us customs camera equipment 2016-2020

Years ago I worked at document management company.  There is cool software that can automate aspects of hand-written forms.  We had an airport as a customer - they scanned plenty and (as I said before) this was several years ago...On your airport customs forms, the "boxes" that you 'need' to write on - are basically invisible to the scanner - but are used because then us humans will tend to write neater and clearer which make sit easier to recognize with a computer.  Any characters with less than X% accuracy based on a recognition engine are flagged and shown as an image zoomed into the particular character so a human operator can then say "that is an "A".   This way, you can rapidly go through most forms and output it to say - an SQL database, complete with link to original image of the form you filled in.If you see "black boxes" at three corners of the document - it is likely set up for scanning (they help to identify and orient the page digitally).  If there is a unique barcode on the document somewhere I would theorize there is an even higher likelihood of it being scanned - the document is of enough value to be printed individually which costs more, which means it is likely going to be used on the capture side.   (I've noticed in the past in Bahamas and some other Caribbean islands they use these sorts of capture mechanisms, but they have far fewer people entering than the US does everyday)The real answer is: it depends.  Depending on each country and its policies and procedures.  Generally I would be surprised if they scanned and held onto the paper.   In the US, they proably file those for a set period of time then destroy them, perhaps mining them for some data about travellers. In the end,  I suspect the "paper-to-data capture" likelihood of customs forms ranges somewhere on a spectrum like this:Third world Customs Guy has paper to show he did his job, paper gets thrown out at end of shift. ------  We keep all the papers! everything is scanned as you pass by customs and unique barcodes identify which flight/gate/area the form was handed out at, so we co-ordinate with cameras in the airport and have captured your image.  We also know exactly how much vodka you brought into the country. :)

One laptop per person is allowed free of customs duty in India. You can even have two, if one is your personal while other belongs to your employer. You should always carry the office laptop ownership papers proving that it belongs to the company.Normally no one checks ‘number of laptops’ being carried but you can never tell.For camera, it is different. A DSLR camera and lenses can attract attention, small cameras won’t. Here your intention should be stated when stopped at the customs. Are you a temporary visitor to India and will your camera+equipment be taken back abroad when you return? Or is your camera an import? Is your camera part of your profession?Let me explain the second case which is simpler. Your camera + equipment will be assessed for the value. The assessed value will get an exemption of INR 45,000. (Note that INR 45,000 is the baggage exemption for all goods and not just the camera). For the balance, you will have to pay 36% duty + 3% Education Cess (on duty amount).In the first case, an entry will be made on your passport and recorded in the customs record. When you leave, you must walk to the customs, show that you are exporting the camera and get the record removed from their database. If you don’t do that, the customs may send you a demand notice for customs duty. Note that you will not get INR 45,000 exemption in this case, you will be charged duty on full assessed value. The notice will come to your address in India (foreign citizens have to fill in the Landing Card).Third case. You will have to prove your credentials. If you can prove you are a professional photographer and your camera is part of your business equipment, minimal duty is chargeable.Some tips and caveats:Once again, cameras and stuff and not rigorously checked. These days, almost all cameras and lenses are available in India and the price difference is not great (sometimes cheaper also - I purchased Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70–200 mm, f/2.8E FL ED VR for INR 135,000 with proper bill and GST paid, do the reverse math and check the price outside India - US Amazon/B&H price = US$ 2500).Earlier every one had to pass their bags thru x-ray scans in the green channel. Now they don’t do that. But the customs officers are very smart. They generally can guess which person is carrying dutiable stuff. They single this person out (if s/he is trying to pass thru green channel) and ask to scan the bags.If the goods are fairly old with lot of wear and tear, no duty may be charged or depreciation will be taken into account when assessing value.If you have paid duty once, please keep your original receipts with you. If you have purchased the equipment in India, keep those receipts. This will avoid double duty payment.If you have escaped duty once, next time you travel abroad from India, endorse all dutiable items with the customs (that you had then when you went out). The customs will issue you a certificate.

