The Tech Addicts Podcast: 12th Sept 2021 - Irish Punch Whatsapp in the Teeth

12th Sept 2021 - Irish Punch Whatsapp in the Teeth

Sep 12, 2021

With Gareth Myles and Ted Salmon
Join us on Mewe

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Feedback and Contributions:

Ian Watson on TV aerials - when digital took over, new aerials were needed as the frequency changed. (Richard Yates added: The UK switched off analogue transmissions in 2012.) Ideally, the aerial needs to be the same length as the wavelength for best possible reception. However, at many frequencies, the wavelength is extremely long, making it impractical to make aerials that are the full wavelength. FM radio for example, would need aerials of a little over three meters long. That would be difficult to mount on a car and would tend to hit things as the car drove down the road.

Also see Richard’s detailed and technical summary of thoughts on the topic in the MeWe Group

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Ian Barton with a Starlink Update

After some experiments with positioning Dishy, I found that facing SW was giving me the most reliable signal. There are quite a few obstructions, so the view of the sky is a bit limited. However, Dishy is going to be moved to a chimney, which is about 10 metres above ground, this week. I am regularly getting download speeds of 150-200 Mbits. Yesterday the sky was completely covered with rain clouds and it was pouring with rain. I was getting download speeds of more than 200 Mbits. I have stopped using the supplied Starlink router. The cable is now connected to the WAN port of my Netgate firewall/router. The stats page of Starlink is on a separate network that is embedded in Dishy. So I have to create a firewall/NAT rule that can let me view the stats page on Dishy from my router.

Hardline on the hardware:

Texas passes law that bans kicking people off social media based on ‘viewpoint’

Logitech’s new dock is designed for a work from home world

Lenovo's new Chromebook Duet 5 has an OLED screen and more

EU planning to go after Google again, this time over Google Assistant

Razer Basilisk Mouse - Better coverage - the tilt and scroll! Video

Review: Anker debuts new 20W Nano Pro USB-C charger in four unique colors

Google working on Chromebook 'Human Presence Sensor'

Microsoft Surface Go 3 specs leak ahead of September 22 event - More

WhatsApp asked to pay a whopping $267 million fine for breaking privacy laws

JBL's new Flip 6 speaker is tougher and smarter with Bluetooth 5.1

Western Digital unveils 20TB OptiNAND hard drive, pledges 50TB to follow

Google planning its own Chromebook chip

Motorola’s New OTA Qi Charging Unit

Apple Irish data center plans seemingly revived after being abandoned

Flap your trap about an App:

TikTok Usurps YouTube

Google Drive finally lets you save any file type offline in your browser

Nintendo Switch Online may be adding Game Boy games

Hark Back:

Technics releasing new turntable, SL-1210G - £3,499 (see the quality)

Stroboscopes - All About Stroboscopes

A stroboscope is an instrument used to make a cyclically moving object appear to be slow-moving, or stationary. It consists of either a rotating disk with slots or holes or a lamp such as a flashtube which produces brief repetitive flashes of light. Usually, the rate of the stroboscope is adjustable to different frequencies. When a rotating or vibrating object is observed with the stroboscope at its vibration frequency (or a submultiple of it), it appears stationary. Thus stroboscopes are also used to measure frequency. The principle is used for the study of rotating, reciprocating, oscillating or vibrating objects. Machine parts and vibrating strings are common examples. A stroboscope used to set the ignition timing of internal combustion engines is called a timing light.

For Record Player Platters

The edge of the platter has marks at specific intervals so that when viewed under fluorescent lighting powered at mains frequency, provided the platter is rotating at the correct speed, the marks appear to be stationary. This will not work well under incandescent lighting, as incandescent bulbs don't significantly strobe. For this reason, some turntables have a neon bulb or LED next to the platter. The LED must be driven by a half wave rectifier from the mains transformer, or by an oscillator.

...you can also now get apps for smartphones which make use of the camera to clock the speed of rotation/movement.

You can also get stand-alone meters of course, mainly used in industry I guess, with readouts.

Bargain Basement: Best UK deals and tech on sale we have spotted

WD Elements Portable Recertified 5TB Portable Hard Drive USB 3.0 - 10RECERT still works making it £72 (with code) from Western Digital Shop

Sony WH-1000XM3 - lowest price ever(?) - only real-world difference from XM4 is no multiple-pairing/switching £198.01

Creative Labs Modern 2.0 USB-powered Desktop Speaker System Was: £22.99 Now: £20.79 15% voucher - £17.67

Microsoft Deals

Xiaomi Mi 11 5G - £649 (5x£129.80) - Specs

Xiaomi Mi Smart Watch Lite Navy Blue - 1.4 Inch Touch Screen, 5ATM Water Resistant, 9 Days Battery Life, GPS, 11 Sports Mode, Steps, Sleep and Heart Rate Monitor, Fitness Activity Tracker - Was: £53.29 Now: £41.44

Anker Power Bank PowerCore III Fusion 5000 PD, 18W USB-C Portable Charger 2-in-1 - half price at £15.99

Sennheiser HD 599 Special Edition, Open Back Headphone, Black - Exclusive to Amazon - Was: £179.99 Now: £99.00

Elgato Stream Deck - £95 from £140 - who needs v2 anyway! Pah!