Audio, Computers and Everything Else

AudioMan ISO Box

2011-06-10T18:12:00.000-05:00

AudioMan ISO Box
Here is a great circuit you can purchase from me to combine two separate intercom systems together. This "in-Line" adapter can also be used in place of the ubiquitous "IL-19". I fit this circuit into a small (3.5"X1.5"X1.5") aluminum box filled with epoxy. The epoxy makes the internal components rock solid for extended life.

Click Images For Larger View

Intercom Combiner
This intercom adapter is real handy for touring rock shows that tie into house intercom systems every night to call spotlight Cues. The arena can keep it's own intercom base station turned on, use their own headsets and beltpacks and deal with their own noise and bad cable problems without causing any interference with the touring intercom system. As long as you place this isolation transformer between your road system and the house system, they are completely transformer isolated! It will also pass 2 channel signals, combine any brand of analog 3 pin XLR systems (ie; RTS to ClearCom, HME to Telex or any combination), and keep system voltages and grounds completely separate.

The AudioMan ISO Box can be added to the end of a string of belt packs and plugged into a powered speaker to monitor intercom conversation without having to wear a headset. Or you can patch into a recording device to keep a log of show conversation. Or you can use it the other way around and patch a line level audio track into the beltpack string.

The capacitors are there to stop any voltage (phantom power, intercom power supply 12V - 48V) from damaging the transformer coils.

Audio Isolation Transformer
Both pin 3 and pin 2 resolve to pin 1 (ground) via the circuit which allows this device to work as an audio terminator. This also allows you to use this adapter as a very clean and efficient line level isolation transformer. One big advantage of this type of circuit over a standard "IL-19" is that it will pass signal even with an open pin 1, pin 2 or pin 3.

Companies
A partial list of places where you can see the ISO Box at work:
Clair Brothers, Cirque du Soleil, Lion King, PRG, Solotech, Creative Technology Inc, Lake Shore AV, Allstate Arena, Auditorium Theater (Chicago), Thunder Audio, ClairGlobal, The Joffrey Ballet, and scores of road technicians throughout the country.

This device has a flat response from 20Hz to 25kHz ± 1.5dB. With a 3dB roll off @ 16Hz!

I sell this product for $69.95 plus shipping which is usually around $5.00 to anywhere in the lower 48 States via USPS Priority Mail. Delivery is typically 2-3 days.

I run a continuous eBay Auction Page to sell this product. Please have a look!

A few companies have had trouble setting up an eBay account with a corporate credit card. In such cases I can sell direct without the eBay interface. Just send me an email with your purchase request.

If you have any questions or purchase requests, email to:
audioman@sbcglobal.net

AudioMan Push to Talk

2010-04-24T13:56:00.000-05:00

Let's talk Push to Talk
This is the latest product that I manufacture. The most common application for this box is for the “Voice of God” microphone at the stage manager’s desk. Many good quality microphones do not come with an on - off switch. Or even if they do, this Push to Talk Box can be placed in a more convenient position for quick and accurate operation without that annoying turn on thump.

This Product is made with the Highest Quality Components

Solid aluminum case rejects electromagnetic interference.
Vandal & weather resistant professional control equipment switches will withstand years of abuse.
Momentary On Type Switch.

Neutrik connectors. The industry standard.

Filled with industrial grade electrical potting epoxy making it rock solid for extended life.

The AudioMan Push to Talk will work with dynamic microphones as well as phantom powered condenser microphones.

Under normal conditions, this switch will not introduce a click or pop when activated.

Have a look at my eBay auction and purchase a few for your work box.

A few companies have had trouble setting up an eBay account with a corporate credit card. In such cases I can sell direct without the eBay interface. Just send me an email with your purchase request.

Time Alignment & The "Haas Effect"

2009-06-02T16:05:00.000-05:00

What is the "Haas Effect"?

Over the years I have heard dozens of theories from dozens of audio technicians about the "Haas Effect". Some have merit. Some just sound like a wild guess. Lets start with the official definition as published in December, 1949:

