D'uh... (low vision product)

The button (at least on my unit) cycles through three predefined magnification factors. The thinking being that you probably only *need* a few. It's not like you're thinking, "Gee, my glaucoma is such that I need a 4.297 magnification factor in order to see well. Next week, it may be 4.65!"

There's no incentive to do so. Costs money to make a new mold for the plastic, reengineer the electronics, etc. All the while, you're probably spending $100 on each sale (marketing, sales staff, after sale support, etc.).

Subsidies play a big roll. They effectively *inflate* the price. E.g., there is no incentive for "diabetic test strips" to be sold at lower margins -- insurers will pay $X so why not *charge* $X??

(You will note the glucometers keep getting revised to require folks to move on to "newer" strips -- like giving away toilet paper dispensers so you can sell YOUR toilet paper!)

Like getting (car) window replaced:

"Do you have glass insurance?" "Why?" "Well, I can't give you a price until I know" "Which is cheaper?" "If you *don't* have glass coverage... But, if you *do*, I can give you a three day trip to Cabo!"

What's your first clue? Please answer, I want to know what I said the you disagree with.

Tell me what a signature flag is and I might fix it for you.

Thanks, Mikek

be

of

useful

Medicare paperwork and similar. Now even more bollixed up thanks to Obummercare.

Special case of both.

?-(

Why do PC manufacturers these days insist on putting product tags on the underside of laptops and in some cryptic size 0pt font? As netbooks become more common the labels have shrunk with them. I have better than normal vision and for some new kit I have to use a loupe to read them.

Certainly not someone in need of a low vision aid. Their typical acuity is something along the lines of being able to read letters that subtend an angle of 0.02 rad or worse so at normal viewing distance of say 20cm anything more than 1000 pixels is probably wasted.

Heuristically zoom ratio of 1.6x is probably about optimal in spanning a range that is certain to include one setting that is easily legible in the smallest number of ranges. Powers of two is too brutal.

And the cunning marketing men certainly know how to target the disabled.

--
Regards, 
Martin Brown

This was at the end of the message I replied to...

--
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus  
protection is active. 
http://www.avast.com 

Notice it is not treated as a signature by either my or your newsreader.  
  Mine is below with a correct flag and will be treated as a signature.

On a sunny day (Wed, 19 Nov 2014 13:11:22 -0700) it happened Don Y wrote in :

My canon can zoom in optically, and then after that in the acquired 3072x2304 pixel picture you can pan and zoom again. On the viewfinder or on the PC.

Just flash an object, and process the picture later.

You are : clueless. And WTF does it have to do with sci.electronics.design

On a sunny day (Wed, 19 Nov 2014 15:00:59 -0600) it happened Frnak McKenney wrote in :

I have already tried that, with normal webcams, in stereo:

I tried it with genlocked analog cameras too.

I do not have the raspi hd camera, its way to expensive.

I agree. TiO2 is a relatively cheap pigment you would think that they would use a bit more of it! Can't do much about the size on small smd parts but it is getting really annoying to find similarly 0pt tiny fonts used on macroscopic objects like disk drives and netbooks!

--
Regards, 
Martin Brown

even after they are broken as far as booting Android is concerned. Several apps exist that will do contrast enhancement.

You can run the diagnostic tests from a hard reboot and engage the "test the forward facing video camera". Zoom rang is limited.

--
Regards, 
Martin Brown

It's not printed anymore- it's laser etched, so the contrast sucks.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward" 
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com 
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

Your flag and signature did not show up in your post.

As to mine, I didn't put that in the post my antivirus protection did. If it is important to you I will see how I can prevent it from putting that in my email. Better yet, since I just learned what it is, it would be better if you find out how to stop Avast from putting a flag and signature in my emails.

You also said "You are a complete fruitcake..." I ask, "What's your first clue?" And requested, " Please answer, I want to know what I said the you disagree with."

What did I write that makes you think I am a complete fruit cake? Mikek

One trick is to swipe it with a q-tip saturates with alcohol or acetone. As it evaporates, the laser marking will be more visible for some hundreds of milliseconds.

Once you can see the top mark, you can try to determine what part it is, and maybe even locate pin 1.

--

John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 
picosecond timing   laser drivers and controllers 

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com 
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

--

Rick

I need to start hanging around the same thrift stores you do.

How about one of these to go with your wonderful gadget to cut down on the crawling? ( I'm starting to notice how hard those back corners can be to get to. )

[...]

Thanks for the encouragement.

