ley studio

124: Sikap Orang Lalai Dan Orang Berakal

2006-12-20T19:17:00.000+08:00

ORANG LALAI (DARI PEGANGAN TAUHID), TATKALA DATANG WAKTU PAGI DIA MEMIKIRKAN APA YANG HARUS DIKERJAKANNYA. ORANG YANG BERAKAL (BERTAUHID) MENERIMA PEKERJAAN YANG DITAKDIRKAN ALLAH S.W.T UNTUKNYA.

Manusia berada dalam salah satu dari dua keadaan. Jika kuat satu keadaan lemahlah keadaan yang satu lagi. Dua keadaan itu adalah pertama perhatian kepada dirinya sendiri dan kedua adalah perhatian kepada Tuhannya. Jika dia asyik kepada dirinya lalailah dia kepada Tuhannya. Jika dia asyik kepada Tuhannya lalailah dia kepada dirinya. Orang yang lemah tauhidnya akan asyik kepada dirinya dan menjadi lalai daripada mengingati Tuhannya. Orang ini mungkin kuat mengerjakan amal ibadat dan berbuat kebaikan kepada sesama makhluk. Tetapi, keasyikan kepada diri sendiri membuatnya melihat amal dan perbuatan sebagai hasil yang keluar dari dirinya kerana dirinya dan kembali kepada dirinya. Jika dia melihat Tuhan maka dilihatnya Tuhan memberinya kebebasan untuk melakukan apa yang dia kehendaki. Dirasakan seolah-olah Tuhan tidak mengganggu pekerjaannya. Dia berpegang kepada kenyataan bahawa Tuhan tidak mengubah nasib sesuatu kaum sebelum kaum itu mengubah nasibnya. Oleh itu, nasib dirinya terletak dalam tangannya sendiri. Dan, Tuhan memberinya nasib menurut usaha yang disumbangkannya. Bagi menjamin dia mendapat nasib yang baik maka dia membuat perancangan yang rapi dan mengambil tindakan yang berkesan. Dia memulakan harinya dengan menyusun jadual yang wajib ditaatinya untuk hari itu. Untung malang nasibnya bergantung kepada kemampuannya untuk merialisasikan apa yang dirancangkannya.

Manusia yang berpegang kepada prinsip demikian adalah benar menurut aspek dirinya tetapi adalah orang yang lalai menurut aspek ketuhanan yang menguasai dirinya. Pengagungan kekuatan diri sendiri akan memperkecilkan kekuatan Maharaja yang memerintah sekalian alam maya ini. Prinsip yang demikian menambahkan ego dirinya dan menjauhkannya dari merendahkan diri kepada Tuhannya, walaupun banyak ibadat dan perbuatan baik yang dikerjakannya. Amal yang banyak menyebabkannya menjadi ujub, riak dan sama’ah. Amal yang demikian tatkala dibawa ke neraca hisab di akhirat kelak ia akan berterbangan seperti debu. Ia tidak dapat menolong tuannya kerana orang itu menjadikan dirinya sebagai tapak untuk meletakkan amalnya. Di Padang Mahsyar dirinya sendiri tidak berdaya berdiri di hadapan Hakim Yang Maha Perkasa. Bila dia rebah, rebah jugalah amalnya.

Sekiranya kita mahu amal dapat berdiri tegak binalah ia di atas tapak tauhid. Pandangan tauhid melihat apa yang dari Allah s.w.t, berdiri dengan Allah s.w.t dan kembali kepada Allah s.w.t. Allah s.w.t yang memiliki dan menguasai sekalian alam serta isi dan kejadian yang berlaku di dalamnya. Tidak bergerak walau sebesar zarah melainkan dengan izin-Nya. Tidak terjadi sesuatu perkara melainkan dengan Kudrat dan Iradat-Nya. Allah s.w.t telah menentukan Qadak sebelum Dia menzahirkan Qadar. Setiap yang berlaku adalah menurut ketentuan-Nya. Orang yang berpegang pada prinsip ini menyambut kedatangan pagi dengan persiapan untuk menerima ketibaan takdir Ilahi. Dia tahu bahawa apa yang Allah s.w.t takdirkan untuknya hari itu pasti sampai kepadanya. Tidak ada sesiapa yang boleh mengubahnya. Bergeraklah dia dengan sepenuh tenaga mendukung takdir yang diamanatkan kepadanya. Jangan menganggap orang yang bepegang kepada prinsip tauhid sebagai orang yang pasif, hanya berpeluk tubuh. Dia tetap aktif dengan berbagai-bagai aktiviti, melebihi orang yang berpegang kepada prinsip yang pertama. Perbezaan antara keduanya adalah daya rasa dan daya nilai. Pekerjaan dan perbuatan adalah serupa. Orang yang pertama merasakan dialah yang melahirkan amal. Dia melihat dirinya yang melakukan amal. Orang kedua melihat dirinya adalah alat, dan Allah s.w.t adalah Pelaku yang menggunakan alat. Dia melihat dirinya dipilih oleh Allah s.w.t bagi menzahirkan sesuatu perbuatan. Oleh sebab perbuatan yang ditakdirkan untuknya itu menjadi amanat Allah s.w.t kepadanya maka dia melakukannya sebaik mungkin menurut kadar kemampuan yang Allah s.w.t kurniakan kepadanya dan dia mengharapkan perbuatan yang lahir dari dirinya itu diredai Allah s.w.t. Orang seperti ini tidak panik menerima kedatangan peristiwa besar secara mendadak kerana dia melihat bahawa peristiwa tersebut adalah takdir Allah s.w.t yang sedang berjalan dan dia berada di tengah jalan laluan takdir itu, lalu dia menerimanya dengan senang hati. Dia yakin bahawa Allah s.w.t yang mendatangkan takdir dalam bentuk peristiwa maka Dia juga yang melahirkan kesan dari peristiwa berkenaan.

Apabila seseorang itu berfungsi mengikut urutan takdir dia dapat menerima akibat daripada takdir itu walaupun akibat itu tidak menguntungkannya. Jika akibat yang baik sampai kepadanya dia yakin bahawa Allah s.w.t akan memeliharanya agar tidak terjadi sia-sia kebaikan yang diterimanya dan dia bersyukur. Jika akibat buruk yang sampai kepadanya dia yakin bahawa Allah s.w.t akan menguatkannya dengan kesabaran dan keredaan. Hati yang benar-benar bertauhid tidak dapat diganggu gugat oleh apa-apa pun.

Essential Video Resources

2006-12-04T17:37:00.000+08:00

Enabling DV-in
DV-in overview
Explains why us Europeans have to hack the DV-in and analog-in recording capability into our camcorders while the rest of the world gets these features off-the-shelf. Also provides links to instructions how to get rid of this problem.
Do-it-yourself DV-in for Sony D8/DV camcorders
Instructions on how to build a simple parallel port <-> LANC cable for enabling the DV-in and analog-in recording capabilities. Also includes the necessary software and codes.
Martin Smola's LANC <=> parallel port cable
Yet another LANC cable building instruction.
Digital 1394 Video (the page no longer exists, this link goes to an archived copy)
Even more information and software (including source code) for DV-in enabling.
Enabling DV-in on D8 & DV
A very comprehensive DV-in web site with software, hardware diagrams, DV-in codes for various camcorders etc.
Other camcorder hacks
Enabling hidden functionality in Sony camcorders by Martin Smola
Does your camcorder lack manual white balance controls, manual shutter speed controls, color bar generator, frame recording mode, interval recording mode and other features you would need? Learn how to enable this hidden functionality also in low-end Sony DV and D8 camcorders. The best part is that you only need a parallel port <=> LANC cable to do this - you do not have to open the camcorder or do any hardware modifications whatsoever. Also see the page for 2nd generation D8 camcorders.
NVRAM Memory Map for Sony D8/DV Camcorders
Lists some of the configuration NVRAM addresses and their functions available on the Sony D8/DV camcorders . Also describes how to use some of the enabled features.
Using Sony D8/DV camcorder as a real-time video digitizer by Martin Smola
Contrary to popular belief, there is no need to record on tape first. See the above link for instructions on how to do this - even with the 1st generation D8 camcorders.
Enabling the "see-through" NightShot mode by John Beale
After having found out that people used the NightShot mode in bright daylight to see through clothes, Sony disabled the manual exposure control while in NightShot mode. These instructions let you regain that control.
Interesting video-related articles, guides and specifications

read more....

DV Tutorials

2006-12-04T11:06:00.000+08:00

http://www.izzyvideo.com/category/editing/ -DV Tutorials

Cinematography film samples

2006-12-04T10:09:00.000+08:00

http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/ParallelEditing-YiYi.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/CutIn-dancer.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/CutOut-dancer.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/stendhal-dissall.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/Iris-Neighbors.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/JumpCut-dancer.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/Establishing-PekingOperaBlues.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/Superimposition-Neighbors.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/Wipe-SevenSamurai.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/stendhal-eyeline.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/GraphicMatch-Women.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/MatchAction-Traffic.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/LongTake-Player.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/Overlap-MI2.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/Rhythm-DeconstructingHarry.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/rhythm1-cries.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/ryth-good.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/Continuity-Neighbors.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/Montage-October.wmv
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/Clip23Godfather.asf
http://classes.yale.edu/film/videos/Elliptical-Traffic.wmv

cinematography

2006-12-04T10:02:00.000+08:00

http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/htmfiles/cinematography.htm -cinematography+samples

http://www2.english.uiuc.edu/lnewcomb/English%20117/cinematography.htm -elements of cine..

http://www.geocities.com/screaming_reels/editing.html -editing tips

Elements of Cinematography

2006-12-03T23:27:00.000+08:00

Camera: In film making multiple cameras (multiple camera positions of a single camera) are often used. In editing phase scenes/shots are assembled in a way that the story is told in an effective way. In computer animation, a considerable amount of time is spent on pre-planning (e.g., storyboarding and animatics) so that a maximum amount of fully rendered scenes an/shots will be used for the final animation.

The topics in this handout are:
Types of shots -- shot size, camera angle, POV, two shot, over the shoulder shot.
180 degree rule
Camera moves
Composition rules
Safe areas

read more...

Video Editing Tutorials

2006-12-03T15:29:00.000+08:00

Video Editing Tutorials
Introduction to Video Editing -A basic overview of editing concepts and methods.
Linear (Tape to Tape) Editing -How to edit footage from one tape to another.
Non Linear (Computer) Editing -How to capture and edit video using a computer.
Video Transitions -How to choose and use the correct transitions.
Adobe Premiere -Introduction to Premiere's features plus a few more advanced tutorials.

http://www.learner.org/exhibits/cinema/editing.html -The film editor must know how to tell a story, be politically savvy when working with directors and studio executives, and have a calm and confident demeanor. Millions of dollars of film and the responsibility of guiding the picture through post-production and into theaters rest in the editor's hands.

Ulead Guide

2006-11-26T09:56:00.000+08:00

http://uk.geocities.com/trevor.andrew@btinternet.com/vs/all.htm -User Guide for Video Studio

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/brians_ramblings -Ulead VideoStudio Help Website

http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic.php?t=27 -Ulead VideoStudio Help Website

Editing Mania

2006-11-23T19:24:00.000+08:00

Editing Mania.

It's time to get down to the business of making your movies look good. It's impossible for us to cover all of the editing options available to you,

so instead, we'll just focus on the basics of putting together a sharp-looking video.

Build a plot. If you want to make your home movies interesting, you should arrange the clips in a logical sequence. For this reason, most

video-editing applications feature a storyboard function that lets you organize your video clips with drag-and-drop ease.

11.Select a clip in the video library and drag the clip to the desired location in the storyboard. Repeat this process for each clip you want to

add to the storyboard.

12.You can add video clips to any area of the storyboard. You can even insert a clip between two existing clips on the storyboard. To remove

a clip from the storyboard, right-click it and select Delete from the pop-up menu.

Improving appearances. Sometimes all it takes to make your home movies look like professional productions is to change the brightness

and contrast settings, adjust the color settings, or convert the color video to black and white.

13.Locate the appearance controls. You may have to open a separate control panel to access these controls. Most programs let you change

the brightness and color settings. Some applications feature a contrast control, a black-and-white conversion tool, and other types of

appearance controls. Consult the users manual for instructions.

14.Adjust the default settings, starting with small changes first. Then, remember (or write down) the default settings just in case you want to start

over.

15.When you've achieved the desired appearance, click the Save or Save As command. The first time you save your work, the software will

prompt you to name the video production and designate where you want to store it. After that, the application should save your work

automatically as you progress.

Smooth transitions. Transitions are devices that let you seamlessly tie together various video clips. (Common transitions include dissolves

and wipes.)

16.On the storyboard, double-click the transition you want to customize and open the transition editor if it isn't open already.

17.In the transition library, find a transition effect that you like. Drag the transition to the desired location on the storyboard or to the transition

editor, depending on the video editing application.

18.Use the transition editor to customize the motion and duration of each transition. If you have a character walking out of a room at the end of a

clip, for example, you may choose to use a wipe transition that moves in the same direction and at the same pace as the character. Click the

Apply button to implement any effects.

Word up. The video editing application's text editor lets you add titles and captions to your home movies. Use a title to announce a location

change, for instance, or add a humorous caption to a dull scene. You can use the text editor to add closed captioning, as well.

19 .On the storyboard, highlight the video clip that you want to add the text to and open the text editor.

20.Enter your text into the text field and double-check the spelling.

21. Use the text editor to change the font and size of the text, to select a location for the text, and to pick a suitable text color that won't get lost in

the background. As a rule, choose light text colors for dark backgrounds and dark text colors for light backgrounds.

22.Finally, decide for how long the text should remain visible on-screen and indicate if you want the text to move or stay in one place. Consult

the users manual for specific instructions.

23.Repeat steps 19 through 22 for each title or caption you want to add.

Listen up. An easy way to create impressive home movies is to give them soundtracks. You can use prerecorded audio files, or you can

record your own voice-overs within the video editing applications. Read the users manual to learn which audio options are available to you.

24.Select the video clip that you want to add new audio tracks to and open the audio studio or editor.

25.In most applications, you must add prerecorded audio files to an audio library before you can use them in a video production. To add a file

to an audio library, right-click the library and select the Add command. In the resulting dialog box, locate the audio track you want to add to the

library and double-click it.

26.Select an audio file to incorporate into your video clip and drag the selected file into the audio studio.

27.You need to customize the audio file before it becomes a part of the clip. Indicate whether you want the clip to repeat continuously, fade in,

or fade out. You also might be able to adjust the duration of the audio file or set starting and stopping points.

28. A few video-editing applications let you add voice-overs to video files. Check the users manual to learn how to activate this recording

control. You must have a computer microphone to record your own audio files.

Special effects. Every video-editing application provides some special effects. The special effects are mild, but they can inject a sense of fun

into the most ordinary scenes. Special effects work particularly well when added immediately before or after a transition.

29.Select the video clip that you want to add a special effect to and open the special effects editor.

30.The editor should be accompanied by a special effects library. Browse the library for a suitable effect. When you've found one you like,

drag it into the special effects editor.

31.You must specify when to implement the effect within the video clip. Follow the instructions listed in the users manual to choose a start and

stop time for the effect.

32.Select the intensity of the effect. Intensity determines how outrageous the effect will be. Experiment with various intensities to find a setting

you like.

33.You might have the option of further refining the effect by determining the direction of motion or defining a border for the effect. After adjusting

all the settings, click Apply to make the effect a permanent part of your video clip.

Back To Tape. After completing the editing process, it's time to put all of the clips together into a single production.

34.Most video-editing applications make this a one-click process. All you have to do is activate the production command, which is usually

located in the main menu. This command will open a dialog box in which you must name the movie and designate where you want to store it.

You might have the option of saving it in the .AVI or .MPG format or some other file format. After you provide this information, the production

process will start, which can take a long time. Total production time varies, depending on the length of your movie, the number and type of

effects you added during the editing process, and the speed of your processor.

35.When production is complete, it's time to store your media.

Digital storage media. Transferring your production to a digital media is simply a matter of copying the movie file from the hard drive to the

new storage media. You can do this by dragging and dropping the file or you can use the video-editing application's export command.

Go online. Exporting your movie file to the Web is an option with some video-editing applications. Follow the instructions as they're listed in the

users manual for the best results.

(NOTE: Your finished movie file will be quite large—our 39-second film consumed more than 40MB of hard drive space—so posting it on the

Web may not be feasible.)

Directly to tape. Perhaps the most popular option is to transfer your movies to tape and show them to friends and family. To do this, you'll need

a VCR or camcorder; the proper cables; a video capture card that supports data output; and a video-editing application that supports data

output. For more information, see "Save Computer Video To A VHS Tape" or consult your video-editing program's users manual.

It's A Wrap. This simplified guide touches upon the basics of video editing, but it doesn't cover everything you can do with a robust

video-editing application. With that in mind, the last step in this process is to experiment. Read the users manual from cover to cover and try

out everything your video-editing application has to offer. Once you do, you'll undoubtedly find out how to get the results you want. And with

home movies that look this good, your audience will be glad that you did.

by Jeff Dodd

Key Points:

•Editing videos demands a fast computer and a lot of available hard drive space.

•Some older video-editing applications don't include capturing capability. Make sure yours does, or use a standalone application.

•Use special effects and transitions to add interest to your videos.

The Finished Project

Once you've transferred your video to your PC, the hard part is over. Using video-editing software you can improve image quality, rearrange

the order of clips, and eliminate clips you don't need by clicking, dragging, and dropping. Don't forget the special effect, either. Finally, you can

add captions and other text to identify people, places, or events.

Video Production Lesson

2006-11-18T01:49:00.000+08:00

Goals

Plan and organize your project
Capture your project in one piece or by individual scene
Synchronize your video and audio if your sources are separate media
Increase resolution by recapturing entire source content
Increase resolution by recapturing selected source content
Decrease resolution by using the Media Manager

With the advent of nonlinear editing systems, editing is as much a technical art as it is aesthetic. Understanding some basic video approaches will not only improve your technical aptitude but also allow you the freedom to concentrate on the art of editing. You will learn how to organize an online or offline video project, gather project content, and convert offline content to online resolutions and online content to offline resolutions.

In this lesson, you’ll observe the workflow of a typical video. Your project specifications may vary, but the principles of video workflow still hold. And since Final Cut Pro is adaptable, it will accommodate different approaches seamlessly.
Organizing Projects

Before you begin, you need to establish a framework for your project—a clear path from beginning to end. This will streamline your process and identify and help you overcome obstacles. You’ll learn how to plan an efficient workflow, determine sound specifications and timecode, and decide when to switch between resolutions.
Planning an Online or Offline Video Workflow

When you receive your project specifications, it’s best to plan the complete workflow you expect to use. Planning will identify possible problems, and early detection will allow you time to alter your route. For example, the New England Aquarium online project content came from six one-hour source tapes. The editor initially planned to capture each tape in its entirety at an online resolution of DVCPRO HD 720p with the resulting data rate of 13.8 Mb/sec. However, a calculation of storage requirements revealed there wasn’t sufficient storage capacity for 6 hours of content. As a result, early in the process, the editor decided to capture only those clips that would become the basis for the edit.

The New England Aquarium project was relatively short and the variables therefore contained. However, for longer online projects like the documentary Spellbound, the planning process might be more involved. Because Spellbound is a documentary, you might have expected the workflow to begin offline, but it didn’t. There were 160 hours of footage shot on DV, captured at DV25 resolution. The planning process for Spellbound may have included how best to sync the multicamera shoots during the national spelling competitions, or whether selected scenes or entire tapes were to be captured.

Blocking days or planning for particular tasks can also be useful. If you need to color correct every shot, and you have estimated that your color corrections take, on average, 1 hour per edited minute, then your projection needs to allow for 8 hours of color correcting and extra time for rendering. Plan to use your daytime hours for editing, and save rendering or exporting until you take a lunch break or until after you have finished for the day.

The Magic Hour offline workflow planning involved an extra time allotment for syncing DAT tapes. During the planning stage, this preparation allowed the editor to realistically identify a start date for creative editing. Time was also calculated for recapturing the low-resolution files at a higher resolution for color correction and output to tape.

Micro preparation can result in time-saving and provide an estimate of expected delivery. Your project may deviate from your plan, but you will be better prepared to accommodate changes as a result of your initial forecast.
Determining Sound Specifications

If your sound is delivered on a medium separate from the picture tapes, either by DAT (digital audio tapes) or data files, then before you begin capturing material, take time to discuss the original sound settings with your sound recordist.

Discuss the original frame rate of the source sound recordings. Generally, if you are planning on syncing during a telecine session, you will ask that the sound frame rate be recorded so that it matches your video transfer rate.

If your audio is delivered as data files, check the sample rate and bit depth. Final Cut Pro currently accepts sample rates up to 96 kHz and bit depths of 24. If the audio data file sample rates and bit depths are higher, you’ll need to convert the audio files via an audio software application program such as Soundtrack Pro or a converter program such as Compressor.
Keeping Track of Timecode

Timecode is a critical part of any workflow. Typically, you will use two types of timecode: source and sequence. Source timecode numerically identifies one frame of information from another on the source tapes or source file. The source timecode is captured or imported with the picture and links the captured media to the identical time on the tape or file. When you begin editing, you will reference sequence timecode. Sequence timecode is timecode that numerically differentiates one frame of edited material from another.

Check the timecode of your captured material against your source tape, especially since, at some stage (for example, during a recapture), you may need to reference the original source timecode. You can check your captured media timecode against the source tape in the Log and Capture window. Load a clip in the Viewer, launch the Log and Capture window, pause the tape at the timecode matching the clip in the Viewer, and compare timecodes and picture to see that they match. If you captured discrete picture and audio material (say your audio was delivered on DAT), you may need to keep track of at least two source timecodes: one for picture and one or more for sound.

Final Cut Pro allows you to modify a media file and source timecode. This is recommended only if the timecode of your source media clip is wrong, or if you need to create auxiliary timecodes. Altering the source timecodes for any other reason may cause a mismatch between video and sound during recapture.

Since the sequence timecode represents a numerical value of a frame of edited material, you can modify it more liberally. During the editing phase, you may decide to modify your sequence timecode to suit your editing style. You might change it to begin at the zero hour, for example. During the editing phase, the sequence timecode has little consequence for your project and is useful for reference purposes. Conversely, for output, the sequence timecode takes a more prominent role because standards for picture start have been established within the industry. (See “Outputting Your Project” in Lesson 5 for further details.)

Occasionally, your source tapes or files will have no timecode track. This is usually a result of file transfer from a special-effects house or music imported from CD. Keep data backups of nontimecoded sources, or transfer them to timecoded tapes and capture from the transferred tape.
Organizing Media

Some basic rules will help you organize and manage your material. Some of these conventions are unique to Final Cut Pro, but most are pertinent for all nonlinear systems.

Before you begin to capture material, think about your naming conventions. In Final Cut Pro, the name you assign the captured QuickTime file becomes the name of the media file at the Finder level. Final Cut Pro does allow you the option of changing the clip name in the Browser while maintaining the media link to the clip in the Finder. Altering a clip name in the Browser will not alter the QuickTime media file at the Finder level. However, don’t change the name of a clip in the Browser of Final Cut Pro, because other methods, such as marking or subclipping, can elegantly achieve a clip name change while maintaining the name reference at the Finder level. (See the “Marking Sync Points” section later in this lesson.)

Consider carefully where you will set your scratch disks, and be consistent. Keep your media structure organized and thoughtful. Create separate folders for materials that are not captured via tape, such as music and graphics. Consistency throughout a project will enhance efficiency.

Unique tape names— Numbering is the best tape-naming method. If your tapes do not have numbers, take an indelible pen and begin numbering each tape and case immediately. Where duplicate numbers already exist, mark one with an alphabetical appendage. For example, two tapes numbered 101 would become 101 and 101a. A tape name is your reference to the timecode on that particular tape. So, if you had two tapes, each beginning with timecode 01:00:00;00, the only means of distinguishing one timecode from the other is the tape name. Any nonlinear system knows only numbers, so it is your job to make the distinction clear.

Unique names— Keep all clip names unique. Remember, on any computer, files that live in the same folder must have unique names. Since the name you assign a clip, once captured, is the same as the QuickTime media file created at the Finder level, you need to preserve unique names. Even if you create two discrete folders, this convention is still pertinent because it’s important to be able to distinguish one content file from another, especially when relinking.

Note

In the OS language Unix, the location of a folder named Example on a Desktop would be expressed as /Users/Estelle/Desktop/Example. Example is the folder, and everything prior to the folder name is the path.

Names that make sense— Think librarian! If you’re working on a project that has more of a script convention, naming media clips using scenes, takes, and camera angles might make sense. If you are working on a documentary, you might name clips by subject or interview. If your project follows the progress of an event, perhaps a date-naming scheme will be useful. Another method is to name a clip by the tape number, and break it down with subclips or markers after the media is captured.

Consistent naming— Be consistent! Once you’ve chosen a naming convention, follow it closely. On any computer, the more consistent you are with your naming convention, the better the results for searches or sorting. Final Cut Pro has some powerful search capabilities that are enhanced through consistent clip naming. You can search for every clip containing any number of field values, including names in either the Browser or sequence. Final Cut Pro can also sort hierarchically in the Browser. For example, you can perform a primary sort by clicking a Browser heading, and then you can perform a secondary sort by holding down the Shift key and clicking another heading. You’ll be able to sort more accurately if you keep these names consistent.

Safe characters— For any filename on any computer, avoid characters that are used as commands in the operating system. Safe characters include letters, numbers, and underscores (_). Avoid characters such as forward slashes (/), colons (:), asterisks (*), and so on. All symbols are used as instructions by the operating system and must not be used to form a filename.

Leading zeros to sort numbers correctly— Use leading zeros to make your sorting numerically and alphabetically correct. For instance, without leading zeros your clip named 25 will be listed after your clip named 125, not before it. (25 is alphabetically sorted before 125, but numerically after it.) If you use a leading zero (025), Final Cut Pro will place the clips named 025 and 125 in numerical as well as alphabetical order.
Organizing Final Cut Pro Projects

Generally, an online workflow will have a shorter turnaround than an offline workflow. However, you need to clearly structure and organize a project regardless of length, size, or workflow. There are many organizational techniques, including personal preference. However, you should organize a project using common sense so that others could easily identify your project structure.

Organize your clips logically into bins, or use multiple bins to organize the same media in different ways. For example, one bin could organize clips by the date they were shot; another could have the same material organized by scene; and yet another could be organized by location.

The editors of The Magic Hour organized clips by character and location. Each bin was clearly named, and sequences were labeled by editor, version, and date. For example, the master sequence was labeled TMH_MASTER_EM_03282005.

Consider saving sequences incrementally. One method is to save a sequence prior to a major revision. Although you can view a Browser heading named Last Modified, you may want to consider adding a date appendage to saved sequences, like in the preceding example. Adding date values to any file is a useful tool.

Archive old bins and sequences. Since Final Cut Pro will let you open multiple projects at once, you can have all your material open at the same time. However, for efficiency and simplicity, you’ll want to archive old bins and sequences. Archiving also reduces project load times. (See Lesson 12 for more information on archiving.)

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Easy steps to turn video into a gem

By Jeff Carlson

Special to The Seattle Times

It's easy to shoot hours of video of your kids or your latest vacation, but where's that footage now? Are the camcorder tapes still stacked next to the computer, waiting for that fantasy weekend "when I've got time to sit down and just do it"?

You're not alone. It turns out that even with the best of intentions, many people don't get around to importing the video onto their computers and editing movies. As a result, companies are releasing more camcorder models that record directly to DVDs that can play back on a consumer DVD player, no editing required.

But dumping your raw footage to disc is just like the days of watching 8- millimeter film: When Dad hauled the projector and screen out of the closet, you knew you were in for a long series of visual flubs and accidents punctuated by a few minutes of worthwhile footage here and there.

It doesn't have to be that way. Editing video is fun, and your audience will appreciate seeing only the good scenes. The trick is to break the editing into smaller components so that it's not so intimidating; devote part of a weekend to each step, and in a few weeks you'll have edited movies. Here's a strategy for working through the backlog.

• Digitize the footage: For the best quality, I recommend shooting with a camcorder that stores video on MiniDV tapes. To edit it on the computer, the footage must be digitized and saved to your hard disk. Keep in mind, however, that digital video occupies a lot of disk space: one MiniDV tape holds about an hour of video, which takes up approximately 13 gigabytes (GB) of storage. You may need to buy an external hard drive. Fortunately, disk storage is incredibly cheap these days; a quick scan of dealmac.com comes up with a few 300 GB drives for less than $200.

To determine how much disk space you'll need, download the freeware Hollywood Calculator (www.happypixelstudios.com/hwcalc/), which does the calculation for you. Or, add up the number of tapes you need to digitize and multiply that by 13; then, to account for video files that your editing software creates for extras such as titles or transitions, multiply the result by half.

The great thing about importing is that you can start capturing a tape and then go do something else for an hour. iMovie HD will grab all the footage and split out each scene on the Clips pane, or you can manually choose which sections to import; Final Cut Express HD and Final Cut Pro offer more advanced methods of capturing.

• Trash the junk: In your editing software, delete any clips you know won't ever be used, such as when you left the camera running (yep, everyone does it). Resist the temptation to start editing individual scenes — at this stage you're just cutting away the obvious deadwood.

• Assemble a rough cut: In iMovie HD, drag clips from the Clips pane to the timeline in the approximate order you want them to appear in the movie. (In Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro, clips are stored in the Browser window.) Again, don't get hung up on editing the clips (even though you'll want to). It's just too easy to get sidetracked.

Remember that you can place clips in any order in your movie. A spectacular sunset from the first day of your vacation can end up as the final image of your movie and no one will be the wiser.

• Start editing: OK, now you can dig into editing the clips themselves. Remove footage that's obviously useless, and start thinking about the pace and final length of the movie. This step is likely to take the longest, so you might want set aside blocks of time for it.

At this point you may want to start adding background music or other additional audio.

• Tighten and refine: Want to be a better filmmaker than Peter Jackson? Trim your scenes to the bare minimums and try not to be self-indulgent. Feel free to linger where you need to (you child will no doubt take her first steps on her own schedule), but exercise restraint and ask yourself if you really need 10 minutes of driving in the car vs. a nice 30-second burst of roadside adventure shot through a bug-caked windshield.

Only after you've tightened should you start applying transitions between scenes, special effects and title sequences. This is the hardest part for me, because I always want to create titles early on; and I always regret it later when I have to re-create the title.

• Wrap up: Last, apply any final trimming and polishing. The end result should be a movie that's considerably shorter than the footage you started with, and much more entertaining for your audience to watch.

At this point you can export the movie to the Web, to a DVD (using iDVD or other software), or record it back to a blank tape in your camcorder.

See, the process isn't that intimidating at all. Just remember to approach the process as a series of discrete steps, and it won't seem like a monolithic endeavor.

Jeff Carlson and Glenn Fleishman write the Practical Mac column for Personal Technology and about technology in general for The Seattle Times and other publications. Send questions to carlsoncolumn@mac.com. More Practical Mac columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists.

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company

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Editing: It's the Pace, Ace!

by Bill Davis
March 2004

Okay - I admit it, I have a problem. I walk fast. I don't know why, I just do. If I get out of the car at the same time as my wife and son, I'm almost always inside the store before they are. And my 10-year-old is usually trailing far behind my wife, particularly if there's any interesting junk in the parking lot along his path.

I bring up this example to illustrate that while the goal is the same - walking from the car to the store - for all of us, the pace at which each of us prefers to accomplish this task is vastly different. And so it is with our videos. Each video we make and each scene within the overall work, has it's own pace, whether we recognize that fact or not.

The pace of MTV-style music videos is so fast that they can be hard to follow. At the other end of the scale is a new parent watching a tape of their newborn child in the cradle. In the first instance, the audience craves change and action. In the second, the content on the screen is so personally fulfilling that the viewer can gaze for minutes at a time at a nearly unchanging scene - and be perfectly content to watch and dream.

So each video has a pace that fits the content. And both paces are right for the needs of the video. But when the pace of a video feels wrong, what can you do to change it?

Changing Time
The simplest answer is if the pace is too slow, you can add more cuts and more media to watch, hear or judge in a given period of time. If things are moving too fast for your audience to grasp, eliminate some clips and stay with a shot longer. (Of course you'll need source material that allows you to do this.)

The timeline in Figure 1a shows a 30-second segment of a video taken at a local car show. Each of the shots is a 10-second slow pan, wide shot of a car. The cars themselves are interesting, but the pacing of the video as it's currently cut will be somewhat boring. Each shot has similar framing, similar length and similar move. While they do a decent job of showing the car, this approach will likely appeal only to a real car buff with an appreciation for the subject.

In Figure 1b, we've radically changed the pacing of the same 30-second segment by varying the views of each car within the same period. Now, instead of static shots or long, slow pans, we have an establishing shot of each car, followed by medium and close up shots of some of the details that make the cars so special. We cut to these frequently and quickly. The first edit provides three basic shots and leaves the viewer plenty of time to think about the subject. The second directs the viewer's attention to details that are special about the vehicle. The average viewer will likely watch the second edit with much more interest, simply because their eyes are being directed to details that keep the experience fresh and shifting. The length and overall timing of the video remains the same, but the pacing of the video faster.

Pacing Starts at the Shoot
If you come back from your car show shoot with nothing but three static shots of the cars, your options are going to be severely limited. Faster pacing usually requires good coverage, which means shooting a variety of shots and angles of your subject. Ultra wide and ultra close-up, high angle and low, reflections, details, shots with and without people or other objects that can show the relative size and shape of your subject; some or all of these can help you provide good coverage in addition to your basic scenes.

Another example of the element of pacing is action within a scene. Instead of simply a shot of a door handle, the videographer can stage the shot with a hand reaching out to open the car door. Even if the door handle shot is actually longer than a static shot of the handle, the action helps keep the pacing up because the audience remains engaged by watching the action of the hand.

Adding the action helps the editor transition from an outside view to details on the inside. It also brings a human element into the video and allows the viewer to better imagine going for a ride. Scenes with action are, by their nature, faster paced than scenes of static imagery.

The Right Pace
So how do you determine what type of pacing is best for your project? Generally speaking, the younger the audience, the faster the pace they can comfortably tolerate. But that's a generalization and like all generalizations, it's as false as it is true.

The movie Titanic was a huge hit with adolescent girls. While it was an action move on it's surface, the scenes that attracted that particular audience were the love scenes between Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, and not the fast pace action sequences. The lesson is that if you give an audience content it wants to see, they'll stay happy when you linger a bit on scenes. If the core material is less intrinsically interesting, it's often wise to keep the video pace moving, so you don't risk putting your audience to sleep.

Wrapping Things Up
The overall pace of information that people in our society are used to consuming continues to accelerate. We're a nation of remote control channel changers, radio station button bashers and Web-clicking multi-taskers.

So when we sit down to watch a video, our brains are ready to receive data at a heavy pace. That doesn't mean that the only right pace for presenting visual information is with an MTV pace.

