Bread is transformative. That’s the word that keeps recurring in the literature, “transformative”. It’s true. There is, on the face of it, no way it could not be. Bread does not occur in nature. It is artificial. It is an artifact. It is ancient, and therefore in a sense an ancient artifact, one from which we still have a huge amount to learn about the past. About our past as humans.
Happy Hacker’s Notebook: Opening the case of the HP 14-an013nr
One of the biggest hurdles in upgrading or modifying the HP 14-an013nr is just getting the case open. HP doesn’t have any incentive to make this easy, they want to sell you more computers, having you upgrading them interferes with that.
Happy Hacker’s Notebook: Desoldering surface mount devices with a headlight bulb.
Judging by the video, aside from being very, very dangerous in at least three different ways and probably more, this seems to actually work very well for very little money, and it fills a very real need (otherwise nobody would have been nuts enough to try it).
The Real Problem with Consumer Computers
Okay, the price wasn’t down there with Raspberry Pi stuff, but get this: for less than $200 you could buy a notebook computer with a quad-core processor, a 14-inch full HD screen (1920×1060), HDMI out, USB 3.0 (one, plus two 2.0), and 4GM of RAM upgradable to 16GB. Nominally the catch was the storage, this was in the “Chromebook” category (even though it was running Windows 10, not Chrome OS) so.. they crippled the storage capacity. Big time. There was only a sad, slow little 32GB M.2 eMMC board running through an adapter to make it look like a real SSD… but if you opened the case, there was a vacant space for a hard drive or SSD, only lacking a cable and caddy, and another empty space sized for an optical drive (but with no case opening) that could easily hold a SSD and an optical-to-SATA adapter taken from an $8 caddy, giving you any amount of fast storage you cared to pay for. It was made by Hewlett-Packard (HP), and it had the lovely and memorable name of 14-on013nr. It was a bargain, and with a little work and a little money you could hot-rod this sleeper into a very usable general-purpose notebook for a fraction of the typical prices of anything comparable.
The PirateBox Pi Papoose
The basic idea is that you’ll be able to walk into a coffeehouse or take a table on the sidewalk somewhere, pull out a notebook computer with some electronic bits stuck somehow to the back of the lid (very cyberpunk aesthetic, sort of like a DeLorean with high-tech stuff stuck on the outside), have PirateBox up and running in the background to entice other folks around to log in and share whatever while you work on the notebook and on the Internet in the foreground, but you’re still able to connect to the PirateBox, monitor and control things there from the notebook.
Emergency one-person survival stove- the best choice is alcohol, 91% of the time.
So, we have trail equipment stores, hardware stores of various types, liquor stores, drug stores, convenience stores, grocery stores, boating equipment stores and marinas as possible sources if you’re afoot on your own. That’s pretty versatile. I don’t think any other liquid fuel comes close, unless you’re willing to use automotive gasoline, which requires special stoves and a lot of ventilation and there’s still danger.
PirateBox – Host a Wireless LAN Party Anywhere, From Your Pocket
What PirateBox is, is free, simple software that runs on dirt-cheap hardware platforms to run what is effectively an old-style BBS on Wifi instead of copper telephone lines designed for analog voice signals in another age. Not, mind you, on the Internet, but on Wifi.
Home Studio Recording, the Raspberry Pi, and Tracktion
Tracktion as a company seems to be not only supporting Linux and the Raspberry Pi, but quite enthusiastic about it… about “democratizing” home recording by using the latest in inexpensive tech to make it much more affordable.
Bluetooth Gets More Useful… Very Slowly
Obviously, Bluetooth is a digital protocol, and the mini-stereo jack output is analog, so the device doesn’t only contain a Bluetooth receiver, it contains a digital-to-analog converter, or DAC… and with that step we’ve set foot in the analog universe with a very, very inexpensive piece of gear. Is it a good DAC? Is it even adequate? We have no clue, they’re trying not to even bring the issue to mind.The one thing we do know is, whatever the DAC is, it’s cheap.
Men Cooking- Recipe – Basic Brats and Beer
Basic Brats and Beer I served this with roasted cauliflower and broccoli on the side. That’s the usual thing, clean, chop, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, 475 degree F oven for about 12-14 minutes, up to 20 minutes if
Surprise, surprise… survival on Mars will require generalists and appropriate tech, not specialists and high tech.
None of these general thoughts should come as a surprise. Survival on Earth has almost always implied stepping down from whatever level of technology has failed to a level that still works. It’s one of the most fundamental principles, and a reason that the line between “survivalism” and interest in various forms of primitive technology is so blurred.
Verjus… Verjuice
Basically it’s the bottled juice of unripe grapes, used in place of vinegar or citrus juice in recipes. One of the supposed advantages is that it doesn’t clash with wine. That typically applies for me only every few weeks (fewer if I’m cooking for myself, I’m likely to order wine with meals in restaurants) but I like it better than vinegar or citrus in general, it just seems to add a less jarring, or even harsh flavor note. I’m impressed.
Book – Survival Hacks by Creek Stewart
In the 21st Century it is spectacularly difficult to get completely away from trash. If you’re in the suburbs, or rural areas, or even the trails and parks that pass for wilderness in most people’s experience you’re bound to have access to some of the junk that these hacks utilize, and might be very, very grateful for some clues as to how to use it someday.
Survival – Tip – DIY Ranger/Pace Counting Beads, My Current Configuration
I’ve set up a slightly unconventional configuration for my own ranger beads, and I’ll describe here what I’ve done and why.
Survival – Tip – Real DIY Ranger/Pace Counting Beads
Beveled faucet washers make good sense too. If you think about it their normal use requires to resist abrasion and to be constantly immersed in water without ill effect, so they have to be durable and reasonably weatherproof. I have no idea what their ultra-violet (UV) light resistance is like over long periods, it’s probably fine, but if you’re worried you can always hit them with a little spray of Armor-All or similar plastic/rubber preservative, that’s what it’s designed for.
Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools
I subscribed to the mailing list as soon as it started, and while the quality has varied somewhat and there have been times when I felt that it wandered too far into non-utilitarian (non-useful) selections, I’ve never been tempted to un-subscribe, and I’ve learned of a great many useful things from it that I wouldn’t have otherwise known about.
DIY SM7b microphone?
Maybe this dynamic microphone classic is worth the $400 price tag, “Made in Mexico” and all. Maybe not. It has certainly proven itself many times over. Thing is, I’ve got no business owning one even at a quarter of that price. I’ve got negligible microphone experience in recent decades (when I last sang on stage the Electro-Voice EV664 was the mic of choice- ancient history). There’s no way I can remotely justify spending $400 (not to mention $150 for a Cloudlifter CL1, which seems to be the “trick” setup) on this thing.
Of course, I still want one.
Survival – The Magic of the Crooked Stick… and Why it Works
Even at that age, though, I had some rudimentary research ability, and I remember looking up “boomerang” in different references and finding out to my surprise that returning boomerangs were only one category of a larger type, and that larger type was in itself a part of the still larger category of throwing sticks as weapons, all of which seem to have been crooked. This puzzled me greatly, I understood that a fairly specific shape would be required of a throwing stick that would return to its owner (at least if it didn’t hit anything), but why would it be that throwing-sticks in general, that did not return to the thrower, should be crooked?