Use CFL , save energy......

A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), also known as a compact fluorescent light bulb (or less commonly as a compact fluorescent tube [CFT]) is a type of fluorescent lamp. Many CFLs are designed to replace an incandescent lamp and can fit in the existing light fixtures formerly used for incandescents.
Compared to general service incandescent lamps giving the same amount of visible light, CFLs use less power and have a longer rated life. In the United States, a CFL can save over 30 USD in electricity costs over the lamp's lifetime compared to an incandescent lamp and save 2000 times its own weight in greenhouse gases. The purchase price of a CFL is higher than that of an incandescent lamp of the same luminous output, but this cost is recovered in energy savings and replacement costs over the bulb's lifetime. Like all fluorescent lamps, CFLs contain mercury; this complicates the disposal of fluorescent lamps.
CFLs radiate a different light spectrum from that of incandescent lamps. Improved phosphor formulations have improved the subjective color of the light emitted by CFLs such that the best 'soft white' CFLs available in 2007 are subjectively similar in color to standard incandescent lamps.

Comparison with incandescent lamps
Lifespan:
Modern CFLs typically have a lifespan of between 6,000 and 15,000 hours, whereas incandescent lamps are usually manufactured to have a lifespan of 750 hours or 1,000 hours. Some incandescent bulbs claim long rated lifespans of 20,000 hours with reduced light output (approximately 500 versus 800 lumens). The lifetime of any lamp depends on many factors including operating voltage, manufacturing defects, exposure to voltage spikes, mechanical shock, frequency of cycling on and off and ambient operating temperature, among other factors. The life of a CFL is significantly shorter if it is only turned on for a few minutes at a time: In the case of a 5-minute on/off cycle the lifespan of a CFL can be up to 85% shorter, reducing its lifespan to the level of an incandescent lamp. The US Energy Star program says to leave them on at least 15 minutes at a time to mitigate this problem.
CFLs give less light later in their life than they do at the start. The light output depreciation is exponential, with the fastest losses being soon after the lamp was new. By the middle to end of their lives, CFLs can be expected to produce 70-80% of their original light output.The response of the human eye to light is logarithmic: Each f-number (or photographic 'f-stop') reduction represents a halving in actual light, but is subjectively quite a small change.A 20-30% reduction over many thousands of hours represents a change of about half an f-stop, which is barely noticeable in everyday life.

Energy efficiency:
For a given light output, CFLs use between one fifth and one quarter of the power of an equivalent incandescent lamp.Since lighting accounted for approximately 9% of household electricity usage in the United States in 2001,widespread use of CFLs could save as much as 7% from household usage.
If incandescent lamps are replaced by CFLs the heat produced by the building's lighting system will be reduced. At times when the building requires both heating and lighting, the building's central heating system will then supply the heat.
In contrast, if the building requires both illumination and cooling, then CFLs will use less electricity themselves and will also reduce the load on the cooling system compared to incandescent lamps. This results in two concurrent savings, and since most air conditioners are also electrically powered, they are directly comparable.
There is a third case where electric lighting is used with natural ventilation and without either heating or cooling. In this case the energy savings due to CFLs are simpler to estimate, as described above.

Radio Frequency:
As with all fluorescent lights, CFLs also generate some higher electrical frequencies which both radiate from the light unit itself, and transfer along the interconnecting electrical wiring. This is not generally considered to be a significant problem, but it can result in electronic interference with some other devices.

How they work:
There are two main parts in a CFL: the gas-filled tube (also called bulb or burner) and the magnetic or electronic ballast. Electrical energy in the form of an electrical current from the ballast flows through the gas, causing it to emit ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet light then excites a white phosphor coating on the inside of the tube. This coating emits visible light. CFLs that flicker when they start have magnetic ballasts; CFLs with electronic ballasts are now much more common.
Electronic ballasts contain a small circuit board with rectifers, a filter capacitor and usually two switching transistors connected as a high-frequency resonant series DC to AC inverter. The resulting high frequency, around 40 kHz or higher, is applied to the lamp tube. Since the resonant converter tends to stabilize lamp current (and light produced) over a range of input voltages, standard CFLs do not respond well in dimming applications and special lamps are required for dimming service.

