Ten Ways to Take Charge of Your Heart Health

Use the following tips -  Ten Ways to Take Charge of Your Heart Health - to embark on a heart-healthy lifestyle to fight heart disease.

Schedule a Yearly Checkup
Your heart is in your hands. Each year on your birthday, schedule a checkup to have your blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels checked, and ask your doctor to help you reach or maintain a healthy weight. Be sure to follow your healthcare professional's recommendations, including taking prescribed medications as directed.

Get Physical
Step, march or jog in place for at least 15 minutes a day while watching your favorite TV shows. Increase your activity by five minutes each week until you're getting a minimum of 30 minutes most days of the week.

If exercise and diet do not get you to your goal, ask your doctor about adding medication.

Drink More Water
Take a water bottle with you wherever you go. It'll keep you hydrated and the bottle's weight will strengthen your arms.

Eat Healthy
Keep packages of unhealthy food hidden. Put raw veggies and fruits in front in the refrigerator and healthy snacks in the front of the pantry, so that's what you see first. If you grab healthy foods for a minimum of 21 times, healthy choices will become a habit.

Control Cholesterol
 fruits and vegetables Eating foods high in saturated fat, trans fat or cholesterol can lead to high blood cholesterol. To help keep your cholesterol levels down, eat foods low in saturated fat and trans fat, such as lean chicken or turkey (roasted or baked, with skin removed), fruits and veggies, low-fat or fat-free dairy products and whole grains.

Look for cookbooks that focus on heart health in your local bookstore and check out the American Heart Association's recipe section at www.heart.org

Cut Down on Salt
 To help lower high blood pressure, watch your salt intake. It may be disguised in food labels as sodium alginate, sodium sulfite, sodium caseinate, disodium phosphate, sodium benzoate, sodium hydroxide, monosodium glutamate (MSG), or sodium citrate.

Quit Smoking
 Try this four-step way to kick your habit:

    On Day 1, cut the number of cigarettes you smoke by half
    On Day 3, cut the number of cigarettes you smoke in half again
    And on Day 5, cut your smoking in half again
    On your Quit Day... quit!


Maintain a Healthy WeightExcess weight increases your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. To achieve steady, painless weight loss, take it easy. Each day, if you eat 200-300 calories less than you would normally consume, and exercise at least 30 minutes on most or all days of the week, you'll get closer to your goal and be able to achieve weight loss that's steady and painless.

 Stay Positive
If you get off your exercise schedule, have a cigarette, or eat a fattening meal, immediately get back on track toward re-establishing a healthy lifestyle.

Give Yourself Credit
To maintain momentum with exercising, losing weight, or quitting smoking, keep track of your achievements and reward yourself by doing something you enjoy.

Indian P.M. confronted by angry protesters in Downing Street

Hundreds of demonstrators shout ‘Narendra Modi go home’ & "Modi Not Welcome in London" as controversial leader arrives in London for talks with David Cameron

Narendra Modi was greeted by noisy protests outside Downing Street as he arrived for talks with David Cameron.

Several hundred demonstrators representing Gujarati, Sikh, Tamil, Kashmiri, Nepali and women’s groups chanted ”Modi go home” and “David Cameron shame shame” as the Indian prime minister was welcomed at about lunchtime on Thursday.

Modi, a Hindu nationalist who was elected after a landslide victory last year, was banned from the UK, US, and several European countries until 2012 after anti-Muslim riots a decade earlier in Gujarat, in which thousands died. Modi was state governor at the time and, while he has strongly denied any involvement in the unrest, he faced severe criticism for failing to do more to intervene.

Amnesty International and other rights groups have accused his government of fostering a climate that has encouraged growing religious violence, and permitting wider human rights abuses.

Many of the several hundred protesters in Whitehall cited the 2002 riots as the reason they were demonstrating, but others raised issues of human rights, protection for women in India and accusations of injustice against Tamils, Dalits and other religious and ethnic minorities.

A delegation of Sikh protesters waved black flags and accused Modi of genocide in a provocative banner that also bore an image of Hitler. Dabinderjit Singh, principal adviser of the Sikh Federation (UK), said: “People genuinely fear the direction Narendra Modi is taking the country in terms of the impact on religious and ethnic minorities. What happens to the hundreds of millions of Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and he Dalit community in India? Where will we go?”

