that you have formatted the Master Slide, you can add a Title slide. A lot of the time, you'd want this to be different from the Master.

Click Insert > New Slide from the menu bars at the top of PowerPoint. Insert a new Title slide:

PowerPoint 2000

PowerPoint 2003

You should then have two slides in PowerPoint. However, the Title slide will be the second slide, and we want this to be the first, because it will be the opening screen.

To move the Title slide to the start, click View > Slide Sorter from the menu bar. In Slide Sorter view, click on slide 2. Hold down your left mouse button and drag it to before slide 1. Then click View > Normal to get back to the main PowerPoint screen. In Outline View on the left, click on Slide 1. This should now be your Title slide. Click on Slide 2 and it should be blank, with just the background. Here's what your slide 1 should look like:

And here's the second slide:

So our Design template has two slides in it so far - a Tile slide, and a Master Slide. (Although the Master Slide is blank in our presentation, when you save it as a Design Template, it will retain all the formatting you did in Master Slide view.)

We can now save this as a Design Template. From the PowerPoint menu bar at the top, click File > Saves As. From the Save As box, select Design Template from Save as type:

Type a name for your template, and click Save.

Once your design template is saved, you can create a new PowerPoint Presentation with all the formatting already in place. To test it out, click File > New. Your presentation will be on the General tab in PowerPoint 2000, and on the Task Pane in PowerPoint 2003.

In the image below (2000), we have saved the design template with the name Student1 (notice that the file ending is .pot):

Click OK and your template will be loaded.

Creating a Design Template can save you a lot of time and effort, especially if you're creating PowerPoint presentations for work.

How to Build Your Own Bike

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:15:00 -0700

Once you have gotten the cycling fever, you might want to build your bicycle from start to finish. This is a fun, but can be expensive process depending on your taste and budget. There are custom builders who can take your measurements and preferences to build your bicycle, but it is not half as fun or satisfying as building your bicycle. This article will detail a process for selecting the components and assembling them in to a custom built by you bicycle
.................................................
Things You’ll Need:

* Bicycle frame
* Component group
* Saddle, seat post, handlebars, pedals, bar tape
* Wheels and tires
* Bicycle Computer/heart rate monitor
* Bicycle specific tools if you assemble

Assembling the parts:

Deciding to build your own bicycle is just the first decision you will make. There are dozens of decisions you will have to make about the frame, style of bicycle, components and fit. You can take a couple of initial routes at this point. You can do the research the research into the components, which in some cases is part of the fun. The other path is to sit down with a local bicycle dealer to seek their advice and help buying the parts. The advantage of doing the research yourself is that you are not limited to the parts or bicycles a local bicycle dealer can get for you. Most bicycle dealers carry a limited number of bicycle and part brands, but they will be able to build anything for you if you deliver them the parts. I would recommend independent research to decide what's best for you and trips to multiple bicycle shops to check out parts.

Start with the frame. What material are you going to use? Going the custom route means you want something that is distinctive usually, which means carbon fiber or titanium. Carbon fiber is lighter and allows for more design options. Titanium is usually stiffer and can mean heavier, but not by a lot. Local bicycle publications can be a good place to shop for a frame. Usually someone selling a frame only is trading up themselves so you can get something more exotic for a good price. There are also online retailers that will sell you a frame only or a frame and the component parts you want. Make sure you have the right to return a used frame if you go that route and that you inspect if very carefully before accepting it.

Next is the component or build kit. There are three primary makers of bicycle components: Shimano, Campagnolo and SRAM. All have their characteristics that make their products unique and have a range of products to fit any budget. This is an area where new parts are essential. The difference in new vs. used is usually not a great deal of money, so new is the way to go. There are links at the bottom for each of the component manufacturers so you can start your research. The parts you will get from a component group are: both dérailleurs, brakes, shifters or controllers, crankset (crank and bottom bracket) and chain.

Wheels are next. It you have a budget of "X", then wheels should be nearly 1/2 of that budget because they make the biggest difference in performance other than overall weight and the frame. The type of wheels you select are dependent on a few factors. First, which component group did you select? Shimano and SRAM use one kind of freewheel-rear wheel and Campagnolo uses another-this is due to the hub set up. There are also some brands that are exclusive to that set up and there are some manufacturers that will make both types, but it is a factor. Next factor is what type of riding are you going to be doing? Triathlons could mean one type of wheel set or lots of climbing could be another kind of wheel set. Aero wheels are popular now and have higher performance characteristics, but also could be significantly more expensive. What material would you like to have in the wheels. Carbon fiber or titanium will be lighter but more expensive. Carbon fiber wheels also will require carbon fiber safe brake pads. You also need to decide whether you want to use tubular or clincher wheels. Tubular roll faster, but require a professional, glue and time to change the tires. Clinchers are in general easily changed if you have a flat.

Tires are also part of the wheel selection process. Spend more money on tires and less on tubes. There is very little difference in tubes, but significant differences in tires. Is rolling speed or grip more important or a combination of both? The tires need to match the wheels with regard to clinchers or tubular.

Selecting a saddle is purely a matter of `fit. Some professional cyclists use the same saddle for years and refuse to change. As one columnist put it, it's you rear end so you'll know what is best. Try at least three saddles with different shapes or geometry to find the one that's right for you. You will also need a seat post that is compatible with your frame.

Clipless pedals are the way to go, but there are different shapes and styles which will also determine the cleats you need.

The last components you need are handlebars, handlebar tape and pedals. Handlebars with curved ends or drops, have the same basic shapes, but might have slight variances on grip.

Assembling your bicycle:

Assuming you decide to build the bicycle yourself, you will bicycle specific tools and a stand. The tools you will need to have at a minimum are: a complete set of allen wrenches, flat head and philips screw drivers, pedal wrench, cassette locking tool and chain whip, chain breaker, crank puller and bottom bracket tool, as well as a cable puller and cable cutting tool.

