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How Blue-light is harmful and where is it from?

Written by Melissa Foo - June 05 2015

How Blue-light is harmful and where is it from?

Our eyes detect a narrow band of wavelengths referred to as the “visible light spectrum”, which consist of the three primary colours: Blue (380–490nm), Green (490–590nm), and Red (590–780nm). These wavelengths transmit through to Retina, a light-sensitive layer of tissue lining the inner surface of the eye, and are ultimately sent various visual centres of the brain.As mentioned, blue-light (380–490nm) is being shorter in wavelength, thus carries more energy compare to other visible light. If light is allowed to reach retina directly without any protection mechanism, blue-light can inflict more damage on retina than the other colour.

Research has determined that the lens inside our eye is able to filter out Red and Green light as they carry less energy. However, it is not able to filter out the high energy blue light. Adolescence and prepubescence are more vulnerable to such damage than matured adults, which permits more light to impact on the sensitive retina.

Light from electronic devices is the light source we are most exposed to in our daily activities, only second to light from natural sources. Because of the wide spread and heavy use of electronic devices nowadays, such as monitor, TV screen, tablet and smart phone, it has drastically increased our exposure to the dangerous blue-light.

Consequences of chronic exposure to Blue-light

The biggest threat of blue-light to our vision is the development of age-related macular degeneration.

Macular Degeneration

Sight without impairment

Sight with Macular Degeneration

Eye Fatigue

eye fatigue

Long period of working with electronic devices increase the burden on our eyes are will result in eye fatigue and hamper on individual productivity

Myopia

eye fatigue

Early development of Myopia

Red Eye Syndrome

Eye with sufficient rest and average exposure to blue-light

Eye after enduring exposure to blue-light

Sleeping Quality

eye fatigue

Exposure to blue-light research has shown that inhabit melatonin secretion and disrupt our sleeping quality

Presbyopia

eye fatigue

Early development of Presbyopia

How to Recover Lost Files from a Memory Card

Written by Andrew Cheng - February 17 2015

Whether you’re a novice or veteran photographer, chances are you’ve experienced a moment of dread when you thought all of your precious photos were lost forever. Maybe you damaged a SD or CF card, or accidentally formatted a card before offloading your images. As long as your memory card can still be plugged in to, and recognized by your computer, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to salvage your photos, even if you did an accidental deletion. Sometimes you can achieve this all by yourself, and recover your lost files.

There are many programs and apps that can help you recover data from a memory card, but the one I’m going to introduce you to is SanDisk RescuePRO. Created by the same folks who produce trusty SanDisk memory cards, RescuePRO has in my experienced maintained the same reliability and quality that one can expect from SanDisk products. Their recovery program is straightforward, easy to use, and does a great job at recovering lost photos. So before you make an appointment with an IT professional, give this memory card recovery method a try.

SanDisk Recovery PRO memory card recovery

About SanDisk RescuePRO

RescuePRO is a downloadable, data recovery program available for Mac or Windows. Using proprietary media recovery algorithms, RescuePro will scan your memory card and display previews of any recoverable data such as photos (JPG and most RAW formats), video, and audio. The software will work with most brands of digital cameras and memory card types including; SD, SDHC, CompactFlash, Memory Stick, CDs, and DVDs.

There are two versions of RescuePRO, regular and deluxe, with the main difference other than price being in the extra formats of photos and video/audio that deluxe promises to recover. RescuePRO has a fee of $39.99 for the regular version and $59.99 for deluxe, but they do offer a free evaluation so you can verify if the program will work with your memory card before you purchase. Payment buys you a one year subscription, which must be renewed annually to continue using the service. But on the bright side, this is a small price to pay if you stand to recover important photos or videos.

How RescuePRO Works

1. After you buy a subscription, download the RescuePRO program to your desktop computer. Insert your memory card into your computer and launch RescuePRO. The below menu will pop up on your screen, and you’ll want to select the option that’s relevant to your needs: either Recover Photos, Recover Video/Audio, or Recover All Files.

