Paradoxdruid's Rants » gadgets

iPhone = Star Trek?

Paradoxdruid — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 05:22:15 +0000

Just a quick post: I got an iPhone this week. Aside from my iPod, it’s my first Apple purchase… and it’s awfully slick. I’ll avoid hyperbole, and simply state that it actually exceeded my expectations, which was no small feat. I feel like I’m living the Star Trek dream: I have a hand-held device that can tell me where I am, what’s around me, retreive books and music from thin air, and I can talk to and get results (Google’s Voice Search is damn impressive: say “post offices in goleta california”, it’ll pop up the local offices, then hit “get directions” and get turn-by-turn GPS guided directions. Slick). I’ll probably blather on later about my favorite applications, or “apps”, at a later date. But for now: it’s nifty.

Finding a HDTV is hard

Paradoxdruid — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 00:21:48 +0000

Finding a HDTV is a difficult thing to do, apparantly, if you’ve read up on the technology and are looking for good product. I even have a short list of what I want:

1600:1 or greater contrast – Most HDTVs have this
HDMI port — Most HDTVs have this
DVI PC port — Greater than 60% of HDTVs have this
Size of 27 or 32 inches — the most popular LCD TV sizes
Viewable angle >150 degrees — Almost all HDTVs have this
Native HD resolution — and here’s the rub… almost no HDTVs fulfill this seemingly trivial requirement (more on this if you click “continued” below)

Almost no HDTVs I can find have native HD resolution. HD comprises two standards: 720p and 1080p. That’s 720 pixels from top to bottom, or 1080 pixels. Some large (>42 inch) HDTVs have native 1080p resolution. But I’m having trouble finding a single mid-size HDTV with native resolution. Usually, they have 1366×768 resolution. That means the screen is 768 pixels from top to bottom. But the signal it receives is only 720 pixels, so the TVs have internal hardware that rescales the image– stretches it to fill those extra pixels.

The problem is, no matter if the company makes a good rescaler or not, you’re still distorting the picture, scaling it. This introduces fuzziness, artifacts, and overall– not a “high definition” picture at all. If I’m going to buy a new TV that will, presumably, be with me for over a decade, I want a worthwhile product. A kludge that doesn’t even display pictures at it’s intended resolution isn’t the answer.

I know why they do it: manufacturing 1366×768 displays is a cheap process currently, cheap enough to make the internal rescaling hardware worth it. But it’s a disservice to their customers, and it is shoddy product.

So where can I find a native resolution HD LCD TV? Any ideas?

A Wii Lament

Paradoxdruid — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 20:32:21 +0000

So, the Nintendo Wii game console is coming out any day now… and I don’t have one pre-ordered. Which means I might not have one until Christmas, or (egads!) even later. I can’t think of a time I’ve been as excited about a game (except perhaps my misguided and ultimately disasterous infatuation with the terrible game Black and White). So, yes, a lament. On a side note, I quite like the first Nintendo Wii commercial that’s airing.

The iPod Age

Teisha — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 06:02:34 +0000

So Andrew bought me an iPod a few weeks ago and while I can’t say it’s been a life-altering event, it has changed a few things I do, and I’d imagine many people have probably made similar discoveries.
I wasn’t really pushing to get one, as it’s expensive and I wasn’t sure how much use I’d get out of it, but I think it’s been a good decision. Specifically, I have a 4GB iPod nano. The decision was between this or a 30GB iPod (not promoted anymore — now they have a 60GB and the brand-new 80GB). Since I only have about 6GB of music (I know, not much compared to most, and no videos), and the nano is a lot smaller than the other iPod, and it was about $40 cheaper, I picked the 4GB nano and just went through and selected my favorite music to put on — I ended up only using about 3.2GB.

However, what I’ve now been using it the most for is podcasts. Now when I have a chance during the day, while biking or doing something not requiring all my attention at work, I listen to NPR podcasts, such as the 5 minute news summary, story of the day, or Science Friday, or some other science-related podcasts. This has probably been the biggest change it’s brought to my life — I find myself listening to podcasts more often than music on it.

What about other people? Anybody with strong feelings about using iPods? Some of my friends make fun of the iPoders and criticize their hearing-damaging ways, though I think that might be a bit short-sited for the potential of iPods. Andrew has a video iPod and has lots of videos on it, but that ability is a bit harder to use while trying to do work… so he hasn’t looked at them in about a year, but still listens to podcasts frequently. Are there other podcasts people would recommend, or is there other audio, but non-music, that people listen to a lot? I feel like I’ve joined the iPod age a bit late in the game, and still have a lot to learn about its possibilities.

Arts & Crafts Rebirth — Knitting and Crocheting

Teisha — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 22:28:01 +0000

It seems that, in the general public, there’s recently been a real revival of arts and crafts interest, specifically with knitting and crocheting, and I’ve been doing my little part to contribute to it. Anybody else into this, or other arts and crafts projects?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, here’s a good link on knitting and one on crocheting. The main difference that I can see is knitting uses two straight needles vs. crocheting’s one hooked needle and you can do a variety of loop and hole designs much easier using crocheting. I know there’s a lot to it, but I’ve just started

I knitted a little bit when I was 10 or so, but haven’t touched it since then. I just started knitting again a few weeks ago and made a multi-colored “snail.” A friend of mine, Li, tought me my first few crochet stitches just last Wednesday, and since then I’ve gotten my own crochet hooks, a beginner’s book on crocheting (and one on knitting), and a variety of yarn. I’m currently working on a mini-purse.

Anyway, I know there are some knitters who read this (Megan!) and I was wondering if you had advice or want to share your current projects. I’m also curious about what other arts and crafts projects people have been working on — Andrew’s been wanting to get into making things with clay, but he’s just not sure if it’s really his thing and is trying to find something he’d enjoy…

Gadget Blog

Paradoxdruid — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 02:16:00 +0000

I’ve recently become kind of hooked on GizModo, the gadgets weblog.
I can’t say that it’s content is always insightful, but it’s always interesting, and a great place to see what’s “cutting edge” today.

iPod, uPod, we allPod for iPod

Paradoxdruid — Mon, 10 Jan 2005 08:07:00 +0000

I got an iPod last night…
For the first time in my life, I have a full-time job. Which actually pays enough that I come out in the black. So, after Christmas, I ended up ahead quite a bit more money than I was expecting, so I finally felt I could justify the cost.

Man, is it worth it. I now have 1800 songs on it, and I’m sitting at work listening to it. It’s pretty damn wonderful. I got a third-generation design 20 GB model, which is only $50 more than the 4 GB mini– I guess you pay for the tiny size of the mini, but the regular (like mine) is small enough for me… Slightly larger than a deck of cards.

Needless to say, I’m only filling like 6 GB right now, but I’ll add some more when I finish ripping in my remaining CDs… and more as I start getting new CDs. Now, I need to get some more good music.