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In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. Here's a neat little project -- a parametric speaker that can only really be heard from the front. According to its inventor, the Soundlazer utilizes ultrasonic carrier waves, focusing its output in a single direction. The Soundlazer has a 20 to 30 foot range. You can hear it from head-on, but if you move to the side or shift the direction of the speaker a bit, the output drops off. The project has 52 days to go, to reach its goal of $48,000. Interested parties who pledge $175 or more will get a fully assembled speaker kit. To see the device in action, check out the video after the break. Previous project update: Well, lookee here -- it seems the public can't wait to get its hands on one of those cool Galileo iPhone platforms. The device has gone well passed its funding goal of $100,000, with 24 days left to contribute.

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Insert Coin: Soundlazer speaker plays music with extreme focus

For most of his life, Merced's Jim Stofle has been interested in coins. His knowledge and appreciation of coins have led to a much-heralded ability to evaluate rare examples.

When Stofle was about 8 or 9 years old, his baby sitter brought along a shoe box full of coins to entertain her new charge. Stofle, now 56, still has one of those coins, known as a Fugio cent, which today is worth about $5,000 on the collector's market.

A life member of the American Numismatic Association, Stofle entered his first-ever grading contest last month at the Long Beach Coin Expo. He correctly judged 12 out of 20 coins and missed six others by only one point. His prize was a Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle $20 gold piece valued at $2,500, along with considerable bragging rights.

Stofle said he had 20 minutes to judge 20 coins; it only took him only five minutes to get the job done, but about a minute of that time was spent analyzing one tarnished coin. He got that one right, too; three other contestants got nine right out of 20 samples.

Stofle's friend Bill Shamhart of Morris County, N.J., said Stofle is a natural at grading coins. Shamhart teaches advanced grading classes and says not everyone knows how to grade coins. Some students eventually will learn grading skills, but Stofle's talents will only get sharper as he practices, his friend said.

Stofle modestly says professional coin graders regularly get 18 out of 20 coins right. Some of the more brilliant younger collectors who have an eye for grading coins have been recruited by professional grading companies to grade coins rather than deal in them. Shamhart said that if Stofle graded coins every day, he also would get almost all coins right quickly.

Coincidentally, Stofle discovered that Shamhart's father, a B-52 instructor pilot at Castle Air Force Base, was stationed here in the late 1960s and early 1970s and Shamhart lived in Merced during that time. Stofle and Shamhart have met numerous times at the annual collectors' conventions.

"Most coins are pretty easy for me to grade," Stofle said. "I can't explain it, but I just look at the coin and know what the grade is. Due to the recession, coins have decreased 20 to 30 percent in value, except for extremely rare ones."

Coins are graded between one and 70 points, with points subtracted for flaws. Stofle uses three magnifiers to spot the scuffs and nicks that coins accumulate over time. When they are lumped together in sacks, coins get marks as they rub together, and that detracts from their value.

Stofle, a certified public accountant who's lived in Merced for 46 years, said he is more driven by the history of a certain coin than the fact it's rare. He said there's quite a bit of speculation in collector coins but the average old coin, like houses, is down about a third in value today.

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Merced coin collector has national reputation as assessor

Traditional tower desktops have had a good run. All-in-one PCs--expensive upstarts just two or three years ago--have all but usurped the throne.

Towers will always have a special place in our hearts, as well as under the desks of enthusiasts and professionals who need more power and versatility. But for many PC users today, all-in-ones just make more sense. They take up a fraction of the space of a traditional PC, without sacrificing much in the way of performance. And that performance has improved while prices have dropped, so you dont have to compromise. Most important, all-in-ones are paving the way for touchscreen adoption outside of tablets and smartphones. Touch and gestures are baked into the very core of Microsofts Windows 8, and all-in-ones will be ahead of the curve.

