Wireless Technology Aids Crime Fighting

As wireless technology advances, so does its use by law enforcement and private citizens to combat crime. Information can be sent to police and among various officers as well as between departments to provide details to aid in the apprehension of perpetrators. This helps save lives and potentially stops a crime from happening.

Fighting Crime with the Use of Technology

With close to three quarters of a million cell phones in use around the world, the average citizen with one can become part of a global crime-fighting unit. Consider that about half of those cell phones have a camera built in, many with video capabilities. When someone witnesses a crime in progress, police no longer have to rely on their memory to gain a description of a suspect. The individual can take a picture of the perpetrator and transmit it their local 911 center, providing positive identification that can be transmitted to law enforcement on the street.

Video as a Solid Evidence Material

Videos taken of a crime in progress can also be used in most jurisdictions that can help convict criminals with proof that they actually committed the crime. It is difficult to prove innocence when a video is available to show the crime in progress. These images can also be shared with other law enforcement agencies in the event the person is involved in crimes in more than one location. They can be sent almost instantaneously to speed up the process.

Faster and More Efficient Filing of Reports

In the patrol car, most officers have the use of a computer into which they can enter reports. These reports are often sent wirelessly to their station showing up in the department’s records instantly. In the past the officer would wait until the end of their shift to go into the station, type up their reports and then file them before the information would be shared.

This could sometimes take a day or more before the information was available to other officers or to other departments. Today, wireless technology has reduced the time required for those same reports to show up, cutting down on the time required to share the information.

GPS Offers More Tools

Global positioning systems (GPS) have also provided law enforcement with more tools to help solve crimes as well as provide additional safety measures for the officers. Consider cases where an individual is placed on house arrest and the department can attach a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag on the individual. The RFID tag continually transmits information about the person’s location and if they stray from their restricted area, the police officers are notified. Their position is also transmitted allowing for a quick recovery.

Receiving Useful Text Information

Text information is also becoming a valuable resource for police and citizens alike. Individuals can opt in to receiving information about a wide range of emergency notifications, such as Amber Alerts, and a text message is sent out with all of the pertinent information. Connected to the emergency broadcast system, law enforcement as well as private citizens can be notified of many different types of emergencies, something they would not have been able to take advantage of a few short years ago.

Author Bio: The Article is contributed by John Smith, he is an exceptional writer and has immense knowledge of upcoming technology and gadgets, visit his site Aanbesteding politievoertuigen and Aanbesteding politie.

Converting Your Traffic

Converting Your Traffic

There is a huge amount of discussion going on among small businesses regarding how to drive more traffic to their websites. Everyone wants more visitors and it’s assumed that all traffic is equal. The trouble is that not all traffic is equal and a visitor is worthless if you can’t get them to actually convert into a paying customer. This is where many websites fail to capitalize on all that hard earned traffic. There are a few things you need to be aware of and steps you can take to ensure that a higher percentage of your visitors will convert into actual business for you. Remember, you want not only more traffic, but you want it to be very specific and relevant to the product or service you are offering.

Make It Easy-
The key to the web is that it’s easy to use and it’s fast. If your website doesn’t make it easy for customers to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily you will find most of the traffic bouncing away very quickly. It’s a good idea to have people outside of your company look at the site and tell you what they think about the usability and layout. Even if you disagree with what they say, these people think like your customers. There are also companies that will run user tests for you that will survey a small sample size of your current traffic to see what their overall thoughts are. This is a great opportunity to see what your customers think when they first come to your site.

A great way to decide if your site is easy enough is to look at how long your average visit is and determine if a customer can easily find the information they need and give you the info you need in this amount of time. If not, your average customer is not finding your website helpful.

Be a Good Guide-
The best way to help customers convert is to make sure that each step in the process guides them along to the next step. Your ads should give them a good reason to click or visit the website. The website landing page should guide the visitor towards the products they are looking for and each page should provide easy access to forms and contact info to lead the visitor towards taking the next step.

Test, Test, Test-
Take full advantage of your analytical software by testing different versions of ads, page content and page layouts. You can easily see which version of a page will move customers through to a conversion the best, then match those elements and tweak something new to retest. Just make sure your variations only have one element that is different. Otherwise there is no way to know which differences caused the increase in conversions.

Emily is a blogger and Internet marketer. She is also a contributing writer for Invesp, a company that helps clients improve their conversion optimization techniques by improving their landing page design in addition to other improvements to the site.

