Tech Head: When I listen to my iPod in the car, there's an awful 'hissing' sound coming from the speakers

"Hi Tech Head. I use my iPod my car. I plug in the cable and press the AUX button. When the music plays, there's and awful 'hissing' sound coming from the speakers that plays over the music. How do I fix this?"

You should start by changing the track to something that's NOT Bjork.

But seriously. You're using the AUX input on your car stereo, meaning there is a factory installed cable, or a cable you purchased, that plugs your car into your iPod. There is a trick to getting these to work well.

What your car stereo is doing is simply playing what you would normally hear through your headphones. The car's volume control is then turning that up to a volume that you'd like to hear it at, by using the volume control knob on the car. Let me use an analogy to describe what's going on here. Imagine you're in front of a large crowd holding a microphone. If you hold the microphone far from your mouth, or whisper into it, the sound that comes out of the PA system will be quiet. But if you turn the volume of the PA system up, everyone can then hear that you sound like a whispering idiot. And there's also an annoying hissing sound over your voice. You have to make sure that you're feeding a good, loud sound into the microphone. Your car's AUX (or MP3) input is no different.

Speak up, damn it!

THE FIX: Turn up the volume on the iPod to maximum. Then adjust the volume on your car stereo to suit.

When 10 is not enough...

 A word of wisdom: Turn off any "EQ" settings on your iPod. Most people have the EQ setting on their iPod set to Bass or Rock to give the music a bit of bass to compensate for the shitty headphones that came with it. But chances are you've already got the bass turned up on your car stereo to give the radio a bit of 'oompf'. If you have extra bass on your car stereo AND your iPod, you'll have too much bass, resulting in the loose change in the center console bouncing around and creating a buzzing sound that you'll spend hours at stop lights trying to figure out where it's coming from. Just let your car stereo handle the levels.

And some advice from Samuel L Jackson about messing with another persons car stereo levels: "You can crank the volume as much as you want, but don't touch my levels; I got 'em just like I like 'em."

Seriously... DO NOT mess with his levels.

Tech Head: I need a new computer

This question came to me from a friend of mine who's known around his office as having that friend who knows stuff.

Here's the original question: "The go to man when it comes to elec tech! My co-worker wants your advice"

"I need a new PC. There’s two quotes...one from dell and one from my friends Husband (IT manager who can build one):
 
Just did a quick quote to build. It's very cost effective (faster, quicker computer, better CPU, bigger disk, better memory, etc), this quote also comes with MS Office, Windows and a large 23.6" LCD monitor (which the other quote didn't have), all comes in at a cost of $2,185."

Quick Price list below.

CPU Intel i7 950 - 320
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R - 221
Kingston HyperX TI XMP 6GB Kit x 3 - 477
WD SATA 2TB HDD - 104
Lg SATA DVD Writer/Reader - 22
Powercolor 1GB 6850 PCI-E VGA Card - 200
Logitech cordless Keyboard - 29
Optical mouse - 15
ASUS 23.6" HD LCD Screen - 192
Aerocool Tower case - 125
Thermaltake 700W Power Supply - 80
Microsoft Office Business 2010 - 206
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit - 194
TOTAL: $2,185

OK, Though building your own (or having someone build one for you) can be cost effective, you don't get the tech support or warranty benefits. If my Mum wanted to buy a PC tomorrow, I'd tell her to call Dell. I had a Dell die on me once and had a guy with spare parts turn up (yes, literally came over to me) the next day and fixed it. Having said that, as long as your friends husband doesn't mind taking on that role for you, you're sweet. Just get him to hand over the invoice to keep the warranty.
 

As for the things in it, it's a powerhouse! Being a bit of a geek, the back of my pants got tight reading those specifications.
 

I'm dubious about the "6GB x 3" for the RAM (a big cost right there). That's EIGHTEEN GIG of RAM. Unless you're planning on running a competitor to YouTube out of your home, it's probably overkill. Actually, there's no 'probably' about it. That's freaking hardcore. To use an analogy, as I love to do, it's like ordering a Big Mac and asking for 4,340 serviettes. It doesn't make the meal any better. Sure you need at least one serviette, and having a couple of extras is handy when you're getting your eat on in a big way, but ultimately you're just going to be left with 4,337 serviettes that you're not going to use.

One Serviette

Three Serviettes... minimum.

The rest of the actual PC looks good. The guy who put this together knows their shit.

I'm not a huge fan of the wireless keyboards. More often than not your keyboard never leaves the desk. Unless you're like me an do some "Xtreme Typing". You know, like taping the keyboard to the roof and throwing peanuts at it in order to log into Facebook, or taking the keyboard into another room and typing a letter of resignation then hitting CTRL+S to send it without ever having actually seen what you typed. Yeah, I know, that IS hardcore. That's just how I roll. So unless you want to join the Brighton East Extreme Typing League (BEETL), save yourself the money on batteries and grab a decent Microsoft wired keyboard. Now a mouse... gotta be wireless. Just trust me.

 

Also, just make sure your desk is suitable for a 24" LCD. Rule of thumb: If you have to move your head to follow the mouse cursor, it's too big.

Too big.

All in all, go the DIY model. If the builder asks you if you want to keep the boxes / spare cables / instructions, say "Fuck that!". You know that crap you've got in your cupboard that just sits there, like a lampshade, 37 Coles green bags and a roll of wrapping paper that only has 10cm left on it and the print is very specific to a 4 year old girls birthday, but you don't want to throw any of it away 'just in case'? The crap that comes with a DIY computer is just like that. If you don't have it given to you, you won't have to write a Pros/Cons list when deciding its fate when you move house.

So you thought you could figure it out yourself, eh?

My name's Tech Head.


I'm that guy in the office who seems to know everything about technology. The guy you ask when you're looking to buy a new TV, having trouble getting the "WiFis" working or can't quite figure out how to get your iPod to work with your car stereo.

People ask me these kinds of questions all the time. I don't mind answering them either. As long as people don't mind putting up with my over-simplifications, analogies and my utter disdain of complete stupidity. 

I've been asked some good questions in my time, and I'm sure I'll be asked plenty more. I'm here to share these with you. And who knows, maybe you might learn something.

If you have a question about some form of technology that's giving you the shits, or you don't quite 'get', try Googling it. That's what I'll do. Or email it to wheredoiplugthebluecable@gmail.com if you really want my opinion.