josemourinho

Internet-enabled surveillance

— Photo: Anand Parthasarathy

All-in-one seeing eye:

 eCon infotech’s integrated IP-camera-surveillance system.

The Olympic Games just ended, saw one of the largest deployments ofpublic video surveillance in recent times. Chinese Internetsolutions provider H3C Technologies worked with Beijing’sPublic Transportation Group to monitor the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)lines as well as the special Olympic stadia bus lines —10,000 monitoring points in all.

Back in India, many central and state agencies have begunharnessing video surveillance technology in the fight againstterrorism. Delhi Police has put out a global call for technologyharnessing Internet Protocol (IP) based video monitoring of key public places like markets and bus stations.

Bangalore which experienced a terrorist bomb episode recently hasalready created a TV camera-based monitoring system primarily fortraffic management. Now it will be beefed up with another 500cameras to keep track of suspicious activity at vulnerable publicplaces.

The D90's high-def video capability was highly anticipated on techblogs in the weeks leading up to Wednesday's announcement, as theD90 is among the first D-SLRs to be able to capture high-def video.(Canon's recently announced high-grade

EOS 50D

 SLR surprisingly does not feature HD capability.) When in HD videocapture mode, the camera can record with any lens and with anyother image adjustments like color filter effects, lighting modes,and exposure settings. An HDMI out also allows for picture andaudio/video playback on HDTVs.

According to Nikon, the new Expeed processor will help boost theD90's overall ability to capture images quickly; the camera willstart up in .15 seconds, continuously shoot at 4.5images-per-second on its highest quality setting, and have shutterlag of a mere .65 seconds.

The camera's sensor has an upgrade of its own: The D90 will haveNikon's "dynamic integrated dust reduction system," whichautomatically removes dust from the sensor. This feature iscurrently on its higher-end D-SLRs including the

D300

Canon today announced the Canon EOS 50D Digital SLR camera with a15-megapixel sensor and Canon's new DIGIC 4 image processor.Designed to offer improved quality and image control for theprosumer photographer, the Canon EOS 50D includes an expanded ISOrange, improved noise reduction, and in-camera photo editingfeatures.

The manufacturer has loaded the Canon EOS 50D with a number ofenhancements and some trickle-down technology from Canon'sprofessional DSLR cameras, as well as a new Creative Auto Mode (CA)that gives users more flexibility to make image setting adjustmentswithout the need to be a photo expert.

The Canon EOS 50D builds upon the EOS 40D model, which will remainin Canon's line, and carries over the 14-bit Analog-to-Digitalconversion process for smoother tones, and also includes enhancednoise reduction at especially high ISO ranges. Capable of shooting6.3 frames per second (fps), the Canon EOS 50D is supposed to beideal for shooting everything from night landscapes to fast-actionsports.

A PC for editing AVC

I've bought a new HD video camera which records in AVCHD. When Ilooked at the Pinnacle editing software supplied with it, I readthat the minimum requirements include an Intel quad core processorrunning at 2.66GHz. I have consulted PC World, Dell and HP, andnone has a home computer running at this speed. What can I do?

Richard Cooke

JS:

 AVCHD is one of the high-definition movie standards used byBlu-ray and HD DVD and allows for pictures that are 1,920 x 1,080pixels. It is a highly compressed format, to save space, but as aconsequence it requires a great deal of processing power toreconstruct the original image. What the camera salesmen don't tellyou is that just displaying 25 of these large images a second isbeyond many PCs, unless they have accelerated graphics. Editingthem can be a nightmare, and a common approach (taken by Apple'sFinal Cut Pro, among others) is to transcode them into somethingthat is easier to handle. The

Wikipedia page on AVCHS

LME announces first delivery for Mediterranean steel futures billetcontract

Turkey - 2008 August 7

The London Metal Exchange (LME) has announced on August 6 that thefirst delivery with a total of 2405 mt of steel has been deliveredto Tekirdag, Turkey for the Mediterranean (FM) steel futures billetcontract.

In mid of July, LME has listed Henry Bath storage facility inTekirdag, Istanbul for the storage of steel billet as good deliveryagainst the LME Mediterranean Steel Billet contract.

The LME approved Henry Bath storage facility is located at:-

Compound Tekirdag D

Akport Tekirdag Liman Isletmesi

Barbaros Yolu Uzeri, Liman

Tekirdag

They other storage facilities include N.E.M.S., Metro and Steinweg.