See the Advantages of Using LED Monitors

LED monitors have started to take over the LCD market. It is a newer technology and is a better choice for computer monitors. LCD monitors are manufactured using fluorescent lights while LED monitors are made with LED diodes. You will find a lot of advantages to using LED monitors such as:

Picture Quality

LED monitors are more superior in terms of picture quality, specifically in colour intensity as well as motion blurring. LCD has problems with motion blur – a situation where the image becomes hazy when there is a powerful movement on the screen. In addition, LED monitors have a higher contrast ratio as compared to LCD monitors. This is because LED uses blue, green and red diodes which blend the light in the correct ratio to achieve a realistic colour.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lge/5575721866/

In addition, LED monitors have a crisp contrast in dark colours. It diffuses the light of the corresponding diodes to make darker images. LCD monitors only try to block the light coming in by closing the pixels. In many instances, the light can leak through.

Longer Life Span

Fluorescent lights, which have a relatively shorter life, are used in LCD monitors. This depreciation can be noticed after about three to five years, when the display becomes a bit dimmer as compared to when you have first bought it. Once the problem shows, the deteriorated lights can’t be easily replaced. It means that when the lights fail, you might need to buy a new LCD monitor. A fluorescent bulb can have a life span of 10,000 hours while LED lights can last ten times more than that.

Energy Efficiency

LED monitors help save on energy as compared to their LCD counterparts for as much as 25%. This may not look significant but this is a very important number when it comes to businesses and offices using hundreds or even thousands of monitors.

Size

LED monitors are usually lighter and thinner as compared to LCD monitors. Fluorescent bulbs used in an LCD monitor are bigger, heavier and can make the monitor bulkier as compared to the materials used in LED monitors.

Larger Monitors

LED monitors can be large enough but will not take too much space on the working desk. This also means better visual quality for the user.

Lower Cost

LED monitors offer better and sharper colour reproduction as compared to LCD monitors. However, high quality doesn’t always necessarily mean that the product is more expensive. In fact, the production of LED monitors has been increased which makes them more affordable choices.

LED monitors are also used outdoors. Even the large monitors used in the exterior sides of tall buildings make use of LED technology. For a better choice of computer monitor, LED has all the advantages with the disadvantages often associated with LCD monitors.

Important Facts and Benefits You Need to Know About Ethernet Routers

At this point in time, most people have a computer or use them in some area of their lives. Whether you have a home system or a work computer that you use, having a network set up is very important if more than one person wants to log on at the same time. This is where a router comes in handy. Not sure what a router is or why/how to use one? Refer to these three frequently asked questions about the technology to learn more.

1. What is an Ethernet router?

An Ethernet router is a device that plugs into your Ethernet cable (the one that has the clear, square-ish plug on the end of it) and also plugs into your computer and modem. This device essentially splits the Internet signal that you get from the modem, sending it to the primary computer it is hooked up to, as well as other computers throughout the home or office.

2. What are the benefits of having a router?

A router is beneficial primarily because it makes it so more than one person can use a computer or Internet-enabled device at the same time. This can be useful in a home or office environment.

In a home environment, a router allows for the primary computer (the one attached to the modem) to get online for Internet browsing. If someone else in the house has a laptop or computer, they can also access the device by using an Ethernet cable.
Home users can also access the router-based Internet signal for gaming. With an Ethernet Broadband router, you may have to plug the gaming system into the router with a cord for Web access.

An office environment can also benefit from an Ethernet router—especially smaller offices. Several computers could be attached to an Ethernet router in order to share an Internet connection. This is especially handy if the computers are located in one “station” or area.
Libraries, stores and other businesses can also use this technology for easy Internet access.

3. How can I choose a router?

Choosing a router should depend mostly on how many computers will be using the same connection. If you have four or fewer computers/devices sharing, and they can all be located in the same area, a traditional Ethernet router is a good choice.
For those with several computers/devices spread throughout the home or office, a wireless router may be a better option.

There are many things Brian enjoys writing about, but one of his favorites is networking. If you’d like more information regarding Ethernet Router, please visit http://www.netgear.com/

How the GPS Tracker has Evolved Over the Years

GPS technology development began in 1973 with the intent to replace several other navigation systems the U.S. government had used in the past that didn’t live up to expectations. Many classified engineering studies went into the technology, which was created and implemented by the U.S. Department of Defense. The original GPS system ran on 24 satellites and became fully operational in 2004.

