Might be worth exploring: LWCO
2024-11-03
Generator Propane Conversions
For future reference:
- Hutch Mountain
- Grenergy: uses a machined-aluminum insert to connect to the carburetor.
- Motor Snorkel / US Carburation: 2/3 the price of Hutch Mtn and Grenergy.
2024-10-12
Odyssey Parts
AAA has a car repair estimator that I'd think would be useful. Except around town, those prices are lower than the estimates one will actually get!
Autozone has a Duralast sway bar for $43/ea, and KYB rear shocks for $83/ea.
A place called Bernardi Parts has the OEM Honda parts (Odyssey). The sway bars for $31/ea (although the flange nuts are probably needed too), and the OEM rear shock assembly is $169/ea.
2024-10-09
Unpublished
Blogger is showing me this error on the blog home page:
2024-10-08
Letter Archival
One of the things that's out of hand in my papers is letters and such from others. I don't get as many as I used to, nor do I write as many, but I would like to have a way to organize the material.
There are a couple sites that turned up regarding saving documents. One is from Gaylord Archival, which sells archival products: Preserving Handwritten Letters. The other is from the Smithsonian: Preserving Your Letters and Documents.
Long Time No Lync
I've been so busy that I haven't had time to link dump, even, so my tabs keep accruing. To the tune of over 450 open in Safari on my iPhone. Wut. That must say something about my lack of organizational ability! Still working on that part.
2023-05-08
シースコッファー
Or so it’s called in Japanese airsoft circles, although apparently it’s really called “Spezialkoffer”. Some dork on Facebook imported one to try to stuff a real MP5K into it, but apparently it needs a shell deflector. $600 for a replica? Ouch. Just searching for 「シースコッファー」 will turn up a bunch of hits.
2023-04-16
Cultural Dimensions Test
Someone I know (KBL) posted their results to FB. Here's a link the test for whenever I feel like I have the time for it: Cultural Dimensions Test
2022-10-07
Ham BBS
Another mini link dump...from RJS:
2022-04-16
Link Dump
I can't he'p it!
- The Ultimate Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies: The Cookie Calculator
- Grrilla grill tool
- Vienna Teng's Waking Hour (no link)
- Synology Drive ShareSync: to link up multiple Synology NAS boxes
- Covid Infographic "Datapack"
- Flaky Butter Pie Crust recipe from "num's the word" via Yummly
- Pistol Stabilizing Braces without Determination Letters via Ammoland
- The million-hour light bulb
- Japan's "Border measures to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19)" as of 2022.01.18
2022-04-13
Analog
Well, being that I mostly work with the digital side of things and my professional exposure to analog electronics is minimal, I thought that I could fulfill that part of my experience via delving deeper into amateur radio.
Part of the problem with longer-distance radio communications is the need for lower frequencies (at least below VHF), which requires more expensive equipment and antennas. Some people build their own antennas, but for the HF noob, perhaps pre-built ones are more accessible. Buckmaster has an off-center-fed dipole antenna that covers seven bands, which may be where I should start.
One thing about ham radio is being able to find active frequencies. To that end, I've poked at using Airspy with an RTL-SDR to find conversations to eavesdrop on. Ultimately I'd like to get a portable, self-contained setup on a Raspberry Pi with a display to run all the time, or at least on a timer. On that note, RPi projects for ham radio, I found a project site that has some useful information.
Lastly, while looking for SDRs, I found Analog Devices' learning toolkit for SDR, ADALM-PLUTO. More interestingly, they have a 25 MHz oscilloscope device called the ADALM2000 that plugs into a USB port, for only $200, along with an analog electronics learning package. That would sure be fun to poke at.
2021-10-16
Antennas
In keeping with a resurgence in ham radio concerns....
- Tri-band Smiley Antenna (telescoping UHF/VHF)
- Chameleon Antenna MPAS 2.0 (portable 6m - 160m)
Who knows if I'll ever get 'em, but hey.
Bonding/Grounding CSST
Structure Tech (home inspectors up in the 'Cities) post interesting info on Facebook, but they also have interesting articles. The inspector for my place mentioned something about CSST bonding, which I need to review again. In any case, ST posted a howto on bonding CSST.
2021-08-20
Dinner
Yesterday’s dinner was chicken carbonara (the recipe was for tuna, but I had canned chicken) and roasted broccoli with ginger. The recipes were good, but the execution lacking 😂
2021-04-17
Adding WiFi to Ooma Device
I had an original Ooma device without WiFi built in. There's an Ooma adapter available for an unreasonable sum: $35, although it also has Bluetooth capability. I found a forum post that talks about how to use a generic USB WiFi adapter to turn the Ooma wireless.
The Netis WF2120 works and is only $7, but it needs some configuration. Plug the Ooma into a computer with an Ethernet cable via the Home port, not the Internet port. Then connect to http://172.27.35.1/ click on Wireless on the left and enter the wireless network's information.
Turns out my original Ooma is still alive, but the power brick died. I figured it was time to retire the old one, but it seems like they last for a while. The original unit I had for probably a decade.
