The Alpha Geek – Geeking Out

Consultant

Consultant

Don Luc Electronics – Patreon

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#donluc #patreon #project #programming #software #electronics #microcontrollers #consultant #vlog

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Patreon

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Don Luc Electronics – Patreon

The Alpha Geek – Geeking Out

Luc

Luc graduated from McGill University, Montréal, Québec with B.Sc. (Biology, Electronic), and a D.D.S. (Doctor of Dental Surgery). He worked in a private dental practice from 1983 to 1992, and started offering IT consulting services in 1983. He is a long time technology enthusiast and founder JLP Consultants, to service large corporate clients such as KPMG Peat Marwick, Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association), Chase Manhattan Bank foreign trade division (Hong Kong), and Warner Lambert. Over the past 38 years Luc has been working as an independent consultant in technology. He is an expert developer of software for desktop, web and mobile applications as well as a gifted integrator and designer of electronic and robotic hardware of all kind.

Aphasia

September 25th of 2013, Luc suffered a massive stroke that let him with an aphasia condition. Due to loss of blood flow or damaged tissue, sustained during the injury aphasia may become permanent. In a way it was good to be here because I received the best medical attention I could ever have. I had a long way to recover but I managed to improve a lot. I just have an aphasia condition that does not allow me to speak, I can speak words and make myself understand by using the computer, and the good thing is that I did not lose my abilities.

Project

I worked in project in electronics (Sensors, EMF Meters, Environmental (TVOC, eCO2, Temp, Humidity, Pressure and Altitude), Real Time Clock, microSD Card, GPS Receiver, MQ Gas Sensors, Antenna and PIR Motion Sensor, EVP, Ultrasonic Distance Sensor, Human Presence Sensor, Electret Microphone, Sound Detector, 9DOF, Audio Amplifier, Speaker, Geiger Radiation Sensor, Robotics (Unmanned Vehicles), Etc…) at young adult and middle age.

Patreon

Patreon is an American membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Patreon charges a commission of 5 to 12 percent of creators’ monthly income, in addition to payment processing fees.

People can contact us: https://www.donluc.com/?page_id=1927

Technology Experience

  • Single-Board Microcontrollers (PIC, Arduino, Raspberry Pi,Espressif, etc…)
  • Robotics
  • Research & Development (R & D)
  • Desktop Applications (Windows, OSX, Linux, Multi-OS, Multi-Tier, etc…)
  • Mobile Applications (Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Windows CE, etc…)
  • Web Applications (LAMP, Scripting, Java, ASP, ASP.NET, RoR, Wakanda, etc…)
  • Social Media Programming & Integration (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, etc…)
  • Content Management Systems (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Moodle, etc…)
  • Bulletin Boards (phpBB, SMF, Vanilla, jobberBase, etc…)
  • eCommerce (WooCommerce, OSCommerce, ZenCart, PayPal Shopping Cart, etc…)

Instructor

  • PIC Microcontrollers
  • Arduino
  • Raspberry Pi
  • Espressif
  • Robotics
  • DOS, Windows, OSX, Linux, iOS, Android, Multi-OS
  • Linux-Apache-PHP-MySQL

Follow Us

J. Luc Paquin – Curriculum Vitae
https://www.donluc.com/DLE/LucPaquinCVEngMk2021a.pdf

Web: https://www.donluc.com/
Web: http://www.jlpconsultants.com/
Web: https://www.donluc.com/DLE/
Web: https://www.donluc.com/DLHackster/
Web: https://www.hackster.io/neosteam-labs
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DonLucElectronics
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neosteam.labs.9/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5eRjrGn1CqkkGfZy0jxEdA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/labs_steam
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/NeoSteamLabs/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neosteamlabs/

Don Luc

Open ltr 2 all of u out there

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#donluc #writing #electronics #microcontrollers #consultant #vlog

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Writing

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Today while I was doing some cleanup around the office I came across some letters and messages from people who had contacted me over the past few years either to ask for work or to ask to distribute some of my software products. I had kept them aside as a reminder on how not to do business. It is a pet peeve of mind that when you communicate on business purposes to do it properly and to write well and to try to do your best to use proper grammar and spelling.

I might be showing my age, but it does gets me very mad when I receive some business message that is either very badly written or written as it you are sending a SMS message, email or comments like the title of this post. There are no reason for either ones, especially the first one as nowadays spelling and grammar correctors are ubiquitous on all computer platforms. If somebody wants to find a job or wants to do business with someone it looks very bad on you when you send messages like that as the first impression you make to your prospective client, employer, or partner is one that you cannot even bother to put your thoughts down and write them properly.

