Search found 243 matches

by GeekedOut
Sat Jan 02, 2010 10:08 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Home Security System worth it?
Replies: 72
Views: 16659

Jack90210 wrote:Guns can be a part of the equation, but if you have one you need to be able to pull the trigger (and take someone's life) if the time ever comes to use it. If you can't be sure that you'll be up to that, then don't factor it in.
Firearms are for wusses. Real men kill with their bare hands.

This is said tongue in cheek for those that are deficient in sarcasm.
by GeekedOut
Thu Dec 31, 2009 11:20 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Does anyone still buy stereo receivers?
Replies: 55
Views: 16152

How much of a DIYer are you?

Most consumer stereo models just don't live up to their specifications. You can build your own via a kit, a la 41Hz, Glass Jar Audio, etc. You could hook these up to your computer, and actually have decent sound for cheap.

I've been puzzled by the 5.1 surround for audio presentations, as live performances come from a central stage. I'm not sure what they're trying to recreate with the rear speakers.
by GeekedOut
Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:55 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Do you use a Kindle, or any type of ebook reader?
Replies: 43
Views: 7740

plex wrote:The kindle has some uses, such as for free e-books, but otherwise, it is an inferior product. I have used one before, and it is inferior, in nearly all ways, to a tablet pc.
I'm curious what specifically you see as inferior.

I personally refuse to buy a Kindle because of the onerous DRM. Adobe DRM is simple to remove, but Adobe Digital Editions does not run on Linux, which is a requirement for downloading those infected files.
by GeekedOut
Tue Dec 29, 2009 9:19 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Premium Mattress Suggestions Requested
Replies: 25
Views: 9666

Re: Premium Mattress Suggestions Requested

Morgan wrote:You know how much I'd pay for a mattress?

100 euros, and that's maxing it out.
Why pay 100 euros when you can do it for free with FedEx Furniture?
by GeekedOut
Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:16 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Premium Mattress Suggestions Requested
Replies: 25
Views: 9666

Foam By Mail

Comfortable, cheap as hell, and better for the environment. I got a King mattress for $600, and spent another $100 to build myself a platform bed. It's the most comfortable bed I've ever slept on.
by GeekedOut
Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:46 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Do you smoke cigarettes? Have you ever? An anonymous poll...
Replies: 89
Views: 12731

I tried the stuff back in middle school, but never got the point as it never made me feel any different. The primary motivation for trying it was the blatant lies in health class; they were just obviously so over the top that I had to see why they got so excited over the stuff.

My favorite was "every cigarette you smoke takes 14 minutes off of your life." Really? They know with precision that if I smoke one cigarette or 1 million, at 13 or 30, that each cigarette takes precisely 14 minutes off my life? Where do those 14 minutes come from, the end of my life when I'm bedridden and unhappy? Or do I lose 14 minutes from a good date because she doesn't like the smell of smoke (but only 14 minutes worth of revulsion mind you)?
by GeekedOut
Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:13 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Do Bogleheads Overstate Difficulty of Stock Picking?
Replies: 189
Views: 30013

I don't understand all this harrowing of Petrocelli for sharing short term success with many caveats. "Do Bogleheads Overstate Difficulty of Stock Picking?" Yes, yes they do. I also believe it's getting harder with every year to successfully select the winners where others won't. The continued pressure on lowering transaction fees, coupled with the exponential growth in the flow of information means that every Tom, Dick, and Jane has the same information I do. While I ascribe to the weak version of EMT, I think it's getting more and more efficient. However, you have to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff: In stocks, 2010 is shaping up as blue-chip year ...analysts say large-cap companies, which include household names lik...
by GeekedOut
Sun Dec 27, 2009 7:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Home Security System worth it?
Replies: 72
Views: 16659

