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“Change someone’s perception of reality, and they will act how you want.” Ranboo, in a post-game debrief Over sixty years ago the filmmaker William Castle released Mr. Sardonicus in theaters, telling the tale of a horrid wretch of a man whose face was frozen in a rictus grin. Over the course of the movie, audiences […]

The post This Horror Film Was Livestreamed: One More Round With Generation Loss first appeared on ARGNet: Alternate Reality Gaming Network.

“I…think one of us needs to crawl into the delivery truck?” A few minutes earlier, the four of us received a message on our phones from GGC headquarters: go down a particular street, and be on the lookout for a delivery truck. Once there, we should be prepared to open up a cardboard box. The […]

The post Great Gotham Challenge Goes the Extra Mile to Deliver Outdoor Puzzle Hunts first appeared on ARGNet: Alternate Reality Gaming Network.

“Hello. My name is Gregory Daniels. I’m twelve years old. I live at 3251 Spring Lake Drive, and I’ve been kidnapped!” Not exactly what you’d expect to hear when loading up a lofi beats YouTube channel. Then again, MatPat’s newest alternate reality game LoreFi isn’t only focused on creating a playlist of over eight hours […]

The post Unpacking MatPat’s New LoreFi ARG first appeared on ARGNet: Alternate Reality Gaming Network.

Starting in 2012, Disney started airing a new animated series called Gravity Falls following the adventures of twins Dipper and Mabel Pines as the twins spent the summer at their “Grunkle” Stan’s roadside attraction The Mystery Shack, nestled in a small town in Oregon. And while the show was targeted towards kids, the show also […]

The post Gravity Falls and a Decade Long Education in (Bill) Ciphering first appeared on ARGNet: Alternate Reality Gaming Network.

Posted on Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Posted on Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Almost a whole year had gone by since both Priscilla Black and Monique Bateleur had passed within the gates as first-year students although, in that short space of time, they had had several adventures that most people would never encounter throughout their entire life. After all, not every one had the perplexing experience of encountering extra-terrestrial creatures from somewhere far off in deep space beyond Canis Minor, The Dog Star.

'Buster has found your target and is waiting. You go tomorrow around midnight. Four hours maximum to get the goodies. And don't forget, I'll be right there with you all the way.'

Getting a job was as difficult as securing the old one. It was another experience entirely after working as Sales Executive in a bookselling firm and wanting to become an editor for a publishing firm. Actually Claude had a flair for editorials, so he had to experiment first as freelance editor while working as salesman. It was actually difficult to determine whether book editing could be taught (perhaps a B.A honors in editing would have gone a long way) or a matter of talent and experience could help, but Claude had this weird interest and inordinate desire to be called writer and editor

Friday morning we all slept late, exhausted after our long day at Disneyland. I thought that as tired as we were at our youthful age, then Uncle Charles must be practically comatose today! Although I had to use the bathroom, I lay in the bed until I could not stand it a moment longer, afraid that my movements would waken the children, but finally I had no choice, and I quickly tiptoed into the bathroom and closed the door.

In a concentration camp in Siberia during Stalin's reign of terror, a Russian and a Jew were sentenced to death. The commissar told them, "Each of you can have one last wish before you die."

With e-communication, many things become easier. But while it may be easier in terms of e-communication, it may be more dangerous is as well. We have so many cases to mention, such as the negative side effects of International Communication Technology (ICT) and e-communication in particularly, such as theft of personal information.

Received recently from Rikkity

Received recently from Rikkity

Alianza, Inc.amp;nbsp;today introduced Alianza for Microsoft Teams, a new and powerful solution that gives service providers a robust cloud PBX voice solution for Microsoft Teams.

4medicaamp;reg;, a leader in healthcare data quality and matching technology, today announced that the 4medica Enterprise Master Patient Index (EMPI) platform is now available on Google Cloud Marketplace.

amp;nbsp;eZee Technosys (eZee), a Yanolja Cloud member company, is proud to be named as the 2023 Expedia Group Elite Connectivity Partner. Expedia's Connectivity Partner Program recognizes top providers for maintaining high-quality connections and helping lodging partners grow their business on the Expedia Group marketplace. This recognition is a testament to eZee's dedication to providing outstanding service and solutions to its customers.

