220V to 110V - Converter or Transformer?

http://www.laptoptravel.com/Article.aspx?ID=339

(see also: 110V vs. 220V Appliances)

Converters and transformers are electric conversion products that enable safe operation of electric devices in foreign countries. Electric devices that are designed for use with 110V systems require foreign 220V current to be "stepped-down." Devices that are designed for use with 220V systems require foreign 110V current to be "stepped-up."

The choice between a converter or a transformer depends on several things.

First, is your device an electric appliance with a high power heating element or mechanical motor such as a hair dryer or iron? If you are using an electric appliance, you need a converter. Or is your device electronic, using electronic chips or circuits, such as a computer, printer or VCR? If you are using an electronic device, you need a transformer. When in doubt about the type of device, use a transformer. Both electric appliances and electronic devices work with a transformer, but only electric appliances work with a converter.

Second, is your use continuous and long-term or is it sporadic and short term? Transformers are designed for long term, continuous use. Converters are designed to operate for only an hour or two at a time.

What's the difference between a converter and a transformer? It lies in how the device converts voltage current. AC power is supplied in alternating bursts that are in a shape called a "sine wave." To reduce 220V to 110V, for example, a converter chops off the sine waves in half whereas a transformer alters the length of the sine waves. This is a critical difference because electronic devices require a full sine wave for operation thus can operate only with a transformer. Electric appliances function with either a full or a half sine wave so can be operated with either a converter or a transformer.

The converter's short-term use and "chopping" off of sine waves are relatively simple and compact functions. The transformer's continuous use and alteration of sine waves are relatively sophisticated functions and require more space. As a result, transformers are generally larger, heavier and much more expensive than converters. Thus if you are going to travel with an electronic device you should purchase one that is dual voltage if it is available.

Most converters and transformers that are available to the consumer do not alter or convert the "cycles," shown as "Hz" on most devices. Although cycle differences may not cause a problem with many devices, they do with some. See our Cycles / Hz Tech Note for further explanation.

Rainmeter is a fully customizable resource monitor for Windows

http://rainmeter.net/RainCMS/?q=Rainmeter101

Rainmeter is a fully customizable resource monitor that allows you to monitor vital system information including memory usage, disk usage and utilization, network traffic, uptime and many other details. You can also choose to monitor weather conditions, RSS feeds, Twitter activity, Gmail and various other online resources. Rainmeter is highly customizable and can be configured to display as much or as little information as you want, however it requires you to tinker with .ini files and tons of individual settings, so it may not be for everyone.

What is Rainmeter?

Rainmeter is an application which will allow you to place what are called "Skins" on your desktop. These skins can measure and display a wide variety of information. Some examples of things you can display are:

• System Information - CPU, RAM, Network, Drive Space, you name it...
• Launchers and Docks - Be creative and create your own RocketDock or launcher
• Music and more - Interfaces for WinAmp, iTunes, and more
• Web-based content - Weather, GMail inbox, RSS feeds. Just about anything you can parse from the web

Skins are fully customizable by you. They are primarily just .ini text files with simple commands that say "Measure this, and display it here looking like this". We will get into customizing skins more later, but you can use all your creativity and very simple Rainmeter statements to really make your desktop your own!

What isn't Rainmeter?

• Rainmeter is not WindowBlinds(tm). It does not have any ability to change in any way your Start Menu, Taskbar, Notification Area (artist formerly known as System Tray) or any other Windows elements.
• Rainmeter does not manage your Desktop Background (Wallpaper). All those cool skins you see on DeviantArt or Customize.org may or may not come with the displayed wallpaper in the download, but in any case it is up to you to load them with the normal Windows routines. Rainmeter is not Display Fusion.

Installing

Download the latest release or beta version from Rainmeter.net. You may download and run the installer (.exe) version or manually install with the "portable" (.zip) version.

Rainmeter is fully Windows Vista / Windows 7 compatible. The file which Rainmeter uses to keep track of the skins you have loaded and how they are configured (Rainmeter.ini) is now in your "Application Data" folder, and all Rainmeter "skins" are stored in your "My Documents" folder. This means that you do not have to run Rainmeter as an "Administrator" or worry about conflicts with UAC (User Account Control).

Rainmeter automatically installs the suite of skins "Enigma" by Kaelri as well as the "RainBrowser" skin manager and "RainThemes" themes manager by JSMorley.