“We think that Britain inviting Modi here is showing support for the human rights abuses against women in India,’ said Camille Rouse, of the Newham Asian Women’s Project, which works with victims of “honor-based” violence in east London.

She said Modi had done nothing to challenge abuses against women in India. “He just looks the other way while women are being abused.”

Damar Ghale, a former president of the Non-Resident Nepali Association UK, urged Britain not to sign trade deals with Modi while India implemented what he described as an illegal blockade of Nepal. “Britain has made its decision to invite him, but we are here to ensure he hears us and knows what is happening in Nepal.”

A smaller group of fewer than 50 pro-Modi demonstrators, kept at a distance by police, waved Indian flags and chanted “welcome Modi”. One of those supporting the prime minister, Shri Jayu Shah, of the Friends of India Society, said: “People should respect that India is a democratic nation and he was elected by the people of India. That gives him every right to be here.” Modi, he added, “is the one who is going to take India out of poverty”.

The Indian prime minister can expect a warmer welcome on Friday, when 60,000 members of the Indian diaspora will pack into Wembley stadium for a rock star reception and fireworks display at which he will be greeted onstage by Cameron.

LCD Displays

Liquid Crystal are organic, Molecules that have the properties of both solids and liquids. Lights passes through the crystals depending on low the molecules are aligned and applying an electric current to the crystals altars their molecular alignment. An LCD display consists of two polarizing filters arranged at 90 degree angle to which other with a layer of liquid crystals enclosed between them.

The crystals aligning themselves between the 2 grooved surfaces that encase them, twist the light passing through the 1st filter by 90 degree so that it can pass through the 2nd filter as wall, illuminating the screen. When a current is applied to crystal, it realigns itself and stops twisting the light that passes through the 1st filter. This enables 2nd filter to block the light and prevent it from illuminating the screen.

To form a display the liquid crystals are arranged on a grid representing the pixels that make up the screen.To supply power to individual crystals, the display contains an array of transistors. The number of transistor depends on type of display. There are 2 types of transistor configures called passive matrix and active matrix.

In passive matrix display, transistors are arranged along one horizontal edge and one vertical edge of the display . An 800*600 pixel display therefore has 1400 transistors. To supply current to an individual pixel, the 2 transistors at the appropriate points on the horizontal and vertical axis act in unison.

The most common type of passive matrix panel used today is called dual-scan twisted nematic (DSTN). Passive LCD panels are prone to shearing during rapid changes of screen content, ghost images (shadows) and streaking (lines follow an object as it moves across the screen). Passive LCD panels are relatively in expansive, used in low-to-mid range Laptop systems.

In active matrix display, each individual (crystal) pixel has dedicated transistors, arranged behind the display in a grid the same size as the server. A typical 800*600 active matrix display has 1440000 transistors instead of 1400,i.e., three transistors for every pixel, one each for red, blue and green. Monochrome display needs 480000 transistors, one each for every pixel.

The most common form of active matrix LCD used today is called this film transistor (TFT). In active matrix LCD panel, The transistors don't need to pulse the current because each pixel has transistors dedicated to servicing it. As a result, the amount of light passing through the filters is controlled more precisely allowing more light to get through and providing a brighter picture. In additional individual transistors eliminate the smearing, ghosting and streaking problems common to passive matrix displays.

CRT Display

CRT display is used to display numbers, letters and graphics. There are two techniques followed for producing image on the CRT screen: Raster scan and Vector scan. The raster scan techniques is universally followed in the CRT displays used in the PCs. In raster scan technique, the horizontal and vertical deflection signal are generated to move retrace portion of the raster scan pattern is suppressed (blanked); this is achieved by reducing the intensity of the electron beam during retrace. The complete CRT screen can be considered to be made of dots or pixels (picture elements). Any dot can be illuminated by reducing the intensity of the electron beam.
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How To Taking care of your hair

Hair may be dead, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't care for it. You should wash it regularly. Actually, what you really need to be sure to wash is your scalp. The best way to get your hair and scalp clean is to:

