Just as our switches and routers have certain tests and procedures they run when they boot, so do Cisco IP Phones – but of course, there’s a major difference or two between the Phone and router boot processes!

Here’s the basic boot procedure for a Cisco IP Phone:

As you’d expect, the first step is to physically connect the Phone to a switch port. The Phone can receive its power via Power Over Ethernet (PoE) if the Phone and Switch agree on the PoE method to be used. Originally called “inline power”, PoE allows the power to be sent through the copper cable to the connected device.

Our old friend Cisco Discovery Protocol enters the picture now, as its CDP that tells the Phone what Voice VLAN to use. Be sure CDP is running on the switch port that’s connected to the IP Phone, as it’s commonplace to disable CDP.

The Phone now needs an IP address – after all, an IP Phone will not be much good without one! That address and other related information is acquired in much the same way a “regular” host device does so – via DHCP. The IP Phone sends a DHCP Request, which is forwarded by the router to the DHCP Server.

That forwarding required the router to be configured with the ip helper-address command; routers do not forward broadcasts by default.

From there, the process is much like a PC receiving an IP address – the DHCP server responds with the usual Offer, and the Phone accepts the first Offer it receives.

This process isn’t exactly like a PC requesting an address via DHCP, though. With IP Phones, there’s a little extra option in DHCP – Option 150, to be exact. This Option tells the IP Phone where to find the TFTP Server that holds the Phone’s configuration file and is a vital part of IP Phone operation.

The Phone then contacts that TFTP server and then downloads its configuration file. From the contents of that config file, the Phone learns the location of the call processing agents it should use, and then attempts to contact them in the order in which they’re listed in the file.

If you’re configuring a Cisco router as a DHCP Server, be sure to enable Option 150 – and I’ll show you just how to do that in the next CCNA Voice tutorial in this series as well as via a video available through your favorite video sharing site!

One of the most popular segments in the automotive marketplace is the CUV or Compact Utility Vehicle. Just like the SUV, the CUV offers greater amounts of luggage space and capabilities but with better fuel economy and a more car-like ride quality. These characteristics have made them quite popular in the automotive marketplace, leading many companies to invest in CUV models. Volkswagen was one company that has attempted to take advantage of the CUV marketplace with their new Tiguan. Based on the Golf chassis, the Tiguan offers an SUV-like capability with a sportier feel. But there are still those that crave even more sport which is why the team at ABT Sportsline created a new upgrade program for the Volkswagen Tiguan that gives it even better performance and style. The program includes new engine tuning software, chassis modifications, concave truck wheels, and new exterior styling upgrades.

The first aspect of the Volkswagen Tiguan model range that the team at ABT Sportsline focused on was the diesel and gasoline engines. Three 2.0-liter turbodiesel inline four engines are available in the Volkswagen Tiguan with outputs of 110-, 140-, and 170 horsepower in stock form. With the ABT Power package that includes a variety of modifications including a software tune, the engines end up producing a total of 140-, 170,- and 195 horsepower total for better acceleration and top speed performance. Next up was the line of gasoline engines, three of which displace 1.4-liter and the top-of-the-line displacing 2.0 liters and utilizing a turbocharger. The 1.4-liter engines that produce a stock 122-, 150, and 160- horsepower generate a total of 160-, 180-, and 210 horsepower outputs after the ABT Power upgrade package with software tunes. The final 2.0 TFSI turbocharged engine with a 180 horsepower stock output sends a total of 230 horsepower to all four of the concave truck wheels after the ABT Power upgrade.

The next step was to upgrade the exterior design of the Volkswagen Tiguan. Here, ABT Sportsline engineers and designers teamed up to create a stylish and sporty appearance using new body work. The front fascia wears a new grille and a spoiler lip to create downforce while each side of the CUV features new door inserts, vents, and side skirts that sit between the new concave truck wheels. The rear of the Tiguan is finished off with a new bumper insert and roof spoiler.

The final upgrade package was for the Tiguan’s chassis. ABT Sportsline installed a set of new sport lowering springs to reduce the overall center of gravity for better handling dynamics and a new set of wheel spacers at the front and rear axles. They then fitted a set of concave truck wheels that give the Tiguan a more muscular stance and then fitted them with new performance tires for better grip.

The Ford Pinto was Ford’s first domestic subcompact car. It was marketed in 1970 with competitors being the AMC Gremlin, Chevrolet Vega and imports from Volkswagen, Datsun and Toyota. It was a very popular car with 100,000 units delivered by January 1971. A version produced under the Lincoln Mercury name was called the Bobcat.