The best thing you can do, is upgrade your door locks. I used to work in a lock shop in high school, and you would be surprised how crappy those Home Depot Kwikset locks are. Within a week I could reliably pick them open in 30 seconds, if that didn't work, the cheap cores and plastic parts were easy to drill. You don't need to go high end, but do make sure you get full steel interiors. I just installed my first steel door, and was shocked at how weak the included frame is. Most home owner locks have a very short screw or two holding the strike plate to a soft 2x4. At the least, upgrade this to a security plate, preferably with long screws that won't be kicked through. It also wouldn't hurt to put sturdy locks on all the windows. Something m...
by GeekedOut
Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:02 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What Book Are YOU Currently Reading? PART III (12/11/2009)
Replies: 424
Views: 84598

I've read every one of the Dark Tower books... and was annoyed by every one of them... but kept reading. It points out a fault in his books: he is so not J. R. R. Tolkien, he never convinces me that I'm in a real world with consistent rules, he always makes me aware that he's making it up as he goes along. He always strikes me as being like a little kid making up an interminable story and stopping every few minutes to say, "Oh, I forgot to tell you, he had a magic wand. So..." I did the same, and thought the same. Even King admits in the 6th book that he's making it up as he goes along, particularly with the thought process about killing Jake in the first because he didn't have anything else for the boy to do. Then bringing him b...
by GeekedOut
Sun Dec 20, 2009 2:14 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How much of a Boglehead are you?
Replies: 51
Views: 7546

Gary wrote:I go to buffets and select every item in equal amounts.
Nono, you're doing it wrong. You're supposed to weight them calorically (that's not a word, is it?). If you're a slice and dicer, you overweight the energy dense stuff like pizza and brownies.
by GeekedOut
Sun Dec 20, 2009 9:43 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Motion Picture Ratings -- Foreign Films
Replies: 4
Views: 1001

Check out the film "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" if you want to get angry at MPAA hypocrisy.
by GeekedOut
Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:51 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Christmas music - Bah, humbug!
Replies: 39
Views: 7165

Several years ago, a local radio station found out they were switching from a Rock format to Country come the first of the year. That Christmas, they played 24 hours of Metallica as a bit of an FU to management.

That was the only radio station, tv channel, mass media thing-a-ma-bob I could stand listening to that day.
by GeekedOut
Thu Dec 17, 2009 5:04 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Beat the utility destruction of Xmas Gifts...
Replies: 84
Views: 9012

For those concerned about a charity matching the recipients interests, there is TisBest Philanthropy . Q: What is a TisBest Charity Gift Card? A: It works like any other gift card, except that instead of using it to buy stuff in a store, the recipient spends it to support a charity of their choice. You are the donor and your recipient chooses the charity! 1) You buy a Charity Gift Card on this website. TisBest Philanthropy holds your donation in a specific bank account. 2) You give the Charity Gift Card as a gift. 3) Your gift recipient visits this website and chooses a charity to receive your donation. Q: Is there a fee? A: A fee of $1.95 per gift card supports operating costs for this Charity Gift Card program. Q: Are the Charity Gift Car...
by GeekedOut
Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:02 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Books
Replies: 0
Views: 521

Books

With the just released movie Invictus, and the accompanying media blitz, I've realized that I know very little about the political processes in that portion of the world. Can anyone recommend some books to learn more about this region to include politics, culture, or noteworthy individuals?

I would also welcome suggestions for China or Russia, although my knowledge is (only slightly) less lacking there.
by GeekedOut
Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: New AmEx Charge Card - American Express Zync
Replies: 10
Views: 3999

Wells Fargo offers a 1% cash back credit card, with the option to set up automatic redemptions in $25 increments to the account of your choosing.

The kicker, is that they offer this on a Student card, so even young adults with no real income can get in on this.
by GeekedOut
Wed Dec 16, 2009 11:13 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Investing In Pirates
Replies: 53
Views: 7956

I don't know when they replaced the LAW, but I dealt with the AT-4 in the early part of this decade.

