The word appliance has several different areas of meaning, all usually referring to a device with a narrow function: One class of objects includes items that are custom-fitted to an individual for the purpose of correction of a physical problem, such as prosthetic and orthotic appliances. Another class of objects includes items that accomplish routine household tasks, using electricity or some other energy input. These are grouped into two categories: small appliances and major appliances. Such items a ...

Including:

• Appliance - Networking of home appliances
• Appliance - Computer appliances

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A window blind is a covering for a window, usually attached to the interior side of a window. It simply refers to some device to hide from sight (thus "blinding" the viewer) or to reduce sunlight. There are several kinds of blinds, including: Slat blinds, which consist of many horizontal, flat slats, usually of metal or vinyl, connected with string in a way that they can be rotated to allow light to pass between the slats, rotated 90 degrees to hide the light, or pulled to sit against each other so that the entire window ...

Including:

• Window blind - Images

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Universal Plug and Play - Discovery. Given an IP address, the first step in UPnP networking is discovery. When a device is added to the network, the UPnP discovery protocol allows that device to advertise its services to control points on the network. Similarly, when a control point is added to the network, the UPnP discovery protocol allows that control point to search for devices of interest on the network. The fundamental exchange in both cases is a discovery message containing a few, essential specifics about ...

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Universal Plug and Play, Universal Plug and Play - Overview, Universal Plug and Play - Protocol, Universal Plug and Play - Discovery, Universal Plug and Play - Description, Universal Plug and Play - Control, Universal Plug and Play - Event notification, Universal Plug and Play - Presentation, Universal Plug and Play - Problems with UPnP, Universal Plug and Play - NAT traversal

Read more here: » Universal Plug and Play: Encyclopedia II - Universal Plug and Play - Protocol

Traditionally, all computing functions were written as software applications running on top of a general-purpose operating system. The consumer (whether home computer user or the IT department of a company) bought a computer, installed the operating system or configured a pre-installed operating system, and then installed one or more applications on top of the operating system. An e-Mail server was just an e-Mail application running on top of Linux, Unix, Microsoft Windows, or some other opearting system, on a computer that wa ...

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Appliance, Appliance - Networking of home appliances, Appliance - Computer appliances

Read more here: » Appliance: Encyclopedia II - Appliance - Computer appliances

There are also robots for cleaning swimming pools. Toy robots include Sony Aibo, also used by many universities in the RoboCup autonomous soccer competition Robosapien, a small humanoid remote controlled robot Wakamaru, a robot designed to provide company for the elderly and less mobile people, made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, on sale from 2005. ...

See also:

Domestic robot, Domestic robot - Domestic robots in production

Read more here: » Domestic robot: Encyclopedia II - Domestic robot - Domestic robots in production

Appliances are divided into white goods and brown goods. Brown goods are typically household electrical entertainment appliances such as: CD and DVD players, televisions, camcorders HiFi and Home cinema White goods comprise major household electrical appliances including: air conditioner breadmaker dishwasher dryer freezer and refrigerator furnace stove, also known as range, oven, cooking plate, or cooktop vacuum cleaner. w ...

See also:

Major appliance, Major appliance - Types of appliances

Read more here: » Major appliance: Encyclopedia II - Major appliance - Types of appliances

A gate is a point of entry to a space enclosed by walls, or an opening in a fence. Gates may prevent entry, or they may be merely decorative. Larger gates can be used for a whole building, such as a castle or fortified town, or the actual doors that block entry through the gatehouse. In ancient and medieval times, gatehouses of cities and castles were heavily defended and fortified to prevent breaching of the gates. Often the gate would consist of several pairs of doors and iron grates along a tunnel through the gatehous ...

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A mansion is a large and stately dwelling house. The word itself derives (through Old French) from the Latin word mansus the perfect passive participle of manere "to remain" or "to stay". In the Roman Empire, a mansio was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or via, where cities sprang up, and where the villas of provincial officials came to be placed. The English word "manse" originally defined a property large enough for the parish priest to maintain himself, but a mansion is no longer self-sustaining in this wa ...

Including:

• Mansion - History
• Mansion - Defining a mansion
• Mansion - 19th century development
• Mansion - The modern mansion
• Mansion - Areas known for their mansions

Read more here: » Mansion: Encyclopedia - Mansion

The UPnP architecture [1] offers pervasive peer-to-peer network connectivity of PCs, intelligent appliances, and wireless devices. The UPnP architecture is a distributed, open networking architecture that uses TCP/IP and the World Wide Web to enable seamless proximity networking in addition to control and data transfer among networked devices in the home, office, and everywhere in between. It enables data communication between any two devices under the command of any control device on the network. Media and device indepen ...

