Don't throw or Sell your old Android phone / tablet

Digital photo frame

There are hundreds of Wi-Fi connected digital photo frames to choose from, but why spend money on something you already have. An Android tablet coupled with a dock would be perfect to show a slideshow of your favorite pictures on your tablet. There are dozens of apps to pick from, and you can even use it as a digital photo frame and a bedside alarm clock. Talk about multi-purpose. App for the job Photo Slides

Experimental device

You’ve spent a few hours reading about these cool custom ROMs on the XDA forums, but you are afraid of bricking your shiny new Android device. Maybe you don’t want to lose your warranty. That’s why your old Android smartphone or tablet can be transformed into your development device so that you can explore the wonderful world of Android customization, without having to worry about bricking your device. There are loads of custom ROMs to try, and if you have a particularly popular old smartphone or tablet, then you’ll be well supported by the development community.

Security monitor Camera

If you’ve got an IP camera then you can use your old Android smartphone or tablet as a monitor. Whether you want to keep an eye on the baby or you just want to know who’s at the door, your old Android smartphone or tablet fits the bill perfectly. You can even hook your tablet up on the wall to be used as an LCD monitor for a fixed position in your living room. Audio-only is so 20th century, and those dedicated LCD monitors can be costly, so using your old Android tablet or smartphone would be perfect.

MP3 Player

Are you a heavy music listener? Your old Android smartphone or tablet is perfect for such situations. We are already trying to eke out every last drop of battery life from our Android smartphones, and if you are a particularly heavy music listener, you can waste a good 10% or more in one day of listening to music locally, never mind streaming it.

Luckily, you can use your old Android smartphone or tablet (smartphone would be more preferable in this situation for obvious reasons) as a dedicated MP3 player. This way you can conserve your precious battery life for more important matters. An old Android smartphone without a SIM card is also perfect for your gym sessions, so that you won’t be distracted by any phone calls or texts while you are working out.

E-reader

Phone and tablet screens aren't quite as easy on the eye as e-ink but they're fine for a quick bout of reading on the go. As well as iBooks and Play Books you can use the official Kindle or Kobo apps to sync your reading with a separate e-reader and across multiple devices. You could also use your old phone or tablet exclusively for catching up on your online reading—Instapaper or Pocket are two apps that can help out here.

Twitter ticker

Something of a social media junkie? Apps like TweetBot, Robird andTwitterific can keep your Twitter timeline on constant display and update it with new posts as they come in, assuming there's an available Wi-Fi connection to latch on to. Keep your old smartphone or tablet propped up at the side of your laptop and you can stay on top of incoming tweets without having to keep switching to it in your Web browser.

Radio

While your SIM card may have been switched to your new device, presumably your old one can still use your home Wi-Fi, so why not turn it into a compact radio? Almost every station broadcasts online now—check for official apps from your favorite ones—and there are a pile of online radio apps you can make use of, including TuneIn Radio and iHeartRadio. If your old device comes with a dock, it will work even better.

Kid's toy

If you have children in the house then giving one of them your aging smartphone or tablet is an obvious choice, partly because there's a stack of great educational apps and games around. If you don't have to worry about sharing the device with your offspring then you can tighten up the relevant parental controls and leave them to get on with it, keeping all of your important stuff on your brand new device.

The old watch is getting better and better

Have you heard of smart watches? Yes, you would have.
Are you wearing one?

Here's a look at some of trending Smart watches in year 2016.

Titan Juxt
We shall start with Titan Juxt #smartisnowstunning
Titan

Samsung Smartwatch

Never before have we been able to describe a Samsung smartwatch as desirable, intuitive or – most importantly of all – compatible.

With its Swatch-like looks and ability to play nicely with rival Android smartphones, Samsung has performed a spectacular U-turn. The result is a bold wearable that gets as much right as its predecessors got wrong. Read on to find out why Samsung is back in the game.

