Miscellaneous

Because of my mold problem, I am looking to get another air purifier. Right now I have the Winix Plasmawave but I am going to keep that in the room with mold and put the other one with in the room I sleep in. Any recommendations? The Winix is good but doesn't have activated carbon filters so I don't know if it is as good as some others. The mold specialist said that Honeywell makes good ones. Anyone tried those? What are the important qualities. I know that a good HEPA filter is the most important. Should UV sanitizer be avoided because of Ozone? Avoid ionizer (the Winix Plasmawave has this)? Are activated carbon filters a lot better than regular carbon filters?

Hello, this saturday day we are flying out for our first family trip to Disney world - Molly (age 5) and Myles (age 3) do not know yet, so don't say anything. The wife has appointed me to find a nice backpack that will hold all the typical little kids survival tools that will be needed - snacks, juice, rain ponchos, electronics, etc. I would love to know what you guys are using for family trips, this would be a backpack I would wear big enough to hold a bunch of stuff without being too bulky.

Does anyone have a strong recommendation for an office chair? I currently have an Aeron which I like well enough, so getting a second is not out of the question. However, I am interested if there are others people like better. I used to have a Knoll Bulldog which I did not really like as it was too bulky and just didn't fit right. I was looking at the Steelcase Think for no particular reason other than it just seemed to stand out. The Think or Aeron are at the absolute top of the price range -- cheaper would be better.

Looking for a very thin/slim and simple wallet to carry in my back or front pocket. Any suggestions? Does anyone know anything about these? http://www.all-ett.com/

Google Announce Project Fi http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/google-bursts-into-the-wireless-industry-with-project-fi/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/22/google_project_fi/ https://fi.google.com/about/ https://fi.google.com/about/faq You'll need a Nexus 6 Initially (or pay for in only 24 easy monthly payments) - so they're not pitching to iPhone users, yet and the pricing of $20 + (GB used * $10) may only seem cheap because of how expensive / data non-PAYG other plans are ... What usage patterns does this make sense for (in terms of TCO/coverage) , compared to say T-Mobiles $30/5GB plan ? But interesting to have a virtual / MVNO plan that allows ro…

link My attitude on "less than an hour a day of listening" (which seems to be the takeaway on Facebook, although it should be "...less than an hour a day of too loud listening...") is this:

I was just washing some sheets and heard some noise in the washing machine. There were two AA batteries in the washer that got in with the sheets. They were submersed in water. I took the batteries out and they seem to be ok - no obvious swelling or tears. Will the sheets be ok to use after washing again? Should I do anything to the washing machine? I guess I am worried that some battery acid might have leaked out.

Hey guys, Just a heads up of a post I saw on Facebook. For a small company in a niche market, that kind of loss can threaten being able to stay in business. Avoid crazy deals and no buying off the street or in back alleys/white vans.

Hi, we are a potential problem. The specific problem concerns lying.

Because I can't remember what thread this tidbit belongs in. http://www.businessinsider.com/bose-dismisses-patent-infringement-lawsuit-against-beats-2014-10 Bose Agrees To Dismiss Its Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Beats

Like Chrome Cast for video, but with without the video, for (audio?) devices without HDMI inputs ... http://www.google.com/cast/audio/ http://chrome.blogspot.ch/2015/01/introducing-google-cast-for-audio.html EDIT: Interesting that they have the root "cast" directory. http://www.google.com/cast/ Hmm, whats next. Text cast (or should that be cast for text)?

I am in the process of finalizing some wood choices for a custom ukulele to be built for me, and have settled on myrtle for the back and sides, and port orford cedar for the top. Both have excellent tonal and resonance properties, and both (at least on paper) offer the right combination of a heavier, denser hardwood for the back and sides, and something light but stiff for the top soundboard. Any guitar people out there can probably chime in, as well as any woodworkers. The builder has even sent me some pics of some wood choices he has available. I like the look of this particular one for its consistency and striping and overall lighter hue (see image2) Ho…

Julie and the girls just moved into an apartment and I'd feel a lot safer if the apartment had some sort of security system. The ADT type subscription services seem less expensive per month but start to add up over a bit of time. Has anyone set up a system themselves or has suggestions for a diy system? 2 bedroom with windows, a living room door and a main door need to be covered essentially. I am thinking buying a cheap netbook and throwing a couple of tb drives in an enclosure and connecting them to some cameras. However, if there is a break in, I don't see why someone would leave the netbook behind. Cloud based services all require subscriptions at which point we might…

Anyone have any recommendations or suggestions of what to read? Jeff recommended using a fire hose to fill it with water, but I do not think that would be ideal. More prefer to put some sort of absorbent material (foam? fiber board?) behind canvas prints. Also, speaker decoupling, to reduce noise transmission to the neighbors, seems like a good thing to do.

