Surrounding Yourself with Sound in Your Home Theater

Adapted From: Home Theatre for Dummies

Unless you plan on installing a 360-degree Cinema-in-the-Round screen in your home, just like you’d see at Disney World, video plays a rather confined (but still big) role in creating the home theater illusion of “being” in the movie. The real job of surrounding yourself in the scene falls to your multichannel surround sound audio system.

Imagine that you see on the screen the soon-to-be victims of a firing squad, and from behind you, you hear the clicks of the rifles as they chamber a round. Your rear channel-driven surround sound system brings you that sensation. Hearing that sound coming from in front of you, when you can’t see the firing squad, simply doesn’t carry the same weight.

Two-channel sound versus multichannel surround sound
Most of us are used to age-old two-channel sound – the stereo sound that gives us a left and a right speaker effect. Multi-channel surround sound builds on this presentation by adding a front center speaker between the front left and right speakers and adding two surround speakers. Some versions of surround sound add two more rear speakers and side surround speakers to really enhance your surround-sound field.

So imagine a scene that shows a squadron of jets doing a fly-by of the carrier command bridge. If we were in the command bridge, we would hear the jets coming in from the left, sweeping across in front of us, and then disappearing to the right and the rear as they turn off to the starboard side of the ship. If you’re sitting in a well-tuned home theater, you should hear no differently. And in fact, as the bridge shakes, your subwoofers (and bass shakers) give you the vibrations to make you feel like you’re actually there.

In a 2-channel system, you may hear some of that effect because it may get the left and right part correct. A 2-channel system can’t help with the front to back movement, however, and that’s the critical part of a surround sound system – it surrounds you!

Understanding surround sound lingo
For the most part, the entertainment industry boils down a lot of the surround sound terminology into numbers, such as 2.0, 5.1, and 7.1. Sometimes these numbers refer to the playback system’s speaker configuration, and sometimes they refer to the audio signal format. You may find the lingo confusing, especially when the speakers don’t match the audio signals. In these numbers, the first number represents the number of speakers or main audio channels involved, and the 1 or 0 after the decimal point tells you whether or not the system has a subwoofer or supports a low frequency effects channel. Systems that end in 1 have a subwoofer or an effects channel.

What is Social Networking?

Most people seek connection. In fact, most people require some kind of need to bond with others. Some of us have a significant need to create community or—at the very least—some kind of shared experience. This has occurred throughout the history of the online world, whether in the form of Usenet newsgroups, email lists, chat, instant messaging (IM), and Peer-to-Peer technologies. In recent years, some new offerings have been added to the mix, and they are reviving interest in community in fresh ways.

Dave Shea, creator of the CSS Zen Garden and avid weblogger via his site, Mezzoblue, says that “the potential to hook up disparate groups of distributed people with the same interests is amazing.” Shea feels that “There’s nothing like an online community to bring together people who can’t create a local community out of lack of shared interest.”

The continuing integration of sociology and technology is bringing about new insights and new platforms for advances for both. The technologies of interest in contemporary social networking include

• Weblogs. Weblogging has become a vastly popular social event. For the technologist, the tools being developed and perfected for weblogs—such as automated aggregation, blogrolls, and comment system—are making it profoundly easy to aggregate and connect related content as well as people. Surprise, surprise to all you folks who thought weblogs would be a passing fad! New markup languages are emerging to manage aggregation and to better express relationships within document content.
• Social networking Web sites. Along with Orkut and Friendster, a large number of social networking web sites have emerged. These sites aren’t to be confused with general community sites; instead they specifically map individuals to other individuals.
• Geographical mapping. Easy-to-implement geographical mapping can be made of the precise location of you and the weblog or sites you represent.

Social networking is providing important and very useful technologies. There are other questions important to consider as well, as is always the case when technology and humanity interact.

By Molly Holzschlag.

GM Re-introduces the Electric Car

Struggling auto giant General Motors Corp.  on Sunday revived its once-failed idea of a mass-market electric car, unveiling a new “concept” car called the Volt designed to use little or no gasoline.

Introduced at the North American International Auto Show here, the Chevrolet Volt will draw power exclusively from a next-generation battery pack recharged by a small onboard engine — if the technology is ready in two or three years.

