OT: Technology and Geek Stuff Thread

[-Deborah-]

Not me.

[Coop]

think it is made by ASUS a micro pc still licensed for xp

[LightninBoy]

Mason, the eee pc is a very small, low priced, low power sub notebook. Good for surfing, email, and not much else. On board storage is very limited, so an external hard drive will likely be needed, adding another $100 to the price tag. I guess if your dad needs something really small and mobile it might be a decent choice. Otherwise, I'd point him towards a standard, cheap laptop.

[mason reese]

Small and mobile is what he's looking for. Just wasn't sure about quality. From what little I've read it falls between a pda and a cheap laptap. 2lbs and a keyboard big enough for my dad to use.

[LightninBoy]

Here's a home theater PSA - just in case someone cares ...

In a home theater setup, most center channel speakers are a ripoff. The compromises they make to fit into your entertainment center actually prevent them from performing one of their fundamental purposes - to make dialog clear to everybody in the room regardless of where they are sitting.

First off, with a proper setup and all listeners in an ideal location - the so called sweet spot - a center channel isn't necessary at all. The stereo soundfield created by the two main speakers can realistically lock the dialog in the center without a center speaker.

In reality though, only one or two people can sit in the sweet spot. If you are sitting to the left or right of the sweet spot your ears will hear the dialog coming from the closest speaker rather than the screen. This is where the center channel speaker is supposed to help - by locking the dialog to the center. And in this aspect at least, they do well.

However, most people can't exactly stick a big standard speaker in front of their screen. So a center channel typically needs to fit inside of an entertainment center. This leads to two issues - 1) center channels fit entertainment funiture better when they are small and horizontally oriented, 2) center channels must have a sealed enclosure (as opposed to ported) to mininize the impact of the entertainment furniture on the sound.

This leads to the design of the typical center channel with 3 drivers: a midrange, a tweeter, and another midrange or MTM for short. Here's a classic example ...



The two midrange drivers are needed to compensate for the inherit inefficiencies of a sealed enclosure, especially in the low frequencies.

So what's the problem? The problem is that those two midrange drivers are emitting the exact same frequencies - important dialog frequencies - only inches from one another. This leads to comb filtering. To make this short, trust me, this is bad. Its really bad if you consider that it results in muddying the dialog for anybody not sitting in the sweet spot. Ironic, considering that the whole point of a center channel is to deliver convincing dialog to everybody not sitting in the sweet spot.

So what to do? If you must get a traditional center channel, only buy one with a 3-way design. Here's a good example:



Note the extra midrange driver under the tweeter. This single smaller midrange handles all the crucial dialog frequencies, while the two larger drivers on either side handle the low mid to bass frequencies where comb filtering is less likely and has less impact. Its called a 3-way design because it uses a 3-way crossover to split the sound into 3 frequency groups. These designs are more difficult and more expensive to build which is probably why most center channels don't offer this.

Personally, though, I took a different approach. I've always suspected this approach is ideal but only recently did I get visual proof. Here is the Dolby listening lab



and here's the DTS listening room ...



Both eschew the traditional center channel and simply use a single speaker of the same type as the two side speakers. Honestly, most people wouldn't be able to make this work in their HT room. But it works in mine.

[Malto Marko]

Oh my!

I was sent a wmv file that originated at Fox26 station (I believe that is Houston Tx) about a guy that has developed a torch that is cool to the touch but, will heat brass to red hot, and burn through steel in seconds. The torch is unique and he was developing it so as to replace acetlyne (sp) in welding workplace. It's secret? He uses water as fuel and patented process to use electricity that breaks down the water to HHO, a gas.

He has since hooked up his car to run on both gasoline and water. He says his car is capable of running entirely on water. On a 100 mile trip, he used 4 oz. of water.

He is currently patenting the process to be used in autos.

I would post the video but it was sent to me as a wmv. and I am not sure if those types of files can be posted.

Wow! I would be the first in line to buy a vehicle that runs on water.

Oh ya, the byproduct of burning the gas that has been broken down? Water.

I can already hear the Government officials in Michigan bitching on how all of the vehicles that leave water on the pavement during the winter are breaking down the roadways causing them to need to be rebuilt every 3 years.

[-Deborah-]

I saw something on the Today Show that was probably about that same guy. Gotta think there's some catch we're not aware of else why wouldn't there be huge coverage and pressure to adopt this?

[-Deborah-]

Tom, interesting stuff. I have an Onkyo home theater system and am quite happy with it. Never had the problem you mentioned, but my living room isn't really expansive.

[unknown lions fan]

On the car topic, this is pretty cool: Car doors that roll down into the body.

At first I thought they went under the car, and figured no way you can use this in Michigan winter. But they go into the structure. The video is of a modified Lincoln.

Cool stuff!

[unknown lions fan]

Re: H20 vehicles - any time I see something like this, my first reaction is that it isn't all that it's cracked up to be. But if it is possible, my next thought goes to the movie Tucker, and how so much innovation in the automotive sector is killed by corporatists working with the government to protect their industry.

[SeattleLionsFan]

Is this the video maltus??

http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/354/C8115/

[SeattleLionsFan]

I'm really skeptical. Hopes and prayers do not overcome the rules of physics.

[Malto Marko]

Is this the video maltus??

http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/354/C8115/

That's the one! Thanks SLF.

[Malto Marko]

I'm really skeptical. Hopes and prayers do not overcome the rules of physics.

Your skepticism should be from either the Auto Industry or Arab oil interests paying him big bucks for the patent then burying it somewhere so it does not hit the market.

[DanO]

"Wow! I would be the first in line to buy a vehicle that runs on water."
-------------------------That's going to have to be a clean source of water. Maybe I'll put the retirement thoughts on the back burner for now. I see the price of a gallon of water go way up. :-)

"But if it is possible, my next thought goes to the movie Tucker, and how so much innovation in the automotive sector is killed by corporatists working with the government to protect their industry."
-----------------------I hear that.

GO LIONS "08" !!!!!!!!