See also:

Universal Plug and Play, Universal Plug and Play - Overview, Universal Plug and Play - Protocol, Universal Plug and Play - Discovery, Universal Plug and Play - Description, Universal Plug and Play - Control, Universal Plug and Play - Event notification, Universal Plug and Play - Presentation, Universal Plug and Play - Problems with UPnP, Universal Plug and Play - NAT traversal

Read more here: » Universal Plug and Play: Encyclopedia II - Universal Plug and Play - Overview

Established in 1947, Lucky Chemical Industrial Co. (now called LG Chemical), was the first chemical company in Korea. It expanded into the home appliance industry in 1958, becoming the country's first electronics company. LG is a joint cooperation between Koo and Heo families. Although the company used to be known as Lucky Goldstar, the corporate Web site states that "LG is not an acronym, there is no full name for LG." (Making matters even more confusing, LG also includes the phrase "Life's Good" in its print and web advertisements in the U.S.) < ...

See also:

LG Group, LG Group - History, LG Group - GS Group, LG Group - Companies

Read more here: » LG Group: Encyclopedia II - LG Group - History

Lighting design as it applies to the built environment, also known as 'architectural lighting design', is both a science and an art. Proper comprehensive lighting design requires consideration of the amount of functional light provided, the energy consumed, as well as the aesthetic impact supplied by the lighting system. Some buildings, like surgical centers and sports facilities are primarily concerned with providing the appropriate amount of light for the associated task. Some buildings, like warehouses and office buildings, are primarily ...

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Lighting, Lighting - Lighting design, Lighting - Modeling, Lighting - Types, Lighting - Methods, Lighting - Forms, Lighting - Fixtures, Lighting - Types of conventional theatrical fixtures, Lighting - Color Frames, Lighting - Lamps, Lighting - Incandescent lamps, Lighting - Fluorescent lamps, Lighting - HID lamps, Lighting - LED lamps, Lighting - Vehicle lighting, Lighting - Inventors

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These are the main tasks controlled by home automation: Audio HVAC Intercoms Lighting Security Video Home automation - Audio. This category includes audio switching and distribution. Audio switching determines the selection of an audio source. Audio distribution allows an audio source to be heard in one or more rooms. This feature is often refered to as 'multi-zone' audio. Home automation - HVAC. HVAC solutions include temperature and humidity control.< ...

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Home automation, Home automation - Home Automation Tasks, Home automation - Audio, Home automation - HVAC, Home automation - Intercoms, Home automation - Lighting, Home automation - Security, Home automation - Video, Home automation - High-End Home Automation Companies, Home automation - Lighting and Appliance control Companies, Home automation - Security System Companies

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TVs based on PVA and S-PVA LCD panels deliver quite good angle of view. They also deliver an adequate contrast ratio for viewing bright scenes; and also dark scenes in bright room. Dynamic contrast technique improves contrast when viewing dark scenes in a dark room. Alternatively, a TV from a creative electronics manufacturer will throw some light on the wall behind it to help make dark scenes look darker. Moving pictures on a CRT TV do not exhibit any sort of "trails" or "ghosting" because the CRT's phosphor, charged by ...

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Liquid crystal display television, Liquid crystal display television - Sheet, Liquid crystal display television - Universal capabilities, Liquid crystal display television - Teletext and Electronic Programe Guide, Liquid crystal display television - Developments in LCD televisions

Read more here: » Liquid crystal display television: Encyclopedia II - Liquid crystal display television - Developments in LCD televisions

The very first 'mansions', as we understand the term, were probably the villas built for the provincial ruling class of the Roman Empire. As you might expect, they were placed at strategic points on a Roman road, which often grew into provincial towns. Mansions were large buildings or complexes of buildings, often with official functions, placed in full public view. Within a Roman city, on the other hand, patrician dwellings might be very extensive, but they rarely identified their grandeur to the street, beyond the public amenity of ...

