Scrolling LED signs

Scrolling LED signs

by: Paula Jones

Scrolling LED signs is type of LED signs that displays Scrolling text and can be used as outdoor and/or indoor outlet. Wide variety of businesses uses this equipment to spread news and other information quickly and efficiently. These are widely used in the areas like clinic, airport, industry, sporting events, banks and many others.

Scrolling LED signs can be connected to corridor of any business firm , hospital’s main appointment system, airport’s waiting division to display updated and current information, circular, notice or commentary automatically without disturbing the in progress activity and staff. This minimizes the work as well saves time marking the whole administration more productive and efficient.

These scrolling LED uses the advance technology called LED, which stands for light emitting diode and can generate massage in any color you want. Mostly red, green and yellow color the common choices; you can have multi color versions with combination of all. However, blue and white are the most difficult to produce by LED, Jayex technology gives choice from those colors too. You can customize you scrolled LED sign by having color of character according to your choice.

Scrolling LED signs are available in different sizes and character height with number of character per line. There is wide range of choice given by manufacturing department of Jayex Technology, buyers can choose from their according the are when it will be used.

The important point to notice here is that Scrolling LED signs are easy to use as they are programmed such that any one can operate these sings with least expertise and easily. Moreover this gives bright effect of the scrolling text, so that information can be view from great distance very clearly.

Generally these signs are used as indoor outlet very often, where mounting signs in wall is possible in some of the areas, they can include obtain accessories that comes with signs. If you are using these sings are outdoor outlet, you also need protective fixation to long the life of sign board. Of course maintenance department of Jayex technology offers services for maintenance, and upkeep the product in the case of any damage occur.

For scrolling LED signs, operator can program for scrolling speed, direction, content etc.

About The Author

Paula Jones

Jayex Technology Limited, based in London specialise in advanced information display systems. Established in 1978 we have pioneered the development of the LED display market and now have over 18,000 customers worldwide. We offer, probably the largest range of models from small single line signs to big screen Megavision screens that can display live video and action replay in stadia.

jayex.co.uk

This article was posted on September 28, 2004

by Paula Jones

The Future of Video Games

The Future of Video Games

by: Daniel Punch

I’ve recently been thinking about where video games could be going in the future. I’m hoping to work in the game industry one day after I’ve finished university study and I’ve been wondering about it a lot. What do I want to see happen in the future? Well I may not have too many answers right now, but I have come up with a few ideas that I think may come into ‘play’ in the not too distant future.

Firstly forget Virtual Reality, as we know it. They’ve tried VR goggles and they made a lot of people sick in doing so. It’s probably never going to work very well in its current form. They’re still around and you can still buy them but they really don’t seem to be taking off. It will probably take a lot to get people totally immersed and involved in a new form of game play. It’s threatening to lose touch with the outside world and the people around you aren’t going to appreciate it much either. The Scifi neural implants are also both a long way off and not likely to be accepted by a majority of the general populace without some severe marketing and luck. I for one am not planning on going through brain surgery just to have a computer attached to my head. In fact I never want anyone to able to plug into my brain.

A technology that was brought to my attention by a zealous presenter at the local ‘Science and Technology Centre’ (a sort of science museum aimed at making science fun for children and juvenile adults such as yours truly) is that of ‘Augmented Reality’. Augmented Reality is essentially the overlaying of virtual elements onto the real world, such as a pair of transparent glasses that can display certain elements over the top of what is actually there. I agree with the presenter in that this could indeed have some awesome potential. Forget all the socially beneficial applications such as workmen being able to view underground pipes before digging, think about it from a games point of view. This technology could provide gamers with the ability to run around looking like complete idiots shooting at things that aren’t actually there and that no one else can see, kind of like in the film ‘They Live!’ The upside to this is that it would be a lot of fun. A group of people from the University of South Australia created the ‘ARQuake’ project, http://wearables.unisa.edu.au/projects/ARQuake/www/, merging the classic shooter Quake with this Augmented Reality technology. Again, this technology may not ever become overly popular, but it would be entertaining to play with.

Technology has driven the games industry for a long time with new games always trying to keep one step ahead of the competition. It started way back at the dawn of technology and it continues to this day. 2D graphics gave way to 3D and 3D is becoming ever better. Graphics are starting to lose the ability to impress like they once did. The step between Quake 2 and 3 was amazing, but DOOM 3 while being visually very impressive isn’t leaps and bounds ahead of its competitors in the same way new games used to be. 2D graphics encountered a similar problem; there comes a point where you just can’t do much more with graphics technology. It is this that turns graphics from striving for technological achievement to becoming art. It is my hope that we will start turning away from tech demos and return to game play and making great entertainment. Games such as Zelda: The Wind Waker or The Sims that strive to show greater depth of character through simplifying the game enough to portray emotions will hopefully become more common (and more fun… but that’s just one person’s view…). Technology plays a certain part in the conveying of emotions and story but it’s quite hard to focus on everything at once. When technology is easier and less essential to game sales we’ll hopefully see an increase in games that cast a lasting impression.

