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Stories By Dimitar

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  TV & Movies

  TV & Movies By Dimitar

  How technology has changed cartoons

  Years ago, the only way to make cartoons was handmade, frame by frame. Now there are a lot of cartoons made with flash, after effects or other software with interpolation features. That means, you don't have to draw every frame to produce movement illusion. For many years, use and growth of technology has facilitated cartoons development. From the early ages of the 2D, to the invention of the zoetrope and current creations of graphic animation, technology has helped cartoon creation evolve from two to three-dimensional format and even on to stereoscopic 3D. Animated movies are now being released worldwide and are often the top-grossing movies of the year. Without a doubt, huge improvements have been made in the successful making of cartoons movies of today thanks to all the development that technology has given the film industry. In fact, back when the first cartoon was made, there wasn't even a single computer used in the production of it. If you compare the first ever cartoons or comic films with the ones we have today, you can definitely say that there would come a time that anything could be possible. More than a century have passed and based on what we are seeing today, the world of animation technology has no plans of slowing down with their developments. In order to create the appearance of movement in a flat screen, flat images are rapidly being passed on to it one by one in order to create the whole illusion. But with the animation industry today, a lot of high tech technology and advancements with fancy names in them has graced the movie industry with its awesome effects and digital processes. Today everyone can watch their favorite cartoons online in high quality on their smartphones, ipad or lap top. What about 3D?. It's evolution at its best with the ability to make the images and elements in the movie just pop out and look like they are actually reaching out to you. Also a lot of new cartoons are made with 3D software. But it still is a lot of work, creativity, character studies, psychology of character definitions, and a lot of characters are involved, even not with the level of technology you won't be able to differentiate if the character used is the one talking or a human. Almost all of them now mix different techniques, like making backgrounds handmade painting and finished in a computer software, handmade sketches of the actions and finished in stroke and color work in computer software. As time passes and technology improves the difference between classical and modern animated movie or cartoon is large. If you were born in the past century, today surely you can notice the difference and uniqueness between the new and old cartoons. On the other hand cartoon characters and their features are almost the same, only today they look much more fancy. Thanks to technology many new cartoon series and animated movies are born almost every day, and this doesn't stop here, they have sequels, pre-sequels, new seasons, episodes and so on. Perhaps the processing time for a cartoon is reduced by a percentage, but the voices of the characters are still from real people and this takes a lot of work to make a perfect cartoon or anime.

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  Buying Guides

  Buying Guides By Dimitar

  BEST APPS USED BY ONLINE TUTORING COMPANIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO CLIENTS

  Computer technology are making progress rapidly and becoming more specialized. Many different fields have benefited from newly invented and powerful computer technologies. New technology integrated into the education and tutoring system has greetly enhanced the access so knowledge and improve the efficiency of knowledge transferring to learners. Learning is active, interactive and constructive social process. New technology is particularly beneficial where traditional methods of teaching have fallen short. Tutors are often brought in when a student is experiencing difficulty understanding a topic. Typically the more abstract subjects, like math or physics, require more assistance for students. For parents seeking academic help outside of the classroom, tutoring becomes a viable option. With the aid of Internet options, today's tutoring profession has seen a tremendous evolution. But many parents wrestle with the question: is an online option right for my child's learning and my family's needs? Like other areas of education, tutoring has seen some radical changes in the past decade courtesy of new and increasingly innovative technologies. Students and their tutors can now interact at any time and from anywhere in the world, and tutors can create and share educational resources with their students in minutes using high-quality and often low-cost online tools. We are going to be looking at different apps, websites and resources that are helping to define the new face of tutoring THE EFFECT OF TECHNOLOGY ON TUTORING BUSINESS Computer aided learning programs and online virtual tutor products delivers individualized instruction to students at a fraction of the cost of private home tutoring. However, even as these programs have seen a steady increase in use, home tutoring has grown cosiderable over the past thirty years. The reality is that the benefit of home tutoring is very hard to replicate and tutoring itself has remained low tech. But technology is playing and increasingly important role in the business of tutoring Private home tutoring is very effective. But managing the logistics of the home tutor of student relationship an be quite challenging. The role of technology in the tutoring business is not to supplant the tutor, but rather to support and automate the business of tutoring. Let's take a look at some of the online tutoring tools, apps and website used by tutoring companies used to aid the learning process of student both in-center or in-home. SKYPE An online tutor uses Skype for providing instruction to students. Through Skype, tutors and students don't have to be in the same country to interact with one another. This amazing tool lets the tutors connect to other via instant message, audio conferencing and two-way video. The increasing number of students who use Skype attests to the voice charity and powerful features of the tool. Skype can also be used for sharing videos and other files. Gооglе Docs Most teachers know about this popular collaborative tool, which can be one of the best for online tutoring. Google Docs is enabled with features that help an online tutor to share lesson plans and files in real time. Google allows online tutors and their students to create content and simultaneously edit text documents right in their browsers. This robust tool enables users to write reports, create combined write-ups, keep track of meeting notes, and much more. YоuTubе This another impressive tool that can be used for tutoring. Online tutors and training organizations are using YouTube to share educational resources with current students and future prospects. A well- constructed YouTube video can be a great help to tutors and students, even in highly complex subjects. Many the online tutoring companies create their own YouTube channel and upload videos recorded by their own subject matter experts. Gооglе+ Hangouts Google+Hangouts is another excellent tool for remote tutoring. Not only can tutors talk with students over video on laptops and other handheld devices, they can also use just about every other feature Google has to offer at the same time. Screen sharing, connectivity with Google Docs, and the ability to archive discussions have made it an excellent choice for a number of educational applications WizIQ WizzIQ allows users to set up classes for students deliver lectures live or recorded, distribute educational materials, monitor usage and even give tests. IDrоо While Skype alone can be a great way to meet and talk with students, some subjects require a little more interactions and instructions. That's where IDroo comes in. LDroo works with Skype, adding whiteboard features that make it simple for tutors to show students how to solve math problems, construct sentences, pr even build circuits. It's flexible, useful and allows tutors and their students to work well at a distance. smiletutor.sg smiletutor.sg is another excellent place for tutors who are looking for new clients. It allows tutors to find students at a variety of different levels (and vice versa). Even better, all tutoring through the site takes place online, so tutors never even have to leave their computers to start bringing in extra income. Growing Stars Growing Stars is another online tutoring site, though one that focuses on hiring tutors who have an MS or above. Those who are qualified can apply to tutor, finding long-term clients who teach math, science, history and other subjects through online video sessions and training In summary, Although online tutoring has been around for a while, many students (and their parents) haven't yet caught on to the possibility of meeting with a tutor virtually, let alone come to recognize its benefits. One the idea moves from the realm of theory to the realm of actuality, however, attitudes will generally change from skepticism and incredulity to enthusiasm and appreciation

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  Buying Guides

  Buying Guides By Dimitar

  Top ways technology is changing Mortgage Approval

  Owning a home is always a big part of the American dream. Getting a mortgage process, however, it is often considered a nightmare for many potential home owners. The purchase of a house or apartment should be fun and exciting, not stressful and tiring, is not it? Those in the market for a new home can give a sigh of relief, because it is guaranteed to speed using technology to make the process almost as easy as moving to a new home. More than 90 percent of potential customers use the Internet to search and compare properties, with many virtual tours and making decision on a house without going inside. Even if there were more to process a mortgage to move right, it's happening now. Fewer potential buyers now fill paper forms and technology has changed the mortgage process. Ability to apply online Technology now make it easier to complete the process and puts lenders control, so they can go at their own pace and only work with a loan officer, when they are ready, or have questions. Lenders can enter their data securely and upload their documents. Then in a matter of time, they receive a real approval. With the approval letter in hand, lenders can provide on the spot when they find their dream home. Reduces costs in the process A borrower who knows more about how the process works and can do most of their online application themselves can save more of their money by not employing a broker. Also, they are not taking up the time of a loan officer, they give the person more time to help others or work on other tasks. E-signatures (online signatures) Paperwork can now be easily signed online; one of the things that consume much of the time when securing a mortgage is all of the paperwork you have to sign. But you can now easily sign digitally from your computer. Online comparison websites We now have a lot of websites dedicated to provide list of about 30 providers and their quotes. This enables buyers to browse multiple options and opt to request a personalized quote. You can as well do that with mortgage lenders now too. That's after you would have provided some high level information's. Smartphone apps You can now track your loan's progress through each stage. Notifications can also be turned on so that the borrower is instantly notified of any documents that they need to provide or paperwork to sign. This keeps them connected and up to date, anywhere they go!