Get it really wet.
Use a small amount of shampoo. A squirt about the size of a quarter is enough.
Massage the shampoo into your scalp. Don't scrub the scalp too hard.
Rinse really well, until you don't see any more bubbles or suds on your head or going down the drain.
Gently dry your hair with a towel.
Comb it out carefully with a wide-tooth comb, especially if it's curly. Don't yank or tug on it, because that can break the hair or pull it out.
Let your hair air dry whenever you can. Hair dryers can be tough on hair.
If your scalp is itchy, dry, and flaky, it could be because you aren't rinsing all of the shampoo out. Or it could be because you have something called dandruff. If you have dandruff, when you scratch your head, the skin flakes off and lands on your clothes. It's really noticeable if you're wearing dark colors. You can use a special shampoo that your parents can buy at the store. There are many to choose from. Talk to your doctor or a skin doctor (dermatologist) to help you decide on the best shampoo for you.

How often you wash your hair depends on what it's like and what you do during the day. If your hair gets oily quickly, it needs to be washed more often. Straight hair can get oily quickly. Very curly hair is not as oily and can be washed less often. If you have very curly, kinky or thick hair, it might be too dry and look frizzy. Using a conditioner after you wash your hair might help, but that doesn't make it healthier. Remember, hair is already dead, but conditioner can make it look better.

All kinds of things can damage hair and make it break off or get too dry. To protect your hair, be careful around:

The sun (which is one reason why you should wear a hat when you go outside).
Chemicals (such as chlorine) in pools (so you should wash your hair after swimming in a pool).
Products and treatments that make hair curly or straight or change its color.
Things you use to style your hair, such as curling irons, flat irons and hair dryers (so don't use them too much, especially if your hair seems to be getting drier or breaks easily).
One of the common types of hair damage is split ends. Look really closely at the end of a hair, and you might notice that the end is split apart. Because hair is dead, though, you can't repair split ends. All you can do is cut them off.

If you're worried about your hair or scalp, ask your parents to take you to your doctor or a skin doctor, who also cares for hair.

Trouble-shooting Video Problem

Many Times You will find that the user has mis-configured the way that the video card is delivering a signal to the monitor. When that happens, the display may be distorted, unreadable or the system may just go dark on you. This segment of the course will explore how to deal with problems related to video card failures and mis-configurations.

Video Hardware Failures
Occasionally the video card it self will fail. You will know this is the case if you hear an audio error code from the PC indicating a video adapter failure. Such an audio error code will should like 1 long and 2 short beeps, 1long and 3 short beeps or 1 long and 8 short beeps. When this occurs, you may want to try the following things before replacing the video card:

•  Re-mount the video card in the bus connection and see if this corrects the problem. Occasionally board creep will cause the card to malfunction and re-mounting usually solves the problem. You may also want to try inserting the board into another socket to see if that resolves the problem.
• If the video RAM is socked on the video card, make sure that the RAM is inserted correctly into the sockets or connectors on the board. If you suspect that the socketed RAM is defective, remove the RAM, re-install the board and see if the problem resolves itself. If the RAM is defective, contact your vendor or manufacturer for replacement RAM.
• If the Video card is HOT, that may be an indication that a component on the board is defective. If this is the case, replace the board immediately. If the video card does prove to be defective, replace the card with another of similar type. If possible, try to install an exact replacement card. so that you will not need to reconfigure any video drivers in Window 95/98. If you do install a different brand or mode of card, be sure to install the vendor-supplied video drivers, so that the user will get the maximum performance level from the video card.

10 GOLDEN RULES TO HELP YOU TAKE CARE OF YOUR SKIN ON AN EVERYDAY BASIS.

RULE 1
Specific care for each skin type
In order to take care of and respect your skin, first and foremost make sure to choose products specially designed for your skin type. Dry skin does not have the same needs as oily skin.

RULE 2
Pay special attention to fragile areas
Some parts of your face (eye contour, lips, etc.) have particularly fine, fragile skin. They need specific care, especially the eye contour and the lips. These areas of your face are more sensitive and deserve special attention.

RULE 3
Gentle cleansingTaking care of sensitive skin begins with make-up removal.  In order not to stress your skin and to respect its natural balance, make sure to use a pH-neutral make-up remover, specially formulated to cleanse your epidermis gently.

