Bad, too bad for Wild Life Protection

Read this summation of an article in the Associated Press today,

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-wildlife-protection-board-has-many-trophy-hunters/ar-BBKj82K?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

In case you missed it, here is a gist.

"A review by The Associated Press of the backgrounds and social media posts of the 16 board members appointed by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke indicates they will agree with his position that the best way to protect critically threatened or endangered species is by encouraging wealthy Americans to shoot some of them.

One appointee co-owns a private New York hunting preserve with Trump's adult sons. The oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., drew the ire of animal rights activists after a 2011 photo emerged of him holding a bloody knife and the severed tail of an elephant he killed in Zimbabwe"

Here is a piece of twisted logic supporting hunting, employing more people.

"A licensed two-week African hunting safari can cost more than $50,000 per person, not including airfare, according to advertised rates. Advocates say money helps support habitat conservation and anti-poaching efforts in some of the world's poorest nations, and provides employment for local guides and porters.

If you missed this important post, read again:
https://hodentekplus.blogspot.com/2018/02/what-kind-of-person-are-you-doing.html

Are you shopping for your Home Automation? Read thid now

SmartCity, SmartHome, Smart... has entered out vocabulary in increasing frequency. Recently Home Automation has picked up a lot of traction with multiple players.

It is important to know how these automation products get their connectivity for control.

Some of the main connectivity options are:

Wi-Fi

Bluetooth

Insteon

UPB

Thread

Z-Wave

Zigbee

They all work with different protocols and platforms. One has to consider inter-operability while choosing one or the other. Cost, availability, ease of use and power consumption are also of concern.

Wi-Fi

It is widely used. Most homes have Wi-Fi routers and a wireless hub where they can connect to devices. Interference and bandwidth are the main issues as most people have already experienced. It is also high on power consumption. A real guzzler.

Read more here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11

Bluetooth

This has become very common as they are used in headphones, speakers and a number of other products.  Bandwidth-wise,

Wi-Fi>Bluetooth>Z-Wave/Zigbee

Consumption of power-wise it is better than Wi-Fi. The new Bluetooth low energy or BLE has greater range and capable of forming mesh network and not needing a hub. This clearly has winning points for home applications as it supports encryption as well.

More here:

https://www.bluetooth.com/

*Bluetooth Low Energy (LE)

*Bluetooth Basic Rate/Enhanced Data Rate (BR/EDR)

Insteon

Devices using Insteon use both Power lines as well as wireless increasing pathways and introducing redundancy. Insteon is X10 compatible which makes it easy for those using X10. It does not have a high learning curve and non-technical folk can use it.

Read more here:

https://www.insteon.com/google-home

Here is a comparison sheet for some of the connectivity technologies:

Universal Powerline Bus(UPB)

Universal Powerline Bus(UPB) is a replacement for X10 with superior reliability and range (mile plus range). The signal rides piggy back over the powerline reducing cost for separate control lines. Although it replaces X10, it is not compatible with it. It is also incompatible with newer technologies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. Lacking encryption, it is not as secure as wireless.

Read here are for more:

http://www.homeautomationinfo.com/Drupal/technology_upb

Z-Wave

 Z-Wave runs on 908.42 MHz. It is one of the most popular home automation protocols and does not interfere with your 2.4GHz band devices.  It is widely compatible with all Z-wave family of products. Compatible backwards and forwards. Setting up and using the devices are a breeze.

Read more here:

http://www.z-wave.com/

Zigbee

Very similar to Z-Wave.  There appears to be interoperability problems between Zigbee devices from different manufacturers.(https://www.electronichouse.com/smart-home/home-automation-protocols-what-technology-is-right-for-you/).

It is low cost, low power and can run on batteries. It uses the 802.15.4 Wireless protocol and uses mesh network structure. Zigbee 3.0 appears to be better for compatibility with Zigbee from others.

Read more here:

http://www.zigbee.org/what-is-zigbee/

Thread:

Thread is an open, IPv6-based, low-power, secure and future-proof mesh networking technology (6LoWPAN) for IoT products. The Personal Area Network Thread protocol specification is publicly available.

Images from TomsHardware site

Read here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/thread-mesh-networking-protocol-homes,29556.html

Post inspired by the various technology sites in the post 

Find if your computer / laptop / Windows Mobile Lumia support Windows Hello

If the device can recognize you, no need to get authenticated further, you are all in with Windows Hello.

In your computer,

Start | Settings

then go to,

Accounts | Sign-in Options

If it is supported you should find it there.

On a Dell Inspiron 7559 laptop it is not supported

as shown:

WindowsHello_1

The same instruction for Windows Mobile camera, Microsoft Lumia 950

WindowsHello_2

It is supported. Click Improve recognition and follow the instructions. Your iris will be scanned and saved. This is later compared with the iris the next time you switch on the phone. If it matches you are logged in automatically. If not, you will have to get in using PIN or password.