Youll find no stronger evidence of the trend than the great selection of all-in-one PCs available today. Big-name desktop makers such as HP and Lenovo offer a wide array of all-in-ones, and Dell has jumped in on the action. Even laptop manufacturers like Samsung have recently introduced their first all-in-ones (and, not coincidentally, their first desktops) in years. You can expect plenty more once Windows 8 arrives, and Intels Ivy Bridge CPUs will make all-in-one PCs faster and slimmer still.

Overall, the options are great: If youd like a large display to complement (or replace) a television, they dont come any bigger than the HP Omni 27, a goliath with a gorgeous 27-inch screen. If you need to do some work, youll find plenty of strong performers: Lenovos ThinkCentre Edge line stands out, providing machines that are attractive, powerful, and stocked with security software and utilities that small businesses can appreciate.

We tested all of these all-in-ones with our revamped WorldBench 7 benchmark suite, which pits PCs against a battery of tests based on real-world usage models. Be sure to read "How We Test PCs" to learn all about our new methods and the apps we use.

1. HP Touchsmart 9300 Elite: The Consummate Workhorse

HP's 23-inch TouchSmart 9300 Elite is a business-centric, all-in-one powerhouse. It may not be much to look at--it's boring yet functional--but it delivers excellent performance and sits on an easy-to-adjust stand; the reclining design is very comfortable to use. It even tackles multimedia rather well. As befits a business PC, our test model ran the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Professional. If youre seeking to get things done, this all-in-one fits the bill very nicely.

2. HP Omni 27: Big Things in a Big Package

When we first saw HPs Omni 27 sitting in the PCWorld Labs, we were absolutely taken by its gorgeous, edge-to-edge, 27-inch glass screen. The rest of the design leaves a little to be desired, but this screen is definitely a step in the right direction. The only real complaint we have is that its not a touchscreen, which is pretty much standard for all-in-ones these days. Nevertheless, this is definitely an all-in-one that can double as a small television. In our tests, for example, Blu-ray playback was excellent, and HD video streaming looked very smooth.

3. Lenovo IdeaCentre B320: HDTV, Budget All-in-One, or Just Confused?

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7 Great All-in-One Desktop PCs

Jordan Milliken, 12, of Fort Dodge, brought part of his coin collection to the annual Fort Dodge Coin Club show at the Crossroads Mall.

He wasn't trying to sell it. He was looking for more specimens to add to it from the nearly 25 vendors at the show.

He said he began collecting in 2008 and has gravitated towards specializing in coins with errors.

Like many other collectors, he's had the good luck to find collectible coins in change.

"I found a 1943 Mercury dime," he said. "If somebody is dumb enough to spend it, I'll take it."

He also found a another dime with an error.

"I noticed the sharp edge," he said.

When Pete Fritz began collecting coins in 1952, the most difficult part was keeping the collection.

"It was very hard," he said. "Sometimes the coins would come out so we could go to the show."

Fritz said that coin collecting offers many benefits for young collectors.

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Collectors seek more than pocket change

March 23, 2012 APD arrest two for damage to coin-operated machines

Rich Flowers The Athens Review The Athens Daily Review Fri Mar 23, 2012, 07:11 PM CDT

Athens The Athens Police Department arrested two men, Thursday, for damage caused to coin-operated machines at a car wash on West Corsicana Street.

Jeffrey Bud Anding, 49, and Kevin Dwayne Smith, were each booked into the Henderson County Jail for criminal mischief ($1,500 to $20,000). Each of the suspects posted bond, Friday, and was released.

APD dispatch received a call Thursday morning reporting the damage to the machines. Lt. Michael Davis took the report, and gathered evidence concerning the offense. APD was able to identify Anding and Smith as suspects in the case.

Anding and Smith were brought to the police station, and interviewed concerning the car wash damage. Based on the evidence gathered and the interview, they were paced under arrest. Det. William Carlow also participated in the case.

Smith was arrested in December in connection with a series of burglaries in the Athens area. An arraignment hearing on that case is scheduled for April 4.

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APD arrest two for damage to coin-operated machines