Virtual DJ 8.2 Review

FIRST IMPRESSIONS / SETTING UP

Since launching Virtual DJ 8 in 2014, Atomix has been churning out updates regularly: just six months ago, we saw the addition of Shazam integration, cloud-based playlists and song recommendations. Now, there’s a new Virtual DJ 8 update with two main new additions to the software, namely Ask The DJ, which is an online song request feature, and the new pads layout and Pads Editor window. We’ll look at these new features in this review.

IN USE

Requests – you love them or you hate them (sometimes both). The biggest new feature in Virtual DJ 8.2 is an online requests system (like DENON DJ MCX8000 ) called Ask The DJ that lets guests at a party (or trolls at home) send you song requests straight from their smartphones. All they’ve got to do is to log on to a special link generated by Ask The DJ, and they can type in their names and requests. Even better, guests can just tweet you their requests using a hashtag of your choosing. Those requests then appear in the Ask The DJ folder, along with the name of the sender and a timestamp.

You can opt to look up a request – Virtual DJ 8 will automatically scan your collection for this track. If you’re subscribed to the ContentUnlimited service, it’ll search the ContentUnlimited catalogue for the track, and will also do a “NetSearch” scan, which casts a wider net for even more search results, though some of a lesser quality (eg some are YouTube video rips).

Once you’ve found the track, you can then drag and drop it to one of the virtual decks for playing. I found this to work well and be generally convenient, although a spotty internet connection will give you some headaches due to intermittent loading times.

Virtual DJ has a large mobile and pro DJ following, where requests are part of the job (whether you like it or not). An online request feature makes sense, yes, but is it really more effective than just having the bride or groom (or grandmother) come up to you personally or slip you a piece of paper with a song name? That depends on how you run your shows: I like getting requests face-to-face, but I also realise that there are a ton of shy guests whenever I DJ at functions and events, so having them shoot over a request via Ask The DJ is a “nice-to-have”.

The Twitter integration means they don’t have to type in and visit a webpage just to send their requests too, and I think it’s a clever way to get some follows and spur engagement with guests well after the party’s over.

More importantly, coursing requests through Ask The DJ means that you’ve got your list of tunes organised within your software instead of disparate pieces of tissue, usually with handwriting that gets worse the drunker guests at your dancefloor gets. A cool feature here is that it also lists who made the request and at what time, so whenever you’ve got to drop yet another instance of Justin Bieber’s Sorry or Drake’s One Dance, you can tell if it’s coming from the same person or group and act accordingly.


Each virtual deck in Virtual DJ 8 now has a total of eight pads, mirroring the standard performance pad layout you’d find in more current DJ controllers. Further, each pad can now be customised through a drop down menu, and you can select from 11 different pad functions: cueloop, slicer, sampler, hotcues, beatjump, loop, loop roll, saved loops, manual loop, remix points, and custom. It’s this latter “custom” function that will be of great interest to tweakheads.

The custom function transforms the performance pads into eight blank pads: you can specify what you want them to do by going into the new Pads Editor. It’s a bit more advanced and can look a bit daunting, but it literally lets you select practically any Virtual DJ 8 pad parameter, assign it to a pad, and have it at your fingertips all the time. Want to have a row of beatjump pads at the top, and four hotcue pads at the bottom? You can do that. Want to have your sampler and saved loop points laid out on all eight pads all the time? It’s possible.

Yes folks, Virtual DJ 8 is looking more like a controllerist’s blank canvas that you can customise to your heart’s content, and it’s so much easier to do in the Pads Editor than in, say, Traktor’s settings menu. Exciting stuff, especially since everyone’s got their own preferred button and pad layout when it comes to routines.

CONCLUSION

What’s not to like? These are welcome additions to Virtual DJ 8 – the Pads Editor in particular will get quite a bit of use from controllerists. Ask The DJ may sound a bit gimmicky at first, but social media-savvy DJs will find a way to leverage this to drive engagement at their shows.

What Virtual DJ has to be aware of, though, is that it doesn’t add features to the app just for the sake of adding: that’s the road to a completely bloated piece of software, not unlike what’s happening to iTunes 12 at the moment. For now, Virtual DJ 8 is still on the right, innovative path. If you’re a Virtual DJ 8 user, grab the update soonest.

Security Camera Guie

Home security cameras and camera systems provide an extra layer of protection to your home and can act as excellent preventative measures against break-ins. But picking the best security camera for your home can get a little tricky with all the endless features and tech specs to choose from. I’ve researched and reviewed dozens of security cameras (like AUKEY CAMERA )to provide you with the top choices for each camera type available so you can make the best pick for your home. But first, let’s dive into some things you should look for when considering a home security camera.