Energy savings:
Since CFLs use less power to supply the same amount of light as an incandescent lamp of the same lumen rating, they can be used to decrease energy consumption at the location in which they are used. In countries where electricity is largely produced from burning fossil fuels, the savings reduces emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants; in other countries the reduction may help reduce negative impacts from radioactive waste, hydroelectric plants, or other sources; see environmental concerns with electricity generation for details.
While CFLs require more energy in manufacturing than incandescent lamps, this is said to be offset by the fact that they last longer and use less energy during their lifespan. However there is no standard way to calculate the amount of energy 'embodied' in a device (e.g. Should one include the energy consumption/transport of workers in the factory?), and currently there is little in the way of trustworthy evidence to demonstrate the differences between the manufacturing, delivery, and retailing consumption of energy in the different forms of lighting.
A comparison of energy consumption and carbon dioxide production, also needs to specify whether this is in hot, medium or cold climates. The 'inefficiencies' of incandescent lightbulbs in cold countries are virtually zero, since the generated heat offsets some of the need for central heating.

What are renewable energy sources...?

In the past century, it has been seen that the consumption of non-renewable sources of energy has caused more environmental damage than any other human activity. Electricity generated from fossil fuels such as coal and crude oil has led to high concentrations of harmful gases in the atmosphere. This has in turn led to many problems being faced today such as ozone depletion and global warming. Vehicular pollution has also been a major problem.
Therefore, alternative sources of energy have become very important and relevant to today’s world. These sources, such as the sun and wind, can never be exhausted and therefore are called renewable. They cause less emissions and are available locally. Their use can, to a large extent, reduce chemical, radioactive, and thermal pollution. They stand out as a viable source of clean and limitless energy. These are also known as non-conventional sources of energy. Most of the renewable sources of energy are fairly non-polluting and considered clean though biomass, a renewable source, is a major polluter indoors.

What are these alternative sources of energy?

Hydel energy:
The energy in the flowing water can be used to produce electricity. Waves result from the interaction of the wind with the surface of the sea and represent a transfer of energy from the wind to the sea. Energy can be extracted from tides by creating a reservoir or basin behind a barrage and then passing tidal waters through turbines in the barrage to generate electricity.
Hydro power is one of the best, cheapest, and cleanest source of energy, although, with big dams, there are many environmental and social problems as has been seen in the case of the Tehri and the Narmada Projects. Small dams are, however, free from these problems. This is in fact one of the earliest known renewable energy sources, in the country (since the beginning of the 20th century).
Energy is also obtained from waves and tides. The first wave energy, project with a capacity of 150MW, has been set up at Vizhinjam near Trivandrum. A major tidal wave power project costing of Rs.5000 crores, is proposed to be set up in the Hanthal Creek in the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat.
In some countries such as Japan small scale power generators run by energy from waves or the ocean, have been used as power sources for channel marking buoys.

Solar:
Solar energy is the most readily available source of energy. It does not belong to anybody and is, therefore, free. It is also the most important of the non-conventional sources of energy because it is non-polluting and, therefore, helps in lessening the greenhouse effect.
Solar energy has been used since prehistoric times, but in a most primitive manner. Before 1970, some research and development was carried out in a few countries to exploit solar energy more efficiently, but most of this work remained mainly academic. After the dramatic rise in oil prices in the 1970s, several countries began to formulate extensive research and development programmes to exploit solar energy.
When we hang out our clothes to dry in the sun, we use the energy of the sun. In the same way, solar panels absorb the energy of the sun to provide heat for cooking and for heating water. Such systems are available in the market and are being used in homes and factories.
In the next few years it is expected that millions of households in the world will be using solar energy as the trends in USA and Japan show. In India too, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency and the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources are formulating a programme to have solar energy in more than a million households in the next few years. However, the people’s initiative is essential if the programme is to be successful.
India is one of the few countries with long days and plenty of sunshine, especially in the Thar desert region. This zone, having abundant solar energy available, is suitable for harnessing solar energy for a number of applications. In areas with similar intensity of solar radiation, solar energy could be easily harnessed. Solar thermal energy is being used in India for heating water for both industrial and domestic purposes. A 140 MW integrated solar power plant is to be set up in Jodhpur but the initial expense incurred is still very high.
Solar energy can also be used to meet our electricity requirements. Through Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) cells, solar radiation gets converted into DC electricity directly. This electricity can either be used as it is or can be stored in the battery. This stored electrical energy then can be used at night. SPV can be used for a number of applications such as:
a. domestic lighting
b. street lighting
c. village electrification
d. water pumping
e. desalination of salty water
f. powering of remote telecommunication repeater stations and
g. railway signals.
If the means to make efficient use of solar energy could be found, it would reduce our dependence on non-renewable sources of energy and make our environment cleaner.

