Graves On SOHO Technology

NAB Keeping Me Busy & VOIP On The Show Floor

April 11, 2008
Michael Graves
Asterisk, VoIP

Next week is the annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters. So this week marks my annual trek to Las Vegas to help with the setup of our exhibit. It’s a huge amount of work. My focus on various preparations has kept me from blogging the past week.

VOIP angle 1: Asterisk on the trade show floor

We pay a company called Smart City for internet connectivity on the trade show floor. They drop us a shared ethernet link. The speed is carefully controlled. Our link is typically around 768k x 256k and costs around $1400 for the week. It’s reliable, but very expensive.

The Path To Whole House Audio: Part 6 – Whole House Audio

April 6, 2008
Michael Graves
Audio

Some time ago I had installed a couple of in-ceiling speakers into our living room. I did it one Saturday while my wife was out. That was a mistake.

When she got home she was disappointed that I had done this without consulting her. I had mistakenly thought that built-in gear would be inconspicuous and so desirable from her perspective. She, on the other hand, felt that cutting holes in the ceiling of our vintage 1920s craftsman style house was a bad idea. She’d rather leave it as original as possible.

Web Based IRC Using Mibbit

April 5, 2008
Michael Graves
Broadband

This past week I sat in on the weekly VOIP Users Conference while working at a customers site. Just before the call started it occurred to me that it would be good to be able to monitor the irc channel…

Walt Mossberg Says “We suck at broadband!”

April 5, 2008
Michael Graves
Broadband

You really need to see this. It’s Walt giving a presentation outlining trends in TV viewing on PCs vs home theater and the sorry state of the broadband reality in North America. I don’t always agree with Walt, but he has this completely nailed. He very lucid and well spoken on the matter. He also highlights AppleTV & Tivo as well as the pending (60 days) availability of a 3G iPhone.

The Path To Whole House Audio: Part 5- Verification By Measurement

April 1, 2008
Michael Graves
Audio

My brother-in-law Fred is something of an audiophile. Not the ridiculous, “I-paid-a months-wages-for-that-rca-lead cantcha-just-feel-the-increased-sonic-emotion*” kind of guy, more pragmatic but with an open mind.

*see Pear Audio Cables vs James Randi for details

A few years ago Fred built a set of speakers from a kit. It was a pricey kit but they sound great so why quibble. They look great, too. He had fun making them and the reward of making something exceptional with your own two hands cannot be overstated.

The Path To Whole House Audio: Part 4 – Subwoofers & Halloween

March 31, 2008
Michael Graves
Audio

Behringer B2092A subwoofer A few weeks after the Behringer monitors had arrived I learned of the mating subwoofer, Behringer’s B2092A. This was also a comparable bargain, so I bought two. Yes, stereo subwoofers. Such decadence.

The B2092A is beautiful in a way that many people will not appreciate. It’s a device built to a task with little concern for superficial things like aesthetics. It’s a 4th order double-tuned bandpass enclosure housing two long throw 8” drivers, their amplifier and crossover electronics. The built-in amp provides 360 watts rms below 80Hz with a range of adjustments to compensate for level and placement in the room.