dsavitsk

That's hilarious. My own feeling is that people like what records sound like because of an ASM response. The subtle background of scratching crackling vinyl is pleasant. I have old B&W speakers with plastic cones that elicit a similar sort of analog-y sound and feeling.

Happy Birthday!

Hmmm. That's awfully nice, but I think it must just photograph well.

We found that there is a whole genre of youtube videos of birds for cats to watch. So we now watch Thursten watching TV.

生日快乐

Our contract finally ended, and the day of cable cutting is at hand. We switched to Comcast for internet + HBO. Should save us >$1000/year which is nuts.

That's not just the best present I got this year, I think it is the best birthday present ever!

I am too. I'd take the best of it as good natured ribbing, and the worst as insecurity. I thought the original was fine, if perhaps a bit out of place. If nothing else, it made me think that I should turn my fume hood on more often, which then made me think about how my crappy fume hood does jack, so it wasn't entirely useless. At any rate, I'd listen to guzziguy above.

For a counter point, I like my Canon S100 a lot. It is way under your budget so you could probably attend 5 or 6 additional concerts with the savings. The Sony looks nice, too, and who wouldn't want a camera made by an insurance company? Take a look at the little Panasonics, too (the one with the Leica lens). I know some people who swear by it.

We have about that much driveway, and a very undersized/underpowered snow blower. 3 hours is about how long it takes us. Get the biggest one you can justify.

And then hope they don't touch your tongue while you drink.

The software that runs the Arduino on the Shepeoko/X-Carve will allow you to essentially do this from a computer keyboard, and it costs way less than $5K. It is very easy. There are easier ways, though, so my guess is that you'd not actually use it that way. I am happy to let you play with mine to your heart's content if you pop down to Hartford. If there is a good dinner involved, it might find its way up to you

There is a new Shapeoko coming out (which I guess they have renamed the X-Carve). They are super easy to use, don't require much in the way of a computer (I use an old X201 with mine -- they are going for $100 on eBay right now -- and even that is more than is necessary), cost under $1K, and have idiot proof design software available. If you can draw a square in illustrator, you can use the software. For desktop work, this is all nonsense. The Shapeoko/X-Carve requires you know how to load a browser in Windows or Mac OS (or Linux) and that you can connect a USB cable to the Arduino it comes with. It is all very complicated stuff. If you need to do 5 axis stuff and want production level quality, yes, hire a professional. If you need some quick one off protos and have a little patience, desktop kits are pretty amazing.

Yes. You might be able to convince them to use nickel cores on a pair. It might do good things. You could also use something else off board. I also might have a source for more bobbins. With them you could have more transformers made. The problem is that Jack does not stock the nickel, so you'd have to make a minimum buy which will run close to $1K. With sufficient interest, I could organize a run.

Expectation bias works in both directions -- if you don't expect a difference, you probably won't detect one.

McMaster

I am selling off some surplus PCBs for various projects including for the L-2, Black Diamond, and the Apsara. In the case of the Apsara, there are also wood sides available, and the possibility of convincing me to build a pair -- just ask https://squareup.com/market/ecp-consolidated-productions-llc

http://www.newswise.com/articles/noise-induced-hidden-hearing-loss-mechanism-discovered http://m.jneurosci.org/content/29/45/14077.short http://m.jneurosci.org/content/26/7/2115.short

Insider knowledge fell asleep early, but I'll ask in the morning.

I'll see if I can track some down.

Actually, many of the db meters on phones are amazingly accurate. Erika has one in her lab that cost well into 5 figures, and the one on her phone reads about the same. In bad news, there is some new research showing brain damage occurs before measurable hearing damage. That is, damage from loud noise leaves people able to pass a hearing test just fine, but not actually process what they hear.

Happy Birthday!