Pradhan mentioned that once his iPhone SE bought it, he couldn't get a replacement with the fingerprint sensor. As such, he bought a Nothing phone. Looks interesting, but I don't want Android....
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
2025-07-31
2017-04-30
Another Dated Link Dump
The terrible thing is, often times I never go back to review the link dump....
- How to Build a Worm Tower
- Retractable PVC Hoop House
- How not to get caught in a mass-surveillance world
- 10 corporations control almost everything you buy
- Lifestyle garage screens
- Ocumetics Bionic Lens
- Building a Tin Can WiFi Waveguide Antenna
- Why Young Men Go to War
- FedBizOpps
- Vanity Fair interview with Ed Snowden
2015-06-25
Remainder of Link Dump
It's been a link dump kind of morning. In addition to FFL-Related, BTC Stuff, Aeropress, and Books, I have:
- Andy's Most Useful Knots, a useful reference I found
- Walker Display picture system, seen at Hope Church
- Stamping World's The Strip Joint has a section on draw dies
- Connections, what AJE thought of when I mentioned my technology bootstrap idea
- Cora Deitz images, found via the Kate Upton FB page
- How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic: fodder to counter
2015-03-15
Link Dump!!
- Crash-only software, etc.
- Eat More Fat (sitting in my reader for five months?!)
- Surviving a winter storm without power
- 10 prepper games
- Augmented reality display comparison (Oculus Rift, etc.)
- Radon mitigation (diagram included)
- StartMail (whitepaper)
- Sullivan's Travels (saw this in Nov.)
2014-05-19
Laptop Refresh Dump
Normally I keep a bunch of tabs open in Firefox. Well, today I have to turn in my laptop for the refresh at work, which prompted this link dump.
Broadband Amateur Radio Mesh Networks (HSMM-MESH)
VentureBeat article on mesh networks
(Well, I ought to write that post for BetterOffBitcoin, which I've been putting off....)
Article on how to use Bitcoin to set up an anonymous, self-sustaining website
Lumo Back, a device to help improve one's posture
Automatic, a vehicle telemetry-type device
Funky house blueprints via Wired (this has been in my browser for almost half a year...)
What to do when the Feds usurp power
Knowledge Weighs Nothing's bug-out bag checklist
The ATF's proposed rule change on NFA entities via the Federal Register
Survival Resources, a funky prepper store
Broadband Amateur Radio Mesh Networks (HSMM-MESH)
VentureBeat article on mesh networks
(Well, I ought to write that post for BetterOffBitcoin, which I've been putting off....)
Article on how to use Bitcoin to set up an anonymous, self-sustaining website
Lumo Back, a device to help improve one's posture
Automatic, a vehicle telemetry-type device
Funky house blueprints via Wired (this has been in my browser for almost half a year...)
What to do when the Feds usurp power
Knowledge Weighs Nothing's bug-out bag checklist
The ATF's proposed rule change on NFA entities via the Federal Register
Survival Resources, a funky prepper store
2014-04-23
Displays
This isn't really a link, just an idea so I don't lose it. Thinking about interfacing with an RPi, one of the limitations of having multiple displays is the bandwidth required to drive them all at full-speed. What if you don't need to play video on all of them--maybe just one--and could get by with a couple extra displays for UI that run slower?
I'm thinking windowed interfaces could just transmit bitmap deltas and block transfers to handle UI operations, and either would render a sprite bitmap cursor or respond to touch. In any case, the actual bandwidth required isn't that much most of the time, and could be handled using "low-speed" interfaces. Call it "low-bandwidth graphical interface"?
I'm thinking windowed interfaces could just transmit bitmap deltas and block transfers to handle UI operations, and either would render a sprite bitmap cursor or respond to touch. In any case, the actual bandwidth required isn't that much most of the time, and could be handled using "low-speed" interfaces. Call it "low-bandwidth graphical interface"?
2014-03-27
MaidSafe
So I've been remiss in posting lately....
Here's one that's been sitting in my browser for a while: MaidSafe, which I found out about through Bitcointalk. Silly name, interesting concept. Sounds more like what the Internet was supposed to be.
Here's one that's been sitting in my browser for a while: MaidSafe, which I found out about through Bitcointalk. Silly name, interesting concept. Sounds more like what the Internet was supposed to be.
2013-12-08
USB Charging Basics
Somewhere I came upon a link to Maxim IC's page on USB battery charging. Pretty interesting info, albeit containing sections specific to Maxim's hardware.
