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Sunday, June 23, 2013

ViewSonic PJD6383s

The ViewSonic PJD6383s is very similar to its higher-resolution cousin, the Editors' Choice ViewSonic PJD6683ws ($750 street). As a short-throw projector for businesses or classrooms, it can be placed very near the screen, provides very good data image quality and a decent set of connectivity choices, and 3D capability for a modest price. It's a good choice if your presentations don't include much video.

The PJD6383s has a native XGA (1,024 by 768) resolution, at a 4:3 aspect ratio traditionally used for data presentations. It is suitably bright at a rated 3,000 lumens, and uses a DLP-based light engine.

This all-black projector measures 3.3 by 11.6 by 9.5 inches (HWD) and weighs a reasonably portable 6.6 pounds, though it lacks a carrying case. The lens has a prominent focus ring around its bulbous lens. The PJD6383s lacks a zoom, as is generally the case with short-throw projectors.

The PJD6383s has a solid set of ports for a data projector: HDMI; 2 VGA-in ports and 1 monitor-out; 2 audio-in and 1 audio-out; an RCA composite video jack; S-video; a mini-USB port for remote mouse control, and an Ethernet port. It comes with Crestron LAN control software, allowing multiple projectors to be remotely controlled and managed from a PC. It lacks wireless capability, as well as a USB type A port for running presentations computer free from a USB thumb drive.

Data Image Quality
I tested the PJD6383s at a little less than three feet away from the screen. Our test image, measuring about 60 inches diagonally, stood up well to the addition of ambient light.

In our data image testing using the DisplayMate suite, image quality was above par, suitable for most any business or classroom presentation. Though colors were otherwise reasonably bright, yellows and reds were slightly muted. There was virtually no tinting. It did well in our text testing; text was blurred but readable at the smallest white-on-black size, and black-on-white text was easily readable down to the smallest size.

I noticed the rainbow effect?in which little red-green-blue flashes appear, most often in images with bright areas against dark backgrounds?in some of the PJD6383s's data images. Every single-chip DLP projector is potentially affected with it, but even though it was more obvious than usual with this projector, it's unlikely to be much of a distraction in data images?even to people who are particularly sensitive to it.

Video and Audio
The rainbow effect is usually more problematic with video than with data images, and that's certainly true with the PJD6383s. With video, it even showed up in some scenes where I've seldom seen it before. It would likely be distracting to people even mildly sensitive to it, as is the case with me. Because of this, I'd limit this projector to very short clips as part of a presentation, or avoid it for video altogether. Even if you're not sensitive to the effect, your colleagues or students may well be.

Audio from the PJD6383s 's single 10-watt speaker was of decent volume and quality, and should fill a small to mid-sized conference room or classroom.

As a DLP projector, the PJD6383s provides 3D readiness using the DLP-Link system, although you need to get your own active-shutter glasses. At about $70 a pair, outfitting a classroom for 3D viewing could easily be more expensive than the cost of the projector itself.

The PJD6383s is similar in features and performance to the Editors' Choice ViewSonic PJD6683ws , though that model ups the native resolution to WXGA (1,280 by 800 pixels). They each are bright (3,000 lumens), light short-throw projectors, with very good data image quality, good audio systems, and rather poor video. Though both are fine data projectors, the price difference between is modest, so it's worth the extra dollars to get the higher resolution that the PJD6683ws offers, unless you can get the PJD6383s on sale.

The PJD6383s is similar to, though of lower resolution than, the Editors' Choice Optoma TW610ST, a WXGA short-throw projector, though it can't match the Optoma's data image quality.

The PDJ6383s has better data image quality than the Epson PowerLite 435W Multimedia Projector, a WXGA short-throw projector, but the Epson projector does better with video; for one thing, as it is LCD based, it's immune from rainbow artifacts.

