david_megginson

david_megginson, 1 month ago to Sliderules

Solving 2×2=4 is the #HelloWorld for any slide rule with the basic D and C scales, including the #CardboardComputer:

1. Adjust the wheels (or slide) to put 2 above 1
2. Keeping the alignment, read 4 over 2.

Not so hard, was it? There's a lot of unnecessary mystification around #slideRules, but they're simple tools at heart.

You can also try this with the online simulator at https://cardboard-computer.org

#DiY

Closeup of a homemade circular slide rule showing 4 on the outer D scale above 2 on the inner C scale.

david_megginson, 1 month ago to Sliderules

I tried a prototype of the #CardboardComputer with paper glued onto thick, corrugated box cardbord. It's easy to use, but looks messy.

https://cardboard-computer.org

#slideRules #DiY

david_megginson, 1 month ago to writing

A relationship that begins with mutual annoyance, insults, and an unwillingness to respect each-others' choice of career and place to live isn't likely to end well. At best, the two people can part with civility and seek out more respectful and sympathetic partners.

On an unrelated note, I can't figure out why #Hallmark keeps rejecting my scripts.

#scriptWriting #writing #not

david_megginson, 1 month ago to Sliderules

#CardboardComputer prototype no. 2 (advanced version) solving the problem 5×25=75.

I cut the plastic cursor out of some stiff plastic "clamshell" packaging I pulled from the recycling bin.

Lessons from this iteration:

1. Be more careful drawing the hairline on the cursor next time.
2. Precise wheel alignment is very important, and I need to cover that more in the DiY instructions.

I'm going to glue these onto cardboard backings.

#slideRules #DiY

david_megginson, 1 month ago to Sliderules

What's a Thursday without more #CardboardComputer news? 🙂

1. There is now a home page with a virtual version that you can drag around manually to solve problems.
2. The basic and advanced exercise pages now have help deeplinks directly to the relevant sections in the guide.

(I learned a bit making touch events work with SVG on mobile devices.)

https://cardboard-computer.org

#slideRules #DiY #SVG

david_megginson, 1 month ago to Ottawa

How does your garden grow?

Late-March cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, basil, eggplants (aubergines), and zucchini. Hardiness zone 5a/b, east-facing window.

#Ottawa #gardening

david_megginson, 1 month ago to tea

Bliss (n): Masala chai with lots of milk late on a March afternoon.

#tea

david_megginson, 1 month ago to Sliderules

The #CardboardComputer is looking spiffy with the @creativecommons CC0 Public Domain Mark attached.

https://cardboard-computer.org

#SlideRules #PublicDomain #CreativeCommons

david_megginson, 1 month ago to Sliderules

First working prototype of the #CardboardComputer, calculating the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.

https://cardboard-computer.org

#slideRules #DouglasAdams

david_megginson, 1 month ago to Bread

After a few months of refining my simple whole-wheat molasses bread recipe, it's hard to remember why sliced supermarket bread was once even an option.

I'll start on this latest loaf tomorrow at breakfast, accompanied by fresh-ground peanut butter, orange juice, and loose-leaf black tea.

#bread #baking #food

david_megginson, 2 months ago to Sliderules

My DIY circular slide rule side project — an excuse to improve my knowledge of CSS3 transitions and SVG — progresseth apace.

There is now a simple version (just multiplication and subtraction) and an advanced version (square and cube roots). It will also animate the solutions to random basic problems on either.

Coming soon:

• advanced problems
• DIY printables and instructions for assembling your own
• detailed instructions

https://davidmegginson.github.io/cardboard-computer/

#sliderules #DIY #SVG #CSS3

david_megginson, 2 months ago to Trains

My inner 10-year-old always rushes for the seat where I can watch the tracks ahead through the driver's window.

#trains #Ottawa #OttLRT #transit

Rails and a lit-up station platform in a dark underground tunnel. There is a blurry image of a train and its headlights coming in the opposite direction on the other track.

david_megginson, 2 months ago to gardening

12 days after planting, my cherry tomatoes seedlings are growing additional leaves (my other nightshades, eggplants and bell peppers, still have only the original two).

