Why commercial fleets should install dash cameras

Road accidents are an unfortunate feature of modern travel, and with professional drivers covering higher mileages in a wide variety of conditions they are more at risk than private motorists. And for fleets, having a vehicle off the road due to an accident means losing money. Add in the rise of the cash for crash scam aimed at defrauding insurance companies, and the more you can do to protect your drivers the better.

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Accident data

One of the key reasons for fitting a dashcam is to provide clear evidence in the event of an accident. This can thwart cash for crash scams, but it can also provide clear evidence of blame in other accidents. It provides the insurance company with clear evidence rather than having to rely on perhaps vague and unreliable witness reports. Having the information provided by a dashcam can speed up insurance claims too as it means there’s less room for disputes about what has happened. Ultimately, as cameras become more common, it should lead to lower premiums for everyone too.

Accident prevention

One of the most common causes of accidents is bad driving. Although a camera can’t stop that directly, it can help identify dangerous behaviour by other road users. Police in Wales are now allowing members of the public to submit their dashcam footage http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-40998946 in a bid to identify dangerous drivers and other forces in the UK are likely to follow suit. Camera recordings can help identify serious offences like overtaking on the inside, handheld mobile phone usage and more besides.

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Driver safety

Another good reason for fitting truck camera systems like those from http://www.backwatch.co.uk/products/category/cameras/ is to protect your drivers. This works in a number of ways. It promotes safer driving – if people know their journey is being recorded they will make more of an effort to drive in a safe and courteous way. This will ultimately reduce the risks of having an accident in the first place.

Cameras are also a useful training aid. Inexperienced drivers can learn a lot from reviewing footage of their driving and analysing how they handled various situations. Watching footage of more experienced drivers in action can help too.

Dash cameras are becoming more and more common and may soon be the norm in many vehicles, fitting one now can get you ahead of the game.

10 easy SEO tips for small businesses

You don’t need to spend a fortune to improve your website’s rankings. Just follow our 10 handy tips.

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1 Make your site mobile friendly

Content management systems, such as WordPress, allow you to configure your site to display accurately on mobile devices. You can also use plugins to increase your site’s load times, keeping search engines and visitors alike happy.

2 Open a Google My Business account

Completely free to use, this service ensures your business will be seen by local searchers.

3 Use the Google Search Console

Another free tool, this allows you to view valuable information about your website’s performance, and indicates areas where you need to implement improvements.

4 Research your keywords

Use the Keyword Planner tool from Google to identify appropriate keywords that your competitors have missed, and watch your profits increase.

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5 Choose your experts with care

Most agencies will make outlandish claims about their services, but take these with a pinch of salt. Quick fixes will never guarantee you top listings in search engine results, so look for agencies with a credible history in professional SEO services, and preferably with Google Certified Partner status, such as http://www.elevateuk.com/seo-services/.

6 Register your address with Google Maps

Every business which relies on local custom needs to claim their physical address and register it with Google Maps. This simple tip can increase your visibility dramatically, promoting your business to anyone looking for products or services in your local area.

7 Study search engine results relating to your industry

You need to understand your competitors and how they promote themselves in order to compete with them successfully. Do they tend to use videos? Could you benefit from altering your keywords?

8 Understand what your customers want

Research your customer base to ensure that your site and search terms are relevant to them and their needs. According to an article by eConsultancy, social media is a good starting point, as people are keen to report on their online experiences, both good and bad.

9 Use ScreamingFrog and Sucuri

These handy tools allow you to identify issues with your website, including security problems, which need fixing.

10 Trust your own judgement

Don’t cut corners, but if you can’t afford to pay for help, spend time researching the topic of SEO, and take small steps.

How to Clean Windows Registry Safely

Many users when they want to clean their PC listen to talk or seek about cleaning the Windows registry,  although few of them know what it is and why it is so useful to clean it to speed Windows. 

What is the Windows registry?

The registry of Microsoft Windows is the database used by the operating system to record and query information about the programs that are installed on it, in order to then perform actions from the applications as the user needs.

For almost anything you are going to do you will need to interact with the Windows registry, such as running an application, uninstalling a program, connecting to the Internet, printing a sheet, etc.

As we see is a critical component of the Windows operating system, however, when the registry is too full of information, it usually slows down the router, making it slower and slower as time goes by.

It is here that when cleaning the Windows registry becomes so necessary, you will be able to have useless information erased in a few seconds, and each program will find the information it needs faster. So you can improve the performance of Windows substantially.

