Random Ruminations: Technology

Slashdotted…

Posted Wed May 23, 2007 in Technology

It’s cool here on the south side of Carson City this morning — about 46F. I am enjoying these cool mornings and warm afternoons. Although, I’ll have to say that yesterday afternoon was cool. When I left the office, the Bimmer’s thermometer indicated 62F. I left the moonroof open in vent-mode and dropped the driver’s-side window while I worked my way to the post office to pick up our mail, then turned north to head home. Once on the highway, I raised the window, but left the moonroof open and shut down the vehicle’s air conditioner.

I rose early this morning, as is my habit. When the sun rises, so do I. I prefer that habit to “sleeping in.” I like being up and about in the morning when the air, and the day, are both fresh. It strikes me as odd that I was like that nearly as soon as I left my teenage years, remained that way through much of university, but then lost it when my children were small. I recovered the habit when my depression went away and remain the same now.

I just like being up and about in the morning, even if I’m puttering around the computer or at the office. I have a few cups of coffee, think a little, and then get on with the day.

That said, I was up early this morning, put the pot on, and returned to chat with Wife and noodle on the computer a bit. I keep a few news feeds on my Google home page, and I check them regularly through the day. This morning, a link on /. led me to a website of a professor who was targeted as a terrorist suspect by the FBI.

When I attempted to access the site (should I say “sight?”), I found it was “slashdotted” — a term used to indicate a website that is overloaded by a posting on “/.” Oh well, maybe later. Now I’m curious.

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Jawbone Update

Posted Tue Mar 13, 2007 in Technology

I used my Jawbone a lot yesterday. When I made my daily sojourn to the U.S. Post Office in Minden, I talked Wife all the way. Some heavy traffic passed about a block away and she couldn’t hear it. I checked the mail — nothing — and then headed back to the office. On the way I passed some heavy equipment. Wife could hear me fine even if I couldn’t hear her.

When I returned to the office I said my goodbye’s and went back to work. I called again on the way home and Wife said she could hear me fine, even with the highway noise (which she didn’t notice).

I think this unit is a keeper. Now to try it on the highway home.

I head for home Saturday — well, I head for Lubbock to where my home was and my home is. My Home is my family. They happen to still live in Lubbock. Soon they will live with me in my home here in Nevada — and my Home will be home.

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Jawbone Preliminary Review

Posted Mon Mar 12, 2007 in Technology

I became disenchanted with the Plantronics Discovery 640 Bluetooth headset I bought last May when we bought our BlackBerries from Cingular. I loved the light, unobtrusive nature of the 640, but the unit worked well only in quiet environments.

After becoming increasingly frustrated trying to talk to Wife while driving, I finally decided to do something about the situation. So, I started researching Bluetooth headsets Saturday morning. I’d had enough of not being able to talk when walking or when driving.

I did some research a few weeks ago, but couldn’t find a unit that offered prospects better than what I had. So, I didn’t have high hopes Saturday morning.

But I found something new called the Jawbone that includes noise-cancelling technology so the transmitter filters environmental sounds from the input stream. A review on Brighthand sounded promising. So did the review on CNET. So, after finishing my morning chores around the house, I headed for Best Buy to see if their Cingular kiosk had the unit. Sadly, they did not. But, the assistant working the Kiosk directed me to the Cingular store in Carson City. I intended to drive through Carson to Mound House to visit the Carson Armory anyway, so I added the stop to my plans.

The store was busy. The mobile phone business still looks very good. (I’m pretty happy with my ownership of both Telephone and Verizon these days. I think I’ll stay invested in those companies, even if the market is not growing like it was ten years ago.) A clerk asked me “Can I help you find something?”

“I’m not pleased with my Bluetooth headset. What’s the best headset in the store?”

She showed me one of the Samsung units. “Do you have the Aliph headset?”

“Aliph? What’s that?”

“It’s a new unit that offers noise-cancellation.”

“We have the Jawbone.” She pointed to a small video-display screen. “The demonstration shows how it works.”