The easiest place to start is to install the tires and tubes on the wheels. Next put a small amount of grease on the rear wheel or free hub where it meets the cassette and install the cassette. Be careful to make sure all of the spacers and components are installed as intended.. Next use the cassette locking tool to secure it to the hub.

Next attach the seat post and saddle to the frame. You will need allen wrenches to accomplish this. You have the option of cutting the seat post to remove weight, but only to a certain point to ensure it will stay secure.

Secure the handle bar to the stem and the stem to the steering tube attached to the fork. If the head tube does not have a head set you will need to install one. You may need to install spacers to raise the handlebars to a comfortable height. The steering tube is another part that can be cut to the a right size if you wish.

Attach the shifters or controllers to the handlebars. You will use an allen wrench to snug them to the handlebars. You will probably want to adjust them slightly later in the process. The exact location is a matter of personal fit and comfort.

Attach the brakes through the frame. There is a front brake set and rear brake set. Brakes are secured to the frame with allen wrenches. Once installed move the adjustment lever all the way down.

Next install the crank and bottom bracket. There is are specific tools for this. First install the bottom bracket using a bottom bracket wrench. There are different types or wrenches depending on the type of bottom bracket and whether or not the bottom bracket has external cups or not. Next install the crankset. Again, there are specific tools that are needed depending on the crankset.

Next install the derailleurs. This is largely a matter of attaching them to the frame. They will need to be adjusted later, but install them on the frame.

Measure and cut the chain after running it through the deraileurs and chain ring. The best way to measure the chain is to use the large chain ring and the largest cassette cog then add 2-3 additional links. You will need a chain breaker to cut the excess chain links and finish the installation. There are articles on how to accomplish this on eHow.

Install the brake cables and then the derailleur cables. The controllers and and brakes will come with detailed instructions on the correct methods to install the cables. You will next want to adjust the high and low limit screws on the derailleurs to help ensure the are working properly.

The last step is to adjust the fit and tune the controls to make sure everything is comfortable and works as intended.There are bicycle fit articles on eHow to help you with this process.

Install the cables next start with the brake cables. Your brake and shifters will give you detailed instructions on the correct method.This is also the case with the derailleur cables. After you get them installed you will want to set the upper and lower limit screws to dial in more precise shifts.

How To Make Your Own Clock

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:40:00 -0700

How to make a country clock. The supplies you will need and the tools needed:

This is a step by step guide on how to make yourself a country clock. It requires very little work and is very easy to complete. You can easily do it in a few spare minutes. Here is what you will need to get started.

1. You will need a piece of a log with the bark still on. It will need to be dried. The wood needs to be 3/4" thick and at least 10" in diameter. These can also be purchased at a hobby or craft store.

2. You will need a drill with a medium size drill bit.

3. A can of wood sealer or varnish.

4. A clock dial, which can be purchased for under $5.00 at a hobby shop.

5. A set of clock numbers.

6. A metal picture hanger to hang the clock on the wall.

7. A piece of sandpaper.

8. A small phillips screw driver.

9. A small wrench to fit the clock dial.

10. A ruler.

11. Wood glue.

Now that you have everything you need, let us get started on the clock.

1. Drill a hole in the center of the wood.

2. Use the sandpaper to sand down the front of the wood to make it smooth.

3. Put the wood sealer or varnish on the wood that you have sanded. Let it dry overnight. This will give the wood a very shiny finish.

4. Insert the clock dial through the back of the clock with the stem coming out of the front. Use the wrench to tighten up the dial.

5. Use the glue to stick the numbers on the clock face. Make sure they are straight by using the ruler.

6. Take the hanger and screw it into the back of the clock on the top. This gives you something to hang it on the wall with.

You now have your country clock complete. It will make a nice addition to your home. The total cost you have in your clock should be around $10.00.

Cookies Recipe from the Planet Mars

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:32:00 -0700

These very tasty red cookies come from a special, long-forgotten and very ancient Martian recipe that were brought to earth from millions of miles away on a wayward asteroid. The recipe is also millions of years old.

You, however, can make it today in your very own home on the planet closest to Mars, earth!

* 1/2 pound butter (use lightly salted butter)
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1-1/2 tablespoons of water
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 3-1/2 cups flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* Rolling pin
* 2 bowls
* Cookie cutters to make fun shapes
* Lightly greased cookie sheet
* Red icing or frosting and red sprinkles

1- You’re going to mix some ingredients separately, so get two bowls ready. In one bowl (the larger one if you have two different sizes), beat the butter and sugar together until creamy and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Then blend in the water and vanilla.
2- In the second bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Once these three ingredients are all mixed together, stir them into the contents of the first bowl, and make sure the ingredients are well blended.
3- Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge to chill the mixture.
4- Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees (make sure to have an adult help you!)
5- Roll out the dough and use the cookie cutters to make fun shapes, like little Martians.
6- Grease a baking sheet lightly, and place the cookie dough at least 1″ apart on the sheet.
7- Baking time depends on the size of the cookies. Bake them for 5-7 minutes, but don’t let them brown!
8- Let them cool, decorate with icing and sprinkles, serve, and eat!

Holiday Cookies Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:26:00 -0700

Holidays season is a time of sharing, so bake some colorful holiday cookies for your friends and family.

This recipe uses ingredients found in many kitchens. Choose your own cookie cutters to make the shapes you want.

You might try to save some cookies for yourself too - if others don’t gobble them up first!

