Tucker's Tuesday Technology Tidbits and Tertiary Trolling

Station X (or why Math is equal to guns in war)- Memorial Day

Why did the allies win? For a good deal of WWII the allies were on their heels, fortress Europe appeared to be lost. A good many fine men and women gave the ultimate sacrifice, meeting their end by a bullet. The bravery and ultimate good of these soldiers in defeating the German and Japanese threat is well know and unquestioned. What many people do not realize is just how important the code breakers of Bletchley Park were to the success of the allied effort.

Bletchley Park and its main mathematician-Alan Turning- figured out methods to decode the NaziEnigma machine and later other high level Nazi and Japanese codes. Early on the codes were decoded by the brute force method of hundreds of ‘decoders’ working of every possible variation. While this worked it was hardly ‘real time’ and the information could be irrelevant by the time it was fully decoded. The site received thousands of coded messages a day. Imagine trying to find what was important and what was old news! 

Alan Turning designed a machine to decode the messages in ¼ the time. Bombe was something of a difference engine- only its purpose was the salvation of the world.

President Obama has asked (we Americans anyway) to thank a soldier, I have done so at today’s Hastings on the Hudson memorial day parade, I also plan on a moment of silence  for the code breakers of Bletchley Park- for without them it would be uber alles baby, uber alles.

Same thing we do every night Pinky, Plot to TAKE OVER THE WORLD!

Every couple of years someone comes up with a daring plan to have one system take over and become the ubiquitous backbone of a market or function.   MIDI laid claim to something like this for several years in music and interface automation. Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) has continued to fight for complete dominance of the device configuration arena, despite several Bill Gates Blue Screen failuresat live events.  IEEE recently announced the formation of working committees to formulate content over CAT 5 standard.

HDMI has announced – (admittedly, this was announced in January but it is still relevant and moving forward) plans to present HDMI not just for content delivery of video and audio but to act as the data backbone as well.  It is an interesting attempt to grow the usefulness of HDMI and insure its necessity in any wired home; and, of course, fulfill their plans to take over the world!

 The pursuit of one system that does-it-all over a single cable or methodology can be almost spiritual in function, acting as if in recursion, much like the mythical  Ouroboros, forming a constant state of eternal return.  In such cases the apparent limitation and exclusivity are, in actuality, inspiration to development and open new pathways of innovation.

There is also a danger in allowing a single technology to be the medium for all content. Kevin Kelly recently wrote a fascinating and captivating commentary on the Ted Kaczynski\ Unabomber treatise.  In life as well as technology there always exists the danger of over reaching the purpose and function of a topology or medium, winding up like Bellerophon , wandering alone.

At its barest form the concern stems from the debate of centralized vs. distributed control and memory.  Is it best to store values in the processor – (centralized) or to store them in individual units being controlled?   The arguments on both sides carry a great deal of validity and detriment in application.
 
In the Case of HDMI, One has to question if it has the data rate room for 1080p Deep Color (which requires a data rate of  6.7Gbps) and full Ethernet data?  The better question is just what would have to be given up to accommodate the addition of Ethernet backbone topology?  Would CEC have to go away? This would not be such a bad thing as nearly no one actually uses it those who do appear to have only conceived of this as a single source to display concept.  I am unclear, and the press releases does not attempt to answer, just what would have to give, (if anything), In order for this to be accomplished.

 Given HDMi’s severe limitations on cable distance one would have to presume that some manner of CAT 5 solution or converter will be necessary, especially if it is intended for retrofits.  The proposition leaves many who are building HDMI distribution products without an eye towards this latent but present capability suddenly tagged as legacy. For those who designed with an understanding of just what HDMI is, and will be, capable of  the world just may be their oyster.