Haas Effect Also called the precedence effect, describes the human psychoacoustic phenomena of correctly identifying the direction of a sound source heard in both ears but arriving at different times. Due to the head's geometry (two ears spaced apart, separated by a barrier) the direct sound from any source first enters the ear closest to the source, then the ear farthest away. The Haas Effect tells us that humans localize a sound source based upon the first arriving sound, if the subsequent arrivals are within 25-35 milliseconds. If the later arrivals are longer than this, then two distinct sounds are heard. The Haas Effect is true even when the second arrival is louder than the first (even by as much as 10 dB.). In essence we do not "hear" the delayed sound. This is the hearing example of human sensory inhibition that applies to all our senses. Sensory inhibition describes the phenomena where the response to a first stimulus causes the response to a second stimulus to be inhibited, i.e., sound first entering one ear cause us to "not hear" the delayed sound entering into the other ear (within the 35 milliseconds time window). Sound arriving at both ears simultaneously is heard as coming from straight ahead, or behind, or within the head. The Haas Effect describes how full stereophonic reproduction from only two loudspeakers is possible. (After Helmut Haas's doctorate dissertation presented to the University of Gottingen, Gottingen, Germany as "ÃƒƒÂœber den Einfluss eines Einfachechos auf die HÃƒƒÃ‚Â¶rsamkeit von Sprache;" translated into English by Dr. Ing. K.P.R. Ehrenberg, Building Research Station, Watford, Herts., England Library Communication no. 363, December, 1949; reproduced in the United States as "The Influence of a Single Echo on the Audibility of Speech," J. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 20 (Mar. 1972), pp. 145-159.)

I will take this definition one step farther to explain how this phenomena can be applied to timed delay speakers in a venue.

Practical Application

When an audio technician measures and sets the timing for a delay speaker his time setting is only exact for one measured distance from the stage. At this location the listener will hear sound from the main speaker and the delay speaker at the same moment in time. These speakers are "Time Aligned". However, as the listener moves forward or back from this location the time alignment between the two speakers changes slightly by as much as five or ten milliseconds. This happens because as the listener walks one foot towards the main speaker he will only be, perhaps, 1/2 foot closer to the delay because he is approaching the delay at an angle. So, although the listener has shortened his distance/time to the mains by almost a millisecond he has only changed his distance/time from the delay speaker by half a millisecond. Walk ten feet towards the stage and the offset between the main speaker and delay speaker will be about 5 milliseconds. What this means is that at this position the sound from the delay speaker is reaching the listener 5 milliseconds later than the sound from the main speaker.

To some technicians this timing shift is seen as a problem that just can't be fixed. For others, they will tweak the system to make it less noticeable by playing with relative volume and offset timing until the systems sounds as natural as possible. Additional tweaking is certainly the right approach. And quite often the additional tweaking will result in a perfectly aligned system with the help of "The Haas Effect".

Three Easy Steps

1. We need to pick the correct spot to set the exact time alignment for the delay speaker. Typically this spot would be near the farthest coverage area of the delay. The last few rows of seats. The farthest area before you get into the next delay zone. Set your analyzer mic at this spot and use your tool (Smaart, TEF, SIM, ears) to set the time delay exactly on time.

2. After the delay time has been set, walk back to notice where the sound begins to drop off. This should happen at the outer edge of the delay's coverage area. If not, adjust the delay amp level accordingly. Use your equalizer to adjust the speaker to the room and test and adjust the speaker volume again so that the delay speaker volume is just a little louder than the sound from the mains, maybe 3 to 6 decibels. Since the two speakers are exactly time alligned the delay speaker should hardly be noticable.

3. Now that the delay time and delay level has been set, walk forward into the "Haas Effect Zone" and notice that the volume coming from the delay is getting louder. Of course, at the same time, the relative delay time is also getting longer. This is where the psychoacoustic properties of The Haas Effect come into play... More to come!

===== Creation of this paper is still in progress =====

Good Audio Books

2009-04-10T10:07:00.000-05:00

Here is a list of audio books that I recommend.

Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Handbook
This book has been an industry standard for new audio technicians and seasoned professionals.

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Lectrosonics
For many years Lectrosonics has published a small handbook about wireless microphone systems. Although Lectrosonics is very popular in the broadcast industry we don't see much from this manufacture in sound reinforcement. However, their handbook is one of the most explanatory guides to using and understanding wireless microphone systems.

Sound System Engineering
One of the best short program audio schools in the country is SYN-AUD-CON. In the early days this program was run by Don & Carolyn Davis. "Sound System Engineering" is their masterpiece. If you want to learn audio, in every exacting detail, this is the book for you!

Multiple Sound Cards On A Laptop

2009-02-08T23:49:00.000-06:00

When you use several audio applications at the same time on a laptop, sound card management becomes a real problem. For example; if you are using Smaart Live to monitor your sound system while you are playing walk-in music you have maximized all the usable resources of your sound card. Smaart Live has priority of the card's input while your playback program is using the card's output. There just isn't any room for another music program. You can't even turn on Smaart Live's pink noise generator without first turning off your music. That makes for an awful lot of mouse clicks just to bounce between two programs. And if you make just one mistake you might cause your computer to hang up right in the middle of a show!! That's a hard lesson to learn. The best solution is to use multiple sound cards.

I like to use three sound cards on my laptop to get the job done. If every active audio application has it's own dedicated sound card input and/or output, you can prevent any digital traffic jams from causing a computer crash. I don't want my computer to produce even the slightest "hiccup" during a show.