Somewhat unfortunately the rise of the ‘Casual Gamer’ will probably lead to more simplistic games being released. While personally I would love to see depth of story and characters, there are a significant number of players out there who want to pick up a game for twenty minutes or so, have a bit of fun, and then put it down until another time. These gamers are generally less interested in the latest greatest technology and more interested in a ‘fast food’ kind of entertainment that satisfies the moment, despite the lack of quality or the lasting effects. Hopefully the two game types can coexist peacefully although recently it has been seen that some developers are cutting down on some of the planned depth of a title in order to accommodate the more casual gamer.

As technology pushes forwards boundaries are slowly being broken down between systems. We saw the Bleemcast a few years back enabling the running of Playstation games on the Dreamcast, and the PC is able to run almost anything given the right emulation software. Consoles are able to emulate other consoles and new consoles are being announced that promise the ability to play PC games. The Xbox 2 is reported to have a model in planning that comes in a PC case and with the ability to run both PC software and Xbox software. Macs can emulate Windows software and viceversa. We’ll probably start seeing less of a distinction between consoles and PCs as the price of technology continues to drop and consoles continue to become more and more powerful and able to compete with the more expensive computers. Ideally we’ll see a single platform come into prominence so that everything can be run without purchasing a copious number of different machines, although that does have a downside in that it can establish a monopoly for one particular company.

The technology price drop and increase in power has also lead to more powerful handheld machines than before. Real games, not just simple toys are now available for the portable market. The advent of PDAs and mobile phones with the ability to play games raises awareness of portable gaming and new competitors are starting to get in on the field that was once primarily dominated by Nintendo’s GameBoy. There is a new product, the gp32, that can run many different emulators and hence, many different system’s games (including some PC games).

I can’t say for sure what’s going to happen but these are just a few ideas that I’ve had recently. Hopefully the games industry will continue to strive towards new heights with new and interesting game play, stories, characters and ideas. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the next few years.

About The Author

Daniel Punch

M6.Net

http://www.m6.net

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 28

by Daniel Punch

Microsoft CRM Sales Automation – overview for Cons

Microsoft CRM Sales Automation – overview for Consultant

by: Andrew Karasev

Microsoft CRM – Client Relationship Management application, promoted by Microsoft subdivision Microsoft Business Solutions, is in the beginning of its market share gaining, however, surprisingly enough – even with its basic functionality (which is natural for first versions of the software product) Microsoft CRM is welcomed by clients in many servicing industries. Why so many clients are choosing Microsoft CRM and even replacing such systems as Siebel with this basic solution. Probably the secret of this success lays in several simple facts:

Basic functionality

Open Microsoft Customization technology

Believe that Microsoft will stay successful for a long time

Cost factor

We are describing Microsoft CRM Version 1.2. Lets work out these suggestions.

Basic Functionality. This means that it is very simple to sell it – you nee only several features to demo to the prospect and the rest could be tuned and customized by enduser (which is of course not true to the 100%, but to some extent – it is correct statement). Its Sales Automation module is almost abstract and everyone with basic sales skills can understand it on the fly.

Open Microsoft Customization technology. There are so many Microsoft network specialists, database administrators, VB.Net programmers – this makes your customization easily doable and you don’t have a risk of dependence on one unique programmer or technology

Believe that Microsoft will stay successful for a long time. Well – this is probably just the projection of the past to the future, every business has business strategy and philosophy and these two are subject to transformation and deformation. But, we’ve heard these arguments of successful business longevity and we believe that this is important factor

Cost factor. Microsoft CRM deploys existing technologies and servers, such as Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Windows 2003 server and so – you do not have to purchase these pieces second time. You purchase just a middle ground, which is based on these platforms. In such situation, Microsoft is willing to go down with the license pricing. To some extent of course.

You can always have us help you, give us a call: 16309615918 or 18665280577, [email protected]

About The Author

Andrew Karasev is consultant and CTO in Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ) – Microsoft Business Solutions partner, serving clients in Illinois, California, New York, Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Minnesota, Virginia, Washington, UK, Canada, Australia. He is Microsoft Great Plains certified master, Great Plains Dexterity, Microsoft CRM SDK C#.Net, Crystal Repots developer. You can reach Andrew: [email protected].

This article was posted on January 06

by Andrew Karasev

Out door LED full color Sign

Out door LED full color Sign

by: Paula Jones

Outdoor LED full color signs are useful in both large and small site, industries or organizations. In the current trend to compete the world its needed have something eye catching. That’s why some of the large scale industries, some sports complexes, airports, and many other venues have outdoor LED full color signs to transmit both instant relevant information or advertisements, announcement, public notice.

Out door LED full color Sign as the name suggest use the LED technology that stands for Light emitting diode helpful in saving energy waste and gives brighter effect to display.

Current is the world of technology and is improving in very fast track, to compete with it becomes at global need that some factors be paid less attention to span the business. Displays of course plays very important role to prove the billboard. That’s why these electronic displays are becoming more and more popular. In fact this is an easy way to attract the attention with the interactive displays where other methods seem to fail.