​Samsung Gear S2 review

Tag Heuer 

Months after declaring its intentions to join the smartwatch party, Tag Heuer finally pulled the covers off of its Android Wear debutant at an exclusive New York event.

Since then, the first Google smartwatch powered by Intel silicone has gone on sale, albeit in limited numbers, and is proving to be quite the commercial success – gold and diamond models (link to the story) are already being touted for next year.

Tag Heuer Connected review

Moto 360 Sport

The Moto 360 Sport was announced alongside the 2nd generation Moto 360, but we've had to wait a little longer to get our hands on it.

As you probably guessed from the name, the 360 Sport is a sportier version of the Motorola's latest Android Wear smartwatch, and is firmly aimed at those who like to get active, with its dedicated running app and built in GPS connectivity the headline-grabbing features.

Moto 360 Sport review

Asus ZenWatch 2

Like the Huawei Watch and the Tag Heuer Connected, the ZenWatch 2 is officially compatible with iOS (all Android Wear watches will actually play nicely with an iPhone but the powers that be are keeping that quiet). However, expect a watered-down experience.

​Asus ZenWatch 2 review

What do you know about Histamines?

What is Histamine?
Histamines are chemicals produced during any allergic response. When an allergen triggers the immune system, mast cells (a type of white blood cells) release histamines as part of the inflammatory immune reaction. It’s this inflammation that gives you puffy, swollen eyes or a blistery skin rash. As well as being produced during the immune response, histamines can also be absorbed from histamine-containing foods, and produced by bacteria in the gut. In healthy people, the production and ingestion of histamines is balanced out by an enzyme called diamine oxidase (DAO), which breaks down the histamines. Some processes create histamine; others destroy it, and overall the system balances out. But some people have a deficiency of DAO, so the histamines build up in their body, and cause a wide array of symptoms.

Many of these symptoms are familiar to allergy sufferers: rashes, hives, runny nose, swelling in the throat, and itching (with or without an accompanying rash). It’s basically the same old inflammatory allergic response, only without an allergen. But an overload of histamine can also cause an enormous constellation of problems, including migraines, digestive upset (constipation and/or diarrhea), nausea, and low blood pressure.

How to find, I'm Histamine intolerant?

how can you tell if histamine is really at the bottom of your problems?

Medically, you can have a DAO test done, to see if your DAO levels are normal. However, since other enzymes can also degrade histamine, this test isn’t a foolproof method of diagnosis. Another experimental but promising method of diagnosis is a skin prick test: it’s not perfect, but in one test study, 79% of histamine-intolerant subjects reacted to the skin prick, while only 19% of the non-intolerant subjects did. That’s better than random guessing, but still not particularly precise.

In women, the picture gets even more complicated. Like many other things, production of DAOfluctuates with the menstrual cycle: it’s higher during the luteal phase (starting roughly a week after your period ends, and lasting until the start of your next period) than during the follicular phase (the rest of the time). This means that histamine intolerance issues will likely be worse during the follicular phase (while you’re bleeding and then for a week afterwards), and show some improvement at other times, regardless of what you do or don’t eat. With this monthly fluctuation, it’s even harder to figure out what foods you might be reacting to.

DAO levels also increase during pregnancy, so many women notice a remission of their symptoms during pregnancy, only to see them reappear after the baby is born. In the whole slew of changes that occur during even a healthy pregnancy, it’s easy to miss out on the improvement of histamine intolerance symptoms, or to believe it has some other cause – after all, when you’re pregnant and everything else in your body is also going haywire, the last thing you’d suspect is a histamine problem.

Considering all the complications involved, the best method that doctors have for diagnosing histamine intolerance is an elimination diet. Four weeks without histamines, followed by a reintroduction challenge, is the most accurate way of determining whether or not a person is really reacting to the histamines in food. This is long enough to get an idea of a long-term trend, and for women, it’s also long enough to hit every phase in the menstrual cycle so you aren’t misled by temporary fluctuations.

