So I don't forget, my model of MacBook Pro is the mid-2009 version. Sure doesn't seem like I bought it five years ago. The most amusing thing is that 20 years ago, that would've brought a sea change in computing hardware. Now things have slowed down somewhat.
Apple's support site has a page describing how to swap out memory, which appears to cover the HDD as well.
Perhaps it's blasphemy, but I'm finally thinking about replacing the HDD with an SSD. Even worse, I'm thinking of a Samsung, the 840 EVO, because it's got the best-in-class performance. It ought to be a huge step up from the Fujitsu 160GB HDD currently in there.
The other update would be to expand the memory from 2GB to 4GB. The system supports 8GB, but I'm not sure it's worth maxing out the memory in a dual-core 2.26 GHz system with a 13" display....
2014-06-22
2014-06-14
Lost Youth
Somehow I think most married men in this day and age, subject to all the implied lust in advertising and entertainment, have felt this at some point or another. (Unless they've been through a lot of women prior to getting married, that is.) It's like the single vs. married dilemma: when you're single you want a stable relationship like marriage, but then when you get married you find out it's not all about you anymore and long for your single days. Link source: an article on the Casual Sex Project.
2014-06-13
Local Bees
For the apiarist, some MN bee stores:
- The Bee Shed (Oronoco, MN)
- Bee's Knees Honey Farm (Oronoco, MN)
- B and B Honey Farm (Houston, MN) - lots of equipment
- Mann Lake (Hackensack, MN, as well as sites on the coasts and in the UK) - the biggest beekeeping shop
- CrossRoads Apiaries (Fertile, MN) - no website; Email: crossroads0305@gmail.com, Tel: 218-230-1146
2014-06-11
Links from FB
Stefan Molyneux on the Hypocrisy of Gun Control (from 2007):
A blogger with "A Message for My Beloved Children Who Insist Their Lives Are Really Really Hard"—ugh, HuffPo, but it's a funny post.
How Different Cultures Understand Time, by author Richard Lewis.
The guy who created the company that made the Video Toaster, Tim Jenison, did an analysis of how Vermeer may've created his photo-realistic images--which was turned into a movie by Penn & Teller.
In general, the argument for gun control comes down to this.Indeed, anti-rights activists ignore the aspect of who is doing the confiscating. The implicit statement is that the government has the authority to do all of this, "for the greater good".
Guns are used to commit crimes.
A crime is defined as the initiation of violence against a peaceful citizen.
Thus guns must be restricted or banned, in order to reduce crime.
It is easy to see the illogic of this argument. How does the government go about banning guns? Why, by initiating violence against those who possess them “illegally.” Thus there is no way to ban guns without initiating the use of force – in other words, a certain crime must be committed for the sake of possibly preventing an unknown crime at some point in the future. We might as well jump off a cliff when we are 20 to prevent the possibility of falling off a cliff when we are 70.
A blogger with "A Message for My Beloved Children Who Insist Their Lives Are Really Really Hard"—ugh, HuffPo, but it's a funny post.
How Different Cultures Understand Time, by author Richard Lewis.
The guy who created the company that made the Video Toaster, Tim Jenison, did an analysis of how Vermeer may've created his photo-realistic images--which was turned into a movie by Penn & Teller.
2014-06-06
GPS over SDR
The thought occurred to me that perhaps the RTL-SDR dongle could be used to pick up GPS signals. GPS L1 is 1575.42 MHz and L2 is 1227.60 MHz, which are within the range of the R820T tuner's 1700-or-so MHz.
Why, you ask? Because an RTL2832U + R820T dongle is $10, which is a lot cheaper than most of the pluggable GPS modules out there (usually $40+). If the base system is an SBC anyway, then this route is much more economical and flexible. This would also have applications in an SBC-based telemetry system.
Wikipedia has the basic details on GPS and the signals used. The C/A code is 1.023 MHz and the data is 50 bps, so when the SDR is tuned to the carrier this is well within the bandwidth of the RTL2832U. Oddly enough, the R820T spec notes that it only supports up to 1002 MHz.
The University of Colorado has a useful GPS overview that includes more specifics, such as how to calculate the PRNs.
And of course there's already a guy who's been working on GPS over SDR, one Michele Bavaro. Development seems to have stopped, though; and the GPS-SDR site has been converted into a lunch scheduler.
Why, you ask? Because an RTL2832U + R820T dongle is $10, which is a lot cheaper than most of the pluggable GPS modules out there (usually $40+). If the base system is an SBC anyway, then this route is much more economical and flexible. This would also have applications in an SBC-based telemetry system.
Wikipedia has the basic details on GPS and the signals used. The C/A code is 1.023 MHz and the data is 50 bps, so when the SDR is tuned to the carrier this is well within the bandwidth of the RTL2832U. Oddly enough, the R820T spec notes that it only supports up to 1002 MHz.
The University of Colorado has a useful GPS overview that includes more specifics, such as how to calculate the PRNs.
And of course there's already a guy who's been working on GPS over SDR, one Michele Bavaro. Development seems to have stopped, though; and the GPS-SDR site has been converted into a lunch scheduler.
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