JupiterOne, the leading cyber asset visibility and management company, today announced the release of its second annual State of Cyber Assets Report (SCAR). The report analyzed more than 291amp;nbsp;million assets, findings, and policies to establish the current state of enterprise cloud assets, including cloud and physical environments of devices, networks, apps, data,amp;nbsp;and users.amp;nbsp;

Today, SAP SE and Google Cloud announced an extensive expansion of their partnership, introducing a comprehensive open data offering designed to simplify data landscapes and unleash the power of business data. The offering enables customers to build an end-to-end data cloud that brings data from across the enterprise landscape using the SAPamp;reg; Datasphere solution together with Google's data cloud, so businesses can view their entire data estates in real time and maximize value from their Google Cloud and SAP software investments.

Today, SAP SE announced the next step in its long-standing partnership with Microsoft, using the latest in enterprise-ready generative AI innovation to help solve customers' most fundamental business challenges. The companies will collaborate on integrating SAPamp;reg;SuccessFactorsamp;reg; solutions with Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot in Viva Learning, as well as Microsoft's AzureOpenAI Service to access powerful language models that analyze and generate natural language. The integrations will enable new experiences designed to improve how organizations attract, retain and skill their people.

Dick Eastman yesterday wrote an interesting article titled "PAF on a stick". You have to be a Plus subscriber to see the whole article, but basically Dick was talking about using a Jump/USB/Pen drive (it has many names) to carry, not only your genealogy data, but also your genealogy program around with you.

The problem with putting a program on a those portable drives is that since Windows 98, Microsoft has encouraged programmers to change from using INI files to store program settings to using the Windows Registry. They wanted to allow different users to login to the same machine and each would have their own settings. So almost all programs, Behold included, have adopted the use of the Registry as Microsoft has wanted.

But the latest craze is to use these pen drives to take your software and data with you. This allows you to run your program with your data on a library computer, a friend's computer, a school computer or anywhere else, without the need to install the program or use or modify that computer's Registry (which sometimes is even locked out from you). The new tech term is "portable application".

Behold would be a great application for this. First it is simple and has just one .EXE file, one help file, and does not need its own DLL (system) files. Wouldn't it be great to take Behold and your data with you and use it anywhere? You'll be able to use it to display your data, wherever you are. When version 2.0 comes, you'll be able to edit your data too, wherever you are!

All it would require is being able to read/write it's Registry info from/to a special file instead of the Registry. I can get Behold to detect if the file is there to use that file, and if not, to use the Registry. Then I'll add a menu/toolbar item in Behold to export Behold to a pen drive (i.e. as a portable application).

All of this would not be that difficult for me to do. I might be able to squeeze it in before for the beta version. I think that would be the cat's meow.

The Getting Real book really got me thinking. For their online applications, their first goal is to get their core functionality working and make it available ASAP. Other features and enhancements can be added later.

With Behold, I managed to get the alpha up and available over two years ago. I've been working since then to ensure that it can display everything from the GEDCOM, and I've been fiddling to get the data structures right and making decisions on how everything is best displayed. That was all very important work and necessary.

But at the same time, I've been also doing a lot of tweaking and fine details. I've added a lot of features that are not core to the working of Behold. I've probably expended over two thirds of my time since the initial alpha release doing non-essentials.

As I look at my current Future Plans list, I see that trend continuing. I've been diligent in adding anything I think is worthwhile doing into my Future Plans, and placing it at the appropriate version where similar work is being done. But now I see what that did is to obscure my path to version 2 with more non-essentials and very much extending my time towards that important release.

Behold to me will not be a full program until I get to Version 2. It must have editing capability before it becomes the necessary program I expect it to be. So obviously what I must start doing is to set my path to get there more directly, and make all the other nice-to-have goodies wait until then. So tonight, I'm going to go through my To Dos that are in my Future Plans, and reorganize them, and start off with just what's necessary to get to Version 1.0 (first release), Version 1.5 (Saving GEDCOMs) and Version 2.0 (Editing). The rest will then follow.

Tomorrow, I'll report here on my blog as to how that works out.