Symptoms of Histamine

When histamine is released from the mast cells it may cause one or more of the following symptoms:

• Eyes to itch, burn, or become watery
• Nose to itch, sneeze, and produce more mucus
• Skin to itch, develop rashes or hives
• Sinuses to become congested and cause headaches
• Lungs to wheeze or have spasms
• Stomach to experience cramps and diarrhea

Histamine-Rich Foods

• Alcoholic beverages, especially beer and wine.
• Anchovies
• Avocados
• Cheeses, especially aged or fermented cheese, such as parmesan, blue and Roquefort.
• Cider and home-made root beer.
• Dried fruits such as apricots, dates, prunes, figs and raisins (you may be able to eat these fruits - without reaction - if the fruit is thoroughly washed).
• Eggplant
• Fermented foods, such as pickled or smoked meats, sauerkraut, etc.
• Mackerel
• Mushrooms
• Processed meats - sausage, hot dogs, salami, etc.
• Sardines
• Smoked fish - herring, sardines, etc.
• Sour cream, sour milk, buttermilk, yogurt - especially if not fresh.
• Soured breads, such as pumpernickel, coffee cakes and other foods made with large amounts of yeast.
• Spinach, tomatoes
• Vinegar or vinegar-containing foods, such as mayonnaise, salad dressing, ketchup, chili sauce, pickles, pickled beets, relishes, olives.
• Yogurt

Low histamine foods

• Fresh meat (cooled, frozen or fresh)
• Freshly caught fish
• Chicken (skinned and fresh)
• Egg yolk
• Fresh fruits – with the exception of strawberries, most fresh fruits are considered to have a low histamine level (also see histamine liberators below)
• Fresh vegetables – with the exception of tomatoes
• Grains – rice noodles, yeast free rye bread, rice crisp bread, oats, puffed rice crackers, millet flour, pasta (spelt and corn based)
• Fresh pasteurised milk and milk products
• Milk substitutes – coconut milk, rice milk
• Cream cheese, butter (without the histamine generating rancidity)
• Most cooking oils – check suitability before use
• Most leafy herbs – check suitability before use
• Most non-citric fruit juices
• Herbal teas

Histamine avoiding and treatment

Since the gut flora are so important for histamine production and breakdown, one of the most important long-term steps to living with histamine intolerance is healing any gut dysfunction. By eliminating one source of excess histamine (dysregulated gut flora) and repairing your source of DAO (the gut lining), you can dramatically increase your body’s ability to handle histamines in food. Gut healing on a low-histamine diet seems like a paradox, because the fermented foods that you need to heal are the same foods that are causing the problem! It is possible to restore normal gut flora without sauerkraut, though:

• This is the perfect situation for a well-chosen probiotic supplement. In this study, a supplement with two strains of bifidobacterium actually suppressed histamine release. Inanother study, Lactobacillus rhamnosus helped suppress histamine receptors.

• If you’re not interested in micromanaging your probiotic strains, don’t worry: you have another option that might be even better. This new treatment is confusing, because it sounds almost the same: prebiotics are just one letter away from probiotics. Instead of a supplemental dose of gut flora in pill form, prebiotics deliver a tasty banquet of fiber to the flora that are already in your intestines. They’re basically a kind of carbohydrate indigestible to humans, but absolutely delicious to the bacteria.

Try taking Vitamin B6, copper, and Vitamin C are DAO cofactors, so make sure you’re getting enough. Good low-histamine sources of these nutrients include:

• Vitamin B6: chicken, turkey, and potatoes
• Copper: asparagus and liver
• Vitamin C: almost all fruits and vegetables

Antihistamines

There are two classes of antihistamines, the older ("first generation", "sedating") and the newer ("second generation", "non-sedating") classes. (20) The older class of antihistamines is effective for treating colds.

Antihistamines work by preventing histamine from attaching to a cellular receptor, H1. Attachment to this receptor is necessary for histamine activity to occur. (20) The first generation antihistamines also block the activity of a part of the nervous system, the parasympathetic system, that stimulates mucus glands secretion.

