Digital Signage Jargon Deciphered

As a new industry digital signage is littered with acronyms, abbreviations and technical can’t that it can often be difficult to understand what is meant.

The phrase digital signage is a good example, few people outside the industry refer to the use of TV screens for advertising, information and promotion as digital signage, with terms such as electronic billboard, digital poster or electronic sign more commonly used.

Here is a list of common terms associated with the digital signage market and what they mean:

Aspect ratio – the scale of a TV screen. Traditionally they were all 4:3 now there are various widescreen formats.

Captive Audience Network – a network of screens that addresses an audience that is captured in a specific area – this can be a point of sale queue, on a train or in a bathroom.

Content – the images, advertisements and text displayed on the screen.

CRT – Cathode Ray Tube, the precursor to LCDs

DooH – Digital out of home, often referred to as the official moniker of the industry. Dooh refers to the use of digital TV equipment taken out of the home; another word for digital signage.

HD-TV – High definition television which offers improved picture quality and resolution.

Impressions – the number of people that view your digital sign.

JPEG – a file format often used for pictures and photographs.

LCD – Liquid Crystal Display, the most common technology employed in flat panel TVs.

LCD Enclosure – a protective, waterproof and weather-poof enclosure to house LCD TVs so they can be used outdoors.

Narrowcasting – the resultant images displayed on the screen. Different to broadcasting where the content goes everywhere and is picked up by anyone with a receiver, narrowcasting is content that is aimed at specific locations and audiences.

Outdoor Digital Signage – Screens used for digital signage placed in an outdoor location.

PNG – a picture file format that permits transparency.

Richard N Williams is a technical author and a specialist in the digital signage industry helping to develop outdoor digital signage and protection for plasmas. Please visit us for more information about LCD Enclosures or other digital signage solutions.

Bulletin Boards Are Bad For Your Wealth

Buyer Beware of the Boards

Lots of us, including me, frequent investment related bulletin boards discussing shares and such stuff. They’re full of like-minded people, offering opinions on various investments. If it’s what you’re into they’re fun, informative and can generate lots of useful ideas.

They can also be extremely damaging to your investment returns. Bulletin boards are exactly the wrong way to discover investment information unless you know precisely what you’re doing.

Tricking Your Addicts

Weightwatchers and Alcoholics Anonymous use a psychological trick called commitment bias to encourage members not to backtrack – once you make a public commitment to a position it’s very hard to retract it. So when people take a public position on a stock or a market on a board they’ll tend to stick with it, regardless of disconfirming evidence that suggests they shouldn’t. Worse, in fact, they’ll be increasingly inclined to ignore disconfirming evidence. We’ve seen the same effect with supposed experts so seeing it elsewhere shouldn’t be a surprise.

Once a theme or interest in a stock gets going it’ll tend to attract a bunch of like minded people with the same interest. This is doubly dangerous. Firstly people will act to reinforce each other’s views, and will combine to attack those offering a dissenting opinion. Secondly standard social proof effects will start to take hold. These, essentially, are the triggers that we use in everyday life to confirm that we’re behaving in line with the social norms.

Not sure whether to eat the bread roll on the left or on the right? Look at what others are doing. When we’re uncertain we look to other people for cues on how to behave and this works beautifully most of the time in the real world. On bulletin boards and in other social networking environments dedicated to stockmarket investment it can be horribly damaging.

Boiling Your Frogs

Unfortunately changes in a business environment don’t normally happen quickly and certainly the public awareness of them is usually slow to catch up. It’s the difference between popping a frog in a pan of boiling water and putting it in cold water and heating it up slowly. Those slow, insensible changes aren’t easily spotted and if you’re in a group of like-minded individuals, reinforcing each other’s opinions, you’ll never detect them until it’s too late. We saw a lot of this in the wake of the dotcom crash and more recently about banking stocks as they collapsed under the weight of debt. Still everyone else was still holding, so it must be OK, yes?

Well, no, actually.

