by W.A. Steer PhD
About...

Welcome to techmind.org, a site devoted to sharing my enthusiasm and knowledge of various aspects of science and technology. You'll find approachable but in-depth information on many topics including single-image autostereograms (those clever 3D pictures), electronics and PC interfacing projects, audio and graphics programming, sonoluminescence, as well as ready-to-run downloadable programs to experiment with. I hope you find the site useful.

Feature articles

• Stereogram discussion, algorithms & software
  Ever wondered how those 3D pictures work, or how to make your own? This section explains all, from a very general overview of the principle and software to download, right down to a line-by-line description of the algorithms I used.





• Sonoluminescence
  Sonoluminescence is a little-understood phenomenon whereby light is emitted by tiny bubbles suspended in a liquid subjected to intense acoustic fields. This illustrated article explains in detail how I set up apparatus to demonstrate the effect.


• Digital Photo Printing - a technical assessment
  Consumer in-store and online digital photo printing services have recently become widely available. I generated a series of photographs and test-images to evaluate these services from a technical perspective, and my findings are presented here.
• Digital Photo Printing Guide
  A 'prequel' to the technical assessment. Building on my experience, this page sets out the basics of getting the best out of consumer photo-printing services, including introductory-level colour-matching.
• Digital Signal Processing
  A practical introduction to DSP techniques for frequency-domain processing. [New/still evolving]

Software to experiment with

• Soundcard Audio Tools and Toys - signal generator, frequency counter, spectrum analyser, acoustic radar... and more!

Homebrew video projects

• MkII video digitiser - get-you-started constructional project
• MkI video digitiser - with additional background material
• Software-based PAL colour-decoding
• PAL Colour-Recovery from black-and-white tele-recordings [NEW!]

Optical section

• LCD monitor technology and tests - an insight into LCDs
• Introduction to Colour Science - accurate colour reproduction on display-screens and more...
• Colour-temperature and whitepoints - an introduction to the definition of colour-temperature, complete with accurate colour examples
• Zoneplates - a useful mathematical pattern

• Small photo gallery - taken with traditional 35mm film!

• Canon Powershot G9 - long-term review

Short technical notes

• RS232 serial data cable wiring solutions - will solve most problems
• GSM mobile telephone signals - a brief technical look at the emissions from a handset
• Jerky DVD playback in Windows? - explanation and cure for a common Windows problem

• What is 'digital'? - (less technical) introduction to what 'digital' means for the average consumer
• Guaranteed Equity Bonds - a short sidetrack exposing the underhand use of maths and statistics in the formulation of these 'investment' products
• Huawei 3G mobile broadband dongles - free unlocking and making more interoperable
• Raspberry Pi 3G mobile broadband dongle/router interface - interface a Huawei E3256 to an ethernet port

Understanding and Visualising Energy Issues

• Energy Calculations - calculations and key figures to facilitate some rationality in energy debates

Projects blog...

• techmind projects blog - the latest on projects I have under development, or in-mind

External links...

• External links - some of my bookmarks

Historical...