Category: Technology

Noise reduction on Epson projectors = Motion Blur Apr 16, 2016, 6:44p - Technology Occasionally, I discover that something that should be known online is not. And occasionally when this happens, I figure out the solution. This happened yesterday, so I wanted to record it on the net. Internet, this one is for you. About a month ago, I bought a refurbished LCD projector, an Epson Powerlite Home Cinema 2030, to setup a home ... more » Read comments (2) - Comment Siddharth Bhatla - Apr 28, 2016, 4:56a Maybe it is the higher bit-rate of Blu-ray player that's the actual culprit for overloading the frame-buffers/RAM of the projector's image processing unit.... Turns out that noise reduction is required more in amateur videos whose bit-rate is naturally set lower ( upto 20 Mbps for Phone Cameras ) by camera designers to save memory for longer videos.. Conversely, Professionally created footage, has higher bit-rates ( 50-70 Mbps for High End DSLRs ) and Blu-ray can support upto 40 Mbps, and Imperfections like Noise is dealt with in Production Stage so we don't much of it in Broadcast-ed / Distributed Media... So Designers at EPSON may have taken that assumption while including those Noise Reduction settings in the projector's menu. Glad to Hear from you ! Siddharth Bhatla siddharthbhatla_2000@ymail.com Anonymous - Jan 26, 2019, 9:33p Thank you ! Name  Comment  Thanks! Your comment will be published in a few minutes. Getting books as PDFs Feb 14, 2014, 6:19a - Technology Ever since I started in grad school, my reading consumption has changed significantly. Before, I would read physical books, usually non-fiction. In the past 7 years eBooks have grown in popularity, but I never really got into them. In fact, I've never bought a single eBook. I really like highlighting and leaving comments in the margins of my books, esp. ... more » Read comments (3) - Comment omar - Feb 14, 2014, 8:14a I'm pretty sure you can convert ebooks to PDF using calibre, fyi nikhil - Feb 14, 2014, 8:39a Thanks Omar, hadn't seen that one. One potential issue is I'm not sure how ebooks handle figures and graphics. For example, textbooks have lots of inline figures and a lot of work is spent on pagination, and I think I checked one once in ebook format and it looked quite foolish. I don't think the conversion is straightforward. For example, if a physical book has multiple columns per page, but the ebook does not, how will calibre know to put it back into columns? Seems simpler to just get the PDF, and you benefit from all the work spent laying out the physical pages. And what if the eBook has DRM? Calibre says it can't do anything about it. So I just downloaded Calibre and converted the ebook that comes with it to PDF, and it looks terrible. The fonts are huge, since ebook fonts are huge. Overall, it doesn't seem to do a smart conversion to PDF, but more of a pixel-wise conversion. The whole app just seems focused on ebooks, not PDFs, so I don't think it will quite work. omar - Feb 15, 2014, 9:56a i need notifications of when you comment (when i've commented). anyway, i see what you're saying. seems this person likes pdfs too: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-convert-kindle-to-pdf/ they recommend a tool other than calibre. maybe you want to try that out. the only reason i push this is because so much stuff is in ebook format now, and not pdf, so hopefully someone gets that conversion at least semi decent. also, doesn't repligo have a way to flow text.. i wonder if they flow and resize? Name  Comment  Thanks! Your comment will be published in a few minutes. Introducing Brightness Rocker, my first Android app Sep 23, 2010, 12:50p - Technology I'm going to post some conclusions from my semi-starvation experiment, but before that I wanted to share a new Android app that I just released yesterday. It's called Brightness Rocker, and it let's you control your screen's brightness from any app just by clicking the volume rocker buttons on the side of your phone. Brightness Rocker More details available at ... more » Read comments (7) - Comment nikhil - Sep 24, 2010, 9:26a I just wrote a review of Brightness Rocker on helloandroid: http://www.helloandroid.com/apps/brightness-rocker nikhil - Sep 28, 2010, 10:07p A brief mention on Droid-Life.com: http://www.droid-life.com/2010/09/28/app-roundup-voice-plus-abduction-2-padmapper-brightness-rocker/ "Ever been stuck in an application and want your brightness adjusted? This is your ticket. Allows your volume rocker switch to act as a volume up/down switch. Brilliant right?" nikhil - Sep 30, 2010, 11:38a And another review, this time from Android-Apps.com: http://android-apps.com/articles/reviews/brightness-rocker-android-app-review/ Mention #3: Droid Apps.org http://www.droidapps.org/brightness-rocker-lite-control-screen-brightness-from-any-app-2/ nikhil - Oct 1, 2010, 9:40p Mention #4: Android Central.com http://www.androidcentral.com/android-central-editors-app-picks-oct-1-2010 Mention #5: Droid Dog.com http://www.droiddog.com/android-blog/2010/10/app-review-brightness-rocker/ nikhil - Oct 3, 2010, 6:18p Mention #6: Androinica.com http://androinica.com/2010/10/03/android-apps-alert-35-no-clever-theme-edition/ Mention #7: Productive Organizer.com http://www.productiveorganizer.com/android-productivity/android-set-your-brightness-via-your-volume-rockers/ nikhil - Oct 6, 2010, 1:48p Mention #8: Android Trek.com http://www.androidtrek.com/index.php/brightness-rocker-rocks nikhil - Oct 9, 2010, 12:19a Mention #9: XDA Newsgroup http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-798777.html Mention #10: Thai Android App.com http://thaiandroidapp.