LG have released a sight for sore eyes with the 37LF66 Full HD 1080p LCD TV that wont completely break Read More
Monday, September 29, 2008
At What Point did You Know You Were a Geek?
At What Point did You Know You Were a Geek?
Since the inception of Geeks, I’ve often wondered this: how and when did you know you were a Geek? I’ve always been one, I just didn’t realize it really until college. (...) 
Since the inception of Geeks, I’ve often wondered this: how and when did you know you were a Geek? I’ve always been one, I just didn’t realize it really until college. (...)
Since the inception of Geeks, I’ve often wondered this: how and when did you know you were a Geek? I’ve always been one, I just didn’t realize it really until college. I asked everyone over at FriendFeed when they discovered the truth about themselves. Some of them were hilarious, while others were dead serious about their Geekitude.
The moment I first heard about Dungeons and Dragons in 4th grade (78 or 79). - Just a Tad
March 13, 1972, born in the bay area unto two BART engineers and ex-Apollo rocket worker before growing up in Silicon Valley. - Eric Rice
Not sure if I’ve become one yet. I’m more of a nerd. - JustdoitMS
The entire world knew I was a geek when I got called to the principal’s office to reset his new digital watch after daylight saving time ended/began. - ha3rvey
I think I’ve always been one, but the boyfriend helped bring it out even more, so Feb. 2004! - Kat
Um, when I saw the moon landing when I was a few years old. But, really, when I got into Jr. High in 1977 and joined the first computer club at Hyde Jr. High in Cupertino and got my first tour of Apple Computer (back when it was only one small building). - Robert Scoble
Birth… the child of English/Drama teachers (one working as an engineer), who were friends with science fiction writers, like Roger Zelazney and the Haldemans. Seeing Star Wars when I was 6 didn’t hurt. - 9 (clever name here)
When I stole mom’s copy of Stephen King’s "IT" off ehr headboard to read. i think I was 7. - WarMaiden
My moment was when I walked through the door of the now-defunct Commodore Hotel across from Madison Square Garden, for the Bicentennial (1976) edition of the Star Trek convention (the only one on the east coast that I know of), way back before the popular use of the word "con". The attendance was limited to 6000 people. I heard the most recent DragonCon in Atlanta was 10x that much. And the very fact I know that is verification of my geekitude, as well as my geezertude. - Rick Wolff
Who you callin geek? - Brian Norwood
My mom and I used to play "Trax" on the Atari in the late 80s - it would read the game off a cassette player…I thought that was so cool. My mom would always beat me which strikes me as cooler now. - Kamath
sometime between 1982 and 1984 whenever it was i first made a triangle on an Apple IIe. then my inner geek went dormant until about 1998. - tiffanyNeedsANewNickname
When I bought my VIC-20, in 1983, with my own money. - Joey Gibson
When I went to math and science camp two summers in a row. - Stupid Blogger (aka Tina)
I suppose it became official on Christmas morning when I was 8 and there was a shiny new TRS-80 under the tree. The next Christmas I got a 5.25in floppy drive and it was the schiznit. - ※Lindsay Donaghe※
Conception. - torque
When I started talking extensively about IP multimedia subsystems, IP protocol, packets, session border controls or heard others speak about it and it made sense to me. last night was an example. IP engineers at the dinner table talking shop and i could completely understand all of it. - Patricia
Is this a "conception vs. birth" thing? - Mark VandenBerg
I think it was a birth defect. ;-) - Kol Tregaskes
When I accidentally the whole internet. - David
At my cousin’s house, walked into a room and instead of TV on TV, saw PONG! Did I mention I would soon be wearing an orange sweatband on one wrist and a calculator watch on the other?
When I realized I knew more about computers and QBasic, than my teacher in Middle School. - Michel Bechelani
At the point of conception. - Stuart Forsyth
What kind of Geek are you, and when did you realize it? Do you embrace your Geekitude, or do you hide it from others?
At What Point did You Know You Were a Geek?
Canon PowerShot S5 IS full review and video tour
Canon PowerShot S5 IS full review and video tour
Canon's PowerShot S5 IS is an 8 megapixel super-zoom camera with a 12x optically-stabilised zoom, flip-out screen and a great movie mode. The large number of cameras released by Canon during 2007 forced us to bypass the S5 IS when first released, but it's since become one of the most popular super-zooms on the market and remains a current model in the latest 2008 range. So by popular demand, we're pleased to present our Canon PowerShot S5 IS review, as always accompanied by a demonstration in our video tour.
Canon's PowerShot S5 IS is an 8 megapixel super-zoom camera with a 12x optically-stabilised zoom, flip-out screen and a great movie mode. The large number of cameras released by Canon during 2007 forced us to bypass the S5 IS when first released, but it's since become one of the most popular super-zooms on the market and remains a current model in the latest 2008 range. So by popular demand, we're pleased to present our Canon PowerShot S5 IS review, as always accompanied by a demonstration in our video tour.
Canon launches EOS 50D Digital SLR
Canon launches EOS 50D Digital SLR
Today Canon announced the EOS 50D Digital SLR, which complements the EOS 40D rather than replacing it. The EOS 50D greatly resembles the EOS 40D from the outside, but features a new 15.1 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor backed-up by the newly developed DiG!C 4 processor. In reaction to Nikon's D300, the sensitivity has been boosted to 3200 ISO with extended 6400 and 12800 ISO modes, the screen resolution improved to VGA / 920k dots, and an HDMI port fitted for HD slideshows; Live View now also includes contrast-based AF and face detection options. Continuous shooting is only a fraction slower than the 40D at 6.3fps, and Canon has finally launched an EF-S 18-200mm IS lens to go with it which will also please owners of existing APS-C Canon DSLRs. The 50D is due in September, but where's the long-awaited EOS 5D replacement? Discuss this news in the Cameralabs forum and look out for a preview coming soon.