Professionally I write thousands of words daily on various subjects and for various purposes, all of it with minimal editing and proofreading, so I am the first person guilty of grammatical and spelling mistakes, but when you come across as if you have no idea of what you are talking about due to poor writing skills or worse you consider business communication no more important than a quick SMS and Viber to your best buddies you will have problems going forward with any goals you might have in mind. This is not just for the younger generations out there, a lot of people of my generation suffer from the same problems.

I deal with people from all over the world daily and I do understand that if English is not your primary language, you might have some problems in communicating perfectly. I know from experience as English is not my mother tongue, French is. I have also spoken English since early childhood, and essentially have studied and worked in English since my late teens so English is my primary language these days, even though that at home now for the past 2-3 years we have switched from using English to using Spanish. I find the same problem with French and Spanish speaking people, that the quality of the written communication has dropped down dramatically over the past 20 years, when it should have increase a lot with all the spelling and grammar correction facilities we now have. It seems that people just don’t care anymore.

Wake up people, you have the tools to communicate in a better and more effective way. If you are too lazy to even take the few second to communicate effectively life will pass you by as where it counts people will think that you are too lazy to work effectively. Also take pride in you language as if you do not use it properly who will? For those like me who communicate mostly in languages that are own, take pride in learning it properly so that you can communicate and work effectively.

Take this advise seriously as we human can make something with our lives and progress with effective communications and those who do not even make the effort to do so will be left behind. It is not just an old consultant like me who says it, it is the entire business world. When faced to choose between two candidates, which one do you think a decision maker will select, the one that sounds like a professional or the one that sounds like some street gang member?

People can contact us: https://www.donluc.com/?page_id=1927

Technology Experience

  • Single-Board Microcontrollers (PIC, Arduino, Raspberry Pi,Espressif, etc…)
  • Robotics
  • Research & Development (R & D)
  • Desktop Applications (Windows, OSX, Linux, Multi-OS, Multi-Tier, etc…)
  • Mobile Applications (Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Windows CE, etc…)
  • Web Applications (LAMP, Scripting, Java, ASP, ASP.NET, RoR, Wakanda, etc…)
  • Social Media Programming & Integration (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, etc…)
  • Content Management Systems (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Moodle, etc…)
  • Bulletin Boards (phpBB, SMF, Vanilla, jobberBase, etc…)
  • eCommerce (WooCommerce, OSCommerce, ZenCart, PayPal Shopping Cart, etc…)

Instructor

  • PIC Microcontrollers
  • Arduino
  • Raspberry Pi
  • Espressif
  • Robotics
  • DOS, Windows, OSX, Linux, iOS, Android, Multi-OS
  • Linux-Apache-PHP-MySQL

Follow Us

J. Luc Paquin – Curriculum Vitae
https://www.donluc.com/DLE/LucPaquinCVEngMk2021a.pdf

Web: https://www.donluc.com/
Web: http://www.jlpconsultants.com/
Web: https://www.donluc.com/DLE/
Web: https://www.donluc.com/DLHackster/
Web: https://www.hackster.io/neosteam-labs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neosteam.labs.9/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5eRjrGn1CqkkGfZy0jxEdA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/labs_steam
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/NeoSteamLabs/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neosteamlabs/

Don Luc

Don Luc Electronics – Software

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#donluc #programming #software #electronics #microcontrollers #consultant #vlog

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software

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Software

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Software

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Software

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Software

Software is a collection of data or computer instructions that tell the computer how to work. This is in contrast to physical hardware, from which the system is built and actually performs the work. In computer science and software engineering, computer software is all information processed by computer systems, programs and data.

Professional Graphic Design Software

CorelDRAW (CorelDRAW 1 apha (1988), CorelDraw X8)

Create with passion. Design with purpose. Break down creative barriers with CorelDRAW. Find all the professional vector illustration, layout, photo editing and typography tools you need to create and complete important design projects, from virtually any device.

Corel PHOTO-PAINT (Corel PHOTO-PAINT 1 apha 1988, Corel PHOTO-PAINT X8)

Make the most of your photos with the powerful photo-editing capabilities of Corel PHOTO-PAINT and enjoy an integrated workflow with CorelDRAW.

Real-Time 3D Animation Software

iClone (iClone 2 (2007), iClone 7)

iClone is the fastest real-time 3D animation software in the industry, helping you easily produce professional animations for films, previz, animation, video games, content development, education and art. Integrated with the latest real-time technologies, iClone simplifies the world of 3D Animation in a user-friendly production environment that blends character animation, scene design and cinematic storytelling; quickly turning your vision into a reality.

Character Creator (Character Creator 1 (2007), Character Creator 3)

Elaborate character design tools with a workflow that capitalizes on speed and quality combined with animation-ready rigging to immediately enliven character creations with motion, facial animation, and lip-sync. Generate unlimited character styles with high-detail visual quality via face and body morphs, PBR dynamic materials, and layers of fashion. Shape, appearance, clothes, hair, and accessories just to name a fewÖ and they can all be found in Character Creator, the character builder add-on for iClone. Not only does it generate realistic-looking human characters, but also provides some exceptional stylization options.

