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Bloom escorts his pregnant wife through the airport in L.A. Plus: Robin Thicke, Britney Spears and more
Credit: Jackson Lee/Splash News Online
Published: Friday Sep 10, 2010 | 05:00 PM EDT
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Kim Kardashian talks shop during a fashion excursion in New York with Kourtney and her dapper son Mason, 9 months, on Thursday. The sisters are in town to debut their new QVC line at Fashion Week.
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News about Insects, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.
On Smushing Bugs
Dispensing death and clemency capriciously, killing on petulant impulse, granting pardons at whim — it's complicated.
November 15, 2014, Saturday
MORE ON INSECTS AND: Animals , Ants , Ethics (Personal) , Insects
The Civil War's Environmental Impact
Northern and Southern armies cut down roughly two million trees.
November 15, 2014, Saturday
MORE ON INSECTS AND: Agriculture and Farming , Civil War (US) (1861-65) , Forests and Forestry , Insects
Bug Love
Only a very small percentage of insects are pests, and most are quite beneficial.
August 24, 2014, Sunday
MORE ON INSECTS AND: Insects , Pesticides , Forests and Forestry , Endangered and Extinct Species
The Science in a Twinkle of Nighttime in the South
A firefly ritual of summer becomes part of a multiyear quest by researchers to measure whether urbanization threatens the insects.
August 15, 2014, Friday
MORE ON INSECTS AND: Insects , Urban Areas , Colleges and Universities , Environment , South Carolina , Pesticides , Research , Clemson University , Chow, Alexander T
Jiminy Cricket! Bugs Could Be Next Food Craze
Bitty Foods is selling flour and cookies packed with protein-rich, environmentally friendly insects.
August 3, 2014, Sunday
MORE ON INSECTS AND: Food , Insects , Crickets , Bitty Foods , Florence, Tyler , Miller, Megan
Faking Death to Survive Another Day
Some species of fly are adapted to feign dropping dead as a way to avoid a threat, and several other insects and spiders also show this behavior.
July 29, 2014, Tuesday
MORE ON INSECTS AND: Insects , Death and Dying
Scientists Name a Newly Discovered Water Mite After Jennifer Lopez
The researches said they chose the name, Litarachna lopezae, because Ms. Lopez's music kept the team in a good mood.
July 17, 2014, Thursday
MORE ON INSECTS AND: Lopez, Jennifer , Insects
Luna Moth: Green, Glowy and in Vogue
While moths are often derided as pests, the pistachio-colored luna moths are a true summertime spectacle. They still can be seen on Staten Island, and in Brooklyn and Queens.
July 11, 2014, Friday
MORE ON INSECTS AND: Insects
Setting the Table for Migrating Monarch Butterflies
Property owners can help provide migrating and struggling monarch butterflies with a milkweed buffet and then map the insects' arrival.
July 7, 2014, Monday
MORE ON INSECTS AND: Midwestern States (US) , Mexico , Hudson River Valley (NY) , Annenberg Foundation , Forests and Forestry , Environment , Insects , Gardens and Gardening , Butterflies and Moths
Fine Perfumes of the Animal World
We are by no means the only species trying to smell like anything but ourselves.
July 5, 2014, Saturday
MORE ON INSECTS AND: Perfumes and Fragrances , Insects , Smells and Odors , Animals
A Fish That Spits With Perfect Aim
Hunting by spitting requires great control over the water jet shot at prey.
A Scourge of Crops
Millions are being spent on stopping the stink bug's rampage.
Cranked Gears for Leaping
Scientists used advanced high-speed video to track the incredibly fast, mechanically powerful jump of a plant-hopping insect called Issus coleoptratus.
Matter: Cicadas
Carl Zimmer talks about the life cycle and evolutionary adaptations of the insect.
Dragonflies: Dainty but Deadly
These highly developed insects can pinpoint their prey, predict its trajectory and chomp through a victim's body in midflight.
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Tag Archives: photo app control iPhone
Five tips for beautiful snow photos with your iPhone
Yes, it's almost April but most of Europe remains within a deep winter slumber. There has been a lot of snow over the past week around England, with plenty falling here in Derby, UK. As I usually live in Australia … Continue reading


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Guidance on recruiting and supporting trans people
Toolkit for employers: Recruiting staff with a transgender background and successfully managing the workplace gender transition of existing employees
There are a number of people of both sexes in the United Kingdom whose gender identity (their sense of being a man or a woman) does not match their appearance and / or anatomy. Around 1,500 people every year seek medical help about this.
People who, with medical advice and support, decide to permanently adopt the opposite gender to the one assigned at birth are known as 'transsexual people'.
There are also a significant number of people who adopt an opposite gender role without formal medical involvement. These are known as 'transgender' people.
The term 'transgender' is also used (along with 'trans') as an umbrella term referring to everyone whose gender presentation doesn't entirely tally with the role originally expected according to the sex identified at birth. Read more detail on how the terms are described.
What employers need to know
The Sex Discrimination Act (as amended) makes it unlawful to treat a person less favourably because they are planning to undergo, undergoing or have undergone gender reassignment. Read more details on what the law says.
This section is designed to help employers ensure that they do not inadvertently discriminate against trans people when recruiting for staff, and that they act appropriately when an existing employee needs to transition in the workplace.
Read on for more information on:
- Transition and gender reassignment
- Trans people in equal opportunities policies
- Monitoring
- Recruitment considerations
- Interviewing trans people
- Retaining people when they transition
- Understanding the gender reassignment process, including the need for time off
- Record changes
- Roles that require CRB checks
- Dress codes, toilets and locker rooms
Elsewhere on the site:
Last Updated: 27 Oct 2009


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WESTPORT, Mass. (AP) — Two people from Rhode Island are dead after a car they were riding in rolled over several times in the early hours of the new year before ending up in the embankment on I-95 North in Connecticut.
The Hartford Courant identified the dead as 46-year-old Terrance Bernard and 25-year-old Savannah Wakely of Woonsocket, who were passengers.
The crash also injured the 32-year-old driver, Jamain Jerry Allen, and 27-year-old Jennifer Shaver, all of Bridgeport.
It's two days into 2012. The past year is now a distance memory. Time sure does fly. It seems like just a short time ago that the winter season was wrapping up, one that included an extraordinary performance by the Tolman High boys' basketball team in the Division II quarterfinals. The summer, as it always does, went by quickly. But not before a group of young 12-year-old kids from the Cumberland American All Star team earned their way to Williamsport, Pa., for the Little League World Series.


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RFE: Conference Listings
This service is joint project of RFE and EconBiz.
- Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, OECD; Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade; regional government of Extremadura
|November 29-30, 2007
|OECD Conference on Innovation in the Software Sector
|Centro de CirugĚ_a de MĚ_nima InvasiĚ_n, CĚÁceres, Spain
|This conference will consider innovation in the software sector from an economic perspective, taking into account the factors that drive innovation, including key framework conditions. The agenda will be centred on the mandate for the on-going OECD project on innovation in the software sector, which focuses on: - The economic processes in the software sector (invention, production, distribution, use) - Research and development and the market environment in the software industry - User perspectives with respect to secure and accessible software. [gemĚ_ĚŮ den Informationen des Anbieters - according to site editor's information]
|JEL Code:


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Helix v2.0 released
aaron posted in Uncategorized on September 30th, 2008
Helix is the definitive computer forensics, incident response live CD distribution, and it has recently released version 2.0. Here is the listed of updated features. Among lots of new tools and tool upgrades, one big change is that it is now based on Ubuntu rather than Knoppix. Some other cool new tools that have been added to Helix are winlockpwn which bypasses windows authentication via firewire, Volitility for parsing processes, network information and many other things out of raw memory, and something else cool from metlstorm, bioskbsnarf, which parses the realmode keyboard buffer out of the bios data area. It looks like a couple of the newer memory dumping utilities for windows have also been added to the windows live portion of the distro.
The only bad thing that I've noticed is that the static binaries (important for incident response) are no longer distributed directly on the CD, but at least they are still available for download. Maybe they (or someone else) will put together a DVD that includes these.
I was told a while before the release came out that it was no longer going to be free, so
I'm pretty glad to see this release is public and still free. That being said, it's a worthwhile project to contribute to, so I'd suggest buying a pressed CD to help them out. If not — happy downloading, .
PS — And yes, it is v2.0 that has been released despite them calling the distribution "Helix 3″ for some slightly confusing reason.


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Why the Long Face, Joe Lieberman?
According to a new poll, Independent Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman is suffering from a 38% approval rating in his home state, the lowest rating Zell Miller 2.0 has ever received.
Forty-two percent of those surveyed said Lieberman's support for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) during the presidential election made them think less favorably of him; 43 percent of voters said it made no difference. 30 percent of those who supported Lieberman in his 2006 general election said they would now vote for someone other than Lieberman if the election were held again today.
