So let’s say you’re a voiceover artist like yours truly and you decide that rather than just buy a computer to use as your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), you’d rather build one yourself so that you have greater control over the components that go into it and, hopefully, will end up with a purpose-built system that does the job well and costs less than one you’d buy from a manufacturer who specializes in pre-fab DAW machines.
If you have some experience inside the case of a computer, this is entirely do-able. As to whether or not it’s the best solution is totally up to you and your situation. It could in fact save you money, or it could end up costing you more. It will almost certainly take much more time and effort than buying one pre-fab, but sometimes just the process itself is worth a little effort if you have fun with this sort of thing or want to learn about building PCs. Plus, then you end up with something that is, hopefully, exactly what you want without being less or more.
First let’s just go through a run-down of the components you’ll need:
Sound Card or Audio Interface
Monitor / Display
Keyboard / Mouse
Whew…that’s a fair amount of stuff, huh?
Now, before you even start to think about that there list, you need to ask yourself what OS you’re going to run. Vista is spiffy and looks great and has some really cool features. I’ve also found it to be quite stable. However, many audio hardware manufacturers have been extremely slow to release stable, efficient Vista drivers for their hardware. Please note this is no fault of Vista but of the manufacturers themselves. So if you already have a favorite bit of hardware that doesn’t run under Vista yet, contact the manufacturer and ask them what’s taking them so darn long!
Note that on 2/12/08, Microsoft released a number of Windows updates for Vista and to be honest, it’s the first time I’ve encountered ANY stability issues with the OS. I’m not sure what part of those updates, specifically, has caused this flakiness, and it seems to have mostly corrected itself (perhaps with another couple of updates on 2/13), but I’m hopeful that the remaining issues are resolved asap since, again, up til now, I’ve had extremely stable performance from Vista on every machine I’ve run it on.
Ok, since everybody’s going to have different preferences and needs from their system, I’m not saying that my choices for components are the “right” way to do it, but one example. In fact there are a couple of things I would (and might) change, but I’ll talk about those in a few minutes. My main goal here is to shed some light on the process and things you need to consider when building your own DAW.
Before I get into how I made my selections, let’s just spend a few minutes going over what each of the above components is and how it relates to the others.
- Case – This is the shell that the majority of the computer’s bits fit inside of. Sometimes people call this the “tower”. I’ve heard many people mistakenly call this the “hard drive” but a hard drive is a component that goes inside the case.
- Motherboard – The primary electronic component of the computer, the motherboard or mainboard as it’s sometimes called, is a large circuitboard that everything gets connected to either directly or indirectly.
- Power Supply – Fits inside the case and supplies power to the system.
- Processor – The processor, or CPU, is the primary computing component of the whole system. Some people like to call this the “computer’s brain”. Those people usually have trouble answering their cell phones (just kidding!)
- Memory – Memory, or RAM, is where programs and files are loaded while they’re being used. The more memory your system has (up to a point) the faster it’ll run, because the computer can load more programs and files into memory, which is accessed very quickly. RAM only operates while the computer is turned on.
- Hard Drives – These, also known as disk drives, are the “permanent” storage for your computer, meaning data stored on the hard drive isn’t lost when the computer is turned off, as it is with RAM.
- Sound Card or Audio Interface – This is what takes your voice, by way of a microphone and any other components you add to your audio chain, such as a pre-amplifier or mixer, and turns it from an analog audio signal to a digital one that can be stored as data on your computer.
- Monitor / Display – This is the part that looks kind of like a TV and it’s what you’re looking at right now. And now. And again now.
- Speakers, Keyboard / Mouse, Printer – If I have to explain these, I’m afraid this article isn’t going to do you much good. Sorry :)
Case, Motherboard, Processor & Power Supply
Why are these four things all lumped together? Well, in many ways, the choice of one directly affects the choice of the others, or at least limits the choices you’ll make. In the case of building a DAW, and in fact in building any computer, what you’re going for are tailoring the equipment to your specific needs. In my case, I’d determined that I wanted a machine with very good performance and longevity, but without paying a premium for everything when all was said and done.
With that in mind, I started by thinking about what kind of processor, or CPU, I’d want to use. I knew that I wanted an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and the one I chose was fast without being the fastest thing on the market at the time, which will save you a lot of money in most cases. Generally one or two steps down from the absolute state of the art in processors is where you’ll find the best value – the best performance for the money. Sometimes, the 2nd fastest processor available at a given time is half the cost of the fastest one, but only 5% to 10% slower, so it’s a pretty good deal.
Now that I had decided on a processor, it was time to pick a motherboard for the system. Different motherboards only accept certain CPUs, so again, some forethought has to go into what you’re planning for the whole system so that the various components match up.
So once I’d selected my processor, I did some research and found a motherboard that seemed to suit all of my needs. Obviously, the motherboard had to support the processor that I’d chosen, so that was step one. I also wanted one that had eSATA controllers for the hard drives. An eSATA connection is a very fast hard drive controller technology. Fast drives are important in a DAW because you want to make sure that your hard drives, where your audio will be recorded to and saved, are fast enough to keep up with the bit-rate (how fast the data is processed) of your audio and the software that you use to record it. Just FYI the motherboard I chose is the Asus P5B Deluxe.
Not only did this motherboard have eSATA controllers, but it also included a SATA RAID controller. RAID, which stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks, is a way of using multiple hard drives together either to improve the performance of them, add redundancy to safeguard your data, or both. RAID use is a bit technical…there are various “levels” of RAID, meaning various ways to use the technology depending on your needs. I chose RAID-5, which means that with at least three disks in the array working together, your data is safe even if one disk fails. Pretty cool stuff…there’s a bit of a performance hit with RAID-5, especially when compared to RAID-0, which is very fast, but RAID-0 is vulnerable because if a disk goes bad, your data is lost.
RAID-5 can survive a disk failure without losing data. If this happens, you simply replace the drive that failed with new one (of the same type) and the data is “rebuilt” onto the new drive. This process is generally done by the RAID controller itself and invisible to the user, which is pretty handy.
I figured that with the speed of the eSATA controller and the speed of drives available these days, the slight performance hit by using RAID-5 would be overcome enough to not have any issues with recording audio at sustained bitrates (and true enough, this has never been an issue…the system performs great).
The motherboard I chose also has an IEEE 1394, or FireWire, controller built in, and it’s controlled by a Texas Instruments chipset. Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t need to know (or care) who makes the FireWire controller, but in researching DAWs online as well as audio interfaces (we’ll get to those later), I noticed that a number of manufacturers claimed that their hardware only worked with Texas Instruments FireWire chipsets. I have no idea if this is true, and at the time I didn’t even know what type of audio interface I would be using, but I figured since this motherboard used the TI chipset anyway, it was a good bet because it would offer another level of flexibility in terms of choosing the audio interface when I got to that point.
So now that I’d decided on a processor and motherboard, it was time to pick a case. Cases are generally standardized in certain respects, such as layout of the attachment points for the motherboard, the I/O panel cutout (the area where the various ports will be available on the back of the machine), where the power supply goes, etc. Of course their are always exceptions, but for today’s PCs, generally what you’ll be looking at are some variant of what’s called an ATX case. This isn’t a brand, but a sort of “standard” for cases. There are also a number of BTX cases available as well. ATX and BTX cases are not compatible with each other, as they have their I/O panels and expansion slots in different places. This comes into play when selecting a motherboard (motherboards are also identified by their layout standard), so you’ll need to pair an ATX motherboard with an ATX case, etc.
Call me silly, but one of the things I was looking for in a case was something that was a little bit different looking and that had a certain “cool factor” to it. For this reason, I chose the red Vento case by Asus. It didn’t look like much else on the market, the color was vibrant and it definitely looked high tech and cool. I also read a little about it and found that people thought it had very good airflow characteristics, which is good, because I was going to try to use a minimal number of fans within my DAW, so a case with better airflow is going to make better use of the fans that are there.
Ok, so the last component in this group is the power supply. There are a couple of hard and fast requirements here. First, the power supply has to have the right connectors for your motherboard and second, it has to supply enough power for the other components that you’ll build into your DAW. The one component in a system that will often require a beefy power supply is the video card, since many current video cards, especially those designed for gaming and advanced 3D graphics, use a LOT of power. Fortunately, for my needs, cutting edge graphics aren’t a requirement, so I figured that based on what components I’d be using, a 500W power supply should do the trick. I did some research and found that the Thermaltake W0093RU power supply had gotten good reviews both for reliablity and noise, meaning that it wasn’t too loud.
This should serve as a mildly annoying reminder that you simply can’t trust the opinions of people you don’t know. While I’m sure the power supply is much quieter than many, it certainly isn’t “quiet” empirically. In fact, I’ll probably swap out this power supply at some point because it simply is too loud.
Now, with regard to the power supply, you need to make sure that the power supply you choose has the proper connectors for your motherboard and video card, especially if you’re building a system with a high-end card, because they often require their own power connector. As an example, your motherboard may require a 20+4 pin connector, a 12v 4-pin connector or both. This one has both as well as plenty of peripheral connectors. But again, it’s not as quiet as I would have liked. Moving on then.
When you look at motherboards, you’ll see that they’re rated for memory up to a certain speed, and this can be determined by the rating of the Front Side Bus or FSB. So if your motherboard has an 800MHz FSB, then you can use memory rated up to that speed. Many motherboards support different speeds of memory so that if you want to use slower / cheaper memory for now, then upgrade later, you have the ability to do that. However, I would recommend buying the fastest memory you can afford to buy for the FSB of your motherboard, and to get at least 2GB of memory.
Since memory is where your applications and data are loaded into while you’re using them, fast memory means faster performance in your computer. And having 2GB of memory means that your software will run fast even when you have multiple programs open. This is good, because it means your system won’t “page” software to disk…if it did this, there’s a good chance your audio would be glitchy since the computer would be trying to stream audio to disk at the same time it’s trying to swap program data to and from disk.
While disk access is very fast, it’s not nearly as fast as RAM access, so again, my recommendation is to have at least 2GB of the fastest memory your system supports.
Note that under Windows XP, only 2GB of memory is supported. Under Vista (the 32-bit version), you can have up to 4GB of memory in the system, not all of which will be usable by the system. This is due to some technical limitations with 32-bit computing and system architecture that I won’t go into, but for most people, 32-bit is still a good idea, especially if you’re more interested in software compatibility than you are the “ultimate” processing performance. Again, given that the audio manufacturers and developers aren’t known for having bleeding-edge, stable hardware and software, I would recommend, at least for the time being, sticking with a 32-bit OS (Win XP, Vista 32-bit) for now.
Ok, again, this is an area that people always disagree on. And there’s no right or wrong here, so just give this a little thought and make the best decision for you.
As I mentioned when talking about my motherboard above, I wanted to implement RAID-5 so that I’d have data redundancy. But it’s also a good idea to have your data on a different drive than your operating system and software. Fortunately, I was able to do this with my system, because the motherboard has the SATA RAID controller AND a secondary SATA controller. So I used the secondary SATA controller for the system’s primary (boot) disk, and set up the SATA RAID to use 3 hard drives for the RAID array, where all my data would be stored.
So far, this has worked out extremely well and as I mentioned, I haven’t had any performance issues at all. Part of this, though, is selecting fast hard drives. SATA and eSATA are already fast technologies, with very good data throughput. And you’ll see, for instance, that if you look at a SATA 3.0 drives, that they all are rated at 7200RPM, so there’s not a ton of variation in performance between drives. You’ll see things like seek times and write times expressed in milliseconds, and you’ll notice that they’re all very close.
I chose some Seagate drives, because I’ve had very good luck with Seagate products in the past and these drives, which use “perpendicular recording” are supposed to have some of the best performance times and quietest operation among SATA 3.0 drives.
Now, with RAID-5, again, you need at least three drives, and the capacity of your RAID array is the total of all your drives minus one. In my case, I got three 250GB drives, so my RAID array is 500GB (250 * 3 = 750, minus one drive at 250 = 500 total). RAID-5 supports more than three drives…just use the same formula to calculate your total…and of course you can also get higher capacity drives which, at the time, were too expensive for the budget I’d set for myself. Also, the SATA RAID controller only would allow for 3 drives (there are dedicated RAID controllers that allow for more) so this is where I ended up.