GPS Signals Weren’t Available to Civilians At First

At first, only the military could access the top quality GPS signals. This technology was used for a variety of military operations, such as tracking potential threats, guiding missiles and locating soldiers on the ground. Civilians only had access to signals that were intentionally downgraded. At this time, civilian GPS devices were extremely expensive and very inaccurate.

But in 1996 President Bill Clinton ordered such selective availability practices that limited accurate GPS signals to the military to be discontinued as of May 1, 2000. This new order made civilian GPS technology more accurate.

GPS Technology Began to Be Used During Conflicts

GPS technology had already come a long way, but there were still many other advancements that would take place. GPS devices were first used by the military in a war-time scenario during the Gulf War in 1990 and 1991.

At this time, GPS technology for civilians was still not very accurate, but that changed when Vice President Al Gore introduced plans to upgrade civilian signals in 1996.

GPS Trackers were Placed in Cell Phones

By this time, GPS was widely renowned as life-changing technology. While GPS devices were still very expensive, more and more Americans were realizing their value and many began to purchase them to use in their cars.

In 1998, GPS technology was honored with an induction into the Space Foundation Space Technology Hall of Fame. By 2004, a GPS tracker could be placed in cell phones, which was made even more accurate when a more modern GPS satellite began transmitting a second civilian signal in 2005.

The Sky’s the Limit When it Comes to GPS

Advancements in GPS technology continue to take place. GPS devices are cheaper, more accurate and more dependable now than they have ever been. New GPS satellites continue to be launched every year, further enhancing the performance of these devices we’ve come to rely on in our everyday lives.

Today GPS have become a extensive part of a most people’s lives, and this will only continue to grow not only within an individual but also within different sectors.

Now that you’ve gotten more information about the evolution of GPS technology, your next step should probably be learning more about the GPS tracker. Post written by guest blogger Jennifer Autry.

“App Hits” Provides Help For Finding What You Need In The iTunes App Store

If you have ever felt lost in your search among all the iPhone and iPad apps in the iTunes store, there is now an app for that. Searching and finding the top apps is as easy as downloading one app. Read on to find out more about an app called “App Hits” here in this short article.

An App To Help You Find Apps Has Arrived For iPhones and iPads

Life is short and searching for apps with your valuable time is not good way to spend it. Help is now here with an app from “HI Innovation LLC”. This group has an app with plenty of things to cut down on finding what you need for your iPhone or iPad. Searching is done in the logical categories of discounted, new, free, what is hot and the top 100 apps in the Apple app store. The goal of the app is to quickly find the newest and most popular apps.

“App Hits”  Shows Important App Data

This app has proven popular with iPad owners. The owner of “HI Innovation LLC” is Gordon Ching and states that iPad users have been flocking to the app. The user interface is laid out to be intuitive and easy to filter out the unwanted apps. Tapping on an app will show more information about that app. This means important statistics like price changes and latest rankings. The “App Hits” app updates every hour or so to bring up the most pertinent information on iTunes.

Special Features Make It Easier To Download

There are no errors with “App Hits”. All apps listed in this app are in the top 400 for their type. None of the “dud” apps will ever appear. Another thoughtful feature in this app is the ability to turn off images. Those on a 3G connection that may be near their monthly data threshold will appreciate the ability to be able to read up on iTunes apps without having to download large graphics files.

Share What You Like With This App

Gordon Ching also gave this app a social flavor. If someone happens to find the app of their dreams, they can tell their friends. Using email, Facebook or Twitter, the “App Hits” user can shoot off a quick update to tell the world what they downloaded and how much they liked it. All those who have iOS version 4.0 or later will be able to use this “app of apps” from “HI Innovation LLC”. It will also work on the iPod Touch. The price is very agreeable for this app. It is free.

Will you be interested to learn more on the writer? Kelly works for the marketing department of http://www.wish.co.uk where you can get some interesting ideas when it comes to choosing gifts for your loved ones.

Magento Makes PCI Compliance a Breeze

Magento Makes PCI Compliance a Breeze

I work as a web developer and SEO strategist at a internet development and marketing firm. Of all of the projects we see, 85% of them are for commerce sites. There are a few issues with making a commerce website; specifically, treading the fine line between an exceptional user experience and compliance with commerce laws.

Governing the world of the web is PCI compliance. These are guidelines that websites must adhere to so they are safe for users to browse and purchase from. These guidelines aim to lessen the amount of information stored on the company servers and provide more autonomy to the online customer.

