luv-talk July 2014

luv-talk@luv.asn.au

17 participants
12 discussions

Re: [luv-talk] Playing LP's with a laser pickup ?

by David E Payne

Exact citation thanks toDavid I believe the device described and sold at the URL below is real; I was really just exploring whether 1/ anyone had every had any experience with such and 2/ whether any other varieties existed regards Rohan I don't have any reason to doubt that $15k+ device is/was real. I expect some hackers could make their own LASER pickup for a turntable for less than $500-$1000. (Maybe less than $50, I dunno.) My only doubt is whether an UNMODIFIED LaserDisc player could really play UNMODIFIED LPs. The audio and video on LaserDiscs was analog but span much faster than 33 1/3 RPM. A C.onstant A.ngular V.elocity Disc for PAL would spin at 25 revs per SECOND = 1500 RPM as each track held one video frame. (30RPS = 1800 RPM for an NTSC disc.) So for a start, the sound would have to BE buffered, say by writing to & replaying from a computer file, otherwise the treble section would be ultrasonic & only microscopic creatures could dance to the beat! The Wikipedia LaserDisc article is pretty comprehensive. In referring to LASER Rot however, it doesn't mention that apparently the metal recording surface was exposed at the outside edge, which I read back then made the discs more vulnerable than CDs etc. It also doesn't mention a reason for adopting a smaller form-factor for the Digital A.udio D.is(c or k?) standard which became the Compact Disc. Manufacturers wanted to make a player that would fit in the standard car radio/cartridge/cassette dashboard space. (There was a least one phonograph produced for cars I think.) I would have liked to see the "Soundstream Audio File" system adopted as the DAD standard but there wasn't much chance of a little company beating the winning alliance of Philips & Sony. The article reference 14 in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundstream is not available at http://www.eetimes.com/ but basically AudioFile, VideoFile & DataFile used a photographically reproducible optical track read by an orbiting lens which swept past & tracked along the length of the rectangular card. (Or the card could have tracked past the lens but that's not how I remember it. Wouldn't affect compatibility either way.) Because the medium wasn't spinning, all the arc-shaped tracks were the same length, also the medium could be various lengths & potentially transparent so both sides could be played without flipping. (I read about AudioFile in an article by J. Hansen called "The Record that Doesn't Go Round" in January 1983 "Hi-Fi News & Record Review" magazine presumably still at the State library of Victoria. Maybe in the stacks now. I still had a photocopy not long ago, somewhere. Exact citation thanks to http://arpjournal.com/2140/soundstream-the-introduction-of-commercial-digit… )

7 years, 8 months

Another interesting European move to ODF (Lireoffice)

by Daniel Jitnah

Another interesting European move to ODF (LireOffice), this time in Toulouse, France, following the British; also recall the French Gendarmerie move to Linux of not so long ago. https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/community/osor/news/moving-libreoffice-saves-to… Cheers Daniel.

7 years, 9 months

Wenatex

by Russell Coker

https://www.adammalone.net/post/wenatex-how-i-was-invited-free-dinner#.U888… https://www.adammalone.net/post/wenatex-how-i-went-free-dinner#.U888cnUcgoI I've just received vouchers for free meals from Wenatex, the above blog posts tell you all about it. Basically you get a free meal for 1-2 people and they tell you about how good their "sleep system" is. I agree with Adam Malone about time==money so I don't plan to go. I'll give the vouchers to anyone who wants them, probably someone wants a free meal. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/

7 years, 10 months

quiet place in the CBD

by Russell Coker

What's a quiet place in the CBD with free entry where I could go to catch up with blogging and watching TED talks when I have some time to spare? Food courts are OK for hanging out but are noisy. A cafe that has few customers in the afternoon would be OK, I could buy a drink every hour. It's the wrong season for hanging out under a tree at a park... -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/

7 years, 10 months

Fw: Fwd: Foostcray Maker Lab Newsletter

by David E Payne

Sent from Yahoo!7 Mail on A droid

7 years, 10 months

Spanning Tree on cheap switches

by Russell Coker

Are there any cheap GigE (or even 100baseT) switches that support STP? One of my clients that is likely to create an Ethernet loop needs some new desktop switches. I've seen affordable switches advertised with "loopback protection", what does that mean? Presumably that will deal with the situation where a switch is connected to itself, but what about when (not if) 2 switches are connected via 2 cables in a loop? -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/

7 years, 10 months

Re: [luv-talk] Why is there a protest over the East West Link?

