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Comcast adds 250 GB monthly cap
30 August, 2008

Comcast, the US largest broadband provider, is rolling out restrictions on its service usage, and subscribers whose use of the internet exceeds 250 GB of data a month will first get a warning call, and then on the second instance, their service will be suspended for a year…its current usage policy was amended online today, and this policy will start October 1, the company announced today. The more interesting part is that Comcast will NOT be provding any tools to monitor bandwidth usage, but has told users to search online for bandwidth monitoring tool, reports News.com. The FAQs about excess usage are here.

Here’s how it justifies it: “250 GB/month is an extremely large amount of data, much more than a typical residential customer uses on a monthly basis. Currently, the median monthly data usage by our residential customers is approximately 2 - 3 GB. To put 250 GB of monthly usage in perspective, a customer would have to do any one of the following: — Send 50 million e-mails (at 0.05 KB/e-mail)– Download 62,500 songs (at 4 MB/song)– Download 125 standard-definition movies (at 2 GB/movie)– Upload 25,000 hi-resolution digital photos (at 10 MB/photo).” Of course HD streaming will also speed up that limit. This move from Comcast comes after its brush with FCC, where the regulator lambasted the company for blocking and slowing down P2P traffic on its service. Comcast insists this latest move has nothing to do with the FCC ruling against it.

Source: Washington post

Posted by bourne 02:22 | interest | Comment(0) | Permalink
Subculture of Suspension Cell Lines
30 August, 2008

In general terms cultures derived from blood (e.g. lymphocytes) grow in suspension. Cells may grow as single cells or in clumps (e.g. EBV transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines). For these types of lines subculture by dilution is relatively easy. But for lines that grow in clumps it may be necessary to bring the cells into a single cell suspension by centrifugation and resuspension by pipetting in a smaller volume before counting.

Schematic diagram of "Subculture of Suspension Cell Lines"

Materials

  • Media– pre-warmed to 37oC (refer to the ECACC Cell Line Data Sheet for the correct medium)
  • 70% Ethanol in water

Equipment

  • Personal protective equipment (sterile gloves, laboratory coat, safety visor)
  • Waterbath set to 37oC
  • Microbiological safety cabinet at appropriate containment level
  • Elisa plates
  • Centrifuge
  • CO2 incubator
  • Inverted phase contrast microscope
  • Haemocytometer
  • Pre-labeled flasks & Cell Culture Plates(6 Well Plate, 24 Well Plate, 96 Well Plate)

Procedure

  1. View cultures using an inverted phase contrast microscope. Cells growing in exponential growth phase should be bright, round and refractile. Hybridomas may be very sticky and require a gentle knock to the flask to detach the cells. EBV transformed cells can grow in very large clumps that are very difficult to count and the center of the large clumps may be non-viable.
  2. Do not centrifuge to subculture unless the pH of the medium is acidic (phenol red = yellow) which indicates the cells have overgrown and may not recover. If this is so, centrifuge at 150g for 5 minutes, re-seed at a slightly higher cell density and add 10- 20% of conditioned medium (supernatant) to the fresh media.
  3. Take a small sample of the cells from the cell suspension (100-200uL - Protocol 6 - Cell Quantification). Calculate cells/ml and re-seed the desired number of cells into freshly prepared flasks without centrifugation just by diluting the cells. The data sheet will give the recommended seeding densities.
  4. Repeat this every 2-3 days.

Key Points

  1. If the cell line is a hybridoma or other cell line that produces a substance (e.g. recombinant protein or growth factor) of interest retain the spent media for analysis.

Source: Sigma-Aldrich

Posted by bourne 02:21 | interest | Comment(3) | Permalink
Where Do I Start To Get My CCNA?
26 August, 2008

Many people understand the value of the Cisco certifications in the industry and want to know where to start to obtain their Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) which:

“The Cisco CCNA network associate certification validates the ability to install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot medium-size routed and switched networks, including implementation and verification of connections to remote sites in a WAN. This new curriculum includes basic mitigation of security threats, introduction to wireless networking concepts and terminology, and performance-based skills. This new curriculum also includes (but is not limited to) the use of these protocols: IP, Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Serial Line Interface Protocol Frame Relay, Routing Information Protocol Version 2 (RIPv2),VLANs, Ethernet, access control lists (ACLs)”

You can take one exam (640-802 CCNA) that is 90 Minutes and 50-60 questions.
-OR-
You can take two exams, The ICND Part I test (640-822) that is 90 Minutes and 50-60 questions as well as ICND Part II Test (640-816) that is 75 minutes and 45-55 questions.