“We have a thoroughly studied concept, but further battery development will define the critical path to start of production,” said Jon Lauckner, a GM vice president for product development.

The Volt is designed to run for 40 miles on pure electric power, making it marketable for everyday family use.

For the average American driver who drives 40 miles a day, or 15,000 miles a year, the Volt will require no fuel and lead to an annual savings of 500 gallons of gasoline, GM said.

Unlike current gas-electric hybrids, which use a parallel system twinning battery power and a combustion engine, the Volt will be driven entirely by electric power.

GM has been stung by criticism that it conspired to kill the EV1, an experimental electric vehicle program it launched in 1996 and killed by 2003. The documentary film “Who Killed the Electric Car?” released last year criticized GM for first developing but then abandoning electric vehicles.

GM said the Volt will have advantages over the defunct EV1, including smaller batteries, faster recharging, more room for passengers, and a faster maximum highway speed.

“For most drivers, the Volt will use little or no gasoline,” GM chief engineer Nick Zielinski told reporters.

The Vanishing Click-Fraud Case

Why was a seemingly slam-dunk case against an alleged click-fraudster who attempted to extort Google quietly dismissed? It began on Mar. 10, 2004, when a computer programmer from Oak Park, Calif., named Michael Anthony Bradley arrived at Google’s (GOOG) offices for a prearranged meeting with the company’s engineers, according to a criminal indictment filed two years ago in the U.S. District Court in San Jose. Bradley, then 32, proceeded to demonstrate new software, dubbed “Google Clique,” designed to generate false clicks on Google ads. Bradley claimed his program could force Google to pay millions of dollars on false clicks and threatened to release it to others unless Google paid him approximately $150,000, according to the indictment.

Law enforcement, tipped off earlier, taped the meeting from the room next door and soon arrested Bradley. It appeared Bradley would become the first person criminally prosecuted for charges related to click fraud, the Achilles heel of the Internet-advertising industry, which costs marketers as much as $1 billion a year (see BusinessWeek, 10/2/06, “Click Fraud”).

Google Backs Down
But on Nov. 22, the U.S. Attorney’s Office quietly dismissed charges against Bradley. The prosecutors, who had announced the arrest and indictment of Bradley in press releases, refused to discuss why they dropped the case. Defense attorney Jay Rorty declined to comment or make his client available. Attempts to reach Bradley weren’t successful. A Google spokesman issued a vague statement: “We continue to work closely with law enforcement in many areas, including click fraud. Individual cases may or may not be pursued by law enforcement at their discretion.”

Why did a seemingly strong criminal case simply vanish? A key culprit may have been Google’s own unwillingness to cooperate with prosecutors, according to people familiar with the case.

There is little about Google’s business that is more closely guarded than the issue of click fraud. Company officials say they take the issue seriously and have zero tolerance for fraudsters who generate bogus clicks on ads in order to profit. The search giant says it detects most fraudulent clicks before advertisers are ever billed and that industry concerns are overblown. But Google won’t discuss specifically how it detects bad clicks or what percent it deems fraudulent, only that it’s “less than 10%,” saying such information could be helpful to would-be scam artists.

by Ben Elgin

Mother Earth Closes Down at Request of Google Earth

Gaia was an open source Earth imaging software, which as described in the developer’s own words, is “an attempt to reverse engineer famous Google Earth and implement its functionality in open, portable, customizable and extendable way.” One of the things that Gaia brought that Google Earth couldn’t was its availability on systems running OpenBSD, MorphOS, FreeBSD and some handheld systems.

Obviously, the words “reverse engineer” raised some red flags over at camp Google, and sparked a cease and desist order from Michael Jones, Chief Technologist of Google Earth, Maps and Local Search explaining that Gaia violated Google Earth’s terms of service.

From:  Daily Tech

Seven Things To Consider When Buying A PC

Chances are that you are contemplating the purchase of a brand new PC. You might not be aware of this yet, but over the next 12 months, you’ll face a monumental decision that will have a significant impact upon your business’ bottom line.

Why will you be making a new PC purchase in 2007? One of the biggest reasons is the pending release of Microsoft’s (nyse: MFT – news – people ) Windows Vista. This all-new version of the company’s venerable operating system will demand more power than systems running Windows XP.

