Monthly Archives: February 2010

Social Media Do’s and Don’ts at USA

Posted on by

UNITED SPACE ALLIANCE POLICY SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE
Company Policy A-33, Basic 02/05/10

POLICY

It has been the long standing policy of United Space Alliance (USA) and its subsidiaries to keep the public informed about company plans, programs, and accomplishments. With the evolution of social media tools and platforms, USA employees have access to participate directly in the free and open discussion of company, industry, and national issues. However, in doing so, employees must understand that their actions can have very real consequences for themselves, the company, and USA's customers.

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance and policy to employees with regard to creating or contributing to blogs, wikis, social networks, virtual worlds, or any other kind of social media platform. These guidelines are designed to provide helpful, practical advice and to protect USA employees, the company, and USA's customers. Accordingly, these guidelines are a reflection of USA's standard way of doing business and are based on good common sense for Internet usage. As technologies continue to evolve, these guidelines also need to change. When in doubt, employees are encouraged to seek additional advice from their managers or from Communications and Public Relations (C&PR).

DEFINITIONS

Social Media (Other associated terms are Web 2.0, New Media, Social Networking) - Social Media is the term commonly applied to various interactive Web-based platforms and tools that encourage and facilitate the creation and distribution of information and content generated by the user community. Types of social media platforms include online media sites; blogs; microblogs, such as Twitter; social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn; virtual worlds, such as Second Life; photo and video sharing sites, such as YouTube and Flickr; social bookmarking sites, such as Delicious and Digg; and wiki sites, such as Wikipedia.

Social Media Activities - The general term "social media activities" refers to the posting, creating, contributing, or forwarding of any comments, content, or status updates to any social media platform, including blogs, wikis, social networks, microblogs, virtual worlds, or any other kind of social media.

GENERAL

a. Guidelines for responsible engagement

1. Know and follow USA's Business Code of Conduct. (See also CP-A-02, Ethics and Business Conduct, and FPP-C-01-01, Ethics and Business Conduct).

2. Know and comply with USA policies regarding time charging and use of company equipment (see Section 3). Also know and comply with any and all restrictions for the use of customer-provided equipment and in customer facilities.

3. USA employees are personally responsible for the content they publish on blogs, social networks, wikis, or any other form of user-generated media. Use common sense and discretion to protect privacy and personal security.

4. Show proper consideration for others' privacy.

5. In online social networks, the lines between public and private and personal and professional can be blurred, so honesty and openness are critical. When commenting on matters relating to USA or the space industry, employees should disclose that they have a vested interest in the issue and, when necessary, appropriate, or relevant, state their role at USA. Unless the employee is an official company spokesperson, he/she should always clearly indicate that he/she is speaking for himself/herself and not on behalf of USA, but be mindful that even when stating that opinions are his/her own, he/she will still be perceived as an affiliate of the company.

6. Do not discuss company, third-party, proprietary, restricted (technical or otherwise), or export-controlled information in any form to unauthorized persons. Refer to USA's company policies and procedures for guidance on the release of such information. Violating these restrictions could result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.

7. For security, export control, and privacy reasons, do not post any photographs taken inside a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and/or USA facility without first obtaining permission through the USA Information Release Request process found in FPP-C-02-06, Information Release Requests. Further, FPP-C-01-12, USA Employee Conduct Policy, prohibits the use of personal recording devices of any type without the prior consent of Human Resources (HR) and all the parties that are recorded. Violating these restrictions could result in disciplinary action up to and including termination and, in some cases, could lead to individual civil or criminal liability.

8. Do not release or promote the further external distribution (e.g., "reTweet") of any company or customer information that has not been previously approved for public release. Do not disclose any company or customer information about work in progress that has not been previously approved for public release.

9. Remember that all employees are required to sign a Report For Work Notice and Employee Agreement when hired wherein each employee agrees not to disclose information concerning work in progress at USA to anyone not authorized to receive it. This agreement extends to sharing information in a social media context.

10. Do not release or promote the further distribution of information that is untrue or deceptive.

11. Respect copyright and fair use disclosure laws. Properly cite all works referenced.

12. Show respect for all participants in the social media realm. Do not use ethnic slurs, personal insults, or obscenity or engage in any conduct that would not be acceptable in USA's workplace. Remember, each employee is a representative of all USA employees.

13. Try to add value to every exchange. Provide worthwhile information and perspective. USA employees are the company's best and most respected ambassadors, so keep in mind that what they post will reflect on USA, its customers, and the aerospace industry as a whole.

