Very interesting (old) BBC series by James Burke - tracks the thread of inventions underlying our specialized society

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=james+burke&aq=f
I’ve watched episodes 1-4 so far… 4 is a pretty good one
Simply starting at the beginning seems good too
Make sure you take advantage of the preconfigured playlists -- look for “(play all)” -- so they queue up and you can watch them straight through w/o having to continually find the next one -- which really takes away from the enjoyment after a while
Search for “james burke episode xxx” to dial in on each bundle if you’re not seeing it from the URL I gave above… there appear to be at least up to 20 episodes
(btw: My buddy Joel turned me on to it… he’s full of nifty idears… here’s a gratuitous plug for his vlog site: http://joelart.blip.tv/)

My Pick for USB to SATA/IDE (2.5”/3.5”) Adaptor

Highlights:

• Sabrent Brand, Model: USB-DSC5 - $20
• 2A Power Supply.  I read that at least one other brand, KingWin maybe, only had a 100mA! feed… and that guy was finding that it wasn’t enough juice for a 3.5”er
• All the cables/adapters you need… SATA power, SATA Data, gee wonder what that real small one 2nd from the left is for??
• Normal 3 prong PC style power cable… other brands had the fairly standard 2 prong laptop cable which you might find preferable… I live in Germany and it’s easier for me to find the German style wall plug with the 3 prong cables.

As an aside, I’m swinging back to TigerDirect rather than NewEgg for a while… Tiger really screwed some things up for me at their local stores in Chicago so i was carrying a grudge… but i tend to think their mailorder business has always been decent… NewEgg really jacks you on the APO shipping… i’m such a fickle filly.

(NewEgg does tend to have better product images though, so this links to Tiger but image was pulled from NewEgg :)

This “Newer Technology” model looks a little “slicker” but is it really worth $10 more?

LED Projectors

This is THE real wave of the future… Finally, we’ll get to leave the whole stupid bulb replacement game behind!  LED light source has lifespan specs of 20,000 hours!  LED’s are the low temp light source we all love in those nifty new flash lights these days.  Contrast specs will also be a thing of the past, they’re rating this model at 100,000:1!!  Looks like they’re still working on getting the light level output up to snuff, this was only rated at a very anemic 800 lumens… i’m sure that’s only a matter of time as well.

Vivitek’s already got a 1080p model out… and it’s only $14k! :)

Endgadget.com’s coverage

ProctorCentral.com’s coverage

Starts to make sense why we’re seeing this technology pop up in the pico projector end of the spectrum at first… low res, low brightness, low power, low footprint all combine for a synergistic package at the moment.

I just bought a bulb technology projector (LCD based Epson Home Cinema 720)… hopefully by the time my bulb is burning out (3 years??) LED projectors will be down to mainstream prices.

SymLinks (and their ilk) Are Excellent System Restore ‘Glue’

Ok i know this is 20+ years late for anybody that’s enjoyed any of the sweet but non mainstreamy flavors of  ‘nix… but now that Vista (blech!!) and Windows 7’s version of NTFS supports SymLinks (aka Soft) & HardLinks so well we can enjoy ourselves just as much over in Mr. Bill’s backyard (or I guess it’s Mr. Ozzie’s backyard now aint it)

Go get this puppy: Link Shell Extension

Nevermind that his version history starts at 1999 :| We can rest easy that Vista was the first to do an actual Symbolic Link (i.e. softies)… but yeah we’ve been missing out, hardies have been in there since NT4… so we could’ve been having some fun… the biggest downside ‘til now in my naive opinion: the hard flavor couldn’t cross drive letters… yes, just another annoying distraction that could be mitigated in other ways, but now we don’t have to think about it (even less).

My main point here is… i re-re-re-re-re-load Winders at the drop of a hat (i’m kinda neurotic about it… i recommend this behavior… what was that?! don’t listen to the voices?) anyway, i' know i’m not the only one that has rallied the wagons behind saving all their precious files under one root folder and then carries that carpet bag from one system reload to another.  Well SymLinks are here to help. 

Listen up soldier, here’s the straight doo doo: Rather than actually leaving your numerous tweaked files sitting hither and thither at "%appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch” and “c:\users\beej\favorites” and “c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts” and and and… leave them all in a nice tidy centralized folder structure of your own design and then SymLink the schnikees out of them.

This shell extension lets you drag and drop to create magical “short cuts” that actually act like the real file but aren’t really there.

You catchin me? No?  Just load the dang thing, right mouse, drag, drop, look for the “Drop Here” menu and throw a dart at your options… there’s various ups and downs to each of the Link flavors… e.g. I noticed that soft links wouldn’t allow navigation from a shared folder entrance… who knew?

Enjoy!  I’m having a blast with them… all over the place.  Can’t wait to re-load again!

Update 09 Oct 2009:  SymLinks are also coming in super handy as a way of centralizing and sharing common source code files (I have a feeling this is something graybeard coders have been doing for years but that you just don’t hear about it much)… I SymLink a “copy” of the common source file into each project folder tree where I want to reuse… obviously this is way easier to manage than keeping track of updating actual copies in every folder… it also helps keep me more honest about sticking to the “code contract” that I originally intended… if I’ve hacked something up for one project, then compiles will bomb and remind me… it forces me to keep things generic and therefore promotes more reusable code.