Great question. This is something that has interested me for a while, and I have pieced together all the information I could find on the technology that makes Google Street View work.These details come from a number of different sources, but the key ones are:A Google Street View driver, who goes by the handle GoogleDriver419 on Reddit and has fielded literally hundreds of questions on the topic.TechCrunch, which spoke to  Luc Vincent, engineering director, and Daniel Filip, engineering manager, at Google Maps.All right, on to the questions:What's in the cars? The most visible part of the equipment is of course what’s mounted on the roof of the Street View vehicles, and that is the data recording equipment. This setup includes 15 cameras and three laser scanners securely fixed at a height of 8.2 feet. The laser scanners are used to record the actual dimensions of the space being photographed. How quickly the three lasers reflect off surfaces tells the software how far a building or object is, and allows Google to construct 3D models. The cameras themselves contain no mechanical parts—not even a shutter—and instead use CMOS sensors and an electronic rolling shutter.The cameras are hooked up to a monitor inside the vehicle, and data is recorded to SSD drives. Vehicles are equipped with 4G Internet.GoogleDriver419, who fielded questions on Reddit, said recording was simple. “I push record and the cameras do all of the work.”Note: There is a video close-up look at a Google Street View vehicle at the end of this post.How much storage? How is data stored? When and how is it uploaded to a server? The vehicle is stocked with standard SSD drives. According to GoogleDriver419, there is typically around 50-100 TB in the car, good enough for at least a week’s worth of recording. Each drive that is recording is automatically backed up to a second SSD to allow for drive failures.A typical city block requires about 2-3 GB on average. A day’s work might consume about 50-100GB of  space for smaller areas, but 800GB or more in say New York City. The data is collected by drivers who fill up hard drives and ship them back to Google. The drivers won't send them in until they have five disks completely full. What happens when the car stops? I’m not sure if this question refers to the car stopping for the evening, or stalling with a mechanical issue. As for what happens at the end of the day: Drivers will pack the equipment from the roof and put it in the trunk. They are generally put up at hotels when on longer trips and will park the car in the lot. In some cities like New York, Google has a garage for the vehicle. Drivers aren’t allowed to take the car home without permission.If there is a vehicle or equipment breakdown, according to GoogleDriver419, they are generally never too far from an office where they have spares. Otherwise someone is sent out to fix it and  filming is stopped for the day. How fast can the car go? What's the bottleneck for data throughput? The current cameras can handle all speed limits in the US. However, if the drivers can go slower without holding up traffic, they will. The slower the car, the better the quality of the images.Bad weather can affect whether the vehicle is driven out. The car is parked when there is rain or high winds as it can affect both the cameras as well as the quality of the images.What cameras are used? The cameras are built in-house by Google.There have been four generations of cameras so far in the Street View program. The earliest version of the camera array (titled R2) used a ring of eight 11-megapixel CCD sensors with commercial photographic wide-angle lenses, a subsequent version (R5) had a ring of eight 5MP CMOS sensors with custom low-flare lenses, plus a fisheye lens on top to capture upper levels of buildings.The current setup, the R7, uses 15 of the same sensors and lenses as the R5, but no fish-eye. The latest generation is now being used around the world, and takes photographs that are “near-HD” in quality.How does the driver know where to go/not go?Google decides which areas to map based on the frequency and volume of online searches. According to GoogleDriver419, drivers are given the starting point and finishing point, as well as key points that need to be mapped. Plenty of info is provided to the drivers but it’s up to them to plan the route they will take.Sometimes smaller streets are missed out for this reason, and may be added on a subsequent trip. When this happens, software helps to blend the old and new images and also tries to smooth out the differences in light levels.What happens to the imagery before it's made live?Street View drivers try to be aware at all times about their surroundings and whether the cameras might pick up something they shouldn’t, e.g. a traffic accident or people mooning them.“If I see something that I know shouldn't be on camera, I know that the camera picked it up as well, so I will need to delete it and go back and try again later,” said GoogleDriver419.Drivers are given special editing software and go over all the images they have taken. Each day of driving typically needs about two days of editing. GPS data is automatically embedded in each photo.The disks get shipped to a data centre, the information is uploaded and then everything gets fed into a core database and goes through a few processing steps. This includes blurring of faces and license plates.Sometimes the blurring is not quite accurate, though, as many pictures on StreetViewFun reveal. There are 15 images taken for each finished shot and angle that you see on Street View today, and Google’s software takes all of these images and mashes them together, adjusts the exposure for sun, shadows, colour differences and brightness. It usually takes six months after a Street View driver uploads the files before it goes live. Finally, here's a video close-up look at a Google Street View vehicle:Worth reading:GoogleDriver419 on RedditInside Google Street View: From Larry Page’s Car To The Depths Of The Grand CanyonA Glimpse of Google's Fleet of Camera-Equipped Street View CarsGoogle Street View on Wikipedia

