Daedalus

Ive got a 150 Watt RMS amp for a set of component speakers in the front and a 250 Watt RMS amp for a single 10" sub. Im wanting to get another sub, but Im not sure how much more power I can add before my truck cant handle it.

I believe the alternator is an 70-80A; this is from casual searches around. I havent actually tested it myself.

Whats the maximum power I can safely upgrade my audio system to?

I have been reading around trying to find why people say space is cold. This never has made much sense to me since an object in space, say a ship, would be isolated like it was in a thermos. The vacuum of space would prevent conduction and convection, leaving only the weaker radiation energy transfer method.

During my research, I found that the "temperature of space" is ~2.7 degrees Kelvin. Since there is no matter in space, this temperature refers to redshifted gamma rays given off at the big bang stretched out over 14 billion years. But this makes no sense to me since it implies that those EM waves could take heat away from an object hotter than them through convection, conduction or radiation.

How is that possible? And how can an EM wave be said to have temperature? It may have an amount of energy that is transferable, but amount of heat change would really depend on the substance being transferred into and wouldnt necessarily be in the form of heat (perhaps instead, kinetic energy). If I am right, why is NASA themselves saying space has a temperature?

Windows 8 has been proposed by Microsoft as the "unified environment" by tying all Microsoft devices together into a single OS. This will radically change the way smartphones interact with other devices, since they are all the same operating system.

So the question is this: should I wait for that first Windows 8 smartphone? Or, should I get another smartphone (not necessarily a Windows Phone 7 device) and put off the mobile Windows 8 platform until it is tried-and-true?

I usually make a habit of holding off on a major upgrade like that (desktop OS wise) until its out for a bit, but not with mobile OS's (since Id always be waiting). Your thoughts?

Logitech QuickCam software blows, so Im looking for a replacement. Here is what I need the program to be able to do...

Required:

1. Able to set camera resolution and frame rate (assuming the res/fps are supported by the camera).

2. Able to change finished video save location

3. Must install on Windows (not necessarily Windows exclusive)

4. Must work with all of Logitech's newer cameras, specifically the Pro 9000 and C910

Not required, but very helpful:

1. Change format (codec/file container)

2. Record from 2 or more Logitech cameras simultaneously

I would prefer freeware, but as long as it does everything above, I couldnt care less if it is proprietary.

Everything breaks down in time. This is amplified for equipment specifically built to be beaten: drums. With acoustic drums, this is remedied by replacing your heads every so often. Obviously, this cannot be done with electronic drum kit rubber based triggers/pads. However, is it possible to replace the heads of mesh triggers/pads? If not, is there an alternative option, such as repair service by the manufacturer? I would prefer not to buy an entire new pad just to replace worn out pads.

I know for a fact that EVGA is one of, if not the only, NVIDIA graphics card manufacturers that support aftermarket cooling systems on their products (such as liquid cooling) without voiding the warranty (as long as you return it to its original configuration) as outlined here: http://www.evga.com/support/warranty/

My question is this: is there an ATI alternative? I am definitely going with an ATI card for my next build, and if EVGA made ATI cards I would choose them without hesitation. Unfortunately, they dont. So does Saphire, HIS, Diamond, ASUS, or any others allow aftermarket cooling on their GPUs without voiding the warranty, like EVGA?

In rock band 3, there are a few songs that have fill-like parts for individual cymbals ( like Beast and the Harlot). What do these do? They arnt simple fills since you can miss notes in them.

Guitars have a similar thing happen occasionally, and the purpose is to allow the use of solo frets without strumming at hard parts outside of a solo. I'm just curious how this benefit translates to drums.

What is the formula to convert a p-score (cumulative probability) to a z-score? I do NOT want a table or an online calculator, but rather the formula itself. Calculators for this exist, so there must be a formula.

I found the formula "z-score -> p-score" at the following website (second to last formula): http://www.fourmilab.ch/rpkp/experiments/analysis/...

Unfortunately, the formula to go the opposite direction is not on that page. Logically, if one had a calculator capable of solving an equation and the capability of performing integrals, one would simply need to set the above formula to equal the p-score and solve for z. However, doing so almost always results in no solution...

I dont really care how complicated the formula is because I will be programming it in my calculator to produce a function, so I dont really need any shortcuts.

If there is a subwoofer with DVC and each coil has a 2 ohm resistance, how would I wire it to stay 2 ohm? If I wire it in parallel, the resistance would be 1 ohm (which my amplifier cant handle). If I wire it in series, it would be at 4 ohm (which doesnt allow maximum power capacity from my amplifier). I researched and found that hooking only one coil would cut the power capacity of the sub in half, which is bad.

My ultimate question is this: if I connect both coils to one power terminal on my mono amp (in essence sending one channel to both coils), it would certainly get me to 2 ohms of resistance, but would that work? Theoretically, it makes sense. Logic can be deceiving, though...