* 1/3 cup sugar
* 1 egg
* 2/3 cup honey
* 1 tsp lemon flavoring
* 1/3 cup shortening
* 2 3/4 cups flour
* 1 tsp soda
* 1 tsp salt
* Rolling pin
* 2 bowls
* Cookie cutters to make fun shapes
* Red and green sprinkles, or other festive edible decorations
* White icing or frosting

1- You’re going to mix some ingredients separately, so get two bowls ready. In one bowl (the larger one if you have two different sizes), mix up the sugar, egg, shortening, honey and lemon flavor. Make sure it’s mixed really well!
2- In the second bowl, mix the flour, soda and salt. Once these three ingredients are all mixed together, stir them into the contents of the first bowl, and make sure the ingredients are well blended.
3- Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge to chill the mixture.
4- Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees (make sure to have an adult help you!)
5- Sprinkle some flour on a flat surface so the dough won’t stick, and roll out the dough so it’s about 1/4″ thick.
6- Use the cookie cutters to make fun shapes, like Christmas trees or snowmen.
7- Grease a baking sheet lightly, and place the cookie dough at least 1″ apart on the sheet.
8- Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until they just start getting slightly brown on top.
9- Let them cool, decorate with icing and sprinkles, serve, and eat!

How to Make Your Own Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:22:00 -0700

Ice cream is one of the oldest, most beloved desserts and sweets, for children and adults alike. Centuries ago, kings and queens called for ice to be brought from hundreds of miles away to help make and keep ice cream. You might think that you need ice boxes or other machines to make ice cream, but that is not the case.

Try this cool and simple recipe to make your own ice cream. Your taste buds will thank you!

* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
* 6 tablespoons rock salt (or regular salt if you can’t find rock salt)
* 1 gallon size Ziploc bag
* 1 pint size Ziploc bag
* Ice

Fill the gallon size bag (the larger bag) with ice about half way and add the salt and seal it.
Mix the sugar, milk and vanilla in the small pint sized bag and seal it.
Open up the large bag and put the small bag inside and seal the large bag again.
Shake the bag and you’ll see your mixture in the small bag turn into ice cream! (It will take about 5 minutes of shaking)
Open up the small bag and enjoy!!

How-To : Make your own Pirate Radio Station with an iPod

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:12:00 -0700

This was going to be "How-To increase the range of your iTrip mini". But after playing around with the new iTrip mini, the FM broadcasting accessory for the iPod (our review here) our little minds got working on some ideas. We thought we might be able to make the range of Griffin's iTrip mini a little better if took it apart and exposed the antenna, turns out we could. And then we thought, hey- we could use a couple iPods to broadcast something we wanted to get out there, perhaps not "should" that is, but could. So that was our motivation, and here's the How-To.

Ingredients:

1 iPod mini

1 iTrip mini

Optional: Addition iPods, iTalks and iTrips

Getting Started

First, to become your own pirate broadcast station you'll need to increase the range and signal of your iTrip mini. Turns out, there is an antennae built inside the iTrip mini. All you need to do is remove the top sticker-like protection which hides the antennae and then using tweezers or your fingernail, pull the antennae out. We've found a 20% to 30% increase of range on average. This likely voids the warranty, so there, we said it.

Next up, if you're using the iTrip mini, then you know that you can install all the stations on the dial to broadcast on. At first we we're really sure we'd ever use them, but now we have good reason. So make sure you've installed all the stations, on the go you might need them to switch to. Remember, the iTrip is a FM broadcasting device, intended to broadcast 10 to 30 feet to a FM radio.

Next, choose your broadcast, it can be any song or a spoken word MP3, don't worry we have a few suggestions. A lot depends on the situation you're in.

Pirate Broadcasts

We usually keep a couple tracks of silence ready to go, ever get stuck at a stop light for like 10 minutes and the dude in the next car is blasting the radio? With the super easy iPod interface you can quickly get to the station he's on and send over whatever you want, a couple gentle ocean waves or birds usually works out great.

If you've ever gone to the Gym, or starred in to one from the outside- you'll notice the TVs are muted and set to broadcast on specific FM frequencies, folks then tune in their radio headsets to whatever station to listen to the audio as they exercise. Now we're not suggesting you go around and broadcast over CNN or anything, but we think broadcasting "Aliens have landed today, the President and UN will be making an announcement immediately" could be quite fun. We'll be trying this out with our gym pals who are usually up for a good gag.

There are other times where you simply need to broadcast back. Let's say you're at the park, enjoying a nice quiet day with your family- then comes along someone blasting the radio. We've found broadcasting a silent track tends to work nicely, sure you need to be within 30 to 40 feet, but no one will even suspect that their FM broadcast is getting usurped by you.

Advanced Pirate Radio Broadcasting techniques

We've also discovered another fun example. If you use the iTalk, Griffin's voice recorder accessory with 2g/3g iPod you can record your pirate broadcast on the fly, pop in the iTrip and start broadcasting. Usually pretending to be an omnipotent being and asking folks to build a water proof car, drive across the English Channel with two of every gadget gets some interesting reactions.

Now, if you really get in to this- you could easily increase the range even more, google around for ways to do this- we're working on a few and will let you know too. You can additionally use multiple iPods, when you're broadcasting something like a silent track, you and a pal can cover more area and really surround the FM receiver. And finally, there are also a lot of other things which use FM that you can discover and broadcast to, happy hunting.

This concludes our broadcast.

Build Your Own Radar - overview of concepts, resources

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:00:00 -0700

You can build your own radar using open source software and relatively cheap off the shelf hardware. Basic principles of Radio Detection and Ranging system sounds simple - but converting the idea into a working gadget is a bit of challenge. Info on how to build passive radar titled I See Airplanes! How to build your own radar system is on the web. It is an archived presentation at the 22nd Chaos Communication Congress in 2005 consisting of a 2MB PDF and links to a video of the lecture. The Digital Amateur Rocket Tracking System project also has an extensive section on the hardware angle titled Building Your Own Amateur Radar - Components for Personal Amateur Radar with links to hardware vendors.

I lack the knowledge to evaluate it myself let alone pull off the programming skill require to bring the thing to life. But somewhere in the blogosphere must lurk the neurones & the tech knowledge - perhaps distributed across geographically disparate skulls - to build a crude radar (I want to use my quota of reckless assumptions).