by Peter Ross

From: "Lev Lafayette" <lev(a)levlafayette.com> > On Mon, June 30, 2014 5:24 pm, Peter Ross wrote: >> >> Back to the East West Link, the winners are obvious. And the way it was >> "planned" and gets rushed through makes it quite obvious that nobody >> cares about the outcome for Melbourne and Victoria. > > Well, they've been 'planned' since the freeway was initially on paper. > There is the famous protests in 1977 which prevented the freeway being > extended past Gold St, Collingwood. >From today's newspaper: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/east-west-link-project-approved-with-roya… "Much of Royal Park's heritage-listed grounds have been spared the bulldozer after Mr Guy axed the Elliott Avenue interchange from the design. The road will instead be built with access to Flemington Road, "subject to further detailed design work", Mr Guy said. Refinements to the design of the nest of flyovers at the tunnel's western end in Parkville will also be required." It reminds me of Joseph Heller's "Closing Time", where someone's son, an unemployed designer, gets a job from his mate to draw pictures of a fighter the company is tendering for. How should he draw it with no technical knowledge about aeroplanes at all? "It does not matter. It does not need to fly. All we need is a contract with the government." That's the level of expertise required to decide how to spend many billion dollars in Victoria. Regards Peter

7 years, 10 months

Europe vs. Monty Python, a reflection in style (okay, Germany vs Brasil 7-1; -)

by Peter Ross

Süddeutsche Zeitung, a well-known German newspaper, has this little paragraph on page seven: 2600 refugees saved Rome - 2600 refugees were saved by the navy near Italy's coast last weekend. Most of the refugees on the seven boats came from Eritrea, Congo, Sudan and Algeria. Among them were dozens of children and a pregnant woman who was sent by helicopter to a hospital to give birth. Since beginning of this year 68 000 refugees arrived in Italy, more than in 2011 at the last peak. The EU Ministers for Internal Affairs will meet in Milan on Tuesday. The refugee problem will be one of their topics to be discussed. Below the Monty Python version regarding smaller but similar events. Or non-events? Regards Peter Q: Minister, is there a boat in trouble off Christmas Island? A: It is our standard practice as you know, under Operation Sovereign Borders, to report on any significant events regarding maritime operations at sea, particularly where there are safety of life at sea issues associated, and I am advised I have no such reports to provide. Q: Is there a boat? A: Well, I have answered the question. Q: … So are you saying that boats are not leaving (for Australia)? A: We are always ready for boats that may arrive and we always anticipate that they may seek to come and we are always ready. We are ready today, we were ready yesterday and we will be ready tomorrow and the government’s policies will continue to prevail. Q: So Mr Morrison, you are not even going to confirm there is a boat, you are not going to say what is happening if people are in the water? Their boat is leaking, we are told – leaking oil – and you are not going to say anything about that situation? A: What I have said is that it is our practice to report on significant events at sea, particularly when they involve safety of life at sea. Now there is no such report for me to provide to you today. If there was a significant event happening then I would be reporting on it. Q: So what does that mean? A: You are a bright journalist. I’m sure you can work it out. Q: No, we are asking you, Sir. You are the minister. A: And I have given you my response. Q: So could you clarify, Sir, for us – at what point does an event become a significant event involving a boat on the water? A: When you see me here standing and reporting on it. Q: And you are standing here reporting. A: I am not. I am saying there is no such report for me to provide to you today. Q: Are you saying that it could be a hoax that people are saying they are in trouble? A: I am not saying anything of that at all. I am not confirming any of these matters. This should come as no surprise to you. This has been our practice now for the entire period of this operation. This is another day at the office for Operation Sovereign Borders.

7 years, 10 months

Very well informed spammers..

by Peter Ross

Hi all, my kids are over in Europe and with them their iPads. Both have an iTunes account connected with an e-mail address only used for this. Short time afterwards I start to get some phishing spam claiming my iTunes account is suspended with lines as: "During a recent review of your account we found that you are currently logging in from different cities in a suspicious manner that is not compliant with our account policies." I find it quite scary how well-informed spammers seem to be about my (devices) location, combined with the link to the right e-mail address (iTunes account) used by this device. My first guess an app (a game or so) collecting location and iTunes account from the device. I find this very insufficient protection, behind the iTunes account are credit card details etc.. Regards Peter

7 years, 10 months

Re: [luv-talk] Fwd: Why is there a protest over the East West Link?

by Peter Ross

>From "Russell Coker" <russell(a)coker.com.au> > The Tea Party pretty much control the Republican party now and that's > largely due to racism, so the extreme right-wing isn't doing too badly. In Australia, Paulin Hanson's statement below has more than a bit of truth in it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Nation_%28Australia%29 In the prologue to her autobiography Untamed and Unashamed, Hanson cites the Howard government's adoption of her policies as an attempt to win back One Nation voters to the Liberal and National parties, stating "the very same policies I advocated back then ... are being advocated today by the federal government". >From the same page: Believing the other parties to be out of touch with mainstream Australia, One Nation ran on a broadly populist and protectionist platform. It promised to drastically reduce immigration and to abolish "divisive and discriminatory policies ... attached to Aboriginal and multicultural affairs." Condemning multiculturalism as a "threat to the very basis of the Australian culture, identity and shared values", One Nation rallied against government immigration and multicultural policies which, it argued, were leading to "the Asianisation of Australia." Brandis and Morrison act pretty much in the same spirit, while the fear of "Asianisation" was partially replaced by fear about "Islamisation" over the last years. Regards Peter

7 years, 10 months

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luv-talk July 2014