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NZ. The home of world class broadband.
It's safe to say that the vast majority of New Zealanders think that broadband service in NZ is crap. Despite what they may think, we've actually got some of the best broadband connectivity in the world, and the harsh reality is that many of those with a poor service are probably suffering because they're a) too tight to actually pay decent money for a decent service or b) completely oblivious to issues such as their home wiring impacting their broadband performance. Many people who fall into b) fall into a) once told of their problem – they expect somebody else to fix their problem, and don't expect to pay for it either, despite wiring within the premises being owned by the property owner.
With the completion by Telecom of their Fibre to the Node (FTTN) cabinetisation project in 2011 over 3500 new fibre fed roadside cabinets were constructed across New Zealand. As the speed of xDSL based technologies decreases the further you are away from an exchange or cabinet, the installation of these roadside cabinets has meant that average attainable xDSL sync speeds have increased significantly. Over over 80% of premises in New Zealand have access to xDSL broadband with a minimum sync speed of 10Mbps using ADSL2+, a technology that is capable of delivering downstream speeds of up to approximately 18Mbps and upstream speeds of approximately 1Mbps. Over 40% of those premises also have access to VDSL2 which can deliver speeds of up to 70Mbps downstream and 10Mbps upstream if you're within 300m metres of an exchange or cabinet, and speeds of between 30Mbps and 50Mbps downstream and 10Mbps upstream if you're within approximately 900m from a cabinet or exchange. Due to the higher frequency range used by VDSL2 performance will degrade very quickly past 1km.
There are very few countries in the world that have such an advanced network that is capable of delivering speeds this high to such a large percentage of premises. xDSL broadband speeds in Australia for example pale in comparison, and despite Australia now being part way through a Fibre to the Home (FTTH) rollout as part of the National Broadband Network (NBN) it's likely that a change of Government in September will result in the FTTH project being scaled back and replaced with a cheaper FTTN network using the existing copper for the last mile. If this happens by 2017 Australia could have a network replicating what New Zealand has had since 2011 – VDSL2 to those premises close to an exchange or cabinet, and ADSL2+ to those further away. In the UK BT's Infinity project rollout is deploying in a large number of new fibre fed cabinets to deliver VDSL2 and ADSL2+ as a last mile technology. The facts don't lie – New Zealand is literally years ahead of most of the world.
Not content with FTTN and copper for the last mile, New Zealand is currently progressing along the path of building a FTTH network to deliver fibre to 75% of New Zealand premises by 2019. Once again what NZ is doing is world class – based upon current planning very few countries anywhere in the world would have fibre to 50% of their premises by 2019, let along the 75% that New Zealand is aiming for. In those areas that aren't receiving fibre, rural FTTN cabinets are being built and wholesale fixed wireless services being being deployed by Vodafone as part of the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI).
Now that I've explained this all to you there are probably people out there wondering what sort of kool aid I've been drinking. The answer to this is that I haven't.
Many people are receiving a substandard internet service, but the reasons for doing this aren't because of the technology used to deliver the service,in many cases it's because of their choice of ISP, and more importantly, their home phone wiring.
All ISP's aren't created equal. There are many factors that will heavily influence end user performance such as domestic and international transit (ie the amount of upstream bandwidth your ISP has purchased), backhaul inside NZ (the capacity your ISP has purchased to carry data between the Chorus network and their own), the location and performance of DNS servers (closer is always better), whether your ISP is caching data, and whether they may have their own content delivery network (CDN) node to deliver bandwidth intensive traffic from within their network, rather than from somewhere else in the world. Like a fine bottle of wine price ultimately becomes a deciding factor as building and running a network doesn't come cheaply. In the real world a $10 bottle of cheap bubbly wine isn't going to taste as a good as a $200 bottle of Vintage Champagne, but many consumers are oblivious to that. Many people in this country seem to want the expensive quality Champagne, but aren't willing to pay more than $10 for it.
If you're receiving your internet via xDSL based technology your internal wiring within your home is the single biggest factor that will affect your internet speeds and performance. Over $1.5 billion was spent building roadside cabinets to deliver faster speeds, yet despite over 80% of premises being capable of receiving speeds of at least 10Mbps, the true number is below this. Why? Because the legacy phone wiring in many premises is simply incapable of delivering the performance required to deliver these speeds. The simple reality is that if you don't have a master filter installed, or don't have your xDSL connection terminated to a single dedicated jack point within your premises you're probably receiving a degraded service. Rather than sounding like a stuck record I suggest you read my recent blog post here which talks in detail about this issue.
Last week the industry received a very significant announcement from Chorus announcing price reductions to the VDSL2 service that has now been available for a couple of years. With VDSL2 offering upload speeds that are 10x faster than ADSL2+, and download speeds that are up to 4x faster, the low uptake of VDSL2 (currently only 3000 people in NZ are using this service) really has been surprising. Unlike ADSL2+ which is a fully regulated offering with wholesale pricing set by the Commerce Commission, VDSL2 is a commercial service which maintained a $20 price premium over ADSL2+ to position it as a premium offering. While many larger ISP's don't currently retail VDSL2 as a product there are currently well over 20 ISP's and resellers offering VDSL2 services and once again it seems that many people are either oblivious to the product offering, or merely not interested in receiving a faster service. Hopefully this price reduction will see VDSL2 uptake increase significantly – but remember that your wiring needs to be up to spec to support VDSL2, with a master filter or dedicated xDSL jack point being mandatory.
The ball really is in the consumers court… It's just up to them to do something with it.
Viewing the content of your New Zealand ePassport
If you've had a New Zealand passport issued since November 2005 you would have spotted the Near Field Communication (NFC) page in your passport. This solid page contains a NFC chip which duplicates the data printed in your passport electronically, and also contains a digital copy of your photo along with the biometric data relating to this photo.
An ePassport is now mandatory for visiting a number of countries, and if you've been to Australia in the past couple of years chances are you've used a Smartgate machine at the airport rather than having to be processed manually by Customs. The Smartgate kiosk reads the biometric data from your passport and when your photo is taken it is compared to the biometric data in your passport to establish a positive match.
If you have a modern Android phone with NFC capabilities you can easily view the contents of this NFC chip.
Download the NFC Tag Info app from the Play store to your Android phone, and once installed click on the app to run it. If you now try and read your passport you'll see an error come up saying "Basic Access Control is active". BAC is an security layer protecting your passport from being accessed without an encryption key, essentially preventing your ePassport from being read by somebody who doesn't have physical access to the passport. The BAC encryption key is generated using your passport number, date of birth, and passport expiry date – data that is only printed inside your passport.
If you now go back to the main menu you'll see an option to "setup access keys". enter your passport number, date of birth and passport expiry date and press save. This will generate the encryption key required to read your passport.
If you now put your phone next to your passport the app will be able to read the NFC chip and you should see your passport details and photo appear on the screen.
A number of other details can be viewed, including the biometric data for your photo and the Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) data which is the machine readable text that appears at the bottom of your passport photo page.
To change electronic details of a passport additional layers of encryption exist also – you can't change your details simply by having the BAC encryption key as this allows read only access.
If you're interested in knowing more here are a few links you might want to check out:
Mobile data roaming – Why it's not as unaffordable as you may think.
The last year has seen some big changes occur in the mobile market, with roaming in particular seeing very significant price decreases. Voice calls while roaming are still a massive rip off (see my blog post here on pricing in 2012 being more expensive than 1998) but data has now dropped to a level where it's affordable enough to use while roaming. Sure it isn't as as cheap as data while in NZ, but it is a significant change to a year ago where the first thing anybody did when they travelled overseas was to ensure data was disabled to ensure the cost of casually using data on your phone didn't exceed that of your airfares! Historically mobile data cost in the vicinity of $10 – $30 per MB depending on your destination, in many cases prices have now dropped to a mere fraction of that.
This post intentionally doesn't make any mention of purchasing a SIM in the country you are travelling to. This is something that people may also wish to investigate as it may offer significant pricing reductions over roaming.
Lets look what each of the major players in the NZ market has on offer -
Telecom announced a game changer in December with the announcement of flat rate daily data roaming to Australia, the UK, USA, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau and Saudi Arabia. Roaming in Australia costs $6 per day for "unlimited" data, and $10 per day for the other countries listed above. A fair use policy applies to the "unlimited" offering and the $6 pricing for Australia is a promotion that expires on the 30th June 2013. For all other destinations you'll pay $2.50 per MB for data in Asia, Europe and South Africa, and $5 per MB for data in every other country where data roaming is supported.
