John

Does anyone know of a wireless USB "cable" system? By which I mean something that comes with a device that plugs in to computer's USB socket and a paired device that plugs in to the USB socket on a hub, hard disc or printer, without the computer knowing that it is wireless so it just acts like a cable. The nearest I have found are wireless printer servers, but they don't seem transparent to the computer because all the ones I have seen have a compatibility list.

All I'm looking for is a general device that transmits the USB signal across from one device to another wirelessly. I accept that it won't be possible for the power signal to be done that way, so both ends would need to be powered somehow. I imagine the signal transmission could be effected through a Bluetooth channel.

Does anyone know of a way setting up a classroom or lecture theatre to allow signing in to a lecture using a smartphone or tablet? There are several apps I have found which allow the teacher / lecturer to take a register using a smartphone or tablet, but they all seem to be basic specialised databases that mimic paper registers, with the person in charge still calling out names or knowing the attendees. What I am looking for is a means whereby the people attending can sign in electronically from their devices. Ideally, by a non-contact connection to a laptop or other device in the same room, rather than through a web interface. The purpose is to enable fast registration taking in a class of a couple of hundred university students.

does that make it less like a sacred text and more like a bit of political compromise that was needed at the time? It seems he explicitly acknowledged the fallibility of both the original US Constitution and the drafters. Yet much of the more heated discussion on Yahoo Answers! Politics section regarding the US Constitution - more commonly, the Bill of Rights and the earlier Amendments - seem to include arguments about the intentions of the drafters being honoured.

In that mindset, was Franklin wrong to believe he was fallible?

In Kathryn Schulz's book "Being wrong", she quotes Franklin as saying that "I confess that there are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them. For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise", which I have also found on http://quotationsbook.com/quote/45167/ and commented on at http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2011...

I want to make shelves a little over 3.1 metres (10 feet) long. Normally, I'd use Conti board, but these seems to come in 2.44 metre lengths and I'd like to use a single board. I'll have multiple supports - it's for a bookshelf - but I'd prefer not to have a break in the board. Does anyone know anywhere I might get somehing like Conti board, but long enough for my shelves? I'm in Northern Ireland.

I want to amplify a microphone output before it reaches a small camera which has a mic input. Would a small, basic pre-amp be able to do this with sufficient control when turned down low? This is for basic podcasting work, not for professional broadcasting. Most of the basic pre-amps (e.g. by Monacor) have gains about 40 to 50 dB, which is probably too much, but if the pre-amp is turned down to say 10 dB would that be okay? Also, if the pre-amp was accidentally turned up, so that I was feeding line-level signals in to a socket intended for an ordinary mic, would that be likely to damage the camera's mic circuits?

If it matters, I'm running an Audio-Technica ATR 3350 condenser mic in to a Kodak Zi8. This seems to combine a mic with a slightly weak output and a camera with a slightly insensitive mic socket. I'm trying to avoid replacing these two bits of kit. Most of the time, it works great, but I'd like on occasions to be able to boost the mic output before it gets to the camera.

I want to run a single lapel mic cable to two Kodak Zi8 cameras, recording different views of the same event. A simple Y-splitter degrades the signal more than I expected - I expected degradation, but not as much as I found - so I am looking for a better solution. Is there something intermediate between a cheap and simple Y-splitter, normally used to drive two headphones off of a single output, and studio mic-splitters that cost more than the camera and have XLR connectors?

The Zi8 camera has a 3.5mm microphone jack, as does the microphone I am using. I have found some small DJ mixing desks with multiple outputs, but these appear to be line (headphone) level output not mic level which would swamp the camera's input I fear.

I want to run a single lapel mic cable to two Kodak Zi8 cameras, recording different views of the same event. A simple Y-splitter degrades the signal more than I expected - I expected degradation, but not as much as I found - so I am looking for a better solution. Is there something intermediate between a cheap and simple Y-splitter, normally used to drive two headphones off of a single output, and studio mic-splitters that cost more than the camera and have XLR connectors?

The Zi8 camera has a 3.5mm microphone jack, as does the microphone I am using. I have found some small DJ mixing desks with multiple outputs, but these appear to be line (headphone) level output not mic level which would swamp the camera's input I fear.

I have a partially boarded attic with typically 300mm of insulation between the ceiling joists. This provides good insulation for the habitable rooms below. I'd like to add a small amount of insulation top the roof joists, mainly to stop the attic temperature from plunging in the winter. Does anyone here have any advice on this?

I'm aware that I need to leave a ventilation gap between the roof joist insulation and the roof, and to leave ventilation gaps at the eaves. My thinking was to put 25mm rigid batts resting on boards covering the roof joists. How much of an air gap between the batts and the underside of the roof should I leave? The alternative is to just plasterboard the roof joists: if I use plasterboard with a silver backing, would that make much of a difference?

The attic is used for storage only.

I have recently taken up archery again, and have some ten year old Easton ACC carbon arrows. Would these be safe to shoot? The kit has been stored in an attic in the UK. I know that the resin degrades over time and that carbon fibre splinters are really bad news, but I don't know what the time scale would be. Is there a way to check the arrows for integrity, other than actually firing them?

Alternatively, if I want to dispose of these what is the most appropriate way to do that?

I've noticed a widespread tendency for young women, that is women in their late teens and twenties, to refer to themselves as girls. There is a less marked but still not usual phenomenon for young men to describe themselves as boys. When I was a student in the 1980's and 1990's, this terminology was seen as patronising and old-fashioned. Why is self-describing as a child instead of as an adult now so common?

This question is directed at people who call themselves children even though they are adults, not at people who describe other adults as children. It's the self-identifying as children about which I'm perplexed.

That is, without connecting via a PC. Basically, I'm looking to connect a webcam directly to a TV, via either hdmi or phono connectors, so display on the TV what the camera sees.

I'm looking for a digital video camera that streams live to HDMI, ideally 720p. The intention is to connect the camera directly to a TV with a HDMI input without going via a VGA converter or a video capture board. The purpose is to display a bench-top demonstration to my class.

So far I have found lots of digital camcorders that will output recorded video to HDMI, in the Flip HD and Sanyo Xacti range for example, but I want the camera to output a live feed. I don't need the recording facilities, so would be happy with something that is like a web cam or CCTV camera as long as it had a HDMI output not a USB connection. The closest I have found so far is something like the Canon EOS 7D, Sony HVR or specialist cameras designed for microscopes, all of which are rather expensive and rather bulky. Ideally I'd be looking for a mid-range digital video camera output live feed to HDMI. Any suggestions?

I noticed in this mathematics question:

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ai...

the answerer managed to get both a proper Greek theta and a superscripted 2 (representing a squared) in to the answer. Looking at the HTML source and copying the answer in to a text editor indicates that this isn't an escape sequence. How does one type these characters?

I see this a lot in references to universities in the US, and I think they are short quizzes that are sprung on students without warning during the lecture classes. Is that right?