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  AI

  AI By Dimitar

  Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence: everyday life goes 4.0?

  Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Internet of Things, Industry 4.0: these are only some of the most popular terms that are entered into the everyday language during this year, and these words are used also by those who, apparently, are not real AI-insiders. Since these terms belong to the more specialistic topic of the Artificial-Intelligence, their use is not always done in a proper manner; however, if words like "Machine Learning" or "Internet of Things" are used with greater frequency even in "non-scientifical conversations", the main cause is that the AI itself is now applied in a bunch of brand new fields. This is the reason why these terms, once used only by engineers and researchers, are now a mainstream trend that is penetrating the most different business environments and medias like radios, TV shows or generalistic web magazines. It is no coincidence, for example, that about a month ago in Italy was presented by Carlo Calenda, Minister for Economic Development, a plan for Industry 4.0, the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, that involves the State intervention to prevent a possible digital divide between enterprises on the Italian territory and foreign markets. But these new Artificial Intelligence technologies are not limited to the economic and industrial field: the AI is also implemented in applications and tools that we could use every day and that already are part of our lives. Google RankBrain Some principles of Machine Learning seem already implemented in the most popular and used search engine. The Google RankBrain is developed through the use of an Artificial Intelligence system; this allows at the same time to identify and understand the most complex queries and keywords connecting new meanings and providing more valuable results, and to evaluate and sort with more refined criterias the content that will be part of the SERP. Obviously, it's hard to understand what there is "behind Google", but, reading the news leaked from Mountain View and the interviews and studies made by the search engine experts, it seems that, thanks to the Machine Learning technologies, Google is able to pick up a large amount of selected signals and use them as a source for learning new informations. Sony Flow Machines Since 1997 the Music Team of the Sony Computer Science Laboratory in Paris is focusing on the study of the informations derived from the many facets of interaction and on the malleable "descriptions" in music. Over the years the team studies have been awarded with prizes and accolades, not least Flow Machines, an Artificial Intelligence software whose purpose is to catch a style from a song (from the text to the melodies) and then use this informations as the "matter" to compose new tracks. Thanks to this sofware, a couple of weeks ago, are been released "Daddy's Car" and "Mr. Shadow", two songs composed with the informations taken directly from a database called LSDB, which counts 13,000 tracks. The two songs, "Daddy's Car" and "Mr. Shadow", were produced by Benoît Carré: he has selected a style of music and has generated melodies and harmonies with the FlowComposer system. And, although this may seem "just the beginning", the first album of AI-pop is expected to be released during the 2017 . The Italian Deep Learning in 2016 Meanwhile in Italy, something is happening. As we already seen, the Government is planning to launch a plan to increase the investments in Industry 4.0; however there are several companies in the Country that are making pretty interesting things. In September Add-for, a Turin-based company and one of the most interesting Italian reality in the fields related to Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Applied to Engineering, has participated as a speaker at "AI with the Best", one of the most important forum on the AI topic. And just few days ago Add-for has released a benchmark test between GPUs that has aroused the interest of many experts. Add-for has choosen to this test two GPU that are famous also in the gamers world such as the GTX 1080 and the Titan X. The Add-for team has tested the performances of the GPUs with different Deep Learning algorithms and libraries such as Neon, TensorFlow and Café. These Deep Learning Benchmarks require specific conditions and need appropriate structures, tools and knowledges. But such a benchmark test requires also a large amount of money that not everyone can afford: for these reasons the consultation of this data is very interesting for professionals who want to get an idea of the performances of these products in order to evaluate a purchase. The Add-for team is already planning to publish new Deep Learning benchmark tests; we suggest to check the updates on their blog and Benchmark pages periodically, in a way to be up to date with the most interesting technical studies on the Artificial Intelligence.

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  News

  News By Dimitar

  Why Most Modern Furniture Brands Fail At E-Commerce

  E-commerce companies have paved their way into the world of business quite effectively. Since people prefer to shop online, these companies can make it quite big in their industry. They offer ease to the customer by letting them order from their homes. In addition to saving precious time, online shopping also saves fuel. There is a wide array of items to choose from and decide. Modern furniture online shopping also came into existence when people realized that this market gap was not filled yet. Mid mod furniture shopping was quite cumbersome, because not only did it need an extensive (and expensive) shopping spree but was also quite baffling for the customer. However, the internet has seen the death of many mid-century modern furniture sites like Dot and Bo, whose alternative is Emfurn. Reasons for failure: Lack of patience: impatience can be quite damaging to any company. To build and grow any modern furniture business you need more than just a few years to prosper. Profits cannot be earned immediately; neither can you attain that speed easily. Perhaps the people got bored of the stories and the managers got tired of creating them. Market niche: It is highly important to start a particular business with potential scope in it. Mid mod furniture businesses are saturated already and you need something very unique to make it work. It is also pretty problematic if larger retailers are in the business and you're a newbie. Cash flow failure: This basically means that cash flow can go down the drain. Companies make the mistake of underestimating the required budget or miscalculating the risk involved. This means that both the investor and the customer lack interest in the company because of their monotonous modern furniture products or investment crisis. No Real Investment: It is conceivable to open an online modern furniture store from just a little investment. However, that does not imply in any case that you can carry on a business with meager amount of funds. Similar to any new business, a young online mid-mod furniture store may need numerous infusions of funds and a momentous quantity of hard work for it to succeed. Poor Inventory Management: the input versus output balance is very crucial to the success of any business. If you have too much modern furniture at your hand, your cash flow will deteriorate at a pace that you cannot keep up with, nor reverse. Neither shall you be able to sell those pieces fast. On the other hand, if the mid-mod furniture item line is too limited, your customers will lose interest fast because they demand variety. A Bad Website: Even if you have the most amazing modern chairs and modern furniture coupled with the best business idea, a bad website can cripple your entire company. If it is too confusing, the clients will lose interest. If the information is limited or false, they will lose trust in you. If the website is slow, they'll avoid it. If they cannot see it on their smartphones, they'll never bother seeing it on a laptop. On the contrary, even if the plan is not too great, but the website is eye-candy, you can allure a lot of potential clients to yourself. Poor Product Photography: the downside of online modern furniture shopping is that the clients cannot actually see the mid-century modern furniture from their naked eye. It is only a photo that can lure them to buy it. This means that the pictures of the products must be true in form, clarity must be top notch, lighting should be adequate and photography skills should be commendable. If the product is presented vaguely and dryly, the customers will not have much interest in it. On the other hand, a vibrant picture can be extremely pleasing to the customer. No Competitive Advantage: Any modern furniture business needs to make its way in the industry by having a competitive advantage. If they offer nothing new in comparison to their rival companies, they can never be successful. Many times, companies spring up with great websites but the products they offer are monotonous to others. No one likes the same thing over and over again. All in all, we've seen why companies fail and how they can easily be replaced. To keep your company in the business, you need to keep your competitors in mind and not make the mistakes that we highlighted above. Only then can you survive, unlike the sad fate of Dot and Bo and replacement by sites like Emfurn.

