Friday, November 21, 2014

Greatest Basketball Players of All-Time - by Moses

50 Greatest Basketball Players of All-Time
By Stacey Goldman (a.k.a Moses)

Wilt Chamberlain
Michael Jordan
Magic Johnson
Bill Russell
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Julius Erving (Dr. J)
Oscar Robertson
Hakeem Olawjuwan
Elgin Baylor
Isaiah Thomas
Kobe Bryant
Lebron James
David Robinson
Shaquille O’Neil
Tim Duncan
Larry Bird
Kevin Garnett
Steve Nash
Dwayne Wade
Charles Barkley
Moses Malone
James Worthy
Dirk Niwitzki
Scottie Pippin
Bob Cousy
Karl Malone
Clyde Drexler
Dominique Wilkins
Joe Dumars
Jerry West
Paul Pierce
Tracy McGrady
Alonzo Mourning
Chris Bosh
Ben Wallace
Meadowlark Lemon
Jason Kidd
Amare Stoudamire
Reggie Miller
Walt Frazier
Willis Reed
Patrick Ewing
Vince Carter
Bob McAdoo
Allen Iverson
Ray Allen
Bob Petit
Alex English
David Thompson
Carmelo Anthony
John Stockton
Rick Barry

Technology - A Five Part Series - By Moses

Technology (Part One of Five)

Computers – i) Apple ii) Internal Business Machines (I.B.M) iii) Hewlett Packard iv) Olivetti v) N.C.R (Bank Machines – Wide Area Network).
Microphones- i) Ribbon ii) Dynamic iii) Condenser – Polar Patterns in reference to all three.
Camera’s – i) Analog ii) Digital
Automotives - refer to article in Pop-Culture
Planes – i) Boeing 747, 767 ii) Mirage iii) F-16/17/18 iv) C-16 v) Concorde vi) Cesna vii) MIG
Trains – i) Bombardier ii)Go-Train iii) C.N Rail (Canadian National) iv) Via Rail v) Amtrak
Radar – Tracking – Satellites
Cable – i) Ground (Copper) ii) Fiber-optics-Satellite iii) Standard frequency – i.e. 900Mega-Hertz – Cellular.
The internet vs. singular workstations
Fuel – i) Solar ii) Electric iii) Hydrogen iv) Wind v) Fossil vi) Nuclear
A/C – D/C – Alternating Current – Direct Current
A.M (Amplitude Modulation) and F.M (Frequency Modulation)
Source – Monitors (also known as an Input / Output Module) – a channel
Electronic Principles and Digital Circuitry A.K.A Silicon


Computers

There are 9 characters in a byte. One byte sequence is binary, and follows the sequence 1, 2, 4, 8, etc. This is called pulse code modulation, and other pulse codes such as pulse width, pulse number, and pulse positional are considered to be modulation or synthesis – osmosis (change).

In binary the sequence is as follows; 1 is on, 0 is off

The least significant bit is the bit to the furthest right. i.e. – 10100(1- least significant bit)
The most significant bit is the bit to the furthest left. i.e. – (1)01001
The binary word is a list of on and offs. i.e. - 101100101 – the bit rate is the number of bits in the binary word.
To calculate the value of the binary word simply, from right to left, add each bit together. The sequence of a binary word is as follows; 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64…

To calculate; 101001101 – bit rate is 9
256+64+8+4+1 = 333 x 9
Therefore the binary word has 2997 characters


Computers and Communication


An exchange of information from one data bank to another whereupon a data bank can be a disk, a hard-drive, a software application, or random access memory. A disk stores information. With a disk you put it into a drive and the hard-drive (random operating memory) stores it. The hard-drive then retrieves this information by using its’ random access memory. The disk in this configuration is the master device.
A hard-drive uses both R.O.M, and R.A.M. Operating memory is information stored and access memory is retrieved information.
Software applications are platforms used to store and retrieve information. Essentially, the concept of software includes hardware, as in order to access any information from a computer you’re retrieving this information from your R.O.M (which is a software application – internal to the hard-drive). Each independent digital workstation is a search engine. To copyright it makes it a legal commodity. Software applications access these stations through a Local Area Network and to a Wide Area Network, the intranet in the Private sector and the internet in the Public sector. For a company to burn D.V.D’s (Digital Video Encoding Drives) for the masses outside copyright means that they have the right to affect the storage medium, test frequencies, also known as propagate – influence.