Screens and informational banner displays (unlike onetwo color informational displays) are a new development in outdoor advertising. Such banner displays are close in format to the Internet banners.

These out door LED full color sing are available for popular sports like football, soccer, basketball, baseball and many others. Moreover the manufacture of this equipment Jayex Technology also customizes a sign according the particular sporting endeavor. Thus they can be specialized.

Many other outdoor LED full color signs also comes in the range of products by Jayex Technology, and convey information to the masses. Some areas like shopping centers, convention centers are other places where it is need to spread the information and routine announcements.

About The Author

Paula Jones

Jayex Technology Limited, based in London specialise in advanced information display systems. Established in 1978 we have pioneered the development of the LED display market and now have over 18,000 customers worldwide. We offer, probably the largest range of models from small single line signs to big screen Megavision screens that can display live video and action replay in stadia.

jayex.co.uk

This article was posted on September 28, 2004

by Paula Jones

The Holy Grail That Online Advertisers, Merchants,

The Holy Grail That Online Advertisers, Merchants, Publishers And Shoppers Have Been Looking For!

by: Joseph Akintaju

For Online Publishers/RSS Feeds users RSS (Real Simple Syndication) is a popular way for online users/publishers to pull news and information from across the web. RSS allows web sites to publish real time content to online users/shoppers easily and the trend is growing. Some site have taken advantage of this technology and created RSS/XML feeds using products data feeds from top online merchants/advertisers.

Therefore, Publishers/RSS feeds users can grab any products feeds they want and provide their site visitors with top online stores most current information on hot and latest products, special sales/discounted items and coupon offers.

Online Publishers can use these RSS/XML products feeds to enhance their site content. Latest products information from top online stores delivered via RSS/XML technology will offer publishers with relevant and dynamic content, making their site much more attractive to the search engines and online users.

Top Search Engines [Google, Yahoo and MSN] have incorporated the RSS technology into their content and publishing strategies thereby offering realtime search results and information to their respective users who large percentage of are online shoppers.

Products Feeds can either be distributed by Store/Merchant names or by product categories most suitable to individual publisher’s site content.

For Online Advertiser Using the RSS/XML technology, you will be able to reach much wider visitors/shoppers interested in your products. You will be able to speedily introduce and promote new products, special sales/discounted products and seasonal offers.

Some website do offer the platform for you to submit your products data feeds which are converted to RSS/XML feeds to enable publishers wanting to use and take advantage of RSS/XML syndication technology on their site, publish and add dynamic relevant content for their sites.

For Online Advertisers this is the best optimise marketing method/solution to reach across the web shoppers who are interested in your products realtime.

About The Author

Joseph Akintaju

Webmaster for http://www.rssshoppingfeeders.com/ http://www.jpservicezsmartbargainshopping.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 12

by Joseph Akintaju

The TechHeads Need To Build New Software That Mak

The TechHeads Need To Build New Software That Makes Obtaining Information And Collective Communication A Simple Process For The Average Human

by: M6.net

Being the total opposite to a technical person, it is hard to imagine future Internet software advances. The technohumans have come up with incredible ideas and subsequently their ideas have come to fruition. It seems like anything a human puts their mind to can be done. Our species has come such a long way, but I feel the key to the next part in our evolution of technology and consciousness is to integrate the ideas of the average person. Who do we build all this technology for anyway? I think it’s made for humans to have a better life. It’s time to start making the technological advances in computing with the noncomputerbased people of the world in mind. A famous American journalist Sidney J. Harris once said,

ขThe real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers.ข

Computer and Internet specialists have to realize that they have gone so deep into their fields that they now can no longer see what the computer world looks like to a novice like myself. All this technojargon and hundreds of different types of software can be quite overwhelming to a normal person who just wants to take part in this new way of interacting with reality and society.

We’ve got to simplify if we want this awesome force to be integrated into our lives in its highest form. I know the Internet is growing at an incredible rate already. One only has to look at the example of India to see the incredible mark Information Technology has made. You can go into a tiny village that looks relatively the same as it has been for fifty years; the general infrastructure is shocking: broken traffic lights, decrepit buildings, power lines splaying out in chaotic patterns. But, something big has changed; each town now has a satellite dish, and an ISP connection (Internet Service Provider)! This is truly amazing. However I believe it is only the beginning of a new revolution that will arrive when we simplify the information and communication processes.

So what’s the special answer to the sacred question? Well, I haven’t got all the ideas, but I know of six billion human souls out there who I’m sure would have an opinion if you asked them. Find out what people really want and need. Recently I wrote an article on how great it would be if we could get our News from multiple sources instead of the onetomany, topdown structure that feeds us so much negativity today. An opportunity to only read relevant News to the individual’s liking also sounds like a great project to take on. Wouldn’t it also be great if we could communicate easily with others of similar interests? E.g.: Finding the blogs and websites that interest us without having to search for days on end to find them!