Today Canon announced the EOS 50D Digital SLR, which complements the EOS 40D rather than replacing it. The EOS 50D greatly resembles the EOS 40D from the outside, but features a new 15.1 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor backed-up by the newly developed DiG!C 4 processor. In reaction to Nikon's D300, the sensitivity has been boosted to 3200 ISO with extended 6400 and 12800 ISO modes, the screen resolution improved to VGA / 920k dots, and an HDMI port fitted for HD slideshows; Live View now also includes contrast-based AF and face detection options. Continuous shooting is only a fraction slower than the 40D at 6.3fps, and Canon has finally launched an EF-S 18-200mm IS lens to go with it which will also please owners of existing APS-C Canon DSLRs. The 50D is due in September, but where's the long-awaited EOS 5D replacement? Discuss this news in the Cameralabs forum and look out for a preview coming soon.
Sony Alpha DSLR-A300 - full review and video tour
The Alpha A300 is the middle DSLR in Sony's consumer range. It takes A200's body, 10.2 Megapixel sensor and built-in stabilisation, and equips it with Live View and a screen which tilts for easier framing at high or low angles. It's a compelling package, but the big question is how it compares against the higher-end Alpha A350 - an identical model, other than its higher resolution 14.2 Megapixel sensor. Does the A350 record measurably greater detail, or does the A300 enjoy lower noise levels? Find out in our Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 review where we'll reveal direct comparisons between both Alphas along with Canon's EOS 450D / XSi. And as always, you can check out the highlights in our A300 video tour. Read More
Microsoft Word 2007 - Insert Copyright, Trademark, Other Symbols
Add symbols for copyright, trademark, and registered trademark to your Word 2007 document. Read More
Call for Help Blooper - in LEGO
Call for Help Blooper - in LEGO
Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed LegoShark has done it again. He’s fast becoming a name in the Brickfilming world, and this newest creation is genius. (...) 
Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed LegoShark has done it again. He’s fast becoming a name in the Brickfilming world, and this newest creation is genius. (...)
Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed
LegoShark has done it again. He’s fast becoming a name in the Brickfilming world, and this newest creation is genius. I’m not biased, I promise! Keep your eye out for even more fantastic LEGO content from him!
I’m sure you remember that old Blooper on Call for Help. People talk about it daily in the chat room still, all these years later. I lost it, plain and simple. Something struck me as hilarious… and I couldn’t stop laughing. Hasn’t that ever happened to you?! Seriously. Don’t lie! You know it has!!
Anyhow, LegoShark took that Blooper, and made it into a BrickFilm, using LEGO bricks. Great job, and thank you!
Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:
Call for Help Blooper - in LEGO
Is Fleet Management an invasion of employee privacy?
Is Fleet Management an invasion of employee privacy?
An interesting story originating from the Sydney Morning Herald last week, and doing the rounds in New Zealand, says that ‘Privacy Experts’ and Unions are saying that vehicle tracking systems used by companies are an invasion of staff privacy.
It goes on to talk about a former Telstra employee who committed suicide shortly after having a vehicle tracking system attached to his company vehicle. The employee was being treated for depression and the story infers that his suicide was in part a consequence of Fleet Management equipment being installed in his vehicle.
Over the last decade I have been in various ways involved with Vehicle and Personal Tracking technology and only once have I come accross a company that wanted it to be able to check up on the honesty of their staff.
There is no question that some companies have found a sudden increase in profitability and decrease in vehicle costs since they put FM systems in place, but monitoring staff integrity was not the reason the system went in. This particular company wanted to know which vehicles were close to clients that needed urgent service so that they could allocate the nearest vehicle to provide a quality reponsive service.
A few years ago I met the CEO of a rapid response plumbing firm. They guaranteed a minimum response time for people who needed a plumber in an emergancy. He was able to manage this as a consequence of using Navman Wireless technology to locate the nearest vehicle to the job.
They also wanted to compare time based service contracts to the actual time the vehicle was parked at the client site. They wanted to know if they had under or overquoted because there was sometimes a gap between the sales person’s enthusiasm to win a contract and the reality of the job being done.
What did happen was that a number of staff people whom they had suspected of taking liberties with the vehicle on the job and after hours, left the company within a month or so of their own volition. They were under no pressure, in fact their employer said to them "We don't care what happened in the past, this is not a big brother situation, however we do expect a fair day's work for a fair day's pay". In fact the CIO of this company absolutely hates and deplores the concept of big brother and would fight tooth and nail to stop the system being used to monitor the staff to see if they were skyving off. It was never about that. They did know that a couple of the people were abusing their employer's trust, but nothing was ever said to them about it and basically what happened was that those people knew they couldn't continue in the way they were used to and resigned.
I am against (and it may well be illegal) tracking people and their vehicles without their knowledge. The only people able to do that should be the Police and even then, only with a legal warrant produced through the courts.
On the other hand there are many potential benefits. In the courier and freight industry, Fleet Management means that people can easily apply track and trace to good being picked up and delivered without needing additional staff to place calls to drivers.
In the security industry it means that security guards on patrol can confirm the safety and location of their staff and also provide clear evidence to clients that their premises have been visited when they said they were. It can also mean that these people can be backed up in an emergancy. This technology is used internationally to track and protect the safety of VIP’s such as politicians in government vehicles.
Another area that is becoming popular is using this technology to keep track of a personal vehicle’s location. For example, when Dad lends the car to his son or daughter who is just popping down to the shops or a mate’s place, who could be boy racers. There have been a number of occassions where a stolen vehicle has been recovered with the thief still inside, such as the case earlier this year. Sometimes a car is irreplacable such as a classic, or sports car. Insurance money can’t always allow someone to recover the time spent in restoring or bulding a vehicle. This technology can also be used to secure trailer water craft and motorcycles which are often easy targets for criminals.
