Author: Serkadis

The VM3000/3400 system controller interface with Verity’s EP200 Series monochromators and PM Series detectors.

These system controllers include Verity’s ScanView III software, which enables endpoint identification through traditional trend-based techniques or with ScanView IV, which includes Verity’s proprietary Neural Network pattern recognition software.

The VM3000/3400 can communicate to a tool controller through RS232 communications. Additionally, digital I/O communications are enabled through the selection of an optional interface card. The VM3400 also permits Ethernet communication.

The VM3400 uses a Pentium 200 (or better) industrial computer that runs Verity’s robust Windows NT-based ScanView IV software. The VM3000 uses a 386 industrial computer that runs Verity’s ScanView III software on a DOS platform. Interface cards supplement the base configuration of the VM3000/3400, helping support different instrumentation and external communication requirements

Features and Benefits
Robust endpoint determination through proprietary Neural Network and threshold software
Flexible configuration to support selection of monochromators and detectors
Flexible integration through digital I/O, RS232, and Ethernet communications
Windows NT or DOS-based software applications
Supports EP Series monochromators and PM Series detectors

“CN entry level” grinding machine. It combines technology and results with its easy to use characteristic. It allows the reduction of set-up, infeed cycle optimization, user-friendly software to set the working parameters.

For thrufeed it can be interfaced with Post-Process Gauging system which directly communicate with the CNC for auto-compensation.

Benefits:

Set-up speediness, easier grinding operations as the CNC corrects and modify the working parameters, reducing the necessity of supervision from a high qualified operator. Thanks to all these features it helps the company being more productive in the long-term period.

Special steels require more and more frequently to be straightened during the production process and this is the reason why a famous steel plant decided this important order for a 600 kN machine for automatic straightening of 10 meter long bars. On this machine the automatic system for workpiece identification is particularly noteworthy, this system also allows small batches of parts to be processed with random feeding of accumulation magazine. This way the machine can automatically perform all the required set-up operations, leaving the operator free for other production activities.

Thor Global announces the addition of the new Thor Trax™ mobile track
system to their standard line of products. This independent system
is a versatile solution for moving equipment quickly and safely on
location. When a loader is not available to move a machine, the
Thor Trax™ is the perfect solution!
The Thor Trax™ can be used with various types of equipment such
as crushers, screeners, stacers, grinders and trailers by using a
5th wheel hookup. It especially works well with all ThorStack2™
telescopic stackers and effectively increases onsite mobility. When
the stacker is in operating mode the Thor Trax™ also acts as a fully
functional anchor pad, thus eliminating the need for an external
anchor pad. The ThorStack2™ telescopic stacker pivots directly on the Thor Trax™ mobile track system while in
working mode. The low profile nature of these track-mounted systems is what makes this dual function possible.
The Thor Trax™ can be fitted with an external electrical power supply
hookup or an independent diesel genset engine. All standard units
are wired directly to a push button control box, which is configured
with two speed settings (85 fpm and 170 fpm). Optional wireless
remote operation capabilities are available upon request. All units
are equipped with an emergency stop push button located directly at
the base of the unit.
Track-mounted technology has been implemented to meet the onsite
mobility needs of our customers. Thor Global continues to seek new
innovations and technologies for bulk material handling applications
worldwide.

While US negotiators keep insisting that ACTA won’t change US law, they’re perfectly willing to admit that’s not the case for other countries. That’s why much of what the US is insisting on in ACTA looks like the US’s quite problematic existing copyright law (minus a few consumer protections and with some “hints” at stricter compliance). However, it looks like at least some countries aren’t interested in taking dictation from the US when it comes to their own copyright laws. Henrik Moltke points out that Swedish officials are saying they simply won’t agree to ACTA if it requires any changes to Swedish or EU laws. Of course that “or EU laws” part is tricky. What if it requires changes to EU law, and that impacts Sweden even without agreeing to ACTA? Still, it’s nice to see some countries standing up and publicly stating they won’t be bullied by the US into copying (wait, weren’t ACTA supporters calling that “stealing?”) US copyright law.

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You might have seen our previous announcement of DAVis, the 5th International Symposium on Design and Aesthetics in Visualisation, co-located with the much bigger IEEE IV010 conference in London.

For all those of you who missed the quite tight submission deadline, here is some very good news:
Submissions are still possible until March 21! Make sure to check out the rules about the style, maximum length, important dates, etc. at the IV’10 website (click on “Papers”). Here some answers to the questions we received so far: we accept long and short papers and posters, although long papers are much preferred. After successfully passing the double-blind peer-review process, all accepted submissions will be published as full academic publications in the official conference proceedings by IEEE and thus be available online for all to see.