2013-11-26
Hybrid Gas Water Heater
The wife's been complaining about the limited hot water from our ancient (ca 1996) tank-type water heater. In Japan, of course, they use tankless heaters, which is evinced by the major manufacturers being Japanese: Rinnai and Noritz. Anyway, recently when talking with a builder-type dude, he mentioned hybrids as being the favored type now. When I looked into it, most hybrids are electric, except for the Eternal GU120. The size of the tank isn't clearly specified, but from one of the documents it's implied that it's 2 gallons. $1400, with a $300 tax credit for 2013.
2013-11-11
Solar Power
I've been looking into solar power for prepping purposes, since in the short-term, having comms, non-flammable lights, and such would be useful. Longevity of such devices in an adverse environment is another matter.
The conclusion I drew after a bunch of reading is that I need a monocrystalline solar cell with one or two AGM 12V batteries and a bunch of AA/AAA Eneloop LSD batteries for buffer. The monocrystalline solar cells last 10-20 years (some say up to 30) and have the best output. The absorbed glass mat batteries are deep-cycle, don't leak, and are best to use with solar panels. (Gel batteries might be better still.) Lastly, the Eneloop low-self-discharge batteries, 2nd-gen and later, will retain 80% of their charge for 2 years, making frequent refreshes unnecessary.
I'd like to run a smart charger directly from the 12Vs, but that would require an adapter cable with a voltage regulator. In that case, having an inverter that can provide AC could be useful; the size would depend on the 12Vs.
A gas/propane generator could also be used to recharge the 12Vs, so a charge controller capable of running off of AC would be useful as well.
Another interesting application for prepping would be to buy 12V thermoelectric modules and make a rig to generate electricity from heat sources, i.e. from a cooking stove's waste heat, to recharge 12V batteries. That's a bit more involved, however.
In my quest for knowledge, I ran into a site where the cyclist describes his setup. Certainly, Goal Zero makes the best portable solar panel, but it's spendy. You can get a 100W (monocrystalline) panel for just a hair over twice as much as the 7W GZ panel; however, it won't be very mobile. The Nomad 7 (v2) is just right for a go bag.
The conclusion I drew after a bunch of reading is that I need a monocrystalline solar cell with one or two AGM 12V batteries and a bunch of AA/AAA Eneloop LSD batteries for buffer. The monocrystalline solar cells last 10-20 years (some say up to 30) and have the best output. The absorbed glass mat batteries are deep-cycle, don't leak, and are best to use with solar panels. (Gel batteries might be better still.) Lastly, the Eneloop low-self-discharge batteries, 2nd-gen and later, will retain 80% of their charge for 2 years, making frequent refreshes unnecessary.
I'd like to run a smart charger directly from the 12Vs, but that would require an adapter cable with a voltage regulator. In that case, having an inverter that can provide AC could be useful; the size would depend on the 12Vs.
A gas/propane generator could also be used to recharge the 12Vs, so a charge controller capable of running off of AC would be useful as well.
Another interesting application for prepping would be to buy 12V thermoelectric modules and make a rig to generate electricity from heat sources, i.e. from a cooking stove's waste heat, to recharge 12V batteries. That's a bit more involved, however.
In my quest for knowledge, I ran into a site where the cyclist describes his setup. Certainly, Goal Zero makes the best portable solar panel, but it's spendy. You can get a 100W (monocrystalline) panel for just a hair over twice as much as the 7W GZ panel; however, it won't be very mobile. The Nomad 7 (v2) is just right for a go bag.
2013-03-14
2013-01-03
Online Tools
GinzaMetrics' "lessons learned" for 2012 has a list of online tools that they use that's quite intriguing. To wit:
- git / Github (repository & wikis, nothing else)
- WordPress (migrated from Jekyll in order to allow guest blogging / contributors)
- Dropbox
- Skype
- Google Apps
- DynDNS
- Stripe (payments)
- Tumblr (system status)
- HelloBar (system status)
- Wufoo (landing page management system)
- Trello (issue management)
- Google Doc
- Intercom (analytics)
- Mixpanel and KISSmetrics (analytics)
- Exceptional (bug reporting)
2012-06-06
“We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters"
Since Warren Buffet has demonstrated that he is a senile statist and financial mooch, I need a new hero. Charles Koch is certainly the wealthy libertarian, but both the lack of ideological drive and the falling out with Cato soured me on him too. Then I read an article on Peter Thiel, the gay, libertarian venture capitalist. Although the writer of the New Yorker article injects unnecessary bias and opinions into the text, Thiel sounds like someone who has the right kind of ideas and the initiative to make things happen.