See also:

Mansion, Mansion - History, Mansion - Defining a mansion, Mansion - 19th century development, Mansion - The modern mansion, Mansion - Areas known for their mansions

Read more here: » Mansion: Encyclopedia II - Mansion - History

Established in 1947, Lucky Chemical Industrial Co. (now called LG Chemical), was the first chemical company in Korea. It expanded into the home appliance industry in 1958, becoming the country's first electronics company. LG is a joint cooperation between Koo and Heo families. Although the company used to be known as Lucky Goldstar, the corporate Web site states that "LG is not an acronym, there is no full name for LG." (Making matters even more confusing, LG also includes the phrase "Life's Good" in its print and web advertisements in the U.S. and U.K.) < ...

See also:

LG Group, LG Group - History, LG Group - GS Group, LG Group - Companies

Read more here: » LG Group: Encyclopedia II - LG Group - History

Modern LCD TV sets are geographically universal because they have a multisystem tuner, to display PAL, NTSC and SECAM norms. And they include an electronic (step-down & step-up) transformer that automatically can use 110/200 V AC indifferently and universal grounded adapter plugs. Also, the vast majority are no longer just for TV and HDTV (DVB). They can also be used as a computer monitor with a VGA/DVI signal, although resolution support can vary widely. Some newer LCD TV sets can connect to a ho ...

See also:

Liquid crystal display television, Liquid crystal display television - Sheet, Liquid crystal display television - Universal capabilities, Liquid crystal display television - Teletext and Electronic Programe Guide, Liquid crystal display television - Developments in LCD televisions

Read more here: » Liquid crystal display television: Encyclopedia II - Liquid crystal display television - Universal capabilities

Vehicles typically include headlights and tail lights. Headlights are white or yellow lights placed in the front of the vehicle, designed to illuminate the upcoming road and to make the vehicle more visible. Tail lights are always red and are placed in the rear to quickly alert other drivers about the vehicle's direction of travel. In the image to the right, the top (white portion) of the tail light is the back-up lamp, which when lit, is used to indicate that the vehicle's transmission has been placed in the reverse gear, warning anyone behind the vehicle th ...

See also:

Lighting, Lighting - Lighting design, Lighting - Modeling, Lighting - Types, Lighting - Methods, Lighting - Forms, Lighting - Fixtures, Lighting - Types of conventional theatrical fixtures, Lighting - Color Frames, Lighting - Lamps, Lighting - Incandescent lamps, Lighting - Fluorescent lamps, Lighting - HID lamps, Lighting - LED lamps, Lighting - Vehicle lighting, Lighting - Inventors

Read more here: » Lighting: Encyclopedia II - Lighting - Vehicle lighting

In Europe mansions are often given various titles, hinting at their origins - castle, palace, manor, towers, and grange to name but a few. Some such as Sir John Vanbrugh's Castle Howard and Edwin Lutyens's Castle Drogo were built centuries after the last real castle was considered necessary. The term 'palace' in England is reserved to a mansion which is the London residence of a member of the Royal Family or an episcopal seat in a cathedral city. One exception is the great country house Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. In The Netherlands a pa ...

See also:

Mansion, Mansion - History, Mansion - Defining a mansion, Mansion - 19th century development, Mansion - The modern mansion, Mansion - Areas known for their mansions

Read more here: » Mansion: Encyclopedia II - Mansion - Defining a mansion

The 19th century saw particularly in the U.S.A a new type of mansion being built, often smaller than the older European mansions, but in their own way just as beautiful, The Breakers in Rhode Island is a fine example, as is the nearby, but completely different, Watts Sherman House. Fifth Avenue in New York at this time was lined with numerous mansions, designed by the leading architects of the day, many in European gothic styles, built by the many families who were making their fortunes, and thus achieving their social aspirations, in ...

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Mansion, Mansion - History, Mansion - Defining a mansion, Mansion - 19th century development, Mansion - The modern mansion, Mansion - Areas known for their mansions

Read more here: » Mansion: Encyclopedia II - Mansion - 19th century development

Mansions built during the last and present centuries usually have specially designed rooms meant to accommodate leisure activities of a particular kind. Many will have a conservatory or greenhouse, while others will have an indoor swimming pool or an Arts and crafts room with huge North oriented windows. Others will have all of these features. The relative importance of these specially designed rooms changes with the times: At the beginning of the 20th century no true mansion would have been built without a large room to house a private libr ...

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Mansion, Mansion - History, Mansion - Defining a mansion, Mansion - 19th century development, Mansion - The modern mansion, Mansion - Areas known for their mansions

Read more here: » Mansion: Encyclopedia II - Mansion - The modern mansion