One of the major issues is giving your customer the convenience of saving their credit card information on your site. According to the PCI guidelines, this is not allowed, and from a developer standpoint, having that data on the server leaves it vulnerable to hacking. What can you do as a Magento user to tread this line?

Authorize.net CIM

CIM stands for Customer Information Manager, and this $500 Magento extension makes PCI compliance an absolute breeze. The problem this solves is that if you store credit card information, you cannot be PCI compliant. What this extension does is add a tab to the back end of Magento for you to run transactions on saved credit cards while maintaining PCI Compliance.

How does this work? Put simply, what this extension does is take all of the credit card information added to your site’s payment fields and asks the user if they wish to save that information. If they elect to do so, the credit card information is sent to Authorize.net to store on their servers. All that your site gets in return is a Profile ID.

The profile ID is a calling card for your site to connect to Authorize.net’s servers and retrieve information. Credit card information, billing addresses, shipping addresses, and even previous orders can be included in this information. Your server pings Authorize.net, and they respond with this ID whenever an order is placed from that same user.

Easy to Install, Easier to Use

When you install this software, you instantly receive many benefits. First and foremost, the biggest hurdle for a company to overcome to gain PCI compliance is completely handled. Not only is all of the information on the Authorize.net servers, your site doesn’t even need to store the Profile ID locally.

Each time that Authorize.net is pinged, it returns all of this information in a way that is easy for Magento to handle, so no additional setup or maintenance is necessary. Most importantly, however, is the protection you gain from hackers.

Of all the sites we build and regularly maintain, not one has been spared from hacking or an attempt at hacking. Whether it be a PHP injection, or an AJAX flaw is exploited; thinking that a business site won’t be hacked is pure fantasy. With this extension though, even if they do hack the site, the most they can do is view inventory or login credentials. The only local information stored is the login email and password, and if they can even access previous order records, the most they can see is the Profile ID.

This way, no matter how many times you are hacked, you can merely restore the nightly backup without risking the loss of confidential information. For that reason alone, in my opinion, this extension is worth the money.

As my fellow developers say: “Sometimes, that amount of money is hard to justify. Is this extension code worth $500? No, probably not. Is it worth $500 dollars if it means the business owner can sleep well at night? You bet!”

Do you need this extension to have an effective and successful commerce website? Absolutely not; however, if you want to jump the hurdles necessary to become PCI compliant in the most quick and effective way possible this extension is for you. Any Magento Developer will be able to install this on the community edition of Magento, either 1.2 or 1.3.

Check out the extension here: http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/authorize-net-cim-customer-information-manager.html

Citations:

• Extension URL

Pete Wise is a White-Hat SEO Jedi who spends a lot of time creating useful content for the internet. This article was researched and written for Customer Paradigm, a company employing a team of expert magento developers. If you need help to upgrade magento, contact us! If you liked the article, please follow Pete on Twitter: @MySEOHeadache

The Newest iPhone Apps Worth Downloading

Some new games and apps have come to the rescue of iPhone owners. They look pretty spiffy and some are downright good looking. Get a closer look at the offerings here in this quick article.

Awesome Gameplay And Awesome Graphics

Infinity Blade II is the first in the list of new iPhone apps. This is a sword fight app with so many characters it will keep the iPhone player busy for hours if not longer. The graphics on Infinity Blade II are remarkable and make the gameplay much more enjoyable. Some of the enemy fighters are huge and will take special skill to get rid of. The game is one of the first to take advantage of the extra pixels of the retina screen. This makes for rich clarity and realistic scenery. The moral of the game is to break the cycle of tyranny, but there are plenty of monsters to defeat before that happens. This game builds on the last Infinity Blade game, but it is not required to begin with version two. This game is not the cheapest you will find in the iTunes store. It is $6.99 dollars.

The Chance To Make Your Voice Heard

After beating down your enemies with Infinity Blade II, you can relax with DailyModi. DailyModi is an iPhone app that is created for those who like rating things. It presents the user with new things every day to judge. This includes fashion, cars, design, or whatever else. It is designed with social networks in mind and the user can connect and update via twitter, pinterest, instagram and others. Images and text can be passed around and voted on. DailyModi calls this iPhone app a “daily inspiration” because they give you beatiful things to rate. Perhaps the best part of the app is the price. It is free.