“That’s it. The company who makes it is called Aliph.”

She started the demonstration. A young man is standing in the median area of a busy street. Two other young men start a lawn mower and a string trimmer. It’s very loud and difficult to hear him. Then he starts the noise filter and the background noise basically went away.

“These don’t come back,” she said. “You have thirty days — if it doesn’t do what you want it to, bring it back.”

“I’ll take one.”

“I’ll see if we have any. They basically sell-out as soon as they come in.”

I could see why, if they perform anything like they do in the demonstration. I spent over $100 for the Plantronics headset. It was decent in the proper environment, but not that technologically advanced, except for its size. So, I happily plopped down another $120 for the unit, confident that if it doesn’t perform on my trip home next weekend, then I’ll simply return it and see if I can find something else.

Sunday afternoon I had errands to run, so I took my Jawbone along with me. I left it hanging on my ear¹ while out and about. I finished my grocery-shopping and carried my things to the car. When I got into the car, I called Wife to do a little live-testing.

“Can you hear me now?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve got the window down. The wind is blowing on the headset. Can you hear it?”

“Yes, but I can still hear you fine.”

I drove down the road a ways then rolled up the window as the Bimmer came up to speed. “How’s that? I’m on Highway 395 headed home.”

“I can still hear you fine.”

So, I may have found a solution to the background-noise problem that plagued the Plantronics Discovery 640. The real test will come next weekend when I’m driving home. I’ll make some calls from the car while on the road at highway speeds and that should be the test.

Oh yeah, the image… I made a self-potrait of me modeling the Jawbone. Aren’t I pretty? ;)

¹ My colleagues learned that sometimes it appears I’m either talking to myself or them when I’m really on the phone. I don’t wear the headset while I’m working in the office, in general. I could, but I don’t get that many calls on my mobile phone while working at the office. I typically receive calls when I’m out and about, such as during my lunchtime walks. Then it’s quite possible I’m talking on the phone while walking, or when I return to the office. I also go to the conference room to talk to Wife at the end of my lunch breaks. That way I don’t disturb my colleagues when they’re trying to focus on their work.

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Virtual Flight

Posted Tue Oct 3, 2006 in Technology

A friend sent a link to a site with video from a radio-controlled aircraft equipped with a small camera and connected to a virtual-reality headset. The images are incredible and make me want to take up the hobby. This is good stuff.

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Apple iPod Earbuds

Posted Tue May 23, 2006 in Technology

Apple's iPod Earbuds I bought a set of Apple iPod Earbuds a couple of weeks ago to replace my failed Sony EX71’s (review here). My Sony’s failed and it was the second or third set this year.

I sometimes sleep in my earbuds. When I have trouble getting settled down at night, I’ll put them in and use my iPod to help drive the day’s activities from mind so I can rest. I’ve been using my iPod as a sleep aid for two or three years now. It’s very effective for me.

Sonically, the iPod earbuds are better than average. In comparison with the Sony EX71’s, I find them a bit fat in the mid-range frequencies and maybe not quite as smooth sounding as the Sony earbuds. But, they are not bad-sounding at all. Just a bit different that what I was used to and certainly plenty good sounding for the price. The highs are clear and the bass full and tight.

The trick with these earbuds, like any earbud, is to ensure the proper latex shell is installed so that the earbuds fit snugly, but not too tight. A loose fit is bad! Then, on insertion (be careful or you’ll put pressure on your eardrums—uncomfortable) “wiggle them around a bit” (technical terms) to get them properly seated.

I like how the shells fit tight against my head. These earbuds are well-designed (like every Apple product I’ve owned) and the strain-relief for the buds themselves are well-constructed and should protect the leads against flexure. They are comfortable to wear while reclining.

When properly inserted, you’ll find the sound quite good. If the iPod earbuds are not properly seated, then the leaks will suck the bass right out them and they will not sound good at all. Some experimentation may be required.