Electrifying Your Gurus

Additionally people who have demonstrated success on boards will acquire gravatis and authority and others will start looking to them for evidence of how to behave. When “behaviour” equates to buying, selling or holding stocks this ends up simply being a way of delegating decision making. The trouble is that you don’t know whether the authority figure has been right in the past because they’re smart or lucky – or whether they’ll be stupid or unlucky in the future. Once you start seeing messages appearing asking certain “gurus” for advice you know that someone’s having trouble thinking straight. Just make sure it isn’t you.

For evidence of our tendency to delegate to authority there’s a famous and terrible experiment by a psychologist called Stanley Miligram from Yale University in which he asked subjects to electrocute people. The people were actually actors pretending to be electrocuted, but the subjects didn’t know that and most of them kept on turning up the juice when instructed to do so even when their “victims” were begging them to stop. We’re wired to delegate difficult decisions to authority but sadly in investing the only losses you make are your own.

Envying Your Neighbours

Furthermore one the biggest problems with investing is simple envy. Nothing makes you feel poorer than seeing your neighbour become rich and bulletin boards make sure we can see lots of neighbours. Once a boom starts and people start getting rich this visibility will tend to attract lots of fellow followers. The original investors may have been highly skilled or may have been lucky, but it makes no difference to later arrivals: they just want some of the same. Once again social confirming effects then start to take hold and once again people stop thinking for themselves.

These types of follower effects are often built on a simple fallacy of judgement that the human mind is oft inclined to engage in. Basically it extrapolates from the past to the future, assuming that behaviour we’ve seen in the recent past will continue into the future forever. Lots and lots of sales pitches are based on this – showing short term gains and then leaving it to the imagination of the purchaser to envisage these going on forever. That new car effect only lasts until you drive it off the forecourt. The idea that by buying the latest exciting and rapidly rising stock you will see it carry on going up forever is just plain ludicrous, as is the idea that you can flip it before everyone else, but that’s what many people seem to assume when carried away on waves of envy.

Combining Your Inner Demons

On their own these different factors are nasty and can lead to unfortunate side effects – mainly losing all your money. Together they can cause all sorts of ridiculous behaviour from the hero worship of phantom gurus and the chasing up of stock prices regardless of the fundamentals through to the complete abdication of normal thought processes and the removal of even basic requirements for evidence and proof.

The simplest way to deal with this is to ignore the boards and other social media when it comes to investment. In fact ignoring pretty well all opinion based commentary on stocks and markets is more or less the best bet. However, for active investors there is lots of useful information on stock related bulletin boards, in amongst the dross, so sometimes arming yourself to do battle in these places is worthwhile.

Most important is to understand these underlying biases and mental ticks. They’re built-in to the way we work, mainly for good reasons, in everyday life. When it comes to money and markets, though, they can be counterproductive and we need to be constantly on our guard.

Disconfirming Your Inititions

Possibly the most important thing is to look for disconfirming evidence. The classic example of this is to set people a test to tell you what the rule is behind a sequence of numbers. They can ask any question they want and as many as they want before giving an answer.

The sequence is 2, 4, 6. Most people will think and then ask if 8, 10 12 meets the rule. They’re told it does. So then they ask if 14, 16, 18 meets the rule and again it does. Sometime around this point they announce that the rule is even numbers increasing by 2.

However, they’re wrong – the rule is any three numbers in increasing order – 1, 2, 3 or 10, 100, 1000 or any damn rising sequence you want. The problem is that people are only asking questions to confirm their theories, not to disconfirm them. It’s the disconfirming evidence we must always look for because otherwise we’re always going to be patsies.

If you engage in public traffic on bulletin boards you have to accept that from time to time you’ll get suckered in. If the value you get out of participating is worth it then that may be a price worth paying. Just make sure you have your disconfirming machine in place to check your conclusions, otherwise you’ll likely find yourself poorer and no wiser.

