Archive for November, 2006



The Zen of HDTV Buying

Since it’s clear that this week’s theme is going to lean heavily on home theater purchases, let’s take a moment to step back from the details and to gain perspective.
No matter what you end up buying, it’s going to be a lot better than your old TV. Relax.
There are a wide variety of HDTV technologies [...]

This should have been your commute this morning. This future sucks!
More images from the series [GrandFormat.Blogspot]

How the Magic First Down Line Works

Nice article explaining all the equipment, math, and computing power that goes into generating the magical first down line on televised football fields. Impressive, but when can they do it in real life? [HowStuffWorks]

Vic writes:
Best Buy’s in-store brand, Insignia, has some TVs that are cheaper than their Sony/Samsung/etc. counterparts. Is it “safe” to save $100-$200 off and by the store-brand stuff, or shell out the money for name-brand?
It all depends on how you define “safe.” Best Buy’s Insignia brand launched two years ago with the stated intention of [...]

Cables are the worst rip-off in the entire electronics industry. I recently looked into starting my own line of cables to sell in retail; the numbers were staggering. A standard-quality HDMI cable, the sort that connects your HDTV to a DVD player or other video output, sells for anywhere between $40 and $100 in stores [...]

First, my apologies: This week’s theme is getting a very late start.
Second, A bit of personal backstory on yours truly: I write about consumer electronics for a living. For instance, I have a monthly Q&A column in Popular Mechanics, way in the back next to the ads for making hovercraft out of vacuum cleaners.
As much [...]

Another Male Contraceptive

UK scientists testing a male contraceptive that, when taken orally, would prevent sperm from being ejaculated for a day. May I be the first to suggest the name “Siring Blanks”? [BBC]

MAKE’s Open Source Gift Guide

On the off chance there are a few Dethroner readers who don’t also read MAKE, don’t miss their great “Open Source Gift Guide,” suggesting a wide variety of DIY projects and homebrew electronics kits that would make fine presents for any tinkering dude. Of course, there are several projects that go beyond the newbie level—I’m [...]

Close Call on the O’Hare Runway

A flash animation showing a close call between two jets on the runway of O’Hare. [NTSB.gov] (Thanks again, Brett!)

Gro;g’s animated knots page shows you how to tie several dozen knots with simple, step-by-step animations. Knots are lovely things, making rope into something useful and potential if unlikely lifesavers. I pretty much hated most of the basic skills of Boy Scouts, but for some reason the knot tying part still gets me. (Although I [...]

Illinois UFO Sightings

A page about black, triangular UFO sightings that occurred in 2000 that caught my interest mainly because it happened in Highland, Illinois, where some of my family lives. I’m not all that interested in UFOs these days, after I realized that even if aliens landed, we’d still have to pay taxes. [DBarkerTV]

Poor Bastard of the Day

Welcome back to the work, suckers. It could be much, much worse.




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Editor: Joel Johnson | Email | AIM

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Asides

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» Seems Jack Daniels is kicking some butt, profits are up and even their unsavory looking drinks are selling.  # 2

» The Royal Bacon Society is a fancy, fun blog all about you the Dethroner reader’s favorite food: Bacon. # 1

» Evidently a fan of Ebert’s is trying to help Mars breed the supreme race of M&Ms.

Whenever I get a package of plain M&Ms, I make it my duty to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To this end, I hold M&M duels. Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure, squeezing them together until one of them breaks and splinters. That is the “loser,” and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to go another round.
M&Ms prove Darwin was right Thanks Ryan  # 0

» Baconpig. Zenith of mankind’s porcine proclivity or just gross? You be the judge. Don’t miss the Pig Butchering Guide in T-shirt form. # 0

» A man wants to know if jerking off into his guppy tank will cause his fish any harm. Just don’t forget to cuddle, I say. [StraightDope.com# 1

» An Atlanta florist is selling the “Broquet,” baskets of amply masculine cactus and carnivorous plants that can be given from one man to another. [BananaFlorist.com via Seth Godin# 0

» What may be my next car, the Mitsubishi Evolution X, goes on sale today in Japan. Next year for North America. [Crave.CNET.com# 0

» I haven’t really dug into it much, but JoS. A. Bank is having what appears to be a pretty major sale, with up to 50% off on Fall items and 70% off on clearance items. [JosBank.com# 2

» Cities collapse due to unsustainable growth? Naw it’ll never happen. We have science. [unsw.edu.au, creationmuseum.org] # 0

» Headline of the Day: “Men want hot women, study confirms” [CNN# 2



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