Hackers have a number of ways to take control of your phone.Strange TextsPhone users have reported strange SMS text messages received as an initial attempt to hack a smartphone. Texts that appear as a single square or other strange characters are attempts by hackers to download spyware or malware onto your device. These attacks are similar to malicious email viruses, however on a mobile device the SMS only has to be received by the smartphone, with no download action taken by the user. If a hacker accesses a device of a friend who has you in their address book, it can be easily passed along to your number. Check with your contacts to see if they have experienced similar texts, and notify them of a potential hack.Unauthorized UseA hacker who gains control of your mobile device will be able to send texts, make calls, or access the internet. This will alter your call history, sent text messages, or other functions unbeknownst to the user. Monitor your call, text, and camera function history, and if you notice anything you did not perform yourself, then your phone is remotely under the control of another user. Experienced hackers will cover their tracks, so if you suspect a hack check your phone records with your service provider to detect any unauthorized use.Here are a few questions to ask yourself to identify if your device is being overrun by malware:1. Notice unfamiliar charges on your phone bill? A lot of us ask this question anyway, but it’s a good idea to regularly check the charges on your phone bill. Are there small but significant charges on it that you don’t recognize? Some malware is programmed to send paid SMS messages that get charged to your phone bill and deposited into the bank account of the malware writer.2. Is your phone acting cray-cray? If your phone starts acting crazy, strangely opening and closing apps, or sending text messages by itself, your phone might be compromised. Malware is written to secretly control your device, and malicious apps have loose permissions that allow them to control more aspects of your device than it seems.3. Is your battery draining extremely fast? Battery drain can be exacerbated by different factors like network settings or even a totally innocent app that’s just poorly coded. But because malware apps can run constantly in the background, it is inevitable that they will run down your battery much faster than normal.​​​If you answered yes to some or all of these questions, you should check if your phone has malware by scanning all the apps on your phone or tabletIf you suspect that your phone has been infected or hacked the best thing to do is a Full Factory Reset. This will clear any malware or hidden apps.WHAT TO DO.Even if you keep your smartphone safe in your pocket or purse, it's still at risk for picking up a virus or leaking data to thieves. Hackers don't need physical access to your phone to steal your personal information or infect the device with malware. They infiltrate your phone with innocent-looking apps or link to it via unsecured Wi-Fi® networks. You can keep hackers from getting the upper hand by taking steps to secure your smartphone.Step 1Lock your phone when you're not using it. Set a password and change it regularly to prevent others from guessing it. Lock patterns are an alternative if you have trouble remembering your password. Your phone may also have a facial-recognition lock feature. If this is on, the device unlocks only when the camera detects your face. Voice recognition is another option, with this turned on, your phone needs to hear your voice say a specific word or phrase to unlock.Step 2Activate your phone's tracker capability, if it has one. If your phone supports this feature, you can see its location on a map and track the device when it moves. If your phone is stolen or lost, use the tracker app to lock it remotely. This makes it harder for hackers to access your data.Step 3Update your phone's firmware to the most current version. Many phones do this for you automatically, but if you've turned this option off, you'll need to download the update manually. You can download the latest update directly from your phone. Alternatively, connect your phone to thecomputer and launch the software that came with the device. The application will connect to the download Web page and install the firmware on your phone.Step 4Install apps on your phone only if they come from a trusted source, such as the manufacturer's app store. Most official app stores verify the authenticity of their products, so they're much safer. Before downloading any app, read the description and reviews so you understand what you're getting.Now days every app asks for personal information without it you can’t use the app Step 5Check an app's permissions before installing it. If an app requests access to your personal information, don't install it or deny the request.Step 6Avoid leaving your phone alone in a public place, such as on a restaurant table or on your office desk. If you must leave the phone, keep it locked and hide it somewhere, such as in a drawer, to prevent theft.Step 7Delete text messages from unknown senders that ask for your information, and avoid clicking links in messages. Some hackers send messages that appear to be from your bank or another trusted source. If you click the link in the message, the hacker can steal your information or install malware on the phone. Don't download apps via text message, this is a common way for hackers to infect your device.Step 8Access the Internet on your phone only from a secure Wi-Fi network. Wi-Fi networks that aren't secure allow nearby hackers to intercept your data when you get online. Don't do any shopping or banking on a public Wi-Fi network, hackers can swipe your bank account number or other financial information. Instant-messaging and other communications apps may contain security holes that allow hackers to snatch your personal data. If you have access to a cellular network, use it instead of public Wi-Fi.Step 9Protect your phone with an anti-virus app. Check your phone's app store to see what's available for your device.If you adhere to the above then it's very unlikely that you will get hacked.Again if you suspect that you have been hacked then do a Factory Reset.Above all, try not to worry. In the last 6 years of Smartphone use I have never experienced a virus/malware or a hack. Nor has anyone I know.In most cases you have to do something which allows a hacker access (open a text/mms/unsecured WiFi)https://blog.lookout.com/blog/20...http://smallbusiness.chron.com/s...

