Are you sure that you X7 is rooted ?
Root checker says yes. I use Genius to root. Do you have alternative?
I had a Chinese version of CWM that could not detect my storage card. Yours does so thanks heaps.
My also can not, it happens that the hopiconjo. Any news let me know, sorry for the English I am Brazilian and I used the google translator.
I installed this recovery on my iOcean X7 HD, everything is working fine. But I have one question: why can't I power up my phone directly into recovery mode – (volume up + power button) ? When I do this thing the phone just powers up in normal mode. The only way I could start in recovery mode was by using Mobileuncle. Is this normal?
I think it's a new wave bug.You can only enter into recovery if the phone is charging or plugged to pc.
I found this in Jiayu F1 too.


text:
› Aktualności › KATARZYNA LEWIŃSKA WINS EUROPEAN FILM AWARD
KATARZYNA LEWIŃSKA WINS EUROPEAN FILM AWARD
The first winners of the 2017 European Film Awards were announced on November 14, 2017. The winner of the award for European Costume Designer is Katarzyna Lewińska for her work on Pokot (Spoor), a film co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.
2017 European Costume Designer Award for Katarzyna Lewińska
Pokot (Spoor). Photo by Robert Pałka/Studio Filmowe Tor
The European Film Academy has announced the first winners of this year's European Film Awards. The seven-member jury selected winners in the following categories: cinematography, editing, production design, costume design, hair & make-up, music, and sound.
The Award for European Costume Designer went to Katarzyna Lewińska for her work on Pokot (Spoor), a film by Agnieszka Holland. "The simplicity and clarity of the costumes intensify the images and underline the substantial message of the film. The clash between the human element and the natural environment is reflected in the texture, the colours and the design of the costumes, at the same time contributing to the personality of the characters and giving them life. They form an integral part of the storytelling, along with all the other visual elements, and together they create a powerful viewing experience" reads the Jury statement.
The complete list of winners is available on the EFA website:
www.europeanfilmawards.eu/en_EN/jury-unveils-first-seven-efa-winners-2017.
Polish Films in the Running for 2017 European Film Awards
Two more films co-financed by the Polish Film Institute are in the running for this year's European Film Awards. Komunia (Communion) by Anna Zamecka has been nominated for the 2017 EFA in the European Documentary category, while Twój Vincent (Loving Vincent) by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman was nominated for the 2017 EFA in the European Animated Feature Film category.
The 2017 European Film Awards ceremony will be held on December 9 in Berlin.
Katarzyna Lewińska
Katarzyna Lewińska is a costume designer working in film and theatre. Winner of the Eagle Polish Film Awards and Best Costume Design Awards at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia for her work on Boisko bezdomnych (The Offsiders; 2009) and W ciemności (In Darkness; 2012). Her film credits as costume designer include: Amok by Katarzyna Adamik; Niewinne (The Innocents) by Anne Fontaine; Powidoki (Afterimage) by Andrzej Wajda; Body/Ciało (Body), W imię… (In the Name Of…), Sponsoring (Elles), and 33 sceny z życia (33 Scenes from Life) by Małgorzata Szumowska; Anatomia zła (Anatomy of Evil) and Bilet na Księżyc (One Way Ticket to the Moon) by Jacek Bromski; Córki Dancingu (The Lure) by Agnieszka Smoczyńska; Disco Polo by Maciej Bochniak; Pod Mocnym Aniołem (The Mighty Angel), Drogówka (Traffic Department), and Dom zły (Dark House) by Wojciech Smarzowski; Nieulotne (Lasting) by Jacek Borcuch, and Lęk wysokości (Fear of Falling) by Bartosz Konopka.
The main protagonist of Agnieszka Holland's latest film is retired engineer Janina Duszejko, living in the Polish Sudeten mountains. Astrologist and vegetarian.
One snowy winter night, she stumbles upon the dead body of her neighbour. The man, a poacher, had died a mysterious death. The only visible tracks around his house are roe deer hooves. Seeing the ineptitude of the police, Duszejko begins an unconventional investigation of her own.
The script was written by Agnieszka Holland and Olga Tokarczuk, based on Olga Tokarczuk's best-selling novel "Drive Your Plough over the Bones of the Dead", published in 2009. Filmed primarily in Międzygórze, Bystrzyca, Nowa Ruda and Berlin, the film was lensed by Jolanta Dylewska and scored by Antoni Komasa-Łazarkiewicz.
Pokot (Spoor) features performances by Agnieszka Mandat, Wiktor Zborowski, Jakub Gierszał, Borys Szyc, Andrzej Grabowski, Tomasz Kot, Katarzyna Herman, Patricia Volny, Miroslav Krobot, Marcin Bosak, and Andrzej Konopka.
Pokot (Spoor) was made as a co-production between Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Sweden. The film was produced by Studio Filmowe TOR, and supported by the European Union's MEDIA Programme and the script was developed with support from the Polish-German Co-Development Fund. The film's other producers include Heimatfilm (Germany), Nutprodukce (Czech Republic), Nutprodukcia (Slovakia), and Chimney (Sweden). Co-producers on the Polish side include Odra-Film, the National Audiovisual Institute, HBO, and Agora. The film was co-financed by the Polish Film Institute and received financing from Eurimages.
Pokot (Spoor) had its world premiere at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival, screening in Main Competition and winning the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize for opening new perspectives in film art.
Pokot (Spoor) is this year's Polish candidate for the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Translated by Karolina Kołtun

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Image Upload Error: TypeError [ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE]: The "path" argument must be of type string. Received type undefined I'm trying to upload images to firebase using postman. With firebase serve running, I send a post request to my route along with Authorization header and the image file but get the following error in the console:

TypeError [ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE]: The "path" argument must be of type string. Received type undefined

exports.uploadImage = (req, res) => {
  const BusBoy = require('busboy')
  const path = require('path')
  const os = require('os')
  const fs = require('fs')

  const busboy = new BusBoy({
    headers: req.headers
  })

  let imageFileName
  let imageToBeUploaded = {}

  busboy.on('file', (fieldname, file, filename, encoding, mimetype) => {

    console.log(fieldname, filename, encoding, mimetype)

    if (mimetype !== 'image/jpeg' && mimetype !== 'image/png') {
      return res.status(400).json({
        error: '❌ Wrong file type submitted'
      })
    }

    const imageExtension = filename.split('.')[filename.split('.').length - 1]

    imageFileName = `${Math.round(
      Math.random() * 1000000000000
    )}.${imageExtension}`

    const filepath = path.join(os.tmpdir(), imageFileName)

    imageToBeUploaded = {
      filepath,
      mimetype
    }

    file.pipe(fs.createWriteStream(filepath))

  })

  busboy.on('finish', () => {
    admin
      .storage()
      .bucket(config.storageBucket)
      .upload(imageToBeUploaded.filpath, {
        resumable: false,
        metadata: {
          metadata: {
            contentType: imageToBeUploaded.mimetype,
          },
        },
      })
      .then(() => {
        const imageUrl = `https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/${config.storageBucket}/o/${imageFileName}?alt=media`
        return db.doc(`/users/${req.user.handle}`).update({
          imageUrl
        })
      })
      .then(() => {
        return res.json({
          message: '✅ Image uploaded successfully'
        })
      })
      .catch((err) => {
        console.error(err)
        return res.status(500).json({
          error: err.code
        })
      })
  })
  busboy.end(req.rawBody)
}

Full error message:
TypeError [ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE]: The "path" argument must be of type string. Received type undefined
     at validateString (internal/validators.js:112:11)
     at Object.basename (path.js:1157:5)
     at Bucket.upload (/Users/apple/Code/litter/litter-functions/functions/node_modules/@google-cloud/storage/build/src/bucket.js:2493:38)
     at /Users/apple/Code/litter/litter-functions/functions/node_modules/@google-cloud/promisify/build/src/index.js:69:28
     at new Promise (<anonymous>)
     at Bucket.wrapper (/Users/apple/Code/litter/litter-functions/functions/node_modules/@google-cloud/promisify/build/src/index.js:54:16)
     at Busboy.<anonymous> (/Users/apple/Code/litter/litter-functions/functions/handlers/users.js:133:8)
     at Busboy.emit (events.js:210:5)
     at Busboy.emit (/Users/apple/Code/litter/litter-functions/functions/node_modules/busboy/lib/main.js:37:33)
     at /Users/apple/Code/litter/litter-functions/functions/node_modules/busboy/lib/types/multipart.js:52:13 {    code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE'  }

A: The problem is that you typed imageToBeUploaded.filpath in the argument to upload(), but you meant to type imageToBeUploaded.filepath.  There is a missing 'e', which makes the whole expression undefined.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Move ballet wrap skirt offers a longer, calf length altenative to the traditional ballet skirt. Feminine and flowing, it has a long wrap tie and button fastening for a secure fit. Constructed from the classic georgette chiffon, making it perfect for ballet or contemporary dance.