Exciting times for any genealogist are defined as what I'm about to be going through very soon. On one of the 9 ancestral lines I've descended from, this one tracing back to Romania, I soon may be working with a researcher in Romania to "get the goods" for me. Early indications look like there may be a lot of info available.

Not only that, over the last 5 years, I've been in contact with 3rd cousins I've never met who are in other branches of the same line. They have added their own research to what I have, and what we've all accumulated together now makes it possible for the next step. They surely will be joining this journey to enjoy finding out more about our common ancestral origins.

If only I had Behold version 2 ready so I can record all this as it comes. But since I don't, I'm going to do the next best thing. I'm going to create a webpage of our family in Romania that will look's just like Behold's HTML output. This page will serve as our group's master data sheet. But it will also serve as a model for Behold. It will also include pictures with descriptions that will be a prototype for pictures in Behold.

Here's the nice thing. Once Behold Version 2 is ready, that data won't be lost. I'll be able to enter almost all of it into Behold simply by copying and pasting from the webpage. Then it should just be a matter of linking spouses together and assigning them their children.

If I can make the process that simple, then editing in Behold will be amazing!

Do you like entering all your data into your Genealogy Program? Do you find it easy, or is it a chore? I believe it should be so easy a task that you are encouraged to do it every time you get new info. Don't wait. Get it in now!

Unfortunately, I also believe the forms-based data entry that comes with all programs today is limiting and slows you down. You can't see everything on one screen and have to bring up other screens to enter notes or sources. Not only is it slow for data entry, it causes errors and you never really can tell what is all there.

My original idea was to set up my Romanian web page manually, and just make it look like Behold's output. I quickly realized that would be impossible. The linkages Behold sets are are too complex for manual maintenance. So, that led to the realization that it is best to just use Behold to create the page. To do so, I needed all this data in a GEDCOM file. The "easiest" way to get the data into a GEDCOM file is to export from a genealogy program.

Well, I stopped entering my data into a genealogy program about 10 years ago. I first used Reunion and when they sold their Windows version to Sierra to become Generations, I was a beta tester for them. It's been so long since I've used it, and I din't even install it on my current computer which I got about 2 years ago. And I'm not sure if I want to. Generations was bought out by the company that owned Family Tree Maker and they soon after dropped it. The final version had some bad problems in it that conflicted with the Windows Operating System and required patches.

But Generations was basically like all the other programs anyway. On my machine, I now have 3 free programs I sometimes test with: PAF, Legacy and Family Tree Legends. I also own the full version of Family Tree Maker 2008. So it shouldn't be too hard to choose between them, should it?

After seriously trying to see which of them I could live with (FTM takes 25 seconds just to load!), I revisited my old feelings about how much I hate those forms-based entry systems. After all, that's why I'm writing Behold, isn't it - to solve my own pain.

So you know what I ended up doing? Actually it's pretty slick.

I have two programs open at once. On the left is a text editor with the GEDCOM file open. On the right is Behold displaying the Everything Report for the GEDCOM file. I make some edits on the left, and then I refresh Behold (with the F5 key) on the right. I can add whatever complex notes, sourcing and linking I want that GEDCOM allows.

I've found this to be tremendously useful as, not only a simulation of how Behold will handle editing, but its already picked out a few things to fix or enhance in Behold. Although I've done a lot of testing of Behold with hundreds of GEDCOMs, this is the first time I'm actually using Behold for myself.

The data entry "chore" now is much easier. Everything is in front of me in GEDCOM form in the editor, and in interpreted form in Behold. Since I'm totally fluent in GEDCOM, the data entry is inconvenient but relatively easy. In a few days, I should have the resulting Behold Everything Report up on my website, and that will be a great example for people of what Behold can do.

It took about 20 hours of my time to go through 6 years of my correspondence with my 6 discovered relatives on my Focsaner side from Romania, and custom build a GEDCOM file using Behold as my guiding tool.

This was a great dry run of what entering data in Behold will be like, except that I couldn't enter the data directly into the Everything Report, but typed it into a GEDCOM instead. The painful part was manually entering the ID numbers and the parent/child spouse/family GEDCOM links, but Behold's problem list helped me easily fix my incorrect entries.