From what I've been told recently, it seems that Urban Warfare has changed/improved drastically in the past 5 years, let alone from Vietnam forward. While the ideal is to force the enemy out of their barricade, there appears to be more sensitivity to not completely destroying an area where people live.
by GeekedOut
Tue Dec 15, 2009 5:40 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Beat the utility destruction of Xmas Gifts...
Replies: 84
Views: 9012

I think there is a difference between wistfulness and taking offence. My posting was an expression of the latter. Maybe Victoria is right, and the whole "Xmas" thing is nothing more (or less) than a convenient shorthand. But it is so often used as a form of avoidance or glossing over or trivialization. I found it noteworthy and ironic that such a thoughtful thread dealing with the meaning and impact of giving was wrapped around such an empty term. Taking huffy offence can be easily dismissed. Wondering whether we are missing something essential in the conversation... might that be worth considering? This is from Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt, but: The "-mas" part came from the Latin-derived Old English word...
by GeekedOut
Tue Dec 15, 2009 5:33 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Investing In Pirates
Replies: 53
Views: 7956

You are, of course, correct about the LAW. I was actually mis-remembering the AT-4, which I clearly remember the weapons instructor informing us was wire guided; although I cannot find corroboration of that at the moment :)

What I remember from Urban Warfare training was that they don't like to blow things up, because then walls and roofs fall down on your head. The rudiments were to use a small explosive like a frag or flash-bang prior to entry.
by GeekedOut
Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:09 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Duvel Beer and the undercover economist
Replies: 67
Views: 11525

bearcub wrote:Life to short to drink cheap beer. :P
Oh so true.

You may find that the higher alcohol beers are more complex, a personal favorite is Speedway Stout.
by GeekedOut
Sun Dec 06, 2009 1:22 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Christmas Giving Is ‘Orgy of Value Destruction,’ Waldfog
Replies: 72
Views: 11962

Re: Christmas Giving Is ‘Orgy of Value Destruction,’ Wal

grok87 wrote:So how do we avoid this? Buy more gift cards? I've still got ones left over from last year that I'm using to shop with for Christmas this year.
My family knows I'm rather picky, and so they didn't complain when I informed them years ago that I don't want any gifts.

For friends and family other than younger siblings, I just donate money to a charity which I try to match to their personalities. If I have to spend money, I'd rather it help out a cause instead of adding to the local dump.
by GeekedOut
Thu Dec 03, 2009 2:43 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Investing In Pirates
Replies: 53
Views: 7956

It generally refers to both the grenade and the launcher. In fact, the standard US and NATO RPG is a one-shot deal, the launcher can't be reloaded. Well, thank you. There is simply an endless supply of knowledge on this forum. However, not reusing the launcher seems somewhat wasteful to me . . . . This doesn't strictly apply to an RPG, but many explosive infantry weapons are one shot. Things such as the LAW (Light Anti-tank Weapon) are guided after they leave the tube by a wire, so if your tank moves incrementally you can shift and guide the projectile in. This obviously makes it harder to reload. However, the more useful aspect is that the enemy can't capture your weapon and wreak havoc in a firefight. Just because something in the milita...
by GeekedOut
Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:17 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fair setup/arrangement for paying for kids college?
Replies: 103
Views: 13468

Dunno, I guess college is a little more expensive, but it still seems realistic to me to expect kids to pay their own way. The UC Regents just approved a 32% tuition increase set to hit in 2010. This translates to a tripling in tuition since 2000. Not to mention, when I went through, "fees" were more expensive than tuition for every term. Add on top of that the cost of living for those pesky, expensive, California climes and you're looking at a significant outlay. Or Boston, Manhattan, or any other metropolitan area. On the other hand, there is a ton of money out there for students if they are deemed independent. I got the State to pay most of my costs, and the Feds were kind enough to cover the rest plus beer money. I also was r...
by GeekedOut
Mon Nov 30, 2009 8:49 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Most efficient way to use a dishwasher
Replies: 20
Views: 4217