Video Editing Software

Pinnacle Studio Ultimate (Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 9 (2009), Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 20)

Advanced video editing and screen recording software. Edit freely across unlimited tracks with complete flexibility. Take control of your edits with enhanced keyframing. Access hundreds of creative effects, plus new graphics and overlays. Tap into pro-caliber tools including enhanced Video Masking, Color Grading and new Title Editor.

Open-Source Transcoder Software

HandBrake (2009)

HandBrake is a tool for converting video from nearly any format to a selection of modern, widely supported codecs. Reasons youíll love HandBrake: Convert video from nearly any format. Free and Open Source. Multi-Platform (Windows, Mac and Linux).

Recording And Editing Sounds Software

Audacity (2004)

Audacity is a free and open-source digital audio editor and recording application software, available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and other Unix-like operating systems. In addition to recording audio from multiple sources, Audacity can be used for post-processing of all types of audio by adding effects such as normalization, trimming, and fading in and out.

Text To Speech Software

Convert Text to Speech (2018)

Web: http://www.fromtexttospeech.com/

CAD Software

Fritzing

Fritzing is an open-source initiative to develop amateur or hobby CAD software for the design of electronics hardware, to support designers and artists ready to move from experimenting with a prototype to building a more permanent circuit. The software is created in the spirit of the Processing programming language and the Arduino microcontroller and allows a designer, artist, researcher, or hobbyist to document their Arduino-based prototype and create a PCB layout for manufacturing.

HTML Editor Software

CoffeeCup HTML Editor (2004)

CoffeeCup HTML Editor is an HTML editor. You want to create great websites. Consider the HTML Editor your new best friend. HTML veterans, youíll create standards-compliant sites using powerful tools like code completion and built-in validation. Get ready to utilize resources like comprehensive tag references and vibrant, responsive website templates. Getting to work on your website is lightning quick thanks to a wide range of start options. You can create new HTML or CSS files from scratch, or get a jump-start on a pro design by launching a new project from an existing theme or layout.

Media Player Classic

Media Player Classic (MPC) of free and open-source, compact, lightweight, and customizable media players for 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows. The original MPC, but provide most options and features available in modern media players. Variations of the original MPC and its forks have been and are, standard media players in the K-Lite Codec Pack and the Combined Community Codec Pack.

Arduino IDE Software

The open-source Arduino Software (IDE) makes it easy to write code and upload it to the board. This software can be used with any Arduino board.

Python Software

Ninja-IDE (2015)

NINJA-IDE, is a cross-platform integrated development environment (IDE) designed to build Python applications. It provides tools to simplify Python software development and handles many kinds of situations thanks to its rich extensibility. Some of the current features of the IDE are: Light weight IDE. Common functions such as: file handling, find in files code locator, go to line, tabs, automatic indentation, editor zoom, etc. Multi-platform: Linux, Windows, FreeBSD. Syntax highlighting for a wide variety of languages. Even though it is intended to be mainly a Python IDE, it can also handle several other languages.

Technology Experience

  • Single-Board Microcontrollers (PIC, Arduino, Raspberry Pi,Espressif, etc…)
  • Robotics
  • Research & Development (R & D)
  • Desktop Applications (Windows, OSX, Linux, Multi-OS, Multi-Tier, etc…)
  • Mobile Applications (Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Windows CE, etc…)
  • Web Applications (LAMP, Scripting, Java, ASP, ASP.NET, RoR, Wakanda, etc…)
  • Social Media Programming & Integration (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, etc…)
  • Content Management Systems (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Moodle, etc…)
  • Bulletin Boards (phpBB, SMF, Vanilla, jobberBase, etc…)
  • eCommerce (WooCommerce, OSCommerce, ZenCart, PayPal Shopping Cart, etc…)

Instructor

  • PIC Microcontrollers
  • Arduino
  • Raspberry Pi
  • Espressif
  • Robotics
  • DOS, Windows, OSX, Linux, iOS, Android, Multi-OS
  • Linux-Apache-PHP-MySQL

Follow Us

J. Luc Paquin ñ Curriculum Vitae
https://www.donluc.com/DLE/LucPaquinCVEngMk2020a.pdf

Web: https://www.donluc.com/
Web: http://www.jlpconsultants.com/
Web: https://www.donluc.com/DLE/
Web: https://www.donluc.com/DLHackster/
Web: https://www.hackster.io/neosteam-labs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neosteam.labs.9/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5eRjrGn1CqkkGfZy0jxEdA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/labs_steam
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/NeoSteamLabs/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neosteamlabs/

Don Luc

Luc – Speaking

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Robotics

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Aphasia – 2020
Montreal, Canada – 2002
Mexico City, Mexico – 2010
Mexico City, Mexico – 2012
Aphasia – 2018
Aphasia – 2019

