Generalization of computers

   I've discovered categorizing my blogs is not as easy as I would have expected. This is due to the fact that computer devices permeate my home environment.
   My laptop is integrated with my home media/enterteinment system. My oscilloscope has a USB port for communication with my laptop.
   I've been thinking about getting an electronic keyboard which will have a MIDI port to connect to my laptop and Cound running Josep Comajuncosas's Hammond B3 simulator.
   I update my iPhone using iTunes on my laptop.
   There are a hundred or two eBooks of various titles on my laptop, as well as PDF files. User guides and service or owner manuals for a lot of the equipment I use are on my laptop. That includes my washer, dryer, car, electronic test equipment, lawn mower, chainsaw, mitre saw, drill, etc..
   I have a small, paper based, library of about a hundred books including a lot of literature, Shakespeare to Sartre, old text books from my college days, and profession related books in Psychology and Engineering.
   A virtual library is easier to access and much cheaper, but reading on a cell phone is not the most comfortable setting. A table is the minimum necessary to enjoy reading virtual books. Maybe a Kindle would be an improvement. Paper books are still an enjoyable experience and perhaps, in modern times, becoming a luxury.

   The point is that a lot of what could go here, in this blog, will be found in one of my other blogs. Computer elated topics in other blogs are: HDR photography, Sound synthesis, dongles for radio and television, and movie editing.

Perhaps the only thing to be posted here would be discussions of devices, their nature and use.
I don't think there will be much more on this blog.

Consumer Topics
Home Entertainment Systems, newest
Residential Solar Power
Music
Imaging - analog and digital

I  have approached  all of these, except Consumer Topics, with computing devices and technology in mind.

Digital home media systems

The flexibility and versatility of laptop and desktop personal computers allow them to be used in a wide variety of situations.

I have created a new blog on Home Entertainment Centers.
The use of digital computing technology in such systems can be very useful.

My system includes projecting my laptop screen onto the smart tv.
There is also a DAC, digital-to-analog converter to play high quality digital audio from the tv, on my stereo system.

I also have an adapter to record VCR tapes, albeit at 480p resolution, onto my laptop.

I can connect directly to the tv using LG's Screenshare, and play videos or use the web browser included in the smart tv software.

For this and more google, or visit :
jimjulian-homeentertainnentcenter.blogspot.com

A December 2018 update

The 2009 laptop mentioned previously has been removed from use. I purchased a similar one on eBay. The replacement is several months older and not as fast. I inserted the memory from from my older unit to expand the laptop memory. I also replaced the wifi card with my previous one. The speed of the recently acquired unit was much slower.

I've installed Windows 1809 without problems. I assume this is proof of the mechanical failure of the audio system in the previous unit.

I have accumulated four 1TB hard drives. The current laptop has a 150GB hard drive  whiuch I have kept. Any activity requiring a large drive space can be done by simply plugging one of the drives into a USB port. I inserted three of the drives into inexpensive USB enclosures and the third is a Western Digital MyBook which came in its own case.

This laptop will be archive instead of the one that failed.

The speeds in use now require a faster computer. My internet speed is 100mbs. The laptop averages 20mbs on 2.5ghz wifi. The laptop cannot use the 5ghz band.

My iPhone SE averages
20mbs on data and
40 on my router/modem 2.5ghz band and
100mbs on the 5ghz band.

I need to replace the router when I replace the laptop. This will give me the maximum access to the internet.