text:
Ashanti tests positive for coronavirus ahead of singing contest
Singer Ashanti has tested positive for Covid-19, which has led to the postponement of a competition between the American and Keyshia Cole. Ashanti, 40, said in a statement on Instagram that she had tested positive to the illness but was "ok and not in any pain". She said she was trying to "figure it all out" in order to take part in the singing competition, which was to be hosted by streaming series Verzuz TV, with Cole singing from her own home. But soon afterwards, Verzuz posted its own statement saying the event would be postponed as "we cannot put anyone at risk in the process". "Get well soon, Ashanti," the statement on Instagram added. A future date for the competition has not been given. Ashanti was discovered as a teenager and was the first female artist to occupy the top two positions on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously when Foolish and What's Luv? were at numbers one and two, respectively, in 2002. She had her biggest hit in the UK in 2004 with the single Only U, which made it to number two. Verzuz was created during the pandemic by producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. It has previously featured duels between Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, Ludacris and Nelly, as well as Brandy and Monica. Ashanti's announcement came just hours after the death of country music star Charley Pride, 86, from coronavirus complications.
Rs 213 million approved for DLTL payments: Razak Dawood
Usman Buzdar announces Rs 2 billion development package for Harappa
Afridi urges Pak, Turk media to highlight IIOJK issue before world
NAB chief distributes compensation cheques among victims of two housing scams
Information warfare with innovation
Cellular mobile operators start mobile data services in S Waziristan
CDNS digitises all saving centers under ombudsman's instructions
APAG Group (makers of Soya Supreme) join hands with Elahi Group of companies
Mere registration of a company doesn't confirm the right to collect investments: SECP
Punjab revenue collection goes 9pc up with 45pc hike in GST on services: Hashim
Biden's global leadership ambitions complicated by US Capitol riot


text:
Popularity (feminine) in Catalonia, Spain
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 530 424 318 212 106 2003 2018
By rank By times used
Last ranked #88 in 1961 Canada (BC)
Last ranked #66 in 2018 Catalonia, Spain
Last ranked #417 in 1995 (f) #481 in 1956 (m) France
Last ranked #46 in 2018 Galicia, Spain
Last ranked #48 in 2018 Italy
Last ranked #456 in 2010 Netherlands
Last ranked #88 in 1985 Norway
Last ranked #32 in 2018 Spain
Last ranked #637 in 2018 (f) #854 in 1912 (m) United States
Irene (feminine)
Year Rank Times Used
2018 #66 87
2017 #50 109


text:
Deze lijst van voetbalinterlands is een overzicht van alle officiële voetbalwedstrijden tussen de nationale teams van Griekenland en Libië. De landen speelden tot op heden een keer tegen elkaar. Dat was een vriendschappelijke wedstrijd op 15 februari 1967 in Athene.

Wedstrijden

Samenvatting

Libië
Griekenland

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Anzoategui You're Welcome! DateWhoYouWant Has Single Latino Men For You.
The love of your life could be just around the corner, quite literally in Anzoategui. Find Latino men when you join DateWhoYouWant today! Our aim is to create the ideal opportunity for singles from different background to interact and bond with each other, so that they can find love. So, if you're single and want to meet likeminded people, join DateWhoYouWant!
Wherever you call home throughout Anzoategui, you'll be able to find single Latino men when you join DateWhoYouWant. With a DateWhoYouWant account, you can speed up your search for true love with our easy to use interface, just like thousands of members before you.


Brave Allstars, Norwich's only dedicated Cheerleading, Tumbling and Dance facility.
Our mission at Brave Allstars is to teach each and every athlete the value of commitment, integrity, teamwork, leadership and responsibility, all while promoting self-confidence, a positive attitude and a love for the sport along the way.
Our staff strive to help athletes achieve their goals in a family friendly safe and fun environment. With Brave Allstars, you will gain life lessons that you'll take with you far beyond your years of Cheerleading or Dance. Becoming a part of Brave will go above and beyond what you would typically expect from joining a sports club; it's more than a new skill or a trophy. It's building friendships that will last a lifetime, learning from coaches that will put their full support and belief in you and most importantly, will never give up on you and teach you to never give up on yourself.


text:
5 Returns Predictions for Peak Season 2021
Consumer behaviour, E-commerce, Insights, Peak season
With e-commerce still dominating the retail sphere throughout the pandemic, peak season 2021 is sure to be as busy a time as ever for brands selling online. The prominence of e-commerce channels is growing every day and they're set to account for over 20% of global retail sales by 2023. With this growth trajectory in mind, the challenge of how to handle the returns associated with these sales only heightens. Especially during peak season, which always sees both order and returns volumes skyrocket. Considering this, how will peak season 2021 play out, and how can your brand best handle consumer returns during this time? Read on to learn our key insights…
#1 Multiple returns channels will need to co-exist to optimally manage peak volumes.
There are many ways for consumers to return and their preferences vary largely per geography and demographic. In our global study into how customers have chosen to return during the Covid-19 pandemic, and how they plan to afterward, this was revealed. For example, 39% of the consumers we surveyed globally indicated that they'd prefer to drop-off returns to a local postal point. Whereas 14% indicated that brick-and-mortar retail stores were their preferred first-mile channel.
With variety and convenience of primary importance, offering multiple and diverse returns streams for your customers is essential. Especially during busy periods such as peak season. Yet this diversity may add complexity to the returns process, as each channel can require a different approach, collaborations, or products to ensure its success. If an omnichannel reverse logistics flow is not optimized, consumers may receive an inconsistent returns experience.
That's why it's essential for brands to be able to offer customers, no matter where they're located, an array of returns options. Whether this be ways to return, to a selection of postal carriers to choose from. To co-ordinate this successfully, e-commerce sellers need to invest in their returns process and first-mile operations. In doing so, both brands and customers will benefit from an increased consumer experience and reduced lead times.
#2 Returns data will help drive successful peak operations.
With every return generating thousands of data events, which do you act on? Turning these insights into actions such as creating visibility in a returns network, updating consumers on the status of their return, and triggering activities such as refunds and exchanges, will help brands navigate peak season more optimally.
For example, when customers initiate a return online, they can indicate why they're returning a product. Trends can be drawn from the answers and can be used to lower the overall returns volume in the future. Let's say many consumers are returning the same item due to inconsistent quality, then brands can look at the production of these and decide if they should be changed to lower return rates. In fact, 32% of customers who provided a return reason said they did not want to keep their order due to the product not meeting expectations. For reasons such as incorrect sizing, a faulty item or product received not as described online.
Shipping track and trace will also provide data that can help returns run more smoothly. If customers are provided with clear and concise updates about the status of their return, they'll be less likely to reach out to your customer service team. This is especially helpful during peak season where time and resources are often stretched to cope with heightened order and returns volumes , as well as customer demands.
#3 Convenience and sustainability will be equally important to many consumers.
Over the years online shopping has grown so much in popularity largely due to the conveniences it offers. Whether this be free transport costs, pay later options, or next day delivery, the modern consumer highly values these features and will more likely return to shop again with a brand that offers them. In relation to returns, one study revealed that as high as 80%+ of respondents would become repeat spenders with a brand if free returns were offered, showing the importance of cost convenience for consumers.
However, globally we're all becoming aware of, and engaged with, the growing need for greener and more environmentally friendly options in our every lives. But when it comes to e-commerce buying and selling actions, convenience and sustainability don't often go hand in hand. For example, quick transport, cross-border shipping and product waste are all ways in that ecommerce operations can be damaging to the environment. It's indeed possible to secure greener e-commerce streams, but it takes a little extra attention and investment.
As much as convenience is at the tops of the mind of consumers, sustainability is fast rising as another crucial demand. In a recent global market study, we uncovered that around 75% of the online shoppers we questioned, both in Europe and North America, were willing to give up convenient features, such as a fast refund, if their return was processed more sustainably.
The need for a more eco-friendly returns flow is only more important during busy periods such as the holiday peak, when more parcels are being transported for delivery and returns, than any other time of the year.
#4 Local returns options will facilitate faster lead-times.
One way that both convenience and greener options may be satisfied this peak season is through a localized returns network. Keeping unwanted items such as fashion or consumer electronics within their country or region of sale. By doing so cross-border transport can be avoided, along with the CO2 emissions associated with this transport, as well as additional costs for customs checks and processing.
The holidays bring with them the busiest e-commerce period of the year with many seasonal and in-demand items being sold. As such, it's vital that brands have a returns setup that allows for the quick redistribution and resale of these items so that they do not become 'out of season' and risk becoming wasteful.
By having a more regional returns solution, supported by 'local heroes,' such as national postal carriers, transport and warehouse facilities, returns can be sent back locally and resold to new customers in the same market at quick speeds. Not only is long-haul transport largely avoided, but lead-times are reduced because of this too. Having access to a global network of local solutions for returns is essential for a seamless reverse logistics operation this peak.
#5 Peak season will begin earlier for many brands and retailers
Pair ordinary holiday busyness with a surge in popularity for e-commerce channels, and it's almost certain that peak season 2021 will be one of the most demanding yet. Last year, we witnessed the first 'pandemic peak' which saw many postal carriers and other e-commerce channels facing overwhelming demands which lead to delays for customers.
With 2020 as an example, it's likely customers will begin their holiday shopping earlier to avoid disappointment. As such, it's wise for brands to do the same, and prepare their peak operations in advance to secure a consistent and pleasing experience also during the most hectic time in the e-commerce calendar.
Peak-proof returns solutions with Cycleon…
Outperforming competitors and impressing your consumer base during peak season is a great way to improve customer lifetime value and encourage shoppers to become repeat spenders. By offering your customers an optimized returns flow, along with greener options, during the busiest time of year you'll build trust and reputation in the market.
At Cycleon, we offer an array of products that combine IT and logistics to secure robust returns flows for our clients, through peak and throughout the rest of the year, worldwide. Looking for some expertise and insights ahead of peak? Get in touch!


