Casio Signature XJ-M255

The Casio Signature XJ-M255 sports the company's unique hybrid LED/laser technology, plus a good range of connectivity choices including Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and the ability to run presentations straight from USB thumb drives. It has solid data image quality, and video quality suitable for basic business and classroom presentations.

The XJ-M255's light source is rated at 3,000 lumens, and the projector has WXGA (1,280 by 800) native resolution. Instead of producing red, green, and blue using a standard lamp and a color wheel, it produces red with LEDs, blue with lasers, and green by shining blue laser light on a phosphor. Its optical system directs the red, green, and blue light to the DLP chip, and out the front lens. We've seen a couple of generations of Casio projectors with this promising technology.

A big advantage of the hybrid light source is its whopping 20,000-hour expected lifetime?long enough to run the projector 8 hours a day every business day for 10 years. The lifetime of standard lamps typically ranges from 2,000 to 5,000 hours, and bulbs can cost several hundred dollars to replace.

Size and Connectivity
The XJ-M255 measures 3.3 by 12.2 by 9.6 inches (HWD) and weighs 8.6 pounds. It comes with a soft carrying case, complete with a pocket for cables, for storage or in case you need to take it with you, though it's heavy enough that you won't want to travel frequently with it.

This projector has a solid set of ports, including a VGA-in port to connect with a computer; HDMI; S-Video, composite video; audio in, audio out, serial, Ethernet; and a USB type A port, which fits a USB thumb drive. The XJ-M255 can read JPG and AVI files from a USB memory key, to support computer-free presentations. Plug in a USB key, and the projector will automatically switch to it as the current source, and then give you a menu of options to find the files on the key and show them. (Casio includes a Casio-specific version of ArcSoft MediaConverter to move most common formats to JPG or AVI.)

The projector includes a wireless LAN adapter. It can connect wirelessly with WiFi-enabled Android, iOS, and Windows Mobile smartphones and computers running MobiShow software, so you can run a presentation from any of these devices.

The XJ-M255 includes auto brightness adjustment, that uses built-in light sensors to automatically adjust the brightness level of the projection to suit the lighting conditions in the surrounding environment, which can save energy and make for a more comfortable viewing experience as well.

Data Image Quality
I did our still and video image testing under theater-dark conditions, projecting an approximately 60-inch diagonal image on our test screen with the projector placed about eight feet away. The projector is bright enough that adding a fair amount of ambient light didn't notably hurt image quality.

Data image quality, as tested using the DisplayMate suite of projector tests, was suitable for typical business and classroom presentations. In graphics color mode, the colors were somewhat muted, with dull reds and somewhat mustardy yellows. I saw some mild green tinting I some gray areas, and mild yellow fringing around the edges of bright areas. White-on-black type was blurred at the smallest size and fuzzy at the second smallest. Pixel jitter was visible in a few images when I tested over a VGA connection; when I switched to HDMI the jitter disappeared, though image quality was otherwise largely the same. Switching to standard color mode made the colors brighter, though it also increased the tinting.

I noticed the rainbow effect in some data images: The tendency for little red-green-blue rainbow-like flashes to appear, particularly in brighter areas against dark backgrounds. Like most DLP projectors that have this issue, it's not likely to be too distracting in data presentations, even to people who are relatively sensitive to the effect.

Video
Video quality is suitable for shorter clips as part of a presentation. The XJ-M255's rainbow effect was more apparent in video than in data images, and people who are sensitive to it are likely to find it distracting. Unlike with a home projector, where it's easy enough to determine whether you are sensitive to the effect, in a school or business situation there's no way of knowing which students or clients will be sensitive to it.

I noted some other issues. In a few places I saw posterization, tendency for abrupt shifts in color rather than a gentle gradient. There was green tinting in a couple of scenes. But the rainbow effect is the dominant issue.

A bright spot is that audio from the XJ-M255's single 5-watt speaker is loud and clear enough to be easily heard in a small to mid-sized classroom or conference room. Although the projector has an audio-out jack for connecting to powered, external speakers, you may not need to use it.