Obsolescence. A method of adaptation. And Apple's iDilemma

   The personal computing device has been around for quite sometime now. So long, in fact, that enough time has past that many computers have become obsolete and disappeared.
I've given some thought to this phenomenon.
   An older computer could be saved by retiring the machine early and storing the machine along with the associated software. This, then, becomes a 'period piece'. An instance of technology frozen in time.
   I'm preparing to replace a 2009 laptop. The machine was designed at a time when 32-bit software was still considered relevant. The machine is 64-bit, but can run Windows '98 and period software. I'm going to dedicate the machine to 32-bit software and not install any 64-bit programs. A lot of programs I have ran on a 32-it machine running Windows '98. They will not run on the machine while the 64-bit verison of Windows 10 Pro is installed. As a mater of fact, the machine has reached it's limit on advancement in the Windows operating system evolution. If I install the latest (1803) version of Windows 10 Pro, my audio goes bad. I had to use the rollback option to return to an earlier version still available on my computer. I'm replacing the model with a duplicate. This will allow me to verify the upgrade problem, and improve operations. The current machine is falling apart and the audio problem is probably related. I have a clamp attached to the side of the screen to keep the LED screen visible. There are two lines on the screen. A black horizontal line two or three pixels thick, and a vertical line, about one pixel thick, that changes color depending on the background. The line is invisible on a white background but may turn green or yellow on other colors of backgrounds. Other things are happening that tell me I need a replacement. Eventually, I'll get a faster machine with more memory(of course) to act as primary machine.
   But to get back to obsolescence, as operating systems get more advanced, the hardware gets faster and has more memory. That is why older machines will eventualy fail. Too slow and not enough memory.
   Ergo, I have an idea. Stop updating your devices' operating system once the device has reached three or four years of age. Fortunately, some manufacturers will let you go back to an older version to keep your device running. Apple will not. Once you update your iPhone or iPad, there's no going back. If the device becomes slow and sluggish, you're stuck with it. That is prossibly corporate strategy. The device will eventually not be qualified for operating system upgrades and Apple will not release them. Your device may, or may not, have become difficult to use by that point.The computer industry is dependent on each year  bringing faster machines with more memory and the software uses up all that new speed and memory. That leaves older systems in a rut.
   Something else about Apple phones and tablets. I've had several iPhones and a couple of iPads. One problem they shared, was poor memory management.
   I watched a lot of movies stored on the devices. I always get the 32Gb or larger memory option. I found that movies deleted did not always return the vacated space to the operating system. I would, periodically, have to erase the machine and re-nstall the operating system, in order to get the lost memory back. This was true for phones and tablets. The problem is not noticeable with small deletes, like letters or photos, but looms large when you start downloading and deleting movies of a gigbyte or two in size.
Another problem with the iPhone, and I tried to tell Apple about the problem, but the agent was in a state of denial, is the fingerprint recognition system has an issue.
   If I use the fingerprint recognition to unlock my phone, and then put the phone into a case without a hole for the home button, the phone will not present the keypad, so I can't unlock the phone.
   I have to turn the phone completely off, then place the phone in the case and power the phone back up. Then the phone responds with a keypad when I need to unlock the phone.
   Again, if I put a phone in a case with a covered Home button, so fingerprint recognition is not possible, and then put the phone in a case, the phone waits on a fingerprint to unlock.
   The only solution is to go into settings and turn fingerprint recognition off before placing the phone in a case. A nuisance.
   So, to sum up, keep your old computing devices as time pieces. Stop upgrading them while they are still useful, keep the software, and erase your iDevices occasionally to recover lost memory space.
   A good laptop can be useful for ten years. And gripe to Apple about pefecting their operating system. The little things count.

SDR - software defined radio

   There has been, for awhile, a device available for computing devices that transcends the usual milieu of printers, scanners and players. The device is a radio dongle.
   A dongle is any device you can hold in your hand and carry in your pocket and plug into one of the USB ports on a laptop or desktop computer. Some cell phones now in use also have usb ports and can use the SDR as well.
The SDR is a programmable radio. At times in the past, different radios had to be purchased to listen to different radio bands. Radios transmit and receive signals on assorted frequencies. There is short wave, military, ham, AM broadcast, FM broadcast, Television, PSK, CW, USB, LSB and many others. All kinds of data in all kinds of formats is transmitted continuously over the radio spectrum.
   The cheapest SDR dongles run around ten dollars. More is better, in this case, meaning spending more can get a better SDR. The quality of reception and range of frequencies increases with cost.
   There is excellent free software to use with the SDR, but familiarity with radio is needed to manage the radio. Basic FM broadcast radio is easy and straight forward. Listening to music or news is easy but will drain the batteries of laptops not plugged in to a wall socket. There is also the NOAA weather forecast made available on radio frequencies specified by NOAA. This elimenates the need for a separate radio for government weather broadcasts. For SDR units with a certain range, cell phone transmissions are detectable. Air traffic signals are available and there is free software to receive the signals, plot the courses on a map and retrieve images and data on the particular aircraft detected. One professor has developed software that uses the SDR as a passive radar device. Another person's software detects and translates tire pressure monitoring sensor activity in passing automobiles. There are also the local community service channels. Police, fire, EMS and 911 are easily scanned once the frequencies are known. The local Wings Air Rescue service is on air occasionally. There is free software to receive transmission from weather satellites in the form of imagery.
   AM radio is usually too low a frequency to detect with an SDR but a hardware add-on called an 'upconverter' makes the task possible.
   Only the lower cell phone GSM band is accessible from an inexpensive SDR. The higher bands and wi-fi signals require a high frequency available in units that typically run a hundred dollars or more. Once the signal is received, the decoding is still needed. When decoding is done, some will require decryption. For this a set of Rainbow tables is generally required. These may require a fast hard drive of several terrabytes (Tb) capacity. Some cell bands are not readily transcribable.
   When all this has been examined and studied, there is the antenna. A good antenna can receive signals from thousands of miles away. However, the antenna shape and size vary with signal frequency and directionality.
   In summing, an SDR can be a convenient way to play favorite radio stations, monitor tor the weather and plot your incoming flight's progress and get the latest news and live local sports.  
   This is all great fun and interesting but anything more sophisticated may require an antenna larger than the pencil sized portable that comes with most inexpensive dongles, and an SDR that is not a dongle but a USB plugin card similar to an external hard drive. The increase in knowledge is proportional.