Like that shot of the baby in the cradle mentioned earlier in this article, sometimes the material on the screen will make all the connection with the audience that you need. When that happens, it's no error to linger over your shots and give your audience the time they need to not just look at, but to think about the material being presented.

[Sidebar: Find the Clock]
Each scene you shoot has its own internal clock. A shot of speeding freeway traffic clearly has a quicker clock than a shot of a horse and buggy meandering down a country lane. You have the power to quicken or slow your shots simply by virtue of your camera work. If you're shooting a landscape scene with a bridge on the right and a lighthouse on the left, you have an abundance of choices about how to shoot those elements, each with it's own pacing.

You can go wide and do a static shot showing both. You can do static shots of each individual scene and cut between them. You can also elect to start on one and pan to the other. That pan can be anything from slow and stately, to a whip-pan where the scenery between the two is blurred. The choice you make will go a long way to determining the overall pace of your presentation of the images to your audience. Or why not shoot it each way and decide later? That's good coverage. And good coverage makes for good programs.

[Sidebar: What Did You Really Think?]
Most people are reluctant to criticize the work of others. We're polite to a fault. Sometimes you have to dig comments out of people, particularly about subtle things like your work's pacing. If your goal is to really discover if your work is really "on target" you have to learn to risk criticism and find out what others really think.

So the next time you're sitting at your edit system and you suspect that a piece of your timeline isn't paced just right, find someone who hasn't been staring at the material for a week, show them the piece in question, and ask them what they really think.

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Real People Rate Your Videos!

by Amanda Cuda
January 2004

If you're like most Videomaker readers, you make a lot of videos, and you probably think that they are pretty good. But what does the average person on the street think of your work? We took the liberty of asking some regular people what they think of the videos that their friends make. (By regular, we mean those who don't make videos professionally but have had the pleasure of viewing hour upon hour of vacation videos, school plays and other monumental events captured on tape by their videomaking buddies.) Pay attention to what they had to say. Chances are, your friends may not have had the heart to say these things to you.

Question #1: What do you feel is the biggest mistake people make in filming a home movie?
"Moving the camera too quickly.It gives me motion sickness and there isn't enough time for my eyes and brain to focus on any one thing." - Jill Alix, Ansonia, CT

"They go too fast from one thing to another."- Belinda Wexler, Toledo, OH

"Filming people who don't want to be on tape. All you get is people mad at you." - Mary Binkowski, Bethany, CT

"They move too fast. In their minds eye, the person taping can see the big picture, and understand why they're doing it, but the people who haven't been there don't see that." - Jack Kovalski, Tecumseh, MI

"Not enough editing. Most videos I've seen are very amateur and are uninteresting.I don't have time to watch all the details highlights are best for me." - Amy Potokar, Westport, CT

"It's a tie between taping too long and forgetting that dialogue or narration is important. Video doesn't mean still life." - Vicki-Lynn Pagan, Stratford, CT

"Not staying still on the subject long enough, moving the camera around too much. And tilting the camera when panning." - D.F. Duck, Glenn, CA

Question #2: Which events are least worthy of capturing on videotape?
"I like videos that portray people rather than things." - Alix

"The birthday parties people tape get kind of boring after a while." - Wexler

"Every single move your kids make. You end up with 1,000 hours of the kids doing the same thing!"- Binkowski

"I am usually held captive by my brother and sister-in-law, who force me to watch every move their little boy makes. That gets old really fast." - Kovalski

"Endless repetition - how many times do we need to see little Johnny standing in the outfield - and footage of unknown persons for more than a split second. If it's not family, take one quick pan, plus one photo and label the names, because, inevitably, you won't care what the other kids looked like in your daughter's second grade class 40 years later. You'll just want to see your kids." - Pagan

"I think most everything is worth videotaping, it's just not all worth watching. Edit the video to only show the few minutes that matter, then your friends will enjoy it and will be more willing to view your home videos the next time." - Duck

Question #3: What is your definition of a good home video?
"I like to see people as natural as possible. When I catch my daughter singing or playing school, or my son focusing on his karate moves, to me, that is precious." - Alix

"Something you can save for later use - something that gives you a historical record of your family." - Wexler

"One that's shot without people acting. One in which the people are natural." - Binkowski

"One that has proper lighting, doesn't pan too quickly, isn't boring and doesn't drag." - Kovalski

"Action, action, action! Filmmaker giving play by play narrations, punctuated by close-up activity shots of family members talking, laughing, joking and giving their thoughts of the moment." - Pagan

"Subject matter of general interest to people other than the immediate family (no one but a mother could enjoy a 20-minute video of a toddler laying on a blanket). Or at least keep such video to only a few minutes." - Duck

Question #4: What is your definition of a bad home video?
"I don't like to see people posing uncomfortably or a video that is too distant to make out people's expressions." - Alix

"A family gathering where there's conflict." - Wexler

"One that everyone looks into the camera and says 'I don't want to talk. I have nothing to say.'" - Binkowski

"Videos that are boring, pan too quickly and take a lot of time." - Kovalski

"Long static shots. Endless hours of other people's kids in tutus or baseball uniforms. Watching people eat or talk without being able to hear them or see the expressions on their faces." - Pagan

"Out of focus. Quick tilted pans. Staying on uninteresting or non-action subjects too long" - Duck

Question #5: How long should a home video be?
"20 minutes to a half hour." - Alix

"Ten to 15 minutes, but vacation videos are usually longer than that, because there seems to be a lot more going on." - Wexler

"If it shows action, like kids doing a sport, or an event like a music recital, then it can be longer, like 30 minutes or more. If it's like a birthday party, it gets boring after about 10 minutes." - Binkowski

"Not more than five minutes - after that, I start to get a little restless." - Kovalski

"No more than two hours. Usually watching a home movie is at the end of a busy day and I fall asleep. It's hard to sit for so long when there are other things that need to be accomplished at home and in the home office." - Potokar

"13 minutes. Less than that isn't enough - any longer, and it better have a plot!" - Pagan

"It depends. If it is a video you will be showing to friends then 10 to 15 minutes. If it is the video of the baby blowing bubbles or rolling around on a blanket and the parents will be the ones viewing it, then as long as the tape allows." - Duck
===============

Take 5: Super-Human Editing Tips

by Chuck Peters
January 2004

Being a good video editor is a lot like being a superhero. In fact, truth be told, the best editors are the Clark Kents of the production process, saving the day with super-human feats of wonder, while maintaining an unassuming outward appearance.

Here are five tips for video editors and superheroes alike. If you strive to be either, observe these five basic tenets and you will surely attain legendary status.

1. Be invisible
Like the coolest superheroes, good editors should have the power of invisibility. That is to say, when viewers watch a masterfully edited program, they should not notice the edits (and certainly not the editor). Cuts should be paced properly and flow naturally. Special effects and flashy transition should be used only when specifically called for by the content: Invisible is always the better option. Whether you're out to foil a diabolical deed-doer or create a professional program, don't call undue attention to yourself. The next time you sit down to edit, remember to slip on your cloak of invisibility (just don't forget where you put it down).

2. Be consistent
Have you ever noticed that superheroes always wear the same outfits? While they may not be very creative when it comes to wardrobe, they are incredibly consistent. Take Superman for instance: blue tights, blue shirt, red shorts, red boots, red cape and a big "S" on his chest. And it's always the same. You'll never catch him flying in to save the day draped in purple and green (after all, those are the Hulk's colors). While the analogy isn't exactly perfect, it is important for video editors to maintain continuity. Jump cuts, changes in screen direction and other continuity errors can cripple your productions like Kryptonite. Good editors need to recognize such hazards and thwart their evil efforts in the edit bay. When it comes to editing, continuity is king.

3. Be selfless
Being a superhero is a thankless job. Think about it: These caped crusaders put forth immense effort and go to extreme lengths to save the planet again and again, yet the general public is oblivious to their work. Sure, one or two people know how it really happened, but most people never stop to recognize the men and women behind the masks. It's not about getting recognition, it's about doing what's best for humanity (or the program). Being an editor is, likewise, a thankless job. Good editors know this, and it makes them even better. Want to be a better editor? Face the fact that your production is probably not about you. One of the great disciplines that all editors must learn is to edit for the tastes of a specific audience. Throughout the course of a year, you may edit one video for residents at a retirement facility, another for grade-school kids and a third for business people. Successful editors are able to lay aside their personal tastes and tailor their edits to match the preferences of each audience.

4. Cut it close
You may have noticed the precise timing that is common to most superheroes. For whatever reason, superheroes tend to cut it cavalry close. They always come to the rescue a split second before the rope breaks or the bomb detonates. They are never there early and never late, either. Keep this in mind when you edit your videos. If your edits aren't tight, they aren't right. The timing and pace of your edits should be tight enough to bounce a quarter off. This means taking the time to trim that extra frame or two.

5. Use your power for good
Probably the most important thing for both editors and superheroes is to use the power for good. Video editors have great power to alter the reality that viewers see on the screen and with this great power comes great responsibility. As an editor, you can manipulate the footage you edit to alter the perceptions of your audience. Little things, like changing sequences, omitting footage or taking shots out of context, can make the good appear to be evil and the evil appear to be good. In the end, in order for video to maintain its credibility with the public, it is essential that video editors commit themselves to truth, justice and integrity in the edit bay.
====================

Editing: Desktop Editing FAQ
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by Bill Davis
January 2004

New technology introductions and revolutionary advances in the state-of-the-art sometimes seem to happen on a monthly or sometimes even a weekly basis. And for many of us, that means constantly challenging our ideas about the best techniques, strategies and gear to create our videos. Here are the answers to a few frequently asked questions that might help you make sense of this fast moving industry.

Q. Which features are most important in a modern digital editing system?

A. The obvious answer is that the most important features for any system are the ones you'll need to use most often to get your work done. This may seem obvious, but time after time, I've seen beginners debate the need for features that are miles beyond what they'll ever really use.

For example, let's say you're assembling a system to make simple training videos. The fact that the editing program in consideration can handle 99 tracks of audio is cool, but not particularly important. You can probably work for years making superb training videos and never need more than half a dozen discrete audio tracks.

On the other hand, if your vision for your video career includes working towards projects that require a great deal of audio scoring, such as feature films or music videos, you might want to place multiple audio track access higher on your list of must-have features. Never let the "feature wars" make you think that just because product A has a feature that product B lacks, that product A is better than B. For example, many of the features listed on the side of the box of professional editors are for HD broadcast television. If your producer has not already lined up the financing to produce HD television, don't worry about this feature.

Ask the real question: "What features do I need, considering the type of work I'm likely to be doing in the foreseeable future?" In truth, nearly all of today's popular editing packages have all the features you'll ever need.

Q. I have some money and want to upgrade the quality of my productions - what will give me the biggest "bang for the buck" when it comes to investing in new production capabilities?

A. Great question. In the not-so-distant past, the answer may have been to buy superior acquisition equipment. Today, with inexpensive digital camcorders that create excellent pictures, and a digital signal flow that preserves that quality over generation after generation of dubbing, it truly is the golden age of self-produced video picture quality.

Many editors place their hopes in the features and functions found in the latest and greatest editing applications. "If I only had better software, I'd make better video." While there's a lot to be said for using good tools, a hammer is only as good as the hand that swings it.

The best thing to invest in is yourself. Remember, your equipment doesn't make the video. You make the video. If you have some extra money and want to really improve your video editing skills, take a class at the local community college, a trade show or at a Videomaker Expo, Conference or Workshop. Investing in your knowledge is the very best thing you can do to insure your continued progression as a videographer.

Bottom line: Success with video is about what you know, not what you own.

Q. I hear video editors talk a lot about program pacing. What does that mean and how can I make sure my program maintains the proper pace?

A. In video editing, the term pacing usually refers to how much information is presented to the audience in a given period of time and how quickly new information replaces old. Whether you're editing a training video or a dramatic story, the pacing of the show needs to match the comfort level of your audience. Many beginning video editors who think they're producing a tightly edited piece, are surprised to discover that they have problems keeping their audience focused on the show.

Pacing a program just right is a delicate balance. The information must flow fast enough not to bore the quickest members of the audience while keeping the flow of information reasonable for those who aren't as quick, or who want to ponder something they've just seen before new material is introduced.

One factor that affects any program's pacing is the clarity of the elements of presentation. If the characters and their situations are understandable, if the actors are natural and convincing, if on-screen text and graphics are well designed and easy to read, the audience can take in the presented information more quickly and be ready to move on.

If, on the other hand, there are problems with the clarity of the presentation, the editor has to slow the flow of information to let the audience catch up. I got a reminder of just how good most audiences are at assimilating information when I recently bought my son a DVD package containing the first few seasons of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. As we sat down to watch this television classic, it struck me just how quickly it was paced. William Conrad, the show's narrator has a machine-gun quick delivery, as does virtually every other character in the program.

If all the kids and adults who grew up on this classic program could handle that rapid fire pace of delivery - I suspect that today's kids and adults can as well. Faster isn't always better. But too slow is almost always the kiss of death for a program.

Okay, I've saved the hardest and most frequently asked digital video question for last.

Q. What hardware is best for desktop video work?

A. This is the granddaddy of all of the commonly-asked desktop video questions. If you follow Internet and newsgroup discussions you'll find that this question pops up far more than any other. The problem is that it's impossible to answer, for lots of reasons. Here are two big ones.

First, it's difficult to answer because desktop video production isn't one thing, it's a term that covers a vast range of tasks and processes. Different practitioners need different capabilities. And the system solution that's perfect for one user might easily be too much or too little for another. Even if you discover that your needs are very similar to others and you're tempted to shortcut the process by just following their advice, you'll quickly run into the second problem: State-of-the-art in the video arena is an unbelievably fast moving target. Generally speaking, get the fastest CPU and the largest hard drive(s) you can afford.

Twenty years ago, I had a friend who owned a high-end stereo shop. We used to talk about gear having a five to ten year product life span. Today, for most consumer electronics, especially video (think: DVD), the product life span might only be months.

For camcorders and computer-based editing gear, regardless of the brand or model you buy, this year's state-of-the-art is likely to become next year's closeout bargain.

We said it once and we'll say it again: Generally speaking, you should get the fastest CPU and the largest hard drive(s) you can afford. But even if your editing system is a couple of years (and a couple of technology revs) behind the current gear, it's probably still capable of turning out great video. And that's the point of the whole exercise, isn't it? If you're preparing to purchase your first editing system, don't fret too much about the fact that something newer will be appearing soon. Revel in the fact that nearly all desktop video equipment sold today is vastly more advanced than anything past generations of video editors could hope to acquire and use.

One sure truth is that the key factor in making great video isn't the equipment you use. The equipment doesn't make your video you do. So what you're doing right now (reading a copy of Videomaker, learning about the video editing process itself) is vastly more critical to your success than the specific equipment you use.

The very best advice you can get about editing equipment is to buy the best system you can afford, as quickly as you can, and get started on the real secret to becoming a successful videographer: experience.
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Monitor Adjustment

2006-11-15T05:12:00.000+08:00

From : http://www.poynton.com/notes/brightness_and_contrast/index.html

A monitor is properly adjusted when it meets two conditions. First, a black input signal - in desktop computing, RGB code [0, 0, 0] - should produce true black, so as to maximize the contrast ratio of the display. Second, a white input signal - in desktop computing, RGB code [255, 255, 255] - should produce the desired luminance.

The easiest way to adjust a monitor is to perform the following four steps in sequence: (1) turn the CONTRAST control to minimum; (2) display a black picture; (3) adjust the BRIGHTNESS control to reproduce black correctly; then (4) adjust the CONTRAST control to display the brightness level that you desire. I'll detail these steps in a moment.

On a monitor or television receiver with the traditional names for the controls, first adjust BRIGHTNESS to obtain a true black that will maximize contrast, then adjust CONTRAST for the appropriate brightness. You can now understand why the modern names for these controls are BLACK LEVEL and PICTURE, and why it's sensible to use icons instead of names to identify these controls. Unfortunately, the traditional names have been inherited by modern devices such as scanners and image editing programs, so you may have to remember that their functions are opposite to their names.
Step 1: Set CONTRAST to minimum

The first step in monitor adjustment is to set CONTRAST to its minimum setting. Some so-called "smart" television sets have automatic black level circuits that alter black level as a function of picture content. These circuits should be defeated if possible, both for monitor adjustment and for high-quality viewing.

Step 2: Display black

Display an image that is predominantly or totally black, perhaps by using a screen-saver. (In a well designed monitor, setting CONTRAST to its minimum will cause the visible raster to disappear.)

Television stations and networks fade to black between commercials. If you are adjusting a television receiver, you can use this "black" to set black level. Make it quick, though ! A television station never transmits black for more than a fraction of a second. If you find a colorbar test signal, its lower right corner contains true black. Black level should not vary from station to station.
Step 3: Adjust BRIGHTNESS

The third step in monitor adjustment is to adjust the BRIGHTNESS control to a balance point or threshold, low enough that a black area of the picture emits no light, but high enough that setting the control any higher would cause the area to become a dark gray.

Computer monitors are generally underscanned: the extreme margins of the screen have no picture content. A rough setting for black level can be found by making the underscanned margins as black as possible. However if your framebuffer has nonzero setup (or EIA-343-A levels) then this method is inaccurate. Using black picture content, instead of the margins, always assures an accurate setting.

When you set BRIGHTNESS to its minimum, your monitor may display a shade of dark gray instead of black. This indicates an internal misadjustment: Ask a service technician to make the necessary internal adjustment. When your monitor's BRIGHTNESS is set near its threshold, your monitor may display a dark color instead of a dark gray. This indicates that your monitor is mistracking: The internal screen or cutoff calibration of one or two of its guns is set incorrectly. Ask a service technician to repair this problem.

Step 4: Adjust CONTRAST

Once black level is set correctly, CONTRAST can be adjusted so that a white signal produces the appropriate level of luminance. In a television studio environment there are standards for absolute luminance. Outside that environment there is no "proper" setting of this control; it depends entirely upon your preference.

Resist the temptation to set your monitor too bright. Excessive brightness has a number of disadvantages. First, your sensitivity to flicker increases as brightness increases, so setting your monitor too bright is likely to increase your perception of flicker. Second, a number of phenomena act to scatter light onto the face of the screen, and the higher the brightness of bright areas of the picture, the more light is scattered into the dark areas. This scattered light reduces the contrast ratio - hence the perceived quality - of the picture. Third, operation at high brightness tends to defocus the electron beam of the CRT, resulting in poor sharpness.

Some poorly designed monitors exhibit variation in black level upon adjustment of CONTRAST. If your monitor suffers from interaction, after adjusting CONTRAST you may have to go back and tweak BRIGHTNESS. It may even be necessary to iterate between the two controls a few times in order to set the combination that both reproduces black correctly and reproduces white at the brightness you desire.

A studio video color bar signal includes a picture line-up generator (PLUGE) element at the bottom of the screen, which comprises a reference black bar with two small variations: an excursion slightly blacker than black, and an excursion slightly lighter than black. Black level is correctly set when the blacker-then-black element is indistinguishable from black, but the lighter-than-black element is just barely visible.

Correcting DV Brightness Levels for MPEG encoding in TMPGEnc

2006-11-15T04:20:00.000+08:00

Correcting DV Brightness Levels for MPEG encoding in TMPGEnc

DV format has a default brightness level from 16-235
this needs to be changed to 0-255 for mpeg2 or the video will look washed out in the player
this can be done automatically but manual adjustment gives u more control

open the file u wanna encode in tmpgenc .. and click on settings =>advanced Tab
this gives u a list of filters u can apply
Click on the checkbox next to "Custom color correction" to enable it. Then double-click on the phrase "Custom color correction" itself, to bring up the settings dialog for that filter. there click on the "Add" button at lower left which gives you the "RGB Brightness" type. you can use that but I prefer another one... in the "Type" pull-down menu click on the down arrow and select "Basic setting". now you'll have five sliders for Brightness, Contrast, Gamma, and Red and Blue shifts. on the right click on "Enable Filter" and "Show Histogram". a separate window will apear showing the pixel histograms for this video frame. There are two "Color" selections: chose the YCbCr button rather than RGB. Now, as you move the cue slider in the main correction window to scan through your video, the histogram window will show you the levels for each frame. Most important is the top graph (Y, or video intensity level). Standard DV levels (16-235 instead of 0-255) will not occupy the full width of the window.

for optimal MPEG2 encoding you want to adjust the filters brightness and contrast sliders so the intensity histogram just fills the whole width (but not too much which would clip whites or crush blacks). however you want to scan through your whole video and find the "extreme" dark and light scenes. If you adjust contrast based only on a low-contrast scene, you'll have bad looking video where the original was more dark, or bright. there is some judgement involved and this is one reason they pay the big bucks to "color shaders" in professional production a la "Mughal-E-Azam" ;)

Variable Bit Rates In TMPGenc
use variable bit rates instead of constant ones for those fast moving action scenes
see the diff urself
i tried it too
found the link here
http://www.digvid.info/tmpgenc/settings.php

Debugmode FrameServer

2006-11-15T04:15:00.000+08:00

http://www.debugmode.com/frameserver/usage.php

Usage Instructions

Ulead VideoStudio
1. From the timeline, choose menu "Share > Create Video File" and select the "Custom" template to open the default render dialog.
2. Enter a valid filename for the output file. This file is called the "signpost" file.
3. Choose "Debugmode FrameServer" as the output type.
4. Click "Save" to start FrameServing.

TMPGenc settings for best VCD

2006-11-15T03:01:00.000+08:00

THE VCD (PAL) TEMPLATE.

SETTINGS > VIDEO TAB
Motion search: High quality (slow)
This is very slow, but that's the price you pay for quality.

SETTINGS > ADVANCED TAB
Source aspect ratio: 4:3 PAL 720x576
Noise reduction filter selected
Custom color correction filter selected

SETTINGS > VIDEO TAB > NOISE REDUCTION FILTER
Still picture: 20
Range: 2
Time axis: 20
Noise looks like motion to the encoder. Reduce the noise and you improve the picture.

SETTINGS > VIDEO TAB > SHARPEN EDGE FILTER
Horizontal: 97
Vertical: 122
VCD has limited bit-rate. Sharpness is sacrificed. So if you enhance the edges, you get a slight improvement (but not much).

SETTINGS > VIDEO TAB > CUSTOM COLOR CORRECTION > BASIC SETTING FILTER
Brightness: 10
Contrast: 30
Gamma: 0 (default)
Red: 0 (default)
Blue: 0 (default)
I find that both brightness and (especially) contrast need to be increased from the default. But this is entirely dependent on your source video. So expect to make changes to these settings.

SETTINGS > VIDEO TAB > CUSTOM COLOR CORRECTION > YUV SATURATION FILTER
Saturation: 25
As above, adjust to suit your needs.

SETTINGS > GOP STRUCTURE TAB
Default.

SETTINGS > QUANTIZE MATRIX TAB
Soften block noise:
Intra block: 35
Non-intra block: 35
This is very important. I have not yet tried other numbers besides 35, but you must do something. Without the soften-block-noise turned on, quality (blockiness) suffers.

===================
Output YUV Data as basic YCbCr not CCIR601

This affects the range of values accepted for luminance (light/brightness) and chrominance (color) signals. YCrCb is raw samples, taking the range 0-255. In TV systems CCIR601 is normally used, which restricts the allowed range to 16-235 for luminance and 16-240 for chrominance signals. You will never use this setting for VCD.

If you are mastering for TV (e.g. VCD, SVCD, DVD), do not use this option.

======================

Use Floating Point DCT: This option will spend more time making sure that the mpeg video remains true to the original image. You must remember that these settings will servely slow down encoding and you may not notice much difference in quality - if you are a quality freak just use it.

Soften Block Noise: Since the Mpeg format compresses blurry images better than it does sharp images, it has a prefilter designed to soften the image without loosing too much sharpness. Again this is a matter of taste; take a look and see the results. If you think the bluriness is not too much you will get less noticable macroblocks. If sharpness is more important then keep it as normal. To increase the blur just increase the block noise numbers, 35 is a good setting anyway though. Intra blocks and non-intra blocks are basically the same as saying 'keyframes' (i.e. intra) or 'non-keyframes'. You may find that more softening on non-intra blocks produces better results in action scenes or vice-versa - experiment!

=============
Don't check "Soften block noise" as this is only good when doing low-bitrate encodes. If you're planning on doing VCDs then you'll want to check this box, but we're doing higher bitrate encodes than VCD so we shouldn't run into block noise problems.

===================

Video Technology Observations & things to consider

2006-10-31T04:22:00.000+08:00

http://www.videointerchange.com/index.html -Video Technology Observations & things to consider

CD-R info

2006-10-28T01:41:00.000+08:00

A CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable) is a thin (1.2 mm) disc made of polycarbonate

with a 120 mm

or 80 mm

diameter that is mainly used to store music

or data

,
However,
unlike conventional CD

media,
a CD-R has a core of dye

instead of metal

.

A standard CD-R has a storage capacity of 74 minutes of audio or 650MB

of data (though MB

is printed on CDs as the binary prefix

es haven't caught on in the industry,
MB will be used in this article),
Non-standard CD-Rs are available with capacities of 80 minutes/703MB,

which they achieve by exceeding the tolerances specified in the Orange Book
CD standards,

Most CD-Rs on the market are of the latter capacity,
There are also 90 minute/790MB and 99 minute/870MB discs,

though they are rare.

The polycarbonate disc contains a spiral groove to guide the laser

beam upon writing and reading information,
The disc is coated on the side with the spiral groove with a very thin layer of a special dye and subsequently with a thin,

reflecting layer of silver

,
a silver alloy

or gold

,
Finally,
a protective coating of a photo-polymerizable lacquer is applied on top of the metal reflector and cured with UV

-irradiation.

A specially designed type of CD-ROM

drive,
called a CD-R drive,
CD burner

,
or CD writer can be used to write CD-Rs,

A laser is used to etch ("burn") small pits into the dye so that the disc can later be read by the laser in a CD-ROM drive or CD player,

The laser used to write CD-Rs is an infrared

laser which emits laser radiation at a wavelength

of 780 nm,

The reflectivity

in the pit area is different (lower) than for the unchanged dye area,
because the refractive index

of the dye is lowered upon "burning" a pit,

Upon reading back the stored information,
the laser operates at a low enough power not to "burn" the dye and an optical pick-up records the changes in the intensity of the reflected laser radiation when scanning along the groove and over the pits,

The change of the intensity of the reflected laser radiation is transformed into an electrical signal,

from which the digital information is recovered ("decoded"),
The decomposition of the dye in the pit area through the heat of the laser is irreversible (permanent),

Therefore,
once a section of a CD-R is written,

it cannot be erased or rewritten,
unlike a CD-RW

,
A CD-R can be recorded in multiple sessions.

When looked at by the naked eye,

the part of the CD-R which contains data will be slightly darker than areas which are not written to,

Using this method,
you can get a rough estimation of the amount of data on a CD-R,
and whether or not it has been written to.

Brief history

The CD-R,

originally named CD write-once (WO),
specification was first published in 1988 by Philips

and Sony

in the 'Orange Book',
The Orange Book consists of several parts,
furnishing details of the CD-WO,
CD-MO (magneto-optic),
and CD-RW (rewritable),

The latest editions have abandoned the use of the term "CD-WO" in favor of "CD-R",
Written CD-Rs and CD-RWs are fully compatible with the CD (Red Book) and CD-ROM
(Yellow Book) standard,

They use Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation

,
EFM,
CIRC
error correction plus
the third error correction layer defined for CD-ROM

.
Compatibility of CD-R and conventional read-only discs,

CD and CD-ROM,
is a miraculous
achievement which was made possible by the dye materials developed by Taiyo Yuden

.
A blank CD-R is not 'empty'; it has a groove with a wobble,

which is used for timing and adjustement of the disc rotation frequency during writing.
First CD-Rs were produced in 1994,

(First CD-Rs were produced in 1988.) Among the first manufacturers were the companies Taiyo Yuden,

Kodak
,
Maxell

,
and TDK

,
Since then,
the CD-R was further improved to allow writing speeds as fast as 54x (as of 2004

) relative to the first 1x CD-Rs,
The improvements were mainly due to optimisation of special dye compositions for CD-R,

groove geometry,
and the dye coating process,
Low-speed burning at 1x is still used for special "audio CD-Rs",

since CD-R audio recorders were standardized to this recording speed.

There are three basic formulations of dye used in CD-Rs.

1,

Cyanine dyes were the earliest ones developed,
and their formulation is patent

ed by Taiyo Yuden,
Cyanine dyes are naturally green

in color,
and are chemically unstable,
This makes cyanine discs unsuitable for archival use; they can fade and become unreadable in a few years,

Many manufacturers use proprietary chemical additives to make more stable cyanine discs.
2,

Azo

dye CD-Rs are blue

in color,
and their formulation is patented by Mitsubishi Chemicals,
Unlike cyanine,
azo dyes are chemically stable,

and typically rated with a lifetime of decades.
3,

Phthalocyanine

dye CD-Rs are usually silver or gold,
The patents on pthalocyanine CD-Rs are held by Mitsui

and Ciba Specialty Chemicals

,
These are also chemically stable,
and often given a rated lifetime of hundreds of years.

Note that unfortunately,

many manufacturers add additional coloring to disguise their cyanine CD-Rs,
so you cannot determine the formulation of a disc based purely on its color,

Similarly,
a gold reflective layer does not guarantee use of phthalocyanine dye,

Note also that rated CD-R lifetimes are estimates based on accelerated aging tests,
and lifetime can vary considerably based on how you store the discs.

For optimum lifespan,

CD-Rs should be stored vertically to prevent warping,
inside archival plastic cases which use a ridged ring around the spindle which grips the disc,

This ridge prevents the surface of the disc from coming into contact with anything during storage,

Discs should be stored in cool,
dark conditions,
with controlled humidity,
Avoid using any kind of label on the CD surface,

and avoid use of printed inserts using anything other than water-based inks.

Although the CD-R was initially developed in Japan

,
most of the production of CD-R had moved to Taiwan

by 1998,
Chinese manufacturers supplied more than 70% of the worldwide production volume of 10.5 billion CD-Rs in 2003

.

There was some incompatibility with CD-Rs and older CD-ROM drives,

This was primarily due to the lower reflectivity of the CD-R disc,

In general,
CD drives marked as 8x or greater will read CD-R discs,
Some DVD player

s will not read CD-Rs because of this change in reflectivity as well.

see also: CD-ROM

,
DVD

,
DVD-R

,
DVD plus R
,
DVD plus R DL
,
CD burner

,
Spindle

GD-ROM

External links

The CD-R FAQ: http://www.cdrfaq.org/

Tab Gitar Melayu

2006-10-20T20:45:00.000+08:00

XP Tweak For Video Editing

2006-10-20T04:40:00.000+08:00

Tweak, tweak juga....Please read below!!!
Section I – TWEAKS you may want to AVOID
Disclaimer – Some of the TWEAKS / Optimizations involve changes in the Registry. If not done correctly, it is possible to hinder Windows from booting and/or operating properly. Although possible, I have never personally had a problem making changes. The error that most experience is selecting the wrong string (folder) and/or typing in the wrong value. Always “double-check” your entries before exiting. It is also wise to make a boot disk and registry back-up disk copy before doing optimizations or cloning existing HD with programs like Norton Ghost. See Microsoft help for how to do back-up / boot disks – there are special considerations if utilizing NTFS on the OS boot drive, etc.

IRQ8Priority TWEAK
I have seen this IRQ8Priority “tweak” posted at many sites on the Internet. No one actually gives a reasonable explanation of why this helps system performance. Here is a description of what IRQ8P… is used for: It is the reserved interrupt for the real-time clock timer. This timer is used by software programs to manage events that must be calibrated to real-world time. Alarms triggers can use this interrupt at a specified time. For example, if you are using Outlook and have it set to pop up screen messages or beep the PC when it is time for a meeting, the software will set a timer to count down to the appropriate time. When the timer finishes its countdown, an interrupt will be generated on IRQ8. I do not see the value of this TWEAK but will retract my statement if someone can prove otherwise. Possible caveat to timer irq priority is to not have programs scheduled with timers, etc. on you video computer. I do not list the actual method to do this TWEAK as those that have done it should know how to reverse (i.e. remove).

IoPageLockLimit
I have listed this optimization (TWEAK) here because it can have a very negative impact on PC performance if not set properly. The IoPageLockLimit indirectly determines the number of pages Windows will read or write to the hard disk at one time. In other words it determines how much will be locked into memory before swapping. If a system performs a significant number of physical in/out-puts raising the limit can sometimes improve system performance. Get it wrong and performance will be slower and less stable – not to worry you can change it back. Why is there no one optimal setting? Not all systems experience the same amount of file I/O operations, not all systems experience disk I/O bottlenecks in the same way, processor power (performance) varies, disk access & transfer rate, software programs operate differently and memory size all play a part in overall performance. Refer to Section II to understand more about this TWEAK and it's possibilities.

SecondLevelDataCache
This records the amount of L2 cache that is available on the processors. Some sites advocate that there is a default value and by changing you can significantly improve performance. Microsoft states changing settings in the registry is erroneous and that the second level (L2) cache is recognized by the NT/W2K/XP. They state that it is fully utilized regardless of the setting of this parameter. I would not do this one.

Defragmenting your RAM
Questions have been raised as to the validity of this particular 'tweak' within Windows 2000 and for sure within WinXP. Many feel it is unnecessary and for the most part not even good for your system. WinXP has further enhancements that make the need for this even more suspect for video editing type operations. The TWEAK is instituted with a 3rd party Utility. The whole issue is as follows : Windows uses the same 4k pages that are used within the system memory of Win9x to organize information in memory. It manages them properly (by paging the unused pages out to Virtual Memory when they aren't in use) and as such is said to be 'defragmenting' the memory (this is a misnomer and should actually be called Garbage Collection or Heap Compaction). Having a utility to force this is an unnecessary operation - it is done dynamically by the OS.

The way this is performed (actual operation of such programs) is to flush physical memory. When it does this it copies all of the data to a “pagefile” and forces the computer to reload it as needed. In this sequence it can actually force good information out of physical memory as well as garbage – therefore it can also temporarily decrease the speed of your system as the computer reloads the information into RAM.

Maintain Windows System in Memory
Some sites advocate that systems utilizing large amounts of memory (512 MB or greater) can utilize this TWEAK to force the core Windows system instructions to be kept in memory and not paged to the hard disk. They claim your PC will run faster. This may be true in some cases but how much access is Windows requiring while utilizing intense applications like Premiere? Certain high profile programs can claim large amounts of memory cache (space) and if full flushes caches more often. If Windows is holding extra space it is going to force the memory to fill faster & why do I want to hold things in RAM that I don't need. XP is pretty efficient at knowing what is needed and optimum. If anyone has conclusive information to prove this TWEAK actually enhances performance during edit type operations I am open to change my opinion.