Again – we are looking forward to your submissions and do not hesitate to get in touch, if there might be any open questions left!

This post was written by Moritz Stefaner, a researcher and freelance practitioner on the crossroads of design and information visualization. Occasionally, he blogs at well-formed-data.net.

Article Tags: ClimateGate

Undaunted by a rash of scandals over the science underpinning climate change, top climate researchers are plotting to respond with what one scientist involved said needs to be “an outlandishly aggressively partisan approach” to gut the credibility of skeptics.

In private e-mails obtained by The Washington Times, climate scientists at the National Academy of Sciences say they are tired of “being treated like political pawns” and need to fight back in kind. Their strategy includes forming a nonprofit group to organize researchers and use their donations to challenge critics by running a back-page ad in the New York Times.

“Most of our colleagues don’t seem to grasp that we’re not in a gentlepersons’ debate, we’re in a street fight against well-funded, merciless enemies who play by entirely different rules,” Paul R. Ehrlich, a Stanford University researcher, said in one of the e-mails.

Some scientists question the tactic and say they should focus instead on perfecting their science, but the researchers who are organizing the effort say the political battle is eroding confidence in their work.

Source: washingtontimes.com

Read in full with comments »   

Article Tags: William Gray

This piece has many inaccuracies, and in my view, is not a positive contribution to the global warming debate for the reasons I present in my rebuttal of various Emanuel statements.

Emanuel’s Op/Ed piece is listed first, then a listing of some of Emanuel’s specific comments are given in indented spacing followed by my responses.

Click to see original article

Download PDF file to read FULL Rebuttal by Bill Gray

Read in full with comments »

File attachment: Gray Rebuttal to Emanuel.pdf
  

Sony wants to make sure that you’ll get more than just the demo of their games, but that you’ll be compelled to purchase the full version. A patent’s been found, duly filed by Sony, and this one

The PSP continues to dominate the charts for Media Create’s hardware sales chart for the week of February 22 through 28. The Wii follows a very close second, with the PS3 trailing at number 3.
 
 
 

Ron Paul spoke out in opposition to a resolution in the House Foreign Affairs Committee that would recognize as “genocide” the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces during World War I.

The Congressman argued that America should remain neutral on the subject and let the involved countries work it out themselves. He then encouraged other opponents of the resolution to apply their non-interventionist position not just to the past, but also to the present and the future.

The resolution was later approved 23-22.

Location: House Foreign Affairs Committee
Date: 03/04/2010

Transcript coming soon

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We recently wrote about Ubisoft’s annoying new DRM that requires you to be online to play even as a single player game (and which will stop your game even if your WiFi connection flakes out). Many people responded by saying that while they would have bought the game otherwise, now they would just wait for a DRM-free cracked version to show up. Turns out they didn’t have to wait long. The DRM was cracked within hours. So again, we’re left wondering what good this did? Those who were going to get an unauthorized copy of the game no matter what still did so with no trouble. The only people who are put out are the legitimate buyers, who now have to hope their connection always works and can’t play while away from the internet. How does that help anyone?

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Japan’s central bank has given fresh hints of further monetary easing. Now look what the Nikkei is doing.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• PLAYBOOK: Watch Out For This Indicator If China Tightens Lending Tonight
• Why The Situation In Japan Is About To Get A Lot Worse
• Japan Declares They’ll Kill Deflation THIS YEAR With The Loosest Monetary Policy You’ve Ever Seen

Earlier this week, we noted that some UK Lords were looking to make the Digital Economy Bill even worse by adding a provision that would allow a judge to block all access to a website if that site was accused of facilitating copyright infringement. After widespread outcry against the proposal in the UK, the Lords changed the proposal, but came back with an even more ridiculous proposal that would be even more stringent in allowing courts to shut down websites. Cory Doctorow has an excellent writeup in The Guardian explaining how this would block out all sorts of legitimate activities:

As our routine media files have increased in size – multi-megapixel images, home videos, audio recordings of meetings and so on – it’s become increasingly difficult to use email to share data privately with family, friends and colleagues, because most email servers croak over really big files. For example, the sound editor for my podcasts uses a web locker to send me the mastered audiofiles for my review (and he’s not the only audio person who relies on this; many’s the time I’ve had an audiobook publisher send me an MP3 of an audiobook for review through a web locker).

There are plenty of personal uses too: my parents live in Canada and are always hungry for video of their granddaughter, but I don’t want to make our home movies available on the public internet, so web lockers save the day for us. And when my immigration attorneys needed a mountain of scanned bank statements sent to their office for my application for permanent residence in the UK, a web locker made it easy to convey an encrypted archive to them.