14. Use good judgment. Remember that there may be consequences to what is published. If the employee is uncomfortable about anything he/she is about to post, consult with a manager or with C&PR. Ultimately, the employee has sole responsibility for what he/she posts through any form of online communication.

15. Caution should be exercised with respect to promoting personal political views directly to elected officials. USA employees are generally prohibited from engaging in lobbying activities on behalf of USA without the express approval of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). If engaging in discourse with an elected official, they should clearly indicate that the opinions stated are their own and do not represent those of USA.

16. Do not use USA's logos or trademarks without permission.

17. Seek the counsel of C&PR if asked to provide an endorsement of any product, service, or company. An endorsement is any statement offering a blanket or generalized judgment, opinion, testimonial, or other comment concerning the quality, performance, characteristics, or other features of a product, service, company, or individual. When poorly worded or executed, an endorsement may unintentionally disparage a product or service provided and can be construed as an interference with another entity's business. Also, depending on how the endorsement is used, it could create a conflict of interest. If making a personal endorsement, indicate that the endorsement is the employee's personal view and does not represent the view or opinion of his/her employer.

b. Policies about and relating to the use of social media

1. Social media initiatives

C&PR has the responsibility and authority for company-level internal communications and all external communications and marketing activities. Information Management (IM) has responsibility and authority for computing system functionality, integrity, and security. To ensure that social media initiatives are in line with ongoing communications activities and IM standards, all proposals for the use or development of internal or external social media platforms for official company purposes must receive the concurrence of C&PR and IM before using such platforms.

2. Time charging

Participation in personal (non-company-sanctioned) social media activities, even those relating to the discussion of space industry issues, must be done on personal time. Employees must also comply with any restrictions in place for use of social media within any customer facilities.

The sponsoring organization for any official or company-sanctioned uses of social media interfaces shall provide additional charging instructions for any activities performed on behalf of the company.

3. Use of company-/Government-owned equipment

In accordance with other policies relating to the use of company computing resources, employees may not use their work computers to participate in personal (non-company-sanctioned) social media activities without express written consent of management. Individuals interacting with social media platforms in an official capacity on behalf of the company may use their computers for such official purposes as identified by the authorizing organization but only as their activities relate to that identified and authorized activity.

Related company policies and functional procedures include

(a) CP-D-01, Operations, Use, and Monitoring of Computer Resources and Telecommunications Equipment
(b) CP-D-02, Internet Usage Policy
(c) FPP-D-01-02, Information Technology (IT) Resource Control and Use

4. Contacts by the news media

Members of the news media actively use and develop contacts through social media platforms. All interactions with the news media through social media are subject to the same company policies that govern traditional media activities. This includes interactions with citizen journalists and bloggers. If asked to provide any information regarding company, customer, or industry events, issues, or activities on or off the record, employees are advised to contact C&PR for counsel or to refer the reporter to C&PR for response, per company policy.

Related company policies and functional procedures include

(a) CP-A-10, Public Release of Information
(b) FPP-C-01-07, Release of Company Information to Media
(c) FPP-C-02-06, Information Release Requests

5. Other policies relating to the use of social media
Numerous other company policies may also relate in some way to participation
in social media activities. Those policies include, but are not limited to,

(a) CP-A-08, Control of Sensitive Information
(b) CP-A-09, Government, Privately Owned, and Copyrighted Information
(c) CP-A-11, Employee Communications
(d) CP-A-22, Use of Copyrighted Material
(e) FPP-D-01-01, Documentation Administration and Control
(f) FPP-C-02-05, Compliance with Export Laws And Regulations

Employees with questions not covered by the policies should contact the appropriate organization for guidance.

RESPONSIBILITIES

a. The director of C&PR is responsible for implementing the provisions of this policy statement and the issuance of the supplemental directives, procedures, and instructions. The director of C&PR is also responsible for managing the development and implementation of USA's company-level internal and external social media activities.

b. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is responsible for ensuring that Information Technology resources are protected and that those responsible for conducting official company social media activities have the necessary access to conduct company business.

c. All managers are responsible for ensuring that their employees are aware of these guidelines and for providing appropriate counsel to employees, including referring them to C&PR, regarding these guidelines.

d. All employees are responsible for ensuring that their conduct complies with all applicable policies and procedures and with USA's Business Code of Conduct. They are also responsible for the content they publish on blogs, wikis, or any other form of user-generated media. Approved:

Original approval obtained

Richard O. Covey
President and Chief Executive Officer

CHANGE HISTORY

REV EFFECTIVE
DATE
DESCRIPTION
Basic 02/05/10

Motor HP Conversion Formula

Posted on by

What would be the typical EFF and PF for motors when doing a conversion? I found this.. but I'm not sure if its valid

1HP=746 watts.