Installing Arch Linux with systemd-boot requires several details to be considered during the installation process. This post gives an overview of necessary steps.
With the recent adoption of GDPR, pseudonymization is now a relevant method of protecting personal data. An example of how to pseudonymize data in R is given.
Despite that regression models sometimes include parameters that are theoretically invalid, they are still used to explain phenomena. Why? This will be explained by fitting different models on data with theoretical limitations.
Visualizing model fit helps better understand how well model fits data but also illustrates the relationship between variables. An example is given on how to do this in R.
A walkthrough on how to carry out PSM analysis in R using base R functions.
Milk prices in EU plunged after expiration of milk quotas in 2015. Some trends of milk prices are explored and the effects of the end of quotas are presented.
While 'merge' function is the most straightforward solution to joining datasets by a common variable in R, sometimes 'match' is more intuitive.
Popular keyboard layouts are evaluated in the context of typing in English. Various aspects of typing are considered and differences are calculated and plotted.


text:
Syria's Political Elite Meet to Talk Reform
By Ivan Watson
Published June 6, 2005 at 12:00 AM EDT
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
Syria's ruling Baath Party opened a four-day congress today in Damascus. It's the first such meeting in five years, and it comes at a time when many Syrians are calling for economic and political reforms and when Damascus is under intense pressure from Washington. In his opening statement, Syria's president stressed the need to make changes on the domestic front. NPR's Ivan Watson reports from Damascus.
IVAN WATSON reporting:
Months ago, President Bashar Al-Assad promised that this week's Congress would mark a great leap forward for Syria, but today looked more like a tentative step. No major initiatives were announced at the inaugural session. Assad opened the congress with a short speech to the audience of more than 1,100 Baath Party delegates.
President BASHAR AL-ASSAD (Syria): (Foreign language spoken)
WATSON: He said the Baath Party had to adapt to face new challenges that threaten Syria and the Arab world. The party's first priority, he said, was the Syrian economy. Assad acknowledged that some reform efforts had been hampered by inept government bureaucrats and rampant corruption.
(Soundbite of applause)
WATSON: And then, one by one, aging, gray-haired delegates stepped up to the podium and repeated much of the same rhetoric that Syrians have grown accustomed to hearing during the Baath Party's 43 years in power.
Unidentified Speaker #1: (Foreign language spoken)
WATSON: Delegates automatically applauded at every mention of the president's name. Assad, a 39-year-old eye doctor who inherited the presidency from his father, stood out in the crowd as one of the youngest men in the Assembly room.
WATSON: Across town at a tea shop in central Damascus, about a dozen Syrians smoked water pipes as they watched the speeches on TV. A man named Awaz Gazall(ph) said he hoped his leaders would now focus on the country's domestic needs.
Mr. AWAZ GAZALL: Now it's high time to now look forward to the issue of investment, for example, to make the country wide open for newcomers worldwide.
WATSON: Another man declined to comment, muttering that the tea shop was swarming with undercover Syrian intelligence agents. In private conversations across Damascus, though, many Syrians repeat the same complaints. They say a bloated government bureaucracy is extorting money from the population. Many describe the political families of the ruling elite as a powerful mafia that controls the economy. And people like this businessman named George Adsam(ph) said they desperately hoped their young president would follow through on his promise to change the system.
Mr. GEORGE ADSAM: I hope so. I hope so. And everybody is expecting and waiting this. And they are--everybody happy ...(unintelligible).
WATSON: As the congress began, the Syrian regime is facing intense American diplomatic pressure and economic sanctions. Washington accuses Damascus of supporting insurgents in neighboring Iraq and militants in Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories. Syrian political analyst Sami Moubayed says today's congress did not address the American criticisms.
Mr. SAMI MOUBAYED (Political Analyst): There's also a message, a domestic message and a message to the international community, that the Baath are here and they're here to stay.
WATSON: Moubayed predicts many of the Baath Party's Old Guard will soon be replaced by younger party members. That process appears to have begun already with the announcement late today that longtime Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam is stepping down. But a few new faces will be unlikely to satisfy many Syrians. As one skeptic here put it, `How can you expect the people who created this system and profited from it to then go out and reform it?' Ivan Watson, NPR News, Damascus. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
Ivan Watson is currently based in Istanbul, Turkey. Following the 9-11 terrorist attacks, he has served as one of NPR's foreign "firemen," shuttling to and from hotspots around the Middle East and Central Asia.


Other law subjectsCopyright and downloading: What is illegal/legal?
Nowadays, a lot of people with internet access download and use 2 ways of downloading: the legal way (with software like ITunes or buying songs or movies on the internet for example) and the illegal way (with direct download websites like Megaupload or by sharing some movies, songs, etc. by Peer-to-peer (P2P) with software like BitComet).


text:
Sessions for Chris Keating
Monday, April 08 3:30pm – 6:00pm
An Evening with Magic Johnson
As impressive off the court as on it, Earvin "Magic" Johnson pivoted the discipline, teamwork and leadership he honed as an L.A. Laker and NBA All-Star into an entrepreneurial success story. Since retiring from the NBA, he has morphed into a business powerhouse worth about $1 billion dollars. He has also dedicated his life to leaving a positive impact in underserved urban communities. Having left the basketball court for the boardroom, Johnson parlayed the skills and tenacity he acquired on the court into a winning formula for successful business ventures. Oh, and one of his major investments? Like us, it was restaurants. Pure Magic.
Join Winsight's Chris Keating as he interviews one of basketball's legends - just ahead of the Final Four Championship game.
Earvin "Magic" Johnson
Chairman and CEO, Magic Johnson Enterprises
President of Basketball Operations, Los Angeles Lakers
Chris Keating
Group President, Restaurant Media & Events
Winsight, LLC
Hugh Roth
Senior Vice President, Chief Customer and Business Development Officer
PepsiCo Foodservice, Inc.
PepsiCo Foodservice
General Session Speaker
Chris Keating on LinkedInExternal website
Chris Keating joined Winsight in August 2015, after seven years with the Penton Food & Restaurant Group. Most recently he served as VP-Market Leader of the group that included four magazines, five digital brands, and three events.
Before that, he spent 19 years in technology media, 17 at UBM. He served in a variety of management roles in the database, computer security and telecom markets. He launched two database magazines, a call center trade show, and a computer security conference in Singapore.
In 2003, he was selected by min magazine as Editor's Choice for the Most Intriguing Person in B2B. He's still not sure what that means. In 2008, he was a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, where he was beaten by a food question.
Chris graduated from Fairfield University, and lives in Rockland County, N.Y.


text:
https://apnews.com/article/otto-warmbier-religion-ap-top-news-us-news-aabfac0806654efeb51c14b1ce3906f2
10 Things to Know for Today
By The Associated PressJune 20, 2017 GMT
This publicity photo provided by In Music We Trust shows the Asian-American rock band called The Slants. The Supreme Court on Monday, June 19, 2017, struck down part of a law that bans offensive trademarks in a ruling that is expected to help the Washington Redskins in their legal fight over the team name. The ruling is a victory for The Slants, but the case was closely watched for the impact it would have on the separate dispute involving the Washington football team. (In Music We Trust via AP)
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
1. NORTH KOREA'S DETENTION OF COMATOSE US STUDENT PUZZLING
There is logic behind Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, but it's far more difficult to make sense of its imprisonment of Otto Warmbier as he lay in a coma, and has now died back in Ohio.
2. HOW AMERICANS FEEL ABOUT CLIMATE MOVE
A new AP-NORC poll finds that less than a third support Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris accord, with just 18 percent agreeing with his claim that it'll help the U.S. economy.
3. POLICE SAY ATTACK ON MUSLIM TEEN NOT A HATE CRIME
Authorities say Darwin Martinez Torres, 22, fatally attacked Nabra Hassanen with a baseball bat near her Virginia mosque after he became enraged after getting in a fight with one of the girl's friends.
4. EXPENSIVE HOUSE RACE NEARING CONCLUSION
Voters in the northern suburbs of Atlanta will decide a runoff election that has become a proxy for the national political atmosphere and a test of GOP strength early in Trump's presidency.
5. IN SYRIA, MUTUAL ENEMIES CLOSE IN ON ISLAMIC STATE GROUP
The ruinous war's main players are battling the extremists on the ground, but they have conflicting interests on the Syrian battlefield and in the skies which are now more convoluted than ever.
6. SOUTHWEST CELEBRATES FIRST DAY OF SUMMER WITH HEAT WAVE
The forecast calls for 119 degrees in Phoenix, where some flights have been canceled because certain planes can't take off in extreme heat.
7. SPICER FACING REDEFINED ROLE
The prominent White House press secretary is said to be seeking to take on a more strategic role that would give him a limited presence in the daily press briefings, AP learns.
8. 'GREEN BURIALS' GROWING IN POPULARITY
More cemeteries and funeral directors are tweaking practices to accommodate people who want to tread lightly, even in death.
9. TIGER WOODS RECEIVING PROFESSIONAL HELP TO MANAGE MEDS
The star golfer was charged with driving under the influence in Jupiter, Florida, after telling officers he had a reaction to several prescription drugs, including Vicodin and Xanax.
10. GOVERNMENT CAN'T BLOCK TRADEMARKS ON BASIS THEY'RE OFFENSIVE
The Supreme Court ruling means teams like the Washington Redskins that have Native American names and logos will continue to face societal and business challenges.


