Posts by Dave 126

Re: They almost look like normal people

And normal people have large elliptical eyes, green skin and no body hair?

Re: I can understand why people were duped

>I do worry about the kind of person that thinks a free app will do the same job though.

Yeah, you'd expect that you'd at least have to prise the camera module apart and remove the IR filter.

In other news, pills won't make your member bigger, belly fat can be shed by diet and exercise, and girls in Basingstoke do not want to meet you.

Re: This gave me an idea

I haven't tried it, but unless the tracking was very accurate, there would be a risk of falling into the 'uncanny valley'. It might be more suitable for 'cartoonising' the subjects, for fun and giggles though.

Of course, you could cover the subject in ping pong balls on a stage next to a render farm, as was done on Avatar- a rough rendering was done in real time during the actors performances, to give the crew an idea of what the eventual scene would look like.

Re: The fault is that caller ID is useless

My friend has BT block all calls from 'number withheld' to his landline. The NHS and other gov services are obliged to call him on an identifiable number.

Re: Part of the process

>Hmm... there's no need to go with all that complexity

A wax-printing desktop machine (a few hundred dollars), plus the kit required to cast aluminium is with the reach of anyone who wants it. A selective laser sintering machine? I wish!

Someone might be able to reformulate 'silver clay' for use in small 3D printers - silver particles suspended in a clay-like binder, which after the sculptor has created their desired form is placed in the kiln. It produces something like 95%+ solid metal part after firing.

Re: Dremels

Thank you Alan for engaging with the question. True, a Dremmel can be an accompaniment to a 3D printer, as well as an alternative to a 3D printer for some tasks.

Yeah, I've spotted a fair few in B&Q, but still: I only know two people who own one. They are no where near as common as 18v drills.

Still, 18v drills, like timber yard CNC routers, are handy for real stuff - like furniture and shelves. Dremmels and 3D printers are for smaller fiddly things that are often mass produced anyway.

Re: What about the environment?

>you know where most of it will end up!

shredded and put back into the machine's hopper?

Re: have i seen this before?

'Print on demand' is a bit in-between... if you need the book this week, order it from a large warehouse somewhere and enjoy the savings given to you by economies of scales or the second hand market. If you need it this minute, download a copy to your e-reader.

>Hobbyists will also aspire to them, its going to be the hardware hackers equivalent of a lathe some weird guy

you know will have one in the shed.

That's my take on it... 'Consumer' 3D printers will mainly appeal to people who already have lathes, Dremmels, tap and die sets etc.

Another model is that of a local bureau, servicing end users and other local businesses. Our local timber yard does CNC milling for £100 / hour (but it is such a big sturdy (and expensive) machine it can do jobs quickly, so depending upon the design it only adds 20 - 40% to the cost on top of the material) but you don't hear tech sites making as much noise about an arguably more useful technology (for making furniture, shelves, children's play equipment etc), though buzz-phases such as 'virtual manufacturing', 'long tail', and 'thousands of markets of a few' get invoked from time to time.

Something can help the bloke on the street make use of these services might be devices like the Kinect- MS's new SDK (for the Windows version, not the cheaper but near identical XBOX version) could easily be built upon to scan the back of your car and give you a 2D DWG of a replacement parcel-shelf. It has the bonus of making people look like Hans Solo in carbonite. Oh, a free DWG editor, including a version for your penguins http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/download-draftsight/#xtor=AD-508-[swfreetools]-[middle]-[intext]-[www.solidworks.com]

Hell, even the upcoming Playstation 4 allows for 3D modelling in a way that looks like it could complement traditional packages.

Other noises are being made about 'additive manufacturing', in which related technologies are used to achieve shapes and form that are hard to make by traditional means. Substrates for catalysts are an example, since they require a very high surface area to volume ratio. Another example would be structural components with 'property gradients', such as a beam of constant cross-section but of varying mechanical proprties along its length. This is possible using Selective Laser Sintering, using materials such as titanium. Such things are used in aerospace and motorsport- but then they tend to have small production runs anyway.

Re: Part of the process@Dave 126

>- the only complication is scaling the pattern to allow for the shrinkage of different metals in casting.

Moulding simulation and design software has been around for a while... it'l cost you, though!