HP=IxVxPFxEFF/746,where PF( Power Factor)=.86 and EFF ( Motor Efficiency)=.81. Using this formula current can be calculated as follows for a 1

The First Clips Shot on the Canon T2i Look As Good as the 7D [Photography]

Posted on by

The Canon T2i dSLR sounded extremely exciting, as it promised to bring 1080P video (with decent frame rates) to Canon's sub-$1000 dSLR line. Photographer Dan Chung was among the first to test it out, and the results look fantastic.

As it turns out this little camera is a really competent performer and the footage I've shot so far looks pretty much the same as my 7D to my eye...The footage you see here is shot at 1080p/25 frames a second and not graded with only minor adjustments of gamma, sharpening and a little smoothcam in Final Cut Pro...In terms of video image quality I think it is too early to make definitive judgments...[but] I think this camera is cheap enough that there is now little reason for pros who have not yet bought a HD-DSLR to not put their toes in the water and see if they like shooting video.

Note that Chung accentuated the frame rate by shooting almost exclusively with long dolly movements.

But if Chung's hands-on wasn't enough, here's another beautiful clip from another photographer named Drew Painter. [DSLR News Shooter via planet5D]


This Is The Dawning of Aquarius–In South Dakota | The Loom

Posted on by

South Dakota, are you kidding me? Astrology in the classroom?

In the fine tradition of creationist legislation that claims that evolution is “just” a theory and that requires the teaching of alternatives, the South Dakota legislature has passed a resolution on the teaching of climate change. Here’s how it starts.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the Eighty-fifth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the Senate concurring therein, that the South Dakota Legislature urges that instruction in the public schools relating to global warming include the following: (1) That global warming is a scientific theory rather than a proven fact;
(2) That there are a variety of climatological, meteorological, astrological, thermological, cosmological, and ecological dynamics that can effect [sic] world weather phenomena and that the significance and interrelativity of these factors is largely speculative…

That red color is mine. This resolution was not just offered, folks. It was approved by a majority of the legislature. Astrology and all.

At least I know what astrological means. Someone’s going to have to help me with thermological, though. It’s not even in the dictionary. (Whoops–I found it in the Oxford English Dictionary. Having to do with heat. Still, though–what about cosmological? Is global warming from the Big Bang?)

Wow. That is all.

Update: Thanks to Loree for pointing out that this original language was amended before the vote. Here’s what it ended up as:

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION, Calling for a balanced approach for instruction in the public schools relating to global climatic change.

WHEREAS, evidence relating to global climatic change is complex and subject to varying scientific interpretations; and
WHEREAS, there are a variety of climatological and meteorological dynamics that can affect world weather phenomena, and the significance and interrelativity of these factors remain unresolved; and
 WHEREAS, the debate on global warming has subsumed political and philosophical viewpoints, which has complicated and prejudiced the scientific investigation of global climatic change phenomena:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the Eighty-fifth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the Senate concurring therein, that the South Dakota Legislature urges that all instruction in the public schools relating to global climatic change be presented in a balanced and objective manner and be appropriate to the age and academic development of the student and to the prevailing classroom circumstances.”.

Thankfully, those who don’t know the difference between astrology and astronomy didn’t get their way. But the “balanced” rhetoric that remains is straight out of the creationist playbook. For more, see Science Progress.

[via Think Progress]


Spacecraft-Collected Comet Dust Reveals Surprises From the Solar System’s Boondocks | 80beats

Posted on by

stardustcometSince NASA’s Stardust mission returned in 2006 from its trip of billions of miles collecting the dust of a comet called Wild2 and dropped it samples down to Earth in the Utah desert, the samples have raised all sorts of questions about how comets formed and what the early solar system was like. In a study this week in Science, there’s a new surprise. Scientists say that the comet sample contains chemicals that must have formed in our home turf, the inner solar system.

Lead researcher Jennifer Matzel studies a tiny particle taken from Stardust’s sample, a piece just five micrometers across. In it her team found the mark of materials that would have formed under high temperatures. Matzel, who specializes in using the decay rates of radioactive chemical elements to assess ancient dates, determined that the Stardust particle must have crystallized just 1.7 million years after the oldest solid rocks in the solar system were forming [San Francisco Chronicle]. After that, the researchers says, the particle must have been flung out to the Kuiper Belt, the region of icy comets revolving around the sun at a distance far past Neptune.