All of the pricing above only applies to On Account users, if you're a Prepay user you'll pay between $1 per MB for data in Australia, $2.50 per MB in the UK, USA, Canada, China, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, $5 per MB in Europe and South Africa and $8 per MB for data in every other country where data roaming is supported.
2 degrees:
2degrees offer pricing that is fairly standardised between both On Account and Prepay users. Pricing in all countries that support data varies between 50c per MB and $30 per MB of data. If you're vising Australia pricing is 50c per MB for high value customers (those on plans greater than $59 per month) and 95c per MB for all other On Account and Prepay users. Pricing to other common destinations such as the UK and USA is $2.50 per MB.
2degrees also offer monthly international data packs that can be used in Australia, the UK and USA that offer 10MB for $20, 50MB for $75 and 100MB for $100. These are available to both On Account and Prepay users and can be used across multiple countries over the course of the month. If you use your pack within a month, another pack can be purchased.
Vodafone have made major changes to their data roaming in recent months with Data Angel. Rather than offering any casual data rates, data roaming is only available with the purchase of a monthly data pack. This can be done by logging into your account before you travel, or on arrival in a foreign country you can use your web browser and will be redirected to a captive portal account page that allows you to purchase a pack. Countries of the world are split into 3 zones, with the pack being able to be used within any country in that zone within the month.
Zone 1 covers Australia and offers 100MB for $15, 250MB for $30 and 500MB for $50.
Zone 2 covers North America, most of South America, most of Western Europe, most of Asia and South Africa offering 40MB for $15, 100MB for $30 and 200MB for $50
Zone 3 covers every other country not in Zone 1 and Zone 2 and offers 5MB for $30, 10MB for $50 and 25MB for $100
As no casual data rates are available Vodafone customers roaming are no longer faced with the risk of bill shock while roaming – you can only use the data after you have purchased a pack. If you use your pack within a month, another pack can be purchased.
So who's the best network to roam on? That's a tough question to answer and there isn't a simple answer.
If you're heading away for a short trip to Australia, the UK or US and want to make heavy use of data you can't beat Telecom's $6 / $10 per day offering. This really is amazing value and beats the prices you'll typically pay at hotels in these countries for WiFi. If you're heading away for a few weeks you may find the value proposition isn't so great, and may find the Vodafone and 2degrees options are better value than Telecom – sure $10 per day is great if you're a heavy user, but if you're only using a small amount of data on your phone you could find that paying $210 for 21 days is excessive and a 200MB pack from Vodafone for $50 is all that is needed. It's a shame Telecom don't offer anything in the way of monthly pricing as both Vodafone and 2degrees have a significant advantage over them in this respect.
Vodafone have a very compelling roaming product these days, and the ability to buy a data pack that covers all of Europe is fantastic for anybody travelling around multiple countries within Europe, something many people do. If you were planning a trip for a month to the UK and Europe with a stopover in the US on the way over and Asia on the way back you could spend $50 to get 200MB of mobile data, easily enough for casual use of email, social media, browsing and mapping use for the entire month. While they don't offer any daily capped plans the ability to use a single data pack across a large number of countries is something neither Telecom or 2degrees offer, and it's something that many people travelling away from NZ may find is great.
2degrees sit pretty much in the middle. Their monthly plans don't offer the same value as Vodafone, and they don't have a daily flat rate offering like Telecom, but considering the UK, USA and Australia are the most common destinations that people travel to they have these covered with a reasonably priced offering. Outside these countries however 2degrees pricing is expensive, with a number of countries costing $30 per MB of data – you will pay significantly less than this on both Telecom and Vodafone.
At the end of the day the offerings from each network differs slightly, if you're travelling overseas and want to make use of your mobile it would certainly pay to look at the offerings from each network before you go. With people so attached to their phones these days the benefits of being able to use data while roaming are significant, and you could see some significant savings by moving network or simply signing up for a no term contract solely for the purpose of roaming.
Is your premises phone wiring impacting your broadband performance?
The vast majority of broadband users in New Zealand receive their broadband connection via copper cable owned by Chorus using ADSL, ADSL2+ or VDSL2 technology. By far the most common technology in use is ADSL2+ which delivers speeds of up to approximately 20Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream. Uptake of VDSL2 is growing and this technology is currently capable of delivering speeds of up to 70Mbps downstream and 10Mbps upstream, averaging around 40Mbps down and 10Mbps up. Between 2008 and 2011 over $1 billion was spent by Telecom rolling out a Fibre To The Node (FTTN) network which consisted of over 3500 new roadside cabinets across the country, all connected by fibre optic cable. Because the speeds of all copper based technologies are limited by distance, bringing fibre fed cabinets with equipment to deliver internet closer to people's homes meant approximately 85% of premises in New Zealand are capable of receiving an internet connection of at least 10Mbps using ADSL2+, and around 40% capable of receiving VDSL2.
(For the rest of this post I will use the term xDSL to refer to DSL technology as a whole, this includes ADSL, ADSL2+, VDSL, VDSL2 and SHDSL)
What is clear however is that the actual number of people who are receiving a 10Mbps connection is significantly below this figure. The reason for this happening is also pretty clear – apart from distance, xDSL performance is dependant on the quality of the copper cable that's delivering the services. Statistically speaking poor quality phone wiring within the home or office is the single biggest contributing cause when it comes to poor internet speeds or performance. It's also very clear that the vast majority of people are totally unaware that their home or office wiring is impacting their internet performance.
Before I start to explain how wiring affects your speed it's important you understand some basics of how how xDSL broadband works.
In the old days the copper cable to your home (known technically as a MPF – Metallic Path Facility) only delivered phone services and used the frequency range from 300Hz up to 4kHz to deliver voice. In the 80's ADSL was born, allowing both a phone and data connection to share the same copper line by using a frequency range above that used by voice for the data transmission.. ADSL, ADSL2+ and VDSL2 standards all allow broadband to co-exist with voice. The following image (courtesy of Wikipedia) displays a standard ADSL band plan.
As you can see regular ADSL uses the section of spectrum from 25kHz up to 1.1MHz. Newer xDSL standards use even higher frequency ranges to increase speeds, ADSL2+ improves upon ADSL by using up to 2.2MHz, and VDSL2 goes even higher with profiles using up to 8Mhz, 12Mhz, 17Mhz and 30MHz. The 30MHz profile is able to deliver a data rate of up to 200Mbps over several hundred metres.
xDSL divides the available spectrum up into small sections known as carriers, tones or bins (all three mean the same thing and are simply different terminology). ADSL, ADSL2+ and VDSL2 (8MHz, 12MHz and 17MHz profiles) use a carrier width of 4.3125 KHz. Standard ADSL divides the available spectrum into 256 carriers, and ADSL2+ offers greater speeds by using 512 carriers as it doubles the available spectrum. VDSL2 uses anywhere from 2048 up to 4096 carriers depending on the profile type. As the frequency range increases however, limitations of copper cabling start to take effect. While standard ADSL can easily work over 4km or greater, VDSL2 using a 30a profile will only work up to around 300m as the higher frequency ranges are unable to travel as far over copper cable. In many ways this mirrors the radio world where an AM radio station transmitting on 1000kHz will travel a lot further than a FM station transmitting on 100MHz.
While both a phone call and your xDSL can be carried over the copper cable to your premises, to enable the simultaneous use of xDSL and phone at the same time a low pass filter is required to be used to split the signals so that they don't interfere with each other. This low pass filter is commonly referred to as a line filter or splitter and is pictured below.
Most people will have a plug in filter on every device in their home that uses the phone line. Without a filter you will be able to hear the xDSL tones if you lift up the phone handset (assuming you're not tone deaf!), and will typically see xDSL disconnections or high xDSL error rates if you try and use the phone while your modem is connected without filters.
So you've got your filters all plugged in and your internet is connected. You probably think everything is sweet.
While a plug in filter splits the voice and xDSL signals, it doesn't do anything to eliminate other issues that exist in your home wiring that will have an impact on your xDSL connection. If you have a home alarm it will typically be configured as a "line grabber", which means your incoming phone wiring will run through the alarm before it connects to the phone jacks in your home. This configuration allows the alarm to isolate the line with a relay before it dials out to a security company, meaning that even if you leave a phone off the hook in your home your alarm will still work. Because of this your xDSL connection will drop every time your alarm dials out. Many medical alarms are also wired in a similar fashion, once again to ensure that a phone off the hook doesn't prevent the alarm from being able to call out. Alarms can also increase line attenuation and line resistance, which is the next thing you'll learn about.
So.. Attenuation. What is it?
