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For 2016, we timed these events with our new ChipCard timing system:

• Races at the Lake  from April 23 to May 14 on four Saturdays in Stow, OH.
• Steel City Showdown on Sunday, May 8th in Pittsburgh, PA.
• Genesee Valley Park Criterium on Sunday, May 22nd in Rochester, NY.
• Buhl Park GP on Saturday, June 4th in Hermitage, PA.
• Cleveland Transplant Games on Sunday, June 12th in Cleveland, OH.
• Raccoon Rally road bike race weekend on June 18 in Allegany State Park, NY.
• Raccoon Rally mountain bike race on June 19th in Allegany State Park, NY.
• Tour de Loop in Oswego, NY on Saturday August 6th.

The following events were timed manually with CrossMgr software.

• Cleveland Metroparks Fat Tire Race in Bedford, OH on Saturday, January 30th.
• Knox Farm CX in East Aurora, NY on Sunday, August 28th.
• Edgewater CX in Cleveland, OH on Sunday September 11th.
• KB Moto Hare Scramble in Glenwood, NY on Sunday, September 18th.
• Rally at Three Valley in Holland, NY on Sunday, September 24th.
• KB Moto Hare Scramble in Glenwood, NY on Sunday, October 2nd.
• Holimont CX in Ellicottville, NY on Saturday October 8th.
• The Park School CX in Amherst, NY on Sunday, October 23rd.
• Down by the River CX in Willoughby, OH on Sunday November 6th.
• Wendy Park CX in Cleveland, OH on Sunday November 27th.

The next generation in RFID timing has arrived and is now available for timing races! For 2016, we have two new options for timing events: Race|Result and ChipCard.

Race|Result is a high precision active tag system that is available upon request and is shipped from Colorado. ChipCard is our own system that was developed and customized using RFID technology from Impinj. Both systems are compatible with CrossMgr software.

Race|Result is an RFID timing system designed in Germany, and provides ten times higher accuracy than any other active chip RFID system. Using a higher frequency 2.4ghz signal compared to the 350mhz signal used by other active RFID chips or 900mhz passive systems, the Race|Result system achieves incredible 1/1000 second timing precision.

The Race|Result system also provides increased flexibility through the use of a single timing loop on the ground, which can be extended up to 12 meters (36 feet) to cover even the widest 4-lane finish lanes.

While J-Chip and Race|Result rely on finish times generated by the RFID receiver, ChipCard utilizes the high precision event timer (HPET) in Windows to provide much higher resolution to the ChipCard finish time.

The Race|Result hardware is also supported by CrossMgr, making it the ultimate timing system for any bike race.

In addition to Race|Result and J-Chip active tags, we also provide our own ChipCard passive tag RFID timing.  The ChipCard provides a number of unique advantages over J-Chip and Race|Result active tags:

• low cost, so there are no fees for lost or missing ChipCards.
• the racers bib USA cycling license/account number can be assigned and printed on the ChipCard, allowing the same tag to be used at different events.
• The ChipCard antennas can support very wide finish lines, up to 60 feet across, while active tags are limited to the antenna mat width, currently 24-feet for J-chip or 35-feet for Race|Result.
• no overhead truss, ground mat or cables are required, so ChipCard can be used for wide finishes or roads open to traffic.
• used in conjunction with CrossMgrCamera to provide visual confirmation of finishing order through time-stamped finish line photos.
• there is no battery in the ChipCard, so there is no lifetime limitation on their use.
• we have 500 ChipCards on hand with bib numbers 100-499 printed on them.
• we have our own ChipCard printer with the ability to customize and print unlimited ChipCards on request.

Starting in April 2018, CrossMgrImpinj has been upgraded to support a new method for reading chips using quadratic regression (QR.) When the chip is read 3 or more times while passing the antenna, QR calculates the chip position in front of the antenna, resulting in 6-inch precision in front of the antenna. Initial testing shows that over 90% of the tags passing the antenna are read more than 3 times.