For beginners and more experienced investors who want to do more than let themselves be pushed around by random events in the world come investigate the biases that destroy investment returns at http://www.psyfitec.com

PCS Edventures!.com, Inc. Featured Media Sponsor for US News STEM Solutions Conference

Boise, ID (PRWEB) April 18, 2014

PCS Edventures!.com, Inc. (PCSV), is pleased to be the featured media sponsor for the US NEWS STEM Solutions Conference at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

This year’s US NEWS STEM Solutions Conference, will be held at Walter E. Washington Convention Center due to the sponsorship of such great companies as Raytheon, Chevron, Battelle, American Petroleum Institute, Texas Instruments, Motorola, University of Phoenix, Hyundai, Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, Ingersoll Rand, Stem Connector and others.

The US News STEM Solutions Conference is a premier national leadership conference providing a forum for the entire network of STEM experts seeking to develop and prepare the US workforce to fill STEM jobs. Seeking to be a bridge to the STEM community, PCS will be meeting with strategic leaders in the STEM community to provide valuable expertise from our 25 year experience in delivering hands-on STEM educational experiences for K-12 students.

This year’s US News STEM Solutions Conference will be an excellent venue for the launch of our new domestic products developed with our partner, Curious Media. PCS will be announcing the launch of our new digital content and interactive curriculum at the conference.

The PCS Edventures professional development team with proven expertise in providing workshops for K-12 educators, will be networking with national educators to facilitate ways to create a flexible, supportive and communicative environment for K-12 students. The PCS team will be demonstrating the new robotics controller software and interactive curriculum while sharing the importance of hands-on, manipulative based activities and the effect it has on student learning.

A national focus in the STEM community is engaging K-6 girls with hands-on learning opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math. This year’s STEM Solutions Conference will be a perfect place to share our Girls Can Build program and curriculum recently developed in the PCS EdventuresLab and continue to inspire the next generation of female inventors, engineers, programmers and business leaders who will solve the greatest problems of the 21st century.

About PCS Edventures!com, Inc.:

PCS Edventures!com, Inc. (PCSV) designs and delivers educational products, teacher training, curriculum and services to the K-16 market which provide 21st century learning skills. PCS programs emphasize “hands-on” learning experiences in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and have been deployed at over 6,000 sites in all 50 United States and over 17 foreign countries. Additional information on PCS STEM products may be found at http://www.edventures.com.

PCS Edventures!com, Inc. is headquartered in Boise, Idaho and its common stock is listed in the OTC Bulletin Board under the sticker symbol, “PCSV.”

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. Actual results could differ materially from such statements.

Contact Information:

Investor Contact: Robert Grover, CEO 1-800-429-3110 x 119

Investor Relations: Jolene Anderson 1-800-429-3110 x 121

Investor Relations Website: http:/http://www.edventures.com/investors







Mind Your Manners: Business Rules Get a 21st Century Update

Mind Your Manners: Business Rules Get a 21st Century Update
"Unless you would feel comfortable posting it on a bulletin board in your town or screaming it to everybody that you know, don't do it," Post said. Hugs and Kisses "I'm always surprised at how much there is of this when I'm doing business. I'm getting …
Read more on DailyFinance

Medina Native Credited with Creation of Emoticons
Whether it's to convey a joke or to just lighten the mood of a conversation, we've all used a smiley face or two in our digital communications. Unless you are wont to peruse Wikipedia's “Notable People” section of one of … Scott Fahlman, a research …
Read more on Cleveland Scene Weekly

Kings to build new NBA arena
The city also is transferring $ 32 million worth of land and allowing the team to operate six digital billboards. … “Just the speculation that an entertainment and sports complex was going to be approved has already helped improve the health of our …
Read more on Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

VBrick Unveils Next Generation Enterprise Video Platform at Streaming Media East

NEW YORK, Streaming Media East (PRWEB) May 13, 2014

VBrick Systems, Inc. today announced the market debut of VBrick Rev™, a high availability, fault tolerant and massively scalable enterprise video platform that leverages distributed databases and elastic computing resources to bring the benefits of the cloud to enterprise video communications.