Copper cable has characteristics which are well known, one of these is attenuation. Simply speaking, the longer a piece of cable, the greater the signal loss will be – a figure known as attenuation. Attenuation is one of the reasons why the speed of xDSL technology decreases the further you are away from a roadside cabinet or exchange. A lower figure is better, so if you're located right next to a roadside cabinet or exchange your line attenuation may be around 2 – 3dBm, if you're located 2km away your line attenuation will typically be around 25dB – 30dB.
To confuse matter more, your distance from a roadside cabinet or exchange isn't the only thing that can cause high attenuation figures. Joints in a cable can also increase attenuation, with the extent of this increase depending entirely on how well the cable is joined. The typical New Zealand home has it's phone wiring connected in series, this means that your jack points are all looped together, as the image below demonstrates.
Phone wiring in series was recommended practice until the late 90's when xDSL services started to make an appearance. Telecom started advising in 1998 that phone wiring in series should be avoided, and the current TCF home premises wiring regulations also advise against this. It is still common practice however for many incompetent electricians and data installers around the country to follow this method, and there are still new homes being built where home owners will suffer from a degraded broadband experience, purely because installers can't be bothered in following industry guidelines that have now been in place for over 14 years. All premises wiring should consist of a structured solution where all jack points connect back to a single location. The TCF website contains plenty of information regarding this.
So what's wrong with series wiring?
Each jack point can increase the attenuation on your line by a small amount, and also introduces multiple locations where corrosion can occur, something that's exceptionally common in damp New Zealand homes. Corrosion in a jack point can cause significant degradation of xDSL. Another common issue is the mixing of newer 2 wire and older master and secondary BT jack points. Until the mid 90's many older style phones in New Zealand required a master jack point with capacitor to generate a ringing signal carried on a 3rd wire within the premises. The master jack point was fitted where the phone cable entered the premises, and secondary jack points were fitted elsewhere on the premises. These were signified with a M or S in the lower corner of the jack point face plate. These jack points were replaced in the mid 90's with a single style known as a 2 wire jack point (as only 2 wires are required to be used within the premises). Mixing older M or S jack points and 2 wire jack points will impact xDSL performance.
Last, but not least, an issue known as a bridged tap (also referred to as a line stub by some people) is a major issue in the xDSL world. A bridged tap is created when wiring is split and occurs if you have multiple jack points installed., regardless if they're in use or not. If you've got 5 jack points on your premises for example any xDSL signals travelling along the copper cable to your home are transmitted not just to the jack point that has your modem connected, but to the other 4 as well. These signals then reflect back from these other jack points and cause interference to the xDSL signal, ultimately degrading the performance of your broadband connection. Higher frequencies are affected to a far greater degree by a bridged tap, so they're not so noticeable if you're using ADSL but can have a large impact on ADSL2+ and VDSL2. Bridged taps can also exist in Chorus wiring external to your home where wiring may be looped down your street, but the instances of this are now very low.
So now that I've told you everything that's wrong with your connection, I'll tell you how to fix it. The solution is simple – it's called a master filter.
A master filter does exactly the same job as a plug in filter – it's a low pass filter that splits voice and xDSL signals. What it does differently is eliminating all of the internal wiring issues discussed above, essentially isolating your xDSL from your home wiring. A master filter is installed at the point where your phone cabling enters your premises, with the xDSL output of the master filter connected to a dedicated xDSL only jack point somewhere on your premises. The voice output of the master filter is then connected to your existing phone wiring. You'll still be able to use your phones anywhere on the premises, but will only be able to plug in your xDSL modem to the dedicated xDSL jack point.
Because the master filter isolates the premises wiring issues from the xDSL signal it means all of the issues I've discussed above can no longer impact your broadband performance.
It's a common myth that having a naked xDSL connection (a xDSL connection without a phone) removes the need to use any filters. This is incorrect. While plug in filters are not needed as there is no need to split voice and xDSL signals, a naked xDSL service will still continue to be impacted by premises wiring issues that can only be eliminated by the installation of a master filter or disconnecting all other internal wiring so that only a single jack point remains connected for the xDSL modem.
So how much faster will my broadband be with a master filter? That's a tough question to answer, because the results are going to depend entirely on the condition of your existing wiring. It's very rare for a master filter to not increase broadband speeds by a minimum of 5 to 10%. It's entirely realistic in circumstances where wiring is very poor to see speed double, or even triple. While certainly not the norm, I've installed master filters that have resulted in speeds going from under 5Mbps to in excess of 15Mbps. Based upon the vast number of threads on Geekzone where internal wiring is discussed and on statistics gathered from a recent project undertaken by a major ISP looking at the internal wiring issue, it's safe to pick a modest median speed increase in the vicinity of 20% to 50%.
Most people would have never heard of a master filter, but they're actually nothing new. When ADSL was first deployed by Telecom in the late 90's a master filter was a mandatory requirement for an installation. To transform ADSL into a mass market product this requirement were lifted in favour of plug in filters. In many ways this made sense from a marketing view – the cost of a technician having to visit before broadband could be connected was something that would have seriously impacted take up of broadband services. This practice has still continued today and most new connections are DIY modem installs within the home.
All ISP's as part of the sign up process for broadband can request that Chorus visit the premises and install either a master filter or install a new connection to a new jack point solely for the xDSL modem. In the vast majority of cases this doesn't happen, primarily because the average home or business owner is going to baulk at the cost of doing this, which ranges from $199 right up to $400 depending on the work required and the connection type. This cost is too high for ISP's to absorb on the average low margin residential broadband plan, and the average homeowner sees it as an unnecessary cost, in part because they have no idea what it's actually achieving.
With VDSL2 services the installation of a master filter or dedicated jack point isn't just a nice to have, it is essential. The greater frequency ranges used by VDSL2 (8Mhz for a standard 8b profile or 17MHz for a 17a profile) result in significant degradation of performance even with minor wiring issues. ISP Snap! made the decision to deploy VDSL2 as a mass market offering with no requirement for this, and anecdotal evidence shows that many users are receiving connection speeds well below what they should be receiving. A downside of this is that users with poor connections are also theoretically able to impact on the performance of other xDSL users. VDSL2 uses UBPO (upstream back-off power) to regulate the modem power output to minimise cross talk. Cross talk is essentially interference that occurs within a multi pair MPF (which can easily be several hundred lines connecting your premises back to the exchange or cabinet) where one cable pair causes interference to other nearby cable pairs. A poor VDSL2 connection results in the modem increasing it's transmit power to attempt to compensate, which can cause cross talk, and ultimately affect other xDSL connections in the same multi pair MPF closer to the cabinet or exchange.
While I've explained how a master filter makes a difference I also want to show some technical data showing the differences between good and poor connections. All ISP's have access to a tool known as SPM within the Chorus system that displays a myriad of graphs and statistics that are helpful in diagnosing xDSL connection issues.
The image below shows a SNR capture of a good VDSL2 connection running on a standard 8b 8MHz profile off a Chorus ISAM several hundred metres from the cabinet. This line is synced at around 45Mbps downstream and 10Mbps upstream. You can see the performance of the individual carriers across the bottom of the table, referred to as tones in the following images.
Now lets show a SNR graph of a poor quality VDSL2 connection, also off a Chorus ISAM, but being subjected to significant degradation due to wiring issues. You can see the SNR levels across the entire frequency range are lower due to the distance, and between tones 1100 and 1200 there is a large gap that is rendering this section of spectrum unusable, hence the poor upstream performance. The 2nd downstream block also has very low SNR, which ultimately means a limited ability to carry data, which limits overall downstream performance.
I'll compare these two connections further with bit loading graphs of both connections. First off the picture below shows the 45Mbps / 10Mbps VDSL2 connection. As you can see there is good performance across the board.
And below the 20Mbps / 5Mbps connection. You can very clearly see the gap in the upstream band, and also the very poor performance in the 2nd downstream band.
I'll now show an example of a before and after bit loading and SNR graphs where a master filter has been installed on an existing ADSL2+ connections to improve the performance. This connection is located approximately 2km from an exchange and had an ADSL2+ sync rate of 696kbps upstream and 5360kbps downstream prior to a master filter being installed.
As you can see from these images the connection is very poor, with the section of spectrum from tones 350 upward being unusable which is significantly impacting downstream performance.
What follows below are results from this same line after the installation of a master filter. The result was an increase of the ADSL sync speeds to 989kbps upstream and 10444kbps downstream. This has meant the customer's downstream speed has close to doubled, and their upstream speed has increased by nearly 50%.
Now that I've explained the impact of internal wiring, how can you tell if it's impacting your connection? Chorus have a brilliant web based tool that will show ADSL, ADSL2+ and VDSL2 availability to any address in New Zealand. It also shows those areas that are within a 10Mbps zone – in effect around 85% of the premises in the country.
