Most home networks are cobbled together without a lot of forethought about which devices are used to create it. For most, the decision is basically to use whatever their service provider shipped in a cardboard box. Whether they're going for wireless or wired, homeowners often haven't thought through their options. For Mac-using homes, however, the options for a home network are pretty easy, though not exactly always straightforward. So what if someone wanted to build an all-Apple home wireless network from the ground up?

First of all, you should know that the initial cost of an Apple home network isn't the cheapest way to go. Whenever there's an Apple product, you can usually find a similar product that costs quite a bit less. Why Apple, then? Apple products come with legendary ease-of-use and tend to be very reliable.

So, starting with the router: Newer Internet service contracts come with the option to get a wireless router sold or rented by the service provider to the homeowner. Cable comes with a cable modem, DSL with a DSL modem, etc., and newer technologies like Verizon's  FiOS or ClearWire's WiMax come with their own built-in router systems that will broadcast an 802.11-based wireless network.

This is the cheapest way to go, and they pretty much all let you create an 802.11g (fast and new) or 802.11n (faster and newer, up to 5 times faster than 802.11g) wireless network. 802.11b or 802.11a, by the way, are older wireless network specs, but they are still used often.

Almost all the WiFi  routers supplied by ISPs let you attach a different WiFi router to it, letting you simply run the ISP's unit as a wired router. The point is, in setting up your all-Apple network, you'll keep this initial router and use it as your front-line connection to the service provider's Internet pipe. You just won't bother using the built-in WiFi function.

In the Apple world, the WiFi decision really comes down to two base units: an AirPort Extreme or a Time Capsule.

The Extreme vs. Time Capsule
The AirPort Extreme is basically an 802.11n router that's also compatible with 802.11a/b/g networks. The Time Capsule is essentially the same thing, but it includes a built-in hard drive that's created specifically to be used with Apple's Mac OS X-based Time Machine backup solution. But first, the benefits of both units:

Either choice will let you attach an external USB hard drive that anyone on your home network will be able to connect to. This is handy for sharing, storing and backing up files, as well as storing shared iPhoto libraries and the like. If you attach a printer to either unit, you can also enable each Mac in your house to wirelessly connect to the printer and use it for printing. The security and setup is very similar, and the key difference is in setting up Time Machine to use the Time Capsule's disk. (Of course, there are some workarounds and networking gymnastics that experienced pros can implement, but this article is geared for home network newbies that want to stay on the beaten path.)

The Airport Extreme and Time Capsules are also compatible with PCs, so just because you're going all-Apple, it doesn't mean you've got to be an Apple bigot to your PC-lovin' friends.

What's really nice about Apple's "WiFi-plus-external-hard-drive-plus-external-printer" set of options is the series' easy-to-understand walkthrough screens that Apple directs users through as they set up their home networks. A program called "AirPort Disk Utility" gives you the setup options. For instance, you can make a connected hard drive available whenever you connect to your network, or set up password-protected accounts, or allow read-only access to specific files or folders. One word of caution, though: Some USB hard drives (sold by third parties) will power down and go to sleep. What's this mean? Occasionally a drive won't appear to be available ... but it's just sleeping. This isn't exactly Apple's fault, and while it saves on power and drive life, it can be irritating. Some drives will require you to push a button to wake it up. This is one reason, by the way, that the AirPort Extreme doesn't immediately support  wireless Time Machine backups. The Time Capsule, for instance, can wake up its internal hard drive all by itself.

Enter the Airport Express
As if two primary WiFi choices weren't enough, Apple also offers the AirPort Express. This little 802.11n WiFi wonder fits in the palm of your hand and has enough power to run a home network, but it also excels on the road -- take it to a hotel or friend's house, and you can use it to create or extend a wireless network. It's quite handy, but it's also largely unnecessary for most Mac-based households.

Still, it does let you connect to an AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule to stream music from your iTunes-based playlist, which is sitting somewhere on your Mac in your home but is not directly connected to your stereo or speaker system. Say you've got an iMac in your kitchen, and you want to listen to music in your garage. Simply place an AirPort Express in your garage and plug in some speakers. Now the playlists on your iMac can stream to the garage -- or bathroom or wherever you want to put the AirPort Express.

But Wait, It's Way Cooler Than That
If you've got an iPhone or iPod touch -- and odds are, if you want an Apple-based network, you do have one of these touchscreen devices -- you can download a free Remote application from the Apple iTunes App Store. The Remote app lets you choose which iTunes-based library you want to play songs from, and it then lets you choose which speakers you want to stream songs to. The Remote app lets you browse music and movies in Apple's "coverflow" menu system, as well as control the volume of the songs.

