-------------------------Monitor------------------------ The Newsletter for PC-Based Data Acquisition and Control Issue 131 www.windmill.co.uk June 2009 --------------------ISSN 1472-0221---------------------- Welcome to Monitor, the data acquisition newsletter. Today news of how the T & RVT company have chosen Windmill software for their people counting systems. I hope you find the newsletter useful, but should you wish to remove yourself from our mailing list please go to https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html CONTENTS ======== * Windmill News: New People Counting Resource * Excel Corner: Quickly Switching between References * DAQ News Roundup ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Windmill News: New People Counting Resource ________________________________________________________ The company "T & RVT" are using Windmill software in their video people counting systems. CCTV cameras are mounted above doorways, corridors or streets and Windmill's intelligent people detection software counts the number of people passing underneath. Counts are regularly saved to disk or displayed in occupancy meters. _______________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Excel Corner: Quickly Switching between Absolute and Relative References ________________________________________________________ When writing an Excel formula, there are two ways you can reference a cell: absolutely and relatively. For example, in cell B1 you may write =A1. The value in cell A1 will then be shown in cell B1. This is a relative reference. If you copy the contents of B1 to B2, the formula will now read =A2. The reference is based on the relative position of the cell that contains the formula and the cell to which the reference refers. In our case, one cell to the left. An absolute cell reference always refers to a cell in a specific location. If you copy the formula to a new cell, the absolute reference remains the same. An absolute reference is written =$A$1. You can mix references, for example $A1. In this case the column is absolute and fixed, but the row is relative. You can quickly switch between types of reference with the F4 key. 1. Select the cell containing the formula. 2. In the formula bar (labelled fx at the top of the spreadsheet), highlight the references to be changed. 3. Press the F4 key. It will change the reference type. Keep pressing and it will switch from one option to another. You have to highlight the formula otherwise pressing F4 will just repeat whatever action you last took, just like Ctrl Y does. For more on using Excel for data acquisition see https://www.windmill.co.uk/excel/ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ DAQ News Roundup ________________________________________________________ Welcome to our roundup of the data acquisition and control news. If you would like to receive more timely DAQ news updates then grab our RSS newsfeed at https://www.windmillsoft.com/monitor.xml. Read https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsfeed.php for notes on how to display the news on your own web site, read it via e-mail, mobile phone or in your browser. 10 scientific objects that changed the world To mark its centenary, the Science Museum in London had its curators select the ten objects in its collection that made the biggest mark on history. Cast your vote in the public poll to decide the most significant of all. Source: New Scientist http://www.newscientist.com/ Texting Hyaenas Text messages sent from hyaenas could help wildlife experts better understand their behaviour and movements. A study being carried out by a team at Nottingham Trent University is aiming to fit brown hyaenas with devices that transmit their location using mobile phone network text messages, whilst radio transmitters will help them to pin point their exact location and record their movements and behaviour. Source: Nottingham Trent University http://www.ntu.ac.uk/apps/news/85693-15/ Industrial Controls Shipments plunge US association NEMA's Primary Industrial Controls Index experienced its largest quarter-to-quarter decline on record, contracting more than 23 percent in the first quarter of 2009 versus the fourth quarter of 2008. Source: NEMA http://www.nema.org/ Sensors check air conditioners' refrigerant Engineers at Purdue University have developed a technique that saves energy and servicing costs by indicating when air conditioners are low on refrigerant, preventing the units from working overtime. Source: Purdue University http://www.purdue.edu/? Lack of frequent data collection impacts sustainability strategies IBM survey shows that companies are collecting data infrequently, and not engaging enough with customers and suppliers to attain stated corporate goals. For example, only 19% are collecting data on CO2 emissions weekly or more frequently. Respondents who reported outperforming competitors are doing all those things better - collecting and analyzing the right data frequently to make better decisions Source: Control Engineering http://www.controleng.com/ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ * Copyright Windmill Software Ltd * Reprinting permitted with this notice included * For more articles see https://www.windmill.co.uk We are happy for you to copy and distribute this newsletter, and use extracts from it on your own web site or publication, providing the above notice is included and a link back to our website is in place. An archive of previous issues is at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html and an index of articles at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html Windmill Software Ltd, PO Box 58, North District Office, Manchester, M8 8QR, UK Telephone: +44 (0)161 834 6688 Facsimile: +44 (0)161 833 2190 E-mail: monitor@windmillsoft.com https://www.windmill.co.uk/ https://www.windmillsoft.com/
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