There are several flavors of laptop sound cards to choose from: USB, PCMCIA, and your on-board sound card. Each card has it's advantages and disadvantages. So, let's have a look at the various types of sound cards and see how well they work together.

In general, when using multiple sound cards you must be mindful of power management. Remember, we're talking laptops here. Teeny tiny computers with teeny tiny power supplies. There are only so many volts to go around.
USB
Some of the USB sound cards I have used excel is sound quality and have many useful features; built-in headphone amps, cool looking light displays, even phantom power. But this all comes at a cost. The power for this devise comes from your USB port, which comes from your motherboard, which comes from that little plastic power supply sitting at your feet. If your sound card of choice is the USBPre I wouldn't advise buying three of them. Although this card sounds great and is loaded with features it draws a considerable amount of power. Read their Overview and pay close attention to the section about power requirements.

One good, low voltage, USB choice could be the Edirol UA-1EX which has a minimal voltage draw from your USB port. Or even the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Roadie that draws even less power than the AU-1X. Don't let size fool you. This little box uses the same or better 96k D/A chips that any larger professional Digital Audio Work Stations! Not bad for the price. I found this card to be an excellent low voltage playback card that works well on a multiple sound card laptop. The Audio Advantage Roadie and the AU-1EX will work just fine together without overloading the USB ports.

What if we use one beefy USB card and one PCMCIA card?
Well for starters, we won't be overloading the USB port with too many volt hungry devices. And by having only one USB device on the port we free up all available bandwidth for that single USB card. Full speed USB devices signal at 12 Mb/s, while low speed devices use a 1.5 Mb/s subchannel. USBPre is a full speed peripheral. Products like keyboards, mice, and graphics tablets are usually low speed devices. At the full date rate, 18 mono channels of 16-bit/44.1k (0.67 Mb/s) audio can theoretically be simultaneously moved across the bus. Since there is protocol overhead associated with USB, that 18 is brought down to typically 8 or less mono channels of 16/44.1 audio that can reliably be transferred across the bus. So when you add two full speed USB sound cards to your laptop the available bandwidth is halved yet again. And I think this brings us a little too close to bandwidth overload.

There are several other USB cards available on the internet such as the Creative Labs Extigy . Use the Goolge link on the right side of this page to have a look around.

PCMCIA
I have had very good results using PCMCIA sound cards. My first card was the Digigram VxPocket v.2 . This card comes with more than you will probably ever need. However, it's nice to have the extras if you need them. To connect to your audio equipment the card comes with a dongle that includes XLR inputs and outputs, SP/DIF input and output, 1/8" headphone and sync. The link above will show you all of the stats. I used this card for about 5 years and had no problems with it. Except for the fact that I'm a "worry wart" and could not go on a show without a spare dongle. The connection from the dongle to the card seems a little flimsy. I ended up replacing this card for that very reason. The replacement is the Echo Indigo io . This card sounds just as good as the VxPocket without this large dongle hanging out the side of my computer. It has 1/8" input and output, is a full duplex sound card and volume control for the output.

WINDOWS SOUND PROPERTIES
Before we get into the Windows sound properties you should know how to boot up a multiple sound card system. I'm not sure how Windows makes this selections, but if I have all my sound cards connected when I boot my laptop it always picks my USB card as the Windows default. As you will read below, I like to use my on-board card as the default.
So...What we do is start up our laptop without any additional sound cards attached. This will force Windows to choose the on-board card as it's default. After the computer has completely booted you then connect your other sound cards to their ports.

In order to manage all these sound cards you should get familiar with the Windows "Sound and Audio Devices" dialog boxes in Control Panel. All three of my sound cards will show up in these setup tabs. Here is where you decide which sound card will play all your default Windows sounds and things like that. I have always turned off all Windows sounds by default. What a drag it would be to have some silly "DING" blast through your system during a presentation! I choose my "on board" card as the default Windows card since I don't usually patch it through my console. This comes in handy when you have to jump into an editing program on the fly while you are still in "Show Mode". I can edit files in Sound Forge with my onboard sound card while I'm running PCDJ for walk-in music, and still run Smaart Live to monitor the venue. All at the same time!!

In your various audio applications you will find "system" or "device" parameters to choose sound cards for input and output. You can use different cards for the same program! I use the Indigo io for input to Smaart Live and use the Edirol UA-1X for Smaart's output. Mix & match! Have fun and discover what works best for you.

Save Money With Mid-Grade Gasoline

2009-01-15T19:07:00.000-06:00

Miles Per Dollar

I remember back in 1986 when I bought my first new car. It was a 1986 Honda Accord. The price of gasoline was around $1.15 for regular and $1.25 for mid-grade. I had an idea for saving money on gasoline by measuring "Miles Per Dollar" instead of the usual "Miles Per Gallon".