Steel prices may continue to be under pressure

As the margins for billet producers are at near record levels,there is no expectation of a production cutback. This is likely toexert further pressure on steel prices during the rest of thecurrent year and in 2009.

Mumbai, Aug 8 For a variety of reasons, the market outlook forsteel does not appear positive.

Prices are under pressure and would continue to remain so. Cracksare beginning to emerge in the steel billet and long productmarkets with the product performance confirming a distinctionbetween industrialised countries and emerging economies. No doubt,demand in certain markets – notably the West Asia and theBRICS economies – remains firm; but in major industrialisedcountries, the OECD area, demand growth is easing followingperceptible slowdown in economic activity.

Price Differential

High and rising energy costs have added to the uncertainty. Also,the impetus from higher raw material prices is beginning to fade.

August

27, 2008

Chinese billet price continues downtrend

It is reported that China's steel billet prices have show ncontinuous decline amid the overall weakening steel market. Andprice for 20MnSi steel billet has witnessed an accumulative retreatof over CNY 200 per tonne in Tangshan.

Currently, price for 20MnSi goes at CNY 5,300 per tonne inTangshan, Liaoning, Handan, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Shandong and CNY5,200 per tonne in Shanxi; while price for Q235 common carbonbillet prevails at CNY 5,050 per tonne in Tangshan and Shanxi andCNY 5,200 per tonne in Shandong. Prices have seen an overalldecline of CNY 50 per tonne to CNY 100 per tonne compared with theprevious week.

The overall softening domestic steel market seems to be thefundamental reason for steel billet price decline. And end-usersare holding back from placing orders despite the weakening offerprices for down-stream finished products.

August

27, 2008

Baotou Steel net profit in H1 rises by 144% YoY

It is reported that Baotou Steel lately issued its H1 performancereport which showed that it produced 4.58 million tonnes of pigiron, 4.66 million tonnes of steel product and some 4.45 milliontonnes of steel billet in the period. It fulfilled sales revenue of CNY 19.56 billion a hike of 113.53% YoY of which, steel exportescalated by 36% to USD 385 million. Net profit rocketed up by143.58% to CNY 1.1 billion.

Its main business income leapt 115.69% from last year to CNY 19.76billion compared to the cost of CNY 17.15 billion or a rise of106.52%.

Since being overall listed this year, the steel mill remainedstably high output in its major products such as molten iron, steelbillet, HR/CR sheet, galvanized sheet, seamless tube, heavy rail,wire rod and bar products.

Published August 25, 2008

A Geraldine man died Sunday afternoon in an all-terrain vehiclewreck near Ider.

State troopers said Michael Combs, 32, was killed on County Road763 around noon. He was driving a Yahama three-wheeler. Trooperssaid there were no other vehicles involved.

The initial investigation is that the vehicle entered a curve andleft the roadway striking a tree, said trooper spokesperson MarthaEarnhardt. The wreck is under investigation by state troopers.

An unrelated fatal wreck happened early Saturday morning nearCrossville.

Troopers said Benjamin Riley Peppers, 19 of Boaz, was killed in thetwo-vehicle accident that happened at 12:55 at the intersection ofCounty Road 8 and Alabama Highway 227, about 5 miles south ofCrossville.

Peppers was a passenger in a 1996 Pontiac when it collided with a2004 Chevrolet pickup.

Information we received indicates he was trapped inside thevehicle, Earnhardt said. He was not wearing a seat belt.

The Pontiacs driver, Daniel Joseph Fazio, 18 of Crossville, washurt and taken to Huntsville Hospital. A hospital spokesperson saidMonday Daniel Fazio was in the neurological intensive care unitlisted in critical condition.

Adam Fazio, 20 of Crossville and the other passenger in thePontiac, was hurt and taken to Marshall Medical Center South inBoaz. His condition was not immediately known on Monday.

The pickups driver, Gary Burke, 60 of Crossville, was not injured.

By

Dan Armstrong

Monday, August 25, 2008 at 4:24 p.m.

PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP -- Michigan State Police Troopers were calledto a Plainfield Township trail around 9:30pm Sunday. The ATV driver, 23-year-old Kyle Beyer,?hit a power pole and was thrownfrom the ATV.?he was not wearing a helmet and was pronounced deadon scene.

A friend went looking for?Beyer, of Garden City, when Beyer didn'tcome back to the cabin. There is no word on what caused Beyer toleave the trail and hit the pole.