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1505:brightness-rocker-lite&catid=48:tools&Itemid=68 Translation (via Google): "I left on the program this year Robert gram that will allow you to control screen brightness from any app, just press the volume buttons rock slide that shows the brightness. Or use at home or on the icon notification." Name  Comment  Thanks! Your comment will be published in a few minutes. Cell phones, gestures, and 3G Dec 23, 2009, 11:14a - Technology (I'm sitting on a plane as I write this, flying to LA for Christmas. It's a 6 hour flight, and since I seem to be slightly phone-obsessed at the moment, I figured I'd pass the time by putting my thoughts down, since there's nothing on TV and I'm bored. Be forewarned - my blog is not turning into yet another ... more » Read comments (5) - Comment omar the french duke - Dec 23, 2009, 11:42a I type this now on the google phone virtual keyboard. I was very skeptical of virtual keyboards but I must say this one is growing on me. I too am baffled by the lack of pinch. You should fiddle with the new phone when you get a chance. It is vastly improved. Sachin - Dec 24, 2009, 11:47a Obviously I'm highly biased towards the iPhone. But I will start by saying I too am very impressed by the new Android phones. I think Android will give Apple a run in the coming years and ultimately might win because it's open. (although rumors claim the new iphone in 2010 is the first true redesign, 3G and 3GS were just refreshes. so Android is sorta competing with 2.5 year old tech in terms of software and gestures) Ok, i'm going to battle 2 points to this article (i could argue more) 1. I find the Palm Pre gestures 100% UNNATURAL. I remember saying that the first time i every used one. The various swipes, card metaphor, etc are 100% learned. NO ONE can pick up this phone and just use it. When both my mom and my dad got their iphones, i remember not getting a chance to show them anything. (I think both times I was leaving down right after we went to the apple store). I never had to teach them anything, they got it naturally. And they are old! I think your bias towards the palm gestures is largely because it's the first touch device you've used. That's always going to feel more natural than something you see later. But all the palm gestures are modal, which i find to be terrible. you have to swipe to enter this "card view" before you can swipe up cards to quit. Having these modes will confuse normal people. What mode am I in? Why does this gesture work in mode X but not mode Y? 2. The keyboard. You really can't diss a virtual keyboard unless you've used it for like a week and gotten used to it. I can type so freakin fast on my iPhone, much faster than I've seen people type on their bb. now when I do use a BB or other physical keyboard phone, it's seems too laborious. Having to push down hard enough for the physical click slows me down. If i'm already touching the key, register it and let me move on. And then correct for my mistakes. It's such a better experience. And of course the touch screen gives you more free screen space, but that's a separate issue. It is nice that the keyboard itself can change based on what you are typing. web address, email address, phone number, they each have their own layout. I think optimization of keyboard layout and correction on touch screen phones is going to be huge in the coming years. and on a random aside, switch to posterous, dammit. You'll get way more page views, and i'll be notified of new comments via email. and all the other random stuff... Sachin - Dec 24, 2009, 11:50a You need a lot of faith to type a long comment here. I kept mine on my clipboard just in case it didn't appear in a few minutes :) omar - Jan 1, 2010, 7:51a nikhil's blogging technology is so last decade nikhil - Jan 3, 2010, 11:58a actually, my blog uses technology circa 1998. so it's actually from 2 decades ago! Name  Comment  Thanks! Your comment will be published in a few minutes. Self-Education Apr 4, 2007, 1:39p - Technology I've been on leave from work since the middle of November, so I've had the past 4 months to pretty much do whatever I want. Except for the time between graduating from college and starting to work (which lasted 4.5 months), this is the longest period of true independence