SanDisk Recovery PRO memory card recovery

2. After you select your desired outcome, the below screen will prompt you to select the memory card in question. Be sure you have your memory card connected to the computer. Select your card and hit the green Start button.

SanDisk Recovery PRO memory card recovery

3. Now it’s time to sit tight and let the program do its thing. Feel free to pull up an Internet browser or Photoshop and multitask as you wait. Data recovery from your memory card can take a bit of time depending on how many files there are to be retrieved. In this particular instance, I had 927 files to recover from my CF card and it took about 30 minutes.

SanDisk Recovery PRO memory card recovery

4. When the program is done recovering data, it unfortunately doesn’t do a great job at alerting you. There’s no fanfare, but you’ll know the recovery process is done when you see the bottom portion of the screen filled with recovered files. To verify what content the program has recovered, click on each individual file name and a preview will appear. In this particular instance, the previewed images were showing up tinted in pink, but the actual recovered images were just fine without any distortions.

SanDisk Recovery PRO memory card recovery

5. Once you verify that your files have indeed been saved, it’s time to locate them on your computer. The great part about RescuePRO’s long recovery process is that it includes saving the files on your device automatically. As a result, all you have to do to find the desktop folder full of your recovered images is click on the giant Output Folder button. The program should then pull up a desktop window like the one below, showing you a folder full of recovered data. Also, notice in the preview below that the recovered image does indeed, not carry over the extra coloring that RescuePRO’s software assigned to it in the preview.

SanDisk Recovery PRO memory card recovery

There you have it; a relatively simple, low cost way, to potentially get back precious photos that you thought were lost. Either way, do yourself a favor and remember to always format your memory card in your camera (not your computer) after every use; doing this will keep your memory card up to speed, and lessen the chance of it becoming corrupt over time.

Since this is one of many options, let me know in the comments below if you have a preferred method or program for recovering lost images.

How to dry out, rescue and fix a water-damaged Apple iPhone: Emergency tips and solutions

Written by Andrew Cheng - January 16 2015

How to dry out, rescue and fix a water-damaged Apple iPhone: Emergency tips and solutions

Here's how to rescue a waterlogged iPhone, whether you dropped your iPhone in the bath, the sea or the toilet. We show how to fix the wet iPhone, dry it out, and recover the data inside.

My iPhone got wet! Help!

So you dropped your iPhone in the bath, the sea or the toilet, and you want to fix it, dry it out, and recover the data inside. Here's how to rescue a waterlogged or wet iPhone. Updated, 9 September 2014

It's a sad fact that iPhones and iPads (but particularly iPhones) get damaged all the time. Probably the most common is the smashed screen, which we discuss in our article on getting Apple to replace your broken iPhone. But the second most common is almost certainly water damage.

Cheer up, however, because a quick dunk in the old H20 isn't necessarily a death sentence for an iPhone - we can't guarantee anything, but all is not lost quite yet. In this article we explain the best strategies for dealing with a water-damaged iPhone or other iOS device. (Indeed, the same principles will apply to most electronic devices.)

How to repair a water damaged iPhone

Emergency external drying

First things first. Get the iPhone out of the water (lake/bidet/soup) right away, if you haven't already, and don't even think about plugging it in. If the waterlogged iPhone is plugged in already, unplug it (very carefully), and don't be tempted to turn it on and check for damage, which can cause short circuits.

If the wet iPhone is in a case, remove it; take the SIM card out too. (Removing the battery wouldn't hurt either, but this is obviously only for confident DIY-type users who are willing to void the warranty.) These steps help to reduce the number of nooks and crannies where water can linger, and help to avoid damage to key iPhone components.

Wipe the excess and exterior liquid off everything you can reach. Turn the iPhone upside down and give it a gentle shake to clear the ports and sockets.