But can you just connect your iPod or iPhone to external speakers around your house? You bet. While an AirPort Express is sort of portable, it's not as portable as an iPhone or iPod touch -- and you can't take an AirPort Express to the beach (unless you're home is on beach front property). Still, you've got the option to use it as a streaming music device or extender for a shared wireless printer.

More Decisions?
Apple's three WiFi products will also broadcast in 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequencies. Why is this important? If a close neighbor already has a WiFi network running on one of those frequencies -- or you have phones or baby monitors running on those frequencies -- you can direct your primary WiFi traffic to the unused frequency. It can get even more complicated. What if you have an old Mac laptop that has an old and slow 802.11b wireless card, but you also have newer Macs or PCs that run with 802.11g or 802.11n wireless cards?

The AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule will let you run in mixed modes that accept all traffic, but it can also limit you to the least common denominator of traffic, meaning your Time Capsule might be limited to slower speeds. For most Internet browsing, this doesn't matter, but when your Time Capsule is backing up your Macs via Time Machine and downloading a movie via iTunes, you want your wireless traffic flying invisibly through your home at the fast 802.11n speeds.

Fortunately, Apple provides a PDF-based guide, "Designing AirPort Networks Using AirPort Utility," that can help novices set up more complicated networks that, for example, help you keep a faster WiFi signal for newer Macs while running a slower channel for older Macs or PCs.

Enter the Apple TV
To extend your Mac experience to the living room's HDTV, the Apple TV is the device of choice. It's basically a souped-up media extender. It connects to a Mac (or PC) via iTunes, which is the application that lets you choose which movies, television shows, podcasts, songs, and photos you want to either store directly on your Apple TV's built-in hard drive or stream over your wireless network from a connected Mac to the Apple TV ... and onto your HDTV's glorious screen.

So how do you connect the Apple TV?

It's easy. Connect it via HDMI or component cables to your television, then plug the power cord in. There's no on or off switch, so it just starts up. Follow the on-screen prompts to connect to your AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule -- you need your network name and password -- and boom, you're off and running. The next step is to pair the Apple TV with an iTunes library on your Mac or PC, and that basically entails opening iTunes and running back and forth through your house from your Mac to your living room while you fetch and input a code number. It's not hard, but it does prevent your Apple TV from attaching to your neighbor's iTunes library.

While you're at it, if you're an Apple fan, you can input your iTunes account information and use your Apple TV to buy or rent movies and TV shows -- no getting off the couch required.

As previously mentioned, the iPod touch and iPhone can run the free Apple Remote application. This cool app can also be used with an Apple TV -- and it uses your wireless home network to communicate.

The iPod touch and iPhone, however, don't communicate wirelessly with your Mac or PC ... syncing is still done via a USB cord. Still, you can download apps from Apple's app store, using your WiFi network, without going through a Mac first.

Back to Time Machine
Once your Time Capsule is set up and you connect to your wireless network, Mac OS X will prompt you to set up Time Machine to use the Time Capsule and start backing up.

Generally, you'll want to set up the first backup to run overnight, and while you can do it wirelessly, some people choose to string an Ethernet cord between the Mac and the Time Capsule for optimum speed. Any way you cut it, it takes hours to move 200 GB of data. Once you complete the initial backup, Time Machine automatically reaches out to the Time Capsule and sends over any new or changed data from your Mac.

In conclusion, Apple users who want to network their homes with Mac products have plenty of options at their disposal. An Airport Extreme can serve as the wireless hub, or a Time Capsule can act as both a router and a repository of backup data. From there, you can add Macs, an Apple TV, an Airport Express, an iPhone, an iPod touch, and plenty of cross-device functionality for slinging media and data from room to room.

Is chucking a soda can in the trash an unforgivable sin? That depends who you ask: You'll find plenty of people on both sides of the great recycling debate, each equally convinced the other side is ill-informed. The truth is that opponents and proponents alike often rely on facts that are outdated, oversimplified or simply untrue. We tackle five of the biggest myths about recycling. For more, check out the December issue of Popular Mechanics.