Default file locations:

The Program:
Windows XP: C:\Program Files\Rainmeter
Windows Vista & Win7: C:\Program Files\Rainmeter

Your "Skin" files
Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\YourName\My Documents\Rainmeter\Skins
Windows Vista & Win7: C:\Users\YourName\My Documents\Rainmeter\Skins

Rainmeter.ini and your "Themes"
Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\YourName\Application Data\Rainmeter
Windows Vista & Win7: C:\Users\YourName\Appdata\Roaming\Rainmeter

More information on installing Rainmeter is available in the Rainmeter Manual at Rainmeter Installation

Rainmeter Terminology - An Overview

Let's talk a bit about how the terminology for the various components of Rainmeter should be referred to. Truth be known, there is no one perfect way, as different folks using Rainmeter for any length of time have evolved their own ways of referring to things, and there is no "set in concrete glossary" for Rainmeter. However it does help, especially when asking for help on the forums, to have a common understanding of what things mean.

The organization is defined by these somewhat hierarchical terms:

->Suite
-->Config
--->Skin
---->Variant

Suite
A set of configs, normally in a single folder and many subfolders under \Skins, which have a single author and a common theme or style.

Config
A folder, which may or may not have subfolders, under \Skins which contains one or more skins.

The only real difference between a "suite" and a "config" is that normally a suite is by one author, has a common style, and may include shared variables or even a tool to help user set attributes common to all the skins in the suite. A config is a folder of skins. It's how Rainmeter organizes things on the context menu.

Skin
The contents of a single folder, which has one or more .ini "skin" files. For all practical purposes, when you say "skin" you generally mean "a .ini file".

Variant
As only one .ini file per folder can be loaded by Rainmeter at a time, a folder containing two or more .ini files is considered one "skin", with some number of "variants". An example is a clock config folder with "Clock12Hr.ini" and "Clock24hr.ini" where loading one unloads the other automatically.

What about Themes?
"Themes" are not a part of the Rainmeter application proper, but are a term used by the addon application RainThemes, which is installed as a part of the Rainmeter installation. What RainThemes does is allow you to save your current Rainmeter setup; the skins, their locations and settings, and even your current wallpaper, in a text file (really just a copy of Rainmeter.ini) which can be loaded if you want to get back to a particular setup on your system. A "Theme" does not actually contain the skins or in fact any files at all, it is just a way to tell your copy of Rainmeter to put things back to a saved state.

The Top 10 Free Zen Cart Modules

http://www.numinix.com/blog/2010/10/23/the-top-10-free-zen-cart-modules/

Oct 23,2010
BY NUMINIX » click here for full post

If you are new to the world of Zen Cart or just looking for ways to improve your website as cheaply as possible, there are a number of free modules that will greatly improve performance, conversions, and customer satisfaction from the default Zen Cart platform.

This top 10 list is in no way an exhaustive list and is based solely on my experience as a web developer of Zen Cart websites and modules.  It should be noted that every Zen Cart store is different and therefore has different needs.  Therefore, this list is focusing on general modules that most stores will find useful.

And so the list begins:

1. Google Base Feeder

Author: Numinix
Download: http://www.numinix.com/zen-cart-modules/marketing/google-base-feeder
What does this module do?
It automatically creates a feed of all of your products and submits them to Google Product Search where customers can find the products and go to your website to complete the purchase.
Why is this one of the best mods?
FREE HIGHLY RELEVANT TRAFFIC!  This is the next best thing to regular organic traffic as it sends potential customers directly from Google search results to the product they are looking to buy.  Best of all, once you set up the module and configure a cron job to automatically create the feed, you can set Google to automatically crawl the feed on a set interval.  In other words, once you set this up, it just keeps on generating free relevant traffic day after day.  Every store should be using this module from day one of launching their store.

2. Recover Cart Sales

Author: Various
Download: http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=product_contrib_info&products_id=100
What does this module do?
It creates an admin page where you can see all of the customer accounts that have items in their cart but have not yet completed a purchase. The admin can then select each of the customer's and send them a follow up email to find out why the customer did not complete the purchase and possibly complete the sale.  It includes a nice little report so that you can review all of the abandoned shopping carts that were successfully recovered.
Why is this one of the best mods?
This module plays a number of very vital roles.  Firstly, it let's you know how many customers are completing the registration process but not completing the checkout.  A high number of abandoned carts relative to your websites traffic could point to another problem than just a customer changing their mind.  Which brings us to the second reason this module is so vital, it allows you to gain valuable feedback from customers who didn't complete their order.  If they respond to the recover cart email they may provide valuable information for fixing problems on your website or improving the customer experience on your website.  And of course, the most obvious advantage of this module is that it can help you retain sales that you normally would have lost.  I recommend including a coupon code with the email as it will increase the likelihood that the customer will return or respond with feedback.