Most efficient and fastest is wash by hand. Is this true? This is the first I have heard this. This is only true if you dunk your dishes in a standing pot/sink of water. If you let the water run from the tap the whole time, it's much less efficient than an automatic dishwasher. As far as using your main heater over the dishwasher heater, this all depends on the efficiency of the heating elements. If you have a really old gas water heater, vs. a new dishwasher with an electric coil, the dishwasher is more efficient in heating the water. If this question came about from concern for the environment, I'd suggest powdered detergent instead of the liquid stuff. Or, you could just Google for how to make your own dishwashing soap (not the same as ...
by GeekedOut
Tue Nov 24, 2009 6:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Golf is expensive and frustrating
Replies: 55
Views: 10270

I prefer real sports, like chess boxing.

I wonder how many calories that burns per match? Thinking hard can be energy intensive...
by GeekedOut
Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:43 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: advice needed on buying and installing the car radio
Replies: 21
Views: 3139

kenschmidt wrote:I think the biggest leap of faith is pulling the dash trim off of a vehicle still in warranty. :happy
Ha, I concur. It seems like dash trims all use TORX screws and a ton of press fit plastic. A friend is still mad at me because I screwed up her trim by bending the plastic a bit too much when pounding it back into place.

You should also look into idiosyncrasies of your brand. Volkswagen, for instance, doesn't include an ignition wire in their harness. So, you end up buying a $80-$160 harness (for a 50 cent control chip) in order to turn the radio on or off.

The cheap method would be to just run a wire from the ignition switch over, but then you have to dismantle the steering column.
by GeekedOut
Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:36 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Buying a LCD TV........need advice
Replies: 65
Views: 13721

Refresh rate is the new contrast ratio for TVs, as in marketing got a hold of a buzz word. A 120 Hz refresh rate doesn't necessarily mean less tearing on the screen, as it simply shows each frame more often. Since you're not going to be using HD at first, you're going to be watching in NTSC. If I recall correctly, NTSC shows 29.97 frames per second, so each frame would be drawn 4 times at 120Hz instead of just once at 30Hz. Movies are shown at 24 fps. Honestly, whenever I've seen artifacts on TVs it's been because the cable company can't get their act together and is messing up the signal. ATSC is the new digital broadcast standard, replacing NTSC. Comcast does not have to conform to ATSC for all channels, and most likely doesn't. But even ...
by GeekedOut
Wed Nov 18, 2009 10:51 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Going For Another Test Drive
Replies: 43
Views: 6849

In particular, get Electonic Stability Control. It's standard or well worth as an option. I think it is undervalued in the used car market, so I think you pretty much get it for free if you pick a used car that has it. I'm guessing different age demographics, but I HATE ESC and engine braking! I want to feel my car gripping the corners, I want to feel my butt pressed into the seat when I stomp the pedal for some reason. I don't want a vanilla soccer-mom experience, but all cars (except expensive two-seaters) seem to be catering to the fear the average American, these days. I would actually pay extra to strip out many safety features from today's vehicles. If I can't handle my car, or if I get drunk and go over a cliff, it's my own damn fau...
by GeekedOut
Wed Nov 18, 2009 7:00 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: looking for a multimeter less than $100
Replies: 14
Views: 3239

Check out eBay, or any other used site. My Fluke 77III from '03 is still going strong.

eBay Fluke
by GeekedOut
Tue Nov 17, 2009 9:36 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Access to online technical journals
Replies: 12
Views: 2418

Sherman wrote:My nearest library is Stanford.
Tell them you're affiliated with either PALY, or Foothill. Both have worked for me in the past.
by GeekedOut
Mon Nov 16, 2009 5:17 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Settlers of Catan
Replies: 43
Views: 7723

Ever since I discovered this in Pike's Place Market, I've preferred The Farming Game to Monopoly. I'll have to give This Catan game a try.
by GeekedOut
Sun Nov 15, 2009 3:15 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 5 myths about home ownership
Replies: 110
Views: 16086

