Transcript:TWIS.org Feb 09, 2010

Kirsten: This show is brought to you by listeners like you and your contributions. We couldn’t do it without you. Thanks.

Justin: Disclaimer! Disclaimer! Disclaimer!

The future is not difficult to see. Unlike the past, events of the future have yet to commit themselves to exacting detail. Yet in the mystery of an unfolding world, there is much that can be foreseen. The little things we expect from the future often come true with incredible reliability, like when the rent is due or whether or not it’s going to rain.

The more often our future unfolds as we have expected, the more comfortable we are in commanding the course that it will take and that we get to go where we want to.

And though, comfortable foreseeing of the otherwise unforeseeable – much like the following hour of programming does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University of California at Davis, KDVS or its sponsors – through science, the past is always becoming clear.

We can see how one event lends itself to another. Through science, we can understand so well the workings of the world that the future cannot only be predicted, it can be manufactured to our liking, making the only time that is not as well known to us as the past and future is the one we are currently in – the moment of now.

And since this is the only moment in which we can do, we will now do what the past predicted and what was expected in the future by bringing you another episode of This Week in Science, coming up next.
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Transcript: TWIS.ORG Feb 16, 2010

Justin: This show is brought to you by listeners like you and the contributions that people like you are giving. People who aren’t you, who are actually giving. We couldn’t do it without them. So please, be one of them or unless that’s one of you in which, thank you.

Kirsten: Disclaimer! Disclaimer! Disclaimer!

As we passed from one holiday to the next, Valentine’s Day to President’s Day, the reasons for celebration change. We celebrate love and we celebrate those who work to make our nation great. Yet the underlying reason for celebration does not change.

We are humans who struggle through life who need a psychological break from the monotony of our existence. Celebrations remind us that we are alive and share this world with so many others who, like us, need to be reminded that each day is an amazing achievement.

And while the following hour of programming does not represent the views of KDVS, KDVS’ sponsors or the University of California, you are not alone in your love of science. And others are here to celebrate the wonders of science with you. Take the next hour as your holiday in the name of science and be reminded just how cool life really is on This Week in Science, coming up next.

Good morning, everyone. I’m Kiki, Kirsten Sanford. And I’m sitting here with Ali. We’re going to have a great show of science. Good morning, Ali.
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Document Management Solution for SMEs

Document management solutions ranges from simple software installed on your PC all the way to Enterprise grade content management system. Most systems involve the following process:

1. Digitize (Scan) the documents.
2. Store the image on a server
3. Provide meta data to index the documents
4. Provide an indexing engine to classify the digitized records.
5. Allow users to retrieve the document based on search key
6. Show and allow print out of the searched document

Companies invest in document management system hoping to benefit from:

1. Having digital copies for backup purposes
2. Ability to quickly retrieve any digitized copy on demand without need for manual intervention.
3. Ability to share the digitize documents between co workers or even among branches worldwide without the need to courier documents.

Typical solutions provided by other vendors involves costly proprietary systems that tied down companies to their solutions. However, higher end solutions are not cost effective for SMEs. Morever, companies needed to train and hire extra staff to manage the system. The document management solution we provide is all inclusive of:
1. The software application,
2. The web based server,
3. The manapower needed to maintain the accuracy of the records.

Our solution boast of tried and tested workflow that not only ensures completeness but also accuracy of your digitized records:
1. You have the choice of either scanning the documents yourselves or sending your documents to us for scanning in our high speed scanners.
2. The digitized documents are stored and indexed on our servers.
3. Our team of highly skilled data analyst enter the metadata for you by tagging in identifying fields like customer name, NRIC, Invoice number etc.
4. Then our editors review all the entered data for accuracy. This second pass ensures accuracy of above 98.5%
5. Once the process is complete, any document that is tagged in this manner will be available for retrieval from any web browser connected to the internet.

Upon request, we can provide tiered security such that certain groups of access can only see contents in selected folders, and denied access for other folders in the system. For more info, kindly email marketing[at]futuregen.sg

Monitoring Service Expanded to cover Video

Since our team is monitoring networks on a 24×7 basis we decided to extend the service to cover also the video monitoring. A lot of video cameras are now hooked up to DVRs with internet capabilities. It would be simple for us to login and monitor the DVR from our NOC. By providing the service, our team can help owners and managers save time and manage the video review process.