The Pinto used powertrains proven in Europe but the Vega had an innovative aluminum engine that caused problems. Robert Eidschun’s design of the exterior of the Pinto was chosen which was unusual because most cars consist of style elements from many designers. The Ford Pinto offered an inline 4 engine and bucket seats. And entry level Pinto was $1,850 which made it the cheapest Ford since 1958.

Seating in the Pinto was low to the floor compared to the imports. Body styles were the two door coupe, a hatchback called the Runabout and a two door station wagon. A top of the line Pinto Squire had faux wood sides. Road & Track magazine did not the suspension and standard drum brakes but loved the 1.6 L Kent engine. The Pinto was available with a choice of two engines and Ford changed the power ratings practically every year. The Ford Pinto Pangra is a modified sporting Pinto produced by Huntington Ford in California and only 55 were sold in 1973.

The Ford Pinto is most well known for it’s design problem that allowed the fuel tank to be easily damaged in a rear end collision. Deadly fires and explosions were common occurrences in rear end collisions. The Pinto had no real bumper or reinforcing structure between the rear panel and gas tank. In some collisions the gas tank would be thrust forward into the differential which had protruding bolts that could puncture the tank. Also the doors could jam during an accident due to poor reinforcement. This led to the Pinto’s nickname as a barbeque that seats four.

The Ford Pinto memo is the cost benefit analysis that Mother Jones magazine obtained that they claimed Ford used to compare the cost of an $11 repair to the monetary value of a human life. This characterization of Ford’s decision as a disregard for human life led to lawsuits though Ford was acquitted of criminal charges. The NHTSA ruled in 1974 that the Pinto had no recallable problem but in 1978 Ford initiated a recall providing a dealer installable safety kit that put protective plastic material over the sharp objects thereby removing the risk of a gas tank puncture.

The Ford Pinto has the dubious honor of being on Time magazine’s list of the fifty worst cars of all time.

Nowadays, machine vision is a common technology that allows the automation of different production units. Moreover, the inline inspection helps cut down on the cost of production, reduce costs and boost customer satisfaction. Apart from this, it’s important for the batch and product integrity. In this article, we are going to take a look at some common benefits of the machine vision systems.

With the right type of optics, lighting and camera system, this technology offers a great solution for even a challenging inspection at high speeds. This is what makes this technology an ideal choice for product units where inspection is of paramount importance.

Apart from this, there are strict requirements for specific compliance-oriented systems. They have high standards. Therefore, there is a need of a vision system that can offer a great solution to meet these standards.

Improved Product Quality

With machine vision technology, manufacturers are in a much better position to ensure 100% quality checks through powerful camera systems. Therefore, all of the batches can be checked for defects during the process of production without any interruption. So, quick inspection can help product superior quality products in addition to reduce waste in the process.

We know improving product quality is one of the most important things for any business that produces products.

Reduced Cost of Production

With the installation of a vision inspection system, it’s possible to remove defective parts in the beginning of the process. Since defective pieces don’t go to the next stages in the process, no further costs incur.

Instead, the faulty products can be sent back to the production process, which can help save a lot of material. At this step, the defective units can be rectified in order to boost system availability and productivity.

With a visual inspection system, it’s possible to improve product quality while reducing costs and preventing fines, recalls and negative publicity. By reducing the production cost, manufacturers can sell their products at lower prices, which can helps boost positive competition among different players in the industry.

Error Proofing

Often, complex processes are more prone to different types of errors that the human eye can’t detect. On the other hand, machine vision can eradicate the likelihood of misassembled products.

These powerful and smart systems can inspect smallest details that you can’t see with naked eyes.

Reduced Cost

Another benefit of these devices is that they can boost speed and cut down on the scrap rate. As a result, you can save tons of money, as you won’t have to pay for labor costs. Again, it reduces product costs.

Reduced Downtime

While testing the system and removing the need of physical contact with objects, these devices prevent damage to the parts and reduce the upkeep costs.

Higher Safety

These systems offer extra safety and many operational benefits, as there is minimal human involvement throughout the process. Apart from this, it helps prevent contamination of the production rooms in addition to protect human workers.

So, this was a description of some common benefits of machine vision systems for manufacturers.

We are all familiar of the tools that are found in our homes. There are a lot of tools that we use and need for fixing something that is broken. These tools are very handy when it comes to tightening or loosening something like nuts or bolts. One of those very important tools is the ratchet wrenches. They are specially designed tools that help technicians for loosening and tightening nuts or bolts that a common wrench or pliers cannot reach or work on.

The advantage of having these is that, it has several important parts which include an extender arm, adopters, removable joints, and of course, removable socket of different sizes that fit into nuts or bolts of corresponding sizes. Aside from that, this kind of wrench makes it easy to tighten or loosen any nut through reverse movements without removing the wrench from the nut because it consists of the ratcheting mechanism.

