QNAP TAS-168

The QNAP TAS-168 ($199) performs double duty as a home network-attached storage (NAS) device and an Android-based media set-top box or home theater PC. You can download files directly to the TAS-168 and serve them to your laptops and desktops around the house, or play them back on an attached television. It's a bit more involved to set up and to use than some other consumer NAS boxes, but its low price and extra features make it attractive if you're a media power user.

Design and Features
The TAS-168Best Price at Amazon is about the size of an external desktop hard drive (7.36 by 2.36 by 4.92 inches, HWD), so you can hide it behind an HDTV or place it next to your cable box. An HDMI port on the back of the white plastic box lets you connect the TAS-168 to the HDTV, and there are four USB 2.0 ports for connecting extra external storage or accessories like a keyboard and mouse. There is an SD card reader and another USB 3.0 port on the front, so you can save pictures and videos directly off of a USB thumb drive or from your camera's SD card.

Because the TAS-168 comes without storage, you'll need to provide your own 3.5- or 2.5-inch SATA hard drive or solid-state drive (SSD). I installed a 6TB Hitachi drive, which was easy, because the NAS is tool-less. You just have to remove the casing's thumbscrew, slide the drive into the bay, and then clip on the included brackets to secure it. Once you close the case and replace the thumbscrew, you're ready to connect and power up the NAS.

The simplest NAS devices (like DROBO S ) we've set up have been the Promise Apollo$239.00 at Amazon (a specialized personal cloud NAS for storing photos and videos from your smartphones) and the Western Digital My Cloud Mirror Gen 2Best Price at Amazon. By contrast, configuring the TAS-168 is a lot more involved. Setup is Web-based, using an updated version of the QTS interface we've previously seen in the four-bay QNAP TVS-463Best Price at Amazon. You also have the option of using Android 4.4.4 (KitKat) directly, after connecting the TAS-168 to your HDTV via HDMI, and connecting the USB dongle for the included wireless keyboard with built-in touchpad. You'll want to use QTS to set up shares on your laptop, remotely access the NAS from your work desktop, or otherwise administer and monitor the NAS from a Mac or PC.

As with other QNAP NAS products, you can sign up for a free myQNAPcloud account, so you can access the NAS over the Internet. Once you're logged in, you'll be able to access the TAS-168's files and media services while you're away from home, even if you don't have dynamic DNS or VPN service set up on your broadband router.


Once the TAS-168 is set up, you can access the files and monitor the system using a set of QNAP mobile apps available in Apple's App Store and Google Play. Qmanager is a NAS administration tool that lets you assess the device's hardware health (CPU usage, storage status, and so on) and downloads (more on that below). With Qfile you can track downloads, view media on your device, and copy, delete, and move files. Qmusic, Qphoto, and Qvideo are specialized players that let you enjoy your media on your mobile device. Qget lets you search for and start BitTorrent, HTTP (Web), and FTP downloads.

These all work pretty well on phones and tablets, but I'm not entirely convinced that they should be separate apps. For example, Western Digital's My Cloud app integrates most, if not all, of the functions of the above apps, save the download manager. It's one app versus many, and I think My Cloud is easier to grasp (and use) for both novice and power users.

Traditional NAS services like iTunes server, DLNA, Windows and Mac file servers, a local Web server, and FTP services are available on the TAS-168, and turned on by default. A local antivirus scanner is also available, but is turned off by default to avoid using processor cycles and affecting other services.

The Android interface gives you a way to interact with your files and view your media, bypassing mobile device and PC use entirely. The TAS-168 essentially runs Android like any mobile device, using the HDTV or another HDMI-equipped display as a monitor. You can run the same QNAP apps directly on the NAS, but the real strength of running Android is the ability to download and run apps like HBO Go, Hulu, Kodi, Netflix, and YouTube Music on your 60-inch HDTV across the room instead of a 6-inch screen in front of your face. You can control the Android interface using the included wireless keyboard with integrated touchpad, or download the Qremote app, which replicates the functionality of a standard IR remote, with a Home key, a four-way directional pad, along with a virtual mouse and keyboard, on your LAN-connected phone. Aside from media apps, you can also run Chrome and the thousands of apps and games in the Google Play store, or even sideload Android apps from other sources. Please note that you won't be able to control mobile apps that rely on accelerometer control; you'd be better off running games like Need for Speed directly on your phone, in any case.