Actually I got four drives, because as I mentioned, there are three in the RAID array and one used for the system’s boot and program disk.
Sound Card or Audio Interface
Let’s not forget we’re not just building an “ordinary” PC here, we’re building a Digital Audio Workstation. So the Sound Card or Audio Interface is one of the most directly important parts of the system. There are many, many options to choose from and, again, what you choose is going to be dictated by a lot of factors.
First let’s discuss the difference between a Sound Card and an Audio Interface. Both serve the same purpose…to bring in an analog audio signal and convert it to a digital signal that can be manipulated on the computer and stored as digital audio. A sound card goes inside your computer and gets plugged into one of the slots on the motherboard. If you’ve ever owned a desktop PC with a variation of a Sound Blaster, then you’re already familiar with sound cards, as that’s what the Sound Blaster is. In a higher-end or pro-audio sound card, there’s usually an additional component in the form of either a bundle of cables coming out of the back of the card (such as XLR connectors to plug in pro microphones) or what’s called a breakout box, which is another device connected to the back of the soundcard. Usually the breakout box includes the various I/O (input / output) connectors.
An audio interface, on the other hand, is an external device that usually attaches to the computer through either a USB or FireWire port. Instead of the computer’s sound card doing the analog-to-digital (and reverse) work, this is done inside the audio interface and then sent to the computer through the USB or FireWire connection.
In each case, the hardware you choose will have drivers that allow your chosen audio software to use your hardware to send sound to the computer and, subsequently, your software.
When I built my DAW, because of some of the things I’d read about various audio interfaces, such as trouble with certain USB or FireWire connections causing dropouts in the audio, or flaky drivers, I decided instead to go with a pro sound card and chose the E-MU 1616m PCI. E-MU, by the way, is the pro audio division of Creative Labs, the company that makes the Sound Blaster products. This was one of the reasons I chose this product. For one thing, Creative Labs has a long-standing reputation for pretty good and stable drivers. I assumed this would carry over into the E-MU line of products. For another thing, they’ve also had a pretty good track record for developing drivers for new operating systems quicker than most audio hardware manufacturers.
This was another bonus, because I figured that although I was going to use Windows XP for now (more on that later), that if / when I decided to upgrade to Vista, E-MU would likely have stable Vista drivers ready long before many other manufacturers.
Either way you go, there are a few things you want to make sure of. First, your chosen hardware should supply 48V Phantom Power to your mic input(s), as almost all non-tube microphones require this. Many tube mics have their own pre-amp / power supply, but non-powered microphones generally require Phantom Power making this a necessity (and in fact it’s available on just about all pro-grade sound cards and audio interfaces, but just make sure!).
XLR connectors for your mic(s) are another requirement. Unlike the “normal” PC sound card, which takes an 1/8th inch headphone-style jack as its input source, pro audio equipment generally uses 3-pin XLR connectors, so in order to keep your audio chain (the series of devices you have connected together) as “clean” as possible, you want to not use any more cables or adapters than are necessary. The best way to do this is to choose hardware that accepts the type of connectors you’ll likely be using.
There are plenty of features that sound cards and audio interfaces have and will try to sell you on. Other than what I mentioned above, make sure that if you plan to (or think you might) record with more than one mic at some point, or with instruments, etc., that the hardware you choose has multiple inputs. Also, good DACs (digital-to-analog convertors) are important since they’re what does the conversion of the audio to a digital form. Your hardware’s sampling rate should be at least 44kHz (the sampling frequency used on CDs, for example) for good audio fidelity.
One final note here. Many motherboards include audio hardware. If yours does, you may need to disable it so that it doesn’t interfere with your sound card or audio interface that you’ve decided on. At the very least, having more than one sound card or audio hardware option on a PC can be confusing and can lead to a lot of frustration if you’re recording into one and wondering why the speakers hooked up to the other aren’t playing any sound! Much of this comes down to the configuration of your hardware and software settings as relates to audio hardware, so just keep this in mind if you find yourself frustrated with such things.
Monitor / Display
These days, it’s almost impossible to find a CRT monitor for a computer. CRTs are the “old style” tube-based monitors that essentially look like a traditional analog TV set. They’re deep and heavy, thanks to the cathode ray tube (CRT) assembly and front glass required to create the on-screen image. But just like with newer hi-def and digital TVs, computer monitors these days are primarily flat-panels and, more recently, widescreen. Not only are flat-panel displays lighter and take up less room, they can be easily wall mounted and have exceptional image quality. Plus, their ubiquity in recent years has made them quite affordable for their size, as well.
Having a widescreen display is great, because obviously you can see more at once. This is especially useful when using an audio program where you’re going to be looking at your audio tracks…widescreen displays allow you to see more of your tracks at once, or to see the same amount (as you would on a traditional 4:3, or “TV-shape” monitor) at a bigger size, making it easier to see and work with.
Just like with most other electronics, many people have their favorite brands. Personally, I really like Samsung flat-panel displays and usually purchase them when I’m building or upgrading a system.
Now, in addition to the display itself, there’s also the video card or display adapter. I mentioned this briefly when I said that I’d chosen one without a fan, to make for a quieter system. Note that many motherboards include video hardware on the motherboard itself, but that the included circuitry may not offer you all the features you want. For instance, widescreen displays run at different resolutions (the number of dots horizontally by the number of dots vertically) than traditional 4:3 displays, since they’re a different shape. Integrated video hardware on a particular motherboard may not offer widescreen resolutions, or ones that are as high-resolution as the monitor you choose, so it’s important to make sure that your display adapter runs at your monitor’s “native” (default) resolution at a minimum.
There’s also a good reason to consider a video card as opposed to relying on video hardware that’s integrated into the motherboard, and that’s that many video cards offer dual outputs. Why would you want this? Well, you may want to use two monitors side-by-side to get an extended desktop and see more at once. Or, as in my situation, you may want to have one monitor on your desk and one inside your booth or recording space, so that you can control the computer from either location.
Some motherboards do have dual display outputs but they’re less common than are dual displays on video cards, so again, just make sure your hardware will be able to do what you want it to do.
For my system, I chose the Asus EAX 1600 Pro Silent video card with dual outputs and fan-less operation. For my monitors, I have a 20″ Samsung widescreen display on my desk and a 17″ Samsung widescreen display for in the booth. Note, though, that I haven’t yet mounted the 17″ display inside the booth and may in fact swap it out for another 20″ display since the 20″ and 17″ displays have different native resolutions…this was a mistake on my part. Oops!
Like microphones, people have very passionate opinions on speakers and speaker technology. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this, because as I was putting together my DAW, and knowing that I would likely be the only person ever to listen to them, I opted for about the least expensive “studio monitors” I could find that would connect to my E-MU’s breakout box. At the time, these turned out to be the M-Audio StudioPro DX4 powered monitors. Actually there were cheaper speakers available, but they were, inconveniently for me, out of stock at the time and I needed something, so these had to do. They sound great as far as I’m concerned. I likely could have found cheaper “computer speakers” and just used an adaptor to connect them to the E-MU, but even “computer speakers” that sound decent are getting kind of expensive these days, so I figured that I’d spend a couple extra $$ and get something designed for this particular application (and with the right connectors already).
Keyboard / Mouse
Now, you can go to Target and get a cheapo keyboard for about $10 and a mouse for probably $5, but I prefer to spend a bit more on my kb / mouse because I’m kind of particular about both typing and mousing. When I built this sytem, I just set it up with an old IBM keyboard I had lying around along with a nice, ergonomic Logitech mouse that I like.
This past week, however, I purchased a Bluetooth wireless keyboard / mouse combo by Rocketfish from Best Buy. The reason for this is that I’m finally getting around to getting my phone patch (not ordered yet, though) and I want to be able to control my DAW not only from the desk outside the booth but from inside as well. So I have a flat-panel mount and a keyboard / mouse arm that I have to put into the inside of the booth, but the Bluetooth kb/mouse will allow me to simply carry the mouse & keyboard to the inside of the booth when I’m recording and then just bring them out again when I’m going to be working at the desk.
It’s a pretty convenient solution and Rocketfish claims a 60′ range which is way more than I need, but means that at about 6′ away, the signal should be plenty strong. I’ve yet to hook it up, so I’m hoping that the Bluetooth doesn’t cause any residual interference with my audio chain.
I won’t spend too much time on this either, but just don’t forget that you’ll likely want to have a printer so that you can print out scripts, script revisions, script notes, etc. And a place to put it. Most printers are either USB or ethernet (network) connected these days so, again, just make sure what you buy fits in with your whole setup.
Putting It All Together
Hmm, I thought about a step by step here, but I think that’s beyond the scope of this post as well as being too specific to the particulars of anybody’s setup. So instead, I’ll just quickly go over the general order of getting things put together.
I started by putting the motherboard into the case and connecting all of its various fan and system wires such as the wire for the power button, the wires that go to the front panel USB and FireWire ports, etc. Depending on your case layout, you may want to put the power supply in first, but if not, you’ll likely put it in after you get the motherboard in.
After the motherboard and power supply, next I would put in the processor and its heatsink / fan and get those connected. Then I’d put in the RAM. After that, any expansion cards (such as my E-MU 1616 and Asus video card).
Next I’d attach all the hard drives. Note that in my particular case, I had to do a fair amount of finagling with the hard drives, because I connected the drives for the RAID array first, but doing this, there was no way to then later connect the fourth drive (to the secondary SATA controller) and have that be the system’s boot disk. So I then had to disconnect the RAID drives, connect the boot disk, re-install Windows XP (ugh) and supply the Asus motherboard driver for the secondary SATA controller during Windows installation. Once this was done and Windows was installed on the boot drive, I reconnected the RAID drives and they became my D:\ drive. To be perfectly honest, this whole thing was the most difficult and annoying part of building my DAW, especially since the Asus tech support guy I talked to said it wasn’t possible to do what I was trying to do (have a drive on the secondary SATA controller be the system disk). But in fact, it was possible and has worked flawlessly.
After that, the system is pretty much built…you just need to close up the case, attach your monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers and you should be good to go.
Finally, once your OS is installed and you’ve gotten your various hardware drivers installed, you can install your other software, such as audio recording software, e-mail and word processing programs if you use them, etc.
I personally wouldn’t recommend isntalling anti-virus software on a DAW, only because all anti-virus software slows down system performance while it’s running. This could cause audio dropouts and other problems (such as issues with file permissions) that can lead to major headaches.
Instead, I would recommend keeping your system free of anti-virus software and connecting it to your internet connection through a broadband firewall / router such as any number of those manufactured by Linksys, for example. The reason for this is the firewall / router will NAT your computer, meaning it’ll connect to your ISP and pass that connection to your computer through a technology called NAT (Network Address Translation). When your computer’s connected through NAT, Windows File and Printer Sharing cannot work on the other side of the firewall / router…they can only work on computers on the inside of your network. This, combined with common sense when surfing the web and opening e-mail, should keep you pretty safe.
I hate to suggest it, but if you feel like you don’t HAVE any common sense when it comes to surfing the web or opening e-mail, then just don’t do any of those things as aren’t specifically related to your audio work. Only go to sites that you already know are safe and don’t open any attachments you weren’t expecting to receive, unless you’re sure they’re audio files or image files, etc.
Wow, this was a long post. But hopefully somebody will find it useful. Again, the idea here wasn’t to say what’s right / wrong as much as to describe a bit of the thought process that went into building my system so that in the event you’re thinking about building one, too, you can perhaps learn from some of the successes and failures of my own experience.
This is by no means the only way to go. As I mentioned briefly, there are companies who specialize in building and selling DAWs, and I have a friend who just “went out and bought a laptop” with Windows Vista, hooked up an Audio Interface and microphone and installed some audio software and she’s happy as a clam. But I like building PCs and this was a fun project. Whatever you decide to do, make sure it’s the right choice for you, taking into considering how you like to work, your particular hardware or software preferences, your space and your budget.