Another feature that this ratchet wrenches have is it has a square fitting that could be attached with the ratchet that fits on the required nut or bolt needed. To make sure that it would hold tight on the socket, it has a mechanism spring-loaded ball. But the most important features of these are the universal and the adopters. These two play a very important role. Universal joints have the feature of two joints that are capable of bending almost 90 degrees so that the wrench could actually reach any corner and move into any direction. Adopters are very important since it’s the one used to fit sockets and the one who link one drive size to another drive size.

Aside from ratchet wrenches, there are also a lot of different other wrenches used for different purposes. Here are the common, most used and important wrenches; ratchet open-ed geared wrench, impact ratchet wrench, inline ratchet wrench, air ratchet wrench, flex ratchet and several others. These are all important wrenches which are used to tighten and loosen nuts and bolts of different sizes having different mechanisms to do the job.

The good thing about ratchet wrenches is that it usually is used in some tight corner or narrow space where other common wrenches cannot reach because it is impossible to move a wrench to tighten and loosen nuts or bolts. That’s why you need these kinds of wrenches for this purpose. There are no other wrenches that could do this for you.

Google has finally launched its browser named ‘Chrome’. On their official website they have mentioned the technical details in CARTOON BOOK format, which undermines the seriousness of the software they have developed.

It is too early to compare Chrome with any other browser, but mentioned below are the top 10 features which I find useful and handy.

The top 10 features of Chrome

1. Tabbed Interface – with the tabs at the top.

2. Dockable Windows – move it and the window state too will move.

3. The omnibox handles more than just URLs. It offers suggestions for searches, top visited pages, pages you have not visited but are popular and the best feature is the full text search over the history.

4. Auto complete to something you have explicitly typed before. (Inline completion which is very discreet).

5. A very handy and thoughtful feature which is incorporated in the default new tab is, that it opens with nine most frequently visited websites ( thumbnails ) on the left and on the right, sites that you search for the most.

6. Google Chrome has a privacy mode. Pages viewed here will never be logged on to your computer, that means no cookies etc.

7. Pop ups will be pushed to its own tab. To make the pop up visible simply drag it out and it will be promoted to its own window.

8. Sandboxing – The weapon against malware.

9. Very simple Interface. With no Menu bars cluttering the window.

10. Easy download system. A simple push button method.

When I was young, I loved to run. It did not matter whether it was raining or snowing, I would be running early in the morning. If I let a few days go by without running, I would begin to feel sluggish. I enjoyed running not only for the exercise but also for the benefit of clearing my mind as I would begin a new day. When I didn’t run, I would wake up focusing on the problems that I would have that day or the days ahead. But running gave me a respite from the problems around me.

As I have got older, I have found that my body can’t take the abuse from running. My bones and joints began to give me some issues. I have found that skating, whether it be inline or roller skating can be a great replacement for running. I have found that skating can give me all the same benefits as running but without further damaging my bones and joints.

When I ran, the souls of my feet were absorbing the impact when my feet hit the ground. But when I would be roller or inlining, the skates would be absorbing much more, as much as 50 percent of the impact with each landing. Because the frames and wheels take the brunt of the impact, I found that my knees and ankles were not greatly impacted.

What this meant to me was that I could continue my exercising via skating without further damaging my joints, because of the minimum impact. I also found that I could skate longer than when I was running, which meant that I could burn more calories.

So if you are considering taking up this sport or have been running and thinking about taking skating up as a sport, let me share with you some of the benefits,

Clarity of Mind: This is a great benefit that is often over-looked by vigorous exercise. Whether you are skating intensely or casually, your mind will benefit.

Strengthen the Heart: This is quite obvious. Just like running, skating gives your heart a great workout without damaging your joints! In fact I think skating gives a better workout because you can do it for a longer period of time. If you are doing this for 30 minutes, you can get your heart rate up to 148pm

Weight Control: Since skating is a fun sport, you will get your exercise by having fun at the same time! If you spend 30 minutes on the skates, you will burn on average 285 calories. If you go fast on the skates, the calories burned will be much greater.

Coordination: When a child is young, this is very important to learn. But as we get older, it is very good to engage in a sport that continues to improve your coordination and balance. All this happen naturally as you skate.

Internet research has become increasingly important as a source for information and ideas when writing research papers, term papers, and essays. As with printed materials, it is just as important to cite the source of online information or significant ideas.

“Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source” (Wikipedia (2011). Citation. Retrieved 13 January 2011 from Wikipedia: Put link here)

When directly quoting from another source you should enclose the quoted material in quotation marks as illustrated above. You should then cite the source of the quoted item either inline in a parenthetical citation or in a footnote.

