Home Theater

The Home Theater phenomenon grows larger every year. Almost all newly constructed high-end homes include some form of home theater -- the more expensive the residence, the more elaborate the theater. Because it’s such a complex undertaking, no single person should be expected to build a complete home theater solution. It takes the coordination of multiple trades to do it right, and therefore, your starting point should always be a custom electronics installer.

Keep in mind that there’s a world of difference between a dedicated home theater and a media room or a family room that generally serves another purpose. A home theater often requires the coordination of an electrician, a home theater furniture and acoustics company, a cabinet maker, window treatment specialists, drywall tradesmen, a decorator, and of course, a custom installer -- the person who oversees the entire project.

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Because a custom installer is the most important person involved in this project, you need to take time to make sure you get the right one. Here are the do's and don’ts of hiring a custom installer.

Don’t: Hire a guy who works out of his van with a hand-painted sign that says "Fred’s Electronics." This person is often called a "trunk slammer." He has no license, no office, and no insurance.

Do: Ask for a local business license that explains the scope of work the licensee may undertake. Also ask to see the installer’s liability ($1 million per year or more) and workman’s comp insurance. Do not hire an uninsured trades-person for any work on your home. A membership in CEDIA (The Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association) is another big plus.

Don’t: Take a super low bid. The phrase, "You Get What You Pay For" is so very appropriate here. If a bid seems too good to be true, then it probably is. This is not aisle shopping at Brandsmart. This is a custom home theater.

Do: Try to find an installer that will spend time with you, and then ask the right questions. A good installer will listen to what you have in mind and make it happen. If the installer seems like he or she is in a rush, then you probably want to pass on this person.

Don’t: Forget to get references. This is your only real link to the installer’s previous work. When speaking to past clients ask if the installer showed up when promised. Ask if the theater was completed on time. Ask if they were happy with the final product. Ask if the installer was available for help with questions after he or she was paid in full.

Do: Get a contract that lists all the equipment, outlines the scope of work, and gives an estimated completion date. The more detail in the contract, the less opportunity for misunderstandings.

After you’ve hired your custom installer and laid out your home theater electronics, the next step is the design of the interior design elements. Even if you already have an interior designer, he or she may not have experience in creating certain aspects necessary for good home theater design. Factors to take into account include: specialized seating and seating heights, appropriate lighting, custom floor and wall acoustic panels, surround speaker placement etc. For this type of work you need an outfit that specializes in home theater design. Such companies have standard custom theaters you can choose from with a palette of colors to match the rest of your home, or they can create something completely custom from the ground up. This is where the interior decorator comes in, as he or she can work with the home theater design people to coordinate the theater room with the rest of your home. Your custom installer will know which home theater design firm will work best.

Now that you’ve chosen your electronics, theater seating, and theater design, it’s time to think about lighting -- not electric lighting, but rather the elimination of outside lighting from windows and other unwanted sources. If you have windows in your home theater room, they need to be blacked out completely. Your interior designer can provide a myriad of possibilities that will work, and your custom installer will get involved if you want to motorize the treatments.

Building a custom home theater can be a wonderful experience. Imagine sitting down in a plush recliner, picking up a color touchscreen remote, and by pushing a single button the performance begins. The lights dim, the shades descend, and your favorite film appears in brilliant color on a 100-inch screen. It’s all possible. You just have to hire the right people.

For additional information: Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA)

Touchless Trashcan

"It's your daily most frequently use appliance, why not make it easier!" Promotion: 60 Day Money Back Guarantee!

Would you ever watch an old TV without a remote control again? Welcome to the 21st Century! Once you tried the Touchless Trashcan, you will never go back to the traditional or step-on trash can again. After all, it's your most use appliance everyday, make it easier! Touchless TrashcanTM is a patented new product widely recognized in Europe. And it has just been introduced to North America. Sold thousands on infomercial, QVC and HSN home shopping channels. It won the 2002 Invention Show - New Household Product Award. It is a 100% hands-free operated, wireless, lidded waste disposal system. The built-in Artificial Intelligent (AI) Smart-Chip knows when you need to open trash can, and do all the openings and closings for you without touching or step-on anything.

