Heisenberg Exits Forthwith, Whereabouts Uncertain

There are many dimensions to our universe, some say it is fixed at 4 or 5, others state a 12 dimensional universe actually makes the math in a grand unified theory nearly work.  A good entry level book on this subject is Hyperspace by Dr. Michio Kaku - http://www.amazon.com/Hyperspace-Scientific-Odyssey-Parallel-Universes/dp/0385477058 .

Space and Time are funny things, interrelated and so very separate. Into this fray comes the company Alien which has announced a product which can tell the speed and location of a tagged item. The article

RFID reader can now identify velocity, position of tags

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9917346-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

discusses possible uses for airport and military cargo. I see the possibility of using this technology for environment automation. Many green initiatives require occupancy sensing to minimize energy use in unused rooms. Most of these 'people counters' are microwave sensors which only indicate movement or,when mounted to a door frame, numbers in and out of a room. This is a highly inefficient method as the timing between sensing a presence and sensing no presence is awkwardly long.  Imagine using this Alien RFID product to sense presence, speed of the person and by extension direction - to intelligently decide just how bright to make each room traveled through and prepare the next room to be entered.   This is a much more efficient method where the lights are kept on only to ensure an individual can see enough to travel through safely, no time delay.  This is only one possible application, silly versions can have doors open slower or faster depending on your travel speed - thus helping avoid a crash into a half open\closed door.

Now, does this make the   CERN ATLAS particle accelerator  unneeded?

HDMI - Nitrate Free?

HDMI is a funny thing. To those of  who cut our teeth crimping copper BNC or soldering XLR's trusting in a cable we cannot make ourselves presents a quandary.   The first time I looked into an HDMI cable I was left with questions similar to those often asked about hot dogs - 'Just what is in that thing?'.

A number of questions still befuddle installers daily

• How long can I run an HDMI cable -(answer: it depends on the gauge and quality of cable not necessarily a predefined length limit)
  
• What effect does HDCP have on my connections -( answer: its presence turns off component outputs  \ inputs and does have bandwidth considerations, which may effect usable cable length).
  
• Which devices support deep color ? -(a few, maybe).

In an apparent answer to our questions I have been receiving a plethora of newsletter and articles on just such subjects  lately:

CEpro: 3 ways to improve HDMI http://www.cepro.com/article/3_ways_to_improve_hdmi/?utm_source=CEPWeekly&utm_medium=email

HDMI.org newletter: What do speed ratings on HDMI cables mean? http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/170134/ceb1d060a1/132000973/9ac1526c60/

HDMI.org also has a great  set of  webinars (live or self guided)http://hdmi.org/learningcenter/installer_training.aspx

Deciphering the Mystery of HDCP and HDMI http://www.rentalandstaging.com/articles/publish/article_1054.shtml

How HDMI works from Howstuffworks Daily feed: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/hdmi1.htm

The Nuts and blots of HDCP by Crestron's own Rob Carter. http://www.digitaltvdesignline.com/howto/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206800378

Now can anyone tell me just why hot dogs have 10 to a pack but the buns only have 8?

Perhaps Cecil can http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_350.html

MMMMMax Head- HeadRoom? No, its WiMax -Stutter Optional.

Those who have been long time readers of this blog will know my fascination with Sprint's WiMax plans.  True mobile broadband has remarkable potential not just for content on the go but to provide seamless content which can travel from mobile to home theater with the click of a docking station.

Sprint had some issues garnering any real productive support from partnerships, all while declaring WiMax a true 4G mobile standard.  The declaration irked the wireless telecom industry standards organization who would only comment that WiMax was to be viewed as a building block not and end unto itself for 4G.

Then the news stalled for awhile.

In the last week or so a number of article have started to show a revised plan and possible industry support.  There is also talk of spinning off the WiMax into a separate company. 

On the positive side there is the showing of a WiMax enabled Tablet PC from Nokia -(due out this summer)

Nokia Tablet to Use Sprint WiMax Network

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Wireless-Show-WiMax.html?ex=1364875200&en=fc218dd7d0ea2e58&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Then there are the partnerships, however limited - Comcast in is $1 billion while TW is at $500 million-which are viable as they have a great deal to gain if the plan is a success. 