How to clean Windows registry 10, 8 and 7?

The most recommended way to clean the Windows registry 10, 8 and 7 is by using an application that specializes in it. But why an app if I have a friend who cleans it manually? Because your friend knows what he does, and you do not.

Cleaning the Windows registry is a very delicate task since if you do not know what you are playing you can leave some parts of your operating system unusable.

That is why the best recommendation is to use a program specialized in cleaning the registry of Windows, he will know what to clean and what not, based on several parameters of the programs that you have recently installed and uninstalled.

Registry Clenaer not only allows you to clean your Windows registry, but also frequently incorporates other utilities to improve system performance and clean your PC such as free disk space, program uninstaller, or an optimizer of RAM and CPU usage, among others.

Another function that have the so-called registry cleaners is to de-segregate the Windows registry, that is, re-order the database so that when you request a data it returns it in the most efficient and fast way.

CCleaner: the best way to clean the Windows registry

There are many programs to clean registry such as: Wise Registry Cleaner, PC Mechanic, JetClean, Registry Repair, etc., however, none is as effective, fast and secure as CCleaner .

I started to use CCleaner more than 15 years ago, and apparently this program is like good wines, over time they become better. It remains the number 1 leader in terms of tools to clean the Windows registry and thus speed up Windows permanently.

Best of all is that CCleaner not only clean the registry of Windows 10, but also serves to clean registry of Windows 8 and 7 as well as XP, that is, there is a ccleaner for each version of Windows that you have installed .

Download CCleaner and start cleaning the registry, it takes 1 minute to install it and then its friendly interface will guide you step by step to clean the registry automatically with a couple of clicks.

Clean the Windows Registry manually

If you are one of those rather stubborn users who do not listen to our recommendations that you use a program like ccleaner, or an alternative to CCleaner , then you can try to clean the Windows registry manually

How to clean windows registry without programs?

While many registry cleaners are based on predefined rules to clean everything overall, if you are a Windows user with advanced skills you can perform a manual cleaning even deeper, editing and deleting registry entries and values for you same.

Cleans the registry manually step by step

  1. Click Start.
  2. Search for “Search” or “Run”
  3. Enter “regedit” and press enter.
  4. Executes the Window Registry Editor.

Before cleaning the registry manually we recommend to make a backup just in case, you can back up the registry from the option “Export” in Regedit, so if you make a mistake you can easily recover everything.

The Windows Registry Editor is a new world if you have never used it before, in it you will see the screen divided into two parts, the left with the whole record, and the right where you can see the values of each one.

You can click on the different registers and delete the lists of all the applications that you no longer use, something very useful is to navigate the key called HKEY_CURRENT_USER that looks just like a directory, then you can also click on the Software + and there you will see names of applications registers or the company that developed such software.

Delete records manually

Once you have located the records to delete by pressing the Del or Del key you can delete them permanently.

Search application logs

If you can not find a record of a particular application you can search for records by pressing CTRL + F.

conclusion

Editing the Windows registry manually takes a lot of unnecessary risks, and it takes a lot of time to scan, instead, using specialized programs to clean the registry is as simple and fast for 99% of users, based on our experience, one of the best ways to clean your Windows registry is to use ccleaner or similar applications

 

Horses of Myth and Legend

Horses have been part of our society and culture since the dawn of man. Their beauty, grace and strength inspires us and has assisted us in transportation, battle and farming for many thousands of years. Here we look at some horses of myth and legend and the stories attached to these mystical beasts:

  1. Four Horses of the Apocalypse

Part of Christian religious belief, each horse represents something different. War, Conquest, Death and Famine are mentioned in the Book of Revelation as bringing the last judgement upon us during the end of days. The horses are coloured yellow, red, white and black and some say they represented events that occurred early on in Christian history but are more recognised as being prophetic of the dangers of nature.

  1. Pegasus

Probably one of the most famous mythological horses, Pegasus comes from Ancient Greek mythology. The white winged horse was sired by Poseidon and helped to defeat the Chimera alongside the hero Bellerophon. As a reward, Zeus immortalised the horse by transforming him into a constellation of stars in the sky. Pegasus is easily recognised and has appeared throughout history in poems, songs, paintings and books.

