Most Liked Technology Blogs (217)

I grew up in the era of Black & White TV and times when something electronic wasn't working correctly, it would require banging the side of the console to magically get things working again.

Solid state technology changed all that... or did it?

I turned the computer on this morning and got an error message the power supply fan isn't working. Huh? I've got a few computers with spare parts here and could change out a fan if need be. Turning it off and on 2 more times got the same message. The computer would not boot.

I banged it a few times, opened the case and when I powered up air was coming from the power supply fan.

Fixed... just like the old days!

Sounds like The Don's gearing up to campaign in the '22 Mid-Terms ... And '24??

There are few public parks with model aircraft flying sites provided by Palm Beach County - Parks & Recreation where people go to visit and fly airplanes, helicopters and drones.

One problem is many are within 50 miles of president Trump's Mar-a-Lago retreat and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) has banned all model aircraft on days when he's in town.

I believe the normal restrictions are 400 feet maximum altitude and no flying within 5 miles of a commercial airport.

So any Palm Beach modellers who only fly weekends and holidays get shut down when the president is at Mar-a-Lago on those days.

Happy flying... !

Blast it skype insisted on doing another of its interminable updates recently and I've just found that I am no longer audible. Checked both my skype and pc settings and can't fix it.

Can anyone give helpful advice?

I skype on my desktop computer and up to now, never a problem. The webcam is a plug-in and doesn't do audio, just video

(This luckily doesn't affect teaching, which I do on another computer, but damnit I enjoy my occasional skype calls)

Decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit to measure sound or electronic signal levels. For the purpose of this blog, I'll use it in audio... sound levels.
On another blog, a member will be going to a Formula One race and it's suggested they bring along hearing protection as often race cars develop noise of over 130 dB. Two weeks ago, I attended an outdoor concert and used ear plugs to lower the sound of the performance. It didn't bother my friend, but for me, the volume was louder than I wanted to be subjected to.

The decibel scale In basic terms: zero dB is the threshold of human hearing and a whisper would be 25-30 dB. Normal conversation is 60-70 dB and a lawn mower (at 6' feet) is around 100 dB. Most scales I've seen rate 125 dB as a level of pain and a jet engine at 100 feet away would be 140 dB.

Some sound ratings in the work force, like the noise from a wood chipper or jack hammer where used continuously poise serious problems of hearing loss. A blast from a shot gun could register 170 decibels. Although it's only a split second of noise, a few of those could permanently harm ones hearing. I know 2 people who lost most of their hearing... one guy had the job of refueling helicopters in Vietnam. The aviator hearing protection always fell off as they scrambled to get the helicopters back in the air and he now has dual hearing aids supplied by the VA. The same for my uncle who had the assignment to load bullets on the guns of a battleship during WWII.

When we were kids, it's was rare to have a car stereo more than 20 watts. It's become commonplace to see custom shops installing 1,000 watt systems in cars now!

When talking to one of those guys (with a megapower system), it won't be long before their first word is... huh?

Lots of us here are getting on a bit could drop dead or just have a stroke loose the power to tap out a message so what happens to the profile ? I see profiles here that have not been used for 3 or 4 yrs does it matter to people that when theyre going to be dead that theres all this crap left behind or do lbloggers see it as their legacy ? C.S. doesn't delete stuff we write its out there, no taking it back . I think its wrong that CS has this power . On a bad day you could write something you wish you hadn't.....it's unfair . At least when you delete Facebook its all gone .....what a relief .

I fight with my phone because it tries to put words different than what I'm thinking.
That was a struggle to say and the rest of this blog will be totally predictive text.

Sunday morning at the age of the United states and the United states and the United nations United nations meeting in Miami this week in the United kingdom Delray police department was the only place where did it come from being late in life and the situation was not immediately clear but the decision to leave the country alone would have prevented him from taking his own trip with the government and he would have been a little less concerned about the possibility of an attack on the country and a few other people who had a problem with his actions as well as the military or the government in the past to be fueled by the association between shit from the war or the military in Iraq to the client of the page and how to get the president to be fueled with a serviceman and the other side by the way he was in the middle of the war.



Google, WTF are you thinking?

When I talk about drones, some people think of a teenage boy flying over a neighbors back patio to capture video of the guys daughter or hot looking wife. There are no examples of drones being used elsewhere that will change that mindset. Sorry...

But, if you are open minded, you could find some interest in drones being used in business.

In the example, large scale model drones are equipped with tanks and spray nozzles for the application of pesticides or liquid fertilizers in agriculture.

Pretty simple design with gyroscopic stability, the pilot remotely controls the drone over the crops at the speed and altitude of his choosing.



I've seen some larger GPS models including some with programmable flight path and obstacle avoidance.

Technology put to good use!

SAMSUNG is to start work on the first ever smart TV that can be controlled by the user's mind, according to reports.

The software will allow people to change channels and the volume using only their brain.



Samsung are to start testing first smart TVs that can be controlled by your mind, according to reportsSamsung says it is developing the technology with the help of a team in Switzerland to help those with disabilities.

The research, called Project Pontis, wants to enable "users with physical limitations to change channels and adjust sound volume with their brains".

Brain-monitoring sensors and eye-tracking hardware are currently used to identify what selections the individual intends to make.

But they hope to make so advanced it will be able to work on brain commands alone.

That means you’d only need to think about changing the volume for it to happen.

The company predicts new prototype testing in early 2019 and there is not any suggestion it would be commercially available product.

It is currently aimed at specifically helping those with severe disabilities.

I check a site called giveawayoftheday that offers free software each day. Typically, it's less known authors looking for feedback to better their products. Usually the products are offered without technical support or updates, some are only free licenses good for a year and after stop working or continue with less functionality. I avoid about 98% of these offers and uninstall the trial ones if they don't suit my needs. Over the years, I've found lots of nice free programs, mostly in the music, graphics or utility areas.

Being free comes with a catch as they usually have a nag screen to get you to upgrade to the paid version. Some try to sell you on other selections they offer. I make it a point to uncheck other free offers when installing the one I want to try as many installations have rogue software that mysteriously come with the package. I'll go back to the original offer and give a bad review explaining the unwanted software bundled in the package.

Three months ago, I installed a basic program that saves YouTube videos to disc. Works great and doesn't leave it's name (watermark) on the video it saves. Now ads are popping up when I boot my computer as this selection is in the startup of Windows. I close the program and all is well... except this morning a few minutes after I closed the program, a browser window opened with an offer to upgrade to their latest paid version. If this nag upgrade becomes habitual, I feel a divorce will be sooner than later.