>The chances of a home 3D printer being able to turn out a component of the accuracy and strength to replace the carefully designed and made door catch on a machine is in my view slim

It was 'carefully designed and made'.... 'carefully designed and made' to fail that is, and thus steer me towards their on-line spares shop! That was kind of my point, that their business model is compete on price in the showroom, then recuperate the cost by selling the spare parts. A business model that might conceivably be disrupted if a 'made to measure' plastic parts printing bureau (using some sort of Fused Material Deposition process but then chemically cured to create a thermosetting plastic part)

Re: Part of the process

I've heard of people printing in wax.

These samples look good:

http://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/520-very-high-detail-printing-also-in-wax.html

>But surely the fittings on that small plastic door latch are proprietary IPR

Good point, don''t know how it would work here. In the automotive industry, car manufacturers are not allowed to invalidate car guarantees because quality 3rd party parts have been used during servicing.

I wouldn't be ordering a specific Whirlpool part, but rather a piece of material of "X by Y by Zmm, with two 9mm holes, and an angled boss of 18 mm by .... " (well, I'd be submitting a CAD drawing, or maybe the bureau can do something with photos using clever software).

Re: Part of the process

I could see Games Workshop being challenged by this technology... If people enjoy building their own armies and painting the miniatures, they would enjoy designing their own characters online as well before having them printed and posted out.

How many people do you know currently own a Dremmel rotary tool? Like a dentists drill, it can be used for polishing, engraving, cutting and sanding. It is useful, and costs around £80. I know of two people who own one- a professional sculptor and and a hobbyist jewellery maker. I can't see the market for consumer 3D printers being much bigger.

One area where 3D printing bureaus can make a dent is in undercutting replacement parts. My Whirlpool tumble-dryer had a small plastic door latch that melted, and their website very efficiently charged me £18 for a replacement.

Re: i've just got one of these

And the problem with supporting a codec is...?

True, Sony are the only company I know of to be named in an XP BSOD (SonicStage, and MS abandoned their traditional esoteric hex to name Sony as the culprit... as New Scientist remarked at the time "We cannot even begin to imagine the level of acrimony that lead to this message being displayed")

Re: "Sony promise to update to 4.2 soon..."

See how they have supported all their 2012 handsets. My Xperia P has already been updated to ICS, and is getting JB this month (whatever, ICS seems good enough).

Sorry you got stung, but those 2011 handsets seemed a bit lacking in RAM at the time.

Re: Noooooooo!

My Xperia P works very well for voice calls, and I've heard good things about other Xperia handsets... Don't know what the Z is like.

Re: Avoid - screen scratches very easily

Oh well. I stumbled across some forum reference to this anti-shatter layer when I was trying to track down an official Sony replacement for the screen-protector included with my Xperia P. Some people suggest that you just remove the scratched 'anti-shatter' layer http://talk.sonymobile.com/thread/41307?start=0&tstart=0 (how-to video in above link), and install a screen protector ASAP. I can't vouch for the advice given above, but it might be worth you having a look.

The included screen protector worked and protected my screen, but eventually became scratched itself . I bought a replacement at a market stall, but it was poor, and quickly became covered in microscratches, making the thing tricky to use in sunlight (hence, I searched for an official Sony one, since the first had been good). Thankfully, being a 4" phone a widely-available iPhone 5 protector can be cut to fit.

A bit of care is required to install them, but as long as you are in a fairly dust free environment and take care to clean the screen with the included cloth, it should go okay. Don't worry about little bubbles, they can be pushed out to the side after it's laid down. I'm sure the nice young man in your phone shop will install it for you if you buy it from him.

Good luck.

Re: i've just got one of these

My pet peeve with the Sony Walkman app is that is doesn't support WMA. Otherwise it is very good.

Re: After so many many SE phones...

>but nobody else is doing high end waterproof phones right now.

Well, there was that recent Reg article that suggested that a waterproofing process is applied to quite a few handsets, to reduce returns. However, it isn't usually advertised, as the first thing some people do is to 'test' it by deliberately dunking it it water.

I remember being in school and playing baseball in a classroom using a tack hammer as a bat and a Casio G-Shock as a ball. No harm done. A few years later I deliberately dropped another G-Shock from a first-floor window onto concrete, and having to get it fixed on warranty (which was honoured, but the parts took an age to come from Japan).

Re: "Currently running the show is Android 4.1.2 though Sony is promising an upgrade to..."

>Sony promising. Precisely why I wouldn't get one.

