Henré

Got this as an extra credit question in my Calculus II paper today... Any help?

What really messes me up is the square root of sec x. We've done trig substitutions to get rid of square roots, but the only way I can think to apply that here would be to set x = arcsec t; but then the upper part (tan^3 x) gets really convoluted.

Thanks :)

I'm not great at FPSes but I'm pretty solid at Survival. I can get to wave ~25 without breaking a sweat, by camping in the gift shop in the corner of the map. I set up one sentry pointing out the window and down the street, and another covering the back entrance (with some claymores for support), then I stay in the front of the shop as most enemies come through there. I use enemy weapons until the FAD starts appearing, then I buy a holographic sight and shotgun attachment for the FAD, and also buy an MG36 with grip and holographic sight. I use C4 against Juggernauts, then flashbang and shoot. I use Sleight of Hand.

However, in the late twenties I start having trouble. Last game I got up to 34, but I ended the game with a lot of money (like maybe $20k), which obviously is worthless if you don't spend it. I think my mistake was not making use of air strikes/missiles (I never know how and when to use these) or Delta/riot troops (these guys just get in my way in the gift shop). I also suspect that the FAD is a poor choice of weapon because it takes like 3/4 of a clip to kill the heavy commandos, but I don't want to buy a different weapon because the weapons armory is so far away from the gift shop and I can't get there every round to buy ammo.

Any tips? What would be a better choice of weapon? Is the MG36 the best LMG? I've heard the AA-12 is very effective against Juggernauts - is it worth using? Should I be making use of support troops? More importantly, should I be using air strikes/missiles? How?

And the biggest question, and the one I least want to know the answer to: should I not be camping at all?

Thanks in advance :)

I've had a slide for years now, but I can't really use it. I don't have the luxury of exploring alternate tunings as my only guitar needs to stay in standard for gigs.

Are there good (non-video) articles online? What are some good songs to improve my slide playing?

I play synth and guitar in a rock band. I was primarily brought in to be a synth player, but I play guitar more intuitively than I do keys, so we keep ending up just giving me guitar parts to play as we struggle to find synth parts that work.

So help me figure this out: what types of parts can a synth play in a rock song?

I can think of these:

- 'bass lead'-style distorted riffs similar to guitar riffs

- theremin-style sine-wave-y leads with heavy portamento

- sustained chords (incl pads)

- arpeggios

What else is there?

I'm an electronics hobbyist building audio electronics (musical effect processors and the like). In several designs I've come across, the authors have mentioned that switching inputs is considered "bad engineering practice". Why is this? Bypassing effects properly is a huge issue in the music world, so I'd like to understand this concept properly.

I have (shamefully) never really listened to Depeche Mode or similar artists from that era, but Muse's Map of the Problematique and, more recently, UNKLE's Broken have gripped me with their soaring modern alternative rock blended with beautiful 80's synth-pop. I'd like to make a playlist filled with stuff like this. What other songs are out there that sound very similar to these two?

I've asked this question before but didn't get any usable advice.

I have built a killswitch into my electric guitar. It's a momentary push-to-make switch between signal and ground. When it is pressed, it shunts the entire signal to ground.

However, if the button is pressed at any point during a waveform's cycle aside from a zero crossing, it chops off the signal almost instantly, causing a loud click.

I want to make the switch engage over a period of time - say, 1 ms - in order to prevent this click from occurring.

Is there a COMPLETELY PASSIVE, SIMPLE way to do this?

I know very little about inductors but the fact that they resist changes in current seems to indicate to me that placing an inductor between the switch and ground would work. However, I could likely be wrong, and I don't know how to determine what type or "strength" of inductor to use. I am also concerned about the inductor's magnetic field potentially interfering with the operation of the magnetic pickups in the guitar.

My friend also suggested the idea of using an RC filter with a massive time constant, but obviously I don't want to filter out important guitar frequencies so I don't want to do this if it requires a low-pass filter lower than, say, 10 kHz, or a high-pass higher than maybe 100 Hz.

A user on Yahoo suggested using an LED/LDR combination, which would be perfect except it requires a power source, which I'm not willing to build into the guitar. I'm looking for a passive solution.

Any thoughts?

I'm a guitarist and an electronics hobbyist. I built a killswitch into my guitar (push-to-make between signal and ground), but the historical problem with these guys is that they cut off the waveform nigh-instantly, so if this happens at any point in the wave other than a zero crossing, it creates a high-frequency click.

I'm trying to think of ways - simple ones consisting of a small number of passive parts - to make the switch have a slow (say 1ms) onset, essentially "accelerating" into the cut, thereby rounding off much of the high-frequency click.

Can this be done? I don't understand inductors very well, but it seems like they could pull this off - though I'm worried about introducing a magnet into my guitar as it might interfere with the proper operation of the magnetic pickups. Any thoughts?

I'm building an electronic device that I want to house in a Hammond Mfg 1590BB die-cast aluminium case. To achieve this, I need to drill holes in the case for the switches and knobs. Do I need a special drill or bit for this?

I'm getting into DIY electronics. I've already built a distortion pedal, and I have a bit of practical knowledge and experience from an electronics course I did like a decade ago.

I'm trying to think of effects that I could mount in my guitar, or that otherwise act on the guitar itself (as opposed to being a stompbox effect that acts on the signal). I've already thought of Sustainers, Ebows, and killswitches.

What other gadgets and effects would make sense in my guitar?

I'm building a guitar effects pedal housed in a die-cast aluminium box (factory-painted black), and I'd like to decorate it. However, I don't know the first thing about paints or inks. What kind of stuff can I use on metal that'll hold up to some abuse?