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  Apps

  Apps By Dimitar

  Agile CRM Lead Prospector Accelerates the Lead Capture Process

  I just found something that made grabbing the contact information of prospective clients just hit a whole new level of ease. The changes that have affected the way we do business in the last few years have come to redefine what a small business CRM is and what tools smaller companies should invest in. It used to be that a small company would get away with keeping an Excel document with their leads' contact information and shoot an e-mail or make a call whenever it 'felt right'. Well, not anymore. These days every company (from mid-sized franchises to the tiniest family businesses) demands increasingly powerful and diverse tools to boost their lead generation, sales processes and e-mail campaigns. Even one-man operations can make the most of a small business CRM software. Ask any blogger or online coach worth their salt, they will confess to fearing the day they can't use their preferred solution. Until recently however, there wasn't a specific product that could be truly considered a small business CRM. Most of the options available were either too clunky, not intuitive enough or cost an arm and a leg. It was in that context that Agile was born and has been rising ever since. By appealing to small businesses worldwide and catering to the very specific demands of that niche, Agile CRM software has experienced an explosive growth in a mere 3 years. In yet another effort to make entrepreneurial lives easier, the company recently released their own Chrome extension. Available on the Chrome Web Store, this extension is the closest thing to a CRM Swiss Knife you will find. If you're constantly browsing the web for your daily tasks, the extension will give you access to a bunch of features that will make your sales and marketing efficiency shoot through the roof. The ability to track e-mails (ever wondered why Gmail doesn't do this natively? You're not the only one), manage deals and tasks in real-time and having access to a whole catalog of e-mail templates is really sweet, no doubt... ...But what really packs a punch and makes this extension an absolute must is the built-in Lead Prospector tool, which allows you to capture leads with a single click - all while you're browsing LinkedIn and Facebook. All you will have to do is navigate to your potential lead's LinkedIn or Facebook profile and press the shiny 'Fetch' button in Agile's Chrome Extension. The tool will collect all the available contact information for this profile and add it as a contact - which you can edit to fill in relevant details before it gets saved to the contact list. Why waste your valuable time copy & pasting information from a web browser to your CRM? Point and click - It's just that simple. Imagine two employees at the same startup and let's call them Dave and Chris. They have both taken on the task of racking up as many leads as possible on LinkedIn this morning. Dave opens up Chrome and starts clicking on profile after profile - cluttering his browser window with 20+ extra tabs. He then frantically copies all of the information from these leads and creates a contact for each of them on the CRM. Of course, his laptop will slow down in the process since he's opened a myriad of tabs at once and he'll be quite annoyed - all while wondering why Chris seems so relaxed. In the meantime, Chris just went on LinkedIn and simplified his life: find an interesting lead, click on Agile CRM extension's fetch button and sit back as the contact gets automatically saved onto Agile. Rinse and repeat. By the end of the morning, Dave is shocked at the amount of leads Chris has captured - and Chris just wonders why his coworker kept a million tabs open rather than taking the easy way. Once Dave starts using the Agile Chrome extension, the only tabs they'll have to worry about are the ones at the bar during happy hour. Now, let's take a look at what the process really looks like. STEP 1: FIND A POTENTIAL LEAD Simply navigate to someone's public profile on Linkedin or Facebook. Since we are realistic people and always aim for the stars, we want to pitch our solution to our good friend Billy. STEP 2: CAPTURE DETAILS Now that we have found him all we need to do is click on that magical fetch button: STEP 3: CHOOSE A TEMPLATE & DIRECTLY SEND E-MAILS Bill will be automatically stored as a contact on Agile CRM once we edit the info as needed and click on 'Add Contact'. From there on it will be possible to choose a template, customize it and shoot him an e-mail. The Agile plugin will send real-time notifications when a prospective contact opens an e-mail, but you can always navigate to the notifications tab for an overview of what has been happening. I wonder why Bill hasn't read our mail yet... In short, Agile's Prospector extension for Chrome will make your life a helluva lot easier when the time comes to go on the hunt for leads. Not only will your Gmail or web based mail feel like it's on steroids, but you will also get access to a whole set of tools to accelerate and streamline the whole lead capture process.