text:
Nigella damascena 'Miss Jekyll Indigo'
Nigella 'Miss Jekyll, Indigo' - 2gms ~ 800 seeds
'Love-in-a-Mist' as it is commonly known is both beautiful and easy to grow, 'Miss Jekyll Indigo' bears rich indigo-blue flowers which seem to float amongst the finely cut leaves. They provide a charming show of bloom during the summer months.
One of the most interesting shaped flowers you will ever see, both for its blooms and attractive fennel-like foliage. Love-in-a-mist grows naturally in rocky places native to Europe and North Africa, however, these flowers are well suited for traditional cottage garden settings or plant in a meadow where the soil is a little on the dry side and not too rich.
A hardy annual flowering the same year and a popular cut flower, useful for bedding, the seed pod can be dried for winter decoration indoors.
Awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit
Nigella damascena 'Miss Jekyll Indigo' has been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (AGM).
Sowing: Sow direct in late Winter to Spring or in Autumn
Seeds are best sown in short drills 0.5cm (¼in) deep directly where they are to flower. Sow thinly, once temperatures reach around 18°C (68°F). They prefer a sunny open site but will grow in most sites and soils.
Prepare the ground well and rake to a fine tilth before sowing. Mark the sowing areas with a ring of light coloured sand and label if sowing more than one annual in the same bed. Sow 1mm (1/8") deep in rows 30cm (12in) apart.
Seeds germinate in approx 21 days. The seedlings will appear in rows approx 6 to 8 weeks after planting and can be told from nearby weed seedlings quite easily. Thin the seedlings out so they are finally 23cm (9in) apart by early summer. Compost should be kept slightly moist, but not wet at all times.
An early autumn sowing can be made in sheltered areas for earlier flowers the following year. Planted it in the autumn it will send down a taproot and form a rosette of feathery leaves during the winter. As temperatures warm up in Spring, flower stalks shoot up. If it's a dry spring, give it water and it will grow large and erect. Without water it tends to flop over.
Prefers well drained soil enriched with manure or compost ahead of planting. Can be grown on light sandy soils.
Feeding is rarely needed but water well and apply complete plant food as growth begins in the spring.
Deadhead to prolong flowering. Leave a few plants to die down and self seed. Others can be pulled up and composted
All varieties of Nigella are most valued as a beautiful, lacy ornamental in the garden and a colourful component of fresh and dried arrangements.
For cut flowers, cut the stems in the morning after the dew has dried. Cut when the flowers are fully open because buds will not open after cutting. Cut the stems with a sharp knife about 3cm (1in) from the bottom of a main stem, at an angle of about 45 degrees as this provides a larger exposed area for the uptake of water. Remove all the lower foliage that would be submerged in water.
Fill sterilised a bucket with luke warm water and add warm sugar water. Place the flowers in the bucket and leave over night to condition before using in an arrangement.
To dry the pods, cut while the pods are still green and somewhat fresh. Tie the stems into a bundle and hand upside down to dry. You can cut the seed pods in half to display the interesting seed chamber structure.
Cottage/Informal Garden, Flower Arranging, Flowers Borders and Beds, Wildflower Gardens or Wildlife Gardens.
Other Uses:
Seeds of Nigella damascena have been used over the centuries as an aid in digestion and they are also used in cooking. The seeds taste somewhat spicy, some people note a resemblance to nutmeg, and have been used as a condiment and in confectionery, to flavour wines and snuff, and as an expectorant.
They are far less flavourful than those of Nigella sativa, known as black cumin or fennel flower, which has had a greater culinary and medicinal role than N. damascena.
The related Nigella sativa (and not N. damascena) is the source of the spice variously known as Nigella, Kalonji or Black Cumin.
The genus Nigella is native to North Africa and southern Europe. It is one of about twenty species in the genus, all of them annual herbs from the Mediterranean region. Several are cultivated in gardens, and one, Nigella sativa, is grown for its aromatic seeds.
The genus name is taken from the feminine of Latin nigellus, a derivative of Latin niger meaning black.
The species name damascena, means 'from Damascus'. It originates from the area of what would have been Persia, now Syria.
The plant's common name 'Love-in-a-mist' comes from the flower being nestled in a ring of multifid, lacy bracts. It's also called Devil-in-the-Bush. Jack-in-the-green and Lady-in-the-bower. In German, there are comparably poetic names like Jungfer im Grünen (Danish jomfru i det grønne) 'Maiden in the green' or Gretchen im Busch 'Maggie in the bush'.
The cultivar is named after Gertrude Jekyll, 1843-1932. 'Miss' Jekyll, as she was known was probably the most respected gardener of her time, her influence on the art of gardening is evident throughout the world today. She designed about 400 gardens but, because so few survive and only a handful are accurately restored, it is by her books and articles that she is best remembered.
She taught the world the full craft and art of gardening. She appreciated the beauty of both natural and formal styles and explained the importance of structure, proportion, colour, scent and texture in gardens of almost any scale.
Her younger brother, the Reverend Walter Jekyll, was a friend of Robert Louis Stevenson, who borrowed the family name for his famous novel Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Miss Jekyll, Indigo
IR. Nigéal. FR.Cumin Noir
Rich indigo-blue flowers
Early to Mid Summer
Mid green finely cut leaves
Needs a warm sunny spot
West or South facing. Exposed or Sheltered


text:
Tears of the Sun 2
08.07.2014 Armée de Terre
1 800 parachutistes français et britanniques s'étaient donné rendez-vous fin juin dans la région de Toulouse pour participer à l'exercice Tears of the Sun 2 ! Objectif : faire entrer du matériel dans une zone ennemie. Un exercice collaboratif entre la 11e brigade parachutiste et la 16th air assault brigade, qui a permis de renforcer la capacité commune d'intervention par la 3e dimension.
Published by RP Defense - dans Europe UK France 11BP 16AAB British Army Armée de Terre Armée de l'Air Tears of the Sun Défense
British and French airborne forces train together
26.06.2014 by British Army
Exercise Tears of the Sun, which took place this week in Toulouse, France, is a key interoperability exercise between 16 Air Assault Brigade and 11e Brigade Parachutiste (11e BP), which is at the forefront of closer military co-operation between Britain and France.
Both brigades are rapid reaction forces, held at high readiness to deploy on operations anywhere in the world. They form the Intermediate Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (I-CJEF) for contingency operations, ranging from disaster relief to war fighting, The concept, brought about in early 2013, has been developed by both the French and the British forces over the last 18 months and this exercise provides an opportunity for both armies to plan and fight, side by side .
Helicopters from Joint Helicopter Command, as well as French aircraft, bolstered the two airborne infantry battlegroups to provide a potent fighting force that was exercised in a number of different scenarios. Tears of the Sun gives both nations' troops the chance to work through a theoretical joint mission, further understand their similarities and differences and prove that they are able to operate alongside each other.
16 Air Assault Brigade is the British Army's largest brigade with some 6,200 soldiers, combining the speed and agility of airborne and air assault troops with the potency of Apache attack helicopters.
Follow 16 Air Assault Brigade on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/16AirAssaultBrigade?fref=photo
Published by RP Defense - dans Europe UK France Airborne Défense Tears of the Sun 16AAB 11BP British Army Armée de Terre


text:
If you are using NEXUS 3, please consider using the [official bower-nexus3-resolver](https://www.npmjs.com/package/bower-nexus3-resolver)

# Problematic

Nexus 2.x does not integrate Bower. Bower 1.5 offers pluggable resolvers which could make it possible.

The future Nexus behavior should mimic the default bower registry behavior.

For nexus to properly integrate Bower, it needs to respond some JSON info to this URL:
```json
http://<domain>/nexus/content/repositories/<bower-repo>/packages/<package-name>
```
This JSON should be formed as (url below is a suggestion)
```json
{
  "name" : "angular",
  "url" : "nexus://angular/angular"
}
```

Thus bower, thanks to the resolver, can recognise it's talking to a Nexus registry.

Today, Nexus doesn't implement this functionality, so we need to fake it with a fake server.
Any server responding some JSON is fine. I recommend express.

You will also need to add in the `.bowerrc` a new entry `nexusRegistry` which is the URL of your Nexus registry.
The default `registry` key is taken by your fake express server.

A typical `.bowerrc` would be
```json
{
  "directory": "bower_components",
  "registry": "http://localhost:8082/nexus-bower/",
  "nexusRegistry": "http://localhost:8081/nexus/content/repositories/my-bower-repository/",
  "resolvers": [
    "bower-nexus-resolver"
  ]
}
```

## Installation
`npm install -g bower-nexus-resolver`

In order to use Bower with Nexus you need:

2. [bower](https://www.npmjs.com/package/bower) - Bower version 1.5.0 and above: `npm install -g bower`
1. [bower-nexus-resolver](https://www.npmjs.com/package/bower-nexus-resolver): `npm install -g bower-nexus-resolver` (if bower is installed globally)
3. [express](https://www.npmjs.com/package/express) - To mimic default repo responses

## Client Configuration
Edit your ~/.bowerrc and add Nexus Bower Resolver
```json
{
  "resolvers": [
    "bower-nexus-resolver"
  ]
}
```

You will need an interface between Nexus and this resolver. Since Nexus doesn't implement bower registry features, you need to mimic it.
To do so, create a node.js (or whatever else) server that respond a JSON like (example with angular):
```json
{
  "name":"angular",
  "url":"nexus://angular/angular"
}
```
to a request like `http://<YOUR_SERVER>/<SOME_REPO_NAME>/packages/<PACKAGE-NAME>`.