Building your own radar : basic concepts
(listed on slide 16)

1- “Read” the disturbances in the radio waves from commercial transmitters
2- Identify the disturbances caused by flying objects
3- Derive the position of flying objects causing those disturbances by analysing the radio signals (fun with triangulation and GPS)
4- Pump all this data into a nice easy to understand visual.
Easy to summarise but hard to do.

The idea seems to be based around the concept of passive radar. Found a NASA page that describes the concept with a little more detail and friendly graphics.

All this obviously requires the airspace being surveilled to be flooded with radio waves of some sort. Sri Lanka has quite a gob of radio stations & transmitters. With the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation in the city, this shouldn’t be a problem (as if I know :).

To sift through the signal noise and identify flying objects you need the appropriate software. Enter the GNU Radio software collection founded by Eric Blossom who is (surprise) the presenter of the lecture.

Took me a while to figure out how the GNU Radio stuff fitted in. Here’ my understanding of tech jargon (PLEASE correct me if I’m wrong): The GNU Radio software collection (in this application) makes it easier to sort out the disturbances caused by objects moving through air space “flooded” with radio signals. The incoming radio waves are treated as software so apparently this process is quite efficient. The radio signal goes through some sort of conversion process via a hardware gadget called Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) a that you can plug into a USB port. Ok so it costs a wad (US$700) and I’m barely clinging on to an understanding here.

Theoretically its just an issue of telling (programming/”doing some math” as the presenter calls it) the software what to look out for. Essentially filter out the noise.

Passive radar: real world examples
Apparently there are applications of the concept in the real world. The presenter lists two:

1- Manastash Ridge Radar system at the University of Washington
2- Lockheed Martin’s Silent Sentry®system which is a commercial system meant for keeping an eye on your airspace.

Apparently the Lockeed Martin system is more in line with what you might want. Their big selling point is:

“Silent Sentry will cost less than traditional radar systems to buy and operate, because it is based on Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) office and radio receiver equipment, and doesn’t include any transmitter equipment. Silent Sentry will easily benefit from improvements in performance and reductions in cost of COTS components”

There is no price tag or a shopping cart facility on the site. Clearly you’ll have to call sales.

Normally I blog about what I know but this one pushes envelope. Similar to that older post about a radar simulation of Sri Lankan airspace. Remember that at this point I hardly understanding what I’m blogging about. But here you are. So thank you reading.

Disclaimer:
This should be obvious by now but there are apparently gullible idiots loafing the internet and the blogosphere so vut tu do kno (VTDK)?

I’m not associated or a promoter of any of the products/devices technologies described, refered to and/or in the links in this post. I am NOT implying that any of this will actually work if you try to put it together. If you wasted too much time and/or $$$$ building a dud of a radar based on the info in this post, well too bad.

How-To: Make your own MP3 player

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:54:00 -0700

We got a whiff of MAKE's Daisy a while back, but now we've finally managed to get our hands on one of these open source MP3 player kits. Today we'll whip out our soldering iron and show you how things shake out. The kit isn't dirt cheap at $115 each, but it's completely open source and flexible - making it ideal for a SunDIY afternoon (har), or for that soldering-iron-weilding open source fanatic in your life. Read on!

We grabbed our usual assortment of tools to make the board. Our fine tip 15 watt soldering iron, a set of "helping hands," a tube of solder some pliers and pair of diagonal or flat cutters. Of course, we always keep a multi-meter handy.

Take a few minutes to lay out all of your parts. Grab the instruction sheet and make sure you got everything. Once it's all accounted for, you'll be ready to start building. The instructions include just enough information to get you going. The big chip is the PIC controller that runs the show; it provides the control interface and feeds the data to the decoder chip. The Daisy is an odd marriage of SMD decoder chip and monstrous PIC controller.

The real star is this little guy. It's a MP3 / WAV decoder and headphone amp all in one. Soldering this chip to the board is the single most difficult, but important part of the build.

To mount the SMD chip, we tinned the solder pads with some solder. If you've got some liquid flux, your life will be easier later on. If you don't, just don't cook the solder too much as you tin the pads. Be sparing, it doesn't take much.

Yeah, yeah, we know this looks ugly, but we prettied it up later. Place the chip on the pads and heat each pin to melt the solder onto it. While the rest of the board is clear, make sure you've got a solid connection at each pin. You can check them with your multimeter - we put one probe on the top of the lead, and the other at the tip of the solder pad. If you're picky, you can use some desoldering braid to remove some of the excess solder.

There are two crystals in the kit. The marked crystal is 24.576Mhz, while the unmarked is 10Mhz. They're not polarized, so they can be mounted in either direction, just be sure to put them in the right locations.

After each component is soldered on, we trim each lead. We've found that flat cutter like these leave duller edges and help reduce flying bits.

If you haven't worked with resistor networks before, you'll be missing a vital bit of information. The dot on the end indicates the common lead. This corresponds with the bar on the resistor nets in the instruction diagram.

With long components, we usually solder one lead, and position the part while it's still hot. After that, finishing the job is easy. (To ensure good connections, make sure you heat the lead, then melt the solder on the hot tip/part lead.)

The headphone jack has fairly large leads. Since it's another surface mount component, we tinned the pads before mounting it. You can get away without doing it -- in fact, we didn't bother when we installed the SD card jack.

Make note of the position of the notch on the DIP jack for the PIC controller. It won't effect operation, but the notch indicates the pin numbering. It's good to be in the habit of following the standard.

The symbol for a diode looks like a triangle with a bar across one corner. The bar indicates the cathode of the diode -- the line on the end of the diode also indicates the cathode. Make sure you orient these in the proper direction before soldering them down.

The shape of the leads on the .01uf capacitors is by far the most annoying part of the build. They are too wide for all of the mounting holes.

The fix is simple enough. Grab a pair of pliers and carefully straighten the leads. Just don't torque on the lead near the body of the capacitor!

