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‘He knows he belongs’ in White House, says his mother as they visit nation’s capital
By Phillip Lucas - NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
 Jerry Zremski/Buffalo News
Declan Hurley, 6, of Clarence poses outside the grounds of the White House, where he one day wants to be in residence — as the nation’s first deaf president who is also a physician.
WASHINGTON — At the ripe age of 6, Declan Hurley of Clarence knows exactly what he wants out of life: to be the first deaf president of the United States.
Standing in front of the Treasury Building after touring his hoped-for future home Thursday, Declan said he wants to be president because he’s smart and wants to help people.
“And I want to make money,” he added, proving that he may some day be one of those truth-telling candidates.
Declan toured the White House with his parents, completing a dream that began when he wrote to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N. Y., to ask for tickets.
“I’m sorry you’re not the first woman president,” Declan wrote.
And then he quickly asked for the senator’s vote when he runs for president someday.
Clinton called Declan after getting the letter, pledging her support, Declan’s parents, Peter and Jennifer Hurley, said.
And before long the family got the White House tour tickets that Declan had been craving.
The family spent about a half-hour on that tour Thursday, admiring the paintings and meandering through public spaces that were nearly deserted.
And although it is at least 29 years too soon for Declan to be measuring for drapes in the Oval Office, he’s not too young to dream. And if his dream comes true, he would be a landmark president.
When he was only a year old, Declan underwent surgery to implant a cochlear hearing device at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore. The implant allows Declan to hear and speak normally, an ability he uses to recite the presidents of the United States in order of the years they served in office.
Fresh out of kindergarten, he doesn’t stumble over a single name.
Adding “Hurley” to that list is just one of Declan’s dreams.
He’s already planning an undergraduate career at Notre Dame before getting his medical degree at Johns Hopkins — meaning he might just be the first physician president, too.
“It’s funny that you want to be the president; I wanted to be mayor of Buffalo,” said Declan’s father, director of sales at Stampede, which sells home theater products.
Paul Hurley, Declan’s grandfather, is currently president of Trocaire College in Buffalo. And Declan’s parents said their son, on his way to first grade at Harris Hill Elementary School, is set to outdo both his father and grandfather someday.
“He knows he belongs here,” Jennifer Hurley said after the family toured the White House.
She told her son he could go wherever he wanted for vacation this summer. Declan passed up the colorful childhood tradition of Disney World for the museums and history offered in Washington.
“My son is 6 going on 70,“ Jennifer said, adding that all of his friends at school come to him for advice.
Maybe that’s because Declan knows much more than just who the presidents were and when they served.
Declan said his favorite president is Abraham Lincoln “because he helped the deaf.” Lincoln chartered Washington’s Gallaudet University — a world leader in education for the deaf — in 1864.
What’s more, Declan is already practiced in persuasion.
During New York’s presidential primary, Declan brought dinner to a screeching halt when he asked his mother if she had voted yet. She said no.
“We got up from dinner, we ran over, and we voted,” she said. “He went in with me and pulled all the levers to vote.”
If he’s allowed to, Declan says he will help his mother vote again in November’s general election.
When Jennifer asked her son whom he would vote for this time, he said, without hesitation: “Barack Obama. He’s gonna win.”
And when that happens, “I’ll write him a letter,” Declan said.
However, Declan said he wouldn’t be upset if Sen. John McCain is elected president.
“That’s the fun thing about being in America, right? You get to pick who you want,” Peter told his son.
“You know, it would be nice if you could do eenie, meenie, miney, moe,” Declan said in complete, almost presidential, seriousness.
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“Full HD” 1080p
resolution has helped fuel plasma TV growth worldwide during the second quarter
of 2008. According to DisplaySearch, a division of the NPD Group, plasma
shipment units increased 1 per cent quarter-over-quarter (Q/Q) to 3.5 million
units, but 54 per cent year-over-year (Y/Y). 1080p also helped to drive
revenues up 28 per cent Y/Y and six per cent Q/Q. The results show that 1080p
now accounts for 21 per cent of all plasma shipped.