## Minic the bower registry response

This example depends on express to create the server.

```js
var express = require('express'),
    json = require('express-json'),
    http = require('http'),

    config = {
      port: 8082,
      context: 'nexus-bower',
      prefix: 'nexus://'
    },

    app = express(),
    server = http.createServer(app).listen( process.env.PORT || config.port);

app.use( json() );

// wait for a request as:
// http://<hostname>/<context>/packages/<package-name>
// respond a simple JSON
app.get('/' + config.context + '/packages/:name', function(req, res){
    res.json({
        "name": req.params.name,
        "url": config.prefix + req.params.name + '/' +req.params.name
    });
});

console.log("STARTUP:: Express Bower registry simulator server listening on port::", server.address().port, ", environment:: ", app.settings.env);
```

Once, done, edit your ~/.bowerrc and point the registry to your brand new server
```json
{
  "registry": "`http://<YOUR_SERVER>/<SOME_REPO_NAME>/"
}
```

Then tell bower the real URL of your Nexus npm repository
```json
{
  "nexusRegistry": "http://<domain>/nexus/content/repositories/<npm-repo>"
}
```

## Nexus Configuring

### NPM remote repository for bower components
1. Simply create a new npm repository
2. Run the node.js server that respond JSON

## Usage

Use the client to install packages from Nexus, e.g. `bower install bootstrap`

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Evolution of CMOS Imaging Technology by DALSA
DALSA published white paper "The Evolution of CMOS Imaging Technology" talking about its 5T global shutter pixel introduced in 1999. Other global shutter pixel architectures mentioned, dividing them onto "voltage domain" and "charge domain" approaches, whereas "voltage domain" is said to be worse in almost everything, except the "shutter leakage".
Sensors Unlimited Inducted into SBIR Hall of Fame
PR Newswire: Sensors Unlimited, part of Goodrich Corp., has been inducted into the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Hall of Fame.
The SBIR Hall of Fame awards are given to firms with a long period of extraordinary success in research, innovation and commercialization. In recognition of this, a member of the Princeton, N.J.-based Sensors Unlimited team accepted an award at the White House executive office building on April 24, 2012. The SBIR funding has helped Sensors Unlimited develop innovative SWIR imager technology for military, industrial and medical applications.
3D Camera News
PMD Youtube video shows what it says the smallest depth-sensing camera for close range gesture recognition. The CamBoard nano reference design measures 37x30x25mm - still too much to be integrated into laptop lid:
China Daily reports that Beijing eedoo Technology Ltd said the company's first multimedia entertainment console is set to hit the Chinese market on April 29, at a price of 3,799 yuan ($600) per unit. eedoo uses SoftKinetic ToF camera to control games in a similar way to Microsoft's Kinect. Good news for SoftKinetic which finally can get big sales after multiple delays!
Forward Concepts published its "Cellular Handset and Tablet Chip Markets 2012" research saying that in 2011 market for image sensors in phones and tablets was $2.9B. This compares with $15.9B for baseband chips, $5.5B for power management units, $3.7B for RF transceivers, $3.6B for RF power amplifiers, $2.8B for standalone application processors, and $2.7B for touch-screen controllers.
Reuters published an article on digital camera market. "For several years, it has been predicted that smartphone adoption would cut into digital camera sales," said Prashant Malaviya, Associate Professor of Marketing at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. "In fact, the exact opposite has happened."
"Camera photography is certainly not dead," said Liz Cutting, NPD Group. "We're just seeing a skewing towards what the smartphone can't deliver. People are recognizing that and are going for a higher end camera." Surveys by NPD Group show that while more than a quarter of all American photos were taken by a smartphone, more people were buying cameras with detachable lenses or cameras with optical zooms of 10x or more.
In markets such as the US and Japan, says Japan-based IHS analyst Kun Soo Lee, there's not many more people who want to buy compact point-and-shoot camera, a trend which has meant many mobile phones now do a better job of a point-and-shoot camera. How traditional camera makers react to these challenges is unclear. Canon, for example, has no obvious strategy to combat the rise of the smartphone, said IHS's Kun, and so will have to keep on peddling digital cameras.
Descriptive Camera
I like this story due to its creativity in solving a complex image processing problem. The aim of the project is to find a way to generate a descriptive metadata about each photo that can be appended to the image on the fly — information about who is in each photo, what they're doing, and their environment. This metadata is quite useful in order to search, filter, and cross-reference our photo collections.
"The technology at the core of the Descriptive Camera is Amazon's Mechanical Turk API. It allows a developer to submit Human Intelligence Tasks (HITs) for workers on the internet to complete. The developer sets the guidelines for each task and designs the interface for the worker to submit their results. The developer also sets the price they're willing to pay for the successful completion of each task. An approval and reputation system ensures that workers are incented to deliver acceptable results."
Descriptive camera hardware is based on embedded Linux platform from TI
"After the shutter button is pressed, the photo is sent to Mechanical Turk for processing and the camera waits for the results. A yellow LED indicates that the results are still "developing" in a nod to film-based photo technology. With a HIT price of $1.25, results are returned typically within 6 minutes and sometimes as fast as 3 minutes." Few examples of the descriptions are given on the project's page.
The Descriptive Camera was created by Matt Richardson for Dan O'Sullivan's Spring 2012 Computational Cameras class at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program (NYU ITP).
More info: BBC, Discovery, Betabeat, NYT.
MWIR Pixel Size Approaches the Wavelength
Photonics-online: Sofradir demonstrates a prototype of the first 10-micron pixel pitch HgCdTe-based MWIR imager at SPIE DSS in Baltimore, April 23-27, 2012.
Assuming the imager covers 3-5um band, the pixel size is just twice the wavelength, similar to 1.4um visible pixels for 0.4-0.7um band.
The focal plane array prototype was developed with the support of DGA (Direction Générale de l'Armement) by CEA-Leti at DEFIR, the joint laboratory of Sofradir and CEA-Leti. CEA-Leti is a leading European microtechnology, IT and health technology research center.
"It is critical for the military to see first and see the right target, whatever the weather conditions. This is what the higher resolution, higher range 10-micron pixel pitch infrared detector helps provide," said Philippe Bensussan, chairman and CEO at Sofradir. "Sofradir continues to build on its legacy of innovation. We were the first to introduce the 15-micron pixel pitch TV format IR detector, a compact high-resolution product that brought system integrators significant advantages in performance and footprint and has become an industry standard. We're taking the lead once again by pushing the bar from 12-micron pixel pitch that exists today to 10-micron. Our customers can look forward to the ultimate performance in IR systems."
Column Settling Speedup Proposal
Patent application US20120091323 by Shoji Kawahito proposes to speed-up the column voltage sampling onto a big capacitor. The idea is to add small capacitor sampler 17 that samples the column first, then accelerates charging of the main sampling cap C1i. It's quite self-explanatory based on the schematics and the timing diagram below (Block 11 is a pixel driving column Vcol):
There are few other similar ideas, like pre-charging the large C1i capacitor through a unity-gain buffer and then completing the final charge stage directly from column. One can add a little bit high pass filtering in the buffer to compensate for low-pass nature of the pixel+column cap path.
On the other hand, in Kawahito's idea one can add a small time delay or a phase shift in the trans-impedance amplifier 25 on the figure above to achieve a kind of inductive impedance in the column load and get some speed up from it.
Image Sensors at 2012 VLSI Circuit Symposium
2012 VLSI Circuit Symposium agenda has been published some time ago. There is no classical image sensor papers this year. Few interesting image sensor related papers are below:
Looks like gesture recognition application blends the border between ToF imagers, THz imaging and mm-band radars (session 7):
A 94GHz mm-Wave to Baseband Pulsed-Radar for Imaging and Gesture Recognition
A. Arbabian, S. Kang*, S. Callender*, J.-C. Chien*, B. Afshar*, A. Niknejad*, Stanford University, *University of California, Berkeley
An integrated phase-coherent and pixel-scalable pulsed-radar transceiver with on-chip tapered loop antennas generates programmable pulses down to 36ps using an integrated 94GHz carrier, frequency synthesized and locked to an external reference. A DLL controls the TX pulse position with 2.28ps resolution, which allows the chip to function as a unit element in a timed-array. The receiver also features a >1.5THz GBW DA as the front-end amplifier, wideband quadrature mixers, and a 26GHz quadrature baseband. Phase coherency allows for ~375μm single-target position resolution by interferometry.
Another imager-like radar works at slightly lower frequency band, but still is a single-chip design:
A UWB IR Timed-Array Radar Using Time-Shifted Direct-Sampling Architecture
C.-M. Lai, K.-W. Tan, L.-Y. Yu, Y.-J. Chen, J.-W. Huang, S.-C. Lai, F.-H. Chung, C.-F. Yen, J.-M. Wu, P.-C. Huang, K.-J. Chang, S.-Y. Huang, T.-S. Chu, National Tsing Hua University
A UWB impulse radio (IR) timed-array radar using time-shifted direct-sampling architecture is presented. The transmitter array can generate and send a variety of 10GS/s pulses towards targets. The receiver array samples the reflected signal in RF domain directly by time interleaved sampling with equivalent sampling rate of 20 GS/s. The radar system can determine time of arrival (TOA) and direction of arrival (DOA) through time-shifted sampling edges which are generated by on-chip digital-to-time converters (DTC). The proposed architecture has range and azimuth resolution of 0.75 cm and 3 degree respectively. This prototype is implemented in a 0.18μm CMOS technology.
While we are dreaming to reach full well of a mega-electron, it looks like HgCdTe guys enjoy measuring their full wells in giga-electrons (Session 15):