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  EVs and Transportation

  EVs and Transportation By Dimitar

  Latest Technology Gives Truck Drivers All-Around Visibility

  While mаnу of uѕ аррrесiаtе the сruсiаl role thе trucking induѕtrу plays in delivering thе рrоduсtѕ wе uѕе оn a dаilу bаѕiѕ, еnсоuntеring these big rigѕ whilе оn thе road рutѕ many drivеrѕ on the defensive. Bеing ѕаndwiсhеd bеtwееn two trucks оr hаving оnе соmе uр alongside оr bеhind уоu can cause many of us tо сlеnсh оur оwn ѕtееring wheels a bit tighter, аnd for gооd rеаѕоn. Trucking ассidеntѕ аnd injuriеѕ are an unfоrtunаtеlу соmmоn оссurrеnсе, аnd a раѕѕеngеr vehicle is generally nо mаtсh fоr a truсk or semi-truck whеn it соmеѕ tо protecting thе drivеr and passengers in an accident. To help аvоid ассidеntѕ invоlving truсkѕ, imрrоvеd ѕаfеtу fеаturеѕ аrе being developed thаt соmbinе thе lаtеѕt аvаilаblе tесhnоlоgу gеаrеd tоwаrd рrеvеnting thе common causes оf thеѕе accidents. Truck Driving Jobs Whilе thе truсking industry provides both jоbѕ аnd rеvеnuе fоr ѕtаtеѕ аnd соuntrу in tеrmѕ оf highwау tаxеѕ аnd tоllѕ, thе оvеrаll inсrеаѕе in big rigѕ аnd ѕеmi-truсkѕ on оur rоаdѕ, highwауѕ, аnd interstates hаѕ rеѕultеd in a corresponding inсrеаѕе in trucking ассidеntѕ аnd injuriеѕ. Lеt uѕ tаkе a lооk аt the some оf the truck driving jobs аvаilаblе: Truсk driving jоbѕ iѕ mоѕtlу саtеgоrizеd intо twо diffеrеnt types Over-The-Road (OTR) and Lеѕѕ-Thаn-Truсklоаd (LTL). Both truck driving jobs rеԛuirе thе ѕаmе ѕеt оf skills frоm the drivеr, each job dеѕсriрtiоn iѕ a bit diffеrеnt. As a nеw truсkеr, it's imроrtаnt tо undеrѕtаnd thе diffеrеnсе and become fаmiliаr with thе duties оf bоth. Lеt'ѕ tаkе a сlоѕеr look at еасh tуре оf job in more dеtаil. Lеѕѕ-Thаn-Truсklоаd (LTL.) This iѕ a service offered tо frеight аnd trucking соmраniеѕ fоr shippers whо оnlу nееd a small dеlivеrу of goods at a time. Unlikе full truсklоаd drivеrѕ, LTL drivers hаul multiрlе ѕhiрmеntѕ аt оnе timе on thе ѕаmе trailer, еасh with a diffеrеnt destination. These ѕhiрmеntѕ аrе tурiсаllу dеlivеrеd tо a tеrminаl, bеfоrе bеing trаnѕfеrrеd frоm truсk tо truck until thеу rеасh a finаl dеѕtinаtiоn. Оvеr-Thе-Rоаd (OTR) All new truсk drivers uѕuаllу bеgin their career with this thiѕ tуре оf truck driving jоb. OTR drivеrѕ аrе diffеrеnt from LTL drivеrѕ in thаt they haul 'lоngеr lеngth' lоаdѕ аll асrоѕѕ thе соuntrу. This is referred tо as irrеgulаr rоutе meaning thаt OTR truсkеrѕ gеt tо trаvеl tо diffеrеnt рlасеѕ аll the timе whilе еnjоуing thе frееdоm оf thе ореn rоаd. Other Truck Driving Jobs Include: Some of thе оthеr truсk driving jobs that fаll under thiѕ twо categories аrе; Auto hаulеrѕ, bull hаulеrѕ, refrigerated frеight, tanker, hоuѕеhоld movers, соntаinеr hаulеrѕ, dedicated drivеrѕ, ѕоlо drivеrѕ, team drivers аnd regional drivers. Limited Visibility Of Truck Drivers And Road Accidents Evеrу уеаr nееdlеѕѕ crashes оссur bесаuѕе some hеаvу truck drivеrѕ don't ѕее оthеr vehicles, or see thеm tоо late tо аvоid a соlliѕiоn. Mаnу оf thеѕе сrаѕhеѕ invоlvе ѕmаllеr vеhiсlеѕ соlliding with truсkѕ аnd оthеr heavy vеhiсlеѕ. What iѕ thе problem with our vision? Whу don't we dеtесt thеѕе vehicles? Rесеnt rеѕеаrсh shows thаt limited viѕibilitу is оnе оf thе mаin causes оf heavy truсk ассidеntѕ with unprotected road uѕеrѕ. Suсh accidents саn now роtеntiаllу bе drastically rеduсеd with lаtеѕt technology developed on truсkѕ, whiсh iѕ the rеѕult оf a unique rеѕеаrсh рrоjесt bу some truсk mаnufасturing соmраnу and ѕоmе tесh companies. Cоlliѕiоnѕ invоlving heavy vеhiсlеѕ аnd vulnеrаblе rоаd users have bесоmе increasingly frequent in buѕу innеr cities with mоrе сусliѕtѕ on the rоаdѕ аnd lаrgе vеhiсlеѕ bеing рuѕhеd tо mееt tightеr ѕсhеdulеѕ. It wаѕ idеntifiеd thаt 20% оf реdеѕtriаn dеаthѕ in urbаn environments аrе аѕ a result of a соlliѕiоn with a gооdѕ vеhiсlе and thаt the majority оf these cases occur when thе pedestrian iѕ in thе drivеr'ѕ blind ѕроt either immеdiаtеlу in frоnt оf the vеhiсlе or on thе near-side (thе ѕidе furthеѕt аwау frоm thе drivеr). Such соlliѕiоnѕ аrе nоw аlmоѕt еntirеlу preventable with mоdеrn tесhnоlоgу fitted to heavy vehicles for еliminаting the drivеr'ѕ blind ѕроtѕ and dеtесting оbѕtасlеѕ аnd warning thе drivеr of thеm. New Technology For Truck Drivers Improved Visibility And Road Safety Truсkѕ manufacturers are now dеvеlорing trucks with newest tесhnоlоgу ѕресifiсаllу tо рrоtесt реdеѕtriаnѕ аnd cyclists. Thе unique technology еnаblеѕ a vehicle tо dо a 360 degree ѕсаn of everything that hарреnѕ аrоund it. Muсh likе a humаn mind wоrkѕ, thе vеhiсlе can interpret its еnvirоnmеnt аnd ѕuggеѕt actions tо аvоid аnу inсidеntѕ. Tоdау'ѕ truсkѕ are now being designed to еliminаtе any vehicle blind spots. Thе blind sроt aѕѕiѕt ѕуѕtеm рrоvidеѕ a warning to thе driver whеn turning corners оr changing lаnеѕ оf оbѕtасlеѕ thаt mау bе in thе path оf thе vehicle. It аlѕо has significance for аrtiсulаtеd vеhiсlеѕ since the ѕуѕtеm is smart еnоugh tо рrеdiсt the trаjесtоrу оf the rеаr whееlѕ of thе semi-trailer аnd wаrnѕ thе drivеr оf роtеntiаl соlliѕiоnѕ with ѕtrееt furniture ѕuсh аѕ bollards or traffic lightѕ. But in situations with hеаvу traffic it iѕ еаѕу fоr a drivеr tо miѕѕ ѕоmеthing imроrtаnt ѕuсh as an аррrоасhing сусliѕt оn thе vеhiсlе'ѕ раѕѕеngеr ѕidе. Nоw this problem саn bе ѕоlvеd with the development of thiѕ tесhnоlоgу to help the drivеr ѕее аnd understand еvеrуthing thаt iѕ hарреning аrоund the vеhiсlе. For thе first timе еvеr it iѕ possible tо еnаblе a vеhiсlе tо ѕее itѕ complete ѕurrоundingѕ аnd fееd infоrmаtiоn tо thе driver on how tо аvоid ассidеntѕ. Thе technology receives information via ѕеnѕоrѕ, radars and саmеrаѕ placed around the vеhiсlе. If the drivеr dоеѕ not rеѕроnd tо the ѕuggеѕtеd асtiоnѕ, thе steering or braking ѕуѕtеm саn bе асtivаtеd autonomously. The adарtivе cruiѕе cоntrоl with fоrwаrd collision warning and emеrgеnсу brake ѕуѕtеm of this trucks hеlрѕ you fоllоw the trаffiс rhythm without еffоrt. The rаdаr-bаѕеd Adарtivе Cruiѕе Control (ACC) keeps a ѕаfе diѕtаnсе to thе vehicle in frоnt bу controlling the accelerator and all available brаkеѕ. If there's a riѕk оf соlliѕiоn, wаrning lightѕ аrе рrоjесtеd оn the windѕсrееn. The collision wаrning with еmеrgеnсу brake tаkеѕ this one ѕtер further. It аutоmаtiсаllу assists уоu in еmеrgеnсу brаking if аn imрасt is imminent, thuѕ ѕignifiсаntlу rеduсing the riѕk оf severe injuries. This truсkѕ also соmе with аn аdарtivе lаnе kеерing support. Uѕuаllу Drifting оff lаnе iѕ a соmmоn саuѕе оf ѕеriоuѕ ассidеntѕ. Too соmmоn, wе think. Lane Keeping Suрроrt trасkѕ thе rоаd mаrkingѕ with a camera аnd аlеrtѕ уоu if уоu should unintеntiоnаllу сrоѕѕ thеm. Thiѕ lаtеѕt tесhnоlоgу developed and аdарtеd on trucks iѕ a gооd wау to give drivеrѕ аll-around viѕibilitу tо imрrоvе thе safety record еvеn furthеr bу rеduсing ѕеriоuѕ соlliѕiоnѕ invоlving thе mоѕt vulnеrаblе оf road uѕеrѕ.

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  Smartphones

  Smartphones By Dimitar

  Google Pixel & Pixel XL, Special or Not?

  When Google told the world that they were to build and design their own phone, everybody was expecting something unforgettable. So the question is "Did we have something huge here?" My personal opinion is NO, it's just another Android smartphone out there. Why do you say? Read on! First, I'm gonna start with the Google's presentation of the Pixel and Pixel XL. I thought that Google is a big company and that there are many creative people that worked there, especially in the marketing department. And I was proved wrong, about 8 times. I can't accept the fact that the emphasis on the whole presentation was to mock Apple, not to show their latest and greatest. I had my hands on the phone, but now I have it in my possession and I can tell my thoughts on it. It's a great phone, it's quite beautiful it's stable, fast and everything. And that's what's wrong on the phone, it's just like every other android phone out there. First, the box that the Pixel came in is just a regular box, nothing special. Ok, that's not important. I've opened the box and saw the iPhone, sorry the Google Pixel Xl. I'm a huge Android guy, I don't use iPhone they are just too simple for me. So I'm not the ordinary android hater. I hate the looks of the new Pixel, it reminds me of the iPhone and I don't like that. Where was the creativity Google? I must say that the build is high quality, and that's great. The glass part on the back is ok, but it's a little awkward for me. The fingerprint sensor on the back is so quick, that's a fact. The UI is great, like in every vanilla Android experience. There are no hiccups like in the Samsung phones, overall the experience is so smooth and great. The display is nothing short of awesome! The new Pixel launcher is something that I will need to get used to, I see the point but there is some learning time to do. I have the bigger XL variant because I like big screens, and the phone is quite comfortable to hold even with one hand. The Nougat its different story, it's like a grown up android. The software has some great tweaks and the with the Pixel Xl are a match made in heaven. The everyday use is so simple, so quick and so enjoyable. Google was able to optimize battery life so good! It can make it throughout the day without problems. The camera. One of the main highlights of the Pixel and Pixel XL was the camera. And yes, they delivered it! It's great camera even for photography amateurs like myself. But that's great because I can just take my phone make a quick snap at something and the picture is flawless! I had the same filling with the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. At the end, my point is not to hate the Pixel XL, it's a very good phone there is no doubt, but I hate the lack of creativity in the field by such a huge company like Google. They've copied a good design they've made some adjustments to it and that's it. No, if you want to make something huge, you risk it, you need to offer something different than the others. There is no doubt that the Pixel is the fastest Android phone out there, but I must say, I will stick with the S7 Edge for a while.