What to look for in a security camera

Although security cameras come in many varieties, they share some important features you should look for when choosing the right camera for you:

Picture quality (resolution)

Higher resolution means you’ll get a better overall picture. Don’t settle for anything less than 720p HD, but if you can find a camera with 1080p, you’ll be able to zoom in farther and uncover more descriptive details like facial features or license plate numbers.

Field of view

Field of view refers to how wide of an angle the camera can see without moving. This generally presents itself as a numerical degree in the tech specs for each camera. Example: 130-degree wide-angle FOV. The wider FOV you can get, the better, but keep in mind it will vary drastically between types of cameras.

Motion detection

Motion detection does two important things: it triggers the camera to record activity when it detects motion, and it sends you a notification that something has happened within your camera’s view. These notifications and alerts can be particularly helpful with doorbell cameras and indoor cameras.

Night vision

A camera with good night vision range will uncover more activity in the dark. Look for a camera with long night vision range (30+ feet indoors and 60+ feet outdoors) and multiple infrared (IR) LED sensors. The more IR sensors a camera has, the better it can reconstruct low-light images into clear video footage.

Sound capabilities

Not all security cameras need to capture sound, but the ability to communicate from your smartphone to your camera with a two-way voice feature can prove useful with nanny cams and doorbell cameras.

Wi-Fi capability

A camera that can connect to your home Wi-Fi network adds an extra layer of protection because an intruder can’t simply cut the wire and interrupt your video feed. Connecting to your in-home Wi-Fi also makes it possible for you to check in on your live video feed remotely.

Price

A quality security camera exists for every budget. Decide on a range you’re willing to spend, and you should be able to find a camera that will fit your needs. Keep in mind higher-resolution cameras generally cost more.

NUMARK DASHBOARD

Overview:

Numark released a brand new triple-screen device called the Dashboard which will allow users to connect it to any  NUMARK DASHBOARD in order to view most of the valuable information DJ’s need such as waveforms, track information, effects, and more.  The Dashboard has three screens that are attached to an adjustable stand and can connect to any Serato DJ controller or DVS setup that is out there.  Watch our full video review after the jump.

Setup & First Impressions

Numark released a brand new triple-screen device called the Dashboard which will allow users to connect to any Serato DJ setup in order to view most of the valuable information DJ's need such as waveforms, track information, effects, and more. The Dashboard is pretty much like the previously reviewed Numark NS7III Controller screens that are attached to an adjustable stand and can connect to any Serato DJ controller or DVS setup that is out there. Watch our full video review above and check the summary below to see if the Numark Dashboard will fit into your own setup.

Pros

• Allows DJ's to stop staring at laptop during performance
• Hi-Res Screens for Serato DJ Info
• Good Build Quality with Height & Angle Adjustments

Cons

• Cannot Search for Tracks Without Laptop
• Too Bulky for Some Mobile DJ's

RAVPOWER 26800MAH

RAVPower has significantly improved the efficiency of its USB-C offerings with its 26800mAh Portable Charger ($79.99 on Amazon) with Power Delivery 2.0 (PD 2.0) support. The 30W output is enough to charge and use the 12-inch MacBook and some of the MacBook Pro models, and charge all of them rapidly while in sleep mode.

RAVPower 26800mAh Portable Charger: Charging laptops

The RAVPower took about 2.5 hours to fully recharge a 2015 12-inch MacBook with a new Apple battery from empty, and a little less than five hours to recharge its internal cells. That’s substantially faster than any other USB-C battery without PD 2.0 on the market.

These higher-wattage batteries also appear to be much more efficient than previously tested USB-C packs. In the case of RAVPower, it’s a huge difference. Its 20100mAh battery ostensibly had about 75Wh, but in testing, we were only able to transfer 25Wh and charge a MacBook to 70 percent before it was fully discharged. That’s only about 33 percent efficient.[ Further reading: The best surge protectors for your expensive electronics ]

RAVPower has dramatically improved its engineering or lithium-ion cell choice, as we used roughly 60 to 70Wh of the nearly 100Wh total to charge the MacBook’s 40Wh battery to full, or about 60 to 70 percent efficient. (We relied on the RAVPower’s four blue LEDs that indicate quartile charges, as well as recharging the battery to test whether the LEDs were roughly accurate.)

The 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models have batteries that range from slightly more to about twice the capacity of the MacBook, so you’ll be able to charge smaller models twice or nearly so and larger models fully at least once.
RAVPOWER 26800MAH Portable Charger: Charging an iPad Pro and iPhone

In addition to the USB-C port, the pack also has two USB Type-A jacks that can each output a maximum of 12W (5V at 2.4A), useful for both iPads and other mobile devices, which typically max out at that rate. The two ports combined can’t exceed 3.4A, or 17W. I separately tested the pack’s Type-A ports with an iPhone 7 Plus, which charged at under 1.5A, and a 9.7-inch iPad Pro, which reached about 1.8A. Both of those are about 25 percent below expectations.

