Home PC Research Articles

E-Voting as a New Form of Civic Participation in Democratic Procedures

Times are changing. The second half of the 19th century and the following years stood for rapid development of various tools based on electricity. Expansion of telecommunication and progress of electronic media constitute important elements of this period. It may be said, we now live in the Internet era, and there is a perception that anyone who does not jump on the technology bandwagon is going to be left far behind. The growth of online interactions can be observed by the inconceivable increase in the number of people with home PC and Internet access.

Vision tests for the home PC: Test validation and results from a lutein supplementation trial

Vision tests for the home PC: Test validation and results from a lutein supplementation trial

DEVELOPMENT AND SIMULATIONS OF AIRCRAFT GUIDANCE SYSTEM USING A 3–DEGREE‐OF‐FREEDOM POINT MASS MODEL

Numerical simulations play an essential role in the development and testing of navigation and guidance algorithms, especially when developer must keep the development costs as low as possible. Low budget development focuses mainly on utilization of numerical flight mechanics simulators including optimization and hardware in loop tests. Reliable, high fidelity results can be easily obtained by numerical simulations of flight dynamics utilizing computing power provided by a normal off‐the‐shelf home PC. However, it still requires a simple, but good and valid model of the aircraft and environment. This paper describes an approach to a numerical simulation of aircraft motion that respects the requirement for a full environment high fidelity model and keeps a good interface for further development of attitude control. The goal is achieved by directly specifying the aerodynamic angles of the vehicle in the simulation environment by the guidance system, which can later be used as input for attitude control algorithms. It is proved how an appropriate selection of reference frames and formulation of laws of motion gives very quick and reliable results by employing large integration time steps that would be difficult to achieve in 6–degree‐of‐freedom simulations. This paper also investigates the range of applicability, advantages, and drawbacks of this method. An example of an aerodynamic angle‐based guidance law for a UAV is explained and demonstrated by figures. Santrauka Straipsnyje pateiktas lektuvo slenkamojo judesio dinamikos modeliavimo efektyvus ir patikimas metodas. Ivedus konkrečias koordinačiu sistemas, šiuo metodu galima nustatyti aerodinaminius duomenis ir greičio atskaitos sistema. Tai ypač naudinga modeliuojant skrydžio valdymo ir navigacijos algoritmus, nes čia nebūtini visi aerodinaminiai duomenys. Šis metodas ir jo pritaikymas iliustruojamas BSA valdymo pavyzdžiu.

Serials indexing: from journals to databases

The user pool for these publications is vast, with access varying from professional-mediated searching to search-engine keyword searching by individuals at their home PC - just one consideration to be borne in mind during the indexing process, a process which differs in many aspects from back-of-the-book indexing. For example, terminology that develops over time needs to be cross-referenced in detail. Locators have to include year or volume number. Indexing of journal articles for databases requires the use of controlled vocabularies and thesauri. Newspaper indexes may include reference to columns, individual sections and different editions. And the cumulation of serials indexes needs careful management if consistency is to be maintained, something which may militate against interim indexing through the year, although this does have advantages. Negotiation of staged payments is acceptable. An experienced serials indexer helps you through the maze.

Optimizing the sound pressure levels at low frequency limits of electrodynamic loudspeakers

This paper focuses on reproducible low frequency ranges of electrodynamic loudspeaker drivers. The research findings lead to a guide that allows the optimal driver to be selected at the early stages of the design when the consumer electronic products such as home theater systems, digital TVs or PC speakers are being considered. The suggested frequency ranges are based on the acoustics and estimated from statistical data from 1,473 loudspeaker drivers of various sizes. In particular, the lower frequency limit is discussed together with the peak volume displacement which is closely related to the maximum reproducible sound pressure in a loudspeaker.

使用済み携帯電話およびパーソナルコンピュータに含まれるレアメタル量の推計とそのインパクト評価

The amounts discarded laptop PC for home and business use from 1989-2025, desktop PC for home and business use from 1989-2025, mobile phone from 1991-2025 and PHS (handy phone system) from 1996-2025 have been estimated using population balance model. It is found that the discarded amounts of home PC are still increasing after 2010, while that increase rates in case of mobile phone and PHS are slight. The amounts of elements in all the discarded products have been estimated too using literatures and measured values. The impacts of the elements are discussed based on the comparison with domestic demands, the values weighted by total materials requirement (TMR) and the elemental concentration in the products normalized by that in crude ore.

M-Government Services Initiatives in Oman

An international association advancing the multidisciplinary study of informing systems. Founded in 1998, the Informing Science Institute (ISI) is a global community of academics shaping the future of informing science.