Through my own simple research what I found out is - and I can only work with figures I calculated with my own cars - I save about $400.00 per year by filling my cars with mid-grade instead of regular (CHEAP) gasoline.

Here are the numbers: With regular gas, my 1986 Accord (and now a 1998 Civic with similar results) got, on average, about 29 Miles Per Gallon (MPG). With mid-grade gas, my car gets an average of 34 MPG. That's 5 more miles per gallon for every gallon of mid-grade I purchase over the cost of regular. Or, to look at it another way: For every 6 gallons of mid-grade gas I buy, I get 30 extra miles of fuel efficiency over regular gas for an up-charge of only $0.60. 10 cents more per gallon for mid-grade. That's like getting a 60 Cent gallon of gas for every 6 gallon of mid-grade that I buy!

As far back as I can remember mid-grade gasoline has always been 10 cents more than regular. Even at today's prices ($3.35 per gallon in Chicago) mid-grade is still only 10 cents more per gallon than regular.

So, here is another way to look at it in real dollars:
6 gallons of regular gas costs 6x$3.25=$19.50.
6 gallons of mid - grade costs 6x$3.35=$20.10.
Still only 60 cents more. But for that extra 60 cents you get 30 more miles of fuel efficiency which is equal to $3.25 (one gallon) of savings for every 6 gallons you buy.
Or, how about $6.50 savings per fill-up! (12 gallon tank)

How many times do you gas up every year? 60 times? More? I commute about 90 miles per day 5 or 6 days a week. Sometimes I'm gassing up every 3 days. And keep in mind, these numbers are for a fuel efficient car. I wonder what kind of MPG some of you are getting with your SUV, VAN or pickup.

Measure The Difference

For those of you who are not familiar with calculating MPG here is how it is done:

Fill your tank (to the top) with regular gas and make sure you zero your trip odometer. Your vehicle is now ready for testing. Drive around as you normally do and a few days later, when you return to the gas station, you will begin logging data. When you are ready to fill-up, write down how many miles are shown on the trip odometer. This time fill your tank with mid-grade gas and write down how many gallons of gas you put in your tank. Keep these numbers together.
Zero your trip odometer again. Drive for a few days until you need gas. When you are ready to fill-up, write down the miles you see on the trip odometer, fill the tank and write down how many gallons you put in the tank. Keep these 2 numbers together.

You now have the basic data for calculating MPG for regular vs mid-grade gasoline. Divide your first odometer reading by the amount of gas you put in your tank (example 288 miles divided by 9.78 gallons of gas = 29.45 MPG). This is your MPG for regular gasoline. Do the same with the second set of numbers (example 312 miles divided by 9.23 gallons = 33.8 MPG) and you will have your MPG for mid-grade gasoline. In this example the difference between the two MPG numbers (4.35) demonstrates how much more efficient mid-grade gas is than regular gas.

Fine Tuning The Numbers

Of course, if you want more accurate data you should run the test twice with each grade of gasoline. You should run the gas tank as far down to empty as possible without running out before each fill-up. This will prevent the two different grades of gas from mixing together, spoiling the test results.

It is important to be very consistent in your driving habits during the testing period. For example, if you use your air conditioner during most of the regular gas test but not in the mid-grade gas test your results will be too inaccurate for comparison. Local driving vs freeway driving or a few long evenings with the engine idling at lovers lane will also spoil the test results. You could wait to take your measurements on a long road trip. 2000 miles of Interstate Highway make a perfect test track for MPG comparison.

Green Peace

For any of you who are concerned about the health of our planet, you could look at not only the waste of money but also the waste of fuel we are pumping into our atmosphere. For every 6 gallons of regular (CHEAP) gasoline you put in your car, one of those gallons is wasted. Up in smoke! As a rough calculation, my car would pump 127 gallons of wasted fuel and carbons into the atmosphere every year if I were to use regular gasoline.

I think the Oil Industry is laughing all the way to the bank. You think you are saving money by buying the lower priced fuel when, in fact, you are actually spending more by a rate of about $3.25 per 6 gallons.
The way I see it:
"I have to buy Mid-Grade. I can't afford to waste good money on Cheap Gas".

Show Me Your Results

If you try the MPG test on your vehicle, email me your results. I would like to know what kind of savings you get on your SUV, VAN, truck or luxury car. If the data is useful, I will average all of the new test scores and post these numbers in this article.

Click the link "ASK QUESTIONS. EMAIL STEVE" to send me your information or to ask a question about this article. Thanks!