An 88dB SNR, 30µm Pixel Pitch Infra-Red Image Sensor with a 2-Step 16 bit A/D Conversion
A. Peizerat, J.-P. Rostaing, N. Zitouni, N. Baier, F. Guellec, R. Jalby, M. Tchagaspanian, CEA-LETI, Minatec
A new readout IC (ROIC) with a 2 step A/D conversion for cooled infrared image sensors is presented in this paper. The sensor operates at a 50Hz frame rate in an Integrate-While-Read snapshot mode. The 16 bit ADC resolution preserves the excellent detector SNR at full well (~3Ge-). The ROIC, featuring a 320x256 array with 30µm pixel pitch, has been designed in a standard 0.18µm CMOS technology. The IC has been hybridized (indium bump bonding) to a LWIR (Long Wave Infra Red) detector fabricated using our in-house HgCdTe process. The first measurement results of the detector assembly validate both the 2-step ADC concept and its circuit implementation. This work sets a new state-of-the-art SNR of 88dB.
TowerJazz CIS Process Now Available at Newport Beach, CA Fab
PR Newswire: TowerJazz announces the completion of the CIS process transfer from its Migdal Haemek, Israel facility to its US fab in Newport Beach, California providing multi-sourcing to better address its customers' growing needs. TowerJazz's CIS process has already been running in high volume in its Israeli plants, and is now available in its Newport Beach, CA facility for customers that require on-shore manufacturing.
Integration of TowerJazz's NMOS pixel with its 0.18um process provides a US-based solution for specialty image sensors for aerospace and defense applications as well. "Our aerospace and defense business is experiencing solid growth and the further expansion of our technology offerings will provide an even broader range of advanced technology to our customer base here in the US," said Corey Fukushima, TowerJazz Aerospace and Defense Sales.
"We are providing a high level of support to customize pixels in order to optimize performance for specialty applications, including non-ITAR aerospace and military applications. We are pleased with the transfer of our CIS process to our US fab to address customers' needs for on-shore manufacturing of ITAR applications and to provide a global sourcing solution with our advanced and proven CIS technology offering," said Dr. Avi Strum, VP and GM of Specialty Business Unit.
GHz Imagers in Cellphones
As soon as ISSCC 2012 papers have been published on IEEE site, newspapers get excited about THz imagers presented there.
PopSci, Engadget and many others talk about work by Kenneth O, professor of EE at UT Dallas and director of the Texas Analog Center of Excellence(TxACE) at University of Texas at Dallas. "We've created approaches that open a previously untapped portion of the electromagnetic spectrum for consumer use and life-saving medical applications," said Dr. Kenneth O.
"CMOS is affordable and can be used to make lots of chips," Dr. O said. "The combination of CMOS and terahertz means you could put this chip and receiver on the back of a cellphone, turning it into a device carried in your pocket that can see through objects." Due to privacy concerns, Dr. O and his team are focused on uses in the distance range of less than four inches.
Meanwhile IEEE Spectrum talks about the THz camera designed by a team from IEMN and STMicroelectronics, in France, and the University of Wuppertal, in Germany.This camera has a resolution of 1024 pixels, frame rate 25fps and can operate out of USB power.
Photonis Announced 1.3MP 9.7um Pixel Sensor
Photonis announces Lynx CMOS sensor, a 9.7um pixel, 1.3MP low-light image sensor designed man-portable systems and unmanned remote posts where 24/7 CCTV image availability is required.
The Lynx read noise is said to be below 4e- at rates up to its full 100 fps with a power consumption under 200mW. The full well is >25Ke- with image lage <0.1%. The output resolution is said to be 10b at 60fps and "digital output" at 100fps.
Goossen Boers, CEO of PHOTONIS, commented, "The ground-breaking Lynx CMOS digital sensor is a pure product of our Night Vision expertise. It differentiates itself from other sensors in the market by the perfect combination of large pixels collecting the maximum amount of photons, low noise, low power consumption, very high sensitivity and extended wavelength range. The new sensor reinforces our continued commitment to the low light imaging market as well as to our innovation and new product development."
Here is some data from Lynx datasheet to support the claims (judge by yourselves):
ST Proposes Metal Optical Shields Between Colors
STMicro patent application US20120086091 proposes to place metal shields 23 between color filters in BSI pixel array:
"...a disadvantage of [BSI] sensors is that they are particularly prone to color mixing phenomena between neighboring color filters. In particular, a light ray may cross two adjacent filters 15 of different colors before reaching a photosensitive area 9. A light ray may also be essentially filtered by a filter 15 of a first color, and reach the photosensitive area 9 of a neighboring pixel, associated with another color. Such phenomena are currently called "optical crosstalk" and adversely affect the quality of the images acquired by the sensor. They especially occur when light rays reach filters 15 with poorly adapted angles of incidence, for example, in case of a poor alignment of microlenses 17, or in case of parasitic reflections in the sensor. Such phenomena are particularly strong in the peripheral regions of the sensor, in which the pixels are illuminated by light rays having relatively high angles of incidence, which may exceed 30°."
"Walls 23 enable to prevent any direct passing of light between adjacent filtering elements. Walls 23 extend approximately along the entire height, for example, along at least 90% of the height of the filtering layer, and are preferably made of aluminum, of tungsten."
EuroCIS Platform for European CMOS Imagers
Imec: "The main goal of [EuroCIS] project is the creation of a European supply chain for state-of-the art CMOS imagers. As identified by both ESA and the EC, there is a need for such a supply chain for CMOS imagers for space applications which uses solely European (and hence ITAR-free) sources. This goal will be realized using the proposed consortium as all partners have excellent know-how and track record in the expertise fields required."
The EuroCIS program has started in Nov. 2011 with a budget of 2,840M 2.84M euro, and is scheduled for 36 months. The program members are Imec (Belgium, sensor design), Selex Galileo (Italy, definition and characterization), Exico (France, BSI laser annealing), TNO (Holland, optical film coating).
EuroCIS Gantt (Click to enlarge)
Caeleste IS2012 Presentation On-Line
Caeleste published its presentation on Image Sensors 2012 Conference in London, UK. The title is "Color X-ray photon counting image sensor":
Sharp Announces 20MP CCD with 1.2um Pixels
Tech-On: Sharp announces what its calls the highest resolution 1/2.3-inch CCD featuring 20.15MP resolution and 1.2um pixel pitch. The new RJ23G3BA0LT packs 20% more pixels than the previous generation 16MP CCD in the same optical format and it targets DSC market.
The reported sensitivity in Green is 105mV (typ), measured at 1000 lux with F4, 90% transmitting lens at 1/30s exposure. The sensitivity is said to be improved by unique technology using light focusing. The saturation level is 400mV (min). Smear is -86dB (typ). The sensor supports 720p30 video mode.
The CCD is sampling starting from April 26, 2012. Mass production will start in August 2012 at a rate of 200,000 units per month.
Red Announces 6K 120fps Sensor with 15+ Stops DR
Reduser.net, Slashgear, Engadget: A year ago Red announced an oncoming sensor upgrade for its EPIC and Scarlet cameras. However, Red was reluctant to release any details about the new sensor, named Dragon. This year the details an the timing of the Red Dragon have been released:
The sensor's speed is 85fps at full 6K resolution, or 120fps at 5K resolution. The new sensor features 5um pixels and 30 mm x 15.8 mm optical array size. Red says that the native DR of Dragon sensor is greater than 15 stops.
Vimeo video shows Red's excitement over the new sensor introduction:
Aptina Adapts Syntricity Yield Management
Business Wire: Aptina installs an integrated yield management system, delivered through Syntricity's Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering, dataConductor.com. Accessed through a web browser, dataConductor provides a reliable, secure, and scalable enterprise yield management system, with automated connections to Aptina's global supply chain of wafer foundries, assembly houses, and test facilities.
"After evaluating yield management system solutions, Syntricity's dataConductor stood out for its scalability and advanced analysis capabilities," said Ed Jenkins, Director of Product and Test Engineering at Aptina. "Continuously looking to improve our systems, we looked to Syntricity's success in managing large, hosted data warehouses as a key factor in our decision to partner with them. Syntricity's hosted database and dataConductor.com tool set will give us ready worldwide access to our supplier data without adding further capital and resources to our current internal IT infrastructure."
Toshiba Pixel Performance
New Toshiba catalog dated by Feb. 2012 shows an interesting pixel performance table:
Panasonic Talks about Micro-Machined Pixels, Samsung Announces YSNR10 Data
Panasonic published Digital Camera System Solution Guide 2012 describing its products for digital still camera applications. The 17.78MP 2.8um-pixel MN34070 sensor is said to feature "Micromachined cell technology" delivering "high resolution performance". I'm not sure what the micro-machining means , especially since Chipworks reverse engineering report does not mention anything unusual about its pixel structure.
Panasonic Semiconductor Selection Guide 2012 shows a next generation of 1/2.33-inch 1.43um-pixel MN34110 sensor, the MN34120, featuring 1.335um pixels. The new sensor is marked as "under development", no parameters are shown.
Samsung published YSNR10 data for its 1.4um-generation BSI sensors. 8MP S5K3H7 YSNR10 is stated at 82 lux. The smaller HD video S5K8AA sensor based on the same pixels shows YSNR of 86 lux.
Sony Reinforcing Development of Image Sensors
Sony announces a series of strategic initiatives to be introduced under the new management team. One of the three core businesses that Sony plans to invest in is Digital Imaging:
