TerrenceObrien
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Primed: The smashing science behind particle accelerators
Primed goes in-depth on the technobabble you hear on Engadget every day -- we dig deep into each topic's history and how it benefits our lives. You can follow the series here. Looking to suggest a piece of technology for us to break down? Drop us a line at primed *at* engadget *dawt* com. Long before the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) could smash its first atoms, researchers manning the Tevatron collider at Fermilab, in a quiet suburb 40 miles west of Chicago, raced to find evidence that the Higgs boson exists. After roughly three decades of service, the Tevatron shut down for good in late 2011, dealing the city of Batavia's largest employer a significant blow. Less than 18 months later, the LHC (the Tevatron's technological successor) also went offline - albeit temporarily. Only four years after recording its first proton collisions, the team at CERN is already scrambling to upgrade the staggering LHC, which lies under parts of no less than five cities in both France and Switzerland. With the world's largest particle colliders smashing a whole lot of nothing together for the next two years at least, the field of high-energy physics research is starting to look resource-starved. Of course, many might ask why exactly we need giant atom smashers like this, or even how they work. It turns out that first part is quite a bit easier to answer than the second. During the last several decades, particle accelerators have revealed the existence of elementary particles such as quarks, led to the discovery of antimatter and generally helped us unlock the mysteries of the universe. And once they were done splitting atoms and probing the darkest corners of theoretical physics, accelerators often led to breakthroughs in medical imaging and cancer research. So, as massive colliders seem ready to land on the endangered species list, it seems as good a time as any to explain what a particle collider is, how it works and what we as a society have to gain from the research.
IRL: Logitech UE Air Speaker, the Canon Rebel XT and an Arduino non-starter
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. Welcome back to IRL, and if we do say so ourselves, this week's edition is a doozy. On one end of the gadget-loving spectrum, Jason is still happily using his Canon Rebel XT, while Darren remains thoroughly unsatisfied with his $400 AirPlay speaker (it was easy to set up, at least -- he'll give it that). And, just for good measure, we threw in an Arduino fail. So, which piece of audio gear is on our "do not buy" list? Who needs to take a course in wiring-based coding? And does Jason have anything negative to say about his DSLR? Head past the break to find out.
IRL: Evernote, Netgear N900 and FiiO's E17 headphone amplifier
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. Best of the best, best of the worst and best thing we didn't need. Those are some ringing endorsements we've got for you in this week's IRL. On the more enthusiastic end of the spectrum there's Darren, who finally found a dual-band router with strong enough range to service all three floors of his new home. Terrence is closing in on his fourth year using Evernote, the "least bad" note-taking app of the bunch. As for James, well, has he ever met a piece of audio equipment he didn't like?
IRL: The CES 2012 Edition, featuring AirDrop, a new MBP and Crumpler
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. We came, we saw, we collapsed. After seven days in Vegas and 700-plus posts, we'd love nothing more than to catch up on The Daily Show, eat something other than In-N-Out Burger and bask in what we hope will be a slow news week. Alas, though, the show must go on, and so must our gadget ramblings. And what better place to start than with the gear we schlepped to CES? You'd think, like marathoners prepping for a race, that we'd stick with the high-tech equivalent of broken-in sneakers, red gatorade and other safe bets. But in fact, the week saw a few of us taking a chance on unfamiliar tech -- everything from the Elgato Turbo H.264 to the Sony NEX-C3. For Darren, the transition from thumb drives to AirDrop was benign, though largely ineffectual. In Terrence's case, an impulsive foray into the world of Macs left him without functioning USB ports. Good times, right? Meet us past the break for a few tales of what went right (or dreadfully wrong) last week in Vegas.
IRL: Kirby Sentria, Sony bloggie-MHS-FS1 and the OLPC XO laptop
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. Let's just cut to the chase: this week's IRL is a little schizophrenic. On the one hand, you've got Andy singing his bloggie's praises, Terrence waxing philosophical about his unused OLPC XO and Darren ranting about his grandmother's vacuum cleaner. Do you like camcorders that are not a smartphone? Do you despise door-to-door Sentria salesmen? Good. Let's hit it, then.
IRL: Google Voice, FastMac's U Socket and returning the iPhone 4S
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. Hi there, folks. Happy almost-four-day-weekend to you too. As you'd expect, we're not the types to waste an opportunity to tie IRL into a national eating orgy, so this week's edition is appropriately about giving thanks. Terrence appreciates Google Voice, even if it slips some incomprehensible one-liners into his transcriptions. Zach, meanwhile, is mighty happy about his U Socket purchase (because wall-mounted USB ports are a beautiful, beautiful thing). And Joe -- actually, he's none too grateful for the two iPhone 4S' he returned, though he is glad Google hurried up and released Ice Cream Sandwich. What's his problem, anyway? Meet us after the break to find out.
IRL: Kingston Wi-Drive, Dyson DC35 and being an Ubuntu fanboy
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. The lively comments in yesterday's Nest thermostat post got us thinking: for all our talk of smartphones and Ultrabooks, it's the mundane, not-glamorous stuff that we're spending most of our money on. Take Brad, for instance, who had to make room in his iTunes library for the Aladdin soundtrack and had to get creative after maxing out his iPhone's (non-expandable) storage. Or Zach, who felt not one, but two vacuum cleaners were necessary in his bachelor pad. And at least one of us avoids paying anything by choosing to tinker around in Ubuntu. How'd Brad make do with his 16GB of fixed storage? Why is Zach such a compulsive cleaner? And who's the Linux fanboy on staff? Meet us after the break to find out.
Growing Up Geek: Terrence O'Brien
Welcome to Growing Up Geek, an ongoing feature where we take a look back at our youth and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. Today, we have our very own Associate Editor, Terrence O'Brien. In case you hadn't guessed, that's my father up there with a tiny me cradled in his arms. He's OG -- original geek -- and a defier of easy categorization that clearly explains how I ended up as the son of a gun I am today. In fact, without an understanding of where he came from and who he is, much of what would fill a completely self-centered Growing Up Geek simply wouldn't make sense. So, that's where we'll start the story, with a quick look at the man who, for better or worse, made me the nerd I am today.