Great Tools for a Clean Computer

2009-01-05T11:57:00.000-06:00

INCOMING!

There are a few software programs that I have been using to keep my email and web surfing clean for so long that they have become second nature to me. However, most people I work with or just talk to are not even aware of these kind of programs. The most popular and expensive commercial products promise to clean your email, block spam, identify porn and many other tasks automatically or with little human intervention. I believe most of these products do, at least, something for you but in many cases it's more like sweeping problems under the rug rather than actually getting to the heart of the problem.

The biggest culprits are the products that organize your spam into convenient folders, or send it right to the "trash" or "delete" folder. The problem here is that once you have downloaded any spam email the sender knows that you exist. It's really great that you have all your spam organized and out of the way, but since the spammers knows you exist they will just keep sending you more!

Are you still getting more spam? The people who sold you the anti spam software shure hope you are. Otherwise they would be out of business. Maybe it's time to find a better way.

For example: My household has seven email addresses. We have had most of these addresses for at least five years. The average spam and junk mail total for the week, for all seven accounts, is usually around 10 to 15. Most of this junk goes to my 14 year old as a result of his web surfing habits. He has gotten better but I still need to do more work with him. I think this is a really low spam count. And I attribute this to the great products listed below.

I will go through each of my simple, effective and free (or very inexpensive) programs that have kept my email and web surfing nearly trouble free for years.

MailWasher

I started using this program about 6 or 7 years ago when I was still on "Dial-Up" to view my mail server before I downloaded new mail. With a dial-up connection it can take 10 minutes or more just to find out that your Aunt Nellie has sent you another 5 bad pictures of her cat. Really frustrating!! With MailWasher you can see how large the email is, you can read the title and partial text and much more without having downloaded it.

So here is a list of features as stated on their web site:

Preview. Easily preview the message in your email to see what the sender has to say before downloading it. Just double click on the message.

Bounce back unwanted e-mails so it looks as if your email address is not valid. This will make the sender think your address is no longer active so your name can be removed from their list. This unique feature is great for privacy and it couldn't be simpler!

"Bounce is BY FAR the coolest feature. This is what kills spam! Several other programs just organize your spam into seperate folders after it is downloaded. But by then it is too late. They already know you exist. DUUHHH!!!"

Delete unwanted e-mails before you download the whole message. You will be able to see who the email is from, the subject, and the attachment. This will enable you to decide if you want to delete the email or keep it. A great way to stop viruses or large attachments.

Blacklist. Any e-mails you bounce back get their senders details put on the blacklist for easy removal if they come back. You can even set it to automatically bounce and delete blacklisted e-mails, or whole domains off the server. Plus, MailWasher can use external blacklists such as ORDB and Spam Cop or you can specify your own.

I can't say enough about this product. Get it. It's Free. I always use MailWasher before I download email. It also gives me a chance to see what my kids are doing with email. I view all 7 accounts at once to keep everybody clean.

ZoneAlarm

This product has been around for years. It's free. It keep the bad guys out. It will stop a virus infestation on my home network (we share 5 computers and a network printer). It is also an easy way to monitor internet traffic. Has your computer been hijacked? ZoneAlarm will show you what programs are sending or receiving data from the connection.

Pop-Up Stopper

This is an easy program to use. It does the job. It's Free. Easy to turn on and off. It will block all pop-ups... Period! Get it at: http://www.panicware.com/product_psfree.html

eBlaster

Ever wonder what your kids are doing with AOL Instant Messaging (AIM)? Did they get up in the middle of the night to play a few rounds of Half-Life 2? Are they talking about drugs in their emails? eBlaster will answer all these questions and leave no doubt in your mind.

I have been using eBlaster for abour 2 years to keep an eye on my kids. Yes... It's a little like spying but I'm a parent. It's my job to keep my kids safe and out of trouble. And I don't hide the fact that I see what they are doing. They know I can read their AIM's, outgoing and incoming. I don't tell them how I do it though. I simply tell them that I can monitor internet traffic. You would be amazed what your "Perfect Children" talk about on AIM. As a parent your knowledge can keep them out of trouble, out of jail, maybe even save their life from predators. I have eBlaster set up to send me an email every day at 8:00pm (or the next time they are on-line) with the complete text (both ways) of their AIM sessions, email, keyboard reader and web sites visited.

For company use there is a version that can be remotely installed via email, however, it is not automatic. So don't think about trying to scam your ex-girlfriend or ex-wife or anyone else you want to dig dirt up on. Of course, if you get your hands on their computer when they are not watching, you could do the install yourself. But... Well... I don't want to talk about it.

This product costs about $100.00 (one time fee) and is worth every penny. Additional downloads are $49.00 each.