Not to worry though. I'm sure Lieberman has a plan to turn things around with the voters. All he's got to do is show off some of his trademark good judgment.
Maybe he'll back Rod Blagojevich for President or support an invasion of Canada or introduce a bill to ban ice cream.
Tags: Connecticut, Independent, Joe Lieberman, Polls
About Us
Comedy Central's Indecision is the network's digital hub for news, politics and other jokes: we're here, we're everywhere. We're not affiliated with any television show. We're affiliated with ourselves.


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The Trabasack Mini is an innovative, award winning travel bag combined with a versatile lap desk.
The built-in lap desk feature provides a sturdy and steady flat surface ideal for working, eating or playing on-the-go, no matter what the location.
Weighing-in at only 700g, the Mini model is a compact, lightweight version of the original Trabasack lap desk bag, designed specifically with space-saving and practicality in mind.
Each Trabasack Mini features a black leather-look tray on one side - a solid, flat surface perfect for writing, sketching or utilising mobile computing equipment, and the bag can hold laptops up to 14", iPads, netbooks and other compact computers.
The Trabasack Mini can also be opened out flat when fully unzipped, to provide even further work space, and includes an internal zip pocket, suitable for small personal items such as mobile phones, wallets and keys.
The soft, padded interior provides the maximum protection for electronic equipment, and is ideal for use as a business or work bag to ensure items remain safe whilst commuting.
Each Trabasack lap desk bag contains a removable bean bag cushion that fits inside to help keep the lap tray level, and eliminate any discomfort caused by the overheating of laptops or netbook PCs.
The Trabasack Mini can be worn in a number of stylish and practical ways, utilising the two long straps provided with each bag. The straps can be attached and removed with ease to allow use as either a briefcase, satchel, messenger bag or rucksack.
Each Trabsack lap desk bag is made from hardwearing, durable fabrics that are both machine washable and shower-proof, providing the ultimate combination of functionality, style and security.
The Mini is also available with a velcro-receptive 'Connect' surface, to view the Mini Connect product page, please click here.
Size: 33 x 25 x 7.5cm
Weight: 700g
Easy ring pull zips, grab handles, and multi strap options. Internal zip pocket.
Swivel clips on the luggage straps and quick release buckles.
Machine washable 30°C
Review: Amazon, user: ChigacoSlim
Perfect Fit and Superb Build Quality
"I recently purchased the Trabasack Mini - Lap Tray and Bag and I have been very happy with it. It's not just a case but it's also a tray! Has a bean bag bottom so it's easy to keep your laptop level and doesn't let your legs get too hot. I have used this for both my laptop and my ipad and found it very useful. The product is very high quality and worth every penny. Provides good protection for your device without being to heavy or bulky."
Delivery Info


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Training material
This manual aims at reviewing workplace stress issues. It includes easy-to-apply checkpoints for identifying stressors in working life and mitigating their harmful effects.
The overall objective of this course is to develop knowledge and skills that will lead to the integration of the psychosocial and health promotion issues into a comprehensive enterprise policy and establish a framework for preventative action. This course will be held in French. Deadline for applications: 20 April 2013. The course will be held in Spanish.


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Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
Forestry Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG)
Freedom House
Under the transition government that came into power in August 2005, Mauritania committed to a number of important governance and anti-corruption reforms that were expected to continue after the democratic elections in March 2007. In addition to adhering to the UN and African Union conventions against corruption, the government took steps to ensure transparent management of oil revenues, begun implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), launched improvements in public financiwillal management systems, and announced the preparation of a national anti-corruption strategy. Seizing this window of opportunity, the World Bank and other donors launched an effort in 2007 to actively assist the government in these efforts through technical assistance and capacity building activities.
In this vein, the Mauritanian government made an enthusiastic request to WBI for assistance in implementing a governance diagnostic. The diagnostic was to form part of an innovative sectoral governance approach which focuses on the sub-national governance issues affecting key sectors.
With the financial support of the Norwegian Trust Fund and BNPP, the World Bank, in collaboration with the Government of Mauritania, launched the Mauritania Sectoral Governance Diagnostic in November 2007. Stakeholder workshops and meetings with public officials were held to secure local participation in the project. By the spring of 2008, a local private statistical firm had been selected, via an international and transparent procurement process, to conduct 3 surveys (household, enterprise and public official). In early August 2008, in the midst of the first data collection (of enterprises), the country experienced a coup d'état. Fortunately, the enterprise data collection was completed, but the political volatility made collection of household and public officials' data impossible. The project was put on hold in the midst of the political uncertainty. In late spring 2009, a decision was made to finalize and close out the project. A final report was submitted in May 2009 summarizing the results of the enterprise data collection.
The Mauritania sectoral governance diagnostics generated a new set of tools customized to the realities of the country context as well as the particular sector environment. Instruments for the target sectors -- Transport and Public Works -- to capture the views and experiences of both users and providers of public services.
These instruments are provided below.
World Bank
Web-Interactive Worldwide Aggregate Governance Indicators(estimates of six dimensions of governance covering 199 countries and territories)
World Bank Institute Governance Databank
Governance and Anti-Corruption Diagnostic Tools
Methods, Publications, and Findings
Non-World Bank


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[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Cedric Maxwell and 2 Clowns Hating : You have no clue what goes on with Rondo, Doc, and DA....other than the all the misinformation you gather from writers who need to create drama to get someone to read their articles......If you believe all that stuff than surely you take DA word that he is not actively shopping Rondo... that he wants him to stay.... same from Doc...
Posted by CASox[/QUOTE]
Rondo has clashed with Rivers over the years regarding the offense, and there have been reports that the two have clashed even more this season. But Rivers said his trust in Rondo is a testament to their improving relationship and Rondo's maturity.
"I don't look at his numbers, I look at the way,'' Rivers said. "He's starting to make calls. There's no guy on the floor who should know how it should be run better than the point guard.
Rivers has never before entrusted a point guard with control of the offense in his 13-year coaching career.
"Rondo is the only one, he really is, in all the years I've coached,'' said Rivers, "and the reason you give it to him is he is the smartest one.
"He's the smartest point guard I've ever been around, and he deserves it. He knows the playbook.
"We talk about the playbook. He knows it. He knows plays from three years ago. In that way, he's a brilliant player.''


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PARK(ing) Day is coming!
Posted by
Becky |
View all posts by Becky
1 Comment » | Published in Boston, Green Design, LA, Landscape Design, Local Design, New York, San Francisco | 1 Comment
Remember when I told you about Rebar's PARK(ing) Day last year? This year, it has continued to spread nationwide here in the states and even oversees (the above photo is from London in 2006). PARK(ing) day will take place on on September 21st.


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TI Home
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Audio Converters Forum
PCM1792 performance issues.
Hello, I've built a few D/A converters around the PCM1792/1794 in the past and I am perhaps have some trouble realising the performance that these are supposed to be able to achieve. Also, as my knowledge is a little lacking when it comes to the internal workings of D/A converters, I don't know if what I am experiencing is typical of how they perform. So instead of making yet another PCB prototype I figured I'd ask/post here in the hope that someone can help shed some new light on this.
First of all the implementation.
I have the master clock, bit clock, LR clock and the data line being transmitted over a short CAT5 network cable via an LVDS implementation using your own SN65LVDS receiver and transmitters. The received clocks then pass through a ISO7240M chip, to isolate the DAC side of things from the place the clocks are sent from. The clocks then feed into the PCM1792. These are all mounted on the same PCB to minimise EMI.
The PCB is double sided, with the copper bottom acting as a ground plane, this is completely uninterrupted, save for a couple of areas that have been removed to reduce stray capacitance from some areas of the design. All components relevant to the PCM1792 are mounted very close to the pins of the chip and low ESR capacitors have been used in every area, the 0.1uf decouplers are ceramic. There are no traces on the copper bottom.
The copper top is obviously used for component placement, but the area of the copper top directly beneath the PCM1792 is uninterrupted copper., that is there is copper directly beneath the PCM1792. The ground connections from the DAC chip are made directly to this copper on the top. To connect this copper area to the ground plane on the copper bottom I basically have something similar to using a number of vias, only instead of the usual method involved in automated PCB fabrication, I have drilled two 1.5mm holes directly beneath the DAC chip. These two holes have a piece of 1.5mm solid copper rod that connects the copper bottom to the copper top beneath the DAC chip.
The I/V + difference amplifier are essentially identical to the data sheet implementation, except for two things. The first, is the capacitor in parallel with the feedback resistor in the I/V converters. The capacitor is in series with a small resistor to decouple the output of the opamp from the capacitance. The second is that the size of the capacitor in the difference amplifiers filter is larger to lower the frequency the filter operates at.