This article is compiled just to give you a brief understanding about Histamines and health. Consult your doctor when you have symptoms of Histamine and "do not" take any advice from this article.

Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Buffer, TweetDeck - A check on their Cons !

Whether you are a social media manager for multiple businesses or running your own company, social media scheduling tools help make your job easier. It’s difficult to keep up with the latest tools, tricks and trends. But even more tome consuming to create and post content and track the effectiveness of it all. Enter social media monitoring tools to help you get the job done. they offer a one stop place to post, analyze and schedule all of your social media efforts, alleviating the pain of having to log in and out of dozens of accounts and websites regularly.

Why use Social Media Monitoring Tools?

As business owners and/or marketing managers, it’s important to know the return on our investment so we can discern where our efforts are paying off and where they are not. It’s also important to know which channels are performing best, what type of content gets the most engagement and so on so that you can prioritize your efforts and resources. That’s why social media monitoring tools tools has become so popular. And, as the number of channels continues to grow and change, so will the number of services and types of features. Some applications are used more for monitoring and responding to comments, mentions and messages, whereas some have a full-reporting social media dashboard to help you analyze trends. Many programs are a hybrid of the two and some even include the ability to schedule posts for multiple channels at once.

With so many options on the market that incorporate so many different bells and whistles, how do you know which is the right fit for you? Read on to learn more about the best social media monitoring tools you should consider.

Best Social Media Management Tools

Most services offer similar features with slightly different social media dashboards and methods of using them so for that reason it was a challenge picking a winner. Our top 3 are very similar and all do a great job of helping you manage your social media marketing and give you a social media dashboard to track trends and statistics. As active users of SproutSocial for years, our team at We Rock Your Web is a big fan of its functionality and value. In doing research and testing out some of the newer players and giving some of the old classics a chance again, we tried to find a compelling reason not to choose SproutSocial as our top pick but, alas, they still came out on top. While SproutSocial rocks our web, there could be a social media tool that is better suited to your needs so read on to learn more about our winners and the best of the rest.

Sprout Social - Cons

• No free plan and on the pricier side
• No ability to “save” a particular column to track or monitor a trending topic
• Can’t like a Facebook post or plus a Google+ comment
• No integration with Pinterest

Hootsuite - Cons

• No ability to easily tag other brands when composing Tweets
• Dashboard can be a bit overwhelming
• Must use their URL shortener Ow.ly
• Can only connect one service to one Hootsuite account at a time
• Custom reports and other features can be pricey

Buffer - Cons

• No ability to target Facebook posts
• Reports are limited
• No notifications or ability to interact with users

TweetDeck - Cons

• Twitter only
• No stats or reporting
• No ability to assign roles to team members or tasks to respond to

The best advice for anyone looking to try social media management software is to try before you buy. Get your feet wet, test the waters to see which social media analytics tools work best for you and your team, and find a system that meets your specific needs and preferences.

A primer into Home Automation using Arduino or Raspberry Pi

Home Automation, What is it?
Home automation is the use of one or more computers to control basic home functions and features automatically and sometimes remotely. An automated home is sometimes called a smart home .

Home automation can include the scheduling and automatic operation of water sprinkling, heating and air conditioning, window coverings, security systems, lighting, and food preparation appliances. Home automation may also allow vital home functions to be controlled remotely from anywhere in the world using a computer connected to the Internet. Besides the functions already mentioned, remote control can be extended to telephones and answering machines, fax machines, amateur radios and other communications equipment, and home robot s such as automatic vacuum cleaners.


The fundamental components of a well-designed home automation system include a computer (or computers) with the appropriate programming, the various devices and systems to be controlled, interconnecting cables or wireless links, a high-speed Internet connection, and an emergency backup power source for the computer, its peripherals, and the essential home systems.

How to DIY?
Ever wanted to make your home automated? Wanted to control the lights, fan and other appliances from your smartphone? Or wanted a tutorial about connected devices and getting started with it? DIY Android Home Automation will show you how to make your home automated using an android smartphone. 
We've seen a lot of DIY home automation projects over the years, but Instructables user electronichamsters shows off one of the most complete systems we've seen yet. With it, you'll be able to monitor just about everything in your house.

