Radio Technology

The History of Barcodes

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:41:33 +0000

Wallace Flint was the first person to suggest an automated checkout system in 1932. But the history of modern barcode begun only in 1948, when Bernard Silver, a graduate student of Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia, asked his friend Norman Woodland to develop a system to automatically read product information during checkout.

The first coding system was developed by Woodland, a twenty-seven-year-old graduate of the same institute. On October 7, 1952, Woodland and his friend Silver were awarded a patent for this invention named “Classifying Apparatus and Method.” Woodland’s first idea was to use patterns of ink that would glow under ultraviolet light. The barcode Woodland and Silver developed was a “bull’s eye” symbol, made up of a series of concentric circles. Later, the barcode was made up of a pattern of four white lines on a dark background. Information was coded and classified in these lines.

The barcode was first commercialized in 1967, when RCA installed the first scanning systems at a Kroger store in Cincinnati. In 1969, NAFC asked Logicon. Inc. to develop an industry-wide barcode system. They developed Part 1 and 2 of the UGPIC (Universal Grocery Products Identification Code) in 1970. Based on this, a Uniform Grocery Product Code was formed. In 1973, the U.S. Supermarket Ad Hoc Committee recommended the adoption of the UPC symbol set, which is still in use. This was developed by George Laurer of IBM. In June 1974, the first UPC scanner was installed at Marsh’s supermarket in Troy, Ohio. It was developed by NCR Corp. The first product scanned was ten-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum.

The industrial application of barcodes began in late 1950s, and in 1967, the Association of American Railroad adopted an optical barcode, but it was abandoned in 1970. In September 1981, the United States Department of Defense adopted the use of Code 39 for marking all products sold by the United States military, called LOGMARS. This was the event that popularized barcodes. Today, this is a billion dollar business. In 1962, Silver died, and in 1992, Woodland was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Bush.

Skateboard Information

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:27:57 +0000

Here we have some skateboard information on yer actual skateboard, including all you need to know on them. Here are a few facts guys and gals, dudes and dudesses:

The skateboard deck, that is the flat surface of the skateboard, is normally made out of laminated maple. How thick the skateboard is depends on the number of layers that the deck is made out of. The less experienced skateboarder should be more inclined to pick a thick skateboard for ease of balance.

For your skateboard information, the wheels are more often than not made out of polyurethane, and can be sized between 39 to 66 millimetres in diameter.

The front of the skateboard is called the nose, which comprises of the front truck bolts to the end of the board.
The back of the skateboard is called the tail, which comprises of the back truck bolts back to the end of the board.

The wheelbase is basically the distance between the front and the back wheels.

Most skateboards come with grip tape on them, or skateboarders put tape on them when they buy their board. The grip tape is stuck to the deck, and has an abrasive surface to give the skateboarder plenty grip to the board, so that they will not slip off so readily.

So theres some skateboard information for your delectation. It is not that important that you know this information, the main thing is being able to skate on the thing! But it gives you a feel for your board and what you are dealing with, and ya know what they say, knowledge is power.

Higher Education in Pakistan: Introducing FAST and Air University

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:19:13 +0000

Pakistan’s diverse and colorful face of modern Education has evolved and expanded drastically since the country came into being in the mid 20th century. Today a variety of educational committees, systems and boards are abundant in the country some of most common are Religious Schools committee, The Federal Board, the HEC or Higher Education Commission, and the private or foreign sector.

Under the official HEC there are several high-grade Universities that are not only listed as some of the best in the world but among the topmost of Asia and Pakistan. To name a few there is NUST (National University of Sciences and Technology), IBA (Institute of Business and Administration), UMT (University of Management and Technology), AU (Air University) and National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences.

Talking of the latter; FAST or NUCES for the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences we are first to relate to its history. Back in 1985 the Foundation for Advancement of Science and Technology in the country in an effort to introduce developing sciences in the budding country; set up complexes for computer science in two of the main cities of Pakistan, namely Lahore and Karachi.

They later on set up campuses in Islamabad and Peshawar too. NUCES is acclaimed as one of the highest engineering universities by the Pakistan engineering council (PEC) and by the (HEC) in the nation. It thus has the honor of being the first multi-campus Institute of Pakistan.

Another notable institute of Pakistan is Air University, which is a project of Pakistan’s Federal Public Sector located in Pakistan’s capital; Islamabad. It was founded in 2002 and is approved of by the HEC and PEC as a leader in its field of engineering, especially aeronautical engineering. Its degrees are widely accepted and approved off internationally on a smaller scale and nationally too on a very wide one.

What’s more is that being very young for its timeline it has achieved much and granted much to a large number of alumni entering and leaving it yearly. The campus is state-of-the-art for its age to with laboratories, high-end cafeteria, sports activities and facilities.

Moreover studying is also becoming increasingly easier now that students are equipped with personal laptops. It also grants more second and third-party opportunities such as internships and pre-life experience. Health care is also very carefully regarded and lately Hostel facilities have enabled more aspiring students from neighboring cities to enroll and enjoy the benefits of better higher education.