Two of the most popular citation formats are:

The American Psychological Association (APA) Style

The Modern Language Association (MLA) Style

Using the above example, we know the following information about the cited article:

Author name: unknown Title: Citation Date first published: unknown Date last updated: January 13, 2011 10:40 AM Date accessed: January 13, 2011 Source: Wikipedia URL: Put link here.

Internet Citation Using the APA Format

To cite a document from an Internet site, begin the citation with the author’s name, if given. Follow this with the date of publication or last updated date in parenthesis and then the title of the work. Continue with the project, site or database name in italics. Follow this with “Retrieved” followed by the date of retrieval and the word “from”, followed by the URL of the specific work or document.

Using the above example:

(January 13, 2011). Citation. In Wikipedia. Retrieved January 13, 2011, from Put link here.

Internet Citation Using the MLA Format

To cite a document from an Internet site begin the citation with the author’s name and, in quotation marks, the title of the work. If no author is given, begin the citation with the title of the material, in quotation marks. Continue with the Date of publication (or date page was last modified). Follow this with the date of access. Finally follow with the URL enclosed in angle brackets ().

Using the above example:

“Citation”. Wikipedia. January 13, 2011 10:40 AM. Accessed: January 13, 2011. Put link here.

When directly quoting online sources, or paraphrasing online ideas, it is very important to cite the source of the information above using one of the formats outlined for a couple of reasons:

It gives the true author credit for their work

It will help to prevent you from being accused of plagiarism

Inspired by the Heckler and Koch MP5K, the Tippmann A5 is a semi-automatic pneumatic marker used by many around the world. First produced in 2002, this paintball gun is able to utilize CO2 and HPA propellants thanks to its inline blowback gas system. Until now, it is one of the most modifiable markers in the market.

Similar to electric loaders, this paintball marker uses a cyclone-feed system in an attempt to increase the rate of bullets per second, or bps. The usual feed tube that markers have is one that drops paint balls one by one, or force feeds them into the chamber. This marker has housing on the right side and inside the housing are two star-shaped sprockets that relies on the rate the operator pulls the trigger, and it is called a Cyclone-Feed System. Usually reaching 15+ bps, but sometimes there are reports of speeds reaching a staggering 25 bps.

The Response Trigger System a typical Tippmann A5 has greatly increases the firing rate of the marker. This gun has been banned from certain commercial paintball events because of its ability to reset the trigger while only applying moderate pressure, immediately pulling the trigger back giving it a bounce and firing again, giving the user the ability to shoot at full-auto speed.

Allowing itself to look like many real-world firearms, this paintball marker has kits that makes it fully modifiable. Barrels, body kits, camouflage kits, compressed air low-pressure kits, electronic upgrades, foregrips or false magazines, tactical shrouds, triggers and even a Flatline Barrel System are only a few of its many upgrades.

The Tippmann A5 is conclusively a very versatile paintball marker. It has become a cult favorite, despite being banned in some competitive events, where paintball enthusiasts are commending and glorifying. Truly, along with its modifiable nature, this paintball marker is something that has exceeded expectations.

To ensure that you have bought a working amplifier, it’s important that you test it before you part with your money.

How To Test An Amplifier

You should start by passing power through the amplifier. For you to make the purchase you should ensure that it has the right voltage. For example, if the amplifier is designed for use in a car, it should have 12 volts.

To test the amplifier you only need to touch the power wire to a power source. When the power light comes on, it’s proof that the amplifier has a good circuit board.

After doing this you should test it to confirm if it puts out sound. To do this you need to hook the speaker wires or RCA cables that are coming out of the head unit to the speaker. You should then connect the speaker to the output side of the amplifier.

If the power light comes on, but you don’t have any sound, it’s a sign that amplifier has been overloaded and will most likely not work. If good quality sound comes out, the amplifier is good.

To ensure continuity you should check all the fuses. Fuses are usually colour coded and come with a plastic body. You should consider checking the fuses when you connect your amplifier to a power source and doesn’t turn on.

You should check the inline fuse which usually comes with a black or clear plastic casing. The fuse tends to split down the middle or twist apart. You should check whether it’s cracked or corroded. If it is, you should consider replacing it. You should also consider replacing the fuse if the wire inside it is in two pieces.

Using A Digital Multimeter

A digital multimeter helps you to measure the amount of current passing through your amplifier. To measure the current you should connect the red multimeter probe to its positive port and then turn on the digital multimeter then set the measurement dial.

You should then connect the red probe of the multimeter to the negative end of the device that you are studying. You should also connect the black probe of the multimeter to the wire that you had removed from the amplifier that you are testing. When you do this you will see the amount of current that is flowing into your amplifier.

Conclusion

While you can test the amplifier on your own, it’s wise that you hire a professional to expertly test it for you.