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  1. Sleipnir

The King of the Norse Gods needed a very fine steed indeed and this came in the form of Sleipnir. This was a unique eight-legged horse of such awesome power that nothing on earth could slow him down. The greatest of all horses, he could even travel to hell to help Hermod rescue his brother according to Norse mythology. He was considered to be the most magnificent of all horses and fit for a special king.

  1. Uchchaihahravas

Whilst unpronounceable, this unique animal had no less than seven heads. A pure white steed who had the job of serving the Hindu god-king of heaven or Indra. Other myths also tell of him serving the king of demons too, Bali. This seven-headed horse was born alongside the elixir of life and the goddess of fortune out of an ocean of milk, according to ancient Hindu texts.

  1. Mares of Diomedes

These horses of Ancient Greek were said to be terrifying, man-eating beasts owned by Diomedes. Their names were Xanthos, Podagros, Lampon and Deimos. Diomedes was a giant who wanted the crazy horses as they were partly insane but ruthless in war. Legend tells of Hercules receiving twelve labours, one of which was catching and taming the horses. He could only succeed by feeding the giant himself to the mares. It has also been said that the noble steed of Alexander the Great was a descendant of these wild horses. For a timeless tribute to the beauty of the horse, think about Bronze Wildlife Sculpture. For more information, visit http://www.gillparker.com/

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  1. Unicorn

Little girls all over the world still wish that these were real. Unicorns are beautiful, graceful and have a single horn on the front of their head. Whilst no one colour is specified, they are mostly depicted as pure white with their mane, blood or horns viewed as having magical properties. Unicorns are said to have healing powers and often appear on Medieval heraldic symbols. Throughout history, people have been convinced of their existence and they are mentioned in ancient texts, including the Bible.

An Introduction to Vacuum Conveying Systems

Vacuum conveying is simple in principle: material is sucked through a conveying tube by vacuum pumps located upstream of the delivery point. It can provide either steady or batched delivery of materials between production stages and flexible routing through industrial plants, protecting the material en route.

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The advantage of vacuum driven systems is that the pressure prevents leakage, maintaining a safe environment and minimising wastage. Although vacuum conveying tends to restrict your choice of delivery points (it must be near the compressor), it can readily pick up from a variety of different locations, such as a succession of delivery vehicles or hoppers dispensing different ingredients. A simple animation of a vacuum conveyor can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZBC6viI-Fw.

Vacuum conveyors readily handle granules from ½ micron in size up to 50 mm, moving as much as 10 tons per hour. Runs of 150m or more are possible but tend to become prohibitively expensive compared to positive pressure conveying.

Dilute or Dense Conveying

Vacuum conveyors can be operated with either a “dilute” or “dense” proportion of air to transported material. Dilute phase conveyors use a relatively high amount of air to transport the material, so keeping it almost perpetually airborne, whereas a dense phase system tumbles it through more gently. The latter are more restricted in scale but required by some materials.

Design of vacuum conveyors requires a specialist company such as http://www.aptech.uk.com/pneumatic-conveying/vacuum-conveying/. The required rates and pressures for the given material must be calculated carefully and components matched to maintain steady uninterrupted flow through the system.

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Components in a Vacuum Conveyor

A vacuum pump is located near the delivery point, so a certain amount of headroom is required to accommodate it (although work-arounds are often possible).

Airlocks need to be located at the discharge of a vacuum system. This is usually a rotary valve, but butterfly valves, flapper valves, slide gates, knife gates and other devices are also common.

The material-to-air ratio must be metered and regulated. Devices used for this can be as simple as a material feeder like a rotary valve or screw, but in some cases complex air inlet management systems are installed.

The material and air must be separated again, so devices used to do this include things like cyclones or pulse-jet fabric bag houses of felt or spun bound polyester.

2017’s best smart home devices

It has never been easier to automate household tasks with just a simple voice command. Thanks to the incredible success of the Amazon Echo and smart thermostats you can control with your phone, controlling a range of appliances around the house is easy and convenient.

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If you’re interested in exploring home automation, here is a look at 2017’s best smart home devices.

Home hubs

Whether you opt for the Alexa-powered Echo or attach the smaller Dot to your own favourite speaker, you’ll be one of the 8 million consumers who use these voice-powered hubs to control household appliances and more.

The Wink Hub 2 is more reliable and widely supported and will grow with your smart home. You could also opt for a fully integrated system provided by a company like http://digitalinteriors.co.uk/project/home-automation-systems/.

