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Tech2
OpEd: Ownership in the Age of the Cloud
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Jul 06, 2011

I am not a luddite. In fact, barring cybernetic augmentations (bring 'em on), I'd say I'm about as far from a luddite as one could be. I love technology. Thanks to my job, I'm often the first of my circle to have the latest gadget. I've got tons of Apple iStuff, a beloved Android phone, an oversized HDTV, 18MP DSLR, and yadda yadda.

Yet, I still buy CDs.

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Plasma Buzz
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 06, 2011
I bought a Panasonic TC-P50ST30 plasma TV (seen here), and I hear a slight buzz from where I sit if there is no sound playing. I read that this is normal for plasma technology. Is that true? Should I call Panasonic for a replacement?

Hunter Cvetko

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Tech2
The World’s Cheapest Speaker
Brent Butterworth  |  Jul 06, 2011

We finally have a victor in the consumer electronics industry’s long-running race to the bottom: the Dayton B652. How much less expensive can a two-way speaker get than $34.50 per pair? That’s the price Parts Express currently demands for the B652.

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Tech2
This Week Around the Web, June 17th Edition
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Jul 06, 2011

Roger Ebert finds a cool infographic on PC people and Mac people. Mac users are hipsters, PC users are...conservatives?

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Tech2
Attack of the Megasub
Brent Butterworth  |  Jul 06, 2011

While on a swing through Vancouver this week to check out the vintage audio scene, I stopped by to say hi to the guys at Vancouver Audio Speaker Clinic, an old-school speaker repair shop of the type I haven’t seen since I was a kid in the 1970s trying to resurrect the shredded speakers from my

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Equalizers and Tape Monitoring
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 06, 2011
I've had a very old equalizer for about 25 years, and I would love to use it for listening to my tapes. To do so, however, I didn't know that the receiver needs a "tape monitor" capability, which most modern receivers don't have. Are there any equalizers that do not need tape monitoring?

Lafonte

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A/V Veteran
Hobbits, Rings, and 48Hz Things
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jul 06, 2011
Recently, I was doing some online research for my review of the new, Extended Edition The Lord of the Rings Blu-ray boxed set, which will appear in the October 2011 issue of Home Theater magazine. A search for director Peter Jackson produced a pile of information. Jackson today doesn't look as much like a slightly oversized Hobbit as he did when the show was in production (Jenny Craig got to him, or something). His earliest cinematic fascination was with gross-out horror—an interest clearly reflected in the designs for the Orcs and other nasties in Rings. There's a particularly disgusting added sequence near the end of the Extended Edition of The Return of the King that clearly shows this fixation is far from conquered. If "The Mouth of Sauron" is any indication, Sauron and his minions need a much better dental plan.
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Tech2
HiFiMan HM-801 Portable-ish Music Player Review
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Jul 06, 2011

HiFiMan's HM-801 ($790, head-direct.com) is the size of a Walkman - I mean literally. A cassette could fit inside it, with plenty of room leftover for the heads, playback motors, and whatever other analog hoopla those things had.

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Curtain Call
Manual Labor
Michael J. Nelson  |  Jul 06, 2011
Something huge has recently transpired, something world changing. It happened almost without notice while we were all distracted by other things, but it represents a profound cultural shift. When purchasing a piece of electronic gear, it is now nearly impossible to avoid reading the damned manual.
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3D Obsolescence
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 05, 2011
I'm thinking about getting a Samsung UN46D7000 with my tax return this year. That means I'll have to upgrade my A/V receiver and HDMI cables, plus I plan to get a 3D Blu-ray player since the PS3 doesn't do 3D Blu-ray as well as a dedicated player.

The thing is, all this gear is made for 1080p at 24 frames per second, but filmmakers like James Cameron and Peter Jackson are talking about 48 and 60fps. If I buy now, am I just going to have to buy a new system again next year, or will the standard stay viable at least long enough to get some value out of the current generation of gear?

Nik

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