The ViewSonic PJD6383s offers very good data image quality in a short-throw projector. You can get its higher-resolution cousin, the Editors' Choice ViewSonic PJD6683ws, for not much more money, but the PJD6383s offers excellent value at a modest price, as long as you don't need to run much video in your presentations.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/-xDDut-oSZY/0,2817,2420756,00.asp

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Louisiana man, 36, accused of killing teen rapper

WINNFIELD, La. (AP) ? Police in north Louisiana say a 36-year-old man is accused of killing the 18-year-old rapper known as Lil Snupe in an argument that broke out during a video game at a friend's apartment.

A news release says Winnfield police got a warrant Friday to arrest Tony Holden of Winnfield in the death of the rapper, whose actual name is Addarren Ross of Jonesboro.

Ross died Thursday morning at an apartment in Winnfield. He had been shot twice in the chest.

Holden could not be reached Friday. The phone at the only listing under that name was not answered.

Ross had recently signed a recording deal with the Meek Mill's Dream Chasers label.

Police describe Holden as a convicted violent felon who should be considered armed and dangerous.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/louisiana-man-36-accused-killing-teen-rapper-025640562.html

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Saturday, June 22, 2013

The future of natural gas is the car?

Rising use of natural gas in the transportation sector will offset a slowdown in other areas, says the International Energy Agency in?a new report. But don't expect natural gas vehicles to dominate roadways anytime soon.

By David J. Unger,?Correspondent / June 20, 2013

A man fills his truck with compressed natural gas at a filling station in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Jim Urquhart/Reuters/File

Enlarge

The natural gas revolution is getting some wheels ? and just in time for the gas industry.

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Why It Matters

Energy: Natural gas is plentiful, cheap, and cleaner-burning than other fossil fuels.

Environment: Drilling for natural gas can release potent greenhouse gases and threaten local ecosystems.

Khalil s Picks (21 June 2013)

LEGOs are in the news! Always a good thing, right? Well not necessarily. For the past few weeks, reports have been flying around about a new study which show that the faces of our favourite yellow brick people are getting less smiley. Not that big a deal in itself until you consider some suggestions that children?s development may be affected by this shift. Fortunately, enter Jordan Gaines and Arielle Duhaime-Ross who take closer looks at those suggestions for Scitable and Scientific American respectively.

This week?s picks also features the man who survived underwater for three days thanks to an air bubble, what your eyes can reveal about you, your skull resonates music and why coral reefs are awesome by Rachel Nuwer, Nadja Popovich, Colin Schultz, Jessica Carilli.

The other great up-and-coming science writers highlighted in this week?s picks are: Kathleen Raven, Amy Shira Teitel, Douglas Main, Jessica M. Morrison, Kate Yandell, Nick Stockton, Andrew Swale, James Keen, Pete Etchells,?Josh Howgego.

LEGO Faces are Getting Angrier; So What? by Jordan Gaines

[...] There?s nothing quite like LEGO. And certainly there?s nothing quite like those ubiquitious yellow, blocky LEGO faces. But a piece in The Daily Mail last week cites that ?LEGO faces are getting angrier,? and that this may, in turn, ?be harming children?s development.?

Zero Evidence That Legos Harm Your Kids by Arielle Duhaime-Ross

LEGO toys have never been so controversial, or angry for that matter, but that should not stop your kids from playing with them. There has been a lot of noise over a study, released June 4, that looked into the evolution of the facial expressions printed on LEGO minifigures?those one and half-inch toy figurines that come with LEGO block sets. In the study, New Zealand researchers demonstrated that LEGO faces have become much more diverse in the past 35 years, but the finding that got the most attention is that LEGO is making more angry-looking minifigures than ever before, to a point where the proportion of angry faces rivals that of happy ones. But, contrary to what you might have read, the study did not look into the effect that these facial expressions are having on children and their emotional development. In fact, the study did not involve children at all.

