Jet Set Fetish
Widow’s Heartbreak
2019-11-07
Waffles and Spaghetti
Several years ago DV had shown me a comedy clip about how men’s and women’s brains differ. Recently I was pointed at a book called Men are Like Waffles—Women are Like Spaghetti that seems to have largely the same premise.
2019-09-26
2019-09-09
Beeswax Extruder
This beeswax extruder showed up in the Beekeeping Hacks group on FB in response to someone who wanted to fabricate drawn comb. Since it's open-source, it'd be interesting to look into—if I ever make the time!
2019-08-17
M61 Reloads
7.62 NATO AP projectiles (M61 pulldowns) can be had on Gunbroker. A forum linked to a page showing reload recipes.
USE LAKE CITY BRASS, CCI LARGE RIFLE PRIMERS, "147"GR .30 AP BULLETS, AND 46.0 GRAINS OF HODGDON'S "VARGET". SEAT BULLET TO THE FIRST CANNELURE. VELOCITY MEASURED 2645 fps OUT OF A FAL. UNSCIENTIFIC TESTING AGAINST A STOUT ROAD BARRICADE (THAT IS KEEPING THE PEASANTS OUT OF "FEDERAL" LAND) SHOWED COMPLETE PENETRATION WHERE ALL OTHER BULLET STRIKES FROM CALIBERS UNKNOWN MERELY SCRATCHED THE PAINT. YOU CAN SUBSTITUE 44.3 GRAINS OF WC844 FOR A VELOCITY OF 2630. VELOCITIES COULD BE IMPROVED SOMEWHAT WITH THE VARGET POWDER; TESTING CONTINUES...
2019-06-11
Moe Cason
At the Brownells 80th Anniversary event last weekend, there was a BBQ food truck by Moe Cason. The guy next to me in line told me that they're award-winning, having placed at an international competition. I can't recall if he said 1st or 3rd, but both are in Des Moines. So next time I drive through Des Moines, I'll have to stop by. And still hit Joe's in KC!
2019-03-26
Packages via Mail
There are a number of places that still ship package bees via mail, either USPS or UPS. 3-lb packages, unless otherwise noted.
It seems perhaps more economical to get a cheaper package initially, build up their numbers, and then introduce a queen of the desired type, since the queens are typically $30-40 each and could be used to split an established hive.
- Mountain Sweet Honey [GA] - Italian, $125-ish
- Kelley Beekeeping [KY] - Italian, Carniolan, or Saskatraz, $198-ish
- Gold Star Honeybees [GA/TN] - mixed-breed, winter hardened (supposedly), treatment-free, $185
- R Weaver Apiaries [TX] - Buckfast, clipped/marked, shipped via UPS, $175
- Winters Apiary [TN] - Caucasian, shipped via UPS, $140
- Roberts Bee Company (H&R Apiaries) [GA] - Italian?, $87 for 2-lb, $97 for 3-lb
It seems perhaps more economical to get a cheaper package initially, build up their numbers, and then introduce a queen of the desired type, since the queens are typically $30-40 each and could be used to split an established hive.
2019-01-06
Food-Safe Filament
If planning to 3D-print items that would come in contact with food, it's wise to make sure it's food-safe. The MakerGeeks store has a page listing a number of options. t-glase filament I'd seen on Amazon as being food-safe.
VPN on Synology
Synology has a built-in VPN server, which is pretty nice. Their knowledgebase details how to set it up.
Form 1 Forums
Once SD Tactical got their hand slapped by the ATF for selling solvent traps, their forum was gutted. Someone else started a forum for Form 1 builds, which appears to have a lot of good info. Well, I have stamps for at least three Form 1 cans that I haven't built yet....
One useful thread is the list of solvent trap manufacturers. Another thread posted a link to B-tube-sized cones (not drilled).
One useful thread is the list of solvent trap manufacturers. Another thread posted a link to B-tube-sized cones (not drilled).
HK91 Locking Piece for Sound Suppression
In order to use a can on a PTR-91 or other G3/91 clone, apparently it's necessary to use a different locking piece that slows down the bolt carrier with the increased back-pressure. Rim Country Manufacturing sells a #17, 36° part that fits the bill. $50 ain't so bad. They also have US-made trunions, bolt carriers, and bolt heads for MP5- and 53-type actions.
Extending the Life of SD Card in Linux
Around the time I was looking at RPi power save, I was also checking into how to mitigate the effects of regular writes to the cheap SD card. (Well, not so cheap, since I buy Samsung NAND.) One link I found had references to several other sites. The answer on the StackExchange page was pretty useful.
Amusingly enough, I left the HomeGenie event stream enabled for debug, which was generating output every 30 seconds...for at least a year. I'd imagine the card is pretty well worn by now.
Amusingly enough, I left the HomeGenie event stream enabled for debug, which was generating output every 30 seconds...for at least a year. I'd imagine the card is pretty well worn by now.
2019-01-04
LG TV
The 55UK6090PUA was on sale at Sam’s Club for $400. The picture was better than the comparable Sharp, and it was made in Mexico instead of China. Another demerit to the Sharp was that the model in-store wasn’t listed on the manufacturer’s website, which gives me the heebie-jeebies.
What I didn’t care for in the LG is the lack of smartphone apps to control the onscreen display, like the Sony has, but if mainly using the Apple TV, the iPhone app can be used. Overall, though, it was a good value and the picture is quite good.
What I didn’t care for in the LG is the lack of smartphone apps to control the onscreen display, like the Sony has, but if mainly using the Apple TV, the iPhone app can be used. Overall, though, it was a good value and the picture is quite good.
2019-01-02
HomeGenie
Well, I've had a motion sensor sitting around for at least a year, unused because I couldn't get it to work with HomeGenie. Turns out I was just overlooking a comment in the settings to associate the device with group 1, as noted in an archived forum post. (Yeah, I could use SmartThings instead of a roll-my-own system, but I figure it'll be harder for people to futz with an oddball config. Plus, the homebrew system isn't open to the Net: I have to connect via VPN in order to get access, unlike SmartThings.)
Then there's linking the switch to the sensor with the built-in "Smart Lights" program. That was disabled so I enabled it an it shut off the lights once, but the sensor appeared to have gone to sleep. Getting closer, but not quite there yet.
Oh yeah, since the Pepper1 database of Z-Wave devices used by HomeGenie was shut down, as noted in the new forum, there's an alternate location to query. I'll have to download the newer version of HomeGenie to see if they've picked up this newer site; otherwise, one can add one's own devices to a local archive.
One blog post I read when I was setting up my automation compared HomeSeer, HomeGenie, and Domoticz. The author preferred Domoticz, but I don't like the idea of having a separate library for Z-Wave.
Then there's linking the switch to the sensor with the built-in "Smart Lights" program. That was disabled so I enabled it an it shut off the lights once, but the sensor appeared to have gone to sleep. Getting closer, but not quite there yet.
Oh yeah, since the Pepper1 database of Z-Wave devices used by HomeGenie was shut down, as noted in the new forum, there's an alternate location to query. I'll have to download the newer version of HomeGenie to see if they've picked up this newer site; otherwise, one can add one's own devices to a local archive.
One blog post I read when I was setting up my automation compared HomeSeer, HomeGenie, and Domoticz. The author preferred Domoticz, but I don't like the idea of having a separate library for Z-Wave.
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