The Video Monitoring service is envisioned to provide peace of mind to property and business owners with 24×7 staff keeping tabs on the remote video feed from newer generation Digital Video Recorders that have internet capabilities. Our team can also help plan the optimal location and aim of the various types of dome cameras for maximum coverage. Instant alerts are provided for every notable ‘incident’. This service can be rendered worldwide.

Our original network monitoring service covers network equipment and servers.

How to record Minutes of Meetings

The accuracy of audio transcripts depend in large part on the quality of the audio recordings. Some common challenges we see with digital recordings when you are recording meetings are as follows:

1. Noisy environments with background sounds.
Of course, the obvious solution is to move the meeting elsewhere. A very public and loud place isn’t the ideal location for meetings anyway. However, if that is not an option, then consider reducing the background noise with the use of high quality microphones like Behringer C1-U. Other option is to digitally enhance the recording by use of computer software to minimize the noise and amplify weak audio levels

2. Several people speaking at the same time.
Consider switching from using a single digital recorders to one that is computer based. This allows you to setup multiple microphones. When placed strategically, it can save the conversation from different channels (mics) into separate audio files.

3. Never Use Voice Activate mode.
To conserve recording capacity, most audio recorders have a “record when voice is present” (voice activated mode). While this does produce recordings that contain less dead air, it also has the unfortunate side effect of having ‘missing’ words.

4. Billingual Speakers
Be conscious of bilingual speakers that drift from English to another language. Chairpersons would be wise to restate the speakers’ non english comments into english and confirm its correctness.

5. Some unusual sources of noise include shuffling papers, coffee cups, dinner plates and cellphones.
Eliminate or minimize the impact of these source by banning them altogether, or if this is not an option, placing the microphones away from such sources.

Check out related topic on how to create minutes of meeting.

We provide audio recording facilities for conferences and meetings using our multi-channel digital system. Email marketing[at]futuregen.sg for details.

Cloud Computing and Virtualization Conference

APACTechForum is organizing the Conference on Cloud Computing and Virtualisation on Nov 25 and 26th at the Suntec Convention Center in Singapore.

Key speakers include Mr Stefan Groschupf, founder of Katta, the open source Lucene index project, Mr Manish Pratap, HP, Mr Omar Asad, CTO, Riverbed Technologies, Mr Satish Murthy, NetAPP, Mr David Loke, ReadySpace and a host of other key speakers.

Interested parties can visit the cloud computing conference site.

Punctuation Rules for Comma Use

Rule 1. To avoid confusion, use commas to separate words and word groups with a series of three or more.
Example: My $10 million estate is to be split among my husband, daughter, son, and nephew. Omitting the comma after son would indicate that the son and nephew would have to split one-third of the estate.
Rule 2. Use a comma to separate two adjectives when the word and can be inserted between them.
Examples: He is a strong, healthy man.
We stayed at an expensive summer resort. You would not say expensive and summer resort, so no comma.
Rule 3. Use a comma when an -ly adjective is used with other adjectives.
NOTE: To test whether an -ly word is an adjective, see if it can be used alone with the noun. If it can, use the comma.
Examples: Felix was a lonely, young boy.
I get headaches in brightly lit rooms. Brightly is not an adjective because it cannot be used alone with rooms; therefore, no comma is used between brightly and lit.
Rule 4. Use commas before or surrounding the name or title of a person directly addressed.
Examples: Will you, Aisha, do that assignment for me?
Yes, Doctor, I will.
NOTE: Capitalize a title when directly addressing someone.

Source: http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp

English Possessive Determiners

From: McGraw Hill’s 2010 GRE :
English possessive determiners (my, our, your, his/her/its, their – sometimes called possessive adjectives) must match the person and number of the possessor and not the noun phrase to which they are linked.

Richard likes his hot dogs with lots of relish. The word his is third person singular to match with Richard, NOT third person their to match with hotdogs.