Auslogics Boot Speed

This is my most recent tool. It does several things very well. Great tool for cleaning up temp files, registry cleaner, defrager, optimizing internet connection and plenty more. The price as of February 2008 is only $29.00. Visit their web site and look around: Auslogics

I hope this information is usefull. Try the free stuff. It can't hurt. But it may hurt if you don't!

Instant Replay On Your Laptop

2008-11-29T16:37:00.000-06:00

I use several music programs on my PC. Each on has a specific purpose. For walk-in music I like to use a product made by Visiosonic called PCDJ. It looks like a Newmark DJ mixer. What I like most about it is the way you can build categories and sub-categories of playlists. The playlist library is visually very easy to navigate and update on the fly even while music is playing.

PCDJ

For instant playback of fanfare or play-on music I use a product called SportsSoundsPro. This simple and easy to use application displays panels, or windows, of 48 cells each. The cells include labels of your selected music, track legnth, several colors to indicate if played or not to play, highlite and many more. There are 4 banks with 18 windows in each giving you 72 windows of music. Each window has 48 cells you can program with music cues. Tabs for the 18 windows can be labeled for easy navigation.
The best part of this product is the "Hot Key" function. You can assign any key on your laptop as a hot key for instant playback. This, of course, only happens while the SportsSoundsPro window is active. You can also use a window of 48 cells as a playlist that can play random or sequentially.

SportsSoundsPro

A company named "360 Systems" makes a product called Instant Replay. This machine is great to work with for quick music playback however it's a real pig when it comes to editing. Editing music with Sonic Foundry or Cool Edit is extremely accurate, easy and fast. It's even faster when you can load your new edits straight into SportsSoundsPro or PCDJ, and keep your music all on the same machine. No need to transfer your files into another devise.

Repair Damaged DVDs and CDs

2007-05-07T13:52:00.001-05:00

Turn Old Into New

How many CDs and DVDs have you set aside because they are scratched and no longer play?
Did you buy one of those machines that spin the disk while you crank in vain knowing that it will probably still skip anyway? It seems like that spinning machine just puts another layer of scratches on the disk. My experience is that it will only work 50% of the time at best. I gave up on those mechanical gimmicks a while ago.

Wax Your Disk

If you have any experience working with Car Wax or Polish this lesson will be a no brainer.

First of all, keep in mind that all of your data is on a layer of the disk that is below the bottom surface. There is about a 1/16 inch plastic layer that the player's laser has to penetrate through before it can read the data. When the surface of this layer becomes excessively scratched the laser beam bounces off the scratches at random angles preventing the beam from reaching it's target.

The data on optical disks is arranged in a circular pattern. The most severe scratches on a disk are the ones that are also in a circular pattern. Or, at least, lay directly over the data pattern for some length. Like an inch or more. This is why it is recommended that you clean a disk with strokes from the center to the edge of a disk. Of course, this method is also refferring to "lite duty cleaning" with a damp cloth to remove finger prints and foreign particles.
What we are going to do is use the same soft cloth that you use for lite duty cleaning and apply car polish to it before you start to scrub out those scratches.
There a several car wax products that will do the job. The best are the ones that feature scratch restoration. McGuire's car wax feature many products that will remove scratches and swirls with various sizes of grit mixed into the product. My favorites are "McGuire's Swirl Remover" and "Turtle Wax Formula 2001". They work great on my cars and do a good job of restoring my optical disks.

Scrub A Dub Dub

Apply some car wax product to a soft clean cloth and clean your disk from the center to the outside and back again with a slight circular pattern. More like an oval. Use medium pressure to help the grit plane down some of the plastic coating. Wipe off any residue and look for scratches. They may not completely go away but the object is to smooth the scratches out enough to not interrupt the laser beam.
Try to play your disk at the part of the movie or music where is skips or freezes. If the problem persists repeat this process or use a car polish product the same way you used the swirl remover only with a lighter pressure which will leave just a light coating of polish that will help fill in the scratches. Wipe clean and try to play it again.

This method in not a "cure all" for every problem (some disks are just not fixable) but it is worth a try on any disk that you can't play anyway!

If you prefer to err on caution try this method on a throw away disk for practice. The first disk I tried this method on was a music CD I found under the seat of my car. The surface debris included scratches, coffee stains and a dead bug. Once again, I can hear "Lacuna Coil" all the way to work in the morning!

Get Free Access To Wi-Fi

2006-11-29T16:32:00.001-06:00

FREE WI-FI

I spend most of my time in hotel ballrooms. A lot of time! It is difficult to send and receive email when I am tethered to an audio system for several hours without a break. So I researched the market and found a few devices that made everything easier. And Free!