Matzel doesn’t know for sure how this migration would have happened, but she’s excited about it. “The new and interesting thing about this paper is it’s the first time we’ve been able to get some estimate of the timing,” Matzel says. “Even though it’s a very old object and it formed very close to the sun, it had some longer history in the inner solar system before it got flung out to the comet-forming region” [Scientific American]. The trip would not have been easy. NASA’s Joseph Nuth notes that Jupiter would be forming by this time in the early solar system’s history, and that would have been a major obstacle that outwardly-migrating material would have had to overcome.

Once again, Stardust has proven to be great at providing the unexpected. Earlier findings showed that the comet’s cloud unexpectedly contains the same rocky materials as the asteroids that orbit the sun between Mars and Jupiter, as well as molecules of glycine, an organic compound essential for life [San Francisco Chronicle]. More hints about the early solar system probably await in the stardust it brought back.

And while the Stardust “mothership” successfully dropped its sample capsule to Earth in 2006, the spacecraft’s voyage isn’t done. Stardust is now on its way to the comet Tempel 1, the comet impacted by the Deep Impact spacecraft in 2005, where it will take photographs of the crater produced by that impact.

Related Content:
80beats: Dust Collected From Comet Contains a Key Ingredient For Life
80beats: Meteorite, Maybe Older Than The Sun, Shows Chemistry of Ancient Solar System
DISCOVER: NASA Takes a Wild Comet Ride

Image: NASA


The Conclusion to the Faulty iMac Saga: The Beginning of the Fix [Apple]

Posted on by

The latest iMac was released 16 weeks ago. Since then, it's been plagued with problems, most notably flickering and/or yellow screens. Today, the saga comes to an end because Apple has acknowledged the issues and offered their support.

At long last, Apple has released a statement to us, admitting the production issues with iMacs—which reader and forum anecdotes imply to be a bit less frequent than before but still very much present at some level—and labeling AppleCare as the proper channel for related complaints.

Apple's Official Statement

"We've addressed the issues that caused display flickering and yellow tint. Customers concerned that their iMac is affected should contact AppleCare."

These two short sentences might not look like much, but the statement is Apple's first open acknowledgment of the jaundiced screen issue, and it identifies the problem as one worthy of AppleCare solutions. (A previous statement made to Bloomberg generalized the problem to all LCDs.)

From the start of these iMac updates, I made a deal that "...if Apple can come forward and openly admit the mistake while providing an adequate solution to their customers, I'll laud them as an example as to how companies can take an unforeseen manufacturing issue and make things right."

Today, Apple met the terms of that deal, and so will we.

The Catch

Of course, just because Apple has "addressed" these iMac issues doesn't mean they have completely ferreted out the problems. (Their diction leaves some room for interpretation.). Since the production halt a few weeks back, Apple's forums seem a little quieter regarding yellow screens, and flickering had already been solved by a firmware update. Still, about 20 people have written us since the production restart—some of them now on their third+ iMac—encountering new iMacs with yellow displays (versus just a handful offering the all clear). That response is slightly more positive than it was in the past, when basically everyone who wrote me complained of flickering screens, yellow screens and a number of other maladies.

Unfortunately, we tried to reconnect with every person who'd written us after suffering through multiple returns, but very few responded either way. My guess is that some had their issues dealt with, while others just gave up on the iMac altogether. Sitting on a few grand for a few months isn't an easy thing to do for most people in this economy.

Yes, it's a downright shame that Apple hasn't been able to completely eliminate the yellow screen issue from the iMac line, whether their yield is 99.9% or somewhere far lower. At this point in time, I don't think that every iMac shipping is inflicted with a dealbreaker of a screen (which honestly seemed to be the case for a bit in late 2009/early 2010), but I don't think that nearly every iMac is shipping perfectly, either.

Yields have gotten better. How much better? I honestly don't know.
(This photo is a yellow-screened 27-inch iMac produced after the production restart—displayed file dates are from an older Time Machine restore.)

As consumers, should we really be content with Apple's response when evidence shows the problem isn't entirely fixed? That decision is yours. But I will say, even with constant pressure from a website such as Gizmodo (along with many other publications that, thankfully, jumped on the bandwagon), a fundamental principle holds true: The longer you tell a lie, even one of omission, the harder it is to tell the truth. For Apple to come clean after 16 weeks of shipping an "ultimate display" that isn't so ultimate should be something that the public can embrace, at least in part.

Because fanboyism and flame wars aside, if we leave no incentive for companies to be forthright regarding their mistakes, why the heck would they?

So Is It Finally Safe To Buy An iMac?

Yup, but with one huge caveat: You should run this test upon receipt. If any part of that screen doesn't match to your liking, you may very well still need to return your first iMac before getting a system that works as advertised.