Technology Experience

  • Research & Development (R & D)
  • Desktop Applications (Windows, OSX, Linux, Multi-OS, Multi-Tier, etc…)
  • Mobile Applications (Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Windows CE, etc…)
  • Web Applications (LAMP, Scripting, Java, ASP, ASP.NET, RoR, Wakanda, etc…)
  • Social Media Programming & Integration (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, etc…)
  • Content Management Systems (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Moodle, etc…)
  • Bulletin Boards (phpBB, SMF, Vanilla, jobberBase, etc…)
  • eCommerce (WooCommerce, OSCommerce, ZenCart, PayPal Shopping Cart, etc…)

Instructor

  • DOS, Windows, OSX, Linux, iOS, Android, Multi-OS
  • Linux-Apache-PHP-MySQL
  • Robotics
  • Arduino
  • Raspberry Pi
  • Espressif

Follow Us

The Alpha Geek

Why “The Alpha Geek”?

Aphasia
https://www.donluc.com/?page_id=2149

J. Luc Paquin – Curriculum Vitae
https://www.donluc.com/DLHackster/LucPaquinCVEngMk2020a.pdf

Web: https://www.donluc.com/
Web: http://www.jlpconsultants.com/
Web: https://www.donluc.com/DLHackster/
Web: https://www.hackster.io/neosteam-labs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neosteam.labs.9/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5eRjrGn1CqkkGfZy0jxEdA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/labs_steam
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/NeoSteamLabs/

Don Luc

Why “The Alpha Geek”?

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geek

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I have said “Once a Geek always a Geek” so many time in describing myself. Since I was a small child the main goal in my life has been to learn new things daily. While I write this, on the whiteboard in front of my me in my office, is written in large letters “What new things have you learned today?”. It is a reminder to myself that the day will not be complete until something new is learned. Luckily for me in my line of business you would have to work very hard not to learn something new on a daily basis.

With that attitude in mind since childhood it was very difficult not to grow up and become a full-fledged Geek at an early age. In my early teens I was into photography and processing and printing my own B&W photos in a darkroom I had built with the help of my Mom in our basement in Canada. That was one of my many interests at the time and I can’t even remember how many different “Geeky” things I have done over the years. I got into electronics when I could not afford to buy a proper darkroom timer and I saw some article, probably in some electronics magazine, that explained how to build a simple timer that blinks a LED at one second intervals. After a trip, probably to Radio Shack, to buy a 555 timer IC, a LED, some resistors, wires and a small perforated circuit board. After that I was hooked on electronics projects from that day.

Some years later, while I was an undergrad at university, I was learning mainframe programming in Fortran and assembler programming for some mini-computer I do not remember. Since they were giving us only a few minutes of mainframe processor time a semester a bunch of friends and I bought one of the original Apple 1 kits and I built it for the group and we used that for a few years to supplement our mainframe time. Then followed a Timex Sinclair, a Commodore 64, a Portable Commodore 64, a 128, a PC XT clone with a huge 10Mb hard drive and then hundreds of PCs, laptops, Palm PDAs, tablets and electronic computing devices and gadgets of all kinds.

When I started consulting in 1983 a major part of my time was spent integrating and repairing computer hardware and I even worked for a few years repairing systems nobody else could fix. Nowadays besides programming some business applications on a variety of platforms I still spend a lot of time integrating specialized hardware with software and designing electronic devices of all kind. Since I started with that first simple electronics project over 45 years ago, the Geek in me is still going strong and even though the “Geek” badge is generally used describing the younger crowds I think that a grizzled grey-haired Geek veteran like me deserves the title of “Alpha Geek”. Experience should count for something…

If you noticed I capitalize “Geek” as I think it is a term of respect and not one of derision. I hope that all the Geeks out there will love visiting this blog that will grow to host many projects and features. I also hope that it will help in convert Geeks-in-Training to full-fledged card-carrying Geeks like that first project did for me so long ago.

In the meantime enjoy your stay and let’s Geek Out!

Technology Experience

  • Research & Development (R & D)
  • Desktop Applications (Windows, OSX, Linux, Multi-OS, Multi-Tier, etc…)
  • Mobile Applications (Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Windows CE, etc…)
  • Web Applications (LAMP, Scripting, Java, ASP, ASP.NET, RoR, Wakanda, etc…)
  • Social Media Programming & Integration (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, etc…)
  • Content Management Systems (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Moodle, etc…)
  • Bulletin Boards (phpBB, SMF, Vanilla, jobberBase, etc…)
  • eCommerce (WooCommerce, OSCommerce, ZenCart, PayPal Shopping Cart, etc…)

Instructor

  • DOS, Windows, OSX, Linux, iOS, Android, Multi-OS
  • Linux-Apache-PHP-MySQL
  • Robotics
  • Arduino
  • Raspberry Pi
  • Espressif

Follow Us

The Alpha Geek

Why “The Alpha Geek”?