Home media atomizer: remote sharing of home content - without semi-trusted proxies

This paper proposes a solution that allows home hosted content, located on home PCs or UPnP media servers, to be offered to remote clients, for consumption. The system is based on a proxy residing on the home network that exports the multimedia content to a Web syndication feed following the Atom protocol, which is then accessed from compatible remote clients. A prototype of the system was built, with the proxy functionality implemented on a home PC and the remote clients running on mobile phones. Special attention has been paid to the social aspects of content sharing, for allowing the home owner to also invite other external users to remotely access specific, home-based media containers, with very simple and secure device configuration.

Technical Notes and Tips: DIY Laparoscopic Kit

With the on-going reduction of junior doctors' hours, surgical trainees find it ever more difficult to establish their laparoscopic skills. Basic surgical skills' courses have, typically, only 1 h dedicated to laparoscopic practice on simulators. Commercial laparoscopic kits are prohibitively costly. We suggest that this BioStatIT DIY Laparoscopic KitCCC (BDLKCCC; Fig. 1) is ideal for home laparoscopic training. By introducing trainees to two-dimensional spatial learning, important laparoscopic skills such as dissection, cutting, suturing and knot-tying can be practised. It is simple to assemble, safe, and has a relatively low cost (£25 for a night-vision camera and £2 for a plastic box). The plastic box is turned facing downwards and a night-vision camera is connected on the inner surface of the bucket. Camera cables can then be connected to a home television, PC or laptop. Trainees can seek decommissioned laparoscopic instruments from their operating department or surgical equipment representatives. A dedicated website ( ) has been developed for further free information and guidance to its use. Figure 1 The BioSTatIT DIY laparoscopic kit.

.NET하에서의 웹인터폰 응용에 대한 연구

웹인터폰(WebInterphone)은 Web과 Interphone의 임시 합성어이며, 웹인터폰 시스템은 호출자와 피호출자가 같은 장소에 있어야만 하는 인터폰의 단점을 보완하고 확장성을 높인 .NET 환경하에서 개발한 새로운 HW/SW 통합 솔루션이다. 웹인터폰 시스템은 웹인터폰과 가정의 PC를 인터넷과 연결하여 집주인의 위치에 상관없이 메신저를 통해 집주인과 방문객과의 실시간 커뮤니케이션을 가능하게 한다. 여기서는 웹인터폰 시스템의 구성과 작동 프로세스를 보인다. WebInterphone is a temporary composite word made with a Web and a Interphone, and the WebInterphone system has been developed as a new ahrdware/software solution under the .NET environment to remove the drawback of a Interphone which is used only if a host and a visitor should be in same place. In the WebInterphone system, a WebInterphone is connected to a home PC which is also connected to Internet such that a host and a visitor could have a real time communications even though nobody is at home. In this paper, the structure of the WebInterphone system and its operation process are discussed.

Assessing the security perceptions of personal Internet users

Personal Internet users are increasingly finding themselves exposed to security threats during their use of home PC systems. However, concern can be raised about users' awareness of these problems, and the extent to which they are consequently protected and equipped to deal with incidents they may encounter. This paper presents results from a survey of 415 home users to assess their perceptions of security issues, and their attitudes towards the use of related safeguards. The findings reveal that although there is a high degree of confidence at a surface level, with respondents claiming to be aware of the threats and utilising many of the relevant safeguards, a deeper inspection suggests that there are several areas in which desirable knowledge and understanding are lacking. Although many of the problems were predictably acute amongst novice users, there were also notable shortcomings amongst users who considered themselves to have advanced levels of computing experience.

Securing the home worker

A recent study of 1000 teleworkers in 10 countries, commissioned by Cisco, showed that one in five allows friends, family and others to use their work PC to access the Internet. Now is the time to pull stray remote workers back into the security fold. The Cisco survey exposed further horrors: 25% of remote workers said they open unknown emails when using work devices - although the majority claimed to be 'cognisant' of security issues when teleworking, they admitted behaviour that totally contradicted the assertion. Loose security habits of remote workers can be devastating. A laptop infected at home can bring down all the PCs on the network when re-connected, and can take days to recover from. We explore the problems of securing remote workers from two angles, in separate articles: the 'people' side, and the technical side. For the latter, VPNs are not always the best option to provide remote access capabilities: they may be creating unintentional back doors into the corporate network for hackers. Most people owning a home PC also use it for work. Also, the majority of companies now have part of their staff working from home on a regular basis. Security awareness amongst these remote workers is often worryingly low.