cdec is a decoder, aligner, and learning framework for statistical machine translation and similar structured prediction models developed by Chris Dyer at the Language Technologies Institute in Carnegie Mellon University, his students, and lots of volunteers. It supports:
cdec is developed on Github, and interested developers are encouraged to fork us, develop the project further, and submit pull requests.
If you make use of cdec, please cite:
C. Dyer, A. Lopez, J. Ganitkevitch, J. Weese, F. Ture, P. Blunsom, H. Setiawan, V. Eidelman, and P. Resnik. cdec: A Decoder, Alignment, and Learning Framework for Finite-State and Context-Free Translation Models. In Proceedings of ACL, July, 2010. [bibtex]
The cdec source code is released under the terms of the Apache License, Version 2.0. The libLBFGS library source code is distributed with cdec, and it is released under the terms of the MIT License.
cdec was developed and is supported in part by grants from DARPA, the National Science Foundation, and the US Army Research Office.


Welcome to Eco Wireless CCTV
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Our systems use proprietary long range RF equipment, and therefore have much longer range than standard Wi-Fi, at much lower data rates. They are available on custom frequencies, and with the ability to create a MESH network for multiple cameras operating in range of each other they can act as repeaters for each other, extending the system range further.
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10 May Nordic Tankers and partners test new emissions monitoring technology
Nordic Tankers, Dania Ship Management, and Danfoss IXA have tested a new sensor technology designed to monitor emissions.
As part of the test, the technology has been installed on the Nordic Mari chemical tanker, which is owned by Nordic Tankers and managed by Dania Ship Management.
Results from the test showed that the technology has helped the vessel to consume less fuel and allowed Dania Ship Management to monitor the engines’ performance.
Developed by Danfoss IXA, the sensor is capable of measuring the emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and ammonia (NH3).
The technology is also designed to provide data to both ship owners and authorities using a cloud-based solution.


A great emergency prep to keep in your bags and kits!
When access to important weather details, news updates and lighting is crucial, the 12 Survivors Emergency Hand-Crank Radio/Flashlight can be a vital tool. This reliable device features a high-output flashlight with a low and high setting for bright illumination in dark environments, and a loud FM radio for access to essential information. Equipped with a sturdy hand-crank dynamo and an output cable for fully charging the device in a timely manner, this lightweight, battery-free instrument acts as a low-maintenance platform for several emergency needs. The 12 Survivors Emergency Hand-Crank Radio/Flashlight is the ideal companion for any survival situation.
- No Batteries Needed!
- Quick wind up time to charge unit
- Non-slip grip
- Clear and loud FM radio
- Up to 7 LED lights on flashlight
Included in the kit:
- Input USB Charge
- Instruction Manual
|Output voltage||Per minute rate is 120rpm; max voltage is 6V when accelerated|
|Max output power||1.2W|
|LED Lifespan||>1000000 hours|
|Hand crank dynamo||Full charge >1 hour|
|Radio||At full charge, radio 1.5 hrs|
|LED lights||At full charge, 7 LED lights at 1.5 hrs|
|Hand crank dynamo||Dyanmo 1 minute (120 rpm/min), 5 LED over 10 min, radio 5-6 min|
|FM frequency range||88-108 MHZ|
|FM Radio||Max power is .2W, sensitivity 18-23uV|


I’ve been interested in operating systems development for a while, and last year worked on a small hobby kernel in C++, using the excellent resources from http://wiki.osdev.org. Recently, I decided to start on a new hobby kernel using the Rust programming language.
Recently, I’ve been working on an Aurelia-based webapp for work. I have a basic layout with a bootstrap navbar and different pages linked in the navbar using an Aurelia router. One of the things I wanted to do was have route-specific actions exposed as buttons in the navbar.


