Key Points » Electronics

Is Steve Jobs master inventor?

lawnz — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:48:56 +0000

I read AP (Associated Press) article calls Steve Jobs master inventor,

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/24/steve-jobs-at-apple-master-inventor-marketer/

here is a list of his patents,

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/24/technology/steve-jobs-patents.html#patent/voicemail-manager-for-portable-multifunction-device_7996792

All his patents are about packaging, user interface of computer or device, I would not call him master inventor, that title should go to inventors like Tesla,

http://www.teslasociety.com/biography.htm

what is the difference between AP and People magazine? :)

LED TV vs LCD and Plasma

admin — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 23:50:15 +0000

I went to stores with my friend to look for a HDTV, I compared picture quality of LED HDTV vs LCD vs Plasma, they are close, I used my hand to feel the screens, they were very different, Plasma is hot, LCD is warm, LED is cooler then LCD, my friend is specialized in embedded system, he said hot is bad, then I compared LG LED HDTV vs Samsung LED HDTV, I read user reviews on Amazon.com, they both have 4-5 stars rating from users, again picture quality was very close, I just don’t like the very glossy screen of Samsung TV, if this Samsung TV is in my living room with a lot of sun light, it will really bothers me, LG screen is anti-glare, and is hundreds dollars cheaper than Samsung, so I got a LG, the model is LG 55LW5600 47″, I installed it on the same day, I am pertty happy with it, hope it will last long.

Camera lens

lawnz — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 07:59:02 +0000

Do you ever wonder how a 18-55mm camera len is translated to optical zoom? the numbers 18 and 55 are focus length, 55/18=~3, it is about 3x zoom, I found a good link on Canon website to visualize the focus length comparison,

http://www.usa.canon.com/app/html/EFLenses101/focal_length.html

here is the theory,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_length

How I fix my water damaged cell phone

lawnz — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 09:37:33 +0000

Again I threw my cell phone in washer! I picked it up after just three seconds, it was too late, I turned it off, tried turing it back on, it flashed, then turned black, I saw the water in the screen, I put it under the sun for one hour, tried turning it on, same like before, I went to home depot and bought precision screwdriver kit, only smallest T5 works on the tiny screws on the cell phones, I opened the cover of the cell phone, used the tool to remove all screws I could see, I put it on top of my old laptop for couple of hours, tried it again, it boot up! but I still saw water in the screen, I decided to put it on top of a space heater, with a piece of thick paper under it, the heater was turned to low, I left it for overnight, I tried it in the morning, it boot up, I don’t see any water in the screen, it works great again.

Portable speaker X-mini for MP3 player

lawnz — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:35:59 +0000

I bought a very small speaker X-mini for iPod MP3 player, the sound is great, it is good for travel, here is the link to the maker’s website, it is also sold on amazon.com, I highly recommend this product,

http://www.x-mini.com/

HTC EVO cell phone

lawnz — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:07:39 +0000

After I found out new HTC EVO installed with the latest Android 2.2, I got my first smart phone Sprint HTC EVO,
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/05/31/htc-evo-4g-sprint-review/
I have to pay extra $10/mo just for EVO, after I use it for almost a week, I really like it, so easy to text messages, browse websites, it is like using a mini computer in my palm, except the battery last only one day, but all the smart phones in the market are about the same, stock battery last 1-2 days, I ordered a replacement high capacity battery on Amazon.com,
http://www.amazon.com/Seidio-Innocell-Extended-Battery-Black/dp/B003SNIR7Y
according to the reviews this battery can last 2-3 days.

This EVO phone is so good, no wonder Apple has to sue HTC.

Pocket Camera for Panorama Picture

lawnz — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:12:39 +0000

I like my compact camera Sony DSC WX1 , it works better than all my other cameras in low light condition, the panorama feature blows me away, take a look at this picture I took, I did not even read the manual when I took this picture, I turned the setting dial to panorama mode, held the shoot button, sweeped from left to right, released the button, and it was done.

This following link is information about Song DSC WX1,

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665953687

“Sweep Panorama Mode reaches beyond the traditional wide angle lenses to let you capture expansive, breathtaking shots of landscapes or skyscrapers. Just press the shutter and shoot the scene with a sweeping motion. The camera does the rest.”

AntennaCraft HBU55 installation

lawnz — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 03:41:17 +0000

Pictures show how AntennaCraft HBU55 looks, it was not hard to piece together
antenna parts, it was hard to drill the holes on the chimney, I bought the side mount
kit from Radio Shack where I got the antenna, I got a small package with couple of
special screws for concrete and the drilling bit (included) from Walmart, I drilled the
pilot holes, one hole I drilled was a little too big, I put some paper inside the hole,
then put the screws in to secure the mounting kit, after installation, make sure aim
it to the transmitter on the mountain. or go check tvfool.com to enter your
address to find out the directions of channels, the cables runs about 150 feet
without any amplifier, singal is very stable, much better than those small antennas,
I get all the free major channels in bay area CA.

I recommend this antenna to anyone like to play and save money, there is
no contract to be signed with AntennaCraft HBU55:)