I've ever had. So it seemed worthwhile to reflect on that ... more » Read comments (6) - Comment omar - Apr 4, 2007, 9:10p that vacuum thing is pretty hypnotic if you set it to full coverage of dirt.. it's like the game dig-dug (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dig_Dug). what does it have to do with microworlds? is there some simple probabilistic model that determines where the vacuum will go? as for your "two people" problem.. you think that's the right split, as opposed to focusing and being super-productive and structured during the work day (say the morning hours) and the second style later in the day? or maybe give yourself a day a week to think about more general things, and let your mind wander. my mind usually does that at night, though i've hoped to schedule more hours for that wandering.. nikhil - Apr 5, 2007, 9:56a yeah, there's a super-simple probabilistic model for where the vacuums will go. the vacuums and dirt are placed randomly on the board, and on 10% of its moves each vacuum can randomly change direction. of course you could easily implement as clever a strategy as you can think of. the problem with splitting time within the day is that my mood generally tends to be stable across the day - so if I feel like being spontaneous, that's how I feel during the entire day. and if I feel hyper-productive, I'll feel that way all day long until the wee hours of the morning. so i don't think the intra-day split would work for me. jessica - Apr 7, 2007, 1:50p i couldn't help but peek into your source:    for(x = 0; x < worldSize; x++) {      this._loc[y][x] = empty;      if (Math.random() < percentDirt) {        this._loc[y][x] = dirt;        numDirt++;      } do you think god used something similar when he created the world in 7 days? nikhil - Apr 7, 2007, 1:58p i don't think god likes logic, even with a dose of randomness thrown in. i'm sure he prefers to be much more unpredictable. jessica - Apr 9, 2007, 11:15a but, logic can be unpredictable... nikhil - Apr 9, 2007, 12:23p 'tis true, as demonstrated by the simple microworld. but i suspect, but don't know for sure, that greater unpredictability, like that seen in an individual (observed introspectively and through behavior), social collection of individuals, or nature in general, may not be the product of such a straightforward logic system. more tangibly, how does the percentDirt value get set initially, and how does it change over time and space? in other words, i find it staggering that we live in a world where, for our purposes, the natural "laws" don't seem to be changing at all. we may just be measuring over too small a time scale, but such a static world seems a bit strange to me... more importantly, perhaps, is how does your knowledge of the laws change your behavior within the logical system? if i know how i'm supposed to act given the rules, i may act differently just to spite them. of course, there's a huge difference between a social rule and the law of gravity... i guess it boils down to whether you believe that free will truly exists - if you do, it could be a potent source of unpredicability in individuals and (possibly) nature. this could be manifest in code along the lines of   fw = truly_random_number_generated_by_free_will_equivalent;   fw2 = truly_random_number_generated_by_free_will_equivalent;   if (fw > threshold) {     // check to see if line fw2 is defined;     if (!codeAt(fw2)) {       randomly generate n lines of code starting at line fw2;     }     jump to line fw2 and continue execution;   } of course there would need to be some mechanism to ensure some level of overall stability, but perhaps something like this type of scheme could work? i guess it's still code so still follows the rules of logic (cause and effect), but perhaps it would achieve a better level of unpredictability? i guess much of this depends on whether *true* randomness can be generated... as Penrose likes to say, the world is likely deterministic (logical) but not computable ahead of time...i'm still trying to wrap my head around that one. Name  Comment  Thanks! Your comment will be published in a few minutes. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Feb 14, 2007, 11:07a - Technology During my neuroscience interviews at Berkeley yesterday, they gave us a tour of the fMRI trailer. I got there late and foolishly took my wallet, replete with mag-stripe credit and gift cards, into the MRI room. Of course I read the warning *after* I left the room, so I was worried that my magic-inferred plastic was now impotent. I checked ... more » Read comments (4) - Comment Kevin Fox - Feb 14, 2007, 11:39a Ahh, TMS... Here's a post I wrote just a stone's throw from the Berkeley fMRI trailer about Prof. Ivry and his demonstrations of the TMS in neuroscience class: http://fury.com/article/1144.php omar - Feb 14, 2007, 1:04p i guess there are many possibilities.. would this work if you were sleeping? induced sleep walking... unconscious assassins... my