#gardening #Ottawa

david_megginson, 2 months ago to datascience

My team is hiring a senior data scientist to work in The Hague, Netherlands (UN staff position, P-4 level).

https://careers.un.org/jobSearchDescription/228402?language=en

#jobs #dataScience

david_megginson, 2 months ago to random

The IPC acute food insecurity analysis conducted in December 2023 warned of a risk that Famine may occur by the end of May 2024.

… Since then, the conditions necessary to prevent famine have not been met and the latest evidence confirms that Famine is imminent in the northern governorates and projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May 2024.

https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-97/en/

#Gaza #FoodSecurity #humanitarian

david_megginson, 2 months ago to books

Reading Mansfield Park for the umpteenth time.

1. Austen's portrayal of Fanny Price at age 10, from a poorer family, is beautifully nuanced in contrast with Maria and Julia.
2. Mansfield Park's genteel wealth comes from the forced labour of enslaved Black people out of sight in Antigua, which was common at time.
3. Jane Austen very briefly lifts the veil and mentions Black enslavement, which was uncommon for in a novel set at an English country house at the time.

#reading #JaneAusten

david_megginson, 2 months ago to reviews

I'm exhausted by the incessant demands to rate every product I buy online, every ride I book, and every meal I order. It's time for work-to-rule. My demand is a credit of 50¢ for each rating and $5 for each text review over 20 words.

If companies don't think my feedback is worth that very-modest sum, then it's not worth harassing me for with notifications and emails

#eCommerce #reviews

david_megginson, 2 months ago to Aviation

Once there was a saying "If it ain't Boeing, I'm not going " Back then, Airbus had been plagued by issues with its fly-by-wire control systems, which (at the time) could override the pilot's inputs and fly a plane into the ground.

Fast foward a few decades and Airbus's systems are pretty reliable, since they've been forced to allow that their algorithms aren't always smarter than the pilots (aviation regulations are written in blood, as another saying goes).

…/more

#aviation #boeing #airbus

david_megginson, 2 months ago to books

Big 💡moments in history

"Hey! What if we cut that scroll into pieces and sew them all together on one side, so that a reader can easily jump straight into the middle?"

Main benefit: Random access to information (dictionaries, encyclopedias, tables of contents, indices, etc).

Side benefit: reduction in repetitive strain injuries from unrolling scrolls.

#books #codicology #information

david_megginson, 2 months ago to random

… That's not quite true with light piston twins, many of which can barely hold altitude with one engine out, and which demand a quick reaction and very good-pilot technique.

The grim pilot joke about piston twins is that the second engine is there to take you to the scene of the accident — until a few years ago, they had a much-higher fatal accident rate than piston singles, but that has been improving with better training and more awareness of the limitations.

david_megginson, 2 months ago to fediBots

I notice spambots at newsmast.community have started reposting everything I write with certain hashtags.

I'm blocking the bots individually as they pop up, but I wonder if we need more concerted action for the entire site.

#fediblock #spam #bots

david_megginson, 2 months ago to Aviation

News-O-Matic: Discount airline ___ strands ___ passengers in ___ for ___ days during March Break because of (bankruptcy | cancelled flights | misc. shenanigans).

It's frustrating for the people involved, but when it's so predictable every year does it qualify as news?

#aviation #travel #news

david_megginson, 2 months ago to Ottawa

The Remic Rapids lookout beside the Ottawa river is almost accessible for wheelchairs and walkers, except for one small step between the two ramps. C'mon Ottawa, we can fix this kind of thing.

cc @jleiper (though it's probably an NCC thing).

#Ottawa #accessibility

david_megginson, 2 months ago to gardening

Last year I started plants from seed indoors without a heat mat, and it typically took a couple of weeks before I saw the first sprouts.

This year I'm using a heat mat, and the time to first sprout has been much shorter:

• Cherry tomatoes: 4 days
• Eggplants: 7 days
• Basil: 3 days

Still waiting on peppers (7 days) and dill (4 days). Other seeds will go in soon.

#gardening

david_megginson, 2 months ago to academia

The European Middle Ages to non-medievalists: knights, damsels, castles, jousts, vikings, and stories about dragons!

The European Middle Ages to medievalists: land charters, church councils, Latin manuscripts, corroded remnants of farming implements, and counting the animal bones in excavations of middens.

(p.s. Knights were mostly a**holes, and the Crusades were mass war crimes.)

#MiddleAges #Medieval #academia