I wonder if snapraid would work for this. Especially if your data is mostly written once and then just read, it could be an easy way to add redundancy while keeping isolated individual drives.
If your source is Dolby Digital, you may not need anything new - just adjusting your settings. Dynamic range compression is a standard feature, and the bitstream should already include the necessary metadata for the decoder to implement this.
It's been a while since I looked into this in detail, but iirc the decoder must automatically enable dynamic range compression when it's set to two channel output. So avoid configurations where you first convert the audio to 5.1 channel PCM or analog, and then apply downmixing or virtual surround.
If you're using a surround system, most receivers have a night mode as mentioned by others already. Some have also an adaptive system that adjusts the dynamic range based on your volume setting - turn it up and you get the full dynamic range, turn it down and the dynamic range is compressed more as you set the volume lower to try to keep the dialog audible. Many receivers include a microphone for automatic settings, and after calibration know the actual output level. The Dolby Digital bitstream (and I think DTS) include a flag to indicate the overall dialog level, and based on these a receiver can do quite a good job. Some I think go only by the DD metadata, others have a compressor that can be applied to any input.
The only two things I can think of are Atmos (as mentioned in the article), and metadata for dynamic range compression (which you can do on the computer too but may be more convenient to control on the receiver).
I think the main reason for audio passthrough preference in the home theater crowd is seeing the DD/DTS logos light up on the receiver.
> A portable battery should be considered to be removable by the end-user when it can be removed with the use of commercially available tools and without requiring the use of specialised tools, unless they are provided free of charge, or proprietary tools, thermal energy or solvents to disassemble it.
edit: Forgot to mention that it also works nicely on mobile. I've added it on my desktop as "Archive this" into the bookmarks, and on mobile (chrome or firefox) I just type "archive this" into the location to activate it.
> braking much harder than I would have been able to
Any idea why you weren't able to apply full brakes? I remember reading that most people don't in an emergency and that's why the emergency brake boost was created, but haven't seen the reason for it.
My Chevy came with instructions on proper track prep and tracking it (if prepped as instructed) won't void the warranty. Didn't include free track days though.
Autocrossing is more my thing and I'm shocked any car manufacturer would try to weasel out of warranty for it. I've seen modified cars break and even catch on fire, and can understand racing tires could put undue stress on stock suspension, but a stock car that can't handle autocross? Should we expect parts to be falling off if you need to do an emergency brake or evasive maneuver on the road?
That's a great comparison. Streaming and wireless headphones are both really convenient but initially a step back in quality. Streaming is frustrating on a good quality large tv and Bluetooth audio on good quality headphones.
In a few more years the quality issues will hopefully be solved. In the meanwhile the majority of consumers don't care and will drive adoption.
> a theoretical crypto crash won’t throw the market into turmoil
I don't think it will affect markets much. There are only a few companies involved. Most of the money is from the retail investors, and that money is already gone. The crypto exchange balances going to zero won't change things much as those are mostly imaginary numbers anyway.
Knowing the basics of programming can be a great tool in a lot of professions.
I watch my wife perform a lot of tasks with spreadsheets to accomplish things her coworkers can't do (or would require a lot of manual work). Being able to import CSVs, do calculations, mail merges and other simple data processing may allow you to skip a lot of tedious manual work.
Programming is the next step. She would benefit from being able to write scripts to query different systems and then process more data than is practical in a spreadsheet, or do more complicated processing than a spreadsheet allows.
It's not something everyone needs (just like spreadsheets, or even calculators), but it can let you get a lot more done in many non-tech professions.
> If there wasn't an impact on businesses and consumers then they wouldn't be scary.
It's probably scary for Amazon, but I don't see why it would be scary for consumers. I use Amazon regularly, but if they had to shut down deliveries for a few weeks I would just order from eBay, Walmart or other sources. I can't think of many things that I can order only from Amazon.
I have an AP in pretty much every room on 5 GHz with low transmit power. I like it a lot - good speeds, not a lot of interference from the other APs, and clients mostly roam nicely as only the nearest AP is strong enough.
> You can get a 1.5gigabit/sec connection between your laptop and the router, with very very low latency and super reliability.
Would you mind sharing what equipment you use?
While I now have wired connectivity to my access points, I have friends who don't have that option and would greatly benefit from better wifi. I would love to help them.
There are also cases where the differences in amplifiers are obvious - for example some headphone/amplifier combinations have issues with low frequency response (related to impedance IIRC)