Menu-Icons.com announces the release of Large Menu Icons, a royalty-free library of stock menu images for application developers and web designers. The new set includes 398 icons drawn in matching style, color and gamut. The Large Menu Icons collection sells for $49.00.

About Large Menu Icons

Large Menu Icons is the perfect choice for busy application and Web site developers. This collection of stock icons with matching properties such as style and colors, can be used in various projects and scripts, as well as on portals, blogs, forums, and web sites. Large Menu Icons will make an application, blog or applet look modern and consistent throughout. All icons in the Large Menu Icons collection are royalty-free. The entire collection is immediately available and comes with an online preview.

What’s Inside

The Large Menu Icons collection contains images representing all sides of the application work. Some of the icons in the set are: open, close, edit, validate, time, clock, error, OK, data, computer, archive, people, user, girl, man, admin, horse, car and more.

 

Technically, the set includes icons in a number of formats, sizes, color resolutions, and image styles. Every icon from the library comes in sizes of 16×16, 24×24, 32×32, 48×48 and 64×64 pixels. Normal, disabled, and highlighted versions are included for every icon. 256-color and semi-transparent True Color icons are supplied. Large Menu Icons are delivered in Windows Icon (ICO), Bitmap (BMP), GIF and PNG formats for instant integration into any systems. The entire Large Menu Icons collection is available for only $49.00. Source images are also available in SVG and AI formats for an additional payment.

Menu-Icons.com also plans to release a number of new original icon sets including Lumina Menu Icons, Windows Menu Icons, New Menu Icons, Cool Menu Icons, Win8 menu Icons, Vista Menu Icons, Mac Menu Icons, Android Tab Icons, Linux Menu Icons, Nokia Menu Icons, iPhone Menu Icons, Mobile Menu Icons.

About the Company

Menu-Icons.com offers thousands of icons in the most difficult small resolutions. PDA and mobile developers and designers can enhance their software with smooth, perfectly rendered icons in the most convenient resolutions. Menu-Icons.com are available in all sizes common to desktop and mobile applications for mobile phones, communicators, and desktop applications. All icons offered by Menu Icons are royalty-free, ready-made and instantly available.

MSL Rover NX CAD model

You’ve all seen the artist renditions. This is what Curiosity looks like to an engineer.

A few minutes into our interview last Thursday, I ask Tim Nichols, managing director of Global Aerospace, Defenses and Marine Industries at Siemens, if he was nervous about the Curiosity’s fate on Sunday. “Of course I am,” he says with a laugh, “We all know about missions to Mars — they’re complex.” None moreso than Curiosity’s elaborate landing sequence, designed to get the SUV-sized robot down safely.

He needn’t have worried. Late Sunday night, the rover successfully set down on the Martian landscape, overseen by a tense room of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) engineers and watched by so many people here on Earth that all of NASA’s websites crashed. Like the rest of us, Nichols was glued to his screen. Unlike the rest of us, Nichols gets to say he had a hand in it. His company’s software designed Curiosity.

Curiosity is much larger than her unexpectedly long-lived predecessors, Spirit and Opportunity. This meant that she couldn’t just land bundled inside airbags like the smaller rovers.

Instead, the mission executed a complex series of maneuvers to eject the robot from its capsule and lower it to the ground, via a rocket-powered sky crane in a sequence of events that NASA called the Seven Minutes of Terror.

Curiosity was designed by the JPL at the California Institute of Technology. When it came time to coordinate the enormous team of designers and engineers that built Curiosity, the capsule, and the sky crane, JPL turned to Siemens. They needed to design the robot (relatively) cheaply and they needed to design it fast — the launch window for missions to Mars comes once every two years. If you miss the deadline, there’s a long wait ahead.
MSL Capsule with Rover NX CAE thermal model

If you squint, you can see Curiosity and the sky crane folded up together in the capsule.

Luckily, Siemens had developed software suited to this sort of project. They call it Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).

One of the costliest parts of creating a new physical product is building and testing prototypes. With PLM’s robust suite of simulators and version tracking, you can avoid a lot of physical prototyping — saving both time and money, and speeding up the development process. In essence, PLM turns the physical engineering of a product into a process that looks more and more like designing code.

