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Extremely portable, at four ounces. Connects to iPods and standard composite video. Rechargeable batteries.
Low brightness limits useful image size. Volume is too low to be useful in most conditions. No audio output connection.
Bottom Line
No bigger than a cell phone, the Optoma Pico PK101 projector is small enough to carry anywhere and is a particularly good companion for a video iPod.
Some toys...uh...gizmos...uh...products rate so high on the cool gadget scale that it almost doesn't matter how well they work, and the price is a decidedly secondary consideration. The Optoma Pico PK101 ($399 direct) is a case in point. What's so cool about it? Well, how many projectors have you seen that weigh four ounces and can fit in a shirt pocket? If that doesn't grab your attention, you are not now, and never have been, a gadget geek.
Similar Products
Pico projectors first reared their collective heads in early 2008, with pre-production versions announced at CES. I've been anticipating getting my hands on a production unit ever since, and have been promised early units from three different manufacturers. The PK101 is the first to arrive. (Another, from 3M, is already available as well, and I should have one in hand to review shortly. A third, from Microvision, is promised for the first half of 2009.)
The various pico projectors announced to date have not just been different products, but different types of projectors using an assortment of technologiesDLP, laser, and LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon). The one thing they have in common is size. The engines themselves are small enough to fit inside other devices, like cameras and cell phones. You can be sure they'll be showing up in those devices at some point, so you'll be able to project the photos you've taken on your cell phone, say, directly from your phone.
For the first generation, however, the focus is on standalone projectors like the PK101. In general, these projectors are small enough to carry with you at all times, as accessories for a cell phone or iPod. You can use them for impromptu presentationspotentially connecting them to your cell phone or camera to show pictures, for example (assuming appropriate connectors all around). In the case of the PK101, you can take advantage of the iPod cable it comes with to show movies from your iPod at large size on any handy blank wall.
Optoma's projector is built around a TI engine that marries a 480-by-320 resolution DLP chip to an LED light source that changes sequentially from red to green to blue, the three primary colors that your visual system translates into all the colors you see on screen. The LEDs are rated at 20,000 hours, which means they should last the life of the unit.
The projector is roughly the size and shape of a cell phone, at 0.6 by 2.0 by 4.0 inches (HWD), with the bottom defined by rubber feet to help keep the unit from moving, and the front defined by the lens on one of the 2-inch sides. Some real effort clearly went into making the projector look good, too. The result is an elegant mix of shiny black and silver.
One minor issue is that the black plastic does a great job of taking fingerprints. This may make a good basis for a CSI episode one day, but I found myself repeatedly wiping the case off so it wouldn't look smudged. On the other hand, Optoma supplies a small black protective case, not much larger than the projector itself, so you can carry the PK101 around without handling it or risking a scratch.
Also helping add to the sense of elegant good looks is the visual simplicity of the PK101's controls and connectors. There are only two of each: a focus wheel, a slide switch (power off, low brightness, and high brightness), a mini jack for input, and a USB connector for power.
With so few controls and connections, setup is almost trivial. In addition to the carrying case, the projector comes with two lithium ion batteries, a power block, a USB cable that can connect between the projector and either the power block or a computer's USB port (for power only), and two adaptor cables that can plug into the projector's AV portone with an iPod connector on the other end, and one with three female RCA phono plug connectors, for composite video and stereo audio.
To set up the projector, you install one of the batteries (they come already charged), plug in the appropriate adaptor cable to connect to an iPod or a standard composite video source, point the projector at any handy open space on a wall, and focus the image. That's it.
According to Optoma, the batteries will last 2 hours on a full charge in low-brightness mode or 1 hour at high brightness. Recharging takes 2 hours if you are only charging, or up to 4 hours if you are using the projector at the same time. Unfortunately, the only way to recharge a battery is by putting it in the projector, which you plug into a power source, so you can't charge one battery while using the other. If you start with both fully charged, however, you can switch batteries when the first runs out, or you can plug into a power source if both batteries are dead. I verified in my tests that the batteries can recharge even while the projector is working.
The ultimate question, of course, is how good the projected image looks. The answer is that it looks good enough to be useful. The PK101's rated brightness is only 11 lumens, which sounds like nothing compared with, say, a home entertainment projector in the 1,000-lumen range, but 11 lumens is a lot brighter than you might expect.
Keep in mind that perception of brightness is roughly logarithmic, so you have to increase brightness by 10 times to perceive an image as being twice as bright, or by 100 times to perceive it as four times as bright. Judged by perception, then, an 11-lumen projector would be about a quarter as bright as an 1,100-lumen projector. Given that 1,100 lumens is a perfectly respectable level for watching movies at reasonably large size in a home theater, 11 lumens should be suitable for a somewhat smaller image.
Unfortunately, I can't report on the PK101's tested brightness, because our tests require connecting the projector to a computer, and the brightness may not be enough to measure reliably in any case. What I can confirm is that I was able to watch a one-hour television show in a darkened room with a 24-inch diagonal image, without eyestrain and without feeling that the image wasn't up to par.
Consider the 24-inch size a conservative minimum. I picked it because larger images seemed a bit dim, although they were still useable. Even at 24 inches, some details got lost in dark areas in scenes that weren't well lit. But the key point is that the image was bright enough to be comfortable to look at for an extended period.
The projector did well on image quality too. Colors were fully saturated, skin tones were realistic, and although I saw the DLP rainbow effect occasionallywith white areas breaking up into red-green-blue rainbowsit didn't show up often enough to be annoying. The volume on the built-in speaker was far too low for my tastes, but it's better than having no sound at all.
Arguably, Optoma's most impressive achievement with the PK101 is that it doesn't have the look and feel of being a first-generation product. There are no obvious oversights, poor design choices, or a general sense that it's not ready for prime time.
To the contrary, the PK101 is well designed from both a technological and an aesthetic perspective. It's easymake that virtually foolproofto set up and use; it projects a high quality image; and it delivers new flexibility to projector use that other manufacturers are still only promising. Unfortunately, as much as I like the PK101, it can't earn an Editors' Choice. It represents a brand new category, it's the only projector in that category I've yet had a chance to test, and there's at least the possibility that it will soon be surpassed by competitors. That said, it will take an impressive projector indeed to outdo the PK101. Once I've seen some others to measure it against, it will surely be a strong contender.
For more on this tiny projector, check out our hands-on video with the Optoma Pico PK101 and its main competitor, the 3M Mpro110, on Gearlog.com.
More Projector Reviews:
Epson PowerLite 1795F Wireless Full HD 1080p 3LCD Projector
Sony MP-CD1 Mobile Projector
Epson EX3260 SVGA 3LCD Projector
AAXA P2-B Pico Projector
AAXA P6 Pico Projector