While most NAS devices have some form of BitTorrent support built in (but not enabled) or available via a downloadable client, the TAS-168 is notable in that its BitTorrent client is well integrated, already set up, and ready to go. All you have to do is access it in either Qget, the Download Station interface in QTS, the Download Station interface in Qmanager on your mobile device, or on the TAS-168 itself. Several screens will ask you to acknowledge your legal liabilities and another essentially warns you that scary adult content exists on the Internet, but once these are dismissed you can proceed. VPN services are supported in both the QTS interface and via Android apps, if you need an extra layer of security while connecting to private servers. Once in Qget or the Download Station interface, you can search for streams, start downloading files, and monitor the torrent streams once they've completed downloading. HTTP, RSS feeds, and FTP downloads are all supported as well. By default, your downloaded files end up in a marked folder on the top level of the NAS drive, so they're not immediately available to the media playback apps. That's somewhat inconvenient, because Qvideo has a Downloads section in its menu, but that's pointed to a different (but similarly named) folder on the hard drive.


Specs and Performance
A dual-core 1.1GHz ARMv7 CPU powers the TAS-168, along with 2GB of RAM and 4GB of flash storage for the Android OS. Day-to-day performance seemed adequate; there weren't too many hiccups while switching among apps in Android. Reaction times were quick when I was accessing the NAS over the LAN and remotely from the Internet. It could take a few seconds to establish contact using QNAP's cloud servers, but once connected I was able to copy, move, and access files quickly while dodging Pokemon Go players on the streets. I could also watch locally hosted 1080p HD and 4K UHD videos smoothly using Qvideo.

I ran our timed file transfer test, and the NAS performed quite a little bit slower than other consumer-grade boxes like the Western Digital My Cloud Mirror Gen 2 and the Netgear ReadyNAS 202Best Price at Amazon. We copied a 4.9GB test folder containing thousands of text, music, photo, and video files from our Toshiba Tecra Z50-A1503 test bed via an Asus RT-AC68U Dual-band Wireless-AC1900 Gigabit Router$135.95 at Amazonusing both Gigabit Ethernet and close-range 5GHz 802.11ac Wi-Fi. I was able to write our test folder at 25MBps and read the same folder at 44MBps over wired Ethernet. That was half the speed of the ReadyNAS 202, but it's perhaps understandable since the TAS-168 is designed to serve a family unit with media. That said, the My Cloud Mirror Gen 2 was also much faster on the same test. Either of the faster NAS boxes is better if you're planning on running lots of local laptop backups or file transfers, but the TAS-168 performs adequately for streaming media around the house or to the Internet.

The QNAP TAS-168 excels if you're a media hound who is ready to take advantage of its extra functionality, like extensive download support and Android app compatibility. It is inexpensive before you factor in storage, but you will need more than an ounce of tinkerer's resourcefulness and technical knowledge to set up the device in your home—even more than is usually needed for diskless NAS boxes. Our Editors' Choice for Consumer/SOHO NAS remains the Netgear ReadyNAS 202, because it is easier to set up, has less-confusing app choices, and is faster on file transfers.

Leupold RX-650

This Leupold is our most affordable recommendation. We’ve recently started recommending this instead of the Nikon Aculon, because the Leupold packs some extra range and noticeably better accuracy, for barely any more money! It’s all you need if you don’t hunt past 650 yards, and it makes a good starter rangefinder (like SUAOKI RANGEFINDER )for new hunters.

Pros:

It gives you lots of bang for your buck. Compared to others at the same price point, the Leupold provides greater magnification power and a wider usable range. It’s equipped with 6x magnification, and it’s good out to 650 yards for reflective ranging (deer are rated for about 500 yards, but we’ve found that this one can easily be used for taking deer at 600).

While it can’t compete with the more expensive Leupold or Sig Sauer below, this one’s pretty close to spot-on within its range. It can occasionally be fiddly to get locked-down, but once you’ve sighted your target, it’s very accurate. It’s more precise than comparable Nikon offerings, as well as cheaper options from other brands.