PLM runs on a laptop, connected to a central asset manager, called the Team Center. Engineers can check out parts of the project, work on their problems and assignments, and then check it back in to the main branch. This allows for a lot of concurrent design work. “In the past, engineering teams would be somewhat isolated by discipline,” says Nichols, “The overall leadership recognized that they needed to bring all the groups together.”

This is a far cry from past projects, which would be designed as a series of handoffs between teams. First the thermal profiles would be worked out, then the aerodynamics, on down the line. Propagating changes between teams could become a nightmare. PLM changed all of that, Nichols says, giving the team the ability to “compress the schedule and … do many more design iterations.”
MSL NX CAD Exploded view of seperation stages

With luck, this is the only exploded view of the Mars lander that we’ll ever see.

If this sounds a lot like software engineering, especially the open source variety, it’s because it is. There’s a version control system, the ability to check code in and out of the system, and a set of test suites that allow you check the performance of your part of the module in relation to the whole. By keeping the objects in software for as long as possible, you can treat them like software, with all of the speed and flexibility that this implies.

Nichols says their suite of tools has been used to design everything from golf clubs — “Golf clubs are pretty sophisticated, though they haven’t helped my game.” — to aircraft carriers. Looking ahead, he predicts an increasing incidence of distributed international teams of contributors working on a project.
“Global virtual collaboration and engineering is really the future,” he says. “We want to see more of that.”

But first, Curiosity had to make it to Mars. “We all have our fingers crossed,” he said on Thursday. You can uncross them now, Mr Nichols.

Androids vs. iPhones. The discussion goes on and on. When the iPhone first hit the market, there was really no competition. The iPhone was playing in a class of its own. Early Android devices were dismal: sluggish UI response, lags here and there, and the overall “assemble-it-yourself” approach just didn’t with consumers.

Today, the market has changed. With the latest iPhone being a superb device and a wonderful system, the newest Androids leave little to be desired. Today’s Androids have responsive UI, feature most of the same apps in the Google Play store, and went away with the do-it-yourself, LEGO type approach. Today, picking one phone over another is more of a personal preference. Let’s try to discover what’s best about going the Apple route, and what advantages the Android way can bring.

Hardware and Models

With Apple iPhone, you are always limited to just a few models. Or, rather, you can choose from just a single current model in several versions that, honestly, differ very little. There are a few older models you can get from the used market, but that’s about it. “You can have any color as long as it’s black”.

Android devices, on the other hand, come in many shapes, models and colors. Various manufacturers use completely different hardware. Different displays, processors, memory. Vastly different quality and usability. Getting an Android phone will require you to do a research on what’s available, whereas you can’t go wrong with any current iPhone. Are you a techno geek or a gadget guy? Look for an Android phone you like best. The rest will be served by Apple.

Screen

The latest generation of iPhones has a wonderful Retina display. These super high resolution screens will display your apps, icons and pictures so crisp it’s hard to believe. Kudos to Apple: they made one of the greatest screens ever.

Androids ship with all kinds of displays. Some of the better ones can reach iPhones in pixel density, but software integration is still something to work on. Many applications are still using low-resolution icons and images designed to be displayed on lower-resolution displays. When selecting an Android phone, you will have to look really carefully to get a model with a good screen. If you’re not good with numbers, icon dimensions, angles of view and technical specs, just leave the Androids alone.

Built-in Software and Interface

An iPhone is an iPhone. They’re all the same. Same operating system, one user interface, the same set of pre-installed apps, same icons. You can customize it by shifting things around and picking a few icons on your own, but there’s only so much you’re allowed to do.

Androids are available in all sorts of flavor. Different firmware and dozens of OS versions, builds and editions. Different sets of icons for exactly the same app. Completely different shells and launchers. Extensively customizable: you can turn an Android phone into pretty much whatever you want (and it’s not all about custom icons) – but you must know what you’re doing. With such a broad variety, some models are simply better as in simpler to use, more stable and working more reliable than others. If making your very own tailored environment is fun for you, by all means buy the Android. If you like your phone working out of the box, get an iPhone and begin using it right away.