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Pretty Little Liars fans, you're a dedicated bunch. Prior to the PLL 100th-episode party, I was inundated with amazing, inquisitive questions via Twitter and email about everything from Spoby to Ezria to Emison. At the Saturday-night soiree at Drai's at the chic W Hotel Hollywood, I witnessed those magnetic pairings in person and can say this is a tight group. Executive producer Marlene King said it best: "We feel like we're celebrating a giant birthday party together. We're such a family." And this family had plenty to say about what's to come, their most memorable moments, and so much more.
Lucy Hale (Aria Montgomery)
On the most romantic Ezria scene... "It hasn't aired yet, so I can't talk about it! [Laughs] We left everyone with the biggest bombshell ever whether Ezra is alive or dead, so you find that out. I just feel bad for both of them because they can never just be content and happy. They just can't have a functional relationship, which makes for good television then! But it's a pretty sexy scene, I will say that."
Ian Harding (Ezra Fitz)
On the most memorable scene with Lucy Hale... "Well, one we shot pretty recently was pretty memorable! It's pretty great! Sometimes it's fun when we do pickup shots. For instance, in season two she had to rest her hand on my hand while I was at a desk at Rosewood High, and we had to get it just right, so we were figuring out how our fingers interlocked, and we were like, 'No, less of the index! More of the middle? Less middle? Uh.' So that's the romance right there! Like, 10 minutes of a silly technical thing. [Laughs]"
Ian is wearing a Jacob Holston SS14 suit featuring a blue plaid shirt and a cream double-breasted suit jacket.
Janel Parrish (Mona Vanderwaal)
On her most memorable moment... "Probably shooting the pilot because we had no idea where it would go, and we just felt like we were part of something special."
Keegan Allen (Toby Cavanaugh)
On the future of Spoby... "Well, Toby gets back from London with really long hair. I was growing it out for Locks of Love, so I donated it. He comes back from London, and he's just been connecting more with Spencer now that she's let him in a little bit more. I can promise fans they'll get exactly what they want and more and maybe they'll be intrigued by what happens."
Shay Mitchell (Emily Fields)
On the most memorable moment... "For my character, it has to be Emily's coming out. It was so important for her and for me. I wanted the world to be like, 'OK, this is how it should be done. Your friends and family should be supportive! It doesn't change who you are.' Getting the positive feedback from the fans was such an amazing thing. Hands down, that's my favorite moment."
On what's in store for Emison... "I just want Emily to be happy, and I wish that for all the girls. It's going to be interesting having that love triangle coming because Paige and Alison don't get along that well, so having Alison back and that being Emily's first love is going to be very interesting to see if anything can develop from that again or if it was anything ever. It will be one to look out for."
__What spoiler are you most excited about? I'll have more with the cast coming next week before the season five premiere!