The PCM1792 is operating with a master clock of 256fs, and is controlled by a PIC24 via I2C. The system is set up so that I can alter the Delta-Sigma oversampling rate by remote control and I can also switch between the fast and slow rate digital low pass filter.
First of all the clocks are low jitter
as can be seen from the attached image, also as can be seen the noise floor is quite low too. So jitter is unlikely to be a cause of any performance issues.
Now some words on the distortion performance.
RE the DAC output set to around -1dB.
Going from a 48khz sample frequency, to 96 khz results in a doubling of THD. Likewise going from a 96khz signal to a 192khz signal also results in a doubling of THD. The over sampling filter is kept the same.
If the sampling frequency is fixed to 48khz, going from a 32x over sampling filter, to a 64x over sampling filter also results in a doubling of THD and going to 128x once again doubles THD over the 64x rate. The same happens @ 96khz and 192 khz too. Each time the sampling frequency is doubled, or the over sampling rate doubles the THD doubles too. (Sometimes it's not quite double, but it's close enough to see a trend emerging.)
Now @ -1dB and using an over sampling of 32x I get roughly 0.0005%, 0.001% and 0.002% for 48/96/192khz, both the left and the right channel show very similar performance. This isn't limited to low order harmonics either as the next picture demonstrates.
The distortion to me seems a tad too high in level and if it were just for this I wouldn't be posting here as things start to get worse or confusing depending on various things.
For example the above performance is achieved when using the AD8610 opamp in the position of the I/V converter (an OPA627 is used as the difference amplifier). However if I change the I/V opamp to the THS4031 (what I was originally using) the performance degrades significantly, however it also shows exactly the same trends with respect to the over sampling rate and the sampling frequency used (192khz reaching 0.005% THD with 32x OS and going up to 0.01% with 64x).
A while ago I also built a DAC using the PCM1794, this implementation used a SSOP to DIL adaptor, so theoretically loses out straight away due to the adaptor. However in that design I used the THS4031 in exactly the same configuration and it performed fine. The peculiar thing is that the design using the SSOP>DIL adaptor performed far better then any of the designs I've done where the PCM1794/2 is mounted directly to the PCB. Even stranger is that the analogue stage of each design, (design 1 being with the adaptor, design 2 being without) was identical, so quite why it performed well in the adaptor version and poorly in the version without the adaptor I do not know. (By perform well I am talking 0.0003% distortion at 48khz @ -1dB output level). So I am assuming here that the I/V stage using the THS4031 isn't or shouldn't be a problem.
Here's where things perhaps become even stranger.
According to the datasheet, the distortion performance reaches a minimum at around -20dB, where presumably, up until this point all the distortion was in the noise floor. Then as the output level increases, the distortion also increases, but both do so at an identical rate so the % distortion remains the same. This all makes sense, but isn't what happens with me.
If I lower the output level down from -1dB to -10dB the distortion remains roughly the same, it decreases, but only by a tiny bit. Say from 0.0018% to 0.0015% for a sampling frequency of 192khz and an OS rate of 32x.
If I then lower the output level from -10dB to -14dB, it decreases down to 0.001%.
If I then lower the output from -14dB down to -18dB something interesting happens. The distortion @ all sampling frequencies and pretty much all OS rates just takes a vacation and looks something likes this.
Interested by this I ran a sweep from 100-20khz and came up with this.
Obviously this isn't just frequency related, so probably isn't a result of any inductive or capacitive coupling. Nor would I imagine contamination of an analogue signal line by an a ground current.
In trying to figure this out some what, I have tried altering the component values of the I/V and difference amplifiers so that the op amps will see easier loads. This didn't do anything, I wasn't surprised.
What is also interesting is that when using the THS4031s in the I/V stage exactly the same thing happens. The distortion goes from being quite high (0.005% @ 192khz @32x OS) to almost invisible. It's almost as if there's some threshold point inside the DAC chip, and regardless of what I/V stage it is driving, when the driven level drops below it the distortion disappears.
I thought this might be due the ADC of the sound card I am using to do the measurements, so I attenuated the output of the difference amplifiers by 20dB using a resistor divider and with the DAC set at -1dB output the high distortion was still there, so it's a product of the output level of the DAC and not the measurement system.
I am thinking of trying a different I/V configuration using an OPA1632 fully differential opamp as an I/V converter and then feeding that into the OPA627, but something tells me that that wont solve the problem, does this sound like an issue that anyone has dealt with before? Or rather understands how DACs work internally and can perhaps understand what could be causing this? I have tried around 7 different PCBs now, with different grounding, slightly different signal routing etc and nothing appears to work, it seems like I am missing something fundamental.
Many thanks in advance if anyone can offer some assistance.
Okay, as a test I decided to increase the value of the resistor that connects between IREF and ground, this decreases the current that the DAC outputs. This may not be optimal, but it is instructive to a certain degree I believe.
What is immediately apparent is that reducing the output current does nothing to affect the DACs behaviour. Except for the absolute magnitude of all of the signals and the related distortion products, the details described above remain exactly the same.
With regards to the I/V and difference amplifier, I think this shows that the distortion isn't an analogue drive level issue, as the distortion comes and goes at exactly the same point in reference to the digital drive level.
I would also expect this to alter the dynamic of the returning currents around the DAC and the analogue circuitry, if this were a problem I'd expect it to have manifested itself in some way, but it didn't alter anything at all. (I am only guessing with this mind you).
I thought I would attach some graphs of distortion vs drive level @ different sampling frequencies, to help illustrate what it is I am trying to say is occurring. (The bottom left of each graph contains sampling frequency details, all done at 32x OS apart from the last one.)
It is worth mentioning again I believe, that if I use the THS4031 as an I/V converter the graphs look pretty much exactly the same, except that the rise in distortion at the end is far worse.
I am of course trying to figure out why I get this increase in distortion, both the left and the right channel perform in the same way too and the graphs were done with the correct value of resistor tying IREF to ground.
Some more information.
When running idle, that is the reset pin high, clocks present, but no data, the power consumption of the analogue line remains constant, this is as you'd expect. If I then apply data to the DAC but at -100dB the output produces the test signal and the power consumption remains the same as it was at idle. If I then increase the input level the power consumption remains the same right up until the point where the distortion abruptly increases. In this case the input current decreases slightly and keeps decreasing up until 0dB.
This reminds me somewhat of class A biasing in power amplifiers (which is why I thought to try this), where if the output remains in class A bias it will mask various distortion mechanisms, but if you increase the drive level beyond the class A region, those distortion mechanisms will become apparent and grossly affect the performance of the amplifier. It would appear that something similar could be happening here. If I keep the drive level below the quiescent state that the DAC is biased under, the distortion remains very low, however if I go beyond this the performance suffers as a direct result.
The question is what mechanism is it that's causing this?
Hi, Matt,
We are still grinding this one out. Please hang in there.
Don Dapkus
Audio Applications Engineering Manager
Dallas, TX USA
Wow, thanks D2 :)
I will add that I've tried a little more experimentation.
1) Setting the volume control internal to the PCM1792 has exactly the same effect as turning down the volume digitally before the DAC. I thought this would be the case, but I wasn't sure if the volume control was handled on the digital side of the 1792, or whether it affected some parameters on the analogue side. Seems like it's digital.
2) Both the left and the right channel of the DAC perform entirely independently from one another. That is, if the left channel is going full out, the right channel still falls to the distortion minimum at the same drive level. The absolute level of distortion on the right channel is slightly increased due to cross talk, but nothing more then that. As the DAC shares a common power pin for both analogue output channels I'd assume that this isn't an issue with the associated pin and any of it's possible return currents, otherwise turning one channel to max would possibly influence the other in a detrimental way.
3) I have tried measuring the performance without using the difference amplifier and cap coupling the output of the I/V opamp directly to the measuring system. The point of this was to remove any ground currents flowing from the R+C network connected to the non-inverting input of the difference opamp, maybe they were to blame. They weren't. Same issue and both the positive and negative current outputs perform similarly.
4) The previously mentioned copper rods that connected the top side ground plane beneath the DAC to the bottom side main ground plane - there were two of these mounted directly beneath the DAC chip, I wondered if using two of them could create a small loop so I removed one of them, this didn't affect the performance.