Don Luc Aphasia
https://www.donluc.com/?page_id=2149

J. Luc Paquin – Curriculum Vitae
https://www.donluc.com/DLHackster/LucPaquinCVEngMk2020a.pdf

Web: https://www.donluc.com/
Web: http://www.jlpconsultants.com/
Web: https://www.donluc.com/DLHackster/
Web: https://www.hackster.io/neosteam-labs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neosteam.labs.9/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5eRjrGn1CqkkGfZy0jxEdA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/labs_steam
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/NeoSteamLabs/

Don Luc

Propaganda Electronics

Electronics

Electronics has been linked to by thousands of schools and universities, professional associations and research organizations, reference sources and other information authorities, newspapers, magazines and other news services, and increasingly bloggers and social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn. Electronics enjoys high rankings with popular web search engines such as Google and Yahoo for hundreds of electronically important keywords, including the word “electronics” for which the site comes up in typically the top three search results.

Propaganda

Propaganda is information that is not objective and is used primarily to influence an audience and further an agenda, often by presenting facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is presented. Propaganda is often associated with material prepared by governments, but activist groups, companies and the media can also produce propaganda.

In the twentieth century, the term propaganda has been associated with a manipulative approach, but propaganda historically was a neutral descriptive term. A wide range of materials and media are used for conveying propaganda messages, which changed as new technologies were invented, including paintings, cartoons, posters, pamphlets, films, radio shows, TV shows, and websites.

Advertising

Propaganda shares techniques with advertising and public relations, each of which can be thought of as propaganda that promotes a commercial product or shapes the perception of an organization, person, or brand.

Journalistic theory generally holds that news items should be objective, giving the reader an accurate background and analysis of the subject at hand. On the other hand, advertisements evolved from the traditional commercial advertisements to include also a new type in the form of paid articles or broadcasts disguised as news. These generally present an issue in a very subjective and often misleading light, primarily meant to persuade rather than inform. Normally they use only subtle propaganda techniques and not the more obvious ones used in traditional commercial advertisements.

If the reader believes that a paid advertisement is in fact a news item, the message the advertiser is trying to communicate will be more easily “believed” or “internalized”. Such advertisements are considered obvious examples of “covert” propaganda because they take on the appearance of objective information rather than the appearance of propaganda, which is misleading. Federal law specifically mandates that any advertisement appearing in the format of a news item must state that the item is in fact a paid advertisement.

Techniques

Common media for transmitting propaganda messages include news reports, government reports, historical revision, junk science, books, leaflets, movies, radio, television, and posters. Some propaganda campaigns follow a strategic transmission pattern to indoctrinate the target group. This may begin with a simple transmission, such as a leaflet or advertisement dropped from a plane or an advertisement.

Generally these messages will contain directions on how to obtain more information, via a web site, hot line, radio program, etc. (as it is seen also for selling purposes among other goals). The strategy intends to initiate the individual from information recipient to information seeker through reinforcement, and then from information seeker to opinion leader through indoctrination.

A number of techniques based in social psychological research are used to generate propaganda. Many of these same techniques can be found under logical fallacies, since propagandists use arguments that, while sometimes convincing, are not necessarily valid.

Some time has been spent analyzing the means by which the propaganda messages are transmitted. That work is important but it is clear that information dissemination strategies become propaganda strategies only when coupled with propagandistic messages. Identifying these messages is a necessary prerequisite to study the methods by which those messages are spread.

Identifying

1. Consider the source (to understand its mission and purpose)
2. Read beyond the headline (to understand the whole story)
3. Check the authors (to see if they are real and credible)
4. Assess the supporting sources (to ensure they support the claims)
5. Check the date of publication (to see if the story is relevant and up to date)
6. Review your own biases (to see if they are affecting your judgement)
7. Ask experts (to get confirmation from independent people with knowledge)

Fake Electronics

The counterfeit means to imitate something. Counterfeit products are fakes or unauthorized replicas of the real product. Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product. The word counterfeit frequently describes both pharmaceuticals, aviation and automobile parts, watches, electronics (both parts and finished products), software.

Counterfeit products tend to have fake have a reputation for being lower quality (sometimes not working at all) and may even include toxic elements such as lead. This has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, due to automobile and aviation accidents, poisoning, or ceasing to take essential compounds (e.g., in the case a person takes non-working medicine).

Well, here are several online portals offering best stuff on electronics. But you should bear in mind that all the providers are not safe and may be you will provide you best quality products but charge of the products are very high. And I will tell you the best websites where you can get the attire as per your taste, if you’re looking for cheaper purchases.