Say you had a 2-channel amplifier that can put out X watts RMS per channel, and 2X watts RMS bridged. Assuming you could find subs that can fully support the power in each scenario, would it be preferable to use two subs or bridge the amp with one? By preferable, I mean quality and power of the sound.

I have heard on many people on different sides about OpenGL on Vista/Win7, those that work and those that dont. I, unfortunately, fall into the latter category and I am curious why and even more curious to know if there is a fix for this. Is it just my card? Does ATI have drivers for their cards that actually work with OpenGL, because I heard that it was supported by these OS's, but it was up to the graphics companies to utilize it? Is there a way to fix it, like perhaps Windows XP mode in Win7?

System:

Intel Core i7 920

BFG NVIDIA GTX 285

Say I want my primary monitor to handle demanding graphical applications (ie video games) and I want two other monitors (3 total) connected at the same time. Disabling them whenever I want to play a game is too much of a hassle, so I want to be able to run them at all times regardless of what Im doing with the primary monitor.

The question is this: if I have an extremely powerful card that is connected to my primary monitor and a much smaller, much cheaper card to connect my 2 secondary monitors, will my primary graphics card be limited in any way by having a second card for my other monitors? In other words, will my graphical processing done by my primary card be slowed by having a second card with more monitors attached?

Logic would say that the primary card is completely independent from, and therefore unaffected by, what the second card is doing. I have a two card setup at the moment, but I have reason to believe that this logic is incorrect. My graphics processing doesnt seem to be on par with what I have been led to believe regarding my current primary card's capacity. I suppose I could use a 3DMark test to compare, but Id like to hear some thoughts on the matter.

My question is this: is there a certain power limit (max wattage) stereo system one could use for a given car? In other words, can you have an amp that is too powerful for a car's battery/alternator (for example, sticking a 10,000 watt amplifier/sub system in a Plymouth Horizon...)? If so, how would you know what that limit is?

Also, is there a way to solve such a problem? Specifically, is there a cost effective way vs a most efficient way? If so, what are these ways?

For some reason, my ASUS P6T SE motherboard with x58 chipset just will NOT work with my BFG Geforce 7800 GT. I am using this as a secondary graphics controller for my two other monitors (something I had been doing for a while already with my old 775 socket mobo). The problem comes in the form of a total freeze after booting into Windows for a few minutes. Took me forever just to figure out what was the problem.

I thought it was the drivers at first, since it happened almost instantly after I booted into Windows immediately after installing the chipset driver, but just using Windows 7's makeshift drivers apparently didnt fix the problem either, it just postponed the inevitable.

Using a different card (BFG 8800 GTX) seems to fix the problem, but that was just to test with. I cant leave it in there, and I dont have any money to buy a new card.

My question is this: am I the only one this is happening to, and are there any workarounds for this problem?

1. It comes with three games, one of which caught my attention. Need for Speed has controls specifically designed for this phone (possibly the Dare, too...any phone that has an accelerometer). Are there other apps like that available yet and if so, which ones? Also of interest to me are apps that can be run using just the touch screen.

2. Im also looking for games designed specifically for QWERTY keyboard phones like the Resident Evil one.

3. Is there a way to download more widgets like the clock and memo pad? Specifically ones that are fully functional when dragged to the main screen.

4. Is there a way to get more skins for the clock widget. The default blue star thing is kinda dumb and doesnt match many of my backgrounds...

5. Im pretty sure I already know the answer to this one, but is there a way to use the microSD card to put ringtones onto the phone or do I have to do the same email trick like all other Verizon phones?

6. Is mobileIM included in the unlimited pix/txt addition to a Family Share Plan or does that count as data usage? I do NOT have an unlimited data plan.

7. If I send an email with an attachment (from a standard computer) to the phone#@vtext.com address, does that count as data or is that included in my unlimited texts (bare in mind the attachment part). I do NOT have an unlimited data plan.

8. What is the maximum number of texts the phone can hold. I know the Voyager was capped at 200.

9. Why do they advertise they upgraded to the USB charging standard when it really isnt a standard miniUSB connection. It uses some itty bitty USB connection Ive never seen before...

10. On the front of the phone in the top left corner, there is a small black square. Upon closer inspection, it seems to be transparent. I think I can see a very small light of some kind, but I havent confirmed whether its a light or not. What is this?! Ive looked in the manual, and I cant find it anywhere! This is driving me insane, I gotta find out what this is! ;-)

Thanks much. Some of those questions are prolly easier than others...

Whenever I use any sort of online microphone broadcasting, there is ALWAYS a delay. I can tell because of the other people's feedback on their mics, plus they would start talking and be interrupted by me talking 5 seconds ago. On the PC, Ventrillo and Team Speak have problems. Even on the PS3 when playing Rock Band 2, this problem persists. The only thing I can think of that would affect both the PS3 and the PC would be my connection. I have Comcast cable with roughly 14k kbps download and 1700 kbps upload. I know my upload is pathetic, but I didnt think it would be bad enough to cause this...

Any ideas?