These are just a couple ideas the software masters could approach to make the new revolution of collective consciousness and independent thinking a reality. I truly believe the Internet could be the gate of entry into a new dimension for the average citizen of Earth, a dimension that thrives on the sharing of knowledge from multiple perspectives, communication that involves everyone, and incredible access to individuals who you’ve always wanted to meet. Come on people, let’s get with the program! Humans are a resilient, powerful race of creatures; it’s time to duplicate all this energy we’ve put into producing technology and put it into making it easily used by the masses for positive means. The plant has grown into a tall healthy tree, now it’s time to harvest the fruit of all our labor.

About The Author

Jesse S. Somer http://www.m6.net

Jesse S. Somer is a simple humanoid attempting to help bring the separate worlds of social consciousness and technology into the ‘one world’ it is destined to become. Check out his personal humanistic/philosophical blog: www.thepowerofeverythingthatis.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on May 04, 2004

by M6.net

Just What Is Surveillance Technology?

Just What Is Surveillance Technology?

by: Julianna Munro

The technology of surveillance equipment is continuing to advance at a very rapid pace. As a result surveillance equipment has become almost ubiquitous in retail stores, public schools, gas stations, and airport terminals all across the United States. There is a wide range of surveillance technology that is available on the market. Surveillance equipment ranges from wiretapping phone and internet based equipment to high tech facial feature recognition computer software known as biometrics.

Surveillance equipment makes the world infinitely more manageable for people who need to protect their belongings and protect people and make its far more difficult for people who actually want to commit crime. As more of the hightech surveillance equipment becomes more and more easily available to the general public and small business owners, more and more people will reap the benefits.

The basic concept that underpins a piece of surveillanceequipment is one of กyou will be seenก. The gist of it is that criminals may well think twice about committing a crime if they think they might be seen, identified and then found later on and be charged with a crime. Although it is unlikely that everything can be caught on surveillance camera at one time, on the occasions when surveillance does pick up activity, it does provide enormous help to security and police in identifying the offenders.

These days the more advanced surveillance equipment operates in the same way in an effort prevent crime from occurring, so it has not veered from its original intent. Indeed many small businesses decide to install dummy cameras that don’t actually record anything, indeed don’t even turn on, but act more as a preventative measure for potential offenders.

One of the main reasons for the establishment of surveillance equipment is to prevent the theft of merchandise from stores and warehouses. Usually offenders come from outside the company and so the theft can be caught on tape and referred to the police. But on occasion the offender will actually come from within the company and then employee policy needs to be implemented. Upon discovering the internal offender that employee will usually find themselves without a job.

Apart from the examples outlined earlier, shopping malls, parking garages, office buildings, and warehouses and financial institutions all now commonly use video based surveillance equipment in order to protect their wares and to also to limit the costly losses incurred by dishonest employees. Major department stores who have high internal theft rates use these video surveillance systems to actively prosecute thieving employees.

About The Author

Julianna Munro is the owner of First Surveillance which is a premier source of information about Surveillance. For more information, go to: http://firstsurveillance.com

This article was posted on August 14

by Julianna Munro

The House Of Print.Com

The House Of Print.Com

by: Tony Dean

Publishing has always been a difficult business to promote successfully, which titles by which authors to promote, which genre, will it be fiction or nonfiction? Will they sell? Will they make money, both for the publisher and for the author? So many questions which there is no definitive answer and so the publisher takes a chance with his money and his time and resources and decides on which books to publish, promote and distribute to the bookshops. He may only distribute to bookshops in his own country and if they don’t sell well enough, will not be seen by anyone else in the world.

What a loss to humankind and their quest for more knowledge to enhance their work, their lives.

The fount of civilisations knowledge were always universities, libraries, and bookshops, and if publishers don’t find it profitable to publish certain titles at all, to distribute to university libraries, and bookshops, then civilisation is the poorer.

When I was young going through school the public library was a must to enhance my knowledge of the world around me, it filled the gaps in my science, geography and literature lessons, and gave me new insight. I often gazed in awe at the rows of shelving containing all the worlds knowledge which had been written up by scientists, explorers, academics, and others, and oftentimes, you would have seen me taking an armful of books home to read at bedtime, anything from how atoms work, to famous authors tales of pirate treasure or tales of Victorian London.

The young people of today have all this technology at hand, not only at school, but in the home as well, they are only a mouse click away to the fount of knowledge, but in digital form on the internet. Many students believe that if a book is not on the internet it does not exist, and they would not waste time going around to the local bookshop on their High Street to enquire about it.

It behoves, therefore, all authors, publishers and booksellers, to at least put a synopsis of their books on the internet so at least letting peple know they exist, and where to obtain it in print or where to download it from. Many books are now downloadable, but they are published only by technology enlightened individuals, not the large publishers.

Even prints can be obtained from such ebooks, the technology has advanced that far. It needs the willingness of publishers and authors to add value to this new fount of knowledge. The first great library was established in Alexandria, in ancient Egypt by Ptolemy, but it was burnt down later by invaders, and all manuscripts were lost. What lost knowledge we could have gained we do not know, for there was often only one copy made on papyrus scrolls and no other copies ever made. With the internet and the enormous computing capacity we have, there would be countless copies of ebooks online for instant download, and therefore new knowledge, and works of great literature, need never be lost, for they are so easily replicable and distributable to a potential audience of three billion people on this planet.

