New School Year, New Equipment

Happy New Academic Year at Stanford! Many of our faithful readers may already be aware of the impressive inventory of equipment available for checkout at the Meyer Tech Desk. We've gone ahead and added some additional gadgets to our collection just in time for the new year. Check them out!


Dell m409wx DLP Projectors are always popular for presentations and movie/gaming events. Accepts video input from VGA, HDMI, S-Video, and Composite (RCA) video. Comes with a VGA cable and convenient carrying case.


Flip Ultra HD camcorders fit conveniently in your pocket and record 60 minutes of 720p HD video. Use the built-in USB plug to connect it to your computer and it will be detected as an external hard drive containing videos encoded using the H.264 codec.


Canon Vixia HF20 HD camcorders store full HD video in either the built-in 32GB flash memory or on SDHC cards (not included). Use USB to connect it to your computer and it will be detected as an external hard drive containing videos encoded using the AVCHD codec. (Note: Standard hot-shoe mounted mics like the Rode Shotgun mic will not fit on its Mini Advanced Accessory Shoe.)


Rode Shotgun microphones are a professional choice for getting high quality audio. Hook them up to camcorders with an accessory hot shoe for best results. (Currently,
they work best with our Canon HV30 HD camcorders.)


Proline tripods are high-quality units for keeping your shots steady. We recommend using a tripod whenever possible to improve your videos unless you're trying to simulate an earthquake.


LG DVD Burners are perfect for people who have Netbooks or MacBook Airs who need to read or write CDs and DVDs. (Note: Burners will most likely not play a video DVD without a software DVD player installed on your computer.)


Sony MP3 Recorders can store over 11 hours of recorded audio in MP3 format. They also have a mic-in port for optimal recording quality.


Iomega 320GB USB hard drives are almost small enough to fit in your pocket, and they fit a ton of stuff! Use it to store a big project short term or backup your computer's contents before doing a system restore. (Note: USB hard drives cannot be used for editing iMovie 09 projects.)


Finally, we suspect hordes of patrons will crowd their way into Meyer for a chance to check out the awesome Creative Extigy SB0130 External USB Sound Card. This amazing feat of engineering crams the following features into one slick little package: High Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) exceeding 100dB using high linearity, low distortion 24-bit converters with resolutions of up to 96kHz. Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) for 6-channel analog speaker & headphone output. Supports Sony/Philips Digital Interface (SPDIF) format input signal. Hardware Digital Signal Processor (DSP) for precise sampling rate conversion, Creative Multi-Speaker Surround (CMSS), 3D audio algorithm processing, digital mixing or bass management; as well as accurate Dolby Digital processing. Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise at 1kHz (A-Weighted) = 0.006%. All we can say is, "Wow."

As usual, loans of all items are free for the first overnight checkout period, and then a $10/item/day rental fee or $15/item/day late fee after that. For more info, see our Equipment Checkout policies.

The Week in Review 5/21 - 5/27

Meyer Tech Desk News

Need a Group Study Space? Then Area 220 is the place to be!

After having been blocked off for several weeks, Area 220 is now back in commission. New features include round tables, chairs, nifty futuristic-looking furniture, and floor-to-above-your-head whiteboard walls. That's right, you can write on the walls! There are markers and microfiber cloths available for use in conjunction with the whiteboard. Area 220 has also been designated as a group study space, so the buzz of intelligent conversation is expected and welcomed. Consequently, if you are looking for a quiet niche, this is probably not the best place to go. Like most services in Meyer, Area 220 is available on a first-come, first-serve, and reservations are not available.

Please email any comments or suggestions to studyspaces(@)rescomp(.)stanford(.)edu.

Yes, you can write on the walls!

Funky modernist industrial furniture.

(He's doing it wrong...)

The Week in Review (5/21 - 5/27)

Busiest Day
Wednesday - 27%
Tuesday - 27%
Thursday - 20%

Busiest Shift
3 - 4 PM - 10%
1 - 2 PM - 10%
2- 3 PM - 10%

"Busiest" Consultant
Peter - 27%
Shannon - 12%
Tim - 7 %

Consultants, this is shameful. No single consultant should be responsible for nearly a third of all logs during the week. Log your interactions!

Most Frequent Interaction
Equipment Checkout - 51%

Interactions of the Week
5/21
Rockstar consultant Peter updated the Apple video adapter display to include the new generation and flavors of Macbooks.

5/21
my rcc can't fix my internet.
how old is the laptop? new
what are you running? vista
well there's your problem.
(the broadcast flag needed to be set to 1. the rcc in question will receive ninety verbal lashes and a raised disapproving eyebrow)

Happy 100th Post! And Happy Valentine's Day! And Happy 1234567890 Day!

Just when Stanford was getting settled into this California weather groove, you know, when it NEVER rains, the clouds rush in on the heels of a cold and wet front, leaving the turf rather squishy and tattooing bikers, bumper-less or not, with rather unfortunate mud stripes. But no matter. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! Despite numerous face-lifts and renovations, Green and Meyer Libraries have been eyeing each other for years and finally have the courage this year to swap Valentines!







Through the cumulative efforts of a long lineage of faithful Meyer Tech Desk bloggers, we have reached one hundred posts! W00t! And for one last geek plug, today is 1234567890 Day! Unix time reached the landmark time of 1234567890 seconds, which is the number of seconds since January 1, 1970.

(Screenshot courtesy of Wito)

And now for the Week in Review.

Busiest Day
Wednesday - 23%
Saturday - 19%
Tuesday - 18%

Busiest Shift
2 - 3 PM - 11%
6 - 7 PM - 10%
1 - 2 PM - 8%

"Busiest" Consultants
Yin - 10%
Shannon - 9 %
WillA - 8%

Last Month's Top Logger
WillA - 10% of all of January's posts
Most Frequent Interaction
Equipment Check-Out - 48%

Interactions of the Week

Feb 7
Emily
7:20 PM: Patron: I just checked out this camcorder, and I can't get it to work
Emily: Apparently, you are missing a tape.
7:30 PM Sold: two mini dv tapes

Feb 11
WillA
11:00 AM - I learned to cut things, particularly posters!
Michael
10:20 PM - i'm still here but not much is happening.
[This post was followed by a sudden flurry of activity. Be careful what you wish for]