We’re again providing computerized timing with J-Chip RFID technology and CrossMgr software for races in New York and Ohio. You’ll find us timing these 25 events in 2015:

• Sweden Fat Tire Bike Race.
• Mac5 Bikes Winter Fat Tire Bike Race.
• EFP Rotenberg/Methods Criterium at Seneca Park/Rochester Zoo.
• Races at the Lake, 4 weeks of criterium racing in Munroe Falls, Ohio.
• 2015 Larkinville Criteriums
• Hamburg Road Race and Larkin Criterium.
• Raccoon Rally road and mountain bike races.
• Ohio State Championship Road Race and Time Trial.
• KB Moto Hare Scramble motorcycle race.
• Cleveland NEOcycle: Edgewater Cyclocross and Battery Park Criterium.
• Knox Farm CX
• West Falls CX
• Park School CX
• Cross in the Park
• Cross in a Maze

Race timing services are provided by Jonathan M. Rosen, a USA cycling level “C” official and certified race director with experience timing over 150 races since 2012.

CrossMgr software provides the ultimate timing system for any bike race, providing lap results, prime results and finish line photos, all delivered to the Internet in real-time and laser printed minutes after the last finisher is done.

J-Chip RFID technology consistently provides 100% chip detection at any speed, ensuring every riders time is accurately recorded with 1/100 second precision.

Twice a year when the clocks change between daylight and standard time, public service announcements and fire departments remind people to change the batteries in their smoke detectors. While this ensures the smoke detectors are ready to detect a fire, there is another battery in the house that is overlooked and could lead to the destruction of a home or office through water damage. A lot оf fіrе protection hаѕ tо dо wіth technology; fоr instance, fіrе suppression systems thаt respond tо a fіrе bу using water, a dry substance оr аn inorganic material tо slow thе spread оf a fіrе оr рut іt оut completely. Othеr systems, ѕuсh аѕ fіrе alarm systems, аrе tasked wіth thе responsibility оf alerting thоѕе іn a home оr building tо a fіrе bеfоrе іt grows tоо large tо escape frоm. Fіrе protection technology іѕ аll аbоut saving lives аnd protecting property, but оnе оf thе best wауѕ tо make sure nо оnе іѕ hurt аnd nоthіng іѕ damaged іѕ tо tаkе preventative steps. You can check over here for more details about the fire barrier protection.

Digital thermostats that have replaced the original mercury switch thermostats offer scheduled heating and cooling, providing improved efficiency. But they all rely on a pair of “AA” size 1.5v batteries to maintain the heating schedule.

When those batteries fail after a few years, the thermostat stops working and shuts off, disabling the furnace. The result is a house or office that can drop to freezing temperatures inside after only one day. One of the best ways to keep house or office in good weather is by a good insulation, contact us to learn more. As the water pipes inside the building freeze and crack, the water pours out, damaging everything from the roof to the basement. And the El Dorado plumber should be called for help. Damages are multiplied when dealing with industrial heating systems as they are generally larger, more complex pieces of machinery and are responsible for larger areas of space and materials/goods.

While it may be tempting to replace the standard alkaline batteries in a thermostat with longer lasting Lithium batteries, this is even more likely to lead to unexpected failure.

Unlike Alkaline batteries, Lithium batteries have a different discharge profile kiwigambling. Lithium batteries provide a steady voltage until they are completely discharged, resulting in almost no time for a low battery warning. Since the voltage on Alkaline batteries drops as they discharge, the thermostat will provide a warning for a week or two that the battery voltage is low and requires replacement.

Rechargeable Ni-Mh or Ni-Cd batteries should never be used in a thermostat, since they individually provide only 1.2 volts (2.4v for two batteries in series) at full charge, well below the 1.5/3 volts required. This will trigger a low battery warning even when fully charged. Rechargeable batteries also self-discharge and will not last more than a few weeks in a thermostat.

Regardless of the battery chosen for a thermostat, the outside of the thermostat should have a label indicating when new batteries were installed, and they should be replaced every year, preferably when changing smoke detector batteries.

Recommendations on an improved digital thermostat design:

• include a piezo speaker chirp and flashing red LED for the low battery alarm, powered by the 24-volt furnace transformer.
• use a replaceable Li-Ion battery as a backup battery and power the thermostat from the 24-volt transformer, so that battery power is only used when utility power is disabled.
• track the last and next battery change date on a calendar for reference.

Source: Orlando Water Restoration – BC Restoration Services

Related: Whitton Plumbing Drain Cleaning Mesa.

Microsoft Windows XP has become the most widely used and installed desktop operating system, with over 60% of U.S. businesses running Windows XP as of 2013. Since introducing Windows XP in 2002, Microsoft has provided free software updates that add features and fix security problems exploited by viruses. However, Microsoft will not be providing updates indefinitely.