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Home security

The use of smart surveillance cameras was in the news recently when one family captured a burglar on their CCTV app. The Netgear Arlo Pro is weatherproof, completely wireless, has two-way audio with voice-triggered recording, a piercing alarm and USB connectivity for storing video. This easy-to-install camera can go just about anywhere.

For an easy-to-install DIY home security solution, the Abode Home Security Starter Kit supports Alexa voice commands and covers locks, lights and smart switches in addition to Nest devices.

Smart thermostats

Nest’s learning thermostat allows you to monitor the temperature in your home from your phone, tablet and PC, while the Ecobee3 Smart Wi-Fi Thermostat uses multiple sensors in several rooms for greater accuracy.

Lighting

The Philips Hue lighting ecosystem has been around for a while, and it integrates perfectly with IFTTT systems like Alexa and Siri to create the ideal ambient lighting scheme with exceptional granular control.

Cooking

If you want to bring home automation to the kitchen, start with the Anova Culinary Precision Cooker. This uses Wi-Fi and an app to give you absolute control over sous vide cookery. If you love BBQ, the Char-Broil Digital Electric Smoker with SmartChef Technology can be controlled from your phone and will tell you when your ribs are cooked to perfection.

Cleaning

For most people, the Roomba is synonymous with automated cleaning, and the pick of the bunch is the iRobot Roomba 690 with its own app and Alexa and Google Assistant voice control for fuss-free cleaning.

Is Renting Right For You?

Which is better owning or renting? The answer to that question depends greatly on your lifestyle, budget, occupation and age. Many people will argue that the dream is to buy and own your own property but this comes with its own risks and might not be the right choice for everybody. Here we’ll compare the pros and cons of owning and renting.

The Pros of Renting

  • Even though you’ll need a deposit, normally for security and 1 month rent in advance, there is less financial commitment in the long-term.
  • Much greater flexibility and if you need to relocate for any reason, you only need to give 1-month notice in most cases.
  • There are no maintenance issues and costs with a rental property. It is the responsibility of the landlord to the property is fit for purpose although check your agreement as you are usually expected to keep certain things in good order. As long as you leave it in the condition you found it, you should receive your deposit back and move on. For Gloucester Estate Agents, visit tg residential.

The Cons of Renting

  • Despite paying monthly rent, there is no investment and no equity as the property does not belong to you.
  • A certain amount of uncertainty comes with renting as you can never know when the landlord might give you notice.
  • Your rent can increase.
  • You cannot change the property in anyway or make any alterations which can be frustrating if you have desires for decorating.

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The Pros of Owning

  • Making mortgage payments leads to you owning equity which can be used in the future for buying a new home or taking out a loan.
  • As long as you keep up the payments, your home is secure and you don’t have to worry about needing to move on.
  • No landlord to answer to.
  • Make any alterations or renovations you want and even rent out the property for additional income if you can.

The Cons of Owning

  • Huge initial investment which relies on good credit scores, regular income and savings.
  • The process of buying a home is not easy or straightforward and involves banks, solicitors, estate agents and dealing with sellers.
  • Less flexibility when it comes to a need for relocation.
  • All maintenance problems are your responsibility.

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For many people, the commitment of home ownership is too much of a financial or emotional burden. If you might want to move cities to broaden your career options or want the freedom to decide to go travelling then renting could be the solution. This is becoming increasingly popular with modern professionals or those with a more carefree approach who don’t know what might happen in the next decade and so don’t want to sign their lives away.

Another advantage of renting is that it could allow you to live in an area that you would otherwise not be able to afford if you were buying. It gives you the opportunity to move to a luxury new build every few years if you so desired. Either way, you need to think about your lifestyle and your hopes for the future to determine whether or not renting or buying is right for you.

 

Amazon, ready to fund Essential Phones by Andy Rubin

Amazon is a company that is always innovating, either with its own developments or investing in large projects. And they have a lot of money, Jeff Bezos recently became the richest man in the world, so money does not lack to boost projects and dreams of many entrepreneurs.

Such is the case of Andy Rubin, the original creator and founder of the Android operating system. Rubin left Google a long time ago and is working on his next project: Essential Phone, which now seems to have Amazon’s support in the level of money destined to his investment.

Mobile Essential Phone Andy Rubin seems to be very serious because to have approval from Amazon will surely have very innovative things compared to today ‘s mobile.

It is speculated that the new mobile will have these specifications Processor: Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, storage of 128GB, double rear camera 13Mp, front of 8Mp and run Android operating system

In its first round of financing, Rubin has gotten $ 300 million from both Amazon and other major companies like Foxxconn and other technology giants.

