Words From Nerds » home theater http://www.wordsfromnerds.com Tech talk for your inner geek. Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:44:23 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Words from Nerds #62: Wired for Tech http://www.wordsfromnerds.com/2010/05/words-from-nerds-62-wired-for-tech/ http://www.wordsfromnerds.com/2010/05/words-from-nerds-62-wired-for-tech/#comments Thu, 06 May 2010 03:17:47 +0000 Mike http://www.samethreeguys.com/?p=877 Are you undertaking a home remodel, considering new construction or just looking for a better way to showcase that new flat screen HDTV on your wall? We’ve got some tips to consider when it comes to making your project tech-friendly.

Nerd News

  • People who signed up for AT&T DSL service after March 31, 1994, may be eligible for a partial refund after the operator settled a class-action lawsuit charging it with delivering data rates slower than promised. AT&T doesn’t admit to any wrongdoing as part of the settlement of a case filed last year in the Court of Common Pleas in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
  • GoogleMail is becoming GMail in the UK, saving 60 million keystrokes per day.
  • Apple sold 1M iPads by last Friday
  • Google, Microsoft and Apple endorse HTML5 and H.264 for video (not Flash)
  • HP buys Palm for $1.2B
  • Check out the Stark Expo 2010 site for the new Iron Man 2 movie

Feature Story: Wired for Tech

  • You have decided to undertake that big home remodel project. What considerations for tech should you consider?
  • Wired vs Wireless. Is wireless good enough? for the TV? for Music? for Gaming?
  • Lighting: LED, CF, control panels
  • Speakers: wired v wireless, buying, monoprice, freestanding, in-wall (not by power)
  • Hiding tech: wall, RF, cabinets and IR, closets (video cabling and conduits)

Nerd History

  • May 6, 1937 – Hindenburg fire
  • May 5, 1961 – Alan Shepard is first American in ‘outer space’
  • May 3, 1978 – The first unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail (which would later become known as “spam“) is sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States
  • May 6, 1994 – Channel Tunnel opens
  • May 3, 2000 – The sport of geocaching begins, with the first cache placed and the coordinates from a GPS posted on Usenet.
]]> http://www.wordsfromnerds.com/2010/05/words-from-nerds-62-wired-for-tech/feed/ 0 WFN #5 – Kindle http://www.wordsfromnerds.com/2009/03/wfn-5-kindle/ http://www.wordsfromnerds.com/2009/03/wfn-5-kindle/#comments Sun, 08 Mar 2009 04:24:58 +0000 Mike http://www.wordsfromnerds.com/?p=14 Home Theater Update from last week 
- install of Onkyo TX-SR806. 
- auto-speaker calibration 
- cabling / replacement of HDMI switcher 
- early results 
- install of Denon AVR-3805 at John’s theater

Kindle 2 
Amazon now shipping Kindle 2.
Will this version finally catch on? 
Priced at $359, is this the right price point? 
Is portability of a book THAT much in demand? 

Nerd Word of the Week – Poladroid

www.poladroid.net

Our Dad’s Polaroid camera was the SX-70. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SX-70

]]> http://www.wordsfromnerds.com/2009/03/wfn-5-kindle/feed/ 3 WFN #4 – Social Media http://www.wordsfromnerds.com/2009/02/wfn-4-social-media/ http://www.wordsfromnerds.com/2009/02/wfn-4-social-media/#comments Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:23:33 +0000 Mike http://www.wordsfromnerds.com/?p=12 In this episode, we talk about social media going mainstream. A local library is now offering evening classes for adults to teach them YouTube, Wikipedia, FaceBook and Twitter. Are there generational differences in the way people communicate? People have always thought so. How does this change those perceptions?

Also, time for some equipment upgrades in the Home Theater. Find out what’s getting upgraded and why. All this, and more, in Episode 4.

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