I am now certain that data entry in Behold will be amazing. I entered data on 117 people and I was diligent in included 173 sources for that data. (The way I decided to organize my sources is the story for a future blog post.) I estimate this would have taken me only about 5 hours if Behold version 2.0 was available.

I'll let you see the result at: www.lkessler.com/focsaner.htm. Our group and our researcher in Romania will all be using this page as our reference point for the information we have, and I'll update it as we gather more info.

I also found a half-dozen little things not working in the html output (e.g. some links, sorting, etc) that I will be able to fix, and then I'll work on the display of pictures, using that page as the test case.

So I'm killing two birds with one stone: furthering development of Behold while also making some genealogical progress on one of my family lines. This couldn't be more exciting!

Writing webpages in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) was simple. You learned a few tags and use a simple text-based HTML editor to create it.

But then, along came the "experts" who said you have to split off the content from the styling. The content goes into the HTML file and the styling goes into the CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) file.

In theory that's fine. But why did they have to make CSS ten times as complicated as it had to be? Yes they want to make it more powerful, but they made it so much more difficult. I shouldn't have to struggle to be able to figure out how to do something. It should be clear cut. Although, I must say after two weeks of heavy-duty working with it, I've learned a lot and finally have developed my own style for my pages.

But the real difficulty is that they've made it so complicated that all the different browsers still don't implement everything the same way. Developing table-less columns and CSS-based borders around the content doesn't take long to do. But debugging it in Internet Explorer and Firefox and then trying to tweak it just right so that it looks the same is very frustrating. Once everything starts to look good, I try something else, like print-previewing, and it leads to more head-banging-on-wall. Then I go back in time and try to look at it in Netscape 4.7 and it looks God-awful. That's the price I guess, of moving forward to current standards.

I keep saying to myself that this is all worthwhile. The style sheets can then be applied to my Behold blog, forum, purchase page and help file, and it should all look the same. And I only have to go through the "pain" of developing it once.

Last night I managed to install Vanilla and using about a dozen different articles from the web, integrated it correctly with WordPress. I was very pleased.

Then this morning, I found that I had missed that fact that the Open Source groups using Wordpress have been working on their own light Vanilla-like Forum software called bbPress. Researching it, and looking at some implementations of bbPress, I saw no advantages anymore to stay with Vanilla. It's implementation was different than WordPress, and I'd have to learn and maintain 2 diffenent methods of adding themes, inserting plugins and setting up the pages. With bbPress, I'd be talking basically the same language as WordPress. Even though bbPress is only at Version 0.8.3.1 (even Behold is further!), right now it seems to have everything I want.

It only took me an hour to get rid of Vanilla and integrate bbPress instead. Next I'll customize it to my style and making it exactly what I want. This part's actually a lot of fun.

With Photoshop Elements, I expected it would be able to create a photo gallery from the 300 pictures and 15 videos I took from my Nashville trip that I could put on my website to share with my relatives. It can, but only as a Flash-based gallery. I didn't want that, but I wanted a gallery that my relatives could download the pictures and videos from via right-clicking. PE didn't seem to provide that. I know there are online photo gallery sites, where you can put them up. But I really didn't think it would be difficult to set up my own.

After a bit of searching, I thought I found a wonderful tool. JAlbum is a free program to create your own photo album written in Java that has "endless customization". That sounded just like what I wanted, since I like to customize things and I'm quite particular.

The basic setup was quite easy, and it has lots of different "skins" you can choose from. I looked through many of them, finally settling on one of their most popular and most customizable called BluPlusPlus. But like the rest, I found it very bloated with too many features. I turned many off and was still left with a few things I wanted to get rid of, such as an unnecessary middle gallery layer, that couldn't be removed by the options. The only way was to change the Java programs themselves.

Now JAlbum supplies the Java code. I've never worked with Java before. Looking at the code, I would have to say the language is uggggg-ly! Java compilers for Windows are free, but I had no desire to get into that just now.

So I did the next best thing. I built the gallery using what I had customized so far. Then I manually edited the HTML produced to get rid of that middle layer and make other changes that I couldn't in the program. This worked out pretty well.

