A downhole transducer goes through extreme environmental stress when it is deployed into an underground environment. This means that it needs to be specially designed to withstand the rigors placed on it. Here are a few examples of the environmental factors that require specialized transducers:

Pressure: The purpose of a downhole pressure transducer is to take readings of gas and liquid pressures below the Earth’s surface. Depending on what is being measured and how deep it is underground, these pressures can be quite substantial. There will likely also be a maximum operating pressure that a sensor can take before it is unable to function.

Temperature extremes: Depending on its usage, a downhole temperature probe can be exposed to a range of temperatures from 40 degrees below or lower to well over 400 degrees for extended periods of time. In fact, the temperatures that a probe goes through in one locate can fluctuate wildly as well. Some applications such as measuring well bore fluid temperature in oil tools, engine in-line fluid or air/gas temperature sensing can require the ability to measure temperatures more than 300 degrees below zero or over 500 degrees.

A multiport serial card is installed in on the ISA or PCI bus of a PC. The card is helpful to the user because it provides many serial ports in the place of one, and so many computer users now use numerous external devices, such as video cameras, digital cameras, and scanners. Additionally, others use work-related equipment such as video-editing applications, faxes, or special printers for desktop publishing. At one time, serial cards were mainly used for connecting up many modems to serial ports. Today, several modems can now be built into an internal card. For this reason, multiport serial cards are not used as commonly as they were before.

Each multiport card has a number of external connecters (DB-25 or RJ45) so that one may connect up a number of devices (modems, terminals, etc.). Each such physical device would then be connected to its own serial port. It then requires a USB serial adapter.  There are dozens of different serial ports and adapters that can be used for various applications. For example, a video splitter requires one set, but a scanner or fax would require an entirely different set unique to those machines.

Finally, because there is limited space on the external-facing part of the card, sometimes there is not enough space to hold all the serial port connectors. In this case, the connectors may be on the ends of cables that extend from the card. Or, they can be on an external box that is connected by a cable to a multiport card.

Article written by MacXcess

One of the ways that many non-gamers have come to recognize gaming PC is by the case.  While not all computers configured for gaming can be so identified, there are quite a few models that sport far flashier cases than one normally finds on more mainstream computers designed for everyday workloads.  In particular, companies like Digital Storm that focus solely on building gaming computers tend to offer cases with eye-catching features such as clear panels and accent lighting.

One important thing to note is that these cases are more than just flashy. They are also built to be functional.  While you’re generally getting the best of the best when you order custom gaming computers, the specs might not be good enough for the hottest games down the road. The cases are thus generally built to allow for easy expansion. They also have to provide ample cooling for the high-end components.

The thrill of having a sleek new laptop can quickly change to regret when a disappointed owner realizes that the new computer lacks a standard serial port. There is an easy solution though! The user can purchase a serial card that will provide a standard DB9 serial port for nearly any laptop. (As with all electronic products, before making a purchase, confirm with the manufacturer to be sure the product will work with your laptop.) An example of this type of card is the PCMCIA Serial Card. Most laptops today come with a USB Serial Port, but there is no set solution to connect a CNC machine via a laptop using this USB technology. Ideally, users need a USB Serial adapter that works under Windows 2000 and XP.

An ideal solution is using a RS-232 serial PCMCIA card. These can work with any laptop to add additional ports for various portable systems. They function like standard COM ports and can be left in the computer at all times. The small size and the fact that the card itself can be left inside the computer at all times is convenient and practical for use with portable systems. To connect a laptop to any CNC, purchase a PCMCIA card along with an RS232 extension cable. Many users wonder how an RS232 connector can be soldered to an USB extension cable—but the differences in design between RS232 and USB technologies don’t yet allow for this.

The Internet has changed the way the many people experience entertainment. One of the many popular additions to our lives is the advent of free radio stations that are streamed online. This allows listeners to experience a much wider range of music than they would hear on their local radio waves, as well as giving them the ability to find very specialized stations that better cater to their tastes. However, things haven’t been entirely smooth for Internet radio, particularly in terms of royalty fees.

Radio stations that stream over the Internet have never been the most profitable business plan. Many are actually labors of love for the owners. These stations were able to exist because the from 1998 to 2005, the royalty rate was only $0.000768 per song. However, in May of 2007, the United States Copyright Royalty Board approved a rate increase for royalties paid to stream music online. This decision is currently under appeal, as it would force the closure of a large number of stations, or at the very least a major upheaval of their business plan. According to the revises rates, the owners of affected stations would be required to pay as much as $2.3 billion in royalties this year. This number is actually four times the amount that traditional radio stations pay in royalties.

One plan that some stations are opting for is to switch to broadcasting from foreign territories that are outside of the jurisdiction of US Copyright law. In order to protest the proposed royalty rate changes, many online radio stations participated in a Day of Silence on June 26, shutting down their broadcast for the day. A bill known as the Internet Radio Equality Act has been proposed and has already been introduced to both the House of Representatives and the Senate. There are currently over a hundred co-sponsors in Congress.

Newcomers to interactive entertainment inevitably want to know how video games differ from computer games.
Industry pro Seamus Blackley offers a musical analogy: ”Think of console games as rock videos and PC games as symphonies.
”If you look at the kind of games that are successful on consoles, it’s an incredibly high-speed, adrenaline-rush experience, like Ridge Racer or Tony Hawk Pro Skater. Read more

Avisit to the local computer game store has been a disturbing experience of late. Never mind the predictable brutality and gore of the games. Here’s the really creepy part: Fewer and fewer of the latest titles will run on a PC.

The explosive success of Sony’s Playstation 2 gaming platform, and the less spectacular but sizable demand for Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s GameCube, has recast the computer gaming market. PC users find themselves feeling a little bit like owners of Apple Macintosh computers. For years, many popular games were issued exclusively for the PC, with the few exceptions appearing in Mac versions long after PC owners had tired of them. Now it’s PC users who sit with twitching fingers, waiting for PC versions of hot titles like the renowned action game Halo, presently available only on the Xbox. Read more