A Geek’s Think

Check out these new technologies with the potential to make life even easier for us technogeeks:

LED Projectors

Normal projectors use a really expensive light bulb to display images. While offering great image quality, they have the side effects of running really hot, requiring loud fans, and a bulb that needs to be replaced every thousand hours or so. At $300-500 per bulb, costs can soon bypass the original cost of the projector.

Enter the LED Projector. Using LED’s instead of standard bulbs for lighting removes all three of the above-mentioned issues - they’re cool running and long lasting. They’re also small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. All these benefits come with a price, however - less brightness. Every model announced thus far has a brightness of less than 100 lumens, with most outputting closer to 25 lumens. That’s not very bright, but their portability, price (less than $1000), and long life make them a powerful contender for my future spending. Check out the announced models from Mitsubishi , Toshiba, Sony, Samsung, and more.

Electronic Paper

Electronic Paper makes it possible to read from a computer without experiencing the eye strain normally associated with a computer monitor, which refreshes its image at least 60 times per second. It does this by displaying a constant image - no changes unless necessary. In that way, reading from ePaper is like reading from a book - easy on the eyes. Now imagine having a 1 GB flash memory card full of books or papers to read. Thousands of books in the palm of your hand with no eye strain? I say WOW. Pair this with Project Gutenberg and you can have more than 19,000 books at your fingertips. Plus, you’re saving trees as you go. Nice, eh?

This is just a quick note to let you know where I’m headed - I’ll write more later. I chose my orders from what was available a few days ago and here’s where I’ll be for the next 4 1/2 years of my life.  Note: A “C” School is a more specialized school than an “A” School - I’ll be learning to maintain and fix a specific set of equipment instead of a general class of systems.

• First, I go to Norfolk, VA for two “C” Schools lasting a total of 7 months
• Second, I’ll spend a month in Maryland for another “C” School
• Third, I’ll report to my final duty station at Naval Station Mayport, which is near Jacksonville, Florida