How it works? The Touchless Trashcan uses patented invisible harmless infrared technology. Place hand or debris about 6 inches away from the infrared sensor near the lid. It will open instantly when you approach and will close automatically in 3-second after debris has been released and hand moves away. Lid will remain open if debris or hand is within 6 inches range of the infrared sensor. There are 2 buttons on the front to open and close the lid manually and an on/off switch on the back of the trashcan.

Click here to see a short video of how the Touchless Trashcan works (1.03MB QuickTime file)

How it benefits? It creates a germ free, odor free, automated environment. It keeps your hands clean when cooking or touching your kid. Helps prevent contamination! It opens for you automatically when your hands or feet are occupied. Your kids will have fun to throw the trash for you. It just make sense! In fact, it outlasts most of the step-on and hand-touch trash cans. "You don't touch it and you won't break it!" Tested opening 100,000 times in laboratory. If you open 20 times a day, it can last over 10 years. This can actually be the last trash can you will ever buy. It saves you money. >> Click Here for Testimonials Special News: 8 hospitals in Beijing, China ordered the Touchless Trashcans to prevent SARS infection. Details The facts Professionals recognized Touchless TrashcanTM as the next generation of waste receptacle in most circumstances. Its prominent advantage in non-touch hygienic feature just meet the immediate need in healthcare facilities and elderly homes. All people experienced our Touchless TrashcanTM will never like to use the traditional or step-on waste can again, just as you will never go back to watch an old TV without a remote control. Energy Saving - The special energy saving design of Touchless TrashcanTM enable its four D size heavy duty batteries support up to 10,000 consecutive open and shut, or more than one year use in non-frequent circumstances. All products possess certification of CE, TUV, and comply with quality assurance requirements of ISO9001:2000. NO "Fallen Bag" Problem - Specially designed Fix Ring tightly holds the edges of the bag to prevent it from falling. Use Regular plastic garbage bags or even grocery bags! No need to buy special garbage bags which many high-end garbage cans require. Improve the look of your kitchen - The Touchless Trashcan can make any kitchen look modern and will be a great conversation piece. Great gifts for Christmas, birthdays, and all occasions. Since the trash can is the most frequently use appliance in the house, it makes the best house warming gift. Touchless Trashcan comes with 1 year limited warranty and 60 day unconditional money back guaranteed! Try it today!!! { Send this page to a friend } Three models are available:

	Commercial Grade 7 Gallon Stainless Steel Touchless TrashcanTM Product Details: Capacity: 26.5 liter (7 gallon) Dimension: D 14.50" x W 10.50" x H 18.25" Height with lid opening: 26.25" Weight: 8.00 lbs Material: Stainless steel Finish: Brushed Chrome silver Features: Build-in Infrared AI Smart-Chip 100% handsfree operation Removable top cover for easy cleaning Fits standard 6, 8, 10 gallon garbage bags Comes with garbage bag Fix Ring Uses 4 D-sized batteries (not included) Low energy-consuming Battery Life: Approx. 6 months (20 opens a day)
	Availability: In Stock. Ship Immediately. Retail Price: $149.95 Special Offer: $79.00 Try it and you will love it! Limited Time Offer. Retail Price: $299.90 Combo Offer: $139.94 for 2 Just $69.97 each Limited Time Offer.
Great Gift Ideas! Click Here for Touchless Trashcan Combo Packages Special Discount

	8 Gallon Family Size Touchless TrashcanTM Product Details: Capacity: 28 liter (8 gallon) Dimension: D 14.5" x W 10.5" x H 23.25" Height with lid opening: 31" Weight: 5.29 lbs Material: Plastic Finish Color: Beigh Features: Build-in Infrared AI Smart-Chip 100% handsfree operation Removable top cover for easy cleaning Fits standard 8, 10 gallon garbage bags Comes with garbage bag Fix Ring Uses 4 D-sized batteries (not included) Low energy-consuming Battery Life: Approx. 6 months (20 opens a day)
	Availability: In Stock. Ship Immediately. Retail Price: $99.50 Special Offer: $69.00 Limited Time Offer. Limited Time Only! Combo Offer: $119.94 for 2 Just $59.97 each Limited Time Offer.
Great Gift Ideas! Click Here for Touchless Trashcan Combo Packages Special Discount

