Modd3d

Halloween Costume Idea For Geek Girls

Wed, 20 May 2009 00:49:04 -0700

You know you love Dr. Who and want to be a Dalek for Halloween:

Cut Steel With Bacon

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Seriously, is there anything bacon can't do?

Nintendo's new DSi- What's Inside?

Wed, 8 Apr 2009 13:44:54 -0700

Nintendo's newest portable gaming console, the DSi, has finally hit the shelves. We already know that it has two touchscreens instead of a measly one, but what we really need to know is "what's inside?"

Fortunately the folks over at ifixit have more fun taking stuff apart than actually playing with it. They've posted a DSi teardown with plenty of pictures and notes. I found it interesting that this is the first handheld Nintendo has made that doesn't require a tri-wing screwdriver to open. Thanks, Nintendo, for making it a little easier for everyone to hack!

High Pitched Noise In Movie Soundtracks

Mon, 6 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

I like listening to movie soundtracks every once and a while. By that I mean the incidental music that was specifically written for the movie as opposed to whatever pop songs they've decided to throw in there. The problem with many soundtracks, however, is that there is a high-pitched whine in the background. Most of my friends either can't hear it (they think I'm nuts) or aren't bothered by it, but for me it's very noticeable.

The other day I was listening to "The Pagemaster" and there it was again. I decided to prove that I wasn't nuts and ran a track through the old spectrum analyzer.

Clicky for the track I analyzed (Uncompressed .wav so we don't lose any frequencies. Don't worry, it's just a short clip. BTW if you're the Pagemaster and you feel I shouldn't be putting your music on the Intertubes let me know and I'll remove it.)

Do you hear it? Here's the frequency analysis:

Sure enough, there's a spike just below 16kHz that comes in at the start of the track and just kind of lives there. Apparently most of my friends can't hear 16kHz. I imagine many sound engineers can't either or they wouldn't be putting out CDs with that there. But why is it there? Why only movie soundtracks?

My theory is that the orchestra being recorded is playing along to visuals from the movie they are scoring and that what we are hearing is the flyback transformer in whatever CRT monitors they are using. The horizontal scanning frequency of NTSC monitors is about 15.734kHz, which would support this theory.

This is my plea to everyone who records a film soundtrack: please use LCD monitors! James Horner, John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, that guy who records stuff in his basement; please don't record near any CRTs. They are coming through on the recordings, and they are detracting from your excellent compositions.

Thanks!

-Scott

Giant Fire-Breathing Robot Babies

Wed, 1 Apr 2009 22:52:18 -0700

The only thing cooler than a giant robot is a giant robot that shoots fire out of its mouth.

Girl Robots Are Here

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

It's been just about every geek guy's dream to own a girl robot someday. Don't lie, you know it's true. I always figured it would never happen in my lifetime, but this video gives me hope!

This is actually the HRP-4C fashion robot made by Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. The video is short but the movement looks pretty realistic. She doesn't even have one of those giant "backpacks" that plague many robots that walk around these days. This may just be the thing to get me interested in the world of fashion.

Update: Here's how her debut went:

How To Make Sound Effects

Mon, 2 Mar 2009 23:25:37 -0700

When recording your own sound effects for things, your first instinct is probably to stick a microphone by the actual thing you are trying to create an effect of. Sometimes this works, but other times there is too much other noise or it's dangerous or implausible and sometimes it just plain sounds wrong. You have to think of what people expect things to sound like and not necessarily what they really sound like. Most sound effects you hear in movies and TV are cartoonish caricatures of real sounds (that's part of why shots sound so unpolished when you hear them with the actual field audio).

Here's a list of some sound effects and how to make them.

Nanotechnology Explained With Puppets

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Because everything makes more sense when it comes from puppets.

Gaping Hole Halloween Costume

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0700

I've always wondered how well it would work to use a video camera and an LCD monitor to simulate a gaping hole in one's belly but I've never got around to trying it out. Apparently it works pretty well as this fellow shows us:

Update: Here's a video and some pictures of a 2-way version of this concept in a "Death Becomes Her" costume.

Rare Parts From Famous Synth Manufacturers

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0700

I was poking around at a garage sale over the weekend and I came across some rare synth parts. At least I assume they're rare because I can't find any information about them on the Intertubes. First I found some Nord logs.

That lady didn't have any clue what she had. I was able to buy the whole box for a quarter! I asked if she had any more parts and she said she had some Nord linears earlier that morning but some old guy bought them all up. I guess I need to get out of bed earlier if I'm going to outfox old people at garage sales. Anyway I'll probably keep a couple for myself (just in case) and sell the rest on eBay. I don't know what's so special that makes them "fire" logs, but they sound way more extreme than the regular ones.

Next I found some part for a Moog chassis.

The box doesn't have any part numbers on it so I'm having trouble figuring out which Moog it will fit. If anybody has any information about this part let me know. I think it may be the part you install when your Voyager sits a little wobbly on the table, but I can't be sure. I don't think I'm going to bother selling it since one of the parts is missing and the box is all smudged. If you do want it shoot me an email and maybe we can trade something.