Samsung has announced it will scrap plasma TVs

Samsung is to stop producing plasma televisions (PDP TVs) by 30 November.
It said falling demand meant it would instead focus on producing curved and ultra-high-definition (UHD) TVs.
"We remain committed to providing consumers with products that meet their need," Samsung told the CNET website.
Panasonic, Sony, Hitachi and Pioneer have also pulled out of the sector in recent years. And, according to the Tech Radar website, LG is expected to follow suit soon.
Plasma screens, which use electrically charged ionised gases, are often applauded for their brightness, deep blacks, and high frame rates, considered ideal for watching sport and films.
But they tend to use more electricity and are considerably bulkier than the now more popular liquid-crystal display (LCD) and light-emitting diode (LED) TVs.

Stylish tellies

TrustedReviews website editor Evan Kypreos said: "It's not at all surprising that Samsung has dumped plasma.
"The main issue is that it's very tricky to make [UHD] plasmas, and [UHD] is the future of big TVs.
"While plasma is a lot better than LED/LCD TVs in terms of image quality, such as contrast ratio, and motion handling, it has a few drawbacks.
"Plasma TVs can't be made a thin as LEDs, for example. People like stylish tellies."
With the introduction of increasingly advanced organic LED TVs, which arguably have better black levels, brightness and colour gamut than plasmas, there was little reason to continue manufacturing plasma screens, Mr Kypreos said.
"Home-cinema connoisseurs will always have a soft spot for plasmas, but they have simply been technologically superseded," he said.
Source BBC

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How to make Rainbow

Hello friends are you want to learn how to make a rainbow with this fun science experiment for kids and all. Using just a few simple everyday items you can find out how rainbows work while enjoying an interactive, hands on activity that’s perfect for alls.

What you'll need:

A glass of water (about three quarters full)
White paper
A sunny day

Instructions:

Take the glass of water and paper to a part of the room with sunlight (near a window is good).
Hold the glass of water (being careful not to spill it) above the paper and watch as sunlight passes through the glass of water, refracts (bends) and forms a rainbow of colors on your sheet of paper.
Try holding the glass of water at different heights and angles to see if it has a different effect.

What's happening?

While you normally see a rainbow as an arc of color in the sky, they can also form in other situations. You may have seen a rainbow in a water fountain or in the mist of a waterfall and you can even make your own such as you did in this experiment.

Rainbows form in the sky when sunlight refracts (bends) as it passes through raindrops, it acts in the same way when it passes through your glass of water. The sunlight refracts, separating it into the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

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Top 10 Windows 8 tips and tricks

Update to Windows 8.1

Microsoft has released Windows 8.1, which is a free upgrade for anyone running Windows 8. This update addresses many of the problems users have had with Windows 8 and also adds a Start button. Visit Microsoft's Windows 8.1 page for the update. 

Customize your tiles

Make the most of your Windows Start screen tiles by adjusting the sizes, where they are located, and what is listed.

• Move any tile by clicking and dragging the tile. While moving a tile, if you need a larger view of the Start screen move the tile towards the top or bottom of the screen to zoom out.
• Use your mouse wheel to scroll left-to-right through your tiles.
• Any Desktop shortcut or program can be pinned to the Start screen by right-clicking the icon and choosing Pin to Start.
• In the bottom right-hand corner of the start screen is a magnifying glass with tiles, click this icon to get a zoomed out view of your Start screen. In this view, if you right-click on a group of tiles you'll be given the option to name group, which can be useful if you have a group of related tiles (e.g. games). In this view, you can also click and drag a group to organize your tile groups.
• Create a new speed bump between tile groups by moving a tile to a speed bump.
• Resize any User tile or Live tile by right-clicking the tile and choosing resize.
• If there is a tile you want on your Taskbar, right-click the tile and choose Pin to taskbar.
• Show admin applications on the Start screen by clicking Settings in Charms, click Settings, and change the Show administrative tools from No to Yes.
• In Internet Explorer 10, you can also pin any of your favorite web pages to your Start Screen.

Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts

Knowing at least some of the Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts helps make your Windows 8 experience much more enjoyable. Try to memorize these top Windows 8 shortcut keys.

1. Press the Windows key to open the Start screen or switch to the Desktop (if open).
2. Press the Windows key + D opens the Windows Desktop.
3. Press the Windows key + . to pin and unpin Windows apps on the side of the screen.
4. Press the Windows key + X to open the power user menu, which gives you access to many of the features most power users would want (e.g. Device Manager and Command Prompt).
5. Press the Windows key + C to open the Charms.
6. Press the Windows key + I to open the Settings, which is the same Settings found in Charms.
7. Press and hold the Windows key + Tab to show open apps.
8. Press the Windows key + Print screen to create a screen shot, which is automatically saved into your My Pictures folder.

Know your hot corners

The corners on your screen are hot corners and give you access to different Windows features. Below, is a brief explanation of each of these corners.
Bottom Left-hand cornerThe bottom left-hand hot corner of the screen allows you to access the Start screen, if you're in the Start screen and have the Desktop open, this corner opens the Desktop from the Start screen.

Tip: Right-clicking in the left hand corner opens the power user menu.

Top-left corner of the screen

Moving the mouse to the top-left corner and then down displays all the apps running on the computer. Clicking and dragging any of these apps to the left or right-hand side of the screen will snap that app to that side of the screen. Each of these open app icons can also be right-clicked to close or snap.

Right-hand side of the screen

On the full right-hand side of the screen will be given access to the Windows Charms.
Taking advantage of search
The Search in Windows 8 has been significantly improved when compared to all previous versions of Windows. To search for a file or run a program in Windows 8 from the Start screen just start typing what you're trying to find or want to run.
As you begin typing, the results will start appearing on the left-hand side. In addition to being able to search for files and run programs, the Search also supports limiting the search to apps such as Finance, People, Maps, Photos, Mail, Music, Videos, Weather, and much more. If what you are searching for is not a file or program, click on the app you want to use as the search. For example, if you were searching for "New York" and selected the Weather App you would be shown the weather in New York, NY.
By default, Search organizes the available Apps by how frequently they are used and then in alphabetical order. If you want to keep your favorite app at the top of the Search list, right-click the app and choose Pin. Pinning the app will lock it in place regardless of how often it is used. If there is an app you don't want (e.g. Finance) you can turn on and off any of the search apps through the PC settings, which is found under the Settings in the Charms.

Bonus tip: The Search is also found through Charms and can also be opened by pressing Windows key + F.
Running two apps side by side

Any app can be pinned to the left or right-hand side of the screen. For example, open the People app and then press the Windows Key + . (period) to move that app to the right-hand side of the screen, pressing the same keys again will move it to the left-hand side, and pressing the same keys again makes it full screen. While an app is pinned, any other app or program can be opened and loaded into the available space on the screen. For example, in the picture below, we've opened a browser window and have the People app running to monitor our social networks.

Any open app can also be pinned using your mouse by clicking at the top of the tile and dragging it to the left or right-hand side of the screen.

Bonus tip: The Desktop can also be pinned to the left or right-hand side of the screen.

Note: In order for snap to work properly your resolution must be at least 1,366 x 768.

Windows 8 Task Manager

The Windows 8 Task Manager has been significantly improved over previous versions of Windows. Some of the new changes include showing a total percent usage at the top of your Processes, which makes it easier to determine total memory and CPU usage, improved Performance graphs, a Startup tab to see startup processes and their impact to system performance, and the App history tab (as shown below) that gives you the total resources an app has used over a period of time. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to start exploring the new Task Manager.

Use a picture password to log into your computer

Windows 8 includes a new feature called Picture password, which allows you to authenticate with the computer using a series of gestures that include circles, straight lines, and taps. Enable this feature if you want a new way to access your computer or have a hard time with passwords.
Open the Windows Charms.
Click Settings and then More PC settings
In the PC settings window click Users and then select Create a picture password

Bonus tip: A four digit pin password can also be created and used to access your computer.

