Doorknob - New Advances in Keyless Technology

The days of the conventional doorknob may be numbered. Make way for the digital fingerprint version of this device. It's science fiction come true. Now available to the general public, it makes for a quick and easy upgrade to your current mechanical door knob. The principle is simple as well. You imprint your fingerprint into the associated memory of the fingerprint knob. Because your fingerprint is unique to you and to no one else, you alone have the possibility to operate the fingerprint door knob.

This capability is important in more ways than one. Because a fingerprint doorknob no longer has a keyhole or similar accessible entrances, it becomes impossible for anyone to pick the lock to gain access to what is behind the door. There's no chance either of someone guessing or eavesdropping on your secret code, which puts the fingerprint knob one step ahead of most credit and debit cards in the world today.

With new digital technology comes a range of additional functionality. Built in to the micro-processor and memory of the doorknob are functions to allow you keep the door locked permanently during your absence or to allow it to be open during particular times of the day. This functionality also works to allow you to set the door to lock automatically within a short period of you closing it. In this way you no longer have to torture yourself with the question "did I lock the door", because you know that this was automatically the case.

Installation is typically simple, given a screwdriver. Fingerprint door knobs work with a spring latch mechanism similar to the one that you probably have now. They also typically have the spring-loaded automatic locking feature, where when you pull the door shut, it automatically locks. In past times, this could be very frustrating if you left your keys on the inside. However, with a fingerprint lock, your key is always literally in the end of your finger.

But what if all this sounds a little too technical? Don't worry; you'll still be able to buy the good old conventional door knob for quite a while. You may need to spend some time repairing them from time to time, as wear and tear on the door knob and the associated central spindle sometimes causes the doorknob to lose its grip and weakens its effect while turning the spindle. This is often repaired by tightening or replacing the screws that fasten the door knob onto the spindle.

Whether fingerprint or classical, a doorknob is that also an easy way for germs to spread. With anyone and everyone touching the door knob, the risk is understandable. For fingerprint door knobs, there is no real solution as the surface that is sensitive to your fingerprint also harbors germs. However, for the classical doorknobs made of brass or copper, these materials have the interesting property of killing germs and are literally able to disinfect themselves within eight hours. So maybe there's still a future for the classical doorknob after all.

Author Jennifer Akre is an owner of a wide variety of online specialty shops like http://www.shopdoorknobs.com that offer both items and information on how you can easily furnish and decorate your space. Whether it's your living, bedroom, or even your deck or patio, there are many tips you can use to make those spots both functional and beautiful. Today, she offers advice on how to create a fabulous living area by using sparkling glass door knobs for a Victorian vibe.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama has selected Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine as the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee, two Democrats said Sunday.

XBOX 360 vs. PS3: an in Depth Look

All gamers are awaiting the release of the Xbox 360 and the PS3. This article takes an in depth look at how the two systems compare.

Graphics:

Everyone has seen an Xbox and a PS2 in action and we are all waiting to see which of the two next generation consoles for the two systems will have the edge when it comes to graphics. We have all seen the screenshots of the games on the two systems but what about actual gameplay graphics. Despite the hot debate, when you look at the numbers the two systems use a different but equally effective method of delivering graphics processing power. The XBOX uses a custom ATI processor with 48 graphics pipelines and the PS2 has a custom NVIDA graphics processor with an estimated 24 pipelines. The numbers are misleading because the PS2 piplines are more powerful than the XBOX pipelines. In the end the two different graphics processors will deliver about the same amount of power, we can expect to see impressive results from both sides.

Games:

Both systems have several franchise titles such as Halo2 for the XBOX and Gran Tourismo for the PS2 that you will see in the next generation systems, but what other games can you expect to see. If you are a fan of genres such as role playing that are dominated by Japanese and other foreign developers such as Square, you should look forward to the PS3. There is no indication that the XBOX 360 is going to gain much more support from foreign developers and buyers than the original XBOX. An article on GameSpot.com reports that only two percent of Japanese gamers are interested in buying an XBOX 360, with sixty percent looking forward to the PS3 and eight percent to the Nintendo Revolution. Overall you can expect to see more games on the PS3 than the XBOX 360, reflecting the selection for the current generation systems. Only time will which console will have the quality of games which all of us are been expecting

Media Type:

Will the media storage type be a factor in the quality of the games? Since PS3 is owned by Sony and BLUray is Sonys next high definition storage medium, the PS3 games will be stored on the BLUray discs which hold approximately 54 gigs. The Xbox 360 games will be stored on Double Layer DVDs which store 9 gigs. Obviously the BLUray discs can store a lot more data, but at the current stage of game development, any game developed will fit just as well on the 9 gig DVDs, so this is not a major factor but one that may come into play later on.

Processing Power:

How do the two systems compare when looking at brute processing power? The PS3 uses a Cell processor with a PowerPC-based core with seven synergistic processing units while the Xbox comes with a Custom IBM PowerPC CPU with three dual-threaded cores that can handle six total threads at a time. An important comparison to look at is the number of dot product calculations per second the systems can perform. The reason this number is important is because it is used extensively during gameplay in 3d math to calculate various things such as vector lengths, projections, transformations, and more. Both systems are clocked at 3.2 Ghz. The PS3 can handle 51-billion dot product operations per second and the Xbox can handle 33.6. There is a debate over which system has more brute processing power and these numbers can be confusing to the average person, but overall it seems that the PS3 has an edge over the Xbox when it comes to overall processing power.