Another area which is becoming very popular and which I have written about a number of times before is tracking elderly people. With the Baby Boomers living longer and being more mobile, there is a growing population of elderly people, some of whom are sprightly of mind, but less of body and at risk of breaking hips or other body parts, while others are sound in body but suffering onset of Alzheimers Disease or other forms of dementia and likely to wander off and not remember where they live. Whether it is the Retirement Village or Rest Home, or their children, this common problem becomes much easier to manage if you can send a text message to the device they are carrying and receive one back with the nearest street address to their current location.
Sony KDL-32S3000 32 in. LCD Television
Sony KDL-32S3000 32 in. LCD Television
Sony released a great range of entry-level HD Ready LCD TVs earlier this year which are the cheapest
Sony released a great range of entry-level HD Ready LCD TVs earlier this year which are the cheapest
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Fuji Z10FD
Fuji is getting with the programme, by introducing the Fuji Finepix Z10FD digital camera�which has some Read More
Canon Rebel XSi and Powershot price drops
Canon Canada Inc. has today announced a significant price reduction on the 12MP Canon Rebel XSi camera body, and on the available Canon Rebel XSi kit configurations, including the standard EOS Rebel XSi kit with EF-S 18-55mm IS zoom lens. Canon has also reduced the price on the sleek and pocketable 10 megapixel Canon Powershot SD890 IS, SD790 IS and the Powershot SD770 IS digital cameras by up to $50. See full story... Read More
A bit of a whinge about Twitter (updated since I was wrong about Apple).
Hello people.
Or person. Frankly Scarlet I don't give a damn.
Update: I was wrong about the the 2.1 update (See comments below). My unreserved apologies to Apple (I know this will help them begin the healing process after my half-cocked criticism...)
First on my list of annoyances for this week: Apple's upgrade policies for the iPod Touch.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's a brilliant device, and I have every intention of buying one once I've worked through my priority spending list of travel, guitars, and the abuse of alcohol.
What I think shows considerable cheek (and exactly no concept of fairness) is that Apple is charging iPod Touch owners for the 2.1 update.
There is nothing new about this: Touch owners have been charged for updates since the beginning. Previously however (especially not being an actual Touch owner at this point) I've been inclined to shrug it off...without knowing who is subsidising what I didn't feel strongly that there was necessarily anything wrong with charging Touch owners for updates that iPhone posers owners received for free.
With 2.1 however the situation is different, however, because this release is just a set of fixes for bugs in the initial 2.0 release.
When I Twitted my opinion of charging for service packs Mauricio rightly pointed out that Apple don't have "service packs", but my careless use of terminology aside, I think my original point stands. You should not expect people to pay for the privilege of having what they buy off you do what it was supposed to do to start with.
If you make a mess, you clean it up, and if you release buggy software you should not charge extra for the fixes.
My second whinge also concerns bugs. I'll start with my own incompetence and then move as swiftly as possible on to other people's.
The day before I left for Tech Ed I uploaded an update to my web site (introducing at long last category feeds...which a couple of days later at the bloggers' dinner Scott Hanselman advised us not to use...sigh. I'll leave them in for now and make up my mind about about that one later. But I *am* in the process of adding support for comments. But none of that has anything to do with what I'm talking about here).
As fate would have it I also accidentally uploaded an outdated copy of the Twitula CAB, so a couple of people who downloaded it during the week encountered bugs that had me scratching my head until I got home and realised the nature of my cock up.
So I re-uploaded the correct version...you can imagine my chagrin when I noticed that the "People I Follow" option was still not working, because the relevant call to the Twitter API was returning a status 404 "Not Found". I checked the issues list for the API and sure enough other people were having the same problem. Somehow the authentication for this one function has been broken. I documented my experience of the problem. More and more people added theirs. Time passed. Time passed a bit more, as is its wont. And absolutely nothing happened. Nothing decided it had got onto a good thing and continued to happen.
It seems very likely that this would be an extremely easy fix, but to date it appears that no Twitter developers have even bothered to check it out. While it's likely that workarounds can be implemented by doing a bit (or in my case, probably quite a bit) of extra work I'll leave that to those developers who have the inclination and/or financial incentive to reward bad behaviour by cleaning up after people who can't be bothered fixing their own mistakes.
Personally, I'm giving up on Twitter and looking for other avenues for my development efforts.
Grizzle grizzle whine. With extra bitching (at no additional cost). 
Read More
Or person. Frankly Scarlet I don't give a damn.
Update: I was wrong about the the 2.1 update (See comments below). My unreserved apologies to Apple (I know this will help them begin the healing process after my half-cocked criticism...)
Don't get me wrong, I think it's a brilliant device, and I have every intention of buying one once I've worked through my priority spending list of travel, guitars, and the abuse of alcohol.
What I think shows considerable cheek (and exactly no concept of fairness) is that Apple is charging iPod Touch owners for the 2.1 update.
There is nothing new about this: Touch owners have been charged for updates since the beginning. Previously however (especially not being an actual Touch owner at this point) I've been inclined to shrug it off...without knowing who is subsidising what I didn't feel strongly that there was necessarily anything wrong with charging Touch owners for updates that iPhone posers owners received for free.
With 2.1 however the situation is different, however, because this release is just a set of fixes for bugs in the initial 2.0 release.
When I Twitted my opinion of charging for service packs Mauricio rightly pointed out that Apple don't have "service packs", but my careless use of terminology aside, I think my original point stands. You should not expect people to pay for the privilege of having what they buy off you do what it was supposed to do to start with.
If you make a mess, you clean it up, and if you release buggy software you should not charge extra for the fixes.
My second whinge also concerns bugs. I'll start with my own incompetence and then move as swiftly as possible on to other people's.
The day before I left for Tech Ed I uploaded an update to my web site (introducing at long last category feeds...which a couple of days later at the bloggers' dinner Scott Hanselman advised us not to use...sigh. I'll leave them in for now and make up my mind about about that one later. But I *am* in the process of adding support for comments. But none of that has anything to do with what I'm talking about here).
As fate would have it I also accidentally uploaded an outdated copy of the Twitula CAB, so a couple of people who downloaded it during the week encountered bugs that had me scratching my head until I got home and realised the nature of my cock up.