Think of all the popular hardware brands in technology right now. The Apple and Sony that have the distinct honor of being considered a luxury brand. Everyone wants one and anyone who’s anyone would buy and flaunt them to their peers, creating an appeal. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford them and that’s where knockoffs come to the rescue.

These knockoffs were made as a copy of the original, sometimes using the logo and design of the original. Sometimes they get it right and many might not notice. Often at times, they get it wrong. Very wrong, in fact, to the point of hilarity. Here of the most amusing knockoffs of popular tech brands that you may have seen.

From quirky gadgets to fab mobile phones, India, South Korea, Japan and China are famous for producing trend-setting technologies that often take years to find their way to the West. Turns out there are a number of websites selling ultra-cool Asian electronics internationally for you techies out there. We’ve created a list of what we think are some of the top Asian tech-selling sites.

Another wholesaler for quirky, cool fake electronics tech stuff, stocks mobile phones and laptops as well as less mainstream gadgets. Spy on neighbors with the digital surveillance pen featuring image capture and video recording. The extreme sports helmet camera will let you capture crazy want to show your friends.

Fake electronics is the infamous shopping site offering B2B sales. Businesses can connect directly with wholesalers and manufacturers in India, South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia or Singapore.

Don Luc

Consultant

A consultant is a professional who provides expert advice in a particular area such as security (electronic or physical), management, education, accountancy, law, human resources, marketing (and public relations), finance, engineering, science or any of many other specialized fields.

A consultant is usually an expert or an experienced professional in a specific field and has a wide knowledge of the subject matter. The role of consultant outside the medical sphere (where the term is used specifically for a grade of doctor) can fall under one of two general categories:

Internal consultant: someone who operates within an organization but is available to be consulted on areas of their specialization by other departments or individuals (acting as clients); or

External consultant: someone who is employed externally to the client (either by a consulting firm or some other agency) whose expertise is provided on a temporary basis, usually for a fee. Consulting firms range in size from sole proprietorships consisting of a single consultant, small businesses consisting of a small number of consultants, to mid- to large consulting firms, which in some cases are multinational corporations. This type of consultant generally engages with multiple and changing clients, which are typically companies, non-profit organizations, or governments.

By hiring a consultant, clients have access to deeper levels of expertise than would be financially feasible for them to retain in-house on a long-term basis. Moreover, clients can control their expenditures on consulting services by only purchasing as much services from the outside consultant as desired.

Consultants provide their advice to their clients in a variety of forms. Reports and presentations are often used. However, in some specialized fields, the consultant may develop customized software or other products for the client. Depending on the nature of the consulting services and the wishes of the client, the advice from the consultant may be made public, by placing the report or presentation online, or the advice may be kept confidential, and only given to the senior executives of the organization paying for the consulting services.

Why be a consultant?

There are many reasons why one would want to become a consultant.

Some would love to ditch their corporate jobs and be lured to become self-employed. After being self-employed all of my adult life I would not know what to recommend to those as I do not know any other way. I know that my wife Norma had problems getting adapted to the consultant way, as she had the opposite experience of being employed all of her adult life by banks or investment firm. Being self-employed to her was very traumatic at first, and still is when business slows down.

Leaving the security of a good job is very hard to do, especially if you are used to have and count on a regular income. It becomes very difficult to plan things like mortgages and car loans or other regular types of expenses, when you are never sure of exactly of what your income will be next month. For some this is something they cannot live with, and to others like me, it is something so normal that you never really think about it. You just have to be very careful with your expenses and plan your life and budget accordingly. Those who cannot live with that kind of uncertainty should no even think of being a consultant or to be self-employed for that matter.

Other people would love to work at home like a lot of us do. For that too you need to have a certain sense of organization to be able to do it without all the normal distractions around the house preventing you from doing any works. It all depends on how well organized you are and how you can isolate yourself from other things and concentrate on your work. Most people find it difficult at first, but get used to it with time. For those who can’t it might be better to think about working for some consulting firm that will place you at their client’s site.

Others are lured by the large fees that some consultants charge. This might look very tempting at first glance, but when you start analyzing it in depth once you take this high fee, deduct from it your operating expenses, the equipment, tools and software you might need to perform your consulting, publicity, legal and accounting fees, office expenses, and the fact that you are rarely billing the full time you are working each week, you might not be making a huge amount more than you are doing right now at your current job. Add to that all of those other things that you never think of, like the fact that normally when you are on your own you do not have the niceties of things like health and other types of insurance, retirement plans, benefits and more.

Does that mean that you should not become a consultant? Of course not! If you can live with all of the above and more and have the personality to enjoy those kinds of challenges and live your life differently than most of your neighbors and friends, consulting is an immensely rewarding profession that can offer you things that you would never have the chance of experiencing otherwise. I would not even dream of doing something else and if I have not become a consultant so long ago I would never had the life and the experiences I have had. Sure, it can be very hard at times, all the good things in life are hard to achieve, but the rewards are huge for those who like a challenge and can focus to achieve their goals.