The other big reason: PCs get old, and the last great wave of PC purchasing occurred three or four years ago. If you’re running a system that’s this old, it’s likely that you’re becoming increasingly frustrated with your jalopy’s sluggish boot times and overall performance. The fact is the more time you spend waiting for your PC to boot, launching applications and addressing crash bugs, the less time you spend getting things done.

That’s why you should consider the following seven issues. Bookmark this page or print it out so that when the time comes for you to buy a new PC, you’ll have some clear parameters for buying a machine that will make you happy for a long time.

1. Stick with Intel’s (nasdaq: INTC – news – people ) Core 2 Duo CPU Intel’s brand new processor–the Core 2 Duo–offers phenomenal performance. If you frequently multitask between several different applications or frequently work/play with audio or video, one of these processors will work great for you. Advanced Micro Devices’ (nyse: AMD – news – people ) X2 series of processors are solid and can be found for cheaper prices, but the Core 2 will make you happier for longer. For most small businesses, PCs with Intel’s E6300 or E6400 Core 2 will work.

2. Load Up on Memory Nothing will slow a system down more than not having enough memory. Insist on at least one gigabyte of RAM–and grab two gigabytes if you can afford it.

3. Think Hard-Drive Speed, Not Size Unless you use your work PC for storing and playing lots of audio/video files or frequently work with massive-size files, you don’t need a gigantic hard drive. Think speed instead of capacity. What does speed consist of at the hard drive level? Two things. First, you want a Serial ATA drive. Second, you want a drive that spins at either 7,500 revolutions per minute (rpm) or 10,000 rpm. A fast 250-gigabyte drive will work great for you.

4. Wait for Windows Vista? It is not necessary that you wait until the release of Windows Vista–everything I’ve read indicates that Microsoft’s new OS will offer a fairly easy upgrade route from Windows XP to Vista. The reality is that if you like Windows XP, you may not even want or need to upgrade to a new operating system for a few years. Smart small businesses will wait until Microsoft has fixed all the bugs and flaws before upgrading.

5. Invest in a Back-Up Drive If you don’t have a back-up solution, use this opportunity to buy a back-up drive. Maxtor and Western Digital (nyse: WDC – news – people ) both make excellent drives that offer both one-touch back-ups (meaning you press a button and the PC and drive automatically back-up specified files and folders) and the ability to schedule back-ups for certain times and dates.

 6. Get a Decent 3-D Video Card Fancy graphics cards aren’t just for games anymore. The Windows Vista interface will use 3-D graphics in an integral fashion. Even if you’re not going to upgrade to Windows Vista right away, you will some day. NVidia’s (nasdaq: NVDA – news – people ) GeForce 6800 series of 3-D cards will suffice.

 7. How Much for a Good System? You should be able to buy a great PC that will last three years or more for $1,500. This said, you can also find a very solid system for $1,000. Two thousand bucks will get you a tremendous system. Typically, you can find the best deals on new PCs right after the holidays.

By George Jones

Personal GPS – New Must Have Gadget?

While portable global positioning system (GPS) devices are hardly as ubiquitous as iPods, dropping prices and new features are starting to win over customers, from weekend hikers to people who are just tired of their lousy sense of direction.

The average selling price of portable GPS systems in the third quarter of this year was $616, according to data compiled by the NPD Group. While that still may be a little steep for some, consider that just a year earlier the average selling price was $863, reflecting an almost 30-percent drop. And that’s just the average price–half the handheld navigation gadgets sold last quarter cost less than $500.

Lower prices are translating to higher sales. Third quarter revenue of $100 million is expected to double in the fourth quarter of this year, making personal navigation “one of the fastest growing categories of any size,” according to Stephen Baker, NPD’s vice president of industry analysis. The Consumer Electronics Association, an industry group, predicts that 2.3 million GPS units will ship in the U.S. this year.

Why the sudden popularity of GPS systems? We’re not just getting lost more often, said Steve Koenig, an analyst with the CEA. Rather, as GPS devices come down to the sub-$500 level, he said, “there’s a whole strata of consumers who will say, ‘Yeah, that’s a good service.’” And, Koenig added, it’s one of those services that once experienced, many wonder how they ever did without.