For business users, VBrick Rev™ delivers a new level of reliability and performance for enterprise live webcasting. Its elasticity ensures that system resources can burst as needed so all viewers can access a webcast – even when tens of thousands of users access the system simultaneously. Viewers will also enjoy VBrick Rev’s sleek, modern user interface, which performs more like popular consumer video sites, offers collaboration and social media features, and has a responsive design that re-sizes for smartphone and tablet access.

IT and network teams using VBrick Rev™ can deliver video securely and scalably across their organizations while enjoying the same economy, management ease and flexibility of their other enterprise applications, like CRM. VBrick Rev™ enables enterprise video to become a predictable, monthly operating expense and frees operational staff from having to deploy, manage, upgrade and maintain fixed-expense dedicated on-premises hardware systems.

The platform’s powerful architecture dramatically improves system performance; in measurements of webcast onboarding, VBrick Rev™ is six times faster than a server-based system with the same load. Customers also benefit from high availability and reliability because VBrick Rev™, unlike server-based platforms that rely on relational databases, can be deployed as multiple, distributed federated nodes that can be geographically dispersed in on premise data centers, in public clouds, or in private clouds.

VBrick Rev™ also provides exceptional economy by allowing enterprise customers to use flexible cloud computing resources, and to dynamically allocate those resources to different functions, rather than having to buy, manage and maintain dedicated on premise systems. VBrick Rev™ also enables organizations to leverage their existing investments in wide area network and unified communications systems using a cloud-based, hybrid model where the video management system is in the cloud and video content is delivered using systems behind-the-firewall.

VBrick Rev™, which will be available summer 2014, will support the most widely used enterprise video applications including:

    Highly scalable live webcasts capable of reaching the laptop or mobile device of thousands or tens of thousands of employees located anywhere;
    Centralized video access, or “Enterprise YouTube,” providing a destination that enables authorized employees to access live webcasts and video-on-demand via a web browser from any device;
    Mass audience streaming from unified communications sources, such as a videoconferencing or Microsoft Lync—to create highly scalable live webcasts via the Enterprise YouTube “channel”;
    eCDN distribution, the backbone that enables video to be scalably delivered across the corporate WAN, whether using a system of dedicated media servers to transrate, transmux and relay live video, or a software agent partitioned off an enterprise WAN optimization solution;
    Integrated multi-screen publishing, leveraging the same, cloud-architected management system in a hybrid model using on-premise publish points to stream live video to screens from corporate lobbies to lunchrooms.

“VBrick two years ago made a major commitment to architect a platform that would be capable of supporting the massive influx of user-generated content from smartphones and other mobile technologies,” said Shelly Heiden, CEO of VBrick. “This same, cloud-based platform will also provide the backbone for our live and on-demand online video platform services next year, enabling VBrick Rev™ customers to use the same platform for internal and external video,” she said.

About VBrick Systems, Inc.

VBrick is a leading provider of enterprise video platforms with thousands of customers worldwide. Its solutions enable organizations to create, manage and distribute rich media information from virtually any source – from tablets, unified communications clients or cameras, to virtually any screen – from desktop to digital signage. Customers use VBrick for automated, integrated live and on-demand video in executive webcasts, online training, distance learning, communications and marketing. Learn more at http://www.vbrick.com.

VBrick is a trademark of VBrick Systems, Inc., USA.







Future of A1A: fewer trees, more concrete

Future of A1A: fewer trees, more concrete
Board member Jeanne Scott supports electronic signs and frequent message flipping, calling digital displays the wave of the future. “I'm not for bungee cord strapping, that would not be pleasing to the eye,” said Scott. “Pleasing to the eye is signs …
Read more on Fernandina Beach News-Leader

Lake Saint Louis considers options for possible texting while driving ban
Lake Saint Louis officials are getting mixed messages on a bill that would ban adult drivers from texting and sending electronic messages while driving a motor vehicle in the city. One message … The board took no final action on the bill at their May …
Read more on Newsmagazinenetwork