... until I discovered a few things that needed changing. I could no longer rebuild the files with JAlbum, or I would lose the manual edits I made. So now it became tedious. I wanted to remove 2 pages, which entailed manually changing the links on the previous and following pages, changing the count of pages in that section in the index, and changing every page in the section from "7 of 64" to "6 of 63", "8 of 64" to "7 of 63" ... well, you get the idea.

Finally I was done, until I discovered to my horror that the dates and times for every picture were off by one hour. My camera was on daylight saving time. In Photoshop Elements, I can easily change the time stamps. If I could have then used JAlbum to regenerate the pages, it would have been easy. Fortunately, the dates were in the format "Fri 18 Jan 2008 10:32:39 AM" so I could change all "2008 1:" to "2008 0:", "2008 2:" to "2008 1:" ... up to "2008 12:" to "2008 11:" and then the "2008 0:" to "2008 12:". Finally I'd check all the "2008 11:" to change the AM to PM and PM to AM and possibly change the date. Lot's of fun - NOT!

So here it is, a week later, and I got the album up, and it looks great (sorry it has private photos, so I can't link you to it). But it did zap a week out of me, after I thought a few hours would be all that would be needed. Another case of this programmer's extreme optimism.

Oh well. Now I'd better finish the Behold site customization, get the new site up, and get an interim release of Behold out. Beta is pushed back maybe until March, unfortunately.

Slower than I hoped, but I am working through the WordPress/bbPress integration. This is very important to me, since I'll be melding the Behold Blog and the Behold User Forum together into what I hope will attract a "community" of Behold users and others who are interested in Behold. I'm trying to make it a nice and inviting environment in which everyone can discuss Behold and help me decide how best to progress into the future.

My main struggle over the last week was how WordPress handles registration, logins, user profiles and lost passwords. I was not pleased to see how unfriendly it was. So first I customized the forms to make them look like my new website. Then I added a login bar across the top of the Blog and Forum to encourage anyone interested to register. Then I changed the user fields so that there are only these: your UserID, your name, your e-mail address, your password, and two optional ones: your location and your website. Then I made it so that you can select your own password when you register, rather than WordPress' horrid idea of sending you one it creates. And of course, there will be single login for both the Blog and Forum. I had to learn a lot about cookies to get this working together. And my PHP programming skills are improving rapidly.

The other exciting tool is I found the mailing program for my newsletter. It is actually a plugin for WordPress from ShiftThis and I'm very impressed with it. It will allow me to generate multipart HTML/text messages instead of just plain HTML like I had before. And I think I've solved my ISP mailing problems as well. I've found the ISP Dewahost who is affiliated with Plimus that has a hosted SMTP service for sending no-spam bulk-mail. The server is designed only for mass mailings, and the cost is reasonable. I expect I'll be able to start my newsletters again soon after I get the new website up and working.

There's still a lot of work left to get everything working, but I'm getting through it.

Every day for the last three weeks, I thought getting the new blog up was imminent. Needless to say, it isn't up yet.

It has been a real learning experience, interesting, but very frustrating. I've solved a hundred little problems along the way, and I'm still not quite there yet.

My last checks with Firefox and verifying that the web pages are valid have shown inconsistencies and bugs in both Internet Explorer and Firefox's handling of CSS that I've needed to fix. Then when using the zoom features of both browsers, I saw horrible results that required changing all fixed pixel sizes to relative sizes in the CSS and for all graphics as well.

Finally, when uploading it all to my website, I discovered differences between my host's Windows server and the one I run, thus requiring debugging and research to find out why and how to fix.

In a nutshell, there are several reasons for all my troubles: (1) I'm trying to customize my Wordpress/bbPress installation to my liking. I've done that, but it complicates matters. (2) I'm running on a Windows server, and it's not what most people use for Wordpress, so certain non-obvious things need to be changed. (3) I'm trying to get the webpages to look good and be error-free in both Firefox and Internet Explorer - not an easy task!

I've debated with myself several times in the last few months, whether to continue and finish this implementation of the new site and blog and forum and mailinglist. Or whether I should just go back to the old site and continue on with Behold. But I still believe this short term pain is worth the long term gain of a site that will be better equipped for future growth.

