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Hardware

Digital Generation Rediscovers Analog Wristwatches 505

Hugh Pickens writes "As recently as a half-decade ago, time seemed to be running out for the wristwatch; the mechanical device was declared to be going the way of the abacus. But now the NY Times reports that the 'sundial' of the wrist is experiencing an uptick among members of the digital generation, particularly by heritage-macho types in their 20s and 30s who are drawn to the wristwatch's retro appeal, just as they have seized on straight razors, selvedge denim and vintage vinyl. 'A cool machine that is all moving parts has got to be intrinsically interesting to someone born into this generation,' says Mitch Greenblatt, an online retailer of design-forward watches who is seeing a surge in business, 'because there's just nothing like that in their life.'"

Comment Quality of sound makes a huge difference....vocals (Score 1) 243

Some years back while mixing and mastering an album..in attempting to setup my listening room and to calibrate my monitors...I starting with a more quantified approach using audio visualization tools that were available from the Internet... I calibrated my monitors and identified frequencies that were dropped out by recording white noise with various microphones and found the sweetspot in the monitor field...in doing so I stumbled into looking at full songs and vocals and I made a observation that I felt was astounding...I analyzed numerous hit songs by running the song through a visualizer that produced a sonogram...I picked vocal artists who had a quality of voice that I found pleasing to listen to and were hit song singers...

I also analyzed some tunes that were great musically but lacked that vocal sparkle.

What I found is that great singers produce a sonogram that shows significant instrument like qualities with several bands of semitones working together to make the actual note sung very rich and full of harmonic vibration and natural dissonance....a thin voice is just that...it lacks the semitones or they are unevenly distributed semitones that accompany the main frequency of the note sung. When the voice lacks a instrument like sonogram...the voice is unpleasant. Of the voices that were the most rich, Mahlia Jackson had several evenly distributed bands of frequencies accompanying the base note both above and below. The distribution of the semitones led me to assume they were near perfect overtones and harmonies that to our ears made the voice sound full and rich. Even Bob Dylan showed the pattern...despite his broken, breathy, nasal singing style his sonogram was rich with character. I thought for sure his would not.

On hit songs from a variety of genres and eras one thing that stood out was the vocals exhibited the same semitone patterns...in varying degree...most amateurs simply do not have this. I though it might of been tape saturation of vocal effects processing but after looking at raw digital vocal tracks from accomplished vocalists those tones were present on unprocessed tracks.

For comparison I also looked at various instruments...cello, violin, saxophone and guitar and it was shown that the semitones were very pronounced and quite numerous above and below the base frequency....one of the tools I used was a simple iTunes visualizer plug-in that provide a horizontal real-time scrolling image of the music. I simply watched the music with a tool that biologists used for analyzing bird calls and various other sounds of nature.

from this analysis I determined a few things, 1. That my own voice is not pleasing. (lol) 2. The music and sound operate on our brains and in a very complex manner and that our ears and brain are perfectly adapt at understanding the sound of music (no pun) at a very minute level of detail. So the structure of a song, key and tempo I believe is simply a coincidence and if you look at the the vocalist and the character and quality of the voice as well as the sound and tonal balance of the instrumentation, that has a very huge influence on our acceptance of one song over another.. What was interesting is that great vocalists seem to be able to control the number of semitones produced and do so to illicit maximum emotional effect in the song itself...which is the artistry and talent of the musician to take the listener beyond simply listening and to create an emotional response..

All in all my few weeks of dorking around with sound from various instruments, vocal tracks, songs and tone generators I came away with a new found appreciation of great music and how special the people are that make music...and that we separate and celebrate these people and their ability because it is a very rare gift indeed.
DRM

Capcom Announces Unreplayable Game 535

Hatta writes "Resident Evil: Mercenaries 3D for the Nintendo 3DS will be an experience that can be completed once per customer. Using a single, unwipable save slot Capcom ensures that a second hand customer gets a second rate experience. If you buy this game used, you will be stuck with the previous owner's progress, unable to start the game fresh."

Comment Horribly sad story. (Score 2) 146

I learned about Turing many years ago, but his personal story was only made aware to me recently.

I am glad to see that apologies have been made but it doesn't make up for the tragedy of a brilliant man...a brilliant gay pioneer.

Speculation on if he committed suicide fails to mention that a dramatic side effect of estrogen use in males is the development of female secondary sexual characteristics, a "second pubery". Two years on estrogen injections that no doubt were at quite a high dosage to supress testosterone, Turing more than likely developed noticeable breasts accompanied by fat shifts and loss of muscle mass...not to mention the atrophy of the genitals...

One could speculate it was extremely difficult for a sexually active healthy gay man in his early 40's to undergo a "forced transition". After two years Turing was probably seeing his body turn quite female as subcutaneous fat settled into female patterns on his body and muscle tone gives way to a more smooth appearance, and body hair reduces to a terminal stage and become less vigorous. Other effects include reduction in stamina and aggression as well as physical strength. His sexuality and attractiveness to other gay men was being taken away from him. It was likely too much...add to it the extreme effects on emotions caused by the influence of estrogen if his dosage was not maintained consistently it would result in wildly shifting levels of testosterone and estrogen resulting in more emotional instability.

It would not be surprising that he could no longer live himself. In the end his story ends as another example, in a long string, of cruelties society has inflicted on gay people throughout history.
Television

Practical "Smell-o-Vision" System Being Developed 210

cylonlover writes "Researchers have managed to create a proof of concept Smell-o-Vision device potentially capable of pumping out thousands of different odors, yet small enough to fit behind a TV. The device has 200 X-axis controllers and 100 on the Y-axis that could selectively activate each of the 10,000 possible odors stored within numerous non-flammable silicone elastomer compartments."
Image

Soldier Re-Grows Leg Muscle After Experimental Procedure Screenshot-sm 141

Marine Isaias Hernandez has been able to grow back most of the missing muscle from his leg, including skeletal muscle, thanks to an experimental treatment involving an injection of a a growth promoting substance extracted from pig bladders. Hernandez lost 70% of his right thigh muscles from a mortar exploded attack in Afghanistan. Normally this type of injury would lead to an amputation. From the article: "In preparation for the operation, corporal Hernandez was made to build up the remaining 30 per cent of muscle left on the damaged thigh. Surgeons then sliced into the thigh, placing a thin slice of a substance called extracellular matrix. The surgery is the result of a $70 million investment by the US military into regenerative medicine research."

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