The enormous role played by science — especially government-sponsored science — in our everyday lives is barely appreciated.
Start with modern medicine. We, the public, paid for it through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and research universities where the medical researchers, surgeons, doctors and nurses were trained, and where tools like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) developed. Modern drugs were also developed through basic research sponsored by NIH. Modern medicine is the dividend of our investment over decades in medical science.
Next, computers. Computer science didn’t just appear. It was developed through grants from National Science Foundation (NSF) and Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARP). The Internet was developed by the Defense Department. It was originally called the Arpanet. Satellites were developed through NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Defense Department, with vast amount of new science: rocket fuels, physics, new materials for rocket shells, advances…
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MSc. Eng. Sylwia Zięba has been awarded the START 2022 scholarship of the Foundation for Polish Science.
Annual START fellowships are awarded to outstanding young scientists at the beginning of their scientific career with confirmed scientific achievements. The aim of the START program is to highlight the most gifted young scientists and encourage them to further development by allowing them to fully devote to scientific research.
Congratulations to our laureate!
More information available on the website of the Foundation for Polish Science.


Weather radar is an aviation and meteorological instrument used to detect and measure precipitation and atmospheric motion over a wide area. The operational process of weather radar involves the following steps:
1. Transmission of Radio Waves: The radar sends out radio waves into the desired area for observation. The transmitted signals typically have high frequencies to enable the detection of small particles.
2. Pulsed Signals: The radar emits pulses of signals with varying lengths, allowing the measurement of distances. The time taken for the transmitted signal to travel to a target and back is used to calculate the distance.
3. Reception of Return Signals: When the transmitted radio waves encounter objects or atmospheric conditions that cause reflection, the radar receives these signals back.
4. Intensity Measurement: The radar measures the intensity of the received signals, providing information about the amount of precipitation or the characteristics of the passing weather.
5. Data Analysis:The received data is analyzed to create a representation of the location and quantity of the observed precipitation.
6. Display of Results: The analyzed results are displayed in the form of radar images, indicating the intensity of rainfall and the movement of the weather.
Weather radar plays a crucial role in weather forecasting, water resource management, and aviation safety. The information obtained from radar systems aids in making decisions related to flight operations, flood forecasting, and continuous tracking of storms. The data from weather radar systems contribute to real-time assessments of weather conditions and enhance our ability to respond to changing atmospheric phenomena.


Enjoy your music anytime and anyplace with the Portable Mini LED Bluetooth Speaker. Featuring 360-degree surround sound, this small but powerful little speaker provides resonant full-range HD music quality, long-lasting playback time, and cool LED lighting. The Mini LED speaker even includes convenient Bluetooth hands-free calling and Micro SD Card compatibility. Perfect for backyard get-togethers, hiking, camping, fishing…wherever you want your tunes.
Makes a great gift!
* Built-in Rechargeable Li Battery
* Up To 6 hours of playtime
* 3W/5V Input for quick charging
* 3.5mm AUX Port
* Micro SD Card/TF Card
* USB port
* Built-in Microphone
* Bluetooth audio input and hands-free calling
* Power supply: DC 5V, lithium battery (300mah)
* Effective power: 3W
* Frequency: 90Hz-20KHz
* Audio Interface: 3.5MM
* Transmission range: Up to 10 meters
Earn 292 VP and $3.89 for each sale of this product! Ships FREE to most countries.
Head over to the FORUM–to the SFI NEWS DISCUSSIONS section–to discuss this announcement with your fellow SFI’ers now.


Sunnydaze Cool Blue Mosaic Glass Outdoor Solar LED Lantern – 8 in
- Outdoor hanging solar lantern with string lights
- Made of glass and iron
- Solar panel on top collects energy from the sun to recharge batteries
- Fully-charged LED light will automatically turn on via light-detecting sensor at night
- Wipe Clean
Give your outdoor living space a pop of color during the day and gentle illumination at night with this cool blue, mosaic-patterned, glass, outdoor lantern with LED lights powered by a solar panel at the top. When placed outdoors in direct sunlight between 6-8 hours, the solar panel will convert the solar energy into electricity and store it in the rechargeable battery. At night, the outdoor table light will turn on automatically via a built-in light-detecting sensor. This attractive accent can be placed on a tabletop as a decorative accent or hung from a Shepherd’s hook, tree branch, or ceiling hook with the attached handle. The cool blue mosaic design is sure to complement any patio, deck, garden, or yard, and will bring a lovely pop of color anywhere. Keep the conversation going all evening and well into the night with friends and family as this lantern illuminates your outdoor space beautifully.
– Outdoor hanging solar lantern with string lights
– Made of glass and iron
– Solar panel on top collects energy from the sun to recharge batteries
– Fully-charged LED light will automatically turn on via light-detecting sensor at night
– To fully power the lantern, the solar panel must receive 6-8 hours of full, direct sunlight each day
– Wipe Clean
Seller Information; Report Suspicious Activity
Net Health Shops LLC
5730 Venture Drive Eau Claire, WI 54703
(715) 705-5560/[email protected]
To report suspicious marketplace activity, please reach out to Kohl’s Customer Service at 855-564-5705 or use the “Ask Us” button on Kohl’s Customer Service page to chat with an associate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
WARNING: WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including Lead, which is known to the state of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.


Technology has transformed our lifestyles. The majority of homes today, quite unlike in the past, have mobile phones, tablets, PCs, TVs and air conditioning. These gadgets have raised our quality of life, but they have also pushed up electricity consumption in homes.
To support the higher electricity consumption, newer HDB blocks are provided with 40 amps main switches. In comparison, HDB blocks built before 1990 were provided with 30 amps main switches. This was based on the prevailing standard specification.
Since 1995, HDB has been carrying out electrical upgrading works to bring these old blocks on par with the newer ones. They provide a higher electrical loading and thus, minimise electrical power trips.
Nearly 2,400 blocks have been upgraded so far, at a cost of nearly $1 billion, fully borne by HDB.
Electrical upgrading is costly as the works are extensive and involve building new infrastructure such as electrical substations and laying higher capacity underground cables. To minimise inconvenience to residents, the works are carried out in tandem with other upgrading programmes and implemented progressively across Singapore.
Our work is not yet finished, as another 4,000 blocks have yet to be upgraded. But they will be in due course.
To find out if your block has been upgraded to a higher electrical loading, you may check the HDB InfoWEB.
Please visit the MND Facebook to leave a comment.


In the 1960s and 1970s, there were millions of lovely cameras and handheld light meters manufactured—many of which remain perfectly usable today. Except for one little problem. Their light-measuring circuits were designed to be powered using a mercury battery.
What made mercury button cells so appealing was that their voltage stayed absolutely ruler-flat, until the last of the chemicals were depleted. After that, the battery quickly died. Most camera makers omitted any voltage compensation in their meter circuits, and simply used the battery itself as a voltage reference.
Mercury PX-13 battery, curse of vintage camera-dom
By far the most common size used in older cameras was the PX-13 or PX-625 type. Its case had a raised shoulder around its minus end, making it look vaguely muffin-like.
Today we recognize mercury to be a highly toxic metal; and worldwide, mercury battery production has been phased out. Any stocks of mercury batteries now remaining are from old production runs—a safe guess being from sometime in the last millennium.
If you go shopping for a PX625 today, you’ll discover lookalike replacements being sold. But they are alkaline cells, not mercury. And the problem is, a mercury cell is a 1.35 volt battery. An alkaline cell starts out at about 1.55 volts instead.
In a calculator, kitchen timer, etc., this voltage discrepancy is unimportant. But a light meter works by measuring the exact current flowing through a photocell: so the wrong voltage can wreak havoc with accurate readings. A few cameras (notably Pentax) used a meter circuit which was insensitive to voltage variations—but for most meters, wrong voltage means wrong exposure.
Worse, an alkaline battery actually drops off in voltage as it’s used, so the error is not even consistent—really you get the worst of both worlds. (The same drooping-voltage problem applies with 3-volt lithium batteries, in applications where those could be used.)
But silver-oxide batteries are widely available, and maintain a flat voltage (of about 1.58 volts) over their whole lifetime. The long life of silver-oxide cells make them the first choice anywhere it’s possible to use them.
Meter-Battery Voltage: Myths & Reality
Sometimes you read confused internet discussions about whether this o.2-volt error is important. And some rather questionable assertions get repeated. One claim is: “modern film has such wide exposure latitude that it doesn’t matter.” Another is, “you can just change the ASA setting to compensate.”
Fortunately, I am lucky to own one last genuine, mercury PX-13 cell, which still has some juice to it. So I decided to make a definitive test for myself.
I took light meter readings using two classic old-school SLRs (an Olympus OM-1 and a Canon FTb), and compared them to a known-accurate Pentax V spotmeter. Using the intended mercury battery, I got the camera and the spotmeter to agree within about 1/2 stop, over the entire range from full sun to dim indoor light.
But with the higher voltage of a silver-oxide battery, the cameras’ meters gave incorrect readings—and with a strange pattern: In bright sunlight, the indicated readings would yield two and a half stops underexposure! Yet in dim indoor light (at about the limit for handheld shooting) the meter readings were nearly correct. Between those two extremes, there was a variable amount of underexposure.
Well, this demolishes both of the internet myths I mentioned. First, 2-1/2 stops of underexposure is a terrible idea with any negative film I know of. (You’d get ugly grain and totally blank shadows.) Second, there is no simplistic way to adjust the ASA to compensate, because the error is not consistent as you go from bright to dim light.
The errors could certainly be different for other brands of cameras, using different circuit designs. There is no substitute for checking your own equipment against a known-good meter. But obviously the problem is a real one.
Frans De Gruijter has written the definitive article on this problem, along with several solutions, downloadable here (500 kB PDF). This article goes into dense technical detail; but at the very least, look at the graph he provides on page 3, showing the voltage curves for several different battery chemistries.
And there you’ll notice an intriguing possibility: Zinc-air batteries.
Zinc-air is an interesting battery chemistry, giving excellent energy density at low cost—advantages that have made them the preferred power supply for hearing aids. Happily, zinc-air cells have a voltage quite close to that of mercury cells. And this voltage stays consistent over the battery’s lifetime, just as we’d like.
Pull the blue tab to activate the battery
Zinc-air chemistry is also the basis of the “Wein cell,” often sold in camera stores as the correct-voltage replacement for mercury photo batteries. However the cost of vanilla #675 hearing-aid batteries is much lower—about $6 for a pack of 8.
To use either of these types, you must pull off a sticky tab first, which allows air to enter pinholes in the battery case. The battery does not produce any voltage until oxygen reaches the interior. Unopened cells can be stored for many years and remain fresh.
But one downside is that the inside of a zinc cell must remain moist for the chemical reaction to work. In arid environments, the cell can dry out and stop working after just a month or two, before its electrical capacity has been used up.
Putting the sticker back over the air holes will prolong the battery’s life, if you can remember to do it. But with the low cost of hearing-aid cells you might just consider them expendable, replacing them often.
The 675 size hearing-aid battery is a little bit thinner than a PX13 mercury cell; also it lacks the “muffin” shoulder and so is smaller in diameter. Sometimes you will need to add a little spacer ring to keep it centered in the battery compartment.
For this, I just slice rings off the end of a piece of tubing of the proper diameter:
Now, the voltage of the zinc-air battery is not perfect—it can be a shade too high. In fact, both the Wein cell and hearing-aid solutions have some voltage quirks, which I plan to write about in another article. However let’s keep things in perspective:
Over 40 years, any light meter might drift out of calibration—even if supplied with the textbook 1.35 volts. The shutter speeds on a vintage camera could easily be out of adjustment by a half a stop or so. There can be some slop in aperture linkages, so that you aren’t getting precisely the marked f/number. Vintage cameras are not the place to look for 3-digit precision.
But my tests say that a zinc-air hearing aid battery will get you to within half a stop of the exposure reading you’d get using a mercury battery. And any error will be worst in bright sun—the one situation where it’s most reliable to trust those old “Sunny 16” instincts.
So if all that’s stopping you from taking some nice old camera for a spin is the mercury battery issue, go with the zinc-air cells. It’ll get you out there shooting after one quick, inexpensive trip to the drugstore.
Then you can explore other, techier solutions to the problem later, if you choose to go that route.
Update: More on the quirks of zinc-air battery voltage in this follow-up post.


