Save Energy Go green

Not with envy, but kindness to the environment, and alertness to your electricity bills

You leave your PC on all day. But you care for the environment, so you switch off the monitor. Good move, but did you know you are still wasting about 45 Watts with the CPU running?

That’s what Tufts University’s Climate Initiative says. And it also says that if you leave your PC on for the entire day, 850-1500 pounds of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere a year. And this means that you need 60-300 trees to absorb that much CO2 in a year.

That does get you thinking doesn’t it! Now, all that noise about climate change because of our insensitivity to the environment starts to make sense. We cut down trees, we waste electricity, we replace cellphones and gadgets with the latest ones, without bothering about what really happens to the old ones. While there could be debates on how much all this really impacts our environment, most of us know intuitively that what we are doing mindlessly is really not right, and is likely to have negative repercussions.

That is why the world over, the word Green is becoming red hot. Green computing is in. This means that you start to use computing resources efficiently. It’s not just about being good to Mother Nature, but also being able to save a lot of money being spent on electricity. For companies that have thousands and thousands of computers running, datacenters keeping their businesses up and running, all this can add to a huge fortune. In fact, going green is now gaining so much momentum that those companies which do not have green computing initiatives are seen as enemies of the environment.

So how does it matter to you? You might have one PC and a laptop at home, in addition to the multiple electronic devices you run. And you might even be considering another PC for the little one. Think if you really need all those PCs. Buy only if you have to. While buying, remember that laptops consume less power, so it could be wiser to go the portable way. Or if you need to look at a PC, opt for monitors that consume less power. LCD monitors need much less power than CRT ones. Look for Energy Star ratings and save energy.

Explore the power saving options of your PC and customize them to suit the way you work. If you often go away from your PC for a long time, you can set the monitor and hard disk to be switched off after a few minutes of no-activity.

To dispose old PCs and gadgets, get in touch with NGOs working in this area and figure out the best way to do so. Or if you own a branded PC or gadget, get in touch with the company and ask how this e-waste can be managed. Most computer vendors and cellphone makers have Green initiatives on, so you might get some help.

These are still early days for green initiatives for companies in India. But if you and I make a start, the rest will fall in place.

LabVIEW the new emerging tool

LabVIEW is a powerfull tool developed by NATIONAL INSTRUMENS having many new features….

Increase Throughput with Parallel Test test engineers use LabVIEW, multicore processors, and new bus technologies to create high-performance test systems capable of parallel processing, parallel measurements, and even parallel test on the production floor. Connect to Any Instrument, Any Sensor, Any Bus Built-in I/O and communication libraries in LabVIEW provide native connectivity to any instrument, sensor, bus, or software interface to simplify integration of these components into your test applications.

Boeing Uses LabVIEW to Develop a Low-Cost Test System LabVIEW software and NI hardware helped a single Boeing developer create a high-channel-count, synchronized test system in only six months to measure the effectiveness of new commercial jetliner designs in reducing noise during flight.

Acquire Measurements from Any Sensor, Any Bus LabVIEW may be used to create a fully functional measurement application with analysis and a custom user interface using a variety of PCI- and USB-based data acquisition hardware. Measure in Minutes with LabVIEW and the DAQ Assistant LabVIEW uses the interactive DAQ Assistant and high-level functions to combine the flexibility and scalability of traditional programming languages and the ease of use of configuration-based data acquisition tools.
Acquire, Analyze, and Present Data Quickly with Express VIs to develop a powerful DAQ application that includes advanced analysis and a custom user interface. See how tasks that would take several lines of code in traditional programming languages are interactively configured with Express VIs in LabVIEW.

Use LabVIEW to Program the Next-Generation PLC Industrial engineers pushing the boundaries of controller technology can use LabVIEW graphical programming and programmable automation controllers (PACs) to combine PC functionality with programmable logic controller (PLC) reliability. Add Advanced Analysis to Your PLC Add advanced analysis, signal processing, decision making, and debugging diagnostics to an existing PLC-based industrial application with LabVIEW and OPC connectivity.