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How to Encrypt a Windows 8 PC Drive

Windows 8.1 Pro includes built-in drive encryption tools. These tools work even if you don't have a TPM chip. TPM, or Trusted Platform Module, is encryption-ready hardware. You'll need a spare USB thumb drive, though. Encryption tools are hidden away in the depths of the machine, so finding them can make you feel like an International Person of Mystery.

Real-life events -- the disclosures from website WikiLeaks; Edward Snowden's leaks of classified government documents to media outlets; credit card hijacks by the server load; and even Facebook's stumbles over its privacy policy explanation to the masses -- have created a general sense of unease when it comes to privacy these days, even at the consumer level.

We are all becoming increasingly aware that our digital lives are no longer private. Not only are they no longer private -- in reality, they likely never have been. It may be time to think about encryption.

There are some easy ways to encrypt email. There are also some methods for encrypting thumb and hard drives.


Windows 8.1 Pro, the version of Windows that Microsoft pitches on its website, includes built-in drive encryption tools. These tools work even if you don't have a TPM chip. TPM, or Trusted Platform Module, is encryption-ready hardware. You'll need a spare USB thumb drive, though.

Amusingly, encryption tools are hidden away in the depths of the machine, so finding them can make you feel like an International Person of Mystery.

Nevertheless, here's how to go about it:

Step 1

Verify that your machine is running Windows 8 Pro or Windows 8.1 Pro by launching the Control Panel. The Control Panel can be accessed from the new Windows 8-style Search Charm -- type "Control Panel" in the search box.

Click or touch System and Security, and then System. The Windows Edition will be listed.

Tip: Windows 8 Encryption is called "BitLocker." It's included in Windows 7 and Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate; it is also available in the Pro and Enterprise editions of Windows 8.

Step 2

Enter the term "gpedit.msc" in the search charm's text box. Then browse the hierarchical menu structure, moving from Open Computer Configuration to Administrative Templates to Windows Components to BitLocker Drive Encryption to Operating System Drives.
Then right-click on the third option, labeled "Require additional authentication at startup." Then check the Allow BitLocker without a compatible TPM check box. Click Apply and then OK.
Step 3
Enter the term "BitLocker" in the Windows Search Charm and then "Manage BitLocker." Or scroll down to BitLocker Drive Encryption from System in Control Panel.

Step 4
Turn on BitLocker.
Step 5
Insert a USB flash drive into the PC's USB jack and follow the prompts.
Tip: You can use a password instead of a USB drive. However, the USB drive method is more secure, because it's a physical factor -- you need to insert the actual thumb drive to access the PC. It's also more entertaining.

Step 6:

Create a Recovery Key by following the prompts to save a backed-up key to an external source -- like another PC on your network or a second USB drive -- or by printing it.Tip: A Recovery Key is a backup key.

Step 7

Choose how much of the drive you'd like to encrypt by selecting the appropriate radio button.Tip: Encrypt the entire drive if you're using an existing rather than new PC. It takes longer but will catch stray files.
Step 8
Select the Run BitLocker System Check check box. This will verify encryption keys.
Step 9
Restart the computer. The computer will restart, and the drive will start encrypting. The USB drive should be in the USB jack at this step. Allow the encryption to take place.
Step 10
Remove the USB drive and restart the PC to test. You'll be prompted to insert the USB drive key.