The glass is excellent. That’s one key feature that lets down a lot of other budget rangefinders. In this case, Leupold’s glass is actually great. It’s fully multicoated, and has impressive clarity and light transmission for the price.

The glass is paired with a high-contrast LCD display. In our experience, it’s perfectly legible in a range of conditions. It’s not as sophisticated as our more expensive picks, but it covers all the basics quite well.

Unlike the majority of budget rangefinders, it’s actually enjoyable to work with! The fast-focus eyepiece is user-friendly, and easy to work with in the field. The Leupold offers more eye relief than others at this price, too.

It’s a little tank, even though it weighs less than half a pound. The Leupold is completely fog-proofed and waterproofed. It’s covered with a rubberized grip material for shock absorption and traction. In terms of ruggedness, it’s much better than any of the competition in its class.

The Leupold uses a standard CR-2 lithium ion battery, which is a common type used in cameras. We like that because it makes things easy to replace. Plus, using a standard cell is much less expensive than proprietary power cells like most brands require you to use.

It’s a solid investment. The Leupold comes with lifetime warranty coverage on the optics, and two years of coverage for the electronic components.

It comes with a lanyard and case.

Cons:

Obviously, this one’s limited to anything under 650 yards. It’s not good for anything long-range, and you should expect to use it beyond its rated range. If you regularly hunt further out, get one of our more powerful picks.

While very good, this Leupold is imperfect. It’s usually dead-on once you get something in sight, but it doesn’t lock onto targets (especially smaller ones) as easily as the 1200i or Sig Sauer below.

Unlike Leupold scopes, it’s not made entirely in the USA. It’s about half-and-half between American-made components and imported ones.

2011 Hunten GCS20-70IR Camera Review - September 4, 2011

2011 Hunten Outdoors GCS20-70IR 56 count red flash 7 MP digital camera review

This is the first in a series of the Hunten Outdoor camera $180 offering for 2011. We had been involved in the testing of the little small GS-35 cameras earlier in the year. I picked to start with this camera because of its different case design. This is where the case is mounted to the tree but there is a drop down drawer that has the battery compartment (4 Cs) and the programming screen and control buttons. The SD card and USB ports are also in this same area. The SD card slot (label in 32 gig) is hidden above the programming screen. To access this dropdown door you have to pull forward a plastic tab sticking out the bottom of the camera. This forward action will un latch the drawer and it will drop down exposing the screen/battery area.

Out of the box this is a very impressive looking camera. It has to be the very best color combination (moss like) of any I have seen on a camera. It hides very well with most all foliage. There is some assembly needed to install the bark biter/belt loop assembly to the back of the camera. This was easy and all that was needed was a Phillips driver to install 4 screws. This is a fixed 7 MP still camera that has a 4 burst and a single video 20 second 640X480 resolution. The trigger is advertized at 1 second. I took some sample tests in side the lab and the sensing was very good and looked very much like trigger time was very near 1 second. The outside pictures were a bit fuzzy but the color representation was very good.

That latch thing sticking out the bottom sure made handling it for tests very difficult. There is no gasket on the drawer but it does fit up inside so it would be difficult to get wet when properly hung on the tree. Where things fall apart is the ants can walk in and set up camp. There is an area around the latch where the gap is over 1/16 inch which is an invitation to a fire ant to walk in and build a nest. I took a pipe cleaner and laid it across that area and closed the drawer and that seemed to fill the gap just fine.

Documentation and programming seemed to be a good match. Being that this is a single resolution camera the programming was easy. This is very much like the same system as the WGI cameras have.

Security is not part of the design though there is a cable slot on the back; it is mostly plastic and would probably break fairly easy. A double wrap with a crossover knot might work if you cross over the front of the camera and then cross the cable near the feed through loop.

My short time with this camera so far has made a believer out of me on this camouflage job they have selected. It is really at home on one of my oak trees and even with the array having a odd shape it hides very well. I will say very good job Hunten for this color selection.

Better get this off to the other half for some serious and final formal testing.

