DVD Format

DVDs use MPEG-2 compression to record the moving pictures (25-29 frames per second). Audio can be in a variety of formats including PCM, DTS, MP2 or AC3. PAL players require at least one of PCM, MP2 or AC3 formats. DVDs can contain more than one channel of audio to go with the video.

Some DVD players will also play raw mpg files, these are "unauthored" and lack the file and header structure that defined DVD VIDEO. Audio, video and so forth are multiplexed into VOB (Video Object) container format. EVO stands for Enhanced VOB.

Math co-processors

1980s - co-processors for floating pointing arithmetic became common, popular with purchases of CAD software. Intel and Weitek were producers of math-coprocessor hardware. By 1990s, most CPU designs had FPUs built into the main chip basically "for free".

What is a TIFF file?

TIFF = Tagged Image File Format, developed by Aldus Systems, now known as Adobe.

Casio School Calculators

The CASIO fx-series are a host of school calculators running of 1.5V DC battery. They have an associated education website as well. It implements a feature called "Natural Display" so you see equations (with brackets, powers etc) as if they are written on the page. To achieve this, the fx-series has a slightly "taller" LCD screen than some other calculators.

What is ATA or IDE drive? What is ATAPI? What is DVI?

They mean the same thing. ATA stands for "AT Attachment" and IDE stands for "Integrated Drive Electronics", interface used to connect hard disks and optical disks to the PC. Compared to SCSI interface, IDE is more economical. ATAPI is ATA for peripherals like CD-ROM.

DVI stands for Digital Video Interface; it's a video interface standard.

What is 800Mhz FSB?

FSB is the FRONT SIDE BUS. You will typically have computer speed quoted as i) main processor speed (e.g. 2.4Ghz), plus ii) FSB speed (e.g. 800Mhz). The FSB is the bus (or communication channel) that carries data between the CPU and the Northbridge. The "Northbrige" connects to video card and RAM and "Southbridge" deals with APM, USB, real-time clock etc.

Northbridge plays a role in overclocking - basically running an electronic component at a higher clock rate than the manufacturer designed it for. The frequency of the northbridge is used as a baseline for CPU to establish its own operating frequency.

Doing Business in the UK

Corporation tax is tax on the taxable profits of limited companies. Taxable profits for Corporation tax purposes include:

* profits from taxable income such as trading profits and investment profits (except dividend income which is taxed differently)

* capital gains (known as "chargeable gains" for Corporation tax purposes). CGT is 18%.

If you are liable for corptax you need to a) inform HMRC, b) file a tax return on time. There are different rules depending on whether company is active or dormant.

What are EEV standards?

EEV stands for "enhanced environmentally FRIENDLY" vehicle. Emissions standards take into account Co2, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide emissions.

Firex Smoke Alarms

Firex brand smoke alarms are the best selling among contractors in the electrical wholesale market - they are AC powered with battery backup.
Electrical wholesalers include e.g. QVS and Wilts.

What is quad band?

Quad band refers to mobile phones which support 4 frequency bands, to allow global roaming.

GSM initially started in Europe with 2 frequency bands: one in 900MHz range and 1800 MHz. When GSM technology crossed into America, two extra frequencies were allocated (since the existing European frequency bands were already allocated to devices by the FCC).

GSM pioneered SMS (Short Message Service) or "text messaging" which has become incoporated into other mobile standards as well.

The Art of the Ethernet

Imagine you have two laptops, one with a working Ethernet configuration, call this laptop A, the other with an Ethernet connection which has "limited or no connectivity", call it laptop B (B for "bad").

To get B working, do ipconfig /all on A, which will return the TCP/IP configuration for all adapters (such as Ethernet adapter for Bluetooth, Wireless LAN Adapter, Ethernet adapter for LAN connection, Tunnel adapter LAN and so forth).

Pay special attention to DHCP and DNS server configurations.

Note on some Vista machines/accounts you may not be able to ping: "unable to contact IP driver error code 5" indicates this problem.

Basting

Baste has many meanings.

One is to to moisten (e.g. meat) periodically with a liquid, such as melted butter or sauce, especially while cooking.

Another is to beat vigorously, thrash.

The Different Kinds of Coffee

Espresso - concentrated coffee. Its prepared by FORCING hot water under pressure through finely ground coffee. It has very concentrated flavour. Consequently, espresso is used a base for other coffees, like latte, capuccino, macchiato and mocha. Shots of espresso are created by espresso machine. Espresso with brandy is called "carajillo" ("Little Kid").

1. Americano is a coffee made by adding hot water to espresso. It is a "watered down" espresso.

2. Latte is espresso with steamed milk.

3. Cappucino is like latte with less milk and more foam.

4. Mocha is one third espresso, two thirds steamed milk, and blended with chocolate. It is named after the town called al-Mocha in Yemen. The coffee-chocolate mixture was developed by Europeans.

5. Macchiato - sometimes known as "espresso macchiato", is an espresso with a small amount of hot, foamed milk.

Buying a Yacht

Yacht-builder Azimuth, based in Turin, Italy (on the banks of the Po River) has some new models for 2009. Check them out here. Azimuth also owns Benetti, an Italian luxury ship-building company.

YachtWorld has some profiles of boats for sale.

Hulls are often constructed from fiberglass, i.e. extremely fine fibers of glass. It originated under the trade name Fiberglas, which has become a genericised trademark, much like "xerox".

Virtual IP (VIP)

An IP address NOT connected to a specific computer or Network interface card (NIC) on a computer. Incoming packets are sent to the VIP address, but all packets travel through real network interfaces.

Removing Mildew Stains in Bathroom

You will need:

Gloves
Bleach
Water
Old toothbrush

Running an air conditioner will help remove mould or mildew.

Lime - natural antiseptic that inhibits growth of mould.

Must tackle symptoms but also eradicate cause -> i.e. good ventilation.

Bathroom Taps

A variety of bathroon taps are manufactured by Bristan.

They come in contemporary and traditional styles. Contemporary includes Compass, Aqueous, Chill, Tabrize and Arctic. Traditional includes Renaissance, 1901 bathroom, Art Deco, Fairfax, Colonial, Regency.

Antibiotics

Permethrin

Permethrin is a synthetically produced insecticide and insect repellent. It generally has low mammalian toxicity and is poorly absorbed by skin. Its stereochemistry (study of the spatial arrangement of atoms within molecules) is documented on wikipedia.

Energy Efficient Light Bulbs (CFLs)

CFLs = small fluorescent lamps that fit into standard light sockets. More efficient at converting electricity into light. Can last up to 10 times longer than traditional bulbs. Contains a small amount of mercury to generate light efficiently.

CFL = compact fluorescent lamp

What is DDR and DDR2 Ram?

DDR and DDR2 are incompatible specifications for RAM (DDR= double/dual data rate). DDR2 is faster (more bits per second), lower voltage. Initially Intel came out with DDR2 hardware closely followed by AMD. Already DDR3 is out but uptake has been limited due to high cost.

All DDRx RAM architectures are forms of SDRAM (synchronous dynamic RAM), i.e. DRAM with a synchronous interface. The "dynamic" aspect of this kind of RAM is due to data being stored on capacitors which eventually lose charge, so this memory is constantly being reused. It's a computer's short-term memory.