More than 70 per cent of all 1080p plasmas shipped were from Matsushita
(Panasonic), which also enjoyed a 7-point revenue share jump to 36.8 per cent,
representing 23 per cent Y/Y growth. Panasonic was also the only supplier of
1080p plasmas at the popular 42” and 46” screen sizes. On the smaller size of
the scale, however, things are declining. DisplaySearch reports a decrease of
25 per cent in 32” plasma shipments during the quarter, led mainly by weaker
demand and increasing inventory in China.
Click here
for the entire article…
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Thanks to Kevin Hunt | Special to the Chicago Tribune
Too many things can go wrong when a manufacturer bundles a clock radio, speaker system and iPod dock into something called a tabletop music system.
You never know what until you take it home. Sometimes, setting the alarm clock is like decoding the inner workings of Windows Vista. Almost always, the AM-FM radio stinks. The speaker system isn't much better. And the iPod dock, a barely functional hood ornament, only lures buyers.
At least it tells time.
If only they all could be like Boston Acoustics' Horizon Duo-i, a dual-alarm clock with a superb AM-FM tuner, speakers that sound like actual speakers and the obligatory iPod dock for $200. It's more sensible than Chestnut Hill's extravagant ($499) George Music System and flat-out better than XtremeMac's Luna (now the Luna X2, but still a relative bargain at $120) — two other clock-docks I've auditioned.
Boston Acoustics spends much of its time at company headquarters in Peabody, Mass., dreaming up new speaker models, but in recent years expanded into smartly designed table radios. The Duo-i is its first with an iPod dock. For the lone person in the United States without an iPod, the $150 Duo (the same radio, without a dock) is just for you.
Aside from everything it does right, the Duo-i keeps it simple. Among the controls, just below the digital display, are knobs for power-volume, mode (to select AM, FM, iPod or whatever else you might connect to the Duo-i) and manually tuning into a radio station or finding a song on your iPod. Five tiny push buttons offer 10 FM and five AM presets. Two more push buttons, flanking the volume knob, activate the alarm settings. (A supplied remote control also operates the Duo-i.)
The snooze bar is unlike any I've seen: It's the entire stretch of touch-sensitive aluminum trim that borders the Duo-i's face. You'll never miss this snooze bar, even in the earliest, groggiest stage of your awake cycle. And the Duo-i keeps the time and its settings during a power outage for up to two days.
Click here for the entire article
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Exclusive Audio Imaging performed 115 funeral home installations last year.
Thank you to Tom LeBlanc
Being the go-to A/V installer for funeral homes on the West Coast wasn't John Rudow's career goal.
It's fortunate, however, it worked out that way, says the owner of Upland, Calif.-based Exclusive Audio Imaging (EAI).
Rudow expects a lot of his fellow California integrators won't survive the current economic downturn.
Despite his eight-employee company doing 115 funeral home installations last year, Rudow sees potential for a big rise in business.
"It's been a blessing," he says.
When Rudow started EAI in 2003, he wanted to do 95 percent residential. "Last year, we probably did 25 percent residential."
Most of the balance was funeral homes and mortuaries. EAI stumbled into the funeral home niche at the right time. A big spark, Rudow says, was the acceptance of technology into chapels.
"Today they're doing more video tributes — focusing on the life, rather than the body in the casket."
There are many opportunities in funeral homes for integrators up to the challenge, Rudow says. But it's not for everyone.
Installations can be difficult since funeral homes are often extremely old houses. "We've become really good at doing retrofits," Rudow says.
It's also important to be flexible. Funeral directors frequently scramble to arrange a viewing, and their installers need to be ready to accommodate.
"We made some changes to become adaptable and that's one reason we've been successful," Rudow explains.
"We have a 26-foot trailer that's outfitted with everything we need to do business on the road — wireless Internet, printing so we can do invoices if they change orders."
Then there's the matter of sensitivity. Rudow recalls one of his early funeral home installations where he noticed an installer's rubber glove in a wastebasket.