5) The PCB designs prior to this one had the LVDS receiver and opto isolator mounted on a separate PCB, with wires connecting the I2S signals around. I wasn't happy with this as I felt EMI was causing unpredictable results. Either way, with one of the previous PCBs, both the +/- current outputs went beneath a zero ohm 1206 link resistor. This resistor had the +5 volt rail flowing through it. The odd thing here was that if the DAC was going full out and distorting, I could press the tip of my finger generously on top the 1206 bridge so that the skin pressed into the +/- current lines too, doing so resulted in almost all the distortion vanishing completely. 48 & 96khz = 0.0003% @ -1dB, only 192 at 64x OS would show higher, but 192 @ 32x would also fall to 0.0003%. I ran this through a sweep from 20hz-20khz and it was also ruler flat. My finger didn't have to be on only the current outputs either, I could place my finger over other areas of the I/V + difference amplifier stages and it would have the same effect, oddly putting my finger on the left channel would also show an improvement in the right channel too. The more skin contact there was, the better. I figured I was either acting as an antenna and channeling the EMI into the circuit and the interference was helping in some way, or I was creating some capacitive coupling somewhere that managed to help in some way. Touching the scope probe to the current output also reduced the distortion by a small amount too and I had seen a similar effect on another circuit where it functioned with the scope probe connected, but didn't with it off. In that instance I attached a small cap to the circuit and increased the line capacitance, this was an I2C line and that fixed the problem. I tried adding some capacitance to ground on the current outputs but this did nothing, I figured as much considering the current outputs are supposed to see a zero ohm input impedance from the I/V stage anyway, not like anything is going to decide to flow through the cap instead. The trouble with this is that in the current implementation I altered the signal routing of the I/V stage slightly (the 1206 link with the current outputs beneath is still there though) while also putting the LVDS/opto on the same PCB and now I cannot get any improvement in performance using the sophisticated 'finger' method. I do however get a small increase in performance (we are talking 0.0018% to 0.0016%, but it is repeatable) by turning on my soldering iron. This is a Metcal unit that uses a 13Mghz signal to heat a coil of wire embedded in the tip of the iron. I just tried this again and yes, one channel shows a small improvement, but the other gets worse by the same amount, I don't figure this is really relevant, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. Touching the scope probe to the current implementation - touching the scope probe to the left channels negative current output reduces the performance from 0.0018 to 0.002%, touching it to the left channels positive current output decreases it by a similar amount. Touching the scope probe to the right channels negative current output decreases the distortion from 0.0018 to 0.0016% and touching the probe to the right channels positive current output increases the distortion by a similar amount. The effect the scope probe has changes a little depending on if it's used in x1 or x10 mode, having less of an effect in x10 mode, where I would imagine that the probe capacitance would be less.
6) This might be important, although I am not sure. The PCB with the DAC on board doesn't contain any of the power regulators, these are high quality independent units on separate PCBs (They are Super regulators similar to the type designed by Walt Jung, but with a pre regulator.). The entire set up is wired up following star grounding principles, with 20cm wires carrying the +5 +3.3 +/-9 rails to the PCB, another separate wire solders to the ground plane and returns to the star earth point. I have tried braiding the +5 +3.3 and ground wires together this did nothing. Twisting the +/- 9 volt rails didn't do anything either. And I have also tried soldering the ground return wire to various different parts of the PCB and this has absolutely zero effect on the performance. The regulators aren't oscillating either.
I should have some NE5534s arriving tomorrow, these are cheap, I figured I'd give them a go in the I/V converter and I'll see what I find.
I tried the NE5534s and they deliver roughly the same performance that the AD8610s provide, with the NE5543s being slightly worse.
Some suggestions from our side for you to consider:
Put decoupling capacitor for pin28-27 close to the part
Decoupling capacitors for pin21 and pin22 should connect pin23 directly with
shortest pattern
10k ohms Resistor for pin20 should connect pin19 directly without using GND
I've already got the 0.1uf decouplers as close as they can get to the chip, we're talking 0.5mm of trace. The 47u lytics are somewhat further away due to their size, but I could reduce this somewhat if it is extremely important.
What you said about the 10k resistor however is interesting, are you saying that the resistor should connect between pin 20 and pin 19 without connecting pin 19 to the ground plane? Or rather, instead of having separate connections from pin 19 to the ground plane and from the resistor the ground plane, that the ground side connection of the resistor should be routed through pin 19 instead? If the latter is the case I currently have the resistor connected like that.
You've got it.
Will the detailed requirements for implementation as above be written into an updated Datasheet.
If the datasheet does not detail how the IC works internally - then i assume that the only guidance we can request is from TI ?.
Thanks and regards,
If I end up figuring out how to solve this and if the issue is simple enough and widely applicable, it would be nice for some design hints to be included in a data sheet or evaluation module. As it stands I am waiting for Don to get back to me on a couple of questions :)
Hi Matt,
thanks a lot for sharing this information. I'm tempted to build a D/A converter around the PCM1792/4 (unfortunately just as a hobby), so this information is quite interesting to me.
1) Did the "direct" connection of the resistor to the AGND pin finally help the problem you were chasing? I was not expecting these couple of nH on the AGND pin to have such an impact.
2) you mentioned, you considered to use the OPA1632 as fully differential I/V-converter and to use the excellent OPA627 as Diff/SE stage. Did you ever try this?
I was thinking about this as well, since the OPA1632 seems to be an excellent OpAmp. But I do not know enough about the innards of the PCM1792/4 in order to judge, whether the DAC chip would take advantage of this "symmetrical load". There might as well be other arguments -I'm not aware of- not to use the OPA1632 in this stage. I was actually wondering why TI advertises this OpAmp in ADC input stages, but never -to my knowledge- in DAC output stages. Matt, Don, what do you think?
3) What type of soundcard and software did you use to make these measurements? I was impressed by the performance visible in the charts; it's not easy to measure THD at the output of a high-end D/A converter... Did you use several input channels in parallel in order to get the random noise (and probably even a bit of the distortion) down to these levels?
4) Don, the evaluation board for the PCM1792/4, is it still available? This would be a reasonable start for me ...
You're in good company then Mathias as I too am doing this as a hobby :)
I have seen twisted pear audio use a fully differential opamp as an I/V converter after the DAC, so I assumed this would work in a reasonable way. I tried it out myself however and got less then impressive results, it worked, but the numbers were horrendous. As far as the DACs current outputs go, they are looking to see a very low source impedance, this is created in the usual opamp I/V converter by tying the non inverting input to ground.
The OPA1632 allows you to shift the output level of the opamp by way of the vcom pin, this makes it very useful in the analogue circuitry that would appear before an ADC. Most ADCs require, that, what would be the zero point (ground) of a normal AC signal, be shifted up by a certain amount, so that the analogue voltage swing, instead of going between say -1.5v to + 1.5 volts, be shifted up by 1.6 volts so it would swing from say 0.1 volts up to 3.1volts instead.
Now the current range of current output DACs from TI have their zero crossing point in various different places and this specific place is defined in the datasheets as the centre current at BPZ, for the PCM1792/4 this is at -6.2mA. This means that there is a DC offset after the I/V opamp and the size of this is set by the feedback resistor in the I/V converter. As the DAC outputs are differential though, when the output of the I/V opamps goes through the difference opamp (the opa627 etc), this offset cancels out leaving you with a very small DC offset.
If you were using an OPA1632 as an I/V converter you can tie VCOM to ground and the output state centres around ground rather then perhaps the offset created by the DAC. The trouble with this is that I don't think it sets the input impedance of the OPA1632 to zero and this is where the horrific performance that I arrived at came from, of course I might be wrong on this so I'd need someone else more technically minded on this to correct or verify where I might have gone wrong.
I often get asked what I make measurements with as they are quite impressive, but fortunately it don't cost the earth either. I use an ASUS Xonar Essence ST in combination with ARTA/STEPS/LIMP. The xonar does offer pretty impressive performance considering it's price and to better them in any meaningful way you'd probably have to spend a few thousand pounds/euros etc.
I realised that I forgot to answer your first question, how rude of me! No, the resistor was already configured as Don suggested.
Thanks for the immediate response. I was a bit overloaded the last week ....
The efforts you are taking (making multiple PCB layouts) made me assume, that you're in the lucky position to earn your money by designing high-end audio.
Regarding the OPA1632: I think you're right. The DAC does expect a low impedance at the output nodes. Since the differential outputs of the DAC likely are not true differential (meaning both outputs are interacting), but rather 2x single ended (referenced to the supply), there is no benefit in providing a true differential (i.e. interacting) set of inputs at the subsequent stage. I would expect the potential at these nodes to shift depending on the output currents of the DAC and this would impair the linearity of these current sources.
I had a closer look at the Xonar Essence ST. It uses exactly the set of converters I was looking for: ADC CS5381 and DAC PCM1792. Looks like this could be my future measureing equipment too.
Did you finally get the issue with the distortion resolved?
It would be rather fantastic if I was getting paid for doing this, I get a huge amount of pleasure out of designing and building things :) A lot of the time I'll achieve the desired performance with the first or second PCB. Sometimes this isn't the case and if something isn't performing to the standard that it should be capable of I like to figure out why. It may take several attempts but once I've figured it out I feel a lot better for having done so.
I do not find making PCBs a problem either, I know lots of DIYers send off their PCB designs for some other company to produce. If I were doing this I'd probably settle for less, as it would probably end up being quite expensive and troublesome to go through several design iterations.
