10 Digit Dialing

Residents of Northeastern Pennsylvania will see a huge change coming their way. Starting on September 21, residents in the area need to dial 10 digits in order to reach someone locally. Most people see 10 digit dialing as a hassle, but the concept exists in isolated areas around the United States. Unfortunately, the region is running out of available telephone numbers, and such a change is more than necessary. Not everyone is happy about such changes.

How does this change affect individuals? 

For individuals, the need to dial 10 digits locally is just annoying. The area's normal area code is 570, but a 272 area code is being overlayed in the area. Even next door neighbors will need to dial all 10 numbers to reach each other. Plus, residents need to know which area code the other person falls under. The trouble of this system speaks for itself, and residents must get used to this change.

Luckily, the average person won't have much trouble changing over their numbers in their smartphones and telephone books. Most of the people they know are using the 570 area code, and only new customers are affected by the 272 addition. The common consensus is that dialing 10 numbers for a local call is simply a hassle. Either way, residents have no say in the matter and need to change their dialing habits thanks to this change.

How does the situation affect local businesses? 

However, things are much more complicated for businesses. Most businesses don't keep record of their customers' area code since it's usually 570. The systematic change means that each business must meticulously enter in the area codes for their customers and clients. In reality, such a modification can take weeks or even months. Even larger companies are affected by this change with no easy solution available. A company that doesn't switch its records quickly will run into trouble.

Also, companies that print their phone numbers on promotional items and business cards face a major issue. All of these items that lack the proper area code need to be reprinted or remade. Doing so can cost a lot of money, depending upon the volume of items. For that reason, plenty of companies are disgruntled about the change. The local government has been reminding residents for quite some time now, though.

A Timetable for the Overlay

Currently, most companies are predicting a timetable of a few months to fully adjust to the changes. The change itself will take affect on September 21. Not all companies are finished updating their phone systems and records, though. Even the police department is still working hard to ensure that very few problems arise from the change. For now, a few months seems like a decent estimate.

Knowledge is power when it comes to changes like this, though. Therefore, the more people that know about the overlay, the more successful the switch will be. If few people know about the modification, then the timetable can increase to many more months. At least for now it seems like local companies are doing their job to inform customers and clients alike of the area code overlay.

Without a doubt, plenty of other problems will arise due to 10 digit dialing. More areas around the country are going to face such issues in the future. A finite amount of unique numbers exist in a given area. Of course, this means that numbers start to run low, and regions must respond to such changes. 10 digit dialing is a simple solution that causes plenty of ramifications that people need to adapt to quickly.

Government Cant Afford Fax Machines

The government cant afford fax machines. They cut off around 85 billion off of the federal budget. Most offices in the government are running but a fax machine is something that may cost too much for the government to fix.

About two weeks ago a facsimile machine at the Defense Department headquarters stopped working. Requests that were faxed to the Office of the Secretary of Defense were undeliverable. This machine is handling FOIA requests but is not working and may stay that way for about another month or more. Journalist Shawn Musgrave asked the Pentagon when they think the machine might start working and the Defense Department said that if a replacement is not available right now it will have to wait until the new fiscal year.

After talking to Aaron Graves of the OSD, Musgrave said that is bears repeating that the office that oversees the military is not able to project when one fax machine will be operational again.

The military though is budgeted to spend more than one trillion dollars in FY2012. It is also in progress with the F-35 fighter jet program which is the most expensive weapons system that has ever been ordered.

This isn't to say that the fax machine problem is the only issue at hand. A study that was released by Goldman Sachs seems to think that you could see as many as 100,000 federal jobs gone because of budget cuts that will happen during the next year. Many agencies in the federal government have thought of strategies to adjust to the sequestration this year, but these are only temporary. They did employee furloughs and also deferral of maintenance and training. They put into practice these ideas hoping that the sequestration would be reversed. If it doesn't get reversed the federal agencies will have to think of a more permanent adjustment which could mean a loss of jobs.

As of right now, concerning the fax machine, journalists will most likely have to send their FOIA requests by mail or send an online request. If that doesn't work though maybe someone will tell the Pentagon to go to Best Buy. They have a nice fax machine for around 150.

So as you can see, the government has a lot going on by way of having the budget cut down. It has made it more difficult for them to even afford a fax machine.

3D Scanners And Fax Machines

AIO Robotics has announced its plan to launch a combination 3D printer and fax machine that will not only be able to scan, copy and print 3D objects, but will even fax 3D objects. Sounds sci-fi? Well, this is true. The company has already delivered on RepRap forum details about the machine, including specs, and a name --Zeus-- has also been settled upon. Going to be the first of its kind, this has already taken the tech enthusiasts by surprise and the relevant forums are going all gaga over this new avatar of a combo 3D scanner and copier.

AIO is of course aiming to give the beat to their 3D Scanners and Fax Machines rival Makerbot with this promised product. The Replicator and Digitizer from Makerbot have been the market leaders in 3D scanning and printing technology for some time. Now, AIO looks all set to knock them off the perch with this rather strong punch. Not only Zeus will add a 3D fax machine-- something unheard of before--but AIO has even declared that the price of the device is going to be significantly cheaper than Makerbot's newly released Replicator 2, currently priced at 2,459.

This machine is currently available for sale at select Microsoft stores. However, the unit can only print 3D objects whereas if Zeus ever materializes in the avatar it is conceived at the present, it will be able to integrate 3D scanning, copying, printing and faxing abilities all in one machine.

The development of the machine, according to AIO, is going to be a crowdfunding project and it starts at Kickstarter from September 4. The unit will also be able to work independently of a desktop system, according to what AIO is saying. It will work with an ARM processed on-board computer and will be able to instantly upload the faxed or scanned data into the cloud.