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  Tomorrow

  Tomorrow By Dimitar

  How Technology is Changing the Design

  Okay, so the days when the designers had freedom in designing gadgets, smartphones, websites and everything else are long gone? Or are they? Well who is to blame? Steve Jobs? Google? Yes the iPhone changed the world, period. We all remember how Steve Jobs presented the iPhone right? And not only the technology, the smartphone industry was changed, but also the design language for everything, i mean everything. Why am i writing this? I just got a new Pixel Xl, the first ever Google made smartphone. I'm will write my opinions of the phone later in another post, but i was really disappointed in the design. I mean it's ok, it's a beautiful phone, but there is something that bothers me, the iPhon-y thing in an Android phone. And then i realized how the world was suddenly changed by this big companies. I have the utmost respect for Apple (i'm typing this post on Mac), and Google is a great company too. But there is something that bother me. Firstly Apple changed every single smartphone company in the world, now everybody is competing to make a phone that is better looking than the iPhone. Every thing is compared to an iPhone, and the majority of the phones copied something from Apple. Why is that? They don't have great designers that can sketch something better? No, i don't believe that! Everybody wants to play the safe way, Apple did a huge job with that design, lets just play it safe and do the same thing. No, that's not how the things work! Now Google is doing that? First of all was the Material Design. They have one big site that is dedicated on the material design, how buttons should look, how everything else should look like. And when i open my phone 90% of the apps are looking the same. Where is the creativity here? The Pixel smartphone is excellent phone, but i hate the fact that looks like iPhone. It's not that the iPhone is not a beautiful phone, but it's something familiar. And on top of that, their marketing accent was on "Designed by Google". So what is next? Every company will now make circle icons on their phone, just because Google did it? I really liked the OnePlus One when it first came out few years ago. It was a brave move from a small company, they've made a great design, a great software and they had a great way for marketing, but now with their new OnePlus 3 everything is gone, now they are just like everybody else - without soul. In the web design it's the same thing, i can't even remember how many site look like Facebook right now. Every Wordpress theme that i know looks like something else, something very familiar. I feel like there is some lack of creativity. Well, ok to be honest there are some great web design companies that are doing some great job still. At the end, i really like some of the designs but i feel that there is lack of creativity shown, mainly by the big companies that can really change something. What are your thoughts about this?

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  Apps

  Apps By Dimitar

  5 Fant-APP-Ulous Solutions to Make Your Work Life Smoother

  Working in an excessively competitive work environment requires a few basic survival preliminaries, like being organized and highly productive. And with all that constant pressure to better, sometimes, you accidentally come up with great ideas to resolve issues. Being a product manager for a highly competitive company, my instincts forced me to look for a fant-App-ulous answer to get more work done in less time. For that, I have literally used every app that promised to be a productivity booster. But over time, only 5 of them were able to make it to my favorite apps list. I think that it's time for us to embrace the success of smartphones and tablets by treating ourselves with apps that could boost our productivity and make us more competitive. Check out these 5 apps that are worth trying to improve your performance at work. 1.Any.do If you have a work routine that has different facets; for instance, a full-time job plus a startup, this would mean taking care of a lot of things simultaneously. To-do-list is a crude necessity, as it allows you to keep your busy schedule aligned with your daily targets. But not every to-do-list app is created equal. I needed something minimalist and fast to get accustomed to; Any.do got onto my smartphone 8 months back and its still an essential app on my list. Why? because with this app, I have been able to amalgamate all those things that need my time attention, and sift those, that don't. 2.Xnspy.com Much of my managerial headache has been reduced down to nothing because of this app. Xnspy is an employee monitoring tool that has helped me achieve a better control on my staff's cell phone activities that wasn't possible previously. This app has been installed onto all of my employee's company-provided cell phones. Rather than getting up from my desk on regular intervals to monitor my staff's performance, I just have to open XNSPY's online control panel at the end of a day to check how each employee has used his/her cell phone. Not just that—the app also gives me a complete breakdown of my employees' cell phone usage. With so much on my plate, it's very convenient for to remotely monitor my staff's call logs, SMS, emails, internet browsing history and even social media. The app truly helps you save time and be more productive all around, because if you have kids at home, you can also manage their smartphone activity with the app's remote commands, like you can lock/unlock your kids' iPhones and iPads according to your discretion, or you could also take a remote screenshot off their devices and see what they are doing on their cell phone. Lastly, if your child has a habit of losing their stuff, you can also use XNSPY to wipe off their phone's data in the case of an emergency. 3.Focusboosterapp.com When you aren't working 9-5, and you plan to achieve more from your day, reminding yourself of the essential breaks is necessary. For someone like me, who even needs a reminder to take meal breaks, Focusbooster is pretty helpful. With this app, I can set different length's sessions. However, the main feature on this app is to use the Pomodoro technique that perpetually alternates between 25-minute working blocks and short breaks. The Pomodoro technique is certainly helpful in improving your concentration, and inevitably, productivity. You can get different Pomodoro timer apps, but my personal favorite is Focusbooster, because it's a free download and has a very clean and simple to use interface—minimalistic, I must say! 4.Mailbox I truly believe in de-cluttering to make the most out of my time, and because most of us have a mail box that's no less than a mess, I use Mailbox to simplify my emails handling. The app works much like a messaging system where you can swipe left or right to archive or trash your emails. The email app is also able to scan text out of my emails to present them in the form of a text message, making it easier for me to read them. If sorting out emails had been a big issue for you, and if you are failing to deliver response to your emails in time, get Mailbox ASAP. 5.Wunderlist The most interesting part with using Wunderlist is that it's literally available on every platform (Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, Kindle Fire and the Web). The app's name is self-explanatory; it allows you to create a wonderful to-do list that you can share with your co-workers, friends, and family. I use this app when my day starts, to the time, I go back to bed; it's that important for me. With Wunderlist, I can create recurring subtasks and to-do lists that I can even print or synch to other devices. And because I have to work on stringent deadlines, Wunderlist also helps me achieve that. Making your life smooth and more productive doesn't mean that you start using every app that comes across you. It's about managing your time, and that's what you should have in your mind before using these apps—only then they would benefit you. Don't overwhelm yourself by trying too many things. These aforementioned apps are worth trying, but I would still suggest you to have a fair trial of each one of them, because it's totally up to you to understand what's working for you in making you more productive. Do we need to connect or disconnect to become more productive? Leave your feedback in the comments section.

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  News

  News By Dimitar

  Electronic stethoscopes: Taking the pulse of the rapidly developing market.

