Computer News and Updates

The use of paper as the primary instrument for dissemination of information has kept rising the world over.

Ever since Barack Hussein Obama has occupied the White House, the awareness about environmental problems has grown more than ever before. The Kyoto Protocol, which has not yet been endorsed by the world’s greatest power, is still expected to receive support from the US during the upcoming year, and many other similar agreements are making companies add assignments for environmental policies to their budgets.

The technological sector is one of the principle players in this arena and has a lot to say in this matter, as it provides solutions to all kinds of organizations in their effort to reduce CO2 emissions. It also helps to end the excessive use of paper and enables less power consumtion in Data Centers.

Although this last point might seem insignificant, the fact that paper is still being used as the foremost means of information dissemination is causing a lot of damage to the environment and there seems to be no sign of reduction in paper usage or any print control. Excessive deforestation gives rise to limited biodiversity due to the destruction of habitats of various species of plants and animals. The use of synthetic products has a damaging effect on our health and environment too.

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In the list of priorities for most big organizations that operate on the national or international level, Green technologies, which are otherwise referred to as Green IT, has taken the primary place. Although many technological advances have taken place from time to time, a number of challenges are yet to be overcome. The complexity of the newly-started technological projects and the cost that is associated with these highly complex projects, which only very big companies can handle, are the two primary reasons for this phenomenon.

There are however, much simpler and more economical solutions that we can use to conserve our environment, which would also

Print control system installation is one of the most important tasks for the year ahead. Employees can be given certain rights for special printing in color, A3 and so on, and the rights can differ on employee and department level.

Since there are tools that allow control over the processing of electronic documents, today it is much easier to implement a Green IT system, and it also saves a lot of printing cost and the need for storing paper and other stationery. Through the implementation of these measures, we can provide superior service to our clients electronically and also present a professional corporate image to them. The documents would also be stored systematically, which would facilitate their easy retrieval at a future date.

There are multifunctional machines available that can print, scan, photocopy and send / receive all kinds of documents electronically. by installing such office automation solutions in their offices and use the control of ‘print on demand’ features effectively.

A wide variety of solutions are available in today’s technology that cater to the needs small to medium businesses as well as big corporations. Since the return on investment is immediate, it is a very rewarding initiative to implement in any kind of business. The implementation of Green IT brings with it not just operational benefits. The advantage of embracing a green policy also has fiscal incentives.

A latest system has been unravelled: the water to gas technology. This technology is said to have existed 90 years ago but turned out to be a “forgotten patent”. With this system, water (ordinary tap water or distilled water) along with a catalyst (which is just ordinary baking soda) is used as supplement for gasoline in cars. This system is said to be compatible with any type of vehicle. A lot of people are asking questions about this conversion system. There are numbers of people using this technology and they are professing their conviction that this water to gas system is improving their lives.

So what are we getting out of this system? How do we benefit from it? People using this system claimed that their mileage improved. Studies showed that car mileage can increase from 40 to 60%. Gasoline prices are around to per gallon, it would provide great economic relief if there are ways to save the number of trips that we make to the gasoline station. With the water to gas technology, one quart of water can produce up to 1800 gallons of HHO gas. This HHO gas is used to supplement gasoline, this can last for months.

So how much money is it? Let’s say that we have a car that gets 20 miles per gallon and we run 1500 miles each month. Then we’re consuming 75 gallons of gasoline every month. So if a gallon of gasoline is , then we’re paying 00 every year just for gasoline. Since improvement in car mileage differ base on certain conditions and type of car, let’s just say that we’re experiencing 35% improvement on mileage, that would be 60 saving on fuel every year.

Also American IRS could not turn a blind eye to alternative fuel anymore. Since 2005, IRS started to give rewards for “green” vehicles, green fuels and green upgrades. To add, the raw materials needed to use this technology is very accessible and affordable. Some water conversion kits would just require ordinary tap water or sophisticated ones will use distilled water. At it is just about 3 cups for 3-6 weeks. Kitchen baking soda is the catalyst used for this system, still very accessible and affordable.

Saving the hard-earned money is not the only benefit that people using water to gas system are getting. With this system, there is said to be noticeable increase in engine power. Since the new fuel mixture burns cleaner, it burns more completely and efficiently. It cleans up carbon deposits in the engine and prevents future carbon build up. This provides longer engine life. People using this system also applaud the easy assembly of their conversion kits.

Some of the conversion kits that water to gas main players are selling, not only includes guide for easy installation. They would also include books that better explains the system and the benefits for using this. For people who are interested in the technology and science behind this system, this is a great buy.

This kind of system is also to be environmental friendly. Since it is only water and oxygen, it is clean burning, thus it produces cleaner emissions. This helps us prevent global warming.

There are numerous benefits one can get from this system. Of course, the amount of money we saved from this system varies. It varies depending on various conditions we and our car are exposed to. But the most important thing is we were able to conserve our finance and even help in conserving our environment.

Article by Aliceshown

Since technology has finally caught up to the business world’s need for quick and effective web videos, special affects like Green Screen are now available to just about everybody who is doing business videos. Here’s how to shoot great footage for your green screen affect.