Wind:
Wind energy is the kinetic energy associated with the movement of atmospheric air. It has been used for hundreds of years for sailing, grinding grain, and for irrigation. Wind energy systems convert this kinetic energy to more useful forms of power. Wind energy systems for irrigation and milling have been in use since ancient times and since the beginning of the 20th century it is being used to generate electric power. Windmills for water pumping have been installed in many countries particularly in the rural areas.
Wind turbines transform the energy in the wind into mechanical power, which can then be used directly for grinding etc. or further converting to electric power to generate electricity. Wind turbines can be used singly or in clusters called ‘wind farms’. Small wind turbines called aero-generators can be used to charge large batteries.

Biomass:
Biomass is a renewable energy resource derived from the carbonaceous waste of various human and natural activities. It is derived from numerous sources, including the by-products from the timber industry, agricultural crops, raw material from the forest, major parts of household waste and wood.
Biomass does not add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as it absorbs the same amount of carbon in growing as it releases when consumed as a fuel. Its advantage is that it can be used to generate electricity with the same equipment or power plants that are now burning fossil fuels. Biomass is an important source of energy and the most important fuel worldwide after coal, oil and natural gas.
At present, biogas technology provides an alternative source of energy in rural India for cooking. It is particularly useful for village households that have their own cattle. Through a simple process cattle dung is used to produce a gas, which serves as fuel for cooking. The residual dung is used as manure.
Biogas plants have been set up in many areas and are becoming very popular. Using local resources, namely cattle waste and other organic wastes, energy and manure are derived. A mini biogas digester has recently been designed and developed, and is being in-field tested for domestic lighting.

Geothermal energy:
We live between two great sources of energy, the hot rocks beneath the surface of the earth and the sun in the sky. Our ancestors knew the value of geothermal energy; they bathed and cooked in hot springs. Today we have recognized that this resource has potential for much broader application.
The core of the earth is very hot and it is possible to make use of this geothermal energy (in Greek it means heat from the earth). These are areas where there are volcanoes, hot springs, and geysers, and methane under the water in the oceans and seas. In some countries, such as in the USA water is pumped from underground hot water deposits and used to heat people’s houses.

Fuel cells:
Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that convert the chemical energy of a fuel directly and very efficiently into electricity (DC) and heat, thus doing away with combustion. The most suitable fuel for such cells is hydrogen or a mixture of compounds containing hydrogen. A fuel cell consists of an electrolyte sandwiched between two electrodes. Oxygen passes over one electrode and hydrogen over the other, and they react electrochemically to generate electricity, water, and heat.
Though fuel cells have been used in space flights and combined supplies of heat and power, electric vehicles are the best option available to dramatically reduce urban air pollution. Compared to vehicles powered by the internal combustion engine, fuel-cell powered vehicles have very high energy conversion efficiency, (almost double that of currently used engines) and near-zero pollution, CO2 and water vapour being the only emissions. Fuel-cell-powered EV's (electric vehicles) score over battery operated EV's in terms of increased efficiency and easier and faster refuelling.