Once that's done, the biggest pain in the neck is placing all the caps in the various board locations. We noted a botched stencil mask job here - the labels for c11 and c12 overlap with the solder pads for the decoder chip. Ah well, we got the idea.

Mounting the voltage regulator is easy, just spread the leads a bit and insert it. The flat face corresponds with the stencil on the board.

This 10uf capacitor requires a bit of a bending job. Make sure to orient the leads correctly before you bend them.

The cap doesn't quite fit between the resistor net and the chip socket. We bent the network over a bit and made sure it didn't interfere with chip insertion.

The biggest flaw in the instructions has to do with the LEDs. LEDs are polarized - The instruction sheet only notes the flat side of the LED to indicate polarity -- but the small LEDs that come with the kit lack a flat side. The short lead on the LED also indicates the cathode. So insert the LEDs with the short lead at the flat notation of the LED on the board. Careful now!

When you try to install the PIC controller chip, you'll find that the leads are a bit wider than the socket. This is always the case with DIP hardware. To fix it, place the edge on a flat surface and push down gently. The idea is to bend all the pins uniformly.

We powered our Daisy up with 5v from our bench top PSU. (Modified PC power supply) We noted some noise from the PSU in the sound output - battery power prevents this.

To use the Daisy, you'll have to format either a SD / MMC card or a miniSD or microSD card in a SD adapter. (We scored a 256MB miniSD with adapter for $10, but you internet ferrets can probably do better.) Once we formatted the card to FAT32 with an external card reader, we loaded up some MP3s and powered the Daisy up in it's default configuration (no jumpers -- it would have been nice if the kit included some in the kit). The player started playing immediately at a decent volume. The sound quality is actually very good. We'd say that the kit is a medium difficulty build -- the SMD chip is the hardest part. After that, it's pretty easy.

The most interesting feature of this mp3 player is the flexibility of the configuration. Thanks to all the inputs and jumper configurations, the player can be customized to perform in most ways you can think of. We wish it included a USB port to allow the memory card to be easily accessed. For now you'll need something else to load your songs with. The various d-pins are temporarily grounded to tell the player what to do: track, volume, pause, etc.

Alright, we built it, now we'll tell you what we think about it.

The good:

Open source -- you can modify the firmware (especially with in-circuit programming). Lots of room to grow with that monstrous new PIC controller. The decoder chip sounds great. Serial controllable. Flexible from the get go -- you can choose the right mode and integrate it with other projects. The bad:

You need a PC and a card reader to format your card to FAT32 No USB interface for loading data. Should include jumpers for the price -- they're cheap, but can be a pain to hunt down. No display interface. What we'd love from Daisy 2:
If it was a full on surface mount project. The board would be smaller and the component cost could be reduced. Include a die cut transparency to apply solder with and cook it on some aluminum foil over the stove. In it's current state it's a neat project, but if all you want is music, a first-gen generation iPod nano doesn't cost much more -- and has serial control available through the dock connector. But you didn't buy this thing because you wanted a nano, obviously, you bought it because you wanted to build your own MP3 player just like Jobs and Gates. Well, now you can!

How To Become a Successful Businessman

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:12:00 -0700

It is a question of conditionality. No one word answer can make a complete solution and it varies depends on each one. Any how, the simple short cut to become a successful business man is to adopt a winning business strategy. But, a good business strategy cannot become a winning formula, if the entrepreneur does not posses the basic business skills. Hence, evaluate yourself critically, before you leap into the business.

Business is an entrepreneurship, run by you. To run the business, you must have the attitude to win. Life is not a bed of roses, but, business is worse, it is full of thorns. The setbacks in the business are most unexpected. Hence, you must be mentally prepared to overcome the hassles that come in the journey. The lives of the famous business people show that these hardships were actually the motivating factor behind their success. Hence, the motto of successful business men must be 'failure is a stepping stone of success'.

Apart from the infrastructure, business is built up on the interpersonal relationships. You must be a good communicator, who can gain confidence of others. The communicational intelligence is the basis of the interpersonal relations and the building up of a good rapport between you and your employees, is essential to lay a strong business foundation. Also, be conscious while the selection of the employees since they are the back bone of the business. The success to attain the assurance of the employees is an indication of your success in the future.

More than all these factors, discipline is the most important quality that a business man has to posses. Discipline implies both self discipline and financial discipline. The past stories prove that the lack of the discipline is the triggering factor behind the failure of most of the establishments. Financial discipline is inevitable since business is the rolling of the money. The finance strategy is based on the mode of the business.

To start up the business, the basic idea must be attractive. In the world of globalization, the competition is high and a substantial idea can only withstand. As the freshness of the idea increases, the chance to succeed also increases. Any how, the idea must be practically viable. "Well begun is half done". You can seek the help of some consultancies to help you to plan well before you launch. In addition to a catchy idea, potential marketing strategies are also essential to succeed in the business. You must essentially know what the target customers require and also be thorough with the latest developments and trends in the field since customers are always seeking the latest.

Level of service and quality of your work will be the main deciding factors for your success in the business. The customers expect pleasing behavior from you and if you could succeed to satisfy them. But, it does not mean that you have to show unrestricted lenience. Efficient staff can assist you to grab the confidence of the customers. However, your direct supervision is inevitable to coordinate it. Keep in mind to look over every unit of the department since the perfect functioning of all the departments is equally important to mold your business.

To add on, the spirit to excel is the necessary prerequisite to become a successful business man. Wise people used to compare an upcoming business man to a spider. As you know, spider does not give up its job to make the net, till it succeeds. Like that the business man also has to work till he succeeds. Remember, no business empire was built in a day; you have to wait for a little time to establish. The perseverance to win will help you to become a successful businessman one day.

Saying says that 'Dream for the sky, then, at least a handful will be yours'. But, to become a successful businessman, your attitude must be to 'dream the sky and ensure that you are at sky'. Try and try, till you succeed.