While the battery doesn’t come with a USB-C adapter to replenish its charge, you can use the one that’s supplied by Apple, or a third-party charger from Google or others. PD 2.0 allows for power negotiation, so the battery can work with adapters that can delivery much higher wattage than it needs. You can also use a Micro-USB port to recharge at a very slow 10W; I’m not sure why it’s included except for compatibility’s sake.

The RAVPower kit includes the battery, a mesh carrying case, and three cables: USB-C to USB-C (power only) and two USB Type-A to Micro-USB cables, one a few inches long and the other measuring two feet. The unit’s dimensions are 6.8 by 0.9 by 3.2 inches and it weighs 13 ounces. The company offers an 18-month warranty and adds another year if you register online.

Dirty energy's quiet war on solar panels

Let's say you're thinking about switching to solar at home, but you're concerned about the start-up costs.

What if you received generous federal and state tax credits? That could help!

Better still, what if you discover that during those hot, sunny afternoons — when you're at work and hardly using any energy at home — you can sell the excess energy your solar panels generate back to the grid at the full residential retail rate?

This practice, called “net metering,” helps cut utility bills and shortens the payback period for solar installation costs. That sweetens the deal even more.

But what if you don’t own a home, or can't afford solar panels (for example: GOAL ZERO YETI 400 SOLAR GENERATOR KIT )?

In some states, you still have options, such as shared solar programs. These allow renters and low-income people to get power from collectively owned solar panels — located, say, on the roof of a public school or other neighborhood building — as I documented in a recent Institute for Policy Studies report.

With shared solar, you'd even still benefit from net metering.



And when you contract with a company to install solar panels, you do your part to create jobs. Lots of them. According to Department of Energy data, solar jobs already outnumber coal-related jobs by a factor of more than 2 to 1, despite solar making up a much smaller share of the overall grid.

All in all, I'd say these incentives make a strong pitch for solar: You can help address climate change, grow the renewable energy economy, create jobs, and save money. Win-win-win, right?

Well, not if you're in the fossil fuel industry — or one of the politicians who owe them favors. And that's where things get messy.

In statehouses all over the country, there's a growing movement by industry front groups to undermine net metering and other renewable energy incentives. These front groups include the Edison Electric Institute, the utility industry’s trade association, and outfits such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Americans for Prosperity, both of which are funded by the Koch brothers.

These groups scored recent victories against net metering in Indiana and Maine, and have turned the renewable energy mandate for utilities in wind-rich Kansas — known in the industry as a Renewable Portfolio Standard — into a toothless voluntary goal.

Industry groups and the politicians they effectively buy claim that distributed solar energy imposes costs on customers who don’t install solar panels, because solar users don't pay their fair share of the costs of maintaining the grid.

Most cynically, they feign concern for poor people. Typical of this is Maine Governor Paul LePage’s claim, in his letter vetoing a bill that would've preserved net metering in his state, that the practice “subsidizes the cost of solar panels at the expense of the elderly and poor who can least afford it.”

However, independent energy experts — even those who don't support net metering in all circumstances — argue that the practice can be a “reasonable proxy for the value of solar.” The case against the utility and Koch-led attack on renewables is strong on logic, but evidently weak on campaign cash, which is why the onslaught of anti-net metering and anti-renewables bills continues.

This state-level push parallels another front at the federal level, where the Trump administration is unabashedly waging war on renewables. The president’s budget proposal eviscerates federal support for clean energy research, and the president has been an unapologetic supporter of the fossil fuel industry.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry joined the fray recently by ordering a studyseemingly designed to show that renewables are undermining grid security. Evidently, he also wants to do Edison Electric Institute and ALEC’s dirty work by using the study to attack Renewable Portfolio Standards and wind and solar incentives in the states.

Amusingly, a leaked draft of the study apparently shows that the electric grid is becoming more reliable as wind and solar penetration increase. Apparently career energy experts at the Department of Energy aren't concerned with the ideological preferences of their political appointee overlords.

The truth is the best antidote to this flood of anti-renewables policies based on fossil fuel-funded misinformation. When people learn the benefits of renewables, they push back against these policies, defying partisan political stereotypes.

In Florida last year, voters rejected a ballot initiative to ban third-party sales and leases of solar panels, even after utilities spent $21 million to promote it — and even as Trump carried the state. Another purple state, Nevada, got rid of net metering — but then reversed course and reinstated it under pressure.

And it’s not just defensive fights either. Strong movements are pushing good energy policy in states all over, such as Hawaii’s mandate for 100 percent of its electricity to come from renewables by 2045, and Oregon’s requirement that 10 percent of shared solar capacity be set aside for low-income people.

By telling the truth — and by organizing like crazy — we can win policies that grow the green economy for everyone, in red states and blue.