Co-generation:
Co-generation is the concept of producing two forms of energy from one fuel. One of the forms of energy must always be heat and the other may be electricity or mechanical energy. In a conventional power plant, fuel is burnt in a boiler to generate high-pressure steam. This steam is used to drive a turbine, which in turn drives an alternator through a steam turbine to produce electric power. The exhaust steam is generally condensed to water which goes back to the boiler.
As the low-pressure steam has a large quantum of heat which is lost in the process of condensing, the efficiency of conventional power plants is only around 35%. In a cogeneration plant, very high efficiency levels, in the range of 75%–90%, can be reached. This is so, because the low-pressure exhaust steam coming out of the turbine is not condensed, but used for heating purposes in factories or houses.
Since co-generation can meet both power and heat needs, it has other advantages as well in the form of significant cost savings for the plant and reduction in emissions of pollutants due to reduced fuel consumption.
Even at conservative estimates, the potential of power generation from co-generation in India is more than 20,000 MW. Since India is the largest producer of sugar in the world, bagasse-based cogeneration is being promoted. The potential for cogeneration thus lies in facilities with joint requirement of heat and electricity, primarily sugar and rice mills, distilleries, petrochemical sector and industries such as fertilizers, steel, chemical, cement, pulp and paper, and aluminum.

Quantum Dot LEDs..?

In the last few years, LEDs (light emitting diodes) have begun replacing incandescent and fluorescent lights in a number of niche applications. Although these solid-state lights have been used for decades in consumer electronics, recent technological advances have allowed them to spread into areas like architectural lighting, traffic lights, flashlights and reading lights. Although they are considerably more expensive than ordinary lights, they are capable of producing about twice as much light per watt as incandescent bulbs; they last up to 50,000 hours or 50 times as long as a 60-watt bulb; and, they are very tough and hard to break. Because they are made in a fashion similar to computer chips, the cost of LEDs has been dropping steadily.
While the future of electronics and other fields may revolve around nanotechnology, researchers and manufacturers are faced with fabricating large-scale components out of building blocks invisible to the naked eye. Creating hybrid optoelectronic devices depends on the precise positioning of functionally distinct materials. The researchers used organic molecules currently used in OLEDs as an organic semiconductor to deliver an electrical charge to the quantum dots. They used two parallel processes, which are already widely applicable in industry, to create separate but layered structures out of nanoscale materials.
Until now quantum dots have been known primarily for their ability to produce a dozen different distinct colors of light simply by varying the size of the individual nanocrystals: a capability particularly suited to fluorescent labeling in biomedical applications. Artificial atoms or quantum dots (QDs) constructed from semiconductors are expected to provide the basis for future generations of device technologies such as threshhold-less lasers and ultra-dense memories. The quantum dots can be induced by interface fluctuations (top of the figure) in a quantum well, self-assembled with the driving force being lattice mismatch (bottom) or formed with lithographic techniques.Recently the world have made a number of unexpected discoveries arising from the breakthrough of single quantum dot spectroscopy based on ultra high resolution techniques.
The small size results in new quantum phenomena that yield some extraordinary bonuses. Material properties change dramatically because quantum effects arise from the confinement of electrons and "holes" in the material (a hole is the absence of an electron; the hole behaves as though it were a positively charged particle). Size changes other material properties such as the electrical and nonlinear optical properties of a material, making them very different from those of the material's bulk form. If a dot is excited, the smaller the dot, the higher the energy and intensity of its emitted light. Hence, these very small, semiconducting quantum dots are gateways to an enormous array of possible applications and new technologies.
According to michael bowers who made the quantum dots and discovered their unusual properties, the white-light quantum dots, produce a smoother distribution of wavelengths in the visible spectrum with a slightly warmer, slightly more yellow tint. As a result, the light produced by the quantum dots looks more nearly like the “full spectrum” reading lights now on the market which produce a light spectrum closer to that of sunlight than normal fluorescent tubes or light bulbs. Of course, quantum dots, like white LEDs, have the advantage of not giving off large amounts of invisible infrared radiation unlike the light bulb. This invisible radiation produces large amounts of heat and largely accounts for the light bulb’s low energy efficiency.
The approach is based on encapsulating semiconductor quantum dots — nanoparticles approximately one billionth of a meter in size — and engineering their surfaces so they efficiently emit visible light when excited by near-ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The quantum dots strongly absorb light in the near UV range and re-emit visible light that has its color determined by both their size and surface chemistry.
Unlike traditional LCDs, which must be lit from behind, quantum dots generate their own light. Depending on their size, the dots can be "tuned" to emit any color in the rainbow. And the colors of light they produce are much more saturated than that of other sources.A latest Quantum dots LED, 'MIT QD-OLED' contains only a single layer of quantum dots sandwiched between two organic thin films.The researchers have demonstrated organized assemblies over a 1-square centimeter area and the same principle could be used to make bigger components.The latest MIT QD-OLED have a 25-fold improvement in luminescent power efficiency over previous QD-OLEDs. They are more efficient and achieve even higher color saturation.
Quantum-dot LEDs, particularly those that provide the hard-to-reach blue end of the spectrum, appear to be key to opening any number of exciting technological advances in the fields of full-color, flat-panel displays; ultrahigh-density optical memories and data storage; backlighting; and chemical and biological sensing."Highly efficient, low-cost quantum dot-based lighting would represent a revolution in lighting technology through nanoscience."
Thus hybridising an inorganic nanocrystal and a quantum dot lead to a quantum dot-organic light-emitting device (QD-OLED) a new kind of optoelectronic device that could lead to new types of flat panel displays to supersede liquid crystal displays in everything from mobile devices to TV sets.