RULE 4
Eyes: a risk areaThe eye contour skin is ten times finer than the skin on the rest of the face. Choose a specific routine for make-up removal in this area.

RULE 5
Exfoliation is indispensable
Use a suitable exfoliation treatment once or twice a week. It must be effective yet gentle and respectful. Choose a pH-neutral exfoliation product, which is perfect for smoothing and purifying the skin while respecting its natural balance.

RULE 6
Moisturizing is essentialThe dermis is made up of 70% water and the epidermis, 15%. In order to keep the skin well moisturized, it is important to choose daily moisturizing skin care products that balance the level of water within the skin. You may also use a moisturizing mask regularly, removing the excess with a spring water spray.

RULE 7
Preferably hypoallergenic make-upTo avoid the risk of allergies linked to the use of products that are not suited to your skin, choose hypoallergenic make-up specially formulated to meet the needs of all skin and eye types, even sensitive skin.

RULE 8
Sun protectionWhatever the season, choose daily skincare products that include solar filters. They reduce the harmful effects of the sun, which accelerates skin ageing.

RULE 9
Watch out for external stressPollution, smoke, stress… All these have harmful effects on the skin. Use skincare products to protect your skin against these daily stresses before leaving the house and cleanse your skin thoroughly when you come home in the evening.

RULE 10
Don't neglect the lipsAs soon as you feel the need, use a restorative cream for the lips.  Do not hesitate to reapply to this particularly fragile area as often as necessary.

Maintain Good Eye Health

1. Eat for Good Vision
Protecting your eyes starts with the food on your plate. Nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zinc, and vitamins C and E might help ward off age-related vision problems such as macular degeneration and cataracts, studies show. Regularly eating these foods can help lead to good eye health:

Green, leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, and collards
Salmon, tuna, and other oily fish
Eggs, nuts, beans, and other non-meat protein sources
Oranges and other citrus fruits or juices

Eating a well-balanced diet also helps you maintain a healthy weight, which makes you less likely to get obesity-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in adults.

2. Quit Smoking
Smoking makes you more likely to get cataracts, optic nerve damage, and macular degeneration. If you've tried to quit smoking before and started smoking again, keep trying. The more times you try to quit smoking, the more likely you are to succeed.

3. Wear Sunglasses
The right kind of sunglasses will help protect your eyes from the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays.

Too much UV exposure makes you more likely to get cataracts and macular degeneration.

Choose sunglasses that block 99% to 100% of both UVA and UVB rays. Wraparound lenses help protect your eyes from the side. Polarized lenses reduce glare when driving.

If you wear contact lenses, some offer UV protection. It's still a good idea to wear sunglasses for more protection, though.

4. Use Safety Eyewear
If you work with hazardous or airborne materials on the job or at home, wear safety glasses or protective goggles every time.

Certain sports such as ice hockey, racquetball, and lacrosse can also lead to eye injury. Wear eye protection (such as helmets with protective face masks or sports goggles with polycarbonate lenses) to shield your eyes.

5. Look Away From the Computer Screen
Staring at a computer screen for too long can cause:

Eyestrain
Blurry vision
Trouble focusing at a distance
Dry eyes
Headaches
Neck, back, and shoulder pain
Taking the following steps to protect your eyes:

Make sure your glasses or contact lens prescription is up-to-date and adequate for computer use.
Some people may need glasses to help with contrast, glare, and eye strain when using a computer.
Position your computer so that your eyes are level with the top of the monitor. This allows you to look slightly down at the screen.
Try to avoid glare on your computer from windows and lights. Use an anti-glare screen if needed.
Choose a comfortable, supportive chair. Position it so that your feet are flat on the floor.
If your eyes are dry, blink more.
Every 20 minutes, rest your eyes by looking 20 feet away for 20 seconds. At least every 2 hours, get up and take a 15-minute break.

6. Visit Your Eye Doctor Regularly

Everyone, even young children, should get their eyes examined regularly. It helps you protect your sight and see your best.

Eye exams can also find some eye diseases, such as glaucoma, that have no symptoms. It's important to find these diseases early on, when they're easier to treat.

Depending on your eye health needs, you can see either an optometrist or an ophthalmologist for an eye exam. Ophthalmologists are medical doctors who specialize in eye care. They can provide general eye care, treat eye diseases, and perform eye surgery. Optometrists have had 4 years of specialized training after college. They provide general eye care and treat the most common eye diseases. They don't do eye surgery.

