Technica Cornucopia

[passedpawn]

Ok, I learned something today: my Realtek audio doesn't do more than 2 channels over its optical link either! Hah!

I built this system last November and simply moved all of the audio cables - optical, digital, etc - from the old beast to the new one without giving it a lot of thought when it just worked. But I drilled a dry hole this evening just trying to get the host to even try to send 5.1 to the Logitech head unit over the optical link, so I'm guessing there's some DRM thing going on, which wouldn't surprise me.

NBD, I get 5.1 over the 6-channel copper connections, which is fine with me.
But I wonder if it's just a matter of installing enabling software (payware, of course)...

Asked Google about all this. SMH, been through this a long time ago, and my payware DVD software does work over optical.
https://www.tenforums.com/sound-aud...out-realtek-optical-card-other-than-test.html

Cheers!

So...

• the realtek optical hardware only spits out a bitrate capable of two channels.
• DD compresses 6 channels into the same bitrate as 2.
• Something has to decode DD, and that requires a license.
• Look at the following picture from my desk. Wouldn't you just assume this gadget does that? Note the trademarks there. Also, there is a "decode" led that lights up when it's decoding DD. I've never seen that come on.

 

[day_trippr]

Given I get 5.1 when using my PowerDVD $oftware over the optical link I think it's a host side software issue...

 

[Agent]

Did you guys know that accidentally inputting a negative time delay value in an Allen Bradley SLC 5/04 PLC will stop that puppy dead in its tracks?

I do.

Now.

Would it look bad yelling at some retiree about something he programmed 30 years ago?

 

[passedpawn]

Did you guys know that accidentally inputting a negative time delay value in an Allen Bradley SLC 5/04 PLC will stop that puppy dead in its tracks?

I do.

Now.

Would it look bad yelling at some retiree about something he programmed 30 years ago?

Not surprised. If you write a word doc for publication, there is somebody to proofread you. But for code, not so much.

There should be a subclass of programmers that do nothing more than check other people's code for this sort of thing. Because, I'm SURE oversights like this are rampant. Take it from someone who knows lol.

 

[PCABrewing]

Not surprised. If you write a word doc for publication, there is somebody to proofread you. But for code, not so much.

There should be a subclass of programmers that do nothing more than check other people's code for this sort of thing. Because, I'm SURE oversights like this are rampant. Take it from someone who knows lol.

Nobody wants to take the time for a code review anymore, they prefer the trial and error method.
And Agile has done nothing to help that issue. Kinda sucks for environments where you can't tolerate frequent rebuilding or where errors are a potential safety issue.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Did you guys know that accidentally inputting a negative time delay value in an Allen Bradley SLC 5/04 PLC will stop that puppy dead in its tracks?

I do.

Now.

Would it look bad yelling at some retiree about something he programmed 30 years ago?

Well if it's an ABB device a software screwup can't affecting anything important, right?

I mean, it was probably just controlling nuclear reactor operations, or oil and gas refinery operations, or something trivial like that?

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

It is inevitable....

I worked on the PlayStation II encryption. Wanna know the best machine to break that encryption at that time? PSI. You just gotta stay ahead of the bad guys. Wish I could find the video of the teens that "cracked" the encryption doing a presentation at a conference. I think maybe one of them probably was able to shave. Oddly enough the hack was easy. The random number to encrypt was always 7. 7. I wonder how they "hacked" that.

Their reason to hack was the stoppage of being open source. Once Sony abandoned open source they hacked it in a month. Their presentation was good.

There was other interesting techniques used to hack a chip. Popping the top. Listening. Attack of service. Those kids got lucky.

I've got friends in Quantum electronics. That'll blow your mind.

 

[Agent]

Well if it's an ABB device a software screwup can't affecting anything important, right?

I mean, it was probably just controlling nuclear reactor operations, or oil and gas refinery operations, or something trivial like that?

Just running half our wastewater treatment facility, so no big deal really.

 

[day_trippr]

 

[shoengine]

Does anyone else find it strange that magnetic media is coming back? I first started hearing about cassette tapes resurging and now movies are being released in limited quantities on VHS? I am a child of the 80s, and moving to optical media was a boon. It saved us from "be kind and rewind", flipping sides, finding the start of the next song, sound quality and of course the dreaded pencil eraser assisted re-spooling.

https://www.space.com/entertainment/alien-romulus-scores-a-super-sweet-vhs-tape-release-this-week

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/tech...om-the-resurgence-of-the-cassette/ar-AA1um1J8

I really hope this is just a temporary blip.

 

[day_trippr]

There are always daft ideas floating around "out there" looking for another smooth brain to infect...