So let me hereby apologise to everyone currently using Behold for this delay. I haven't touched Behold in over 3 months since I started all this. Let me do what's required to finish it off correctly, the way it needs to be. Once that's done, I'll be able to concentrate 100% on Behold and getting it first to Version 1.0, and then 2.0 and Editing.

I have finally put up my New Blog. There is a new RSS feed that goes with it. This is the last post to this feed.

Please change your feed address to: http://www.beholdgenealogy.com/blog/?feed=rss2

Your vehicle drives the roads through all types of weather and dirty conditions, which can leave the outside of your vehicle looking gross and dirty. A dirty vehicle not only looks bad, but it also can lead to permanent damage to your vehicle that you cannot wash off in the form of scratches, hard water stains, and corrosion, especially if you live in a climate that has salt applied onto the roads to combat ice and snow. Here are some car wash services that you can look for to keep your vehicle clean and protected.

Do-It-Yourself Cleaning

When you want to use your own supplies at home to clean your vehicle, there are a variety of ways you can do so. Just be sure you wash your vehicle in the shade where it will remain cool. The heat of the sun can make the exterior of your vehicle so hot that it will cause the cleaner or water to evaporate and leave hard water and soap stains stuck on the exterior and paint. So look for a shady spot to wash your vehicle if it is hot outside.

You can use a traditional bucket of soapy water, a car wash sponge, and your garden hose to rinse the vehicle after scrubbing it clean. You can also invest in a water-less vehicle cleaning system that allows you to clean your vehicle with a gel solution and wipe it clean with a cloth. Or you can use a rinse-free cleaning system where your cleaning mixture of soap and water cleans and rinses the vehicle so you can follow up by wiping it clean.

Professional Hand Cleaning

When you want your vehicle to look magnificent but you don't want to put into it any effort, you can take your vehicle to a professional cleaning service center. They will wash, clean, and rinse your vehicle and even dry it by hand using high absorbency towels to give your vehicle a great-looking shine. They will focus on removing hard water spots from the windows and mirrors, and also take the time to clean off areas that a basic machine wash may miss, such as around your fenders and the tar spots that are picked up on your vehicle's side panels from road construction.

This type of service also includes washing and detailing around your vehicle's tires and rims to make them shine again. Then, if you want the interior of your vehicle cleaned out, they can provide a detailing service for the upholstery, vinyl, and carpeting.

If you've recently heard about the popularity of ceramic coatings for vehicles, you may be wondering if it's the right investment for you. Understanding ceramic coatings and what they can do for your car may help you to decide if your car could benefit from a ceramic coating. Before you make a determination, there are some things that you should know when you're considering investing in a ceramic coating for your car.

Ceramic Coatings Add Substantial Protection

One of the biggest single benefits of ceramic coating for your car is the protection that it offers. Ceramic coatings are strong enough to resist scratches and dings, protecting your car's paint finish. Additionally, ceramic coatings are resistant to the deterioration that can be caused by bird waste, sap, and other hazards.

You Need To Take Care Of Your Car

If you want to make the most of your investment in ceramic coating for your car, you need to start with a car that's in good condition to begin with. That means taking proper care of the car from the start, ensuring that the paint is in good condition and free from chips and flaws that could worsen. The ceramic coating will preserve the paint condition, but it needs to start with a quality foundation first.

This also means that you'll have to plan for a thorough cleaning to remove any surface contaminants before the coating is applied. Once your car is clean and dry, the ceramic coating can be applied.

Ceramic Coatings Are Easy To Clean

When it comes to keeping your car clean and protecting its paint, washing and waxing regularly is highly beneficial. In fact, washing and waxing are important steps for creating a barrier that protects your car's paint. However, it's also a time-consuming process.

Opting for ceramic coating will give your car's paint that same level of protection without the same time investment on your part. In fact, ceramic coatings are so easy to keep clean that you can just rinse the car clean with a hose unless there's something problematic on the surface of the car.

Ceramic coatings are becoming increasingly popular for car owners. These are a few of the many reasons why. Understanding the benefits of ceramic coatings can help you to determine if the investment is worth it for what you need. Talk with an auto repair contractor about ceramic coating treatment for your car.