1. We have to recycle because we're running out of landfill space.

That was the rallying cry for recycling advocates back in the 1980s, when the Mobro 4000 garbage barge wandered up and down the East Coast searching for a place to dump its moldering load. It's a bit of a red herring, though. After all, we have pretty much unlimited space to dump garbage—if we're willing. In practice, for every town that refuses permission to build a landfill, there's often another town eager for the revenues that a landfill site can bring.

According to the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA), the United States has about 20 years of disposal capacity left in existing landfills. There are, however, places where space is getting tight: Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, North Carolina, New Hampshire and Rhode Island all have less than five years capacity, and the northeastern part of the country in general has the least available landfill space.

These regional variations point to a different motivation for the "recycle to save landfill space" argument. The average tipping fee at landfills in the Northeast region, according to the most recent NSWMA figures, is over $70 a ton, compared to a national average of just $34. In other words, even if the scarcity of landfill space turns out not to be a strong environmental argument for recycling, there can be powerful economic incentives to reduce landfill intake.

2. The trucks that collect recycling burn more energy and produce more pollution than recycling saves.

Collecting recyclables isn't cheap—it eats up about 50 to 60 percent of the budget of a typical curbside recycling program, according to Lori Scozzafava of the Solid Waste Association of North America. And the trucks burn gas and emit pollution as they go. That said, "You're going to collect waste one way or another," points out Jeff Morris, a Washington-based environmental consultant. A recycling program should allow garbage collection to become less frequent (or to use fewer trucks), offsetting the cost and energy involved. Plus, new truck designs can collect both recycling and garbage (at different times), avoiding the huge capital expense of an extra fleet. They can also self-dump specially designed bins, saving time and manpower.

But all that turns out to be pretty much irrelevant to the question of whether recycling makes environmental sense. Scientists have conducted hundreds of "life-cycle analyses" to compare recycling with other options like landfill and incineration, following the entire chain of events from the manufacture of a product (using either virgin or recycled materials) to its disposal. The dominant factor in virtually every case is the enormous amount of energy required to turn raw materials into metals and plastics compared to the energy needed to reprocess products that already exist.

A study by Morris found that it takes 10.4 million Btu to manufacture products from a ton of recyclables, compared to 23.3 million Btu for virgin materials. In contrast, the total energy for collecting, hauling and processing a ton of recyclables adds up to just 0.9 million Btu. The bottom line: We don't need to worry that recycling trucks are doing more harm than good.

3. Thanks to the sky-high prices of raw materials, cities are getting rich by selling recyclables.

In the past year, prices for almost every kind of recyclable have hit record highs, sparking a frenzy of activity in the recycling industry. "If you're wondering where all the used-car salesmen have gone, they're rushing into recycling," says Jerry Powell, an industry veteran who edits Resource Recycling magazine. That translates to profits for many players—in fact, Powell says, "if you can't make money in recycling right now, you should get out of the business."

Unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean that your local city council is getting a cut of the action. "Some cities are still locked in unfavorable long-term contracts and paying tipping fees," says Ed Skernolis of the National Recycling Council. That means that these cities have to pay to collect and sort their curbside recycling—and then pay someone to take away these now-valuable materials instead of being paid for them.

Given how much the price of recyclables has fluctuated in the past, these contracts made sense for cities when they were signed: Locking in costs allows municipalities to budget properly. But now, global contracts ensure a large fraction of U.S. recycling ships to China, so the recycling market has less volatility as well as higher prices. As municipal recycling contracts come up for renewal, cities like Chicago are finally able to turn their piles of cans, bottles and newspapers into a stable revenue stream.

4. All the paper, plastic, metal and glass dumped in recycling bins has to be painstakingly (and expensively) sorted by hand.

When municipal recycling was first catching on in the 1980s, it wasn't clear how carefully people would sort their recyclables. "Some towns used to have a dozen different boxes for different types of bottles, cans and so on," recalls Richard Porter, a University of Michigan economics professor who authored The Economics of Waste. Not everyone was eager to devote that much effort to sorting up front—but it was either that or pay people to do it by hand at the end of the line, which was prohibitively expensive.

These days, processors are beginning to move toward "single-stream" material recovery facilities, which allow homeowners to dump all their recycling in one bin and rely on machines to do the dirty work. According to Eileen Berenyi, a consultant who studies solid waste management, the number of single-stream facilities in the U.S. jumped from 70 in 2001 to 160 in 2007.

