Car manufacturers tout their efficiency. Consumer advocates dispute claims of 60-plus miles per gallon gas efficiency. Amidst the controversy, environmentalists still claim, in the absence of anything better - that hybrid vehicles are still better for the environment than their traditional gas-guzzling counterparts. Source: Submit Articles at ArticlesBase.com
Hybrids, known for the way they combine both gas and electric power to offer a cleaner ride, have come under fire in recent months for their inability to reach gas mileage milestones set by the manufacturers. Critics say that most fail to live up to claims of getting more than 60 miles to a single gallon of gas. Advocates argue that recent studies confirm the same is true for efficiency ratings set on traditional engines, still making hybrids the better deal environmentally.
Toyota Prius - Toyota's hybrid car
Touted as the gas-saver of the future when introduced in 1999, hybrids are known to use a fraction of the gas due to their ability to "share the burden", with their electric motors. Full hybrid vehicles allow the electric motor to work independently of the more traditional internal combustion engine, while driving at low speeds. This in turn saves gas, and stops harmful emissions from entering the atmosphere. During an idle stop, a full hybrid actually shuts itself off, letting the electric motor take over to eliminate unnecessary idling and emissions.
Consumers should be aware, however, that the mild hybrids focus remains on traditional gas consumption, with the electric motor only assisting the gas engine at high speeds when more power is needed, thus making the mild hybrid much less environmental friendly than its full hybrid counterpart.
Great for in town drivers, the full hybrid allows slow speeding drivers to virtually use only the electric motor, thus saving even more gas, and eliminating harmful emissions into the environment.
Despite any controversy surrounding today's hybrid vehicles, consumers seem eager to do what they can to decrease the harmful effects of emissions on the environment and save a few bucks at the pumps. Production of hybrid vehicles has tripled in the last four years, with production expected to double in 2007. The Yano Research Institute Ltd. estimates that by 2015, nearly 5.37 million hybrid vehicles will be on the global road, compared to less than one million last year.
Manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon, with Honda, Toyota, Ford, Lexus and Chevrolet, all offering their own hybrid varieties. Newer models sport higher-powered and faster models, even making hybrid SUV's and trucks available to the consumer. Of course, the heavier the vehicle, and the faster it rides, the more gas it is bound to use, despite the use and size of the internal electric motor.
Still, hybrids remain the most gas efficient and environmental friendly vehicles in mass production today. About the Author: More Hybrid Cars Environment Articles at http://theenvironment-today.com./
| Deutsche Presse Agentur |
| Washington, March 25 : It's hard enough to find a file on a single computer. If, like many people these days, you use multiple computers, the problems are compounded. You may have typed up some vital text to be included in your next business report, or written an e-mail message that contains some important information that you've now forgotten. But which computer did you save it on? Google has come up with a way to answer the question. The latest version of the company's popular Desktop Search tool available for free (http://desktop.google.com ), provides a Search Across Computers feature that will allow you to conduct searches across all your computers while you're sitting at just one of them. Search Across Computers, while easy to implement, comes with some caveats, however, so it's worth exploring the tool in some detail. Once you download and install Google Desktop Search, open the tool either from your Start menu or from the taskbar icon that the program installs. Once you do, you'll see a familiar-looking browser window with the Google Desktop logo. Click the Desktop Preferences link to the right of the search box, and then click the Google Account Features tab. Scroll down, and you'll see the Search Across Computers section. Select the checkbox that enables Search Across Computers, and type in your Google account information. If you don't have one, you can create one from this page for free. You'll need to install Google Desktop Search and enable Search Across Computers on every computer that you'd like to be able to search. Once Search Across Computers is activated on your computers, you can use Desktop Search to locate any text-based document on any computer, regardless of whether all of the computers are turned on or off. The documents searchable include those created by office applications, e-mail, Web pages visited, and chats. How does Google Desktop Search work this magic? Here's where things get tricky - and objectionable to some. With Search Across Computers enabled, Google indexes and stores versions of your files remotely on its servers - that's really the only way such a feature can be implemented. So what you're doing when you use Search Across Computers is actually conducting a Web-style search on Google's computers. Those computers just happen to have indexes of the material on all of the computers you've allowed the company access to. Sound a bit scary? It can be, especially with concerns about how secure your data is and whether what's on your computer might ever be shared with a third party. Google addresses these concerns in its privacy policy, easily accessible when you activate Search Across Computers. The transmission of your data, Google says, is done securely, and your indexed files are treated as personal information. But personal information may not always stay out of the hands of third parties |
I have a USB Audio Device (Sound Card- C-Media USB Headphone Set), specfications goes: USB Audio Device Integrated 2 Channel
USB Audio Controller Device Type: Sound, video and game controllers
Manufacturer: Generic USB Audio
Location: Location 0 (C-Media USB Headphone Set) Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Date: 7/1/2001
Driver Version: 5.1.2535.0
Digital Signer: MIcrosoft Windows Publisher
Driver File: //Windows/system32/drivers/USBAUDIO.sys Remark(s): The device is enabled and functioning properly. Upgrade Woes goes: Searched the net for an updated drivers for a couple of providers but couldn't find the apt ones. Even Window's Update Driver Wizard seem unable to find updates for USBAUDIO.sys driver file. I like to enable Virtual 5.1 Sound Track on the device. It has been going well with 3D Sound(AC-3). Where can I find Advanced Environment Effects, Sizes and Band/Pre-set Equalizers, EAX, Speaker Shifter for my device? I think these are Software Value added for music and gaming. Any idea?I also like to know about Xearphone. Is there anything to do with <Digital Class-B Power Amplifier> which is built-in component inside the device, it's PD 552. Please, help me upgrade my SOUND Xperience!
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