Does it work?

Yes and No. It has mechanical stability problems. If the camera is stationary and you approach with your eyes open to it, it may. In the hand held mode(vibration, shaking etc), it cannot. Very limited usefulness.

Mahindra's ROXOR mini jeep

Mahindra is a new comer to this segment of auto by introducing its Mahindra Roxor and it surely looks  cute. Mahindra is not really a new comer to autos. Mahindra built Willy Jeeps under license after WWII.

 

Source: https://www.jeep.com/history/1940s.html

This next is directly from Mahindra site here.

 "Seven decades in the making, our history began in India assembling rugged off-road vehicles under license from Willys. Vehicle production has continued since the 1940s while also building one of the world’s largest tractor brands. Other internationally known vehicles such as MM 540, THAR, Bolero, and Scorpio have established Mahindra as a maker of tough, durable, no nonsense vehicles.fr. And now ROXOR bursts onto the off-road scene in North America"

Watch this video:

 Mahindra is going into Electric Vehicles as well via REVA, already running in Indian roads. This small profile is ideally suited to Indian conditions.

https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/reva-electric-car-10882914848.html

Visiting Vatican City; the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain

September 23 

Our group went out in the morning to tour Vatican; the Pantheon; Trevi Fountain etc. We had visited Rome on a previous tour and had spent considerable time including attending an opera. We took a break.

These are some of the pictures taken by our tour members

From Raymond Austin’s collection on his share:

The famous Pieta by Michael Angelo

Baldacchino and Bernini’s Cattedra Altar (in the center)

The Cupola of the Cathedral

Looking at Bernini’s Baldacchino from under the Cupola

Vatican military, the Swiss Guards.

Recruits are unmarried Swiss Catholic males between 19 and 30 years of age. Oh!

They must have served in Swiss armed forces.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontifical_Swiss_Guard

Fig.10

The Façade of the Cathedral (made of travertine). St. Peter’s Square with statue of St. Peter on the left. The central window is where the Pope extends his blessings during Easter and Christmas.

Scenes from the Interior of Pantheon (above).

Our group in the Interior of Pantheon

From Al Kehew’s collection on Pinterest.

Raphael’s Fresco: Expulsion of Heliodorus from the temple (1511-1513)

Center is the priest and he is looking at the Menorah. The man on the horse is driving out Heliodorus.

‘The School of Athens’ FRESCO by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Rafael (1483-1520))

Michael Angelo’s Pieta at St. Peter’s Basilica (in Carrara marble). It has Michael Angelo’s signature.

Read the incident related to its dis-figuration by an Australian of Hungarian descent (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietà_(Michelangelo).

St. Peter’s Square

The Pantheon (for all gods), a former Roman temple commissioned by Agrippa (original one 27 BC-14 AD). Presently re-purposed as a church and used in weddings.

The central OCULUS brings in the light to the inside. It is made of unreinforced concrete and one of its kind. Our group in front of the Pantheon in the Piazza della Rotunda.

There is a side street near Pantheon where I had the best coffee and gelato shop close by which your find in most guide books.

Fig.25

In the interior of the Pantheon.

Fig.26

In the interior of the Pantheon.

Fig.27

Close-up of Trevi Fountain

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) Oceanus at the Trevi Fountain

As We did not join the group and went on our own and visited the nearby Spanish Steps (circa 1723) made famous by the ‘Holiday in Rome’ movie. We did visit Spanish Steps on our previous trip but decided to spend some time there today and looking to eat the highly recommended artichoke dish famous in Rome called the ‘Carciofi alla Guidia’ aka Jewish artichoke. Unfortunately, they were out of season.

Here is a picture of the dish from this site (https://www.thespruce.com/carciofi-alla-giudia-roman-jewish-artichoke-recipe-2017775)

As expected there was a huge crowd at the Spanish Steps and the morning sun was very strong. The last time we were there we had approached it from the bottom of the steps (Piazza di Spagna) and this time the route from our hotel brought us to the top of the steps near the Trinita dei Monti (French, Gothic) church at the top. The church predates the 137 famous steps. The Obelisk in front of the church is a Roman construction which was re-erected here from its previous location in Gardens of Sallust.

We had our lunch at Numbs Piazza Di Spagna as there were only few restaurants that served early lunch. The food was mediocre. We returned and took rest as I was not feeling too well with my throat stuffed up. In the evening we had dinner at La Pentolaccia in via Flavia 38. The dinner was good and price reasonable. The server by mistake charged twice for the same dish which he later corrected with an apology. The Tiramisu was superb according to my wife.

Tomorrow we all go and visit the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.