2021-01-08
Split: Divorce Through Kids' Eyes
The UMN Extension parenting class linked to this short video about divorce from a kid's perspective. Of course my ex wouldn't do the class....
Roblox Safety
2021-01-04
2020-05-01
Inventor of the Honey Extractor
2012 Delegates to RNC from Minnesota
Delegation chair: Marianne Stebbins
Delegates
At-Large: Scott Andersen, Bayport - Michele Bachmann, Stillwater - Kurt Bills, Rosemount - Kimlinh Bui, Eden Prairie - Gene Dornink, Hayfield - Patricia Anderson Gallwas, Dellwood - Eric Goodrich, Eagan - Jeff Johnson, Plymouth - Branden Petersen, Andover - Josh Regnier, St. Paul - Mark Santelman, Winthrop - Pat Shortridge, Lino Lakes - Marianne Stebbins, Excelsior - Rudy Takala, Pine City - John Trojack, Mendota Heights - Craig Westover, Afton
1st District: Bill Paulsen, Lonsdale - Steven L. Perkins, Luverne - Josh Wilkening, New Ulm
2nd District: Ted Anderson, Rosemount - Tom Dippel, Cottage Grove - Greg O'Connor, Inver Grove Heights
3rd District: Marge Beard, Plymouth - Gary Heyer, Chaska - Kevin Masrud, Chaska
4th District: John Kossett, Vadnais Heights - Nate Waldron, St. Paul - Mark Zasadny, Roseville
5th District: Russ Hilk, Minneapolis - Mark Johnson, Minneapolis - Juliette Jordal, Minneapolis
6th District: Ben Barringer, Elk River - Stacy Morse, Monticello - Christi Scherber, Richmond
7th District: Bill Batchelder, Bemidji - Raymond Rivera, Redwood Falls - Bonnie Wilhelm, Willmar
8th District: Kevin Erickson, Mountain Iron - Bea Kehr, Duluth - Charlie Strickland, Jr., Ogilvie
Alternates
At-Large: Sonia Evans, Coon Rapids - Derek Flom, Chaska - Steven Grotting, Independence - Daniel Gustafson, Delano - Karl Hanson, Medina - Dan Johanneck, Wabasso - Jennifer VanDerHorst Larson, Orono - Ken Lucier, Moorhead - Neil Lynch, Maple Grove - Adam Pace, Winona - Brian Paukert, Faribault - Melissa Valeriano, Rochester - Yelena Vorobyov-Grisham, Apple Valley
1st District: Bill Fisher, Chatfield - Jen Jacobson, Austin - Duane Quam, Byron
2nd District: John Myser, Mendota Heights - Tiana Wells, Dundas - Mark Westpfahl, Inver Grove Heights
3rd District: Rolf Erickson, Plymouth - Jake Severance, Loretto - Dave Wahlstedt, Excelsior
4th District: MaryAnn Andersen, Bayport - Wayde Brooks, St. Paul - Doug Meyer, Stillwater
5th District: Jon Hartung, Minneapolis - Joel Lemke, Minneapolis - Corey Sax, Minneapolis
6th District: Jim Bendtsen, Ramsey - Steve King, Centerville - Adam Motzko, Delano
7th District: Andrew Plowman, Willmar - Karen Prischmann, Fergus Falls - Patty Seifert, Grey Eagle
8th District: Kurt Daudt, Zimmerman - Becky Hall, Duluth - Barbara Haney, Brainerd
2020-04-01
Powder Substitutes
- Taco seasoning: 1 tbsp chili powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1-1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp sea salt, 1 tsp black pepper
- Chili powder: 1 tsp paprika, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp oregano, 2 tsp garlic powder
If the chili powder recipe is legit, then the taco seasoning recipe could be restated by increasing the proportions of the constituent spices....
Another one that'd be useful is tomato sauce: I sure have a lot of tomato paste, just not the sauce!
2020-02-27
Science Experiments
2020-01-09
Precious Metals Clay
Mitsubishi has a page on the PMC series, but conspicuously don't mention any of the kits that they used to produce! At least there's some English instructions on the page. The Japanese page links to several other pages, including to a neat fan page, 「ギンダラケ倶楽部」. Another site, silver-clay.com, has a number of the PMC materials for sale, as does Amazon. It seems to be about 3x the cost of the base metal, at least for silver. The only place I found online that sells the fuel tabs is "Best from Japan", which ships from Japan and doesn't have the item in stock. Shipping is of course either SAL, with a huge lead time, or EMS, with a huge price tag.
2020-01-04
Calyx Institute
The Calyx Institute is an educational organization that develops frameworks, tools, and sets of best practices to promote privacy on the Internet and in the field of telecommunications. For the past few years, one of our goals has been to do research on to develop Internet access strategies that offer "Privacy by Design".
Oxalic Dribble
Scientific Beekeeping mentioned using a water-only base for the oxalic. Another article suggests treating package bees initially. This makes sense in that they’ll be carrying phoretic mites and the number can be drastically reduced if treated prior to the development of brood.
One paper describes using oxalic and thymol together. I was more interested in the dosages mentioned.