Of course, it’s inevitable that technologies will become cheaper over time as manufacturers discover more cost-efficient ways to produce them. Portable consumer GPS systems have been around for more than 15 years, but are only now starting to become affordable. And NPD’s Baker said he expects the already diminished prices to drop even lower come Black Friday, the U.S. retail industry’s nickname for the day after Thanksgiving.

By Erica Ogg
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

SEM: Reviewing dayparting tactics

In June of 2006, paid-search advertisers worldwide let out a collective sigh of relief as Google AdWords introduced dayparting capabilities to its campaign management interface.  By enabling an easy way to control the specific days and times their ads would be running (as well as being able to adjust the maximum bids for those ads), Google advertisers would be able to optimize campaigns in a far more dynamic manner, promoting a more efficient spend of pay-per-click funds for organizations of all sizes and verticals.

Now that we have the option, it’s time to consider which dayparting tactics and strategies make the most sense for any given campaign.  For example, Google recommends that some advertisers may want to schedule their ads to run only during business hours, and others may want to raise maximum bids during high-traffic times of the day (lunchtime, for example, is typically a time of higher-than-average consumer purchases).  At first glance this seems logical enough, but will this truly contribute to overall campaign efficiency? Based on what I’ve seen, not necessarily.

Taking a look at three months worth of data representing campaigns across three different industries (retail, financial and travel) and sliced click and conversion data by the hour of the day (EST), here are some findings.

Get the full story at MediaPost

Social media drives e-commerce traffic

MySpace in September drew 82% of visits among the top 20 social networking sites, increasing its dominance of the Web’s fastest-growing category. Overall, one in 20 Internet visits went to social networking sites during the month–nearly double the proportion of traffic a year ago, according to a new report by research company Hitwise.
In addition to the continued growth of MySpace by 51% between March and September, other social sites making big gains in share of traffic include Bolt, up 271%; Bebo, 95%; Orkut, 63%; and Gaia Online, 41%. In terms of average session time, Gaia Online ranked first at 47:01, followed by CrushSpot (30:31); MySpace (30:22); Bebo (25:39); and Tagged (20:33).

The Hitwise study also revealed the impact that social sites have had in driving traffic to other industries on the Web. Shopping and classified sites, for instance, received 2.4% of their visits directly from MySpace in September–an 83% increase since March. Other consumer-oriented industries that received traffic from MySpace in that period include telecommunications, banks, and travel.

“Social networking has become such a significant force on the Web that users are integrating it into other daily Web activities,” said LeeAnn Prescott, director of research at Hitwise. “As MySpace grows, it’s showing up in the upstream and downstream [traffic] of other categories that you wouldn’t necessarily think would be related.

Get the full story at MediaPost

Careers at Lincoln Tech

Lincoln Tech
Melrose Park, Illinois Campus
8317 W. North Avenue
Melrose Park, IL 60160
Tel – 708 344 4700
http://www.LincolnTech.com

=    Established – 1946
=    Locations – 19 and online
=    Accredited – Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT); Licensed by the New York State Education Department
=    Degrees offered –  Certificates
=    Financial assistance – Loans and aid available

Lincoln Tech offers its students a variety of specialized programs in the areas of automotive and diesel, skilled trades, electronic engineering technology, business, health care and information technology. Each campus offers different specialties so check out what each of the locations has to offer. Get additional training with even more flexible scheduling through their online program.

You can find a Lincoln Tech campus in:

=    Illinois – Melrose Park
=    Indiana – Indianapolis
=    Maryland – Columbia
=    Massachusetts – Brockton, Lowell, Somerville,
=    New Jersey – Edison, Mount Laurel, Mahwah, Paramus, Union
=    New York – Queens
=    Pennsylvania – Allentown, Center City Philadelphia, NE Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania
=   Rhode Island – Lincoln
=   Texas – Grand Prairie

Lincoln Tech doesn’t stop at giving you the technical skills you need to excel in your chosen career. In addition to the hands-on training in their focused courses, industry-standard equipment and experienced instructors, Lincoln Tech offer their students and graduates career placement assistance. Getting you the job you deserve is Lincoln Tech’s main purpose.