There’s no way to square this need for private file sharing with the entertainment industry’s demand that all files be placed in the public sphere, where they can be inspected for infringement.

On top of that, he notes that such blocks won’t stop unauthorized file sharing anyway. It will just drive those doing it further underground. In the end, it will just annoy people who have legitimate reasons to use such technology and/or put them at significantly greater risk of privacy violations.

What becomes clear in many of these debates is that the politicians pushing for these “solutions” don’t really understand technology at all — and, on top of that, often don’t clearly understand the details of the overall issue. They just hear “piracy” and think “bad, must be stopped.” But the truth is a lot more nuanced. The real issue is an industry with an increasingly obsolete business model that doesn’t want to adapt. But rather than help them do that, these politicians are basically trying to deny the technology — whether used for legitimate purposes or not — to pretend they can set up a world that works the way it used to.

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Published March 2, 2010
By Bob Brawdy, Tri-City Herald Photographer

Eight CBC engineering technology students and CBC associate professor Paige Wyatt assist about 100 freshmen students at Delta High School in Richland collect data using total stations for a math class exercise taught by teacher Linda Estes.

Tri-City Herald Week in Photos

Published March 4, 2010
By the Tri-City Herald editorial staff

The Mid-Columbia Literary Festival is bringing back two of the Inland Northwest’s brightest writing talents tonight.

Award-winning authors Jess Walter of Spokane and Pete Fromm of Great Falls, Mont., will discuss their work at 7 p.m. at HUB Mainstage on the Columbia Basin College campus in Pasco.

Both writers have appeared at past LitFest events, and their return is a good turn for Tri-City book lovers.

Walter’s latest novel, The Financial Lives of Poets, earned critical acclaim. “The funniest way-we-live-now book of the year,” Time magazine raved.

He has published five novels and one nonfiction book, all to favorable reviews. The Zero, a novel exploring the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Fromm’s latest novel, As Cool As I Am, earned him an unprecedented fourth Pacific Northwest Booksellers Literary Award.

His novel How All This Started, a story collection, Dry Rain, and his memoir, Indian Creek Chronicles, also earned the prestigious award.

Indian Creek Chronicles, Fromm’s account of a winter alone in Idaho and Montana’s Selway-Bitterroot wilderness, ought to be a staple in any collection of outdoor tales.

The memoir puts Fromm among the American West’s most promising writers, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Tonight’s LitFest event celebrates good books and this unique corner of America. Don’t miss it.

Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.

With a loss of $3.8 billion last year, the US Postal Service is facing a challenging business climate. Mail volume fell to 177 billion pieces for 2009, from 203 billion a year before. Outside consultants have estimated a deficit of $238 billion in the next decade. So, the postal service is now considering making many changes to its business, including cutting Saturday delivery from its regular service in an effort to reduce this shortfall. Eric Zorn, of the Chicago Tribune, goes further and asks “Why stop at Saturday?” Sure, with the advent of the digital age, less and less things really need to be sent in the physical realm. However, don’t be so quick to write off the USPS. The postal service still did $68 billion in annual revenue for 2009, which is bigger than either UPS or FedEx. At 44 cents, first class mail is still one of the best deals around — sending a 1 ounce object anywhere in the country within a few days for that amount of money is a modern marvel. Of course, considering that one-third of USPS revenue comes from advertising mail, any change to delivery windows or rates will surely generate flak from that industry. That said, the USPS has had a history of profitability, so these changes just reflect a desire to return to that state, which is good practice for any business, whether they are in the public or the private sector.

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Filed under: Etc., Videos, Toys/Games

Remember those Choose Your Own Adventure Books from when you were a kid? Awesome, right? Hot Wheels has applied that approach to a web video promoting its new series of Custom Motors vehicles. Basically, the Custom Motors rides all feature interchangeable parts, so you your kids can put together some fun, outlandish stuff. The more cars you buy, the more parts you have to work with. The truck models include pull-back motors, too. We saw these in person a couple of weeks ago at Toy Fair (where they had a Custom Motors version of Batman’s Tumbler displayed, in addition to the regular cars and trucks) and can report that they’re definitely cool toys.

Anyway, back to the Custom Motors Cup video on YouTube: When you start with the first one, you choose a vehicle and are then prompted to modify it (thus showing off the customizable nature of the toys) before sending your selected car or truck into a series of nifty stop-motion-animated races. How well you fare depends on your mod choices, each of which sends you down a different video “branch.” Fire up your own racer after the jump, and check out the Custom Motors toys in greater detail in the photo gallery below.

[Source: Hot Wheels]

Continue reading Video: Hot Wheels lets you choose your own adventure

Video: Hot Wheels lets you choose your own adventure originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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