"I thought that if a family member noticed that glove they'd wonder what it was for and they wouldn't understand," he says. "It's little things like that."
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On February 18, 2009, all full-power television stations will be
broadcasting digital signals, possibly high-definition (HD). Blu-ray has become
the high-definition DVD standard. These two factors genuinely enable us to
motivate House of Worship leaders to adopt high-definition media technologies
for use inside and outside of their worship settings.
Over the past four years in particular, I have described, to numerous worship
leaders, the multi-sensory experience that can be created with the use of HD
technologies (HD video and surround audio). Many of these leaders expressed
interest in updating their standard definition (SD) gear to HD to enhance their
worship experience, and to record their worship services (music and teaching)
for distribution on broadcast/cable outlets, internet outlets and portable
media. However, although I spent a lot of time explaining the life-changing
attributes of HD media, only a few leaders shared my faith in HD. The reality
was that these leaders did not have compelling reasons to give up their SD
technologies for the glory found in HD.
Their lack of conversion was simple to understand. First of all, although
consumers are shedding their SD television sets for HDTVs, few have invested in
any other HD video and audio (5.1, etc.) technologies. Second, the HD process
(acquisition to display to distribution) was incomplete for most organizations.
HD broadcasters were among the few that could gather and broadcast or display
HD content.
In other words, there was not a functional, cost-effective or complete HD
solution to cause worship leaders to convert to HD. I fervently preached that
SD was dying and that new life experiences could be found in the resurrected,
heavenly form known as HD. I had very few converts. Here is the problem in more
detail.
I believe that HD is currently the way, the truth and the life for our
industry, as well as for house of worship leaders. The reality of the slow
adoption of HD video players and other portable HD media did not offer
salvation from the bondage of SD technology. Although HD technologies could be
used in a House of Worship to record and display teachings, music and other
worship activities inside the auditorium, there was no cost-effective way to
distribute HD content, via portable media, to congregants and people in the
community.
Distribution of portable media is vitally important to worship leaders. The
only solution was to record the content in HD, then down-convert the HD content
to a standard definition format with stereo audio. Well, they already had SD
gear. Therefore, this self-defeating argument led worship leaders to ask, “Why
should I invest in HD technologies when the final product would be SD and, at
best, stereo?”
That was then. Now, as previously noted, we have at least two good reasons for
worship leaders to adopt HD: broadcasters are less than a year from
broadcasting only in digital, and a standard appears to be set for high-definition
DVD in the form of Blu-ray. Therefore, I believe that, in the United States,
worship leaders are on the verge of trading their SD baggage for the hope of
new life experiences found in HD technologies.
Click
here for the entire article
David Lee Jr., PhD, CEO of Lee Communication Inc.,
Orlando FL, is a licensed minister and has more than 25 years of experience as
a systems integrator. He is a member of Sound & Communications’ Technical
Council.
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Mitsubishi XD510U
Thanks to Jeff Sauer
In the projector industry, we're all so familiar with RGB primary colors that it's sometimes a little jarring to think about producing additive colors any other way. Yet RGB is just one imperfect color model that ultimately cannot produce all of the colors we see in nature. That's particularly true when there's a competing goal of producing images that are bright enough to cut through the ambient light in a typical office environment.
Mitsubishi's new XD510U uses a DLP-based image engine, Texas Instruments BrilliantColor technology, and a new RGBWYC six-segment color wheel to produce surprisingly good color while still achieving the brightness that business settings require. Even still, it remains an affordable, low-maintenance projector that should appeal to the broad business and education communities. The XD510U has a MSRP price of $2,495 — although I've seen it for less than $1,000 online. 
The XD510U is the middle child in a new family of three 500-series XGA business projectors, with a fourth SVGA stepsibling also in the mix. Click here for the entire article.
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There was a time when you couldn't walk into an office without seeing a BenQ Corp. product on at least one desk, but over the years, exposure of the Taipei, Taiwan manufacturer has sharply declined. Along with fierce competition, problems at the corporate level have distracted the company from maintaining its formerly healthy market share.