Video Games

In 1971 home computers were introduced at a 2-bit rate, 3 kilobytes, is 27,000 characters and the video game Pong was released. Today, when two-bit is used the least significant bit is the indicator as to whether the machine is on or off at 1 and 0 (a switch), and the most significant bit is the total number of characters, undefined by specification.
In 1975, the technology changes towards a format in 4-bit, 15 kilobytes, is 135,000 characters and we saw Atari – Space Invaders and Galaxian, video games that were put in Arcades for the Public. These video games taught intolerance towards aliens, anyone outside their ways. People that played the game in an arcade had to stand as the game was designed for this purpose.
In 1977, Atari, Commodore, Apple, I.B.M, Coleco-Vision introduced 7-bit, also known as 64K, or 127 kilobytes, is 1,143,000 characters. They were Home Systems using conceptual video games such as Donkey Kong and Zapper designed to teach a person to fight paranoia (while sitting on a couch).
In 1983, Arcades introduced the Video Game Dragon’s Lair. This was the first virtual reality Video Game on the Market in the Arcades. It promoted the idealism of making choices. If you made the wrong choice you died. Virtual Reality is reality – A persons’ vision.
In 1987, Nintendo and Sega Home Systems surfaced and the number of conceptual video games are now so ever-changing that one must question what the games are teaching regarding the education of our children.
Significant analogies regarding the properties of Video Games;

1. Game Over – Death
2. Score – Digital representation of the analog domain, the player him/her self
3. Killing – De-sensitization
4. Arcades – Community Hard-drive (Hub)
5. Home Systems – Hubs and interface cards (Cartridges and System-internal software)
6. Software (interface cards) – Hard-drive (circuitry) - Grid


Synopsis

By 1996 the professional application used in post-production technology was 16-bit, or 65,535,000 kilobytes (65,535 megabytes) is 294,913,359,000,000 characters. It operated at 2 gigahertz.
In professional applications today, as of Jan 16th/08, an I-Pod uses 80 Gigabytes of R.O.M at 2 gigahertz, and post- production facilities use 384-bit at 20 gigahertz, a lot of information to account for, at an enormous speed. In 1998, the professional application of Ram was 4 gigabytes, used by Apple, in the name of the Seagate Barracuda (operating at 2 Gigahertz).
In my opinion the professional standard application should be 24-bit, or 16,777,215,000 Kilobytes (16.777215 terabytes), or 16,777,215,000,000 bytes, is 150,994,935,000,000,000 characters (operating at 4 gigahertz). My logic is this; In order for a man or woman to account for more characters than this amount, it will be such an ‘information overload’ that their system will turn to paranoia. In modern day home computers they’re starting to use terabytes. A terabyte is 1 trillion bytes, or, 1,000,000,000,000 bytes or 9,000,000,000,000 characters.