It comes with a generous three-year warranty?not uncommon in the projector world but still a nice touch?plus 6,000 hours for the light source.

The XJ-M255 is a 3D-capable projector. It requires active-shutter DLP-link compatible 3D glasses. Casio sells its own branded glasses for $129.99 (direct) per pair, and active-shutter DLP-link glasses are available from other manufacturers for considerably less. Still, the price of glasses can quickly add up if you're trying to equip, say, a classroom with them.

The XJ-M255 is very similar to the Casio Signature XJ-M245, though brighter (3,000 lumens, to the M245's 2,500) and with a higher price. The XJ-M255's rainbow effect in video was milder than the XJ-M245's (where the effect was notably severe), though still apparent enough that I'd avoid using it in business video presentations in which you're trying to impress a client.

Although the Editors' Choice Epson PowerLite 1761W Multimedia Projector is lighter than the XJ-M255, and has a more barebones set of ports befitting an ultraportable projector, it shares a couple of the Casio's more distinctive connections: a Wi-Fi adapter and a port for a USB thumb drive. The Epson 1761W has excellent data and video image quality, and as an LCD projector is free of the rainbow effect. Its audio is softer than the XJ-M255's, and its 4,000-hour bulb life, though good for an LCD projector, is far short of the Casio's. The Epson 1761W has a much lower sticker price, though.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/OnxidSbVHik/0,2817,2418315,00.asp

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Official: Arrested student entered US without visa

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A federal law enforcement official says one of the students from Kazakhstan arrested Wednesday in the Boston Marathon bombings was allowed to return to the United States this year despite not having a valid student visa. Authorities say that after the explosions he helped remove a laptop and backpack from the bombing suspect's dormitory room before the FBI searched it.

The official says Azamat Tazhayakov (AHZ'-maht tuh-ZAYE'-uh-kov) left the U.S. in December. Tazhayakov's student-visa status was terminated in early January after he was academically dismissed from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, the official says. Despite not having a valid student visa, Tazhayakov was allowed to re-enter the U.S. on Jan. 20.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss details of Tazhayakov's immigration status.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-05-01-Boston%20Marathon-Missing%20Visa/id-5929552939244c71925688f5a12349b2

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Alexander Graham Bell speaks, and 2013 hears his voice

By Deborah Zabarenko

WASHINGTON | Tue Apr 30, 2013 12:00pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nine years after he placed the first telephone call, Alexander Graham Bell tried another experiment: he recorded his voice on a wax-covered cardboard disc on April 15, 1885, and gave it an audio signature: "Hear my voice - Alexander Graham Bell."

The flimsy disc was silent for 128 years as part of the Smithsonian Museum's collection of early recorded sound, until digital imaging, computer science, a hand-written transcript and a bit of archival detective work confirmed it as the only known recording of Bell's voice.

Carlene Stephens, curator of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American history, first saw this disc and nearly 400 other audio artifacts donated by Bell when she joined the museum in 1974, but she didn't dare play them then.

"Their experimental nature and fragile condition ... made them unsuitable for playback," Stephens said by email.

"We recognized these materials were significant to the early history of sound recording, but because they were considered unplayable, we stored them away safely and hoped for the day playback technology would catch up with our interest in hearing the content," she wrote.

That day came in 2008, when Stephens learned that scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California had retrieved 10 seconds of the French folk song "Au Clair de la Lune" from a 1860 recording of sound waves made as squiggles on soot-covered paper. That was nearly two decades before Thomas Edison's oldest known playable recording, made in 1888.

If the Berkeley scientists could coax sound out of sooty paper, Stephens reckoned, perhaps they could decipher those silent records she had guarded for decades.

She contacted Carl Haber at Berkeley and Peter Alyea, a digital conversion specialist at the Library of Congress. They chose six recordings from the collection, including the one that turned out to be the Bell audio, and made ultra-high-definition three-dimensional images of them.

The Berkeley lab's scanner captures gigapixels of information, and not just width and height but the depth of the grooves, with measurements down to 100 nanometers, or 250 times smaller than the width of a human hair, Haber said by telephone.