Trapped in an Underwater Air Bubble for Three Days by Rachel Nuwer

Harrison Okene?s shipwreck survival wasn?t a miracle. It was fascinating physics. Being buried alive is usually near the top of any worst-ways-to-die list. But how about being buried alive 100 feet below the ocean surface in a tiny pocket of air? For Harrison Okene, a 29-year-old Nigerian boat cook, this nightmare scenario became a reality for nearly three grueling days.

Eye-Tracking Software May Reveal Autism and other Brain Disorders by Nadja Popovich

The eyes of people with neurological conditions, including ADHD and Parkinson?s, have a distinctive motion that could form the basis of clinical diagnosis. Eye-tracking has become the tech trend du jour. Advertisers use data on where you look and when to better capture your attention. Designers employ it to improve products. Game and phone developers utilize it to offer the latest in hands-free interaction.

The Unique Vibrations of Your Skull Affect How You Hear Music by Colin Schultz

What?s the difference between a metalhead and a raver? Why do you pick the wub wub of dubstep over the twang of a guitar? Musical preference seems to be as unique as your fingerprints?you love one song and hate another, when to the ear of another listener they sound basically the same. Sure, there?s a heaping dose of social construction going on?you listen to music that you grew up with, the music that gets you in with your self-selected social group, the music that you think is cool. But there might be some biology behind your musical preference, too. The natural resonance of your skull?the unique frequency at which the bones in your noggin tend to vibrate?affects how you hear sound, and could help explain why you really rock out to Pantera but hate Metallica.

Why Are Coral Reefs Important? by Jessica Carilli

You may have heard that coral reefs are being threatened by human activity. For instance, the Fight for the Reef campaign aims to raise awareness about how proposed increases in shipping traffic and development of large ports near the Great Barrier Reef would negatively impact the largest coral reef system in the world.

Want more? OK?:

Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=khalils-picks-21-june-2013

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Air Pollution Hits Record Levels in Singapore

Wildfires burning on the Indonesian island of Sumatra have sent a choking haze over Singapore, pushing air pollution to record levels.

At 12:00 p.m. local time (04:00 GMT) Friday (June 21), the Pollution Standards Index ? a scale of 0 to 500 to measure air pollution ? hit 401 in Singapore, the highest in the country's history. Before this week, the record had been 226, set in 1997. By 10:00 p.m. Friday, the pollution index had dropped to 153, which is still considered in the unhealthy range of air quality.

The impenetrable smog enshrouding the city could be life-threatening; officials have closed schools and urged residents to wear protective face masks or stay indoors, especially elderly, pregnant women, children and people with chronic medical conditions.

"For the next few days the current dry weather and wind conditions are likely to continue. Hazy conditions are thus expected to persist," read the latest update from the country's National Environment Agency.

The wildfires behind the haze have been linked to illegal slash-and-burn land clearance in Indonesia. Environmental officials from both Singapore and Indonesia have been in emergency talks in Jakarta, but the smog situation seems to have created some diplomatic tension between the two nations.

"This is now the worst haze that Singapore has ever faced," Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore's environment and water resources minister, said in a statement Wednesday. "And no country or corporation has the right to pollute the air at the expense of Singaporeans' health and well-being."

Indonesia's minister for people's welfare, Agung Laksono, hit back at Singapore for "behaving like a child" over the matter and even implied that foreign palm oil companies, even ones from Singapore, could be in partly to blame for the fires, the BBC reported.

Early Friday, Indonesian authorities dispatched two helicopters with cloud-seeding equipment to Riau province to try to trigger rainfall over the fires burning across the carbon-rich peatland, according to AFP.

Follow Megan Gannon on Twitterand Google+.Follow us @livescience, Facebook& Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/air-pollution-hits-record-levels-singapore-155123513.html

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Border security: Boost for Senate immigration bill

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A breakthrough at hand, Republicans and Democrats reached agreement Thursday on a costly, military-style surge to secure the leaky U.S.-Mexican border and clear the way for Senate passage of legislation giving millions of immigrants a chance at citizenship after years in America's shadows.