Commercial Grade 13 Gallon Stainless Steel Touchless TrashcanTM Product Details: Capacity: 49 liter (13 gallon) Dimension: D 14.5" x W 10.5" x H 27.25" Height with lid opening: 35.25" Weight: 12.00 lbs Material: Stainless steel Finish: Brushed Chrome silver Features: Build-in Infrared AI Smart-Chip 100% handsfree operation Removable hard plastic top cover for easy cleaning Fits standard 10, 14, 16 gallon garbage bags Comes with garbage bag Fix Ring Uses 4 D-sized batteries (not included) Low energy-consuming Battery Life: Approx. 6 months (20 opens a day)

Retail Price: $179.95 Special Offer: $99.00 Limited Time Offer. Limited Time Only! Special Offer: $179.66 for 2 Just $89.83 each Limited Time Offer.

Great Gift Ideas! Click Here for Touchless Trashcan Combo Packages Special Discount

If you are interested in wholesale, please contact us for volume discount. Touchless Trashcan is a trademark of Tung Hing (USA) Industrial Co. Patent pending # 10/204,458. "It's your daily most frequently use appliance, why not make it easier!" is trademark of Tung Hing (USA) Industrial Co.

P2M

Peer2Mail is the first software that let you store and share files on any web-mail account. If you have a web mail account with large storage space, you can use P2M to store files on it. Web-mail providers such as Gmail (Google Mail), Walla!, Yahoo and more, provide storage space that ranges from 100MB to 2GB.
P2M splits the file you want to share/store zips and encrypts it. P2M then sends the file segments one by one to your account. Once P2M uploaded all file segments, you can download them and use P2M to merge the segments back to the original file.
Peer2Mail is 100% FREE.

Its as easy as sending an email.

>> What you get with Peer2Mail:

Peer2Mail gives you the ability to store files on any web-mail account. You can access and download those files from any computer.

You can share files with your friends and family. Just create an email account, upload files to it, and give access to your family and friends.

Make your mail account safe by sharing an encrypted password; Giving your friends restricted access. Each segment is encrypted using AES algorithm to protect your privacy.

Auto download makes your email account act like a regular ftp/http server. Download files at amazing speeds!

Peer2Mail automatically zips each segment; This way you save precious storage space on your web-mail account.

Peer2Mail has a built in SMTP component, so you can directly send files without a need for an SMTP server. If you wish, Peer2Mail can send files using your Outlook client.

Peer2Mail does not contain spyware and is 100% free!

Take Your PS2 Mobile

So you can't live without GTA: SA, even while on the road? Yoshi says: no problem. Just hook your PlayStation 2 and/or TV set up to your car battery. First step: Buy an inverter at your local Radio Shack or Best Buy - a 150 watts unit for just the PS2, a 300 watts unit for both your console and TV. It should be able to run for about three to four hours (don't forget to idle your car for 10 minutes or so to keep it perky). If you'd rather not pop the hood, then you can always buy a cigarette lighter adaptor, which does the same thing.