The TWEAK is as follows - you may want to check that value is set to 0 if you have applied any automated TWEAK programs, etc..
Go to Run > regedit :
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ControlSession Manager\Memory Management]
Value Name: DisablePagingExecutive
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = default, 1 = disable system paging)

Enable Large System Cache – check on my machine
This tweak can be fatal when working with files that are bigger than size the physical memory. It will cause instantaneous swapping of memory to the disk due to the lack of physical memory. Of course this is not always bad but you can heavily burden the disk with very large pagefile transfers and manifest glitches or slowdowns in memory intensive programs like Premiere. For example when rendering or processing a large video file it can try to load all in memory at once. Systems with frame buffers and /or other real time algorithms could get into conflicts or slowdowns.

If you have lots of memory and want to use it to speed your I/O - setting this key will allow the system to use all but 4 MB of your system memory for filesystem cache. When it is disabled, it will use only 8 MB for filesystem cache.

This setting specifies that the System favor the System Cache working set rather than the Processes working set. If you want more Info see Microsoft KB Q232271. The registry entry to check setting is :
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \System \CurrentControlSet \Control \Session Manager \MemoryManagement]
LargeSystemCache=1
0 = Indicates that the computer does not go outside its cache pool and use program memory to perform I/O functions (The “supposed” beneficial TWEAK is set it to 1).

Unload DLLs when closing programs
This “Tweak” immediately flushes out “dll” files from memory when all the programs that are using it get terminated (end). Windows Explorer normally caches DLLs (Dynamic-Link Libraries) in memory for a period of time - even after the application uses it has closed. The rationale is that this can be an inefficient use of memory. Regardless, my recommendation is not use this unless you have instabilities with your computer(i.e. after closing opening one program and then loading another). I also think that it can be beneficial to have your editing suite (e.g. Premiere) stay loaded in memory when shutting down for short duration to do something else (i.e. computer then doesn't waste time re-loading if you get back in, etc.). To check your status (setting):
Go to registry (regedit) and look for :
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer.
If you wanted to do this TWEAK you will have to create a new DWORD sub-key named 'AlwaysUnloadDLL' and set the default value to equal '1' to disable Windows caching the DLL in memory. If you do not want to use it just make sure the ID listed (may not even be listed) is set to 0.
Restart Windows for any changes to take effect.

New Burner - Samsung SH-R522C

2006-10-20T00:22:00.000+08:00

52X 32X 52X
RM 73.00
Mercury IT, Centre Point KK

Nero Express 6(Ver.6.6.0.8)
In CD4

::e-gen 50's CDR
::benq 50's CDR

Hard Disk Drives and Safeguarding Data

2006-10-18T05:59:00.000+08:00

Rules for Working With Hard Disk Drives and Safeguarding Data
Last updated: 2/25/02

I have learned a few lessons the hard way over the many years I have been working on computers and a few of them have been very expensive. Here are my rules for working with hard disk drives and safeguarding data:

Don't work on disk drives when you are tired. In one case I lost thirteen years of work due to multiple, dumb errors made because of fatigue--wiped-out all three copies, wrote stuff on top of them, and could not recover them. Fortunately, most of the real valuable stuff was still on paper. Know when to quit.

Don't be in a hurry, lax, or take unnecessary chances. Know what you doing, think before doing it, and do it a logical sequence of steps. Try to avoid a distracting environment. Know when to stop.

Observe Antistatic Procedures. Manufacturer's pack hard disk drives in anti-static bags for reason... Many people don't realize that computer components can be damaged by static electricity and a problem may not appear until months later when a power surge completes the damage. Ideally, you should wear a grounded anti-static wrist strap when working on computer equipment, especially when handling memory and CPUs. Also, the use of grounded anti-static mats on the floor and on the workbench is a good practice. However, these items can be too expensive if you are building or upgrading just one computer. As a minimum, my advise is to make sure your body is touching the metal on the computer case when handling the CPU and memory. It would also be a good idea to work with bare feet during this critical time. Try to avoid touching drives, boards, memory, etc. with your clothes. Clothing can quite often be charged with static electricity, especially during cold-dry, Winter days. When handling a drive, try to avoid touching the printed circuit board. If a computer can't find drive after being in use for a few months, it may because the printed circuit board got zapped when the drive was installed.

Scan for viruses before working on a customer's or your friend's computer. Take the time to make sure the virus data base is up-to-date before you do it. Scan the computer and any unknown floppies that will be used on the computer. This comes from someone who has had a whole shop full of infected computers... a big shop... more than once. Disinfect before it spreads.

Back-up your data before doing anything major to a hard disk drive. Backup critical data twice and to different media/drives. Murphy's Law applies here; the minute you do not have a good backup something will go wrong and you will lose it. In one case, one of my technicians made a couple of errors and wiped-out the only copies of a module in a customized accounting program. His biggest mistake was to assume that regular backups included the programs. It took three expert man days and many dollars to recreate the module. Besides backing-up My Documents on a Windows 9X/Me computer be sure to back-up such things as:
user data located elsewhere such as Microsoft Works documents and Intuit Quicken Pro company files
C:\Windows\Cookies
C:\Windows\Favorites
C:\Windows\*.pwl (password files)
*.dbx and *.pst files (Outlook and Outlook Express personal folders -- search for them with the Windows Explorer)
Netscape directory/folder if you use it.

Backup now or cry later.

Don't trust tape or tape drives. Don't assume you have a good backup just because a customer regularly backs-up his or her data to tape. I have found that tape drives and tapes are notoriously unreliable, especially if they have been in use for about the same amount of time as it takes to have the first disk drive problem. Many times the tape of the last backup, and often the last two backups, were no good. And, you know, backups of garbage are exactly that... Also, I have seen many cases where a customer or batch program was not actually backing up the data or was not backing-up all of the data. Take the time to back-it-up yourself and make two of them, one them preferably on something besides tape. I usually back up to a scratch drive(s) temporarily connected to the customer's computer and/or to a network server. These methods are much faster than tape and more reliable. When it comes to backups, trust no one except yourself.

When backing-up check to see if the drive is compressed. Be sure to backup the drivers and compressed volume(s).

Record configuration data before wiping that drive. You can save a lot of time by copying or writing down data on that hard disk drive before wiping it clean. ISP configuration, the Windows Product Key, MODEM info, local network info, passwords, phone numbers, product serial numbers and activation keys, etc. Record now or work more later.

Don't wipe a drive until you have to. Don't be in a hurry to clean-up data after or during a job. If you don't have to erase backup files or old disk drives right away, keep that data around until you need the space. If you move data from an old drive to a new one and put the old drive back in the computer with the new one, there is no need to erase the data on the old drive until the customer needs the space. If something goes wrong, the data will still be there. The minute you erase old data/format a drive when you don't have to, you will need it.

Don't prep a new drive while an old drive with data is still attached. It is far too easy to make a mistake and remove a partition with data with fdisk or format the wrong drive/partition. It only takes a few seconds to disconnect both cables to the drive with data.

Do not put a drive where someone can bump into it and knock it off a workbench, etc. They will.

Do not set a drive connected to power on anything with the printed circuit board down. The minute you do something will turn it on and short-it-out. It is OK to run a drive out of the case up-side-down. All modern drives that I know of will fly up-side-down. Some real old ones (less than 100 Mbytes, as I recall) will not.

Do not over-torque a drive. Do not over-torque the screws securing a drive to a chassis. Never over-torque any screws securing any kind of drive. You can warp the frame and ruin the drive. Always use the correct screws for a given drive. They may vary with the type and manufacturer of a drive. Those supplied with various chassis vary. A screw that is too long can also ruin some drives.

Keep magnetic tools out of your shop. They shouldn't damage a hard disk drive, but they will wipe floppy disks and tapes with data, etc.

Larry

Repairing The Master Boot Record

2006-10-18T04:41:00.000+08:00

Repairing The Master Boot Record

By: Brien M. Posey, MCSE

One of the most important parts of your system’s hard disk is the Master Boot Record. Without a valid Master Boot Record or MBR, it’s impossible to boot the system from the hard disk. Unfortunately, many viruses are designed to attack a system’s MBR. Sure, you can usually disinfect the system and it will begin booting normally, but what do you do if a system still won’t boot after a virus has been removed?

To answer that question, it’s necessary to take a closer look at how this particular type of virus works. Normally, the MBR points at a system’s boot sector. When the system is powered up, the hardware knows to look at the MBR, and then the MBR redirects the system to the boot sector so that the boot process can begin.

Most, but not all, viruses that infect the MBR do so by copying the contents of the boot sector to a different file and then overwriting the boot sector with viral code. When you remove a boot sector virus, the anti virus program is usually smart enough to know where the original boot sector was copied to. It then removes the viral code and moves the boot sector code back to the correct location.

Unfortunately, some viruses don’t backup the boot sector code before altering it. Likewise, there are also legitimate programs that can cause boot problems similar to that of a virus. For example, I was recently using a program called System Commander from VCOM. System Commander alters the boot sector so that your system will boot the System Commander program instead of the normal operating system. The program then displays a menu and allows you to boot to a variety of operating systems. However, I had decided to remove an operating system from a computer and System Commander was damaged in the process.

After the damage occurred, the system was unbootable. The system would try to boot to a nonexistent copy of System Commander. Unfortunately, it was impossible to reinstall System Commander because the system was unbootable. As you can see, in such a case, perfectly legitimate software can function exactly like a boot sector virus. This means that whether your MBR is malfunctioning because of a virus or because of a boot program gone haywire, the repair method is exactly the same.

Obviously, the best repair method is to restore a backup or to use a repair disk such as the one created by Norton’s System Works. However, if you don’t happen to have such a recovery tool, you’ll have to do things the old fashion way. You can also forget about reformatting or repartitioning the drive, as these operations don’t effect the boot sector. The method that you’d use to recover from such a situation depends on the operating system that you’re using.

If your system is running Windows 98, use a separate system to create a bootable floppy disk and copy the FDISK file to it. Now, boot the damaged system from the boot floppy. When you’ve booted the system to a command prompt, enter the following command:

FDISK /MBR

This will repair the Master Boot Record and make the system bootable. If you happen to be using a Windows 2000 system, you can boot from the installation disks and enter the Recovery Console. When the Recovery Console loads, you can use the FIXBOOT or the FIXMBR command to cure the problem.

Problems with the master boot record

2006-10-18T04:32:00.000+08:00

Problems with the master boot record (MBR) of a system may prevent the system from booting. The MBR may be affected by malicious code, become corrupted by disk errors, or be overwritten by other boot loaders when experimenting with multiple operating systems on a host. This recipe describes one method of repairing the MBR for an XP host using the recovery console.

Boot with the XP installation CD.

When prompted, press R to repair a Windows XP installation.

If repairing a host with multiple operating systems, select the appropriate one (XP) from the menu. If you have only one operating system, enter 1 to select it.

Enter the administrator password if prompted.

To fix the MBR, use the following command:

fixmbr

This assumes that your installation is on the C:\ drive. You will be presented with several scary warning lines the reading of which will make you want to say no. Microsoft is exceptionally vague regarding the conditions under which fixmbr can cause problems although they are clear about the consequences (losing all data on the hard drive), so use this at your own risk.

Type y and ENTER to fix the MBR.

Type exit to leave the recovery console and reboot.

Good luck.

DV update

2006-10-14T05:06:00.000+08:00

Add this interesting links will ya ley....

http://lipas.uwasa.fi/~f76998/video/conversion/

http://www.zerocut.com/tech/vid_img.htm

http://stream.uen.org/medsol/digvid/html/mainmenu.html

http://nickyguides.digital-digest.com/interlace.htm

magnetic field reversal @ polarity transition

2006-09-20T20:30:00.000+08:00

Benarkan saya beri pendapat tentang matahari naik dari sebelah barat ni

Matahari naik dari barat ni bukanlah bersebab dari bumi berpusing terbalik. Bukan! bukan! bukan! Sebab kalau demikian adanya, ia bererti bumi mesti memperlahankan kelajuannya sehingga mencecah kosong sebelum menukar arah. Pada ketika itu bahagian bumi yang menghadap matahari akan terbakar! dan yang membelakangi matahari akan beku sesejuk-sejuknya. Tak sempat nak buat apa!

Juga bumi tidak juga terhenti dengan tiba-tiba, yang menyebabkan gegaran yang amat kuat dan kehancuran yang total.

Caranya adalah begini:
Di dalam perut bumi adalah logam cair yang bersifat magnetik. Ini sama halnya seperti kuning telur yang boleh bergerak-gerak dalam cangkerangnya (kulitnya). Maka kutub utara dan selatan bumi sebenarnya berubah-ubah tempat, walaupun sedikit. Satu ketika dulu ia pernah berubah sejauh 200 km. Saintis telah mendapati melalui simulasi bahawa jika gangguan-gangguan luaran cukup besar, maka logam cair ini akan berubah tempat, sehingga kutub-kutub magnet bumi bertukar tempat! Maka jadilah kutub yang dahulunya utara menjadi selatan, dan juga sebaliknya.

Apa yang jadi ketika itu ialah apabila kita melihat kompas, kita dapati matahari terbit dari barat! Bagi orang yang tidak melihat kompas pada masa itu, ia tidak merasakan apa-apa perbezaan. Tapi yang jelasnya pintu taubat telah tertutup!

Seorang saintis Rusia telah memeluk ugama Islam kerana mendapati bahawa informasi sokongan mengenai fenomena ini hanya terdapat dalam hadis Rasulullah sahaja, tidak dalam kitab-kitab agama lain!

Oleh itu segeralah bertaubat. Hentikanlah gosip yang tak berfaedah ni. Kita doakan jer yang baik-baik. Semuga orang lain pun mendoakan kita yang baik-baik juga.

Wallahu a'lam.

StormCodec5.12RC3

2006-09-20T18:47:00.000+08:00

MP4 player

http://download.softpedia.ro/software/MULTIMEDIA/VIDEO/StormCodec5.12RC3.exe

Hard Disk - Slave & Master Guide

2006-08-21T05:23:00.000+08:00

Storage Devices
Squeeze A Little More In

Storage devices and media have come a long way since floppy diskettes were considered state of the art. Large hard drives, CDs, and DVDs are now the storage mediums of choice.

Whether you're considering adding a new storage device to your system or you just want to keep your current device in tiptop shape, the tips below can help you save time and get more out of your storage devices.

Hard Drive Setup

1. Replace the cable. Adding a new hard drive is easy but don't use the old drive cable, even though it makes installation a little easier. Newer hard drives use faster access technology and new cabling standards; most should be connected with an 80-wire/40-pin EIDE (Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics) cable, not the 40-pin IDE cable many older drives use. Use the 80-wire cable included with the hard drive or ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) controller card.

2. Use the right connector. Unlike their 40-pin predecessors, newer 80-wire/40-pin cables have specific uses for each connector on the cable. The cables usually have three color-coded connectors. Attach the blue connector to the computer's hard drive controller, the black connector to the master device (a hard drive, CD/DVD drive, or similar device configured to be the master), and the gray connector to the slave device. If only one device is connected, use the black connector.

3. Use both channels. Most ATA hard drive controllers have two channels, each of which can support two devices. For the fastest, most reliable data transfer, don't put different device types on the same channel. For example, if you have a CD drive and a hard drive, you should configure each drive as a master on its own channel. If you have two hard drives and a CD drive, you should configure the two hard drives as a master and slave on one channel and the CD drive as a master on the second channel.

4. Configure drive jumper settings. Most IDE drives come configured for use as the Master (device 0) on an IDE channel. If you add a second drive to a channel, you'll need to change the configuration jumpers to reflect the new drive's status as a slave. Check the drive's installation manual for more information or look for a configuration guide printed on the drive's case.

5. Select the right master. Some drive manufacturers use two master settings, Master and Master (Slave Present). If you add a second drive and the first drive stops working, check to see if it has a Master (Slave Present) jumper configuration. If it does, changing it to Master (Slave Present) should let you use both drives.

6. Use the Cable Select option. Most IDE devices support a Cable Select option, which lets the IDE controller decide (based on the connector a device is attached to) whether a device is a master or a slave. With this option, you no longer have to worry about which device is a master and which is a slave and whether they're configured correctly. The Cable Select option should work with ATA/100 and later controllers; it also works with some early ATA/66 controllers.

7. Get a new controller for better performance. Unless your computer is a very recent model, the motherboard's built-in hard drive controller is probably slowing down access to your storage devices. If you have a free PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) slot, you can easily add a new ATA/133 controller and boost your data transfer rate. ATA/133 controllers, available from many sources, are an inexpensive upgrade option for older computers. Adding an ATA/133 controller could boost your data transfer rate as high as 133MBps (megabytes per second).

8. Reserve some space. The Windows operating system needs a certain amount of hard drive space available at all times for temporary files and other housekeeping chores. If sufficient space isn't available, it can lead to system slowdowns, freezes, or outright crashes. We recommend leaving at least 250MB free at all times to give your OS and applications plenty of room to maneuver.

9. Don't let your CPU run your hard drives (Win95/98). Accessing your drives using DMA (direct memory access) transfer mode provides the best performance. To determine whether your computer is accessing drives correctly, right-click the My Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties from the pop-up menu. Select the Device Manager tab, then expand the Disk Drives list by clicking the plus sign (+) next to its name. Select your hard drive from the list, click the Properties button, and then click the Settings tab. There should be a check mark in the DMA box. If not, add a check mark and restart your computer.

Routine Maintenance

Tip 10

10. Not if, but when. All drives eventually fail, but the failure doesn't have to come as a surprise. Hard drives rarely just up and die; in most cases, they fail slowly. Stay on top of the state of your hard drive by using the Windows ScanDisk tool regularly. ScanDisk can detect and correct minor problems before they become major ones. When you notice an increase in the number of minor problems, plan on replacing your hard drive before it fails completely.

To use ScanDisk, double-click the My Computer icon on your Desktop, right-click your hard drive's icon, select Properties from the pop-up menu, and click the Tools tab. In the Error Checking area, click the Check Now button. (Win98/Me users have the option to check Standard or Thorough modes and to Automatically Fix Errors. Select Standard and Automatically Fix Errors; Win2000/XP users should select Automatically Fix File System Errors.) Click the Start button. ScanDisk will check your hard drive and repair any minor errors. When the process is complete, a summary display will list any errors that ScanDisk found. Win2000/XP users will only see an error list if ScanDisk encounters errors. Watch for bad blocks or errors that repeat from scan to scan.

11. Take out the trash. Empty the Recycle Bin often. Files in the Recycle Bin take up valuable disk space and can lead to disk fragmentation and poor performance. Likewise, delete files and folders you no longer need. To help you keep your hard drive tidy, Windows includes its own housekeeping tool. To access it, right-click the icon for your hard drive and select Properties from the pop-up menu. Click the General tab, then click the Disk Cleanup button. Follow the on-screen instructions to delete any temporary files on your drive.

Buying A Hard Drive

12. Going 'round and 'round. A hard drive's rotational speed is one of many specs to check. Simply put, the faster the drive spins, the faster you can potentially read or write data. PC drives are commonly available with rotational speeds of 5,400rpm and 7,200rpm, although slower and faster drives are also available. A 5,400rpm drive usually costs less and, in some cases, can hold more data. A 7,200rpm drive is faster and a bit more expensive, but it's worth the investment for serious gamers and anyone working in multimedia.

13. Spare your notebook battery. A fast rotational drive in a notebook can quickly suck a battery dry. When contemplating a hard drive upgrade for a notebook, look for drives with rpm ratings of 4,200 or less for good performance and longer battery life.

14. Find a fast seek time. The speed at which a hard drive can move its read/write heads to the correct position to access data is known as its seek time. When comparing drives for general use, look for the average seek time and not the track-to-track seek time. Average seek time is a better real-world indication of how fast a drive can access data. For multimedia, graphics, and games, sustained transfer rate is a key indicator of speed.

15. Biggest isn't always best. Buying the latest, biggest hard drive may keep you on the cutting edge, but you'll usually pay a premium in cost per megabyte. Unless you really need the storage space, consider a slightly smaller hard drive. Yesterday's giants are available today for excellent dollar value. While 200GB, 260GB, and 320GB drives may be the new wave, 80GB, 120GB, and 160GB drives usually deliver a lower cost per megabyte and provide enough storage space for most users.

Manage A Hard Drive

Tip 16

16. Name that drive. When you only have one hard drive, it's pretty easy to keep track of where things are because they're always on the C: drive (unless, of course, your hard drive is named something other than C:). But once you start working with multiple drives and partitions, it can become difficult to remember what each drive or partition is being used for. Individual names can help reduce the confusion. Right-click the icon for a drive or partition you want to rename and select Properties from the pop-up menu. Click the General tab and type a name in the text box at the top. Make it short but descriptive, such as WinXP, Applications, Music, or Data.

17. Don't overlook the obvious. Many problems, such as a drive that suddenly stops working, can be traced back to something simple, such as loose cables. If you work inside your computer's case, it's easy to dislodge a cable and not notice. Check to be sure the drive's data and power cables are secure and plugged in at both ends.

18. Be careful with partition placement. A hard drive can access data faster from its outside tracks because they're physically longer. The drive head can read more data before it has to move to the next track. When you partition a drive, the first partition contains the outside tracks and the last partition contains the inside, slower tracks. Put important data that you need fast access to on the first partitions and less frequently used data on the last partitions.

19. Keep data files and application or OS files separate. It's a good idea to create multiple partitions and keep your data files on a separate partition from your OS and applications. This ensures that if you must reinstall the OS or an application because of system crashes or instability, your personal data files will remain unaffected by the installation process.

20. Don't move. According to re-search at IBM, users cause a large percentage of damage to the hard drives by mishandling computers. The specific culprits are moving notebooks or bumping desktops while the computer is still on. If you need to move a computer, suspend it, put it in hibernate mode, or shut it down, then wait 30 seconds to ensure that the hard drives have spun down before you move it.

Zip Drives

21. Put the cartridge away. The best place to store an Iomega Zip cartridge is in its protective case. Keeping a Zip cartridge in the drive, especially during a power off/on cycle, can lead to damage or a shorter lifetime for the drive or the cartridge. This is especially true of early versions of the Zip 100, which may not correctly park the heads during a power off.

22. Use the right cartridge. Zip drives come in 100MB, 250MB, and 750MB sizes. A Zip 100 drive can only read and write Zip 100 cartridges. Zip 250 drives can read and write both 100 and 250 cartridges, but when writing to a 100 cartridge, the Zip 250 may take an excessive amount of time. The Zip 750 can read 100, 250, and 750 cartridges and write to 250 and 750 cartridges. In all cases, you'll achieve the best performance when you use the cartridge size the drive was designed for.

23. Avoid third-party disk tools. Iomega uses its own proprietary method of handling bad sectors on a Zip cartridge. If you use ScanDisk or other third-party disk tools that attempt to map out bad blocks, you could cause problems with the cartridge. Use only the Iomega disk tools that came with your Zip drive.

24. Don't work from a cartridge. Zip cartridges and drives are handy for backing up and transferring data, but compared to a hard drive, they're as slow as molasses. For any sustained work involving data stored on a Zip disk, copy the data to your hard drive first for faster access.

CDs & DVDs

25. CD-R coaster control. Buffer underrun errors are bad news when you're burning a CD. They mean that instead of creating a CD, you've created a coaster. Underrun errors happen when your computer is unable to feed data to the CD burner quickly enough. To help avoid this problem, close all other running applications, including virus scanners, screen savers, and network connections before burning a CD.

26. Don't assume faster is better. CD burning speeds keep getting faster, but just because your CD burner can write at 24X doesn't mean it should. Full-speed writing depends on many variables, including media, hard drive disk speed, amount of memory, and buffer size on the CD burner. If any one of these items isn't optimal, you'll add another coaster to your collection or end up erasing and reburning a CD-RW. Lower your write speed for consistent burning without errors.

27. Use quality media. Perhaps no other variable for consistently successful CD burning is as important as the media you choose. Bargain-bin blank CDs may not be the bargain you thought they were. Spend a little extra for better quality blank media. You'll appreciate the time you'll save in not having to reburn data. And you really don't need all those coasters.

28. Keep it clean. If you have problems installing software from a CD or accessing data on a CD, including music CDs, the problem may be a dirty CD. Use a damp, soft, lint-free cloth to remove dirt and grime by wiping the surface of the CD in straight lines, moving from the center to the outside; do not wipe in a circular motion. Extreme grime may require a CD-cleaning chemical, available at electronic, music, and computer stores.

29. Solve CD access problems. If you have access problems with more than one CD, the problem may be a dirty lens assembly in the CD drive. To clean the lens, you'll need a special CD lens cleaner. The lens cleaner looks like an ordinary CD, but it has small brushes that will clear any dirt off the lens. CD lens cleaners are available at electronic, music, and computer stores.

30. Unstick a stuck CD or DVD. Tray-based CD/DVD drives usually have a special tray release mechanism that forces the tray to come out when it's jammed. You can access this mechanism by pushing a straightened paper clip though an access hole. Check your drive's manual for specifics. Some computers have a cover plate that hides the access hole. You may need to partially disassemble the computer to gain access.

31. Leave your mark. Some blank CDs and DVDs have an area on the media that's specially designed for labeling. You can use a soft-tipped pen on this area without worrying too much about long-term damage to the media. Water-based inks are a safer choice than solvent-based inks.

Buying A CD Or DVD Writer

32. Keep CD writing speed in perspective. Most newer CD writers include overrun protection and large buffers to keep data flowing, so there is now a lot of attention on writing speed. But don't let small differences influence you. The difference between a 48X CD writer and a 42X CD writer is pretty slim, especially because most blank media doesn't yet support reliable burning at these top speeds.

33. Get a handle on DVD writer formats. DVD burning standards are all over the map. Current standards include DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM. Choosing a format can be a compatibility nightmare. Fortunately, DVD writers that support all of these formats are appearing. These universal writers cost a little more, but they could save you from being stuck with the DVD equivalent of 8-track tapes if and when manufacturers ever agree on a format and it's not the one you chose.

34. Choose the right CD or DVD writing software. Most CD/DVD writers include software for burning information to blank media, but it's usually bare bones in terms of features and capabilities. If you already have or plan to purchase a full-featured CD/DVD burning program, make sure it's compatible with the drive you're considering.

Floppy Diskette Drives

35. Use the most reliable formatting method. Windows offers two basic ways to format a floppy diskette: Quick (erase) and Full. Both methods erase any existing files and format the disk. The Full option also performs a check for bad sectors, which are areas on the floppy that can no longer reliably store data due to imperfections in the diskette such as damage from heat, cold, contaminants, or wear and tear. The Full option displays a list of bad sectors, if any, when formatting is complete. If a floppy has bad sectors, it's usually best to throw it away. The Quick (erase) option is much faster, but it doesn't check for bad sectors, so the diskette may be less reliable.

36. Keep disks from getting stuck. Floppy diskettes can get stuck in a floppy drive for a number of reasons, but the two most common are a bent or damaged shutter and a loose or peeling label. Always check a diskette before you use it. If the shutter (the metal or plastic panel that covers the internal media) is bent or loose, it may be best not to use the diskette. If the label is peeling or loose, remove it before using the diskette. If a floppy does get stuck, don't try to remove it by inserting a screwdriver or other item into the drive. This job is best left to a professional, who can disassemble the drive, if necessary, to remove the diskette.

External Drives

37. Consider the external advantage. There are only so many places in a PC to mount an internal drive, and many PCs don't have front-panel access for removable drives. If you're running out of room and you need another drive, consider an external housing. External hard drives, which usually include a USB or FireWire interface, are good candidates for backup devices. Backing up to these drives is easy because your computer treats them just like any other drive. You can also share these drives by moving them from one computer to another. Another advantage of an external drive is that it makes it easy to move storage from one computer to another and offers almost unlimited opportunities for expansion.

38. USB or FireWire? For external hard drives, a USB 2.0, Fire-Wire 400, or the newer FireWire 800 interface will provide sufficient speed for most data needs. If your computer already has a USB 2.0 connector, save the cost of an interface card and go with USB 2.0 for general use.

39. Use FireWire for multimedia. USB 2.0 has a slightly higher peak transfer rate, but FireWire 400 beats USB hands down when it comes to sustained transfer rates. Sustained transfer rates are an important consideration when working with multimedia files such as video and audio. FireWire 800 is even faster, leaving USB 2.0 in the dust. Few FireWire 800 drives and interface cards are currently available, so they still command a premium price.

Solid-State Storage

Tip 40

40. Consider a smaller alternative. Solid-state storage devices, usually in the form of Flash memory modules and a USB interface, let you carry up to 1GB of data on a device that isn't much bigger than a key fob. These devices are slow at reading data and even slower at writing it, but their size makes them truly pocket portable for carrying data between USB-equipped computers.

41. Skip the special software. If you are considering one of these handy pocket Flash drives, make sure it doesn't require special drivers or other software. Most newer versions require nothing more than a computer equipped with a USB port and can work with any computer or OS. Plug the Flash drive into the port, and it should appear as another hard drive on your computer.

With the above tips at your command, you're ready to tune up and maintain your current storage devices, as well as add more storage when you need it. After all, you can never have too much memory or too much storage.

Impulse Eating

2006-08-12T02:49:00.000+08:00

Basics

Two hours ago, your husband polished off an ample dinner. Now he's back in the kitchen making a sandwich.

Your boss just gave you a pile of work at 4 p.m. that must to be done before you leave, so you beat a path to the candy machine.

If hunger isn't behind these urges to eat, then what is? Why do we eat when we aren't hungry – when our bodies don't actually need more food to function? It might be because eating satisfies needs other than nutrition.
Emotional Needs

We eat when we're bored. We eat when we're stressed out. Some of us chow down when we've been insulted; others when we're sad or lonely. Somewhere along the way, humans seem to have made a subliminal link between food and emotional fulfillment. So when we're in the grips of an emotion we can't seem to shake, sometimes eating – as much as a quart of ice cream or an entire bag of chips – helps muffle our feelings.
Habitual Behavior

You see the candy dish full of jelly beans or nuts, so you help yourself, even if you don't feel hungry. The next thing you know, the dish is empty. A commercial sends you to the kitchen for a little after-dinner snack, and gradually you feel as though something isn't quite right unless you're munching chips while holding the remote. You start through a bag of pretzels to break up your long drive home, and soon it's part of your routine. Voilà – you've got yourself a habit.

In all of these cases, you've unwittingly taught yourself to expect, even want to eat when you don't really need to. We do this a lot: At the movies, for instance, we line up for popcorn and candy, even though we've probably just eaten dinner a little while ago. Forgotten in all these habitual behaviors is the realization that our bodies, if we'd only pay attention, tell us when to eat and when to stop.
Why Food?

Food makes us feel good – which isn't surprising. We're conditioned to associate food with comfort, warmth and safety. But food has its own attractions. It's tasty, it brings people together, and it keeps us alive and healthy. We enjoy, sometimes even revel in, food's taste, smell and texture. Eating helps distract us from problems – even fairly big ones. Think about what happens at a funeral: No matter how sincerely people mourn during the service, once the food's served, conversation revs up and people relax.

Many people find that food helps calm them. This may be because it distracts them from their concerns, because they associate it with comfort, or because it actually alters brain chemistry. Food, in effect, provides us with an escape from our uncomfortable feelings. Is it any wonder that stress drives us to reach for food?

When emotional or behavioral needs kick in and we turn to food, we don't stop to wonder about how hungry we are, because we're being prompted by other influences. And if hunger isn't a factor to begin with, we're more likely to splurge, because the urge we're trying to satisfy has nothing to do with filling our stomachs, and everything to do with blocking our pain, or following a behavioral pattern. The aroma and sight of a chocolate fudge torte bathed in hot strawberry sauce only draw us further down the path toward splurging – something almost everyone does, and almost always regrets.

Curiously, splurging can be a particular problem for those most concerned with monitoring their food. Someone who's dieting may get very hungry and make poor decisions about what to eat.
Key Tips
Key Tip 1

A key to controlling emotional eating is to learn to pay attention to your internal cues, both stomach hunger and your feelings. Determine if you're really hungry. If you're not, then why have you thought about eating? Perhaps your emotions are driving you. If that's the case, you can recondition yourself to turn to other activities besides eating.
Key Tip 2

People often turn to food when they're really just thirsty. If you aren't sure if you're really hungry, try drinking a glass of water. If you're still hungry, then eat something nutritious.
Key Tip 3

If you decide to snack, choose a portion that amounts to about 150 calories. Chomp on apples, celery or popcorn if you're craving a good crunch. Soothing foods like yogurt, Jell-O, low-fat ice cream, applesauce or pudding can calm you.
Specifics
How Do You Avoid Splurging?

Your taste buds say yes, but what does your stomach say? Be in touch with your internal cues. If you're truly hungry, then you should eat. If you aren't hungry, try waiting before stuffing down more food. Remind yourself that this isn't your only opportunity to eat this particular food. If it's irresistible, you can have some later when you're really hungry for it.
Measure Your Hunger

If you're like most people, you probably don't always consider your hunger level before you snack. So it's probably a good idea to start thinking consciously, whenever you have an urge to eat, about how hungry you are on a scale of 0 to 10:

0 = Not at all hungry
3 = Satisfied
5 = Neutral
7 = Hungry
10 = Famished

The best time to eat is when you're at 6 or 7. If you wait until you're between 8 and 10, you'll probably make poor choices and overeat. Stop eating when you've reached 3 or you'll feel uncomfortably full. If you get an urge to eat, check in with your stomach. If it's not at level 6 or 7, then wait.
Tune In to Your Feelings

Monitoring your feelings is easier said than done. We often stuff food into our mouths before we even know why. So before you open the refrigerator door, take a moment to check. How hungry are you? If you're not at 3 or 4, it might be time to do a little internal exploring to determine what really brought you into the kitchen. Maybe you have money problems. If that's what's getting you down, ask yourself if food will pay the bills. If you're angry at your son's carelessness, will eating two slices of leftover cake solve the problem?

Maybe you're troubled by emotions that are trickier to get to. Here's a technique that works really well for a lot of people who are trying to understand what's getting them down: write about it. Next time you feel that urge to splurge on food, pick up a pen or fire up your computer and try to answer these questions:
Can I identify the feeling that made me want to eat?
Am I trying to avoid feeling this feeling?
What do I really need in place of the food I'm about to eat?
Do I need help with fulfilling this need?
Can I find a better way to fulfill it than by eating or overeating?

A writing exercise like this can help you find answers about yourself, especially if you start writing and don't stop to think. It may seem like gobbledygook at first, but keep going. You may surprise yourself with what eventually comes out. Even better, you may get some sense of how to sort it all out – and how to start neutralizing the urge to splurge.
Substituting for Splurges

You've paused long enough to realize that you're not really hungry. So what, besides eating, can you do to satisfy your urge? If you're at the office or managing a couple of toddlers, you can try a one-minute break to help reduce your stress level and take the edge off your urge for food.