If you are opening an automatic car wash, it can be helpful to know the components that are used. Below is information about this, so you can have a better understanding of how your automatic car wash works. 

Conveyor

The first component you see with an automatic car wash is the conveyor. When a car pulls up this is what they drive up onto. It then pulls the car into the car wash. A correlator is used to align the vehicle's wheels with the conveyor track. An infrared sensor then measures the vehicle, and the rollers and sprayers automatically adjust to fit with the vehicle. This ensures the entire vehicle is washed as it is going through the car wash. 

If the vehicle has an automatic transmission, it should be put in park when placed in the automatic car wash. If the vehicle has a manual transmission, it should be placed in neutral. 

Nozzles

Once the car rolls through the automatic car wash, a series of nozzles pop out to spray the entire car. Plain water is not used to do this. Instead, a pre-soaking solution that loosens dirt and grime on the vehicle is used. This makes it much easier to clean as the vehicle goes through the car wash. 

There are also nozzles that pop out on the side of the automatic car wash to spray down the tires and rims. This removes brake dust and dirt that may be on the tires and rims, as well as makes the tires shiny and clean. Once the entire vehicle has been sprayed down it goes through a mitter curtain to remove excess moisture on the vehicle. 

Foam and Scrub Equipment

The cleaning foam is sprayed on the vehicle. A scrubber is then used to clean the car. What is used for the foam depends on the car wash as this is your choice. The scrubber spins fast as the car passes through.

The scrubbers will become very dirty over time, so it is important that you clean them regularly. If too much dirt and debris stick on the scrubbers, they will not clean as well and can even scratch the paint on the vehicles.  

Rinse, Wax, and Dry

Once the car is cleaned it goes through a rinse which sprays water onto the car to completely remove the foaming solution. The sprayer uses high-pressure water to ensure it gets to all areas of the car. This includes the exterior of the car, under the car, and the tires and rims. Once the foam is rinsed, wax is automatically sprayed onto the car. This not only makes the car very shiny but can also fill in small scratches to hide them. The last component used is the dryer which blows warm air onto the car to remove any leftover moisture. You may also have employees that help dry the vehicle as it leaves the automatic car wash. 

You need to learn how to maintain these components, so they last a long time for you. 

For more information, contact a local company like Better Car Wash Equipment and Supply.

Ceramic coating is an absolute game-changer when it comes to protecting your car's paint and maintaining its appearance. This advanced technology has revolutionized the automotive industry, providing numerous benefits that make it a must-have for every car owner. There are many compelling reasons why ceramic coating is an essential investment for your beloved vehicle.

Unmatched Longevity and Durability

Ceramic coating offers unparalleled longevity and durability compared to traditional wax or sealant products. Once applied, this nanotechnology-based coating forms a strong bond with the car's surface, creating a protective layer that can withstand harsh environmental conditions. Unlike wax, which wears off quickly, ceramic coating protects against UV rays, oxidation, bird droppings, and other contaminants. This means your car will maintain its glossy shine for years, saving you time and money on frequent detailing and repainting.

Superior Scratch and Chemical Resistance

One of the primary concerns for any car owner is preventing scratches and damage to the paint. Ceramic coating acts as a sacrificial barrier, shielding your car's surface from minor scratches and swirl marks. Its robust chemical resistance ensures protection against harsh chemicals, detergents, and road salt. With ceramic coating, you can say goodbye to those pesky micro-scratches caused by improper washing techniques and maintain a flawless finish that will impress everyone you encounter on the road.

Easy Maintenance and Hassle-Free Cleaning

Maintaining the pristine appearance of your car is a breeze with ceramic coating. Dirt, grime, and water are repelled thanks to its hydrophobic properties, resulting in a self-cleaning effect. Rainwater and contaminants slide off, significantly reducing the need for frequent washing. Additionally, the smooth and glossy surface created by ceramic coating prevents dirt from adhering firmly, making it easier to wipe off any residue with minimal effort. You'll spend less time cleaning and more time enjoying your ride.

