Passive Microphone Mixer

I figured out this circuit when a friend of mine was asking how to connect 2 microphones into a single channel small audio mixer (behringer Small Mixer). Basically what the circuit does is to combine both microphone signal (unbalanced input) and feed them into single (unbalanced) output. I’m not sure whether this will work and whether it is necessary to join A and B with 10K resistor (will it short circuit the output?) but, hey, you can only know when you try them. Guess what? Yes or No. In actual fact, it doesn't short circuit, the circuit has been tested and currently in used at the Government Radio Station.

Humanoid Robot

The new Japanese humanoid robot HRP-4C displays a range of emotions (good luck discerning what they are) during a press conference in suburban Tokyo this week. Naturally, plenty of paparazzi were on hand.
(Credit: AFP Photo/Yoshikazu Tsuno)

This is very impressive. The HRP-4C is designed to look and move like human. The robot can performs more than basic human movement. The robot is being designed as 5-foot (ish), dark-haired creation to look like an average Japanese woman between the ages of 19 and 29. HRP-4C has 30 motors in her body that allow her to walk and move its arms and 8 facial motors for blinking, smiling, and expressing emotions akin to anger and surprise. The Robot is for now has limited usage except talk, smile, move, walk, look pretty. The robot is not yet ready to help with daily chores. So, if you are thinking to hire or buy this robot to help you do your work, just forget about it.

Which Shure Microphone Type suit you best?

This is quite informative site especially for those want to know more about the type of Shure microphone they intend to buy. Basically this site uses an interactive tool where you have the option to choose and compare between microphones and best of all it comes with audio sample captured by the microphones.

It is a complete reference for the current shure series of microphones. You can even print out the specific specifications of your chosen microphones. Unlike other microphones site I have visited, nothing compare to Shure site in terms of convenient, descriptive and completeness of information. Well done Shure.

Most Affordable Sound Engineering School

Today music industry are becoming more complex to handle due to the advancement in recording/PA equipment used in studio and on stage (live performance). That being the case, it even harder to acquire the right knowledge and know how in order to be able to operate such an equipment and hence produce state of the art sound or professional sound. Most audio engineering schools are full time and the tuition cost is beyond the reach of most students. For those who are keen or wish to become a sound engineer but can not afford to pay the high tuition fees, look no further.

Because AIA (Audio Institute of America) is available to everyone interested to pursue their career in sound engineering. The subjects taught are relevant and practical (applicable in real life situation). Apart form the affordable tuition fees (less than US$500), the other aspect that differentiate AIA from the others is it instructor.

The chief instructor and founder of our school is the legendary Peter Miller who is in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. Peter toured extensively with The Beatles and the Rolling Stones during the sixties prior to building his own home studio and becoming a successful songwriter. His next venture was to establish one of the world's first independent record labels before opening up a recording studio in San Francisco. The studio was the genesis for the course since so many musicians asked Peter to give lessons on how he got such great sounds.

The complete Master Course is - Details US$299 Contains both the Master Recording Course and the Advanced Course in one package -- a $200 savings off the regular price. You will receive 25 Lessons plus 30 Video lessons and 60 Audio lessons. Your FREE Triple Bonus is shipped immediately including the three Recording Magazines, Audio Dictionary and Mixing Console Poster. (This Triple Bonus is included only with the COMPLETE Master Recording Course)
The AIA Difference Is Your Instructor – Legendary Peter Miller.

He has also been a voting member for The Grammys (The Recording Academy) for the past 20 years so you konow he knows what he's talking about! He is still actively working as a Recording Engineer, Music Producer and a Recording Artist. Peter is ready to share a lifetime of experience with you and welcome you to the exciting and rewarding world of recording! You are about to enter an incredible new world!

For the sake of comparison, take a look at the chart below. AIA is the most affordable sound Engineering School available today.

Experimental 2 seater Small Electric Driven Vehicle

via videosift.com


Fascinating Small Vehicle. You can get more info by visiting : PROJECTPUMA

I won't mind driving one of this around town. It looks very simple and convenient to use (I hope). Does it come with signal for turning left and right and what about break light and horn? It is good to have them around to lessen air pollution which contribute to the earth’s global warming and to avoid serious accident due to collision. Obviously, this vehicle does have their pros and cons so do all vehicles.

Latest Humanoid Robot

Waseda University in Tokyo unveiled its updated humanoid robot, named Twendy-One, showcasing the robot's ability to pick up even the most difficult of objects.

Microbot swimming through human bloodstream

The Researchers from Monash University are working on microbot motors designed to swim through the human bloodstream. This tiny motor would be able to power a probe swimming through blood vessels.The Proteus is 2.5mm long and utilizes a dual-action action piezoelectric motor to drive a small fan that pushes the unit forward. This med-sub sailed through the blood stream to tackle the clot in the brain. The Proteus’s speed would be 6 centimeters per second.

MOBILE ROBOT BASE

A mobile robot base that I invented during my final year ( BEng in Electrical & Electronic ) at the University of East London, UK and sadly to say that it not fully complete yet till today, even though it was made in 1993. This Robot is as complicated as BEAM robot. It main components are Light to frequency shaft encoder and Pulse Width Modulator motor Drive control System. Despite the lack of information, ideas and others at that particular of time, I was lucky enough to secure a B + for this project.

Electronic Components for BEAM Robots

B.E.A.M stands for Biology Electronics Aesthetics Mechanics. The founder of B.E.A.M robotic is none other than Dr.Mark Tilden. He chose the word BEAM to summarize the concept he thought were the most important in building a self guiding robot. You can find a lot more detail of BEAM robot by reading the following book:

JunkBots, Bugbots & Bots on Wheels by Dave Hrynkiw and Mark W. Tilden.