While I was waiting for that I noticed a statement in the user manual. This camera ( like MOULTRIE A-20I MINI GAME CAMERA ) has a patent pending intelligent PIR sensor that detects animal movement all times of the year without false triggers. I had noticed how well it was sensing and I mentioned that above. I had just ran similar tests on the WGI N6 and found I had to work to get a trigger. I went ahead and set up several other cameras (one being a Moultrie 80) along with this one and did a little walk test and sure enough this camera out sensed all of them. I have yet to see how wide the sensing zone is but I hope that is not like that cudde/leupold mayhem and having a two foot wide sensing area. I will be testing that very shortly. The sensing zone appears to be as wide 12 feet at a distance of 15 feet, as near as I can tell without setting up a formal test. This tells me that my concern about the pencil type zone is not the case.

09-11-2011 update: This camera had a bit slower trigger time than its two little brothers and came in around 2 seconds. The day range was fuzzy and the night range with flash reached out past 50 feet.

09-18-2011 update: This camera seems to be producing some pretty good pictures both day and night. The sensing is way out there but we are not having some weather in the 50s and 60s. We did not get any white out pictures but there were a few that were dark at transition time. So far this camera has performed well. We are not setup in the video mode and will report on that soon. Please view the sample pictures below.

10-01-2011 update: Please view the sample videos we managed to capture. This process went through without any issues and the results were very favorable. More people are starting to see and use the video mode more and more so the camera companies have managed to get a pretty good handle on this process.



11-19-2011 update: Battery life lasted 67 days and this camera took 1666 pictures and 127 videos. Overall performance has been very good.

How to know Power Bank is Fully Charged?

Power bank is so important to us as we are living in a world of mobile electronics. It allows us to move freely and charge our devices anywhere. There’s no doubt that we need to charge our power bank when energy is running out. However, not only said by the supplier but also declared on the manual brochure clearly — don’t overcharge your power bank.

Negative effects of overcharging your power bank:

1.Possibly shorten the lifespan of your power bank (for example: GOAL ZERO GUIDE 10 PLUS ) Overcharging will cause overheating, at an average temperature of 32 degrees fahrenheit, for example, a lithium-ion battery will lose six percent of its maximum capacity per year. At 77 degrees, that number jumps to 20 percent, and at 104 degrees it’s a whopping 35.

2.If the power bank is not under power protection which ensures that the battery stops charging once it has reached full capacity, overcharging will be extremely dangerous, it might explode in a very bad way.

All EasyAcc power banks are designed to entail: power protection, short circuit control and temperature control.


How to know power bank is fully charged?

According to the manual book it will be simple enough, only need to check the indicator. Most power banks have a built-in four LED lights indicator. The LED light sparks once the power is connected and all four LED lights stay on when the battery is fully charged.

How to know power bank is fully charged if the indicator is not working?

With a broken indicator, for instance, no light at all or cannot stop blinking, you might get confused to know whether the power bank is fully charged or not. Here are some vital items to follow:

1.Find the manual brochure of your power bank or download one from official website to check how many hours are required to fully charge your device. Use your power bank up to about 0% juice left, as the indicator is not working you need to connect the power bank to any compatible device to test if there’s any power left.

2.Connect your power bank to an appropriate charger–generally most power banks require 5V 2A input so the corresponding charger would be the best choice to charge them. Avoid charging with computer USB port. Different charging methods may result different charging time , charging with the original charger will be faster than charging with computer USB port.
3.When the expected charging time is up, disconnect the charger and apply any compatible device to your power bank and test whether the power bank was charged. If it works smoothly, the rechargeable cycle is alright, however, the indicator is dead, we cannot make sure your power bank is fully charged, at least it’s definitely not overcharged for the safety concern. If it’s not working at all, the power bank is likely to be damaged, you need to contact the customer service center to fix it or buy a new one.

Finding Pet Friendly Rentals in Cape San Blas, Florida

The web is a key development on the planet of it. It's created existence relatively simple, specifically for owners who're looking for top quality Cape San Blas rentals pet friendly houses. However the looking component is just the initial step to locating the greatest pet friendly leases that will match your dog's requirements. Trying to find a great quality rental is just a lengthy procedure which any pet owner must consider to be able to truly look for a rental that fits your dog's requirements.

Searching for pet-friendly leases for example houses may become easy today using the development of the best info creation the globe has actually created - the web.

