A “broad beam” in satellite-based telemetry is a beam of radio waves that is focused on a large area of the Earth’s surface. Broad beams are commonly used to transmit data from an orbital satellite to a large number of ground-based receivers simultaneously. Broad beams are also used in satellite-based radar and GPS in order to view large areas of the Earth’s surface at one time. Broad beams typically require more power than spot beams, but provide a much wider coverage area and generally transmit the same amount of data. Read More

Acoustic impedance is a measurement of the speed of sound as it travels through a medium. It is very important in the study of acoustics because it can be used to determine the speed of sound as it travels through different objects and materials, such as rocks, walls, air, and water. By changing the experiment’s conditions, a user can measure a sound wave’s acoustic impedance and modify the wave to produce an ideal sound, a technique that is often used in music, construction, and even industrial environments. How Acoustic Impedance Read More

In the world of ubiquitous computing and internet connectedness there is always a real possibility of picking up malware or viruses. Antivirus software can help protect users from these threats through detection, scanning, and quarantine or deletion of whatever malware is found. There is a number of free solutions available if you don’t want to or can’t pay for such software. ClamAV Clam AntiVirus is a GPL anti-virus toolkit for Unix. The main purpose of ClamAV is the integration with mail servers (attachment scanning). ClamAV provides a flexible and scalable Read More

A permanent magnet (ferromagnet) is a material that produces a magnetic field. Permanent magnets are made from ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, and are created when the material is placed inside of a magnetic field. When the magnetic field is removed, the object remains magnetized. Permanent magnets have a permanent magnetic field and do not turn on and off like electromagnets do. Permanent magnets are the oldest type and are still used for a wide variety of applications today. How Permanent Magnets Work Permanent magnetization of a material involves its Read More

Tweak UI is a free Windows utility that can change how the Windows GUI (Graphical User Interface) looks and behaves. Tweak UI was first released as a component of PowerToys for Windows 95, but has since been upgraded for use with all versions of Windows, including Windows XP. Installing Tweak UI To begin, first download Tweak UI. The file you download will be called TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe. A dialog window will open asking you if you would like to run or save the file "TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe". If you choose to run it from Read More

Dielectric grease is a translucent substance used to seal electrical conductors in order to prevent dirt, dust, sand, and other foreign materials from sticking to the conductor and preventing it from transferring a current between the two contact points. Dielectric grease also blocks moisture, thereby preventing corrosion. How Dielectric Grease Works Dielectric grease is a translucent substance. Therefore, some light passes through it and causes distortion. Dielectric grease is usually gray in appearance and a 0.33 ounce bottle sells for $5. Dielectric grease insulates, lubricates, and protects hardware from foreign Read More

An air circulator is basically a fan. Although the term “air circulator” most often refers to an industrial fan that is used in a warehouse, factory, or office building, it can also refer to a regular household fan. Air circulators also refer to air conditioning units and other types of air cooling devices. They are designed to cool a room or area in very hot environments. For example, factories that have many people and machines often become hot very quickly. Likewise, homes can also become very hot due to so Read More

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a set of services that work and communicate with each other, in order to facilitate a task or process. These services or functions are independent of each other and of the infrastructure components that utilize them. SOA services are also not platform dependent. They can be used across platforms and technologies. Loose coupling of services SOA is based on the concept of loose coupling. In today’s ever expanding world of software services, it is difficult to build software systems from scratch. Instead, it is easier Read More

A Droid X is a Motorola smartphone that Verizon Wireless distributes throughout the Unites States, Mexico, and other overseas locations. The Droid X runs the Android operating system and has been distributed since July 2010. On May 19th, 2011, Motorola released the Droid X2, an upgraded version of the Droid X that uses the NVidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor. The Droid X and the Droid X2 both use a multi-touch capacitive touchscreen for input and include an internal 8 GB flash memory card for storage. These devices also support up Read More

NEBS (Network Equipment-Building System) is a standard for telephony equipment. NEBS was developed in the 1970's by Bell Labs (now Telcordia). Many equipment vendors build their equipment to NEBS standards, even when they do not intend for their equipment to be placed in a Central Office. Equipment vendors do this because compliance with the NEBS standards shows buyers that the equipment is well built. NEBS Standards NEBS is officially documented in a collection of Telcordia documents, including: GR-63-CORE Network Equipment-Building System (NEBS) Requirements: Physical Protection GR-1089-CORE Electromagnetic Compatibility and Electrical Read More