Now for my only complaint, and the reason for only three stars—my iPod earbuds work out of my ears as I wear them. As I said before, I often wear my earbuds when sleeping or resting, so this may be a special situation. But after a few minutes, maybe a half-hour, I lose the high-quality sound and find that they’ve worked out of my ears just enough to break the seal.

I don’t wear them when I’m sitting up, preferring to use regular speakers when I’m at the desk. So, I can’t say how they will perform when the wearer is in an upright position. They may be fine.

So, my opinion is that they are a better-than-average sounding headset, definitely well-designed, but they don’t stay seated for me. So, as I said, YMMV… but they’re worth a try and the price is reasonable.

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HHO - HOH - H2O

Posted Mon May 22, 2006 in Technology

A video clip circulated through one of the mailing lists I run about motorcycling. Well, the list is circumferentially about motorcycling—it’s really a kind of free-for-all that is amusing. The clip is about an inventor who has patented a device for converting water into fuel. The writer asked, “Would you advise us as to the efficacy and efficiency of this device?”

In response to the inquiry, I wrote:

I’ve heard of such attempts before. The report is correct that water can be converted into hydrogen and oxygen gases through electrolysis and the combustion of the resulting hydrogen produces water. I played around with the process when I was 13 using one of mom’s water glasses, a couple of electrodes, and a 6-volt battery. However, I can’t tell much from the brief report about the technical aspects of the device. While I’m not saying it’s a hoax, it has the appearance of not being completely forthcoming.

A question I have is how much energy is required to produce the fuel and oxidant? Fuels represent stored energy. For example, in the case of fossil fuels, the energy generally came from insolation converted into biomass through photosynthesis. The subsequent geologic processing of the dead vegetation converted the biomass into coal and oil represents significant investment in energy by Old Mother Nature. We extract that energy through combustion. In the case of the HHO device, the energy to produce the fuel must come from somewhere—presumably electricity. So, there is naturally an inefficiency there—it takes more energy to produce than is yielded by the resulting combustion.

While this is fine for a torch intended for cutting or brazing metal, it is not efficient in terms of other types of energy use—such as transportation.

In my opinion, this is one of the deficiencies of ethyl alcohol promoters—they assume that because ethyl alcohol is produced from renewable resources (ahem), that it’s energy efficient. The facts may not be quite so tidy—it requires substantial energy investment to produce the underlying grain crops and then process them into alcohol for fuel. It may turn out (it’s still obfuscated) that more energy is required to produce a unit of heat energy from the resulting fuel than the fuel yields. If my assertion is true, then biofuels may not prove to be a good investment. They may be useful for some components of our energy needs, but they are not a silver bullet. This is what I expect to be demonstrated.

As far as water as fuel is concerned, it’s a nice try but there have been other, equally smart individuals attempt to do similar things before without success. I remain quite skeptical. We have been searching, for generations, for means to transmute lead into gold.

Here are a few links I found:

You can find a link to the clip via one of those sites. I noticed the date was July 2005. It’s old news, but still a fascinating look at the old attempt to get something for nothing.

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Nieman-Marcus and the Moller Skycar

Posted Sun Oct 2, 2005 in Technology

A long time ago I wrote about the Moller Skycar. At the time, I wondered when the machine would become available.

Well, I recently read that the prototype M400 Skycar will be sold by Nieman-Marcus for the paltry sum of $3.6M. I verified that the Skycar is in the Nieman-Marcus Christmasbook (you can find it on pages 84-85).

This is too cool! Even if I can’t even think about owning one myself, the idea that the machine will be sold is astounding.

Later: You know, I love the idea of the Skycar. I was just reading on the Moller website and came across the Letter from the President. It is well worth reading. One of the interesting parts of the presentation is the figure showing the relation between fuel economy and airspeed (I assume crusing airspeed). If Moller can get the Skycar running and through the approval process, this will be a significant engineering success.

The image is from the Moller site. I hope they don’t mind me borrowing it. I looked, but saw no copyright on their images.

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