A comprehensive eye exam might include:


Talking about your personal and family medical history
Taking vision tests to see if you have nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism (a curved cornea that blurs vision), or presbyopia (age-related vision changes)
Tests to see how well your eyes work together
Eye pressure and optic nerve tests to check if you have glaucoma
External and microscopic examination of your eyes before and after dilation
You might also need other tests.

Thirty Simple Diet and Fitness Tips

 Pick your perfect tunes
 Running with music is a great way to get in a groove (just make sure it's not blasting too loudly, or you won't hear those cars!). To pick the ultimate iPod playlist, think about what gets you going. "I know several elite athletes that listen to what we'd consider 'relaxing' music, such as symphony music, while they do a hard workout," says Andrew Kastor. So don't feel like you have to download Lady Gaga because her tunes are supposed to pump you up—go with any music that you find uplifting.

Curb your sweet tooth
Got a late-night sugar craving that just won't quit? "To satisfy your sweet tooth without pushing yourself over the calorie edge, even in the late night hours, think 'fruit first,'" says Jackie Newgent, RD, author of The Big Green Cookbook. So resist that chocolate cake siren, and instead enjoy a sliced apple with a tablespoon of nut butter (like peanut or almond) or fresh fig halves spread with ricotta. Then sleep sweet, knowing you're still on the right, healthy track.

Find the best fitness friend
 A workout buddy is hugely helpful for keeping motivated, but it's important to find someone who will inspire—not discourage. So make a list of all your exercise-loving friends, then see who fits this criteria, says Andrew Kastor, an ASICS running coach: Can your pal meet to exercise on a regular basis? Is she supportive (not disparaging) of your goals? And last, will your bud be able to keep up with you or even push your limits in key workouts? If you've got someone that fits all three, make that phone call.

Stock up on these
 While there are heaps of good-for-you foods out there, some key ingredients make it a lot easier to meet your weight-loss goals. Next grocery store run, be sure to place Newgent's top three diet-friendly items in your cart: balsamic vinegar (it adds a pop of low-cal flavor to veggies and salads), in-shell nuts (their protein and fiber keep you satiated), and fat-free plain yogurt (a creamy, comforting source of protein). "Plus, Greek yogurt also works wonders as a natural low-calorie base for dressings and dips—or as a tangier alternative to sour cream," says Newgent. Talk about a multitasker!

Relieve those achy muscles
After a grueling workout, there's a good chance you're going to be feeling it (we're talking sore thighs, tight calves). Relieve post-fitness aches by submerging your lower body in a cold bath (50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit; you may have to throw some ice cubes in to get it cold enough) for 10 to 15 minutes. "Many top athletes use this trick to help reduce soreness after training sessions," says Andrew Kastor. And advice we love: "An athlete training for an important race should consider getting one to two massages per month to help aid in training recovery," adds Kastor. Now that's speaking our language!

Buy comfy sneaks

You shouldn't buy kicks that hurt, bottom line! "Your shoes should feel comfortable from the first step," says Andrew Kastor. So shop in the evening—your feet swell during the day and stop in the late afternoon, so you want to shop when they're at their biggest. Also make sure the sneaks are a little roomy—enough so that you can wiggle your toes, but no more than that. They should be comfy from the get-go, but Kastor says they'll be even more so once you have a good 20 to 40 miles on 'em.

How 2 unlock your iPhone for use with another carrier

You can unlock your iPhone for use with different carriers. Unlocking means that you can use your phone with a different carrier. An unlocked phone is sometimes called a SIM-Free or contract-free phone.

Unlock your iPhone
First, your carrier will need to process your unlock request. Then you'll back up, erase, and restore your iPhone to unlock it.
Start the process:
See if your carrier offers unlocking. Only your carrier can unlock your iPhone.
Contact your carrier and request an unlock. You might need to meet requirements to qualify for unlocking. After you submit the request to your carrier, it might take a few days to complete. Contact your carrier for the status of your unlock request.
After your carrier confirms that your iPhone unlock has been processed, go to the next section.
If you have a SIM card from a carrier other than your current carrier, follow these steps:
Remove your SIM card and insert the new SIM card.
Complete the setup process.
If you don't have another SIM card you can use, follow these steps to complete the process:
Back up your iPhone.
When you have a backup, erase your iPhone.
Restore your iPhone from the backup you just made.