As the foundation for a cost effective measuring suite, the ASUS card, in my opinion is often overlooked. For the money it provides brilliant performance and ignoring bandwidth limitations you'd have to buy something from AP or NI that would costs thousands, to better it in any meaningful way.
The distortion problem is still at large, I haven't produced another PCB yet as I've been focusing on other areas of the system. In a couple of days time these will be finished, after which the DACs will be the final part that needs attention. Also the system will be modified to make it much easier to swap in different DAC boards. Once that's done I'll start trying other things out again :) In the meantime I'm still hoping that Don will be able to find something over at TI (high resolution images of the PCM1792/4 evaluation modules PCB layout) that could help in diagnosing the problem.
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text:
A14: Main page
Page contents:
1. Notice periods
2. Transfers and secondments
3. References
4. Redeployment and redundancy
5. Retirement matters
6. Agreed severance procedure
1. Notice periods
Please refer to the research council notice period policy below for information.
Notice period policy (PDF 182KB)
You may need to download additional plug-ins to open this file.
2. Transfers and secondments
Please refer to the research council transfers and secondments policy below for information.
Transfers and secondments policy (PDF 39KB)
You may need to download additional plug-ins to open this file.
3. References
Guidance on giving and receiving employment references is set out in .
4. Redeployment and redundancy
See (the Redeployment and Redundancy guide).
5. Retirement matters
Employees in the Research Council's pension scheme have a pension age according to the scheme they are in:
- For members of the Classic, Classic Plus and Premium schemes this is age 60
- For members of the NUVOS scheme this is age 65
- Details of the pension schemes are available from Joint Superannuation Services (JSS) - www.jsspensions.org.uk
In addition you may apply flexibly or retire early, please see appendix A14.8 for further information.
6. Agreed Severance procedure (AS)
For details of the procedure, please see appendix A14.10.
Last updated 11/06/14
Amendment 175 - June 2014


text:
Posts by Karim Bourouba
139 posts • joined 8 May 2007
Police drag feet following DNA law change
The police, making up the rules as they go along?
I refuse to beleive it!
They are far to busy to do any of that - or any actual police work as they are tied up with all the paper work that goes into 'modern' policing these days.
Isnt that the line they normally trot out when people point out their myriad failiures?
I dont think we are sliding into a police state at all. instead, much like the Royal Mail, the police in the UK also need to be forced into modernising.
Apple loses students to netbooks and Windows
I would buy an Apple Netbook
Does it matter if Apple makes a netbook or not? I mean, look at current netbooks. A lot of them come with a Linux installed, or the owner installs a Linux after buying it.
Does Apple really need to produce the hardware? Or do they simply need to produce a netbook centric version of Mac OS instead? And even if they did, would anyone want to buy it?
Correct me if I am wrong (and buy this I mean piss off to the Apple zealots who will deride me), but isnt the fact that you can buy a small, cheap, portable computer that runs an (often) free OS the drawing factor here? Apple gear is (apparently) more popular for its style as opposed to its content, so would a netbook version of the OS suit?
And on the note that they dont know how to make a small, cheap computer - just what exactly is the Mac mini then? Are they telling us that it is completely beyond their ability to simply add a screen, keyboard and battery to a Mac mini and call it a netbook? And then there is the iTablet - isnt this already a netbook? FFS, this is silly. So Apple doesnt want to make a device called a Netbook, big deal.
Paris, because I nearly always use Paris when posting about Apple and its 'Tards.
Finger crossing won't lure iPhone coders to Windows Mobile
This looks like a typically US centric article to me. I dont see MS losing the smartphone market to Apple at all. If anything, they will loose their meagre share to either RIM, Nokia or any manufacturer deploying Android.
The iPhone is nice, but it is just an MP3 player with a fairly bog standard phone attached. I dont see how business will be taken with this as a tool, how exactly are they going to provide an entertainment device to their staff in order to do work? RIM is definitely providing very good handets now and Nokia may wake up and see what is happening. But any market share they loose will more than likely be hoovered up by Andriod based devices - not jesusPhones.
I admire the church of scientology like zeal they have programmed their cultists with, and i admire the kick in the arse that they gave to the mobile phone world - but if you look at it objectively all they have done is give us a new input method, thats it and even then its a reimagining of the touch screen. There is the store, designed to syphon money directly from our bank accounts to Apple, negating any online store the network may have already (poorly) implemented.
Sure, the iPhone will always do well, but I dont see it making its way into the breast pockets of big business any time soon.
No doubt the Apple fanboi-tards will hit this post as well.
Paris, as she has an iPhone and doesnt know what all the fuss is about - just as long as she can post her facebook updates.
Blighty customers see some Windows 7 prices halved
@ James 12
Your comments dont make sense.
You think people should just stick with the release client?
Sony reveals slim PS3, drops price
who cares about the 'other OS' anyway?
You bunch of bellend-tards complaining about losing the feature to install a different OS (probably Linux). So what if it has gone from the firmware in this device? Whats the point in complaining about it? They only way you would miss it is if you already have a PS3 and replaced it with the slimline version.
is this really the most important feature?
I think the only reason I wont replace my PS3 with the PS3 slim is down to the fact I have an old school 60gb version that plays PS2 games. If the new console did this, I would probably get one.
Saying that, a fool and his money are easily parted. So I will probably go get one anyway...
DIY GSM network is go
On a sensible note
I like the idea that this could be deployed to a disaster zone sharpish. It makes me happy that people are doing this sort of thing, if not for that very reason.
But isnt there a slightly more sinister edge to this? Should nefarious groups get hold of the knowhow, then they would also have a GSM network that only they use, and quite possibly noone would be any the wiser. They may even have better 3G coverage than me...
With that said though, I am most impressed with this and I am genuinely interested to see what happens next.
BMW's X6 turns eco
nice idea
But I have a feeling it will be poorly implemented.
Plus, the car looks odd. Why not make it look like a proper BMW? Would it scare the Americans away by looking too much like a real car?
Zombie plague analysed by Canadian maths prof
Thank god for Canada
If it where not for them, where would we be now...
Researchers forge secure kernel from maths proofs
@ Steve Hive
L4 isnt Mach as much as it isnt Linux.
I think we can consider L4 to be the cousin of Mach?
Earthquake-squelching, sonar-invisible 'active cloak' unfurled
Can they cloak me from being cold called?
Or, Arsenal - which ever comes first.
Labour party unveils Tweeter-in-chief
Twitter et al are just excuses for people to avoid doing work in the real world. Why should the government be allowed to benefit from the same work avoidance techniques the rest of us use?
Google Caffeine: What it really is
Could this be a big case of who cares?
If a lot of this is going to be all 'under the hood' then is there a potential that people could just let all of this pass them by?
I mean, the Beeb did an article on this a few days back and I went to take a nosey at what was on offer. I mean, doesnt Bing do some of the realtime search stuff that Caffeine is promising already? And, if we really just dont notice any of the changes, then was it worth it in the end?
Bit confused about this one.
First Samsung Android phone out next week
but it isnt only on o2?
Yes, the model looks like its only on o2. But if you really want an Adroid handset, you can get them on Tmobile and Orange?
Bug exposes eight years of Linux kernel
This will have very little relevance with the anti-Linux fanboys as you put them.
How this could have been overlooked for eight years though, is the real matter. Does this mean that a trivial bug slipped through whatever QA process the community uses only to be overlooked again by the various white/black/grey hatters in the world?
Did we all just assume that Linux could not be affected like this? I think the answer may just be yes.
Bloke decapitates horse with chainsaw
He loves animals?
Does this mean he used his favourite sledge hammer then?
Nokia to cull Symbian from smartphones?
I still dont get how you can say that you cant work with the N810 under the hood. Its a Debian, if you want to compare it to Ubuntu fine, its a good comparison as Ubuntu is a Debian also. Underneath, they are almost identical. If your device is crashing, then update to the latest software.
If that doesnt help, then god knows why you havent been onto Nokia's support line about it. There isnt much point in telling the good readers of the Reg about your problems, unless you think Nokia is reasing this. And if a lot of other people have had the same problems, then maybe, just maybe, Nokia would be willing to do something about it?
I initially got my N810 as I was sick of my S60 devices. Over the years they have gone from slick and fast to slow and retarded. Nokia seems to have lost the plot when it comes to hardware on their S60 devices - the N95 is faster than the N96, which was supposed to be its flagship prior to the N97. The hate, as you put it, for S60 probably stems from the fact that Nokia hasnt really done anything with this platform for almost seven years, all they do is react to things like the iPhone. Which, to anyone who has followed Nokia at all during this time seems a little strange, given they already had Series 90 a good few years back (die hard Psion fans will probably show their love for this one). Series 90 was good and its interface lives on, in Hildon.
I dont mind that you dont like the device or its OS. What I mind is someone sounding off about things that they dont seem to have researched so well, or infact, discussed with the manufacturer. What you appear to be complaining about are two different things: Linux and Hildon.