subset: commoncrawl


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Understanding Food: Principles and Preparation
Cengage Learning, Jun 1, 2010 - Medical - 704 pages
UNDERSTANDING FOOD: PRINCIPLES AND PREPARATION is a best-selling food fundamentals text ideal for an undergraduate course that covers the basic elements of food preparation, food service, and food science. It is contemporary and comprehensive in coverage and introduces students to the variety of aspects associated with food preparation. UNDERSTANDING FOOD: PRINCIPLES AND PREPARATION, Fourth Edition, thoroughly explores the science of food through core material on food selection and evaluation, food safety, and food chemistry. The various aspects of food service are covered: meal planning, basic food preparation, equipment, food preservation, and government regulations. The final sections of the text cover food preparation, classification, composition, selection, purchasing, and storage information for a range of traditional food items. A rich illustration and photo program and unique pedagogical features make the information easily understandable and interesting to students.
Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.
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added American Dietetic Association bacteria baked products beans beef beverages boiling bread brown butter cake calories calories kcal candies carbohydrates Cereal cheese chemical CHEMIST'S CORNER chicken chocolate coffee color compounds consumed contain cooked cookies cool corn dietary dishes dough dried egg whites enzymes fatty acids fermentation fiber Figure fish flavor flour food additives food safety Food Science Food Technology foodborne illness fresh fruit functional foods G G G gelatin gluten Grade grains grams heat ice cream ingredients Journal of Food juice kcal liquid meat method milk mixing mixture moisture molecules mouthfeel nutrients Nutrition oven pasta pastry pectin potatoes poultry preparation protein quick breads refrigerator result rice roast salad salt sauce served soft soups starch steam storage sucrose sugar sweet sweeteners syrup taste temperature tender texture tion tomato types USDA vegetables vitamin wheat wine yeast yolk


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Change of a Dress
We've always been fans of the colorful, quirky style of one Ms. Kate Spade. Now, our favorite design house has moved a hop and a skip from Fillmore Plaza to Cherry Creek Shopping Center. Brimming with looks that are both girlish and glam, Kate Spade New York's Denver presence couldn't be more welcomed. We especially love the Arabian Nights flair of the spring collection, which is fraught with tassels, natural fibers and adorably appointed camels. Also check out the Beyond Yoga X Kate Spade athleisure wear. It'll take your workout game up several fashionable notches.
More at katespade.com or 303.270.0195
Images courtesy of Kate Spade New York


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A Melton councillor is due to appear in court on Thursday to face two benefit fraud charges.
Gary Bush (57), of Grange Drive, is charged with failing to notify Melton Council of changes in his circumstances, affecting his entitlement to claim council tax benefit, between July 18, 2011 and January 1,2012 and between October 29, 2012 and January 31, 2013.
Mr Bush entered no pleas to the charges when he previously appeared at Leicester Magistrates' Court on March 12.
He will next appear at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
Mr Bush has been suspended from the Labour Party 'pending the results of an internal investigation.'
The acting leader of Melton Council's Labour Group is now councillor John Moulding.