So, we're closing on our new house on Friday, and we have a month to take care of a few things before we move in. The biggest project is a gut on the kitchen. Recommendations for the major appliances? Leaning towards a slide-in gas range instead of separates, though I do like the cook top and wall oven. And we're trying to decide if a French door fridge is worth the extra coin vs side by side. Liking the Kitchen Aid stuff I've seen, but we're not sure. And washer and dryer... We've been really happy with our LG combo unit, so we were thinking we'd stick with that, but I'm more than happy to hear real world experience and advice. Thanks.

This is priceless...... Three billion, you say? http://www.cnet.com/news/bose-accuses-beats-of-infringing-noise-canceling-headphone-patents/

I need some reasonably priced speaker stands. I've taken my Daber Audio Monitor 3's out of storage, and I've shipped them to my new home in the Sacramento area, but I'll want some 18" to 22" stands to get them at a good height. I've combed the web, but thought you guys might have some recommendations that I may have overlooked.

Folks, My apologies for using this public forum for a private request. I was wondering if someone here could ask NwAvGuy (creator of ODAC and O2) to contact me. I tried contacting him, but his blog contact-form is full. We have a project at MIT that may relate to his work. My private email is: tom [at] findthomas [dot] net. I would be so grateful if NwAvGuy could reach me. Thanks in advance. Tom Hardjono @findthomas

I have a 2 year old staying at the house this week and I am afraid she is going to want to put legos or some other toy in the front port of my Monitor Audio 6 (for some reason Tim wants to have her play right next to the speaker system). The speakers have front ports. Would it be ok to cover the front ports with some sort of light cloth for the week (while the system is on). This is the main tv setup so I can't put the speakers in a different room. I'm not so concerned about the sound but whether it could damage the amplifier. My guess is that is probably ok but will look like shit. I was thinking of using thin like a disposable dish cloth like this.

This is an odd topic but I'm looking for quick answers. I am having some Ikea solid beech wood butcher block counter tops installed in the Mayberry kitchen. They suggest sanding, sealing and oiling but they do not really give a lot of specifics. They sell some linseed oil but not a sealer and I am not sure if a sealer is necessary or recommended for use on butcher block counter tops or what to use and still be safe for food handling on them. Anybody have ideas for specific products or general procedures to employ or avoid?

Yep, It's now official Available direct from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Fire-Phone-32GB-AT/dp/B00EOE0WKQ etc http://online.wsj.com/articles/amazon-unveils-smartphone-1403114271 http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/18/amazon-phone http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/18/5819516/meet-the-fire-phone http://gizmodo.com/amazons-fire-phone-is-here-at-last-developing-1592702508 http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/06/amazon-announces-its-first-smartphone-the-fire-phone/ http://time.com/2895275/amazon-fire-phone/ http://m.t3.com/news/amazon-announces-the-amazon-fire-phone Firefly:"It's basically the easiest way to spend your money you'll ever find."

There is an abandoned house next door that's in foreclosure. People moved out, and there is an unfinished pool in backyard, a large dig but without any concrete. After the recent rains, the hole is now full of water, apparently rife with numerous frogs. There's a dirt yard with wild bushes everywhere also. There is VERY loud frog noise intermittently throughtout day and night at all hours. Called HOA, who said they can't do anything as they can't enter the property. They (and I) called "Vector control," who do not deal with frogs but will come out "in few business days" to take a look for mosquitos. In the meanwhile, I got zero hours of sleep last night due t…

I was pondering the idea of sound design when it comes to amplifier design. I am wondering if amp designers know what a circuit is going to sound like before they make it? So is it the case that they think about the sonic attributes they want to create and design an amp to suit or do they just build an amp with little concern for the sonic side of things and aim to keep the variables (such as THD) in an optimum range with an expectation that the amplifier will sound good at the end? In addition to this are there things a designer can do to deliberately change an aspect of the sound, such as increase the warmth, widen the soundstage or increase the detail? Sorry for …

Anybody know how to disable Nvidia's Optimus function? Googling didn't lead to a good answer. I did a clean install of Win 8 (then 8.1) onto Sandisk Extreme II 480 GB SSD for Dell 17R SE (1980x1020, i7, 8GB), and now Windows Experience Index is quite high for all, Except for graphics performance. Intel graphics HD4000 and Nvidia GT650M (with Optimus) can't be as bad as this ChrisPC Win experience says? (Win 8.1 dropped genuine Win Experience ap) IMG_20140529_145412 by drjlo1, on Flickr IMG_20140529_190543 by drjlo1, on Flickr

So I am looking at my comcast bill and realize they are kind of killing me and I am totally overpaying for cable and internet. I succeeded in downgrading cable to something that I will actually use. My current internet through comcast is the xfinity Internet at 12 Mbps and they offer that "power boost" stuff. My wife and I are really just internet surfers and email users. Obviously 90% of my time is spent here. No music or video or crazy downloading, we really don't watch tv or movies online or streaming. In fact I barely even hit up the YouTube but do occasionally. I can down grade to 3 Mbps for much cheaper but want to know how that would be.