Solar Panel Repairs
HomeFix Contractors can repair and maintain a wide range of solar panel systems, from small domestic systems to commercial systems containing hundreds of panels.
Solar panel systems are usually very reliable but, as with most things, they can occasionally go wrong. If your solar panel system has stopped generating energy or seems to be generating less energy than usual, one of our expert solar panel engineers can come and assess the system, identify the problem and resolve it as soon as possible to ensure that your Solar Panel System is back up to full working order.
As with most electrical repairs, we suggest you do not attempt to fix solar panel issues problem yourself if you are not qualified to do so. Not only will it be potentially very dangerous, but you could also void the manufactures warranty agreement. We highly recommend getting a professional and trained specialist (such as HomeFix Contractors) to inspect and repair any Solar Panel issues you may have.
Solar Panel Cleaning
Keeping solar panels clean, free from shade and in good working order is vital to solar panel maintenance and performance. Any reduction in the amount of the suns energy your solar panel receives will affect the efficiency and energy produced by the panels. Most commonly used solar panels consist of solar cells covered by a protective glass coating. The dirtier this glass barrier becomes, the more the efficiency of the solar panel will decrease.
More attention should be given to panels situated in dusty or high traffic areas, for example; next to a main road, or near farmland. These solar panels will need cleaning more frequently than others as the dust and dirt build up will be significantly more.


Most people understand that the electrical circuit is at the heart of the welding operation. What you might not be aware of, however, is how easy it is for disruptions in this circuit to interfere with productivity, weld quality and equipment service life.
|Understanding the role conductivity plays in the welding operation and how to troubleshoot problems that can reduce downtime, rework and unnecessary equipment costs.|
All of these factors are ultimately affected by conductivity: the ability of the electrical current to flow along the welding circuit. Conductivity can also be referred to through its inverse: resistance, or the interference of electricity to flow freely along the circuit. If the electrical current moves with very little resistance, the material is very conductive. Gold, for example, is one of the most conductive materials on earth (which is why it was used in early telephones and other electrical equipment), but its cost prevents its use in welding equipment.
Copper, aluminum and other metals are used in welding equipment because they strike a good balance between cost and conductivity. The copper used in welding equipment does a good job allowing the electrical current to flow. There is still a very small amount of resistance inherent in the properties of the material, but it is not enough to interfere with the welding operation. Excessive resistance along the circuit, however, can cause weld defects, reduce productivity and lead to premature equipment failure.
To understand exactly how conductivity impacts almost every aspect of your welding operation, it helps to think about the welding circuit like a garden hose. The water flowing through the hose is analogous to the electrical current in the circuit. If you squeeze the hose in one spot, it reduces the amount of water that is able to flow from the hose. Likewise, an area of electrical resistance, such as a worn out or dirty power pin connection, restricts electrical flow along the entire length of the circuit
When resistance prevents the electrons from continuing along the circuit, they convert their energy to heat, which is absorbed by the surrounding components. Heat causes plastic and metal components to expand and to contract when cooled, creating mechanical stress that can lead to premature equipment failure.
Interestingly, heat itself is a source of resistance, which is why high heat welding processes, such as with metal-cored wire, demand that the contact tip be recessed as far from the welding arc as practicable. As the contact tip absorbs the heat from the arc, it loses its ability to transfer the current to the wire, resulting in increasingly poor welding performance.
Excessive resistance anywhere along the circuit can result in a wide range of problems, including a sputtering or erratic arc, inconsistent weld appearance and frequent contact tip burn-back. These problems occur because resistance in the circuit reduces the amount of current that can flow to the welding arc. When the power source senses the reduced current at the arc, it sends a surge of voltage in order to overcome the restricted current flow. This increased voltage causes the popping and sputtering that leads to poor and inconsistent weld quality.
Being able to correctly identify and troubleshoot excessive electrical resistance is critical to reducing the equipment and rework costs.
|As seen in this schematic, there are many areas for interruptions in conductivity to occur. Routinely checking the mechanical connections between the components can avoid problems before they arise.|
The mechanical connections between the welding components account for most interruptions in conductivity. These include: the connection between the power source and the gun’s power cable plug; the fittings and connections between the gun’s power cable, neck, diffuser, contact tip and welding wire; and the connections between the work lead, welding table and power source. Routinely check these connections before problems arise in order to avoid compounded problems down the road.
|The neck, diffuser and contact tip are exposed to repeated mechanical stress as they absorb the heat from the arc and then cool down after welding is completed.|
There are three main types of power cable terminations: compression, set screw and crimped. Compression fittings typically provide the best combination of durability and reparability. Set screw fittings are easily repaired, but often come loose and require frequent tightening. Crimped fittings provide good contact between the cable and gun, but are also susceptible to overheating and gradual degradation. Loose cable, gun and power source connections should be tightened to manufacturer specifications or replaced if damaged.
Because the welding wire wears the bore over time, the contact tip should be one of the first areas checked during troubleshooting. A contact tip that doesn’t maintain constant connection to the welding wire should be replaced, regardless of whether it is the primary source of the conductivity problem.
Paint and other surface contaminants can reduce the conductivity of the work lead connection. To ensure maximum electrical flow, attach the work lead clamp to clean, unpainted metal and as close to the weld joint as possible. If using rotating work leads, such as turntables and positioners, conductive grease can help increase the conductive surface area between the moving and non-moving parts.
The other most frequent source of interruptions in conductivity is frayed copper stranding within the gun or, less frequently, in the work lead cables. These strands can fray and break due to repeated bending and twisting, particularly on guns that don’t contain strain relief components at the connection points with the gun and power source. Also, thermal stresses can cause the copper stranding to become brittle, increasing the likelihood of fatigue failure.
For this reason, the gun cable should only be bent or twisted if absolutely necessary. The resistive heat caused by frayed cable stranding, in addition to causing poor weld performance, can also accelerate the degradation of the remaining intact strands and cause the eventual failure of the cable.
|The power pin connection can become loose and cause increased resistance. The strain relief feature on this gun reduces the chances of the cable stranding breaking at the connection to the power pin.|
Unfortunately, it is difficult and often impractical to inspect the cable for damage as a preventative measure. Check the mechanical connections and fittings first if poor conductivity is the suspected source of a welding problem, and then proceed to check the condition of the cable.
It may be possible to cut and re-terminate the cable if the damage occurs near the connections to the power source or gun. Severe cable damage or damage near the middle of the cable may require replacement of the cable or the entire gun.
Welding technology has advanced substantially since the days of DC ‘buzz boxes,’ but one thing that has remained constant throughout the decades is the need to establish and maintain a robust electrical circuit. Resistance from loose fittings and connections will occur as a natural part of the wear and tear that welding equipment undergoes during normal use. However, knowing the common signs of poor conductivity and following a regular inspection routine will help ensure that built-up resistance doesn’t cause undue equipment and rework costs.
Bernard semi-automatic welding products, consumables and accessories combine quality and rugged durability to provide you with all the welding supplies your project requires. Whether it's a welding consumable, nozzle, MIG welding tip, welding tip, welding torch, welding cable, welding company, Centerfire, butt connector, wire feeder, splicer, self-shielded flux-cored gun, FCAW gun, GMAW gun, stick welding gun, manual gun, fume extraction gun, smoke gun, MIG gun, MIG welding gun, terminal lugs, MIG gun, Bernard welding gun, welding gun, MIG torch, or a Bernard MIG Gun, Bernard has it for you.


