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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Night vision device

A night vision device (NVD) is an optical instrument that allows images to be produced in levels of light approaching total darkness. They are most often used by the military and law enforcement agencies, but are available to civilian users. The term usually refers to a complete unit, including an image intensifier tube, a protective and generally water-resistant housing, and some type of mounting system. Many NVDs also include sacrificial lenses, IR illuminators, and telescopic lenses.

Night vision devices were first used in World War II, and came into wide use during the Vietnam War. The technology has evolved greatly since their introduction, leading to several "generations" of night vision equipment with performance increasing and price decreasing.

Integrated Systems

One of the recent developments in Design of CCTV systems is Integrated Systems. These Systems consist of a Digital Video Recorder (DVR), a display monitor, and a built in Network card. Integrated systems look exactly like an LCD monitor. They can be used as simply a monitor, although their compact size makes them attractive for CCTV users.[original research?]

DVRs used in Integrated Systems have the capacity to record up to 14 days (with high resolution recording).

Integrated Systems also have USB outlets so that Video Clips and Recordings can be moved out onto a USB key or External Hard drive and then later transferred on to a DVD if needed. Police investigations after a crime require that a copy of the CCTV recording be available to investigators.

Integrated Systems that come with a Built in Network Card allowing users to connect remotely from the internet and view exactly what their cameras are viewing. This allows monitoring from anywhere in the world by simply having a computer and an internet connection. This feature is very similar to that of IP cameras. A famous incident is that of Jeanne Thomas a lady from Boynton Beach, Florida was able to watch her house get robbed and contacted police directly from her office at work.

Popularity of Integrated Systems is increasing among small business owners and small offices. These users require a solution to their security needs that does not involve complex hook ups and difficult user interface.

IP cameras

A growing branch in CCTV is Internet Protocol Cameras (IP Cameras). IP cameras allow homeowners and businesses to view their camera(s) through any internet connection available through a computer or a 3G phone.[34]

Internet Protocol is a protocol used for communicating data across a packet-switched network using the Internet Protocol Suite, also referred to as TCP/IP.

Closed-circuit digital photography (CCDP)

A development in the world of CCTV (October 2005) is in the use of megapixel digital still cameras that can take 1600 x 1200 pixel resolution images of the camera scene either on a time lapse or motion detection basis. Images taken with a digital still camera have higher resolution than those taken with a typical video camera. Relatively low-cost digital still cameras can be used for CCTV purposes, using CCDP software that controls the camera from the PC.

Images of the camera scene are transferred automatically to a computer every few seconds. Images may be monitored remotely if the computer is connected to a network.

Combinations of PIR activated floodlights with 1.3Mpix and better digital cameras are now appearing. They save the images to a flash memory card which is inserted into a slot on the device. The flash card can be removed for viewing on a computer if ever an incident happens. They are not intended for live viewing, but are a very simple and cheap "install and forget" approach to this issue.

Closed-circuit digital photography (CCDP) is more suited for capturing and saving recorded photographs, whereas closed-circuit television (CCTV) is more suitable for live monitoring purposes.

Closed-circuit television

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors.

It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly transmitted, though it may employ point to point wireless links. CCTV is often used for surveillance in areas that may need monitoring such as banks, casinos, airports, military installations, and convenience stores.

In industrial plants, CCTV equipment may be used to observe parts of a process from a central control room; when, for example, the environment is not suitable for humans. CCTV systems may operate continuously or only as required to monitor a particular event. A more advanced form of CCTV, utilizing Digital Video Recorders (DVRs), provides recording for possibly many years, with a variety of quality and performance options and extra features (such as motion-detection and email alerts).

Surveillance of the public using CCTV is particularly common in the UK, where there are reportedly more cameras per person than in any other country in the world. There and elsewhere, its increasing use has triggered a debate about security versus privacy.

Digital Monster X-Evolution

Digital Monster X-Evolution (also called Digimon X-Evolution) is a movie that is independent of any anime series. It also presented in the X-Pendulum, being divided into three Terminals named after the Norns and represent the three portions of time: Urd (a volcanic wasteland, the past), Verdandi (A grassland environment, the present), and Skuld (Futuristic urban environment)

There was a Digital World that existed prior to the one that appears in Digimon X-Evolution. It was cultivated and populated with Digimon by the intelligent computer Yggdrasil. Digital World grew in size and in the numbers of Digimon to where Yggdrasil could no longer manage the load, and the "Digital Hazard" occurred, an event which was setting in motion the destruction of the Digital World. Yggdrasil responded by initiating "Project Ark," a template for deleting the Digital World's excess data. The first phase of the project was to kill all Digimon except the few that Yggdrasil had chosen to be its servants. These select Digimon were relocated to a new Digital World that Yggdrasil had created. However, a small percentage of the Digimon left in the original Digital World survived Project Ark by developing an "X-Antibody." This antibody gave the Digimon immunity from the Project. The X-Antibody had the additional effect of changing the Digimon's physical attributes and making them stronger. These "X" Digimon then traveled to the new Digital World on their own. When Yggdrasil detected their presence, he sent the Royal Knights--the aforementioned Digimon servants--to destroy them. By the time frame that is the setting of Digimon X-Evolution, the X-Digimon are under frequent attack from the Royal Knights.