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What is a computer?

   What is a computer?
   From experience, a computer is like a person who takes everything you say literally and only knows what you tell it.
   Tell the computer to get lost, in a moment of irritation, and you may never see it again.
   Ask the computer what's up and the computer will turn its gaze skyward and begin describing the sky, atmospheric composition, constellations and may even, if you've prepared it, diverge into a tedious philosophical discourse on the meaning of 'up' in Platonic fashion.
   A computer programming  is like an obsessive-compulsive English grammar teacher. Misplace one comma or period and you'll know instantly.
   A computer is like a hybrid between a hothouse orchid and a cactus. It requires constant attention and is too delicate to be treated other than delicately and pricks your finger if you don't.
   A computer is like a friend with photographic memory and the IQ of a toadstool. Obtuse would be a generous description.

Preface

   As a precursor, let me reiterate, these blogs are for intelligent people with a university background and courses in mathematics, engineering, physics and other of the hard sciences.

   I've been involved in personal computing, off sand on, for over thirty years. I was glad to be able to move from a desktop machine to a laptop/tablet/cell phone combo.
I don't want to spend a lot of money on these things, so I give some deliberation to the need for every expenditure. I did the same with computing devices in general. I remember the primary appeal to PC users was bank balance computing. Then came the writer/database/spreadsheet for businesses. The Open Source movement has done more for computing than most commercial endeavors.

Currently, I have a Dell Latitude E6500 laptop, circa 2008. I have the free version of Windows 10 Pro installed and a 100+ DVD collection of programs and data I've accumulated over the last twenty years.
I have re-recorded CDROMs beginning from the late 90's to DVDs. Some will no longer run since the evolution of the Microsoft Windows operating system, my primary o/s, has changed to the degree that older versions are no longer compatible. Fortunately, there are options for those.
The older operating system versions are still available. There are Virtual Machines that can be run that will emulate the archaic o/s's. Some can be run from DVDs or USB drives. Worst case scenario, I have to buy and store a couple of older desktop machines specifically for the older software. But I can probably create several partitions on a hard drive and install some of the older operating systems in those partition.
Why go to so much trouble? Window's foundation still uses a lot of the same basic code as in earlier versions, especially, MS-DOS commands. Moreover there is software no longer available that will not run on a 64-bit machine. The first machines were 16-bit (Windows 3.1) and 32-bit (Windows 94, 98SE). Windows 10 comes in 32-bit and 64-bit version, My Intel Core 2 Duo 64-bit, machine can run 32-bit software.
When I decided to spend some time building a system, I determined what features/programs I would use most, and developed a profile for my 'typical' computer setup.
I liked the Windows 7 gadgets, even though I had used Windows 98SE until recently, followed by a brief use of Windows 2000 and Windows Vista. I found ways to make those adjustments to my Windows 10 Pro installation. I now have a clock on my desktop, along with a written clock with no 'face'. I adjust the characters to be an inch or two tall, and displays the date and day of the week as well. See the image at the bottom of this page.
  I always employ two or three image viewing/editing programs. Nothing too big, just small and fast and sophisticated. One for speed+quality and one for extensive viewing+quality. Irfanview and Xnview. Both free. Donations appreciated.
 I add an internet server and some docs to make my other systems accessible from my laptop when I'm away.
   I subscribe to Netflix and sometimes use a screen capture program to record and keep a copy of a video for later viewing (all very legal). Remember the old VCRs? The parallel is valid
   I also have programs to convert my LP vinyl records to MP3's. I use some software from Dr. Boulanger of M.I.T. (Csound), to convert 33-1/3 or 45 RPM recordings of 78 RPM records to normal speed. Noise removel is also an option. The software is free for non-commercial use.
   I have an 'old' flatbed scanner and software, I use to preserve the content of old photos and negatives. Ive developed a technique to digitize photo-film in high dynamic range, thus preserving the level of detail.
   I use software to add or remove documents, spreadsheets, videos, songs, and images to or from my Apple iPhone 4 cell phone, also 'old'.
  I use my laptop's SD card reader and software to install my Raspberry Pi 3's operating system. I use other software to edit files on the Raspberry Pi 3, from my laptop, several feet away, using a wifi connection.
   Still, I need to update my laptop to a newer model.
Here is a snapshot of my desktop, (note the interesting and pervasive use of metaphors in computing).