With a slew of new product releases since the second half of last year, BenQ is positioning itself for a comeback. The Everything Channel Test Center recently evaluated a slew of new products from the company to see if they stand a chance, including a digital projector and two widescreen LCD monitors.
SP820 Projector
First, we looked at the SP820 ($1,999 MSRP), which is a 4,000 lumens, DLP projector. One of the initial things reviewers noticed was the built-in grip handle, which extends from the top of the projector over the left side. The location and shape of the handle made it very easy to lift and carry the unit.
Compared to equally bright projectors we've previously evaluated, the SP820 is lightweight. Measuring 11.8 inches x 9.6 inches x 3.5 inches and weighing 8.2 pounds, it is easily carried and stored.
The Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) Inc., Dallas, DLP BrilliantColor technology produced extremely vivid colors against noticeably dark blacks. When evaluated against 17 calibration tests in the DisplayMate suite, the SP820 needed no adjustments at all.
Due to the size and brightness of the projector, the unit ran a little hotter than most, measuring 120 degrees Fahrenheit on the top and 168 degrees at the fan's vent. Power consumption was a steady 328 watts and the specified 36 decibel sound level was well below the threshold of our meter.
It's also worth mentioning that the SP820 is one of very few devices that have passed through the Test Center with an actual printed manual. The projector has a variety of input connections and there is also an internal 3-watt speaker.
T241W And G2200W Monitors
After evaluating the projector, it was time to move on to the LCD monitors. The T241W is a 24-inch widescreen with an MSRP of $529, and the G2200W is a 22-inch widescreen priced at $299.
The T241W has a native resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 and two internal 1-watt speakers. With an HDMI input connection, as well as a D-Sub 15, its matte-black LCD displayed vibrant colors with no glare at all. As with the projector, the T241W sailed through the DisplayMate calibration tests without any necessary fine tuning.
The sturdy base and stand allows for height adjustment, as well as a -5 to +20 degree tilt and a -45 to +45 degree swivel. With a viewing angle of 160 degrees from all sides, this monitor quickly became a favorite in the Test Center lab.
The less-expensive G2200W has DVI and D-Sub 15 input connections and a native resolution of 1,680 x 1,050. Although it also tilts from -5 to +20 degrees and has 160 degree viewing angles, the stand does not allow for the adjustment of height or swivel. This made finding a comfortable position a little difficult. DisplayMate results were similar to the T241W with bright colors and hardly any glare.
Based on these three models--and the MP730 it appears that BenQ is serious about returning to the market and making waves.
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Well, after 10 days in Las Vegas, I am finally home. Here is a brief summary of the week, followed by a highlight video by our very own Jim Cole.
Day 1 – Chris Eagen won $63 on the flight out to Vegas. We knew we were off to a good start… until Steve Dennis suggested that we could walk to the convention center. After 45 minutes of walking in the mid-day Las Vegas heat, we finally arrive at the convention center. On the walk back, Steve discovers that last time he made the walk it was to the Sands Convention Center, not the Las Vegas Convention Center. Great.
Day 2- Set-up. We arrived at the convention center at 7am. By noon, we were on a roll. Having Jim and Bob there definitely helped speed up the process, since they created the booth! Kristen had to perform minor surgery on Jim’s slivers with a razor blade and Bob cut open his hand.
Day 3 – Set-up. The booth is up, now it’s time for product placement. Thankfully, Keith flew in from California to help us out. At around 3:30, we realized that Mario was missing. His flight was supposed to arrive in from Miami around 10:30 in the morning. He spent the day on a shuttle bus, trying to find the man who inadvertently took Mario’s luggage off of the bus! (I’m pleased to announce, Mario did manage to get his luggage back).
Day 4 – Set-up – We split up today. Some of us were in meetings and the rest were at the convention center finishing up with the set-up.
Day 5 – Walk-through. We walked the entire sales staff through the booth. We pointed out some great new product that Stampede will be carrying in the future. (Call your Customer Relationship Manager today, for more information!)