Owners who intend to move-out of the prior houses and intend to hire a location that may be regarded as pet-friendly are now able to see the web and look for such rental houses in the place of awaiting entries and ads in papers along with other printing advertisements or by requesting others concerning the area of such pet-friendly accommodations.

Getting the places of great pet-friendly rental houses is just the initial step of the entire research procedure. That's since whenever you speak no more than getting a rental that fits your requirements, you then could be ready to obtain a long-list of handles from only one website that promotes pet-friendly accommodations. Envision just how many handles you'd have the ability to get soon after a couple of hours of checking in Cape San Blas Florida .

What we're focusing. is finding TOP QUALITY leases that will match not only yours your dog's requirements aswell. A passionate pet owner wouldn't just depend on the handles he/she got from the web, nevertheless having these handles depend as only one move of the lengthy procedure for discovering top quality rental houses for you personally as well as your dog at Cape San Blas Beach.

Additional actions ought to be taken up to make sure that the area you're likely to select suits precisely what you as well as your dog needs. You have to usually go into consideration to separate the handles you will be likely to visit or examine. In a nutshell you have to weed-out the locations that not match your flavor before you obtain a short-list of locations that just about focus on yours as well as your dog's requirements. This task is extremely essential within the entire research procedure as this could decide the locations you will be visiting next in the long-list of handles that you simply have acquired.

Visiting everywhere inside your checklist might just tire you out and precisely occupy an excessive amount of your own time and work simply by visiting each one of these locations. Ads on the internet can in fact incorporate a brief explanation of the locations they promote, their costs as well as several images.

More often than not in addition they incorporate a telephone number for you really to contact in the event you have any extra concerns. You should use these like a foundation for the short-listing. You might contact the homeowners to get a brief meeting and have them concerning the details of the area. For example; when they possess a broad garden where you as well as your dog might perform on dog friendly beaches Florida, Panhandle, etc. After performing such, at this point you get yourself a short-list of one's specific locations that you would need to visit next.

Your short-list may include 5-10 places based on just how much effort and time you're prepared to invest in visiting these locations. In the minimum you ought to have 5 options in order to possess a broader variety of great options instead of simply by having two or three. Counting on images, explanations and about the telephone meeting with homeowners aren't enough to ensure the location you'd be hiring could be ideal for the requirements of the animals.

You have to observe them firsthand to be able to make certain. Should you intend on visiting them all in only one-day, it is best to begin with the farthest away so you might save on fuel. This provides you with quite a great thought how long the journey might try get from your own prior house to another that will be an important dimension during shifting period.

Nevertheless ensure that before you go to the homeowners, provide a band or notice beforehand. Don't depend just about the attendants and assistants. It's better to talk to the homeowners or directors themselves because it could be them who learn about the locations best and also you may be ready to secure savings or extra advantages of them in Cape San Blas FL.

After visiting, then your period involves create an ultimate selection.

Ensure that you take-all the info you collected exists and accounted for, before buying a particular option.

By pursuing these basic steps, I really hope it will help you in having the ability to select a great, or even the highest quality pet friendly beaches FL for you personally as well as your dog.

Content Shifting!

Appreciate your house.

Are You Protected From Cyber-Threats? Why Small Business Owners Should Be Concerned

It is not uncommon for small businesses to bypass cyber-security measures, believing that cyber-crime is reserved for major financial institutions or government organizations. However, small businesses are frequent targets because their websites and databases may have less stringent security protocols.

In many cases, a business is the direct target for a cyber-attack, but not all cyber security issues involve a hacker. Cyber-strikes can manifest from faulty hardware, a corrupted system backup, or even a severe weather event. Regardless of the cause, losing data can put your customers at risk and restoring the information can drain vital resources from your business.

What Are Print on Demand Services and How Can I Use Them for My Business?

As a small business owner, it can be a huge risk to invest lots of time and energy manufacturing inventory that you might not even be able to sell. Unfortunately, it’s always been pretty hard to stay afloat without having lots of products and a huge stock to show off. That often leaves struggling start-ups between a rock and a hard place.

But thanks to huge breakthroughs in an up-and-coming print on demand sector, more and more business owners are finding themselves able to have their cake and eat it, too.