If you're in a 10Mbps zone you will typically have a modem sync speed of at least 10Mbps. Testing to sites such as speedtest.net isn't a smart way of diagnosing your connection, the best approach is to log into your modem and view the connection statistics. These are easily viewable within most modems and will look something like the following
So how do I go about getting a master filter installed?
Your ISP can arrange a master filter installation which will be performed by Chorus at a fixed cost of approximately $199. Installation can also be performed by anybody competent with installing phone wiring, with the cost varying depending on the complexity of your home wiring.
My personal view is that every home in New Zealand that has a xDSL connection should have a master filter fitted. As harsh as it sounds, If I ran Chorus I would also refuse to investigate any speed or connection related issues that end users lodge with their ISP until the end user committed to the installation of a master filter. The simple reality is that premises with multiple jack points and a xDSL connection that doesn't have a master filter has degraded performance – while this degradation could only be minor, it could also be very significant. The issues caused by series wiring are well known, and these issues need to be eliminated to ensure the best possible connection.
Are Vodafone NZ holding NZ's best kept secret?
iOS devices need to have the carrier pack configured to allow LTE on supported networks before LTE can be used. This option will only show in phones that have had the carrier pack set to allow LTE. Vodafone New Zealand isn't listed as an official LTE carrier on the Apple website but it would be safe to assume that Apple aren't going to ruin things for Vodafone and announce something before Vodafone themselves do.
So what secret are Vodafone holding from us?
It's no secret they've just upgraded over 400 cellsites around the Auckland region over the weekend to deliver 900 MHz Dual Carrier 3G services across the Auckland region (I wrote about this here on Friday). Vodafone also have plenty of 1800MHz spectrum to deploy a LTE network on.
Does this hardware support a technology they haven't yet told us about? You decide...
Vodafone's Auckland mobile network upgrade
These upgrades are now complete and the upgraded sites go live this weekend. You're probably now wondering - what is the upgrade?
Vodafone have upgraded roughly 400 sites to deliver a 900Mhz Dual Carrier 43.2Mbps 3G network across the entire Auckland region. Vodafone have used the 900Mhz band to deliver 3G coverage in rural areas of New Zealand for the last 3 years, but in the big cities, up until now, only the 2100Mhz band had been used for 3G. Why you ask? Because when Vodafone deployed their 3G network in 2005 the 2100Mhz band was the only frequency band ratified for 3G services globally. It wasn't until the 900MHz band was ratified that Vodafone were able to use the 900MHz band for 3G services, and they were one of the first networks in the world to start using the 900Mhz 3G band in 2008.
As many of you will know, signal propagation of the 2100MHz band isn't great, which has meant that inbuilding coverage on this band has always been sub optimal. 900Mhz 3G will mean that their 3G coverage will be significantly better. As the new 900MHz 3G network will all be Dual Carrier 43.2Mbps, it will add significant capacity to their their network of existing 2100MHz 3G sites, many of which are already Dual, Triple, or in some cases, Quad carrier.
This upgrade also means Vodafone instantly have a huge network advantage over Telecom. While Telecom already use the 850Mhz band for their mobile network nationwide, Vodafone have had the downside that they needed considerably more cellsites than Telecom to deploy their 2100MHz 3G network. This downside has now turned into a massive bonus for Vodafone - because the vast majority of these sites now have 900MHz 3G, Vodafone have around double the number of cellsites Auckland region using the 900Mhz band than what Telecom do using 850Mhz. This should offer Vodafone a significant inbuilding coverage advantage over Telecom.
To take advantage of the 900MHz 3G network you will need a handset that supports this band. Virtually every 3G handset sold by Vodafone or 2degrees over the last 3 or so years supports this band. Don't confuse 900Mhz with 900MHz GSM though - the 900MHz GSM network still continues to operate as usual, and a phone that doesn't mention 900Mhz 3G support in the specs, and only 900Mhz GSM isn't going to be able to benefit from this upgrade.
If you're a Vodafone user it would be interesting to hear your feedback after the upgrade goes live this weekend.
(And just for the record before somebody accuses me of being a Vodafone fanboi, I don't work, and have never worked for Vodafone)
Are pharmacies NZ's biggest* rort? (*excluding airport carparking)
Example A - $12.99 vs $20.00 for the identical tablets at two different pharmacies.
If you do suffer from hayfever I highly recommend Levrix tablets, I've found them amazing. It might just pay however to check the price before you buy them.
Credit Card Security–Why close enough isn't good enough
Credit card security isn't a laughing matter these days. It's certainly not difficult to find people who have had their credit cards compromised and fraudulent transactions charged to their account. Typically this has been as a result of physical card security being compromised by the use of a card skimmer attached to an ATM (numerous instances in Auckland), a compromised EFTPOS terminal recording card details (a major burger retailer in Queen St, Auckland), or by staff who have access to credit card records randomly copying numbers down for use (a foreign call centre for a major telco). Banks have complex systems monitoring transactions in real time and will often detect card fraud and put a hold on your card well before you're even aware there could be an issue. While card fraud normally doesn't leave the card holder out of pocket due the liability limits banks have in their terms and conditions, having to get a new card can often be a real pain if you have automatic payments such as bills set up on it.
Having had my card compromised while in Australia in the middle of 2012 and then spending an entire afternoon dealing with the consequences while trying to enjoy a relaxing long weekend away means I have zero tolerance to anybody in the industry dealing with credit cards who isn't willing to comply with industry guidelines. As far as I'm concerned you deserve to be named and shamed if you're accepting credit cards and failing to comply with industry guidelines.
The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council are responsible for creating data security standards for cardholder data. Known as the PCI Data Security Standard (DSS) this document covers the requirements and security assessment procedures that should be used in the banking and payments industry to ensure that card security remains a top priority. It's common to refer to being "PCI complaint" when your systems are complaint with this standard.
It's therefore surprising so see a large business like Wellington Airport failing to comply with industry PCI standards governing credit card security, and more so the fact this lack of security has now existed for several years in their car park ticketing machines.
Despite what some may think, a credit card number, or Primary Account Number (PAN) as it's technically known as, isn't just sixteen random numbers. Each card issuer has a unique Bank Identification Number (BIN) which comprises the first six digits of the card. The next nine digits are the account number, and the last digit is a check digit calculated using the MOD 10 algorithm, otherwise known as the Luhn Algorithm, calculated off the prior fifteen digits. This algorithm isn't complex, and it's easy to calculate this check digit with a piece of paper and a pen.
PCI DSS requirement 3.3 covers the storage and use of PAN numbers
3.3 Obtain and examine written policies and examine displays of PAN (for example, on screen, on paper receipts) to verify that primary account numbers (PANs) are masked when displaying cardholder data, except for those with a legitimate business need to see full PAN.
Mask PAN when displayed (the first six and last four digits are the maximum number of digits to be displayed).
As you can see the PCI DSS requirements are that the first six and last four digits are the only digits that should be displayed on a receipt. Why? Because displaying any more than this leaves your card number open to being compromised.
The first six digits are unique to your bank, so displaying these poses no real security risk. The last digit is a check digit, and the prior three prior digits are only 1/3 of your account number. Using a MOD10 calculator to calculate the remaining six digits still leaves a vast number of possibilities, so many in fact, that it poses no great security risk.
Wellington Airport receipts display the last six digits of the PAN, as pictured below (I've crossed two out so you can't see them). This now only leaves four digits that need to be generated, and literally leaves only a handful of possibilities for the card number. For all intent purposes you may as well be displaying the full PAN, as a card card can be compromised with access to the first six digits and the last six digits of the PAN.
A Wellington Airport parking receipt by itself isn't going to let somebody exploit your credit card - as they're only displaying the last six digits of the PAN. Combined with another receipt from a PCI compliant terminal or retailer however and your card number can be compromised. Considering many people throw receipts away together it's entirely possible that somebody could gain access to two receipts which would enable them to reconstruct your credit card number.
So a small tip from me - if you use your credit card at Wellington Airport be careful what you do with your receipt. It could be the most expensive car park you ever use!
Update 05/01/2012 :
Fellow Geekzone Moderator Nate spent some some time whipping up some code using the MOD 10 algorithm to generate possible card combinations. By entering an incomplete credit card number and X's to signify the masking all possible full PAN numbers are displayed. These could then easily be submitted automatically to a payment gateway to establish the valid number. If PCI compliant PAN masking of six digits is followed the 100000 possible combinations make this a a virtually impossible task. With non PCI compliant PAN masking such as that used by Wellington Airport this could be done in a matter of minutes with access to appropriate payment gateways.