I recommend taking the single test to save money and time. There is also a great preparation page located here: http://forums.cisco.com/eforum/servlet/PrepCenter?page=main

After you decide you want to take the test, there are a few steps people can take to ensure you follow through. The biggest hurdle for the CCNA exam is execution of taking and passing the exam, so these steps help ensure your success:

  1. Commit to the exam and get the support of your family and friends.
  2. Set a date for taking the test!!!
  3. Create a study plan around that date with set milestones that allow you to cover all the material by your test date.
  4. Use one solid study guide source (like an updated Cisco Press Book) to use and reference other sources when needed. There are so many sources out there, that you can easily get rat holed with deeper and deeper material. Using one will you help you stay on track and test your knowledge.
  5. Make sure your material is for the updated CCNA test. There were previous versions.
  6. Use some kind of practice test to gauge your progress.
  7. Find some way to practice basic commands on gear (checking connectivity, cdp, nat, etc..things you see mentioned to ensure you can do them if you are given a hands on simulation.)
  8. Make sure you are FAST at subnetting by hand. There are several quick and easy tables you can use to work on this and it just takes practice to get it down.
  9. Look for a study group or buddy to go through this process with. It makes it easier.

I think those are some good guide lines to get started.

So, for now, I wish you good luck with all your studying and hope you all get your CCNA!

Article posted by Nicole Johnson

Posted by bourne 06:28 | ccna | Comment(0) | Permalink
Cisco CCNA 640-802 Exam Tutorial
25 August, 2008

The 640-802 Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) is the composite exam associated with the Cisco Certified Network Associate certification. Candidates can prepare for this exam by taking the Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 (ICND1) v1.0 and the Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 2 (ICND2) v1.0 courses. This exam tests a candidate’s knowledge and skills required to install, operate, and troubleshoot a small to medium size enterprise branch network. The topics include connecting to a WAN; implementing network security; network types; network media; routing and switching fundamentals; the TCP/IP and OSI models; IP addressing; WAN technologies; operating and configuring IOS devices; extending switched networks with VLANs; determining IP routes; managing IP traffic with access lists; establishing point-to-point connections; and establishing Frame Relay connections.

Cisco Certified Network Associate Exam:

Recommended Training Of CCNA 640-802:

  • Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 (ICND1) v1.0
  • Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 2 (ICND2) v1.0

Courses listed are offered by Cisco Learning Partners-the only authorized source for Cisco IT training delivered exclusively by Certified Cisco Instructors. Check the List of Learning Partners for a Cisco Learning Partner nearest you.

Additional Resources Of CCNA 640-802:

A variety of Cisco Press titles may be available for this exam. These titles can be purchased through the Cisco Marketplace Bookstore, directly from Cisco Press.

>> read CCNA 640-802 exam topics here

Posted by bourne 06:10 | ccna | Comment(8) | Permalink
Web search and emails most popular activities
20 August, 2008

Good news for Google, Yahoo, MSN, and maybe even Cuil – search engine use is on the rise, according to a report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. While it may seem like everyone has Googled themselves, Twittered some inane tidbit about their day, or shared a little too much via Facebook status updates, some people apparently only use the Internet to send useless forwards and check the weather. The ranks of the Internet illiterate are dwindling, however. The number of people who regularly use online search engines is up 69 percent from January 2002, the report said. E-mail use increased about 15 percent in the same time period, but e-mail has always been the most popular app on the Internet, wrote report author Deborah Fallows.

Among daily Internet activities, 60 percent use e-mail, 49 percent use online search, 39 percent check news, 30 percent check weather, 29 percent research a hobby, 28 percent surf the Web for fun, and 13 percent use social networking sites. This is the second time Pew has seen a jump in search engine use – the first being a 10 percent increase in late 2005 when there was a lot of media buzz around search engines, including the Google IPO. What accounts for the jump this time around? Fallows suggested that at this point, Internet users can find a high-performing, site-specific search engine on any Web site “that is worth its salt.” Increased access to broadband and the quality of search returns has also contributed to the rise in use, she wrote.

Source: PC Magazine

Posted by bourne 08:44 | interest | Comment(1) | Permalink
Congratulations!
20 August, 2008
If you can read this post, it means that the registration process was successful and that you can start blogging
Posted by bourne 08:09 | General | Comment(0) | Permalink
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