"Sony is reinforcing its development of image sensors, signal processing technologies, lenses and other key digital imaging technologies in which it excels, and plans to leverage these technologies in both its consumer products (such as compact digital still cameras, digital video cameras and interchangeable lens digital cameras) and broadcast and professional products (such as professional use cameras and security cameras) in order to further strengthen and differentiate Sony' overall product line. The Company also plans to extend the use of these key technologies across a wide range of business applications, from security to medical, to further expand the scope of its digital imaging business. Sony will target total sales of 1.5 trillion yen and double-digit operating income margin from the consumer, professional and image sensor businesses by FY14."
"Sony is also drawing on its comprehensive strengths in audio and visual technologies to aggressively promote the growth of "4K" technology, which delivers more than four times the resolution of Full HD. Incorporation of Sony-developed technologies, such as image sensors, image processing compression LSIs and high-speed optical transmission modules into its professional-use and high-end consumer products will pave the way for Sony to continue to expand and enrich its 4K-compatible product lineup."
Update: Few slides from Sony restructuring presentation:
Sionyx Raises $6,882,639
Sionyx SEC filing announces a new $16M investment round of which $6,882,639 has already been raised. The investor has not been named. The non-integer amount suggests that it might have been converted from some foreign currency.
How to Measure PRNU
Albert Theuwissen published another post in "How to Measure" series. It talks about PRNU.
ON Semi to Develop New Star Tracker Sensor for ESA
Business Wire: ON Semi announces that the European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded it a joint development contract for the next generation star tracker CMOS Sensor HAS3.
Once developed and qualified, the High Accuracy Star Tracker 3 (HAS3) image sensor will expand the STAR family of radiation-tolerant CIS. The existing HAS2 CIS offered today by ON Semiconductor is designed for Attitude and Orbit Control (AOCS) space applications. HAS2 has an array of 1024 x 1024 18um pixels and supports non-destructive readout and multiple windowing. Following its qualification in 2007, HAS2 has become the heart of ESA Star Trackers.
The HAS3 will be a 1280 x 1280 pixel, radiation tolerant CMOS sensor that features low read noise, 11 x 11 µm2 pixels having 14 bit performance. The HAS3 sensor will support multiple windowing, will be made available in a fully hermetic sealed package and has the option for backside illumination. Applications for the HAS3 device will include star trackers, sun sensors and other scientific applications.
In July 2011, Plessey, the silicon supplier producing the HAS2 wafers for ON Semi announced that they would be discontinuing manufacture of this product. ON Semiconductor has secured the product inventory to supply this product to customers to service their predicted full lifetime needs. The company has been working with the ESA to assure HAS2 availability for the years to come. After this period, it is expected that the next generation HAS3.
ADVIS Sigma-Delta Pixel Details Revealed
It appears that the details of much discussed ADVIS sigma-delta sensor have been recently published in few sources. First, April 2012 issue IEEE Sensors Journal has an article:
Low Power, High Dynamic Range CMOS Image Sensor Employing Pixel-Level Oversampling Analog-to-Digital Conversion
Authors: Ignjatovic, Z. (Electr. & Comput. Eng. Dept., Univ. of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA), Maricic, D. ; Bocko, M.F.
"We present a theoretical analysis, design, and experimental characterization of a CMOS image sensor with pixel-level ΣΔ oversampling analog-to-digital conversion (ADC). The design employs five transistors per-pixel to implement a charge-based ΣΔ ADC at each pixel. In the current design a dynamic regenerative latch comparator is divided into an input transistor, which is contained within each pixel, and the remaining comparator structure shared among the pixels of each column. A charge feedback digital-to-analog converter (DAC) is implemented at each pixel with a three-transistor structure. As opposed to more traditional CMOS image sensors, this image sensor architecture is suitable for implementations in advanced low supply voltage CMOS technologies since its dynamic range is not affected by the reduction of the pixel reset voltage. In addition, similar to the readout methods in low power random access memory designs, this pixel readout architecture does not employ any active amplifiers which allows for low static power operation. Experimental characterization of a prototype fabricated in a 0.35 μm silicided CMOS technology is presented. The estimated power consumption of the fully integrated 128 × 128 imager including decimation filters and I/O interface is 60 nW/pixel at 30 frames per second for 8-bits per-pixel. A peak signal-to-noise ratio of 52 dB and intra-scene dynamic range of 74 dB were measured. The dynamic range was extended to 91 dB through control of the in-pixel DAC supply voltage over the range of 0.8 V-3.3 V."
Second, University of Rochester published Danijel Maričić PhD Thesis describing the techology in even more details: "Image Sensors Employing Oversampling Sigma-Delta Analog-to-Digital Conversion with High Dynamic Range and Low Power".
The 5T sigma-delta pixel uses both pmos and nmos transistors and 3T-like process (no PD transfer gate):
"Every frame scan generates one-bit per-pixel and the readout is repeated OSR times. The image is reconstructed by a digital decimation circuit synchronized with the readout. The comparator is designed for a sampling rate of #rows*max(OSR)*fps = 128*256*60 = 1.97MHz in order to achieve 60 full resolution frames per second following decimation."
The sensor parameters table shows the achieved performance level:
Few other sigma-delta sensor implementations are discussed in the Thesis, including the one having 3T pixel and digital integrator in the column readout (called "indirect feedback sensor):
This architecture is claimed to solve quite a lot of issues:
The manufactured prototype parameters look quite nice for 3T pixel with such a huge full well:
ON Semi to Continue Supply and Support of HAS2 Sensor
ON Semiconductor announced "Last Buy Status" for its HAS2 space-certified start tracking sensor:
"In July 2011, the silicon supplier producing the HAS2 wafers for ON Semiconductor announced with short notice that they would be discontinuing manufacture of this product. At that time, ON Semiconductor was required to follow industry Product Change Notification procedures and put its HAS2 image sensor on a 'Last Time Buy Status'. Where
applicable, special arrangements have been made with existing customers to minimize the impact of this transition. In parallel, I want to assure you that ON Semiconductor has secured ample product inventory to supply this product to customers to service their predicted full lifetime needs with margin."
Cornell University Presents Computational 3D Camera
Cornell University Chronicle: Alyosha Molnar, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and his group are building light field image sensors that give readouts of the incident angle of light as it strikes the sensor. The result could be the next generation of 3-D cameras, as well as the ability to focus photos after they're taken, similar to Lytro. This work appears to be a continuation of one presented at ISSCC 2011 (See: A. Wang, P. Gill, and A. Molnar, " An Angle-Sensitive CMOS Imager for Single-Sensor 3D Photography", also in Jan., 2012 issue of JSSC).
"If I want to find something in 3-D space, if I just measure the amount of light hitting different locations, I know a little bit. I'll get some sort of blurry blob," Molnar said. "But if I know the incident angle of the light, I can triangulate back. So the question is how do you measure that?"
Few slides from Alyosha's group research site explain the principle:
The sensors have resolution of 150K pixels, but the increased resolution is promised. The latest sensors are implemented in 130nm 8M+1P CMOS process.
Aptina Global Shutter Whitepaper
Aptina published global shutter whitepaper explaining the basics of the technology and the important parameters. One of the graphs shows global shutter shrink progress:
. Trend in Rolling and Global Shutter Pixels (Source: K. Fife, A. El Gamal,
H.S. P. Wong, IISW, June 2009 and Aptina Imaging Corp.)
Teledyne DALSA Announces Flexible, Stretchable Image Sensor Technology
Teledyne DALSA announces it's in the design phase of a revolutionary, next generation image sensor to address a multitude of markets and benefit machine vision system designers from the factory floor to large scale OEMs. Expectations are that this latest chip will fully eclipse today's technology for general machine vision — especially for food and environmental inspection. The chip will be available in 3 resolutions, 1, 4 and 12 Megapixels with two primary pixel sizes – 5 and 25 µm. Starting with the base pixel, the sensor field-of-view can be adjusted to meet most requirements, covering a range of 5 –100µm pixel pitch.
As a result of the properties of the silicone, pixel size can be finely tuned by camera or module design, and based on the theoretical properties of the underlying technology we estimate pixel size could vary from 1 to 10x base. In addition, with the current state of the art we are expecting to demonstrate a 1-4x expansion ratio.
Pixelplus Reports Increase in Revenue, Profits
Korea IT Times: It appears that Pixelplus managed to survive the difficult times and now reports improvement in its revenues and profits. The company announced its 2011 revenue of 44.7 billion won, a 77% increase over 2010 and the highest number in its whole history. The net profits of 10.8 billion won were reported.
In the past Pixelplus struggled with the release of new products, underestimated the Chinese market and was sued on patent infringement by few other companies. "The sensational popularity of the new product in the market paved the road for the company to get back on its feet."
All the troubles have been left in the past. The company won all the seven patent lawsuits. In 2007 Pixelplus developed image sensor with integrated ISP for CCTV market. In 2008 Pixelplus started selling the new imagers in China. The company successfully returned to surplus in 2009. The sales revenue reversed the downward trend, growing from 17.5 billion won in 2009 to 25.3 billion won in 2010, then to 44.7 billion won in 2011, all this after sliding down from 38.9 billion won in 2005 to 26.6 billion won in 2006, 17.3 billion won in 2007, and 16.2 billion won in 2008.
"No one disputed that Pixelplus, a South Korean developer of CMOS image sensors for various consumer electronics applications, was breathing its last. However, the company has defeated all difficulties, and is now preparing to make a new legend."
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Teledyne DALSA Announces Flexible, Stretchable Ima...