I recently have embarked on a major overhaul of my domicile. I have been moving extremely slowly, as this is the first time I've attempted many of these projects. I diligently have price shopped for the last few years, trying to get an idea of what various projects and components will cost me, and have come up with a several year plan on when to tackle what. What I failed to account for, was all the just really cool tools I want everytime I enter a hardware store. While I was just able to snag a brand new washer (from Lowe's) for 1/3 the MSRP, I have easily spent the difference in new tool acquisitions. I'm beginning to think hiring a contractor would be cost advantageous, because then I just wouldn't see all these items I need to do my nex...
by GeekedOut
Wed Nov 11, 2009 12:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Computer: Whats a good home page besides MSN?
Replies: 54
Views: 11223

EcoSearch

It uses Google search, but instead of Google getting ad revenue, that revenue is directed towards charity.
by GeekedOut
Wed Nov 11, 2009 7:30 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: PC monitor - anything to know before buying?
Replies: 12
Views: 2325

Well, if you're still using a CRT monitor, how old is your computer? Old CRT monitors used a VGA connection, whereas newer LCD monitors have migrated to DVI and HDMI connectors. The question, is whether your computer (videocard) has these connections. Most likely, if your computer is old, it only hasa VGA connector. However, that new computer next year will probably have DVI and maybe HDMI. Many HDMI monitors come with speakers in the frame, which are perfectly acceptable for normal computer type sounds. Basically the same quality as laptop speakers. I would recommend browsing at Newegg for all the technical specs and user reviews. Depending on what you use the computer for, different features matter. Gamers (I'm guessing not you) care abou...
by GeekedOut
Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:46 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Move to Denmark - Be Happy!
Replies: 57
Views: 7910

Paladin wrote:I'd be interested in which food tastes better here? McDonald's? A French bistro?
Moto Cuisine

Come on, who else uses a LASER (I refuse to lower case this) to cook food!?!
by GeekedOut
Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Microsoft Money being discontinued
Replies: 119
Views: 32565

Re: Possible Replacement for MS Money & Mac Quicken

LadyGeek wrote:You missed one - Linux. It works with Ubuntu (and Debian). That makes a big difference with me. When I get some free time, I'll checkout the Linux version.
Whoa, I just checked their download page, and they have a 64-bit deb! Moneydance didn't support amd64 last I looked. If MyMoney works halfway decently, I'm sold.
by GeekedOut
Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:33 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: My Dell Rant
Replies: 38
Views: 5543

When I was stationed in Japan, I ordered a desktop through the military branch of Dell, because they wouldn't allow me to order from the regular US branch. This ended up costing me more, as I was ineligible for US discounts, with a shorter warranty. The machine showed up a few weeks later, and did not start. I did some investigating, and had a corrupt kernel. How the hell did a machine get through QA with a corrupt kernel? As this was back when you actually got a for real physical disk to reinstall from, that's what I did. Guess what? Another corrupt kernel. Now comes the fun part, I had to pay $80 to ship the computer back myself from Japan to the US, and they sent me another computer about a month and a half later. This replacement starte...
by GeekedOut
Tue Nov 03, 2009 7:14 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Downloading music, movies, television shows
Replies: 10
Views: 2184

I think to a great extent, it's simple dissatisfaction with the way things are sold to the consumer which drives much of this illegal downloading. Let me relate a story about student software. When I was in college, I was introduced to two of the three main CAD programs via classes, but the third was not to be taught in my sequence. I went ahead and purchased a student version of this third CAD program in order to familiarize myself with this product. The program cost me $150, where professional seats cost multiple thousands of dollars (a different program we were given for free cost $25,000 per seat). What I did not realize at the time of purchase, was that the model year of the student software was not representative of the actual version...
by GeekedOut
Thu Oct 29, 2009 9:56 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Appliance Help: Yay or Nay for Induction?
Replies: 14
Views: 3161