 

[mac_1103]

Does anyone else find it strange that magnetic media is coming back?
...
I really hope this is just a temporary blip.

I never throw anything out, so I am totally ready for this. Might even dust off the old high-speed dubbing deck and start up a little bootlegging business.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Does anyone else find it strange that magnetic media is coming back? I first started hearing about cassette tapes resurging and now movies are being released in limited quantities on VHS? I am a child of the 80s, and moving to optical media was a boon. It saved us from "be kind and rewind", flipping sides, finding the start of the next song, sound quality and of course the dreaded pencil eraser assisted re-spooling.

https://www.space.com/entertainment/alien-romulus-scores-a-super-sweet-vhs-tape-release-this-week

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/tech...om-the-resurgence-of-the-cassette/ar-AA1um1J8

I really hope this is just a temporary blip.

Uhh, this is just silly nostalgia crap. And I say that as someone whose paychecks are funded by magnetic media, albeit not exactly the same as VHS and cassette tapes lol...

That said, we could absolutely turn magnetic media for movies/audio back into a thing. You just make it digital instead of analog. I mean, LTO tape has plenty of storage density and throughput capability that would support lossless audio and 4K/8K video formats.

But... I struggle to understand the why...

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

How do I pair and download it to my neurologic device?

 

[passedpawn]

Uhh, this is just silly nostalgia crap. And I say that as someone whose paychecks are funded by magnetic media, albeit not exactly the same as VHS and cassette tapes lol...

That said, we could absolutely turn magnetic media for movies/audio back into a thing. You just make it digital instead of analog. I mean, LTO tape has plenty of storage density and throughput capability that would support lossless audio and 4K/8K video formats.

But... I struggle to understand the why...

You don't struggle. cmon.

 

[day_trippr]

3rd try the charm?

An Alabama woman is doing well after the latest experimental pig kidney transplant​

​

 

[day_trippr]

Ok, maybe one of you smarter-than-me-in-this-area can solve this problem for the other brainiacs

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/w...irm-universes-expansion-rate-puzzle-persists/

 

[shoengine]

At a lunch room somewhere:

Scientist A: "It looks like our measurements are inaccurate. The universe is getting too big too quickly."
Scientist B: "What if it isn't a measurement error?"
Scientist A: "If it isn't a measurement error, what the heck could it be? We already accounted for known particles and energies!"
Scientist B: "What if it is a mysterious, but invisible, energy? One that doesn't interact obviously with visible matter?"
Scientist A: "We already have something like that: dark matter."
Scientist B: "Yeah but dark matter does the opposite, it holds everything together!"
Scientist B: "No, that's gluons, I think. Or the Force or something. Dark matter just adds mass to galaxies and such keeping them from being pushed apart even faster!"
Scientist C: "What if someone forgot to carry the one again?"
Scientist A and B: "Shut up."
Scientist A quietly: "I never liked that guy."
Scientist B, also quietly: "No one does. Plus he's capricorn."
Scientist A looks shocked: "Oh. Really?"
Scientist B disgusted: "Yeah."
A few moments of awkward silence later.
Scientist A: "Huh. So, what do you want to call it?"
Scientist B: "Well, if it pushes rather than pulls..."
Scientist A interjects: "And we can't see it..."
Scientist A and B in unison: "Dark energy!"
Scientist A with a childlike enthusiasm: "I'll start filling out the grant forms!"

 

[passedpawn]

At a lunch room somewhere:

Scientist A: "It looks like our measurements are inaccurate. The universe is getting too big too quickly."
Scientist B: "What if it isn't a measurement error?"
Scientist A: "If it isn't a measurement error, what the heck could it be? We already accounted for known particles and energies!"
Scientist B: "What if it is a mysterious, but invisible, energy? One that doesn't interact obviously with visible matter?"
Scientist A: "We already have something like that: dark matter."
Scientist B: "Yeah but dark matter does the opposite, it holds everything together!"
Scientist B: "No, that's gluons, I think. Or the Force or something. Dark matter just adds mass to galaxies and such keeping them from being pushed apart even faster!"
Scientist C: "What if someone forgot to carry the one again?"
Scientist A and B: "Shut up."
Scientist A quietly: "I never liked that guy."
Scientist B, also quietly: "No one does. Plus he's capricorn."
Scientist A looks shocked: "Oh. Really?"
Scientist B disgusted: "Yeah."
A few moments of awkward silence later.
Scientist A: "Huh. So, what do you want to call it?"
Scientist B: "Well, if it pushes rather than pulls..."
Scientist A interjects: "And we can't see it..."
Scientist A and B in unison: "Dark energy!"
Scientist A with a childlike enthusiasm: "I'll start filling out the grant forms!"

lol. but in reality, dark matter was a fudge factor to make the math work. i wonder how many of those sort of jumps have been done to make the math work.