Introduction

This blog will emphasize exploration of and use of, personal computing and computing devices.
Specifically, desktop/laptop PCs, tablets, and cell phones.

My first interest occurred in the early 70's. I asked mmy father to help me haul a Sperry Rand tape deck home from the local salvage yard. I had spotted the machine amongst a huge pile of machines from the closing of a nearby Sperry Rand factory. Other machines included 5mb drives the size of a dishwasher and mainframes the size of a nightclub bar.

The tape drive was about seven feet tall, three feet wide and three feet deep. The machine weighed about three hundred pounds and cost a whopping $5. At that point I had no knowledge relevant to computing or electronics. I was curious to know if the machine could be adapted to analog recording.
I realized the machine's front glass door sealed a vacuum chamber that allowed the tape to move at very high speeds without aerodynamic flow and turbulence, disrupting the movement. I also realized, immediately, the speed of the tape meant a LOT of tape would be used to record music and that tape would not be cheap. I gave up on the adaptation after I realized the conversion to analog was unlikely and probably impractical if not impossible.

My next foray into personal computing was after I had acquired training and certification in Electronic Engineering Technology. I had landed a job at one of the major electronics engineering companies and decided to buy two items. The first was one of the first PCs. At that time, the typical PC, if there was such a thing, had a keyboard integrated with the computer and used a television as the monitor. The device had a version of the BASIC programming language installed in the permanent memory of the device. The company had used a proprietary graphics chip to include sprite functions in the graphics library. Think PacMan.

I perceived major drawbacks to the machine being:
1-the color-black. I suggested a beige color would be more popular and that, business-wise, beige was the new black.
2-The machine had accessorized what are now considered integral components. Memory was minimal unless 'modules' were purchased and installed. There was no hard drive. A floppy drive could be purchased and connected. That drive had about 1.22mb per floppy and each disk was 'floppy' and about 5.25 inches in diameter.

The second computing device I purchased at the company was one of their calculators. The most advanced programmable calculator ever designed and built. I said then, the calculator was more powerful than their personal computers, and more useful since plastic magnetic cards were used similarly to the floppy drives in their desktop computers and the whole thing was portable. A 'holster' case with a belt clip was part of the kit. Memory modules that plugged in the back for specialty libraries. The modules placed assorted specialty formula at the user's fingertips.
Magnetic memory cards for user written programs and data. There was a lockable printer with a cradle for holding the calculator, available. I purchased one of those as well. I plotted the output of a Fourrier transform algorithm I had seen in Byte Magazine about the same time.
I also plotted the output of a Biorythm program among others.

Historically, it would be another ten years before the first true PCs became available. IBM, one of the major competitors in the market, leaked a design that became the de facto standard for personal computers. Even now there is question whether the leak was accidental, as IBM stated, or intentional.
The 5.25 1.22mb floppy would be replaced by a plastic cassette about 3 inches wide and holding 3+mb, though still using flexible plastic magnetic media.

The first hard drives were considered to have huge memory capabilities at 5mb.
The first screens were 16/256 colors. Windows 3.1 was my first IBM type PC operating system. As we know now, Windows would be the standard against which all competitors would be measured.

Enough of the past.