Extensibility

iPhones don’t have a slot to use an external memory card. You’ll be stuck with the amount of memory you originally bought. If you outgrow your iPhone, you’ll have to buy another iPhone, bringing more money to Apple.

Most but not all Android devices come with a microSD slot, allowing you to put more memory when you need it. With flash memory getting cheaper every year, you will be better off in the long run if you buy an Android.

With iPhones, you can’t even replace a battery. If your battery dies in some years (they all do; lithium batteries won’t hold charge after 3-4 years), you’ll be sending your iPhone to Apple for a “major repair” (more money to Apple), or be on the market for a new iPhone (even more dough to Apple).

While some Android devices use similarly user irreplaceable batteries, most Androids are easy: just lift the cover and put a new battery in. A replacement battery will set you back a few dollars, allowing you to buy a replacement phone when you want it.

Conclusion

Android phones are more affordable to buy and cheaper to upgrade and maintain. They’re more extensible and customizable. iPhones are perfect right out of the box, and offer one of the best usage experience ever. Which one to pick? The choice is yours.

Source: Apple iPhone vs. Android: the Epic Battle

The users of Windows Phone 7 will now not need to wait to get their hands on the new Windows 8 Operating System. The new metro design icons of the Windows 8 OS are available for download. To end your impatience read on and get your hands them today!

If you are looking to design a new application then the new Metro design Windows 7 icons are your best bet towards a neat and trendy interface. Coming in the perfect dimensions so as not to impose upon your UI while not being totally insignificant as well, these icons come in intelligent color combinations. Their amazingly descriptive nature makes them stand out from any such package ever made available before, and the best part is that all of these are completely deployable when you buy them.

These icons have an outside size of 48 into 48 pixels each and centered within each of them is the image of 26 into 26 pixels, all of them come with a transparent background. 230 of these amazing images are made available to you in the popularly used PNG format.
We have walked far into a new technological age that is strengthening by the day and we are making use of these advancements in every corresponding phase of our life. Big PNG Symbols are really a group of dependable as well as expert images that are produced inside a single design as well as provided within the majority of distinctive as well as well-liked data format associated with PNG. All of these icons are very advantageous and as far as your work upon the User Interface is concerned they are sure to make your life much easier.  To completely grasp the amount of variety at our disposal we need only look at the different sizes these come in which actually range from 16 X 16 pixels to as large as 512 x 512 pixels.

Research prepared image using a large amount of symbols within a few minutes as well as PNG Image Profile which makes it easy to purchase inventory symbols along with prompt shipping assurance. The wide range of images that you get over here encompasses every little thing that might come to your mind when you are trying to think of the front-end of an application, neither would you need to spend long hours trying to develop each of these images individually, a task that can be very tiring and often highly unfulfilling considering the difficulty of the task. Keeping this and more in mind a group of professionals struck upon the idea of developing these sets of images.
While making these graphics they have striven to ensure that every little need of yours would be met and you would need another source for the images at any point of time. . What’s stopping you now, get these icons right now and ensure that nothing stands your way as you strive to develop a top-notch application.

Article spinning is a type of search engine optimization technique used by website owners for posting a unique version of pertinent content on their site.  It works by rewriting existing articles to offer a slightly different outlook on the topic.  Most of the article marketers believe that, article spinning assist to avoid the penalties for using duplicate content. In case, if the original articles are imitative from other websites, the writer can face serious legal consequences. However, website owners can pay for writers to perform spinning manually and rewriting entire parts of articles. Writes can also spin their own articles to sell the similar articles with slight variation. There are also numerous software applications available which are automatically replacing words in article. Article spinning requires spintax that are embedded into an article. The spinning software then alternates your synonym choices into the article to create a unique disparity of the foundation article.

The website owners might pay the writers to perform the spinning manually, and rewriting all and parts of the articles. Writers as well spin own articles, automatically or manually, and allowing them sell same articles with the slight variations to clients or else to use article for many purposes, example as the content and for the article marketing. Also, there are many software applications that can automatically replace the words and phrases in the articles. The automatic rewriting will change meaning of the sentence through use of the words with same however subtly various meaning to original. Example, word “picture” can get replaced by word “image” or else “photo”.