Simplify Embedded Development with Graphical System Design Discover how LabVIEW graphical system design software provides domain experts with high-level tools, such as statecharts, to design and implement their systems on off-the-shelf hardware. Get to Market Faster with LabVIEW and COTS Hardware LabVIEW graphical programming and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware help design teams get products to market faster by accelerating every stage of development – from the earliest stages of design and simulation to prototyping the system with real-world signals and deploying to a chosen processor target.
Prototype and Deploy a Custom Controller with LabVIEWDrivven used LabVIEW and COTS prototyping hardware to quickly develop custom IP for an FPGA-based engine control unit (ECU) in a high-performance motorcycle engine.

Control Industrial Machinery Remotely with LabVIEW Nexans uses LabVIEW and NI reconfigurable embedded hardware to control the hydraulic systems on a remotely operated underwater excavator that prepares the ocean floor for a pipeline to extract natural gas.

Combine Graphical and Textual Programming to Reduce Design Time Reduce embedded design time by using a LabVIEW graphical system design approach to combine the traditionally separate tasks of theoretical design and prototyping. Choose between graphical and textual programming throughout the process. Choose the Software Preferred by Students for Signal Processing Professor Mark Yoder, Ph.D., recently transitioned the signal processing course at Rose-Hulman from The MathWorks, Inc. MATLAB® software to LabVIEW software. Dr. Yoder’s research later showed that students prefer LabVIEW as a learning tool by a 3 to 1 margin. MATLAB® is a registered trademark of The MathWorks, Inc.

Students Use LabVIEW to Create Segway-Inspired Machine A senior design team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute used LabVIEW to develop a two-wheeled robotic locomotion platform inspired by the Segway Human Transporter. With LabVIEW software and NI hardware, the students could use one platform throughout the project.

source: www.ni.com

Care for your lappy

Clean your laptop periodically to keep it dust-free and running smoothly.

You bought a new laptop a few months ago, and it’s already looking dirty. Besides outside layer of dirt that is visible on the body of the laptop, there is also probably unimaginable amount of dust accumulated inside the keypad and these may affect the life of your laptop. This may also leave scratch marks on the screen, hamper display or affect important functions of the laptop. However, before launching on a laptop cleaning frenzy, you should learn the proper way to clean the laptop and know what products to use and what not.

It is always a good idea to read the user’s manual that came with your laptop to familiarise yourself with your laptop and to learn the cleaning procedures recommended by the company. Clean your laptop once a year but if your laptop is mostly in a dusty environment more often than not, you may want to clean it every few months.

First of get all the things you are going to need together. These are compressed air, cotton, cleaning solution and a soft cotton cloth. Don’t use harsh chemicals or any product that uses ammonia on the laptop. For the cotton cloth, you can use an old clean t-shirt.

Start with the exterior of the laptop. Gently wipe the body with the damp cotton cloth dipped in a gentle cleaning solution. Don’t spray the solution directly on the body. Then use the can of compressed air to clean the cooling vents of your laptop. Be careful while doing this and make sure you don’t spray it too hard as the liquid on the fan blades may damage them. Cotton swabs help in holding the fan blades while you are cleaning them. Don’t spin the blades. Blow away dirt from the I/O ports with compressed air and then wipe them with cotton.

You should be extra careful while cleaning the monitor display. Turn off the laptop before you start. It will help you see the dirt more easily. Use a soft cotton cloth to gently wipe the display. Never use tissue papers or cotton on the display. They may leave flakes on the monitor or scratch them. Don’t use any concentrated solution. There are monitor cleaning solutions available in the market – use them.

For the keyboard, use compressed air again. If your laptop allows it, remove the keys and clean. As a precaution, never keep any sticky liquid near your laptop while working. It may spill and dirty the keypad and may prove difficult to clean.

Laptops must be cleaned with utmost care and precaution. You should not rush through it. So set aside some time for this so that you can do it properly and thoroughly. Regular cleaning will keep your laptop looking new and shiny, and also keep it running smoothly.