Technology and Gadgets Online

The Kindle is an electronic ebook reader that really hit the market by storm. In essence, this model and other digital book readers are hand held mobile wireless gadgets that allow people to store massive amounts of books and other publications and read them from anywhere they might be. Plus, there are various other uses and features as well. The Kindle is definitely the most popular of all brands of digital book readers.

The Kindle comes in three different models, the Kindle Wifi that retails for $139, Kindle 3G + Wifi that retails for $189 and the Kindle DX that retails for $379. The reason for the significant price increase in the Kindle DX is that it comes with a larger display screen of 9.7″ versus the other two models that have a 6″ screen. Many wonder if the DX is worth the bigger price tag because it is definitely not one of the cheap ebook reader models. Technically it is a larger and more powerful device, but there are other considerations. Please read on to find out if the Kindle DX is worth paying the extra cost and its overall pros and cons.

Key Features

• High contrast e-Ink pearl technology 9.7″ screen display, reads perfectly in bright sun, no glare and reads like real paper
• 10.4 x 7.2 x 0.38 inches in size
• Weighs 18.9 ounces
• Free 3G in 100 countries
• 30 second book downloads from Kindle store
• No compute required, Kindle DX works out of the box
• 2 – 3 weeks battery life with wireless off and 7 day battery life with wireless on
• Store up to 3,500 books
• Built in PDF reader
• Text-to-speech feature where the Kindle reads to you
• Automatic bookmarks
• Hundreds of free books in the Kindle store
• Share books with friends
• and much more

What’s Good ABout The Kindle DX

The bigger display screen means you will get more of the book text on the page which in turn makes it easier to read and much easier on the eyes. This is perfect for those that like to buy and read large print books.

The Kindle DX also delivers much better contrast on the screen than any of the older models and while the cheaper Kindle models may cost less, some are more than happy to pay extra for a device that enhances their reading experience that much more. This makes reading on this Kindle model much more like a real book, in fact many users report that the Kindle actually reads better than paper because there are no grains on the page.

What’s Not So Good

The price is definitely higher than the other models. In fact, the Kindle DX costs around twice as much as the 3G + WiFi model and this does make it beyond the reach of the typical consumer. In reality, the high price tag of the Kindle DX makes it not so much cheaper than the iPad 2 tablet computer, which also serves as a book reader and so much more. The iPad can perform a large array of distinct functions, including, computing, apps and others. But, it is still important to realize that the Kindle’s main function is that of a book reader and because it is built with that function in mind the reading experience is much better, especially because of the screen display, which in contrast to the iPad is not a computer screen that is so harsh on the eyes, but is actually an E-Ink screen that is just like reading real books.

Some additional user complaints include the fact that the buttons and controls on the Kindle DX are believed to be too small for a device that is overall larger in dimensions. This is actually due to the fact that the screen takes most of the area on the device. And, is this really a negative? When you think about it, the whole point of the Kindle DX is to enhance the reading experience with a larger page and print, so unless they would make the Kindle as big as a laptop, it makes sense that they will use as much of the space as possible for the screen.

Another con is the fact that the sacrifice for a larger screen and easier reading is that the device is heavier and less mobile as compared with the other models of the Kindle. This is a sacrifice that individual consumers will have to decide if they are willing to make.

Summary
Basically the Kindle DX has all the same features and functions as the Kindle 3G + Wifi and the main distinction is the larger screen and therefore an enhanced reading experience and especially for those that enjoy large print books. Weather or not you are willing to pay the extra money to get that will be an individual choice, but overall if the larger screen significantly enhances the reading experience that it maybe well worth it.

In Minnesota a local union created and it was called the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. This is made up of a wind power training center that simulates rescue and climbing scenarios that would help people be more knowledgeable about green energy. In that same state there are 186 wind turbines that now exist, and 35,000 more are being built. Even if the United States is the largest harvester of wind energy it still only accounts to less than two percent of the country’s electricity. As an electrician, if you would ask me what jobs can an electrician get in green energy; my answer would be a lot.

The Obama administration has supported all projects that deal with saving the environment that is why there are so many companies that focus in making sure that they do their part in saving the environment as well. The largest turbine built can hold 3 megawatts of electricity and as the days go by we will definitely be seeing more of these. Nowadays, when training centers do electrician training, discussing green energy is now being part of the curriculum. If you have taken an electrician’s course in the past it would be good to have refresher trainings so you can equip yourself with the basic know how on green energy.

The most common sources of energy would be solar and the wind energy. These initiatives are not only happening in the United States but in other counties as well. With the support of the government and other training centers like the Central Electrical Training center, there would be more people that are going to be trained to use green energy as an alternative. Whatever we do and whatever career we choose, we should always make it a point to grab every opportunity possible to learn more about our chosen field and have a competitive advantage in order to succeed.

When you hear the word “hotdocs,” you might immediately think of some of the beautiful men and women you see on the weekly medical shows deftly saving lives and dealing with life and death situations while retaining their courage and perfect teeth. But there is another hotdocs that is well known in legal circles and is arguably more popular and hands down more useful than any actor living.