All of last year's Xperia phones have been upgraded to ICS, and most of them are receiving a Jelly Bean update this month. When I got my Xperia P, many of the online forums echoed the negative view you have just expressed re Sony's abandonment of 2011 models, so it seems they have listened and upped their game.

-http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/sony-starts-rolling-out-jelly-bean-for-xperia-users-1130304

Re: watching video is surely one of the reasons you’d buy an Xperia Z

@Miffo "Not sure why you're thinking about that mate -nobody is saying a phone shouldn't have a loud speaker." Er, JDX, did say just that, I think it was to him that David Webb was responding.

Re: i've just got one of these

Hmm, like MP3 players 'back in the day', when you had to select a country outside the EU to get a decent volume. Not that I'm cavalier with my hearing (tinnitus sounds like hell) but headphones do vary.

Re: I like the waterproof feature

>or a charging port that doesn't mind getting wet and I'm sold

Seems Sony have anticipated your concern:

Those two exposed metal contacts on the side next to the uSD slot are for charging. [Charging cradle an optional extra, I would imagine]

Re: @AC 13:21

Yeah, I was thinking of the watches with complications that are sold for prices akin to a new Rolls Royce or Bugatti.... y'know, the kind that are favoured by Russian politicians:

" Take the Deputy Mayor of Moscow, Vladimir Resin. His DeWitt La Pressy Grande Complication is worth a whopping $1.03 million. The head of Russia’s state bank VTB rocks a $240,800 Patek Philippe. The CEO of the state’s gas monopoly, Gazprom, sports a $112,100 Breguet. The brutal leader of Chechnya’s Bovet goes for around $300,000. President Dmitry Medvedev’s $32,200 Breguet seems almost modest. And the list goes on."

-http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2009/10/russian-officials-sporting-watches-worth-up-to-1-million/

An extremely waterproof Rolex Submariner? Tch, a 'mere' £5000.

Putin's wristwatch collection is estimated to be worth six times his annual salary.

Re: Icon says it all

I'd check out side by side photo comparisons before agreeing with AC... there have been a few reviews that suggest the camera isn't as great as the specs suggest, but maybe the reviewer missed a trick. Who knows.

That said, I'd agree with AC in that I try avoid flash in most circumstances, and that if I have to use it I try to bounce it or diffuse it somehow.

Hmm, just found some photos taken on my Xperia P on Friday night in a dark pub... the images are grainy, but recognisable - the camera seems to have made the most of its limited capabilities.

Re: After so many many SE phones...

>Touchslab phones are the norm now. Where's the innovation?

That's a charge that has been levelled at all the phone makers... you could read Sony's inclusion of waterproofing as an acceptance of this, that phones have matured and should be refined to be durable. I mean, the only wristwatches that aren't waterproof these days seem to be ludicrously expensive status symbols.

I note that Sony's tablet is waterproof, as well. Only on Sunday I went to a cafe, and the lass behind the counter had an iPad on a cook-book stand, wrapped in clingfilm. I don't know if she was using it for recipes, stock control or simply playing music... but it seems there is a demand in the real world for something that doesn't mind a bit of gunk.

Re: Icon says it all

Curious... Esskay appears to be a sensible human being, so it must just be a matter of taste and individual user needs: I'd personally consider waterproofing to be a better feature than a xenon flash.

The sensible way to implement better flash on phones would be to make the flash a separate unit, remotely triggered by the phone camera - not only would a xenon flash be available to all those who want it, but it would also be more flattering to the subjects by reducing the 'albino rabbit in headlights' look.

Right, I'm off to see if there is anything approaching an Android feature request list ...

: D

Re: watching video is surely one of the reasons you’d buy an Xperia Z

I'm absolutely with you on wanting to bash sodcasters about the noggin, but I do regularly use the speaker on my phone when I am out of earshot of other people. Not for music, but for spoken-word podcasts it's fine.

They no doubt have error checking and redundancy, but when conditions are shit why not take a few weeks off til they get better?

Re: Back-of-napking calculations

>BTW: Can someone explain to me why the significance of the number changed?

Marketing. '4K' is snappier than 'really really high definition and we mean it this time', and it is around 4x the number of pixels that today's 'Full HD' boasts. Also, calling it '2K' sounds so turn-of-the-century.

Re: Boo hoo hoo

Have you considered working as a columnist for The Daily Telegraph?

A few years back a report said that the average fine handed out to TV Licence Fee dodgers was lower than the actual licence.