DEEP WIGGLES

Depth is important with these old recordings, Haber said, because a lot of the information about how it sounds is stored in the deep parts of the grooves.

"It's not necessarily a groove that wiggles from side to side, it wiggles up and down," he said. "If you just took a regular (two-dimensional) picture of it, you don't get the information you need."

Haber and Berkeley colleague Earl Cornell used an algorithm to turn that image into sound, without touching the delicate disc. The system is known as IRENE/3D, short for Image, Reconstruct, Erase Noise, Etc.

Most of the recording is Bell's Scottish-accented voice saying a series of numbers, and then dollar figures, such as "three dollars and a half," "seven dollars and 29 cents" and finally, "$3,785.56."

This suggests Bell was thinking about a machine for business recording, Stephens said.

"The recording on its own is historically interesting and important," Stephens wrote. "It answers questions about Bell personally - what kind of accent did he have? (he was a Scot who lived in England, Canada and the United States) ... How did he pronounce his middle name? ('Gray-hum' not 'Gram')."

The job of authenticating the disc began with a hand-written transcript of the recording signed by Bell (online here).

In 2011, Patrick Feaster, an Indiana University sound-media historian, inventoried notations on the discs and cylinders in the Smithsonian's collection. Many were scratched on wax and all but illegible, Stephens recalled.

"We then matched up one wax-and-cardboard disc, from April 15, 1885," Stephens wrote. "When we recovered sound from the recording ... the content matched the transcript word for word. It is a recording of Bell speaking."

Similar scanners are used in quality assurance for micromanufactured products such as microchips, optical components and to assure the flatness of touch screens. Dentists use them to take three-dimensional pictures of cavities to aid in making custom fillings.

The Berkeley lab has worked with the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress to learn more about the earliest audio records, some on tinfoil or even paper. And while Haber and his colleagues now know how to authenticate the recordings, they cannot do all the records that may exist.

The Northeast Document Conservation Center in Massachusetts is working with the Berkeley lab on a digital reformatting service for early audio recordings. There could be as many as 46 million of these early recordings in the United States.

The Bell recording was made at a time of creative ferment, Haber said, as Bell, Edison and others invented devices to change the way Americans communicate.

"Those guys were creating the future," Haber said.

(Reporting by Deborah Zabarenko; editing by Marilyn W. Thompson and Jackie Frank)

(This story was refiled to corrects to 128 years from 138 years in the second paragraph)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/TWxx9I2qjoc/story01.htm

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What triggers those late-night snack cravings?

Apr. 29, 2013 ? A study published in the most recent version of the journal Obesity found that the body's internal clock, the circadian system, increases hunger and cravings for sweet, starchy and salty foods in the evenings. While the urge to consume more in the evening may have helped our ancestors store energy to survive longer in times of food scarcity, in the current environment of high-calorie food, those late night snacks may result in significant weight gain.

"Of course, there are many factors that affect weight gain, principally diet and exercise, but the time of eating also has an effect. We found with this study that the internal circadian system also likely plays a role in today's obesity epidemic because it intensifies hunger at night," said Steven Shea, Ph.D., director for the Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology at Oregon Health & Science University and senior author on the study. "People who eat a lot in the evening, especially high-calorie foods and beverages, are more likely to be overweight or obese."

Indeed, eating a lot in the evening can be counterproductive since the human body handles nutrients differently depending on the time of day. For example, sugar tolerance is impaired in the evening. Additionally, consuming more calories in the evening predisposes people to more energy storage; we simply don't expend as much energy after an evening meal in comparison to morning meals.

Furthermore, artificial light enables people to stay up later than they probably should and often people don't get enough sleep. "If you stay up later, during a time when you're hungrier for high-calorie foods, you're more likely to eat during that time," Shea said. "You then store energy and get less sleep, both of which contribute to weight gain."