So I re-uploaded the correct version...you can imagine my chagrin when I noticed that the "People I Follow" option was still not working, because the relevant call to the Twitter API was returning a status 404 "Not Found". I checked the issues list for the API and sure enough other people were having the same problem. Somehow the authentication for this one function has been broken. I documented my experience of the problem. More and more people added theirs. Time passed. Time passed a bit more, as is its wont. And absolutely nothing happened. Nothing decided it had got onto a good thing and continued to happen.
It seems very likely that this would be an extremely easy fix, but to date it appears that no Twitter developers have even bothered to check it out. While it's likely that workarounds can be implemented by doing a bit (or in my case, probably quite a bit) of extra work I'll leave that to those developers who have the inclination and/or financial incentive to reward bad behaviour by cleaning up after people who can't be bothered fixing their own mistakes.
Personally, I'm giving up on Twitter and looking for other avenues for my development efforts.
Grizzle grizzle whine. With extra bitching (at no additional cost).
Linkification v6
News / Web Happenings:Geekzone layout changes - what do you think? - I was lucky enough to be asked by Mauricio to help move the design of Geekzone forward towards a pure CSS layout. Stage one has been to replace the old menu and footer. What do you think?
Cisco to buy Jabber
Adobe Creative Suite 4 released
T-Mobile unveils the T-Mobile G1 powered by Android
Auto-trader folds as market moves online - a classic case of not moving with the times.
Hubert Chang claims he co-designed Google
Skype for Asterisk Beta announced
Myspace Music launches (yawn) - yawn is right.
General:
Windows 7 screenshots
Windows 7 Video Preview
Converting .docx to .doc
Neat stuff:
A photo a day for 17 years - Epic!
xkcd - tones
Development:
StackOverflow now in public beta - a new online community for software developers to ask and answer questions. I've been in the private beta for a while now and I'd recommend developers check it out.
FAIL of the week:
Seed FAIL
LG 37LF66 Television
LG have released a sight for sore eyes with the 37LF66 Full HD 1080p LCD TV that wont completely break Read More
DSLR Tips! A new website from Camera Labs
DSLR Tips! A new website from Camera Labs
Today sees the launch of DSLR Tips, a new photography site from the founders of Camera Labs! DSLR Tips is aimed at anyone who's just got their first DSLR or wants to take their photography beyond automatic. Our video tutorials will show you how to achieve a number of effects and styles, while the lens guide will help you decide which optics are best for your style of photography. So if you'd like to learn more about your DSLR, or know someone who does, then head over to DSLR Tips!
Today sees the launch of DSLR Tips, a new photography site from the founders of Camera Labs! DSLR Tips is aimed at anyone who's just got their first DSLR or wants to take their photography beyond automatic. Our video tutorials will show you how to achieve a number of effects and styles, while the lens guide will help you decide which optics are best for your style of photography. So if you'd like to learn more about your DSLR, or know someone who does, then head over to DSLR Tips!
Sites to Browse - Music - Hidden Song Tracks
Sites to Browse - Music - Hidden Song Tracks
Find hidden songs not listed in a CD track listing.
Occasionally, purchased CDs contain more music than what you originally think. CDs may contain hidden, or secret, tracks. Mostly done on purpose (though some may have been added to CDs accidentally), these tracks may contain a minute or more of instrumental music, musician jams, jokes, or something else.
Hidden songs may occur on separate tracks not listed (for example, a CD may list 12 tracks, but if you skip to track 43, a secret song is revealed), or a song on the CD may have four minutes of silence at the end. While most listeners would switch CDs by then, after the silence an unlisted song may play....
Read more at MalekTips.
Find hidden songs not listed in a CD track listing.
Occasionally, purchased CDs contain more music than what you originally think. CDs may contain hidden, or secret, tracks. Mostly done on purpose (though some may have been added to CDs accidentally), these tracks may contain a minute or more of instrumental music, musician jams, jokes, or something else.
Hidden songs may occur on separate tracks not listed (for example, a CD may list 12 tracks, but if you skip to track 43, a secret song is revealed), or a song on the CD may have four minutes of silence at the end. While most listeners would switch CDs by then, after the silence an unlisted song may play....
Read more at MalekTips.
Logitech Squeezebox Boom
Logitech Squeezebox Boom
Most streaming music devices require two key outside components to work: speakers and a source to power them. Since there are very few powered speakers out there in reality, you most likely need to attach the streaming device to a mini-system or your home theater system – and that can create a lot of clutter, especially in the kitchen. The Logitech Squeezebox Boom fixes this problem by creating an all-in-one sound system with music streaming capabilities. Priced at $300 USD, there is no doubt that price tag is hard to swallow, but thanks to its easy setup, intuitive navigation and beautiful sound, we can easily say you get what you pay for. Read on for the deep dive.
Read | Permalink | User Reviews | Linking Blogs
Digital Anarchy
New release of Adobe Photoshop is fully supported by all Digital Anarchy products. Read More
Another week and starting to think
After driving (and fixing the bloody thing) a truck all week, I love to come home of an evening and play with my toys.
The reason I have owned MP3 players for about 6-7 years is to keep me entertained in my daily grind.
The reason for the new iPod was the space!
Sometimes on the road you cant get radio... or the music sucks... or you are just sick of the ads!
With the 160gig Classic I have my tunes, crap loads of podcasts and some vids for downtime/lunch breaks. I'm actually amazed at the amount of podcasts I go through in a week.
This is one of my gripes...
I live in the Kapiti region and am lucky enough to have cable.
Unfortunately, the plans blow dogs!
I have a 10mbit connection with a 20gig cap. I have gone over that this month with podcasts alone!