  A stethoscope draped around the neck or placed in the ears of a nurse or doctor is a common sight in clinics and hospitals across the country. Many of us will be familiar with these acoustic devices, which, despite incremental improvements, have changed little in terms of design and sound quality since the early 1800s. Patients often view the stethoscope as a simple device; this belies the complexity and skill required to interpret sounds amplified through a traditional acoustic stethoscope correctly. This information is useful, but many clinicians, particularly those who aren't experienced cardiologists, will often need to refer their patients on for expensive tests and expert consultations. New, electronic stethoscopes are introducing a step change in the ways in which medical professionals diagnose patients and share medical data with one another. Innovative companies are bringing the power of modern technology more usually associated with high-end smartphones to this essential medical device. The potential of these exciting new technologies has been recognized outside of the healthcare sector, for example, in 2009 Popular Science magazine awarded their prestigious 'Innovation of the Year' award to the new Littmann Electronic Stethoscope Model 3200. An electronic stethoscope operates by digitizing and amplifying sounds from the patient's body. The ability to amplify sounds is especially useful for clinicians who are hard of hearing and for those medical professionals who conduct field work or need to take readings in noisy environments. Most electronic stethoscopes allow clinicians to link the device to sound and visual projection units, allowing multiple medical experts to review the clinical data at the same time. Clinicians do not even need to be in the same room as the patient and their colleagues; conferencing platforms allow experts across the world to see and analyze data at the same time. The new developments in electronic stethoscope technology also allow clinicians to save patient data. This allows other medical experts to assess the data at a later date, and for the clinician to reliably compare and contrast readings from the same patient across assessments, whether they are hours, days or even years apart. This ability to create precise reference points for individual patients can give clinicians clear indications as to whether a course of treatment is yielding the desired results, or whether a different intervention is required. The utility of electronic stethoscopes was further highlighted during the recent Ebola outbreak. Traditional acoustic stethoscopes could not be used by clinicians wearing proactive equipment, as they could not simultaneously hold the device to their patients and wear the earpieces through their masks. Electronic stethoscopes were used to take readings that were safe and accurate, even in the noisy isolation wards. When choosing which electronic stethoscope to purchase, clinicians will want to consider a number of key factors. The storage capacity for recorded readings is significant, as is the manner in which these recordings can be accessed. Some devices pair with a USB dongle and need to be attached to a computer to access the data. More modern electronic stethoscopes are starting to use Bluetooth technology, cutting out inconvenient intermediate steps to access the data and allow a wider range of devices, including smartphones and tablets, to display the information real time. Clinicians considering upgrading to an electronic stethoscope may be interested in the digital attachments for traditional acoustic stethoscopes manufactured by Eko. These provide a broad range of functionality, including an app (free to use for small practices) that allows data to be viewed on smartphones. Electronic stethoscope manufacturers are continually looking at how they can build upon the advances already made in amplification and data collection. Advances in cloud computing have led some companies to explore how they can collect data from readings to build a library of results. Big data sets would give clinicians a huge number of cases to compare their current patients with, giving them clear guidance as to what might indicate unhealthy heart activity. It will also provide researchers with invaluable data for use in designing and testing new treatments. These will include algorithms that will use the readings from clinicians' electronic stethoscopes to automatically detect and highlight possible abnormalities for further medical consideration. The ability to digitally transmit and save patient's readings with new electronic stethoscopes is in step with the current trends towards more efficient and remote diagnoses and treatments. The ability to assess patients remotely reduces the cost and stress involved in traveling to large hospitals and will bring together medical experts with patients in rural or developing communities. These developments in electronic stethoscope capabilities are not designed to replace the clinician. Rather, they provide experts with a wider range of more accurate and convenient tools; effectively using digital technology advances to augment the expertise of the medical professionals using them. Electronic stethoscopes provide the clinician with precise, timely information. They improve experts' ability to diagnose and care for their patients, reduce inefficiencies and costs and are part of a growing trend towards remote treatment, ensuring that patients can access the best medical care regardless of where they live.

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  Gaming

  Gaming By Dimitar

  Gaming, why not?

  So who doesn't like to play games from time to time right? I know I love to! Well, I was very passionate gamer and then I got a job. Yes, the realty struck and now I don't have the time to play and enjoy. When we were younger, we would spend all night playing Fifa with friends, and every day was the same, but now it's different. We all have jobs, we all have some great responsibilities and how the saying goes: "Time is money" Well, I still have the passion for games but not the time. So I don't have all night to play the newest and greatest games that I like (Assassins Creed was my favorite!) so I just have the time to play some highly addictive mini games. And guess what was first in line? Yes, you've guessed it – Candy crush saga of course. I've played a lot and I know many of you guys played it too. And with Candy Crush Saga I started to search for some great mini games, and found a thousand. I started playing online mini 8 ball pool, some great bus games, parking games (I really love parking games, and I don't know why) and etc. I found the internet to be such a great place to entertain myself even when I don't have the time to dedicate to some "big" games. I recently stumbled upon on an article about a game that was supposed to be released this year. It was about the Friday the 13th the game. And because I like horrors, I said why not to play some scary games right? Well I was excited about the Friday the 13th but the game will launch next year so I'm back to my mini games. So even if I'm not a gamer anymore, I love to play from time to time, I have my PlayStation but I use it just for playing movies now. I've bought some games recently but I didn't have the time to sit down with my controller in hand and enjoy, my weekends are the only time I can spend with my family so gaming is out.

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  Space

  Space By Dimitar

  Pancakes in Outer Space, a Step Away from Putting the Idea into Action

  A law student with a keen interest in technology and gastronomy is not your average type of character. But alas, here I am, alive and breathing, and constantly trying to find a balance between these three life spheres that are an inextricable part of my being. Now, if you find the idea of a foodie in outer space compelling, stick around and see how I plan on helping astronauts cope better with any homesickness they might feel on their trip to space. I don't know about you, but I feel like there's no problem pancakes can't fix, and more so, there's no person who doesn't love them. Only recently I read that sugar, dehydrated eggs flour and milk, due to their lengthy shelf life at room temperature, can be easily shipped in space. And then it hit me, why not provide astronauts with the pleasure of eating America's staple: Pancakes. Now, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that pancake flipping and gravity don't go well together. So it seemed as my idea would remain that, merely an idea, right until I stumbled across a video of the very first 3D printer for pancakes. Seeing a 3D pancake printer doesn't necessarily provoke an idea of making pancakes in outer space, but as soon as I saw that astronaut-figure come out, I knew that I had to put it in writing: Astronauts need a 3D printer like this one, and ASAP. I know I don't have the skills, nor the knowledge to create a 3D printer that will defy gravity and be adequate to fit the outer-space requirements, but I sure know someone out there will read this article and say: Not a bad idea at all, roll their sleeves up, and construct a space-suitable pancake 3D printer. An alternative to the 3D printer would be a robot, or some kind of machine that would be able to prepare pancakes without gravity. There's just something funny in the idea of pancakes floating around in a space ship, so much so, that the Internet is filled with suggestions on how to prepare pancakes in Space. The answers vary from an Anti-gravity machine, to those that claim that actually a gravity machine would be a more appropriate choice. It's only logical to see the latter as a more fitting suggestion, but hey, I am not one to judge. Curious on how to build one? Get your blowtorch and weld a plate to a pan whose handle you've previously taken off and cut three holes on the pan's side. Get three one meter wires and attach them to the pan from one sid, tie them together... and voila you have yourselves a gravity pancake machine. There's perhaps a way to use a centrifuge with a hot surface, and make use of the centripetal force, that way the pancake will get a cylinder looking shape, which would in fact be convenient since astronauts could fill it with whatever they want (or find handy). Now, these all may sound a bit silly to actual scientists, but hey, don't shoot the messenger. Now, this may be categorized in the science-fiction section, but at least I've spoken my mind, and I am convinced that one day astronauts would try and contact me just to say thank you for suggesting the greatest thing ever: Pancakes in Space.

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  TV & Movies

  TV & Movies By Dimitar

  How The Internet Change The Way We Watch Movies

  Movies may have emerged in the early 20th century, but the types of films people watch have drastically changed over the past century. Back in the early 20th century, people would frequent their local movie theater and watch any movie that was screening at the time. Dramatic films such as Citizen Kane and Gone with the Wind were heralded by the critics at the time, and people went to watch it in droves. Coming towards the end of the 20th century, there was a rise in popularity in science fiction films like Star Wars and Aliens, which were praised by everybody. As films have radically changed over the past several decades, the experience of watching movies have evolved as well. In the 20th century, if people wanted to watch the latest flick, they had to buy a ticket at a theater to watch it. TV films were not as prominent back then as they are now. If a large group of friends wanted to watch a movie, they would book an entire row to share their experience during a film. Concession stands were later added in theaters to give moviegoers the option of buying food and drinks to keep themselves satisfied during a film. Popcorn is the most popular food ordered at these concession stands and has become synonymous with going to the movies. If you are watching a big on the silver screen, then you are eating some popcorn. Near the end of the 20th century, there were tremendous improvements made in projection technology, with the advent of digital projection enhancing image quality. This reinvigorated the movie going experience since it was waning a bit in the 1990s. Must Read: Film Reviews At the turn of the 21st century, with ticket prices spiking and soaring higher than ever before, people lost the motivation and desire to watch a movie on the big screen. People were not willing to pay upwards of $10 to watch a single movie. With TV channels like HBO, Cinemax, and Showtime gaining popularity, people could now watch movies on their television just months after release, without paying for a ticket. The interest to watch movies in a theater was declining, but people still wanted to watch movies. Just not always in the theater. So movie studios thought of creating 3D films to entice moviegoers, where they would wear a pair of 3D glasses while watching a movie. The most popular 3D film was Avatar. So people flocked back to the theaters to watch 3D films and films shot in IMAX, a high-tech, wide-angle, high-resolution projection system. These so-called "gimmicks" were used to lure more people back to the theaters. Eventually, movies online free services like megamovies.cc increased in popularity, with their comprehensive film library and high quality streaming capabilities. People had the entire film collection at their fingertips in the comfort of their own home. With newly released films coming online in a matter of months, more and more people decided to go to the movies but instead bring the movies to their own home. People no longer rented them from Blockbuster like they did pre 2000s, but by simple streaming them on their computers. Who would have thought in the year 1960 that we would be watching movies on our computers? The movie watching experience has gone through significant transformations over the past 100 years. We initially only had the option of watching them in the theaters, and then we were able to watch them on TV and then stream them on our computers. Who knows how the experience will vary by the end of the 21st century. People will still and always go to the theaters to watch movies, because nothing at home can compare to watching a film on a gigantic screen with an impressive sound system. Now we just have more options to catch a flick at home, with movies at our fingertips.