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When Bentley announced its return to Le Mans in late 2000, it was clearly stated that it would be a three year programme with victory the only aim. After two years development, during which the Bentleys proved to be fast and reliable, outright victory was achieved on schedule and as hoped for in June this year. As a result, Bentley Motors confirmed today that Bentley would not be returning to Le Mans in 2004 although the company will continue to review its position.
Said chairman and CEO Franz-Josef Paefgen: "Le Mans is part of our rich heritage and is very important to us. It has also helped us revive the unique spirit of Bentley and it has created a new motorsport heritage for the marque, but when we announced our return in November 2000 we always said this would be a three year programme. In the past three Le Mans we have been more successful than we could have dreamed, culminating in first and second places for the Bentley Speed 8 at this most famous of races this year. This has provided an excellent boost for our image and a successful communications platform for the introduction of the Continental GT, which has been launched to great acclaim."
He continued: "I'm not saying we are leaving motorsport for good, and we will certainly continue to review our position. But being pragmatic, all our efforts need to be concentrated on the next phase of our regeneration, and our priority is delivering a new range of Bentleys to our rapidly expanding customer base."Published 22 October 2003


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Off road activities consist of dune bashing, raid, mudding, rock racing, rock crawling and many other enthusiastic sports which involve danger. If you like amusement and sensational activities then you need to use latest technology for your safety. LED off road lights is the brand new technology for this passion. Our leading edge LED bars are in demand because of its small size and better lighting power. Apart from this, it overcomes the problems of incandescent lights. It's become the most efficient light source other than halogens for spot beam, flood beam, fog beam, driving beam, diffused and wide beam applications. Our collection of brightest LED off road Lights comprises of forward projecting and auxiliary Fog light bumper mounting kit, Led light bar, aluminum mount/bracket for SUV/RV bumper, Stainless Steel hardware, Compact Utility Market LED Flood Light with 32 Single Stud Mount LED, Pencil Beam Pattern Chrome Housing Dual LED Light, Marker lights and numerous of other products. All these LED off road Lights having various shapes, sizes, tones and designs with unsurpassed quality and leading components for these industrial applications and heavy equipment. The LED off road light accessories includes LED diffused lights, Fog light exterior brackets, Dual mount, complete adjustable pillar mounting brackets, LED surface mount, tube clamp mounting kit, shield cover and a lot more.
LED which is expanded as Light Emitting Diode. These lights are slim and sleek. It doesn't use a filament or ballast to produce light. It is just a semi-conductor diode which emits light when current pass through it. LEDs have visible, infrared and ultraviolet wavelength which help them to produce brighter light. Philips Lumileds and CREE LED provide the powerful LEDs with industry leading light output. These waterproof LEDs use much larger semiconductor die sizes to handle the large power inputs operation. LEDs are safer and stronger to use as it does not contain mercury, which means it is eco-friendly. We carry top manufacturers such as Rigid Industries, PIAA, Hella, Vision X and KC HiLities.
When it comes to Xtralights LED 4WD driving offroad lights then, we perfectly use the LED lighting revolution with optical technology. It is highly durable that you don't need to change or replace it for years. It is more energy efficient as compared to incandescent lights. Generally, LEDs have extremely small size which means various LEDs can be easily placed on a circuit board. Our industry leading LED offroad lights have increased physical resistance and glow up instantly when power button is on. LED off road lights supports improved LED reliable characteristic that it is cool in nature, salt water/corrosion resistant and shock/vibratio proof to withstand the rough country elements and harshest environments.
All Xtralights exclusive LED off road lights and their assemblies can be easily installed on your vehicle without any fitment hassle. Our collection of heavy duty LED off-road racing lights is made up of tough stainless steel. This collection can withstand in all circumstances, whether it is a heavy rain, snowfall or any other dark situation. Mostly, our LED off road lights has Polycarbonate Lens and these lights never emit UV light. If you are driving on rough terrain then, LED off road lights never produce bouncing light. Because of these features, LED off road lights are immensely in demand.
For your adventurous trip, LED off road lights is the best choice as it boosts your enjoyment and entertainment. If you want to safely drive the off road trip, then, only Xtralights LED off road lights can offer you that confidence.