Modern man, and woman, now looks for information on the internet, they no longer go to bookshops looking for it, with the enormous capacity available, all information should be on the internet including all government information.

The fact that retail sales of printed books have been falling off over the last few years means that publishers, and authors, have got to get with the new technology we no longer use papyrus scrolls.

About The Author

The author Tony Dean runs a web site where he has free ebooks for instant download as well as sells ebooks and software. ‘the Best Ebook and Software Site On The Net!ก Http://www.ebooksales.com. Subscribe to his ezine send blank email to: [email protected].

This article was posted on September 04, 2004

by Tony Dean

Search Technologies

Search Technologies

by: Max Maglias

Each of us has been faced with the problem of searching for information more than once. Irregardless of the data source we are using (Internet, file system on our hard drive, data base or a global information system of a big company) the problems can be multiple and include the physical volume of the data base searched, the information being unstructured, different file types and also the complexity of accurately wording the search query. We have already reached the stage when the amount of data on one single PC is comparable to the amount of text data stored in a proper library. And as to the unstructured data flows, in future they are only going to increase, and at a very rapid tempo. If for an average user this might be just a minor misfortune, for a big company absence of control over information can mean significant problems. So the necessity to create search systems and technologies simplifying and accelerating access to the necessary information, originated long ago. Such systems are numerous and moreover not every one of them is based on a unique technology. And the task of choosing the right one depends directly on the specific tasks to be solved in the future. While the demand for the perfect data searching and processing tools is steadily growing let’s consider the state of affairs with the supply side.

Not going deeply into the various peculiarities of the technology, all the searching programs and systems can be divided into three groups. These are: global Internet systems, turnkey business solutions (corporate data searching and processing technologies) and simple phrasal or file search on a local computer. Different directions presumably mean different solutions.

Local search

Everything is clear about search on a local PC. It’s not remarkable for any particular functionality features accept for the choice of file type (media, text etc.) and the search destination. Just enter the name of the searched file (or part of text, for example in the Word format) and that’s it. The speed and result depend fully on the text entered into the query line. There is zero intellectuality in this: simply looking through the available files to define their relevance. This is in its sense explicable: what’s the use of creating a sophisticated system for such uncomplicated needs.

Global search technologies

Matters stand totally different with the search systems operating in the global network. One can’t rely simply on looking through the available data. Huge volume (Yandex for instance can boast the indexing capacity of more than 11 terabyte of data) of the global chaos of unstructured information will make the simple search not only ineffective but also long and laborconsuming. That’s why lately the focus has shifted towards optimizing and improving quality characteristics of search. But the scheme is still very simple (except for the secret innovations of every separate system) the phrasal search through the indexed data base with proper consideration for morphology and synonyms. Undoubtedly, such an approach works but doesn’t solve the problem completely. Reading dozens of various articles dedicated to improving search with the help of Google or Yandex, one can drive at the conclusion that without knowing the hidden opportunities of these systems finding a relevant document by the query is a matter of more than a minute, and sometimes more than an hour. The problem is that such a realization of search is very dependent on the query word or phrase, entered by the user. The more indistinct the query the worse is the search. This has become an axiom, or dogma, whichever you prefer.

Of course, intelligently using the key functions of the search systems and properly defining the phrase by which the documents and sites are searched, it is possible to get acceptable results. But this would be the result of painstaking mental work and time wasted on looking through irrelevant information with a hope to at least find some clues on how to upgrade the search query. In general, the scheme is the following: enter the phrase, look through several results, making sure that the query was not the right one, enter a new phrase and the stages are repeated till the relevancy of results achieves the highest possible level. But even in that case the chances to find the right document are still few. No average user will voluntary go for the sophistication of ขadvanced searchข (although it is equipped with a number of very useful functions such as the choice of language, file format etc.). The best would be to simply insert the word or phrase and get a ready answer, without particular concern for the means of getting it. Let the horse think – it has a big head. Maybe this is not exactly up to the point, but one of the Google search functions is called ขI am feeling lucky!ข characterizes very well the existent searching technologies. Nevertheless, the technology works, not ideally and not always justifying the hopes, but if you allow for the complexity of searching through the chaos of Internet data volume, it could be acceptable.

Corporate systems

The third on the list are the turnkey solutions based on the searching technologies. They are meant for serious companies and corporations, possessing really large data bases and staffed with all sorts of information systems and documents. In principle, the technologies themselves can also be used for home needs. For example, a programmer working remotely from the office will make good use of the search to access randomly located on his hard drive program source codes. But these are particulars. The main application of the technology is still solving the problem of quickly and accurately searching through large data volumes and working with various information sources. Such systems usually operate by a very simple scheme (although there are undoubtedly numerous unique methods of indexing and processing queries underneath the surface): phrasal search, with proper consideration for all the stem forms, synonyms etc. which once again leads us to the problem of human resource. When using such technology the user should first word the query phrases which are going to be the search criteria and presumably met in the necessary documents to be retrieved. But there is no guarantee that the user will be able to independently choose or remember the correct phrase and furthermore, that the search by this phrase will be satisfactory.