Sources: technewsworld

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Mobile phones carry owners' bacterial 'fingerprint'

The bugs from our bodies end up on our smartphones

Smartphones reflect the personal microbial world of their owners, say US scientists.
More than 80% of the common bacteria that make up our personal bacterial "fingerprints" end up on their screens, a study suggests.
Personal possessions, such as phones, might be useful for tracking the spread of bacteria, they report in PeerJ.
They reflect our microbiome - the trillions of different micro-organisms that live in and on our bodies.
Mobile phone users have been found to touch their devices on average 150 times a day.
Scientists have found an overlap between the collection of micro-organisms naturally present on our bodies and those on the screens of smartphones.
They say this could one day be used to track people's exposure to bacteria.
In the study, biologists from the University of Oregon sequenced the DNA of microbes found on the index fingers and thumbs of 17 people.
They also took swabs of the subjects' smartphones.
A total of 7,000 different types of bacteria were found in 51 samples.

Proof-of-concept

On average, 22% of bacterial families overlapped on fingers and phones.
Some 82% of the most common bacteria present on participants' fingers were also found on their phones.
They included three families that are commonly found on the skin or in the mouth - Streptococcus, Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium.
Men and women both shared bacteria with their phones, but the connection was stronger in women.

Bacteria are naturally present on our skin and in our mouths

Lead researcher Dr James Meadow said while the sample size was small, the findings were "revealing".
"This project was a proof-of-concept to see if our favourite and most closely held possessions microbially resemble us," he said.
"We are ultimately interested in the possibility of using personal effects as a non-invasive way to monitor our health and our contact with the surrounding environment."
The researchers say there is no evidence that mobile phones present any more infection risk than any other possession.
But they say our phones might one day be used to study whether people have been exposed to certain bacteria, particularly healthcare workers.

Emotional connection

The study confirms that "we share more than an emotional connection with our phones - they carry our personal microbiome", Dr Meadow added.
There is increasing scientific interest in the human microbiome - the population of trillions of micro-organisms that live in our gut, mouth, skin and elsewhere on our bodies.
Bacteria can be harmful but they can also have beneficial effects, particularly in the gut, by digesting food and making essential nutrients and vitamins.
Source : BBC news

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Scientists create new battery that's cheap, clean, rechargeable and organic

Scientists have developed a new rechargeable battery that is all organic and could be scaled up easily for use in power plants where it can make the energy grid more resilient and efficient by creating in a large-scale means to store energy for use as needed. The batteries could pave the way for renewable energy sources to makfe up a greater share of the nation's energy generation. 

USC professor Sri Narayan's research focuses on the fundamental and applied aspects of electrochemical energy conversion and storage to reduce the carbon footprint of energy use and by providing energy alternatives to fossil fuel, Wednesday, June 10, 2014 in Los Angeles.

Scientists at USC have developed a new water-based organic battery that is long lasting, built from cheap, eco-friendly components. The new battery  which uses no metals or toxic materials  is intended for use in power plants where it can make the energy grid more resilient and efficient by creating a large-scale means to store energy for use as needed.

"The batteries last for about 5,000 recharge cycles, giving them an estimated 15-year lifespan" said Sri Narayan, professor of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and corresponding author of a paper describing the new batteries that was published online by the Journal of the Electrochemical Society on June 20. "Lithium ion batteries degrade after around 1,000 cycles, and cost 10 times more to manufacture."
Narayan collaborated with Surya Prakash, Prakash, professor of chemistry and director of the USC Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute, as well as USC's Bo Yang, Lena Hoober-Burkhardt, and Fang Wang.
"Such organic flow batteries will be game-changers for grid electrical energy storage in terms of simplicity, cost, reliability and sustainability," said Prakash.
The batteries could pave the way for renewable energy sources to make up a greater share of the nation's energy generation. Solar panels can only generate power when the sun's shining, and wind turbines can only generate power when the wind blows. That inherent unreliability makes it difficult for power companies to rely on them to meet customer demand.
With batteries to store surplus energy and then dole it out as needed, that sporadic unreliability could cease to be such an issue.
"'Mega-scale' energy storage is a critical problem in the future of the renewable energy, requiring inexpensive and eco-friendly solutions," Narayan said.
The new battery is based on a redox flow design -- similar in design to a fuel cell, with two tanks of electroactive materials dissolved in water. The solutions are pumped into a cell containing a membrane between the two fluids with electrodes on either side, releasing energy.
The design has the advantage of decoupling power from energy. The tanks of electroactive materials can be made as large as needed -- increasing total amount of energy the system can store -- or the central cell can be tweaked to release that energy faster or slower, altering the amount of power (energy released over time) that the system can generate.
The team's breakthrough centered around the electroactive materials. While previous battery designs have used metals or toxic chemicals, Narayan and Prakash wanted to find an organic compound that could be dissolved in water. Such a system would create a minimal impact on the environment, and would likely be cheap, they figured.
Through a combination of molecule design and trial-and-error, they found that certain naturally occurring quinones -- oxidized organic compounds -- fit the bill. Quinones are found in plants, fungi, bacteria, and some animals, and are involved in photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
"These are the types of molecules that nature uses for energy transfer," Narayan said.
Currently, the quinones needed for the batteries are manufactured from naturally occurring hydrocarbons. In the future, the potential exists to derive them from carbon dioxide, Narayan said.
The team has filed several patents in regards to design of the battery, and next plans to build a larger scale version.