Lawmakers in both parties described a Southern border that would be bristling with law enforcement manpower and technology as a result of legislation at the top of President Barack Obama's second-term domestic policy agenda. The emerging deal called for a doubling of the Border Patrol, with 20,000 new agents, 18 new unmanned surveillance drones, 350 miles of new fencing, and an array of fixed and mobile devices to maintain vigilance.

"This is a border surge. We have militarized our border, almost," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican.

"Boots on the ground, drones in the air," summed up Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who has been at the center of efforts to push immigration legislation through the Senate.

The plan was announced by Sens. John Hoeven of North Dakota and Bob Corker of Tennessee, Republicans who had been publicly uncommitted on the legislation. Both said other GOP fence-sitters would also swing behind the measure if the changes were incorporated, and by late in the afternoon, two had done so.

A final vote on the legislation is expected by the end of next week.

The next move would be up to the House, where majority Republicans are overwhelmingly opposed to granting citizenship to immigrants living in the United States illegally. Talks on any final compromise would be held in the fall ? if then.

The White House declined to respond to requests for comment on the Senate proposal, even though congressional officials said administration officials were involved in the formal drafting of the terms. Obama met at the White House recently with key Democrats to discuss the measure, and kept apprised of the negotiations while on his just-completed European trip.

Under the emerging deal, an estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally would be eligible to obtain legal status while border security was increased. They could not be awarded green cards, which bestow permanent residency status, until the entire border enhancement plan had been put into place.

That effectively would give the government a decade to set up the additional security, since the legislation envisions a pathway to citizenship that gives immigrants provisional status after six months but requires them to wait at least a decade before they become eligible for green cards.

Despite the changes, the legislation appeared certain to retain the basic contours negotiated over many months by a so-called Gang of Eight, four senators from each party.

Whatever its impact on the bill's prospects, the deal failed to satisfy a group of conservative Senate critics who want proof that the border has been secured before legalization begins, rather than the mere placement of new agents and equipment.

"My impression is this is a promise of future performance and there is no contingency in the form of a trigger" to assure its effectiveness, said John Cornyn, R-Texas.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., also cautioned that the highly touted agreement had not been drafted yet, much less read by members of the Senate and their staffs.

The legislation has a broad array of outside interests pushing for its passage, although two organizations objected to the plan for changes.

Speaking for CAMBIO, an organization that favors immigrant rights, Christian Ramirez said the deal should include lapel cameras to deter abuse by border agents, as well as the placement of 1,000 distress beacons in the desert.

The ACLU called the proposed agreement a "massive deployment of force" that would be "simply devastating for border communities."

Corker and Hoeven both said they expected the legislation to be formally unveiled in the Senate late Thursday. While it had not yet materialized after several hours, officials said the agreement on border security provisions had been reached, and other matters remained under discussion.

The agreement was a turn in the Senate spotlight for the two men, who have spent days in secretive talks with fellow Republicans, and then with Schumer and Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey.

"We must secure the border first" before anyone in the country illegally can gain citizenship, Hoeven said on the Senate floor. "That's what Americans demand and that's what we must do." He said the 10-year cost included $25 billion for the additional Border Patrol agents, $3 billion for fencing and another $3.2 billion for other measures. Other officials said the overall cost of the security upgrade could reach $40 billion over a decade.

Corker told reporters the plan amounted to 'border security on steroids" and said it would impart "tremendous momentum" to the bill on the Senate floor. By day's end, Republican Sens. Mark Kirk of Illinois and Dean Heller of Nevada said they, too, were prepared to vote for the bill if the changes were incorporated.

That brought to 10 the number of Republicans who have indicated they will vote for the bill, far more than enough to assure it will have the 60 required to overcome any attempted filibuster by last-ditch opponents. Democrats control 54 seats, and party aides have said they do not expect any defections from their side of the political aisle.

Apart from the border security measures, the legislation as drafted already included implementation of a biometric system to track the comings and goings of foreigners at air and sea ports as well as land crossings, and a requirement for businesses to verify the legal status of job seekers.