One more key moment is the speed of processing a query. Of course, when using the whole document instead of a couple of words, the accuracy of search increases manifold. But up to date, such an opportunity has not been used because of the high capacity drain of such a process. The point is that search by words or phrases will not provide us with a highly relevant similarity of results. And the search by phrase equal in its length the whole document consumes much time and computer resources. Here is an example: while processing the query by one word there is no considerable difference in speed: whether it’s 0,1 or 0,001 second is not of crucial importance to the user. But when you take an average size document which contains about 2000 unique words, then the search with consideration for morphology (stem forms) and thesaurus (synonyms), as well as generating a relevant list of results in case of search by key words will take several dozens of minutes (which is unacceptable for a user).

The interim summary

As we can see, currently existing systems and search technologies, although properly functioning, don’t solve the problem of search completely. Where speed is acceptable the relevancy leaves more to be desired. If the search is accurate and adequate, it consumes lots of time and resources. It is of course possible to solve the problem by a very obvious manner – by increasing the computer capacity. But equipping the office with dozens of ultrafast computers which will continuously process phrasal queries consisting of thousands of unique words, struggling through gigabytes of incoming correspondence, technical literature, final reports and other information is more than irrational and disadvantageous. There is a better way.

The unique similar content search

At present many companies are intensively working on developing full text search. The calculation speeds allow creating technologies that enable queries in different exponents and wide array of supplementary conditions. The experience in creating phrasal search provides these companies with an expertise to further develop and perfect the search technology. In particular, one of the most popular searches is the Google, and namely one of its functions called the ขsimilar pagesข. Using this function enables the user to view the pages of maximum similarity in their content to the sample one. Functioning in principle, this function does not yet allow getting relevant results – they are mostly vague and of low relevancy and furthermore, sometimes utilizing this function shows complete absence of similar pages as a result. Most probably, this is the result of the chaotic and unstructured nature of information in the Internet. But once the precedent has been created, the advent of the perfect search without a hitch is just a matter of time.

What concerns the corporate data processing and knowledge retrieval systems, here the matters stand much worse. The functioning (not existing on paper) technologies are very few. And no giant or the so called search technology guru has so far succeeded in creating a real similar content search. Maybe, the reason is that it’s not desperately needed, maybe – too hard to implement. But there is a functioning one though.

SoftInform Search Technology, developed by SoftInform, is the technology of searching for documents similar in their content to the sample. It enables fast and accurate search for documents of similar content in any volume of data. The technology is based on the mathematical model of analyzing the document structure and selecting the words, word combinations and text arrays, which results in forming a list of documents of maximum similarity the sample text abstract with the relevancy percent defined. In contrast to the standard phrasal search by the similar content search there is no need to determine the key words beforehand – the search is conducted through the whole document. The technology works with several sources of information that can be stored both in text files of txt, doc, rtf, pdf, htm, html formats, and the information systems of the most popular data bases (Access, MS SQL, Oracle, as well as any SQLsupporting data bases). It also additionally supports the synonyms and important words functions that enable to carry out a more specific search.

The similar search technology enables to significantly cut time wasted on searching and reviewing the same or very similar documents, diminish the processing time at the stage of entering data into the archive by avoiding the duplicate documents and forming sets of data by a certain subject. Another advantage of the SoftInform technology is that it’s not so sensitive to the computer capacity and allows processing data at a very high speed even on ordinary office computers.

This technology is not just a theoretic development. It has been tested and successfully implemented in a project of giving legal advice via phone, where the speed of information retrieval is of crucial importance. And it will undoubtedly be more than useful in any knowledge base, analytical service and support department of any large firm. Universality and effectiveness of the SoftInform Search Technology allows solving a wide spectrum of problems, arising while processing information. These include the fuzziness of information (at the document entering stage it is possible to immediately define whether such a document already belongs to the data base or not) and the similarity analysis of the documents which are already entered into the data base, and the search for semantically similar documents which saves time spent on selecting the appropriate key words and viewing the irrelevant documents.

Perspectives

Besides its primary assignment (fast and high quality search for information in huge volume such as texts, archives, data bases) an Internet direction could also be defined. For example, it is possible to work out an expert system to process incoming correspondence and news which will become an important tool for analysts from different companies. Mainly, this will be possible due to the unique similar content search technology, absent from any of the existent systems so far except for the SearchInform. The problem of spamming search engines with the so called doorways (hidden pages with key words redirecting to the site’s main pages and used to increase the page rating with the search engines) and the email spam problem (a more intellectual analysis would ensure higher level of security) would also be solved with the help of this technology. But the most interesting perspective of the SoftInform Search technology is creating a new Internet search engine, the main competitive advantage of which would be ability to search not just by key words, but also for similar web pages, which will add to the flexibility of search making it more comfortable and efficient.