With one just-about-at-school daughter and a baby on the way, I can't afford the extra money to up my cap, and TCL don't offer a 4mbit plan with a 30gig cap for the price of the 10/20 plan. I don't need 2mbit up... I don't need 10mbit down really. but I do need 20-30 gig a month. Don't get me wrong, the speed is brilliant (I used to run a game server here and had the big lightspeed plan at the time). But in these days of uncertainty, I just can't afford the extra $$$ for the cap. Sure, If my better half was working instead of pregnant, I could. If my boss paid more, I could. If I won Lotto (ha), I could... But these things aren't happenening!
I know companies are out to make a profit.
I know I would be!
But where is a middle-ground??
TCL don't have one.
After five years I'm looking at options.
New net, new phone and no cable TV (this will greatly annoy my daughter and better-half as playhouse disney saves the day at times, and when the new baby comes, discovery will keep me sane at 3am)
C'mon, TCL, make a plan that gives me a 4mbit connection with a 30gig cap... I'm sure I'm not the only low-paid geek in the cable region!
BTW, why does every other ISP want my phone number and then tell me it doesn't exist! I have TCL phone, we do exist! Please just give me a map of your broadband areas! 
Read More
The reason I have owned MP3 players for about 6-7 years is to keep me entertained in my daily grind.
The reason for the new iPod was the space!
Sometimes on the road you cant get radio... or the music sucks... or you are just sick of the ads!
With the 160gig Classic I have my tunes, crap loads of podcasts and some vids for downtime/lunch breaks. I'm actually amazed at the amount of podcasts I go through in a week.
This is one of my gripes...
I live in the Kapiti region and am lucky enough to have cable.
Unfortunately, the plans blow dogs!
I have a 10mbit connection with a 20gig cap. I have gone over that this month with podcasts alone!
With one just-about-at-school daughter and a baby on the way, I can't afford the extra money to up my cap, and TCL don't offer a 4mbit plan with a 30gig cap for the price of the 10/20 plan. I don't need 2mbit up... I don't need 10mbit down really. but I do need 20-30 gig a month. Don't get me wrong, the speed is brilliant (I used to run a game server here and had the big lightspeed plan at the time). But in these days of uncertainty, I just can't afford the extra $$$ for the cap. Sure, If my better half was working instead of pregnant, I could. If my boss paid more, I could. If I won Lotto (ha), I could... But these things aren't happenening!
I know companies are out to make a profit.
I know I would be!
But where is a middle-ground??
TCL don't have one.
After five years I'm looking at options.
New net, new phone and no cable TV (this will greatly annoy my daughter and better-half as playhouse disney saves the day at times, and when the new baby comes, discovery will keep me sane at 3am)
C'mon, TCL, make a plan that gives me a 4mbit connection with a 30gig cap... I'm sure I'm not the only low-paid geek in the cable region!
BTW, why does every other ISP want my phone number and then tell me it doesn't exist! I have TCL phone, we do exist! Please just give me a map of your broadband areas!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Fuji Z10FD
Fuji is getting with the programme, by introducing the Fuji Finepix Z10FD digital camera�which has some Read More
The autonomous vehicle that thinks like an ant
The autonomous vehicle that thinks like an ant
We've seen numerous examples of science mimicking nature in the developing fields of robotic automation and artificial intelligence in recent times, from robotic fish to leaping micro-bots and mechanical rodents. Now a team of engineers from the University of La Laguna (ULL) in the Canary Islands have applied this thinking to self-steering vehicles using a system based on the way ants navigate between home-base and their food source...
Related Articles: 
We've seen numerous examples of science mimicking nature in the developing fields of robotic automation and artificial intelligence in recent times, from robotic fish to leaping micro-bots and mechanical rodents. Now a team of engineers from the University of La Laguna (ULL) in the Canary Islands have applied this thinking to self-steering vehicles using a system based on the way ants navigate between home-base and their food source...
Related Articles:
- Supervised autonomy for unmanned ground vehicles
- Embrio One-Wheel Concept
- Lockheed Martin achieve autonomous navigation milestone
- French Designer ETUD previews Scooto
- Robotic surgery in zero gravity
- New kit converts earthmovers to full remote control
Great Minds of History: Nikola Tesla (Никола Тесла)
Great Minds of History: Nikola Tesla (Никола Тесла)
I thought I would deviate today from my regular ramblings and do a bit of a tribute post to a man I consider to be one of the greatest minds in history.
Nikola Tesla,
Nikola Tesla is not referred to as often as Edison, and doesn't equate the level of fame of guys like Einstein, there are many reasons put forward for this, but it could perhaps be due to many of his greatest visions and inventions not coming to fruition.
-However- this is not to say he isn't well known and remembered,
According to wikipedia:
He moved to America in 1884, with an introduction letter from Charles Batchelor to Thomas Edison,
The letter had more in it, but a common quotation from the letter is
Nikola Tesla then productively spent the next 59 years living in New York.
Telsa's first work was setting about improving Edison's line of dynamos whilst working in Edison's lab, This is when the historically discussed disagreement with Edison began, over direct current versus alternating current. this initial "divergence" culminated in a "war of the currents".
Tesla felt that the use of direct current was inefficient, as he view all energies as being cyclic, so he felt that rather than sending direct current, one should build generators that would send electrical energy first one way, then another, in multiple waves using the polyphase principal.
Edison's preferred DC had a severe disadvantage in that it could not be transported more than two miles due to its inability to step up to high voltage levels necessary for long distance travel, as a result a DC Power station was required at two mile intervals.
Whilst working as a manual laborer Tesla continued his various pieces of research, and in 1887 he constructed the first brushless AC induction motor, which he then demonstrated at the American Institute of Electrical engineers
here It is quite facisinating reading, if you enjoy historical inventions at a rather technical level, in it he states
Highly recommended if you enjoy technical reading.
One of the people that Tesla managed to significantly impress was a rather well known (and partially well known to this day) was George Westinghouse, inventor and industrialist - whose name lives on today in everything from kitchen appliances to laundry appliances and more!
purportedly around February 1882; Tesla discovered the rotating magnetic field, which is of course fundamental to many aspects of physics and a neccessary required basis to all alternating current devices,
The brilliant thing that Tesla achieved, was the adaption of his discovery of the rotating magnetic field into the construction of the AC induction motor.