global positioning system

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a burgeoning technology, which provides unequalled accuracy and flexibility of positioning for navigation, surveying and GIS data capture. The GPS NAVSTAR (Navigation Satellite timing and Ranging Global Positioning System) is a satellite-based navigation, timing and positioning system. The GPS provides continuous three-dimensional positioning 24 hrs a day throughout the world. The technology seems to be beneficiary to the GPS user community in terms of obtaining accurate data upto about100 meters for navigation, metre-level for mapping, and down to millimetre level for geodetic positioning. The GPS technology has tremendous amount of applications in GIS data collection, surveying, and mapping.
The GPS uses satellites and computers to compute positions anywhere on earth. The GPS is based on satellite ranging. That means the position on the earth is determined by measuring the distance from a group of satellites in space. The basic principle behind GPS are really simple, even though the system employs some of the most high-tech equipment ever developed.
Individuals may purchase GPS handsets that are readily available through commercial retailers. Equipped with these GPS receivers, users can accurately locate where they are and easily navigate to where they want to go, whether walking, driving, flying, or boating. GPS has become a mainstay of transportation systems worldwide, providing navigation for aviation, ground, and maritime operations. Disaster relief and emergency services depend upon GPS for location and timing capabilities in their life-saving missions. Everyday activities such as banking, mobile phone operations, and even the control of power grids, are facilitated by the accurate timing provided by GPS. Farmers, surveyors, geologists and countless others perform their work more efficiently, safely, economically, and accurately using the free and open GPS signals.
The GPS is made up of three parts: satellites orbiting the Earth; control and monitoring stations on Earth; and the GPS receivers owned by users. GPS satellites broadcast signals from space that are picked up and identified by GPS receivers. Each GPS receiver then provides three-dimensional location (latitude, longitude, and altitude) plus the time.
The space segment (satellites orbiting the Earth) comprises the orbiting GPS satellites, or Space Vehicles (SV) in GPS parlance. The GPS design originally called for 24 SVs, 8 each in three circular orbital planes,but this was modified to 6 planes with 4 satellites each.The orbital planes are centered on the Earth, not rotating with respect to the distant stars.The six planes have approximately 55° inclination (tilt relative to Earth's equator) and are separated by 60° right ascension of the ascending node (angle along the equator from a reference point to the orbit's intersection).The orbits are arranged so that at least six satellites are always within line of sight from almost everywhere on Earth's surface.
The user's GPS receiver is the user segment (US) of the GPS system. In general, GPS receivers are composed of an antenna, tuned to the frequencies transmitted by the satellites, receiver-processors, and a highly-stable clock (often a crystal oscillator). They may also include a display for providing location and speed information to the user. A receiver is often described by its number of channels: this signifies how many satellites it can monitor simultaneously. Originally limited to four or five, this has progressively increased over the years so that, as of 2006, receivers typically have between twelve and twenty channels.