Story Source: Chemistrydaily

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How to work web address ?

Are you know how to work web address lets start to know. You have seen them everywhere even on some state license plates. But what does all those http’s and .com’s mean. Here is the website that I referenced for the following information:
http://www.googleguide.com/web_address.htmlBelow is a simplified explanation of what makes up a web address:
First of all, the official computer name for a web address is URLwhich stands for: Universal Resource Locator.



Here’s a sample URL:
http://www.crsd.org/buildings/nj/index.html

http:// stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol and that basically tells the computer that we are looking to “Transfer” “Hyper Text” (a webpage) from the internet to your computer. When typing a web address into Internet Explorer you usually don’t even have to type the “http://” because the computer assumes it.

www stands for World Wide Web which is the body of software rules and protocols that make up what we know of as the internet. Just about every webpage you’ll ever view is a part of the world wide web.
crsd in this example stands for Council Rock School District and it is technically the “second level domain name”
org is a an example of a “top level domain name” “.org” is primarily used by Non-profits, “.edu” is commonly used by schools and universities, “.gov” is used by the government, and the now famous “.com” is primarily for commercial websites. Together crsd.org could be described as the school district’s “domain name”
buildings/nj/ if you remember the old old days of DOS (before we had mice and folders on the screen) you might remember switching folder levels using the “/”. If you don’t remember its OK, but you should know that “/buildings/nj/” tells the computer to go to a folder labeled “nj” that is inside a folder labeled “buildings”.
index.html this is the actual file name of this webpage. More specifically, “index” is the name of the file and “.html” is the file extension which tells the computer what kind of file it is. “.html” stands for Hyper Text Markup Language which is the language most web pages are written in.

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How to search in Google ?

The internet is big, really, really big, and if you want to use it effectively you have to be familiar with search engines. Google.com has become the search engine of choice for millions of internet users. There are others, and if the past is any guide, there will be a “better than Google” search engine some day. But for now Google seems to be the best. Part of the reason they are the best is that they keep developing new ways of looking at the internet. Below are a couple of additional features that Google offers that you might want to check out now and in the future as they continue to develop:
news.google.com Need a current event? Forget about the newspaper, use the internet like teenagers do to find stories that are only minutes old.

images.google.com/ Arguably the best image search engine in the world. Try finding a picture of something today.

google.com/shopping Looking to make a purchase. Shop and compare prices online first using Google Shopping.

google.com/finance What to check the stock market, try this website for a quick overview.

maps.google.com Looking for an up to date map or satellite photo, check out these amazingly easy to manipulate maps and photos.

video.google.com Google has their own video search engine. Find an educational video on the internet that you can play for your class

youtube.com Several years ago Google bought Youtube which has become the premier video sharing website on the internet.

scholar.google.com Another project that Google is working on is to create a more efficient way to search scholarly papers.

books.google.com This is a great way to jump into some literature. Check out a book online, read some passages and find out where you can buy a copy.

