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The Power of Twelve
Twelve people have walked on the surface of the moon.
Twelve people sit on a jury.
There are 12 face cards in a deck.
The human body has 12 pairs of ribs.
There are 12 function keys on most computer keyboards.
Twelve inches equals a foot.
There are 12 signs of the Zodiac.
The Chinese use a 12 year cycle for keeping time.
Midday is 12 noon, and there’s twelve AM and 12 PM hours in a day.
All the basic units of time are perfectly divided by 12; 60 seconds, 60 minutes, 24 hours.
12 months make a year.
Cawley Digital ID has been in business for 12 years.
Where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday we were talking about going into business to sell plastic card/ID card printers and thinking we had a good plan of attack. Amazing how little we knew and how much we have learned.
Many of you have been with us through the years and know the first newsletter of the year is where we say thanks. A BIG THANKS, to all of you for growing with us and for your support and business.
We’ll keep trying to get better so we are always your first call when you need something. You keep calling, faxing and emailing, and as sure as two always follows one, we’ll always be there for you. We’re a great team!
So here’s to hoping the next 12 are as fun as the first. Cheers!!
Think Ink
Excerpts from Security Prodcuts, J.Tingley, 9/01/12
As the number of applications that require visual authentication and increased security grows, identification cards are commonly taken as a cost-of-entry to ensure physical security and access. But what most security executives often overlook is that the quality of the card itself is just as important for protecting the data on it. And much of this quality comes down to ink.
There are countless options for printing cards, but they differ significantly according to lifespan, color and cost over the life of the card. Organizations need to understand the difference in inks and, more importantly, how these differences can work in their favor to produce cards that satisfy application-specific security needs. The primary inks used in card personalization are pigment inks and dyesublimation inks, both of which bring a diverse set of benefits to different applications.
Pigment Inks Pigment inks, the most durable ink option for card printing, bind firmly to substrate materials to keep from degrading over time. More so than other inks, their particles maintain color fidelity on a variety of card materials regardless of their end-usage environment. Depending on the application, organizations can choose from a variety of encoding technologies, such as magnetic stripe, contact or contactless, and card materials such as PVC, PET and polycarbonate for printing and personalization.
Protected against color fading, pigment inks are UV-resistant for the entire lifetime of the card and are not altered by contact with chemicals, which means they are difficult to damage or ruin without destroying the card material itself. Environmental factors such as light, moisture and the friction created by exposure to sand or dust have less of a negative effect on pigment inks than others, so they do not adversely impact the quality or longevity of the card. This durability is particularly important.
Most compelling about pigment inks is the sharp, full-color picture they produce when combined with unique printing technologies such as dot-by-dot. While dye inks produce normal images that blur together when placed under a loop, pigment inks can be printed to display hundreds of thousands of individual dots that come together to form an incredibly detailed image.
Dye Inks Dye inks are standard in many card printers. Dyesublimation printing uses a process by which the ink is transformed from a solid to a gas and diffused onto the transfer film, so the ink is not as strong as pigment inks. Accordingly, dye inks most often produce a card well-suited to more temporary or short-term applications.
Unlike pigment inks, dye inks are not UV-resistant and fade more easily over time as they are exposed to light. They also are sensitive to plasticizers and other chemicals that lift off color images. For cards using these dye inks, durability requirements must always be a consideration.
While pigment inks produce a vibrant color, dye inks also offer a bright image and the ability to create an incredibly vast range of colors. Both of these capabilities may be beneficial for aesthetic reasons where absolute color fidelity is not necessary, such as on a photo ID or other highly personalized application.
So what does all of this really mean? How can the choice of ink have a real impact on the security of your cards and, ultimately, the sophisticated back-end systems that depend on them?
Like security solutions themselves, quality cards are the result of many factors. In order to leverage the benefits of both varieties of ink, organizations have to combine them with other advanced security technologies, such as 600 dpi capabilities, laser engraving options, encoding technology and even certain printing methods. This means not only carefully considering ink options but also evaluating the additional components that play a role in ID card personalization.
