CDR Sam

MP3 for the car stereo with USB flash drive support

July 17, 2009 | USB Flash and Flash Memory

I know there are many ways to add MP3 music audio to one’s automobile.  My desire is to have MP3 available for play in the car via USB memory sticks so I can follow my favorite podcasts.  Certainly CD disc playing is critical as well as a radio tuner.  I looked around and picked up a Clarion DXZ385USB.  This replaces my Clarion RDB245D AM/FM CD player.

that I’ve had for 10 years.  It’s actually been in a few cars when it finally had it’s prime in my car.  I’m going to run into tense issues in speaking now in past tense since I have removed the RDB245D.  The old clarion has been a great player and besides the terminals getting dirty and needing cleaning (the stereo would keep shuting itself off).  Although come to think of it the CDs were getting a bit slow in ejecting, especially in the winter time.  So out with the old and in with the new.

For some insane reason I thought this would be a simple pull it out put the new one in.  I forgot the process from the first time around when my buddy helped me (I held the flashlight) put the old one in.

All the trim had to come out around the Clarion stereo, climate control and empty spacers for knick-knacks like discs and sunglasses. The difficulty comes in taking out some of the hidden screws that require one to stand on one’s head while balancing on the driver seat so one can see the screws in the “ashtray” and turn them in or out.  Luckily these things don’t come out often so I balanced myself carefully and removed the screws.  Once the screws are out the console trim can be pulled away and access to the screws that hold the metal rack that holds various modules including the prized car stereo.  Once I was able to separate the various pieces I removed the old stereo and unplugged the wire harness both from the stereo and the car.  That piece I would need again.

I had to splice the wiring harness so it would match the wiring for the car which is about 15 wires and once I finished that I was ready to install the new Clarion.  It was the exact same process as installing the old one with removing the special sleeve adapter and popping off the trim piece.  I plugged the wiring  harness back in into the car and the new car stereo.  Turned on the ignition and on came the LED clock.

• I turned the car stereo on and tested the speakers and functions.
• turned the ignition off
• unplugged stereo
• assembled it into the rack
• plugged the antenna and 16 pin connector
• and screwed the whole assembly back into the dashboard

Again I tested the unit and this time ran it through the FM and AM bands, inserted a CD, played the CD.   I then replaced all the trim and all that was left was clean up. I will let you know how the flow goes when hooked up to a USB drive.  This unit can also support a iPod along with charging it.

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Recordable Dual Layer DVD Media

July 12, 2009 | Recordable DVDs

I think most of us would agree DVD-R is the clear winner in the single layer recordable realm but DVD+R rules in the dual layer world. Dual layer multiplies the storage capacity of a recordable DVD to over 8GB making it unnecessary to span discs single layer DVD+R discs.

Dual layer dvd discs do cost more, almost three times the amount of a single sided DVD recordable disc but in recording a video stream that is over standard length (feature length) it is useful.  It’s actually two layers: two recording layers with a special laser sensitive dye  stacked on top of one another that the laser focuses on (selectively).  Some of you may wonder why this can not be done in more layers?….    Very difficult.  Not impossible but very difficult to do it economically.  Two dye layers appear to be difficult enough considering the quality of dual layer DVDs. Verbatim seems to still rule with FTI and Ritek, CMC pulling up the rear.  Then again Verbatim makes some not so good discs but this is looked at as branding to specific low margin markets.  Singapore made dual layer plus R blanks really are the cream of the crop.

• DVD-R and DVD+R are Write Once Read Many discs, referred to as  WORM.
• DVD-RW and DVD-RW are rewritable discs that use phase change technology to record and erase data
• DVD+R DL (and one flavor in -R) is for dual layer.

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Cool band Katzenjammer

July 5, 2009 | Random Blackouts

I’m learning to play the mandolin (hey I got have something to put on CDs!   )   mandolin

amazing stuff.  Norwegian pop with classical instruments, love this song ‘Ain’t no thing’

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Health Care Reform-Can the Medical Industry Enter the Digital Age

June 29, 2009 | Health Care

With all the excitement about the health care reform and climbing costs of the entire health care system it’s amazing to consider that much of the health system still uses paper to administer patients records.  The task is so monumental that it’s difficult to see how an entire industry can be reformed so soon.  Current medical data systems are very much proprietary and do not share well with others.  In order for the data conversion to take place it needs to be simplified for the health care professionals.