3. Mailbeez Aftersale Email Module

Author: MailBeez
Download: http://www.mailbeez.com/
What does this module do?
It creates a framework that executes a daily cron job to send out emails automatically to customers who have previously completed a purchase.  It supports many sub-modules including the Winback Customer Reactivation module that automatically sends an email to customers after X number of days since their last purchase.
Why is this one of the best mods?
It allows you to stay in constant contact with your customers.  Every customer who orders will be sent an email after a pre-defined time has passed since their order.  For example, you could set the module to send the customer a come back offer and with a coupon code 60 days after their last purchase.  I've seen this email marketing system on major ecommerce websites and it is very effective.

4. Sitemaps XML

Author: Andrew Berezin
Download: http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=product_contrib_info&products_id=544
What does this module do?
It creates an XML sitemap for easy indexing by search engines and automatically pings the major search engines (Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Live, and Ask) to let them know an updated version of the sitemap is ready for download.  The module runs on a daily cron job so that you never have to worry about it once you set it up.  The sitemap includes products, categories, EZ pages, reviews, and testimonials.
Why is this one of the best mods?
This is really a no brainer.  Anything that helps search engines better index your website is a good thing.  The fact this module runs on its own makes it even better.  Make sure to add sitemapindex.xml to your robots.txt file so that all of the other search engines will easily find the site maps when they are crawling your website.

5. Simple Google Analytics

Author: Econcepts
Download: http://www.zencartoptimization.com/downloads/
What does this module do?
It adds the Google Analytics tracking code quickly and easily to your Zen Cart store so that data can be collected and reviewed in Google Analytics.  If you don't know what Google Analytics is, you have been missing out on one of the most important tools in web development.  Learn more about Google Analytics from Google.
Why is this one of the best mods?
Knowing how your Zen Cart store is performing page by page, customer to customer, day to day, month to month, ok you get the point.  This module connects you to Google Analytics where you can analyze all of the important data you need to make important business and marketing decisions.  Are you spending too much on a banner advertisement compared to the sales generated?  What is your top performing landing page?  Are people having problems on a certain page in your checkout process?  What is your conversion rate?  These are the simple questions that Google Analytics can answer quickly and accurately.

6. Fast and Easy Checkout

Author: Numinix
Download: http://www.numinix.com/zen-cart-modules/checkout/fast-and-easy-checkout-for-zen-cart
What does this module do?
Our most popular contribution to Zen Cart revamps the simple checkout system built into Zen Cart by combining multiple pages into a single checkout page.  This mod uses JavaScript to reload the page when the customer makes selections to shipping, uses a coupon code, etc. and displays the updated order total on the refreshed screen.  It also has a one page checkout feature where the confirmation screen is skipped and the payment is processed.
Why is this one of the best mods?
Simplifying the checkout for the customer by reducing the number of clicks and pages increases the likelihood that the customer will complete their purchase.  This module comes with many other features like changing/adding an address from right within the checkout, a checkout without account option, and the ability to accept an alternate shipping address during the registration process.  All of these features were created with the goal of increasing conversion rates, and that's exactly what this module achieves.

7. CSS JS Loader

Author: Rubik Integration
Download: http://blog.rubikintegration.com/2009/08/08/zencart-css-javascript-loader-released/
What does this module do?
This module adds the ability to load stylesheets and JavaScript files based on rules, in a defined order, and on specific pages without having to copy the file into each individual Zen Cart page folder.   The mod also includes a minify option for compressing scripts and stylesheets.
Why is this one of the best mods?
Zen Cart mods that use this system for loading files benefit from better control and less duplicate loading of files. Combine this with the minify option and you will drastically decrease the number of objects that are downloaded on each page of the store. This means that pages load faster for the customer and there is less load on the server to serve multiple CSS and JavaScript files as it serves these files in a single "minified" file.  This is a great optimization tool that every website should be using.