Eyntech delivers world-class, cloud managed Wi-Fi solutions that put your network at the head of its class. With Eyntech, the complexities of 1:1 programs and BYOD are no problem. Best of all, Eyntech Wi-Fi networks grow and adapt to constantly changing environments without requiring equipment replacement Eyntech is the only Wi-Fi vendor that offers you:
- Lowest total cost of ownership requiring from 50-75% less equipment than other Wi-Fi solutions
- Flexible and scalable solutions that meeting varying needs for classrooms, libraries and out door needs
- Future proof solutions — upgrade without replacing access points
- Cloud managed Wi-Fi enables simple deployment and application control
Smart schools improve learning with intelligent wireless networking.
Faculty and students expect to connect without wires. They depend on it. The explosion of smartphones and tablets has seen to that.
we see why. When we grow wireless user density in classrooms, teachers can engage connected students in new ways and enhance learning. When we provide more reliable wireless access with fewer devices school-wide, cost of wireless implementation and management is reduced. And when we deliver flawless wireless access in busy libraries and study halls, student satisfaction rises. Wireless isn’t a nice to have anymore. Done right, it’s a strategic IT infrastructure advantage that accelerates learning and lets schools do more than ever before. And Eyntech does it right.
Because of the high density and mobile nature of its users, education is at the forefront of the wireless evolution. Classrooms are now highly dependent on digital resources and the instructional applications they enable. In the primary and secondary school space, there is a drive toward the 21st century (or digital) classroom. Many schools are embracing next generation technologies and programs that expand learning options, such as 1:1 laptop-to-student and bring your own device (BYOD) initiatives. These initiatives create demands on existing Wi-Fi infrastructures that can increase by a factor of 10 in a single school year. A high-performance, reliable wireless solution is imperative.


In the ever-evolving landscape of software security, multiple layers of protection are essential to safeguard both users and developers from cyber threats. Two critical components of software security are code signing certificates and antivirus software. Code signing certificates assure users that software is legitimate and untampered, while antivirus software detects and removes malicious code. In this article, we will explore how code signing certificates and antivirus software complement each other to provide comprehensive software security, dispelling the notion of redundancy.
Furthermore, we understand the importance of cost-effectiveness in software security. We will emphasize that even in this context, affordable options like cheap code signing certificates can be part of a well-rounded security strategy.
The Roles of Code Signing Certificates and Antivirus Software
Before delving into their complementarity, let’s understand the individual roles that code signing certificates and antivirus software play in software security.
Code Signing Certificates
Code signing certificates are digital certificates issued by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA). They are used to sign software applications, scripts, drivers, and other executable files. Code signing serves several critical purposes:
Authenticity: It assures users that the software they are about to install or run comes from a legitimate and verified source.
Integrity: It verifies that the software has not been tampered with or modified since it was signed.
Trustworthiness: It enhances the trustworthiness of software by providing users with a visual indication (such as a digital signature) that the software has been signed.
Security: It prevents unauthorized or malicious code from running on a user’s device, as the code must be signed to execute.
Antivirus software, also known as anti-malware software, is designed to detect, prevent, and remove malicious code or software, commonly referred to as malware. The primary functions of antivirus software include:
Malware Detection: It scans files, applications, and the system for known patterns or behaviors associated with malware, such as viruses, worms, Trojans, and ransomware.
Real-Time Protection: It offers real-time protection by monitoring the system’s activities and blocking suspicious or malicious processes.
Quarantine and Removal: When malware is detected, antivirus software quarantines or isolates the infected files and removes or disinfects them, preventing further harm.
Update and Database Management: Antivirus software relies on regular updates to its malware definition database to detect new threats effectively.
The Complementary Nature of Code Signing Certificates and Antivirus Software
Now that we understand their respective roles, let’s explore how code signing certificates and antivirus software complement each other to provide comprehensive software security.
1. Preventative and Reactive Measures
Code Signing Certificates (Preventative): Code signing certificates primarily serve as a preventative measure. They establish trust in software before it is downloaded or executed. Users can confidently install signed software, knowing it comes from a verified source and has not been tampered with.
Antivirus Software (Reactive): Antivirus software operates reactively, scanning and identifying threats that have already made their way onto a user’s device. It acts as a last line of defense, identifying and removing malicious code after it’s been executed.
Complementarity: Code signing certificates prevent users from installing or running untrusted or tampered software, while antivirus software provides a safety net by detecting and neutralizing threats that may have evaded preventative measures.
2. Verification and Detection
Code Signing Certificates (Verification): Code signing certificates verify the authenticity and integrity of software. They ensure that software comes from a trusted source and hasn’t been altered.
Antivirus Software (Detection): Antivirus software detects and identifies malicious code based on known patterns and behaviors. It flags or removes any software exhibiting these characteristics.
Complementarity: Code signing certificates provide verification, while antivirus software focuses on detection. Together, they create a comprehensive security approach that covers both trusted software and the identification of malicious code.
3. Behavioral Analysis
Code Signing Certificates (Limited Behavioral Analysis): Code signing certificates do not directly analyze the behavior of software. They primarily focus on the software’s origin and integrity.
Antivirus Software (Behavioral Analysis): Antivirus software employs behavioral analysis to identify suspicious activities, even in previously unknown threats. It looks for patterns of behavior that may indicate malicious intent.
Complementarity: Antivirus software’s behavioral analysis complements code signing certificates by identifying threats based on their actions, even if they come from a seemingly legitimate source.
4. Protection Throughout the Software Lifecycle
Code Signing Certificates (Pre-Execution): Code signing certificates protect software before it is executed. They ensure that users only run trusted and unaltered code.
Antivirus Software (Runtime and Post-Execution): Antivirus software offers protection during runtime and post-execution. It continuously monitors the system for suspicious activities and can detect threats that manifest after software execution.
Complementarity: Code signing certificates are crucial for establishing trust before execution, while antivirus software maintains security during software operation and beyond.
5. Trust and Reputation
Code Signing Certificates (Trust Establishment): Code signing certificates contribute to the establishment of trust and a positive reputation for software publishers. Users are more likely to trust signed software.
Antivirus Software (Reputation Verification): Antivirus software verifies the reputation of software based on its behavior and known threats.
Complementarity: Code signing certificates help build trust, while antivirus software verifies the reputation of software in real-time, providing an additional layer of assurance.
6. Customization and Flexibility
Code Signing Certificates (Customization): Code signing certificates are customizable, allowing developers and organizations to sign their software with their unique digital signature.
Antivirus Software (Flexibility): Antivirus software offers flexibility by providing customizable settings for scanning and threat detection. Users and organizations can configure it to meet their specific security needs.
Complementarity: Customizable code signing certificates enable software publishers to establish their identity, while flexible antivirus software adapts to the user’s or organization’s security requirements.
In the complex landscape of software security, code signing certificates and antivirus software are not redundant but rather highly complementary. They serve different yet essential functions, addressing distinct aspects of security, trust, and threat detection.
Code signing certificates play a pivotal role in establishing trust and verifying the authenticity and integrity of software before it is executed. They act as a preventative measure that builds user confidence in the software’s source.
Antivirus software, on the other hand, operates reactively, focusing on the detection and removal of known and unknown threats during runtime and post-execution. It serves as a safety net, identifying and neutralizing threats that may have evaded code signing’s preventative measures.
When used together, code signing certificates and antivirus software create a robust and comprehensive security strategy. This combination provides both prevention and detection, verification and behavior analysis, trust establishment, and reputation verification throughout the software’s lifecycle.
Moreover, it’s essential to emphasize that cost-effective options like cheap code signing can be part of a well-rounded security strategy. These certificates offer an accessible means of establishing trust and authenticity, making them an essential component of a comprehensive software security approach.
In conclusion, developers and organizations should view code signing certificates and antivirus software not as redundant but as complementary tools in their arsenal, working together to ensure the security, trustworthiness, and integrity of their software in an ever-evolving digital landscape.