Anyway, I won’t be discussing what each letter mean, However I will be going through the important components used in building the BEAM robotic instead.

Apart from using the usual resistors and capacitors, below are the most commonly used transistors to build BEAM robot:

a) 2N3904 (NPN) or 2N3906 (PNP),
b) PN2222 (NPN) or 2N2907 (PNP)

Both of these transistors can drive some small DC Motors (we will be discussing the DC Motors later on). To fully utilize their usages, it’s important to read and understand the functionality of these transistors (by referring the Data Sheet supplied by the manufacturer of the transistor).

The other most useful and frequently used component is the integrated Circuit or IC. The project we plan to do later in building BEAM robots will use the following ICs:

a) 74(AC/ACT/H/HC/HCT/LC) 240 – Octal Buffer Inverter Chips.
b) 74(AC/ACT/H/HC/HCT/LC) 14 – Hex Schmitt Inverter Chips.
c) 74(AC/ACT/H/HC/HCT/LC) 245 – Octal Driver Chips.
d) 555 – Multipurpose Timer.
e) LM386 – Audio Power Amplifier.
f) LM 324 – Quadruple Operation Amplifier.
g) 7805 – Positive 5V Voltage Regulator.

Caution: Be very careful not to subject the above ICs directly to 9V battery, otherwise it may cause damage to the IC.

Again, it is advisable to read and understand the functions of each of the above ICs by reading their respective Data Sheet. You can search for electronic data sheets at http://www.cytron.com.my/

For now, let us start familiarize these components.

The World’s smallest Projector

Everything now a days going toward miniaturize. From watches to cars and now the projector. Even though projector technology has undergone rapid changes in the last few years which produce projector with better brightness, contrast and colour than before, the size still remains an issue for those looking for a truly portable device

The projector is almost the size of a mobile phone. It can easily be carried around into any pocket.

A projector of this size is surely benefits those always on the go for presentation. Going bulky is no longer tolerable.

So let us take a close look at the upcoming device in details at The World’s smallest Projector

Weight Does Matter

Actually I am referring to the weight of the laptop (the current small laptop weight roughly between 1.4kg to 2kg for a 12.1" screen). The nature of today working environment involve massive use of computer technology, be it banking, engineering, or even blogging, everybody use computer. Therefore one must be aware that going mobile is of paramount important to keep in touch with client, office or even managing your blog. However carrying one of these mobile devices around is not as convenient as it may seem since you have to endure the weight and sometime may dislocate you shoulder while carrying them around.

Laptop is very convenient and it meant for mobility. Some may not matter too much of the weight. What matter them most is the performance of the devices. They will carry them via back pac (It seems like a trend nowadays even for the executive). I see many of them carrying laptop using back pac and so far none of them complaining (for now). To me I preferred to go light and small. I have tried using a palm TX, which have a quite big little screen and enough for me to edit and bring along my word doc using an application named doc to go.

The palm TX is very light and small. In spite of it sizes, you can’t have both world. What I mean was, the palm TX is small and light but it has it disadvantages as well and the most prominent is when you open word application and trying to edit them. It is not as convenient and easy when you compare to using a laptop. Hence you still need the bulky, heavy, big screen and the feel of a laptop to be able to write and edit word doc comfortably.

I owned a small Asus laptop model Eee PC with the following specification:

Model Name
Eee PC 4G
Display 7"
Intel CPU & Chipset
Operating System : GNU Linux : Windows XP compatible
Color : Galaxy black
Ethernet Communication
WLAN
Memory : 512 MB (DDR2)
S.S.D. Storage (Solid-State Disk) :4G
Camera
Audio : Hi-Definition audio : Stereo speaker : Microphone
Battery : 4 Cells, 2.8~3.5hrs*
Weight : 0.92 kg

The Asus EeePC is a full fledge PC and it much lighter as compare to the current laptop available in the market. Eventhough the screen is only 7" but it still gives me enough room to edit word document. Yes, to me it makes a lot of different especially when it come to weight.

Thirst Aid Pouch

Basically we don't drink direct from the tap here in Malaysia. We are suppose to really boil the water so it is safe to consume. However what if you have no other choice and really desperate for water. Would you drink any water you could find? If you don't drink you die and if you drink you also die or perhaps live if you are lucky. But with this thirst aid pouch, you could possible drink just about any water i.e from drainage ditch or muddy puddle to a standpipe. The thirst aid is equipped with advanced water filtration technology that is capable of removing contaminants with a unique filter that strips out pathogens, bacteria and also viruses.

Beside that it also remove other harmful items such as sediment while heavy metal are reduce to leave the water odourless and palatable.

The thirst Aid Pouch features a durable fabric known as Amour Weave that can withstand a 2.5 tonne Landrover being driven over it repeatedly without breaking.

This is perfect for travellers, since you are able to get clean and safe water anytime, anywhere without having to resort to bottled water that is rather expensive in some countries.

www.bwtechnologies.com

Flying Man @ Rocketman

Former swiss military pilot, Yves Rossy, also known as Fusion man flies in the sky like a rocketeer in Southern Swiss Alps near Bex. Rossy is the first man to successfully fly with wings, powered by four engines on his back.

Unbelieveable you may say. But that man really fly. Amazing really.....

Robots inspired by animals

Robotics researchers are increasingly turning to nature for inspiration. Watch a robotic salamander, a water strider robot, mechanical cockroaches and some...

For more info please visit their site at : http://technology.newscient...

Cyborg insects

Watch some cyborg insects that are being developed and see a robot controlled by a moth.

For more info please visit their site at : http://technology.newscient...