Digital Theatre System-- DTS ?

DTS (Digital Theater Systems), is a multi-channel digital surround sound format used for both commercial/theatrical and consumer grade applications. It is used for in-movie sound both on film and on DVD, and during the last few years of the format's existence, several Laserdisc releases had DTS soundtracks.
The basic and most common version of the format is a 5.1 channel system, similar to a Dolby Digital setup, which encodes the audio as five primary (full-range) channels plus a special LFE (low-frequency effect) channel, for the subwoofer.Note however that encoders and decoders support numerous channel combinations and stereo, four-channel and four-channel+LFE soundtracks have been released commercially on DVD, CD and Laserdisc.
Other newer DTS variants are also currently available, including versions that support up to seven primary audio channels plus one LFE channel (DTS-ES). DTS's main competitors in multichannel theatrical audio are Dolby Digital and SDDS, although only Dolby Digital and DTS are used on DVDs and implemented in home theater hardware.
In theatrical use, information in the form of a modified time code is optically imaged onto the film. An optical LED reader reads the timecode data off the film and sends it to the DTS processor which uses this timecode to synchronize the projected image with the soundtrack audio. The actual audio is recorded in compressed form on standard CD-ROM media at a bitrate of 1,103 kbit/s. The processor also acts as a transport mechanism, as it holds and reads the audio discs. Newer units can generally hold three discs, allowing a single processor/transport to handle two-disc film soundtracks along with a third disc containing sound for theatrical trailers. In addition, specific elements of the imprinted timecode allow identifying data to be embedded within the code, ensuring that a certain film's soundtrack will only run with that film. DTS provided the Digital Audio for IMAX until 2001, when Dolby took over.
DTS and Dolby Digital (AC-3), DTS's chief competitor in the cinema and home theater market, are often compared due to their similarity in product goals. In theatrical installations, AC-3 audio is placed between sprocket holes, leaving the audio content susceptible to physical damage due to film wear and mishandling. DTS audio is stored on a separate set of CD-ROM media, whose greater storage capacity affords the potential to deliver better audio fidelity. However, the separation of print film and audiotrack is both a blessing and a curse. AC-3 (and SDDS) reside entirely on the 35 mm film itself, simplifying distribution by eliminating an extra (optional) deliverable. But DTS's CD-ROM media is not subject to the usual wear and damage suffered by the film print during the normal course of the movie's theatrical screening. Disregarding the separate CD-ROM assembly as a potential point of failure, the DTS audiopath is comparatively impervious to film degradation, excepting that the film-printed timecode is completely destroyed.
Both music and movie DVDs allow delivery of DTS audio tracks. But DTS was not part of the original DVD specification (1997), so early DVD players did not recognize DTS audio tracks at all. The DVD specification was revised to allow optional inclusion of DTS audio tracks. The DVD title must carry one or more primary audio tracks in AC-3 or LPCM format (in Europe, MPEG-1 is also an allowed primary track format). The DTS audio track, if present, can be selected by the user. Modern DVD players generally rely on an external home theater receiver to decode DTS audio. DVD players with integrated DTS 5.1 decoders exist, but are not particularly common. Nearly all standalone receivers and many integrated ("home theater in a box") DVD player/receivers manufactured today can decode DTS.
DTS NEO:6, like Dolby's Pro Logic IIx system, can take stereo content and convert the sound into 5.1 or 6.1 channel format.
DTS 96/24 allows the delivery of 5.1 channels of 24-bit, 96 kHz audio and high quality video on the DVD-Video format.
DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, like DTS-HD Master Audio, is an extension to the original DTS audio format. It delivers up to 7.1 channels of sound at 96 kHz sampling frequency and 24 bit depth resolution. DTS-HD High Resolution Audio is selected as an optional surround sound format for Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD with constant bit rates up to respectively 6.0 Mbit/s and 3.0 Mbit/s. It is supposed to be an alternative for DTS-HD Master Audio where disc space may not allow it. For more info:http://www.dtsonline.com/