OAKLEY THUMP

OAKLEY THUMP™ is the world's first digital music eyewear. No more wires. Just high-performance optics forged with an integrated, state-of-the-art digital audio engine. Listen to music virtually anywhere. Change the way you see and hear the world. OAKLEY THUMP comes in seven color combinations and two types: a 128 MB version and a 256 MB version with polarized lenses. OAKLEY THUMP is the perfect compliment to your digital music collection. A High Speed USB connection lets you transfer music quickly and easily. Load the songs you want to hear now, and free yourself from digging through your entire song library so you can focus on whatever you're doing, whether it's laying out on the beach or laying out a back-flip at the halfpipe. Lose the Ball and Chain Your ears are on your head, so why should your music system hang on your waist? Oakley's digital music eyewear delivers over 60 tracks or about 4 hours of head-thumping music directly to your brain without cables or wires. Your favorite tunes are played from something you're already wearing, and OAKLEY THUMP weighs only 1.8 ounces (50 grams) - lighter than an empty CD case. Forget about bulky equipment dangling from your body and cramping your style. Cut the cord and take OAKLEY THUMP places where tethered music players get in the way. Durable, solid-state memory means skip-free music in environments where music players with moving parts wouldn't stand a chance. And with no hard disk to spin up and drain power, the internal rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery offers up to six hours of continuous song play. Advanced Cranial Hardware The mad scientists at Oakley applied the same tech fanaticism that's behind the most coveted eyewear on the planet. The result: patented optics meets head-thumping sound. We optimized the audio engine to give ultra-clean playback of compressed digital music files, even at low bit rates. That means you can pack more song files into the memory without sacrificing audio quality. And when you're pounding decibels up to the frequency limits of human hearing, the custom Mylar speakers make weaker MP3 players sound...well, weak. All this technology is wrapped in some of the most revolutionary eyewear sculpture on the planet. Oakley XYZ Optics® gives you virtually distortion-free vision, even at the sides of raked-back lens contours. Plutonite® lens material blocks 100% of all UV, and Iridium® lens coatings optimize vision in any light. When it comes to impact resistance OAKLEY THUMP exceeds ANSI Industrial Standards. The 256 MB model comes with premium Oakley polarization for glare filtering without the haze and distortion of conventional polarized lenses. Manage Your Addiction Music on OAKLEY THUMP is such a head shot that you'll never want to take it off. And you don't have to. The integrated speakers float by your ears and you can adjust them in three directions to balance music with outside noise. You can flip them up to grab a phone call or listen to a conversation, then flip them back down and not miss a beat. No more fumbling with wires or jamming rubber things in and out of your ears. And it gets better. The high definition, patented Oakley lenses flip up from the frame so you can head indoors and keep on feeding your brain with music.

FlashPoint USB memory sticks with computer-free data transfer

Posted Oct 22, 2004, 4:00 AM ET by Joshua Fruhlinger
Related entries: Misc. Gadgets, Peripherals

Xmultiple have created the FlashPoint memory stick which allows data transfer between sticks without the use of a computer. Say you’re a, erm, how to put this, proactive businessman with some important files on your Flash card. Say, then, you want to give those important files to a type-B assistant. Normally, you would have to get to a computer or laptop, transfer the files to the hard drive, and then transfer them again to the other stick. With the FlashPoint, you simply mate the two devices and let the transfer love begin. Cue up some Barry White, baby, and you’ve got a computer-free transfer goin’ on. Awww, yeah.

[Thanks, Drew]

How to Buy a Rear-Projection TV

Despite all the attention lavished on plasma panels, rear projection is still the most popular method of creating a big-screen TV experience. The foremost reason is economy, but that doesn't mean rear-projection TV should be considered some sort of poor cousin to video's flashiest trendsetter. In fact, recent technology infusions have brought new excitement to this venerable category, raising performance while trimming cabinet size and weight, sometimes dramatically. (Imagine a 50-inch wide-screen tabletop HDTV that weighs less than 100 pounds!) Here's what you need to know to sort through the alternatives.

The Big Picture
New kids on the block, such as DLP and LCD, are shaking up rear-projection technology. Big doesn't necessarily mean bulky anymore. more

The Specs Explained
We give you the lowdown on all those strange names and numbers. more

Rear-Projection TV Shopping Tips
Before you pull out your wallet, understand how to match size and technology to your needs and budget. more

How to Buy an MP3 Player

Whether you want to get your groove on while working out or would like to amuse yourself as you commute on public transit, a portable MP3 music player could suit your needs. MP3 players--available in a wide variety of styles and sizes and capable of storing thousands of songs--capitalize on digital technology to supplant traditional Walkman-style cassette-tape players and portable CD players.