body doing a workout that i don't want to do.. however, weren't you a bit worried about the possible side effects that are not yet understood? what is the effect of randomly stimulating a very select area of the brain in this manner? i imagine there are no long term studies, yet.. though perhaps migraine sufferers are a good test group. Kathy Loya - Feb 23, 2007, 6:38a I think this has interesting applications, not just for motor stimulation, but possibly for other therapies such as treatment of mood disorders non-invasively, non-chemically, and without need of anesthesia. (ECT is coming back into vogue for treatment of serious depression, but that requires anesthesia and the attendant risks.) ROBIN ALVAREZ - Mar 15, 2013, 4:53a Dear friends: I have read some information about their studies using TMS and I think it would be very important to talk with you. My name is Robin Alvarez and I am writing from the National Polytechnic Quito-Ecuador. For about 15 years I have dedicated my research to the bioengineering (I got a PhD at the Polytechnic of Madrid). Specificly, I have been researching about the behavior of the EEG and its relationship with Low Intensity - TMS and I think the developed prototypes could be of interest for you. I have some publications and three patents. We tested these prototypes with some types of diseases (migraines,fibromyalgia and bipolar disorder) with amazing results. Currently I have the possibility to access to a fellowship from my country and I am looking for a place for my sabbatical during one year at least. You can find attached my CV and a very important document with my ideas. I will be waiting for your answer to see if we can interchange ideas. Best regards. Sincerely: Robin G. Alvarez, Ph.D. Digital signal processing applied to bioengineering. Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering National Polytechnic University Quito-Ecuador Telephone: (+593 - 2) 2507-144 / Ext. 2348 Home: +593 2 2 363- 985 Cel.: (+593 84699704) e-mail: robin.alvarez@epn.edu.ec, arobin7es@yahoo.es du.ec, arobin7es@yahoo.es Name  Comment  Thanks! Your comment will be published in a few minutes. Spam the Spammers Dec 19, 2006, 1:32p - Technology When I was home for Thanksgiving, my dad told me about something he'd been doing for the past few years with his (non-electronic) junk mail. Nearly all junk mail comes with postage-paid return envelopes (aka Business Reply Mail), for you to send back the credit card offers or what-not. Instead of sending back what the company wants you to send ... more » Read comments (2) - Comment Sachin - Dec 19, 2006, 3:10p I heard about this a few months ago. If I get an offer where the envelope is like "Amex, 0% intro APR" i just trash it. But if it's something with no return label and "Urgent reply needed" and it ends up being spam, then I'm going to stuff that envelope with as much crap as possible. I can't believe spammers are allowed to have no return address on their spam. If it's a credit card application, I usually take the application, cross over it and write something like "take me off your list." It probably does nothing, but then they know who sent it to them. I have a standing monthly donation to Care that is billed on my credit card. A couple months ago I started getting a phone call from an unknown number (not hidden, but unknown to me). I looked it up online and found lots of complains about it. It was a telemarketing company hired by companies like Care. Eventually I did answer their call and they said they were calling on behalf of Care. I felt like stopping my monthly donation to them. I dont know if I checked any box that said "don't call me" but it still upset me to get calls on my cell phone. Its worse that it wasn't from Care themselves but someone they hired. I may trust Care with my info, but do I trust these people? nikhil - Dec 20, 2006, 12:24a Yeah, that's lame. I'm not sure exactly what to do about the non-profits... Also, don't forget to sign the pledge: http://nikhil.superfacts.org/spamthespammers.php Name  Comment  Thanks! Your comment will be published in a few minutes. BrainGate Jul 27, 2006, 2:29p - Technology UPDATE: Watch a video demonstration of how BrainGate works: -------------------- UPDATE: June 5, 2006 Cyberkinetics now reports that there have been 3 successful clinical trials of BrainGate - all 3 patients were able, via BrainGate, to to move a cursor on a computer screen with their minds. And in related news, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry have ... more » Read comments (1) - Comment omar - Feb 15, 2006, 11:16a it seems we're a long way from controlling fighting robots with our minds. however, little things might be nice: i'd love to be able to turn down my ipod volume just by thinking about it. what about the flip side? what discussion is there of the machine having some influence on the brain? can the machine encourage me, for instance, to buy more country music? Name  Comment  Thanks! Your comment will