Enhanced Gloss and Depth

Ceramic coating is the answer if you desire a head-turning, showroom-worthy finish for your car. This innovative product enhances the paint's natural gloss and depth, making your vehicle look brand-new. The coating's high refractive index ensures that light reflects beautifully off the surface, creating a stunning visual effect. Whether you're attending a car show or cruising down the street, the mirror-like shine of your ceramic-coated car will make it stand out from the crowd.

Cost-Effective in the Long Run

While the initial cost of ceramic coating may seem higher than traditional alternatives, it is a cost-effective solution in the long run. Its exceptional durability and protection mean avoiding expensive repaints and detailing sessions. Investing in ceramic coating saves you money on car maintenance and retains a higher resale value for your vehicle. Furthermore, the time and effort saved on cleaning and upkeep are invaluable, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your life.

Give your car the ultimate treatment it deserves by opting for ceramic coating today. Your vehicle will thank you, and you'll enjoy the long-lasting benefits for years. Contact a company that offers ceramic auto coatings to learn more.

If you own a car and want to keep it clean, you should consider a touch-free car wash. This is a convenient, efficient, and effecting method for keeping cars clean. Keep reading to learn how touch-free car washes work and the benefits this offers you.

Understanding the Touch-Free Car Wash Process

A touch-free car wash uses high pressure water and cleaning solutions to wash and rinse the car without having any physical contact. The touch-free car wash process involves several stages. It begins with the application of a pre-soak detergent designed to break down dirt and grime on the car's surface. Following this, a high pressure water jet rinses the soap and the loosened dirt away. Some systems also include an undercarriage wash and a spot free rinse to ensure a comprehensive clean.

Advantages of Touch-Free Car Washes

Touch-free car washes offer several advantages over traditional car washes. The most significant benefit is the lack of physical contact. This eliminates the risk of scratches that can occur with brushes and cloths. This method also efficiently cleans hard to reach areas, including the undercarriage and wheel wells.

In addition, the speed and convenience of touch-free car washes make them a favorite among drivers. These systems often allow you to stay in the vehicle while the wash occurs, and the entire process can be completed in just a few minutes.

Environmental Considerations

Touch-free car washes are also more environmentally friendly compared to home washing. These facilities often recycle water and use biodegradable soaps. This significantly reduces water usage and prevents harmful chemicals from entering waterways.

Limitations of Touch-Free Car Washes

Despite their many benefits, touch-free car washes may not be the best option for heavily soiled vehicles. The high pressure water jets might not fully remove debris. In these cases, a hand wash or a traditional car wash may be more effective.

Maintaining Your Car Post Wash

After a touch-free car wash, it is a good idea to dry your car to prevent water spots and streaks. Many touch-free car washes include a drying phase in their process, but you might want to consider additional drying at home. Regular waxing after washing can also help to keep your car's finish shiny and protected.

With proper after wash care, touch-free car washes can play a key role in maintaining your vehicle's aesthetic and value. Find an automatic car wash in your area today. 

If you can get a clear view of the southern sky, you can use satellite Internet access to surf the Web, download files, or get streaming media. While it's not as cheap or simple to install as cable modems or DSL, in areas not served by them, it's the best (and only) choice.

About five years ago online data backup services began to emerge as an alternative method of backing up your data. The best advantage of online data backups is that they, by definition, are remote, so if a fire burns down your home you'll still have a backup to roll your data back.

Is web hosting with dedicated (static) IP address better than having a shared IP address for your website? Due to the rapid increase of the number of registered domain names and the finite number of IP addresses, web hosting providers are forced to use shared IP's when possible. In fact, hundreds of websites often share the same address. Dedicated IP hosting is no longer the norm and usually costs more.

Version 1.10. The new check box 'Empty list' can help if you don't like having all the pages indexed to show up when the search string is empty.

Latest search engine optimization news from popular SEO sites.

Version 1.6. The new command line parameter -s (Silent - no errors or warnings) has been added.

Mutation hit the road for the first time and leave a trail of sonic destruction in their wake. Brutally impressive.

Although it has been ten years since this album was released they played it like it was created yesterday.

Megadeth join 5FDP on their arena run of shows bringing the momentous return of Dave Mustaine to the fold after lengthy illness.