"If weight loss is a goal, it's probably better to eat your larger, higher-calorie meals earlier in the day," said Shea. "Knowing how your body operates will help you make better choices. Going to bed earlier, getting enough sleep and choosing lower-calorie foods rather than higher-calorie foods in the evening can all help with weight loss."

Conducted by Shea and two Boston-area researchers, Frank Scheer, Ph.D. and Christopher Morris, Ph.D. of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, the study examined the appetite and food preference of 12 healthy non-obese adults throughout a 13-day laboratory stay in very dim light in which all behaviors were scheduled, including timing of meals and sleep. Dr. Scheer, first author on the study, explained that "by the end of this long protocol, all of the participants' meals and activities were spaced evenly across the day and night, allowing examination of the true internal circadian effects on appetite, while controlling for other effects on appetite including the amount of food recently consumed."

The researchers found that the internal circadian system regulated hunger, with participants feeling the least hungry in the morning (8 a.m.) and most hungry in the evening (8 p.m.). Similar rhythms were found in appetite for types of food, such as sweet, starchy and salty, and the estimate of how much food participants could eat. The study concludes that the internal circadian system causes an evening peak in appetite that may promote larger, higher-calorie meals before the fasting period necessitated by sleep.

"Our study suggests that because of the internal circadian regulation of appetite, we have a natural tendency to skip breakfast in favor of larger meals in the evening. This pattern of food intake across the day is exactly what Sumo wrestlers do to gain weight." said Steven Shea. "So, it seems likely that the internal circadian system helps with efficient food storage. While this may have been valuable throughout evolution, nowadays it is likely to contribute to the national epidemic of obesity."

This research was supported by NIH-R01-HL76409 and NIH-K24 HL076446 to SAS, NCRR GCRC M01 RR02635; NIH-P30-HL101299 and NIHR01-HL094806 in support of FAJLS; National Space Biomedical Research Institute through NASA NCC 9-58 in support of CJM.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Oregon Health & Science University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Frank A.J.L. Scheer, Christopher J. Morris, Steven A. Shea. The internal circadian clock increases hunger and appetite in the evening independent of food intake and other behaviors. Obesity, 2013; 21 (3): 421 DOI: 10.1002/oby.20351

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/fAe97MoR47I/130430110321.htm

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LeapFrog's LeapReader pen teaches reading and writing, on sale in July for $50

With its latest device, LeapFrog's continuing to fight the good fight: teaching kids essential skills through the power of consumer electronics. LeapReader's a sort of spiritual successor to the company's Tag line, maintaining the reading tool's pen-like form factor, while adding writing to the equation. The device continues to read out words and sentences, adding in the ability to trace letters and write them out on its special paper. LeapReader encourages kids to trace the lines of letters and then try things on their own, after a couple of goes. The pen's got enough space to hold 40 books or 175 songs, which can be played through an on-board speaker or via a headphone jack on top -- and you can also play books purchased for your Tag device.

Interested parties will be able to pre-order the $50 LeapReader on June 12th. It'll be hitting retail locations and LeapFrog's site early the following month, with a few months to spare before back to school rolls around. The pen's targeted toward kids aged four to eight (and, thankfully, is designed to only write on designated books) and will come in pink and green. Check out a demo video of the device after the break.

Gallery: LeapFrog's LeapReader pen teaches reading and writing, on sale in July for $50

Filed under: Peripherals

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/30/leapfrogs-leapreader/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Amber Alert issued for 14-year-old girl in North Texas

by Josh Davis / WFAA.com

WFAA

Posted on April 30, 2013 at 3:57 PM

Updated today at 4:04 PM

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS -- Police are looking for 14-year-old Ruby Contreras, who has been missing ever since she didn't come home from school last Wednesday and may be in the company of a dangerous man.

An Amber Alert for Contreras was issued at 2:20 p.m. Tuesday.

On Wednesday, April 24, Contreras didn't return home from North Oaks Middle School in Haltom City. The Contreras family said that this isn't typical behavior for Ruby and there is no reason to believe she has run away from home.

According to North Richland Hills police, it appears Ruby has left the area and is possibly in the company of an older man, Stephan Andrew Cox. The two might be traveling west by bus service.