Equipment does matter. Knowing how to use your equipment matters even more.Here’s my own personal policy: I only upgrade my equipment when I know for certain that it’s the equipment that’s holding me back.So, for reference, I started out with this:I was 13. It was $27. It had one switch (flash on, flash off!) and one button. You couldn’t even focus it manually. There was no aperture to change. I took it everywhere. I shot everything. The pictures were terrible. But I kept taking pictures, and once I got into high school, I learned to roll, process, and print my own film. There was so much I still couldn’t shoot, but I learned to balance some of the deficiencies of that camera with some patient, painstaking work in the darkroom. I read and studied everything I could, even though I couldn’t even attempt a tenth of the stuff on that camera. By my junior year, I was yearbook photographer. Same camera. By the time I was a senior, I was the photo editor, in charge of all the photographers—all of whom had better cameras than I did.I got to college, and was standing in line to register for classes. Did I want to add a yearbook to my tuition bill? Not really—so I asked for a job instead. I handed them a manila envelope of 400 photos I’d taken, developed, and printed myself. They hired me on the spot. I got $75 per week, and use of the school’s camera:I just about wore the thing out. Having a shutter speed I could control was a delight. I still hadn’t figured out the aperture thing yet, but I was having such a blast I didn’t care. A prof saw my work and asked me to photograph his son’s wedding. I charged $400 and then spent $500 on film and processing. (Not all of one’s education happens in the classroom. Oops.)Then I met this pretty girl on the internet (back when this was a scandalous thing to do) and married her. Photography took a back seat to many other things. When my first child was born, I decided to jump on this digital thing, and got a little point and shoot:Like that first camera, I took it everywhere. I shot everything. And . . . it was very limited. Again, no manual controls. But I shot until I wore it out, and bought another one. Then I did it again . . . and again. I was a lot closer to making my visions on-screen match the ones in my head, but there were still shots I just could not get. I tried all sorts of ways to get around the limitations, some of them successful. The equipment was holding me back, and I knew it.Even then, as limited as it was, publications were starting to buy my photos. And with one big payment, I made the jump to a DSLR.6 years later, and I’m making a living with that Nikon D5100. This is one step above Nikon’s entry-level DSLR.You can get yourself the same camera for $250 on Amazon. It’s cheap!Thing is, I now have 30 years of experience since that little $27 box with a hole in it. I’ve learned to use just about every feature of this camera, and I know its limitations quite well. I’ve since upgraded the lenses (larger apertures = more light = faster shutter speeds) and I’m finally getting to the point where I have to admit that I could do more with a better camera body. I’m at the point where I can definitely say that the autofocus on this is weak, and that it’s not just that I have bad technique. A faster burst rate would be nice. Higher ISO would be a huge plus for shooting roller derby.So I’m saving up. Because I’m finally at the place again where I know the equipment is holding me back.

Somebody has to fill out a customs form every time a product is imported into a country for commercial use. It can be the seller or the buyer but even if the import is duty-free there will be a form to complete. I'm sure there are automated solutions so a form doesn't have to be completed manually but the cost may not justify the benefit.

The shipper will fill out a customs form when they ship the product detailing price and description. The US customs department will make a determination based on that document . Usually a value of only $ 50.00 will have little or no duty due based on the product value.You don’t have to do anything except pay the duty if you receive a notice.