What type of consultant am I?

There are many ways of defining oneself as a consultant. The traditional consultant is normally somebody who is an expert in his field with either a long career behind him or very specific specialized knowledge that is not common in a field. He is hired to resolve specific issues by clients or “consulted” when his client need information on some topic that they are an expert.

The term is also used for people who do contract work in a specific field. They usually work one contract at a time and they will build something, or deliver a project for their client. This used to be called a contractor, but these days the definition is getting fuzzier as a lot of “Consulting” firms are normally placing “Contractors” at their client’s sites and calling them “Consultants”.

More and more self-employed workers, or workers moonlighting in their spare times are now calling themselves “Consultants” though they might not be doing much actual consulting or contracting work.

This confuses a lot of people looking to hire external resources as a lot of people are calling themselves “Consultants” and actually offer a wide variety of services only some of which are actual consulting. It is a good thing for people who which to hire external help, consultant or other, to make sure before they start looking that they know what kind of help they are looking for.

Coming back to the main topic of this post. I started in the mid 1980’s as a traditional consultant in the food and wine business. My various clients hired me for my specialized knowledge and consulted me on various topics and I would also do specific contracts for them on a regular basis like travel to various places worldwide to purchase various things for them or just analyze what was available in the market. I started during that period doing consulting work in computer graphics and animation which was a new field in those days and then I started to consult more and more about IT using the knowledge I had as I trained as a mainframe programmer at university ten years earlier.

In the early 1990’s I was doing more and more IT consulting for local clients and prior to the advent of the Internet, in the old days of the original CompuServe network of which I had been a member since around 1986, I started consulting with many clients worldwide from my office at the edge of a lake in Northern Quebec. I also started doing more and more contracting for various large companies in the United States and elsewhere. I spent most of the 1990’s traveling over 6 months of the year to work onsite with many clients worldwide. The rest of the year was spent either consulting or contracting, as I do differentiate, for my clients from my office in Quebec.

In the late 1990’s during the time of the big Internet crash, I started developing my own line of software products for retail business management, point of sales, ticketing systems, kiosk systems, and decision support systems. In 2003 I moved to Mexico City to promote some of my products and to get away from the cold of Quebec as my Mexican wife was feeling somewhat unaccustomed to the long winters and isolated over there.

Today I am back to being a traditional consultant full time, though I still work regularly on my software products and actively promote and find new markets for them. I continue my IT consulting as always and consult with businesses looking for new markets or with startups looking for advice. I also do contract work developing innovative software, integrate software with hardware, and of course I still do consult in the food and wine industry, my first love.

My motto has always been since I was a kid that I need to learn something new every single day as if I do not that day is wasted. Since I have been in the consulting business for so long, and tried hard to not waste any day of it, I have accumulated a lot of knowledge over the years. This is why for many years now that I love to teach and give conferences to pass this knowledge to others. I tend to be very passionate about this, as I have always love to educate people and convince them that they should learn something new every day. My wife Norma always says that I should have been a preacher, but what I am really is a traditional consultant that likes to share is experience and knowledge with others.

Common Types Don Luc

Information-Technology (IT) Consultants in many disciplines such as computer hardware, software engineering, or networks.

Process Consultants who are specialists in the design or improvement of operational processes and can be specific to the industry or sector.

3D Consultants who are specialists in the field of 3D scanning, printing, modeling, designing, engineering, building, and everything that has to do with the three dimensions.

Internet Consultants who are specialists in business use of the internet and keep themselves up-to-date with new and changed capabilities offered by the web. Ideally internet consultants also have practical experience and expertise in management skills such as strategic planning, change, projects, processes, training, team-working and customer satisfaction.

Specialties Don Luc:

IT and Technology Consulting
IT Project Feasibility Studies
IT Project Management
3D Consultants
Custom Software Programming (Desktop, Web and Mobile)
Microcontroller programming
Software Internationalization and Localization
Hardware-Software Integration Consulting
Factory and Process Automation Consulting
Robotics Consulting
Custom Electronic Hardware Design and Sourcing
R&D Services

Don Luc

Why be a consultant?

Apr 25, 2010 @ 20:17

There are many reasons why one would want to become a consultant.

Some would love to ditch their corporate jobs and be lured to become self-employed. After being self-employed all of my adult life I would not know what to recommend to those as I do not know any other way. I know that my wife Norma had problems getting adapted to the consultant way, as she had the opposite experience of being employed all of her adult life by banks or investment firm. Being self-employed to her was very traumatic at first, and still is when business slows down. Leaving the security of a good job is very hard to do, especially if you are used to have and count on a regular income. It becomes very difficult to plan things like mortgages and car loans or other regular types of expenses, when you are never sure of exactly of what your income will be next month. For some this is something they cannot live with, and to others like me, it is something so normal that you never really think about it. You just have to be very careful with your expenses and plan your life and budget accordingly. Those who cannot live with that kind of uncertainty should no even think of being a consultant or to be self-employed for that matter.