Induction is way cool, and they've been using it in commercial kitchens for quite awhile. The main advantage is the precise control of the heat, even more so than a gas range. However, if you're used to electric ranges I don't know that you would need the precision of an induction range. I'd actually recommend going with a gas range over either, because it's a hell of a lot cheaper than induction, and a lot easier to cook with than electric. Cooked on crap only occurs when you don't select the right pan for the job and don't clean up immediately after cooking. Also, I don't know if they went over it, but induction requires ferrous cookware in order to work. If you have aluminum or copper pans, they're useless on induction ranges. Seeing as ...
by GeekedOut
Mon Oct 26, 2009 3:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Do you tip for restaurant take-out?
Replies: 53
Views: 9462

simplesimon wrote:Togo's added tip jars on their counters in the last year or two and it annoys me.
My policy is to only tip when someone brings the food to me. I try not to patronize places that prominently place a tip jar next to a register, because it pisses me off.

There is so much wrong with the way tipping works in the US, but I don't see it changing. I just try to minimize my exposure to things that would annoy me.
by GeekedOut
Sat Oct 17, 2009 9:58 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Kindle vs. Sony ebook reader
Replies: 5
Views: 1854

The Sony you looked at was most likely the PRS-600 if you're complaining about blurry text. That model has a touch screen on top of the eInk screen, which makes it slightly blurry. The PRS-300 does not have that touch screen, and so the image is much sharper.

I personally would not pay even $1 for a Kindle, because of the onerous DRM scheme Amazon has enacted on that device. But if you want to actually see pictures and get a clear review of many devices, check out the Mobile Read Forums.
by GeekedOut
Sat Oct 17, 2009 9:14 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: PC recovery Help needed
Replies: 15
Views: 2802

I doubt Dell overwrites all the data with random 1's and 0's, as security software would do. They most likely do a fast format, which just changes the master boot record, not overwriting the actual data. Anyways, Recuva is free, it will only cost you 10 minutes of your time to try it out.
by GeekedOut
Sat Oct 17, 2009 7:58 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: PC recovery Help needed
Replies: 15
Views: 2802

Is everything on a single hard drive/partition, or do you have the OS in its own little box and important documents in another?

If it's all one big partition, then you can try to recover the files with Recuva. Files are not gone until they're overwritten. When you delete a file on a computer, it just makes a note that that area of the disk is now available to be written over. If no new data is written there, then the old files exist, they're just not seen by the system. Hopefully, this just happened the other night, and chances are good that your files are still there.
by GeekedOut
Sat Oct 17, 2009 7:39 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The worst decade for Rock & Roll...
Replies: 77
Views: 9593

There has been lots of good music in the 2000s (some of these were around before, but I don't think this thread only counts "new" artists): Radiohead Green Day The White Stripes The Strokes System of a Down Queens of the Stone Age Franz Ferdinand The Arcade Fire The Decemberists Of Montreal Animal Collective Coldplay Modest Mouse Death Cab for Cutie Dave Matthews Band The Killers The Shins The Hold Steady Pearl Jam Nine Inch Nails Tool The Foo Fighters The Mars Volta TV on the Radio Interpol Bloc Party Incubus Muse Coheed & Cambria Belle & Sebastian The New Pornographers Bright Eyes Spoon (I included some artists I don't really enjoy, but others find good.) It seemed to me, that rock from the early 90s was similar in styl...
by GeekedOut
Sat Oct 17, 2009 7:15 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: HDMI output from laptop
Replies: 18
Views: 4663

On a desktop, you can get both audio and visual by hooking your audio card up to your video card within the case. The video card isn't designed to process audio, so it takes that separate component to do the processing, and then everything is transmitted via HDMI. With a laptop, the trend is for everything to be "onboard", or having everything integrated into the motherboard. Since that laptop uses an Intel chip, this is what is processing the video. I don't see a mention of an audio card, so it most likely is a RealTek codec on the motherboard as well. This would make it trivial to output both signals together :) I am not aware of any onboard graphics that can handle CAD reliably, so I wouldn't trust onboard GPUs to handle HD vid...
by GeekedOut
Wed Oct 14, 2009 8:46 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Tire Size Question
Replies: 14
Views: 2457