WHAT IS GREEN SCREEN AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

Green Screen (also called Blue Screen and Chroma Key) got its start in the 1930s when a movie maker at RKO Studios named Linwood Dunn wanted to create exotic imagery never before seen in movies in The Thief of Bagdad (RKO 1940). TV weather men started interacting with their weather maps in the 1970s using early digital technology of the chroma key format. Digital chroma keying is what makes green screen technology possible today.

Where movie makers had to arrive at this affect through painstaking methods involving multiple shoots of the same scene and extracting imagery through subtractive and additive lens filtering and frame by frame moving mask editing, today’s videographers can simply shoot their talent in front of a solid colored screen in order to replace that color with preselected footage. Weather meteorologists on The Weather Channel as well as network and local TV stations use the same technology to interact with a weather map. (It is noted that some meteorologists also use a new giant plasma or LCD TV screen to arrive at the same affect. This giant screen is real and the meteorologists are actually standing in front of it.)

The Chroma Key Affect is a product of three elements; Lighting, Stage Blocking and Post Production Software. To make it work, computerized digital editing software senses the solid color and replaces it with selected footage. The talent is located in front of the replaced footage as part of the shot. Since the affect is a combination of good lighting and computer processing, green is the most common color used for most applications because of its furthest tonal proximity from flesh tone. Blue is also used for some applications for the same tonal reasons. Green works best under most conditions for color purposes. Yes, green and blue clothes will also key out in front of these screens so apparel planning is important. Basically, you are trying to create an environment in front of the camera where the person is generally any color but green, and the screen is only green. Therefore, the software will see two conditions;green and not green.

IT’S ALL ABOUT LIGHTING

In order to allow the video camera and therefore the computer to “see” both the talent in front of the screen and the screen clearly, adequate lighting is necessary of both. It is best to light the screen first from left and right using very dispersed, unfocussed lights, then light the subject, and then go back and adjust the screen lights again as needed. But, the true test is with the software which is to be used for the affect. Having a test run or live run of the affect is important before committing assets that may not be available at a later date. Rolling footage is better than live camera signal for the test as it best represents the elements with which the software will be working.

The goal in lighting the screen is to wash it in warm, even lighting. More light is not necessarily always better. A lot of the success of the process depends on the professional level of both the camera and the technicians in post production. The trick is to find that perfect lighting contrast difference between the talent and the screen which the software finds most accommodating. All software sets and cameras are different. But this is really a lot simpler than it sounds when described technically in an article such as this because the computer does all the heavy lifting. But, if you have lit your subjects well (the screen and the talent), you’ll have no problem.

THE SET

It is important that shadows from the talent do not wash across the screen. Therefore, place the talent far enough in front of the screen that the lighting from the talent does not effect the screen. The talent needs to keep all body parts in front of the screen from the camera’s point of view. Any arm and hand flinging further than the boundaries of the screen will end up looking like the talent’s arm or hand suddenly was surgically cut off and then replaced again.

To create the set for a green screen, one simple way, weather permitting is to shoot outdoors in front of a green wall in full sunlight. (This works great. I did it myself for a 1986 production for the Chicago Arch Diocese titled Saints Are People Too 1986 Video Images, Inc. We set up a blue screen suspended on all sides by a portable frame in front of which children ran and jumped. Separate computer processed technology was used to reveal rainbows trailing each child in a psychedelic music video scene.)

There are portable, good-to-go screen sets that can be found online like ChromaPop. Or, do-it-yourselfers can simply suspend a thick green cloth and light it really well. Once again, make sure to run a test strip of footage through your computer software to make sure the screen is adequately lit.

Common application of the Green Screen in business and commerce videos is the talking head. It is much more interesting to present important information in front of a digitally produced background than a curtain and a potted plant. Check out this well crafted example at EZWebPlayer.com. The short video shows the president of the company with various animations going on as his background.

WHAT NOT TO WEAR

If you are shooting in front of a green screen, avoid wearing green clothes. Even a person’s green eyes can be accidently keyed out, especially on close ups and medium close ups. If this is a problem, adjust lighting to make the green screen as bright as possible, or switch to a blue screen. If the screen is a bright green and the suite is a very dark but well lit green, the process might work. Test, test, test.

DID I MENTION RUNNING A TEST?Since lighting is everything, and lighting is not necessarily a straight forward process to the un-initiated, testing becomes all important. Our company shoots green screens regularly (more than once a year) in our own studio and we still run tests through the software before shooting the script. Testing will show inadequate lighting areas on both the screen and the talent in front of the screen.

After capturing your chromakey footage, you simply treat it like any other footage to import into your editing suite. In the category of green screen, you are now well on your way to getting video on your web site.

Stu Marks is a veteran video producer specializing in business and commerce videos for the web. His experience dates back to the early days of video in its two-inch and one-inch formats of the 1970s as he was shooting local commercials and political forum videos, and carries him all the way through a bachelor’s degree from The Illinois Institute of Art at Schaumburg / Chicago Art Institute in MultiMedia and Web Design in 2004. Today, Stu is the Art Director at IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com in Chicago.

LinksEZWebPlayer. The no-tech solution to placing videos on your web site.http://www.ezwebplayer.com

ChromaPop. Portable Green & Blue Screenhttp://www.digitaljuice.com/djtv/detail.asp?sid=435&sortby=&page=1&rpid=0&rvid=0&swid=0&searchid=0&gclid=CJ-1uYW3qKUCFQNrKgodTEfiGw

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