8. Simple SEO URLs

Author: Rubik Integration
Download: http://simple-seo-url.com/
What does this module do?
This is a search engine friendly URL rewriter.  It takes the default PHP URLs and rewrites them using product, category, and page names.
Why is this one of the best mods?
Rewriting URLs using words instead of parameters and numbers increases keyword density for search engines, thus the reason they are called SEO URLs, and also makes URLs easier to read and remember by non-robot visitors like you and me.  The great thing about this module compared to other options is that this module is free and open source.  You can drop this mod into your website at any time and not worry about losing backlinks to your website because all of the PHP URLs will automatically forward to the new SEF URLs.

9. Image Handler 2

Author: Various
Download: http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=product_contrib_info&products_id=117
What does this module do?
It resizes and compresses images on the fly and then caches the created images for quick retrieval.
Why is this one of the best mods?
This mod will not only drastically decrease the load on your server for serving images, it will also take away the tedious work of creating each size image and optimizing the image quality.  Adding additional images to your products is also easy through the admin interface.  Configure the module to use Image Magick for the best quality and compression.

10. Store Credit and Reward Points

Author: Numinix and Rubik Integration
Download: http://www.numinix.com/zen-cart-modules/taxes-order-totals/store-credit-and-rewards-points
What does this module do?
This module is a rewrite of the original Store Credit module with an optional reward points feature.  Store owners can give customers store credit to be used during the checkout against purchases just like cash.  Reward points can be awarded on eligible purchases and credited to the customer's store credit account.  Store owners can set different ratios for rewards based on category and even restrict rewards from being used or collected in specific categories.  For an order to be eligible for reward points, the store owner can set rules such as a specific order status that must be met (i.e. Delivered) and a timeframe that must pass before the order is eligible (i.e. 30 days or your return policy).  Orders that are cancelled or removed are automatically removed from the pending rewards or debited from the customer's store credit account.  This module works best on ZC 1.3.9 where bugs to the PayPal payment modules have been corrected.
Why is this one of the best mods?
Not only does this module offer store owners an alternative refund method, it also gives customers incentives for continuing to shop in your store and collect reward points.  Best of all, once you setup the reward points system and set it on a cron job for awarding the store credit, the module will run automatically in the background of your website!

And those are our top ten picks for free modules for Zen Cart that any store type can use. If you'd like to add to this list, please comment below and I will even consider extending the list to the top 20 Zen Cart modules.  Be sure to include how you use the module and your reasoning for why all stores should be using it.  Thanks for reading.

魅族M9手机发布传闻

http://www.williamlong.info/blog/archives/607.html

-月光微博客

　　今日有报道称"魅族M9确认在12月25日之间上市 售价2499元"，该报道称这是"内部人士人士"的消息。然而之后有2有报道称魅族官方辟谣：并没有明确表示12月25日M9正式上市，三里屯首发的事情，也是不实之说。据估计这可能是部分商家的炒作行为。

　　魅族M9的参数是：支持WCDMA制式，搭载Android2.2系统，支持多点触控，内置1GHz三星处理器，500万像素摄像头，支持高清视频播放，蓝牙、GPS导航、 HDMI接口、Micro-SDHC存储卡、WiFi等功能。

　　从这部手机的硬件参数看，还算是不错，不过这种又是发布又是辟谣的炒作实在是无聊，我估计是官方先放一个消息，然后又出来否认，这真是一种非常低级的营销手段。

IE’s Disappearing, Reappearing, Broken Borders

http://hi.baidu.com/yaoyingying/blog/item/5d8b33c770345fd5d1006033.html

_蒹葭人生_百度空间

(I just added a style to the allborder div:

style="height:100%;" , HL 20101117)

What do you do when an element's border is broken in Internet Explorer? Where half of it is there, but half of it is not; where refreshing the page might clear it up, but might not; where highlighting text inside the element might also clear it up, but then again, might not…

There's a documented bug in IE 6 called the peakaboo bug – read about that here – but I've experienced this problem in IE 7 as well.

The Problem

What I've experienced is that IE will render a page (that appeared beautifully in Mozilla browsers) with some element's border broken. IE would display only parts of the border, a little here and a little there. And if I highlighted text within that content block, it would join up all of the broken border lines so that the entire border was displayed. The image to the left highlights the right-side border of the element block; that border shouldn't be patchy.

The blurred text is part of a site map – a horizontal rule marks the sections and the entire content area has a light gray border. As you can see, the broken borders in IE only appear in positions vertically even with the content of each section of the site map. Each of those sections is a group of left-floated <ul> elements – it's a big site map!

So I suspected the problem occurred somewhere in those floats, but didn't know why.