The AC Induction motor is used everywhere in the world, it is considered by many to be a cornerstone of the industrial revolution at the turn of the century and to this day a majority of electricity is generated, transmitted and converted thanks to the Inventions of Tesla.
However, whilst regarded as his greatest and most world changing, His Polyphase Alternating Current system is by no means his only invention.
His inventions were wide and numerous, and utterly brilliant and there is quite a lengthy list, some of the inventions you are using right now as you read this (as i have already discussed), and other work he performed whilst not the inventor, took various fields to a whole new level,
some of Telsa's Inventions and discoveries include:
He proved that the Earth itself was able to be used as a conductor and was highly sensitive and responsive to electrical vibrations of particular frequencies,
Part of proving this he produced artificial lightning with (according to Wikipedia) discharges consisting of millions of volts and up to 135 feet long!
Wikipedia also states that reproductions of Tesla's receivers and coherer circuits show an unpredicted level of complexity.
it is during this time Tesla states that he observed stationary waves.
Tesla found ways to transmit power and energy, wirelessly, over some very long distances (we are definitely not talking about across a room here)
some via transverse waves, but more via logitudinal waves.
He successfully transmitted via the ground as well as through the Kennelly-Heaviside Layer.
Not only did tesla successfully transmit to specialised detectors, he demonstrated lighting his light bulbs from a long distance without any wires, via the tesla effect
Around this time is when things went a bit awry (or at least many of the things are yet to be proved in the way Tesla predicted)
Whilst Tesla was in his lab in Colorado he observed unusual signals that he later thought may have been evidence of extraterrestrial radio communications coming from Venus or Mars.
Part of this were repetitive signals form his receiver that were totally different from the signals he had noted from storms and background earth noise.
Tesla makes mention of this event in many of his writings and many times he mentions his thoughts that his inventions could be used to talk with other planets.
Many people claim that he invented a Teslascope for this purpose, there are many people out there who have claimed to have built one and listened to cosmic rays (ok, totally believable, there is an abundance of radiation out there, and nothing wrong with converting it into audible signals) others claim to use it to converse with Aliens and strongly believe Tesla did so. (Ok, I'd love to believe. give me some PROOF)
Although many people have discussed it, perhaps Tesla's invention was in some forms merited - as many of his other discoveries were considered foolish, or even impossible until he demonstrated it, and he never demonstrated the Teslascope, however it did receive much publicity in Time Magazines July 20, 1931 issue which when celebrating Tesla's 75th birthday Tesla stated:
The Fantastic thing about the internet and World Wide web?
The full article is available to read on the Time Magazine website here
To be honest there is a big part of me that gives Tesla the benefit of the Doubt, he was an undeniable genius, and managed to discover and invent many things that were thought not possible (in fact some of proven his inventions many people to this day think dont actually exist or aren't real!!)
Unfortunately while Tesla was a Genius inventor, he wasn't good with money, he left colorado, and his lab was torn down and contents sold off to cover debts,
however Tesla was already looking ahead to his next great project.
the Wardenclyffe Tower,
Tesla did not have good fortunes, in 1904 the US Patent Office reversed its decision and Awarded Guglielmo Marconi the patent for radio starting a battle that did not finally get resolved until a deciscion in 1943 by the US Supreme court who awarded it back to Tesla.
Tesla went on to demonstrate his various turbines, in 1906 he demonstrated his 150kW 16,000 rpm bladless turbine.
and durning 1910 - 1911 several of his bladeless turbine enginse were tested at 74 to 3,728 kW
in 1917 some of Telsas goals for the Wardenclyffe tower were achieved at his newer tower the Telefunken Wireless Station in SAyville, Long Island.
unfortunately this was torn town by the Marines in 1917 because it was suspected it could be used by german spies.
At his Death Tesla held (and still holds) around 112 US Patents,
29 British Patents,
6 Canadian patents,
1 argentinian patent,
5 australian patents,
4 austrian patents,
21 in belgium
2 in Brazil
1 in cuba
3 in Denmark
19 German Patents
26 French,
1 in india
11 in italy,
1 in japan and
7 in hungary.
That is not by any means an exhaustive list.
Not only were many of Tesla's inventions very real, Tesla theorized, planned or claimed to have invented:
* Electric Submarine
* Telefore
* Death Ray
* Mechanical Oscillator
* Free Energy (- renewable from existing sources, not a perpetual motion machine)
* Earthquake machine
* Force Field
* Anti-Gravity Aircraft
* Thought Camera.
Dr. Nikola Tesla was without a doubt one of the most brilliant minds in history, and that is why I'll not totally write off some of his proven Ideas, because so many of his proven ideas were so fantastic.
(that said, I'm not necessarily going to believe them without evidence!)
I thought I would deviate today from my regular ramblings and do a bit of a tribute post to a man I consider to be one of the greatest minds in history.
Nikola Tesla,
Nikola Tesla is not referred to as often as Edison, and doesn't equate the level of fame of guys like Einstein, there are many reasons put forward for this, but it could perhaps be due to many of his greatest visions and inventions not coming to fruition.
-However- this is not to say he isn't well known and remembered,
According to wikipedia:
"Contemporary biographers of Tesla have regarded him as "The Father of Physics", "The man who invented the twentieth century"[3] and "the patron saint of modern electricity."[4]"Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan, Lika, Croatian Krajina region the then Austo-Hungarian Empire, To a Serbian Orthodox Priest father, and a Mother who invented Household appliances.
He moved to America in 1884, with an introduction letter from Charles Batchelor to Thomas Edison,
Charles Batchelor was a close a associate of Thomas Edison, and grew up in Manchester England, he himself is still regarded as a great inventor and was an early executive of the General Electric Company.