Mohammed at Arab Media Forum on Day 2
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid was briefed by the Director-General of the Government of Dubai Media Office, Mona Ghanem Al Marri, on ways to use the devices and advanced electronic screens by media personnel and journalists. Al Marri said that the hall is …
Read more on Emirates 24/7

Cheap 42 Inches Floor-Standing Digital Signage LCD Advertising Players Offered by China Digital Signage Manufacturer Digital-Signage-China

(PRWEB) April 19, 2014

Recently, Digital-Signage-China, a renowned China digital signage manufacturer, has announced its new selection of 42 inches Floor-Standing Digital Signage LCD Advertising Players. According to the company’s sales manager, these new players are specially made to expand its market share. What’s more, all clients can enjoy big savings when buying these items at the company’s website.

The company’s newly-released 42 inches Floor-Standing Digital Signage LCD Advertising Players are of high quality. Each of them is featured with innovative design. They can be widely applied in many bulletin board systems.

Some details about the fresh items are as follows:

Play Type: Movie, Music, Pictures.

Compatible format: MP4 (AVI: DIVX, XVID), DVD (VOB,MPG2), VCD (DAT, MPG1), MP3, JPG

Audio mode: left channel, right channel, stereo;

OSD language: Chinese, English and other languages

Compatible memory cards: CF, SD, USB

Video format: PAL, NTSC, automatic

“We are happy to release our new 42 inches Floor-Standing Digital Signage LCD Advertising Players. As is known to all, every customer wants to obtain high quality products at cost-effective rates. Our players are created to help worldwide clients to get what they actually need. The aim of Digital-Signage-China is to be an outstanding supplier of high end digital signage products. We are always ready to serve you,” the sales manager says.

In addition to the new 42 inches Floor-Standing Digital Signage LCD Advertising Players, Digital-Signage-China has over 200 different kinds of advertising players for sale.

About Digital-Signage-China

Digital-Signage-China is a well-known digital signage technology company with the eligibility of production, installation and maintenance of digital signage products. The company has much experience in the industry, and its customers are provided with the best resources and professional tips. For more information about the business and its digital players, visit http://www.digital-signage-china.com/?content/product/43/index.html.







Interbank Selects Wavetec Technology for Innovation in Its Service Areas

Lima, Peru (PRWEB) May 10, 2014

Interbank is one of the main financial institutions in Peru. Since its foundation in 1897, the company has been actively expanding with a focus on high-quality customer service-centered policy. Interbank is currently serving more than 2 million customers.

On the premise “customer is a person and not a number”, the need for changing customer service arose, where the new customer service would require a technological partner with the ability to offer a complete solution to the project’s requirements. In this context, Interbank chose Wavetec (http://www.wavetec.com) as a technological ally for the implementation of a centralized system including the installation of customized kiosks, Donatello’s digital signage solution for the announcements on LCD displays, and the eQ Portal application for complete management of the system and gathering of key performance indicators.

With a clear strategy to provide the brand with a human side and designed to improve customer relationship, Interbank proposed to make a radical change in its service areas. The main goal of this change was to build a new banking experience that brought together the company to its customers, in a collaborative and friendly environment that breaks the traditional view of the customers regarding banks. This new banking service model is already implemented in over 100 Interbank branches.

Wavetec is a multinational technology company based in Dubai that offers an ecosystem of solutions for the improvement of the service areas, meeting the company’s needs in organizing the influx of people, guaranteeing a valuable engagement experience, and obtaining relevant measures for the decision-making process so as to improve business results.

The Wavetec Queue Management Systems, Digital Signage and Customer Feedback measurements are located in different regions with applications in various areas and industries like hospitals, retail and banks. Some examples of the technology can be found on the BCI Chile, Barclays, Emirates Airlines, Tesco, LIDL and Chilexpress.

To know more about this project, please visit the case study by clicking on the link below:

http://www.wavetec.com/K28/Interbank-chooses-Wavetec-technology-for-innovation-in-its-service-areas.aspx