What in the world is a one-minute break, you ask? It's when you stop what you're doing and switch gears long enough to regroup and refocus. You can do it under the tightest, most stressful circumstances:
Get up and walk to the farthest water fountain for a drink of water
Flip through a magazine or a newspaper
Close your eyes, scrunch up the muscles in your face, and then relax them
Take off your shoes and rub your feet
Take in a breath and exhale really slowly (repeat this five times)
Stand up and stretch your back and arms

These quick breaks can help dispel your urge to eat, or at least postpone satisfying it. And with each delay, you'll be getting nearer the time when you'll really be hungry again.

If you have the time, take a walk or go to the zoo or a museum. If substitutions like these seem to work for you, you might consider something long-range, like taking a course at a local college or joining a karate class at the Y.

If you've tried substituting and it simply isn't going to work this time, you don't have to wolf down a half-gallon of butter pecan ice cream. The small amount of fat in a few peanuts or sunflower seeds will help you feel full for a while. The carbohydrates in a few pretzels or crackers will release those soothing brain chemicals. But limit your quantities – you should probably keep such snacks to about 150 calories (one big hard pretzel, about 10 peanuts, 10 crackers or chips, one large banana). That way you'll be satisfying your urge and controlling your calories.
Sometimes It Really Is Hunger

In that case, try a healthy snack. A piece of fruit, some carrot sticks, a small drink of tomato juice or low-fat milk will help satisfy your hunger and your nutritional needs. We all need to eat more of these foods, so work them in as snacks.
FAQs

My job is stressful – I have a terrible drive home, and the first thing I do when I walk in the door is head for the ice cream. Then I eat a full dinner, even though I'm not hungry. How can I stop?

You're after-work binge is probably a combination of hunger and anger. Plan a snack to eat an hour before you leave for home. Maybe you can save half your sandwich from lunch, and eat it about 4 p.m. Keep some healthful snacks in your desk or the company refrigerator. That way you won't be ravenous when you hit the front door, so may be able to delay instant gorging.

Try listening to your favorite CDs or a book on tape as you drive. When you get home, avoid the kitchen for the first 15 minutes. Grab the mail, walk the dog, change your clothes. Whatever you do, pick something that will help you counter your habit of dashing into the kitchen as soon as you arrive.

When it's time for dinner, you face another hurdle, because people often snack while they're cooking. Depending on what's on the menu, that can add up to a lot of calories. So keep some celery or carrots nearby to munch on while you're preparing the meal.

Every morning I promise myself I won't overeat. But as the day progresses I fall right back into constant nibbling and poor food choices. I can't figure out what to do.

Wishing for good eating habits is a beginning, but it's not enough. You need a plan. Write out what you plan to eat today, including the amount, the time, and the place where you'll eat. Also plan snacks, since you nibble. But choose healthy snacks for your plan. And stick to your plan.

Do not plan to undereat. Make sure your plan is realistic and includes an adequate amount of food from all food groups.

Always eat sitting down, and when you eat, don't do anything else. Forget about reading or watching TV. If you make each meal a memorable event instead of an absentminded habit, you have a better chance of keeping track of how much you've eaten. When you get the urge to snack, you're more likely to realize how much food you ate, and how recently – and you'll be better equipped to talk yourself into at least delaying your snack.

I do pretty well during the day, sticking to modest meals and just one snack before dinner. But once dinner's over, I find myself diving into junk food – and I can't stop. Help!

Your evening junk food episodes could reflect poor meal planning or bad habits. But they might also mean that something more serious is amiss. Are you avoiding certain problems or emotions by overeating? Once you explore what's behind your compulsion to eat, you can move toward finding more healthful coping tools and less destructive eating patterns.

Resources Books

Mellin, Laurel, The Solution, Never Diet Again. HarperCollins, 1998.

Wurtman, Judith, Managing Your Mind and Mood Through Food. HarperCollins, 1987.

Somer, Elizabeth, Food and Mood: The Complete Guide to Eating Well and Feeling Your Best. Henry Holt, 1999.

Coined terms : "background thinking"

2006-08-09T02:10:00.000+08:00

Dig from Hassle's Blog

Background Thinking

There is a big difference between working an ED shift, and working a day of floor medicine/cards/surgery/ICU/PEDS. On the one hand, I go home at the end of my day, forget about everyone, and start anew the next day. On the other hand, while I'm working in the ED, I am working continuously. Literally. Pick up a chart, see the patient, order some labs/imaging, pick up the next chart, see that patient, order more labs, pick up a third chart, and a fourth chart. By this time, labs from the first patient may be back. Look at 'em, look at the x-rays. Make a decision and a disposition. Some patients will need interventions or procedures, which limits your ability to pick up the next chart, therefore your colleague picks up the next chart. Dinner? If I'm lucky, I can run over to the coffee shop for a snack. Staying hydrated? Forget about it. I've gone through entire 8 & 12 hour shifts without the need to urinate. Not that I can't find time, I just forget. Finding time to eat and drink feels selfish on a busy day.

The point of telling you this is...there is no time for my brain to mull over "background" thoughts and ideas. I'm sure everyone reading this blog has things they like to think about during the day. Projects, bills, friends, vacation planning, weekend planning, grocery list, etc. On floor medicine, you have downtime to let all these things run through your mind, but not while working in the ED. Every single moment is consumed by patient care and medical decision making. It's tiring!

As a result, when I get home, my brain not only needs to decompress from the activity of the ED, but also time to let these background thoughts that were supressed all day bubble to the surface. THe result? Three to four hours of almost manic, stream-of-conscious thinking, reading, internet surfing, project-finishing activity...very little of it medically related.

I'll talk more about background thinking later. In the meantime, check out Electric Sheep, a visual life form created by the background thinking of a global network of computers...concieved and designed by my high school friend, Scott Draves. See Spot Blog to drop in on his daily background thinking.

PS...I was too busy today to think about each patient as a visitor to my blog!

.:. posted by Shazam! .:. Link this post .:. Add your two cents

How do the Numbers for Hook Sizes work ?

2006-04-06T07:19:00.000+08:00

Hooks are numbered from 32 to 1, with size 32 being the smallest, and 1 the largest. Then the numbering goes from 1/O upwards, the greater the number before the "O" the larger the hook. The "/O" stands for ocean. Most sea fishing uses hooks between 10 for mullet and garfish to 12/O for sharks. A 6/O hook is pronounced as a "six Oh".

Be wary that some different manufacturers use the same number scale, but a 2/0 of the same pattern from different manufacturers may differ in size.

Flourescent lines are very popular; Does Line colour matter ?

Personally I prefer to use clear line, but there are times when coloured lines are useful. If you fish an area with very coloured water, then line colour makes little difference, especially in visibility of about 12 inches.

If the water you fish is crystal clear then the line colour can make a great difference to catches. When fishing in clear water, I would not recommend using flourescent line as it is so visible. At least I would ensure that all hook traces and leaders are clear.

Some beach anglers prefer the bright lines as they can see the line easily, especially when night fishing. If you want to use these lines, then use a clear shock leader, so the line near the bait is not visible.

One occasion where brightly coloured lines are very useful is when practice casting over grass. If a flourescent yellow or orange shock leader is used, it is very easy to find any crack-offs.

Another factor is that any colour is a dye added to the nylon monofilament and as such must alter the specification of the line slightly. This means that the performance of the same brand of line in different colours may vary slightly.

Is frozen bait any good ?

This all depends on the type of bait, and the quality of the freezing. Blast frozen baits such as mackerel, and squid are excellent, and are only bettered by bait caught on the same day. Look for brand names on the bait packets. Beware of un-named packets, these are usually frozen by the shop and are not blast frozen.

The bait you freeze yourself at home may be O.K. for boat fishing and as groundbait, but is not as tough as blast frozen baits for casting. Remember that domestic freezers are only designed to freeze a few pounds of produce at a time. The blocks of small squid are also excellent. Blast freezing is not so important with squid.

Why use a shock leader?

2006-04-06T07:00:00.000+08:00

A shock leader is a length of strong line designed to absorb the stress during casting. If you try to cast a lead using light line you are liable to crack off, and the lead will go in any direction. A fishing lead may kill someone if it hits them!

FOR SAFETY YOU MUST USE A SHOCK LEADER OF AT LEAST 10LB FOR EACH OUNCE OF LEAD YOU ARE CASTING

Lead weight 1 oz Minimum Shock leader 10 lbs
" 2 oz " 20 lbs
" 3 oz " 30 lbs
" 4 oz " 40 lbs
" 5 oz " 50 lbs
" 6 oz " 60 lbs

The shock leader must be long enough to have at least six full turns around the reel, and continue from reel to the lead.

simfoni siakap

2006-03-16T05:50:00.000+08:00

15 mac 3pm-6pm
Gang :Ibrahim + son
Live shrimp
Cemetery at Beringgis Estuary
Nil catches
Tide : Ebbing
Comment: Casting area was crowded with anglers.

YUSRIH AG. ALIP'S WEDDING DAY

2006-03-13T00:25:00.000+08:00

SUNDAY 12 MARCH 2006
KG. BOLONG, TUARAN
WIFE AT KAWANG BARU, PAPAR
SANZEE, OLLY, CLAY, MAT SALLEH, OSMUND, RIDZUAN, AZHAR, SYARIN, OMARSHA,

WHAT THE HULL: Some musings on Hull Shape

2006-03-12T08:39:00.000+08:00

Posted By: SkipperEd
Date: 9/6/99 11:23a.m.

What the Hull: Some Musings on Hull Shape by SkipperEd

A Preface Books have been written about hull shape. Lonnnggg books with lots of mathematics, formulae, equations, diagrams, water tank test results, hydrodynamics, and other important physics. This tiny little article does not pretend to be anything even approaching a comprehensive discussion of all the elements of hull shape, and is an even less comprehensive look at boat design in general. There isn't the time or space, nor do I have the qualifications. I am not a naval architect, and don't even play one on TV. That's what this article ISN'T, so don't write a flaming post to the TSBB proclaiming that I didn't mention "this or that," and that "this or that other thing" should have been included. We all know how incredibly complex sailing can be, and how many variables are involved. I am not trying to address them all. The article hopes to be a launch pad. A launch pad to start the reader thinking about hull shape when looking at boats. A launch pad to send the reader off to look into the entire area of hull shape and boat design on his or her own (many of you at TSBB already have). This modest little article also wants to be a smidgin of an introduction to some of the basic factors involved in hull shape, and the effect of those factors on sailing. The entire subject is fascinating to me, and I hope this will help people to understand better the cause and effect of hull shape, and what to expect from different hull forms. On a beginning level. The article will not go into multihulls.

Why? Sailing means a great deal to me. I love it. A lot! I encourage others to try it. But there's a problem. Sometimes a novice sailor (newbie) is bitten by the sailing bug, and then goes out to buy the first boat! Hooray. However, as a newbie, the person doesn't know what to look for. Some newbies ask around. Some sign on to TSBB and ask "What should I buy?" Some just buy what looks cool. But even when a newbie asks before buying, he or she is susceptible to a couple of other factors: the inherent biases that all sailors have about the sort of sailing they enjoy best, and the even more common problem of the newbie not providing enough information about their needs and lifestyle for the veteran sailor to provide really useful advice. (We too often assume that other people will like what we like, so we recommend our favorite boat. And often, our favorite is all wrong for the new sailor.)

Why Number Two. Even some experienced sailors haven't paid much attention to the significance of hull shape during their sailing years. They may have learned that a light, beamy boat with a fin keel and a tall rig will sail faster than a heavy, narrow boat with a full keel and low aspect ratio rig, but they may not be aware of the other significant effects the differences may cause.

And so, with these two "whys" in hand, let's cast off the dock lines and head out on a brief and simple introduction to hull shape.

First, a little "glossary" so that we're all talking the same language.

Start with dimensions: BALLAST: the amount of weight placed low in the boat to provide stability BEAM: the width of the boat at its widest point

(Waterline Beam is the maximum width of the boat at its waterline) DISPLACEMENT: the weight of the boat (actually the weight of the water it displaces) DRAFT: the depth of water required to float the boat LOA: length overall, the maximum length of the boat (doesn't include bowsprits, davits, etc) LOD: length on deck LWL: load waterline length, the length of the boat at the waterline

BULWARK: a raised ridge above the edge of the deck, similar to but more substantial than a toerail CENTER OF LATERAL RESISTENCE (or lateral plane): the center of the underwater portion of the hull important factor in weather helm CHINE: usually limited to flat bottom boats (or v-bottoms), it is the angled corner where the bottom of the hull meets the topsides ENTRY (or entrance): the bow just above the waterline, where the boat cuts the water FAIR: smooth, a hull that doesn't suffer from bumps, indents or other misshapes FREEBOARD: the height of the boat from the waterline to the deck KEEL: (technically, the backbone of a boat) for the purposes of this article, we'll refer to the keel as the portion of the boat designed to provide lateral resistance, including fin keels, full keels, keel-centerboards, centerboards, swing keels, etc. It isn't exact, but it'll work. OVERHANG: at the bow and stern, the amount of the boat that extends beyond the waterline QUARTER: the part of the boat that is aft of the halfway point (beam). A "quarter berth" is a berth located in the aft corner of the boat. SHEER: the line the deck makes when view from the side. Commonly, traditional boats have a sheer that curves downward from the bow and stern. Often, modern boats have a fairly straight sheer. SKEG: A solid, non-moving part of the hull just forward of the rudder which helps to support and protect it. SPADE RUDDER: a rudder that is separate from the keel, and has no skeg. It is supported only by the rudder stock (or shaft) TOPSIDES: not the deck. The topsides are the portion of the hull from the waterline to the edge of the deck. Pretty much the same area as the freeboard. TRANSOM: the stern panel of a boat (boats with canoe sterns don't have a transom) TURN OF THE BILGE: the curve where the topsides turn to become the bottom WETTED SURFACE: the amount of surface area under the water; the more wetted surface, the more friction and the more power needed to drive the hull through the water

Before looking at the different hulls, keels, and rudders, it's important to know the difference between FORM STABILITY and WEIGHT STABILITY. Some boats derive their stability from the shape of their hull. Consider a sheet of plywood floating in the water: it's not going to flip over because of its flat, broad shape rather than its weight. Now, consider a round plastic barrel floating in the water: it will roll and roll, bottom to top, top to bottom unless something is added to stop it. If you add a heavily weighted keel to the barrel, it will stop rolling. The plywood derives its stability from its form, the barrel from the added weight. A broad, flattish bottomed boat (or the wide stance of a catamaran) derives much stability from its form. A boat with a round hull must add a weighted keel.

Further, there are two other kinds of stability: INITIAL STABILITY, and ULTIMATE STABILITY. Put a mast and sail on the sheet of plywood, and put a mast and sail on the barrel. At first (initially), the plywood remains stable and flat, while the barrel heels over a little, and rocks back and forth. Now add wind: the plywood will remain flat, not heeling at all, until the force of the wind is enough to overcome the breadth of the shape, then it will flip over suddenly. On the other hand, when we add wind to the sail on the barrel, the barrel will begin to heel early, heel further and further until the weighted keel reaches the point where it is exerting maximum downward force, and the wind begins spilling from the sail. Here is the point of ultimate stability. The barrel heels earlier (it is more "tender"), but it has greater Ultimate stability.

OK. Now for a quick rundown of the basic types:

V-BOTTOM: Most common in power boats. Has a hard chine (angular), straight sides that meet the v-shaped bottom at the chine. Example: West Wight Potter.

Advantages: inexpensive to construct, easiest to home-build, excellent initial stability

Disadvantages: has a tendency to pound in waves, stability changes are abrupt rather than gradual, more difficult to sail when heeled FLAT-BOTTOM: Most common in punts, and dories, but distinctive in sharpies. Again, it has straight sides that meet a flat bottom in a hard chine. Example: Sea Pearl. Bay Hen

Advantages: inexpensive to construct, excellent initial stability, extremely shallow draft

Disadvantages: pounds in waves, needs to be sailed flat, best in protected waters

Note: racing scows fit the description of flat bottom boats, are very fast, but are commonly limited to flat water, lake sailing

ROUND-BOTTOM: there is a wide range of round-bottom hulls, from just slightly rounded (or u-shaped) as in a dinghy, to Y-bottomed as is common in most racer-cruisers, to the "wine-glass" bottom of a Cape Dory Typhoon.

WINE-GLASS:

Advantages: smooth motion in seaway, strong hull form, moves through waves well, good directional stability as it is commonly equipped with full keel, seaworthy

Disadvantages: low initial stability ( heels easily, "tender"), significant wetted surface increases friction and slowing boat, expensive to build, deep draft

U-SHAPED:

Advantages: shallower draft, low wetted surface, often able to plane, more initial stability than wine-glass

Disadvantages: less directional stability, more pounding in waves, shallow bilge

Y-SHAPED

Advantages: good compromise between smooth motion in waves and lower wetted surface than wine shaped, seaworthy, appropriate to cruisers

Disadvantages: slower, more wetted surface than U-shaped, less initial stability than U-shaped

Note: most trailer-sailors have U-shaped hulls to make them more easily launchable.

Compare a Cape Dory Typhoon to a Catalina 22 for an example of the differences.

THE ENTRY:

A "FINE" entry indicates a pointed bow shape that remains fairly narrow for some distance back. (Examples: J-22, Capri 22)

Advantages: cuts through waves, better speed, less pounding

Disadvantages: limited interior volume

A "ROUNDED" (or Full) entry indicates a broader, rounder bow shape whose beam increases rapidly. (ComPac, Seaward)

Advantages: much more interior volume, greater buoyancy

Disadvantages: more resistance in moving through water, slower, more pounding

An "EASILY DRIVEN" HULL

We've probably all heard this term, and it's an important one. Simply put, the more easily driven a hull is, the more easily it can be propelled through the water whether by sail or motor. A knife moves through the water effortlessly it needs to move very little water aside to makes its way through the water and thus, takes little power to do it. For the sake of this discussion we will exclude PLANING HULLS (i.e. hulls that can skim across the top of the water), and limit ourselves to DISPLACEMENT HULLS. (i.e. hulls that must move water aside in order to travel).

It makes sense that a very narrow hull with a sharp entry will be easily driven if it is not too deep to create lots of wetted surface and drag. But, a very narrow hull doesn't have much buoyancy, and certainly doesn't have much living space. So a compromise is made: the beam is made wider to provide more buoyancy and living space below. But now that the boat is wider, it is more difficult to drive through the water. In turn, the boat's bottom is made flatter instead of deeper, so that it has less wetted surface, but now, it pounds more in the waves, so .....

Designers are in a continual search to find the right combination of compromises for the right kind of boat. A Shields is a 30 foot boat with a 6 ft 5 inch beam and almost no freeboard. Long, low, and narrow. Sleek with no room below, a daysailer. A Cape Cod Cat is 17 feet long, with a beam of almost 8 feet (a foot and a half wider, but only about half as long!). Two boats clearly designed for different purposes.

But let's compare two well-known trailerables of the same length: both boats have exactly the same LWL of 18 feet, one has a beam of 8'0, the other 8'2", one has a sail area of 250 sq feet, and the other has a little more at 308 sq feet. But that's where the similarities come to a screeching halt. The first one, the Flicka 20 weighs in at 5,500 pounds, while the other, the Ultimate 20 weighs only 1,100 pounds. Be sure to consider ALL the numbers.

HULL SPEED

A non-sailing buddy of mine teases me about hull speed. "Here's a 25 foot boat, and here's a different 25 foot boat. If both of these boats have the same hull speed, how can you say one is faster than the other?" Or looking at the Flicka and the Ultimate 20, if they BOTH have the same LWL, and hull speed is determined by the equation: 1.34 times the square root of the LWL, why aren't both boats equally fast?

It's a good question. But the answer is easy, and it has to do with a hull being "easily driven." Excluding the concept of "planing" here. The Ultimate 20 is a faster boat than the Flicka even though both have the same LWL because the Ultimate 20 is: 1. able to achieve greater speeds in less wind than the Flicka 2. able to reach hull speed more easily than the Flicka.

Using some totally hypothetical numbers: imagine the true wind is 10 knots. Both boats are sailing on the same tack. The Ultimate 20 would be able to reach 5.5 knots of boatspeed while the Flicka would reach only 3.5 knots of boat speed in the 10 knots of wind. NEITHER one reaches hull speed, BUT the Ultimate is considerably faster.

FREEBOARD:

This is one of the least understood and appreciated elements of hull shape. Partly because it is difficult to measure, and because measurements are never given in boat statistics.

HIGH freeboard is an indication that the boat's topsides are comparatively high from the waterline to the deck. LOW freeboard is the opposite.

HIGH freeboard (Example: Seawolf 25 cruiser, a 25 foot boat with standing headroom)

Advantages: more interior volume, more headroom, increased reserve buoyancy

Disadvantages: greater windage (which can result in greater leeway, difficulty in sailing to weather, difficulty docking), often aesthetically "chunky" looking

LOW freeboard (example: J-105, a 35 foot boat without standing headroom)

Advantages: low windage, sleek appearance, better sailing performance

Disadvantages: often no standing headroom, little storage, uncomfortable

KEELS

FULL KEEL

Advantages: greater directional stability (easier to steer in a straight line), strong,increased protection for hull, rudder and propellor, seaworthy, generally good motion in seaway, good ultimate stability

Disadvantages: difficult turning, slow due to increased wetted surface and weight, decreased windward sailing ability

FIN KEEL There are many kinds of fin keels from extremely deep, narrow keels with huge bulbs at the end such as in high tech racers, to moderate draft fins, to shoal draft fins. In each case the advantages and disadvantages are a function of the depth and length. For example, a high tech racer's very deep, but narrow keel has the advantage of great righting moment to enable to boat to carry more sail, but very poor directional stability making steering difficult. Whereas a boat with a long, but shoal draft keel will have good directional stability, but less righting moment.

Obviously, an extremely deep keel has an increased risk of grounding, is more fragile and apt to damage. On the other hand, such a keel has exceptional windward performance due to the lift provided by the keel. Many non-trailerable boats have elected the moderate draft fin keel: that is, a draft of 4.5 to 6 feet as a compromise. Good lift, good resistence to leeway, and good windward performance, but without prohibitively deep draft

The more shallow draft a keel, the better will be its steering, it's ability to "gunkhole," the ease of its launching, but the less efficient will be its ability to sail to windward.

KEEL-CENTERBOARD This is why shallow draft keels are often equipped with centerboards to improve lateral resistence, and windward performance. The advantages of the k-cb keel are: fixed ballast, shoal draft, good windward performance with an easily raised and lowered unweighted board. Sometimes, the draft or towing weight of such boats are challenging. Keel-centerboarders remain ballasted keelboats.

SWING KEELS and LIFTING KEELS (daggerboards) In addition to the keel-centerboard solution to providing a workable means of shallow draft for trailering, and improved windward performance, designers have devised weighted swing keels (as in a Catalina 22), or lifting keels as in an S-2 7.9 and others. Often, a portion of the ballast of such boats is bonded into the hull so that all of the ballast does not need to be located in the movable keel.

Please note: in all of the foregoing, we have been looking at ballasted keel boats that use a substantial amount of weight as part of the boat SOMEWHERE to provide counterbalance to the force of the wind in the sails. Such boats are extremely difficult to capsize or even to knockdown in anything but severe weather. The next category does not meet these same criteria.

It is essential that new sailors realize the difference between ballasted keelboats of any description, and unballasted centerboarders of any description.

Unballasted CENTERBOARDERS. These boats range from car-toppable board boats such as Snarks and Sunfish, to trailerable dinghy sailors such as Capri 14.2s, Lasers, Snipes, Coronados, etc. Such boats depend form stability and on the CREW to provide the counterbalance to the force of the wind on the sails, and depend on the crew to be in the right place on the boat as well. Such boats can and do capsize very easily.

SELF-RIGHTING: centerboarders will not right themselves. They must be righted by the crew swimming in the water.

Many keelboats (though not all) will right themselves many will even right themselves from a completely capsized (or turtled) position. Some will self-right only from a knockdown. It depends on the design of the boat, including the hull, the deck, and the placement of the ballast.

In the case of Around the World Alone Racers such as Isabelle Autissier, and the late Mike Plante, their boats are designed with such radically broad beam, and shallow freeboard, that they are not self-righting when turtled. However, many ocean cruisers such as Pacific Seacraft, Island Packet, Cape Dory, and others, will return upright even if fully capsized (provided watertight integrity is not violated).

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:

It isn't an absolute truth, but there is enough truth in it to use as a guideline. Whenever you elect to emphasize one quality in your choice of boat, you have to give up an equal share of another quality.

Want more speed? You might have to sacrifice a little comfort.

Want more stability? You might have to sacrifice a little speed.

Want more room below? You might have to sacrifice ease of towing.

Want easier launching? You might have to sacrifice windward performance.

Want a little, lightweight boat? Sacrifice sailing range and sea capability.

Etc.

Yesterday, while sailing on a broad reach in over 20 knots of wind with a following sea of 3-5 feet, Linda and I shrieked with delight as we surfed down the waves with a tremendous roar as our boat exceeded hull speed again and again because it was "surf assisted." (Put an asterisk in the record books.) It was an absolute ball!

Our hull has a fine entry, only moderate freeboard, a 5'6" fin keel, a spade rudder with a partial skeg, but a fairly flatish (U-shaped) bottom that flattens out even more aft of the beam. As we were surfing, spray sparkling my smiling teeth, I said to Linda, shouting to be heard above the roar, "THIS is the benefit we get for having a lousy, too shallow bilge!" Our HULL SHAPE enables us to surf, but the price we pay is we don't get the wonderful deep bilge of a Cape Dory.

Make your choices, but know the likely results of each one.

What’s the difference between a canoe, a rowboat, and a shell?

2006-03-12T01:24:00.000+08:00

A canoe is designed to be powered by hand-held paddles, usually with two people paddling, one on each side. Canoes are narrow so the paddlers can reach over the sides without leaning over.

A rowboat can be any boat designed to be powered by oars. Traditional rowboats had the oarlocks mounted on the gunwales. “Rowboat” is frequently used to mean this type of boat rather than a "shell". Rowboats with gunwale mounted oarlocks tend to be wide to get enough spread between the oarlocks to use long oars.

A shell is designed to be powered by oars, but has the oarlocks mounted on arms (called outriggers) extending out from the sides of the boat. This allows a greater spread between the oarlocks, allowing very long oars on very narrow boats. Shells usually have sliding seats, which adds leg power to the stroke.

Why do some rowing boats have transoms while others do not?
The purpose of a transom in a rowing boat is to give it more beam above the water without adding extra length. The transom on a well designed rowing boat will end above the waterline, allowing the underwater portion of the stern to come together to a trailing edge. This will allow the water displaced to flow smoothly back together as the rowboat moves. Other well designed rowboats are double ended having what is known as a canoe stern, such as an ordinary canoe or the beamier peapod. A boat with a transom designed for mounting a motor is not a true rowboat, and will not row very well.

How does the length of a rowboat effect its performance?
The waterline length will effect the hull speed which is the maximum speed at which a boat can be rowed before it starts to climb its own bow wave. The overall length, along with freeboard, sheer line, and the shape of the bow and stern determines the above water profile, which determines the windage. Too much windage is undesirable in rowboats.

How does the beam of a row boat effect its performance?
The waterline beam effects the static (or initial) stability of a row boat. The wider the beam the more stable the row boat. Waterline beam also has an effect on how easily the boat moves through the water. The narrower the waterline beam, the shorter the distance water get pushed aside as the boat moves forward, and the more easily it moves. The beam at the gunwales effects the type of rowing system that can be used on the row boat. Wide gunwales for oars that pivot on the gunwales, narrow gunwales for oars that pivot independently of the gunwales.

What effect does the bottom shape have on a row boat?
A flat bottom rowboat requires less draft than a v bottom. Flat bottoms have a reputation of slapping in waves, but if the flat part of the bottom is narrow and remains under water it will not slap. It is a common misconception that the bottom shape determines stability, but this in determined by the sides at the waterline.

Does a row boat need a keel?
Some traditionally built rowboats have a keel as a part of the construction method. Modern building methods eliminate the need for a keel, and they are rarely seen in modern designs. Keels or centerboards are needed on sailboats, but not on rowing boats.

Why do some rowboats have skegs?
Skegs are sometimes used in very short rowboats (dinghies) which do not have enough length to form the stern into a vertical edge. In such a short boat, the skeg is needed to give directional stability for tracking (going straight between strokes).

How does the shape of the sides at the waterline effect a rowing boat?
This determines the dynamic (or secondary) stability of the rowing boat. Sides that flair out above the waterline give more dynamic stability than sides that are vertical at the waterline. Static stability is determined primarily by waterline beam.

9ft_Sharpie

2006-03-10T14:08:00.000+08:00

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~fassitt/cranks/9ft_Sharpie.html

Stitching notes

2006-03-10T11:43:00.000+08:00

www.naese.com/fibres.htm

www.westsystem.com/ewmag/14/RubensNymphr.html

www.paddlermagazine.com/issues/1999_4/Wood.htm

www.watersdancing.com/Waters_Dancing_Innovations.shtml

rainbowboats.com/sgfaq.html

www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php

www.duckworksmagazine.com/03/r/columns/welsford/019/john.htm

www.myoan.net/paddlingart/boatwood.html

www.writebyte.net/writebyte.dll/GetPage%3FPageId%3DHardDodger

On Moon Trail By Tarek Sida

2006-03-06T14:36:00.000+08:00

However, one must keep in mind that scientific calculations cannot replace an actual crescent sighting (Ru'yah). One of the basic principles of scientific methodology is that observation is a prerequisite for proving one' s theory or calculations. This important principle was emphasized by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) when he said, more than 14 centuries ago, "Begin your fast when you sight it (i.e. the Ramadan crescent) and end your fast when you sight it (i.e. the Shawwal crescent)".
Read more...

Moon angle...

INTRODUCTION

Science
AAPT Science
Astronomy (Oxford English Dictionary)
Titan
Photo from Spirit on Mars
Mars rock polished by wind and dust
Astroviewer
Cosmic Distance Scale

SUMMARY OF MODERN IDEAS IN ASTRONOMY
Earthrise from Apollo 11 (1969)
Earth and Moon from Mars
Earth from Voyager
Parallel Universes
Mars Climate Orbiter
Hubble UDF Zoomable
"Pillars of Creation
"Milky Way" (Andromeda Galaxy)
Crab Nebula
Solar System
Powers of 10 - Java from quarks to superclusters of galaxies
Astronomical Distances by travel times
History of Universe (1 day)
History of Universe (1 year)
Astronomical sizes
Earth's Motion around Sun
Solar Neighborhood Motion (Fig 1.16) ~ 70,000 km/h motion of local stars relative to Sun; Why don't we see this motion?
Summary of Earth's Motion (Table 1.2)

bukit vor first date

2006-03-03T00:16:00.000+08:00

Targeting for trevally.
Team mate : Khalil, Najib, Amir & Ibrahim.
DateTime : 9am-12noon March 2,2006
Basung leper, shrimp, sotong.
1 jurassic fish + 1 spotted grouper.
tide curvature
Rating :
Casting ground : *****
Potential catches : *
Snagging : *****

teknik mengepoxy

2006-02-28T19:30:00.000+08:00

http://www.pygmyboats.com/Construction.htm cara epoxy
http://www.epoxy-resins.co.uk/Gallery/Morgan2.htm cara epoxy
http://www.oneoceankayaks.com/Wshophtm/Shop23a.htm cara epoxy
http://www.rd.com/content/openContent.do?contentId=18091 cara epoxy

http://www.boatbuilder.org/mudpeepstitching.htm cara stitch

Background

The wood epoxy composite technique, which has revolutionised the way wooden boats are built, has also been successfully applied to the restoration of old wooden craft. In many restoration cases, the application of traditional boatbuilders skills to restore the boat to seaworthy conditions has been either not possible, due to the boats advanced state of deterioration, or it was prohibitively expensive. Today we can see many old wooden craft of all types and sizes being used actively and even engaged in competitive yacht racing, which would not have been in fit condition had not epoxy resins come to the rescue.

Whereas not all old wooden craft are of traditional shape and design, the oldest craft are the category with potentially the most to gain from the correct use of epoxies, and therefore the ones which represent the highest challenge. Many owners have spent sometimes months, and even years of work lovingly restoring traditional craft, yet all agree that the effort was well spent. The end result can be a craft of traditional appearance outwardly, but one which incorporates all the benefits of modern epoxy adhesive and coating technology - enhanced strength, hull stiffness and low maintenance.

This article has been prepared for the benefit of those owners of wooden craft who want to achieve these benefits. All restoration on whatever type of boat requires careful planning and a detailed understanding of both the effort that must be made and the products at one's disposal to achieve lasting benefits.
General Preparation
Wood Moisture Level

Wood moisture content is of paramount importance, both because it effects timber longevity and the functioning of epoxy adhesives and coatings. It was mentioned earlier that complete hull encapsulation is a desirable aim. It is most important before contemplating this treatment that the moisture status of the wood is assessed so that the treatment can start with the wood in its optimum physical condition. Older types of coatings are much more permeable to moisture, but this was not considered too serious a drawback as the building timber was chosen to be of a high moisture content (m.c.) - in the order of 18-25%. Left continuously at this level it is not surprising that the wood decayed since 18-20% is generally considered to be the threshold level for fungal spores to multiply. The fungus attacks the cellulose and lignin which make up the cell walls of wood. It was good practice therefore to build hulls from wood with a natural resistance to decay, choosing either a dense heavy timber with relatively low natural permeability or wood with high levels of natural resin. Periodic drying of the hulls, which usually occurred when the boats were hauled out during the winter months served only to temporarily reduce hull moisture and this was accompanied by a certain amount of shrinkage of the planks. This process continued until an equilibrium was established with the Relative Humidity of the surrounding air. Placing the boat back in the water was accompanied by an initial high level of water absorption into the interior of the hull, and into the hull planking, until the planks expanded and gaps closed. Epoxy encapsulation is designed to overcome the drawbacks associated with this process.

To work most effectively, hull moisture level should be reduced to a figure below which decay cannot start. 15% is considered to be the practical limit and this level can be maintained, irrespective of exterior values, with an appropriate epoxy coating scheme. The benefits in terms of reduced maintenance are obvious. Another important aspect of moisture content is how it affects the chemistry of epoxy resins in terms of their relationship with wood. All adhesives and coatings work most effectively on ‘dry’ timber but some types can work adequately well if the moisture level is around 20%. Some types of adhesives, particularly the resorcinol –formaldehyde types such as Aerodux, fall into this category and with coatings, the oil-based types certainly do. Epoxy products, particularly the solvent-free types where resin and hardener are not carried in a solvent, are particularly sensitive to moisture before they become fully cured. The reason for this lies both in the effect of moisture on their ability to wet-out wood fibre and on their curing mechanism. With wood of an optimum m.c. for epoxy of 7-12%, epoxy can penetrate across grain perhaps 1-2mm under ideal temperature conditions (20-25°C). Dampness will serve to limit penetration severely and hence limits the adhesion of the glue or coating. Moisture also affects the chemistry of the reaction. The full properties of an epoxy resin can only be gained after the resin and hardener components have fully cross-linked to form a rigid plastic structure. Excessive moisture will interfere with the development of the cure degrading the amine hardener component before complete cross-linking has taken place. This degradation will impede the cure to the extent that the anticipated moisture proofing and other properties will never fully develop. Epoxy works best on the driest timber in warm conditions.
Surface Cleaning

All existing coatings, both inside and outside of the hull should be removed using a paint stripper, an electric heat gun or other methods. If a paint stripper is used, it is important not to use the version which is based upon white spirit, as residues will affect the adhesion and quality of the epoxy coating. Use one which is cleaned off with water.