Thomas Edison is a very-well known inventor (in-part no doubt to the American ability to Celebrate their Heroes - which I think is really good and other countries should celebrate their historical heroes as much, however ironic that Edison was born a Canadian) most definitely his fame comes from his most well known invention, the long-lasting, practical Electric Lightbulb (no he didn't actually invent the lightbulb - infact a majority of his inventions were improvements on prior patented inventions). other inventions include the Phonograph and the Carbon Microphone.
The letter had more in it, but a common quotation from the letter is
" I know two great Men, One is you (referring to Edison) and the other is this young man (referring to Tesla)"
Nikola Tesla then productively spent the next 59 years living in New York.
Telsa's first work was setting about improving Edison's line of dynamos whilst working in Edison's lab, This is when the historically discussed disagreement with Edison began, over direct current versus alternating current. this initial "divergence" culminated in a "war of the currents".
Tesla felt that the use of direct current was inefficient, as he view all energies as being cyclic, so he felt that rather than sending direct current, one should build generators that would send electrical energy first one way, then another, in multiple waves using the polyphase principal.
Edison's preferred DC had a severe disadvantage in that it could not be transported more than two miles due to its inability to step up to high voltage levels necessary for long distance travel, as a result a DC Power station was required at two mile intervals.
Tidbit: Direct current flows continuously in one direction, alternating current changes direction (usually 50 or 60 times per second)
the common term for this is hertz which is a measure of frequency, loosly defined as the number of events per second.
the formal definition as defined by the international system of Units (SI) is as defined as follows from Wikipedia:the hyperfine splitting in the ground state of the caesium 133 atom is exactly 9 192 631 770 hertz, ν (hfs Cs) = 9 192 631 770 Hz.[1]. Equivalently, 1 Hz = 1⁄9,192,631,770 ν (hfs Cs). This definition is derived from the SI definition of the second. The base unit for hertz is s-1 (also called inverse seconds, reciprocal seconds). As hertz
is commonly used to measure rotational speed, the base unit is sometimes represented as cycle/s.
Whilst working as a manual laborer Tesla continued his various pieces of research, and in 1887 he constructed the first brushless AC induction motor, which he then demonstrated at the American Institute of Electrical engineers
- an organisation still around to this day, but known as IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) - www.ieee.orgas part of his paper titled "A New System of Alternating Current Motors and Transformers", a copy of his paper is available online
here It is quite facisinating reading, if you enjoy historical inventions at a rather technical level, in it he states
" I will now proceed to show how this result was accomplished."
Highly recommended if you enjoy technical reading.
One of the people that Tesla managed to significantly impress was a rather well known (and partially well known to this day) was George Westinghouse, inventor and industrialist - whose name lives on today in everything from kitchen appliances to laundry appliances and more!
purportedly around February 1882; Tesla discovered the rotating magnetic field, which is of course fundamental to many aspects of physics and a neccessary required basis to all alternating current devices,
The brilliant thing that Tesla achieved, was the adaption of his discovery of the rotating magnetic field into the construction of the AC induction motor.
The AC Induction motor is used everywhere in the world, it is considered by many to be a cornerstone of the industrial revolution at the turn of the century and to this day a majority of electricity is generated, transmitted and converted thanks to the Inventions of Tesla.
However, whilst regarded as his greatest and most world changing, His Polyphase Alternating Current system is by no means his only invention.
His inventions were wide and numerous, and utterly brilliant and there is quite a lengthy list, some of the inventions you are using right now as you read this (as i have already discussed), and other work he performed whilst not the inventor, took various fields to a whole new level,
some of Telsa's Inventions and discoveries include:
- The Tesla Coil (fairly obvious that one)
- Alternating Current, Polyphasic etc.
- First Hydroelectric powerplant at the Niagara falls in 1895
- The Fluorescent Light
- Laser Beams
- Wireless Communications (big disputes between Marconi and Tesla with both having held the patent / credit for radio,)
- In 1896 Tesla patented the basic system of radio, his publish schematics, diagrams and descriptions, provided all the details of the basic elements of a radio transmitter, which was later used by marconi.
- So after a decision in the US Supreme court (1943) Marconi's most significant patent was deemed invalid stating Telsa's contribution was more significant in the invention of Radio Technology. (Tesla and Marconi were not the only inventors / discoverers nor the only legitimate patent holders there is a whole lot that was involved)
- Wireless Electrical Energy Transmission
- Remote Control (first demonstrated to
- Robotics
- A variant of the X-Ray tubes
- Significant advances in robotics
- Bladeless steam turbine (based on a spiral flow principal)
- Super-high temperature pump.
- Discovered the Resonant frequency of the Earth (Confirmed in 1950 as the resonant frequency of the Earth's ionospheric cavity - within this range at least, this is known as the Schemann resonance)
- Terrestrial Stationary Waves (Tesla considered this his most significant discovery)
He proved that the Earth itself was able to be used as a conductor and was highly sensitive and responsive to electrical vibrations of particular frequencies,
Part of proving this he produced artificial lightning with (according to Wikipedia) discharges consisting of millions of volts and up to 135 feet long!
Wikipedia also states that reproductions of Tesla's receivers and coherer circuits show an unpredicted level of complexity.
it is during this time Tesla states that he observed stationary waves.
Tesla found ways to transmit power and energy, wirelessly, over some very long distances (we are definitely not talking about across a room here)
some via transverse waves, but more via logitudinal waves.
He successfully transmitted via the ground as well as through the Kennelly-Heaviside Layer.
Not only did tesla successfully transmit to specialised detectors, he demonstrated lighting his light bulbs from a long distance without any wires, via the tesla effect
the tesla effect is defined in various sources as: "..term for an application of a type of electrical conduction. Through logitudinal waves, an operator uses the tesla effoct in the wireless transferl of energy to a receiving device."
Around this time is when things went a bit awry (or at least many of the things are yet to be proved in the way Tesla predicted)
Whilst Tesla was in his lab in Colorado he observed unusual signals that he later thought may have been evidence of extraterrestrial radio communications coming from Venus or Mars.