Get help

Follow these steps if you have any issues or if you see this message in iTunes or on your device:
"The SIM card inserted in this iPhone does not appear to be supported. Only compatible SIM cards from a supported carrier may be used to activate iPhone. Please insert the SIM card that came with your iPhone or visit a supported carrier store."
Restore your iPhone to factory settings.
Contact your carrier to make sure that the unlock was applied in your carrier's system.
Restore your iPhone from a backup.

Incorrect Video Resolution Setting

 Once the driver has been installed, some utility program will probably also be installed that you notify the resolution (640*480 to 1280*1024), the number of colors (64 to millions of colors), and the refresh the monitor (the frequency at which the monitor operates; usually 60, 72 or 75 HZ) Run the utility program and then select the resolution, numbers of colors and refresh rate you desire for your system. 220 
HINT: unless you have a "multi-sync" monitor, select 60 Hz as your standard refresh rate; check the documentation on your monitor to determine your monitor type. SVGA Monitors will operate at 60, 72, 75 and 83 Hz refresh rates; older models may only do 60 or 72 HZ. Normally, this is all you need to do to improve the video performance on your monitor. You should  also know the number of colors displayed by your monitor is not function of the monitor but the video card itself. The amount of installed video RAM along with the software drivers will determine how many colors can be displayed. Old VGA monitors can display 32 million color but can't display them at higher levels resolution. These higher resolution levels usually demand a faster refresh rate on the monitor, which is why Super VGA monitors are superior to older VGA monitors.

Architectural Advances

In Recent years Intel has managed to follow this low and ahead of competition by releasing  more powerful chips for the PC than any other company. In 1978 the 8086 ran at 4:77 MHZ and had under a million transistor. By the end of 1995 their Pentium pro had a 21-million on-chip transistors and ran at 200 MHZ.
In Recent years Intel has managed to follow this low and ahead of competition by releasing  more powerful chips for the PC than any other company. In 1978 the 8086 ran at 4:77 MHZ and had under a million transistor. By the end of 1995 their Pentium pro had a 21-million on-chip transistors and ran at 200 MHZ.
In Recent years Intel has managed to follow this low and ahead of competition by releasing  more powerful chips for the PC than any other company. In 1978 the 8086 ran at 4:77 MHZ and had under a million transistor. By the end of 1995 their Pentium pro had a 21-million on-chip transistors and ran at 200 MHZ.
In Recent years Intel has managed to follow this low and ahead of competition by releasing  more powerful chips for the PC than any other company. In 1978 the 8086 ran at 4:77 MHZ and had under a million transistor. By the end of 1995 their Pentium pro had a 21-million on-chip transistors and ran at 200 MHZ.
In Recent years Intel has managed to follow this low and ahead of competition by releasing  more powerful chips for the PC than any other company. In 1978 the 8086 ran at 4:77 MHZ and had under a million transistor. By the end of 1995 their Pentium pro had a 21-million on-chip transistors and ran at 200 MHZ.
In Recent years Intel has managed to follow this low and ahead of competition by releasing  more powerful chips for the PC than any other company. In 1978 the 8086 ran at 4:77 MHZ and had under a million transistor. By the end of 1995 their Pentium pro had a 21-million on-chip transistors and ran at 200 MHZ.
In Recent years Intel has managed to follow this low and ahead of competition by releasing  more powerful chips for the PC than any other company. In 1978 the 8086 ran at 4:77 MHZ and had under a million transistor. By the end of 1995 their Pentium pro had a 21-million on-chip transistors and ran at 200 MHZ. 11

Memory Speed, Access And Timing

This section describes the details on how the system memory works. This includes the particulars of how memory is accessed and important issues related to system timing. The speed of the system memory is also very important because it is a contributing factor to overall performance.There are many different aspects that influence the real-world speed of memory.