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  Tomorrow

  Tomorrow By Dimitar

  The Race for a Decentralized Internet: Ethereum and Synereo Compared

  The Ethereum project was, and is, one of the Internet's most intriguing and inspiring experiments. It all begun back in 2013, when researcher and prodigy programmer, Vitalik Buterin, proposed a way to generalize the concept of the Bitcoin Blockchain, transforming it from a decentralized bookkeeping ledger into a turing complete virtual machine, or "World Computer", with the intention to run applications, websites and even entire organizations, without having to rely on server farms, as it is the case today. Vitalik was soon followed by some of the brightest and most committed individuals of the newly conceived crypto-industry, carrying the flag of a new, decentralized Internet; freed from monopoly control and government influence, which cannot be censored, taken down or corrupted. This idea was so compelling, that the project managed to raise millions of dollars in the first few hours of its crowdfunding campaign, reaching a market cap. of about 1 billion USD in less than a year and a half. But to be fair, 2016 wasn't the best year for the Ethereum Project. In May this year, TheDao, an ambitious project running on the Ethereum platform, was hacked, putting about $150 million in jeopardy, while exposing serious flaws in the basic architecture of the Ethereum system. The attack didn't only highlight the overall callow state of the project, but forced its leadership to restart the entire system (a move called a roll-back), earning it heavy criticism, and eventually breaking its Blockchain into two competing versions. Since then, Vitalik and his colleges had to admit that the current version of Ethereum is not scalable, and that a lot of work is still ahead before the dream of a decentralized Internet can become a reality. Enter Synereo To date, Ethereum isn't the only team anymore working on turing complete blockchains and decentralized computation. Companies like Lisk, alongside a few other competitors, have picked up on the idea, and are trying to improve the concept. The most outstanding player in this bunch however, is a small Israeli startup called Synereo, founded at about the same time when the Ethereum project made its first steps. Synereo was initially known in the crypto scene for proposing a decentralized social network, but caught the industry in surprise a few months ago, when it disclosed its own proposition for a complete decentralized tech-stack. Synereo's proposal stands out for several reasons, and seems to be the first one to pose serious competition, not only to Ethereum, but to their common opponent as well: the centralized model on which the Internet currently operates. Comparing both systems, it seems that Synereo is on its way to successfully solve most problems raised by the current Ethereum version, while adding some major features, crucial for a truly decentralized Internet. Here's a partial list of characteristics, allowing the small startup to pose real competition to the, by now well established, Ethereum Project and its offshoots: Concurrency and Parallel computation One of the more outstanding features of the proposed Synereo Blockchain (also called RChain) is its ability to execute operations in parallel, in contrast to the linear nature of all other competing models. These standard Blockchains share one fundamental flaw: in order for the Blockchain to stay reliable and coherent, its entire history has to be replicated on all devices maintaining it. Synereo, on the other hand, proposes a fractalization of the Blockchain, allowing different nodes to perform different operations at the same time, while processing only what is required for its local needs. This way, Synereo's Blockchain is truly decentralized and distributed rather than simply being massively replicated across the network - allowing it to be much faster than any other proposed model, while being infinitely scalable. Storage On top of its Blockchain infrastructure, Synereo stacks a distributed storage protocol, a feature completely missing from Ethereum and most other competitors in the field. While the blockchain records the overall state of the system — meaning the validity of transactions and the execution of scripts — it is not suited for the storage of heavy media data such as images, videos and text. For this purpose, Synereo's CTO, Greg Meredith, developed a unique protocol to distribute this kind of information among Synereo nodes and then retrieve it on demand. This is a highly important feature, without which complete decentralized computation would be impossible. Ethereum and its competitors intend afterall to make centralized server farms obsolete, a goal impossible to achieve without the ability to host vast amounts of data and retrieve it on demand, at speeds comparable to Google and Amazon's Data Centers. With Synereo's storage protocol (cheekily nicked Special-K), this ambitious pursuit might be in reach after all. Social Layer Synereo's original idea of building a decentralized social network has not been forgotten. Rather, it has been baked into the company's technology stack as its "Social Layer" - providing assets like digital identity, socially generated reputation and networks of influence to all other application built on top of it. This will allow developers to plug into network effects from early on, and other users of the system to easily engage in a decentralized P2P economy, trading goods and services without intermediaries. Security and Privacy On of the main features of the Ethereum blockchain is its full transparency. Since each and every Ethereum node holds a copy of the entire blockchain, everything done on the network is potentially visible to everybody else. In terms of security and privacy however, this feature might reveal itself as a bug. Synereo's concurrent fractalization of the Blockchain does away with this state of affairs, and allows every node access to information relevant to its operations only. Moreover, Synereo uses formal semantics and methods to create, as well as check code automatically. This allows developers to model the exact behaviour of applications built for Synereo, before they are deployed on the system, troubleshooting potential disasters before they happen. This is of outmost importance when dealing with decentralized environments, which don't have a central point of control from which an administrator can stop renegade processes when they go bezerk. The DAO incident, mentioned above, is a very good example of this, and could probably have been avoided on Synereo's platform. Java Compatibility In contrast to Ethereum, Synereo's platform is built as a Java Virtual Machine (JVM), allowing the integration of any other Java/Scala/JRuby/Closure application or library with ease. A feature of paramount importance for Synereo's ambitious end-goal: creating decentralized analogs to all existing, centralized web services, and essentially re-creating the Internet from scratch on its own, decentralized platform. Reflective Programming Synereo's native programming language (called Rholang), is a reflective programming language, based on process calculus, allowing for the parallel execution of processes and the composition of higher-ordered smart contracts on the basis of lower ones. This grants Rholang an obvious advantage over traditional smart contract languages and blockchain scripts, and puts it in the same category with established programming languages like Java, C#, and Scala, which have all eventually adopted reflection as a core feature. This is what allows programmers to use programs to write other programs, on which more complex applications can be deployed. Without this feature, industrial scale development would likely be impossible due to complexity. Modularity Synereo allows modular use of its tech-stack, enabling developers and users to use parts of its layers, without being indefinitely committed to the entire technology stack. Upstream Compatibility Synereo already offers a 1.0 implementation of its technology on which decentralized applications can be deployed, and promises the release of the fully matured 2.0 version towards the end of 2017. All applications build for Synereo's tech-stack 1.0 will be compatible on its Rchain based 2.0 version. For Ethereum developers on the other hand, reality looks a bit bleaker. Since the DAO hack of spring 2016, applications built on Ethereum are already obsolete because of the serious infrastructure flaws exposed at the time. It will be back to the drawing board for much of Ethereum's functionality, and most of the Ethereum eco-system will have to be recreated from scratch as soon as the system is ready to be updated. From Competition to Cooperation With all this being said, it should be noted that Synereo and Ethereum do not seem to regard each other as competitors, a term scarcely used in the crypto industry. The to two teams cooperate closely on some of their Blockchain features, and Synereo's tech-stack 2.0 specification is literally called "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants", more than hinting towards its social and ideological ties with the Ethereum project. Synereo's ambitions are currently being fueled by its successfully ongoing funding campaign. With this, we can be left with the hope that the coopetition between these two teams, and other players in the space, will eventually lead to the fulfillment of their joint promise: Creating a freer and fairer Internet that works for all of us.