labVIEW

LabVIEW ( Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Engineering Workbench) is a platform and development environment for a visual programming language from National Instruments. LabVIEW is commonly used for data acquisition, instrument control, and industrial automation.
The programming language used in LabVIEW, called G, is a dataflow programming language.Execution is determined by the structure of a graphical block diagram (the LV-source code) on which the programmer connects different function-nodes by drawing wires. These wires propagate variables and any node can execute as soon as all its input data become available.
LabVIEW programs/subroutines are called virtual instruments (VIs). Each VI has three components: a block diagram, a front panel and a connector pane. The latter may represent the VI as a subVI in block diagrams of calling VIs. Controls and indicators on the front panel allow an operator to input data into or extract data from a running virtual instrument. However, the front panel can also serve as a programmatic interface. Thus a virtual instrument can either be run as a program, with the front panel serving as a user interface, or, when dropped as a node onto the block diagram, the front panel defines the inputs and outputs for the given node through the connector pane. This implies each VI can be easily tested before being embedded as a subroutine into a larger program.
The graphical approach also allows non-programmers to build programs by simply dragging and dropping virtual representations of the lab equipment with which they are already familiar.LabVIEW includes a compiler that produces native code for the CPU platform.
One benefit of LabVIEW over other development environments is the extensive support for accessing instrumentation hardware.Many libraries with a large number of functions for data acquisition, signal generation, mathematics, statistics, signal conditioning, analysis, etc., along with numerous graphical interface elements are provided in several LabVIEW package options.
LabVIEW is a proprietary product of National Instruments. Unlike common programming languages such as C or FORTRAN, LabVIEW is not managed or specified by a third party standards committee such as ANSI.
For more informations on LabVIEW please visit this link: http://www.ni.com/labview85/industrial.htm

mechanism of Sound Localisation by Human beings

Human ears are spaced approximately15cm apart.when a sound travels from the left side of the listener, it reaches the left ear before the right ear, i.e., the right ear signal is delayed with respect to left ear signal. For instance, when a 1KHz sound is generated exactly beside the listener, its sound wave reaches each ear with 180 degrees of phase shift.
both the ear signals are subjected to a complicated filtering process,caused by acoustic interaction with the head and the external ear. Humans unconsciously uses the time delay, amplitude difference, and tonal information at each ear to determine the location of the sound.

Sony VAIO VGN-TX17GP

"Good Things Come in Small Packages"....

Sony VAIO VGN-TX17GP is an all new fully laptop,with small size. It is a power packed machin with Intel Pentium M processor running at 1.2 GHz with 2 MB L2 cache, 512MB DDR2 RAM and 60GB HDD. It has a fairly good sound quality and amazing software that allowed to attatch another computer at work or home as a media file server.It has a 28cm(11.i inch) TFT screen. The laptop comes with Bluetooth connectivity, inbuilt wireless LAN card, two USB ports, FireWire port, VGA port and SDcard/Memory Stick slot. The play,stop,pause and even AV mode button to switch from the TFT screen to an external display, and all these buttons are available even when the lid is closed.the volume controls are up in the front. The beauty of the laptop is its sophisticated design. you can use it for official meetings and also try out ur MP3s and vedio on it. The laptop weighs only 1.24Kg.
If size is a matter for u, or u r searching for a small fully loaded laptop try Sony VAIO VGN-TX17GP

Quantum Dots..?