On-line Services in India: A Market Analysis

Unlike the on-line service providers in the USA or Western Europe, the growth of the on-line service providers in India has started tapering off. Major factors affecting the growth of Internet access in India have been partial deregulation of the telecom sector as opposed to complete liberalization, poor telecom infrastructure, a narrower home PC base, a high level of price sensitivity among the target audience, and a lack of effective exploitation of the on-line services for delivering content. For these reasons private sector service providers are slowly becoming marginalized in India. Any emerging country which wants to exploit this medium successfully needs to keep these constraints in mind while planning for the future.

Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Processes and European Climate (COAPEC): Improved Understanding of the Coupled Climate System

COAPEC (http://coapec.nerc.ac.uk/) is a five-year Directed Science Programme funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). COAPEC is providing advances in understanding the mechanisms by which the ocean and atmosphere interact, how these processes are represented in state-of-the-art numerical climate models and how they determine the predictability of the climate system over seasonal-decadal timescales. Processes studied include the generation and propagation of salinity and heat anomalies in the North Atlantic, the influence of the thermohaline circulation and the role of storm tracks on European Climate. The influence of remote processes, including ocean-atmosphere coupling in tropical Atlantic warm events and Southern Ocean circulation are also being investigated. As part of the programme, new coupled models are being developed, including: a coupled hybrid isopycnic coordinate model; fast models for multi-ensemble runs to investigate model parameters space, using both high performance machines and spare home PC resources; a QG model to investigate high resolution ocean processes in coupled systems and validated ice models for coupled modelling. Underpinning research into improving the observational datasets, such as the SOC flux climatology, and into the influence of sea-ice observations in General Circulation Models is also being carried out as part of the programme. To place these advances into a socially relevant context, COAPEC is also investigating the methods for using, and economic benefits of, climate forecasts at seasonal timescales for the UK health sector and the UK energy industry.

Access to Computer Technologies at Home Improves Wages in the Marketplace

This study suggests that having access to a computer and the Internet at home leads to better wages. We normally have the idea that people with higher wages have computers and Internet access at home. But with declining prices of home PCs and the increasing importance of Internet, this no longer seems to be the case. The new owners of PC today are considerably poorer and less educated than in the past. People with access to a PC and Internet at home appear to earn 8.6% more than their counterpart. This result seems to suggest that University policies requiring students seeking professional degrees like MBA to own a laptop or Home PC has merit and this policy could be extended to cover undergraduate students also. Universities could also provide dial-in-server access to their recent graduates for a specified period of time to boost their placement statistics.

Native command queuing - advanced performance in desktop storage

This paper describes a new key feature of SATA standard, native command queuing (NCQ). This feature is specific to the SATA interface but is similar in some ways to other reordering protocols developed for the small computer system interface (SCSI). Building a queue is the first component of this protocol. The drive must know when it receives a command whether it should queue the command or whether it should execute that command immediately. NCQ uses a new command protocol with new command opcodes that allows the device to know whether a command can be queued. Thus NCQ is more beneficial to the home PC environment, providing the storage subsystem with better performance for today's end-user requirements as media accessibility and the use of multiple applications simultaneously becomes a more commonplace event in the digital home.

Climate modelling for all

Simulating the world's climate used to be the exclusive preserve of the supercomputer - not any more. Thousands of home PC users around the world are helping to advance our understanding of global warming.

OPERATING SYSTEM PRICES IN THE HOME PC MARKET*

Because the demand for OS is a derived demand revealed through the demand for PCs and because its elasticity is relatively small, the profit-maximizing price of DOS/WIN that would result from a static equilibrium is much higher than the observed price. We investigate this assertion empirically by fitting a differentiated-products model of the home PC market to panel data of all PC brands sold in the G7 countries over the period 1995–1999. The results confirm that the low value of the aggregate elasticity of demand for PCs is the result of differentiation and substitution among PCs.

Make mine a double [Linux/Windows dual-boot system

This article describes one PC user's quest to create a Linux/Windows dual-boot system on a home PC, and describes the advantages and difficulties of installing Linux SuSE 9.1 and Windows XP together.

Xbox security issues and forensic recovery methodology (utilising Linux)

Though marketed as a games console, the Xbox internals demonstrate that it is more comparable to a legacy free PC than to the construction of any of its gaming system rivals. Once exploited the Xbox can be used to execute illegal software and/or to run Linux installations – hence allowing such a system to be used as any home PC with full email and Internet access. The console can then be used to harbour indecent images, illegal software, fraudulent documents or anything else that a standard PC might. Mod chips and exploits of the Xbox are not only easy to execute, requiring little technical knowledge, but they are also inexpensive; some Xbox mod chips cost less than a new game. Furthermore, the digital evidence and evidence trails associated with such a system are similar to those of home PCs. This paper presents a methodology of assessing an Xbox system's evidential value and the methodology of extracting and examining a console should it be deemed of potential forensic value.