Such state-of-the-art facilities now feature magnets to attract steel, eddy currents to deflect aluminum, infrared spectrometers to identify different types of plastics, and a host of other sorting technologies. These plants are expensive, so they only make sense if 100 to 200 tons of recyclables are being processed daily, and they still require some human sorters to oversee the process. But the collection costs of picking up a single bin, rather than multiple ones, are much lower—and because it's easy for homeowners, the recycling rates are higher—so the overall economics of mechanized sorting pays off.

5. Most of the plastic put in recycling bins ends up in the garbage.

This one is true now, but changing quickly. Sorting plastics is tricky for recycling processors. Bottles can't be separated out with a magnet; small pieces like coffee-cup lids get flattened and mixed into paper bales; bags get caught in the spinning disks of sorting equipment, forcing frequent shut-downs. Trying to decode the recycling numbers on plastic products is also a pain for consumers.

As a result, it's true that most of the plastic we use does end up in landfill sites. Less than 1 percent of polystyrene containers (e.g. yogurt pots) are recycled, and even well-established recyclables like PET (e.g. soft-drink bottles) end up in the trash more than two-thirds of the time. But the problem isn't that recycling programs are dumping recyclable plastic into the trash—it's that they don't accept the plastics in the first place.

That problem is on the way out, though. This spring, San Francisco announced that its pioneering recycling program would begin accepting all rigid plastic, including anything from yogurt pots and clamshell containers to plastic toys and buckets. Other cities are also expanding the range of plastics they accept. New technology makes this feasible: Optical sorters use infrared light to instantly identify the chemical composition of a container, then a puff of air directs it into the right pile.

Recyclers also have to find a market for plastics once they're sorted—and that's starting to happen, too. San Francisco recently signed a deal to sell rigid 5-gal buckets, common in construction, to a company that will turn them into artificial lumber for landscaping.
Article taken from MSNBC.

What are the important factors you should consider before buying your HDTV? Richard Runion from besthdtvreview.com wrote an article: How To Select The Best HD TV To Buy. In the article, you'll find the ways to recognize these factors, and also helps you identify the brand and the model that would best serve your needs.

This is the right time to do so, if you’re thinking of buying a HD TV. A HD TV or high-definition television uses the digital signals broadcast by television networks and stations. As a result it delivers quality image with CD sound that results is every bit as good as a 35mm movie, with CD sound quality.

Connectivity is a factor to be considered before you make a buying decision. Can you have multiple hookups connected directly to your HD TV without special equipment? A HD TV usually has multiple HDMI inputs and at least one PC input. Some are equipped with as many as 4 HDMI inputs. A rooftop antenna that is compatible with HD TV is worth buying, and in the case of a satellite system, one that’s designed for use with HD TV.

What kind of sound package do you want with your home theater system? This could prove to be one of the trickiest components to deal with. Most HD TVs are equipped with great sound quality and are compatible for connection with home theater systems.
There are various types of HD TVs.

One is HD-ready; it displays standard-definition programs on its own, but needs a digital cable/satellite box to get other digital channels.

Another is integrated HD TV which has an ASTC digital tuner built in and, if connected to a roof antenna, it doesn’t require additional equipment.

A third type, Digital Cable Ready DCR-or plug-and-play, can plug a digital card from a cable/ satellite company directly into TV. HD TV-ready sets get their high-definition images either from an external source like a cable box or a satellite receiver, or from a separate digital tuner (these start around $350) that you hook up to an antenna.

There are several levels of HD resolution; 1080p is the high end. The vast majority of HD content, including cable and broadcast programming, will be below1080p for years to come. Normally 720p is acceptable.

An anti-reflective screen is the best option, shiny screens, under normal lighting, will reflect. As far as screen size is concerned consider the recommended distance of viewing before splurging on 84-inch set.

Is your HD TV small enough to be moved? If not, don’t try to move it. Trying to move could cause severe injury to your back, neck, shoulders or legs, as well as compromise the unit itself.

Never move, mount or install your HD TV on your own; let a professional technician do it, for you. That way, you can prevent it from getting damaged in transit.

Richard J. Runion is the President of Geostar Publishing & Services LLC. Rich loves net research & blogging. His new blog on Best HDTV is fast becoming popular, as it is comprehensive and well-researched.