Day 6 – The Big Book of AV breakfast. Stampede hosted a breakfast at their booth in order to thank all of those who participated in the Big Book of AV. The Big Book was a huge success and drew a lot of people to the Stampede booth.
Day 7 – Show Day 2 – The Mustang Girls signed posters and took pictures. We saw a lot of traffic and chatted with a lot of people.
Day 8 – Final Show Day – The day went by so quickly. One minute, we were chatting with people, and the next, it was time to begin taking the booth apart. We some how managed to get everything done within record time.
Day 9 – We got to the convention center bright and early in the morning to finish packing up the booth. Thankfully, all of our crates had arrived and we had a dedicated crew who wanted to get done as quickly as possible. We managed to finish up around 4 and treated ourselves to a quick trip to the hotel pool.
Day 10 – The final four made it to the airport, grabbed some food, and settled in for our long and bumpy voyage home. Nothing like being delayed almost an hour to really make the time pass quickly…. Finally, arrived in Buffalo at 1:30am. Good times!
All in all, we had a great time in Las Vegas and Stampede had a fantastic show. We worked hard and played hard and bonded with our co-workers.
Thank you to Bob G., Jim, Chris, Steve, Keith, Paul, Rich, Andrew, Mansur, Mario, Brian, Bob A., Mark T., Kevin, Jeff and Mark W. And as always, a big thanks to the Mustang Girls – Lisa, Tanea, Maggie, Lauren, Laurie, Kristina and Lindsay!
Next stop, CEDIA!
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This year Infocomm was evolutionary in nature and a lot of companies looked very good. In fact, we have an abundance of good products from which to choose. As you know, Brawn Consulting thrives on the new and the revolutionary so here are some examples of what Jonathan and I thought stood out at the show. We would love to hear your thoughts as well.
InfoComm 2008 Highlights from Brawn Consulting:
- Samsung 2,000 cd/m2 LCD in a meltdown shootout
- Texas Instruments LED-powered HT projector (700 lumens)
- Projectiondesign compact 3D projector and WUXGA (1920x1200) DLP projector
- Samsung 8x5 tiled 11 mm UX series LCD video wall with embedded content
- Hyperwall Inc. used as controlling software in Samsung Video wall controls unlimited number of panels using only signal control command set that can touch every pixel for "forest AND tree effect".
- Samsung 82-inch touch enabled display
- Canon's own LCoS panels with WUXGA resolution and great calibratability
- The Sharp XG-P610X – 3-chip DLP, XGA, 6000 lumens has a MSRP of $14,995! And WXGA version at 5200 lumens is $16,995 MSRP.
- Stewart Filmscreen’s Starglass 60 (0.6 gain) was impressive to say the least
- Westinghouse Digital's 3840 x 2080 52" LCD panel, High Res. LCD Panel using CMO Glass, and Dual link Nvidia to drive it
- Hitachi Starboard FX Duo 63-inch interactive whiteboard with multi-touch function with complete Internet access on interactive system that includes a set of hand gestures to control the display
- Sanyo's 4LCD projector technology
- Orion plasma video wall with actual burn in compensation technology and new robust panel structure
Regards,
Alan Brawn
Alan Brawn is a principal of Brawn Consulting LLC an audio visual consulting, educational development, and market intelligence firm with national exposure to major manufacturers and integrators in the industry. He was formerly President of Telanetix and previously National Business Development and Product Marketing Manager, Pro AV Group, Samsung Electronics. Brawn is an AV industry veteran with experience spanning over 2 decades including years managing a commercial AV systems integration company after which he became one of the founding members of Hughes-JVC. He is a recognized author for leading AV industry magazines and newsletters such as Systems Contractor News, Archi-Tech Magazine, Digital Signage Quarterly, Rental & Staging, and The Display Dailey. Brawn is an Imaging Science Foundation Fellow and the Managing Director of ISF Commercial. Alan is CTS certified and an adjunct faculty member of Infocomm sitting on their PETC council. He is an NSCA instructor and Learning Unit Provider. He was the recipient of the Pro AV Hall of Fame recognition from rAVe in 2004.
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