How to Cast Jewelry, Casting Jewelry, and Cast Jewelry Information Described

Casting is a process in which liquid material made from heating metals, is poured in a module, to give the liquid a desired shape. Then the liquid is cooled and a solid object in the desired shape and size is obtained. Casting Jewelry is the latest “in-thing” in the fashion markets. This jewelry is made from different materials like silver, aluminum, gold, bronze, alloy metals and even plated casting jewelry is available. Casting Jewelry is very attractive and delicate. They are made using machines, but very finely crafted and hand made jewelry is also available in the market. This type of jewelry can be available at a very low, as well as high costs, depending on the design and material and design that you choose. Casting Jewelry is very fragile and should be handled with out most care as it can break easily. With the advent of casting jewelry, the fashion world has benefited a great deal. Today, free flowing designs, multicolored jewelry and even a special made to order jewelry is available in the market.Before this, it was difficult to cast a metal in a desired shape but today it is as simple as it gets, all you need is a creative mind to create new designs and a group of well qualified workers and good machinery to make your own casting jewelry. This also gives you an option to make your own series of new designs. Casting jewelry is being widely used across the globe. With the prices of gold increasing day by day and with the entry of new metal jewelry like platinum, casting jewelry slowly but surely is making a mark in the fashion world. With the cost silver plated casting jewelry, the dream of wearing a new necklace or a new ear-ring everyday is a reality. You can actually afford new set of jewelry everyday. There are also costly models made of pure gold and delicate designs and with embedded diamonds that are available. Casting Jewelry is not only about fashion, it has also opened a new avenue for small scale businesses. With proper knowledge and machinery, you can start your own company and make casting jewelry. It does not need any expensive material nor does it need a big capital. A small store room in your house will also be sufficient to set up your casting jewelry work-shop. You can then design your own range or hire a professional jewelry designer to create your range of jewelry.Casting Jewelry has also helped the educational branch of “jewelry designing” grow considerably. Today it is considered in par with “fashion designing”. Many young students are nowadays looking at jewelry designing as a full time career. The only draw-back of plated casting jewelry is that is they are used on daily basis, then they might lose their shine and the coated silver or gold respectively. If they come in contact with water regularly, then they can turn black. You can get them re-plated and use them. As casting jewelry is very fragile and delicate, even a slight mishap can change its shape or even break it.

Video Transcoding for Optimal Storage Size

If you want to be able to save a lot of videos in your hard drive and keep good quality on each and every one of those files then you will need to use some video transcoding tricks which include the use of codecs and audio compression as well. In order to optimize the file size of your videos we will have to separate the two streams found in such files, let's start by analyzing the video stream.When it comes to video compression the best containers to use are: AVI, WMV and MKV -- we are not going to suggest the MPEG-1 format which is used in VCDs because the compression used by this container is not very efficient and the video quality is not that great, but if you prefer this particular container to encode your videos with you or more than welcome to do so.The AVI video stream can be optimized by using either the DivX or Xvid codec in order to increase the quality and compression of your video file, you will need a bit rate calculator in order to find out the file size after using a certain bitrate, this calculation also takes into account the audio compression that you will use, if the bit rate calculator that you use doesn't include the audio stream you can assume that an MP3 audio file will range between 50 to 100 MB for an hour and a half movie, if you are planning to store this video in a CD this means that you will have between 600 MB to use for the video stream.If you have captured an hour and a half of video using your camcorder you can set the video bit rate at around 900 to 1100 kbps and your MP3 file at 128 kbps we should be good enough to produce a file which is close to 700 MB, this particular file size is also optimal if you want to keep your videos on your hard drive.If you have 100 GB of hard drive space you will be able to store around 142 movies which should be good enough to keep a lifetime of memories that you have captured using your camcorder. Other very efficient video containers to use in order to maximize the quality of your files and reduce the size of them are WMV and MKV however, if you decide to use the MKV or Matroska container you will have to download a special video player such as video Lan or VLC.Please note that we have not suggested the use of MPEG-2 due to the fact that such container requires a very high bit rate in order to maintain video quality which sacrifices the file size, the average size of a 1 1/2 hour recording using the MPEG-2 container would require an average bit rate of 4000 kbps which will take close to 5 GB of space for a single file, as you can see this file size is not very friendly unless you're planning to burn the resulting video file into a DVD or high-density Blu-ray disc.

What is Active X?