Hotels are very accommodating when it comes to picking up a Wi-Fi access point in the lobby. However, when you are in a ballroom the hotel would rather have the occupant pay for a T1 line for internet access. This can cost several hundred dollars per day. As a result it is far and few between that I am working on a show or convention where there is any access to the internet.

Find the Yagi Flag at: http://www.inpath.com/antbundlenic.html

What I did was invest in a PC card and external antenna. There are two brands that I have used with very positive results:

The Cisco Aironet 350 PC card is a 802.11b Wi-Fi card with a MMCX antenna connector. The antenna that came with the unit (shown above)is made by YAGI and is manufactured and marketed by TELEX. It is a +8db gain directional antenna that mounts on the back of my laptop screen. It has a working distance of 2000 feet (no obstructions). I recently upgraded to a Orinoco Gold 802.11b/g card to take advantage of the wider bandwidth of the (G) codec. The Orinoco card has a MC antenna connector which is different than the Cisco card. I would suggest purchasing an antenna/PC card combo package so you don't have problems with mismatched connectors.

I found the Orinoco card and antenna combo on a web site for about $140.00 including shipping. The Cisco card and antenna was purchased for $150.00. If you enter the name "YAGI Flag" in the Google window to the right of this page, or just use the card's brand name, you will find several products and price ranges.

IN USE

From most downtown ballrooms I can use my antenna to find several Wi-Fi access points to go online with. Other computers around me, with the latest and greatest Wi-Fi cards, will show nothing. From my hotel room I'll point the antenna towards the window and usually find several access points from neighboring buildings. I have even used this setup near lobby windows to hitch a free ride from neighboring hotels from more than a block away! It really shakes people up when they see me surfing and downloading from several optional access points when they can't even see one!

Eliminate Digital Rights Management (DRM)

2006-10-13T14:22:00.001-05:00

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

In past posts I have talked about how to legally buy music for a more reasonable price. These sites I have talked about, allofmp3.com, mp3sale.ru, mp3free, are free of DRM code. However, what about those of you who have already downloaded plenty of music from iTunes or Wallmart music or any other mp3 download site and have the ongoing problem of dealing with digital Rights Management?

Sound Taxi

The answer is "Sound Taxi". This program will strip the DRM code off the music file and save a clean version to another directory. No more problems with loading your music on more than one portable player or another computer. The price is $14.90. A bargain for what this program can do for you. Click this link and start shopping: http://www.SoundTaxi.info/

Keyboard Shortcuts

2006-06-10T15:26:00.002-05:00

Basic Windows Shortcuts

This is a list of some of the most common keyboard shortcuts that will help speed up your computing.

Ctrl+C is the command for Copy. Whenever you have text or a file (such as in Windows Explorer), or even cells in a spreadsheet highlighted, Ctrl+C will copy that information to the Clipboard.

Ctrl+V is the command for Paste. You can use these two shortcuts to move files around your directory or within Word, Excel or from any document to another. These can also be used in text boxes that don't have an Edit drop down list for commands.

Ctrl+A will Highlight All text within a document.
ALT+Tab will let you switch to another application quickly.

Ctrl+D is used in spreadsheets or databases to Drop Down data in a column. In a payroll timesheet, for example, you can drop your "Start Time" (say 8:00am) down a column for all employees who start at that same time.

Ctrl+S is the command for Save.

Ctrl+P is the Print command. This will bring up a window to select your print mode, ie; Print, Fax, PDF or any other output device on the list.

Windows Key+F is for the Find Command. If you haven't used this before you will learn, really quick, how easy it is to find any file on your computer or on your home network!

As I am typing this article I noticed how many times I have used Ctrl+B which is the Bold command. Ctrl+i is for Italic and Ctrl+U is for Underline.

Windows Key+M will Minimize all of your windows. This is a quick way to get back to your desktop.
Windows Key+E Opens Windows Explorer.
Windows Key+Break will bring up the System Properties Box.

After reading the next section you may not have any reason to ever use Windows Key+M again!

Special Shortcuts

There are some special keyboard shortcuts that I use extensively to open my most popular Desktop Icons.

The key combinations Ctrl+Shift+(any arrow key) and Ctrl+Alt+(any arrow key) are not used by any Windows components. Therefore, we can assign them to eight of your favorite Program Icons on your desktop.

Before we get started lets arrange your icons into two groups of four (up, down, left, right). Place one group near the top of your desktop and the other group near the bottom. This arrangement will help you remember what key combination you assigned to each icon.

Lets start with the bottom group. Right click on the left icon and select Properties.

Left click in the dialog box next to the words "Shortcut Key:". Enter your shortcut combination (Ctrl+Alt+Left) by holding down Ctrl and Alt together and then hit the Left Arrow key. Your box should look something like the picture above.