More photos of the day
EDIT: As of the 6th December Telecom have officially announced their LTE trial. More details are here http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=9889
Photo of the day
I couldn't help but notice some new equipment staring to appear on a handful of Telecom sites around the Hutt Valley. I wonder if they're redeploying their AMPS network again?
Hint: It's not the 2100MHz panel on the left or the 850MHz panel on the right.
EDIT: As of the 6th December Telecom have officially announced their LTE trial. More details are here http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=9889


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I would like to get all the latest updates from DLF Cybercity
An integrated technology park offering modern workspace to the IT and ITES companies. It is strategically located just off the National Highway-8 and in close proximity to the airport and is directly linked through the expressway to Delhi.
It has earned its reputation as one of the premier emerging technology centers of the country and has built up a valuable brand equity in the global market. Being positioned in the prime location of Gurgaon, DLF Trio, DLF Cybercity is a benchmark business destination offering world class work spaces, exceptional infrastructure and facilities comprising a plethora of futuristic amenities.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Polarized Light in Liquid Crystals and Polymers
By (author) Toralf Scharf
Format: Hardback
Normal Price: $221.95
Your Price: $199.76 AUD, inc. GST
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Polarized Light in Liquid Crystals and Polymers by Toralf Scharf
Book DescriptionPolarized Light in Liquid Crystals and Polymers deals with the linear optics of birefringent materials, such as liquid crystals and polymers, and surveys light propagation in such media with special attention to applications. It is unique in treating light propagation in micro- and nanostructured birefringent optical elements, such as lenses and gratings composed of birefringent materials, as well as the spatial varying anisotropic structures often found in miniaturized liquid crystal devices.
Buy Polarized Light in Liquid Crystals and Polymers book by Toralf Scharf from Australia's Online Bookstore, Boomerang Books.
Book DetailsISBN: 9780471740643
(239mm x 164mm x 25mm)
Pages: 400
Imprint: John Wiley & Sons Inc
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Publish Date: 15-Dec-2006
Country of Publication: United States
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Author Biography - Toralf Scharf
Toralf Scharf is Senior Scientist at the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland. His current research interests concern liquid crystal optics for display applications, implementation of organic birefringent optical materials into solid optical devices, and fabrication and characterization of micro-optics including diffractive and refractive effects. He was a coauthor of a chapter on micro-optics for spectrometry published in International Trends in Applied Optics, Vol. 5, and has published numerous papers.
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text:
The book of the divine counsels being thus lodged in the hand of Christ, he loses no time, but immediately enters upon the work of opening the seals and publishing the contents; but this is done in such a manner as still leaves the predictions very abstruse and difficult to be understood. Hitherto the waters of the sanctuary have been as those in Ezekiel's vision, only to the ankles, or to the knees, or to the loins at least; but here they begin to be a river that cannot be passed over. The visions which John saw, the epistles to the churches, the songs of praise, in the two foregoing chapters, had some things dark and hard to be understood; and yet they were rather milk for babes than meat for strong men; but now we are to launch into the deep, and our business is not so much to fathom it as to let down our net to take a draught. We shall only hint at what seems most obvious. The prophecies of this book are divided into seven seals opened, seven trumpets sounding, and seven vials poured out. It is supposed that the opening of the seven seals discloses those providences that concerned the church in the first three centuries, from the ascension of our Lord and Saviour to the reign of Constantine; this was represented in a book rolled up, and sealed in several places, so that, when one seal was opened, you might read so far of it, and so on, till the whole was unfolded. Yet we are not here told what was written in the book, but what John saw in figures enigmatical and hieroglyphic; and it is not for us to pretend to know "the times and seasons which the Father has put in his own power." In this chapter six of the seven seals are opened, and the visions attending them are related; the first seal in Rev. 6:1, 2, the second seal in Rev. 6:3, 4, the third seal in Rev. 6:5, 6, the fourth seal in Rev. 6:7, 8, the fifth seal in Rev. 6:9-11, the sixth seal in Rev. 6:12-17
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text:
Withings Smart Baby Monitor, Interact with Baby using iPhone and iPad
Withings has reinvented the traditional baby monitor by the release of their Smart Baby Monitor, a 3MP camera built to work together with devices such as an iPhone and iPad. Parents will not only be able to see their baby, but it also allows them to interact with their baby in many ways. Talk to your baby, change the music being played in the room, change the room's temperature from anywhere in the world. The press release appears below:
Las Vegas, Nevada – January 5, 2011- CES/ North Hall/ Booth #3619- Using a baby monitor is paramount when having a baby, which is why Withings is proud of its release of the Smart Baby Monitor. Developed with both technology and design in mind, Withings has produced a device that not only looks stunning, but also gives parents important information on their child's environment and allows them to interact with their child remotely and easily.
Cédric Hutchings, co-founder of Withings says: "We've already established the most seamless interface with smartphones such as the iPhone, so transitioning this technology to other devices is ideal for us. The old-school classical baby monitor with its redundant receiver could not stay away from an unavoidable move to the Internet of Things. That is why Withings revisited it and created an object in line with our current time."
Unlike traditional monitors, the Withings Smart Baby Monitor was made for iPhone users in mind. It does not consist of two physical objects (the camera and the receiver), however it's a smart sensor (camera) alone that can communicate with any existing connected screen (iPhone, iPad, Smartphone, PC, Mac, tablet, eBook reader, LCDTV, etc.).
The Smart Baby Monitor features a high-resolution 3MP camera, extra wide view lens and night vision with infrared LEDs. The Smart baby Monitor can detect any event in the room without being moved.
The smart sensor gives parents access to a multitude of information, including audio/video (day & night vision) and ambient parameters (temperature & humidity) remotely from anywhere in the world.
The Smart Baby Monitor is also equipped with a microphone that allows parents to interact and sooth their child even when they are not physically in the room. Another feature allows parents to control the music (lullabies) that plays in the room through the monitor and can change songs or play-lists right from the living room, the office or from anywhere in the world. Alarms may also be set to alert parents of baby sleep disruption based on parameters such as activity/movement, audio levels and temperature/humidity. These alarms are completely customizable by the user.
Connectivity is made easy for users so the user never has to get anxious with configuring his product. The Withings Smart Baby Monitor will adapt itself to the best network path, be it local with Bluetooth, WiFi or wire.
The design of the product is sleek, modern, simple and unobtrusive. The monitor's hinge design allows parent to open the camera to activate it or adapt it to the vision angle. People simply flip the camera shut to turn it off and stop camera monitoring. The camera is then protected for transportation.
Because the Smart Baby Monitor is a communicant product, it will be enhanced with additional services made by Withings and third parties.
Smart Baby Monitor received two awards from Observeur du Design 2011 and two awards during the Consumer Electronics Show 2011. The Withings Smart Baby Monitor will be available in late March 2011.
For more information, contact PR representatives below or visit www.withings.com/press.
About Withings:
Withings designs, develops, and industrializes connected objects. Withings is a French start-up established by three executives from technology and telecom industry. With a focus on innovation and design for everyday products, Withings introduced in September 2009 its first-of-its-kind WiFi Bodyscale in the world. Withings is an actor of the Internet of Things. Increasing capacities of an object by network resources allows accessing to infinite calculation and storage capacities without increasing the cost. The object's interfaces are also ported to devices like mobile phones or computers, to benefit from their resources. Withings makes internet connected objects.
Media Contact:
Jessica Darrican
Max Borges Agency
O: (305) 576-1171 x.16
Jean-François Kitten
Filed: Hardware • iPad • iPadmodo • iPhone


text:
"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal assistance." Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to the Civil Rights Act of 1964
[Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act is now officially known as Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act as of 2002 upon the death of Patsy T. Mink, the author of the amendment. But for ease, throughout this paper I will refer to the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act as Title IX.]
Since the 1972 conception of Title IX of the Education Amendments, the number of women participating in intercollegiate athletics has increased five-fold, from fewer than 30,000, to more 150,000 in 2001. However, more than 400 men's athletics teams have been dismantled since Title IX became law. Some would say this is due, in part, to Title IX enforcement standards like proportionality. Proportionality requires that an institution's athletic population must be of an equal ratio to its general student body. Among some of the 400-plus teams dismantled by Title IX are several former Colorado State University teams including wrestling, baseball, gymnastics, men's swimming and diving, and men's tennis. Many student athletes no longer have the opportunity of participating in these activities, and the days of the student body rooting for an array of different teams are gone, possibly forever. Now the search is on to find a solution to the problems associated with Title IX if, indeed, a solution is ultimately necessary.