LANCASTER, Wis. --

 An all-terrain vehicle crash in Grant County Sunday left a3-year-old boy dead and his father with a broken leg.

Deputies said Bradley J. Bahl, 29, of Lancaster, was riding the ATV on his property Sunday morning with his son, Andrew M. Bahl.

The vehicle crashed about 11:30 a.m., rolling over and pinning theboy.

Andrew Bahl was transported to Grant Regional Hospital and thenflown by MedFlight to a Madison hospital, where he was pronounceddead.

Authorities said no charges are expected.

TOWN OF KNAPP  Charges are pending against a 23-year-old Warrensman who authorities said was driving drunk when he struck andkilled a 60-year-old woman on an ATV Saturday afternoon, accordingto the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department.

Karen Gibson of Brodhead, Wis., was killed when her ATV was struckby a car driven by Phillip J. Holloway, 23, of Warrens about 4:15p.m. Saturday on Fish Creek Road in the town of Knapp, thedepartment stated.

A girl also riding on the ATV sustained nonlife-threateninginjuries.

Holloway is being held in the Jackson County Jail pending possiblecharges related to the crash, according to the department.

Quem anda de ônibus na RMR tem agora o que ver além dajanela.

Um sistema de TV fechado com programaçãoespecialmente elaborada para o usuário do sistemapúblico de transporte público.

A Secretaria das Cidades e Empresa Metropolitana de TransportesUrbanos (EMTU) apresentou hoje a inovação como‘seqüência às ações demelhoria de qualidade do Sistema de Transporte Público dePassageiros promovidas pelo Governo do Estado’.

Inicialmente, serão 55 veículos equipados (dasempresas Borborema e Transcol), distribuídos nas linhas 520- Macaxeira/ Parnamirim, 50 – PE-15/ Boa Viagem, 531 –Casa Amarela (Rosa e Silva), 31 – Shopping Center (Ter. Res.Voa Viagem), 40 CDU/ Boa Viagem/ Caxangá, 71 –Candeias e 522 – Dois Irmãos (Rui Barbosa). Aexpectativa é de que em 2009, este número chegue a250 veículos. Os coletivos equipados com o BUS TV/Casablancaentram em operação ao logo desta semana.

Inorganic polyphosphates are generally recognised as safe (GRAS)and are used as food additives in the meat and dairy industry toprotect flavour, to maintain the "juiciness" of meat bybinding water to it, and to inhibit rancidity and colourdeterioration.

Oregon State University researchers claim this is the first time astudy has been conducted on the

antimicrobial

 properties of polyphosphates against

STPP protests against price hike

Saturday, July 26, 2008

By our correspondent

HYDERABAD: Activists of the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party (STPP) hereon Friday took out a protest rally against price hike andestablishment of the Thar Coal Authority in front of the HyderabadPress Club.

The protesters were holding banners and placards inscribed withslogans against the price hike, joblessness and demolition ofvillages in Karachi. STPP leaders Hot Khan Gadi, Muzaffar Kalhoro,Haider Shahani, Sehr Rizvi and others led the rally.

Speaking on the occasion, they criticised the policies of thepresent government and termed them a continuation of the Musharrafpolicies. They said the recent price hike and the surge in thepetroleum prices was a fact that the present government had madefake promises and sidelined its mandate of the restoration ofjudges and reduction in the price hike. They said people werefeeling themselves insecure in the country because of thegovernment policies.

They demanded that the demolition of old villages in Karachi shouldbe stopped. They termed the establishment of the Thar CoalAuthority a conspiracy of Islamabad to take control over resourcesof Sindh.

Coalition should reinstate deposed judges: STPP

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

By our correspondent

HYDERABAD: Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party (STPP) Chairman Dr QadirMagsi here on Tuesday demanded Pervez Musharraf's trial for hisnine-year 'injustices' to the nation.

Addressing a news conference at the Hyderabad press club, he said atribunal of honest judges should be formed for the purpose. Magsisaid Musharraf had done injustices to the nation and killedthousands of people for his personal gains by raising akistanFirst?slogan.

He said the ruling coalition should abide by their commitment tothe reinstatement of the superior judiciary within 72 hours of theresignation of Musharraf, otherwise, they would lose theircredibility. He demanded that the role of agencies in politicsshould be brought to an end.