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by Raashid Riza | January 17, 2015 · 2:19 pm
Sri Lanka Elections : The Muslim Vote
First published here for Groundviews.
Images have been making the rounds on facebook, with various hues and shades, highlighting the fact that the sixth executive President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena, won with the support of minority communities in Sri Lanka, whereas Mahinda Rajapakse, the last President obtained the votes of a majority of the majority. There is another image on facebook, that of a line drawing of a rabbit, requesting those who have time to go about colouring a map of Sri Lanka to induce racism, to colour the rabbit.
That is how much Sri Lankan society has been polarised over the last few weeks.
President Rajapakse was the clear front runner to win the elections in November 2014 when elections were called. The probability of him winning the elections kept thinning since then, when the General Secretary of his own party defected to the opposition to occupy the mantle that was the common opposition candidate. Come election eve, Mahinda Rajapaksa was still the favourite to win, albeit only just.
Never did I come across someone who whole heartedly committed to the fact that Mahinda would lose, even in the predominantly anti-regime circles that I move in. The most optimistic notion doing the rounds was that Maithripala had a very fair chance of winning, that optimism however was swiftly disqualified by that commonest of statements – should the unthinkable happen, the Rajapakses are so entrenched in their power politics, that they will never let go, and even if they did it would be after a bloodbath. Days before the elections, the prices of vegetables and other household commodities soared as a premonition soaked public stockpiled for the violence and curfew that was expected to eventuate.
The unthinkable happened, Rajapakse lost, he allegedly tried to use the military to create chaos, the army refused, and what ensued was probably the most peaceful elections and post election climate in my close to thirty year lifetime.
The Muslims and Tamils voted en masse for the opposition, particularly the Muslims. Not because they had faith in the opposition, but because the Rajapakses had to be deposed.
Under the Rajapakse's, Sri Lanka descended from a precarious political balance to an utterly damaged one. Media freedom was stifled and Sri Lanka went from being a benign smiling island nation to a surveillance state, with state of the art technology mustered to wage the war now being used to protect the power balance of the regime. Journalists were killed in broad daylight; media institutions and other organs of a functioning democracy were stifled at best or bullied to submission. Ostentatious construction projects were instituted, some meaningful, some not so – but the incentive behind many such projects were the fruits of corruption enjoyed by those involved.
Political appointees were common place, and many at the highest echelons of power could trace some link to the Rajapakse family. Sri Lanka's first female Chief Justice was impeached allegedly for blocking a project largely involving one of the Rajapakse brothers. The impeachment process itself was not moral and the very process reflected the tatters in which political decency lay, where it is rumoured that one of the loquacious ministers of the government addressed her derogatorily in Sinhala as 'baby'.
As a nation many felt that we had lost our spirit under the Rajapakses. As a people, we were being groomed to dislike the other, in a land which abrasively and wrongly claimed to be that belonging to just one race. Racism was allowed to thrive; indeed bureaucratic apparatuses were struggling to survive without it. Ministers and ministerial offspring were running amok and thugs in robes went about desecrating the sanctity of the noble philosophy that is Buddhism.
Corruption was so rampant that it became such a deeply ingrained and embedded element of our psyche. Indeed when one lives in abnormality for long enough, that which was once considered abnormal slowly yet firmly goes through a subtle metamorphosis to become normal. Decadence becomes so gradual that it happens without grazing the sensitivities of our collective consciences, and eats away at our soul.
The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), largely unrepresentative of the average Sri Lankan Buddhist wrought carnage upon the carefully evolved and preserved Sinhala-Muslim relationship. To the credit of the Muslims however, they have been astute to identify the BBS as a terror group and not of a representative wing of the majority Sinhala community. The BBS was out in the open, in its aggression towards Muslims, a country where law and order is considered sacrosanct would have no dilemma in having many of the BBS charged and punished. Instead, they were harnessed and even prospered under the watch of the last government. Among the reasons for their invincibility in the sight of many was their perceivably close relationship with the former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse.
Hundreds of properties and close to dozens of mosques were damaged, causing immense physical and emotional trauma upon a beleaguered and innocent Muslim community. It was, and as of today, continues to be a symbol of the decadence of our society that hate speech so easily spewed from the electronic mouths of many educated Sinhala youth under the watch and connivance of the state.
However in all this, Muslims must not, should not and should never be tricked to indulge in turgidity that this was a victory brought forth by the Muslims and other non-Sinhala ethnic groups.
Rajapakse had to go, and the people rose against him, and that is all.
Muslims should move beyond the parochialism that has plagued politics in recent decades, it didn't use to be this way; abnormality has once again come to be known as normal. It is understandable that circumstances pushed Muslim politicians down that path, but that time has now passed. Muslims should integrate- not necessarily with the Sinhalese or Tamils – but with all those who identify themselves as Sri Lankans, bar none.
I was amongst the tens, if not hundreds of thousands at the last rally by Maithripala Sirisena in Maradana of the Colombo Central electorate, and amongst the elated crowds at the Independence Square when the new President was sworn in. The former is a Muslim stronghold and the evergreen bastion of the opposition United National Party, the latter is a national treasure. Remarkable was the fact that in one instance, Sri Lankans rallied against the incumbent, and in another they rallied in support of the new incumbent, not as antagonistic warlords who had momentarily laid down their arms, but as a harmonious clutter of Sri Lankans of all shades, celebrating what they deserve.
Maithripala Sirisena's Presidency, or indeed his new government should not be considered better than the last unless they actively prove to be so. They have made promising new steps, but they have miles to walk. This new government has to be held accountable for all the steps they take, commended for the good they do and taken to task for the wrongs they do. Indeed never again should a regime as dastardly and corrupt as the last be allowed to surface to soak the founding principles of Sri Lankan society, one that still teaches 'values' in her schools.
This is not a victory by the Muslims or Tamils neither did the Sinhalese win with the help of their other racial counterparts.
In the oldest democracy in Asia, her peoples got together to depose what they thought was a representation of everything that isn't Sri Lankan, they did so to regain the Sri Lanka they know.
That is how it should be.
I am a Muslim, I voted for the winning candidate – it is against the grain of these sentiments to highlight that I voted in a Sinhalese, but I did and not just because there wasn't a suitable Muslim candidate. Together I am from the political majority, a majority that should embrace the minority to form a cohesive Sri Lanka, not monotonous as a people, but one people nonetheless.
Image from here.
Filed under 2015, politics, revolution, Sri Lanka
Tagged as 2015, Democracy, elections, muslim, politics, Power, president, Rajapaksa, Sirisena, sri lanka
by Raashid Riza | December 20, 2014 · 1:05 pm
Rajapaksa Using the Term Munafiq
President: You all know there are lot of "Munafiqs" among us. Don't be deceived by them.
— Mahinda Rajapaksa (@PresRajapaksa) December 20, 2014
What is this world coming to.
For those of you who don't know, 'Munafiq' is arabic for hypocrite, and in Muslim communities around the world, the word has more of a religious bearing than it has linguistic connotations.
Considering how detrimental and damaging to Muslims this current regime has been, I am inclined to question the sincerity of the religious faith of the smart Muslim PR chap who gave the President the word to be used, to sort of mollycoddle the Lankan Muslims to believe that he is one of them.
If anything it comes across as patronising as it can get. David Cameron using the term 'effing Tories' during the Scottish referendum campaign comes to mind.
I do wish the Muslims use their vote wisely come January the 8th. It is disgusting and sad to note how most Muslim politicians have behaved.
Tagged as David Cameron, elections, Mahinda, Munafiq, muslim, Muslim communities, president, PresPollSL, Rajapaksa, sri lanka
by Raashid Riza | April 1, 2009 · 2:42 pm
This just has to be seen!!
This is a photo from the 2009 American Inauguration, In which you can see IN FOCUS the face of each individual in the crowd !!!
You can scan, double click and zoom to any section of the crowd. Point out to any face, double click your mouse, wait few second, bingo…the focus will automatically adjust.
The picture was taken with a robotic camera at 1,474 megapixel. (295 times the standard 5 megapixel camera)
Now now dont be naughty, big brother is watching!
See the picture here.
Tagged as inauguration, megapixels, president, security
Commissions function like a visit to the toilet!
I remember reading this in a writing by the fifth columnist of the Sunday times, a friend of mine and i share this joke and we both have read this as may many of you out there.
Commisions in you know where, be it a presidents commission, a Bribery commission or any other commission, function like a visit to a toilet.
First- there is a sitting,
then – there is a waiting,
then – there is a little bit of deliberation.
and finally – they drop the matter!
Now you know why most of these commissions are futile cosmetic measure done to satisfy the parties involved!
Tagged as government, president