The debate over Title IX is a complex one, with many sides relentlessly attacking each other's approaches regarding the law. The Title IX advocates, largely comprised of women's organizations such as the National Women's Law Center (NWLC), take the approach that the law is the major reason women have achieved somewhat equal opportunities in athletics. The NWLC contends that abolishing Title IX would undo years of progress so far achieved. In sharp contrast with the Title IX advocates are the Title IX opponents, who are largely comprised of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA), along with former coaches and athletes of programs adversely affected by Title IX. This camp also houses those who believe Title IX simply does not work and individuals who believe the law is now, 30-plus years later, out of date. Richard Epstein argues that "women no longer need Title IX to be heard loud and clear" thanks to changes in cultural and social norms (35). The final two approaches fall between the Title IX advocates and the Title IX opponentsthe Title IX proportionality reformers and the Title IX enforcement reformers. Title IX proportionality reformers address the proportionality standards of Title IX, attacking "unfair" tests which demand quotas for female athletic participation. The NWCA also is one of the strongest forces in this camp along with some coaches, athletic directors, and once again, adversely affected former male athletes. Ruth Conniff includes, in this approach, "girls of the post-Title IX generation, who feel pangs of guilt when Title IX is blamed for the elimination of men's sports" (22). The Title IX enforcement reformers argue that universities need more meaningful ways to show compliance than proportionality such as surveys of interest. This group is composed of some athletic directors, coaches, and former male athletes.
Title IX advocates refuse to give any ground when questions arise about what to do with Title IX. Doing so, they believe, could unravel the years of forward progress towards women's equality which Title IX has accomplished in its 31-year history. Title IX advocates value equality which they designate as proportionate numbers of male and female athletes. Title IX advocates unanimously credit Title...


text: This is an old school restaurant in the best sense of the word. It's just fun to be there, it's cozy and warm. Like putting on a soft blanket on a rainy night. The seafood is so fresh and very nicely prepared and served as is the salad and other accoutrements. The bar makes a mean martini. So go on... More


text:
Seismological Research Letters
- © 2005 by the Seismological Society of America
We have developed empirical relations that describe ground-motion amplitudes from earthquakes of 2 < M < 6 at regional distances of 10-500 km in southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States, for ShakeMap applications. The predictive ground-motion parameters are peak ground velocity, peak ground acceleration, and response spectra at frequencies of 1, 2, 5, and 10 Hz. The relations differ from previous relations developed by Atkinson and Boore (1995) in their focus on applicability to the small to moderate regional events important to reliable ShakeMap development. Because of this focus, they are empirical, rather than being based on a stochastic ground-motion model. The stochastic model predictions of Atkinson and Boore (1995) are used at larger magnitudes (M > 4), however, to ensure reasonable values over a broad range of magnitudes (2 to 6).
The new relationships are used to estimate ground-motion parameters for ShakeMaps in Ontario. The ShakeMap program combines predicted ground-motion values with recorded ground-motion values to produce an interpolated map of ground-motion amplitudes. It is essential that the predicted ground-motion values be consistent with recorded values in order to generate reliable ShakeMaps. We found that with our new predictive relations, we obtain ground-motion estimates that closely resemble the recorded ground motions for the small events (2 < M < 4) that occur relatively frequently in eastern North America and are often felt. Thus we recommend the use of our predictive relations for ShakeMap applications in southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States. They are not intended for engineering predictions for large rare earthquakes (M > 6).
ShakeMap, originally conceived by Wald et al. (1999), is a Web-based near-real-time map that shows the spatial distribution of recorded peak ground motions (velocity, acceleration, and response spectra) and estimates the corresponding felt effects. ShakeMap begins by determining ground-motion amplitudes for a network of grid points on the map. At grid points where no actual records are available, ShakeMap uses prediction equations to estimate ground-motion parameters as a function of the event's magnitude and location. ShakeMap combines these estimated ground motions with the recorded values to produce contour maps of ground-motion parameters. These parameters are then used to estimate the felt effects, based on empirical relations between ground motions and Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI).
In eastern North America (ENA), ShakeMaps are required for the relatively frequent small to moderate events that are often felt, as well as for larger, potentially damaging events (M 5 to 6). It is important to provide timely information on the shaking from such events. Of course, very large events (M > 6) are also possible but occur only rarely (about once every hundred years) in most ENA regions. These rare events are important for engineering design but are not the focus of our ShakeMap applications. Our ShakeMaps are based on seismographic instrumentation that may go off-scale for such large events at close distances.
Kaka and Atkinson (2004) have shown that for small to moderate events (moment magnitude M < 5), peak ground velocity (PGV) values estimated using common ENA ground-motion relations such as those of Atkinson and Boore (1995) (AB95), Toro et al. (1997), and Campbell (2003) are significantly higher than recorded values. This is a consequence of the focus of these relations, which aim to be most accurate for moderate to large events (M 5-7) at close distance (R < 100 km). A new relation is required for ShakeMap applications with better applicability to small to moderate events (M 3-5) over a broad range of distances (1 to 500 km). It is important to produce reliable maps for these common felt events because operators of critical facilities, such as nuclear power plants, must be able to provide timely information on the ground motions associated with felt events to both the public and regulatory authorities.
In this study, we perform regression analyses to develop empirical relations for peak ground velocity (PGV), peak ground acceleration (PGA), and 50/0 damped response spectra (PSA) at frequencies of 1, 2, 5, and 10 Hz for small to moderate events from southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States. The regression is based on a vertical-component database of 3,097 digital seismograms from 205 earthquakes of Nuttli magnitude (MN) greater than 2.0 that occurred between 1980 and 2004. The great majority of records were obtained on hard-rock sites, but a few southern Ontario stations are on firm soil. The effect of soil amplification is considered negligible because we use the vertical component as the basic ground-motion measure. (Note that the horizontal-to-vertical component ratio technique for estimating site response is based on the assumption that amplification of the vertical-component motion is negligible; see Siddiqqi and Atkinson, 2002). Our ShakeMap implementation is based on input vertical-component motions, which are then amplified to horizontal-component motions according to the site conditions (soil response). The final step of ShakeMap, the conversion of ground-motion amplitudes to intensity, has been dealt with in a previous study (Kaka and Atkinson, 2004) and will not be discussed in this paper.
Our data set is composed of all available broadband three-component and short-period data from the Canadian National Seismographic Network (CNSN) and Portable Observatories for Lithospheric Analysis and Research Investigating Seismicity (POLARIS) network recorded from November 1993 through March 2004 in the study region, plus short-period vertical-component seismograms recorded from 1980 to 1990 on the Eastern Canada Telemetered Network (ECTN) as compiled by Atkinson and Mereu (1992). We also include United States National Seismic Network stations (USNSN) in the study region. Figure 1 shows the locations of seismographic stations and study events. Figure 2 shows the distribution of the compiled database in magnitude and distance. Table 1 lists the date, latitude, longitude, depth, Nuttli magnitude (MN), and moment magnitude (M) for each of the 205 earthquakes analyzed in this study. All the information (except for M) is taken from the Canadian National Earthquake Database (NEDB) published by the Geological Survey of Canada and can be searched at their Web site (http://www.seismo.nrcan.gc.ca/nedb/eq_db_e.php). M values are taken from Atkinson (2004), as calculated from the long-period spectral amplitudes. The regressions use M as the predictive magnitude variable, as do our relationships between instrumental ground-motion parameters and Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) (Kaka and Atkinson, 2004).
The ground-motion equations were obtained by a simple linear regression of the compiled data set to obtain each ground-motion parameter as a function of M and hypocentral distance. The distribution of empirical data, as shown in Figure 2, is insufficient to predict reliable ground motions for larger events (M > 5). It is important that the predictive ground-motion relations predict not only ground motion at low to moderate magnitudes but also be applicable for the larger magnitudes that occur infrequently in the region. Consequently, we added to the empirical database the predicted ground-motion values for 5.0 ≤ M ≤ 7 (in 0.5 magnitudeunit increments, with hypocentral distance in increments of 0.1 log units), as generated by Atkinson and Boore (1995) using the stochastic model. This will ensure that the relations are reasonable when extended to magnitudes greater than those in the recorded database. Thus the ground-motion equations we obtain are based on recorded ground motion at low magnitudes, plus predictions from the Atkinson and Boore (1995) model for M ≥ 5. Table 2 lists the regression coefficients and their standard errors for the fit of the compiled data set to the predictive ground-motion equations, which are of the form (1) where Y is the vertical-component ground-motion parameter (PGV in mm/s, PGA and PSA(f) in cm/s2), R is hypocentral distance in km, and M is moment magnitude.