Luckily, Apple has acknowledged the issue and thereby removed some of the risk from you, meaning, at the very least, customer service will take your problem seriously. And hopefully, the next time Apple or any other company ships a new product, they'll notify us of the problems instead of vice versa.

The Complete Faulty iMac Saga

The Faulty iMac Saga, Chapter 1: The Beginning

The Faulty iMac Saga: Chapter 2, Even Steve Jobs Can't Fix 'Em

The Faulty iMac Saga, Chapter 3: We Have Your Internal Memo, Apple

The Faulty iMac Saga, Chapter 4: Apple Buying Out Customers

The Faulty iMac Saga, Chapter 5: The Moment of Truth

A special thanks to Gizmodo Editorial Assistant Kyle VanHemert for all of his research work on this project, along with all the Giz readers who kept exchanging iMacs for us. If anyone out there is still having issues scoring a replacement for faulty iMac after contacting customer support, contact us at submissions@gizmodo.com and we'll forward you on to Apple PR, at their request.


Snow Day Special: Warbling Scientists on the Newest Symphony of Science | Discoblog

Posted on by

Scientific superstars like Carl Sagan and Richard Dawkins are sounding better and better. In the series Symphony of Science, creator John Boswell uses the auto-tune program so beloved by R&B and pop stars to tweak such nerdy delights as Carl Sagan’s monologues from “Cosmos,” and sets them to electro-funk music. The result? Highly watchable videos of Sagan and other guest scientists expounding on the magic of the cosmos and our place in the universe. Boswell has put four videos out previously, but here is his latest offering, “The Poetry of Reality.”

FB Join Discover Magazine on Facebook

Related Content:
Discoblog: Carl Sagan Sings Again: Symphony of Science, Part 4
Discoblog: Sounds of the Universe: Making Music From the Supernova Cassiopeia A


Inject Some Futuristic Sci-Fi Into the Oscar Nominees [PhotoshopContest]

Posted on by

The Oscars are coming up in a couple of weeks. With the obvious exceptions of Avatar and District 9, there isn't a lot of sci-fi or gear in the nominees. We can fix that, right guys?

So take the less sci-fi nominees and inject in a nice dose of tech, will you? Send your best entries to me at contests@gizmodo.com with Oscar Movies in the subject line. Save your files as JPGs or GIFs under 800k in size, and use a FirstnameLastname.jpg naming convention using whatever name you want to be credited with. Send your work to me by next Tuesday morning, and I'll pick three top winners and show off the rest of the best in our Gallery of Champions. Get to it!


An Iceberg the Size of Luxembourg Breaks Free From Antarctica | 80beats

Posted on by

iceA giant iceberg has broken free from Antarctica, and scientists say the massive ice chunk could interfere with ocean circulation and wildlife–particularly Antarctica’s iconic residents, the emperor penguins.

The piece of ice broke free when another huge iceberg struck Antarctica’s Mertz glacier; now the two icebergs, with a combined weight of 700 million tons, are floating along the Antarctic coast. The iceberg collision and break-off is a rare event and occurs naturally every 50 to 100 years, scientists say. The new iceberg, which is 49 miles long and about 24 miles wide, holds enough fresh water to supply all of the earth’s human needs for a year [ABC News].

Scientists are keeping a close eye on the situation, as both icebergs could potentially change the salinity of the water in the area, which could alter the flow of ocean currents.

Since breaking off, both icebergs have moved into an area called a polynya or polynia, where an expanse of open water is surrounded by sea-ice. Distributed across the Southern ocean, polynyas are the zones that produce dense water, super cold and rich in salt that sinks to the bottom of the sea and drives the conveyor-belt like circulation around the globe [Agence France-Presse]. Now, with the icebergs possibly lodged in this area, they could reduce the production of the cold salty water, called bottom water, which feeds oxygen into the deep ocean currents. Mario Hoppema, chemical oceanographer at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany, said that as a result “there may be regions of the world’s oceans that lose oxygen, and then of course most of the life there will die” [Guardian].

In the short-term, scientists say the new iceberg will impact the colonies of emperor penguins and other wildlife that use the area for feeding. Says Antarctic researcher Neal Young: “There are emperor penguin colonies about 200-300km away to the west. They come to this area to feed, and seals in the area also come to get access to the open water.” … He suggested that a change in the availability of open water could affect the rate of food production, which would have an impact on the amount of wildlife it could sustain [BBC News].