Water damaged iPhone

Now, what you want to avoid is activating the circuits inside the iPhone, because this is likely to lead to short circuits - that's what causes the long-term damage. If the iPhone happens to be switched off, therefore, leave it off. Don't be tempted to power it up and see if it still works. It might, and then promptly stop working forever precisely because you took a look.

A more likely scenario, sadly, is that your iPhone was switched on (or in sleep mode) when you dropped it in the drink. So at this point you're looking at two unappealing options: power down (but in the process causing the screen and operating system to wake up briefly before switching off) or leave the device in sleep mode in the hope that you don't get any notifications.

It's your decision, but after discussions here in the Macworld offices we've decided that the lesser of two evils is to wake the iPhone briefly in order to do a full power off- and that's what we suggest in the video at the top of this article. If you were lucky enough to be in Airplane Mode when you dropped the device, however, or are otherwise confident that nothing will happen to make your iPhone wake up in the next 48 hours, leaving it alone might be the better option.

Deeper drying with rice or silica gel sachets

Now we need to draw as much interior liquid out as possible. Resist the temptation to use a hair dryer or other heat treatment, which can damage the iPhone's internal components. (A few iPhone users advise the use of a non-heated fan, mind you, which at least shouldn't make things worse, even if we think the below techniques are likely to be more effective.)

To get moisture out of the iPhone's interior, you need a dessicant. Many people swear by uncooked rice, advising owners to put their damp iPad or iPhone in a big bowl of the stuff (cover it completely) and leave it there for 48 hours or so. The rice will absorb the moisture effectively, and most of us have some uncooked rice in our homes (or can get hold of some fairly easily). But it may get dust or even entire grains into the ports. Be warned.

We discuss this method in more detail in our article: iPhone water damage: rescue a soaked device with rice trick

However, a better option than uncooked rice if you've got it is silica gel - those little (and inedible) packets that come with some electronic components, particularly if they've been shipped from a country with a humid climate. You need to muster enough of them to cover the iPad/iPhone. You may be able to buy them en masse from a craft shop, and handbag shops are a great source - ask the staff if they mind you fishing out the sachet that you'll probably find zipped into each handbag's interior pocket.

Silica gel sachets should dry a wet iPhone out more efficiently and less messily than rice. You should still give the iPhone at least 48 hours to dry out completely, however.

How to fix a water-damaged iPhone: silica gel sachets

How to fix a water-damaged iPhone: Dismantling your iPhone

If you're really confident about doing DIY repairs on your iPhone, mind you, the best approach to a wet iPhone is to unscrew the bottom screws (on most models of iPhone this will require a proprietary type of screwdriver head, available as part of some 'iPhone repair kits' sold by unofficial third-party accessory makers) and access the interior. Just bear in mind that this is likely to invalidate any warranty coverage you've got, and that there's a risk that your DIY work will cause damage rather than repair it.

Still: the most effective way to get water from the inside of an iPhone is to get right in there and dry it out from within. You'll want to take the battery out, for instance (this also minimises the potential for short circuits), and get water out of all the internal nooks and crannies. Apply a soft dry cloth to all interior surfaces while endeavouring to be as gentle as possible.

We're not sure we'd recommend this approach, primarily because of its potential to exacerbate the problem. But in some situations it may be the only way to save the day - and if nothing else works and you're out of warranty, you may find yourself with nothing to lose.

How to fix a water-damaged iPhone: What to do next

Once you've waited a couple of days and think you've successfully dried out your iPhone, you can try switching it on. If it still doesn't work, or if you want to get the internals checked out, you can ask Apple to take a look, but bear in mind that iOS devices have internal liquid detectors, so there's no point pretending the device went wrong of its own accord. They will know.

One final warning: a bad submersion may cause long-term damage, particularly to the battery, that only becomes apparent months later. In one famous case, an iPhone 3GS spontaneously overheated more than a year after being dropped in a pool. The owner had used the rice technique and the iPhone had worked fine afterwards.