Active X is a software technology that was released by Microsoft; basically this technology allows content or programmed capabilities to be sent from the web to a Microsoft Window's computer.Active X in its earlier form was OLE and COM technologies. OLE stands for Object Linking and Embedding and COM stands for Component Object Model. Active X was primarily developed so that end users on MS Windows computers can interact with content and link files such as MS Word Documents or Excel spreadsheet documents from a computer to the web with ease.In this case, an internet browser visiting a website with Active X would be able to view a Word or Excel document directly in their web browser. Unfortunately Active X was created with poor security features and lacked even basic security controls. For this reason many computer security experts discouraged its use.OLE (Object Linking and Embedding)OLE allows an object from one application; let's say a MS Excel table to be embedded into another application- a MS Word Document. In this specific situation, the MS Excel table becomes an object, it is then cut or copied and pasted directly into the MS Word document and saved. OLE allows a user or group of users to work on separate parts of a master file and then quickly compound it or put it all together.Microsoft renamed OLE, calling it Active X in 1996. In 2005, Microsoft has dropped its support for Active X primarily due to a loss in a patent lawsuit. This means that in newer editions of IE web browser, end users will no longer be able to interact with Active X without first activating it. For instance, many media files such as Flash, QuickTime, etc must first be activated. Before, you can usually roll over a media item with your mouse or open a page in your web browser to start active X, now you must first directly interact with the media object and for instance click the item to start a file or to interact with its properties.

Ringtones and Copyright - What is the Status?

Right from the start ring tones were distinctive, melodious sounds that were played by a mobile phone when it rang to distinguish it from other cell phones ringing in the same environment. Little did cellular phone manufacturers realize what an impact these ring tones would make on the cell phone market. From a humble beginning of about 10 different tinny tunes, today the ringtone market is exploding with customization. Ring tones can now be personalized, customized, mixed and matched to create a completely distinctive sound. Love them or hate them, in today's mass market, uniqueness is starting to become a very important asset. Cool kids want to stand out with cool ring tones. Cellular phone manufacturers were quick to cotton on and the capabilities to individualize ring tones is becoming an important differentiator in the cell phone market.The rise of customizable ring tones obviously was facilitated by the technology that can be provided through the Internet. Websites that allow people to download ring tones are common. Going hand in hand with this is the fact that lots of recording companies also got in on the deal by making some of their music available to be used for ring tones and therefore boosting the bottom line of their royalty earnings. The fact is though that piracy does abound and with the use of torrent sites or pirate MP3 download sites it has actually become possible for many people to download practically any type of song and use it as a ring tone. There are also plenty of tools available on the Internet to allow cell phone owners to do exactly this. Examples of this are so called 'MP3 to Ring tone converters' that can be downloaded from many popular download sites. There are normally disclaimers attached to these utilities ('we do not condone piracy or copyright violations') although whether this will be something that the users of the product will take note of is a different story. Theoretically if you already own the music on CD and just take a snippet of 30 seconds and make your own ring tone, it is not illegal – according to an article written by Engadget.com written in September 2007 (/know-your-rights-is-it-illegal-to-make-my-own-ringtones/). This is due to the latest copyright ruling in Dec 2006 which rules that a mastertone ringtone of less than 30 seconds is not a derivative work and therefore not infringing on the copyright of the original artist. Also, few people (theoretically) have ring tones that are longer than 30 seconds – and frankly, if they have, they should be taken out and shot, or hit over the head by their own cell phone in a sock.. If you want to make a ringtone for your Iphone, you have to pay twice for the song – once to download, and once to use as a ring tone. This has probably more to do with Apple's contract with the music label owners than the actual copyright infringement laws. You can bet your bottom dollar that the music label owners would do anything to wring the last cent out of a company like Apple and there are probably huge swaths of forests sacrificed to the fine print in the Apple Itunes contract with regards to ring tones.But one could also argue that music label owners are shortsighted in not allowing their music to be used freely as ring tones. There is an argument that allowing the music to be freely used in a 10 second or even 30 second clip allows for greater distribution and awareness of the music itself and could actually be viewed as a free marketing tool. If one looks at the explosion of certain sections of the music industry just because more people got to listen to music that they would otherwise not have been exposed to, once cannot help but think that there is some truth in this statement. .Be that as it may, if you really are keen to have your own ring tone for your phone, the options today are either to download music and make your own ring tone, which could potentially be illegal if you do not own the music in the first place, or use Apple to make ringtones for your iPhone from the limited database of tunes that are available as ring tones, or if you still have a normal cell phone, to go directly to a ring tone site and just download the latest hits already set up as ring tones directly to your phone, without the hassle.