Semiconductors are the milestones of the electronic industry. traditional semiconductors such as Germanium and Silicon have their own limitations.they are not versatile and the chips constructed using semiconductors cannot be shrunk beyond limits.
Quantum Dots will be the futuristic semiconductors.these are essentially Nanocrystals with limitless applications.they are special class of nanocrystal semiconductors composed of group2-4, 3-5 or 6-4 combinations of material and they forms a unique class of nanaocrystal semiconductors.
Quantum Dots have a tunable emission pattern and they can be tuned to emit sharp visible or infrared wavelengths. They serve as a viable replacements for special inks, dyes, or paints in anticounterfieting applications.They are also ideal for manufacture of LEDs.
Quantum Dots derive their trademark from the technology of the future,Nanotechnology. their miniatuer size and versatile properties grant them the flexibility to be used for a variety of applications.

Want to know about VEDIOCONFERENCING..

Videoconference or videoteleconference is a set of interactive telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously.Video conferencing is a powerful tool and provides a virtual meeting environment that gives the benefit of real meeting.Videoconferencing uses telecommunications of audio and video to bring people at different sites together for a meeting.Besides the audio and visual transmission of people, videoconferencing can be used to share documents, computer-displayed information, and whiteboards.
This technique was very expensive, though, and could not be used for more mundane applications, such as telemedicine, distance education, business meetings, and so on, particularly in long-distance applications.
The core technology used in a videoteleconference (VTC) system is digital compression of audio and video streams in real time. The hardware or software that performs compression is called a codec (coder/decoder). Compression rates of up to 1:500 can be achieved. The resulting digital stream of 1's and 0's is subdivided into labelled packets, which are then transmitted through a digital network of some kind (usually ISDN or IP). The use of audio modems in the transmission line allow for the use of POTS, or the Plain Old Telephone System, in some low-speed applications, such as videotelephony, because they convert the digital pulses to/from analog waves in the audio spectrum range.
Simultaneous videoconferencing among three or more remote points is possible by means of a Multipoint Control Unit (MCU). This is a bridge that interconnects calls from several sources (in a similar way to the audio conference call). All parties call the MCU unit, or the MCU unit can also call the parties which are going to participate, in sequence. There are MCU bridges for IP and ISDN-based videoconferencing. There are MCUs which are pure software, and others which are a combination of hardware and software. An MCU is characterised according to the number of simultaneous calls it can handle, its ability to conduct transposing of data rates and protocols, and features such as Continuous Presence, in which multiple parties can be seen onscreen at once.

World beyond Sub-Micron

The number of Transistors per IC has increased from a few to 55 million. All IC chips consists of numerous wafers containing little transistors, which are the basic building block of ICs. these transistors consist of a doped area and a gate.
If the length of the gate of the smallest transistor in a chip measures less than one micron,the chip is said to follow the sub-micron technology. If the gate length is smaller than 100nm, it is said to follow deep sub-micron technology. The narrower the gate, the faster the switching speed of the transistor.This increase the maximum clock speed of the CMOS chip.
This has introduced a wide range of design challenges,like accurate modeling of ICs etc. Bcoz of this the system designers have to deal with nano scale devices that have less than ideal characteristics, very high operation speeds and data transmission rate, and system level integration of analog and digital functions.to successfully deal with this trend, designers use Electronic Design Automation tools as well as modeling kits.
nowadays deep sub-micron transistors have a boom in demand,while sub-micron technology has been widely commercialized.
So the world beyond the sub-micron technology is ahead of us.

Supercapacitors replacing batteries??

Batteries store lots of electrical energy, but they take a long time to charge or discharge.their life cycle is also very less.thus we need an alternative for Batteries,and is Super capacitors.
Traditional electronic capacitors have the power,but their energy density is very low for energy intensive applications.
Super capacitors are a hybrid of ordinary capacitors and batteries. it is a double layered carbon capacitor and is a high energy storage device.the electrode material,surface area, pore size and pore size distribution determine the capacitance of the super capacitor. here the energy is stored in charge form where as in batteries charge storage is in chemical form.A commercial super capacitor can hold 2500 farads and release 300A of peak current handling a peak voltage of around 400 volts.
They have very high efficiency, high current capability, wide voltage range, wide temperature range, etc..
To know more about Supercapacitors click:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercapacitor
check this link also:http://www.ultracapacitors.org/