While the so-called “calving” of this new iceberg was extremely dramatic, scientists have clarified that it was a natural event, in contrast to recent rapid ice shelf break-off on the Antarctic peninsula where the climate is warming [The Sydney Morning Herald]. Here is Neal Young, a glaciologist at the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Research Centre in Tasmania, explaining the significance of the event.

FB Join Discover Magazine on Facebook

Related Content:
80beats: Is the Once-Stable Part of Antarctica Starting to Melt?
80beats: Fossils of Shrimp-Like Creatures Point to Warmer Antarctica in the Distant Past
80beats: Floods Beneath Antarctica’s Ice Sheet Create a Glacial Slip-and-Slide
80beats: Antarctica is Definitely Feeling the Heat from Global Warming

Image: Australian Antarctic Division


AV Receiver Battlemodo: $600 or Bust [Review]

Posted on by

You want a serious home theater. One that will rattle the windows, and ensure movie night is always at your house. But you don't want to spend more than $600 on the thing that ties it together. Cuz you're smart.

You've got the big screen flat panel, you've thrown that cheap HTIB system in the garbage, and you've picked out an awesome speaker system. You just need one more component to tie it all together: a surround receiver with enough muscle for Aliens vs. Transformers, and enough ports to handle your Blu-ray player, Xbox and/or PS3, and all of the other black boxes in your living room.

Spending $500 to $600 will get you a receiver that will use a microphone to listen to itself, configuring and equalizing up to seven speakers and a subwoofer. It will switch between at least four HDMI sources and a lot more analog devices, and send everything off to the TV upconverted to HD resolution through a single HDMI cable. The feature sets of competing models are so similar that it can be tough to tell them apart, so I called in the four best in this price range—from Denon, Onkyo, Pioneer and Yamaha—to help you make your decision. As it turns out, the decision was easy.

A side note, before we continue: None of the tested receivers—and no receiver currently shipping—features the HDMI 1.4 required to pass 3D video signal to a 3D TV. If 3D is a must-have feature for you, you'll have to stay tuned, as all of the major electronics makers announce and eventually ship their 2010 models. But a new crop of models may actually mean better deals on the receivers reviewed here, and don't forget, even if you're a big enough spender to get a first-gen 3D TV, you can always route video directly from 3D Blu-ray player to 3D TV, using the receiver for audio alone.

I tested each model in my 7.1 channel theater—a $5300 Mirage OM Design system which has the resolving power to highlight minute differences in sound between amplifiers. This also gave me the chance to test each model's two-channel music and multi-channel film soundtrack performance against my reference Pioneer Elite 49TXi—Pioneer's $4500 flagship from 2005—a yardstick to hold up in order to see how far mid-priced receivers have come since then.

In addition to sonic prowess, I also judged each model in the areas of design and build quality, ease of use, and video conversion/scaling ability. Here are the full results of my tests:


The Onkyo, with superior sound quality and a multitude of HDMI inputs, put up a very tough fight against the Pioneer. But ultimately the Pioneer's class-leading user interface, superb auto calibration system and built-in USB and iPod/iPhone support gave it the win.

Pioneer VSX-1019AH-K: First Place


At first I wasn't sold. The Pioneer's music performance without EQ engaged was disappointingly dull and flat. Switching on EQ really kicked the amp into life, though, bringing detail and staging into proper focus. I found that the default curve was overemphasizing the upper midrange and treble, but fortunately the 9-band EQ is user configurable, and with a few adjustments I was able to dial in a nicely balanced sound that was fairly close to my reference, save for a persistent artificial coloration in the mids and highs. The Pioneer includes a technology called "Advanced Sound Retriever" which claims to restore compressed music files to near CD quality. (It may not surprise you that the others also feature similar abilities.) To test this, I loaded an iPod Touch with tracks encoded at moderate bitrates. ASR definitely did its job, as every track I tried sounded significantly more lifelike and enjoyable with ASR engaged. I connected the iPod to my more expensive reference system with a mini-jack cable and felt it still had the edge, but ASR made the difference between $4500 receiver and $500 receiver considerably smaller.

Movie audio performance with EQ was very good, with realistic portrayals of the cannons in Master and Commander and the drum sequence in House of Flying Daggers. Analog video scaling from my DVE test disc was decent, though the Pioneer struggled a bit in the jaggies test.

The VSX-1019AH-K is $100 less than the model that it replaced, and it appears that Pioneer was able to hit the $499 price point by chopping out 10 lbs. of power supply and much of the multi-channel analog connectivity. From bench tests that I've seen, being the shortest and lightest of the group has not affected the Pioneer's ability to compete in terms of horsepower. While it can no longer serve as a surround preamp—the Yamaha is the only one of this group that can—the Pioneer's user interface is simply in a different class than the competition at this level. Combine that with the forward thinking built-in USB and iPhone connectivity, and you've got a winner.