Part of this were repetitive signals form his receiver that were totally different from the signals he had noted from storms and background earth noise.
Tesla makes mention of this event in many of his writings and many times he mentions his thoughts that his inventions could be used to talk with other planets.
Many people claim that he invented a Teslascope for this purpose, there are many people out there who have claimed to have built one and listened to cosmic rays (ok, totally believable, there is an abundance of radiation out there, and nothing wrong with converting it into audible signals) others claim to use it to converse with Aliens and strongly believe Tesla did so. (Ok, I'd love to believe. give me some PROOF)
Although many people have discussed it, perhaps Tesla's invention was in some forms merited - as many of his other discoveries were considered foolish, or even impossible until he demonstrated it, and he never demonstrated the Teslascope, however it did receive much publicity in Time Magazines July 20, 1931 issue which when celebrating Tesla's 75th birthday Tesla stated:
[I have conceived] a means that will make it possible for man to transmit energy in large amounts, thousands of horsepower, from one planet to another, absolutely regardless of distance. I think that nothing can be more important than interplanetary communication. It will certainly come some day and the certitude that there are other human beings in the universe, working, suffering, struggling, like ourselves, will produce a magic effect on mankind and will form the foundation of a universal brotherhood that will last as long as humanity itself.
—Nikola Tesla,
The Fantastic thing about the internet and World Wide web?
The full article is available to read on the Time Magazine website here
To be honest there is a big part of me that gives Tesla the benefit of the Doubt, he was an undeniable genius, and managed to discover and invent many things that were thought not possible (in fact some of proven his inventions many people to this day think dont actually exist or aren't real!!)
Unfortunately while Tesla was a Genius inventor, he wasn't good with money, he left colorado, and his lab was torn down and contents sold off to cover debts,
however Tesla was already looking ahead to his next great project.
the Wardenclyffe Tower,
Unfortunately this tower was torn down for scrap during World War One.Wardenclyffe Tower (1901 – 1917) also known as the Tesla Tower, was an early wireless telecommunications aerial tower designed by Nikola Tesla and intended for commercial trans-Atlantic wireless telephony, broadcasting, and to demonstrate the transmission of power without interconnecting wires.[1][2] The core facility was never fully operational and was not completed due to economic problems. ...(from wikipedia - the rest of the article here
Tesla did not have good fortunes, in 1904 the US Patent Office reversed its decision and Awarded Guglielmo Marconi the patent for radio starting a battle that did not finally get resolved until a deciscion in 1943 by the US Supreme court who awarded it back to Tesla.
Tesla went on to demonstrate his various turbines, in 1906 he demonstrated his 150kW 16,000 rpm bladless turbine.
and durning 1910 - 1911 several of his bladeless turbine enginse were tested at 74 to 3,728 kW
in 1917 some of Telsas goals for the Wardenclyffe tower were achieved at his newer tower the Telefunken Wireless Station in SAyville, Long Island.
unfortunately this was torn town by the Marines in 1917 because it was suspected it could be used by german spies.
At his Death Tesla held (and still holds) around 112 US Patents,
29 British Patents,
6 Canadian patents,
1 argentinian patent,
5 australian patents,
4 austrian patents,
21 in belgium
2 in Brazil
1 in cuba
3 in Denmark
19 German Patents
26 French,
1 in india
11 in italy,
1 in japan and
7 in hungary.
That is not by any means an exhaustive list.
Not only were many of Tesla's inventions very real, Tesla theorized, planned or claimed to have invented:
* Electric Submarine
* Telefore
* Death Ray
* Mechanical Oscillator
* Free Energy (- renewable from existing sources, not a perpetual motion machine)
* Earthquake machine
* Force Field
* Anti-Gravity Aircraft
* Thought Camera.
Dr. Nikola Tesla was without a doubt one of the most brilliant minds in history, and that is why I'll not totally write off some of his proven Ideas, because so many of his proven ideas were so fantastic.
(that said, I'm not necessarily going to believe them without evidence!)
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One week remaining for scuba divers and ocean enthusiasts to compete and win big for the ocean.
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Sony Alpha A350 Compared to Nikon D80 SLR Review
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We have just posted a side by side comparison review between the new 14.2 MP Sony Alpha A350 digital SLR with DT 18-70mm lens versus the 10.1 MP Nikon D80 digital SLR kit with the AF-S DX 18-55mm VR zoom. To see what real world benefits the latest generation technologies and features incorporated in the Sony Alpha A350 offer in terms of image quality or enhancing the photographic experience, we decided to compare this new camera model against the Nikon D80 which remains one of the predominant cameras in the current Nikon line up. See how these two SLR cameras performed in our tests...
We have just posted a side by side comparison review between the new 14.2 MP Sony Alpha A350 digital SLR with DT 18-70mm lens versus the 10.1 MP Nikon D80 digital SLR kit with the AF-S DX 18-55mm VR zoom. To see what real world benefits the latest generation technologies and features incorporated in the Sony Alpha A350 offer in terms of image quality or enhancing the photographic experience, we decided to compare this new camera model against the Nikon D80 which remains one of the predominant cameras in the current Nikon line up. See how these two SLR cameras performed in our tests...
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Read MoreSony KDL-32S3000 32 in. LCD Television
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Friday, September 19, 2008
Vertical Hand Grip for Mamiya 645AFD III
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Cologne, Germany – September 17, 2008 – A vertical grip for the Mamiya 645AFDIII medium format camera has been announced by Mamiya at the 2008 Photokina. The grip, designed for the 645AFD III, features a shutter release button, release mode selector (single or continuous), and Auto Exposure Lock (AEL) and Autofocus lock (AF) buttons all for comfort, convenience and quick handling when shooting vertically....
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PowerPoint 2003 - Misc - Distribute a Presentation on CD
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Create an auto-play CD with your PowerPoint 2003 presentation.
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The minute you know who Chris Pirillo is and can pick him out of a line-up… :-p - Live4Soccer