New Teachers - You Need a Weekly Lesson Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 07:48:00 -0700

Business people and marketing teams all have weekly plans. Why shouldn't you start the first few weeks of school off right with a weekly lesson plan? Most new teachers starting out with a new class can honestly look back on their first year and say that the hardest part of teaching is working the ropes of classroom management. Many feel that finding the balance between lesson planning and classroom management is really difficult for them. But your chances of keeping students attentive are higher when you have a more structured and appealing lesson that speaks to them.

This is why developing a weekly lesson plan for all the classes can ease your transition as a new teacher. If you find this too much, then you can break down the planning for different classes. By doing this weekly, you will notice what areas of planning need more attention and which areas need less.

Your weekly lesson plan should consist of the following:

1. Educational and learning goals and objectives. Even if you don't explicitly share this with the students, this will help with the rest of the planning. Plan on also writing an enabling skill or two. For example, if one of your goals is to teach summarization, make sure you teach them note taking and how to find the main idea first.

2. A List of activities for each part of the lesson. A typical lesson should have a beginning, a middle and an end. See which activities are more suitable for the beginning. Do you also want to include group work activities? Then you'll also need to factor that into your lesson plan.

3. Vary the mode of interaction - Don't teach all your lessons frontally. A good way to diversify the teaching is to include pair or group work. Think about which types of materials you intend on using. Try also alternating between the whiteboard (or blackboard) and other information technologies (ie. Internet, power point presentation, etc.)

4. Back-up plans - Many new teachers underestimate the importance of a back-up plan. If you know your class reasonably well, this should not be so hard to do. Always have a resource back-up of materials in your teacher's bag for those unanticipated surprising moments.

As you get to know what especially ticks your students, you will try and find ways to duplicate the success. Of course, each class works differently so you won't be using the same activities over and over again. After you teach the lesson, you can make comments such as how well students coped, specific difficulties, what was especially challenging.

Students can smell out an organized teacher. The difference in your planning might be a more organized lesson. So put your planning gear into action and make your weekly lesson plans today.

Dorit Sasson is an ESL teacher and a full time freelance writer. For more tips, ideas and articles on strategic teaching and how to engage students in your lessons, visit Dorit Sasson's blog at: http://newteacherresourcecenter.blogspot.com/

You can also read additional articles at the new teacher support website at: http://newteachersupport.suite101.com

7 Reasons For Using Flip-Charts For Coaching

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 07:47:00 -0700

# 1: Flip-Charts activate the collective brain power of a group

One of the key elements in Accelerate Learning Techniques is active involvement of the learners. There are two ways to involve your audience using the flip-charts:

1) Solicit ideas and capture them on the flip-chart yourself being the trainer
2) Pass out markers and let the participants do their own problem solving and writings.

By involving others, you take ourselves out of the role of a presenter or subject matter expert, and move into a new role of being a facilitator. Advantages of this new role, is that you have become less intimidating and more professional since we build on the knowledge of the group and avoid talking down to or controlling others. As we have always said in active learning - you learnt the best when the information given is related to the learners on a personal basis. Most effective way of learning is to have input into what happens to, and with, them.

# 2: Flip-Charts Facilitate Creativity

Using flip-charts in presentation allows you to express your personality and ideas on paper. Unlike computer software programs, flip-charts free you to become as creative as you like. You can draw anything there. You are limited only by your own imagination. To enhance your flip-charts skills, you are encouraged to take opportunities to practice whenever possible. Pick a couple of images or characters you like from any source and doodle whenever you have time. Draw the images on scraps of paper, restaurants napkins, or any writing surface you can find. Very soon, you will be able to replicate the images onto a flip-chart with little effort. Personally, I love drawing on flip-charts, because my audience always find it personal, sincere and fresh.

# 3: Flip-Charts are the Best Visual Aids in Coaching

The main reason for using flip-charts is because they help presenters to communicate their ideas and messages across to the audience much better. There are many reports in several business schools in United States that stated presentations with visual aids increases the effectiveness, as perceived by audience. Typical comments following presentations with flip-charts were "better prepared", "more concise", "clearer", "more interesting", "not boring at all", "I can follow the lectures clearly" and "I love his presentations using the flip-charts".

If you have ever tried to take notes as someone rattles on, seemingly oblivious to the audience, you will understand that value of flip-charts. Students can perhaps testify to this - remember the long and boring power-point presentations by your school teachers, without knowing whether the students are following them or not?

# 4: Flip-Charts Writing by Participants Increases their Interest & Learning

Giving your participants a chance to write on flip-charts increases their interest and learning.

Confucius (551 - 479 B.C.) once said:
I hear; I forget
I see, I remember
I do, I understand

The message here is that even though you may get some of your message across by speaking or demonstrating, the most effective method of coaching and making sure your participants are learning effectively is getting them to participate actively.

And more specifically for Chemistry learning, it is a academic subject that you can't score well if you just memorize directly the chemistry theories. What you need is to understand and have a strong foundation of essential concepts and then apply it according to application-based questions.

# 5: Flip-Charts allows Reviews to Accelerate Learning

Flip-charts review is another big advantage in presentations and coaching. Because the flip-charts can be pasted on the walls of the room, after each session of the lectures, participants can review what they have learned earlier. This is most effective when we conduct "Partner-Sharing" during such flip-charts review.

At other times, participants can also refer to the posted flip-charts without interrupting to ask the facilitator to repeat a point, they are able to review material or catch up at their own speed. In addition, flip-charts provide a vehicle for reinforcing what participants heard, or thought they heard.

Many times after the coaching session, we also compiled and transferred the flip-charts onto softcopy so that we can email it to the participants for reviews on their own, Just because the information there are written in a personalized way and these participants have read it before using their eyes and mind, such re-caps almost never fail to rekindle their knowledge and reinforce what they have learnt earlier. This is the power of associations based on earlier experiences.