Onkyo TX-SR607: Second Place


The Onkyo loses in the looks department with its blocky styling and ancient pale green display, but give it some music to play and things turn around rather quickly. Without EQ engaged, the Onkyo produced the best, most transparent sound of the group, with realistic soundstaging and natural timbre that was surprisingly close to my reference. Switching on EQ mostly made everything sound artificially forward and aggressive, so I left it off for the majority of my music listening. Onkyo's "Music Optimizer" with the iPod just about equaled my reference, which shows just how effective this technology is.

The Onkyo also did very well with movie sound, though without EQ the bottom end was not quite as strong and impactful as the Pioneer in the cannon and drum sequences. Only five bands are available in the EQ, but this was enough to improve the bass response for action sequences without throwing off the rest of the range. I tested several movies in both the Onkyo-exclusive Dolby Pro-Logic IIz "height speakers" mode and with my speakers in their regular back surround configuration. (The Onkyo is not a 9.1 receiver, so your choice is either one or the other.) I preferred the standard configuration, as I mostly couldn't tell whether the height speakers were even on. A few weather effects perhaps sounded slightly more realistic, but I certainly wouldn't go to the trouble of permanently mounting and wiring extra speakers high on the front wall for a bit of rain or wind.

The Onkyo firmly embraces digital audio and video with a total of six HDMI inputs, and completely ignores multi-channel analog connectivity. Analog video scaling was by far the weakest of the group, with poor results in DVE's resolution, jaggies, and 2:3 pull-down tests. The front panel HDMI input is great, but the Onkyo really needs a USB port and a full GUI to put it over the top.

Denon AVR-1910: Third Place


The Denon's performance with music was solid, besting the Pioneer but not quite matching the Onkyo. Without EQ its sound was a bit leaner than the Onkyo's and slightly dry, with mids lacking a bit in body and warmth. As with the Onkyo, the default EQ curve just pumped everything up without any finesse. The Denon offers nine bands of EQ to play with, and by applying much more mild adjustments than the default curve, I was able to achieve a sound close to the Onkyo's un-EQed performance. As with the Pioneer and Onkyo, Denon's "Compressed Audio Restorer" significantly improved its performance with the iPod, though not enough to best the Onkyo or my reference.

Movie performance let the Denon down a bit. The cannons in Master and Commander had a distinct lack of impact compared with the Pioneer, even with EQ engaged, and the Flying Daggers drum sequence sounded a bit flat, particularly when I turned off the subwoofer and let the main channels run full range. Things picked up for the Denon with analog video scaling, where it aced all of my DVE tests.

The Denon was the most stylish of the group, but the plastic front panel and controls did not have the precision and quality feel of the others. The front panel display was also the smallest and hardest to read from across the room. The Denon's biggest problem though is that it just doesn't seem to have changed much compared to its predecessor, the AVR-1909. One more HDMI input and one less component video input seem to be the extent of the major changes. The user interface is functional, but still looks 15 years old. With the Pioneer now offering a full GUI at the $500 level, Denon needs to do the same.

Yamaha RX-V765: Fourth Place


Music from the Yamaha sounded much like Denon without EQ. It titled quite a bit towards the lean and dry side, with forward and slightly grainy highs that became tiring at higher volume levels. Two EQ curves are available, and the "natural" curve was able to tame some of the excessive brightness. I also tried adjusting the 7-band EQ, but I was never able to get the Yamaha to sound as good as the Onkyo or Denon.

Yamaha's "Compressed Music Enhancer" brought similar improvements from the iPod as the other receivers, but couldn't overcome the Yamaha's inherent weaknesses with music. It did perform one trick that the others can't: I was able to stream Last FM from my Nokia via the Bluetooth dock.

The Yamaha fared better with movies. It delivered a realistic amount of punch to the cannon and drum sequences, though I still preferred the Onkyo's more neutral tonal balance. Analog video scaling performance was average, with poor results in the jaggies and 2:3 pull-down tests.