Loc8tor - Mobile Phone and Keyfinder

The Loc8tor Plus – Mobile Phone & Key Finder makes looking after your precious possessions effortless! Loc8tor is the essential invention for modern hectic lives – tired of losing everything that’s precious and valuable? Get locked into the Loc8tor craze and get smug security for life! http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/loc8tor-mobile-phone-and-key-finder.htmlBy tagging your possessions with the devices included, you’ll be instantly alerted when you’re straying out of reach! With the three fabulous Loc8tor Mini Homing Tags included, you’ll be able to tag even more items to recover them or simply stop them getting mislaid in the first place! http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/loc8tor-mobile-phone-and-key-finder.htmlWith a crucial red PANIC alert button, the Loc8tor Plus – Mobile Phone & Key Finder is by far the safest gadget around! Tag your wallet, tag your keys, tag your friends, tag your other half! Get ultimate reassurance with the Loc8tor – Mobile Phone & Key Finder!Imagine having the peace-of-mind to be able to know exactly where every item you truly love and can’t live without is – forever! Your keys, wallet, mobile phone, cat, child and remote control can all be tagged using the wonderfully helpful Loc8tor – Mobile Phone & Key Finder! We’ve all had that nauseous feeling when we think we’ve left a set of keys, wallet or small child behind in the supermarket – no matter how many times you check under the sofa or in your shirt pocket, sometimes we just have to acceptingly send items off to the mysterious land of disappearance! http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/additional-loc8tor-panic-homing-tags-twin-pack.htmlThe Loc8tor – Mobile Phone & Key Finder includes two Mini Homing Tags; you’d think you could only tag two items right? Wrong! On each convenient Loc8tor Homing Tag you can tag up to 24 items! Now that’s 24 reasons already why you need to purchase! The terrific thing about Loc8tors are that you can literally tag anything – whether you’ve a dog who likes to wander, an important briefcase that bizarrely vanishes at crucial times or simply want to stop the search party you put out for your keys each morning, simply tag, relax then track those missing items when they go a’ wandering! So no more searching round in circles for the remote, checking every nook and cranny for your keys or worrying about the whereabouts of your little one, the Loc8tor – Mobile Phone & Key Finder is here to save the day! Purchase today and never go spare or lose your sanity worrying again! For any additional information on these fantastic Loc8tors, please email info@findmeagift.com or call 01926 640710RegardsJessieFind-Me-A-Gift

BT Calls For Action And Honesty About Internet Speeds

The BBC is reporting that BT have called for action about Internet speeds and what ISP's offer users. Over the last few years service providers have been offering great speeds and super fast Internet and BT wants companies to offer more honesty about what users can expect to receive.BT supplies over eight million people and have come out and said that many customers are disappointed with the speeds they get compared to what was advertised. In a survey it found that only 15% of people paying for eight megabit per second broadband actually receive those speeds.BT have said that regulators need to agree a set of rules about how broadband speeds are sold to potential customers stating -"The reality is we are all trying to push the technology,""The industry needs to join together with Ofcom to agree a set of principles as to how these messages should be communicated and advertised so that the understanding with the consumer is as accurate as it can be."Whilst BT offers DSL max products with a variety of different speeds up to eight megabites per second, it does tell customers (the isps) that actual speeds will vary from user to user.Cameron Rejali, Managing Director of Products at BT Wholesale, said it is up to the ISPs how they market broadband, "but if they are marketing it badly, the market will punish them."BT said users need to know about the process and that there is a difference between the line speed - what the line between their home and the exchange can support - and what it describes as "throughput", a measure of the data coming down the line during an activity such as the downloading of a video.Only 35% of BT's DSL Max customers are achieving an eight mbps line speed - the rest will see their speed cut by factors such as distance from the exchange, poor equipment, and interference from electrical appliances.But none of these five million users will achieve eight mbps "throughput" because of internet congestion and other network issues that can affect the speed of the internet connection."The reality is if you are very far from an exchange or there are environmental factors then your speed will come down and there is not much we can do in the short-term to address that problem," said Mr Bradshaw.Ofcom is now currently reviewing the way broadband is marketed to consumers.%0

No Privacy Left... RFID - You Won't Hide

RFID solutions allow to control not only certain zones or areas (e.g. border zone, airports), but also enable remote scanning of the embedded and dynamic data, get access to information on the people and their relocations, and can provide control authority (in the sense of access rights to certain zones etc.).Many countries plan to introduce identity cards, passports and car registration plates with RFID tags. By the end of this year, China wants to issue for its citizens about a billion such identity cards. American passports issued after Oct. 6, 2006 are also equipped with RFID tags. The embedded data (including digital photograph) can be read even over a distance of 20m.Civil liberties campaigners have criticized the test of anti-theft system based on tiny RFID chips at Tesco store in Cambridge. Anyone picking up Gillette Mach3 razor blades at the store triggered CCTV camera and had his or her picture taken. The second one was taken at the checkout, to compare the pictures of the customer.Expansion of RFID technology. RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) systems enable data to be transmitted by mobile devices, called tags, that are read by RFID readers. The data is then processed according to the needs of a particular application. There are used several typical frequency ranges: 125 - 134 kHz (LF), 13.56 MHz (HF), and the most popular - 865-952 MHz (UHF) and 2.4 GHz (microwave).The application areas include transport, supply-chain management, identification of people and animals.As mentioned, an RFID system consists of identifiers (tags), reader/s and managing (host) computer. There are used two kinds of tags: active and passive. The first ones have to be powered by a battery etc., the second - take the energy needed for operation directly from the reader (as the part of electromagnetic energy emitted by its antenna).Active tag equipped with battery, mounted on the car license plate, allows to read the data of the car and its owner even over a distance of 500m