2011-10-16
PPPoE
When putting an integrated DSL modem into bridge mode (RFC 1483), one loses the capability to access the web configuration of the modem, because the router doesn't pass LAN packets out onto its WAN port. The usual option is to take down the Net connection by unplugging the modem from the router's WAN port and plugging it into a LAN port. Apparently there are a few other options, but none of them are really satisfactory in that they either cause additional latency (through use of a switch between the modem and the router) or route instability (via wacky topology). If using a Linux-based router, there appears to be a way to force the system to pass the reserved address out on the WAN port:
#!/bin/sh #IP Address of the modem, must be a different network from your local LAN. #If you use 192.168.x.x for LAN then use 10.0.0.x for modem, etc (basically, pick a free IANA reserved range) #Obviously you need to configure the actual DSL modem to use the address you select in MODEM_IP. MODEM_IP="10.0.0.1" #IP address that will be bound to vlan1, usually safe to just increment MODEM_IP by 1. VLAN_IP="10.0.0.2" #Setup network interface and firewall rules. ifconfig vlan1 $VLAN_IP netmask 255.255.255.0 iptables -A forwarding_rule -d $MODEM_IP -j ACCEPT iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -d $MODEM_IP -j MASQUERADE
2011-05-11
2011-01-14
Sued
A few days ago a coworker asked me and MRG to produce a list of products since Jan. 1, 2003 with the corresponding data channel used. He said it was for a patent lawsuit, but didn't have additional information. Yesterday he told me that the plaintiff is a company called Lake Cherokee, so we googled it and found the lawsuit: Lake Cherokee Hard Drive Technologies v. Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, LSI Logic, STMicroelectronics, Marvell Semiconductor, et al. ("Hard Drive Technologies"? What the fuck do they do besides sue real HDD-related companies?)
Turns out this has to do with something I heard about a couple months ago: the senior integration guy was looking for specs dating back to the late '90s. This was before I joined, but I knew where to find the info. The first item in the lawsuit shouldn't apply to HGST, because the internal channel's error measurement circuit predates '98—we have prior art. The second one might be applicable; I don't actually know the details.
Turns out this has to do with something I heard about a couple months ago: the senior integration guy was looking for specs dating back to the late '90s. This was before I joined, but I knew where to find the info. The first item in the lawsuit shouldn't apply to HGST, because the internal channel's error measurement circuit predates '98—we have prior art. The second one might be applicable; I don't actually know the details.
2010-12-09
Low-tech Magazine
I posted this to my other blog (or should I say blag), but via the Woodpile Report I came across Low-tech Magazine and an article on historic electric cars.
My response to a Facebook comment on my post:
My response to a Facebook comment on my post:
My beef isn't with car companies per se. It's with our mentality in general that says "oh this is new and glorious" when it's really older than grandma. And technology evolves quickly in some ways and unexpectedly slowly in others, usually determined by our focus as a society.The rest of my response degenerated into a rant against unions, but I suppose I can't help from veering off when all the subjects are interrelated.
2010-10-26
Funky Eyeglasses
WSJ ran an article on some funky glasses that the wearer can change the focus on. The company's now called Super Focus. It'll be interesting to see how the market accepts their product. If the glasses could correct for slight changes in vision, they'd make a good item to tuck away for emergency use....
2010-02-10
Augmented Reality Wi-Fi Helicopter
Russ sent me a link to the Parrot AR.Drone site. I want. Of course the salient question is: how much does the damn thing cost?!
2010-01-20
4A & The Cloud
How does the 4th Amendment apply to cloud computing? The law ought to err on the side of privacy. And I just had to make a comment:
@Demerit
Re automatic weapons v. the 2nd Amendment, it is very cut and dried. The people were intended to have access to the same weapons as the military, because the people themselves were intended to be the country's defense. The only fuzzy category of weapons is of the nuclear type -- most people couldn't afford those anyway, though. Hell, I don't trust the government to have military weapons! They have a monopoly of force. Things would be much better off if the thugs in charge couldn't muscle the people around so much.
Re Roe v. Wade: the issue is if the unborn infant is a full-fledged human or not, with all the rights and privileges thereof, because if it were, terminating it is malum in se. And since there's no practical difference between a child just before and just after birth, nor is there a logical and consistent way to delineate a clear point in gestation where one's humanity begins, it must in fact be at conception. However, as a society we make trade-offs: for example, we execute criminals who are a quantifiable threat to society (for non-supporters of capital punishment, an executed life sentence is virtually the same effect). Most of us do not consider that malum in se. If there's any argument for abortion it must be a rationale for trading an infant's life for a comparable objective (such as saving the life of the mother).
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