 

[passedpawn]

If you're a complete knurd and have been regretting never getting a telescope... this is the thing for you. I don't have one (yet, believe me, it's on its way). Just buy. It's $450 on amazon. I do have a big phat telescope now, but this thing can easily do 95% better what I can do with mine.

 

[passedpawn]

If you're a complete knurd and have been regretting never getting a telescope... this is the thing for you. I don't have one (yet, believe me, it's on its way). Just buy. It's $450 on amazon. I do have a big phat telescope now, but this thing can easily do 95% better what I can do with mine.

For anyone who really gets interested...

Ignore the dwarf scopes, for now
The S30 from the same company has a smaller viewing angle, better sensor, some additional features... but don't do it. Get the S50

Celestron makes a much better digital scope, the Origin. It's way more $$. I'd suggest getting the Seestar for now, and wait until this digital scope thing settles.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

lol. but in reality, dark matter was a fudge factor to make the math work. i wonder how many of those sort of jumps have been done to make the math work.

Math doesn't lie. Math is telling it exists. The great thing is when we "discover" what it is it's verifiable. There will be an eloquent solution/equation. Then you have all the propellor heads say "yea. Of course"

I wanted to do post graduate in physical electronics. First quarter was the realization you either get it or you don't. I think I went from C- to A+. It came to effect when working thru a problem. Oh yeah E =mc2. No big whoops.

Other realization was a discussion with the professor in deciding to enroll. He informed me there's no money in physics. He looked quite depressed in his decision. Great teacher tho

Also, E = mc2 isn't that old....

Now my interests have turned to quantum mechanics as a hobby. I have a friend who's on the cutting edge. A lot of theories out there

 

[passedpawn]

No, the math has problems. So a fudge factor was applied. Fudge = dark matter. Neil de Grasse Tyson agrees, if you know him.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

Fudge is a constant C. Chocolate

I've found it interesting that Earth could be the center of the universe. It's just the equation is ugly

There's also evidence in the bending of light as we go further in time with your initial post. It's something out there.

I find it interesting in the simplicity of a lot of things. As the answer is almost philosophical in the end. Einstein always returned to simple. Maybe this is the leap where we get fancy. Inner me says simple. Even the idea of parallel universes. I do miss the days where everything was an equation to me.

#IveBeenDrinking

 

[mac_1103]

When Newton's math didn't work, he said it was God.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

Agreed.

 

[shoengine]

No, the math has problems. So a fudge factor was applied. Fudge = dark matter. Neil de Grasse Tyson agrees, if you know him.

Not saying anyone is right or wrong, but I avoid the celebrity scientists.

https://www.astronomy.com/science/how-vera-rubin-confirmed-dark-matter/

 

[passedpawn]

Not saying anyone is right or wrong, but I avoid the celebrity scientists.

https://www.astronomy.com/science/how-vera-rubin-confirmed-dark-matter/

Yep, me too. Turns out, Neil is 75% astrophysisist, 25% political looking for any sort of payday. I don't blame him. I could name a bunch of other similars.

 

[day_trippr]

"Three Gorges Dam In Space": China Reveals Plans To Build Giant Power Station In Earth's Orbit​

https://www.iflscience.com/three-go...ild-giant-power-station-in-earths-orbit-77633

 

[doug293cz]

"Three Gorges Dam In Space": China Reveals Plans To Build Giant Power Station In Earth's Orbit​

https://www.iflscience.com/three-go...ild-giant-power-station-in-earths-orbit-77633

What could go wrong with a 10's or 100's of Megawatt focused power beam? What is the required area of the collection "antenna" to absorb that kind of power without vaporizing? What is the projected cost per KWH, and how does it compare to terrestrial based solar arrays?

"Though we have greatly improved on solar power in the last few decades, there is one ambitious way we could potentially give it a real boost; moving solar panels slightly closer to the Sun."​

​

Let's see - 22,370 mi / 83,000,000 mi = 0.00027 => 0.027% closer to the sun. That should be worth a few hundred billion dollars.

"... and the fact that it could move around the Earth, perpetually collecting sunlight."​

​

"... geostationary orbit 36,000km (22,370 miles) above the Earth."​

These two are kinda mutually exclusive. And, moving around the earth would require multiple ground stations to collect the "downloaded" power. Some of these ground stations would have to be outside of China.

"The energy collected in one year would be equivalent to the total amount of oil that can be extracted from the Earth."​

Gotta be talking many terawatts here. or maybe even more. I'd really like to see the analysis for this.

Brew on