As it happens, yes, i have tried installing Ubuntu on the N810 and I have used Android on the N810. I own an N810, if only for a few months now. Right now, it has Maemo on it and it works just fine for what I want it to do. i dont find Hildon to be a problem, nor do I find any of Nokia's apps to be a problem.
The only problem I have with this is that I dont know what to do with it - it isnt a phone and thats probably what I really wanted more than this. A phone with a big wide screen, that wasnt a Windows Mobile device, that wasnt an iPhone and wasnt a Communicator. Natch, this doesnt exist ATM.
Then we get Symbian - dont confuse this with the OS on Nokia smartphones like you have confused Maemo/Hildon. With current Nokia smartphones the problem isnt Symbian as such, as others have pointed out - its the concept of S60, which is why people went off and came up with UIQ and people are coming up with things like Qt now.
Who knows, according to the Reg now, Nokia isnt going to replace Symbian with Maemo. Maybe they will redefine S60 so that devices can be Linux based etc.
It wouldnt be fair to call you a moron. You need to look at it this way. On a desktop, a linux runs with a GUI. If you use Ubuntu as a point of reference, then Gnome is the GUI. This over-simplifies things enormously, but I think it is warranted right now.
In maemo, the GUI is Hildon - which is a part of Gnome. Again, a massive over-simplification.
Maemo is a version of Debian - it doesnt just 'use' apt or dpkg. So installing Debian to the device is simple. It's done for you when you first get it.
As for porting software to the N810, this often takes place for Linux, for those using Gnome, KDE etc.
If you dont like Hildon, then you are out of luck - its a part of Gnome as I mentioned and is used not just for maemo, but also for Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded. Ubuntu can be considered a fairly popular Linux for the purposes of this comment.
Staying on the topic of Ubuntu, if you dont want to try the perfectly good implementation of Android, then did you even look at installing Ubuntu Mobile at all?
I dont blame anyone for not liking the hardware on the N810. But to rubbish the software on the basis that you simply dont like it and complain that you cannot do anything to replace the OS is childish. I dont blame you for not liking the initial OS on the device either. But since its release it has been improved quite a bit - and if you really couldnt live with it then it is incredibly simple to replace it with one you prefer. I dont even blame you for simply disliking the N810 and feeling you were cheated, if you dont like it, fine. There are plenty of others that would agree with you that the series of internet tablets so far are a little pointless - me included.
Oh dear. Did you not even look into installing Android? Hardly takes any time to get it installed... but I can understand people not wanting to try things out with their new hardware. As for the "Yes you can put Debian on it" comment - you do realise that Maemo is a Debian?
Still, never mind eh? Better luck next time.
Paris, as her nerdy younger sister knew full well that Maemo is a Debian and that you can use Apt on it...
Looks like the iPhone fanboys have got here first...
Well, from the comments above it looks like the Church of Apple Scientology has got here first.
S60 has been rapidly going down hill over the last few years, but I think this has more to do with variant versions and operator "customisation" than anything else. If you get a generic Nokia handset with generic Nokia firmware, then you have little to worry about. However, when you get a handset on subsidy from an operator, thats where you are likely to get into trouble.
The comments on Maemo are clearly made by people who have never actually used one of these Internet Tablets. As devices, they are fine, you can do loads with them. But in saying that, I have always viewed them a bit of a "whats the point?". I mean, its all the stuff you would like your N96 to do properly, but without the phone bit. The N900 looks like it could be a winner, and to be honest, if you dont like Maemo then install another Linux - or indeed, install Android (you can do it on the N810).
Even Moylans comments on how extensible the Symbian OS platform seem out of place and odd. If it was so hard to develop on, then how come there are so many apps for S60 devices? You want Python, fine - learning it for a Nokia phone is no harder than learning it for anything else.
And I think the problem here is purely to do with the S60 spec as opposed to purely Symbian. Communicator users were in uproar when Nokia based the E90 on S60, and I think this movement is more than likely to have caused the current predicament with Nokia devices.
Nokia themselves have tied up the 'normal' mobile handset market, to confuse things further, this would be their series 40 devices. They also have two further specifications, series 80 and series 90. So I suppose what I am trying to get to is this: it isnt so much Symbian that is the problem, but more the Series 60 platform that Nokia uses. I also feel that Nokia taking control of Symbian OS also contributed to the problems they are facing now.
I personally cannot see any form of Apple dianetics taking root in the business world, so I dont see the jesusPhone displacing RIM or Nokia devices there. But Android, thats a different kettle of fish. This is the one to watch, unless MS is able to magic a good mobile OS out of its arse. Remember, resistance is futile.
Big Brother, because Google wouldnt like you to put all your personal information on a mobile device connected to the Internet constantly. They just expect you to do it.
When is an operating system not an operating system?
Like it or not, it will be the way forward
At least, it probably will be in the desktop world.
Think about how easy it would be for Google to own your computer as well as your data this way (I think this is the idea behind Chrome OS).
I am quite excited about this prospect, not about Google, but the fact that I may not need to go through the process of installing an OS, but instead just install the hypervisor. I am intrigued to see how companies like MS will use it to fight piracy etc. I am also interested to see how the open source community would work with the concept - after all, open source is based on the ideal that its just software. Could the open source community support this?
Ditching ID cards would save £3bn
Sounds good
But is this a saving we will see straight away, or will it be over a few years?
Also, should ID cards go ahead, will the country save more than £3billion in whatever else goes on?
If cancelling these cards now will save us this amount of money now, then it makes more sense to bin them. I mean, getting back £3billion right now should surely be at the top of the governments minds right now.
With an extra £3billion in the coffers, MP's could go back to spending thousands of pounds on their moats etc.
On a seperate, tinfoil hat wearing note (@codemonkey). If you have to be in the club to get anywhere, then how do you know about all of this? Are you part of the clique? Or are you just making things up to justify your own dissatisfaction with the government right now? Or, are you promoting another party?
Or, are you actually one of the Lizard people, who as we already know, control the population of the UK via the medium of reality TV?
Nokia exec denies Symbian Maemo swap claim
Does it really matter?
Maybe Nokia just wants to diversify its smartphone lineup.
Afterall, Series 40 is more or less dead. Maybe they are just looking to redefine the idea of a smartphone? They have been trying to get away from the term for a while, with the idea of a 'mobile computer'.
Two convicted for refusal to decrypt data
RIPA is scary
RIPA has to be one of the scariest things in UK law at the moment.
Aside it being a license for nosey Council employees to snoop on people, it seems to be a massive invasion of privacy. Does it mean that anyone who uses encryption is doing it because they are up to something they shouldnt be? Is this just an effort to criminalise the use of encryption in software? The mind boggles.
Normally, I dont advocate the use of things like this, but with the rise of bot-nets and zombies, what stops a bot-farmer from holding encrypted data on someone else machine? And then add that to the sheer amount of companies that use encryption to transmit data every day of the week.
Plod picks up said person and tries to lever the encryption key from them but to no avail. I know it sounds like something the tinfoil hat brigade might come up with, but I dont think anyone can rule it out.
And then there is truecrypt, all some nefarious evil doer needs to do here is just employ two encrypted OS's, one hidden and one not hidden. Plod wont know any different because, well lets face it , the average intelligence of the plod is almost equal to a garden fence.
Essentially, anyone with anything they really want to hide can do so without fear that plod will be able to find the data they are hiding.
I'm getting all paranoid now, I know. But surely RIPA just isnt worth all the hassle? Why can't the government just hide this under layers of impenentrable legislation that will take months if not years for the scare-mongers to get through?
Paris, well because I always use Paris. Plus, she and plod also share the same level of confusion as to what encryption means.
HTC Hero Android smartphone
mate of mine got one the other week
I took a look at it and have to say it is a very nice phone indeed. This made me seriously think about getting a non-Nokia handset for the first time since 2004 (although, in saying that , Nokia also helped with that choice).
The build quality is great and the way the phone just works is awesome. Unless more details emerge on the Nokia N900, then an Android based handset will be the way I go when it comes to upgrade.
Twitter meltdown raises questions about site stability
Who would really care
Seriously, who would really care if Twitter was stable or not? Plainly not a lot of people on here.
It's a free service, as pointed out and isnt really that important in the grand scheme of things.
BT's giant new faster broadband boxes blocked
Can't BT just paint lovely pictures on the boxes, or get someone else to do it so that it becomes civic art or something?
Apple tablet spooks world of PCs
I would buy one
Even though I am not an Apple zealot (like a few people on this thread...), I would consider buying one.
Mainly because I am sick of current smartphones and I dont want to be locked into a lifelong contract with o2 for an iPhone. I had been thinking about getting the Nokia N810, but now I see this on the horizon, I may wait a little longer.
I already own an iPod Touch, so having one of them with a larger screen would be ideal.