Update: 2-25-09

Ah, the things twitter can show you.  This morning I opened up my twitter account ,my http://twitter.com/TuckerTues and not the http://twitter.com/CresrtronHQ , and find an endgadget article on the DiiVa connector which claims   

"Forward channel video speeds of 13.6 Gbps provide plenty of room for 1080p and higher resolutions with Deep Color, plus the two-way connection at up to 2.25Gbps that can simultaneously handle multichannel audio, control or other data"

http://tinyurl.com/akh6ep

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My God it’s Full of Stars.

Just how does your space influence you?   NPR’s ‘On the Media ‘had an interesting show entitled ‘Space Odyssey’.

My industry is one of creating or enhancing the personal space of a corporation or home.  It’s simplistic and direct so this issue of OTM caught my attention immediately.   

Some regard personal space as a minimum of 3ft at any time (beware close talkers).   If you disagree, try living in NYC right after a major snow storm and navigating the barely cleared sidewalks.  Then talk to me about personal space.

Two sections of the ‘On the Media show’ felt particularly relevant. 

Clearing the Air

Discusses how San Paulo has banned all outdoor advertising, social issues it exposes and the apparent positive cultural effect this has had.

The article spurred some thoughts in me:

Love Piccadilly square but it can get a bit Enki Bilal or Blade runner.

I worked on an install at the Maiden Lane offices of TBWA\Chiat Day, creator of many Apple mac and the early wonder Bra ads. The company (the Chiat day portion)   had three floors of no offices- just wide open mobile work spaces, dramatic paint schemes, fire polls between floors- who needs’ stairs?  As well as a fantastic view of lower Manhattan and the meeting of the rivers.  I wanted to work for them right there.  The environment was perfectly suited to creativity, so much so that I wrote journal entries and poetry for each night I was there and weeks after.

It is interesting to note that the partner company TBWA was a strict black tie| white shirt culture, when they showed at Maiden Lane it became, well odd.

Sound Reasoning

Discusses the early 20’s research on how excess noise reduced productivity and the reactionary response of installing sound-proofing acoustic tiles- (they originally used the wonder product asbestos by the way).

 If you grew up or worked in studios during the early 80s you would still encounter some dead rooms. Dead rooms were popular from the late 50’ to the early 70’s where it was thought that a room devoid of any reflections or resonance was best for recording music.  My experience in these few remaining rooms was not quite unlike entering an anechoic chamber; for a young man who had the beginnings of tinnitus from too many roadhouse sessions behind the boards it was always a bit disturbing to have the ringing come from the background to front and center.

How many of us really understand the function ‘the space’ effects our interpretation of an event.  Acoustic, video and audio ‘sculptures’ clearly understand this and use subtle environmental queues to influence our reactions.   For the media this means branding via ads and viral campaigns  to associate image to feeling to sense of belonging .  For the Audio Visual industry it is about combining the elements of a physical environment toward a emotional result – usually excitement or relaxation or a mix of both.  

How often do you examine why you feel a certain way in a place, do you know who’s zooming who?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Way to the Egress

Just as the doomsday clock on the cover of  'Atomic Scientist' magazine indicates the proximity to the precipice so the reports of shenanigans in HD retail indicate the level of desperation of those to be 'left behind'.  The deceptions, bait and switches and out right lies are everywhere waiting to lure in the innocent and uninitiated.

The 10 worst HDTV, scams, lies and ripoffs.

http://hdguru.com/the-10-worst-hdtv-scams-lies-and-video-ripoffs/

This article does have some faults, in particular a general misunderstanding of HDMI and the rules of HDCP but is right on with Fake HD Cable and Satellite Channels (number 9) and Deep Color (part of the 1.3 spec and number 7 on the list).   

Deep color is currently nothing more then hype and promise with no source devices capable of producing deep color content.  Yes, you will be ready when and IF this is ever utilized by content producers, yet as Pee Wee Herman said- 'You have a big but there...'