The Retro Music App For iPhone

The AirCassette iPhone app is up next. This is an app that takes you back to the days of the cassette player. For those who do not remember it, that was back in the 70s and 80s, just before the CD player. The screen of the iPhone gets a big photo of a moving cassette tape. There are features that allow the music listener to see the amount of songs left on a “tape” by looking at the amount of tape left on the unwinding side of the image of the cassette. This is a social app. Songs or whole albums can be shared with friends on social networks. This will work on an iPad, but the tape graphic looks more realistic on small screens like the iPhone. It is not free. It will set the buyer back $1.99.

Will you be interested to learn more on the writer? This article has been written by Mandy Colley who specializes in everything related to tech and finance. You can have a look at her financial articles on topic such as payday loans by visiting her site paydayloans.co.uk.

The Pros and Cons of The LED TV

Selecting a new television can prove complicated due to the different varieties that are available in the market today. With the invention of the different versions of the LED TVs, the choice has become even tougher. This is because the LED TVs are similar to the LCD models with the main discrepancy being the backlights that are responsible for picture creation. There are various advantages of buying the LED TVs over the LCD which have been described here below:

Advantages of purchasing the LED TV

LED TVs differ from the traditional kind of fluorescent TV with each LED being able to project the picture to the screen and also being turned off at will. This creates a more superior picture quality and more defined images.

Size

One of the major benefits of the LED TV screen is its size. Unlike the LCD kind of panel that uses mercury in order to produce pictures, the space that is needed to hold the LED lights is very small which makes the LED TVs thinner and more stylish as compared to the LCD.

Environmentally Friendly

The LED TVs consume less power which makes them environmentally friendly. It utilizes up to seventy percent less power as compared to other systems. The fact that LED TVs use less power as compared to the plasma TVs and the LCD TVs is a major plus.

Selecting the Best

When selecting a specific TV to buy, the total amount of space should be considered. Another important element is the budget. Determine how much you want to spend on your new television.

Picture quality

The LED TV offers good picture quality. They have some of the finest colour saturation and contrast hence producing vibrant and real images.

Advanced technology

The technology of the LED TVs is more advanced as compared to that of other televisions such as the Plasma and the LCD. This technology comes in varying types that enhances the production of more realistic kind of shades. Due to this, brilliant shades, deep blacks and all shades are reproduced in more vivid and stunning details.

Thinner Size

The LED TVs are thin and this makes them have a sleek and stylish appearance. The outer layers of the LEDs are eliminated and positioned at the edges and the sides instead.

The main setback of LED TVs

The price tag is the main drawback of the LED TVs. There are more expensive as compared to its LCD and plasma counterparts.  However, many consumers feel that the extra outlay is well worth it.

Steve Cockerham is a father, parent and lover of gadgets who spends much of his time dealing with his mother’s technology based problems.  He hopes his quick guide will help technophobes like his mother decide whether an LED TV is right for them.

YouTube to mp3 converter

A visit to the website of YouTube to mp3 presents you with a new possibility; with their unique technology you can convert a YouTube video to a quality mp3 audio file.  This means that if you want to hear that catchy tune on YouTube later without watching it, this handy website will make it possible.

Based in Australia, this new website is making their service freely available to all on the Internet.  The basic use is simplicity itself: just enter the URL of your YouTube video in a box on their home page, press the convert video button, and a few moments later you are presented with links to either download the complete mp3 file or embed a link to the file on your webpage.  It couldn’t be easier.

Their website is attractive and understandable.  There are four basic tabs up top: Home, Help, About Us, and Press.  The Help page outlines the process and offers another place to convert your video.  The steps are easy.  First, find the video you’d like to convert on YouTube (http://youtube.com) and copy the URL of the vid.  (Simply highlight the address in the address bar of your browser and copy.)  Now return quickly to the website Help page, click inside the text box, and paste the copied URL there.  Now click the “Convert Video” button.  The website advises that the process can take from one to five minutes.  When done, you will be presented with a download link.  Click there to download to your hard drive.  Alternatively, you can click a “Link This mp3” link and be presented with code you can copy to link on your own webpage.

The About Us page shows the heart of this organization.  At the top of the page they state, “We are a completely free service and don’t plan to change that ever.”  In a time of constantly rising prices, this is a refreshing notice.  They go on to reiterate that the video conversion time will be from one to five minutes and further remind you that the download link will appear when the job is done.  The page then states that since they are in Australia, you will have access to the fastest possible download times.  They conclude by promising quick downloads.

But don’t take my word, go to YouTube to mp3 at http://www.youtube-to-mp3.com.au and convert your favorite YouTube video today!

Shon Siemonek owner of YouTube to mp3