Audio Engineering Principles - by Moses

 Audio Engineering Principles

 1) dbu vs dbSPL
     
 2) Crossover Points

 3) Variable Gain Amplifiers (V.G.A’s)

 4) Equalization Sections

 5) Band-Pass Filters

 6) Monitors

 7) Microphones and Mic Polar Patterns

 8) Compressors and Limiters

 9) Gates and Expanders
                       
 10) Reverb, Delay, and the Haas Zone (the Precedence Effect)
                     
                                                        
1. dbu vs dbSPL

      To double your dbu simply raise 3 dbu (+3dbu).
To double your dbSPL you raise 6 dbSPL (+6dbSPL).
  dbu is doubled (+3dbu) with each wall/floor/ceiling.
dbSPL is doubled (+6dbSPL) with each wall/floor/ceiling.
  dbu refers to the mixers output from the mains (Left and Right) to the multi-track (recording device).  Most analog mixers max-out at +6dbu (the good ones max-out at +10dbu).  On digital mixers you automatically max-out at 0 dbu.
  DbSPL refers to the amplitude of the sound that comes out of the monitors (the speakers).  Sound at outdoor concerts and arena concerts usually measure in the 100-120 DbSPL range.

2. Crossover Points

      A speaker cabinet with one crossover point is a two-way.
A speaker with two crossover points is a three-way.
A crossover point sends the frequencies above that point (or frequency) to one section of the speaker and frequencies below that point to another section of the speaker cabinet, before amplification. 

3. Variable Gain Amplifiers (V.G.A’s)

Saw-Tooth Wave – Gives a saw-tooth pattern to the frequencies and amplifies them.
Triangle Wave – Gives a triangular pattern to the frequencies and amplifies them.
Square Wave– Gives a square-pattern to the frequencies and amplifies them.  
Exciters – Are a glorified V.G.A.  Boosts certain high-end har0monics.
Flanging, Phasing, Chorusing and Delay are the results of a V.G.A device.

4. Equalization Sections

      Parametric Equalization – Carries three qualities:

Frequency (set frequency measured by Hz).
ii)      ‘Q’ or Slope (how severe a boost or cut).
Amplification.

      Graphic Equalization – Carries two qualities:

A certain number of set frequencies (A 30 Band Graphic E.Q strip has 30 set frequencies – which are measured in Hz).
The dbu (amplification level).

5. Band-Pass Filters (Guard-bands)

High Pass Filters – Allows high frequencies to pass above a certain frequency and cuts those frequencies below that frequency/likewise Amplitude Levels.
Low-Pass Filters – Allows low frequencies to pass below a certain frequency and cuts those frequencies above it/likewise Amplitude Levels.
Filter Designs: 1) Chebeshev, 2) Bessel, 3) Butterworth, 4) Gaussian
Main Supplier: Gemen

6. Monitors

Nearfield – Small monitors used in most control rooms of recording studios (usually NS10’s or Alesis).  Gages the mix with high frequency bias.

Midfield – Mid-sized monitors used in many live shows at the Bar/Pub.  Has a bigger base drum in the speaker than a nearfield.  Typically used as mains in the control room to complement NS10’s (usually Tannoy or J.B.L).

Farfield – Carries the best fidelity of the three.  It’s the largest speaker cabinet.  Used for outdoor concerts and arena concerts as well.  Usually carries a bass drum of a minimum 18’’ and has two crossover points (minimum).

Lesley Cabinet Speaker – A Farfield monitor that plays from a cabinet speaker that goes around and a-around.  Is reminiscent of a vinyl player (a phonograph).

7. Microphones and Microphone Polar Patterns

Microphones

Dynamic Microphones – Direct current from the mic into the mic panel (mic in).  This enables the mic to the mic-pre-amp for setting the mic level in the channel. Well known dynamic mics include Shure 57’s and 58’s.

Condenser Microphones – Condenser microphones connect to the mic panel (mic in).  At the start of the I/O Module you must give Phantom Power to prompt a response from a condenser microphone.  You then use the mic-pre-amp to set the level for the channel.  Known condenser mic’s include Neumann U87 and U47, AKG 414 and Silver Pencils (made by Sennheiser).

Microphone Polar Patterns

Uni-Directional – Mic takes in from only one direction on the mic.

Bi-Directional – Mic takes in sound from two directions on the mic, usually at opposite sides.

Omni-Directional – Mic takes in sound all around the diameter of the mic.

