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Who's in the corner?
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Sunday, March 7, 2004 |
Random thought:
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Publishing on the WebSay "Web publishing" to a printer and the printer will think of a large press with a huge roll of paper, but say "Web publishing" to me and I'll probably think of a website such as the Harley Hahn Experience. We've talked to Harley previously about his Internet Yellow Pages book. Now you can buy the book or read it on the Web. Unlike many sites, the Harley Hahn Experience has no advertisements anywhere. None. Instead, readers are asked to buy an annual subscription for $20. No, not $19.95; Harley doesn't play goofy marketing games like that. That's probably one of the reasons I like the way he does things. That and the fact that his cat (The Little Nipper) has his own website. I spoke with Harley Hahn about his new website and why he decided to set up the new website: The guy behind the curtainFor this program, I thought I'd try something different. I'm sure you know that Harley and I spoke for more than 3 minutes and 18 seconds. In fact, we talked for nearly 20 minutes. As much as I'd like to use a 20-minute interview on Technology Corner, we just don't have that much time:
While the Technology Corner segment is nominally an hour long, Joe and I have only about 15 to 20 minutes to talk about technology during the hour. A 20-minute interview would take the entire program, even if we never broke in to say a word. So we edit. The 20-minute interview gets trimmed to a little over 3 minutes. I hope that what's left fairly represents the primary points made by the person being interviewed and that it includes the information that's most essential to the people who listen to the program. In case you'd like to hear the entire interview and compare it to what's left after the editing process, here's most of the interview, minus only some chit-chat before we started and after we finished: By the way, to see Harley's new website, just click here. Zap the jet noiseFlying isn't fun anymore. You have to arrive at the airport 3 days before your flight and submit to a strip search. Then you're handcuffed and stuffed into a seat designed for a toddler, tied down, and subjected to an explanation of how seat belts work. After that, you're treated to loud noises for several hours. It's not quite that bad, yet. I have to wonder why anyone who doesn't understand how seat belts work would be allowed out of the house unattended, let alone on an airplane. But these are things that are beyond the control of the common passenger. You can fix the noise problem, though. Sennheiser says of the PXC250 that it is "a closed, dynamic, supra-aural mini stereo headphone with NoiseGard active noise compensation. Due to their active and passive attenuation of ambient noise, they let you I say of the PXC250 that these small over-the-ears headphones cut the noise. They're not as effective as the Quiet Comfort 2 headphones from Bose, but they're also a lot smaller and lighter. At $150, the PXC250 set also costs a lot less than the Bose unit ($300). Considering the size, I was more than a little skeptical about the PXC250's effectiveness. This is what happened: I put the headphones on and immediately noticed a slight drop in noise. This is the "passive" part of the attenuation. Then I flipped the switch that turned on the circuit and I noticed a large drop in noise. The circuitry "attenuates frequencies below 1,000 Hz by up to -15 dB." In other words, there's a big drop in low-frequency noise -- the kind of noise found on jet airplanes in flight. If you fly more than a couple of times a year and the constant roar annoys you when you do fly, a set of PXC250 headphones would be a good investment. And if you find yourself on an airplane that offers audio connectors at the seat, you won't have to rent the airline's 50-cent headphones for $5. Just slip the special funky-airline-audio adapter out of the pouch, plug the headphones into the adapter, and plug the adapter into the funky-airline-audio socket.
Earlier I noted that these headphones are smaller than the competing product from Bose. The Sennheiser phones fold and, when folded, they're about the size of a pair of sunglasses. There's an external tube that holds the batteries and the circuitry. One cable goes to the phones, another to whatever it is you want to listen to while in flight. I used an Apple iPod, but it can be anything that has a standard mini-stereo plug, a quarter-inch stereo plug, or a funky-airline-audio plug. Everything is housed in a case you can wear on your belt if you want to look like a geek or stuff into a carry-on case if you don't. The noise-reduction circuitry works whether you're listening to anything or not, but if you don't plug the cord into something, people may cast odd glances in your direction. (If all else fails, just stuff the loose end in your pocket and they'll think you still use an old Rio 500. Sennheiser says the thin, flimsy-feeling cable is reinforced with Kevlar. I didn't try to break it, but I'm still a little concerned about the cable. Sennheiser claims frequency response of 10 Hz to 21 KHz. That's more than most portable electronic devices will reproduce and more than most of us can hear. All I can tell you is that the sound was better than I've ever heard on an airplane. The unit runs on 2 AAA batteries. I put 2 rechargeable cells in the unit and stuffed 2 more into the case. After two 5-hour flights (each with an additional 2 hours in Dallas at no additional charge) I was still on the first set of batteries. That's a total of more than 14 hours use. Not bad!
For more information, see the Sennheiser PXC250 website. Nerdly NewsThat was the week that wasWhat a week! Where to begin? Viruses, worms, phish, and spamInternet crud hit an all-time high and, if you're the kind of person who goes around looking for silver linings, you'll find one here: Everyone suddenly seems to be quite interested in doing something about messages with forged headers. The fact that this problem could have been solved, and should have been solved, 10 years ago is more than a little annoying. But I'll take the good news where I can find it. Microsoft, and SendMail, and others are finally talking seriously about validating senders. That means that I'll no longer be able to send a message that appears to have come from Bill Gates. And, conversely, that Bill Gates will no longer be able to send a message that appears to have come from me. In the meantime, all you can do is pay attention, be careful, and keep the antivirus and firewall software up to date. SCO finds suckers, then sues Mercedes and AutoZoneComputer Associates, Leggett & Platt, and Questar caved in and have said they will pay what many observers are calling SCO's "ransom". DaimlerChrysler is among the firms that refuse to roll over (or is that bend over?) for SCO. Now SCO says that it will sue the automaker. Both AutoZone and DaimlerChrysler had been customers of SCO, but both apparently realized that they could do the same job for less money with Linux. SCO claims that Linux contains code stolen from Unix (a claim hotly denied by Linus Torvalds, who wrote Linux) and wants users of Linux to pay a license fee. What's next on SCO's plate. Apparently the Bank of America. Bank robber Willie Sutton is quoted as saying that he robbed banks "because that's where the money is." Apparently this point was not lost on SCO. Dell steps down? Over?Michael Dell started a little business building computers in his dorm room 20 years ago. The company grew and became the biggest manufacturer of PCs in the world. This week Dell announced that he would step down as chief executive of the company. He will remain as chairman and expects to be involved in day-to-day business activities. In case you wondered, he's 39. Victory for DMCAThe Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes it illegal to copy a DVD even for your own backup purposes. A judge in New York is upholding provisions of the DMCA and handed DVD copying software provider 321 Studios a setback this week. US District Judge Richard Owen granted a preliminary injunction that bars 321 Studios from providing software that allows users to copy DVDs. The suit was filed by Paramount Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox Film. Let us know what you think about this program! Write to: |
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Privacy Guarantee:I HATE SPAM and will not sell, rent, loan, auction, trade, or do anything else with your e-mail address. Period.
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As if you didn't already get enough weather on the radio! Annoying legal disclaimer
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enjoy music even in noisy environments. The headphones are foldable and come with a convenient belt pouch, making them an ideal travel companion." Sennheiser is a German company, so maybe we can forgive what appears to be be a literal translation of techno-babble from the German.