Click on "OK" and test your Keyboard Shortcut. If this works, continue adding shortcuts to your other icons in the group. Do the same thing for the top group only use the Shift key in place of Alt. With these new shortcuts you can now open your favorite programs without having to see the desktop. The best advantage of having these shortcuts is to use them while you are working in other windows.

While we are talking about several open windows did you know that you can toggle between all your open windows or programs by simply using Alt+Tab? Try it!. It's a real time saver. In fact if you learn all of these shortcuts you will see that you can save a lot of time by not having to use the mouse to click through all the drop down lists and menus to get to the command you want.

Ctrl+Tab is the shortcut for toggling between several windows within a single program such as Word, Excel or MS Works.

There are many shortcuts for specific programs. You will find these in the manuals and Help Files of your program. Do you want to learn about program specific shortcuts? Send me an email. If it is something I'm familiar with and it is interesting to the general public, I will post it in this website.
Just click on ASK STEVE A QUESTION near the top of this page.

Russian Music Web Sites

2006-05-24T15:15:00.001-05:00

allTunes.com

I have been watching the music industry for years, waiting for them to make some sense with their music download prices. And now I am tired of waiting!

When I was younger I bought plenty of 331/3 rpm records. I bought them until about 1986 when CD players dropped to a reasonable price. I have bought CD's ever since then, until I found a reasonable price and quality for downloadable music. This happened in the Spring of 2004 When I found "allTunes.com".

At first I kept this information to myself thinking "It must be illegal since the music is so inexpensive". But then I read their Legalese and other reviews about the quality and legal issues of this website and realized I had really found a great bargain source for music. Still I kept this information to myself thinking "Wow, I have a one up on everybody else who is downloading music".
$0.04 per Megabyte.

And then I waited again. I was waiting for the music industry to realize that their digital music prices were way too high. I mean, really, $0.99 per song. I don't know the exact numbers but I'll bet that price gives them about 3 times the profit of a 10 song CD that was manufactured, packaged, delivered, displayed and sold my a brick and mortar merchant. At a time when music sales are having the most competition in it's history... Free Downloads!

Well, I'm tired of waiting! I'm not big on "Free". I want the musicians, who Write and perform the music, to get their fare share of the profit. And although allTunes.com is so cheap it seem criminal, it is not. The price is low because of the exchange rate of our US currency and the Russian Ruble. Here is a portion of their Legalese as stated on the website:

Is it legal to download music from allTunes.com?
The availability over the Internet of the allTunes.com materials is authorized by the license # LS-3М-05-03 of the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (ROMS) and license # 006/3M-05 of the Rightholders Federation for Collective Copyright Management of Works Used Interactively (FAIR). In accordance to the licenses' terms MediaServices pays license fees for all materials downloaded from the site subject to the Law of the Russian Federation "On Copyright and Related Rights". All these materials are solely for personal use. Any further distribution, resale or broadcasting are prohibited.
The works available from allTunes.com are protected by the Law of the Russian Federation "On Copyright and Related Rights" and are for personal use of a buyer. Commercial use of such material is prohibited. Recording, copying, distribution on any media is possible only upon special consent of a Rightholder.
The user bears sole responsibility for any use and distribution of all materials received from allTunes.com. This responsibility is dependent on the national legislation in each user's country of residence. The Administration of allTunes.com does not possess information on the laws of each particular country and is not responsible for the actions of foreign users.

Here is a link to an interview with allTunes's chief programmer: http://www.museekster.com/allofmp3interview.htm

And here is a link to a good discussion about International Music Download Legality:
3Cx.org

So, that's legal enough for me. Our Government hasn't blocked it from Americans. Go for it!

I use the "allTunes Database" to search for music. It gives you quick access to their entire music catalog. The application downloads the alltunes catalog onto your computer and can be accessed while you are online. Get it here at: http://www.alltunes.com/en-index.shtml. This application works kind of like iTunes with .mp3 music and ringtones for smart phones and has a much better user interface. Try it. You'll like it.

New Kid On The Block

There is another Russian music site which is very similar to allTunes.com. It is called mp3sale.ru. The prices are $0.15 per song and their catalog is somewhat smaller. However, their selection of music includes files I didn't find on Allofmp3 or Alltunes.ru. The interface is more eye appealing as well.

Here are some links for Russian Music Web Sites:
mp3fiesta.com
LegalSounds.com
Mp3Sale.ru
mp3Search.ru
audiostore.ru
mp3legal.org
gomusic.ru
musicmp3.ru
mp3Sparks.com
mp3ninja.com
mp3.ua
mclub.te.net.ua
JustMusicStore.com
3mp3.ru
mp3sugar.com
mp3spy.ru/en
mp3stor.ru
mp3skyline.com
lomoio
Check it out! Let me know what you think of each website.