Looking at print methods, for example, reveals retransfer and direct-to-card printing as the two most common methods used for personalization. Direct-to-card printing, which prints images right onto the surface of a card, is the more traditional technology. In direct- to-card printing, the printer heats a special print ribbon beneath a thermal print head to transfer color from the ribbon directly to the blank card.
Conversely, retransfer printing—more commonly known as high-definition printing—is a more advanced technology that prints images onto a retransfer film instead of the card itself. It is the combination of all of these components that is so critical to achieving card security. Without the correct ink, no method of printing will deliver personalization that measures up to your security need
Identification and other personalized cards are a small piece of the security puzzle. But when the entire solution comes together for each employee, visitor, customer within your organization, no one can afford to guess wrong. It’s time to think seriously about the ink for your next set of cards.
SmartBucks Unveils Gifting of Rewards
Colloquy, 2/15/13
SmarterBucks, a rewards program that helps pay down student loans faster, has announced gifting of rewards, a new feature which allow friends and family to earn rewards on behalf of a loved one struggling with student debt (https://www.smarterbucks.com/gifting). With gifting of rewards, anyone can sign up to earn SmarterBucks and invite another SmarterBucks member to receive those rewards. Those rewards are then automatically turned into extra loan payments on that recipient's chosen student loan.
SmarterBucks Gifters can earn rewards in many of the same ways that existing members earn rewards. At the SmarterBucks Marketplace (http://www.smarterbucks.com/marketplace) users can earn between 2%-16% back in SmarterBucks rewards. Through SmarterBank (http://www.smarterbank.com/), an online checking account, users can earn SmarterBucks rewards on everyday purchases with the SmarterBank Visa Debit Card. There are also Exclusive offers for SmarterBucks users (http://smarterbucks.com/exclusives). There is no limit to the number of Gifters a SmarterBucks member can have - thus enabling those who are trying to pay down their own student debt the ability to double, triple, or even quadruple the amount of rewards earned each month. Once a month, Gifter rewards are automatically transferred to their designated recipient and then paid directly to the student loan lender of that recipient's designated student loan.
A typical SmarterBucks user who takes advantage of all the ways to earn rewards can expect to earn $15-$30 in rewards a month (https://www.smarterbucks.com/earn). A typical user in the beginning of their repayment period who earns $30 a month could save up to $4,120 over the life of a loan and shave 23 months off their repayment time. This is for a $15,000 loan at 6.8% over 10 years (https://www.smarterbucks.com/why_smarterbucks
New DOD Self Service Portal Eases ID Maintenance
Re;ID, Winter 2012
The Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) implemented a self-service portal to ease the process of ID distribution and maintenance. DMDC made changes to its self-service online portal called RAPIDS, Real-time Automated Personnel Identification System. The approximately 3.7 million service members and reservists with Department of Defense Common Access Cards can go through the portal to apply for family ID and retirement cards. They can also use the system to update status of dependents.
The system will eliminate the need for service members to wait in line to procure ID cards for their family members . Instead, they can pull up their dependents information through the RAPIDS website, fill out form N.1172-2 and digitally sign it. The recipient of the ID can then pick up the finished ID card at the DMDC office.
The Twelve Riches of Life
By Napoleon Hill
1. A Positive Mental Attitude
2. Sound Physical Health
3. Harmony in Human Relationships
4. Freedom from Fear
5. The Hope of Achievement
6. The Capacity for Faith
7. Willingness to Share One’s Blessings
8. A Labor of Love
9. An Open Mind on All Subjects
10. Self-Discipline
11. The Capacity to Understand People
12. Financial Security
We can become complete masters of ourselves, if we so desire. The main thought to bear in mind is first to gain the knowledge, and secondly to apply it.