Instead, Microsoft will stop issuing security fixes to Windows XP, Internet Explorer 8 and Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows XP on April 8, 2014. It is possible and likely this deadline will be extended, and its also likely that Microsoft may issue security fixes for major problems that significantly affect large groups of Windows XP users. The best course of action is to begin upgrading or replacing Windows XP computers with Windows 7 or Windows 10. Both Windows Vista and Windows 8.x should be avoided.

Windows XP 32-bit with service pack 3 (SP3) can be upgraded to Vista 32-bit SP1 and then the service pack 2 update for Vista must be installed. Only after upgrading to Vista SP2 can a computer be upgraded to Windows 7. Note that 32-bit versions of Windows XP cannot be upgraded to any subsequent 64-bit version of Windows. 64-bit versions of Windows Vista/7/8 provide support for computers with over 4gb RAM, while 32-bit versions of Windows are limited to recognizing only the first 3gb of RAM (4gb minus video memory usage).

There are no direct upgrades from Windows XP to Windows 7/8; instead, computers must first be upgraded from XP to Vista, and then from Vista to Win7 and then Win8. Performing an upgrade preserves all programs, data and settings, replacing only the operating system files with the newer version.

When changing to a 64-bit version of Windows Vista/7/8, there is no upgrade path available from 32-bit Windows. Instead, a new copy of Windows must be installed, requiring all applications to be re-installed. The previous version of Windows can be retained and the computer can be dual-booted to allow switching between versions of Windows on restart.

Along with the planned demise of Windows XP, new computers are no longer including hardware drivers for Windows XP, instead limiting their support to only Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Frequently asked questions about the end of updates for Windows XP on April 8, 2014:

Q: Will Windows XP Home or Professional stop working on April 9, 2014?

A: Windows XP and all other programs on Windows XP will continue to work without interruption after April 8, 2014. The Windows update feature will not provide new updates and security fixes for Windows XP, Microsoft Security Essentials anti-virus and Internet Explorer 8 after April 8, 2014.

Q: What should Microsoft Security Essentials be replaced with when it stops updating?

A: There are a wide range of anti-virus programs that will continue to work on Windows XP. AVG and Immunet both provide unlimited free licenses for their anti-virus software. Microsoft will extend the support of Security Essentials until April 2015 to ensure that XP computers are protected.

Q: Can existing computers with Windows XP Home be upgraded to a newer version of Windows?

A: Yes. Windows XP Home SP3 32-bit can be upgraded to Windows Vista Home Basic/Premium/Ultimate 32-bit. Windows XP Home cannot be upgraded to any 64-bit version of Windows. Instead, a new installation of Windows Vista/7/8 must be performed if choosing the 64-bit installation. The 64-bit version of Windows is an optional choice that provides support for computers with more than 4gb RAM.  When upgrading Windows, the computer should have a minimum of 2gb RAM. Using less than 2gb RAM will result in a significant drop in performance.

Q: Can existing computers with Windows XP Professional be upgraded to a new version of Windows?

A: Yes. Windows XP Professional SP3 32-bit can be upgraded to Windows Vista Professional or Ultimate 32-bit version. Windows XP Professional cannot be upgraded to any 64-bit version of windows. Instead, a new installation of Windows Vista/7/8 must be performed if the 64-bit version is selected. The 64-bit version of Windows is an optional choice that provides support for computers with more than 4gb RAM. When upgrading Windows, the computer should have a minimum of 2gb RAM. Using less than 2gb RAM will result in a significant drop in performance.

Q: What does 64-bit Windows Vista/7/8 provide?

A: 64-bit Windows provides support for computers with more than 4gb RAM. While 32-bit versions of Windows can run on any computer, 32-bit versions will recognize only the first 4gb of RAM and ignore any additional RAM memory.

Q: Can Windows XP continue to be used after April 8th, 2014?

A: Yes. Both FireFox and Chrome web browsers will continue to work on Windows XP, so these can be used instead of Internet Explorer 8. Note that Internet Explorer 8 cannot be removed or disabled, but shortcuts and links to Internet Explorer can be removed and  another web browser can become the default browser for all web pages. Microsoft Security Essentials can be removed and replaced with other free anti-virus software.