Article spinning needs “spintax” an spintax is a list of sentences, text, and synonyms, which are embedded in the article. Spinning software substitutes the synonym options in article to make new, and unique variations of base article.

Article marketing is a type of advertising in which businesses write short articles connected to their personal industries. These articles are available for allocation and publication in the marketplace. Each article has a bio box and byline which is called as the resource box that consist of contact information and references for the author’s business. Nicely written content articles have the ability to enhance the business credibility within its market and help to attract new clients. These articles are always syndicated and published by multiple websites. Article marketing has been used by professionals for many years for the best result in their professional field.  It is also used by business owners as earnings of obtaining free press space.  Internet marketers also applied the procedure of article marketing to promote products and services online via article directories.  Having your content featured on niche blogs is a popular form of article marketing.

The article marketing is used by the professionals for long as the mass print is available. In the paper print form (like opposed to forms online), the article marketing is used by the business owners as means to get the free press space. The local business gives some useful content to newspaper that also free and in return newspaper prints business contact info with required article. As newspapers as well as traditional media are been expected to present the content on a limited budget, the arrangement is normally advantageous for all the parties that are involved. For instance, the accounting firm might market itself just by writing the article titled ” Top Ten Methods to Avoid Audited” and giving to local newspapers many weeks before tax season. In the same way, roofing company might give radio stations the concise article that is titled “How Avoid Ice Damage to Roof this Winter” before winter season.

Don’t Copy That Floppy was an anti-copyright violation movement start by the SPA or Software Publishers Association in the 1992. However, the video for the campaign, beginning by the M. E. Hart that known as the MC Double Def DP was filmed performed at the Cardozo High School of Washington, D.C.  It has produced by the SPA, Copyright Protection Fund, Educational Section Anti-Piracy Committee, in association by the Vilardi Films. These groups are distributed this film for the general awareness by the VHS tapes. In later years, this film is becoming a show through the websites like the YouTube. In the May 2009, the Information Industry Association and Software has released trailer summarize to Don’t Copy That Floppy that is known as the Don’t Copy That 2 on the September 9. It is also creating a great change against the piracy problem that is standing as a big issue in front the people of digital age. Two teenagers, Jenny and Corey, are playing the game on classroom computer.

Corey is pushing the keys to show viewer he is immersed heavily in game action; and Jenny beats him. Frustrated, asks for the rematch, however she has the upcoming class as well as should leave. He chooses he can copy game so he will play that in home. On inserting the blank floppy disk in Apple Macintosh LC video pops up on computer. The video is of rapper named the Double Def DP “Disk Protector”. Point of video is a message, which copyright infringement of the software can cause computer and video game industry for losing the profit, resulting in the halted production of computer games. Rap video part is interspersed with the interviews of artists, programmers, writers, and lawyer.

3ds Max is previously known as 3D Studio MAX, and it is an animation, modeling package which have evolved by Autodesk Media and Entertainment. It has also considered as flexible plugin architecture and modeling capabilities that can be applied on the Microsoft Windows platform. This sort of package is rapidly used through video game developers, architectural visualization studios, and TV commercial studios. This package is also applied in movie for special effects and pre-visualization. Moreover, 3ds Max’s animation and modeling tools are the latest version. 3ds Max is also having numbers of essential features. Here, you can get some vital features which have required to look before using it. These essential features are discussed below.

• Dynamic simulation
• Radiosity
• Normal map
• Global illumination
• Customizable user interface
• Scripting writing
• Subsurface scatteringNow, you need to look for these features before using it. It’s the online media and here you can get allsorts of information about 3ds Max.MAXScript

MAXScript is the built in scripting language, and is used to automate the repetitive task just combine the existing functionality in the new methods, develop the new tools as well as user interfaces and lots more. The plugin modules are made totally in the MAXScript.

Character Studio
The character Studio was plugin that since version4 of Max is integrated in the 3D Studio Max, and helping the user to animate the virtual characters. System works making use of character rig or else “Biped” that is pre-made as well as allows user to adjust rig for fitting character they are animating. The dedicated curve editors as well as motion capture import tools don’t make, but, Character Studio perfect for the character animation. The “Biped” objects have some other features, which automated production of the walk cycles as well as movement paths, and secondary motion.