The  Memory Controller 

 Every computer has within it a hardware logic circuit called the memory controller. This is the part of the system that, well, controls the memory. It generates the necessary signals to control the reading and writing of information from and to the memory, and interfaces the memory with the other major parts of the system. The memory controller is normally integrated into the system chip set.

Memory Access and Access Time

When memory is read or written, this is called a memory access. A specific procedure is is used to control each access to memory, which consists of having the memory controller generate the correct signals to specify which memory location needs to be accessed and then having the data show up on the data bus to be read by the processor or whatever other device requested it.  79

Copper interconnect

Every chip has a base layer of transistors, with layers of transistors, with layers of wiring stacked above to connect the transistors to each other and, to the rest of the computer. The transistors at the first level of chip are a complex construction of silicon, metal, and impurities precisely located to create the millions of minuscule on-or-off switches that make up the brains of a microprocessor. Breakthroughs in chip technology have most often been advances in transistor-making. As scientists kept making smaller, faster transistors and packing them closer together, the interconnect started to present problems.

Aluminum has long been the conductor of choice, but it reached the technological and physical limits of existing technology. Pushing electrons through smaller and smaller conduits becomes harder to do aluminum just isn't fast enough at these new, smaller sizes. Scientists had seen this problem coming for years and sought to find a way to replace aluminum with one of the three metals that conduct electricity better: copper silver or gold. However, afer many years of trying on one had succeeded in making a marketable copper chip.

All this changed in September 1998, when IBM used its revolutionary new copper interconnect technology to product a chip which used copper wires, rather than the traditional aluminum interconnects, to link transistors. This seemingly minor change is likely to have significant repercussions for future processor designs. Copper interconnects promise the ability to shrink die sizes and reduce power consumption, while allowing faster CPU speeds from the basic design. 38

Broad Bandwidth

A standard telephone installation consists of a pair of copper wires that the phone company installs in your home. The copper wires have lots of room for carrying more than your phone conversations- they are capable of handling a much greater bandwidth or range of frequencies, than that demanded for voice. DSL exploits this "extra capacity" to carry information on the wire without disturbing the line's ability to carry conversations. The entire plan is based on matching particular frequencies to specific tasks.

Earlier using Plain Old Telephone Service, limits the frequencies that the switches, telephones and other equipment will carry. Human voice, speaking in normal conversational tones, can be carried in a frequency range of 0 to 3400 Hertz (cycle per second). This range of frequencies is tiny comparing this to the range of most stereo speakers, which cover from roughly 20 Hertz to 20,000 Hertz. And the wires themselves have the potential to handle frequencies up to several million Hertz in most cases. By limit the frequencies carried over the lines, the telephone system can pack lots of wires into a very small space without worrying about interference between lines. Modern equipment that sends digital rather than analog data can safely use much more of the telephone line's capacity. DSL does just that.

Most homes and small business users are connected to an asymmetric DSL (ADSL) line. ADSL divides up the available frequencies in a line on the assumption that most Internet user look at, or download, much more information than they send or upload. Under this assumption, if the connection speed from the Internet to the user is three to four times faster than the connection from the user bac to Internet, then the user will see the most benefit (most of the time).

New Zealand prime minister says poison threat to milk powder ‘ecoterrorism’

Anonymous threats to poison New Zealand milk powder have been sent to farmers’ groups by anti-pesticide protesters – a revelation that has been condemned as “a form of ecoterrorism” by prime minister John Key.

Packages containing dairy formula which tested positive for the pesticide sodium fluoroacetate, or 1080, were received at the national farmers’ co-operative Fonterra and the Federated Farmers headquarters in November 2014, said police.

Accompanying letters threatened to contaminate commercial supplies with the poison unless its usage ceased by the end of March 2015.

The controversial pesticide, which has been used in some form in New Zealand since the 1960s, is aerially applied throughout the country to control populations of possums, rats and stoats.

“While there is a possibility that this threat is a hoax, we must treat the threat seriously and a priority investigation is under way,” said the deputy police commissioner, Mike Clement.

He urged anyone with knowledge of the threats to come forward. “The letter writer may not have really considered the implications of their actions when this communication was drafted. Now is the time to put this right by picking up the phone and calling us,” he said.

The prime minister, John Key, said that an announcement had been scheduled next week, but that was brought forward following media inquiries.