If you're talking about tall, thin tires like a bicycle tire, yes. A larger radius means that it takes more energy to get up to a certain rotational speed, but the larger inertia maintains that speed with less energy input (for the same mass) than a smaller radius. This would help in drives where you stay at a constant speed, but where you change speed often it would hurt you. However, by getting wider tires, you're canceling much of that benefit out. The reduction due to large radius is linear, and the difference in tire height is a much smaller difference than that of increasing your contact patch due to a wider tire. Although that depends on the coefficients of friction, and you may have gotten a tire with lower frictional losses, i.e., ...
by GeekedOut
Tue Oct 13, 2009 11:36 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Tire Size Question
Replies: 14
Views: 2457

As stated, aspect ratio can decide it. On new cars where they offer different size rims, like 16" through 18", if you look at the tires the actual vertical distance is the same. They just reduce the aspect ratio from 65 to 45, or something similar to ensure that the tires work with the wheelwell. You're just paying for flashier rims :)

As far as going one size wider and taller for better mileage you're actually reducing your mileage with that. You're creating a larger contact patch on the ground, which in turns creates more frictional losses in moving the car forward. More of the energy created is sucked up into maintaining speed. This is why Priora have those cute little pizza cutter wheels, it reduces rolling friction.
by GeekedOut
Mon Oct 12, 2009 12:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The Lost Generation - job crisis hitting young people hard
Replies: 72
Views: 10604

Nah, a letter grade is more how well you performed on a few exams. In other words, memorizing the facts that most align with the professor's viewpoint on the subject matter.

Looking at the actual work done, in particular in team competitions, tells you much more about the capabilities of the person.

GPA strikes me as much like Morningstar Fund Ratings. Telling a vastly simplified story that could be dead wrong if you don't look at the facts behind the rating.
by GeekedOut
Mon Oct 12, 2009 11:07 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The Lost Generation - job crisis hitting young people hard
Replies: 72
Views: 10604

Re: The Lost Generation - job crisis hitting young people h

"Tomorrow's stars"? Hardly. They already have the good jobs. It is the marginally skilled people who are out of work. I don't mean to sound insensitive, but this article sure makes it sound like great talent is being wasted and scarred forever. Trust me, the top college graduates are being hired just like before. The bottom of the class may have a harder time finding jobs. Yeah because if there's something that determines job performance or "star" quality, it's whether or not somebody got a 4.0 GPA. :lol: If you have a more predictive, objective metric. Please share. :?: How about actual project performance? I'm much more impressed by someone belonging to a winning Concrete Canoe team , or Human Powered Submarine , or e...
by GeekedOut
Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:13 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any thoughts on Lexus HS Hybrid vs. Toyota Prius?
Replies: 14
Views: 3708

The economics are different for everyone, but it's worth noting that demand is so great that Toyota dropped the cheapest model Prius from its lineup. That's with increased hybrid competition in the same class, so I just wouldn't expect to get a deal on anything hybrid. I also see hybrids as a transitional technology, however I expected that transition to have already completed when I first looked at these in 2001. I think newer options are going to kill off hybrids for personal transport. If you need a car now, I guess it's not a horrible purchase, but if you can hold off for a few years, say by buying a used normal ICE car, it would probably be more cost effective. I've noticed that 2-3 year old German cars (say BMW & Mercedes) are ext...
by GeekedOut
Wed Oct 07, 2009 8:19 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: NY Times: Flaws in Beef Inspection
Replies: 53
Views: 6463

Something that's always puzzled me, if beer and wine are made from natural ingredients, why do the organic labeled versions suck so much? You can't even blame corn subsidies for these alcohols!