While 1/2 G gets you there in a week in the worst case scenario, the TFA actually mentions covering the 100mil km to Mars in a week, which would be during a worst case opposition. During opposition, the distance between Earth and Mars is between 54.5mil km and 102mil km depending on which area of the orbits the two planets are in. So the acceleration works out drastically different.
d = 0.5at^2 -> a = (2d)/t^2
Since we only need to accelerate for half that distance
a = (2d/2)/t^2 -> a = d/t^2 a = 102000000 / (3.5 * 24 * 3600)^2 a = 0.00112 m/s^2
So the thrust only needs to be
10000 * 0.00112 = 11.2 newtons
Resulting in a necessary power of
11.2 * 300000000 = 3.35 * 10^9 watts
This makes the power requirement much more reasonable but still quite large.
I know this is a joke, but the 20 minutes figure is 1-way, so the ping times would be roughly double what you've stated. With both planets at aphelion and mars in conjunction with the sun, the ping time would be a minimum of 2,677,361ms (44 minutes 36.4 seconds) discounting slowing of light through the atmospheres of both planets.
My roommate and I did something similar to this in college, except we used a low-powered laser. Our goal wasn't to make a tv-type display; it was to make something similar the the laser projectors used at laser shows. There were no lenses involved. We bought 2 cheapo 4-watt speakers and ripped the cones out. Then we rubber cemented a mirror from the solanoid to the edge. We then mounted these at 90 degrees to each other and shined the laser so it reflected off both mirrors then hit the projection surface. We hooked the speakers up to an amplified sound card and generated frequencies that painted pictures with the laser. It worked great except we couldn't turn the laser off to make discontinuous objects, frequency response characteristics of the speakers and sound card limited what we could draw, one color, and our 0.5mW laser wasn't bright enough to cover large areas.
From their letter they never actually say that the data in CDDB is their IP, but at the end of the letter they start talking about interfaces. It could be that Gracenote has not only sold a license to use the CDDB database to Roxio/Adaptec, but they may have sold them a license for a set of libraries to provide access to the database. Of course the license to use the proprietary libraries could say that they can't be used to connect to a competing database. If this is the case and Roxio/Adaptec hasn't written their own libraries to access FreeDB then Roxio/Adaptec would be in violation of that license.
The most important thing is how your speakers interact with your room. Buying speakers is kind of an subjective thing. Most good A/V shops will allow you to take home equipment to try it out. Take them up on the deal...you can expect to pay a little more money going to a place like that, but it will be money well spent.
I would probably spend about $1000 of your $1500 on speakers then you could get a decent reciever to go with the speakers. I'd go with a good brand of speakers, not necessarily the best. You'll get more bang for the buck that way.
I'm a bit of an audio nut and as such have put about $3k into my system. It consists of a Yamaha RXV2095 (Pro Logic, DTS, DD, 3 digital inputs, 1 digital output, S-Video switching, 7.1 channels with DSP (makes a BIG DIFFERENCE), 100x5+20x2(for DSP) preamp only for the sub) 4 Polk RT35s for mains and rears (small, reasonably priced, sound good for mids and highs), Polk CS245 for the center, pair of small JBLs for the DSP channels, and for the sub I'm using my old Pioneer reciever to power the woofers on a pair of Cerwin Vega RT35s which sounds surprisingly good.
A few things to look for and avoid:
Look for in the reciever
Make sure it has all of the inputs/outputs you need
Look for something with DD and DTS. I don't know if you will be able to tell the difference on this system, but I can definately tell a difference on mine...You'll just have to listen and decide
Look for a company that does NOT make speakers. I've found that companies that do both do neither particularly well. Yamaha is a bit of an exception to this rule, but I find that Yamaha recievers are much better for home theater than they are for straight music listening, so decide whether you're a home theater or music first group.
Stuff to look for in speakers
Size: do you have room for the speaker
If you're more into music than surround movies then go with floor-standing mains. If you're more into movies then look at smaller satellite speakers because a narrow speaker will provide a more precise surround image.
I can't emphasize enough listen to the speakers IN YOUR HOME before you buy them.
Things to avoid
Home theater packages
Bose speakers. They're small and sound good at low volume but you can get a much better speaker for the money that sounds much better at higher volumes.
$400-$500 subwoofers. The arrangement I'm using for my bass reproduction sounds better than any subwoofer I've listened to in the price range. I suggest if your current stereo system has good bass then hook it up to the sub preamp output on your new reciever. Floorstanding speakers also make great stands for smaller satelite mains.
I have had bad experiences with lower model Sony and Pioneer recievers.
One thing many people forget is RCA cables. If you're hooking up any equipment through analog outputs then DO NOT SKIMP ON THE CABLES. The noise and signal lose in analog cables is very noticable once amplified. Note I'm not referring to coaxial digital connections. If you think you can tell the difference between coax vs. fiberoptic digital connections then your just deluding yourself. If you do hook up your digital I/O with coax get a good cable, but I'd stick with optical hookups because the cables are cheaper for the same quality signal.
Well now that I've droned on for an hour, let me close by saying good luck. I'm sure you can put together a very good sounding system for the money; you just have to do your homework. No-one can suggest the optimal system for you without knowing your ears and your listening habits
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I know this is a joke, but the 20 minutes figure is 1-way, so the ping times would be roughly double what you've stated. With both planets at aphelion and mars in conjunction with the sun, the ping time would be a minimum of 2,677,361ms (44 minutes 36.4 seconds) discounting slowing of light through the atmospheres of both planets.
My roommate and I did something similar to this in college, except we used a low-powered laser. Our goal wasn't to make a tv-type display; it was to make something similar the the laser projectors used at laser shows. There were no lenses involved. We bought 2 cheapo 4-watt speakers and ripped the cones out. Then we rubber cemented a mirror from the solanoid to the edge. We then mounted these at 90 degrees to each other and shined the laser so it reflected off both mirrors then hit the projection surface. We hooked the speakers up to an amplified sound card and generated frequencies that painted pictures with the laser. It worked great except we couldn't turn the laser off to make discontinuous objects, frequency response characteristics of the speakers and sound card limited what we could draw, one color, and our 0.5mW laser wasn't bright enough to cover large areas.
Why not just carry around a 30GB hard drive in your pocket...it's cheaper and probably faster.
From their letter they never actually say that the data in CDDB is their IP, but at the end of the letter they start talking about interfaces. It could be that Gracenote has not only sold a license to use the CDDB database to Roxio/Adaptec, but they may have sold them a license for a set of libraries to provide access to the database. Of course the license to use the proprietary libraries could say that they can't be used to connect to a competing database. If this is the case and Roxio/Adaptec hasn't written their own libraries to access FreeDB then Roxio/Adaptec would be in violation of that license.
Stuff to look for in speakers
Things to avoid
One thing many people forget is RCA cables. If you're hooking up any equipment through analog outputs then DO NOT SKIMP ON THE CABLES. The noise and signal lose in analog cables is very noticable once amplified. Note I'm not referring to coaxial digital connections. If you think you can tell the difference between coax vs. fiberoptic digital connections then your just deluding yourself. If you do hook up your digital I/O with coax get a good cable, but I'd stick with optical hookups because the cables are cheaper for the same quality signal. Well now that I've droned on for an hour, let me close by saying good luck. I'm sure you can put together a very good sounding system for the money; you just have to do your homework. No-one can suggest the optimal system for you without knowing your ears and your listening habits