An electric heat gun of the type used for stripping paint is probably the most useful tool for amateurs and is especially effective on the traditionally used oil-based coatings which are easily removed. Grit blasting is undoubtedly the most effective way to remove all traces of existing coatings but since this technique also erodes the surface of the timber, care must be taken not to cause too much damage. A skilled operator familiar with this type of application must be appointed. The surface left after grit blasting is ideal for absorbing high build epoxy coatings and adhesives and the wood, if correctly dried, is able to accept the resin to a greater depth, perhaps 3 or 4mm.

Prior to the application of epoxy adhesives or coatings, most surfaces should be rough-sanded with 60 grit paper, the dust removed by vacuum cleaner and surfaces wiped with a fast evaporating solvent, which must be allowed to fully evaporate before bonding or coating can commence.
Repair Techniques Using Epoxy Resins
Adhesive Bonding

For straightforward bonding operations on most woods the following epoxy systems are effective. Epoxy adhesive systems always comprise a resin and hardener component of the ‘solvent-free’ type; that is they are not diluted with organic solvents such as is commonly used in paints or varnishes. Their viscosity is best described as being like ‘thin syrup’. All epoxy adhesives characteristically have extremely low shrinkage (less than 2% by volume), low odour and virtually unlimited gap-filling capability especially when cured together with one or more filler powders that can be added to the mix. Choosing either fast or slow hardener can have a significant effect on pot-life and working times and a glance at the technical specification of each system will reveal comparative figures. Of particular interest is the ‘gel time’ figure which will indicate, in relative terms, how fast the resultant mix will harden at room temperature. A fast gel time of 11-12 minutes is appropriate to an adhesive for fast bonding (2-5 hours clamping time) but a gel time of 35-40 minutes reveals a system more suitable for bonding large areas, e.g. decks, where extended working time is needed.

Usually any one resin system will cover the range mentioned with only two hardeners, and these hardeners can be pre-blended if required to give working properties intermediate between the two. Inclusion of fillers modifies the properties of any resin/hardener mix both in terms of handling and performance. For 90% of all bonding operations, Microfibres are the most suitable filler powder as they produce the strongest glueline, and, being relatively absorbent, they will always be capable of holding resin in the joint and limit leakage both into the wood and out of the joint. Between 10% and 30% by volume is the usual percentage addition, less being required on the more absorbent timbers such as coniferous types, and more on the least absorbent types such as typical hardwoods (mahogany etc.).

Another filler, Colloidal Silica, can modify the properties further by increasing thixotropy where necessary. However, it also impedes penetration of the resin into any absorbent surface. Therefore, when using Colloidal Silica, it is always advisable to first pre-coat the surface with an unfilled resin mix. If this procedure is not followed then there is a risk that the joint may fail prematurely because there will have been insufficient resin penetration into the timber. Note that this procedure only applies to absorbent surfaces, not to plastics or metals.

The bubble-type fillers (Glass Bubbles and phenolic Microballoons) are sometimes used instead of Microfibres if the bond strength does not need to be as great, (e.g. bonding soft woods along the grain) or where the bonding area is sufficiently great (e.g. when using veneers for cold moulding). They also have the advantage of saving adhesive weight. For cosmetic use the brown colour of Microballoons may be useful. A typical adhesive mix for mahogany may have up to 30% by volume Microfibres for strength and 5%-10% Microballoons for colouring purposes to produce a mahogany coloured glue line. Adding Microballoons to any mix will also reduce the gel time and lead to a reduction in cure time, since the phenolic content serves to accelerate the resin and hardener reaction.
Fillet Bonding

This is a bonding technique which can be used with all types of resin but is clearly most satisfactory with epoxy resins. A resin mix with added filler can be successfully used to bond two pieces of wood which meet one another at an angle. Not only is it a mechanically satisfactory method of bonding but it saves considerable time and materials over all other methods. Two important things to establish when designing this type of joint are:

· 1. The size of fillet which is necessary to avoid failure

· 2. The density (filler type) of fillet required.

There is a relationship between fillet size and thickness of the two wooden panels being joined which will ensure that, when stressed, the wood breaks before the joint. Only prior experimenting can determine this. Secondly, there is the type of filler to be used. The strongest fillet joint is composed of the heaviest materials, predominantly Microfibres with a small proportion of Colloidal Silica (high density fillet). For equivalent strength the fillet can be made smaller than the alternative type using Microballoons (or Glass Bubbles) with Colloidal Silica (low density fillet). The Silica addition, common to both types as the minor constituent, not only overcomes the sagging which would otherwise occur during curing, but also ‘lubricates’ the mix making it much smoother and easier to obtain an accurate radiused shape which will require the minimum amount of sanding.

High density fillets are used in all main structural applications, particularly when bonding hardwoods. For roughly equivalent strength, low density fillets need to be twice the radius of high density ones. Low density fillets are not usually used in high strength applications and are usually reserved for bonding thin plywood or bonding panels into hulls where the main structure has relatively weak across-grain strength (e.g. softwoods such as cedar). The colour of fillets may be an important consideration on clear finished interiors and here fillet mixes with at least a proportion of Microballoons, are often used. After curing, all fillets should be sanded smooth and over-coated with two coats of resin to prevent any moisture absorption by the exposed filler particles.
The Reinforced Fillet

Both types of fillet can be reinforced with a woven fibre reinforcement such as E-glass, usually in the form of a tape (50-150mm wide) laid over the fillet and extending some way beyond it. A 50mm wide E-glass tape is sufficient for 4mm and 6mm plywood panels but a tape 150mm wide is appropriate for 12mm ply-to-hull fillet joints. If possible the fibre axis should be at 45° to the joint axis to follow the direction of the shearing forces on the joint, and therefore a +/- 45° E-glass tape would be ideal and structurally the most satisfactory reinforcement. If tape is not available then a woven or stitched biaxial E-glass cut into suitable sized strips is adequate.
Coating

For coating applications many epoxy systems are suitable candidates. Protection is a function of both film thickness and degree of cure that has taken place, and solvent-free epoxies are superior on both counts. A thickness of 300-400 microns is the generally accepted level for hull exteriors. This equates to 3-5 coats with a clear

solvent-free type but at least double that number with a clear solvent-based product. In addition, full cure is assured (with correctly mixed solvent-free epoxies) even with rapid (1-2hr) overcoating, since there are no solvents present which could become trapped in the coating due to poor evaporation. Trapped solvent causes poor curing and leads to blisters. Adhesion is also normally better as the solvent-free products serve as excellent adhesives. Hull interiors are similarly coated but usually the coating thickness is reduced to 200-300 microns (except the floor) since they operate in a mostly dry environment.

If the hull has not been thoroughly prepared and old oil-based finishes remain in the wood, or if the wood has been wiped with an oil-based solvent such as white spirit, then solvent free epoxies cannot to be used on the wood surface. A quick test will determine if there is any incompatibility. With any coating scheme, especially one which is to be applied to a previously coated wood surface, it is worthwhile making several test patches first before embarking on the whole hull.
Sheathing With Glass

Hulls which require strengthening can be best repaired by encapsulating with a high strength fibre, E-glass. This is available in a variety of forms differentiated by type of construction, fibre orientation and weight. Hulls which have become seriously weakened are candidates for high strength encapsulation. It is quite common to use the original hull as a mould and, in effect, build a glass hull on to its exterior surface.

Another approach, which is more effective in its use of materials, is to use the original wooden structure as the core to form a sandwich structure with glass skins on both surfaces. In this case the original wood needs only sufficient strength to transmit shear loads from one skin to the other and becomes largely redundant for strength, which is taken by the new skins. Typically on hulls up to 35ft, skins can be created, each up to 2mm thick. The fibre orientation is chosen to complement the type of wooden construction but generally it is arranged to be at +45°, 0°and 90° to the axis of the hull represented in as few layers as practicable. +45° biaxial fabrics (where the axis of the fibres are at +45°) and quadraxial fabrics (fibres at 0°, +45° and 90°) of the are ideal for this application as they give the required strength in the fewest plies.

Weight per ply is typically 450g/m2 , 600g/m2 and 900g/m2. Unidirectional E-glass has more specific uses since fibres run in only one direction and weights of 250g/m2 and 500g/m2 are typical. If a true sandwich structure is to be created, then an inner skin is essential but in practice this is often impossible and the interior often receives only a coating. If the original frames remain intact and are in good condition, eliminating the inner sheathing can be structurally acceptable. The simplest form of reinforcement with which users will be most familiar is woven fabric where the warp and weft are woven at 90° to each other and where the strength is usually approximately equal in both directions. Many boats are sheathed with this type of reinforcement simply to improve the wood’s crushing strength and therefore its impact resistance.

Chopped strand mat (CSM) is rarely used with epoxy resins on wood since, for its weight, it absorbs over twice as much resin, and the orientation of the fibres is not sufficiently specific to be of maximum value. Woven or stitched fabrics are far superior, being over twice the strength for any given weight and much easier to finish because of their flatter construction. Additionally CSM is not required between adjacent layers of woven reinforcement, which is normal practice with polyesters resins, because epoxy shows superior adhesion over other resin types. When using multiple layers of fabric it is strongly recommended that nylon peel ply is used to provide a clean, dry, grease-free, stippled surface, ready for further bonding or coating without preparation (which is very labour intensive and hence best avoided). Like most thermoplastics, the nylon fibre in the peel ply does not adhere to the epoxy very well. The peel ply is applied to the laminate as the final layer and therefore protects it during the cure process. After leaving the resin to harden, it can be easily ripped off exposing the fresh surface ready for the next stage (bonding, more laminating, etc.) The ‘peel ply technique’ is also useful for single fabric layer skins to minimise the volume of resin used and obtain improved consolidation.

Hulls that require sheathing usually have wood which has become more absorbent with ageing and, if they are suitably dry, they have a potentially high resin uptake. In order to encourage resin absorption to a greater depth it is worthwhile heating the hull internally. The greater resin penetration will serve to significantly strengthen the surface fibres. In this case a slight departure from the normal sheathing procedure is called for. Two or three coats of resin should be applied to the dry, prepared timber and allowed to fully cure before the hull is sheathed. During the course of this ‘preliminary’ coating the wood will turn quite dark as the resin is absorbed. To avoid ‘gassing’ (trapped air bubbles in the coating), the heat should be removed during the coating operation and only resumed after the coating has gelled sufficiently to become immune to air release. Local use of a local warm air source helps penetration considerably on all types of wood. As the coating is applied, a brush must be used to remove the air bubbles as they are formed but care must be taken to avoid excessive heat concentration which will lead to resin exotherm.
Filling & Fairing

This forms an important part of any restoration programme for both structural and cosmetic applications.
Structural Filling

Epoxy filler mixes can create very effective structural fillers. Any of the solvent-free epoxies can be used as the liquid component. For the strongest filler, only Microfibres and Colloidal Silica are added, in proportions similar to the high density fillet joint. For maximum adhesion it is beneficial to first ‘prime’ the area with a thin layer of unfilled resin mixture.
Surface Fairing

Fairing mixes are appropriate after sheathing or coating, to provide a smooth fair surface for paints. Such mixes are always composed of the resin and hardener mix, to which hollow ‘sphere’ type fillers are added. This makes the resultant epoxy filler much easier to cut back with abrasive paper. Typically up to 2 ½ times (250%) by volume of Glass Bubbles or Microballoons added to the resin/hardener mix makes a good mix for horizontal surfaces but an additional ½ volume (50%) of Colloidal Silica is required for vertical or sloping surfaces to prevent sagging. These volumes are based on the volume of the original resin and hardener (=100%). The volume of individual fillers need not be precise and may be adjusted to suit the application.
Repairing Decayed Wood

Wherever possible decayed wood should be replaced. When this is not possible epoxy can serve to consolidate much of it and it can thereby regain much of its original strength. Like sound wood, it is most important that the decayed wood is dry. The first step is to drill holes up to 5mm diam. at intervals of approx 100mm over the surface and heat the timber with a heat gun to drive off any residual moisture. When this has been accomplished an epoxy resin system with a ‘slow’ hardener, is used to penetrate the wood fibres. The use of ‘slow’ hardener will give the mix more time to penetrate before it gels and safely permits additional heat to lower the viscosity of the mix without causing an exotherm. The mix is introduced into holes via a syringe and the area heated with a heat gun, applied until the resin disappears. Additional epoxy is added until the wood has become fully ‘saturated’. Finally liberal coatings of epoxy are applied to the surface with a brush, again using the heat gun to assist penetration. Heating should be discontinued if the mix starts to emit fumes. When the surface has become tacky a proportion of Glass Bubbles or Microballoons is added to the mix (and Colloidal Silica if necessary) and trowelled over the wood surface to level it off. This operation will make sanding easier. If the component is a structural member the surface should be reinforced with unidirectional E-glass oriented with the wood grain to replace the strength originally provided by the wood fibre. Some light woven E-glass is usually also applied as the final layer.

Source: SP Systems. This article derived from ‘Epoxies & Wood Boat Restoration.pdf’ which can be downloaded from the SP Systems web site.

=======
Concerning Epoxy
Pygmy ships System Three Epoxy. We chose this particular epoxy after thorough testing of several different brands. When working with epoxy, mix it in small amounts, never more than 6 oz. at a time. If necessary, you can mix more, but mixing in smaller amounts saves you from having to throw away too much hardened epoxy. Epoxy generates heat as it cures. If you mix 10oz. of epoxy and leave it in a measuring cup for 10 minutes it will generate so much heat that it will start to boil. Proper mixture of epoxy is two parts resin to one part hardener. We provide handy measuring pumps for that purpose.

If you are working during the winter in a garage or basement that is unheated, it is a good idea to bring in a space heater and try to get the temperature to at least 55 degrees F. (65 to 70 degrees is optimal). If the epoxy is cold, (below 70 degrees) it will be thick and hard to spread. If you are working below 70 degrees, you should keep your epoxy bottles in a warm place.

Finally, remember that epoxy adds strength to your boat only when embedded in fiberglass cloth. A thick layer of epoxy floating on top of the fiberglass only adds weight to your boat, not strength.

Work carefully and refer to our manual and The Epoxy Book (included in your kit), and working with epoxy will be safe and easy.

wow my home & fishing zone

2006-02-27T00:53:00.000+08:00

ley studio

http://dl.google.com/earth/GoogleEarth.exe wow !!!!!!

Check this dos tutorial

2006-02-24T02:08:00.000+08:00

The World of DOS - Subject Index and Links -

Future Project !!!

2006-02-23T05:04:00.000+08:00

boat making resources

2006-02-23T03:16:00.000+08:00

leynux's first skiff

-- Free Boat Design Resources

-- Summer Breeze ideas, and build notes -

- MODELS LINE UP

-- less than 11ft skiff

-- Epoxy - know how

-- Macam-macam boat ada ....

-- Boat plan, ada yang free ada yang tidak....

-- Fritz's Boat Page

Boatbuilding and Boat Projects from Juneau, Alaska ...and Around the World!

-- Mini-Sharpie - 7' 8" one sheet skiff.

-- This build uses one and a half sheet of 1/4" ply.
-- free boat plans links

bevin/model

Ini lagi simple : www.unclejohns.com/boat/photos

TheRules
What the authorities say should be
guiding principles of boat design
Updated by gmatkin@clara.net 16/10/01
'Science is first in the requisites for consistent success, but it must be blended with natural genius, imagination and much practical handling' Norman L Skene

- And you know the step about joining the plywood sections with the scarf joints...

Boat Builder Resources :

Welcome to the ASF Online

Model Skiff Builders Guide

Do you think you can build a boat? We know you can.

Building a boat is challenging, but it is just like building anything else. You start at the beginning, follow one step to the next and end up with the finished product.

This is a scale model of Bevin’s Skiff, a twelve foot rowboat.

The ¾”= 1’ scale means that every 1/16” on the model is equal to 1" on the real boat. (There are 12x1/16" in ¾” and 12x1" in 1', so
1/16" = 1" )

In this guide, we will give you the knowledge to make a model boat of a simple yet practical design. But be careful, along the way you may just learn a little math as well!

BEVIN’S SKIFF RAW MATERIALS LIST ASF Feb 2003

For use with Bevin’s Skiff plans available from Alexandria Seaport Foundation, P.O. Box 25036,
Alexandria, VA 22313 703-549-7078 www.alexandriaseaport.org
(Please allow at least 8 hours to cut and prepare kit)
QUANTITY DIMENSIONS MATERIAL PART
1 2”x 3” x 18” WHITE OAK STEM
3 3/8” x 4’x 8’ MAHOGANY MARINE PLYWOOD SIDE PANELS
& BOTTOM,
FOREDECK
AND GUSSETS
26LINEAR FEET 3/4” x 1 1/2” SPRUCE OR FIR FRAMES,
DECK BEAM
1 1-1/2” x 5 1/2”x 8’ SPRUCE OR FIR TRANSOM
2 1-1/2” x 3/4” x 12’ SPRUCE OR FIR CHINES
1 1-1/2” x 5 1/2”x2’ SPRUCE OR FIR QUARTER
KNEES
2 1-1/2” x 3/4” x 14’ SPRUCE OR FIR RAIL
2 1-1/2” x 5/8” x 10’ SPRUCE OR FIR SEAT RISER
1 3/4” x 3-1/2”x 12’ SPRUCE, FIR, OR NORTHEASTERN PINE KEEL
1 3/4” x 3-1/2” SPRUCE, FIR, OR NORTHEASTERN PINE SKEG
1 3/4” x 9-1/4”x 12’ SPRUCE, FIR, OR NORTHEASTERN PINE SEATS
1 1-1/2” X 1-1/2”x 1’ SPRUCE OR FIR SEAT SUPPORT
2 1/2” ANGLE PLATE OARLOCK SOCKETS
2 1/2” OARLOCKS
NAILS
200 1” Bronze Ring Nails #12 Gauge
100 1.5” Bronze Ring Nails #12 Gauge
30 2” Bronze Ring Nails #10 Gauge
BRONZE WOOD SCREWS (We recommend square drive heads)
10 #8 x 1”
20 #8 x 1.5”
2 #10x2”
1 pr oar locks
1 pr pairs Oar lock sockets
1 #2 SQUARE DRIVE SCREWDRIVER BIT
GLUE AND ADHESIVE
5 SIKAFLEX POLYURETHANE TUBES
1 MAS Qt. EPOXY KIT
1 Small BAG WOOD FLOUR

...cutting the 45 on the ends of the sides & attaching the bow & stern stems...

A great part of this design is that Fritz geared the build towards kids so much of the gluing can be done "on the flat." The chine logs, gunnels, and keel are all done that way.

Here I've finished joining the sides with 1/4" x 3" butt blocks. Gued with Tightbond II and 1/2" staples as clamps. Since I build with kids too, I wanted to see how much I could make use of Tightbond II on this boat.

Jangan bunuh layaran jadi keropok on Berita

2006-02-21T02:05:00.000+08:00

Sila lihat artikel ini "Jangan bunuh layaran jadi keropok"
di http://www.emedia.com.my/Joran/JoranBH/Berita/20041001120207/joranews_html

Milestone

2006-02-21T01:08:00.000+08:00

2/21/2006
CLC Epoxy Tips and FAQ
2/19/2006
yes yes yes ! plan boat dah jompaaa!
2/19/2006
marine stories !
2/16/2006
Bevin Skiff Construction Guide !
2/16/2006
Relearn MS Access : Another source for distraction !
2/15/2006
Typing Tutor
2/15/2006
A potted history of meteorology
2/15/2006
Forecasts: The Biggest Weather Traps
2/14/2006
Kalansanan First Date
2/13/2006
VWM : Visual Working Memory
2/11/2006
'Brainwave Entrainment' Theory
2/11/2006
The Rediscovery of Audio-Visual Entrainment
2/02/2006
MISFORTUNE ? HAVING BAD LUCK ?
2/02/2006
Look at the eyes ...
2/02/2006
Dizziness Explained
2/01/2006
Internet Addiction is Caused by Hypovolemia (Low Blood Volume)
1/30/2006
Computer Games Make Us Stupid ?
1/26/2006
The Response to Stress : "NICE ARTICLE"
1/25/2006
180 ! again. 5:15pm 25 jan 2006
1/24/2006
2006 Fishing Season
1/23/2006
Book title: Pengurusan Kewangan Keluarga, - Author
1/22/2006
Scientific research that supports brainwave synchronization
1/22/2006
What is Entrainment?
1/22/2006
180!
1/21/2006
External Stressors + Modern Stressors
1/20/2006
Macammana turn off adrenaline pathways
1/20/2006
Rezeki:Obvious and Hidden
1/18/2006
Nervous system: The Movie
1/18/2006
Turn of your adrenaline by meditation(tafakur)
1/18/2006
The problem arises when we ignore the response until our systems have to over-react to get our attention.
1/18/2006
The way the body responds when stressed!
1/18/2006
The Cause of Internet and TV Addiction?
1/17/2006
Serotonin-How One Little Molecule Can Do So Much
1/17/2006
Hormones and enzyme differrences
1/17/2006
Mapping the Functions of the Brain
1/17/2006
Human Behavior: Emotions and Drives
1/16/2006
Your Food Addiction is Great for Business
1/15/2006
Another coined terms: "echoic phrases"
1/15/2006
Reason to write or why you wrote
1/15/2006
ach, dopamine & adrenaline
1/13/2006
Thought patterns that cause the release of dopamine
1/13/2006
Weather resources for weatherman
1/12/2006
Conversation, interview, script, reflection, you name it.
1/12/2006
Our sinful forelock ! Qur’aan 96 :15-16
1/12/2006
Coined terms:Ada juga rupanya, "comprehending thyself"
1/12/2006
Dopamine-reward-pleasure-well-being-motivator-learning
1/11/2006
Nicotine extends duration of pleasant effects of dopamine
1/11/2006
The "Chemical Imbalance"
1/11/2006
"too much of a good thing can be bad"
1/09/2006
Reduce Stress and Strengthen Your Immune System: 10 Natural Ways to Relax and Rejuvenate
1/09/2006
Tapak kaki rata.Tak diterima jadi tentera?
1/08/2006
Nicotine:The flow of false intuition and temporary joy
1/08/2006
How Our Brain Controls Our Movement
1/06/2006
ORGANIZATION OF THE BODY'S NERVOUS SYSTEM - memorize this and your state would be clearer
1/06/2006
“Attack of the Adrenals”-A Metabolic Story
1/05/2006
anime
1/05/2006
A few small-business ideas.
1/05/2006
Action Learning for Lifelong Professional Development
1/05/2006
"associative learning"
1/04/2006
synaptic brain
1/04/2006
dream of running a part-time business
1/04/2006
Instant joy at Googlism
1/04/2006
fill in the blank
1/04/2006
GILA TEXT
1/03/2006
"short annoying waits"
1/03/2006
A Cerebral Journey
1/03/2006
hacked games
1/02/2006
Why we feel hunger?
1/02/2006
Spatial Learner : "The Visualiser"
1/02/2006
"Knowledge Engineer"
12/30/2005
Another Coined Terms : "Picturesque words"
12/30/2005
Use active words
12/29/2005
My coined terms : "Digital doodling"
12/29/2005
ley studio with doodles. Doodles? Yeah, you know - sd hiasd as ai hfa faif shjdfg dkgoa g
12/29/2005
ACTION WORD
12/29/2005
Books2
12/29/2005
Books
12/29/2005
Satan Hinders the Slave from Acting by Means of Procrastination and Laziness
12/28/2005
The Problem of Procrastination
12/28/2005
Creative with question.
12/28/2005
'8 kinds of smart'
12/28/2005
Top Ten ADD Traps in the Workplace, and how to avoid getting caught by them!
12/28/2005
Productive attitude: High-quality questions !
12/27/2005
10 cara cepat mencari idea baru!
12/27/2005
"Online Discoveries?"
12/26/2005
Yoshiro NakaMats
12/26/2005
An Interview with Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu
12/26/2005
Dapatkan OPERA di sini
12/26/2005
10 Things To Do When You Need New Ideas Fast!
12/26/2005
Creative Juice
12/26/2005
Visualizer : Potential Career
12/26/2005
Exercises to strengthen visual-spatial intelligence:
12/25/2005
Characteristics of Visual Spatial Giftedness
12/25/2005
My BEST Products
12/25/2005
notes for m.a.
12/22/2005
Leaping Over the Procrastination Trap
12/21/2005
Declaring Your Emancipation Procrastination
12/21/2005
break the procrastination habit.
12/21/2005
procrastination reality
12/20/2005
slogan
12/19/2005
my studios
12/19/2005
Overcoming Procrastination
12/09/2005
Video Editing Page
12/04/2005
miracles do happen:robin hood
12/01/2005
video properties
11/15/2005
pren16nov
11/13/2005
frens 13nov
11/13/2005
friends12nov
11/10/2005
friends
7/01/2005
dv transfer
6/29/2005
video
6/05/2005
radjia elias jj
6/01/2005
r.o water purifier
5/30/2005
Takwil al-Quran: Tambah nikmat setiap kali bersyukur
5/30/2005
damsul
5/29/2005
bazaar papar st. joseph
5/28/2005
ngailey
5/28/2005
leybrary
5/24/2005
Seismic activity @ SABAH
5/24/2005
Golongan Anti Hadis
5/23/2005
php mysql tutorial
5/23/2005
XOOPS
5/23/2005
DOA
5/22/2005
koleksi formula
5/22/2005
links 21/05/05
5/21/2005
start semula php apache mysql
5/21/2005
Nabi Muhammad's geneology
5/21/2005
formulaLEY
5/20/2005
Why do we get headaches?
5/20/2005
Syaitan dijadikan sebagai kawan
5/19/2005
practical instructions
5/18/2005
Simpley Macam² Solutions
5/18/2005
Teknik Memanjangkan Umur
5/18/2005
LeyTech
5/18/2005
Pencemaran
5/18/2005
New Fax/Copier
5/18/2005
Ekonomi, akidah perlu seiring
5/18/2005
Extracted from : almuttaqin.blogspot.com
5/17/2005
Mr. A challenges
5/17/2005
Build your own PC: a buyer’s guide
5/16/2005
Why r we here?
5/15/2005
Useful Knowledge
5/15/2005
CBS
5/15/2005
Harga Air - Sabah as retrieved on 15/5/2005
5/15/2005
0.0001 micron Membrane R.O. Water Purifier, FINEST in the market!
5/15/2005
Menggali Batu & Menggali Air
5/15/2005
Jangan-jangan
5/13/2005
Tips Cara Hafal Surah
5/12/2005
TEKA-TEKI
5/12/2005
Prospect List

CLC Epoxy Tips and FAQ

2006-02-21T00:37:00.000+08:00

1. What is the Mix Ratio? The mix ratio is 2:1 Resin to Hardener. That ratio stays constant even when the hardeners are custom blended (See Item 19). If using calibrated pumps, simply push each pump one time. The resin pump dispenses twice the volume of the hardener pump.

2. How much mixing is required? Mixing is the key to a thorough cure, good films, and strong bonds. 1½ to 2 minutes of aggressive mixing, swiping the sides and bottom is recommended. Be sure mix ratio is 2: 1. Use clean plastic or uncoated paper cups or buckets and a clean mix stick.

3. What is BLUSH, and how do I remove it? Blush may form over the Fast mix hardener and resin. The Slow mix will not blush. Blush is noticeable as a slippery film formed over the cured surface. It can be removed with warm water and a sponge (rinse and wipe).

4. What is the recoat time? Since epoxies from CLC are 100% solid (no solvent), recoat time can be as short as surface tack. If more than 30 hours pass between coats, we recommend a light scuff sand. Always check for blush on surfaces.

5. Temperature requirements? For clear coating, we like to see temperatures remain over 55 to 60° F. For bonding, anything over 45° is adequate. Below 60° we recommend using Cool Cure resin and hardener.

6. How to clean up? Latex gloves and other personal protection should always be used. If you should get any epoxy on your skin, it should be cleaned off with a waterless soap immediately, then thoroughly washed with soap and water. Tools can be washed with white vinegar or Isopropyl alcohol. Semi-gelled epoxy can be cleaned with acetone.

7. What tools are used to apply the epoxy? For coating and fiberglass use a short nap 1/8" nylon bristle roller, plastic squeegee, or 4" disposable brushes. For bonding, use a glue brush or a squeegee with notches cut into the edge.

8. How to protect the epoxy? Epoxy surfaces should be protected from sun exposure. Clear coats may be protected by a good quality varnish or urethane with UVA protective additives. Paint is always considered a 100% filter. Indoor pieces do not need varnish over the epoxy.

9. Can a stain be used on the project? To use a stain on an epoxy project, use a waterborne urethane stain under the epoxy clear coat. Be sure stain is fully dry before coating work with epoxy. Always test first.

10. What fillers can be used with the epoxy? For bonding, where strength is essential, use Cab-O-Sil. There are no ratio requirements as to how much can or can't be added of this thickener. For an easily sanded putty, wood flour can be added.

11. What protection is needed when using epoxy?

Disposable gloves should always be used and eye protection is important if any splashing were to occur. If the ventilation is poor a respiratory mask (like 3M Easy-Air) should be used. Clean any uncured epoxy off of the skin with vinegar immediately. The epoxy may cause irritation of the skin, especially fair skin.

Avoid all direct skin contact with resin, hardeners and mixed epoxy by wearing disposable gloves and other protective clothing. Clean any uncured epoxy off the skin with white vinegar immediately. NEVER use solvents to remove epoxy from the skin. Always wash thoroughly with soap and water immediately after contact.

Protect your eyes by wearing protective eyewear. If contact should occur, flush eyes immediately with running water for 15 minutes. If discomfort continues, seek medical attention.

Avoid breathing vapors. Use epoxy only in areas with good ventilation. In small areas, be especially careful to have a supply of fresh air and to exhaust any fumes. When ventilation is not possible, wear a respirator with an organic vapor cartridge when sanding.

Avoid ingestion. Wash thoroughly after each use and especially before eating or smoking.

Clean up spills with a squeegee and paper towels. Scrape up as much material as possible with the squeegee before using the paper towels. Sand, clay or other absorbent materials may be used to contain or soak up large spills. Clean residue white vinegar or Isopropyl Alcohol.

Dispose of resin, hardener and empty containers safely. Do not dispose of resin or hardener in a liquid state. Before disposing of resin and hardener containers, puncture the corners of can and drain residue into clean containers for re-use. Small quantities of resin and hardener can be mixed and cured completely to a non-hazardous solid. Place pots of curing resin and hardeners outside on the ground to avoid the danger of excessive heat and vapors. Dispose of after the reaction is complete and mass has cooled. Then follow your local, state and federal regulations for proper disposal

.
12. What is the shelf life of these products? The resin has an infinite shelf life and the slow and fast catalysts have a shelf life of 1 year in a closed container.

13. What surface preparation is needed prior to application of epoxy? All surfaces should be cleaned of any contaminates, such as oil, grease and pooled water. Light sanding is recommended. A clean cloth moistened with Isopropyl alcohol or plain water may be used to clean surfaces. DO NOT USE ACETONE, A TACK CLOTH, OR SOLVENT.

14. What are the major pitfalls that most users fall into? Bad mixing practices are the cause of 99% of all problems. Mix, mix, mix, and mix some more. During coating, the temperature falls below dewpoint. A little temperature goes a long way toward good coating. Weak bond is a result of too much clamp pressure. The key to strong epoxy bonds is light pressure and adding the correct filler. Allow maximum clamp time; warming the piece can reduce this time ( a light works well.)

15. How much coverage will one catalyzed gallon give? Depending on your application technique, generally, you can cover 500 sq. feet 3 mil thick.

16. How does temperature variation effects epoxy? For every 10 degrees F., the temperature falls (when below 77°F) the gel time in the pot will double. he thin film set will come close to a 1.3 increase in time for every 18°F below 77°F. The exact opposite will occur as temperatures increase above 77°F. The gel time in the pot will be cut in half for every 18°F. And the thin film set will decrease by a factor of approximately 0.7 . We have found that the thinner the laminate or the film, the less affected is the thin film set time. Applications which are allowed to cool below the freezing point must be warmed to achieve a full through cure. In the case of freezing, the solid or film must be checked for hardness to ensure full strength has been achieved.

17. Checking for Hardness - Using the Rule of "Thumb". To quickly check for full hardness, press thumbnail into solid or coating firmly; no indentation should occur. This test is also very helpful when determining if a piece is ready for sanding or machining.

18. Customizing Cure Times- the blending of Slow and Fast Hardeners. The time it takes for an epoxy mixture to change from liquid to solid is the cure time. There are four phases:
Open (working) time or wet lay-up time.
The mixture is still liquefied.
Initial cure is reached when the mixture has turned to gel.
Final cure is when the epoxy is now solid.

The speed and the length of these phases and total cure time varies relative to temperature and which hardener was used - slow or fast or combination of both - and if additives have been added to the mixture. Cure times can be speeded or slowed depending on your needed application by the combining of the Fast and Slow hardeners. Cure times for the Fast hardener, combined with the low viscosity Epoxy resin can be lengthened by the addition of 35-40% by volume of the Slow hardener. This happens because the Slow generally has a lower peak exotherm temperature and the Slow molecules are bulkier, which slows down the whole chemical reaction between the resin and hardener. The Slow hardener can be speeded up by the addition of Fast hardener, however, it is important that the amount of Fast does not exceed 30% by volume. Adding over 30% of the Fast compromises the "no-blush" characteristics on the Slow. The mix ratio between the resin and hardener still continues to be 2:1 resin : hardener. NOTE - - The cure times are not directly proportional to the amount of hardener used to customize the blend. For example, if 25% Fast is added to Slow, the cure time is speeded by 12-15 %. Conversely, if 50% of Slow is added to Fast, the cure time is slowed down by 25%.

The above ratios should get you in the curing ball park of a perfect shop/lab which warms and cools by increments of 18° F (see above). However, using both temperature variation and blending ratios which favor the "hot" side to manipulate a pot life, will probably get you close to your desired cure speed.

Even if the pot life and thin film set of your first hybrid mix does not fall right on the money, the mix will cure as long as the resin to catalyst ratio is 2:1 and temperatures are not severely cold. We have been working with Hybrid blends of Slow and Fast and the following ratios are the most popular for the listed common conditions:

Coating and Encapsulate: If temperatures are slightly cool (50-60°), we recommend speeding up Slow with approximately 20% of Fast. This still provides a blush free coating (but do check), and is normally sandable in the morning (remember, always mix resin and catalyst in a 2:1 ratio, mix thoroughly).