This may appear simple but the requirements of a software package that is

• secure
• reliable
• Can exchange data with other remote systems using high-level encryption
• modular: so various software interfaces can be developed with medical digital equipment and analog.
• Fast
• modular data storage
• Simplicity
• Can be easily deployed in medical offices.

Software aside the data storage requirements would really need to be mapped out on a local health care provider level and a On-line database for medical records. Essentially the local doctors records are uploaded every so often to a national database (or regional).  Records would need to be scanned in or manually entered into a database in order to keep local copies current and the larger backup database that provides coverage to all subscribing agencies.  This would be a non-profit type operation.

There are some medical “PACS “  currently available ( picture archiving and communication systems ) but there is no common image metadata platform.  Meta data is the ‘tag’ that is often attached to a image that tells a wide range of information about the image.  Data can also be added to the meta description to help identify the image changes.   DICOM does not fully specify the ‘metadata’ tags stored with images to annotate and describe them, so integrators of medical imaging equipment have wide latitude to create DICOM-compliant files that differ in the meaning and representation of this metadata.

A feature common to most PACS is to read and store the metadata from all the images into a central database however the differences between integrators’ DICOM implementations make this a difficult task.  It really appears to be a daunting task to even get the industry to convert to a common metatag or be able to ignore non-compliant data.

With several studies showing only 22% of PACS in health care and many doctors completely in the dark about how to go about converting it’s going to a be a task in line with building the pyramids.

Or building a superhighway for the health care of our nation.

http://medical.nema.org

Flickr image takomabibelot

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My DVD Disc can Hold More then Your Blu-ray Disc

May 24, 2009 | Data Storage

With all the talk going around with new breakthroughs in optical technology including the news* from down under (Swinburne University of Technology in Australia) about 5D storage which is reported to hold 10 Terabytes, which is about 2,381 single layer DVD recordable or 280 dual sided DVD+R discs.  It turns out it’s those little nano-particles everyone has been talking about recently.

This should be a huge breakthrough that will get all the pesky tape back-up and hard drives out of the picture permanently?

Thus my point: Data storage size and cost per GB (or Terabyte) does not matter any more.  We certainly know that the application for storage is significant (optical for archive, tape for capacity) but time and time again in both business storage and consumer based buying habits the ‘value’ is far beyond the ‘storage capacity’.  This is is the the dilemma facing Blu-ray right now.  The perception of value placed on different formats was really blown away with the Apple iPod.  Distribution (and convenience) over storage function.  Really the game changer is the architecture of distribution and retention vs. per storage capability.

This makes sense as most of us do not walk around with data storage appliances strapped to our backs for maximum storage: we choose the most convenient package for our needs.  The brilliance of the iPod is it took relatively small storage, a compression audio format that reduces the size 20x or more (MP3) , a network for distribution (iStore) and a Digital management console  iTunes and created a sensation based around more, not better.

Now we hard core iPod fans would be offended by “not better”  right?   It effectively solves the users problem with discs or other types of storage like analog audio tape (we used to call them cassette tapes   )  in portability and transport.  Although I listened to one person on the radio discussing the days of the “boom box” and the social buzz around one at the time. Now no one gathers around the box listening to the jams: it’s all on-line.

With USB flash storing up to 64GB (or more) it certainly seems a winner in the portable world but what is USB flash?    It’s a connector (USB) which interfaces with a computer or other storage device.  USB is not the technology that makes non-volatile or ” flash” memory the game-changer (and the ability to erase in small sectors).  It’s all about the connection, the interface cable.

Consider the fact that Micro SD is a strong contender for replacing the optical disc.  Consider how it interfaces with computers.  It’s focus is at cell phones, “smart phones” which don’t easily and conveniently interface with USB without an adapter.

I wonder what can be done with nano-particles and flash non-volatile memory.  That is use electricity to change the structure of the particles instead of laser light.  How will that interface?  will the ‘drive’ become obsolete?

Solid state memory does not spin and the media and “drive” are combined.

All it has to do is plug in to the device. Or a real Apple ‘Nano’  =  nano-particles as in a couple of Terabytes of song and video storage.

*If you want to read the original news source for the new 5 dimensional storage   Reuters

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