Article from http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Runion http://EzineArticles.com/?How-To-Select-The-Best-HD-TV-To-Buy&id=828907

One of the sweetest perks of a new car payment is the latest technology and convenience options available with your new machine. But you don’t need to buy a new car to get the flashiest new functions. In fact, for the cost of a few loan installments, you can add nearly any craved-for electronic feature to your current machine. From GPS to Satelite Radio, you can get them all. For complete article, visit here: http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=657578&topart=utes

Don't dump the stuff you don't want anymore! Here are 22 cool ideas on what to do with your castoffs. From your electronics to your old carpet. Remember, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Switched Digital Video (SDV) technologies provide an excellent, long-term approach that is helping cable operators keep up the pace with expanding High Definition TV and super-high-speed data services, reports In-Stat. SDV is a new technology that distributes video more efficiently over cable TV coaxial lines, the high-tech market research firm says. SDV will enable cable operators to better compete with rivals in digital broadcast satellite and telco TV.

"Initial deployments will create a strong market for upgrades, which will become dominant in 2012," says Gerry Kaufhold, In-Stat analyst. "The strategic key to success for vendors will be winning early deployments, because follow-on upgrades will be lucrative. World-class professional services, staff training, and the ability to remotely monitor and repair SDV installations will be the winning formula."

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• The market for SDV equipment, software, and services is expected to grow from about US$165 million during 2008, up to more than US$1 billion in 2012.
• North America will be the biggest market, with Asia coming on strong later.
• Large cable TV systems will drive early growth for SDV.
• Medium cable TV systems will become an important segment as early as 2009.
• Even small cable TV systems will turn to SDV in large numbers after 2010.
  

Recent In-Stat research covers the worldwide market for SDV. This report is the first to offer a complete "bottoms-up" market model, estimating the annual costs for new and upgraded Switched Digital Video installations, the number of large, medium, and small headends expected to use SDV, and the annual value of the SDV market in four geographic regions. Cable TV operators, equipment vendors, telco TV (IPTV) operators, and satellite services should all purchase this report because they need to see how the market will develop.

This research is part of In-Stat’s Multimedia Broadband Infrastructure service. TV networks and Pay-TV services are now in a race against the broadband Internet and wireless services to be the preferred provider of digital television. Each industry’s infrastructure has its own unique blend of capabilities to exploit and obstacles to overcome. Addressable Advertising is becoming a vital link in the chain to assure that the TV industry can continue to move forward, even if the value of monthly subscriptions begins to erode.

In-Stat’s MBI service covers the big picture, showing how competing service providers are upgrading their infrastructures, their workflows, and extending their delivery capabilities across wired and wireless "final mile" networks. MBI provides estimates for the actual number of facilities that will be likely to purchase equipment, software, or services, and gives forecasts for the value of equipment, software and services that will be needed to make personalized TV the killer application of the future. The service also provides detailed survey information from potential customers of these emerging digital television opportunities to help subscribers understand end-user markets motivations.

Article taken from: www.communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/110/29841

Buying new gadget is always interesting and exciting, but it also can be tricky. You can always google the electronic review and find thousands of information, but it can be overwhelming, especially if you do not know what to look for. If you are not too familiar with the latest technology of the gadget you are planning to buy, it is advisable to do extensive research before deciding on what to buy. So, if you are in the mood of reading, you can always do a background research about the specs and know how important or unimportant it is for you. There are a lot of websites, like ConsumerReports.org that provides testing result, survey responses, and review of electronics. If you are not into reading hi-tech terms and prefer to get review from regular people, ReviewCentre.com is a good place to go. Lastly, if you are a person type, meaning that you are more comfortable speaking with people than reading a review, you can always go to your closest electronic store, like Best Buy and Circuit City, and ask for help on what type and brand of the gadget is the most suitable for you. You do not have to buy the item there, but the consultation is free there.

Everyone loves free stuff and many people search the net just to check the free stuff. Yes there are lot of resources, links and information scattered around, but the most difficult task is to dig out the information from it. Many sites which sell their products offer some free stuff to attract the customers. It is similar to hanging the banner 'sale' or 'buy one get one free' to increase the sales.

Tutorials.com sells online courses and tutorials. It offers few of the tutorials and how to guides FREE of cost. Here are some of the free tutorials availabe there: Learn2 Adjust a Bicycle (To Fit You) Learn2 Adjust the Sound on Your Computer Learn2 Apply Eyeliner Learn2 Appreciate Beer Learn2 Appreciate Cheese Learn2 Appreciate Gourmet Mushrooms Learn2 Attach Speakers to Your Computer Learn2 Attract Butterflies Learn2 Avoid Frostbite Learn2 Avoid Home Burglary Learn2 Avoid Junk Mail and more.

I hope this information is useful.