To draw a conclusion, it could be stated with confidence that the future belongs to the full text search technologies, both in the Internet and the corporate search systems. Unlimited development potential, adequacy of the results and processing speed of any size of query make this technology much more comfortable and in high demand. SoftInform Search technology might not be the pioneer, but it’s a functioning, stable and unique one with no existent analogues (which can be proved by the active Eurasian patent). To my mind, even with the help of the ขsimilar searchข it will be difficult to find a similar technology.

About The Author

Max Maglias

Contact information:

[Phone] 2197964

[Fax]

[Email] [email protected]

[Website] http://www.searchinform.com

This article was posted on September 08, 2005

by Max Maglias

How to Use Technology to Better Prepare Students f

How to Use Technology to Better Prepare Students for the Workforce

by: Tina OกBlock

Technology is becoming more and more prevalent in our everyday lives as well as the workforce. Recent studies predict that by the year 2010 almost every job in the American workplace will require some use of technology. This influx in technology has caused changes in the way the computer is being used in the workplace and in the way computer literacy needs to be taught in our schools.

When the personal computer was first introduced in the 1980’s, people had to learn how to operate it, program it, and utilize its basic functions. Today, people and businesses are becoming more familiar with technology and using it more as a tool for such things as information gathering, data analysis and interpretation, presenting information, problem solving, communication, etc. This technology is also continually being updated and changed to allow for more efficient and productive work, causing people to have to keep pace with this new information. In such a knowledgebased economy, knowing how to locate information quickly, evaluate this information for bias and accuracy, and synthesize and apply that information to solve problems will be needed and valued skills. Therefore, teaching students skills such as these will better prepare them for the workforce of the 21st century.

Simply providing students with technology in isolated computer classes will not teach students these necessary skills or how to use the computer as a tool. After all, the end result is not wanting students to simply know how to operate computers but how to use them as a tool for organization, communication, problemsolving, and research.

Technology needs to be integrated into the curriculum using an active/inquirybased method of learning. In this method, instead of students being shown specific steps to follow to solve a problem and then solving problems from a textbook, they are given a ขreal worldข problem to solve and must create their own strategies for data gathering, analyzing, hypothesizing and testing solutions. By constructing their own strategies, they gain a deeper understanding of problemsolving skills. By solving real world problems, students are better able to relate their learning to their own lives and similar future situations. Oftentimes the students work in groups to solve their problems which enhances students’ interpersonal skills and teamwork. They also learn to accept different perspectives, work cooperatively, and state their opinions and feelings. After all, few jobs require people to work in total isolation; therefore, being able to work with others is an important aspect of society and the workplace.

Students should be given a number and variety of technology resources to use in order to find a solution to their problem, such as internet resources or search engines, communication/email with experts, books, software programs, spreadsheet programs, graphing programs, etc. Students may also be required to conduct their own handson experiments or participate in online collaborative research. However, instruction should be given on how to analyze information for bias and accuracy. Students should realize that not everything on the internet is true or correct. Since the information is not merely presented to the students in a lecture format they are required to critically think about it, interact with it, analyze it, and use it to formulate a solution. This type of instruction enhances critical thinking and higher order thinking skills and helps students demonstrate a deeper understanding of the content and concepts presented as well as the problemsolving process.

Students should also have choices in how their information and solution is presented. Formats such as PowerPoint presentations, posters, brochures, pamphlets, reports, web pages, and movies created with technology can be utilized. Giving students a choice in their final presentations not only allows them to showcase their talents and strengths but allows students to make their own decisions about the best ways to present their data to others, which is oftentimes required in the workplace.

Incorporating technology into the classroom using an active/inquirybased method enhances the skills required for success in the 21st century. It requires students to use the computer as a tool to gather information, analyze data, and present a solution to a given problem. These are the skills that the technology rich environments of today emphasize and require; therefore, using technology in this manner will aide students in developing life long skills that can be carried over to the workforce.

About The Author

Tina OกBlock holds a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction: Focus on Technology and a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. She has been teaching for 15 years.

She is the author of an alphabet curriculum, Now I Know My ABCs and a Whole Lot More, which is available at http://www.oblockbooks.com.

You may also contact her at [email protected].