Media Type:

Since PS3 is owned by Sony and BLUray is Sonys next high definition storage medium, the PS3 games will be stored on the BLUray discs which hold approximately 54 gigs. The Xbox 360 games will be stored on Double Layer DVDs which store 9 gigs. Obviously the BLUray discs can store a lot more data, but at the current stage of game development, any game developed will fit just as well on the 9 gig DVDs, so this is not a major factor but one that may come into play later on.

Games:

When considering games, you have to look at the XBOX and the PS2. The XBOX is very popular in the US and has a few great franchise games such as Halo, but the PS2 has an international reach and several popular game franchises such as Gran Tourismo that the XBOX has yet to beat. The XBOX 360 will need to appeal to foreign game developers and consumers to compete with the PS3. Only time will which console will have the quality of games which all of us are been expecting

Controllers:

The controllers on the two systems retain the basic shape from the original systems with some modifications. The PS3 controller has the most dramatic change; it has a streamline shape that looks more like a stealth airplane than a game controller. The XBOX controller is basically the same shape as the previous system with a different color scheme. From the pictures released, it seems the XBOX controller will be more comfortable and natural to use. The PS3 controller looks like it would just slip out of your hand but we will not know how the controllers feel during actual gameplay until we get our hands on them.

Tony James is an author and webmaster. He currently runs the website Freeware Games.net

Reuters - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Sunday that "legal authority" exists under the Constitution to bar embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's pick to fill President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, but added there is also room to negotiate.

Download PSP Games

The PSP has been out for a few years now and anyone with a PSP will tell you that buying all the the PSP games, music and movies can get quite expensive. There are ways to save money though...

To save money you could download PSP games from the Internet. There are several websites out there that will let you download PSP games for free however most of these sites are usually just designed to infect your computer with spyware.

These freebie sites usually have very slow download speeds and can be very unreliable. If you are looking to download PSP games safely then there are sites out there that can be trusted.

There are plenty of websites that actually manage their databases of free PSP game downloads and they keep out all of the trouble makers.

These PSP game download sites usually charge a small fee but if you can find the right site the fee is very minimal. For under $50 you should be able to find a website that will let you download PSP games at very fast speeds.

These PSP game download sites will also give you access to millions of different PSP files including PSP games, movies, wallpapers, themes and much much more.

Most of these PSP game download sites will allow you to download unlimited PSP games once you have paid for your membership so you won't have to pay high per download fees.

The best PSP game download site I've found actually includes the software that you need to transfer the PSP files to your handheld device making it one neat little package.

There is no doubt about it that PSP's are completely blowing up right now and finding a good website so you can download PSP games can prove to be a good move that will save you lots of cash.

If you are interested in downloading PSP games but aren't sure which PSP download sites are the real-deal and which are just outright scams then visit Ryan Edward's website and read his shocking review of 43 differnet PSP download sites http://www.ryanstips.com/psp Discover the best PSP game download sites on the Internet.

AP - A key congressman says the "apparently widespread use" of steroids in pro wrestling is sending a bad message to youngsters, and he wants the government to do something about it.

PSP Themes - Have You Got Your New PSP Theme Yet?

I love my PSP, I love playing the latest games, downloading music, watching movies. But I'm fed up with all PSP's looking the same. That was until I came across PSP Themes. WOW these are so cool.

Basically a PSP theme is a background picture and all the icons that control the home page so to speak. Who wants to be stuck with the boring standard theme when you can have a pimped up customized PSP Theme. Be the envy of your friends

So where do you get these PSP themes from? Well For some reason most people only venture as far as Sony's own Playstation website to find a theme. Now there is nothing wrong with this but how can you hope to have a unique PSP if everyone downloads there Theme from the same place. OK they do have a lot of choice, but obviously thousands of users will also be looking at them. I would avoid the main site.

The next way to find a PSP Theme is to use good old Google, millions of people use Google everyday to all sorts of things. If you search smart not only will you find a decent PSP theme but also a good guide on how to install it, should you have any problems. Instead of searching for PSP themes directly from Google, you could try and search PSP communities on the web? If you search for forums and newsgroups, you will almost always find some great resources and info, either by other forum members or from forum threads. This is a great way to find custom-made PSP Themes.

If your really clever you could design your own PSP Theme, now this isn't easy but you will be rewarded with a totally unique PSP Theme. Any art program on your computer can create a custom Theme You can create a wallpaper with practically any art program, and as long as you save it as a JPEG file it should be compatible. If you don't feel up to designing or making your own, why not ask someone to make a custom theme for you.

I love my PSP and the great thing is I get all my games without paying for them. if you love your PSP head on over to Monster-PSP.com For all the latest news on your PSP.

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AP - A rocket exploded a few hundred yards from Mateb Abu Nasr's house, driving home the message that tens of thousands of Israeli Arabs living within range of militant attacks from Gaza are just as vulnerable as their Jewish neighbors.