ClickFact: January 2014

Friday, January 10, 2014

Quadratic Equation Calculator

This JavaScript quadratic equation calculator solves the quadratic equation and provides the two values of x that satisfy ax² + bx + c = 0. The quadratic equation calculator is a JavaScript calculator and runs in your web browser. Best of all, it's free!

The values a=1, b=-5,c=6 should return x=3, x=2. The default values for a, b, and c are filled in to allow you to easily test the quadratic equation calculator. If the results are 3 and 2, then the calculator is working!

Quadratic Equation Calculator Instructions

Replace the default values for a, b, and c with the values from the quadratic equation that you are solving.

You may need to rearrange your equation into this form:
ax² + bx + c = 0

For example, you can write a quadratic equation as: 1x² -5x + 6 =0
In this example, a=1, b= -5, and c=6.

Enter your values for a, b, and c into the calculator and click "Compute". The two solutions for x will be calculated using the quadratic formula.

ClickFact

Friday, January 3, 2014

What is SS USB?

SS USB is an acronym that means "SuperSpeed USB" where USB means "Universal Serial Bus".

USB is a type of interface the is used to connect computers to storage devices and digital cameras to transfer data. SS USB designates USB 3, which is not only faster than USB 2, but can provide more power. SS USB can provide power for storage drives and even computer monitors through the SS USB port.

SS USB ports are labeled with "SS" in front of the USB logo. In some cases, SS USB ports are colored blue. A new row of pins is added in the SS USB interface to support the higher speed data rates.

How Fast is SS USB?

SS USB supports a data transfer rate of up to 5 Gigabits/second. This is 10x faster than USB 2.0. SS USB supports full duplex communication (simultaneous transmit and receive), where USB 2 supports only half duplex communication- this provides the potential for SS USB to actually be 20x faster than USB 2.

How Do I Know If I Have SS USB?

If your look closely at the USB ports on your computer, you'll notice a USB logo. If the USB logo has the letters "SS" in front of it, you have a SS USB port. Another indicator is if blue plastic is used in the USB port. Close inspection of a SS USB port will show that it has an extra row of pins compared with a "regular" USB port.

ClickFact

What is HDMI?

HDMI is an acronym that means "High Definition Multimedia Interface". HDMI is the interface that carries digital video and digital audio signals for digital television and monitors.

HDMI ports are found on High Definition (HD) television sets and provide a means to provide a HD digital video source to the TV. For example, a blu-ray player is connected to a digital TV through its HDMI interface using an HDMI cable. The HDMI output port on the blu-ray is connected to one end of an HDMI cable and the other end of the HDMI cable is connected to the digital TV. Both digital audio and digital video signals are supported on HDMI.

Another example of connecting an HDMI media device is using the HDMI port on an Xbox to get high definition video for video games. Just connect an HDMI cable between the Xbox and your High Definiton TV.

What is an HDMI cable?

An HDMI cable is the type of cable designed to carry HD digital video and digital audio from a media source to a TV or monitor. HDMI cables are available in a variety of lengths and start at about $5.

ClickFact

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

SD vs SDHC vs SDXC Memory Cards

There are 3 types of SD cards available: SD, SDHC, and SDXC. These cards are the same size, but support different memory capacity and file system options.

SD

SD stands for "Secure Digital" and is a type of flash memory card for cameras and tablet computers. This type of memory card is also known as SDSC which means "Secure Digital Standard Capacity". SD cards are available with memory capacity up to 4GB.

SDHC

The SD standard was updated in 2006 to define the SDHC format which means "Secure Digital High Capacity". SDHC cards support a capacity up to 32GB and are preformatted with FAT32 file system.

SDXC

SDXC means "Secure Digital Extended Capacity". This update to the standard was released in 2009 and supports cards with up to 2 TB memory capacity. SDXC cards are preformatted with Microsoft's exFAT file system.

SD Card Speed Classes

SD, SDHC, and SDXC cards are available in several speed classes. Faster cards support faster read/write times and support real-time high definition video recording and high resolution digital cameras.

Class 10 SD cards

Class 10 is currently the highest speed class. Class 10 SD cards support data rates of at least 10MB/sec. Most class 10 cards available today support read/write speeds of 30-45 MB/second.

Below are some Class 10 16GB SDHC cards. These cards support fast data transfer for high definition video and digital pictures. Some of these 16GB SD cards are less than $10!

Recommended Reading:
64GB SD cards
32GB SD cards
16GB SD cards

ClickFact

16GB SD card

The price of 16GB SD cards has dropped significantly as larger capacity SD cards are becoming more popular. You can get some great bargains on 16GB cards- some are under $10!

