Herculodge

Manly Watch Sighting: The Watch Phone

Thanks, Russ:

Here's a different kind of watch: "To sate that "look good, feel good" need in all of us, LG has brought out the ultimate in techie chic: a watchphone. This is not just any watchphone though, this is a £500 ($808) droplet of Orange-tinted exclusivity that straddles your wrist and demands onlookers' attention." Full details on engadget. 

The Smiths Inspires a Collection of Short Stories

One of my favorite bands from the 1980s, The Smiths, have inspired a short story collection: Please: Fiction Inspired by The Smiths.

After 5 Years, the Best Sound for My iPod Are My Audio Technica ATH-AD500 Full-Size Open-Air Headphones

(Re-post)

Trying to compensate for the compromised iPod sound, I've tried a variety of ear buds, closed headphones, open headphones, and speaker cradle systems over the last 5 years, but for full detail and effulgent musical landscapes, the kind that gives you a "head trip," nothing has beaten my $70 Audio Technica ATH-AD500. They're no longer sold on Amazon. Perhaps it's a safe guess that the slightly more expensive $87 Audio Technica ATH-AD700 are as good if not better. And the AD700 is still available. 

One thing I learned is that open-air, which doesn't block outside sound, creates a better musical landscape and you get more sound for your money. If outside noise isn't a problem, you should get more bang for your buck with an open-air headphone format. 

Roku Discontinuing the Original Soundbridge

Thanks, Mike Papp:

Somewhat bad news from Roku. Seems they are no longer making the original style Soundbridge.

 

Too bad as I really liked its looks and performance, wish I had 2.

 

Good news: Monster stiil makes and keeps improving their power bars. Surge plus filtering.

 

Every A/V and computer component should be hooked to one of these.

http://www.monstercable.com/power/home_theater/powerbars.asp

Accessory Pack Now Makes the Logitech Squeezebox Internet Radio Portable

Ante has apprised us of the accessory pack that makes the Logitech Squeezebox portable. The cost is $50.

Angelo's Graetz Tube Radio

 

I found this radio on E-Bay from a seller in Germany.  Yes, shipping was nearly as much as the radio----and I had to set my alarm clock for after midnight to wake up to bid in the closing moments---but I was determined to get this radio and I'm glad I did.  It's on the dresser in our guest bedroom.  It's the finest sounding radio I have and probably the most beautiful to look at.  I haven't even figured out all of the controls yet----I just have things set the way I want to listen, mostly on a local FM oldies station here in the DC area.  

Deep, booming, driving bass is the highlight.  Reception is good, even though I've done nothing in terms of adding an antenna.   I have a few tube radios at this point----and I recommend them to the radio hobbyist.  For the longest time, I avoided them as "too old and too complicated."  But as long as you get a working example, I think you'll do fine.  Ironically, the radio that got me interested in tubing is actually a solid state model, the GE P780.  I read that GE tried to replicate the warm sound of a tube radio with this model---and I liked the sound of my P780 so much, I decided to buy a tube radio from E-Bay (a modestly priced 1950's Zenith) to see if there was really a discernable sound difference between tubes and solid state.  

Yes, I definitely loved the sounds of that Zenith, which lead me to the bigger, louder, more expensive Graetz.  Since then, I've also picked up another large German radio made by EMUD and very recently, a small Philco tube radio.   I'll probably stick with these four for the time being...that is, unless I see a "got to have it" deal. 

Tips for Tuning SSB on SW Radios

(Re-post)

Thanks to "3/4 Blind" for this helpful info:

Here's a tip for tuning SSB on SW radios with coarse digital tuning steps and a fine tuning BFO "clarifier." Tune to a WWV time signal on 5, 10, or 15 mHz. etc. whichever signal is strongest, then switch to SSB mode. Fine tune the BFO (On an Eton E5 it's the "fine" knob on the right hand edge.) to zero-beat the audio. As you adjust the BFO the audio changes from a tone to a "thump, thump, thump" until the beat frequency is zero, no tone, no "thump thump...". Then, while still in SSB mode and without further adjusting the BFO, tune to the frequency of interest. If that station is broadcasting right on the kHz. and not a fraction of a kHz. the radio will be properly tuned. For inexpensive portables you may have to repeat the above steps to fine tune the BFO until the tuner stabilizes; things should settle down after about a half hour. A "broadcast" station one might try in American Forces Network on 10320 kHz. evenings PST and 6350 kHz. around 3 a.m. PST. One last point, radios which do not have separate lower sideband (LSB) and upper sideband (USB) filters receive LSB and USB simultaneously. This is usually not a problem as most broadcasters do not use the same frequency for both LSB and USB. I have heard hams do this. It could have been an experiment to test their receivers' filters, or it could have been that two parties wanted to use the same frequency and neither party would move.

Thanks to "3/4 Blind" for this helpful info:

Perhaps It's Not Depression Knocking On Your Door; Perhaps It's Sanity

Louis Menand in the latest issue of The New Yorker explains Gary Greenberg's book Manufacturing Depression by writing that for many people, "depression is not a mental illness. It's a sane response to a crazy world."

Menand goes on to write that "Greenberg basically regards the pathologizing of melancholy and despair, and the invention of pills designed to relieve people of those feelings, as a vast capitalist conspiracy to paste a gib smiley face over a world that we have good reason to feel sick about."

If I Had to Read One Book About America's Financial Mess

In an earlier post, I contemplated America's Downward Shift, which led to our current recession. Now a book that is lauded as the one book to read about our current financial meltdown: Past Due: The End of Easy Money and the Renewal of the American Economy by Peter S. Goodman.  

Review of the JBuds J3 Micro Atomic In-Ear Earphones with Update

 

I’ve been a happy owner of the JBuds 1, about $10, and theJBuds 2, about $14. And now comes along the JBuds J3 Premium Micro Atomic In-Ear Earphones, about $30. Of the three, the J3s are my least favorite.

Here’s why: While they’re great looking in electric blue and comfortable, JBuds crammed too much treble in these tiny speakers. The treble-heavy J3s stuck in your ears have the hyper-caffeinated jittery quality you get when you’re driving a four-cylinder sports car overloaded with 300 horsepower. It’s a fast ride, but it’s not a relaxing one.

Another reason to not like the J3s. They amplify the slightest static and hiss through the radio. Even my strong stations, 89.9 and 88.1, through my CCrane CCR-2 had a shrill hiss.

I wanted off this hyper-tuned car, so to speak, and gave the J3s to my wife who likes the electric blue color. She hasn’t tried them yet though. I hope she doesn’t notice the treble-happy things like I do. Since she doesn’t use earbuds with radios ( just her iPod) she at least doesn’t have to contend with the hiss and static. Nevertheless, I feel a bit guilty for giving them to her.

I’m happy with my J2s, which are half price and less problematic. My next pair of earbuds will probably be something high-end, like the $79 Klipsch S4s. But now I’m concerned that high-end speakers will attenuate radio hiss, so I’m a bit shy to pull the trigger. 

Update: 

JBuds contacted me since reading this post and they want me to re-evaluate the JBuds J3s after I break them in. I think that's fair. So here's my second look at the J3s.