At the IBC2008, Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) will showcase threenew mobile TV-ready additions to its family of broadcast RFfilters. Specially designed for collocated broadcast/mobile basestations, the new filters  a 2kW and a 5kW low-pass filter plus a0.6kW UHF bandpass filter with integrated low-pass filter  deliverpremium RF performance across the 470MHz-862MHz band and preventinterference between collocated mobile TV and phone services.

 A two-stage RF filtering process is required for collocatingbroadcast transmission sites with mobile base stations, said DieterPelz, RFS senior engineer Mobile TV transmissions can producenatural harmonic signals that have the potential to interfere anddegrade existing wireless communications networks, causing calldrop-outs. Both DTV transmission mask filtering and low-passfiltering prevent the mobile TV signal harmonics and transmitterspurious signals from blocking cellular receivers."

 RFSs new 6PX80E bandpass filter with integrated low-pass filterprovides mobile TV network operators with a two-in-one mobile TVfiltering solution. The single unit provides a transmission maskthrough a six-pole cross-coupled bandpass filter plus low-passfiltering. The 6PX80E is rack-mountable for easy installation andretrofitting.

Press Release

 Release date: August 20, 2008

   Tiffen Announces Its Dfx Version 2.0 Digital Filter Software NowOffers an Incredible Two Thousand Filters and Effects!

  Hauppauge, New York, August 18, 2008 - Based on the success of itsoriginal award-winning Dfx Digital Filter software thatrevolutionized the digital filter market, Tiffen now introduces Dfxversion 2.0.

  Steven Tiffen, company CEO commented. "We are very excited aboutthe release of TiffenDfx version 2.0. It affirms our on-goingcommitment tothe software category, as we extend our reach into thedigital imaging marketplace with innovative new products."

  The new version now features multiple masking and layeringcapabilities with its Photoshop and Aperture plug-ins, previouslyonly offered with the Stand-alone edition, plus more than 1,000 newfilters and effects including: Ambient Light, Close Up Lens, Dot,Eye Light, Flag, Gobo, HFX?Star, Haze, High Contrast, Ice Halos,Rainbows, Sepia, Sky, Soft Contrast, Soft Light, Warm Center Spot,Warm Polarizer, Water Droplets, Wide Angle Lens and 812?Warming.

Most surge protection devices suppress power surges, but theydon’t eliminate them. Rudy Harford, chief engineer atZeroSurge, said the company wants to correct that.

  In 1989, Harford designed a surge protection circuit that was basedon a filter, rather than a surge suppressor, which is what mostsurge protection devices use.

  About four or five years ago, when a military supplier asked ifZeroSurge could extend the product’s voltage operating range,the company said yes. “We want to eliminate the surgealtogether,” Harford said.

  Harford and his team added a cancelling winding voltage featurethat he said completely eliminates surge damage.

  Surges can be as large as 6,000 volts on a power line, he said.Metal oxide varistors will start clamping up at a couple of hundredvolts. The ZeroSurge filter acts on surges independent of thevoltage, he said. The filtering action is continuous.

  To understand the ZeroSurge product, visualize a screen withone-inch squares, Harford said. It will let little stuff comethrough, but it will stop the bigger stuff. Higher frequencies andsurges won’t get through.

  Potential users include anyone who has a critical application andis concerned about the safety of their equipment, such as medicalworkers or the military, Harford said.

  Prices start at $130 and go up from there. The company offers a10-year warranty, Harford said.

  More information:

www.zerosurge.com

  And check out the GCN Lab's review of ZeroSurge's surge protector

here

The U.S. Navy

 has awarded an $8.1 million contract extension to

Pole Zero Corp.

 for satellite filters.

 The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, at St. Inigoes,Md., is exercising a contract option for high frequency satellitecommunications filters and interface adapters in support of theRemote Radio Secure Voice System Program. The award is amodification under previously awarded contract.

 The technology ensures the satellites located within a closeproximity of each other do not interferer with each other'scommunication frequencies.

 West Chester-based Pole Zero's filters prevent interference similarto when a car radio picks up a station spillover on anotherfrequency. If the car radio had a Pole Zero filter, it would onlypick up the station it was set to receive. This ability to lockonto a specific frequency becomes critical in military applicationswhere radar, two-way radios and other devices operate within closeproximity at high power.

 Work will be filters performed in West Chester and is expected to becompleted in August 2009.

 Pole Zero employs about 250 and focuses on radio frequencymitigation products used primarily in airborne and naval defensecommunications applications.

 Pole Zero is a subsidiary of New York-based

Dover Corp.

 (NYSE: DOV).