Apple won't let Commodore onto its baby
Missing a trick
Cant help but think that Apple are missing a good bit of business here somehow. Retro gaming is still going pretty strong, just look at the Wii Virtual Console, the XBLA and PSN - they are all hawking games from 25 years ago for a pretty penny.
Is Apple unaware that a lot of people are willing to spend almost a tenner on Sonic the Hedgehog almost twenty years after it was released? i, for one, would snap up old games like this in a shot should they ever make it onto the App Store...
Sweden: IP numbers are personal...unless you're a pirate
@ shane8
Good luck with that, I dont think there will be many proxies across the world that will stay up for the lenght of time needed to get a torrent if they allow such activity.
Back on topic, if you think about it logically, wouldnt the IP be the property of the ISP? They are just assigning part of their network to you after all.
Student leader demands lectures be 'put against the wall'
Who didnt like going to lectures? it meant you could interact with real people while you ignored the lecturer.
And, in my case where one lecture theatre could hold almost 600 people on two levels, you could sit at the back at the top completely anonymously.
Virtual lectures would mean that noone would see you not want to be there.
Microsoft to bomb Europe with IE-free Windows 7
Interesting points
First up, Tom101 doesnt seem to understand. MS were told they were abusing their system and as a resuly had to remove their browser component from windows. If an OEM wants to install a browser, the choice is theirs. They are also free to choose to install any browser, so complaining this isnt in the spirit of the judgement (not the law) is foolish.
Now, the point made about the OS not shipping with a browser at all, yes this would be true if it were not bought from a source that bundles a browser with the OS, such as from an OEM. but the point about users with no Internet connection not having a browser? I cant think of many applications that would need a browser and not an internet connection.
I think my biggest problem with this utterly ridiculous and money wasting judgement is that other OS's are free to continue to bundle either a browser with the software or have browser integration with the shell. Why is it ok for them and not for MS? Why should I have to use FF/Opera etc with Linux and so on. Why is Apple free to push Safari on anyone who has there OS (or itunes for that matter).
Microsoft abolishes Money
A shame
I have used this package quite a lot, I am pretty bad at managing my personal finaces and this has been a great help.
As another person commented, Money is genuienly useful. Even stranger is that MS would can this app during a period of economic turmoil. Strange or possbily just ironic.
Venezuela spits out Coke Zero
I dont trust it anyway
I cant tell the difference between Coke Zero and regular Coke, but with that said, i dont trust it one bit.
Mainly because of the zero everything bit, and possibly due to the aspartame (which I thought was illegal to use etc).
WD drops 4TB whopper
poor old Chris Harris
he made the classic mistake of saying that Apple Mac's are not as perfect as the sales guff makes them out to be. Bet he wont do that again in a hurry, eh?
However, I think your question still needs answering - if the device is just a HDD that shows up as an HDD when you plug it into Windows, then yeah, you probably can format it to NTFS.
Someone did point out that NTFS is only really suited to a Windows environment, which is true. But this shouldnt be a problem so much as the device doesnt appear to be a NAS etc. So, should you decide to brave this article again and dodge the Apple zealots, i hope this helps you out.
Paris, well, because
Apple adds 'S' to iPhone 3G
$299 for a 32Gb iphone
I wonder how much it will cost in the UK? £299 anyone?
Pirate Party wins seat in European Parliament
@ Chris W
Sadly, you seem to be adopting the same attitude as many other supporters of largely racist and ignorant far right political movements, you know groups like the BNP etc.
As soon as someone says "I dont like that way of thinking", they tend to get a bit wound up. Last night on Sky News, the goon in charge of the BNP commented that the UK was a slum and that the BNP were a direct response to the peoples needs. I completely disagree, the BNP is a product of peoples worse fears and ignorance, a little like the qualities you seem to have displayed on this thread.
While there is a need to diverese political attitudes in order for democracy to work, we can rest assured that evil, racist, criminal thugs like the BNP will never gain any great power in the UK. thank god.
Paris, as she has about as much a clue as yourself.
This is daft
Maybe, just maybe, illegal immigrants are not the source of all woe in the UK.
I for one would be interested to hear what the BNP have to say about tacking the problem of crime, drug use and social housing in the UK, should the (for some reason) win an election.
So far, all I have heard them say is that they will kick all the illegal immigrants out, not let any immigrants in and spend lots of money on promoting St Georges Day and a traditional Christian Christmas. I think I also heard the muppet in charge of them saying he will ignite industry in the UK again. From looking at their website, it would seem that this will all be paid for by 'eliminating multiculturalism in the UK'.
At the same time as doing this, the BNP also want to withdraw from the EU - and then set up new trading and travel agreements with the EU (?). Isnt that just going to cost more money, or am I being thick? There is a whole bunch of other stuff, like enlarging the army, reintroducing the death penalty, using chaingangs - the normal guff from muppets like the BNP as well as messages that all the other political parties are putting forward, you know the stuff about doctors and nurses as well as green fuels blah blah blah.
I have never really viewed the EU elections in the same way I look at a general election, to me the EU elections are sort of like a supra council election - it doesnt really if one party has overall control as long as the parliament has a decent share of representation from all corners of the politcal world.
So, getting the Pirate Party in is good, it means discussion will take place on a very big topic. Getting the BNP in wont really do much good at all, they want out of the EU. The only good to come of it is that people will hopefully wake up and turn out to vote for the next election, putting these rascist (and potentially criminal?) thugs out of the picture.
Again with Paris, she really wants to download the next series of Lost without fear of her ISP sending a strongly worded letter.
@Chris w
What did I say about the BNP and the NAZI party? I didnt draw any links.
Oh no, I did actually, I mentioned that the BNP are racist and as we all know from history, so were the NAZI's. Both parties seem to have a similar ideaology and the BNP seems to be intent on playing on the worst fears of a minority to get what they want.
You may also notice I didnt have a problem with protest votes in general, but there are other far more worthy parties to vote for in this manner - even UKIP rate better than the BNP.
And now I am wondering why you singled out my name for the title of your post....
Paris, because she isnt wondering...
No, it tells us that 6% of the 34%(ish) who bothered to turn out for the elections thought that voting for the BNP was a good idea at the time.
It's funny to listen to the news from this morning and last night. Apparently Labour got the blame for this as well. Now, personally I dont see how someone who has been voting for the Labour party for the last n amount of years starts voting for a far right racist party. Dont see how the swing from left to right can take place unless the BNP is actively going out and lying to people.
Which they probably are.
Last night the goon in charge of them commented that the BNP MEP's will be donating 10% of their wages to community causes and to a traditional christian christmas. Of course, I would imagine that the community causes will be things like marches, shaving heads, burning books, fearing other religions, fearing immigrants, making the public fear other things (like Europe, the single currency etc) and getting angry with anyone who appears to disagree with them.
I still maintain that people should be able to vote for who they want, but I think those who voted BNP as a protest should feel ashamed for wasting their vote. Especially when they could have voted for the Pirate Party ( or the Roman Party, Ave).
Paris, because she cant spell BNP.
@Chris W
Does this mean you voted for the racist BNP then, only to prove a point against the main political parties? If you did, dont you think that it was a tad silly?
I understand the need to suffer groups like the BNP, after all we live in a democracy, but I dont see the need to throw away a vote for them. That is, of course, unless you fit their idea of what a British person looks like. After listening to the chap who leads that rabble on Sky news last night it would appear he will figure out who can stay and who can go just by looking at them.
I am not telling you that a protest vote is wrong, it isnt, but it is a great shame that it goes to muppets like the BNP instead of actual political parties like the Green Party, or UKIP, who actually want to try and make a positive difference.
Paris, because even she isnt stupid enough to waste a vote on the BNP...
School worker's Facebook post prompts suspension
Hasnt this sort of thing been going on for ever though?
Isnt this the sort of thing people would normally say in a conversation? You know, those things you do between going on facebook?
I am concerned as to how someone "discovered" this information though.
Somerset County Council to review 'shambolic' SAP system
@Paul Webb
Yes indeed! It is a fine time for good old Somerset today, in the tech news and lauded for the councils ability to allow fraud!
All they need to do now is draw a link to the dodgy land deals taking place on the coast (possibly) and Somersets destiny will be complete.
It's not often the third world of England gets mentioned in the tech news, happy day!!
Blimey, Somerset on the Register?
I spent the formative part of my life in Somerset, so right now I am completely shocked to see Somerset not only in the news, but on The Register.
I am not shocked to see some sort of scandal involving dodgy receipts though.
Judge backs Halifax in Chip and PIN clone case
Are there not other sources of evidence though?
I am no CSI wannabe, but given the UK is the serveillance capital of the world, wouldnt one of the CCTV cameras placed everywhere have picked him up at the ATM itself?
I know cameras tend to point at ATM's in busy places, like in train stattions and city centers etc. So would it have been a big problem for someone to have reviewed the tapes for the days the transactions were made?