The memory capacity of a 16GB SD card can store a lot of pictures and files. For example, if your digital pictures are 6MB each, a 16GB SD card can store over 2600 pictures.

The storage capacity is not the only thing to consider when selecting an SD card- speed is also very important. The read/write rate of the SD card determines how long it takes to read and write files from the card. If you are selecting an SD card for a digital camera or video recording, you will want a fast class 10 card. Class 10 SD cards support data rates of at least 10MB/sec. Many Class 10 SD cards available now support speeds of 30 to 40MB/sec or more. This means less lag when taking pictures or recording video.

Below are my favorite 16GB class 10 SD cards. These are all fast cards and work great for digital cameras and video recording as well as tablet computers.

Recommended Reading:
How to Get a Digital SLR camera cheap!

ClickFact

64gb sd card

64gb sd card

There are lots of choices available for 64GB SD cards for your digital camera or tablet. The main considerations when selecting an SD card are the memory capacity and the read/write speed of the SD card.

A 64GB SD card has lots of capacity. For example, if you use a 64GB SD card in a digital camera, and each picture takes 6MB of storage space, a 64 GB SD card can hold over 10,000 pictures! That is an incredible amount of storage.

Speed of the SD card is also important, especially for digital cameras and digital video recording. Class 10 SD cards support data rates of at least 10MB/sec. Many Class 10 SD cards on the market have a transfer rate of 30 to 40MB/second or more which is great to avoid lag.

Below are some of my favorite 64GB SD cards. All of these are class 10, which are high speed SD cards-great for digital cameras and digital video recording.

Recommended Reading:
How to Get a Digital SLR camera cheap!

ClickFact

32gb SD card

There are some great options for 32GB SD cards for digital cameras. Memory capacity and read/write speed are the main considerations when selecting a SD card.

A high capacity 32GB card will hold lots of pictures. For example, the pictures I take with my Digital SLR camera are about 6MB each, so a 32GB card will hold 5,300 digital pictures.

Another important consideration for choosing an SD card is speed. Faster SD cards will allow you to take pictures faster with less delay between pictures. If you are using an SD card for a tablet, a faster card will allow you to run with less lag. I use a fast class 10 SDHC card. Class 10 SD cards support data rates of at least 10MB/sec. Class 10 SD cards selling today may have a data transfer rate of 30 to 40MB/second which can keep up with recording photos or digital video.

Below are the best 32GB class 10 SD cards. I got the SanDisk Extreme card with my digital SLR camera, but the Sony SDHC card looks like a good value.

Recommended Reading:
How to Get a Digital SLR camera cheap!

ClickFact

Flash Drive Recovery- Image Rescue 4 Recovered My Pictures!

Flash Drive Recovery

Flash drives and SD cards are very convenient for saving and transferring files, and the prices have come way down lately. It is amazing how much memory you can get on a tiny flash device. If you want the best performance from your camera, you want to choose a flash memory with fast read/write times such as a SDHC Class 10 Flash Memory Card .

But what do you do if a flash drive or memory stick is corrupted and your files are lost?

I recently lost all my Christmas pictures from my digital camera! The 32GB SDHD card was corrupted, and I could not see my pictures with the camera, with a Mac, or with a Windows PC. Of course, I was disappointed and almost reformatted the card since I could not find my pictures after trying many times.

But I decided to try to recover the pictures first. It turned out to be quick and easy to recover files from a corrupted flash memory.

Image Rescue 4 Flash Drive Recovery

I downloaded and installed Image Rescue 4 from Lexar. I found an offer for a free download of Image Rescue 4 in my SDHC card package. You can also download a free trial version that might get the job done.

Image Rescue 4 has tools to scan for lost image, picture, and video files on corrupted flash devices. You can also recover deleted files from a flash memory. Image Rescue works with all kinds of flash memory devices, SD cards, and USB flash memory sticks.

Flash Drive Recovery- Image Rescue 4
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Image Rescue 4 found all of my images on my corrupted flash device. I simply selected my corrupted flash memory from the menu and selected "Start Scan". After Image Rescue recovered my files, I saved them to my hard drive and reformatted my SDHD card after saving the files to my computer hard drive.

Image Rescue 4 offers FAT32 or NTFS flash fomatting options- I used FAT32 for compatibility with my digital camera.

Recommended Reading:
Use a Cheap USB Flash Memory Stick to Speed up Windows 7

ClickFact

Quadratic Equation Calculator by Dr. Penny Pincher Solves ax² + bx + c = 0 for x Copyright (c) 2014. All Rights Reserved http://clickfact.blogspot.com
Enter a:
Enter b:
Enter c:

x=		x=