Mobile gaming is more than just tapping a screen. You need a smartphone that is loaded with cutting-edge technology, from high-powered CPUs to increased speed, massive RAM, and much more.
If you want to take mobile gaming to the next level, you’ll need the ultimate gaming phone. So, in this blog post, we’ll offer you a list of the best options you can get in 2024. Continue reading to learn more about them.
1. iPhone 14 Pro:
Apple’s iPhone series has maintained a sterling reputation in the gaming industry for several reasons. Apple’s meticulous integration of hardware and software results in an ecosystem that prioritizes performance and fluidity. Their A-series chipsets consistently deliver robust processing power, ensuring that even graphically demanding games run seamlessly.
The App Store ecosystem further enriches the gaming experience by offering a diverse array of high-quality, exclusive, and optimized games, oftentimes benefiting from early access and updates. The combination of optimized hardware, fluid software integration, and a rich selection of top-tier games makes the iPhone an enticing choice for mobile gamers seeking a polished and immersive experience.
2. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra:
Samsung’s Galaxy S series is synonymous with premium performance and cutting-edge technology. These devices are anticipated to continue this legacy, particularly in gaming. Packed with powerful processors and generous RAM, Samsung’s flagships effortlessly handle the demands of modern gaming. Moreover, their expansive, high-resolution displays offer immersive visuals, making every gaming session a visually stunning experience.
Samsung often integrates features such as Game Mode, providing settings optimization for smoother gameplay and better performance. Their commitment to enhancing the gaming experience through hardware excellence and dedicated gaming features positions the Galaxy S series as a top contender for gamers looking for an all-encompassing device that excels in both power and visual prowess.
3. Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate:
Asus’ ROG Phone series is engineered explicitly for the gaming community. These smartphones are more than mere devices; they are gaming powerhouses tailored to meet the needs of serious gamers. Featuring hardware innovations like tactile triggers and ultra-responsive high-refresh-rate displays, the ROG phones provide an unparalleled gaming experience. The phone’s software is fine-tuned to optimize gaming performance, with dedicated gaming modes, extensive customizability options, and robust cooling mechanisms to ensure prolonged, uninterrupted gaming sessions.
Moreover, Asus often accompanies these phones with a range of gaming accessories, from clip-on controllers to cooling docks, allowing gamers to further enhance their gaming experiences. The ROG Phone series stands as a testament to Asus’ commitment to delivering an immersive, uncompromising gaming platform.
4. Nubia REDMAGIC 8 Pro:
Nubia’s REDMAGIC series has gained recognition for offering high-performance gaming devices at competitive prices. The REDMAGIC 8 Pro is expected to follow suit with powerful hardware tailored explicitly for gaming. These phones typically feature top-tier processors, ample RAM, and advanced cooling systems to prevent overheating during intense gaming sessions.
Moreover, the REDMAGIC phones often boast high-refresh-rate displays, enhancing the visual fluidity and responsiveness crucial for immersive gaming experiences. Dedicated gaming modes and customizable settings further optimize performance, making the REDMAGIC 8 Pro an attractive choice for gamers seeking value and uncompromising gaming performance.
5. OnePlus 11:
OnePlus has carved a niche for itself in the smartphone market by offering devices known for their sleek design, powerful performance, and smooth user experience. The OnePlus 11 is anticipated to continue this trend, catering to gamers with its robust hardware specifications. These devices usually come equipped with high-end processors and ample RAM, ensuring lag-free gaming.
OnePlus devices often feature OxygenOS, known for its clean interface and optimization, contributing to a smooth gaming experience. Additionally, while maintaining a focus on overall device excellence, OnePlus smartphones also offer gaming-specific features, striking a balance between all-around functionality and gaming prowess.
6. Poco F4 GT:
Poco, recognized for delivering high-performance devices at competitive prices, is expected to position the F4 GT as a gaming-centric smartphone. These devices typically offer powerful chipsets and substantial RAM, ensuring smooth gameplay across a variety of titles.
Poco smartphones often integrate features such as Game Turbo modes, optimizing system resources for enhanced gaming performance. With their commitment to offering value-driven devices without compromising on essential gaming features, the Poco F4 GT is likely to appeal to gamers seeking high performance at a reasonable price point.
7. OnePlus 10T:
OnePlus devices have garnered attention for their blend of premium features and a smooth user experience. The OnePlus 10T is expected to continue this trend by offering high-end specifications, including powerful processors and ample RAM, ideal for gaming.
OnePlus devices often provide a clean, near-stock Android experience, coupled with OxygenOS optimizations, ensuring a responsive interface for gaming. While not explicitly marketed as gaming phones, OnePlus devices strike a balance between overall performance and gaming capabilities, making the OnePlus 10T a solid choice for gamers seeking a well-rounded device.
8. Black Shark 5 Pro:
Xiaomi’s Black Shark series is dedicated to delivering top-tier gaming smartphones. The Black Shark 5 Pro is anticipated to feature cutting-edge hardware, such as powerful processors and advanced cooling systems to maintain optimal performance during extended gaming sessions.
These phones often come with gaming-centric features like customizable triggers, high-refresh-rate displays, and dedicated gaming modes, aiming to provide an immersive and lag-free gaming experience.
9. Asus ROG 6 Pro:
Continuing the legacy of the ROG Phone series, the Asus ROG 6 Pro is designed explicitly for serious gamers. These phones boast top-notch hardware configurations, including high-performance processors and ample RAM, ensuring smooth gaming experiences even for demanding titles.
Asus incorporates gaming-centric features like ultra-responsive high-refresh-rate displays, customizable triggers, and robust cooling systems to prevent overheating during intense gaming sessions. With an ecosystem of gaming accessories and dedicated software optimizations, the ROG 6 Pro stands out as a comprehensive gaming powerhouse.
10. Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2:
Lenovo’s Legion Phone Duel 2 is engineered to cater to the needs of gamers with its powerful hardware and innovative design. These devices typically feature top-tier processors, ample RAM, and unique landscape-oriented designs for comfortable gaming experiences.
The Legion Phone Duel series emphasizes gaming-specific features, such as shoulder triggers, advanced cooling mechanisms, and customizable gaming modes. Additionally, the dual battery setup and fast charging capabilities ensure uninterrupted gaming sessions.
The OnePlus 10T, Black Shark 5 Pro, Asus ROG 6 Pro, and Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 each bring their distinct set of gaming-centric features and robust hardware configurations, catering to gamers’ preferences for high performance, immersive gaming experiences, and dedicated gaming enhancements. These smartphones aim to provide exceptional gaming capabilities and features, making them noteworthy contenders in the realm of gaming smartphones.


If you’re having issues with your LG sound bar, resetting it may be the solution to your problem. In this article, we’ll guide you through the steps on how to reset LG sound bar.
Why Reset LG Sound Bar?
There are several reasons why you might want to reset your LG sound bar. Maybe it’s not connecting to your TV, or the sound quality has deteriorated. Whatever the reason is, resetting your sound bar can often fix the issue.
How to Reset LG Sound Bar
Resetting an LG sound bar is a simple process that can be done in just a few steps. Here’s how:
Step 1: Unplug the Sound Bar
The first step is to unplug the sound bar from the power source. This will ensure that the sound bar is completely shut down and will allow for a fresh start when you plug it back in.
Step 2: Press and Hold the Power Button
Next, press and hold the power button on the sound bar for about 5 seconds. This will discharge any remaining power in the sound bar and reset it to its default settings.
Step 3: Plug the Sound Bar Back In
After you’ve held down the power button for 5 seconds, plug the sound bar back into the power source. Wait for a few seconds for the sound bar to turn back on.
Step 4: Test the Sound Bar
Finally, test the sound bar to see if the issue has been resolved. If not, you may need to contact LG customer support for further assistance.
Q: Will resetting my LG sound bar delete all my saved settings?
A: Yes, resetting your LG sound bar will erase all saved settings and return it to its default settings.
Q: How often should I reset my LG sound bar?
A: You only need to reset your LG sound bar when you’re experiencing issues with it. Otherwise, there’s no need to reset it.
Q: Can I reset my LG sound bar if it’s not turning on?
A: No, if your LG sound bar isn’t turning on, resetting it won’t solve the issue. You may need to contact LG customer support for further assistance.
Resetting your LG sound bar is a simple process that can often fix issues you may be experiencing. However, if resetting it doesn’t solve the problem, contact LG customer support for further assistance.