Instead of concentrating on the simple things like lights or automated blinds, elecronichamsters goes all in. With his system you can monitor for water leaks, see if the garage door is open, check for new mail, watch for movement, sense for gas, and even see how the dog is doing. The system uses both an Arduino and a Raspberry Pi alongside a ton of various sensors to monitor the house. You can set up the system to send you alerts when something happens or just monitor everything from your phone.

Check this classic DIY ... Uber Home Automation w/ Arduino & Pi

A simple DIY here using Arduino alone and controlling it using a free Android app...
DIY Android Home Automation with free Smartphone Application

Which is best for building a home automation system? Raspberry or Arduino?

As predicted, it is impossible to define a winner for all domains. You need to find the right board for your applications. If you have small home automation projects, and you want a cheap and easy solution, you can probably go with all Arduino. But if you want to build a larger project and don’t want any typical computer to be involved, I would suggest to take a Raspberry Pi board to act as the “brain” of your project, as it can be programmed as your own computer and can easily be connected to the web.
Arduino vs Raspberry Pi: which platform is the best for home automation ? - Open Home Automation

Blind Spot - an interesting app with lots of 1 star rating !

BLINDSPOT is a fun anonymous messaging app that allows you to express yourself freely with friends.

Whatever you send, wether it is text, photos, videos, or voice-notes, no one will ever know that it’s really you, until you decide to reveal your identity. We believe in being open and honest, providing a safe environment for people to chat freely without worrying about being judged.

What would you say to people you know if you were anonymous?

• Chat one-to-one with your friends anonymously

• Whatever you send no one will know that it’s really you
• Your name and contact details will always be hidden, until you decide to reveal your identity
• Express yourself freely to one another
• Share text, photos, videos and voice-notes instantly
• You can always block anyone that annoys you

Forbes says "The Next Big Messaging App"

Let’s get real for a minute. In a world where your social media posts, text messages, and other digital communications can potentially be seen, and judged, by anyone, how honest are you?

Don’t you ever wish you could say what’s on your mind without everyone knowing it was you?

How it works.

After downloading the app and giving it access to your contacts, you can send text messages, videos, voice-notes, or photos to anyone you’d like without them knowing the message came from you. You can then be more open and honest in your communication, or just have fun, knowing your secrets are safe until you decide to unmask your identity.

Potentially dangerous and interesting app, but as of now the app has got lot of negative ratings in Google Play store.

Coolpad Note 3 lite and Redmi 2 prime, Which one is worth buying ??

Coolpad’s new smartphone offers more RAM than other smartphones in the same price range.

The design
The Note 3 Lite has the same pebble design as its bigger sibling. However, it feels much better in the hand due to its compact form factor and the soft matte texture on the back panel. Despite the plastic body, the phone feels solid and well-built. There is a fingerprint sensor on the back panel that is more accurate and scans faster than the fingerprint sensors in many expensive smartphones. At 142g and 8.9mm thickness, it is not very heavy either. The Xiaomi Redmi 2 Prime also measures 8.9mm but is slightly lighter (133g). However, it offers a 4.7-inch display while the Note 3 Lite has a 5-inch display. 

The UI
The Note 3 Lite runs Android 5.1 (Lollipop) with a heavily customized user interface. There is no app drawer—the apps are arranged on the home screen itself. The icons look different too: They are square shaped like the MIUI in the Redmi 2 Prime. What gives the Coolpad phone an upper hand is that the Redmi 2 Prime still runs on Android 4.4 (Kitkat) OS. 

The Battery
The Note 3 Lite’s 2,500 mAh battery provides over a day’s backup when used as a primary device. This is better than the Redmi 2 Prime, which comes with a 2,200 mAh battery and barely managed a day’s backup, but it has removable battery.