The Yamaha shares nearly all of its chassis components with the $900 RX-V1065, and due to that its build quality is a considerable notch above the rest of the group. It looks and feels like a $900 receiver, which is why it's such a shame that the terrible UI completely lets it down. Setting up the Yamaha was aggravating; partly due to the un-assignable inputs, the badly designed remote and the cryptic way that Yamaha labels most functions, but mostly due to the UI. The four "Scene modes" are an attempt to replicate the Activities function of a Harmony remote, but they don't really work in practice. Unless all of your components are made by Yamaha and support the Scene control ability, pressing a Scene button can do little more than switch the receiver to an input and select a sound mode, which the others can do just as easily with their own source buttons. In the end you're going to end up using a universal remote anyway, making the Scene abilities completely unnecessary. The optional Bluetooth streaming support is great for many people who use their cellphone as an audio source, but the Yamaha is just too much of an incomplete product to recommend.

And Now For Something Completely Different…


The Onkyo produces surprisingly decent stereo sound for a mid-priced receiver, but what if stereo is all you are interested in? What if you don't need HDMI switching, or Dolby Pro-Logic IIz, or Audyssey equalization, or any of the other stuff crammed in to a modern receiver? Can you do better for $500? Indeed you can, with something called an integrated amplifier.

Integrated amplifiers are a stereo preamp and amplifier combined into one component, and they offer maximum sound quality for the dollar as they basically only have one function. The NAD C-326BEE and Cambridge Azur 550A integrated amps both cost around $500, and both will outperform any of these receivers in stereo. Since there's no need to worry about having the latest sound mode or HDMI version number, you can stretch your dollar even further by looking on the secondhand market. A range of $500 to $700 can buy a Musical Fidelity, Primare or Arcam on audio trading sites like Audiogon that will be able to challenge $2500 AV receivers in stereo mode. Add a second hand pair of bookshelf speakers from PSB or Monitor Audio—or maybe even a pair of Magnepan 1.6s if you're feeling adventurous—and you've got truly high-end sound for around $1500.

David Kay is a veteran home-theater enthusiast, tech writer and all-around audio fanatic. He is currently Senior Editor of the audio news and feature blog Audio Junkies, and is on a never-ending quest to build the ultimate sound system, wallet be damned.


The Blade That Would Make Helicopters Almost Silent [Helicopters]

Posted on by

Helicopters make a lot of noise because of a physical phenomenon called blade-vortex interaction. Eurocopter engineers have developed a new kind of rotor blade that attenuates this problem. It's called Blue Edge, and—as you can hear—it works beautifully:

The new blade shape is combined with another technology called Blue Pulse, which adds three flaps to the edge of the rotor blades. These flaps move up and down at 15 to 40 times per second, using piezoelectric motors that also help to reduce the blade-vortex interaction. [Autopia]


Romer and Summers Should Resign in Protest

Posted on by

According to today's New York Times,

The Obama administration is planning to use the government’s enormous buying power to prod private companies to improve wages and benefits for millions of workers, according to White House officials and several interest groups briefed on the plan.

This kind of intervention cannot possibly be beneficial; it is an excuse for redistribution to organized labor and politically connected businesses.  It is hard to imagine a worse idea.

See also Alex Tabarrok's excellent critique at Marginal Revolution.

Symphony of Science, Movement #4 | Bad Astronomy

Posted on by

The Symphony of Science is a wonderful project taking words from famous scientists and using an autotuner to create music. It’s pretty popular; the first one has over 3 million views on YouTube!

The newest version has statements by a dozen different scientists, all talking about what science is and what it does. As Richard Dawkins says, science is the Poetry of Reality:

Pretty cool. I love the sentiment, and it’s fun to see how many friends are in there, too. And you know what? Everything they say in there is true.

Tip o’ the semiquaver to Julia Sherred.


Student’s iPod Explodes During Class [IPod]

Posted on by

A Pentucket Regional High School science class got an unpleasant surprise yesterday when one student's iPod exploded on her desk. But don't worry! Nobody was hurt, and there's a perfectly good explanation.

While Apple has gotten in trouble in the past for spontaneous iPod Touch combustion, Newburyport Daily News Online commenter "jos" offered some valuable insight into this particularly incident:

The iPod did not just explode. It was broken so a kid took the entire thing apart and was rubbing wires against the battery, which became very hot, then exploded. This is not a faulty product that caused a danger to people. This was bored kids, in a classroom with a substitute all week, who found a dangerous way to entertain themselves.

So let me get this straight: either your iPod's a deadly time bomb just waiting to go boom at a moment's notice, or kids do dumb things when they're bored?

I feel so much safer already. [Newburyport Daily News via Cult of Mac]


The Science of Curling (Part 2)

Posted on by

"Delivery is all about balance," explains Dion Warr, Vice President of the Schenectady (N.Y.) Curling Club. After pushing-off from the hack, a thrower "slides out behind the stone for a fair amount of distance". The curler's lead foot, clad in a shoe with a slippery sole, bears most of the wei