To evaluate the performance of the regression equations, we analyzed the residuals, defined as the difference between the log of the observed ground-motion value and the log of the predicted value. Figure 3 plots the PGV residuals as a function of distance and moment magnitude. Plots for PGA and PSA(f) are similar in their trends. We use different symbols to distinguish between observed ground-motion values and those generated by the Atkinson and Boore (1995) (AB95) stochastic model. Notably, there is an apparent magnitude trend, attributable to the mismatch between the empirical predictions at low M and the AB95 stochastic model predictions at M > 5. We recognize that there is a strong likelihood that our new empirical relations might overestimate ground-motion values for M ≥ 6 events, as suggested by the decreasing residual trend at large magnitudes seen in Figure 3. This is not a great concern for us, since these events are not the focus of our ShakeMap applications. For ShakeMap, we are interested in accurate prediction of ground motions for the more frequent small to moderate (3 < M < 5) events that are very typical in Ontario. Regression residuals in Figure 3 suggest that for M ≤ 6 events, we obtain reliable ground-motion estimates on average. We note the relatively high standard deviation (σ) (from 0.31 to 0.37 log units) of residuals for the regression analysis; this is expected due to the large magnitude and distance range of our compiled data (see Figure 2).
In Figure 4 we compare our empirical ground-motion relations with those of the AB95 model for an event of M 4.0 near Maniwaki, Québec which occurred on 12 October 2003. Our empirical ground-motion equations closely predict the recorded ground motions, while the AB95 relations significantly overpredict ground-motion values for this event. This result is typical. Similar comparisons for other events (e.g., 1999/03/16 M 4.5, 2003/08/20 M 3.0, 2003/10/18 M 3.0) also indicate overprediction of recorded amplitudes for small events by the AB95 relations. This is not entirely surprising, since the AB95 relations were developed primarily for M ≥ 5 events.
We have developed empirical ground-motion equations based on regression of a vertical-component database of 3,097 digital seismograms from 205 earthquakes of moment magnitude (M) 2 to 6 that occurred between 1980 and 2004. The relations are useful for the purpose of generating reliable ShakeMaps in Ontario for small to moderate regional events. The predicted parameters are peak ground velocity (PGV), peak ground acceleration (PGA), and 5% damped response spectra (PSA) at frequencies of 1, 2, 5, and 10 Hz. Our predictive equations differ from previous relations developed by Atkinson and Boore (1995) in their applicability to smaller events, and our emphasis on fit to empirical data rather than to model predictions (although model predictions are used to ensure reasonable ground motions for larger magnitudes). Our relations are appropriate for use as the interpolation basis in ShakeMaps for southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States. They are not intended for engineering ground-motion predictions for rare moderate to large events.
Time series data for the CNSN and POLARIS stations were obtained from the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) Automatic Data Request Manager (http://www.seismo.nrcan.gc.ca/nwfa/autodrm). The CNSN and ECTN data from 1990-2002 were accessed through http://www.seismo.nrcan.gc.ca/nwfa/events. The U.S. stations were obtained from the U.S. Geological Survey's Automatic Data Request Manager (httpc//neic.usgs.gov/neis/autodrm). Short-period data from 1980 to 1990 were complied by Atkinson and Mereu (1992). Our compiled database of ground-motion amplitudes is available upon request to skaka{at}ccs.carleton.ca.
Carleton University


text:
Thursday, October 09, 2014
a week for the books!
6 comments:
- Del said...
I think you are the second girlie from the right in the front row.
How many people in your 19XX class? And how many attended the reunion? I doubt I would recognize anyone from my class - those that are left anyway. Love, Del
- October 9, 2014 at 11:30 PM
- Mostly Turquoise said...
I agree with Del, the big smile is still the same! Good luck with your show, Rayna!
- October 10, 2014 at 3:26 AM
- Charlotta said...
Lovely selfie of you and Bill ❤
- October 10, 2014 at 3:35 AM
- Judy Sall Fiber Art said...
No problem picking you out in the GS photo, and I laughed out loud to see why you were kicked out! Refused to draw inside the lines, right?! Love your selfie with your friend... my best friend from 7th grade thru H.S. is no longer with us, as is the case with many of my graduating class from H.S., but we have a google group where we occasionally keep in touch. Haven't been to a reunion in years, but I was very shy and didn't have too many close pals then... not like now!
- October 10, 2014 at 8:23 AM
- Linda Hicks said...
I agree with all the above :*))
- October 10, 2014 at 10:37 AM
- Janet W said...
I never could tie those neckerchiefs properly either.
- October 10, 2014 at 11:57 AM


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Over a year ago, NHTVSN debuted on the scene is an expansive project which encompassed not only an approach to fashion but also what was hoping to be an ongoing series of complimentary short movies. Their inaugural episode featured Craig Engman (of Addict) and Eddie Hahm (of (COMMUNE)). Unfortunately due to a lack of resources, things were quiet following the first episode. With a new team behind them, NHTVSN has re-visited their video component with a trailer to their second episode seen here. Look for them to chop it up with AF1 afficionado DJ Clark Kent, Nai of Strictly Fitteds and Mez of Mezco Toys. Look for the full episode to debut on September 1st.


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Noël Carroll has suggested that scary films scare because our emotions are structured by the disgusting and dangerous properties of the films' monsters. By contrast, this essay argues that some scary films scare through more direct means than can be explained by entertaining in thought, say, the impure properties of Count Dracula. It is the film itself that disgusts and frightens, by 'taking over' the spectator so that their consciousness of the film is 'contaminated' by the 'spirit' of horror. In this essay, I discuss this state of 'being done by disgust-horror through Roman Polanski's Repulsion (1965). In my reading, Repulsion is about ultrasensitivity to the world and the subsequent, insane fear of intimacy that the film itself directly induces in its spectator. The spectator is threatened with possession in a fashion analogous to the way in which Carole's apartment (her own mind) keeps her captive in her own disgust. This disgust that Carole feels is not merely disgust towards men, but disgust towards the world in general. The effect of this is the devastating, disgusting, schizophrenic terror of being unable to trust one's own senses.
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JUVNL Recruitment 2016 Apply online for 372 JAO jobs will be available with online application form at official site www.juvnl.org.in. Board members of Jharkhand Urja Vikas Nigam Limited have announced to hire best and qualified candidates in the department for the various posts. Candidates may apply for the post such as junior Accountant Officer, Office Assistant, Junior Account Clerk, etc. Interested candidates may apply online for the same from main web portal. Here we are again comes up with the latest employment news for jobless employees. JUVNL recruitment recently out for total 372 seats for the JAO and other posts. Registration process is not starts yet so candidates have to wait few days. We have also provide direct link to apply online for the Jharkhand Urja Vikas Nigam Limited recruitment 2016 at juvnl.org.in
JUVNL Recruitment 2016
Hello candidates… we are presenting you the best job alert for those who come from fresher world and want to do govt. job. This year JUVNL releases job notice for the candidates who have completed their graduation and now looking for the right job. Candidates may apply online for the various jobs such as Junior Accountant Officer, Office Assistant and others. Applicants will get information such as education requirement, age limit, how to apply, submission fees, selection process, etc from this page. We want to inform all the applicants that before you register your form please check official notification once. As the registration process will be shortly begins so keep in touch with us for more updates. For more details please log on to official site i.e. www.juvnl.org.in
Jharkhand Urja Vikas Nigam Limited Recruitment 2016:
JUVNL is stands for Jharkhand Urja Vikas Nigam Limited. It is a well known organization of state in field of power generation. JUVNL works with the best possible utilization of available resources which is poised to bring turn-around in near future. Organization is going with all corners equally energized and activated in country. It announces various jobs for the interested candidates as per the need arise in departments. Board members continuously try to improve their service and for that they hire skilled and talented persons in organization. Now candidates are advice to submit their application form for the mentioned posts. For any details about JUVNL recruitment 2016 refer official site www.juvnl.org.in or keep in touch with us.
Quick Highlights of JUVNL Recruitment 2016:
- Recruiter Name: Jharkhand Urja Vikas Nigam Limited
- Post Name: Junior Accountant Officer
- Total Post: 372 Posts
- Job Location: Jharkhand
- Application Mode: Online mode
- Last date for submission: Update shortly
JUVNL Vacancy 2016 details:
Educational Requirement:
- Applied contenders have to pass out their graduation degree with CA/ ICWA/ MBA Finance course or its equivalent from recognized board of government.
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- Written Exam
- Personal interview
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- Starting date: Declared soon
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- Interested candidates need to log on to official site www.juvnl.org.in
- Candidates should meet all the required criteria.
- Click on the "Carrier"
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- Fill the form with proper manner.