The Solution

The root of the problem is whether or not an element "has layout." Now, "layout" is a completely made-up, IE-specific attribute not attended to in any manner by the other browsers. It's bunk. But it provides the solution to the broken borders issue. (You can read more on hasLayout here if you'd like.)

To enforce proper border behavior in IE, the floated elements need to "have layout." If validation doesn't matter, the quickest solution may be to add "zoom:1″ to the element. If validation does matter, you can give an element layout by setting "position:absolute" or assigning the "height" or "width" attributes something other than auto.

What's worked for me? Find the element that is actually causing the rendering problem by experimenting with adding a "zoom:1″ style to different elements – start with the element with the broken border, sure, but if that doesn't work try assigning "zoom:1″ to some of its child elements or neighboring elements. Once you've located the element that needs layout, you can replace "zoom:1″ with a specific height or width value – then the problem is solved and your CSS validates.

Holiday shoppers spending more online than in-store

http://www.bizreport.com/2010/11/holiday-shoppers-spending-more-online-than-in-store.html#

- Ecommerce - BizReport

The latest Compete Holiday Insights survey shows that in recent weeks more money was spent online by holiday shoppers than in-store.

by Helen Leggatt

As of Sunday, November 7, almost two-thirds (61%) of respondents to Compete's survey had begun their holiday shopping and 14% had made more than half of their intended purchases.

Many are going online to do their holiday shopping and, for thefirst time since the beginning of October, more money was spent on holiday items online than in-store.

On average, in the week to November 7, consumers spent $185 online, up 30% from 2 weeks prior, whereas offline spend averaged $175, down 32% from 2 weeks prior.

While increased shopping across all product categories was apparent, the largest increases were in clothing and shoes, toys and games, and movies and video Games.

Other recent data from Compete shows holiday shoppers are turning to the Internet for upcoming Black Friday deals. While traffic to Black Friday websites has already exceeded 2008 levels, there is some way to go before it tips those of 2009.

Tags: e-commerce, holiday shoppers, online shopping

Google Product Search Boosts Local Shopping Vs. Amazon

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Search-Engines/Google-Product-Search-Boosts-Local-Shopping-Vs-Amazon-722366/

By: Clint Boulton
2010-11-15

Google Nov. 15 refreshed its Google Product Search service, Google Shopper App, and added popular products and aisle tabs in time for Black Friday.

Google Nov. 15 unveiled an improved Google Product Search service, partnering with retail giants such as Best Buy and Williams-Sonoma to surface goods for online shoppers who are nearby.

The search engine partnered with more than 70 retailers and software makers such as Oracle, JDA and Epicor to index inventory of local Best Buys and other outlets. The software makers provide special adapters to funnel retailers' inventory data to Google Product Search.

For example, consumers searching Google Product Search for products can click the "nearby stores" link to see where it's in stock at participating stores near their location. Then they can purchase it online, or drive to that store to size up the product to better decide if they want to buy it.

The idea is to save shoppers time from calling or driving to stores to check product availability, a boon as the holiday season prepares for the Black Friday shopping dirge Nov. 26.

While searchers can't buy the goods from Google.com they way they can go to Amazon.com and buy products directly from that e-commerce Website, they can get a better handle on what local shops have in store. Amazon.com doesn't help with the local shopping experience in this manner.

Google offers an example of a Canon camera in this blog post here, while Search Engine Land features a detailed run-through here.

Google also extended this product search capability to the mobile phone with Google Shopper, which helps shoppers driving around comparison-shop for merchandise with their Android phones and find the best place to buy them online or in a store nearby.

People use Shopper by calling up the app on their Android phone and pointing their phone's camera at books, CDs, DVDs, and video games, along with most barcodes to get search results about those items on Google.

The new Google Shopper 1.3 app employs new search filters such as "price" and "brand" to help users refine their search, accompanying the existing local availability, voice search and barcode scanning capabilities to get product info online.

Finally, Google said it aped brick and mortar stores with two new features called "popular products" and "aisles" to help people discover new products and get details about them.

A user searching for "camera lenses," on Google Product Search will surface the lenses other people are finding online. "Aisles" helps users check out products by organizing results into sub-categories others have found helpful.

"For example, if you're looking for a new TV, you can choose between display types like LCD and plasma. If you're interested in camera lenses for that brand new SLR, you can shop by the aperture of the lens," said Sameer Samat, director of product management for Google Product Search.

Google's Product Search upgrades come nearly three months after the search engine purchased visual search engine Like.com, which helps people match clothes and other apparel online and purchase them from retailers.