Or, could it be that even though we have all these cameras in the UK, we dont hang on to the video for very long? And, chances are that even if there were no camera looking at people at the ATM itself, surely one of these spy devices would have picked him up in the vicinity of the ATM around the times the transactions were made?
Or am I just being too clever for my own good?
Microsoft's Bing feeds you, tries to keep you captive
No, you may have read it wrong. The stats on their pages show the browser share just for W3Schools. It isnt an idication of overall trends on the Internet, it says so towards the bottom of the page.
Nintendo admits to rival DSi handheld
The mind boggles.
What could it be? A handheld with some crazy control system? With more than one screen? A handheld that shows you the best techniques for tossing a pancake?
BT slammed for 'importing' cheap Indian contractors
@ the 8Grand a month AC
Dont forget, the nature of being a contractor means you will not always be employed for long stretches especially right now.
£400 a day sounds a lot, but if the contract is only 2 months long it becomes a lot less. In todays climate, contracting rates are crap (well at least in Scotland they are).
Xandros - the Linux company that isn't
Oh dear
This is going to slip into a 'My distro is better than yours' argument. This is exactly why people get put off by the word Linux in the first place.
How will sir pay? Facebook credits, that'll do nicely
Would gladly pay
if it meant I were no longer plagued with "What sort of mother will you make" tests.
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text:
'Anna Karenina' star Keira Knightley and 'Maroon 5' singer (and 'The Voice' mentor) Adam Levine were spotted in West Village, New York. What had these two running around holding hands and hanging out on the front steps? A music video! Keira appeared in Adam's music video, 'Can a Song Save Your Life?' The two are filming in these pictures.
I know Keira recently became engaged, so I didn't think these two were an item, but it looks like they definitely are in the music video. I wonder how Keira came to be in Adam's video? They must be friends, I guess. Looks like a fun video!
Photos by Marquez/FameFlynet
See the original post:
When Did Adam Levine & Keira Knightley Become BFFs?


text:
Cranberries are native to North America; they grow in cool, sandy bogs on low, woody vines. Native Americans prized the berries for their medicinal properties, using them as both a dye and a food. When the Pilgrims landed on the shores of Massachusetts in 1620, they discovered the tart, scarlet fruit growing along the coastline and quickly learned to appreciate the berry's nutritional and culinary value. Today, cranberries are cultivated in the United States in Massachusetts, Oregon, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Washington. Along with blueberries and Concord grapes, cranberries are one of only 3 commercially grown, native North American fruits.
Sales of fresh cranberries make up only a small amount of the annual industrial crop. The majority of the commercial yield is dried or used for juice and cranberry sauce.
Not only do they taste great, but modern science has confirmed the health benefits of eating cranberries. Centuries ago they were used to prevent scurvy, and researchers today speculate that the phytochemicals, antibacterial properties and high vitamin content of cranberries may help protect against cancer, strokes, heart disease and some infections.
How to store dried cranberries
Store dried fruit in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months, or refrigerate for up to a year.
Tips for using dried cranberries
Although fresh cranberries are much too tart to eat raw, dried berries are a different story. Unlike most other dried fruits, cranberries are lightly sweetened with sugar or fruit juice concentrates in the drying process, lending them a distinctive, bright, sweet tang. Full of antioxidants, dried cranberries are a healthy and tasty on-the-go snack for the whole family, and they're great for cooking and baking, too.
To chop dried cranberries, lightly wipe your knife blade with vegetable oil to help prevent the fruit from sticking to it.


text:
According to the pilot, the airplane took off with a flaps setting of 25 percent, per the operator's procedures at the time. He stated that, immediately after raising the landing gear after takeoff, he heard an explosion and saw that all gauges for the left engine, a Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) PT6A-34, pointed to zero, indicating a loss of power to the left engine. He also noted that the left propeller had completely stopped so he added full power to the right engine, left the flaps at 25 percent, and left the landing gear up. He further stated that, although he "stood on the right rudder," he could not stop the airplane's left turning descent. The pilot later noted that, after the left engine lost power, he "couldn't hold V speeds" and "the stall warning horn was going off the whole time."Postaccident examination of the accident airplane's left engine revealed that that it had failed and that the propeller had been feathered. Examination of the trim positions revealed that the rudder was at neutral trim and the aileron was at full left trim. Although these trim positions could have been altered when the wings separated from the fuselage during ground impact, the pilot's comment that he "stood on the rudder" suggests that he either had not trimmed the airplane after the engine failure or had applied trim opposite the desired direction. The activation of the stall warning horn and the pilot's statement that he "couldn't hold V speeds" indicate that he also did not lower the nose sufficiently to maintain best single-engine rate of climb or best single-engine angle of climb airspeed. In addition, a performance calculation conducted during the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation revealed that the airplane, with flaps set at 25 degrees, would have been able to climb at more than 400 feet per minute if the pilot had maintained best single-engine rate of climb airspeed and if the airplane had been properly trimmed.Postaccident examination of the accident airplane's left engine revealed fatigue fracturing of the first-stage sun gear.[1] According to the airplane's maintenance records, during an October 1998 engine overhaul, the first-stage planet gear assembly was replaced due to "frosted and pitted gear teeth." The planet gear assembly's mating sun gear was also examined during overhaul but was found to be serviceable and was reinstalled with the new planet gear assembly, which was an accepted practice at the time. However, since then, the engine manufacturer determined that if either the sun gear or planet gear assembly needed to be replaced with a zero-time component, the corresponding mating gear/assembly must also be replaced with a zero-time component; otherwise, the different wear patterns on the gears could potentially cause "distress" to one or both of the components.Review of maintenance records showed that the engines were maintained, in part, under a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-approved "on-condition" maintenance program;[2] Business Air's maintenance program was approved in May 1995. In April 2002, P&WC, the engine manufacturer, issued Service Bulletin (SB) 1403 Revision 7, which no longer mentioned on-condition maintenance programs and required, for the first time for other time between overhaul extension options, the replacement of a number of PT6A-34, -35, and -36 life-limited engine components, including the first-stage sun gear at 12,000 hours total time since new. The first-stage sun gear on the accident airplane failed at 22,064.8 hours.In November 2005 (when the Manchester accident occurred), Business Air was operating under an engine on-condition maintenance program that did not incorporate the up-to-date PT6A 34, -35, and -36 reliability standards for the life-limited parts listed in SB 1403R7 because the SB did not address previously approved on-condition maintenance programs. Three months later, in an e-mail message to Business Air, P&WC stated that it would continue to "endorse" Business Air's engine on-condition maintenance program. Although SB 1403R7 improves PT6A-34, -35, and -36 engine reliability standards, allowing grandfathered on-condition maintenance programs for these engines is less restrictive and does not offer the same level of reliability.The National Transportation Safety Board's review of maintenance records further revealed numerous deficiencies in Business Air's on-condition engine maintenance program that appear to have gone undetected by the Portland, Maine, Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), which is in charge of monitoring Business Air's operations. For example, one infraction was that Business Air did not specify which parts were included in its on-condition maintenance program and which would have been removed by other means, such as hard-time scheduling.[3] Also, the operator used engine condition trend monitoring as part of determining engine health; however, review of records revealed missing data, inaccurate data input, a lack of regular trend analyses, and a failure to update trends or reestablish baselines when certain maintenance was performed. Another example showed that, although Business Air had an engine-oil analysis program in place, the time it took to send samples for testing and receive results was lengthy. According to maintenance records, the operator took an oil sample from the accident engine more than 2 weeks before the accident and sent it for testing. The oil sample, which revealed increased iron levels, would have provided valuable information about the engine's health. However, the results, which indicated a decline in engine health, were not received until days after the accident.If the FAA had been properly monitoring Business Air's maintenance program, it may have been aware of the operator's inadequate maintenance practices that allowed, among other things, an engine with a sun gear well beyond what the manufacturer considered to be a reliable operating timeframe to continue operation. It also took more than 2 1/2 years after the accident for the FAA to finally present a consent order[4] to the operator, in which both parties not only acknowledged the operator's ongoing maintenance inadequacies but also the required corrective actions.[1] A sun gear is the center gear around which an engine's planet gear assembly revolves; together, the sun gear and planet gear assembly provide a means of reducing the engine's rpm to the propeller's rpm.[2] According to FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 120-17A, "Maintenance Control by Reliability Methods," under on-condition maintenance programs, components are required to be periodically inspected or checked against some appropriate physical standard to determine whether they can continue in service.[3] According to FAA AC 120-17A, "Maintenance Control by Reliability Methods," under hard-time maintenance programs, components are required to be periodically overhauled or be removed from service.[4] A consent order is a voluntary agreement worked out between two or more parties to a dispute. It generally has the same effect as a court order and can be enforced by the court if anyone does not comply with the orders.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
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