# 6: Flip-Charts presentations signifies Professionalism

Whenever I see someone uses a flip-charts extensively for their presentations, I always perceived them to be a professional in coaching that specific subject, no matter how much knowledge they have in that subject. It is kind of "only subject matter expert have the capacity and confidence that uses flip-charts" perception. And this always allow me to listen to them immediately without prejudice and suspicion.

# 7: Flip-Charts are Simple & Inexpensive to Use

Flip-charts have long been the choice for professional coaches during presentations. They are versatile, simple to set-up and use, and convenient for capturing ideas quickly. They also require no cords or electrical connections, and are relatively inexpensive compared with other visual aids. They can also be used virtually anywhere, be it indoor or outdoor.

With flip-charts, you won't have to worry to carry an overhead projector, bulbs, extension cords, white screens, and other accessories. You don't even have to supply a stand to use them. With masking tape, straight pins, and/or clips, you can turn nearly any wall surface into a writing surface. This meaning you can turn virtually any large room or open space into an ideal presenter's forum. All you need is flip-chart papers and markers of different colors.

Many people talked about teaching Chemistry, Sean Chua Lian Heng lives it. He is a passionate Chemistry Coach based in Singapore, Southeast-Asia and one of the most dynamic, powerful and humorous speakers in Asia. He has empowered hundreds of students to experience Chemistry learning with a difference, and unlock the secrets to achieve the grades they truly deserve.

He specialized in helping students through The 1ST in Singapore GCE 'O' Level Chemistry Intensive BootCamp and Organic Chemistry Mastery Workshop using Accelerated Learning Techniques. His 10 years of coaching experience has equipped him to understand the true reasons why students are not able to perform well in Chemistry, and has allowed him to structure his teaching methodology to cater to different levels of learners. Sean has produced many outstanding students who have achieved marvelous 'O' Level Chemistry results under his wings of patient guidance and coaching.

His chemistry coaching methodology emphasizes on the vital 4 'A's and has a 100% proven track record to help students to improve their chemistry grades:
- Associations with Everyday Life
- Applications in Real Life & Industrial Examples
- Analogies for abstract Chemistry Theories
- Accelerated Learning Techniques

Having acquired knowledge in the different fields of Chemistry during his Polytechnic and University days Sean is able to communicate experiences, real life Chemistry observations, apt analogies - all this to simplify the Chemistry Concepts for students to grasp and remember in an easier manner. He also has several years of experience as a Chemist and Technical Specialist for the fast-growing Research Chemical Industry. Through his extensive experiences in the Chemical Research arena, he is constantly talking to aspiring scientists, researchers as well as Deans, educators in local universities and schools - such updated research and market trends are always the highlights when students asked about how each Chemistry topics relate to real life situation.

Qigong - Means of China's Cultural Promotion

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 07:46:00 -0700

"Going abroad" has become a popular phrase in China as its fast growing enterprises are doing more business outside. Traditional Chinese culture is also following this trend. Qigong, one of the cultural symbols, is going abroad to show off the skills which have taken thousands of years to develop.

Health Qigong is a gem of Chinese traditional culture. Its Chinese characteristics and healthy lifestyle may attract foreigners who are interested in Chinese culture and health.

As the double-digit growth of China's economy continues, Chinese traditional culture has become a focus for the outside world. Some typical Chinese symbols, like martial arts, acupuncture and tai chi have spread around the globe.

Qigong (also written as Chi Kung) refers to the type of exercise that manages the health of mind, body and breath. The word consists of two Chinese characters: qi and gong. Qi, as used in the context of the phrase qigong, refers to both the signal that controls the functioning of the body and the actual functions of the body. The word gong is the short form for gong fu (kung fu), which means training with time and effort.

In its 5,000-year history, qigong has absorbed different traditional Chinese cultural schools. The CHQA said that Confucians practise qigong to cultivate mind and body; Taoists and Buddhists do it to transcend worldliness; Chinese doctors use it to cure illness and maintain health; and martial arts practitioners do it to defend and fight attacks.

Nowadays, qigong has been classified into two categories: one is Medical Qigong, which is used in some Chinese traditional medical treatment, and the other is Health Qigong, which people use to stay healthy. Because of its effectiveness, Health Qigong is popular. Every morning, senior citizens gather in parks and on riverbanks to practise qigong, making it a typical scene of Chinese city life.

Besides the attitude to health, qigong embraces far more Chinese life philosophy. Qigong practitioners have to concentrate their minds when practicing. They have to be peaceful and quiet during their practicing. Qigong needs a moderate attitude, instead of being emulative in competitive sports. All these requirements will help build a moderate, peaceful and amiable character, a typical Chinese person's character created mostly by Confucian philosophy.

In the Chinese concept of health, the body, mind, moral character and self-cultivation are all interrelated, thus practicing qigong is learning the Chinese way to conduct oneself in society at the same time; However, what's more important is that the philosophy qigong embraces promotes not only the integration of body and mind, but also the environment and mankind, society and individuals. In the rapidly growing modern international society challenged by environmental pollution and social conflicts, this philosophy seems critical for building a harmonious world. When people have fewer diseases and material desires, they can live in harmony and peace; however, a result-oriented attitude may lead to problems and failure. Instead, we should enjoy the process and practise the lifestyle.

Click to find more about Mixed Martial Arts

How to Take the Most of a Seminar

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 07:46:00 -0700

Most of us have attended seminars. Be it as a representative of the company, individual seeking for promotion or as a student, there is a return of investment to think of. Attending a seminar can be challenging or boring. No matter what the result may be, you must put some life to it.