We would therefore advise that, if you're lucky enough to be able to get your iPhone to run after a dip, you should back up all important files on the device in case it packs up again in the future. Its recovery, we're sorry to say, may only be temporary - but we hope not.

Introduction of Australian Mobile Network and plans

Written by Andrew Cheng - July 30 2014

There are three cellphone networks in Australia namely: Telstra, Vodafone, and Optus. And here are more than a dozen of operators/re-sellers like boost mobile, virgin mobile, amaysim, lebara, just mobile, ALDImobile just to name a few.

Each operator also have multiple plans to address different market, some with more domestic talk time, some with Unlimited SMS, or extra Data allowance, and others have cheaper international call rate to selected countries, or free minutes at certain hours, or longer expiry period, and some even have a combination of them.

This makes selecting the right plan a confusing task for locals, not to mention someone from abroad.

There are 6 key points you will need to know to help you decide what is the best prepaid plan for you:

How long are you staying in Australia? There are plans with credit expire from a few days to a full year. Once the credit expires, you will only able to receive calls but not making outgoing calls nor SMS, not to mention go online. But you will still be able to make emergency calls to authority by dialing 112 from your handset.
What is the type of usage you will use your phone most often? Do you use phone on local calls or international calls? Do you rather SMS people then talking? Do you use social network on mobile devices or uses GPS to get around that require a good amount of Data? Do you mostly call the same group of people on a particular network?
How much of usage will you need on the phone? The sky is the limit when it comes to spending on mobile services, but do you really need all that included calls or SMS?
How easy can you get support access? Need to make sure the network you are with have stores everywhere so when you lost you SIM or something goes wrong, you are not left in a limbo trying to get someone from an India call center to sent you a replacement SIM or troubleshoot with you over the trouble phone. (It will not end well.)
What is the data speed you are getting? There are 3 types of speed in general you can receive your data, 2G/GPRS, 3G/HSPDA, 4G/LTE. If speed is important to you, make sure your data allowance is not limited to a slower connection.
How good is the network Coverage? All three networks are pretty good in metropolitan area but due to the frequency license, some will have trouble getting through walls or concrete block. This means if you are mostly in apartment block, basements, car parks and etc, you will have limited reception. As for rural area of Australia, Telstra has the biggest coverage and there is no way around it unless you upgrade to a satellite phone, but that’s a different kettle of fish all together.

Apple offers Australians up to AU$250 credit for old iPhones and iPads

Written by Andrew Cheng - July 17 2014

Australians now have an incentive to clear out their desk with news that Apple is offering store credit for old iPhones and iPads.

by Claire Reilly @reillystyley

Australians can now get Apple credit for their old iDevices.Image by Kenny Louie, CC BY 2.0

From today, Australians will be able to take their old iPhone or iPad into any of Apple's 21 retail shopfronts across the country to get credit towards a newer model.

Apple's Reuse and Recycle program has been running in the US since 2006 and launched in the UK in 2012. In these overseas regions, customers can not only bring in their old iPads and iPhones, but can also recycle desktops and notebooks from both Apple and other brands.

In Australia, Apple promises consumers up to AU$250 credit when they bring their old iPhone into an Apple Store, and up to AU$215 for an old iPad. This credit can then be used to purchase either a new iPhone or iPad, while Apple will set about "responsibly recycling" the older model.

In an official statement, Apple said the program was part of its broader environmental focus, which also includes running all of the brand's Apple Stores on renewable energy.

"iPhones and iPads hold great value," said an Apple spokesperson. "So, Apple Retail Stores in Australia are launching a new program to assist customers who wish to bring in their previous-generation iPhone or iPad for recycling.

"In addition to helping support the environment, customers will be able to receive a credit for their returned iPhone or iPad that they can use toward the purchase of a new iPhone or iPad."

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How Blue-light is harmful and where is it from?