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Brain imaging shows enhanced executive brain function in people with musical training

This image shows functional MRI imaging during mental task switching: Panels A and B shows brain activation in musically trained and untrained children, respectively. Panel C shows brain areas that are more active in musically trained than musically untrained children

Acontrolled study using functional MRI brain imaging reveals a possible biological link between early musical training and improved executive functioning in both children and adults, report researchers. The study uses functional MRI of brain areas associated with executive function, adjusting for socioeconomic factors.

Acontrolled study using functional MRI brain imaging reveals a possible biological link between early musical training and improved executive functioning in both children and adults, report researchers at Boston Children's Hospital. The study, appearing online June 17 in the journal PLOS ONE, uses functional MRI of brain areas associated with executive function, adjusting for socioeconomic factors.
Executive functions are the high-level cognitive processes that enable people to quickly process and retain information, regulate their behaviors, make good choices, solve problems, plan and adjust to changing mental demands.

"Since executive functioning is a strong predictor of academic achievement, even more than IQ, we think our findings have strong educational implications," says study senior investigator Nadine Gaab, PhD, of the Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience at Boston Children's. "While many schools are cutting music programs and spending more and more time on test preparation, our findings suggest that musical training may actually help to set up children for a better academic future."
While it's already clear that musical training relates to cognitive abilities, few previous studies have looked at its effects on executive functions specifically. Among these studies, results have been mixed and limited by a lack of objective brain measurements, examination of only a few aspects of executive function, lack of well-defined musical training and control groups, and inadequate adjustment for factors like socioeconomic status.
Gaab and colleagues compared 15 musically trained children, 9 to 12, with a control group of 12 untrained children of the same age. Musically trained children had to have played an instrument for at least two years in regular private music lessons. (On average, the children had played for 5.2 years and practiced 3.7 hours per week, starting at the age of 5.9.) The researchers similarly compared 15 adults who were active professional musicians with 15 non-musicians. Both control groups had no musical training beyond general school requirements.

Since family demographic factors can influence whether a child gets private music lessons, the researchers matched the musician/non-musician groups for parental education, job status (parental or their own) and family income. The groups, also matched for IQ, underwent a battery of cognitive tests, and the children also had functional MRI imaging (fMRI) of their brains during testing.
On cognitive testing, adult musicians and musically trained children showed enhanced performance on several aspects of executive functioning. On fMRI, the children with musical training showed enhanced activation of specific areas of the prefrontal cortex during a test that made them switch between mental tasks. These areas, the supplementary motor area, the pre-supplementary area and the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, are known to be linked to executive function.
"Our results may also have implications for children and adults who are struggling with executive functioning, such as children with ADHD or [the] elderly," says Gaab. "Future studies have to determine whether music may be utilized as a therapeutic intervention tools for these children and adults."
The researchers note that children who study music may already have executive functioning abilities that somehow attract them to music and predispose them to stick with their lessons. To establish that musical training influences executive function, and not the other way around, they hope to perform additional studies that follow children over time, assigning them to musical training at random.

Credit: Source: sciencedaily

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Man faces trial over 'revenge porn' website

The practice of posting explicit images of former lovers is on the rise around the world, experts say

There is enough evidence for a man accused of running a website showing thousands of images of naked women without their consent to be put on trial, a San Diego judge has ruled.

Kevin Bollaert is accused of running so-called revenge porn website UGotPosted and changemyreputation.com, a second site which offered to remove the images for about $300 (£176) each.
He faces identity theft charges as UGotPosted included victims' locations, names and links to Facebook profiles.
The 27-year-old has pleaded not guilty.
He is also charged with obtaining identifying information with the intent to annoy or harass.
The term revenge porn refers to websites that allow people to post explicit images of former partners, either obtained consensually or stolen from online accounts.

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