Here are 8 tips that will help you make the most of a seminar:

Be familiar with the theme. Your aim in attending a seminar is to enhance your knowledge on a certain field. Getting familiar with the theme will give you ideas on what to expect from the seminar and prepare relevant questions.
Prepare everything that you are going to need on the night before the seminar. You don't want to wake up early morning looking and thinking of what things to prepare.
Avoid taking too heavy meals an hour before the seminar. You don`t want to be bothered with diarrhea during the seminar. This will also help you relax.
Do not create destructions while the seminar is going on. Turn off electronic devices such as cellular phones, pagers, and etc. This will destruct the speaker`s attention once it sounds.
Take down notes. List the key pointers that will be discussed on the seminar. Your notes will be your guide for reviews.
Stay focused. As the seminar goes on, you might get bored with the discussion. Do not lose your attention on the things around and make sure to stay awake along the way.
Participate. A good seminar is when relevant questions are raised. Throw questions at the speaker for any clarification on a certain area.
Give appreciation to the speaker. Most attendees do not give credit to the speaker which is sad, but true.

Let this be your guide on your next seminar. Now that you know the things that you need to do, you will surely be able to grasp the purpose of the seminar.

If you want to know more about Seminar Topics then feel Free to visit Computer Seminar Topics and Engineering Seminar Topics

How to Choose the Right Medical Transcription Training Program

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 07:45:00 -0700

When it comes to choosing the best Medical Transcription training program for oneself, it can be a very confusing a frustrating experience.

How do you know what a quality program and school looks like? There are so many advertisements out there and they all look great and promise great things. One of the things we really don't want to do is to pick a school that, when we go looking for that first job, turns out not to be one that the transcription employers look favorably on!

So how to choose?

Here are some guidelines you can use to help ensure you are picking the right training program for yourself. These guidelines are recommended by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI):

1. The program should be taught by qualified instructors who are credentialed experts in their respective fields.

2. The program should employ certified medical transcriptionists to teach medical transcription practice courses.

The experienced pros will be able to give you all kinds of assistance and show you tips and tricks that someone who has merely studied cannot.

3. The program should indicate the number of classroom hours students actually perform medical transcription.

4. The program should indicate the number of minutes of actual physician dictation used for practice (The Model Curriculum recommends 30 dictated hours of actual physician dictation.)

It is all right to start out with dictation not done by physicians for getting a feel for it, but you MUST have actual physician-dictated material to work with, or you will be lost when you get in the real world!

5. Will the school provide names and addresses of former students as references?

Contact them. Find out what they liked, and didn't like.

6. Does the school have an advisory board? Does it include certified medical transcriptionists?

7. The program should indicate length of externship or on-the-job experience available (The Model Curriculum recommends 10 dictated hours of authentic physician dictation, for a total of 40 dictated hours during the training program.)

8. It should include relevant publications among its educational materials.

9. The school should use the AAMT Book of Style for Medical Transcription, 2nd edition in its training curriculum.

10. The program should be based on The Model Curriculum for Medical Transcription*, 3rd edition, published by AHDI, which recommends courses in the following:

* English grammar and punctuation
* Medical language
* Anatomy and physiology
* Disease processes
* Pharmacology and laboratory medicine
* Transcription technology
* Medical transcription practice
* Healthcare records

11. Privacy, ethics, and other medicolegal issues

12. Lastly, the school should offer job placement assistance.

This can be invaluable! What a relief to know that the school, with all its business contacts, is in your corner helping you find that all-important first job!

Pam Lyon is the author of "Inside Medical Transcription" - the real truth about the life of a medical transcriptionist. Pam is a 30-year veteran of the Transcription business, and has seen it all. If you are thinking about a career in Medical Transcription, you need this book! Visit => insidemedicaltranscription.com

Continuing Your Education As a Graphic Designer

noreply@blogger.com (Genius-Khaled) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 07:44:00 -0700

As a graphic designer you will most likely want to continue your education after you have been practicing on your own, or using your skills out in the working world. It does not matter if you already own your own freelance design business or you never went to college yet, education is important. It will help you improve your skills as a graphic designer.

If you are already a professional designer, continuing education will help you to think of and implement new ideas into your art. As well, you may discover a new role within graphic design which may suddenly catch your interest and lead you in a different direction. Many times a person working in graphic design will decide they are tired of working for others and would like to start their own newspaper or magazine. At other times a person has decided to start their own advertising agency or art production company.

There are many ways you can continue your education in graphic design beyond the skills you may already have. Many people prefer the traditional classroom setting. This is perfectly fine. In that case you could attend school at a local college or trade school. You may be a graphic artist that never did get a formal degree and may wish to now attend full time college, if you can manage the cost. If you are older and don't want to be in a room full of recent High School graduates, you may consider night classes.

Generally, older people or those working during the day attend night school. As well, married people or single parents many times have to attend classes at night. Night classes are usually held at local community colleges or trade schools from 1 to 3 nights a week. Night classes work out great when you work full-time to pay for the classes or you work in graphic design already and are just seeking more skill. The classes count toward a formal degree or certification just like daytime classes do. Obtaining a formal degree does not guarantee you a job, but it will help prove your proficiency in a give area.

Another way to continue your education is to study in your home and work out of your home at the same time. Usually people who want to start their own business and increase their skills at their same time will set up some time to study as part of their work day. People who have stay home children or cannot get out their house easily, due to some incapacitation, will choose this option. Online learning is become more sophisticated and important every year. The great benefit of it is that you can do it in multiple locations, on your own, at different times of the day. Self paced tutorials and virtual classrooms are the choices many self-educated people choose. Correspondence schools are becoming less popular due to the convenience of on-line teaching. But you must be self-motivated and disciplined to get through internet courses.

Just because you decide to attend school once in a formal setting or at you own home does not mean that you will never need to go again. Most people involved in professional careers will update their education periodically. Work related conferences or retreats are usually a way to stay up to date. The very best graphic designers never stop trying to learn more. As well, technology is constantly changing in the graphic design fields, and you will need to keep up to date on the latest products, techniques and software.

Mark D. Jordan is a writer and researcher living near Harrisburg Pennsylvania. More related information can be read at http://www.bestgraphicdesignideas.com