Filleting and Bonding: Normally, since users are looking for maximum strength and minimum clamp time, we recommend 100% Fast. However, if the weather gets hot (over 85°), this mix can be controlled by adding approximately 25% Slow. (Remember always mix resin and catalyst in a 2:1 ratio, mix thoroughly).

19. Controlling Cure Time through mixed Quantity, Container Shape and Temperature

Mixed Quantity - A larger quantity of mixed epoxy will create more heat and have a shorter open (working) time and overall cure time. Smaller batches of epoxy create less heat than larger batches and also have longer working and cure times. In other words, a thicker layer of epoxy will cure sooner than a thin layer.

Container Shape - The mixture's heat can be distributed by pouring the mixture into a larger, flatter container (like a roller pan, for example.) This also extends the open time.

Temperature - Heat can be applied or removed from the epoxy to shorten or extend open and cure times. After the epoxy is applied, a fan can be used to draw heat from the lay-up or application and extend the epoxy's open time. Moderate heat (an industrial hot air gun, hair dryer or heat lamp) applied to the lay-up or to the resin and hardener before mixing, will shorten the epoxy's cure time.

20. Spoons Work Well as Filleting Tools: Place a good quantity of extended epoxy (putty) in the joint to be filleted. Use the back of a spoon drawn through the extended epoxy to shape a flawless fillet. Larger spoons create large diameter fillets. Clean spoon with white vinegar or methyl alcohol (we use plastic for the smaller fillets).

21. What kind of fillers and thickeners are available? We sell five different types of filler/thickeners. Please check our Boatbuilding Materials page.

yes yes yes ! plan boat dah jompaaa!

2006-02-19T18:43:00.000+08:00

BUT READ THIS SHARK STORIES FIRST :::::How stats are gathered, the history of the file, how to report a shark attack and who to contact about the ISAF.

http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en-GB&q=pirogue+plan+%22save+target+as%22&sourceid=opera&num=100&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

http://text.lsuagcenter.com/NR/rdonlyres/10718979-8410-44B7-8AB6-B8759C364547/15186/2801Pirogue.pdf

Web Results 1 - 4 of about 25 for pirogue plan "save target as". (0.37 seconds)

LSU AgCenter . Pirogue
Construction plans for a pirogue - a wooden boat that resembles a canoe. ... To save, right click on file and select "Save Target As..." Get Adobe Reader ...
www.lsuagcenter.com/.../Biological_Ag_Engineering/ Building_Plans/recreation/equipment/Pirogue.htm - 31k - Cached - Similar pages

LSU AgCenter . Boat Landing
Construction plans for a boat landing with a wharf and a covered boatport and deck with ... To save, right click on file and select "Save Target As..." ...
www.lsuagcenter.com/.../Biological_Ag_Engineering/ Building_Plans/recreation/equipment/Boat+Landing.htm - 31k - Cached - Similar pages
[ More results from www.lsuagcenter.com ]

Gertrude of Wyoming - Thomas Campbell - Poem by
But dauntless he, nor chart, nor journey's plan In woods required, whose trained eye was keen, ... His pirogue launch'd--his pilgrimage begun-- ...
www.poemhunter.com/p/m/ poem.asp?poet=3042&poem=17250 - 68k - Cached - Similar pages

LSU AgCenter . Comfort Station
Design and construction plans for a comfort station ideal for a campground complete with ... To save, right click on file and select "Save Target As..." ...
text.lsuagcenter.com/.../Biological_Ag_Engineering/ Building_Plans/recreation/equipment/Comfort+Station.htm - 18k - Cached - Similar pages

marine stories !

2006-02-19T02:52:00.000+08:00

Go with what Uncle John says.

There's some misinterpretation with ply sizes. Mostly because metric and U.S. Standard units don't convert clenaly with regard to plywood manufacturing.

Sizes are traditional refered to as :

1/4" = 6mm
3/16" = 4mm
1/8" = 3mm

If you did the decimal conversion, you'll see that those are rounded off. Throw in the fact that the lumber industry does stuff like making a 2 x 4 actually measure 1.75" x 3.75" or something like that.

3/16" (4mm) with glass inside and out is the thinnest I ever recommend. Others going thinner but these guys, like Chuck, are experienced builders and know where extra bracing is required.

==================
Kayak Jack
Doing what you like is FREEDOM
Liking what you do is HAPPINESS
=========
DISCLAIMER!

Please do understand, that if You build or use any of the boats described on these pages, You, and You alone, are responsible for any direct or indirect damage or harm that may follow. I have no responsibility whatsoever.

You must also understand, that boatbuilding can be dangerous:
-You may get a wood splinter in the finger.
-Several tools are sharp.
-Epoxy may be allergenic and definitely is very messy.
-All possible chemicals may be harmful in one way or another.
-Fibers of glass itch Your fingers and throat.
-Anything else may be dangerous as well.

So don't build a boat, unless You know how to use tools and chemicals, and unless You use all protective equipment necessary.
And if You build indoors, do cover the floor and furniture. You will get the usual shout anyway, but cleaning up will be easier.

And even more You must understand, that using a boat may be dangerous:
-The boat may fall over.
-You may fall out of the boat.
-The boat may hit a rock.
-Your shoes may get wet.
-The boat may get filled with water.
-The boat may sink.
-Another boat may hit Your boat.
-The boat may drift a long distance away.
-You may get lost with the boat.
-When rowing, You may get blisters in Your hands and butt.
-If You get into water, You may drown or get hypothermia.
-Killer sharks may attack You.
-Anything else may happen

So DO NOT use a boat, unless You know and obey the rules of the waterways, unless You know how to use the boat, unless You can take the weather conditions into consideration, unless You can swim, unless You use a life vest, unless You know the waters, unless You are under continuous observation, unless You use proper clothing, unless You are sober, unless You understand what You are doing and unless You have taken everything possible and impossible into consideration.

You are responsible!
==============
story---
The whys and wherefores
I had been working on Krakenbait for about a year and a half and was getting very impatient to get into the water. I was taking a week off from work over the 2002 Independence Day holiday and thought I could get it finished then. However, when I took a realistic look at all that needed to be done, I realized that there was no way it'd be finished as a sailboat before the Fall.

So I started looking for another option. That May I had attended Okoumestock (a messabout put on by Chesapeake Light Craft) and was surprised to find that I really enjoyed canoes and kayaks. So I decided to build one. Unfortunately, CLC's kayak's and canoes, while very beautiful, well-designed boats, are not the sort that get put together in a week. Eventually, I settled on the Cheap Canoe, from Mertens-Goosens, Inc.

The dismal science
Cheap Canoe is a misnomer. It is neither. First off, it's a pirogue. Next, although the plans are offered at no charge, the epoxy/fiberglass/woodflour for the stock version alone comes to $140 plus shipping. Then, there are the options (fiberglass sheath for the bottom, etc.). And, of course, there's the plywood. If you believe as I do that it is penny wise and pound foolish to spend the money on the other parts and nickel-and-dime the main structural material, then 2 sheets of Lloyd's-certified BS1088 marine okoume add in another $140 - $180 dollars.

If this is your first boat, there's also the tools and the cost of setting up the shop. In addition to the boat itself, there's the outfitting cost (cleats, padeyes and other hardware, PFD, seat, paddle, anchor, compass, chart case, dry bags, first aid kit, etc.). And finally, there's the trailer or roof racks needed to get the boat to the water.

So it could end up costing upwards of $400 - $700 (or more) to put a so-called Cheap Canoe into the water. But that includes the capital investment to set up a boatyard and the first vessel in your fleet. Once you have all the equipment for the Cheap Canoe, you can reuse it for the next boat and that'll be the cheap one. Or, as in my case, if you've already built (or started to build) another boat, the Cheap Canoe can be built using the existing shop, tools and leftovers from the other boat. I had everything on hand from building Krakenbait except the 2 sheets of plywood. This probably mean I spent too much money on materials for Krakenbait, but at least that wasn't supposed to be a cheap boat.

Either way, the Cheap Canoe will be cheap only if it's not the only boat you're building.

This, by the way, is why I have a real problem with people who complain about the cost of plans. By the time you spend all the money on everything else, the plans are the cheapest part of the boat, even if you have to pay for them.

The Cheap Canoe was designed by Jacques Mertens. The design is the kind of simple elegance that speaks of inspired engineering. It is light, strong, shallow draft, stable and capacious. It looks good with its clean lines and elegant sheer. It is easy to build, even single-handedly, and is tolerant of beginners' mistakes. It is also quick to build (not always the same as easy), consisting of only 14 pieces of wood and 4 taped seams. The design is resilient enough to handle modifications, even some that are pretty ill-considered.

The boat is a monocoque, stitch and glue design. This means there is no internal framing (resulting in a lighter hull) and no fasteners (resulting in stronger joints). Most of the structural strength comes from the opposing curves of the sides and bottom. The stress of maintaining those curves opposes the forces that try to change the boat's shape. This is possible only in plywood or other materials that can only bend in one direction at at time (so forget about frameless, thin-skinned aluminum canoes). Additional stiffening is provided by the rubrail, the breasthooks and the buttblocks. The buttblocks not only join the front and back halves of the boat, but also provide structural support for the paddler's seat, as well as a stiff point in the center of the boat that acts as the fulcrum for the bend in the sides and the bottom. This is a pretty consistent philosophy in Mertens' designs - each piece performs at least 2 functions.

This is an epoxy encapsulated wooden boat held together with fiberglass tape and epoxy glue. There is no composite construction. Even the optional fiberglass sheath for the bottom only adds abrasion resistance, not stiffness or structural strength.
gambar prahu tu : http://www.lmorocz.com/BoatBuilding/images/ccplan01.jpg

Johncanoe - construction

Materials and tools
I used the designer-specified epoxy (System 3) and the highest quality plywood I could find (Lloyd's-certified BS1088 marine okoume from Chesapeake Light Craft). After all, that 1/4-inch thick piece of wood would be the only thing between Davey Jones' locker and me. I think it's much better to be in a boat with a broke wallet than in the water with a broke boat. Not that the difference in price between exterior ACX and BS1088 plywood will actually make one go broke. When the extra epoxy and fillers and sandpaper required to finished the C side is acounted for, there's not that much difference in actual price per sheet. And the Cheap Canoe uses only 2 sheets.

Instead of cutting the wood by hand with my Japanese razor saw, as I did for Krakenbait, I used an electric jig saw. The reasons were purely pragmatic. First, I was on a tight schedule - I had 4 days to have the boat assembled. And second, the beautifully smooth cut made by the razor saw made no difference. The cut edges were going to be embedded in the joints and, with any luck at all, never seen again by the eyes of any human now alive. The only smooth edges needed were for the sheer. Again, since I was using BS1088 plywood, these edges were being supplied by the shop edge of the plywood sheet.

The actual building
The construction went pretty much as described in the plans and the bateau.com website. Layout was very easy because BS1088 plywood is required to have square edges. I did not have to mark off and measure parallel and right angle lines before I could start layout. Nor did I have to worry about which side of the wood to use since BS1088 results in both sides being "A" faces. The only complication was a self-induced one of not leaving any pencil lines on the final-cut pieces. This was to give me the option of finishing the boat bright.

Gluing the butt joints was straightforward, exactly as described in the plans. Stitching the hull was another story. Although the Cheap Canoe (which is neither) is nominally a stitch and glue boat, according to the plans it never gets stitched (a boat of many contradictions). You're supposed to use duct tape to hold the pieces together until the glue sets. This is possible because of the low weight and lack of extreme bending angles and framing. It's supposed to make construction easier because no stitch holes need to be drilled.

However, there's duct tape and there's duct tape. Real duct tape is fabric-based, non-stretchy and relatively unaffected by heat that won't burn your hand. The "duct" tape sold in most home improvement, hardware and DIY stores is a stretchy plastic with a weak adhesive and will soften, stretch and release with only modest amounts of heat. But it is cheaper.

The first use for the duct tape is to hold the sides to the bottom in a sort of triptych, where the tape is the hinge that holds the three sections together. The sides are then folded up and connected to each other at the sheer with a batten (see below).

However, every time I got the side close enough to connect to the batten, that lousy "duct" tape would pull free and the side would separate from the bottom. The process of folding the side and connecting it to the batten was just too abrupt, and the sudden stress on the tape too extreme for it to handle. Finally, I had enough, grabbed a few cable ties and a drill and just put a couple of stitches in at the center of the panels. I also put a 6-inch screw through the hull at the sheer line into the batten, leaving 4 inches or so sticking out. A cable tie was used to secure the hull to the batten. This gave me a loose, adjustable connection to the batten which didn't require everything to be a perfect fit immediately.

I was able to fold the sides up (with the cable tie stitches/hinges holding the centers together) and then gently adjust the spacing so that the cheap "duct" tape wouldn't stretch out and pull off. Once everything was together I removed the stitches and let the "duct" tape to hold it all in place. If I had it to do all over again, I'd be sure to find the good, original duct tape to avoid these problems. If it was unavailable, I'd just stitch the boat from the start. Six stitches per side (including the bow and stern) would easily take care of holding everything together.

My next deviation from the assembly sequence in the plans was to make a vertical support for the batten. This was because once the hull was assembled, the sides sat straight on the workbench. This was a problem because it reduced the freeboard by 1/4 inch (something not to be scorned in such a shallow boat) and more importantly, there was no gap between the bottom and the side. Jacques Mertens is very clear that his joints are designed to be loose with a gap that is to be filled with epoxy putty to transmit the loads between the pieces of wood. By making a vertical support for the batten, I was able to raise the sides to get the necessary gap. It also made the sheer and bottom lines look taut instead of droopy.

Now I was ready to start epoxying in earnest. The weather was cooperating. Daytime temperatures were in the 90's, which made the medium speed hardener cure very quickly. The taping of the seams went well, right up until the epoxy went exothermic. Then the combination of the 90 degree air temperature and the heat of the reaction softened that rotten "duct" tape and its adhesive. The boat began to pull apart. After a vain attempt to fix it by adding more tape, I drilled though the seams in the worst places and put in stitches. Maledictions on and a trip to perdition to the people ruined duct tape. May they make lots of money off their cheap substitute and need every penny of it for their health care.

Once the tape follies were over, construction became routine again. I only deviated from the plans a couple more times. First, the rub rail. Since I was unable to find the specified 1x2 pine in long enough lengths of good quality, I used 2 layers of 2 x 3/8 pine. This was available in 15 foot lengths of sufficient quality. The double lamination gave me a slight thicker rub rail than specified in the plans. In the interests of speed, as soon as I had clamped the first layer on, I undid the middle clamps and slipped the second layer on top. I worked my way along the front and back loosening each clamp and slipping the next layer under. It was incredibly messy, epoxy glue everywhere, but I got both laminations on in one long step. While everything was covered with glue anyway, I laminated the stock for the breasthooks and let everything cure overnight.

The breasthooks went in the next morning. I just put them in place and ran a bead of putty across the top edges to hold them in place. After another day of curing, I got out the sander and shaped the rubrail on the bow and stern to a nice point. I also removed the tape ridges and smoothed down the worst globs. Finally, I coated the entire inside with epoxy and let it cure overnight. The next day I coated the outside.

It was now time for the final deviation from the plans. I wanted to have a strong attachment point for the anchor rode, the car tie-down and something I could pick up the boat by. The breasthooks weren't shaped right and I didn't really want to fool around with cleats. It occurred to me that if I put a 1 inch hardwood dowel through both sides at the rub rail just behind the breasthook, it'd be anchored in the thickest wood at the structurally strongest point in the boat. It'd be easy to tie to, and if properly spaced, easy to get a grip on. It also meant that I wouldn't have to glass the breasthooks in since they would not be the gripping strong point for carrying. So I did.

The boat was now structurally complete. The penultimate question was the finish - paint or varnish? How about - neither.

OK, we've all known since Noah's Ark that epoxy is degraded by solar UV so it must be painted or varnished with a UV-blocking varnish. But what would happen if it was left uncovered? Well, in the tropics, after about 6 months in the sunlight, the epoxy would begin to break down and get chalky. OK, 6 months of daily tropical solar exposure is almost 1900 hours. I'll be lucky to put in 10 hours a week on the water, with another 4 hours of transportation. Assuming 14 hours of exposure per week, that's about 2 1/2 years before chalking starts. And that's in the tropics. Here in Maryland, the average solar intensity is less. The boating season is shorter. And the boat will be in the garage between uses. So let's be really conservative and say 5 years before chalking starts. Long before that 5 years, the rocks and gravel and branches and carrying racks and cement launch ramps and portages and especially the oyster shells are going to have destroyed an untended epoxy finish. So since the epoxy will need annual maintenance anyway, there's no reason to worry about the 5-year UV bogeyman. Slap on another coat of epoxy and head for the water. And thanks again to that lovely BS1088 okoume, a coat of epoxy without sanding is a perfectly good 10-foot finish (looks great 10 feet away).

Then came the final step - what to name the boat. After years without a boat, I was ready to go out on the water again. I felt like a kid at Christmas. And what happens at Christmas? The jonkonnu, of course. So, keeping in the spirit of the Cheap Canoe's contradictions, my pirouge became Johncanoe.

==================

Due to popular demand: Pirogue instructions/plans

Not sure if this is a pirogue, a dory, or a canoe, but it's a very simple and cheap boat to make. Actually, these were designed to be "disposable" boats, and or course, everyone liked these the best.

Preliminaries:
If you are not familiar with stitch and glue boat construction, you should read everything you can find on the 'net about it. A couple of good places to start would be:
http://home.att.net/~DaveCarnell/
http://www.apci.net/~michalak

Some notes:

1) Use small batches of epoxy.

2) It is much easier to wipe up epoxy "globs" while they are still soft, than to sand them down after they have hardened.

3) If you are a big guy (like me), you might want to either glass the entire bottom, or add a piece of lauan inside to take point loads from your knees.

4) Standard legal disclaimer applies. This is a cheap, disposable boat. It's not meant for anything other than messing around in relatively flat water. I'm not a boat designer, and I make no claims as to the seaworthiness or anything else about these boats.

5) My costs for these boats were so low because I already hade the paint, epoxy, and fiberglass on hand. Your mileage may vary.

Materials:
For plywood I recommend 5mm lauan from Home Depot. Be sure to be very picky with this, and make sure it's the type with exterior glue, and that both sides are in pretty good shape, and that there is no visible delamination. Actually, I made my 16 ft pirogue out of lauan that was already delaminating some, and haven't had any problems yet. You'll need two sheets.

For epoxy I used Raka, pretty good quality, and a decent price. You could use West if you want, but but I don't think the added money would really make much difference on these boats. A quart or two will do, unless you intend to coat the whole thing and glass the bottom, then get a gallon.

When you order your epoxy, order some fiberglass as well. A couple of yards of cloth should do, if you don't have a problem with cutting it. Or, if you are feeling lazy, go ahead and order some 3 inch wide fiberglass tape.

You will need some kind of filler for the fillets. I've used just about everything, included sawdust that I ran through the blender, but what I use the most now is the sanding dust that collects in the dust bag on my belt sander. If you don't have a ready source, wheat flour will work fine.

Construction:

Start by joining two pieces of 1/4 inch ply together end to end to make a 16ft by 4ft piece of plywood. This sounds a lot harder than it really is, I'm fond of the Payson/Carnell fiberglass butt joint myself, but a backing block would work as well. If your really adventuresome, you could try scarph joints.

Next, cut the sides out. These should be two strips of plywood 10 inches wide and 16 feet long, and will leave a 28 inch or so strip of plywood left for the bottom.

Make a 45 degree cut on both ends of the side pieces.

Cut a 2x4 with a 25 degree angle cut on both ends, 27 inches long on the short side.

Attach 3/4x1-1/4 chine logs, prebeveled to 25 degrees, to the inside of the side pieces.

Screw the sides to the 2x4 with a couple of drywall screws.

Wire the bow and stern together. The best way I've found to cut the angles on the chine logs at the bow and stern is to pull the pieces together, and run a reciprocating say between them, cutting them both at the same time. Check for fairness, and apply an epoxy fillet to the bow and stern. I would recommend putting as few wires in as you can get away with, and putting epoxy fillet glue around the wires, letting it set overnight. The next day, pull the wires, fill in the gaps, and add the glass.

Plane/sand the chine logs down so the bottom will fit on nice and flat.

Put the bottom piece on, trace out where it needs to be cut, cut it out, glue it on and tack it down. I tack mine down with a staple gun, but small screws or nails would work too.

Sand and round the sides, apply fillet material, apply glass.

Sand to an acceptable smoothness.

Paint. Use 100% acrylic house paint, stay away from porch paint unless you put on a half dozen layers of primer.

=======
The Mother Of All Maritime Links ==>http://www.boat-links.com/boatlink.html

Relearn MS Access : Another source for distraction !

2006-02-16T20:29:00.000+08:00

www.functionx.com/access/

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www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/TableOfContents3.asp

Bagus buat boat www.vintageprojects.com/boats/multi-Skiff.pdf

Typing Tutor

2006-02-15T18:09:00.000+08:00

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A potted history of meteorology

2006-02-15T03:52:00.000+08:00

Whence, Whither and Whether the Weather
How we are where we are and where we are going

This page is a copy of an article published in the annual newsletter of the Hallberg Rassy Owners Association and then in Cruising, the magazine of the Cruising Association .

Weather and Man

Just about every activity engaged in by man is dependent upon the weather or knowledge of the weather. Agriculture, transport of all forms, fossil fuel exploration, construction, maintenance of public utilities are obvious examples. Less obvious are helping in crime cases, verifying insurance claims, disease control of animals and plants, advertising campaigns, sales promotions, forward buying of coffee and cocoa.

Battles have been won by or because of the weather. Alexander the Great won sea battle against the Persians by delaying his attack until the sea breeze

set in a and put the enemy on a lee shore. Drake singed the King of Spain’s beard by using the sea breeze to carry his fire ships to the Spanish fleet caught by the same wind on a lee shore. The Armada was defeated partly by Queen Elizabeth’s navy but a severe storm was a significant factor in scattering the Spanish fleet. The success of the D-Day landings owed not a little to the weather. The invasion was postponed for one day and then nearly postponed for a month but the Met Office predicted a narrow window of opportunity and Eisenhower took the advice. The German forecasters thought that the weather was too bad and the Luftwaffe had been stood down.
The Oldest Science?

Man has studied the stars, medicine and weather from time immemorial and which is the oldest science is a question akin to the argument about how many angels can stand on a pinhead. Like astronomy, meteorology is a physical science. In astronomy or, at least, the more obvious manifestations such as the behaviour of the planets and comets, one law of physics, that of gravitation, can explain everything that we see. This makes prediction, whether by observational experience or by calculation, straightforward and incredibly precise. Weather results from several simple physical processes that interact with each other in a complex manner making prediction infinitely more complicated and far from precise.

In meteorology, as in medicine, a diagnosis based on an incomplete set of data leads to a prognosis. The difference is that the physician can say that he wants a second opinion or ask the patient to come back next week. The meteorologist

has to give a prediction by a deadline. A perfect forecast is useless if it is too late to be used.

Of the three sciences, medicine and meteorology are, we now know, more central to our everyday life than astronomy. Medicine can mend our life but weather shapes it. As W J Humphreys said -

What is it moulds the life of man?
The weather.
What makes some black, others tan?
The weather.
What makes Zulus live in trees,
The Congo natives dress in leaves,
While others go in furs and freeze?
The weather.

That was, of course, written in an age when political correctness was not too important.
Weather Long Ago

The interest that man has taken in the weather has depended upon perceptions of his ability to predict it and use the predictions to his benefit. To the Babylonians, weather was predominantly seasonal in character and, because the march of the seasons could be related to the positions of the stars and solar elevations, they can be excused for assuming that the weather was governed by their stellar and planetary gods. Not surprisingly, their attempts to predict the weather were based on astronomical occurrences together with some fanciful ideas about the behaviour of animals. In the Egypt of the Pharaohs, life was critically dependent on the behaviour of the Nile. Perhaps strangely, they did not relate this to rainfall in the Sudan but worshipped the sun god, Ra and the river god, Isis.

It was civilisations in more temperate latitudes that began to make serious and organised study of the weather. By 1300 BC, the Chinese were able to produce weather summaries for a ten year period and by 1000 BC they had organised an observing network recording weather systematically. The Chinese were, even then, highly bureaucratic and used to make national decisions based on weather information. For example, should an army be deployed on a military campaign or go home to tend the crops and get the harvest in. Around the same time the civilisations based on the Indus river had a rain gauge network with, apparently, a standardised unit of measurement and, perhaps, a standard gauge.

The earliest known forecasts date from around 1000 BC in China. “If the wind is in the north and the skies clear, there will be a frost.” For a fruit grower this was as good a rule of thumb then as it is now.

Nearer home, the Greeks, around 700 BC, had a num
ber of rules for weather prediction, what, nowadays, we would call weather lore. After all, this is simply a case of relating what is experienced at one time to what happens later - the starting point for most of science. Aristotle, around 350 BC, wrote his treatise Meteorologica, becoming the first person to use the word in writing. His disciple, Theophrastus, produced a collection of weather forecasting rules, many of which we know still. Red skies morning and night, haloes round sun and moon were well known as predictors. The Tower of Winds, still standing in Athens, is eight sided with sculptures on each side showing the nature of the weather with winds from each direction. Even then it seemed sensible to use an eight point compass and not a six or ten point one, for example.

It is significant that the most important god to the Greeks was Zeus, God of thunder. Later, the Scandinavians worshipped Thor.
Trying to Understand

Observing the weather was on matter, understanding it quite another. Christopher Robin was not alone in finding wind a mystery when he said -

Nobody tells me, nobody knows
Where the wind come from, where the wind goes.

Aristotle, Euclid, Pythagoras, Archimedes and the rest were not scientists as we understand the word. They were philosophers. That is, they did not conduct experiments but appealed to, apparently sensible, reasoning. For example, the earth was obviously the centre of the universe and the sun was observed to go around the earth. The experimental approach and the application of physical reasoning came much later with Galileo being one of the early exponents.

Perhaps Archimedes in the bath was an exception.

Aristotle’s explanations of rain, cloud and fog would be understandable to a modern schoolboy, if not accurate, but wind defeated him completely. It either came out of holes in the ground or from the breathing of plants.

Christopher Robin would have been justified in his complaint right up until the 19th century. Meteorological understanding virtually stood still for 2000 years and Aristotle’s book was regarded by many as the standard text for most of that time. In the 17th century, an Englishman attributed the constancy of the Trade Winds to the “exhalations from the weed in the Sargasso Sea”.
Observing and Measuring

Failure to understand notwithstanding, the need to collate and predict were obviously important. Weather records were kept in many countries. In England, for example, the Venerable Bede produced a weather diary in 700 AD. Europe was a long way behind China.

Observing methods continued to develop, particularly after 1000 AD when the Chinese and the Koreans normalised their rain gauges. In 1500 Leonardo da Vinci built a hygrometer using absorbent material the weight of which varied with the humidity. He also designed an anemometer. In 1592 Galileo constructed a thermometer using the expansion of air. In 1639 there was a standard pattern of rain gauge in Italy. Two years later a thermometer using alcohol was invented.

n 1644 Torricelli produced his mercury barometer and two years later, conforming to British preconceptions of the French, Pascal experimented with a barometer using wine. In 1661 the first Italian thermometers reached England. Within two more years, Christopher Wren had designed a rain gauge to measure hourly totals and Hooke formulated a system for logging the weather.

In 1667 temperatures began to be recorded at Oxford, the start of a long term series that is of great value in studying climate change. The British were catching up fast.

In the 17th century, there were the first, seriously scientific moves to try to explain the workings of the atmosphere and to reconcile observations with theory. Boyle discovered that the pressure, temperature and density of a gas were interrelated. It was realised that pressure falling to a low value could be followed by storms. Newton discovered refraction and, so, explained the rainbow. Halley produced charts of average winds over the oceans and deduced that pressure and wind were somehow interdependent

In the 18th century, Hadley explained the existence of the Trade Winds as being due to the rotation of the earth. But, it was not until 1857 that Buys-Ballot enunciated his now famous law about standing with your back to the wind ..... But nobody told Christopher Robin.
The Approach to the Synoptic Approach

The 19th century saw the beginnings of a genuine, concerted scientific approach to meteorology although there were still some notable individual contributions. Luke Howard categorised clouds in 1802 using those now well known Latinised names such as cumulus, cirrus, stratus, cumulonimbus. Partly, this was to give scientific respectability to the subject, following the example of the botanists. In 1806 Commander Beaufort first defined his eponymous scale for describing wind. In 1836, his final version was promulgated by the Admiralty for mandatory use by all RN ships. The scale is still used by mariners and weather forecasters world-wide

However, developments leading to a genuine understanding of the weather, and its prediction, have always depended upon technology. The first example was the electric telegraph, invented by Samuel Morse in 1836. Whether the possibility of collecting weather data virtually as it occurred over large areas sparked off meteorological thinking or whether the realisation of the requirement came first, is not clear. What is known is that, in 1839, John Ruskin, that most unlikely of meteorological thinkers, wrote that

"The meteorologist is impotent if alone; his observations are useless; for they are made upon a point, while the speculations to be derived

from them must be on space. It is of no avail that he changes his position, ignorant of what is passing behind him or before; he desires to estimate the movement of space, and can only observe the dancing of atoms; he would calculate the currents of the atmosphere of the world, while he only knows the direction of a breeze."

Ruskin was saying, in effect, that it is impossible to understand or forecast the weather on the basis of data from a single observer, whether stationary or mobile. Rather more prosaically - and succinctly, with some ellipsis -, the Head of the UK National Met Centre, (aka the Central Forecast Office) said recently

"In order to be able to forecast anywhere, you have to able to forecast everywhere."

It was not long (1842) before weather observations were being collected and published on a daily basis in national newspapers. At the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, one penny would buy a map of the British Isles with weather observations from Britain and Ireland.
International Co-operation and National Efforts

Losses of ships, at a time when world trade was increasing, led to Governments waking up to the idea that international co-operation in meteorology might pay useful dividends. The first International Meteorological Conference was held in Paris in 1853. The leading light, Lieutenant Maury, a beached US Navy Officer, proposed standard times, methods of observing and logging format for weather reports from ships at sea.

The observations were to be made available to national marine authorities and exchanged freely between nations. This process continues today with some 7000 merchant ships voluntarily observing the weather. Nowadays, most ships report in real time as well as returning weather logs (increasingly as computer files) to their national weather services. The Met Office marine archive now has getting on for 100 million observation from ships world-wide dating back mainly to the mid 1850s with a few (eg HMS Beagle) from earlier times. This archive is an invaluable tool for such purposes as risk analysis, climate definition and climate change studies.

With the means of collecting data in real time (at least over land) now well tried and tested, interest in meteorology was receiving official blessing. A catalyst for further progress was the 1854 Black Sea storm during the Crimean War. This sank a number of Allied ships, including a large French troop ship, the Henri V. The French Emperor, Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III), asked his Astronomer Royal, Le Verrier, to study the event and see if any lessons could be learned.

Le Verrier collected a great deal of information and was able to produce weather maps of wind and pressure. These showed that the storm was a circulation of winds around a central low pressure. Moreover, this had moved as an entity on a fairly steady course over a period of days. Le Verrier made the momentous deduction that forecasting was scientifically possible - at least in principle.

During the following few years, national weather services were created in many countries. The UK Meteorological Department of the Board of Trade (forerunner of the Meteorological Office) was the second, being pipped to the post by the Dutch.

Captain Fitzroy, of HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin fame, was the first Secretary (Director) and was charged with “providing meteorological advice to the Royal and Merchant Navies.” Fitzroy put in hand the collection of data from ships as proposed at the 1853 conference. He co-ordinated observing networks over the British Isles, partly for climatological purposes, but also for real time use. Using the electric telegraph, he organised the collection of data from a small number of stations in the UK and, importantly, the exchange of data with other national weather services.

Fitzroy - an Early Synoptician

Fitzroy began to give warnings of severe weather in progress and initiated the issue of gale warnings to ships by means of cones flown from coastal locations. Fairly soon he had defined a set of forecasting rules, and started to predict gales. It was then a short step to starting to forecast weather generally. Not surprisingly, after all he had no real time information over the sea, he was not very successful and came under severe criticism, particularly from the scientific purists of the Royal Society. This preyed on his mind together with a feeling of guilt that, as a devout and conventional Christian of the time, he had some responsibility for Charles Darwin’s “heretical” views on evolution. Fitzroy committed suicide.

But much useful groundwork had been done. Fitzroy devised a system of

internationally understandable number codes for exchanging information, and idea that survives to this day. He introduced the Stevenson screen to standardise the measurement of air temperatures. Coherent and co-ordinated observing networks had been initiated. The concept of daily forecasts published in newspapers to the general public had become accepted as a norm of everyday life.

Perhaps importantly, and not always appreciated, Fitzroy established the principal that forecasting only ever improves by trial in the real world. In other words, a new technique can be tested in the laboratory exhaustively but the warts only appear when it is used practically to give advice to real and critical users.
Technology

Since then, progress has occurred largely as and when developments in technology made possible the realisation of meteorological ideas and aspirations. In recent times, much of the impetus for the development of large, powerful scientific computers has come from the meteorological requirement.

Radio telegraphy made possible the collection of data from ships while at sea thus enabling synoptic charts to be analysed within a few hours of weather occurring. This led to the evolution of synoptic meteorology - the study of the weather as a whole, recognised by Ruskin to be necessary to understanding the atmosphere. Conversely, radio also allowed the provision of weather information to ships on passage.

Radio enabled the use of free flying balloons making soundings of temperature, pressure and humidity up to great heights. Radio theodolites and radar made it possible to track those balloons and, so, measure winds in the atmosphere above the ground. This led to the evolution of the understanding of the behaviour of the atmospheric in 3 dimensions. Nowadays, these radio sonde balloons often carry cheap, use-once-and-throw-away, GPS sets for the same purpose.

Radio (now often via satellite) allows the collection of data from aircraft, data buoys and other remote locations.

Satellites, first, gave pictures of weather system development and, later, a largely indirect system of measurement. Satellites do not measure air temperatures and humidity directly but they do give information from which something about these parameters can be derived. Satellites are not, in themselves, sources of forecasts although they do have valuable observing and communications roles.

Last, and most importantly, computers are increasingly letting meteorologists estimate the effects of the many physical processes that result in weather. The concept and the first tentative steps were due to a British mathematician, L F Richardson during WW1. He made a trial calculation, by hand, of a six hour pressure change at one location in central Europe. Although he got the answer wrong by a factor of 100, he had defined the problem and proposed what was to become a standard technique.