The Big Picture
Today's players pack loads of songs, and the devices are easy to manage, too. We'll help you figure out which one is best for you. more

The Specs Explained
The storage capacity and battery life of an MP3 player can have a big impact on how much you enjoy it. We'll explain what's behind these and other specifications. more

MP3 Player Shopping Tips
Our advice will help you find the right MP3 player for your lifestyle without paying too much. more

Net2Phone VoiceLine XJ100 Wi-Fi VoIP Phone

( posted by Hubert )

Hey I thought that net2phone was dead (They still owe me some minutes I think!). It turns out they are coming back with an interesting product.

the XJ100 Wifi VoIP Phone is using a wireless internet connection to send/receive calls.

The big issue with Wifi, is that roaming is not quite working seamlessly yet. However, net2phone claims they this will be a non-issue on their XJ100 VoIP phone. I'll believe it when I'll hear it.

Sign Si-200C / Si-300 / Si-288, MP3 Players

Korea is The Mp3 Player country. Sign, a Korean company, has a triplet of very good looking Mp3 players.
Their storage capacities range from 256MB to 1GB. They can be used as Mass Storage Devices (they pop up as hard drives when connected to your PC) and the line of accessories is pretty complete. The specs are in the full post.

NEC launches world’s fastest supercomputer

TOKYO, Japan -- Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp., said it has begun selling the world’s fastest supercomputer.

NEC claimed its SX-8 is the most powerful “vector-type” supercomputer, with a sustainable data processing speed well beyond IBM’s recently unveiled Blue Gene/L supercomputer.

In September IBM said its Blue Gene/L supercomputer had surpassed NEC’s Earth Simulator to become the world’s most powerful supercomputer.

IBM’s Blue Gene/L is capable of a sustained data processing speed of 36.01 teraflops, or one trillion floating point operations per second.

NEC said its newest SX series model has a peak processing speed of 65 teraflops and a sustainable performance of roughly 90 percent that speed or 58.5 teraflops.

The NEC and IBM supercomputers are different in structure. NEC says its SX-8, because of its vector architecture, “delivers much higher sustained performance than scalar supercomputers” like IBM’s Blue Gene/L.

“We have received 100 orders so far,” with the first models to be shipped too

the UK’s national weather forecasting service and the High Performance Computing Center in Stuttgart, Germany, said NEC managing director Tadao Kondo.

The Tokyo-based electronics maker aims to sell or rent 700 models in the first three years.

The monthly rental fee for the SX-8 is a minimum 1.17 million yen (10,730 dollars) and the purchase price is 130 million yen.

Supercomputers are widely used to develop complex products like new airplanes, automobiles and drugs.

Grand Theft Auto ... Stolen!

New version of popular game leaked before its October 26 release.

The Staff of GamePro Magazine

Friday, October 22, 2004

First it was Halo 2. Now the newest version of Grand Theft Auto has been leaked to the Internet.

Rockstar Games' latest entry in its highly successful crime/action series, San Andreas, is scheduled for an October 26 release, but that didn't stop the game escaping into cyberspace.

No one knows where the leak originated from, but this will undoubtedly result in even sterner measures from game companies to secure their content. San Andreas is ranked number one on Amazon.com in the Computer & Video Games category, and the game is expected to draw huge sales. In response to the leak, Rockstar issued the following statement:

"Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive Software are aware that an illegally obtained version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and images from the game and manual have been posted to various internet sites. The proper authorities are investigating the theft and are continuing to investigate all possible leads to ensure there is no further dissemination of our creative content."

"Downloading, possession and distribution of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, including making the game available on the internet, is theft. We take the theft of our intellectual property very seriously and we are and will continue to diligently and aggressively pursue this matter. If anyone finds information on websites with links to unauthorized downloads, information, scans or videos, please contact us at piracy@rockstargames.com."