Digimon Frontier

The Digital World of Digimon Frontier is divided into ten regions, each one representative of one of the world's ten elements - Flame, Light, Ice, Wind, Thunder, Earth, Wood, Water, Steel and Darkness. A massive network of train tracks criss-cross the planet, with a terminal in each region, allowing the train-like Digimon, the Trailmon, to ferry passengers from one region to the next. The most distinguishing feature of this Digital World is the existence of "Fractal Code" - the "command code" for the data that forms the Digital World, possessed by everything, from individual Digimon to masses of land. Fractal Code is usually hidden, but once it is uncovered, it can be "digitized," which in turn "unlocks" the data of the item or individual in question, allowing it to be manipulated. In most cases, this leads to the data being absorbed - an action frequently perpetrated by the villains of the series. Conversely, if the Fractal Code is "rendered," it restores the data to its intended shape and form and "locks" it back into place. If a Digimon has their Fractal Code scanned, but their data is not absorbed, then it will reconfigure itself into a Digi-Egg, which then transports itself to the Village of Beginnings, where, after being tended by Swanmon, it will hatch out into a new Baby Digimon and start its life over again.

In ancient times, the Digital World was wracked by a massive war between the human-type and beast-type Digimon. It was then that the angel Digimon, Lucemon, appeared and brought the war to an end, leading to a period of peace. Lucemon, however, eventually grew corrupted, becoming a tyrannical ruler, prompting the emergence of ten great Legendary Warriors who embodied the ten elements. After a mighty battle, the ten Legndary Warriors were able to defeat Lucemon and imprisoned him in the "Dark Area" deep within the center of the Digital World.

Passing on into the realm of legend themselves and leaving powerful "spirits" embodying their elements behind, the ten warriors were succeeded by a trinity of angelic Digimon known as the "Celestial Digimon" - Seraphimon, Ophanimon and Cherubimon. The group was not a harmonious one, unfortunately - the beast-type Cherubimon disagreed with many of the human-type Seraphimon and Ophanimon's policies, and made the argument one of the beast versus human. Mistakenly believing that the two human-types planned to betray him, the despairing Cherubimon found himself overtaken by the dark aura of Lucemon, and was transformed into a virus form. The evil Cherubimon then led the beast-type Digimon in a campaign against the human types, ultimately capturing Ophanimon and forcing Seraphimon into a regenerative coma.

To save the Digital World, Ophanimon called upon children from Earth to merge with the spirits of the Legendary Warriors and become Digimon themselves to help free Cherubimon from Lucemon's influence. The new Legendary Warriors were eventually successful in freeing Cherubimon, but Lucemon, undeterred, soon had enough power to consume the fractal code of the entire Digital World and destroy its moons, and then began to plan his conquest of Earth as well. In the last battle to save what remained of both worlds, the Legendary Warriors defeated Lucemon and the Digital World, and the Digimon on it, were restored.

This particular Digital World is also orbited by three Digital Moons, each named after the world's three rulers, and each one a different color - the blue Seraphimoon, the yellow Ophanimoon and the red Cherubimoon. At least two of the Digital Moons are inhabited, the Seraphimoon having a population of Starmon, Meteormon, and Burgermon, in their various Digivolutionary forms/stages. The Ophanimoon, surrounded by hazy clouds of yellow dust, is home to a Rebirth Village (similar to the Village of Beginnings in the Digital World), where new Digimon are hatched from Digi-Eggs and Digimon whose data have been destroyed can be reborn and reprogrammed as new Digi-Eggs.

Digimon Tamers

Digimon Tamers features a very different Digital World from that depicted in the first two Digimon series. In the earliest stages of its existence, this incarnation of the Digital World was little more than a barren desert. As it grew alongside the Earth's communications network, however, it evolved and changed in dynamic ways, with more and more "layers" coming into existence over the top of the old ones. The lowest layer is the original desert plain, and the highest is the home of the four Digimon Sovereigns that rule the Digital World. In between lie many small "mini-verses," self-contained environments specially suited to the Digimon that live there, including (but not limited to) an area of clouds and clockwork; a warped, black-and-white town; an area of forests, lakes and rivers; and a 'world' entirely composed of water.

Random packets of discarded data often roam the Digital World like tumbleweeds, and can be used to help repair and heal injured Digimon. Although the Digital World has both night and day, there is no transitional period between the two, with darkness instantly sweeping across the world like a sheet, as though it were a binary alteration (on or off). Visible in the sky no matter what plane it is viewed from is a pulsing globe of code and light, which represent the Earth - from it emanate "data streams," vast columns of energy which reach down into the Digital World and manipulate its digital matter, physical representations of acts performed on computers across the world. Should an individual be caught in a data stream, they will be swept up into it and deposited elsewhere, on any of the Digital World's potential planes. Between Earth and the Digital World is a warped region of inter dimensional space where reality is constantly in flux, and defined only by the perceptions of individuals passing through it.

