Still at work, i was ready to go 15 minutes ago and found a personal site was down. Now it’s pretty again. http://forsale.sisler.info
Jun
14
2009
14
2009
Analog TV switch off day one. Did your screen go blank?
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I’m guessing that not too many Dvice readers woke up this morning to find a blank screen instead of the Weekend Today Show, but I think that over the coming weeks most of us will find that the analog switch off affects us all in ways we didn’t expect.
Personally, I recently realized that the little Sony Watchman portable I sometimes carry to sporting events and on trips is now little more than a fancy paperweight, and that I no longer have even the thinnest excuse for not ditching that old TV I never use sitting in my bedroom.
My Mom is one of those people with an old school TV and a roof antenna, but luckily I was able to get her set up with a converter box on my last trip West. Now I suppose I’ll need to try and talk her through re-scanning the box’s channel lineup over the phone. Sound’s like fun.
What’s your experience of an analog TV free world (well, USA) been like so far?
Jun
14
2009
14
2009
Navy/Raytheon working on 100kW weaponized laser: cue the "pew-pew" sound effects
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Raytheon has just been granted a one-year contract from the Navy for the preliminary design of a 100 kiloWatt FEL (Fee Electron Laser) for warships. The laser beams could be used against missles, airplanes, or even boats. Take that, you silly pirates.
Once designed, the naval operators could adjust the wavelength of the laser, which wasn’t possible with conventional lasers. This helps compensate for the varying humidity associated with ship-born situations.
This one-year preliminary design phase is one-third of a $150-million project. Do you think they could work along with the similar project that the Army’s working on? Nah… that might actually save tax-payer dollars.