Frank

--
  We hold meetings to discuss problems that would never occur 
  if we held fewer meetings.

There are several places that recycle/repurpose "used" electronics. Fix/clean it up and redeploy it in schools, disadvantaged areas, etc.

It is alarming just how much stuff gets *discarded* on a daily basis! (one of the places I was affiliated with would process 3500 pounds of stuff daily, 6 days a week -- and that's just from folks who knew the place EXISTED!)

If you can't find a new home/use for an item (too old, too broken, etc.) then you can always recycle it for its "content".

The magnifier consists of:

- a small QVGA display

- a tiny PCB

- a bunch of plastic

The display (glass) isn't really recyclable, per se. The plastic isn't recyclable AT ALL (no one will pay you anything for "used plastic").

So, that leaves a little bit of electronics -- a one-ounce PCB?? So, it's recycle value is maybe 10c-25c?? AFTER you separate it from all that plastic???

I've actually been looking for a MUCH LONGER version of something similar (with *softer* "hands") to pick oranges off the top of the trees. A ladder can get me up to the correct height. But, reaching *in* (ladder being out past the tree's drip-line) 5 or 8 feet is a recipe for broken bones!

The space under my tables typically only has large things -- servers, workstations, etc. And a boatload of *cables*/cords!

The bigger/heavier things need a fair bit of muscle to move around (so, the grabber wouldn't be of much help) and the cables/cords tend to require fine motor skills to mate/unmate.

I've just learned to crawl around under there as needed. It's one reason why I like to "connect EVERYTHING" and then just cycle power to the items that I am actually interested in using, *now* (instead of plugging them in when/as needed).

At the very least, you will learn something -- and, perhaps, get a better understanding of the *actual* (technical) issues involved. I didn't realize the significance of using an "illuminator" with my stereoscope; "it's just a LIGHT, right?".

Or, you may get distracted by some *other* idea that you stumble on while trying to "solve" that problem! And, come up with a good solution for something that was waiting for one!

E.g., thinking of this "magnifier" as JUST an expensive magnifying glass indicates an ignorance of the issues it is trying to address. OTOH, actually looking at those particular issues, you realize how inadequate a "piece of curved glass" is for them!

Likewise, you'd notice that the batteries aren't installed in the typical "head-to-toe" fashion (i.e., the + terminal alongside the - terminal of the adjacent battery) but, rather, both facing the same direction! (if you can't easily *see* what you are doing when you replace the batteries, "put them both in facing the same direction" is a lot easier than "one up, one down" -- even if it adds a few millipennies to the manufacturing cost!)

[I.e., You *really* don't want to learn about these issues due to a personal *need*! Then, you'll be really annoyed with the lack of "solutions" -- esp "affordable" -- to these SIMPLE problems! :< ]

Ah, you don't follow context well.

You, rickman said, "Subsidies? Subsidies would make it cheaper, not more expensive."

I, Mikek, followed up comparing my health insurance policy to a subsidized Obamacare policy, the subsidized Obamacare policy it 78% more expensive than the unsubsidized policy.

So, I didn't need to think anymore about what you said,

"Subsidies would make it cheaper, not more expensive"

because the evidence shows the subsidized policy is more expensive. Making you in this case wrong.

But feel free to call me a fruitcake, but complete fruitcake, I don't think so.

Mikek

On Wed, 19 Nov 2014 10:16:13 -0700, Don Y Gave us:

The biggest problem I saw (aside from the ridiculous price)is that they do NOT declare the pixel array size in the camera, other than a simple "HD", which is pretty low res by today's camera standards. Even the cheap ones are far better.

Get a simple flex tripod and take a still macro, and get far more image resolution in the captured image.

I buy cheap macro cameras and have one that allows a focus at half a cm from the primary lens face.

The Megapixel count the imaging device has is VERY important. Two or three different spectrum LED lighting arrays would be good as well.

I slightly chilled imager can do IR better than the room temp jobs too.

The idea is nice, but a lab grade job would be better.

A matte black walled light box between the target and imager. That should collapse like those old folding coffee cups allowing the operator to shorten the box height from the target.

The box is what would sell. Then a lab could get whatever camera the spectral needs required, and the LED illumination too.

BUT THAT POS is probably just that. a triple overpriced, lower resolution than you were expecting turd.

On Thu, 20 Nov 2014 13:43:18 -0600, amdx Gave us:

I always thought there was something missing from your flavor profile.

lol!

Ya, when I wrote that I was trying to think of an obscure ingredient to refer to, but I'm not aficionado of fruitcake. Mike