Cardioid – Heart shaped diameter that is sensitive to the sounds penetrating in the cavity.

Hyper-Cardioid – Instead of being a heart shape there is an oblong piece placed inside a cardiod shape (heart shape – inside the cavity).

8. Compressors and Limiters (Guard-bands)

      Compressors take in a certain amplitude (measured in dbu or dbSPL) and outputs at a lower amplitude by ratio.
 For example – A 1:1 ratio means that for every 1 db in there is 1 db out.
A 2:1 ratio means that for every 2db-in there is 1db-out.
A 4:1 ratio means that for every 4db-in there is 1db-out.
      A limiter is essentially a severe compressor.  In other words, it will cut the signal if the amplitude is too loud.  

9. Gates and Expanders (Guard-bands)

      A gate allows the microphone to be on only above a certain amplitude.  For example; If the gate is set at 60dbSPL that means that the microphone won’t be transmitting any signal below 60dbSPL but will transmit any signal 60dbSPL and up.
      An expander will take a certain amplitude in and output it at the same or greater level.  It works the opposite as a compressor.
A 1:1 ratio means that for every 1dbu-in there is 1dbu-out.
A 1:2 ratio means that for every 1dbu-in there are 2dbu-out.
A 1:4 ratio means that for every 1dbu-in there are 4dbu-out.

10. Reverb, Delay, and the Haas Zone (Precedence Effect)

Reverb – When the channel’s ‘spacial’ intonations are changed.  We’re looking at a very subtle change that effects where the music seems to be playing in (whether that be in a cathedral, arena, or amphitheater.  

Delay – Echo and Precedence Effect is the result of a sound repeating itself.  The Haas Zone (Precedence Effect) – Known to be a subtle delay (anywhere between 5ms – 35ms).  In this delay period the sound is played through the one side monitor anywhere between 5ms-35ms after the first side played.  This emphasizes the first sound and makes it seem to appear to be the louder of the two sounds, when in actual fact both sounds were at the same level.  This is known as ‘precedence effect’.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Sportsmen - by Moses Goldman

My Favourite Sportsmen
By Stacey Goldman

Jimmy Connors        Tennis
Charlie Conacher     NHL
Alex Baumann          200/400 Individual Medley
Tony Dorsett             NFL
Randy White             NFL
Darryl Sittler            NHL
Jimmie Foxx             MLB
Jim Rice                   MLB
Tony Fernandez        MLB
Roger Staubach        NFL
Ben Johnson             100 Metre Champion
Ken Norton               Boxer
Sandy Koufax           MLB
Josh Gibson              NLB
Matthew Hilton         Boxer
Lloyd Moseby           MLB
Drew Pearson           NFL
Victor Davis             100/200 Breaststroke
Terry Greer               CFL 
Warren Moon            CFL/NFL
Jesse Barfield           MLB
Ted Williams            MLB
Borje Salming           NHL
Emmitt Smith             NFL
Danny White              NFL
David Ortiz                MLB
Barry Bonds               MLB
Manny Ramirez          MLB
Condredge Holloway CFL
Troy Aikman               NFL
Lanny McDonald        NHL
Lefty Grove                MLB
Wilt Chamberlain      Harlem Globetrotters/NBA
Chris Bosh                 NBA
Wayne Gretzky           NHL
Jesse Owens              100 Metre Champion
Satchel Paige             NLB/MLB
Mike Palmateer          NHL
Sugar Ray Leonard     Boxer
Tracy McGrady          NBA
Carlton Fisk                MLB
Roy Campanella         NLB/MLB
Jimmy Key                  MLB
Dave Stieb                  MLB
Willie Mays                MLB
Michael Jordan           NBA
Maurice Richard         NHL
Mats Sundin                NHL
Bob Cousy                  NBA
Bill Russell                NBA
‘Cool’ Papa Bell        NLB
Curly                          Harlem Globetrotters