be published in a few minutes. FM Bug May 29, 2006, 2:38p - Technology I just finished building an FM transmitter I picked up at Fry's, which was cool because it was the first time I ever really soldered something together. Soldering is pain-staking work that tests your eyesight (electronic pins are really small) and hand dexterity (the pins are also close to each other). Here's a pic of the assembled device (borrowed from ... more » Read comments (1) - Comment Bob - Jul 28, 2013, 4:35a Check out www.radiospybug.com Name  Comment  Thanks! Your comment will be published in a few minutes. Wireless Power Mar 19, 2006, 10:10a - Technology I've been reading a lot of Tesla lately - the man was pretty much a genius. He has hundreds of patents to his name and a large number of fantastical stories surround his life. Specifically, he is known for walking around his lab with light bulbs that would light up without being connected to any observable (wired) power source. Above ... more » Read comments (2) - Comment david - Mar 19, 2006, 8:32p I was reading about this; apparently if you're using a tesla coil, flourescent lights in the room will light up. Amit Patel - Apr 4, 2006, 9:43a Ah, but can you recharge your laptop this way? Name  Comment  Thanks! Your comment will be published in a few minutes. Some simple ideas Feb 18, 2006, 6:39p - Technology Here are some simple, fairly obvious ideas for products/features that should exist but don't (to my knowledge): * Voicemail to text (email/SMS): Calling in to hear voicemail is a slow, tedious, annoying procedure. Instead, there should be a simple service that converts voicemail to text and sends that text to your phone and makes it available on the web. ... more » Read comments (1) - Comment omar - Feb 19, 2006, 12:45a nikhil.. you've hit on a lot of big things here. first, i know what you're talking about with the wiki pages. i think things still have a long way to go, but that whole editing bar, and rich text editing, man that has gone so far and beyond what we have had to use in the past. i really like seedwiki, as one example. the other big problem with wikis, and i really don't know how to explain this to lay people, is the conflict issue. how are you going to generate a good ui for dealing with conflicts? and let me tell you, they happen, all the time! it's a huge challenge, i'd say almost bigger than the wysiwyg stuff, which i think is coming. it's a user interface issue that no one has yet got right. another thing you hit on is streaming media to my ipod. actually, to be honest with you, i listen to podcasts more than my own music because of the music's staleness. actually, i was listening to music shows via podcast to get some variety too. it's a good intermediate step, but certainly there needs to be something more comprehensive. Name  Comment  Thanks! Your comment will be published in a few minutes. Building a Dream Machine Feb 7, 2006, 10:27a - Technology Ever since I was in high school, I thought it would be awesome to have a device that let you resume your dreams. I remember the numerous times that my dreams were interrupted by my morning alarm clock, the repetitive ringing entering the dream as a telephone or a fire alarm before completely drowning out the dream and pushing my ... more » Read comments (1) - Comment omar - Feb 7, 2006, 7:40p hey nikhil, now i realize what you were talking about with me on the train -- it's not a time machine, it's a dream machine! there are many dreams that i've wanted to escape (nightmares..) but certainly a few i've wanted to keep. i posted something about our chat at http://orcaomar.blogspot.com/ ... more to come. i've added you back to my web clips, btw ;) Name  Comment  Thanks! Your comment will be published in a few minutes. Steve Wozniak talks Apple history Jan 24, 2006, 12:31a - Technology "Woz serves up Apple Computer history in his own unique way. Steve will describe a sequence for providing a rational understanding of many of the innovations leading to early Apple designs. He'll look at early company structure, the personalities that influenced him, and personalities within the company. In addition, he'll discuss the reasons he wants to be an engineer for ... more » No comments - Write 1st Comment Name  Comment  Thanks! Your comment will be published in a few minutes. Google Video Oct 2, 2005, 1:49a - Technology I just started working on Google Video a few weeks ago, and it was exciting to release a new version last week - developing web apps (like Video) is way faster and easier than developing client applications (like Desktop). The new version has a much larger video player - in fact, it scales to fit the size of your browser ... more » Read comments (1) - Comment Jason - Dec 3, 2005, 9:08p This is the best thing to happen to video on the web yet! Thanks for taking care of biz Nik! Name  Comment  Thanks! Your comment will be published in a few minutes.

Come back soon! Better yet, stay up-to-date with RSS and an RSS Reader.