The Cameras
The 13-megapixel camera is good when it comes to detail reproduction but tends to oversaturate colours for effect. This gives white colours a slightly yellowish tint, while yellow looks orange-y. Low-light shots tend to be blurry and washed out. The Redmi 2 Prime handles colours better and is on a par with the Note 3 Lite when it comes to detail. Its low-light shots are average, but overall, it has a better camera than the Note 3 Lite.

The price
Both are now priced the same at Rs. 6999

The verdict
Go for Coolpad Note 3 lite

To buy Coolpad Note 3 lite, visit here and register now... Coolpad Note 3 Lite

For instant product comparison before shopping please visit SmartPrix.com Smartprix - Best Online Comparison Shopping

Reverse Osmosis water purification - may not remove Bacteria and Viruses

Osmosis

To understand the purpose and process of Reverse Osmosis you must first understand the naturally occurring process of Osmosis.

Osmosis is a naturally occurring phenomenon and one of the most important processes in nature. It is a process where a weaker saline solution will tend to migrate to a strong saline solution. Examples of osmosis are when plant roots absorb water from the soil and our kidneys absorb water from our blood.

Below is a diagram which shows how osmosis works. A solution that is less concentrated will have a natural tendency to migrate to a solution with a higher concentration. For example, if you had a container full of water with a low salt concentration and another container full of water with a high salt concentration and they were separated by a semi-permeable membrane, then the water with the lower salt concentration would begin to migrate towards the water container with the higher salt concentration.

A semi-permeable membrane is a membrane that will allow some atoms or molecules to pass but not others. A simple example is a screen door. It allows air molecules to pass through but not pests or anything larger than the holes in the screen door. Another example is Gore-tex clothing fabric that contains an extremely thin plastic film into which billions of small pores have been cut. The pores are big enough to let water vapor through, but small enough to prevent liquid water from passing.

Reverse Osmosis is the process of Osmosis in reverse. Whereas Osmosis occurs naturally without energy required, to reverse the process of osmosis you need to apply energy to the more saline solution. A reverse osmosis membrane is a semi-permeable membrane that allows the passage of water molecules but not the majority of dissolved salts, organics, bacteria and pyrogens. However, you need to 'push' the water through the reverse osmosis membrane by applying pressure that is greater than the naturally occurring osmotic pressure in order to desalinate (demineralize or deionize) water in the process, allowing pure water through while holding back a majority of contaminants.

Below is a diagram outlining the process of Reverse Osmosis. When pressure is applied to the concentrated solution, the water molecules are forced through the semi-permeable membrane and the contaminants are not allowed through. 

How does Reverse Osmosis work?

Reverse Osmosis works by using a high pressure pump to increase the pressure on the salt side of the RO and force the water across the semi-permeable RO membrane, leaving almost all (around 95% to 99%) of dissolved salts behind in the reject stream. The amount of pressure required depends on the salt concentration of the feed water. The more concentrated the feed water, the more pressure is required to overcome the osmotic pressure.

The desalinated water that is demineralized or deionized, is called permeate (or product) water. The water stream that carries the concentrated contaminants that did not pass through the RO membrane is called the reject (or concentrate) stream.

As the feed water enters the RO membrane under pressure (enough pressure to overcome osmotic pressure) the water molecules pass through the semi-permeable membrane and the salts and other contaminants are not allowed to pass and are discharged through the reject stream (also known as the concentrate or brine stream), which goes to drain or can be fed back into the feed water supply in some circumstances to be recycled through the RO system to save water. The water that makes it through the RO membrane is called permeate or product water and usually has around 95% to 99% of the dissolved salts removed from it.

It is important to understand that an RO system employs cross filtration rather than standard filtration where the contaminants are collected within the filter media. With cross filtration, the solution passes through the filter, or crosses the filter, with two outlets: the filtered water goes one way and the contaminated water goes another way. To avoid build up of contaminants, cross flow filtration allows water to sweep away contaminant build up and also allow enough turbulence to keep the membrane surface clean.