Fake HD channels are just dishonest, yet every cable and satellite provider has a few channels they include in their HD package which are in reality SD widescreen content.  Phil Swann of  www.TVPredictions.com  has commented on this at

HDTV: Networks Should Stop Stretching the Truth

http://www.tvpredictions.com/forum/comments.php?y=08&m=04&entry=entry080421-102055

Why would major broadcast and cable providers deliberately try to fool the average HD viewer? Because 

1. The true HD content is STILL not there. Well at least in the volume to feed a constant broadcast schedule.

2. Cable and Satellite providers have a serious issue of bandwidth. Consumers are demanding two main services, HD content and a plethora of choices. Without compressing the digital data - thus losing some detail- it is just not possible for these providers to deliver both true HD content and 1000 channels. (Thus proving Bruce Springsteen was right all along). 

MSNBC provided an interesting article on this subject:

Cable TV under fire for degrading HD quality

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24238071/

The Slashdot folks also took Comcast to task on this

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/30/2113218&from=rss

And that promise of 1080p? All those sets selling by prominently listing a 1080p capable spec, well your going to have to wait awhile

Tandberg CEO: 1080p HDTV In 3 Years

http://www.tvpredictions.com/1080p041408.htm

Still think this is just a few over eager manufacturers jostling for market presence?  Um, not so much, major retailers are trying to dump non HD units on unsuspecting consumers:

Retailers Fined $4M for Improper Labels on TVs

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89551875&ft=1&f=1019

Then there are the stacks of portable TV these same retailers are still selling with no warning that in only few short months they will be as useless as wax cylinders.

Don't buy a portable TV this year

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9911621-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

There is also the very real possibility that millions will be left without any form of TV reception and no, we are not just talking about those living in the vast stretches of Montana- NYC and

Boston

top the list:

Study: 9.2M Homes May Face Digital TV Outages

http://www.tvpredictions.com/centris041008.htm

Into this possible gap comes the federal government and its DTV coupon program to help those of lesser incomes purchase converter boxes at discount -(and thus extend the life of their non HD\DTV sets). All is well you think, Ha!

Scammers Exploit DTV Coupon Program

http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/08/2245248&from=rss

The title of this post comes from the semi anecdotal story about PT Barnum’s infamous '

American

Museum

'. The premise of the story is that the museum was so popular that folks would linger too long, thereby making it difficult to get others in and impacting the total days take. P.T being the shrewd showman posted signs throughout the museum which read 'This Way to the Egress!', knowing full well most people would not know that Egress meant exit. It is said that many a visitor would follow the signs out a door and down a covered stairway to an empty courtyard. The door just exited closed and locked behind them, thus making another ticket charge the only way to get back in.  Many people would complain that they never did get to see the Egress!

HDMI - Nitrate Free?

HDMI is a funny thing. To those of  who cut our teeth crimping copper BNC or soldering XLR's trusting in a cable we cannot make ourselves presents a quandary.   The first time I looked into an HDMI cable I was left with questions similar to those often asked about hot dogs - 'Just what is in that thing?'.

A number of questions still befuddle installers daily

• How long can I run an HDMI cable -(answer: it depends on the gauge and quality of cable not necessarily a predefined length limit)
• What effect does HDCP have on my connections -( answer: its presence turns off component outputs  \ inputs and does have bandwidth considerations, which may effect usable cable length).
• Which devices support deep color ? -(a few, maybe).

In an apparent answer to our questions I have been receiving a plethora of newsletter and articles on just such subjects  lately:

CEpro: 3 ways to improve HDMI http://www.cepro.com/article/3_ways_to_improve_hdmi/?utm_source=CEPWeekly&utm_medium=email

HDMI.org newletter: What do speed ratings on HDMI cables mean? http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/170134/ceb1d060a1/132000973/9ac1526c60/

HDMI.org also has a great  set of  webinars (live or self guided)http://hdmi.org/learningcenter/installer_training.aspx

Deciphering the Mystery of HDCP and HDMI http://www.rentalandstaging.com/articles/publish/article_1054.shtml

How HDMI works from Howstuffworks Daily feed: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/hdmi1.htm

The Nuts and blots of HDCP by Crestron's own Rob Carter. http://www.digitaltvdesignline.com/howto/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206800378

Now can anyone tell me just why hot dogs have 10 to a pack but the buns only have 8?

