{"id":3348,"date":"2009-12-25T21:30:00","date_gmt":"2009-12-25T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/giz-explains-the-best-of-2009-giz-explains\/"},"modified":"2009-12-25T21:30:00","modified_gmt":"2009-12-25T21:30:00","slug":"giz-explains-the-best-of-2009-giz-explains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/futurist\/giz-explains-the-best-of-2009-giz-explains.php","title":{"rendered":"Giz Explains: The Best of 2009 [Giz Explains]"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Is there a burning<\/em> question you have about tech? Like what's the difference between $100 and $100,000 headphones? Or why every country has a different f@%#ing<\/a> plug? We explained all that, and a whole lot more this year.<\/p>

Photography<\/h2>

What Everybody Should Know About Cameras<\/a>
The essentials of digital camera knowledge, from all the different types of cameras to image sensors to jargon like ISO, all in one epic spot.<\/p>

Why Lenses Are the Real Key to Stunning Photos<\/a>
Despite what stupid spec wars would have you believe, a fancy slice of glass is just as important as silicon to taking a stunning photo.<\/p>

When (Not) To Use Your Camera's Flash<\/a>
What is photography's greatest scourge? Cellphone cameras? MySpace self-portraiture? No, it's that dratted flash—here's when and how you should-and more importantly, shouldn't-use it.<\/p>

Why More Megapixels Isn't Always Better<\/a>
In short, twelve megapixels stuffed onto a tiny ass sensor looks like crap. Twelve megapixels with plenty of a room on a full-frame sensor can look pretty great.<\/p>

Television<\/h2>

The Ultimate HDTV Cheat Sheet and Buying Guide<\/a>
Read this before you go buy and HDTV, and you'll have the Best Buy employee spinning in circles. Or at least, he won't be able to take you for a spin.<\/p>

The Difference Between a $600 TV and a $6000 TV<\/a>
There is a difference, and it goes way beyond the logo sitting front and center. How much do all those extra inches cost? What about 120Hz, or hell 240Hz? The cost of a fancy ass TV, broken down.<\/p>

What's So Great About LED-Backlit LCDs<\/a>
Any LCD display worth its salt—especially when it comes to laptops—is lit up by a bunch of LEDs, not the fluorescent bulbs that light up high school cafeterias. But, not all LED displays are created equal.<\/p>

Audio<\/h2>

Why You Can't Get Decent Headphones for Under $100<\/a>
Building truly great in-ear headphones is hard. Which means it's expensive<\/em>. We got an earful of the secret sauce that goes into the pricey headphones that sound oh-so-delicious, and why you can't buy 'em for a song.<\/p>

The Difference Between $100 and $100,000 Speakers<\/a>
Well the title really says it all, don't it?<\/p>

Why Analog Audio Cables Really Aren't All the Same<\/a>
Yes, there really is a difference between analog cables. And you want there to be.<\/p>

Computers and Software<\/h2>

Why Quantum Computing Is the Future, But a Distant One<\/a>
Computing with quantum physics! It's as crazy as it sounds, so we'll let quantum physicists explain it.<\/p>

Why Stuff Crashes, and Why It Happens Less Often Now<\/a>
Ever wondered what causes a BSOD or kernel panic? Notice how it happens a less often than it used to? (Though Firefox crashing every five minutes seems to make up for it.)<\/p>

Android and How It Will Take Over the World<\/a>
No, it's not because of the mysterious Nexus One. The true nature of Android is a little more complex than you might realize, able to run everything from phones to nooks to set-top boxes. And Google's giving it away for free.<\/p>

GPGPU Computing and Why It'll Melt Your Face Off<\/a>
Graphics cards, they're not just for PC gametards anymore. Thanks to new programming standards they'll be accelerating everything<\/em> on a computer that can take advantage of oodles of processing cores.<\/p>

How Apple Affects Your Tech World Through Standards (Even You, Windows Guy)<\/a>
The easy way to have power over technology and people outside of your own little domain: Create tech standards. Here's a few Apple's been instrumental in getting out there.<\/p>

Microsoft and Standards<\/a>
The flip side to how Apple plays with industry-wide standards, Microsoft just establishes them de facto, when it can. Here's some of the bigger ones they're responsible for.<\/p>

Cellphones<\/h2>

How Cell Towers Work<\/a>
Until Wilson explained how cell towers work, I always thought Stormtrooper fairies carried the signals from my phone to the Death Star and then to my mom's cellphone.<\/p>

Why WiMax and LTE Wireless 4G Data Will Blow Your Mind<\/a>
WiMax is really here (at least in some places) and LTE from Verizon and AT&T will be ramping in short order. The days of ubiquitous wireless broadband are very nearly here. Exciting, and scary.<\/p>

Bill Nye Explains Oleophobic Screens<\/a>
Uh, Bill Nye. Explaining stuff. Do I need to say anymore?<\/p>

Electricity<\/h2>

Why Every Country Has a Different F#$%ing Plug<\/a>
There actually are reasons there's like a billion different types of power plugs scattered across the world. I know you want to know why.<\/p>

How Electrocution Really Kills You (With Adam Savage)<\/a>
MythBuster Adam Savage tells us how electricity really kills you—surprisingly, it's not by poaching your brains inside of your skull.<\/p>

Coffee<\/h2>

How to Actually Make Coffee<\/a>
Odds are, you're doin' it wrong. Here's most of the major ways to make delicious coffee, with advice from our friends at Ninth St. Espresso, Intelligentsia Coffee and La Marzocco.<\/p>

Still something you still wanna know? Send any questions about cameras, processors, or anything else crazy complicated to tips@gizmodo.com<\/a>, with \"Giz Explains<\/a>\" in the subject line.<\/em><\/p>

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Is there a burning question you have about tech? Like what's the difference between $100 and $100,000 headphones? Or why every country has a different f@%#ing plug? We explained all that, and a whole lot more this year.PhotographyWhat Everybody Should … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-futurist"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3348"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3348\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}