Richardson envisaged a spherical shaped building, perhaps like the Albert Hall, with people sitting all over it using slide rules (remember those?) and mechanical calculators. A large spot light would slowly swing round to indicate where the sun would be shining. They would be calculating changes at their individual locations for a short time ahead. They would pass the results to their near neighbours and, using the new data, calculate for another short time ahead. Computer buffs will recognise this as parallel processing.
The First Genuinely Scientific Approach to the Problem

The first very crude computer predictions were made in 1950, in the USA, on a computer called ENIAC. Each new generation of computers has allowed, and is continuing to allow, further refinement of the estimates although it is unlikely that the calculations will ever be precise. Over the past 50 years computer predictions have improved to an extent whereby 5 day forecasts are routinely useful. In time, the useful forecast period can be expected to increase to, perhaps, 10 days. Short term forecasting will also improve, but their use will need significant improvements in methods of data dissemination if we sailors are to realise the benefits of the potential wealth of available weather information.

The Met Office first usd a computer owned by Lyons Teahouses (remember those?). They then used a Ferranti development computer at Manchester Universtity before buying a production model Ferranti Mercury. This could do

an astounding (at the time) 3000 calculations per second. This computated weather patterns over the Atlantic - Western Europe sector of the northern hemisphere at a grid length of some 320 km.

Nowadays, modern weather services, such as the UK Met Office, use what are known as massively parallel processors (super-computers). The basic principle is as predicted by Richardson but the computers can do astronomically large numbers of calculations per second. I doubt that few scientists, even with the imagination of Richardson, would have thought, back in 1918, that their ideas would come to pass in such a spectacular manner. We now know that Richardson failed not because of any lack of understanding of meteorological ohysics. It was due to the lack of knowledge of numerical methods which only really developed with computers.

Ferranti Mercury, 1959

NEC Computer 2004
For the computer buffs, this is a brief summary of the Met Office main computer facility. The system expected to be operational in 2005 will have the power to make 1.5 Billion (1.5 Trillion in US terms) calculations per second. And we thought that the Ferranti Mercury was a marvel. The current computers, Cray T3Es, describe the atmosphere with a grid length of about 60 km globally and 11 km in the area of the British Isles. By 2005 it should be possible to reduce both these grid lengths so that around the UK it it will get down to around 2 km grid length. But, this is still not enough to calculate the effects of, say, Start Point! That might put the problem into context

I became a senior forecaster at Bracknell in 1967. At that time the afternoon forecast, based on midday data, was for “tomorrow” with an outlook for the next two days at most and sometimes only one day. Contrast that with the frequent and very useful extended outlooks covering a week and broadcast on TV and radio. I believe that is a true measure of what has been achieved so far.

Met Office Computers 1959 to 2005

Year

Computer

Calculations/second

1,959

Ferranti Mercury

3 x 103

1,965

English Electric KDF9

5 X 104

1,972

IBM 360/195

4 x 106

1,982

Cyber CDC 205

2 x 108

1,990

Cray YMP

1 x109

1,991

2nd Cray YMP

2 x 109

1,994

Cray C90

1.2 x 1010

1,996

Cray T3E

6 x 1010

1,999

2nd Cray T3E

1.2 x 1011

2,004

30 NEC SX-6 nodes

7.2 x 1011

2,005

More NEC SX-6 nodes

1.5 x 10 12

Christopher Robin eventually decided that he knew where the wind came from but not where it was going. Like Christopher Robin, we know whence meteorology has come, but we also have some idea of whither it is going although we cannot be at all sure just how far it will go.
A Brief and Very Selective Chronology of Meteorology through the Ages

1000 BC Chinese weather forecasts.
350 BC Aristotle writes his treatise, Meteorologica.
1400 AD China and Korea normalise rain gauges.
1592 Galileo invents a thermometer.
1644 Torricelli invents the mercury barometer
1667 Temperature records start at Oxford <>
1735 Hadley explains the Trade winds
.1802 Luke Howard categorises clouds.
1806 Beaufort introduces his wind scale, with his final version 30 years later.
1839 Ruskin defines the weather problem.
1848 Daily weather observations in newspapers
1854 The Black Sea storm
1855 Met Office formed
1857 Buys-Ballot enunciates his law.
1905 The first observations from ships by radio
1922 L F Richardson publishes book on numerical weather prediction.
1950 The first Numerical weather predictions using electronic computers.
1956 The Met Office gets its first Computer (Ferranti Mercury)
1960 The first weather satellite.
1967 The UK starts to use computer forecasts operationally.
1981 First global weather predictions by The Met Office with its first supercomputer

1990 The Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research opened.

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© Frank Singleton, October 2004

Forecasts: The Biggest Weather Traps

2006-02-15T03:51:00.000+08:00

By Richard L. Collins
May 2005

We all rely on the weatherman's educated guesses; sometimes we rely too much on them.

To begin, pilots are almost never “trapped” by weather. Some will come up with a tale they think proves that they were “trapped,” but you simply have to fly by too many clues to wind up in weather trouble without some sense of trespass.

So what is the biggest trap? Simple. The forecasts, or, the way that we use the forecasts.

Many of us look at long-range forecasts to get a sense of the weather for an upcoming trip. That is fine so long as we don’t put much stock in those long-range forecasts. Any time you want to see how much uncertainty there is, just go to the forecast discussion on the NWS site for your area. (Go to noaa.gov and type in the name of your town.) Some of the forecasters go into greater detail than others but from reading the discussion for periods out more than about 24 hours, you can see that they deal mainly with generalities and have a lot of variables to deal with.

That basically tells us what we need to know about forecasts. They are guesses, based on history. Educated guesses to be sure, but they don’t deal with realities. As pilots we do have to deal with the reality of conditions as they develop.

How does this transfer to flying?

To begin, it’s not a good idea to use forecasts in isolation. The terminal forecasts (TAFs) attempt to predict the weather for only a little bit of the air, that within five statute miles of the airport, and they look ahead for only 24 hours. They are issued every six hours, starting at 0000Z.

The bigger picture can be found by considering other forecasts offered to pilots.

A bigger look at the weather comes from the six area forecasts (FAs) that cover the 48 contiguous United States. These include a synopsis of weather features such as fronts and lows, and forecast general weather conditions over an area. Be careful about what you are looking at when it comes to cloud heights as the FA gives them both in height above the ground and height above mean sea level, and specify which is used. There is also word on flight precautions that are addressed in airmets (WA) and sigmets (WS).

The airmets forecast various weather phenomenon of concern to pilots and come in Sierra for IFR conditions or mountain obscuration, Tango for moderate turbulence or surface winds of 30 knots or greater and/or non-convective low-level wind shear, and Zulu to cover moderate icing and predict freezing level heights.

Sigmets are issued as forecasts of severe icing not associated with thunderstorms, severe or extreme turbulence or clear air turbulence not associated with thunderstorms, for dust or sandstorms lowering visibility to below three miles, or volcanic ash. Convective sigmets (WST) are not forecasts but instead report thunderstorms that exist.

Using these forecasts works a lot better if you know the synoptic situation. That is given in the area forecast but reading it is no substitute for looking at a weather map. The ones on TV shows are not too good because they are trying to cover the whole day. The Weather Channel keeps its big picture maps more current but these are not aviation charts. The best charts for us are on the ADDS site (adds.aviationweather.noaa.gov), where they have a current surface map plus prog charts out to 48 hours. Private weather services such as WSI and Jeppesen also have excellent prog charts.

A lot of pilots want to dumb down weather and have it fed to them through a pacifier, but that doesn’t work. A pilot who wants to avoid weather surprises has to put effort into understanding weather. Fronts and lows and highs are important. They affect the air in which we fly. The conditions that we encounter, and how we deal with them, not the forecasts, are what determine success.

Having stood on that soapbox, the next logical step is to look at how we use forecast products to make the best possible deal with flying weather.

For most pilots, the most used forecast product is the terminal forecast (TAF). We look at that and form a visual picture of the weather that it describes. That is a basic mistake because the accuracy of a terminal forecast is subject to a lot of variables. The person who makes the forecast is a qualified meteorologist but it is more of an art than a science, though it is taught as a science. A meteorologist does his work with numbers and history. As pilots, we deal with clouds and stability or instability.

Still, the terminal forecast is the best basic tool to use because it covers expected weather at airports and, especially when IFR, it defines whether or not the forecaster thinks you will have landing minimums when you get there.

Terminal forecasts used to contain word on frontal passages (FROPA) but that seems to be gone now. To tell when they expect a front to pass, you have to look at the expected surface wind. They also deal with variables by defining temporary (TEMPO) conditions.

Anybody who has flown much has experienced a “blown” forecast, or, one that is terribly wrong. This shouldn’t affect the safety of a flight because there is plenty of information, in the form of actual weather observations including radar, to tell us that a forecast is incorrect and that we had best get on with a new plan.

Regarding the possible inaccuracy of forecasts, read this quote from an old edition of the government publication Aviation Weather. “The forecaster understands certain principles of atmospheric behavior and has watched this behavior long enough to know how incomplete our knowledge really is.” That’s from an old book, granted, but I don’t think much has changed.

This book went on to address the accuracy of forecasts, and as pilots we can use this information to better understand forecast products.

For example, it says that “forecasts of single reportable values of ceiling and visibility instead of ranges of values imply an accuracy that the present forecasting system does not possess beyond the first two or three hours of the forecast period.” That statement is especially pertinent because it tells us that the forecast we get at home before departure might not be worth very much when we reach a destination.

The publication also says that they can’t accurately forecast ceilings of 100 feet or zero before they exist. It goes on to say that forecasts of poor flying conditions are most reliable when there is a distinct weather system, such as a front, a trough, or precipitation, which can be tracked.

Looking out 12 hours, a forecast of good weather was said to be more likely correct than a forecast of a ceiling below 1,000 feet or visibility a mile or less.

And, this quote is great: “Surface visibility is more difficult to forecast than ceiling height, and snow reduces the visibility forecasting problem to one of rather wild guesswork.” That was in reference to the difficulty of predicting surface visibility when snow is falling, and snow does even worse things to flight visibility than it does to that at the surface so that is something to remember.

The stronger a front, the better the forecast on a time of passage. The old FAA manual referenced a lot of other items but those are the most important. I am sure many forecasters will say they have better tools now and can do a better job. And they may be right. However, from personal experience, the accuracy of forecasts does not seem to have changed all that much with time.

We have to consider, too, what an incredible thing we are asking meteorologists to do in a forecast that, in a TAF, goes out 24 hours into the future. Predicting the exact visibility, ceiling, weather and wind that will occur in a given location is a daunting task, a long way from doing partly cloudy to cloudy with a chance of rain for the general public.

All of those computer models forecasters use and talk about deal with generalities. They look at the current situation, go back and look at similar situations in the past, and at what happened during the time after the condition was observed. Then they project the current situation forward. That often works well, as with snowstorm forecasts for the public. But it doesn’t do much for the pilot who wants to know what the surface weather is going to be in Morgantown in 10 hours.

The age of a forecast is important because, as was noted in that book, specifics beyond the first two or three hours of a forecast period are suspect. One place where we have seen great help with this is in the up/downlink of weather. If we leave home early, before 1200Z, the forecast from the home briefing is old. The new forecast might be available at the FBO or, on the instrument panel. Failing that, you can get it from an FSS.

Now, let’s go flying and look at the conditions that I have found to generate worse than forecast weather.

When flying we are nowcasting, not forecasting, and have to use all available information. One word about nowcasting. In VFR, what you see is what you get all the time. On IFR approaches, what you see at the moment you reach the decision or minimum descent altitude is what you get, regardless of what is reported. All that counts is what happens right now.

To me, the most suspect forecast of all is the one of improvement when there is fog. Simply put, there is no way to know when fog is going to lift. Heading toward an airport that is zero-zero now but that is forecast to be up to landing minimums at the projected time of arrival had best be done with a lot of extra fuel. It is not uncommon for fog that was forecast to lift by 1400Z to still be there four hours later. This is especially true if there is a higher overcast or if there is snow on the ground.

Another condition where a forecast might not be reliable is where the surface flow is bringing low-level moisture in underneath warmer air aloft. That temperature inversion will tend to cause a concentration of the moisture at low levels, making for low ceilings and visibilities. In such a condition, often found within a few hundred miles of a coast, improvement is often forecast as the day goes on, but it doesn’t always happen that way. A few moments looking at the surface temperature and at the temperature aloft will pay dividends when dealing with such a condition.

The forecast of visibility in any precipitation, and especially in snow, does not always translate into visibility ahead, out the windshield. Often, when rain starts to fall some low scud will begin to form and where the forecast and reported visibility might be a couple of miles, the slant range visibility might be poor as you look for the runway.

The only cloud top forecasts are in the area forecasts and these are really generalized. If staying on top of the clouds is in the game plan, the synopsis is important. If you are flying toward a front or a low pressure area, the cloud tops will likely become ever higher as you fly closer to the front or low.

Icing forecasts are quite broad. The possibility of ice is forecast all winter and it’s up to the pilot to determine whether or not the forecast might come true. That is best done with a gold-plated alternate plan if ice starts to accumulate on the airplane. Changing altitudes might help but, again, if you are flying toward a front or a low pressure area, the ice will get worse before it gets better.

Thunderstorms are forecast whenever they think the atmosphere will support their development. This is pretty easy to forecast ahead of a cold front, where
a squall line might form, or in a warm frontal zone with all the right properties. Air mass thunderstorms that can exist in lines or clusters, might be forecast with some accuracy that they will form, but with little accuracy on location. That is what Nexrad is for.

The forecasts of turbulence cover the obvious. If there is a strong wind flowing over rough terrain, yes, there will be turbulence. Same goes for strong wind shear close to the ground or aloft. Forecasting the level of turbulence is another matter because so many things affect that. For example, downwind of a mountain range you might find much worse turbulence than would be found upwind of the range. This is an obvious thing and the nowcast has to come from the pilot’s brain, not from the forecast. I recall a day when a pilot downwind of Mount Mitchell reported severe turbulence at an altitude where I was getting an acceptable ride upwind of the big mountain. One condition that used to be in turbulence forecasts but that seems to be gone are up and down drafts (UDDFs). I guess they decided that pilots could put wind and mountains together and come up with their own conclusions.

Also on turbulence forecasts, one thing that is not covered are building cumulus clouds. Long before a cumulus becomes a thunderstorm and/or something that will show on Nexrad, radar or a lightning detector, it is generating an incredible level of turbulence. What you see is the best information available here. If a cumulus looks bumpy, even if it tops out at only 10,000 feet, it will be.

Turbulence forecasts also often do not address wet and bumpy clouds. These are more common in and near frontal zones and close to low pressure areas and while the level of turbulence might not meet the “moderate turbulence” parameters
required for a forecast, flying in those clouds is hard work and a significant weather factor for a flight. Any turbulence found in clouds seems to be at least one level worse than the same turbulence in clear air.

For VFR flying, the big picture is also in the windshield. If you can’t see clearly where you are going then it is time to do something else regardless of the forecast. The VFR pilot has to be especially wary of precipitation because it affects both flight visibility and promotes the formation of lower clouds.

Using all the information, the pilot who works hard at understanding weather will fly with less surprises and won’t have to work as hard while flying. Anyone who thinks that someone else will spoon feed an accurate weather picture before a flight is making a serious mistake because while the information might be accurate at the time, nobody but the pilot, at the end of the flight, knows what was really there all along the way.

Kalansanan First Date

2006-02-14T23:01:00.000+08:00

Teammate : Antoi, Khalil, Najib & Amir
Tekong : Ag. - Lorong 17, Warisan Village
My Catches : 1 Cobia (1.75kg), 1 Ramora (<1kg)
Takat : Sapanggar Bay
Finale : Bayu Nasi Kandar
Tackle : Shakespeare Tempest Reel, Surecatch VitalStick, Pioneer Braided Line 30lbs, Leader 20lbs, Hook : small J, Bait : round Shad (sliced)
Tide : Flooding frm 6.30am till 00.30midnight

VWM : Visual Working Memory

2006-02-13T03:50:00.000+08:00

Vwm allows us to hold a visual display in mind for a few seconds after its disappearance.
A briefly presented array of items is first held in an iconic memory, in a largely retina-based format, for approximately 100 to 200 ms.
Information is kept in this format before the icon decays, during which time a small subset is transcribed into VWM.
The capacity of VWM is limited to approximately 4 visual items and 6 spatial locations.

The terms visual short-term memory and visual working memory connote different things, with short-term memory emphasizing the storage aspect of memory and working memory emphasizing both the storage and the manipulation of information held in memory.

By repeatedly presenting the same visual images in a VWM task, we have clarified the role of learning in enhancing VWM.
Our findings show that repetition can enhance change detection performance, but only when a repeated display is consistently associated with a particular change.
We suggest that although it is very difficult to increase the overall capacity of VWM through learning, one can easily change which information receives priority in VWM, thereby improving VWM performance.

Visualey:Repetition can enhance spatial power if the (repeated display:pengalaman hidup)is consistently associated with a [particular change].
Boss Sandra:It is difficult to increase spatial power through learning. Ye ke ?
Visualey:Ya, it is difficult to inrease spatial power through learning....
Boss Sandra:Yes but we can easily change which information(kejadian/ilham) receives priority so our spatial power can increase.

'Brainwave Entrainment' Theory

2006-02-11T00:27:00.000+08:00

David Siever, who I mention on this page, believes that most people can only be entrained by a maximum frequency of 23 Hz. Others have told me that exposure to flicker at 60 Hz, such as a computer monitor, can cause some entrainment, but not much. Of course, some people are more sensitive than others, and conditions such as the brightness, resolution, and the maximum number of colors of a display can affect the perception of flicker.

After reading part of a book called "The Rediscovery of Audio-Visual Entrainment" by David Siever, I believed that some computer monitors might cause a decrease in brainwave (also spelled brain wave) frequencies if not set up properly.

I have wrote a letter to David Siever, which I have included below. I continued to edit the letter as I learned more about Neurofeedback.

* LETTER *

Dear David Siever, C.E.T.,

My name is Christopher McPeck. The other day as I was browsing the Internet I came across part of the chapter entitled 'The History of Audio-Visual Entrainment' from your book "The Rediscovery of Audio-Visual Entrainment at:

http://users.pandora.be/top.sales.bvba/Comptronic-Web/HistoryAVE.htm

I was very interested in the fourth paragraph, which I have included below:

"It is important that I clarify the distinction between "cortical evoked response" (CER), and brainwave entrainment. The CER is the brain's response related to its processing a single stimulus. This "kick" of the brain occurs approximately 100 milliseconds (msec) following the stimulus, and the CER usually occurs only once, until the next stimulus. The evoked response is generally mixed with other brain activity. However, when the stimulus is repeated continuously above four Hz, the brain begins to "resonate" with the stream of stimuli and the resultant brainwave response is of the same frequency as the stimuli. The entraining brainwave occurs best at one's own natural alpha frequency (between 9 and 11 Hz). This leaves the brain little time to inject its own activity in between the continuous evoked responses, causing a decrease in all other brainwave frequencies. Depending on the waveform of the stimuli, a second or third harmonic may be seen on an EEG."

I am interested in this paragraph because I have recently discovered numerous articles on the Internet, which state that if a some computer monitors' refresh rates are less than 75 Hz, eye strain can occur.

The fact that a low refresh rate can cause eyestrain has been common knowledge for years. Some people are more sensitive to flicker than others, and require a higher refresh rate. However, a refresh rate greater than 100 Hz may may cause problems with eye movement. I have included an article below, which defines refresh rate. I found this article at: http://www.eizo.co.jp/welcome/support/faqs/crt/qa12.html

"What is a refresh rate and why is a monitor's refresh rate important?

An image appears on screen when electron beams strike the surface of the screen in a zig-zag pattern. A refresh rate is the number of times a screen is redrawn in one second and is measured in Hertz (Hz). Therefore, a monitor with a refresh rate of 85 Hz is redrawn 85 times per second. A monitor should be "flicker-free meaning that the image is redrawn quickly enough so that the user cannot detect flicker, a source of eye strain. Today, a refresh rate of 75 Hz or above is considered to be flicker-free.

In addition to eyestrain, I now believe that a low refresh rate, that would allow the user to detect flicker, could cause brainwave entrainment as you described in your book, and cause "a decrease in all other brainwave frequencies". Brainwave entrainment is also known as 'frequency following response'.

In the first paragraph of the chapter 'The History of Audio-Visual Entrainment' you wrote:

"Michael Hutchison, author of "Megabrain", summed it up well by stating that "the knowledge that a flickering light can cause mysterious visual hallucinations and alterations in consciousness is something that humans have known since the discovery of fire."

I have included a description of Internet addiction below, which I found in the article "Log On, Tune In, Drop Out" by Rose Pike of ABC at:

ABC News: 'Log On, Tune In, Drop Out' by Rose Pike

"What accounts for the pull of the this formidable medium? “The visual thing is the biggie,” says Greenfield. Reading e-mail or chatting is like getting “love letters, but the words can be even more powerful than words on paper, because when people stare at a screen, they experience a trancelike dissociative quality, a hypnotic effect.”"

After reading this, I also believe that a low refresh rate may be a contributing factor to Internet addiction.

I am very interested in hearing your opinions.

Thank you for your time.