While the police stressed they were dealing with a “criminal blackmail threat” rather than terrorism, Key disagreed.

“It’s a form of ecoterrorism, no doubt,” he told reporters.

At a press conference, Key said: “My message to New Zealanders is that while it is very likely this threat is a hoax, we as a government have to take it seriously, I can assure you we are.”

Asked why it had taken almost four months for the threats to be made public, Key said: “The first priority for police was to carry out a thorough investigation and obviously we also needed to work with the industry to ensure every step was taken to protect the supply chain before the public was informed.”

Trading in Fonterra and other dairy company shares was suspended on Tuesday afternoon.

Since November, around 40,000 raw milk and powder samples had tested negative for 1080, said the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

The deputy director general of MPI, Scott Gallacher, urged parents against ceasing use of milk formula.

“We are confident that New Zealand infant and other formula is just as safe today as it was before this threat was made. People should keep using it as they always have,” he said.

“The ability for anybody to deliberately contaminate infant and other formula during manufacturing is extremely low. Regardless, we encourage people to be vigilant when buying infant and other formula. Our advice is always to check packaging for signs of tampering. We are reinforcing that advice as a result of this blackmail threat.”

Theo Spierings, chief executive of dairy giant Fonterra, said the company had taken “immediate and decisive steps” to ensure product safety.

“All of our milk and products are safe and of high quality, and our supply chain continues to be secure,” he said.

“We are playing our part in helping the government manage the criminal threat, as is the rest of the dairy industry.”

Fonterra was fined NZ$300m after a bacteria suspected to cause botulism was discovered during testing in 2013. A large-scale international recall of infant formula followed, and China, which imports most of its milk powder from New Zealand, issued a temporary ban on the products. Subsequent test found the bacteria was not in fact the botulism-related strain.

While New Zealand is well-known internationally for its sheep population, recent decades have seen a movement towards dairy farming, driven by changing Chinese appetites. Dairy accounts for about a third of all exports from New Zealand, leading some to dub the country the “Saudi Arabia of milk”.

Play boy magazine to stop publishing pictures of naked women

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Playboy magazine will stop publishing pictures of fully nude women because the ubiquity of internet pornography has made such images “passé”, the company’s chief executive has revealed.

In an interview with the New York Times, CEO Scott Flanders said founder Hugh Hefner, 89, had agreed with a proposal to stop publishing images of naked women from March 2016.

The redesigned Playboy, 62 years after it was launched by Hefner, will still feature a Playmate of the Month and provocative pictures of women, but they will be rated PG-13 (a rating that cautions that material may be inappropriate for children under 13).

Flanders told the NYT: “You’re now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free. And so it’s just passé at this juncture.”

In other changes, the sex columnist will be a “sex-positive female” and the target of the magazine will be young employed males. “The difference between us and Vice,” Flanders said, “is that we’re going after the guy with a job.”

The Playboy website has already been given a makeover and made safe to read at work, resulting in younger readers and an increase in web traffic.

The chief content officer of the magazine, Cory Jones, said the magazine would be more accessible and more intimate, admitting: “Twelve-year-old me is very disappointed in current me. But it’s the right thing to do.”

The US issue of Playboy is no longer profitable, but exists as a marketing tool for the international editions and the Playboy licensing business, which is profitable. The magazine’s circulation has dropped from 5.6m in 1975 to about 800,000 now, according to the Alliance for Audited Media.

Marilyn Monroe was on the first cover of the magazine in 1953 and the editor’s letter from Hefner said: “If you’re a man between the ages of 18 and 80, Playboy is meant for you. We enjoy mixing up cocktails and an hors d’oeuvre or two, putting a little mood music on the phonograph, and inviting in a female acquaintance for a quiet discussion on Picasso, Nietzsche, jazz, sex … ”

An Australian version of the magazine was published between February 1979 and January 2000, when it folded after sales sank to just 25,000 copies.

It had been owned first by Kerry Packer, who sold the rights to Mason Stewart Publishing in 1982. Celebrities who featured in Australian Playboy include singer Dannii Minogue, actresses Sophie Lee and Abigail, and model Elle MacPherson.

The announcement of an end to naked images came on the same day Australian men’s magazine Zoo, published by Bauer Media, put out its final issue due to a slump in sales.