Contreras is described as a Hispanic female, 4 feet 11 inches tall and 95 pounds. She was last seen wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans.

Cox is described as a 26-year-old Hispanic male, 5 feet 5 inches tall and 140 pounds.

If you have any information as to the whereabouts of Contreras or Cox, please contact the North Richland Hills Police Department at 817-281-1000 or your local police agency.

Source: http://www.kens5.com/news/Amber-Alert-issued-for-14-year-old-girl-in-North-Texas-205454211.html

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Opening statements begin in Jackson death trial

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? An attorney for Michael Jackson's mother says AEG Live owed it to the pop superstar to properly investigate the doctor held criminally responsible for his death.

The comments by Brian Panish came Monday during opening statements in Katherine Jackson's lawsuit against concert giant AEG Live, which she says should be held civilly liable for her son's 2009 death.

Panish says AEG is the only entity that claims it didn't know about Jackson's addiction to prescription drugs.

AEG officials have denied any wrongdoing, and its lawyers have said company executives could not have foreseen the circumstances that led to a physician giving Jackson doses of the anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid.

A jury of six men and six women will determine whether AEG is liable and any damages award.

PRINT W/T

Concert giant AEG Live owed a duty to properly investigate the doctor who treated Michael Jackson, an attorney for the singer's mother told a jury Monday morning.

"His stirring voice, his musical genius, his creativity and his generosity and his huge heart was extinguished forever," attorney Brian Panish said in opening statements of a civil lawsuit filed over Jackson's June 2009 death. Katherine Jackson is suing AEG claiming it failed to properly investigate the doctor convicted of involuntary manslaughter over Jackson's death.

"You're going to hear the whole story about what happened in the death of Michael Jackson," Panish said.

Panish made his remarks in an opening presentation filled with slides detailing the case against AEG, which was promoting Jackson's planned comeback concerts, "This Is It."

Jackson's mother, brother Randy and sister Rebbie sat in the front row of the courtroom as Panish detailed aspects of Jackson's life.

An attorney for AEG is expected to begin addressing the panel later Monday.

Millions, and possibly billions, of dollars are at stake. A jury of six men and six women will determine any damage award.

Katherine Jackson sued the company in September 2010, claiming it failed to properly investigate former physician Conrad Murray before allowing him to serve as Jackson's tour doctor. She is also suing on behalf of her son's three children, Prince, Paris and Blanket.

AEG denies it hired Murray and its attorneys have said they could not have foreseen the circumstances that led to Jackson's death at age 50. A jury convicted Murray of giving Jackson a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol in 2011. The hospital-grade anesthetic was being administered as a sleep aid.

Panish told jurors they would be putting together a puzzle, with three pieces being Jackson, Murray and AEG Live.

He told the panel that Jackson suffered from addiction to prescription medications and Demerol at times during his life, and the problem increased when he was keeping up a rigorous schedule. Panish cited a 1984 accident that injured Jackson during a Pepsi commercial suit as causing the singer tremendous physical pain throughout his life.

"Over the years Michael family's and people who knew him believed he had a problem with prescription medication," Panish told jurors. He said the only group that would claim they didn't know about Jackson's addiction issues were AEG and its executives.

The lawyer showed a brief clip of Jackson rehearing for the "This Is It" shows and a clip of the singer dancing in the early stages of his presentation. He also showed footage of 1999 show in Munich in which Jackson was performing when a bridge dropped 50 feet with the singer on it. Despite pain, Jackson continued performing, Panish said.

Panish said Jackson turned to Demerol to relieve his pain.

Katherine Jackson and her two oldest grandchildren, Prince and Paris, are listed as possible witnesses. An AEG attorney said Monday that the company intends to call Murray as a witness in the case as well.

Murray did not testify at his criminal trial.

Panish told jurors they would have to determine who was responsible for Jackson's death.

"Michael paid the ultimate price. He died," Panish said. "Michael has taken responsibility."

___

AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/opening-statements-begin-jackson-death-trial-181150543.html

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