Toshiba TDP-EW25U Projector – Another Short Throw

I found one more short throw that should definitely be in your sights if that’s what you’re in to:

Highlights:

• + 1280 x 800 res - so full 720p natively which is a good
• + includes a carry case (ok no biggie but nice)
• + built in handle
• + sliding window lens cover
• - slightly less contrast at 2000:1 vs 2500:1 on the Optoma EX525ST but definitely still good
• - no digital input (this is the bummer that kills it for me)
• It will take the 3 wire "component" input through the VGA port (as they all seem to)… and my graphics card definitely supports kicking out that 3 wire component signal natively
• see my “Projector Cables & Connections – More Complex Than You’d Think” … it’s a total tossup as far as what’s going to actually look best between VGA / Component / DVI-HDMI… but that HDMI cable is so dang cute i couldn’t live w/o it! ;)
• Normal street price is $1200+ but there    was   a refurb of it available at newegg for $720! That's a great bargain compared to the Optoma... I've actually started thinking refurb electronics in general are "fine" and perhaps even better than new stuff because they've received some extra TLC.

Projector Cables & Connections – More Complex Than You’d Think (or “VGA vs Component vs HDMI vs DVI” :)

• ProjectorCentral.com (2/26/01): “So what is Component Video anyway?”
• ProjectorCentral.com (4/12/01): “Is SVGA enough for good video?”
• ProjectorCentral.com (9/30/04): “DVI and HDMI Video Connections” – so HDMI isn’t some magical cure-all for long distance video cabling (at least it wasn’t circa 2004, perhaps this gap has been closed at this point… i shall soon find out… I’m getting a freebie 25ft HDMI cable with recently ordered projector, so build quality could be iffy… and i’ve gotta adapt it off of my DVI video card which probably drops a couple impedance points at the juncture)
• ProjectorCentral.com (5/4/05): “DVI and HDMI - Copper or Fiber Optics?” – HDMI over copper should hold up over 25ft but that’s max with solid quality, after that you’re going to see some bad juju.
• Forum.Ecoustics.com (2/14/05): “DVI/HDMI vs. Component Video -- Which is Better?” – excellent coverage… finally someone makes some point blank statements of difference: “Analog component video is an extremely robust signal type… DVI and HDMI, unfortunately, are not so robust … For reasons known only to the designers of the DVI and HDMI standards, this very sound design principle was ignored… It depends upon your source and display devices, and there's no good way, in principle, to say in advance whether the digital or the analog connection will render a better picture” (booya)
• And it’s much of the same tossups going on with VGA vs Component from what I’ve read so far.

So basically you just have to try them all with your particular equipment… anything is fair game on what’s going to actually look best.

Some other great writeups from these guys:

• “The Technology War: LCD vs. DLP” – excellent coverage of the limitations inherent in either technology… DLP color wheel at low speed = more rainbow effect but brighter so that’s why it’s common in business projectors (static images, brighter rooms, etc)
• “1080p vs. 720p -- Which is best for you?” – not bad

They have an absolutely dismal presentation for the amount of excellent hard core data they have to provide… here’s the root “commentary” list where i pulled these.

And this is an excellent feature finder drop down box filter search.

Optoma EX525ST – A worthy short throw projector?

 

Main standout feature is ultra “short throw”... drives a 40” display at only 1.5 ft away from the wall!  (2.5 ft =  60” display, 4 ft = 100”).
I’m interested in something that will support projecting to the ceiling from a bedside table in addition to the usual setups.
Wondering if the short throw would provide for easier location swapping... less mounting required…set it on top of something close to desired wall and go.
Was hoping to drive it from my mini tablet pc for more varied locations but am worried that it’s VGA only output isn’t going to be very satisfying image quality… I do have DVI-I output available from primary desktop PC in living room area which should be top notch.

Reviews:

• ProjectorCentral.com finally got their review out
• ITP.Net
• YouTube Video Review

Highlights:

• $1020 including APO shipping from “ProVantage” a reputable dealer (right at the top end of my desired budget)
• 1024 x 768 native resolution (1600 x 1200 max input so supports 720p and 1080i HDTV inputs with down scaling… 720p is technically 1280 x 720 so it doesn’t quite nail that resolution natively but there are many LCD/Plasma TV’s which get away with calling this 720p so it must be fairly “ok”)
• all the common video input types…s-video, composite, PC VGA and even digital (DVI-I which is adaptable to HDMI)
• great brightness/contrast specs  = 2500 / 2500
• good lamp life = 3000 hrs
• low noise = 30 dB’s
• ceiling mountable (mount holes and flip image mode)
• looks to be a decent remote control
• 3 year warranty on parts/labor, 1 yr on the lamp (both very typical)… looks like lamps are about $300-$350 which is a little high but common
• - definitely a business class projector – there’s a well known “rainbow effect” with the ‘slower’ DLP hardware typically used in business class projectors vs true “home theater” projectors… it can bother certain people while running moving images… I don’t know whether we would notice this or not.
• - does NOT come with a case

Anything important that I’m missing??
All the short throws I’ve found are definitely business class and not true home theater.
The more I take measurements around the apartment I see that there is plenty of throw distance as long as I can setup decent ceiling mounts so starting to think I’m shoehorning for not the best reason.