A New Type of Neutron Star Observed
An international collaboration of scientists, led by Dr Manisha Caleb from the University of Sydney, has just announced the detection of an unusually slowly rotating neutron star emitting strange radio pulses.
One of the perks of discovery that excites astronomers most is when they stumble across something odd, weird and not fitting the regular models of what they were originally searching for. There are good reasons why these models exist - as many prior observations are refined through historical work to create data sets that feature baselines, regular parameters, and observable / testable phenomena - but that is not to say the outliers don’t pop up.
Sometimes the outliers can be far fetched - too good to be true, artefacts of instrumentation issues or the like. And sometimes, well, they can be remarkably interesting - with the potential to change our understanding of science, introduce new objects we never knew about, and even flip those models on their heads.
Today, a new paper has been published in Nature Astronomy by Dr Manisha Caleb from the University of Sydney which describes an outlier in the population of neutron stars - and it might be one of those cases that could change our understanding of this population across the Galaxy.
In the new article, Dr Caleb and her collaborators describe the strange new source they found as a neutron star giving off pulsed radio emission as it rotates once every 76 seconds. Pulsed radio signals from neutron stars is nothing new - an entire class of neutron stars exists known as pulsars (with the majority of the neutron star population observed being pulsars) - but none are known to rotate this slowly.
The discovery itself was somewhat serendipitous as Dr Caleb and her group used the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa (an array of 64 dishes, each 13.5-metres in diameter and spread over a larger region) to piggyback on observations being undertaken by another science group which was looking for different types of radio transients.
"Our data pipeline had originally identified this emission as radio frequency interference (RFI) due to its wide pulse duration, but luckily we always manually inspect the output," Dr Caleb told us.
The new object, named PSR J0901-4046, is somewhat weird when looking at the models of neutron stars. It is unlike the known pulsar population which have spin periods that start around 1.4 milliseconds and go up to 23.5 seconds. Nor is it just a regular neutron star, as it is emitting unique radio pulses, periodically. Its magnetic field is extremely powerful, about a quadrillion times that of your regular fridge magnet at home - giving some similarity to a handful of extremely magnetised objects known as Magnetars.
What makes this neutron star really special, is that its long rotation period and complex magnetic field structure seem to point toward a new type of object. Dr Caleb and her team think it could belong in a theorised class of objects known as the ‘ultra-long period magnetars” - of which only one other source, found using the Murchison Widefield Array, might be associated.
“Amazingly, we only detect radio emission from this source for 0.5% of its rotation period. This means that it is very fortuitous that the radio beam intersected with the Earth,” said Dr Caleb. “It is therefore likely that there are many more of these very slowly spinning sources in the Galaxy which has important implications for how neutron stars are born and age.”
PSR J0901-4046 is located in the constellation of Vela - an area of the sky that has been searched and catalogued over many decades in the radio regime - in fact, one of the most famous pulsars resides here (the Vela pulsar, and its associated supernova remnant). So how did this new object evade detection until this point in time?
It all came down to the way pulsar searches are conducted - often requiring astronomers to search for periods that they think the pulsar might be spinning in. And of course, according to the known population of pulsars so far, nothing really spins slower than 23.5 seconds. Until now.
“The majority of pulsar surveys do not search for periods this long and so we have no idea how many of these sources there might be,” said Dr Caleb. “In this case, the source was bright enough that we could detect the single pulses with the MeerTRAP instrument at MeerKAT.”
Evolving Compact Remnant Objects
Neutron stars exist because of the quirky quantum behaviour of subatomic particles. They form after supergiant stars, about 8 - 25 times more massive than our Sun, become unstable at the ends of their lives and explode as spectacular supernovae. During these events, the remaining stellar core falls inwards due to gravity, and the only thing preventing the core from total collapse is an effect known as neutron degeneracy pressure - which pushes the particles away from one another and prevents neutrons to be squeezed in any closer than a certain, limited configuration within a finite volume.
The rotation of these objects is the result of a shrinking radius that occurs during the core collapse event - where the progenitor star once used to be very big in size, it is remarkably small afterwards the supernova. This is a similar effect to seeing an ice skater spinning on the spot with their arms extended and then bringing them in - as they do, their rotational velocity increases. This means that the resulting neutron star contains approximately one to two times the mass of the Sun squeezed into about a millionth of the size - with most neutron stars being around 20 kilometres in diameter - making neutron star matter the densest material in the known universe.
Intense magnetic fields on the surfaces of these tightly packed objects tend to be upwards of 10 billion times the strength of Earth’s magnetic field and can accelerate electrons up towards the star’s magnetic poles (as well as other regions) to produce luminous radiation. This emission generally detected most prominently at radio wavelengths, often creates a pulse-like effect as the rotation of the neutron star shifts the direction of this radiative beam periodically; creating a lighthouse-style effect which is why astronomers term them ‘pulsars’.
Often, neutron stars and pulsars are referred to as one of the final evolutionary phases of massive main-sequence stars, and this is true - once these giants have exhausted their fuel reserves and undergone their supernovae events, they have transitioned into new, compact remnants.
But even neutron stars and pulsars evolve over time. For neutron stars, their surfaces cool down eventually, no longer emitting in the high-energy regime. In the case of pulsars, they lose angular velocity and their magnetic field levels subside, eventually falling below a threshold known as the ‘pulsar death line’ - where they are no longer capable of producing pulsed radio emissions due to the low magnetic field levels and slow spin periods. At this point, they just revert to becoming cooling neutron stars.
For some of these now ‘dead’ pulsars, who reside in binary pairs, they can have their angular velocity spun up again through the accretion of materials from their companions, as they evolve (these are a sub-class known as millisecond pulsars).
What makes J0901-4046 interesting is that it resides within the ‘pulsar graveyard zone’ - its spin is too slow to be doing what the other pulsars are doing - generating radio emissions. Unless of course, we are looking at an entirely new sub-class of neutron stars that have powerful magnetic fields but slow angular rotational velocities.
“The sensitivity that MeerKAT provides, combined with the sophisticated searching that was possible with MeerTRAP and an ability to make simultaneous images of the sky made this discovery possible. Even then it took an eagle eye to recognise it for something that was possibly a real source because it was so unusual looking!” said Dr Ian Heywood from the ThunderKAT team and the University of Oxford who collaborated on this study.
The Dawn of a New Population of Neutron Stars
Following the initial discovery and a review of the data, Dr Caleb set out to conduct follow-up observations to confirm the findings and the timing solution of this peculiar source, as well as other observations at different wavelengths, in the hopes that it might shed some light on this fascinating object.
At first, they observed with the MeerKAT radio telescope and later used the CSIRO Murriyang Parkes telescope to obtain precise timing measurements confirming the periodicity of the pulses that they had observed at radio wavelengths, and then additionally, they followed up using the space-based x-ray Swift Observatory to look for any detections at these frequencies. Unfortunately, none were found in this high-energy band.
However, the discovery of J0901-4046 does open up a range of new questions that has scientists excited - such as the possibility that many more of these types of objects exist across the Milky Way Galaxy which are not able to be seen from Earth due to their beams pointing away from our field of view.
Or maybe what we are finally observing is a missing link of the evolutionary phases of these compact objects, as they transition from magnetar to neutron star and pulsars or vice versa.
There’s even discussion that these objects might be linked to a relatively new, and yet not-fully-understood phenomena in radio astronomy - Fast Radio Bursts - with some theories suggesting these are generated by magnetars.
With this case now announced, further studies will hopefully find more of these objects, increasing the population that can be analysed by astrophysicists and revealing a little more about the outliers. Flipping the model on its head.
The paper is now available in the journal, Nature Astronomy


The car will be road tested at Toyota City in Japan. Solar charging technology for the vehicle will then be further optimized before the vehicle goes on sale.
The car has large portions of its surface covered in indium gallium phosphide (InGaP), gallium arsenide (GaAs) and indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) triple-junction cells and has a power output of 860 W.
Toyota has had a solar version of its Prius model since 2017, when a version was revealed which featured a small 180 W solar roof panel supplied by Kyocera. The model was only available in Japan and lacked the oomph to charge the vehicle’s battery for a range of more than 6km.
Now though, Toyota has returned to the concept and begun road testing a new generation of solar improved Prius’. This time Toyota collaborated with Sharp and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) for a different cell tech that purports to offer a massive 34% conversion efficiency. The cell was developed in 2016 by Toyota’s two partners. Combining indium gallium phosphide (InGaP), gallium arsenide (GaAs) and indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) the result is a triple-junction cell.
The solar Prius of two years ago had only a small part of its roof covered with solar cells, the new version blankets the entire roof, bonnet and boot lid with high efficiency cells, resulting in a considerably higher generation output. The result can charge the vehicle battery while driving rather than just while stationary.
|Prius PHV (solar charging system)
|New demo car
|Solar battery cell conversion efficiency
|Rated power generation output
|Approximately 860 W
|Maximum charge to the driving battery while the vehicle is parked (per day)
|BEV-mode cruising range equivalent to 6.1km
|BEV-mode cruising range equivalent to 44.5km
|Maximum charge and power supply to the driving and auxiliary battery while the vehicle is being driven (per day)
|Supplies power only to auxiliary battery, which powers car navigation system etc.
|BEV-mode cruising range equivalent to 56.3km
Toyota will test the new demo car in Toyota City in Japan’s Aichi prefecture and other areas. The carmaker wants real-world data on generation output and battery charging levels to develop the onboard solar charging system further.
“Toyota plans to share a selection of trial data results with NEDO and Sharp,” said a company statement. “The PV-powered vehicle strategy committee and other entities will evaluate the benefits from improvement in the reduction of CO2 emissions and the improvement in convenience, including the number of times a vehicle requires charging. The goal is to further contribute to the creation of a new solar battery panel market, including the transport sector, and find solutions for energy and environmental issues.”
The announcement comes after Netherlands startup Lightyear announced its take on a solar powered car – the Lightyear One. While that EV boasts a 450-mile driving range its solar surface provides only 40-50 miles, outlasting the new Prius demonstration model. The Lightyear One will begin commercial production in 2021 with reservations available for 500 units. For those interested, the manufacturer’s suggested starting retail price is a casual $136,000. There are no price disclosures for the Prius as yet.
Original article: https://www.pv-magazine.com/2019/07/12/toyota-shows-off-solar-prius-with-860-w-output-from-34-efficient-cells/
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- 1.★Dimmable:Adjust the brightness via the dimmer or your phone,works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.To dim/brighten or on/off your light,just say it to your Echo/Google Home.
- 2.★WiFi/4G Remote Control:Control your lights using “Smart Life” APP(iOS or Android) from anytime or anywhere . The APP can be easily shared to your family members. No hub required.
- 3.★Schedule Function:Use schedules to set your switch to automatically turn on and off while you’re home or away. You can even sync lights to adjust with the sunset and sunrise.
- 4.★Ultimate Beauty:Ingenuity design assures highly texture beauty ,Toughened Glass Surface Prevents the scratch from knives or something hard, damp proof available for humid operation.
- 5.★Note:Compatible with incandescent and halogen loads up to 400W, dimmable LED loads up to 150W. Requires a neutral wire / Works in a single-pole setup only (not for 3-way setup)
WiFi Smart Dimmer Light Switch(US)