If you have ever played one of those coin-operated pool tables in a place like a restaurant or an arcade, then you know that the obvious question is, “how the heck does this thing return the cue ball to me???” If you look inside the table, there is a system of chutes that connect to […]
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The technology behind the LCD projector is nearly three decades old in 2012, but it remains one of the top digital projection technologies, alongside Digital Light Processing (DLP) projectors. Inventor Gene Dolgoff developed the first LCD projector in 1984, and both Epson and Sony continue to employ the technology in 21st century projectors. The old
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The red color comes from light that reflects off of the retinas in our eyes. In many animals, including dogs, cats and deer, the retina has a special reflective layer called the tapetum lucidum that acts almost like a mirror at the backs of their eyes. If you shine a flashlight or headlights into their
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Once you dial the number, the Service Switch Point (SSP) in the telephone network recognizes it as toll-free by its 800 prefix, prompting it to query the Service Control Point (SCP) that has the routing instructions the weight-loss center (the toll-free subscriber) requested. In the example above, the instructions were to route all calls to
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As games evolved, so did controllers. They added extra buttons for more actions, triggers for our index fingers to rest on and finally joysticks to better control 3-D movement. Ergonomically, controllers have differed quite a bit — but when it came to functionality, they were about the same. That is, until the Nintendo Wii came
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Taking the two basic concepts of blocks and tables, four graduate students from the Univesitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain, added music to the mix and designed something called the reactable. The reactableis essentially a music synthesizer, and if you hear it played, it sounds similar to a lot of modern electronic dance music. The
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Almost since the birth of amplified guitars in the early 1930s, players looked for ways to enhance the sound of their electric guitars. A huge variety of guitar effects have emerged from their experiments. These include rack-mounted effects, effects built into amplifiers, and pedal effects. While rack-mounted and built-in effects are separate topics, this article
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Advantages of Refurbished Electronics You’ve chosen to think on it and maybe get a little advice. Your environmentally conscious friend tells you that buying refurbished is the way to go. Why is that? By giving their products an update, electronics manufacturers can keep electronic waste out of landfills. Electronic waste is a growing problem worldwide.
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Universal Translator Hardware ViA’s universal translator device will look just like the company’s wearable computer, ViA II. The computer is about the size of two decks of cards. It is divided into two halves, which are held together by a flexible joint. The 1.38 pound (0.63 kg) ViA II is a fully functional PC that
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Apple began shipping the Apple TV in spring 2007, billing the product as a way to tie the power of your computer and high-speed Internet connection to the gorgeous display of an HDTV. More specifically, you need a TV with widescreen (16:9) enhanced-definition or high-definition capability and a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), Digital Visual Interface
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