This article was posted on February 22

by Tina OกBlock

Look Into My Eyes New Webcam Technology

Look Into My Eyes New Webcam Technology

by: Robert Palmer

If a new webcam technology from Microsoft get the goahead, then instant messaging could get a whole lot more interesting.
Currently under development at the Microsoft research labs in Cambridge, England, the new webcam, i2i consists of two lenses, which carefully follows an individualกs movement. Using an exclusively developed algorithm to cleverly blend what each lens is seeing, resulting in the creation of an accurate stereo กcylopeanก image.
All very technical, but for the 18.5 million people (source Microsoft) who regularly use webcams while they are using instant messengers, i2i means that it will appear as if users are looking into each others eyes.
Antonio Criminisi, lead researcher of Microsoftกs Machine Learning and Perception Group, said.
กWe were able to come up with an algorithm that was able to take two images and capture a corresponding map in 3D. Using this powerful technology, we can now synthetically create an image as if the person is looking straight into your eyes.ก
According to Dr Criminisi, the biggest challenge for the backroom boys at Microsoft was in calculating how the visual brain works. In particular, how it sees and sorts out colors, shapes and distances.
กEssentially, what we have done is replace human eyes with cameras and the human brain with a computer.ก
The real magic behind this technology is the newly developed stereo algorithm, which makes it possible to accurately reconstruct a 3D, geometric image in real time and on a standard computer. Fundamentally, this is the same technology which was used to recreate the stunning 3D images of the Martian surface, which were beamed back by the NASA rover.
With the ability to generate realistic looking background images in order that users can pretend they are somewhere other than where they really are! Commenting, Dr Criminisi said.
‘this is important for privacy, as I may not want you to see how untidy my bedroom is.ก
A feature likely to capture the teens market is that of Smart Icons. Instead of typing in the usual pictorial emotion e.g. 🙂 i2i can superimpose free floating, 3D ones which can then be instructed to float freely around a personกs head or anywhere else for that matter.
While Dr Criminisi admits there are still issues to iron out before the project is passed on to Microsoft Development, he is pleased with what has been achieved in under two years. Dr Criminisiกs team is already experimenting with code which enables users to create their own wraparound avatar, 3D face and then have it move as if it were their own.

About The Author

Robert Palmer is CEO of deskNET Communications (www.desknet.co.uk) providers of the first, viable alternative to optin email marketing and newsletter publishing.
Copyright © 2004 deskNET Communications UK
[email protected]

This article was posted on June 30, 2004

by Robert Palmer

Open Source and PostCapitalistic Society

Open Source and PostCapitalistic Society

by: Daniel Orsolic

Capitalism as the social structure was founded in order to support further evolution and development of human race, to support the innovation which was oppressed by the former system. It was brought up by the two industrial revolutions. The technology was obviously the main to blame for the outcoming capitalistic society. The new capitalism was more liberalistic promoting free trade and pushing globalization in order to support further development and growth of technology.

But, it seems like the technology has been pushed so far and so high that the now old capitalism formed to support it starts to act as itกs oppressor. The world of software technology is the obvious example of it. The first signs of these events can be recognized far back into 70s and 80s when the software technologyกs started to emerge.

Now, the capitalism oppresses the further technology growth by oppressing the development of software. How? By making it proprietary, creating monopolyกs. To capitalism, everything is property, including software. And that is where the problem is. The software cannot be considered as property, it is more like an information. It is simply too easy to copy it without ANY effort and that is what led to it becoming a commodity which is a reason more why it just cannot be proprietary. If it is considered proprietary and created and used in such manner, we are getting monopolies created, patents issued and other restrictions that do no good to the further development of software technology, but to oppress it.

Look at the capitalistic giant, Microsoft! Imagine that there were no free software movement and open source. Microsoft would be the ultimate monopolist, the whole world would be their empire. In such case, there would be no real progress and innovation because there is no force to drive it.

THAT is the very proof of capitalism being simply too old and incompetent to handle the new technology of today properly, in the information age run by computers and software.

The open source and free software movement are already taking steps further, outgrowing the limitations of the old and incompetent capitalistic system in order to create what may be called a postcapitalism, true liberalistic, society where the technology will be freely developed at the rates the open source software gets developed today.

More to this, open source and free software movement being the major sign is not the only sign of the sickness of capitalism and itกs fall.

Simply look at the way things are going at this point in history regarding the major events. When there was a war in Iraq, masses of global and organized people, ordinary people like you and me, used internet to start the organized real time and worldwide demonstrations against the war in Iraq. The same happens with any other major event. There is a global network of people united in their fight for freedom and peace. It shows how the technology of today gives the power to the ordinary people instead of power being in hands of a few big shots. And those people, masses, globally networked masses, ask for one thing: FREEDOM!

Their (our) ขenemiesข are therefore everyone that anyhow tryกs to restrict the freedom and impose the control over them.

The entityกs that fall into that category include:

the greatest corporations such as Microsoft and oil companies (imposing monopolies and restrictions in order to control as much as possible)

political entities such as USA and European Union (imposing wars such as the one in Iraq, pushing restrictions of freedoms to use and develop technology through software patents etc.)

And when we say ขenemyข, we don’t mean that the corporations, companies and governments as the organizations should be terminated in order for us to have the freedom we deserve nor we in any case mean to fight them with violence acting like terrorists. We should simply raise our voices using the internet and technology in order to change the way these entities function today so that they are no longer the oppressors of freedom, but itกs supporters.

These global networked movements, such as open source and free software movement are actually forming a third industrial revolution which may crush capitalism as a social structure and finally bring the power to the majority and support the unrestricted growth of technology.

I am on the right side, are you?

About The Author

Daniel Orsolic Graduate of the school for electronic engineering and the great open source/free software movement enthusiast, the founder of libervis.com the open source community node.

Copyright: Daniel Orsolic

Article published under GNU Free Documentation Licence (GNU FDL)

This article was posted on August 16, 2004

by Daniel Orsolic