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HTC M8 specs gain new details in latest leak
We've been talking about the HTC M8 since early this past summer, when the model was depicted as HTC's 2014 flagship to succeed the One. Recently, interest in the M8 has been on the uptick, with some possible images of the handset leaking, and some early stabs being made at a hardware configuration. The latter is what concerns us this evening, as we get a look at some supposed M8 benchmark results.
We had already talked about the idea of the M8 having a five-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 800 SoC, and running KitKat – no big surprises there. Today's data tends to support all that, while embellishing a little more. We see specs like 2GB of RAM, not following Samsung into 3GB territory, and just 16GB of storage. It looks like UltraPixel isn't going away anytime soon, with mention of a 4MP main camera, and the Snapdragon 800 is IDed as the updated AB version (though not the even newer AC).
Still, we're a little leery of this find. It all just a bit predictable, and quite easy to fake. We're also curious about the model number the M8 is offered, 0P6B120. That's not a format we're familiar with seeing from HTC, though maybe being a pre-production model might have a little to do with that. In any case, we're going to need more convincing before we bite.
Source: Steve Hemmerstoffer (Twitter)
Via: BGR


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I get a few people asking me what the best way is to learn electronics. For me nothing is better than actually doing electronics and seeing all the stuff happen right in front of you. Perhaps the most useful tool I own is a tiny USB oscilloscope I bought years ago from Measurement Computing.
An oscilloscope can do something that a meter really can't – it can let you see inside the circuits you are building and watch the behaviour in real-time.
Oscilloscope technology moved to digital a while ago, which resulted in a glut of the older analog style scopes for sale on Ebay. Although not as trendy as their digital cousins, analog scopes are still very capable, and they have one advantage – real knobs that do stuff – no shifting through menus of functions and up/down buttons – lots of knobs and they all work quickly.
I recently bought a Tektronix 4 channel 350Mhz scope for around $300 – this one has partial digital capability (setting storage and recall, voltage and frequency/phase "calipers" and a computer interface at the back).
The computer interface had to be installed, so I opened it up – just take a look at the 80's microelectronics – nowadays all that stuff would be on one or two chips.


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The purpose of the TASF (Transaction Advisory Services Facility) is to support mini-grid project developers by providing advisory services to strengthen mini-grids operating models, increase their commercial viability and ultimately their bankability.
The aim of the TASF is to address select market barriers in order to mobilize resources and investments that will commercialize and scale-up mini-grids in Tanzania. These transaction advisory services will address the lack of proven commercially viable business models, sector level data and information on the markets and resources, the limited technical and business capacity that exists among developers and access to finance challenges. One of the primary parts of the component is the Transaction Advisory Services Facility (TASF).
TASF has the following objectives:
The advisory services provided will comprise of the following:
Apart from the aforementioned advisory services, 12 trainings and capacity building workshops will be organized by the team for the mini-grid developers suited to their needs through the project lifetime. (For more information, click here.)
Rural Energy Agency (REA) is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Energy and Minerals of the United Republic of Tanzania. Its main role is to promote and facilitate improved access to modern energy services in rural areas of Mainland Tanzania.


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Majora Carter, the 41-year-old founder of the non-profit environmental justice group Sustainable South Bronx, will share lessons learned during her work creating parks, building green roofs and developing a green-collar-job training program. Among other awards, Carter won a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant in 2005.
Carter will speak at 4 p.m. Monday at a two-day conference called "Creating Resilience in Sustainable Communities." Among more than two dozen other speakers will be indoor air expert John Spengler, of Harvard University; J. Marty Anderies, a professor of human evolution and social change at Arizona State University; entrepreneur Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious Materials; and Keith Tidball, associate director of the Civic Ecology Initiative at Cornell University.
The conference at the Oncenter convention center costs $200 for individuals and $35 for students (but it's free for students who forego meals). Watch for live coverage Monday at www.syracuse.com/green.


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Infinity Photography by David Springford
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