Hotdocs software is a program that allows the conversion of standard file formats, such as Word documents, WordPerfect files, or PDFs into a universal template that can be used to create sophisticated forms and documents for any number of purposes.

This legal system software was first developed back in the 1970s when Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, started to look at ways for computers to generate legal forms. The software has grown over time, constantly refined and developed in response to feedback from an ever growing user base. In 1993 the first commercial version of the software was released, garnering a significant following and simplifying the complex arena of legal form production.

Sales proposals, contracts, court documents and other legal forms became much simpler and much less time consuming to generate. Similar to mail merge processes within word processing documents but on a scale much grander and far more sophisticated, hotdocs allows the user to turn a standard document, such as a PDF or Word document, into an interactive questionnaire. The answers from this questionnaire are then used to generate a fully automated and useable legal form, customized to the individual or company at hand with all of the correct clauses and details.

Beyond this, hotdocs can be used in conjunction with databases, allowing maximum efficiency and total customizability with the infrastructure of the many and varied documents needed to effectively supplement the company. Case and practice management systems can also be integrated into the architecture, making hotdocs a unique product to each customer, a truly versatile piece of software.

The functionality of the program also allows it to be portable across the internet, reaching clients and offices wherever the web touches. Additional software is needed to accomplish this, but hotdocs pricing can include the necessary components in package deals to suit most businesses. The time recouped alone is worth the initial investment.

With such an amazing tool at their fingertips, it’s no wonder that so many companies now take advantage of hotdocs, incorporating it into their daily workflow and enhancing areas that once moved at a sluggish pace, at once rendering them more efficient and less tedious. Now that’s much more useful than George Clooney with a stethoscope.

The developers version of Windows 8 has just been released and technology blogs are covering every little detail all over the web. The OS received over 500,000 downloads in the first 24 hours alone. Windows 8 is far different from any previous version of Windows as its completely optimized for tablets and is touch-screen compatible; however, you can still navigate the screen just fine with a keyboard and mouse.

The new start menu is very similar to the Windows 7 phone UI, supporting interactive live tiles that can be rearranged. The traditional desktop interface as not gone away; you can access this anytime by using the keyboard shortcut ‘Windows key + D’ to quickly switch to your desktop. You can also use the keyboard shortcut ‘Windows key + tab’ to switch between any full-screen apps or programs you have open.

Tons of new features have been added to Windows 8 to support touch gestures including the Picture Login. This allows you to set any picture as your login screen background and you can login in by setting a secret touch gesture combination that applies to your background image. To access these options, navigate to the control panel and select Users in the left panel. If you’ve forgotten your picture password, you can easily switch back to the traditional password login screen.

Another cool feature in Windows 8 is tucked under the appearance settings and is called Auto Color. This allows you to select an automatic color option that will select the dominate color in your theme and apply it to your window borders, Start menu and taskbar. Once Auto Color is enabled, simply changing the desktop image will change your color settings!

New technology gadgets like tablets and advanced touch-screen display systems will come installed with Windows 8. Although Windows 8 supports traditional desktop computers, the default Windows 8 device will most likely become a tablet.

Oops…  I think I bricked my router

So, you’ve broken something.  You were upgrading firmware on your router, and you jumped the gun and rebooted too soon.  You’re up a creek without a paddle, right?

Wrong!  (hopefully) Breaking stuff isn’t fun, especially when other people use it, or you paid good, hard earned money for it.

Instructions

The FIRST thing you should do to find out if your router is salvageable and will accept a TFTP flash is to ping it.  If you get a response, you’re in good shape and there is a much better chance you’ll be able to get save your router.

1. Open up a command prompt:  start-run type cmd and hit enter

2. c:\ping 192.168.99.1 (your router’s ip)

You might see : Reply from 192.168.99.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

Something to pay attention to in your pinging is the TTL, or time to live.  You’ll generally see a TTL of 64, under normal conditions.  However, when a router is ready to accept a TFTP transfer (of firmware), the TTL will change, to a number like 100.  I doubt that the TTL will always be 100 in every flash, but, it’s important that it’s different than normal.

Next, if you can ping your router, than you should download the firmware that you want to flash onto the router  (probably good to go with Stock firmware)

Important:  If you are using Vista or Windows 7, you must install the TFTP client first before proceeding!  If you don’t know how to do this, go to this tutorial on How to install TFTP in Vista or Windows 7.

Start a pinging session on your computer in the following manner:

ping (your router’s IP)  -t

Keep this command prompt open and watch it carefully.

Open up another command prompt and type the following:

tftp –i (your router ip) put firmwarefile.bin

Now….

Unplug your router, wait a few seconds, and plug it back in.

As SOON as your router starts to give ping replies (and you may notice the TTL is different than normal), hit enter on your TFTP prompt.

This may take a few tries.  You have to hit the sweet spot in the booting process of your router where it is accepting firmware transfers.  This of course will not work with every router under the sun.  But… hey… what do you have to lose?  It’s broken.

Good luck!  Hope you can get that router back.