Essential Phone aims to be a serious competitor of high-end phones like Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy, so its price will be around no less than $ 700 dollars.

According to the Business Insider review, what has aroused the great interest of Amazon has been that it will have perfect integration with Alexa, the intelligent speaker of Amazon.

Adidas robot produces 800,000 shirts a day

The era in which the Robots will take the jobs of the people has arrived a long time ago. Just as the industrial revolution marked the first step of the great emptiness of employees, now came the second stage: the robots.

The automation of tasks performed by humans is reaching increasingly alarming levels, each week a new robot is launched that does new things to replace arms legs, intelligence or human strength.

The reason is very simple: reduce costs in the production of tasks, increase productivity, save money and generate more net profits for business owners and companies.

The robots already automate tasks at home in cleaning, also in supermarkets, coffee shops, restaurants and in many other places. Today the place has come to the sportswear industry.

Adidas will begin working with a robot that has been created by SoftWear Automation, a company that in partnership with DARPA of the United States has managed to develop robotic technology for $ 1.25 million dollars.

This robot “Sewbot” will allow Adidas to sew and cut the fabric in a perfect way, thus achieving a job that would seem handmade and made by the retail hands of a human.

Throughout the process, from starting to create the sports shirt, until it ends, it will take about 5 minutes maximum to the robot to finish its creation. Adidas will install 21 of these production lines at its new plant in Little Rock, Arkansas.

In the following video we can see it in action helping to create a pair of jeans:

With these new robotic production lines, Adidas will be able to manufacture 800,000 sports shirts per day, increasing production by 300% and with a very important reduction of its expenditure.

What has not yet been said is how many jobs will be completed after this new way of producing the T-shirts.

What is known is that with this new machine, making each T-shirt will cost a total of $ 0.5 cents, almost 6 times cheaper than today’s cheapest manufacturing price, which is around $ 0.33 Dollars per shirt.

Wolfenstein – First Person Shooter Birth

Back in 1992 video games were generally 2D. Some games had made use of pseudo-3D style graphics, but only in very limited ways. Hence, when Wolfenstein 3D came out, it was unlike anything anyone had seen before. Minds were blown, and gamers got their first look at a first person shooter game.

Of course, Wolfenstein 3D was not truly a 3D game. The 3D aspect was nothing but an illusion, but the effect was still completely convincing to gamers of the time. Wolfenstein was, simply, the experience of seeing through the eyes of a soldier. A gun appeared at the bottom of the screen, as if the soldier were holding it. And enemies approach as if attacking the character the player was essentially possessing.

In hindsight the game is exceptionally crude. But one can never forget that Wolfenstein was a technological masterpiece of 1992, much like online pokies are the masterpiece of today.

Wolfenstein Evolution

The original Wolfenstein had a sequel called the Spear of Destiny, which was much the same as the original, but with various added assets. It would not be until 2001 that a true follow up was created, titled Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Now using full 3D graphics, and a much more detailed and impressive setting, the game was another Wolfenstein success. Of course, by that time many other first person shooter game existed, and competition was stiff. Still, the game managed to stand out from the competition and wow gamers.

Another sequel came in 2009, titled simply Wolfenstein. This iteration of the game, however, was not what could be considered a great achievement. Painfully similar to many other first person shooters of the time, the game did little to stand apart, and ultimately received a lukewarm reception from critics and gamers alike. It seemed that Wolfenstein had finally reached the end of it’s road.

The New Order

Against all expectations, however, another Wolfenstein released in 2014, titled The New Order. The game bravely went against the trends of first person shooters at the time, abandoning all senses of realism in order to offer a shooter experience closer to those from decades prior. Combined with a strong focus on story, the game was another runaway Wolfenstein success. Heaped with praise and selling millions of copies, the game showed that old franchises are never truly dead.

Following up The New Order was The New Colossus, the most recent of the Wolfenstein franchise. The game, although not seeing the success of the previous, was mostly well received, paving the way for even more Wolfenstein games. It can only be imagined that there will be many more Wolfenstein games in the coming years.

Where the franchise goes from here can only be imagined. But, when comparing the first Wolfenstein game to the most recent, one can’t help but marvel at the evolution. The first involved no more than a soldier fighting Nazis, with the most recent envisioning a strange alternate reality, where bizarre retro technology leaps elevated the Nazis to new levels.