Comcast and Time Warner to Bankroll WiMax Joint Venture

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9903411-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Cable company interest may not be the first entities one would think to partner with a wireless phone system but further thought shows it to be a great tactical move if it succeeds.  Phone and Cable companies have been making in roads into the others main market for the last few years-(cable offering VoIP while phone companies now offer cable like media content on their land lines).  Cable companies see WiMax -(as well as the 700MHz band just sold off and the 'White Spaces' proposals) as taking the fight back to the wired Telecoms.  The hope is to establish WiMax into what the now failed Muni-Fi system promised but failed to deliver though less then stellar data rates and some community resistance.  On its face WiMax broadband opens the market for a host of devices -iphone like- whose central function is Internet access with voice as a secondary feature. What has only been hinted at is the ability to use this backbone to provide real-time video services; this is what the cable companies want.   Imagine having access to the baseball game whilst on the bus, subway or at the Cafe.  Add to this the ability to pull up Internet for stats, twitter chats or your fantasy baseball team progress, all at wired broadband speed.  In a cradle to grave metaphor the WiMax partners envision you taking this real time content all the way home and continuing to use their service as your primary content provider.  In a system concept similar to wireless video and the 802.11n standard, the hope is for the user to take their WiMax device and connect it to a monitor when home - never missing moment of the show and never having to switch to a land line provider.

And then the realities of rolling an actual system\devices brings us back to the daily grind:

Sprint Delays WiMax Roll-out, Again

http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/04/sprints-xohm-de.htm

Plans are now for a summer 08 roll out but by delaying the commercial start this will allow for the hype generated by AT&T and Verizon to begin to influence corporate planners.

If any thing the WiMax concept and Mobile broadband interest rides along side the rise in demand  for mobile video content. I have long stated the Phil Swann Inverse Square Rule, Every time Mr. Swann -or someone on on his TV predictions forum- wonder aloud why anyone would want to view content on their iPhone type screens; the number of  consumers clamoring for it doubles.

Eh?! Whats that you say? It sounds like a barking dog, or Caruso Singing. I am not quite sure.

So, I get this new found energy and desire to re- start up the blog, and things are going well.  Then BANG I catch the nasty cold that has been making the rounds between my 2 1/2 year old, my 9 month old and my Wife.  I am a bit bleary eyed and my nose is running like a leaky spout. 'I love it when a plan comes together'.

While my biting repartee is muted I did find some interesting items of  Tech Arcane -(dammit, I still cannot get the Jerry Reed song  'East Bound and Down' '...cause the boys are thirsty in Atlanta and there's beer in texarcana',  song outta my head).  What this really shows is that I watched the first Smokey and the Bandit movie way too many times as a kid. SATB may very well be where I caught a hook into the then 'hillbilly sounds' of country. I soon found better refuge in the likes of Hank Williams.  Then Rock n' Roll took hold O' my soul, but of the pure guitar pickin and twangy harmonies made their way back to me in the likes of X, Wilco, Lucero and the Rock-a-Billy \ Punk-a- Billy of The Cramps, The Reverend Horton Heat, Slick Pelt  and garage -billy bands like the Stumbleweeds.   Technologically we live in gilded age of musical access where many of us only have the slightest inkling as to where it all started.

Edison is heralded by the mass culture as the inventor of recording.  He certainly had his hand in making a mass market device which allowed for the music to come to you rather then having to go out and see it live. (it is interesting to read archival articles on how stunning people thought the sound was, how true to life , and also to hear the naysayers declare it did no justice to being in the music hall to hear first hand.   The modern equivalents have allowed us mock the over reaching comments of yesteryear but in reality our grandchildren will say the same of us).  Yet, Edison apparently is not the first to conceive of and operate a recording device.  I found  an interesting article on the NPR site about  much earlier French devices which only recently could be listened to.  The article describes and has an audio sample of an 1857 recording of a French folk song:

Sound Recording Predates Edison Phonograph

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89148959&ft=1&f=1019

I also found a nifty little article and video of a Japanese learning toy manufacture who made a limited quantity of Edison phonograph toys.  The Toy will record and playback from a standard plastic cup:

Plastic Cup Gramophone Kit: Edison Reproduced

http://gizmodo.com/373307/plastic-cup-gramophone-kit-edisons-invention-reproduced