Basav Sen directs the Climate Justice Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive think tank dedicated to building a more equitable, ecologically sustainable, and peaceful society.

Why Cigarettes Are Addictive

One way for magnifying nicotine's power is to add sugars into the tobacco. Big Tobacco accomplishes this inclusion by asserting it enhances flavor. But, Victor DeNoble (who was once a tobacco industry scientist) states the product of burning sugar --acetaldehyde--may make tobacco more addictive. Mr. DeNoble conducted experiments with rats and supplied proof that acetaldehyde was addictive.

His study clearly showed that a vaporizers shop chemical besides nicotine leads to addiction. Additionally, Phillip Morris' experiments revealed the addictive properties of acetaldehyde to compliment nicotine's: if the compounds are combined their effect is multiplied. This is the reason many argue that nicotine replacement approaches often don't succeed: since, although they supply smoking, the acetaldehyde is discounted.

William Farone, plus a former tobacco industry scientist, also proposed that the tobacco industry may be attempting different means to improve nicotine's addictiveness via other complimentary additives. Mr. Farone describes GRAS--an acronym for "generally regarded as safe"--to name an assortment of different compounds used to produce vaporizers e cigarette yet more addictive: several GRAS compounds are chocolate and cocoa. They create theobromine when burned. Theobromine increases vaporizers e liquid smoke inhalation, allowing nicotine to get deeper into the lungs. Additionally, it takes the edge off the smoke's bite.

Also disturbing is ammonia technology. By adding ammonia, vaporizers smoke's pH changes, turning nicotine particles into a vapor freebase. This vapor nicotine is more easily received to the smoker's brain and blood. The nicotine's rate in the body is increased by means of this compromise of the blood-brain barrier.

Jeffrey Wigand--known as a Big Tobacco whistle-blower--stated that American vaporizers shop comprise at least 600 chemical additives. Although such additives are considered harmless in cosmetics and food; they largely have not been examined and analyzed while burned and inhaled.

For people who think of our contemporary vaporizers for saleas only some pure tobacco that's rolled up in a paper, it's time to rethink. It is more truthful to think about our smokes as a highly-contemplated, deadly merchandise which took several years and considerable brain power to perfect. And, it's perfection contributes to more deaths.

Solar Efficiency - Most Efficient solar panels

This version of Kyocera Solar's solar panels brings a vigorous 16 percent solar efficiency to produce plenty of electricity for your home. Unlike  Goal Zero nomad 7 this is not the highest percentage of solar efficiency for modules on the market, but it is quite high. Over the lifetime of your solar panels with typical use, this level of solar efficiency should result in some welcome savings when it comes to your residential electric bills.

These rooftop panels generate a maximum of 315 watts of power, a maximum voltage of 39.8 and a maximum power current of 7.92 amps. There are 80 cells in each solar panel.
Durability


You get a satisfactory warranty with these Kyocera solar panels. The product itself and the workmanship are covered for the first five years you own them. The company also will extend warranty coverage for 10 years promising a power output of 90 percent of the minimum rated power that you were told you would receive when the system was first installed. For 20 years, the Kyocera Solar warranty covers power output at 80 percent of the minimum rated power.



Kyocera officials decide if any reported problems or claims are, in fact, covered under this warranty. The warranty also is rendered void if the panels are installed improperly, are moved from the home on which they were originally placed, if any repairs are done that do not meet Kyocera’s specifications for such work, if they are placed on any type of structure for which they were not intended and more.

These well-built panels can deal with a maximum load of pressure from something such as snow on the roof up to 113 pounds per square foot, which is a solid maximum load and is generally considered to be the standard for the industry. It also can withstand 1-inch hail blown by winds of up to 51mph. This is also typical for solar panels.
Features


These solar modules can stand up to bone-chilling temperatures of 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit and can hold out against hot weather highs up to 194 degrees F. The panels are made of tempered glass and the frame of anodized aluminum.



These panels are not self-cleaning in the sense that it takes only rainwater to wash away dust and dirt. However, that is generally true of most solar panels since even those advertised as self-cleaning have instructions buried in their installation manuals advising homeowners to use a soft cloth or sponge to gently wipe while rinsing the panels with water to do a better job of getting rid of any grime. The cleaner the panels are, the more efficiently they will function.

However, the Kyocera KD315GX-LPB solar panels are rather easy to maintain. If layers of dust or any particulates from pollution settle on them, the panels will sparkle after a gentle washing with water, a mild ordinary detergent and a soft cloth. The installation manual for this brand also recommends that you check the wiring and mounting hardware once a year to make sure there are no loose connections and the hardware is tightly secured.
Dimensions


These solar panels have dimensions of 65.43 inches in length, 51.97 inches in width and a depth of 1.8 inches. A single panel weighs 60.6 pounds.