Perhaps Cecil can http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_350.html

Personally, I blame Newton - If not for him, none of this would be a problem

I just finished reading  an article on www.Wirelessnetdesign.com about possible serious interference issues stemming from use of UWB by the proposed High Speed Bluetooth.  See the article:

Testing raises concerns over 802.11-based high-speed Bluetooth

http://www.wirelessnetdesignline.com/howto/206903929;jsessionid=YHRJOLR2A4BU2QSNDLPCKH0CJUNN2JVN?pgno=1

The article not only points out some interference concerns of UWB with standard Wifi\WiMax and  some IMT-2000 service, it is also a great primer on the technologies involved.

While I will not break down the article here -( you can read it for yourself,  it is not overly leaden with unfamiliar terminology and there are a ton of graphs)- the basic premise should be understood.  Radio frequency transmissions are an extremely poor way to transfer data as they suffer innumerable sources of signal degradation. The article focuses on the specific effects of UWB's technique of transmitting information in short low energy pulses but over a large bandwidth (typically  greater then 500 MHz), but the principals hold true for any RF installation.

We -(and especially consumers) have been influenced to view consumer RF (usually referring to the ISM bands) as a reliable well thought out standard in which every effort has been made to insure the units we use can resist interference or will not cause issue with other consumer systems.  Or as the article states

The reality is that consumers expect to be able to use multiple technologies simultaneously, without interference

Unfortunately two things make this concept a bit utopianstic.

• FCC Part 15 - Go ahead read  it, very interesting stuff there -(no, really).
• Getting a standard to market often involves trading pure concepts for workable solutions which allows for innovations and relative ease of implementation.

Regardless of the install type, the environment in which the system is put into can have a dramatic effect on the wireless reliability. Environmental factors can be external (Radio, TV, Aeronautic, STL, etc), Internal factors (wireless phone systems, multi-mode, frequency density and transceiver -(gateway)- proximity).  As the article states: 

...unless they are located approximately 8 meters apart for 2.6 GHz and 16m apart at 2.3GHz. If they are co-located in a single device achieving this level of isolation between radios is unrealistic...

For UWB the answer stated in the article is a method of  Time  And | OR   Phase intervals, which is fine for UWB but is not a current practical method for standard wifi.  Note the distances the article states for minimum separation! 8- 16 meters ! The basic concept of providing adequate distances between RF devices and their transceivers is just as important as antenna orientation and frequency allocation.

There are some great resources on the web which can help you get the basics

Air Magnet - www.airmagnet.com - have fantastic webinars on all aspects of wireless systems, if you cannot catch one of the live sessions they archive them all. In fact I just received a notice for a webinar on the 26th entitled:  802.11n Primer: What You Need to Know" --  It looks like a good one.

The fine folks at Infocomm international - www.infocomm.org  have a couple of great on-line classes concerning  network functionality of which the Audio-Video & control System Networking is full of great information.

Every Show Has A Victim, Don't be the Victim OR Your Only as Good as Your Last Cue

John Huntington of ControlGeek.net  has made me aware of a book by Steve Alcorn of Alcorn McBride concerning his experience building  Disney's Epcot center.  I have only had the chance to read the previews and reviews, I am told that Steve  convincingly describes the harrowing scramble to get everything working  just days prior to opening of Epcot. Any one who was worked on theatrical or event based installations know all to well the truth of this posts title. 

You can find  a helpful link to Steve's book via John Huntington's Blog page - (the link through gets John  a bit of revenue, go on help a brother out!).  www.controlgeek.net. 

The direct post link is http://www.controlgeek.net/blog/2008/3/7/steve-alcorns-book.html