Other people would love to work at home like a lot of us do. For that too you need to have a certain sense of organization to be able to do it without all the normal distractions around the house preventing you from doing any works. It all depends on how well organized you are and how you can isolate yourself from other things and concentrate on your work. Most people find it difficult at first, but get used to it with time. For those who can’t it might be better to think about working for some consulting firm that will place you at their client’s site.

Others are lured by the large fees that some consultants charge. This might look very tempting at first glance, but when you start analyzing it in depth once you take this high fee, deduct from it your operating expenses, the equipment, tools and software you might need to perform your consulting, publicity, legal and accounting fees, office expenses, and the fact that you are rarely billing the full time you are working each week, you might not be making a huge amount more than you are doing right now at your current job. Add to that all of those other things that you never think of, like the fact that normally when you are on your own you do not have the niceties of things like health and other types of insurance, retirement plans, benefits and more.

Does that mean that you should not become a consultant? Of course not! If you can live with all of the above and more and have the personality to enjoy those kinds of challenges and live your life differently than most of your neighbors and friends, consulting is an immensely rewarding profession that can offer you things that you would never have the chance of experiencing otherwise. I would not even dream of doing something else and if I have not become a consultant so long ago I would never had the life and the experiences I have had. Sure, it can be very hard at times, all the good things in life are hard to achieve, but the rewards are huge for those who like a challenge and can focus to achieve their goals.

Don Luc

What type of consultant am I?

Apr 24, 2010 @ 14:29

There are many ways of defining oneself as a consultant. The traditional consultant is normally somebody who is an expert in his field with either a long career behind him or very specific specialized knowledge that is not common in a field. He is hired to resolve specific issues by clients or “consulted” when his client need information on some topic that they are an expert.

The term is also used for people who do contract work in a specific field. They usually work one contract at a time and they will build something, or deliver a project for their client. This used to be called a contractor, but these days the definition is getting fuzzier as a lot of  “Consulting” firms are normally placing “Contractors” at their client’s sites and calling them “Consultants”

More and more self-employed workers, or workers moonlighting in their spare times are now calling themselves “Consultants” though they might not be doing much actual consulting or contracting work.

This confuses a lot of people looking to hire external resources as a lot of people are calling themselves “Consultants” and actually offer a wide variety of services only some of which are actual consulting. It is a good thing for people who which to hire external help, consultant or other, to make sure before they start looking that they know what kind of help they are looking for.

Coming back to the main topic of this post. I started in the mid 1980’s as a traditional consultant in the food and wine business. My various clients hired me for my specialized knowledge and consulted me on various topics and I would also do specific contracts for them on a regular basis like travel to various places worldwide to purchase various things for them or just analyze what was available in the market. I started during that period doing consulting work in computer graphics and animation which was a new field in those days and then I started to consult more and more about IT using the knowledge I had as I trained as a mainframe programmer at university ten years earlier.

In the early 1990’s I was doing more and more IT consulting for local clients and prior to the advent of the Internet, in the old days of the original CompuServe network of which I had been a member since around 1986, I started consulting with many clients worldwide from my office at the edge of a lake in Northern Quebec. I also started doing more and more contracting for various large companies in the United States and elsewhere. I spent most of the 1990’s traveling over 6 months of the year to work onsite with many clients worldwide. The rest of the year was spent either consulting or contracting, as I do differentiate, for my clients from my office in Quebec.

In the late 1990’s during the time of the big Internet crash, I started developing my own line of software products for retail business management, point of sales, ticketing systems, kiosk systems, and decision support systems. In 2003 I moved to Mexico City to promote some of my products and to get away from the cold of Quebec as my Mexican wife was feeling somewhat unaccustomed to the long winters and isolated over there.

Today I am back to being a traditional consultant full time, though I still work regularly on my software products and actively promote and find new markets for them. I continue my IT consulting as always and consult with businesses looking for new markets or with startups looking for advice. I also do contract work developing innovative software, integrate software with hardware, and of course I still do consult in the food and wine industry, my first love.

My motto has always been since I was a kid that I need to learn something new every single day as if I do not that day is wasted. Since I have been in the consulting business for so long, and tried hard to not waste any day of it, I have accumulated a lot of knowledge over the years. This is why for many years now that I love to teach and give conferences to pass this knowledge to others. I tend to be very passionate about this, as I have always love to educate people and convince them that they should learn something new every day. My wife Norma always says that I should have been a preacher, but what I am really is a traditional consultant that likes to share is experience and knowledge with others.

Don Luc

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