It would be nice to have curtains that absorb street noise.
Some custom curtain tailors offer a fabric that claims to be soundproof. It’s a little pricey. Not absurdly pricey, but it’s also a bit hard to be confident that such thin fabrics can absorb much sound (they claim 20%).
I would prefer to try hacks. I’ve heard that thick furniture moving pads absorb sound well. I’ve also heard that fiberous fabrics can be effective. For the moment, I probably want to pass on edgy ideas like egg cartons. Maybe later on those. What fabrics are decent for reducing sound? Specifically, I’m wondering about carpets or painter’s drop cloths. Not the simple white canvas drop cloths, but the thicker drop cloths may out of recycled fabrics.
I need to come up with a right angle gearbox (example)
I’m not a blacksmith and local hardware stores are coming up empty apart from selling a right angle drill attachment (which would work but they’re a bit pricey for my purpose).
The purpose: to hide a water valve (positioned upright) & control it from the other side of a wall. (back story)
My ideas so far:
find a broken angle grinder that someone threw away (seems unlikely) & cannabalize the gears
build right angle gears out of wood
harvest worn down bicycle cassettes from the trash and orient them at right angles against each other. They are designed to mate with a chain, so I’m not sure how well it would work. The valve is only turned on/off a couple times per year, so maybe I can get away with it.
go to a toy store and find a kid’s Capsela set (do they still make these?); though I imagine it might exceed the cost of a right angle drill accessory anyway and it would possibly break under stress.
What other tools or appliances should I look for on a dumpster dive which would likely contain a right angle gearbox?
I have a few apparently cast-iron chimneys bedded in concrete. They have no hats on them. I’m not sure how the fireplaces were blocked off but it feels solid, as if they bricked them shut and plastered over it....
The rumor I heard was that if you buy a product that fails before the warranty ends, you do not need to contact the manufacturer (in #Belgium). You can simply return the product to the merchant and the merchant must deal with the warranty service....
People living in Belgium are sometimes legally obligated to perform an administrative task. At the same time, sometimes the only mechanism to do so imposes some technology that’s actually exclusive....
These error 500s are driving me nuts. In the past day I can no longer visit my own profile because of the #error500. I can see my notifications, but I’ve become completely unable to continue a lemmy.world thread for which I have replies & need to reply back to.
I’ve noticed teletext is sent along with broadcast radio as well. E.g. smartphones with an FM receiver are able to show the station callsign and the name of the currently playing artist. So my question is, is scheduling information also included in that data stream so we know what programs are coming on the radio station at what times?
It would be useful to be able to make a local copy of a “thread” from another node without participating in that other other thread. Think of it as a git branch....
The tap water in Brussels is at the high end of the hardness scale which shortens the life of Brita filters. The water also seems dicey in terms of cleanliness. On a couple occasions I’ve seen something floating in the tap water in two different apartments. So I switched to bottled water....
When you register an “ebox” box #Belgium for official correspondence, they warn you that correspondence has been “received” merely by landing in your inbox, even if you do not login....
What’s the difference in #kbin between #tags & #hashtags? In the microblog tab, we can only add hashtags, which is simple enough. But when starting “threads” both options are there. There’s a field for tags & we still have the option of adding hashtags. Are they both equally searchable? If yes, should we search with or without the hash (“#”)? Why don’t the tags show up after posting?
I’m getting random spontaneous errors when trying to upvote others. The precise error message is… (drum roll…) “Error”. Indeed, that’s it. I navigate back & upvote again, and sometimes it sticks eventually.
Need to get off the grid fast. Is a gas or diesel generator my best option? (fedia.io)
The energy suppliers in my area all have contracts I do not agree with. My gas & electric service may be cut in a couple weeks....
[answered] Electricity prices are more than double gas prices in Belgium (so why do Belgians overwhelmingly favor electric ovens?) (fedia.io)
National emergency app now available in Belgium (exclusively to Google & Apple patrons who run closed-source software) (web.archive.org)
Belgium has adopted an “official” app so that anyone can signal for help, so long as they belong to this exclusive group:...
Advice needed: exposed water valve in shower (fedia.io)
(all text is linked)
Do any ATMs in Belgium support balance inquiries? (fedia.io)
ATMs I’ve checked:...
How can mbin/kbin users subscribe or even just reach a lemmy community? (fedia.io)
I’m trying to access this community from fedia.io:...
Android forces us to run a WiFi hotspot. Not good. OpenVPN workaround… (fedia.io)
(article linked from m/Android)
Most chimneys in my neighborhood are open, thus water enters, yet fireplaces are blocked off. What happens to the water?
I have a few apparently cast-iron chimneys bedded in concrete. They have no hats on them. I’m not sure how the fireplaces were blocked off but it feels solid, as if they bricked them shut and plastered over it....
Belgian law & EU law: /merchants/ must handle warranty service for 2 yrs, or more? (fedia.io)
The rumor I heard was that if you buy a product that fails before the warranty ends, you do not need to contact the manufacturer (in #Belgium). You can simply return the product to the merchant and the merchant must deal with the warranty service....
When /some/ YT videos get special download-resistent treatment but not others (fedia.io)
For example, this invidious instance offers a download option for a YoutTube video, as that instance does for all YT videos:...
Using a router on construction board (e.g. “Wedi”) to make a beveled corner (fedia.io)
First of all, is my terminology correct? These are brands of synthetic wood alternatives:...
What happens in Belgium when you have a legal obligation to do some administrative task & you can’t b/c of bad tech? (fedia.io)
People living in Belgium are sometimes legally obligated to perform an administrative task. At the same time, sometimes the only mechanism to do so imposes some technology that’s actually exclusive....
Cannot reply… Snubbed by the machine. (Cloudflare problem?) (fedia.io)
I tried to comment in this thread:...
Seeing lots of posts from centralized instances (e.g. lemmy.world) (fedia.io)
I have ensured that I am not subscribed to any mags on centralized instances. E.g....
error 500 when visiting the “we’re back” thread and also notifications (fedia.io)
I cannot view the “we’re back” thread -- just get the error 500....
kbin feature needed: a way for users to mirror a thread from another node without integrating comments (fedia.io)
It would be useful to be able to make a local copy of a “thread” from another node without participating in that other other thread. Think of it as a git branch....
Water quality in Brussels -- Brita-filtered tap vs. bottled water (fedia.io)
The tap water in Brussels is at the high end of the hardness scale which shortens the life of Brita filters. The water also seems dicey in terms of cleanliness. On a couple occasions I’ve seen something floating in the tap water in two different apartments. So I switched to bottled water....
Belgian eBox service assumes recipients have received their correspondence even if they do not login -- really?? (fedia.io)
When you register an “ebox” box #Belgium for official correspondence, they warn you that correspondence has been “received” merely by landing in your inbox, even if you do not login....
Bug: blocks have no effect on search-generated timelines (fedia.io)
(cross post)...