Digimon are, in fact, not native to this Digital World, having been created by a group of teenage computer programmers in the late 1980s as an experiment into the development of artificial intelligence. When their project was shut down due to lack of funds, their primitive digital life-forms accidentally found their way into the Digital World, where they began to grow and evolve. One of the programmers, Shibumi, observed this, and wrote an algorithm that allowed the Digimon to evolve beyond their original specifications and truly become individual life-forms. Four Digimon in particular evolved into especially powerful forms and became the aforementioned "Digimon Sovereign." The Digital World does have some native life-forms, however, in the form of "DigiGnomes," the first form of artificial life who evolved from the matter of the Digital World itself before the coming of Digimon. The DigiGnomes tend to the welfare of the Digital World, and have mysterious, undefined powers that allow them to grant the wishes of others.

While conducting secret information-gathering on the network, the Japanese SIGINT organization, Hypnos became aware of the existence of the Digital World and its Digimon, which they dubbed "Wild Ones." Some time after this, Digimon began to appear in the real world, possibly due to Hypnos's inadvertent creation of a "weak spot" in the borders between the worlds. Digimon materialize on Earth through a process known as "Bio-Emerging," which begins when the barrier between the worlds is temporarily sundered to allow their passage through. The interaction of the two dimensions creates a "Digital Field" - a small gray fog bank - which allows the Digimon to synthesize false proteins and convert itself into a physical form after interacting with the Earth's electromagnetic field. These Digital Fields can appear in random locations instantaneously and often with little warning.

In addition to Hypnos and the original programmers (known as the "Monster Makers"), the only humans to initially be aware of Digimon and the Digital World are a small group of children known as "Digimon Tamers." These Tamers had been chosen by the DigiGnomes to become partners with Digimon, and the creature had used Shibumi's algorithm to bond human and Digimon together as partners via the D-Power Digivice. However, with the progression of the series and the increase in Digimon activity on Earth, escalating from small skirmishes between the Tamers and single Digimon to massive, city-devastating battles with the evil Devas and finally to the full-scale invasion of Tokyo by the D-Reaper, the existence of Digimon eventually became public knowledge.

TV Series

Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02

The Digital World featured in Digimon Adventure is the same featured in Digimon Adventure 02; Adventure 02 is a sequel to Adventure. This incarnation of the Digital World runs closely parallel to three other dimensions. Two of which are a kaleidoscopic world that possesses the power to transform thoughts and dreams into reality, and a "world of darkness," a grim, foreboding ocean that has the ability to make the dark thoughts of others come to life. The Digital World is tied very closely to these two worlds, and has absorbed a fraction of the former's power to bring thoughts to life; this power, combined with the data of the Digital World, gave life to human thoughts, dreams, spiritual beliefs and myths in the form of Digimon.

In this universe, Digimon life is cyclical. When a Digimon reaches the end of their life, the data which makes up their body disperses, only to reform at Primary Village, where it takes the form of a Digi-Egg. The eggs are tended by Elecmon, and hatch out into baby Digimon, so that the Digimon can live their lives over again, ad infinitum. There is some evidence to suggest that the data of evil Digimon does not reform at Primary Village, but rather is sent to the world of darkness.

Many locations in this Digital World are named after computer programs and hardware. For example, the two continents of the Digital World are named Folder and Server. File Island is a key location in this Digital World, home to Primary Village, and a form of nexus point for the world's data.

The Harmonious Ones are the guardians of the four compass points of the Digital World. Azulongmon is the guardian of the Eastern region, where the Japanese DigiDestined's adventures take place (corresponding to the Real World location of the human partners).

Years before the beginning of the series, when an evil being came to the Digital World from beyond the "wall of fire," (similar to a computer's Firewall) its presence caused the Digital World to become warped, throwing its chronology out of sync with the Real World, with one Digital World day equaling less than one minute on Earth. To defeat this being, a group of human children were chosen and brought to the Digital World, successfully defeating the evil force. These children were known as the first "DigiDestined", and their legend was famed throughout the Digital World, with temples erected to their memories, and a prophecy that said a new generation of DigiDestined would arise when the Digital World would need them again. Some years later, Apocalymon's effects on the Digital World result in a new group of eight children being selected to become the new DigiDestined and they were transported to the Digital World to battle the evil that had infected it. As a result of their success, Digital World time was re-synchronized with Earth time.

In Digimon Adventure 02, the dimensional balance of the Digital World came under threat when the human Yukio Oikawa - possessed by the digital ghost of the evil Myotismon - used agents such as the Digimon Emperor, Mummymon, and Arukenimon to erect huge black obelisks, known as Control Spires, around the Digital World, destabilizing reality all around it so that he could gain access to it. The culmination of this plan resulted in the revelation of the Digital World's existence to the world at large; twenty-five years after these events, all humans have a Digimon partner.

Digital World

The Digital World (often referred to as the "DigiWorld" in English media) is a fictional universe featured in the Digimon media franchise. In Digimon anime, manga, video games, and other related merchandise, the Digital World is a parallel universe to Earth that was made from computer data originating in Earth's communications networks.