The model has been created by Jens Windau and Kai Chang, students in Computer Science and founders of AIO Robotics. There is little information to be had about this in the official AIO website, but according to the posts at RepRap, the model will also include a 12-inch turntable beside the on board computer and will be able to print at 100 micron resolution.

AIO also informs that they may even lower it to 75 or 50 microns. They further promise that the machine will be user-friendly and even non-techies will be able to handle it without any difficulty. There will be 4 easy-to-operate buttons in addition to a 7 inch touchscreen.

Other promised specs include automatic platform leveling, a CNC aluminium casing, possible multiple extruder upgrade, an interior turntable, an API open source package for easy modification of the device by the user, 3D object reconstruction and sophisticated cloud processing abilities.

So, is this going to be a reality, after all? AIO is depending on funding from pre-orders at Kickstarter to get started on this hugely expensive project. They have also announced that once the project gets on the path, they may improve on a number of promised specs. More details about the project are promised upon its debut at Kickstarter.

Why Email Will Never Die

In today's era of advanced technology, emails are the most powerful way to communicate with people. Electronic mails are fast, accessible, inexpensive and they are highly interactive. It is because of its notable features the email dominates over other communication system. Emails are noted as the smart global communication system that has broken all borders to prove its stand for almost few decades now.

The Reign Of Emails

Emails are being used widely by all individuals, organizations and businesses all over the world. In few cases like e-marketing, emails is a predominant communication tool used. However, there are many discussions that the reign of emails may come to an end soon as newer technologies start to evolve. The end of emails can never happen if we closely analyze its usage and never-too-old features. Here we offer some solid reasoning on why email will never die at least for the next few decades.

Its for All 

Emails are entirely informal. They can also be formal and restricted. Whatever it is, emails are for all. Starting from a school student to a businessman, all use mails. It offers maximum feasibility to people in terms of sharing information. Borders, language and even legal systems are not at all an obstacle for sending emails.

Adaptable Technology

Emails are the most adaptable technology one can ever find on earth. Be it an age old operating system or a brand new and happening OS your system is operating on. You can still access your mail accounts irrespective of the fact whether it is yahoo mail, gmail or any other mail. Not just from computers and laptops you can even access your mails from your mobile devices like phones, tablets etc too.

Economical and Time Saving 

Emails are really economical than postal system or courier. It takes at least 24 hours for  the best mailing service to take your message to the other person but email delivers your messages in just few seconds to the receiver who is sitting in some other country. Email is not just a cheap communication source but it is the cheapest one. In fact most of the top mailing services are offered free of cost to all. It is only for official mail addresses you need to spend money and they are at least 75 less than the other mailing services.

Better Management

Almost all businesses today (especially online businesses) depend on emails and mailing system. Bulk emails that are sent to the customers helps in keeping their customers informed about newer offers, services and this in a long run helps in customer retention. Mail management system and mail delivery system helps you in knowing whether the receiver has got your mail or not.  If you ask why email will never die, one of the answers could be that it offers better files organizing and archiving system. This way your communication can be recorded better.

Emails can also be used as a better reminder service by using its features like 'mark as unread' starring and categorizing etc.

Secured Channel

Emails lead to lesser spamming and they are highly secured sources if you wish to share information. Of course few hackers exist but when your secure your mails with better protection emails are the safest communication mode that you can use today. Emails also offer excellent personalization options to its users with increased security needs.

Not just the above mentioned benefits but the most important benefit of electronic mailing is that it is being environment friendly. With bills and receipts turning out to be e-bills and e-statements, more papers are saved. Thus less cutting of trees for a greener tomorrow!

Stop Wasting Time On Email

When you play Tetris you never win the game, you just keep playing until you lose. The same goes for emails. Have you ever deleted all your emails, walked away only to find that a few hours later your inbox is filled up again. This is a problem that everyone who has an email account has. Many of the emails that you find in your inbox are not even valid emails, most of the time they are spam mail. This is why so many people get frustrated when looking at their emails.

To relieve stress in your life, you should not make looking at email your number one priority. This is the second commandment of email using that Leonov lives by. To get the task of reading emails out of the way, wake up in the morning and open your inbox. You should not have to read every email, just scam to the important ones. Once you have responded to these emails you should go on with your day. By looking at your email only once per day you will have a ton more time on your hands to get more important parts of your life done.

The last commandment that you should follow by when reading emails, is to weigh every email as an equal. There are certain email carriers that will sort your email into groups, and this is a life saver. You will find that having your email sorted for you already will save you even more time. You will be able to just delete all of the email in your spam folder without even looking at it. With this being said it is a good idea to scam the folder once in a while for important email.

Cutting the time that you spend at the computer every day will also improve your health. Your eyes will not be strained from starring at a computer for hours trying to respond to emails. You will be surprised to see how much better you feel after using the computer less. Your health is your number one priority, so spending less time on the computer is a must. The hours that you will save by not looking at email will help you to improve the way you live your life.

You will ultimately have more time to spend with family, friends, or just have more time to relax. You will be able to catch up on your favorite show on Netflix, or go out for a drink. No matter what you do in your spare time, remember that this time is available because you are spending less time using your email. Beat the email game by spending less time on the computer and getting on with your life. By cutting the time that you use the computer to look at emails in half, that is almost six hours of free time that you will have every week.

If you find that you are falling for the email game again, stop and take a break. Only look at your email if you know something important will be there. This is a great way to almost eliminate using email in your everyday life. You will be amazed at how your quality of life will change just by relaxing a few more hours a day. You will be able to get many more chores done, or even get work done early if you put your mind to it.