What will Reverse Osmosis remove from water?

Reverse Osmosis is capable of removing up to 99%+ of the dissolved salts (ions), particles, colloids, organics, bacteria and pyrogens from the feed water (although an RO system should not be relied upon to remove 100% of bacteria and viruses). An RO membrane rejects contaminants based on their size and charge. Any contaminant that has a molecular weight greater than 200 is likely rejected by a properly running RO system (for comparison a water molecule has a MW of 18). Likewise, the greater the ionic charge of the contaminant, the more likely it will be unable to pass through the RO membrane. For example, a sodium ion has only one charge (monovalent) and is not rejected by the RO membrane as well as calcium for example, which has two charges. Likewise, this is why an RO system does not remove gases such as CO2 very well because they are not highly ionized (charged) while in solution and have a very low molecular weight. Because an RO system does not remove gases, the permeate water can have a slightly lower than normal pH level depending on CO2 levels in the feed water as the CO2 is converted to carbonic acid.

Reverse Osmosis is very effective in treating brackish, surface and ground water for both large and small flows applications. Some examples of industries that use RO water include pharmaceutical, boiler feed water, food and beverage, metal finishing and semiconductor manufacturing to name a few.

Bacteria and other microorganisms are removed from water through disinfection. This means that certain substances are added to kill the bacteria, these are called biocides. Sometimes disinfection can also be done with UV-light.

Spot International space station from your city !! How?

The International Space Station (ISS) is the most complex international scientific and engineering project in history and the largest structure humans have ever put into space. This high-flying satellite is a laboratory for new technologies and an observation platform for astronomical, environmental and geological research. As a permanently occupied outpost in outer space, it serves as a stepping-stone for further space exploration.

The station flies at an average altitude of 248 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth. It circles the globe every 90 minutes at a speed of about 17,500 mph (28,000 kph). In one day, the station travels about the distance it would take to go from Earth to the moon and back. The space station can rival the brilliant planet Venus in brightness and appears as a bright moving light across the night sky. It can be seen from Earth without the use of a telescope by night sky observers who know when and where to look. The ISS AstroViewer website tracks the orbit of the space station in real time. 

Five different space agencies representing 15 countries built the $100-billion International Space Station and continue to operate it today. NASA, Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are the primary space agency partners on the project.

Facts about the International Space Station

• The ISS solar array surface area could cover the U.S. Senate Chamber three times over. 
• ISS has an internal pressurized volume of 33,023 cubic feet, or equal that of a Boeing 747. 
• The solar array wingspan (240 feet / 73 meters) is longer than that of a Boeing 777 200/300 model, which is 212 feet (64.6 m). 
• Fifty-two computers control the systems on the ISS. 
• More than 115 space flights were conducted on five different types of launch vehicles over the course of the station’s construction. 
• The ISS is almost four times as large as the Russian space station Mir, and about five times as large as the U.S. Skylab. 
• Some 3.3 million lines of software code on the ground supports 1.8 million lines of flight software code. 
• About 8 miles (12.8 km) of wire connects the electrical power system. 
• In the International Space Station’s U.S. segment alone, 1.5 million lines of flight software code run on 44 computers communicating via 100 data networks transferring 400,000 signals (e.g. pressure or temperature measurements, valve positions, etc.). 
• Main U.S. control computers have 1.5 gigabytes of total main hard drive storage in the U.S. segment. Modern PCs have about 500-gigabyte hard drives. 
• The entire 55-foot robot arm assembly is capable of lifting 220,000 lbs., which is the weight of a space shuttle orbiter. 
• The 75 to 90 kilowatts of power for the ISS is supplied by an acre of solar panels. 

How to spot ISS from my city?

International Space Station captured as it soars over Hamilton with Tim Peake on board

Just visit http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ and choose your country and city to get the listings / timings & location details for the week ahead.

Check the following link, if you are from #Chennai , India +Chennaiyin FC 

Spot The Station


And here's how Winter storm Jonas looked from ISS !