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For more details: www.juvnl.org.in


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|Top 200
|Society & Culture
Join Holly and Tracy as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed In History Class in this podcast by HowStuffWorks.com.
September 30th, 2013
Episode 590 of 973 episodes
Starting in the late 1700s and running for a century, small rural communities in New England were sometimes stricken with a panicked fear that the dead were somehow feeding off the living, and many graves were exhumed in the hopes of ending the attacks.
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A Grammar of the Arabic Language Combined Volume Paperback
v. 1 & 2 in 1v
By (author) William Wright
Format: Paperback
Normal Price: $280.00
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Grammar of the Arabic Language Combined Volume Paperback by William Wright
Book DescriptionDr Wright's translation of Caspari's Arabic Grammar first appeared in 1859. Since that time it has been thoroughly revised and enlarged, and has become the standard authority. Volume I contains sections on orthography and pronunciation, on the verb, the noun and adjective, on numerals, prepositions, adverbs and conjunctions. Volume II deals with syntax and prosody.
Buy Grammar of the Arabic Language Combined Volume Paperback book by William Wright from Australia's Online Bookstore, Boomerang Books.
Book DetailsISBN: 9780521094559
(216mm x 138mm x 41mm)
Pages: 812
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publish Date: 2-Jan-1967
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Books By Author William Wright
British Lion in Zululand, Hardback (January 2017)
Everyone knows about Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana but what happened at the end of the Zulu War has never been told before; and it's every bit as exciting.
Hard Lines, Paperback (September 2016)
This anthology centres on the darker side of southern experience while presenting a remarkable array of poets from diverse backgrounds in the American South. As tough-minded as they are high-minded, the sixty contemporary poets and two hundred poems anthologized in Hard Lines enhance the powerful genre of "Grit Lit".
Catalogue of the Syriac Manuscripts Preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge: Volume 1, Paperback (October 2014)» View all books by William Wright
Originally published in 1901, this book contains the first half of the catalogue of Syriac manuscripts in the collection of the University Library, Cambridge.
» Have you read this book? We'd like to know what you think about it - write a review about Grammar of the Arabic Language Combined Volume Paperback book by William Wright and you'll earn 50c in Boomerang Bucks loyalty dollars (you must be a member - it's free to sign up!)
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khuonger Review
I bought this rug to go under our kitchen table and absolutely LOVE It. it's the perfect texture, very soft under your feet. I love the color as it's light. No snags yet and the carpet has laid nicely- meaning that the ends don't curve up or it doesn't move when you walk on it. I highly suggest this rug if you're looking for something with a sea-grass look.
- How did the color on site compare with the actual product? Matched
- Please tell us about the quality of the product. Excellent!
- How accurate was the on site description of the product? Very accurate!
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The Scourger is a Melodic Death/Thrash Metal band from Helsinki, Finland formed in 2003. Their first full-length album entitled "Blind Date With Violence" was released in early 2006.
The current lineup of The Scourger has come to an end.
The Scourger and its two founding members Jari Hurskainen and Seppo Tarvainen have decided to continue their musical careers apart. Vocalist Hurskainen will continue under the name of The Scourger by himself. All other ex-members Antti Wirman, Kimmo Kammonen, Jani Luttinen and Seppo Tarvainen will continue together. Their new projects will be announced at a later time. The Scourger has released two full length albums via Stay Heavy Records / Cyclone Empire worldwide to date.
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Craig's Western and Mayflower Service Center
Featured Business
Arizona Auto Clinic1001 S 4th Ave
Yuma, AZ 85364-3807
3.2 miles away
"Mark said they completed the service and they got it out within the time they promised. He is pleased..."
Review for Craig's Western and Mayflower Service Center
KARIN B. on 05/24/2014
I always feel that the repair team treats my vehicle like their own. I feel safe and trust their work completely
Vehicle: Ford Freestar
Service Date: 05/12/2014
Review Created: 05/24/2014 09:38 AM


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sun set in under 10 min.
- Posted Jan. 5, 2011 by Cisco Gonzalez Viewed 882 times
- This is a migrated legacy post. Image resolution is low. Info
on my roof but blurry but it was hard for me to focus in on the clouds so far away.
4 There are 4 comments, add yours!
2011.01.19 Edited
Great color and texture of the clouds!
2011.01.06 Edited
2011.01.05 Edited
Thank you , Cisco, for saving my similar set to your favorites! I'm very honored - and I think that mine look identical to yours! We must have captured the same skies! Very well done!
2011.01.05 Edited
these are awesome, especially the last one. nice vivid color!


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Solberg L.E.,University of Oslo |
Hamran S.-E.,Forsvarets Forskningsinstitutt |
Hamran S.-E.,University of Oslo |
Balasingham I.,University of Oslo |
Balasingham I.,Norwegian University of Science and Technology
ACM International Conference Proceeding Series | Year: 2011
This paper studies estimation of the dynamic aorta radius in a realistic geometry where radius variation is used as an indirect measure of central blood pressure. Four different radius estimation approaches were studied where their performance in terms of precision and sensitivity was compared. As a basis for estimation simulations, finite-difference, time-domain electromagnetic simulations of a realistic human model have been performed. Radius estimation should be based on identifying the front and rear reflections from the aorta, however the temporal sensitivity of the front reflection from the aorta is weak and non-linear; therefore robustness of radius estimates is compromised. Nonetheless, this does not preclude using the sensitivity of the rear reflections as a proxy of aorta diameter variation combined with Moens-Korteweg's relationship to perform estimations of mean pressure. Proxies of radial changes are observable and for a precision of around 0.1 mm, the results show that an emitted energy to receiver noise spectral density ratio between 110 dB and 130 dB should be sufficient, depending on the estimator. © 2011 ACM. Source
Forsvarets Forskningsinstitutt | Date: 2012-07-11
Method for collecting information from other radio transmitters and/or receivers for the purpose of coordinating and controlling the interference between transmitters and receivers. The method comprises discovering other radio transmitters and receivers in a network. Peer-to-peer communication is used over the Internet when determining relevant neighboring nodes for own communication and performing resource management for the set of radio transmitters and receivers.
Forsvarets Forskningsinstitutt | Date: 2014-03-13
An imager contains an image sensor with laterally varying spectral response. The imager is scanned over a scene or object to form a spectral image. The spectral responses are repeated at different positions in the field of view so as to reduce the effect of scene nonidealities, such as angle dependence or temporal variation, on the spectral image data. A part of the image sensor may be used for conventional two-dimensional imaging. This part of the image sensor may be used to estimate the scene geometry and scan movement, enabling further improvement in the spectral integrity.
Variation of accumulation rates over the last eight centuries on the East Antarctic Plateau derived from volcanic signals in ice cores
Anschutz H.,Norwegian Polar Institute |
Anschutz H.,Norwegian Geotechnical Institute |
Sinisalo A.,University of Oslo |
Isaksson E.,Norwegian Polar Institute |
And 7 more authors.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres | Year: 2011
Volcanic signatures in ice-core records provide an excellent means to date the cores and obtain information about accumulation rates. From several ice cores it is thus possible to extract a spatio-temporal accumulation pattern. We show records of electrical conductivity and sulfur from 13 firn cores from the Norwegian-USA scientific traverse during the International Polar Year 2007-2009 (IPY) through East Antarctica. Major volcanic eruptions are identified and used to assess century-scale accumulation changes. The largest changes seem to occur in the most recent decades with accumulation over the period 1963-2007/08 being up to 25% different from the long-term record. There is no clear overall trend, some sites show an increase in accumulation over the period 1963 to present while others show a decrease. Almost all of the sites above 3200 m above sea level (asl) suggest a decrease. These sites also show a significantly lower accumulation value than large-scale assessments both for the period 1963 to present and for the long-term mean at the respective drill sites. The spatial accumulation distribution is influenced mainly by elevation and distance to the ocean (continentality), as expected. Ground-penetrating radar data around the drill sites show a spatial variability within 10-20% over several tens of kilometers, indicating that our drill sites are well representative for the area around them. Our results are important for large-scale assessments of Antarctic mass balance and model validation. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union. Source
Nesser P.,Forsvarets Forskningsinstitutt
Terrorism and Political Violence | Year: 2011
The article explores ideological fault lines among Sunni Muslim militants (jihadists) in Europe since the mid-1990s. It argues there have been disputes among the militants about whether to prioritize local struggles or Al Qaeda's global war, and about the legitimacy of launching terrorist attacks in European states offering political asylum to Muslims. It concludes that Europe's militants have become more ideologically unified in conjunction with the invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Mohammed drawings, seeing European countries as legitimate and prioritized targets, and identifying with Al Qaeda. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Source


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