Christopher McPeck

The Rediscovery of Audio-Visual Entrainment

2006-02-11T00:00:00.000+08:00

The following is a chapter from the book entitled:
"The Rediscovery of Audio-Visual Entrainment" by Dave
Siever, C.E.T.
copyright 1997
Most people believe that brainwave entrainment (BWE) brought about by the
repetitive pulsing of light and sound (audio-visual entrainment) is a new
technology, however the history of brainwave entrainment through photic or
visual can be traced as far back as the dawn of man. When our ancestors made a
fire to keep warm, they enjoyed watching the flickering flames which led them
into reverie and spiritual or mystical experiences. Michael Hutchison, author of
"Megabrain", summed it up well by stating that "the knowledge that a flickering
light can cause mysterious visual hallucinations and alterations in consciousness is
something that humans have known since the discovery of fire." Early scientists
used the comforting, mesmerizing light of the fires in their fireplaces to draw them
into lucid states of mind, then commonly referred to as "reverie." They would use
reverie to help them solve many of their puzzling questions regarding science, life,
and the universe. Even today, people enjoy sitting by a fire, not for the warmth so
much, but mostly for the relaxing effect we feel from the flickering flames. With
the development of modernized home heating, few of us get the chance to gaze
absent-mindedly into a fire. Only a few urbanites manage to retreat to the woods
to enjoy the warmth and relaxing dance of the flames upon the logs while feelings
of peace, safety and tranquility fill their minds, separating them from the hectic
lifestyle of the city.
Another way BWE can be experienced naturally is from driving a car down a long
straight highway at sunrise or sunset with the roadside trees casting shadows
across the road. The flickering sunlight may bring about an altered state of
consciousness, making it difficult to focus on the task of driving. We can also
experience BWE by cruising down a highway at 60 miles per hour at night. As the
bright lines flicker past us at a theta frequency, we slowly drift into a dream state
and before we know it, we spot a pink elephant or other apparition standing on the
road in front of us. With a quick flash of panic, we grab the wheel and hit the
brakes. In the blink of an eye, we are now wide awake and quite startled and the
apparition has vanished. The highway induced BWE is gone.
Page 2
BWE research has been difficult to collect because of the many terms used to
describe photic stimulation because there was no standardized terminology within
the medical community. Brainwave entrainment, which is the term most often
used today, has been known in the past as flicker stimulation, photic driving,
cortical evoked response, visual evoked response, afferent sensory stimulation,
variable frequency photo-stimulation, repetitive sensory response and brainwave
synchronization. As a result, collecting all of the research relating to BWE has
been difficult and time consuming.
It is important that I clarify the distinction between "cortical evoked
response" (CER), and brainwave entrainment. The CER is the brain's response
related to its processing a single stimulus. This "kick" of the brain occurs
approximately 100 milliseconds (msec) following the stimulus, and the CER
usually occurs only once, until the next stimulus. The evoked response is generally
mixed with other brain activity. However, when the stimulus is repeated
continuously above four Hz, the brain begins to "resonate" with the stream of
stimuli and the resultant brainwave response is of the same frequency as the
stimuli. The entraining brainwave occurs best at one's own natural alpha frequency
(between 9 and 11 Hz). This leaves the brain little time to inject its own activity in
between the continuous evoked responses, causing a decrease in all other
brainwave frequencies. Depending on the waveform of the stimuli, a second or
third harmonic may be seen on an EEG.
It is equally important that I clarify the distinctions between brainwave
entrainment (BWE), audio-visual entrainment (AVE) and light and sound (L&S)
stimulation. An L&S device flashes lights and makes sounds of some sort. The
stimuli isn't designed to follow the rules of entrainment, so outside of a great light
show, there may not be any neurological effects and benefits at all, just fun
entertainment. AVE produces BWE by delivering pulses of light and sound in
accordance with the rules of BWE. BWE as mentioned above can also be
produced by nerve and kinesthetic (tactile) stimulation as well as visual and
auditory stimulation, which is used in an AVE device.
With the development of sophisticated electronic physiological measuring
equipment, scientists now conduct and record research to show the effects that
photic stimulation has on humans. There have been countless research articles
printed in scientific and medical journals on the effects of BWE since the
discovery of photic driving in 1934. In efforts to better understand the brain, most
Page 3
early research only observed of the physiological effects of BWE directly and not
the clinical benefits of BWE. It has only been more recently that clinical research
has been conducted. Listed below, is a brief summary of some of the most
significant observations and discoveries that are available at the time of writing.
However, continued research is being conducted on this amazing technology. For
instance, since 1988, Comptronic Devices Limited has been involved in several
clinical studies including dentistry, ADD, insomnia fibromyalgia and chronic pain.
Few people had considered the effects of BWE on one's perceptions, feelings,
health, performance, stress levels or consciousness until the 1960's when behavior
research became regarded as a recognized approach to maintaining good health.
This new paradigm was brought about in part by the psychedelic drug revolution
and, more importantly, the application of biofeedback which proved beyond any
doubt that we could control all aspects of our visceral functioning such as muscle
and arterial tone, stomach acid excretion, brainwave activity and emotions.
Biofeedback soon expanded to basically anything that could be measured, and
where those measurements could be "fed" back to the subject. This was a blow to
the credibility of the dogmatic medical model which presumed that people could
not control much bodily functioning and that pharmaceutical agents and surgical
interventions were the only panacea for illnesses. Biofeedback was also of
paramount importance in not only proving our control over our bodies, but it also
proved that WE ARE OFTEN THE CAUSE of most of our illnesses. Hence
biofeedback, psychological counselling, healthy eating, exercise, BWE and a
plethora of non-drug approaches that focused on prevention rather than correction
started making inroads into people's lifestyles.
BWE, although not a new concept, has been recently receiving a lot of media
attention and hype. However, even today, most people have not yet heard of
BWE, even though it has been around for nearly a century and it is only recently
that BWE, through the use of AVE machines is making a comeback in a scientific
way.
Over the years, there have been many different manufacturers of these brainwave
entrainment devices available all over the world. These devices have evolved from
large expensive "science fiction" looking devices to compact, easy-to-use, portable
units. More and more we hear of "spas" and "Brain Gyms" and various holistic
centres that are offering this technology to their clientele.
Page 4
We have also documented other milestones in the development of BWE
technology. We hope you will find traveling through the evolution of this amazing
technology both fascinating and enlightening.
RESEARCH
The first known documented experimentation with photic stimulation was by
Ptolemy, in approximately 200 AD. While spinning a spoked wheel into the sun,
he noticed the apparent immobility of the wheel radius above a certain speed. He
also noted that the flickering light caused patterns and colors to appear before his
eyes.
It wasn't until the seventeenth century before research involving flicker
stimulation commenced once again. This research examined the frequency at
which individual flickering light began to "fuse" into a steady light. This flicker
fusion phenomenon was first established in 1834 - 1835 by the Englishman,
Talbot and by the Belgian named Plateau, whose thesis at Leige is described as a
landmark in the field. They noted that healthy people could notice the flickering of
light at a higher frequency than persons experiencing ill health. Twentieth century
research has shown that meditators notice higher frequencies of flickering light
than non-meditators.
Research into photic stimulation was of little consequence until 1895 when the
illusion of colors produced by flickering light were demonstrated by Benham
through his invention - the "artificial spectrum top."
A few years later, the French psychologist, Pierre Janet, at the Salpetriere Hospital
noted a reduction in hysteria and an increase in relaxation when he exposed
patients to flickering light delivered by a rotating strobe-wheel illuminated by a
lantern from behind. The patient would stare into the strobe-wheel to receive
treatment. This was the first known clinical application using BWE as a treatment
tool.
In 1929, with the invention of vacuum-tube amplifiers, Hans Berger, a German
psychiatrist, working in Jena, began to publish strange little pictures consisting of
nothing but wavy lines showing the electrical activity made by the human brain.
Page 5
The voltage of these signals ranged from 50 to 100 micro volts and at a frequency
near 10 cycles per second (Hz). This was called the Berger rhythm (later termed
the alpha rhythm). The signals appeared when the subject was at rest with the eyes
closed and disappeared when the eyes were opened or during a task that involved
attention. Berger's colleagues were not interested and no one took these wavy little
lines seriously. And for a number of years no one even bothered repeating his
experiments. Berger naturally felt hurt and disappointed.
In 1934, the researchers, Adrian and Matthews confirmed many of Berger's
observations but disagreed with the origin of the Berger rhythm. They were the
first to use a balanced amplifier, known today as a bipolar or differential amplifier
(used widely in biofeedback). They also postulated, as did Tonnies in 1933, that
this rhythm was associated with mental processes and involved a large number of
neurons. (Today there is a much greater understanding of the visual cortex which
is thought to consist of approximately 300 million neurons.) This was the first
research showing that the Berger rhythm could be driven beyond its natural
frequency by photic driving.
By 1940, James Toman performed a number of simple studies into the effects of
flicker stimulation on the flicker potentials of the brain. He noted several
observations and his work provided the foundation to understanding the
physiological properties of BWE. He studied and recorded the percentage of time
that alpha was produced with the eyes closed and the range that BWE or photic
driving could be achieved above and below one's natural alpha (where BWE
occurs best). Toman confirmed the work of Loomis, Harvey and Hobart (1936)
which showed that people with strong alpha rhythms had a poor range of
entrainment and those with little or no alpha rhythms could be entrained to a wider
range of frequencies. Toman noted the BWE effects of the percentage of "on
time" (duty cycle) of the stimulus and its effect on the visual evoked response.
Toman also noted the importance of stimulating the eyes with a large, evenly
illuminated visual field. Lastly, he observed that the cerebral frequency of
stimulation seemed to maintain itself for a period of time following the end of
flicker stimulation and he hypothesized that this was due to the mutual interaction
of neurons. Toman also noted that stimulating in a wide, uniform visual field
produced the best photic driving. Refer to Chapter 7 - Rules of Brainwave
Entrainment for more details of Toman's work.
During the 1940's, animal BWE research was conducted by the brain researchers,
Page 6
Adrian and Bartley by implanting electrodes into the brains of animals. He
concluded that the system of neurons which generate the alpha rhythm is different
from those involved in the evoked response (BWE).
Dempsey and Morison (1942) observed the "repetitive sensory response" in
response to stimulation of the sciatic nerve (the nerve going to the legs). This
proved that tactile stimulation also produced BWE.
In 1946, Walter, Dovey and Shipton introduced the electronic stroboscope to
provide highly accurate information about the latency of the evoked response.
They also noted some perceived psychological effects. They exposed thousands of
subjects to intense flickering white light, who all reported sensations of pattern,
movement and color. The descriptions varied greatly from subject to subject. For
some, the impressions were particularly intense only at certain frequencies.
Several subjects who had full normal color vision with steady light showed "color
blind" responses (such as the red-green response seen on a color card) usually at
frequencies between five and ten Hz.
In 1959, Dr. William Kroger and Sidney Schneider reported on the unusual effects
of the rhythmic flashing of the dot on radar screens of ships and submarines. On
several occasions the radar operators readily entered into a relaxed state of mind
and others fell into deep hypnotic states while watching signals on the radar
screen. They believed that these men were being visually stimulated at a
frequency near the frequency the brain was producing. This prompted the
construction of the "Brain Wave Synchronizer" by Sidney Schneider of the
Schneider Instrument Company. Kroger stated that between 1957 and 1958, the
Synchronizer had been tested on approximately 2,500 patients and subjects, some
in groups and some individually. Of the 200 female subjects, they received
prenatal training for childbirth under hypnosis by Dr. Kroger at the Edgewater
Hospital in Chicago. Whenever the Brain Wave Synchronizer was used to induce
hypnosis during the group training program, considerable time was saved. Kroger
and Schneider's study also determined the percentage of subjects who entered a
hypnotic state based on their level of expectation and experience with hypnosis.
In 1959, John Barrow, MD, from MIT, studied the effects of random photic
stimulation on the EEG of his subjects. Barrow confirmed Bartley's earlier
observations. He hypothesized that the "after-discharge," or sustained rhythm of
the entrainment frequency is brought about by the brain's system which also
Page 7
generates the alpha rhythm and not the system responsible for the visual evoked
response.
Also in 1959, Robert Ellingson, PhD, of the Nebraska Psychiatric Institute,
examined the effects of photic stimulation on 700 babies. In his study, he placed a
strobe light ten inches from the babies' faces. He noted that premature babies had
response times (latencies) as long as 220 milliseconds (msec). Babies born at term
had latencies of about 190 msec. These fell to nearly 100 msec by 15 weeks of age
with very little change into adulthood. The amplitude of the evoked response in
the babies was best when their eyes were closed and probably sleeping.
In 1959, Chatrian and his colleagues at the Rochester State Hospital, utilized
depth-electrode recordings to observe the brain's response to clicks in either or
both ears. They observed an auditory evoked response to clicks at three hertz (Hz)
or less. At click rates of 15 Hz, they observed definite auditory driving. They also
noted a 10% decrease in response when only the opposite ear was stimulated.
There was an 85% reduction in driving in the brain on the same side as the
stimulus. This study definitely showed that most of the auditory driving was on
the opposite side of the stimulus.
In 1963, M.S. Sadove, MD, Director of Anaesthesiology at the University of
Illinois, reported that by using the Brain Wave Synchronizer, photic stimulation
put over 90% of his patients into a trance, which reduced the amount of
anaesthesia needed for surgery. Sadove believed that some day many of our drugs
may be forgotten, but that there would always be a human need for hypnosis.
In 1963, C. Lewerenz, the editor of Hypnosis Quarterly describes his experience
of a live demonstration of the Brain Wave Synchronizer by its developer, Sidney
Schneider. He describes the setting of the Brain Wave Synchronizer facing the
audience with a subject placed in front of it. Mr. Schneider conducted a six minute
induction of the subject while the synchronizer was producing photic stimulation.
At the end of his induction, the subject and four others in the first row near the
synchronizer became deeply hypnotized. Of those four, one person was considered
to be completely non-hypnotizable, but under the influence of the synchronizer, he
ended up in a deep stage-four state of hypnosis.
In 1964, Van der Tweel, a researcher at the University of Amsterdam, noted that
rapid on/off transitions in the visual stimulus produced harmonics of the
Page 8
fundamental frequency of the stimulator as could be shown in spectral analysis.
His paper demonstrated the effects of sine-wave stimulation at various depths of
modulation. He reported that, in some individuals, a modulation depth too low for
one's subjective awareness also produced a cortical evoked response. He also
verified some of Toman's work regarding the span of frequencies that could
generate photic driving.
In 1966, Bernard Margolis, DDS, published an article using the Brain Wave
Synchronizer to induce hypnosis during dental procedures. He noted several
advantages of BWE over the conventional dental practices. Most important, the
patients required less anaesthesia, had greater control of gagging, less bleeding,
and their fear and anxiety was sharply reduced during the dental procedure.
In 1972, Richard Townsend developed a laboratory device which produced sine-
wave modulation of the lamps in that the lamps were turned on and off slowly of
light instead of the instantaneous flashes of light that conventional BWE devices
were using. He presented the problems with instantaneous on/off flashing and
supported Van der Tweel's findings that sine-wave modulation of the lamps
eliminated the second harmonic of brainwave EEG activity. This may be the first
record of a BWE system using "goggles" with light bulbs in them.
Gerald Oster published an excellent article on the effects of binaural beats (BB) in
Scientific American (1973). He showed the difference between monaural beats
(MB) and binaural beats and they are perceived with respect to each other and
when mixed with other tones. He demonstrated that binaural beats produced much
smaller evoked potentials than that of monaural beats and concluded that binaural
beats have almost no BWE value but could be beneficial in diagnosing certain
neurological disorders such as Parkinson's Disease.
Also in 1973, Jo Ann Kinney and her colleagues, at the Naval Submarine
Research Laboratory in Connecticut, developed a mathematical model to
determine the visual evoked response (VER) at frequencies of 4 Hz and higher.
They concluded that the VER was the linear addition of a single VER and its tail,
based on when the next flash would occur. They demonstrated their mathematical
model with a fair degree of accuracy.
In 1975, Williams and West, at the University Hospital in Wales, Great Britain,
studied the effects of BWE on meditators and non-meditators. They noted that the
Page 9
meditators entered a BWE induced meditative state more quickly than the non-
meditators, and following BWE, were less drowsy than the non-meditators. They
hypothesized that these results may be due to the fact that alpha induction was
related to the neurological changes resulting from the attention skills learned by
the meditators.
In 1976, Takahashi and Tsukahara, at the Tohoku University School of Medicine
in Japan, published their findings on the influence of color on the photo-
convulsive response (PCR). They measured the effects of white, red, yellow, blue
and green photic-stimulation on the PCR. They noted that the color red at a
frequency of 15 Hz was most likely to cause a PCR. They also noted that a PCR
elicited by red stimulation could be inhibited by introducing low levels of blue
light at the same time.
In the 1980's, Norman Shealy and his colleagues studied the effects of 30 minute
sessions of 10 Hz photic stimulation. They measured blood levels of serotonin,
endorphin, melatonin and norepinephrine. They noted a drop in the daytime level
of melatonin and substantial increases in the levels of endorphin, serotonin and
norepinephrine. Shealy's group suggested that an increase in beta endorphins is
associated with a sense of well being and decreased pain. The increase in
norepinephrine and serotonin and the decrease in melatonin suggested an increase
in alertness. They also noted that people had better relaxation responses to AVE
than from using self hypnosis, cranio-electro stimulation or "Hemi-Sync" tapes.
During the mid 1980's, Glen Solomon, MD, used a most unusual BWE approach
for reducing tension headache using a Dzidra Glass. The Dzidra Glass is consisted
of two liquid crystals which cast shadows on the eyes momentarily blocking light
from an external light source. The maximum "flash" frequency was 3 Hz. Almost
all of the muscle tension headache subjects reported complete relief of their
symptoms. None of the sinusitis or migraine subjects reported any relief.
Although research on the subjective effects of audio stimulation had continued, it
received little attention. This was probably because the visual evoked response
could be reliably observed and recorded which was useful in providing a better
understanding of the brain. This interest may also have been a result of the
fascination with the visual hallucinations associated with BWE.
Page 10
In 1981, Arturo Manns, et. al. published a study showing the effectiveness of
"isochronic" (evenly-spaced) tones. They examined several subjects experiencing
facial pain and jaw tension (TMJ dysfunction). The subjects were given isochronic
tones for 15 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of EMG biofeedback (sounds of
muscle electrical discharge) on masseter muscle tension, then isochronic tones
combined with the biofeedback. When the subjects used isochronic tone
stimulation, they experienced deeper muscular relaxation than when they practised
relaxation with biofeedback. The simultaneous use of both biofeedback and
isochronic tones produced the deepest relaxation. There was an overall
improvement in their mandibular movements. Facial pain, insomnia and emotional
tension were reduced considerably.
During the 1980's, the flood of so many different BWE devices into the market
prompted a case study in Neurology by Ruuskanen-Uoti and Salmi. They
documented a case of a woman with no history of seizures, who experienced a
photically-induced seizure while using an "Inner Quest" brainwave synchronizer
that used red LEDs. After the seizure, the woman continued to have a normal
EEG. She experienced no unusual side effects and continued her life as usual. But
AVE devices aren't the only products causing seizures. Children playing video
games were found to be experiencing seizures, as well. A 1983 article in the
Archives of Neurology by Glista and his colleagues discussed two cases of
teenage boys developing seizures while playing video games. They both had
normal EEGs with no history of seizures or continued problems after they quit
playing video games.
In 1986, Joseph Glicksohn at the University of Tel Aviv studied the effects of
photic dribing on generating altered states of consciousness (ASC). Glicksohn
concluded that (1) if a driving response is not observed, and ASC will not be
experienced; (2) visual imagery is not necessary to produce and ASC; and (3) the
increase in alpha activity from photic driving may bring about an ASC, visual
imagery or both.
In 1988, D. Siever and Dr. N. Thomas, of the University of Alberta, published
research showing that persons with TMJ or chiropractic and muscle tension pain
would actually unconsciously increase their muscle tension when asked to relax.
This effect is known as dysponetic activity or bracing habits. When given BWE
stimulation using the DAVID 1, developed by Comptronic Devices Limited, their
muscles relaxed deeply and finger temperature increased, suggesting that subjects
Page 11
entered a meditative or alpha state. Refer to Appendix A.
In 1989, D. J. Anderson, of Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital, performed work
on the treatment of migraine headaches. All seven subjects in the experiment
experienced one or more migraine related symptoms such as: aura, photophobia or
periodic vomiting. No subject had satisfactory results using drugs. The subjects
were instructed to use BWE at the onset of a migraine. Of the 50 migraines
recorded, 49 were rated by the subjects as being helped and 36 of the 49 were
rated as being "stopped." Pre-treatment migraines lasted an average of six hours
while post-treatment migraines lasted an average of 35 minutes.
In about 1990, the psychologists, Brucato and Abascal, at Mindworks
International in Miami, conducted a study with the Metro-Dade Police department.
They noted a reduction in the heart rate, and muscle tension. On the psychometric
tests, the police showed an improvement in their coping ability and a reduction in
their overall (state) and present (trait) anxiety.
In 1992, Fred Boersma, PhD, and Constance Gagnon, at the University of Alberta,
published their study using DAVID Paradise devices to treat chronic pain
involving three back injury subjects. They measured pain, medication used,
suicide ideation, anxiety, self-esteem, hopefulness, coping ability and family
stability. The results were very encouraging. Apparently, one person was taking
up to 35 extra-strength Tylenol with codeine per day before treatment and
experiencing a subjective pain level of "7" out of "9". After one year of BWE, he
was down to two or less "Tylenol" daily and experienced a subjective pain level of
"2." Refer to Appendix B.
In 1992, Siever conducted a study to determine the effectiveness of BWE on jaw
relaxation while the jaw was opened. Siever noticed that dentists were sometimes
causing damage to patients' Temporo-Mandibular Joints (TMJ) as a result of
having the patients' jaws opened wide for extended periods of time during routine
dental treatments. This TMJ Dysfunction can cause chronic and sometimes
debilitating pain. And for many, it remains undetected and incurable. During the
study, Siever measured masseter muscle tension and found it to be high during
wide openings. When the jaw was opened wide while using a DAVID Paradise at
an alpha frequency, the muscle relaxed shortly after opening and remained relaxed
for the duration of the wide opening. This showed that BWE would reduce the risk
of developing a TMJ problem during dental procedures.
Page 12
A unique 1992 paper by Sappey-Mariner and his colleagues from the Department
of Veterans Affairs Medical Centre in California on the effects of photic
stimulation on cerebral blood flow and glucose metabolism as observed with
magnetic resonance imaging. They used two hertz photic stimulation and observed
increased cerebral blood flow. They also observed that the glucose uptake
increased much more than the oxygen consumption, suggesting selective
activation of anaerobic glycolysis (burning of glucose). They don't conclude if
anaerobic (lactate) conversation of glucose is better or worse than aerobic
conversation of glucose, only that it wasn't expected.
In 1993, Morse and Chow published the results of the effects of using a BWE
device called the Shealy "Relaxmate" during endodontic (root-canal) procedures.
Galvanic skin response, heart rate and anxiety levels were recorded during all
aspects of the root-canal. Data was collected from three groups (1) a control group
(no stimulation); (2) white light BWE only; and (3) white light BWE and music.
The study concluded that using BWE during a root-canal procedure was an
effective method of maintaining relaxation. Refer to Appendix C.
In 1993, Russell and Carter conducted a blind study on a group of learning
disabled boys between 8 and 12 years of age. The children were given 40 sessions
of AVE stimulation at 10 Hz and 18 Hz. The children showed an average IQ
increase of 8 points on the Raven IQ test. They also showed significant
improvements (<.01) in memory, reading and spelling.
In 1994, Siever conducted an informal pilot study of elementary-school-aged
children with ADD. All of the children were rated by their parents, using a
modified Conners rating scale, for changes in behavior and study habits. In all
instances, the parents reported improvments on all of the questions asked in the
study.
In 1995, Rosenfeld, Reinhart, and Srivastava at Northwestern University collected
their research on BWE using red LED photic stimulation. They stimulated in the
alpha band at 10 Hz and in the beta band at 22 Hz. They found that some persons
entrained to the stimulus and others didn't. Whether or not the participants
entrained depended on their natural baseline alpha and beta activity.
In 1995 and 1996, at the annual conferences of the Association for Applied
Page 13
Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, David Noton, PhD, presented the findings of
the pre-menstrual syndrome study of Duncan Anderson from the Postgraduate
Medical School in London. They note that PMS is a "slow brainwave" disorder
and belongs in the group of disorders including Attention Deficit Disorder,
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Minor Head Injury. "Of the seventeen women
who completed the study, 76% experienced a greater than 50% reduction in their
PMS symptoms." Noton concluded that these results reflect that BWE may be
acting mostly by increasing cerebral blood flow and not so much by simply
speeding up the brainwaves.
In 1996, Leonard, Telch and Harrington, at the University of Texas observed that
the DAVID 1 could easily and effectively generate disassociative states. The
symptoms of a disassociative disorder are generally divided into five categories:
amnesia, depersonalization, derealization, absorption, or imaginative involvement
(Carlson & Putnam, 1993). It has been suggested that one approach to treating
people with disassociative disorders would be to induce a dissociative state in a
clinical setting and teach the client to control it (Leonard et al). To determine if
disassociative states could, in fact, be induced in a laboratory and to determine
which method of disassociation induction would produce the most disassociative
symptomatology, Leonard, Telch & Harrington (1990, not published) sampled 78
college students and assigned them to one of two groups (high disassociators and
low disassociators) based on their scores on the Disassociative Experiences Scale
(Bernstein & Putnam, 1986). All of the participants were given three induction
conditions: in the first condition participants stared at a two-inch dot on the wall;
in the second condition participants received audio and visual stimulation at 12 Hz
on the DAVID 1; in the third condition participants wore the DAVID 1
equipment, but no light or sound was emitted. The dependent measure was the
Acute Disassociation Index (ADI; developed specifically for this study). The ADI
was administered immediately before and after each experimental condition.
These researchers found that it is indeed possible to induce disassociation, in a
non-clinical population, in a laboratory. They also determined that the DAVID 1
produced the most disassociative symptomatology.
In 1996, Russell reported on the effectiveness of using visual and auditory
stimulation in helphing rehabilitate a four-year postaneurysm hemiplegic.
Improvements were noted in central tone and truncal motor control and both
sensory and motor improvements in the hands and feet including fine motor
improvements for drawing and writing. In light of these improvements, Russell
Page 14
speculated that entrainment could be stimulating dendritic growth. Russell's study
supports the results we have observed in people with brain injury. This promises
to be an exciting area for AVE in the future and deserves a lot more research and
study.
In 1997, Leonard, Telch and Harrington conducted another study - this time to
observe the impact of the DAVID Paradise on anxiety produced with dissociation.
They observed that after 12 minutes of Hemistep
TM
stimulation, all 101
participants had a reduction in their dissociation anxiety sensitivity and heart rate.
Contrary to their hypothesis, they found that anxiety sensitivity proved to be a
better predictor of challenge and dissociation-induced anxiety than dissociation
sensitivity.
Also in 1997, Siever and Twittey completed a preliminary study in treating
chronic pain using the DAVID Paradise. Of the twelve participants who
completed the study, most had pain due to fibromyalgia, lupus, arthritis, TMJ
Dysfunction and/or motor vehicle accidents. After eight weeks of treatment, the
Visual Analogue Pain scale showed a reduction in pain to the p<0.005 level and
the Beck Depression Index showed improvements to the p<0.05 level. This study
shows the benefit of using BWE in the treatment of chronic pain. Refer to
Appendix D. A subsequent study is currently in process.
For 10 weeks in 1998, Michael Joyce stimulated 30 Attention Deficit Disorder and
eight reading challenged, primary school children with BWE. He used a specially
designed BWE session that stimulated a beta frequency into the left hemisphere of
the brain and stimulated 12 Hz into the right side of the brain, by using a patented
field-independent eyeset from Comptronic Devices Limited. Joyce was able to
treat 10 children at a time using a multiple stimulation system also from
Comptronic. He observed substantial improvements in attention and reaction time
and a reduction in impulsivity and variability. In the reading group he observed an
18 month improvement in instructional reading level and a 1/2 year advancement
in grade level.

MISFORTUNE ? HAVING BAD LUCK ?

2006-02-02T18:31:00.000+08:00

All things are created with wisdom and with an ulterior purpose. In consort with this ulterior purpose, there are benefits for the believers in all happenings. Because Allah is on the believers’ side and does not let them down.

Encounters in life may at first seem unfavourable for the believers. However, one should understand that even seemingly e events, for example, a plot of hatched against them by the unbelievers, will ultimately turn out well for them. Allah will sooner or later let them savour His beneficence so, believers should be completely sure that there is goodness in all.

There are many examples of this kind of situation in the Qur’an; the life of Yusuf (Joseph) is one of the most remarkable. In his childhood, Yusuf had been thrown down to the bottom of a well by his brothers. He was later rescued and then accused and imprisoned, even though he was innocent. For a person without faith, these incidents may be thought of as the greatest misfortunes. Nevertheless, Yusuf always kept in mind that these could only happen under Allah’s ection and that all would certainly turn out for the better. And this proved to be true. Allah turned the “disasters” to good account; Yusuf was released from prison and in time became one of the governors of that land.

The situation with Yunus (Jonah) was no different. He fled to a laden ship, where, to retain his place, he drew lots. When the draw proved unfavourable, he was thrown into the sea where he was swallowed by a gigantic fish. The Qur’an informs us that he was rescued and was sent to a “nation a hundred thousand men or more,” only because he had glorified Allah.

“Had he not been of them who glorify Allâh, He would have indeed remained inside its belly (the fish) till the Day of Resurrection. But We cast him forth on the naked shore while he was sick, And We caused a plant of gourd to grow over him. And We sent him to a hundred thousand (people) or even more. And they believed; so We gave them enjoyment for a while.” (Surat as-Saaffat, 37:143-148)

All these examples given in the Qur’an teach us that the events which seems to be a “misfortune” are not really so for the believer. If he puts his trust in Allah, seeks refuge in Him and asks help only from Him, then nothing will be a matter of regret for him. Allah does create certain difficulties, but they are only to put man to the test and to strengthen believers’ loyalty and faith.

The opposite holds true for the unbelievers. Nothing in this life can be good for them. Things that strike them as delightful or pleasant are indeed “misfortunes”, and these will increase their torment in the Hereafter. Anything that they achieve unjustly is entered in their record, and for this they will ultimately be responsible. On this score the Qur’an records Allah’s commandments:

“And let not those who covetously withhold of that which Allah has bestowed on them of His Bounty think that it is good for them. Nay, it will be worse for them; the things which they covetously withheld shall be tied to their necks like a collar on the Day of Resurrection. And to Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth; and Allah is Well Acquainted with all that you do.” (Surat Aal-e-Imran, 3:180)
====
Hearts Find Peace in the Remembrance of Allah
According to research by David B. Larson, of the American National Health Research Center, and his team, comparisons of devout and non-religious Americans have given very surprising results. For instance, religious people suffer 60% less heart disease than those with little or no religious belief, the suicide rate among them is 100% lower, they suffer far lower levels of high blood pressure, and this ratio is 7:1 among smokers. 1
It was reported in one study published in the International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, an important scientific source in the world of medicine, that people who describe themselves as having no religious beliefs become ill more frequently and have shorter life spans. According to the results of the research, those with no beliefs are twice as likely to suffer stomach-intestine diseases than believers, and their mortality rate from respiratory diseases is 66% times higher than that of believers.
Secular psychologists tend to refer to similar figures as “psychological effects.” This means that belief raises peoples’ spirits, and this contributes to health. This explanation may indeed be reasonable, but a more striking conclusion emerges when the subject is examined. Belief in Allah is much stronger than any other psychological influence. The wide-ranging research into the connection between religious belief and physical health carried out by Dr. Herbert Benson of the Harvard Medical Faculty has produced surprising conclusions in this area. Despite not being a believer himself, Dr. Benson has concluded that worship and belief in Allah have a more positive effect on human health than that observed in anything else. Benson states that he has concluded that no belief provides as much mental peace as belief in Allah. 2

What is the reason for this connection between belief and the human soul and body? The conclusion reached by the secular researcher Benson is, in his own words, that the human body and mind are regulated to believe in Allah. 3
This fact, which the world of medicine has slowly begun to appreciate, is a secret revealed in the Qur’an in these words: “… Only in the remembrance of Allah can the heart find peace.” (Qur’an, 13:28) The reason why those who believe in Allah, who pray to and trust in Him, are psychologically and physically healthier is that they behave in accordance with the purpose of their creation. Philosophies and systems which contradict human creation always lead to pain and unhappiness.
Modern medicine is now tending towards the realization of this truth. As Patrick Glynn put it: “[S]cientific research in psychology over the past twenty-five years has demonstrated that,… religious belief is one of the most consistent correlates of overall mental health and happiness.
===
Your Lord says, "Call on Me and I will answer you. Those who are too proud to worship Me will enter Hell abject." (Qur'an, 40:60)

According to the Qur'an, prayer, meaning "calling, giving expression, requesting, seeking help," is a person's turning sincerely to Allah, and seeking help from Him, the Almighty, the Compassionate and Merciful, in the knowledge that he is a dependent being. Illness is one of those instances when a person feels this dependence most and draws closer to Allah. Furthermore, sickness is a test, devised in His Wisdom, that takes place by His Will, and is a warning to remind people of the transience and imperfection of this life, and is also a source of recompense in the Hereafter for the patient and submissive.

Those without faith, on the other hand, imagine that the way to recovery is through doctors, medicines or the advanced technological capabilities of modern science. They never pause to think that it is Allah Who causes their physical system to function when they are in good health, or Who creates the healing medicines and doctors when they are ill. Many turn only to Allah when they arrive at the opinion that doctors and medicines are inadequate. People in such situations seek help only from Allah, realising that only He can free them from their difficulty. Allah has revealed this mindset in a verse:

When harm touches man, he calls on Us, lying on his side or sitting down or standing up. Then when We remove the harm from him he carries on as if he had never called on Us when the harm first touched him. In that way We make what they have done appear good to the profligate. (Qur'an, 10:12)
The fact is, however, that even in good health, or without tribulations or other difficulties, a person must pray and give thanks to Allah for the comforts, good health and all the other blessings He has imparted.
One very important aspect of prayer is this: In addition to praying out loud, it is also important for a person to make every effort to pray through his or her deeds. Prayer by action means doing everything possible to attain a certain wish. For example, in addition to praying, a sick person may also have to visit an expert doctor, use medicines that will be of benefit, and receive hospital treatment if necessary, or some other form of special care. Because, Allah has linked everything that happens in this world to specific causes. Everything in the world and in the universe happens in accordance with these causes. Therefore, the individual must take the requisite measures in accordance with these causes, and yet await the outcome from Allah, with humility, submission and patience, in the knowledge that it is He Who brings about their results.
The positive effect of faith and prayer on the sick and the way these accelerate treatment is a matter that has attracted the attention of and is recommended by doctors. Under the heading "God and Health: Is Religion Good Medicine? Why Science Is Starting to Believe," the 10 November, 2003, edition of the famous magazine Newsweek took the curative effect of religion as its cover story. It reported that faith in God raised people's morale and helped them recover more easily, and that science had also begun to believe that people with religious faith recover more easily and quickly. According to a Newsweek survey, 72% of Americans say they believe that praying can cure someone and that prayer facilitates recovery. Research in Great Britain and the USA has also concluded that prayer reduces patients' symptoms and accelerates the recovery process.
According to research conducted at Michigan University, depression and stress are observed to lesser extent in the devout. And, according to findings at Rush University in Chicago, the early death rate among people who worship and pray regularly is some 25% lower than in those with no religious convictions. Another study conducted on 750 people, who underwent angiocardiography, proved scientifically the "curative power of prayer." It was established that the death rate among heart patients who prayed decreased by 30% within a year after their operations.

Examples of the prayers mentioned in the Qur'an are:
And Ayyub when he called out to his Lord, "Great harm has afflicted me and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful," We responded to him and removed from him the harm which was afflicting him and restored his family to him, and the same again with them, as a mercy direct from Us and a Reminder to all worshippers. (Qur'an, 21:83)
And Dhu'n-Nun [Yunus] when he left in anger and thought We would not punish him. He called out in the pitch darkness: "There is no god but You! Glory be to You! Truly I have been one of the wrongdoers." We responded to him and rescued him from his grief. That is how We rescue the believers. (Qur'an, 21:87-88)

And Zakariyya when he called out to his Lord, "My Lord, do not leave me on my own, though You are the Best of Inheritors." We responded to him and gave him Yahya, restoring for him his wife's fertility. They outdid one another in good actions, calling out to Us in yearning and in awe, and humbling themselves to Us. (Qur'an, 21:89-90)

Nuh called out to Us and what an excellent Responder We are! (Qur'an, 37:75)

As has already been stated, prayer must not only be for alleviation of sickness, or other mundane problems. A sincere believer must always pray to Allah and accept whatever comes from Him. The fact that the benefits of prayer revealed in many verses of the Qur'an are now being recognised scientifically, once again reveals the miraculous nature of the Qur'an.

If My servants ask you about Me, I am near. I answer the call of the caller when he calls on Me. They should therefore respond to Me and believe in Me so that hopefully they will be rightly guided. (Qur'an, 2:186)

Demagogy
Ignorant people often resort to demagogy to justify themselves. This is a method by which they maintain their rights, or prestige, by using emotional, dishonest or oblique arguments rather than reason. Apart from these ploys, the way people conduct themselves is also an efficient element of demagogy. Interrupting, shouting and telling lies are well-known methods of demagogy. Disbelievers demonstrate a remarkable capacity for this 'art'. To justify their point of view or to establish superiority over others, they resort to inconceivable methods. The main purpose of all these efforts is to oppose the truth. They make all these efforts to justify themselves and thereby to find a pretext to ease their remorse.

This, however, is not a method developed by the individuals themselves. As in many other issues, Satan guides them. The statement of Satan in the following verses shows that Satan was the first demagogue in history.

(God) said: "O Iblis! What prevents you from prostrating yourself to one whom I have created with My own hands? Are you haughty? Or are you one of the high (and mighty) ones?" He replied : "I am better than him. You created me from fire, while him You created from clay." He said: "Go forth from hence, for you are outcast." (Surah Sad: 75-77)

When he was told to prostrate himself before Adam, Satan arrogantly refused, and offered wicked explanations. This was typical demagogy; his pretext for not following the command of God is stated in the following statement of Satan: "You created me from fire, while you created him from clay." However his main purpose is to revolt against God. The comparison between fire and clay is only a pretext.
The attitude of ignorant people is exactly the same. They first decide to disobey and then find excuses for their disobedience. At this point, they do what Satan did and employ the various methods of demagogy to cover their dishonesty and to comfort themselves.
Satan indoctrinates them by stealth and constantly whispers methods of demagogy to their souls. Meanwhile, the individual struggles to choose between the voice of his common sense whispering the truth and the voice of his soul, that speaks for Satan. In this way, Satan approaches man in all circumstances and tempts him.

That is why for ages people all around the world employ exactly the same tactics and methods against religion. This fact is underlined in the Qur'an:

But they say what the ancients said before them. (Surah al-Mumenoon: 81)

However, one point deserves mention here: Satan is a being completely under the control of God like all other creatures, such as the jinns, the angels and human beings. Contrary to the commonly held view, Satan is not a separate being, apart from and independent of God. He is in the service of God to test man in this world. This fact is explained in the following verse:
He said: Then you are of those reprieved till The Appointed Day. He said: My Lord! Because You have sent me astray, I shall truly make pleasant the path of error for them on the earth, and shall mislead them every one. Save such of them as are Your perfectly devoted slaves. He said: This is a right course incumbent upon Me. As for My slaves, you have no power over any of them, save such of the sinners as follow you. (Surah al-Hijr: 36-42)
====Demagogy is the set of methods used by demagogues. It is a strategy of obtaining power by appealing to the gut feelings of the public, usually by powerful use of rhetoric and propaganda.
H. L. Mencken, an American critic, defined a demagogue as
"one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots."
The word is nowadays mostly used as a political insult: political opponents are described as demagogues, but people we approve of are "men of the people," or great speechmakers.
Although, according to Mencken's definition, Demagogy involves lying, some would say it doesn't, since it doesn't use false facts directly, but rather brings the uncritical listener to draw the desired conclusion himself. Demagogy often involves logical fallacies, but has many aspects that have nothing to do with logic.
The word is derived from the Greek words demos (people) and agogos (leading).
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There is a most important truth revealed in the verse “You will not attain true goodness until you give of what you love,” (Surah Al ‘Imran, 92) One of the most basic qualities that leads people to “goodness” in the true sense is “altruism.” The word itself means the willing and immediate renunciation of things a person possesses, loves and values. It means being prepared when necessary to undergo all kinds of difficulty and trouble for the values one believes in or those whom one loves, and to do all in one’s power on their behalf with enthusiasm, determination and will. It means being able to renounce one’s own interests when faced with a choice between them and the values one upholds and the people one loves and to make all kinds of material and other sacrifices for their sake.

However, human passions have been created with a predisposition towards poor moral values such as selfishness and egotism. Unless properly trained, these selfish emotions come to completely dominate a person’s moral framework. Such a person thinks mainly of himself rather than of anyone else. He always wants the best, the most attractive, the most perfect of everything for himself. Yet he also expects everyone else to demonstrate understanding and self-sacrifice. Whenever he encounters any difficulty he expects those around him to undergo risks and inconvenience for him, and to support him even to the extent of foregoing their own interests. He desires to protect his own wishes and interests and to ensure his own ease and comfort. In an adverse situation a person may be able to renounce many things he values – in the name of protecting his or her interests and preventing any harm from coming to him. Allah has revealed this excessive selfishness in the human spirit in the Qur’an:

Truly man was created headstrong – desperate when bad things happen, begrudging when good things come. (Surat al-Ma‘arij, 19-21)

It is possible to free one’s spirit from this weakness by understanding faith and living by the moral values of the Qur’an. Someone who understands the truths revealed in the Qur’an and the moral conception commanded by Allah will achieve a state of morality capable of exhibiting altruism at any moment of his life. That is because in the verse “It is the people who are safe-guarded from the avarice of their own selves who are successful” (Surat at-Taghabun, 64), Allah has revealed that it is safeguarding their desires from this vice that will lead people to salvation in this world and the next.

Allah has created the human conscience in order for people to protect their passions from evil and to attain the kind of moral values beloved of Him. The voice of that conscience shows people the way to avoid all forms of wickedness and to attain what is good. The deep love and powerful fear of Allah in the heart of a true believer prevents him from being vanquished by the wickedness of his desires. Knowing that the true purpose behind his existence in the life of this world is to attain Allah’s approval, such a person seeks to spend every moment of his life behaving in such a way that will be pleasing to Allah. He knows that the life of this world is but short, and that a person must strive for the eternal life of the Hereafter. He never forgets that all the interests he obtains here are transitory, after which he will have to render account to Allah. He knows that those who seek to ensure their own desires and interests in the life of this world, instead of seeking Allah’s approval, mercy and Paradise, may be rewarded with eternal suffering in the Hereafter. On the other hand, Allah will recompense altruistic moral values with goodness and beauty in this world and by eternal, incomparable blessings in the next. In the Qur’an, Allah imparts these glad tidings to people who behave morally,

Those who do good will have the best and more! Neither dust nor debasement will darken their faces. They are the Companions of the Garden, remaining in it timelessly, for ever. (Surah Yunus, 26)

So Allah gave them the reward of the world and the best reward of the Hereafter. Allah loves good-doers. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 148)

... If anyone desires the reward of the world, We will give him some of it. If anyone desires the reward of the Hereafter, We will give him some of it. We will recompense the thankful. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 145)

When one thinks of self-sacrifice, however, what comes to mind should not be solely giving away part of one’s material possessions, that part which represents more than one actually needs for oneself. Self-sacrifice is a way of life that stems from strength of faith and dominates a believer’s entire life. This spirit of altruism needs to be present within a sensitivity of conscience to everything going on around a person. Altrusim means a person seeking to feel himself responsible on every matter, from social problems to the oppressed, persecuted, starving and needy people all over the world, and striving to find a solution to them. It is the employment of one’s reason and conscience at the highest possible level, without ever saying, “There are plenty of people with the means and resources to resolve all these issues, so let them do it.” It means those with a “vestige of good,” as revealed in the verse: “Would that there had been more people with a vestige of good among the generations of those who came before you, who forbade corruption in the Earth, other than the few among them whom We saved. Those who did wrong gladly pursued the life of luxury that they were given and were evildoers” (Surah Hud, 116), Muslims who believe, who listen to the voice of their consciences and fear Allah, acting in the knowledge of their responsibilities.
The superior moral values and generosity of the Prophet (saas) are revealed thus in the hadiths:
* The Prophet (saas) was the most generous of people in auspicious deeds. The Prophet (saas) was more generous even than the wind blowing from the direction of good.
* He never said “I do not possess such” when asked for something and never begrudged anything asked of him.
* Abu Zerr told me the following: “Son of my brother! I went to the Prophet’s (saas) side. Taking my hand, he said, ‘Abu Zerr! Even if I had as much gold and silver as Mount Uhud I would wish to spend it in the way of Allah, leaving not a farthing behind’.”
The Prophet (saas), the finest role model for Muslims with his superior moral values, encouraged the faithful to be generous in these words during a sermon:
* In one of his sermons, after giving thanks to Allah he [The Prophet Muhammad (saas)] said: “O People! Know that Allah has chosen Islam for you as your religion. Adorn your Islam with generosity and pleasing moral values. I wish you to know that generosity is a heavenly tree, with its roots in Paradise and its branches in this world. Those of you who have generosity will adhere to one of those branches, and that branch will carry him to Paradise. As for parsimoniousness, that is a tree with its roots in Hell and its branches in this world. Whoever clings to one of those branches by being parsimonious, it will carry him to Hell.” Later the Prophet (saas) again said, “Be generous in the way of Allah.”

The companions of the Prophet (saas) who were ready to unquestioningly give up their goods and lives in order to gain the approval of Allah exhibited great examples of self-sacrifice throughout their lives. Since they possessed a sure and certain belief in Allah and the Hereafter they never regarded giving in the way of Allah (infaq) as representing any kind of loss; on the contrary, they saw it as an important opportunity to gain the love of and closeness to Allah. As revealed by Allah in the verse: “And how is it with you that you do not give in the way of Allah,when the inheritance of the heavens and the Earth belongs to Allah? Those of you who gave and fought before the Victory are not the same as those who gave and fought afterwards. They are higher in rank. But to each of them Allah has promised the Best. Allah is aware of what you do.” (Surat al-Hadid, 10), those who sacrificed their property in times of difficulty acted in the knowledge of the value of that action in the sight of Allah.

Look at the eyes ...

2006-02-02T04:10:00.000+08:00

To explore the relationship between eye movements and thinking for yourself, find a partner, ask the following questions, and observe his or her eye movements. For each question keep track of your partner's eye movements in one of the boxes (following the questions below) by using marks, lines or numbers that represent the sequence of positions you observe.
Visual Remembered: Think of the color of your car. What kind of pattern is on your bedspread? Think of the last time you saw someone running. Who were the first five people you saw this morning?
Visual Construction: Imagine an outline of yourself as you might look from six feet above us and see it turning into a city skyline. Can you imagine the top half of a toy dog on the bottom half of a green hippopotamus?
Auditory Remembered: Can you think of one of your favorite songs? Think of the sound of clapping. How does your car's engine sound?
Auditory Constructed: Imagine the sound of a train's whistle changing into the sound of pages turning. Can you hear the sound of a saxophone and the sound of your mother's voice at the same time?
Auditory Digital (Internal Self Talk): Take a moment and listen to the sound of your own inner voice. How do you know it is your voice? In what types of situations do you talk to yourself the most? Think of the kinds of things that you say to yourself most often.
Kinesthetic Remembered: (Tactile) When was the last time you felt really wet? Imagine the feelings of snow in your hands. What does a pine cone feel like? When was the last time you touched a hot cooking utensil? (Visceral/Emotional) Can you think of a time you felt satisfied about something you completed? Think of what it feels like to be exhausted. When was the last time you felt impatient?
Kinesthetic Construction: (Tactile) Imagine the feelings of stickiness turning into the feelings of sand shifting between your fingers. Imagine the feelings of dog's fur turning into the feelings of soft butter. (Visceral/Emotional) Imagine the feelings of frustration turning into the feeling of being really motivated to do something. Imagine the feeling of being bored turning into feeling silly about feeling bored.Read more....

Dizziness Explained

2006-02-02T00:05:00.000+08:00

Dizziness is not different from any other problem. It can be solved by a systematic approach. I will analyze the problem and tell you what can be done. Hopefully, you will find your particular situation described in these pages.