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  G700 is the Best among the MILITARY Flashlights

  Choosing the right flashlight is sometimes tough, if you want to get one with proper functions. If you are a hiker, a biker, a fireman or even a fisherman you are in need a kind of a high performance. Type of an electric that comes handy in every situation and will do the job for indoor and outdoor use, that's the right one for you. While I was researching the internet the other day, I came into a portable LED torch light that is different than the other military grade or tactical flashlights. It is way better I must say, a hand-held light that no one has seen before. It has everything from design to performance, and is probably the best price-per-value military grade flashlight you can find on the market. It is called the Lumitact G700 Flashlight. This brand new flashlight that I am talking about has high-performance features and is all that you can think of, just need to use your imagination - you can use it as a weapon in self-defense situations, or instead of your car lights if they happen to turn off and of course as a regular led flashlight in the darkest of nights. And this is not all you will be amazed at how powerful this military grade flashlight is. The background of this beast is military. It was first used for the purposes of the US army and NASA but the manufacturers decided that it will be handy for people to use it, and they were most certainly not wrong. After the appearance on the market the people went crazy and the demand is huge from day one. There is only thing in particular that usually confuses people when they decide to buy it. They search the internet and they see that there are cheaper versions available on other sites like Amazon and eBay and they click on them. This is the moment where the great mistake happens. And as I mentioned before if you are in need of a powerful high-performance flashlight leave those versions on other sites alone. The original version of G700 can be bought by going to theg700flashlight.com. The main difference between those versions and the G700 is in the new concept. The manufacturers used a whole new revolutionary technology for the portable electric light. They replaced the old LED diodes with LED chips, which means that the power of the flashlight reaches an incredible number of 700 lumens. This feature makes it the 7 times more powerful than the other regular flashlights. One main thing you should know before buying your own flashlight is that besides the power of lumen, the quality of lens and the glass matter as well. The G700 has it all, everything you have imagined in a flashlight - the better the quality of those three features the better the flashlight. This amazing flashlight has a long-lasting lamp life. It has an amazing 1200 hours of light and that is due to the fact that it has a high end telescopic lamp glass. This feature makes it the most durable flashlight in the world. The great thing about this is to use it in situations of power loss which are very frequent in America, or even better – you can use it in case if your car lights stop working in the middle of your road trip. You are now probably wondering how one flashlight has the ability to replace the power of the car lights. Well, the power of the G700 has a battery of 4 watts and it can be used for 72 hours without ever turning off. It is simply amazing, and that is not all. The flashlight has the ability of producing a light to surprising 3,000 feet which gives you enough clarity to see what's in front of you. Once the battery of the flashlight is off the only thing to do is to power it. The battery can be powered in two ways. The first is to plug it on a charger and wait less than an hour to be fully charged and ready to use. The other option is to use the car adapter which comes with the packaging and is specifically made for trips. Having this flashlight in your hands means having your life saved. It has a different focus modes and one of those 5 is SOS. Whenever you are in some kind of trouble you just need to switch it to SOS mode and give a signal or just blink several times. This feature is made so that the police officers or those in the military service to recognize the signal. Thus they can come to your rescue if you are not able to rescue yourself. The other four focus modes are the following: One is for continuous light and the other one is for producing a strobe light. The other two left are for medium and full power. The best thing about these focus modes is that no matter which mode you are using, the battery is always on save mode. Having the G700 with you is like having a companion for life. Whether you have a hobby like fishing or you are a fireman by profession, this one is a must for you. It is also great for adventurers and those of free spirit because it has a waterproof body and a design made from aircraft aluminum. The waterproof body makes it excellent to use in the rain as well as underwater. It can go 100 meters under the water which allows to perfectly explore the meaning of the world down under. On the other side, the material used for the flashlight is indestructible it has only been used for aircraft gadgets for the US military and NASA as well. Recently, an allegedly licensed copy of the G700 Flashlight appeared on the market as well. It is the Alumitact X700 Tactical Flashlight. It seems to have the same features, same price and capabilities, and is becoming equally popular in the past 3 months as the G700 itself. Read about it on the above link, a review done by flashlight experts from the flashlight encyclopedia. Hope my military flashlight overview was helpful to you and will help you make the right choice if you are interested in purchasing such every-day gadget.

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  The Search For The Best Cooking App

  Well, i'm a tech geek and i love cooking so this was the natural thing to do - find the best recipe apps out there. Yes, there are great recipe websites but I'm used to taking my smartphone anywhere so the next thing i know is scrolling through websites in my kitchen looking for a recipe. So that is how I started downloading cooking apps, and there are some great on the Appstore and PlayStore. Some of these apps I've been using for long time, but before I started to write this article, I've searched for recipe apps, and some of them made it on this list. Just so you know, there are tons and tons of cooking and recipe apps, so some may not be included. MyGreatRecipes This is the app where it all started so I'm gonna put it on my high first place. Well MyGreatRecipes iwas the reason for me to start cooking. When I was young my grandma used to collect some kind of recipe cards, every month she would get some in the mail and make us the best meals (like any grandma would). So couple of years ago, I found the cards she used to collect and they were MyGreatRecipes cards. I did a quick Google search and I stumbled upon the app. What they did was digitalising the old recipe cards into a smartphone app. That's why I started using the app in the first place, hoping to find recipes that my grandma prepared. Ok, enough history, let's talk about the app. Firstly I like the simple design of the app (it helps in the kitchen) and my favorite feature are the collections. I have my favorite recipes all in one place so it's easy to organize. Next thing I'd like to mention is the customized profile (like on Facebook), it gives it a nice personal touch. The app is available for free on IOS and Android so that's great too. I like this app because it's a little bit different from the others, the recipes are old fashioned and they are great! Yummly I really love using the Yummly app! It's a quite modern app and has a huge database of recipes. Yummly is so different from MyGreatRecipes, the former is quite modern with modern recipes while the later keeps the classic feeling. The app is great, but can be a little bit confusing at times. Still, that's not a deal breaker for me, I like it! The recipes are great, with great photography and simple "how to's". I like it for many different things, and I've been using it for quite some time now. Great thing are the nutrition facts on most of the recipes and also you can customize your feed according to your diet. It's available for IOS and Android an it's free! AllRecipes Well, when it comes to recipes, we all go to Allrecipes. They have such a huge database of recipes so it's really hard to find your favorite. I must say that the website is better than their "dinner spinner" app. I can't really see the point of the Dinner Spinner. You can select breakfast, lunch or dinner, add the ingredient you'd like to use and the app will randomize the recipes and give you some advise. The recipes are great, but the app is slow at times (maybe because of the huge database of recipes) and it really gets me mad, especially in the middle of cooking when you need to kill the app and reopen, find your recipe and start again. Apart from that, the recipes have clear instructions, some of them have video instruction as well, which is quite handy. The app is free (with ads) and is available for IOS and Android. BigOven I've found BigOven very recently. It's a new app for me and from the screenshots it looked very good. They say that they have more than 350,000 recipes, which is great. The app is very similar to Instagram, so it's very familiar to use. They have a place to save all of your favorite recipes, but it's not organized well enough for me. I can see the point of using the Instagram layout for discovering recipes but I can't say that they nailed it. It's a great app, don't get me wrong, but a little something is missing. The instructions on the recipes are good, but not but not at the same level as those of AllRecipes, for example. You can save recipes and plan your menu for the whole week which is a neat feature. The app is free with a lot of annoying ads, so you'll need to purchase the Pro-membership to really enjoy it. Green Kitchen This is maybe the best looking app on this list. Well I should say apps because this is a bundle from Green Kitchen that has two apps: Green Kitchen and Healthy Desserts by Green Kitchen. Their apps are so beautiful and modern, I really enjoy using them. For a tech geek like myself Green Kitchen is heaven. The only drawback for someone can be that their apps have just healthy (vegetarian) recipes, but that's not the case for me, I love to eat healthy from time to time. The user experience is on a very high level. They don't have many recipes to choose from, but the photography is great. It's not the most user friendly app too. It's a bit confusing and it needs some getting used to, but i've included Great Kitchen into this list mainly because of the beautiful design and modern feel (and also in order to have something healthy to eat). This recipe app is available only for IOS, so Android users, I'm sorry. This is my first part of the search for the best recipe apps. I will continue the search and let you guys know if I find something worth mentioning.

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