At the same time the border security talks appeared all but settled, officials disclosed changes on other thorny issues.

Under one of them, sought by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, immigrants would not be able to claim credit for Social Security taxes they paid while working without lawful status. Credits are used to determine the amount in benefits a worker receives from the program after retirement.

Also under discussion was a second proposal by Hatch to prohibit the federal government or the states from making immigrants eligible for welfare until they had held legal status for five years.

Officials also said the White House had taken a role in drafting a change to clarify when immigrants would become eligible for federal subsidies under the health care law that is now taking full effect. Details were not immediately available.

Democrats and Republicans alike said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, was pressing for a toughening of the E-Verify program, and that a small group of Southern Republicans wanted changes made to a new program that would permit farm workers from other countries to work in the United States temporarily. The outcomes of those talks ? and the votes of several Republicans as well ?were unclear.

In addition to border security issues, the legislation would increase the number of visas going to high-skilled workers whose labor is sought by U.S. technology firms, create a new program for lower-skilled immigrants and allow farm laborers to come to the country temporarily to perform seasonal jobs.

Separately, younger immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children would be eligible for legal status more quickly than others.

For foreigners looking to move to the United States legally, a decades-old system that emphasizes family ties would be replaced by one that gives more weight to education, work skills, English proficiency and relative youth.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/border-security-boost-senate-immigration-bill-210012196.html

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Light up: Casper repeals smoking ban for bars

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) ? Not all of America is moving toward banning smoking indoors and out. Months after prohibiting it, Casper, Wyo., is now telling smokers that it's OK to light up in some public spaces.

The City Council voted 5-4 Tuesday to repeal part of an indoor smoking ban in effect since September. The vote lifted the ban for bars, but kept it in place for restaurants.

Bar owners had complained they were losing business to competitors in two nearby towns that allowed smoking. Repeal supporters also said it was an example of government getting too involved in civic life, citing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's efforts to ban super-sized soft drinks.

"Just like what Mayor Bloomberg has done, or tried to do, with sugared drinks. It's just not going to stop unless somebody stands up and says, 'Wait a minute,' and 'Let's use some common sense here,'" said Pat Sweeney, owner of a hotel with a bar now smoke-free because of the ban.

There have been efforts in recent years to overturn smoking bans.

In North Carolina, a legislative committee last month approved a bill that would have prevented local communities and community colleges from enacting smoking bans stricter than in state law. Health advocates said the measure would have overturned local bans on smoking in certain outdoor areas.

The measure didn't meet a key deadline and failed to advance.

Last year, voters in Springfield, Mo., had a chance to repeal a year-old smoking ban enacted there. They voted against repeal by an almost 2-to-1 margin.

Casper is a rare example of a ban ? albeit a partial one ? being repealed. A new crop of City Council members elected last fall made the difference. Three of the four new members voted for the changes.

"The more liberal side of our populace is trying to get too much into touchy-feely and government control of everything," said one of the new councilmen, Steve Cathey.

Proponents of amending the ordinance said the changes apply to relatively few businesses. They include only about half a dozen bars. Most of Casper's dozens of other bars are within restaurants or already prohibited smoking before the ban took effect.

Smoking now will also be allowed in nursing homes (one nursing home in town had a designated smoking area that was closed) and areas of industrial shops and auto service centers not open to the public.

The changes take effect June 28 but could be short-lived if opponents gather 2,465 valid signatures to put the matter before voters.

"It's unfortunate because a new council came in and they listened to a small group of people and didn't listen to the majority of the people," said Pam Evert, a local anti-smoking organizer.

People on both sides of the issue said they expect a successful petition drive and a hard-fought campaign to win over their fellow citizens.

"They're trying to socially engineer us," said Sweeney. "And a lot of us have had enough."

___

Associated Press writer Christopher Kardish in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Mead Gruver at https://twitter.com/meadgruver

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/light-casper-repeals-smoking-ban-bars-130218864.html

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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Why It Matters

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