@douglasvb@mastodon.social
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douglasvb

@douglasvb@mastodon.social

I mostly post about #DinkeyCreek, the #Sierra, #Monterey, #beavers, #forests, and #meadows. Quite fond of #motorcycles, #scuba diving, #nudibranchs, #hiking, 4x4ing/rock crawling, seeing new places, #AmateurRadio, retro technology, #trains, and cats.

Temporarily embarrassed Oregonian living somewhere much too dry.

All opinions are my own.

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MLE_online, to random
@MLE_online@social.afront.org avatar

Somehow the new macbook pro issued to me for work feels slower than the old one (from 2015). I don't know if all of the software on it is just that much more bloated, or if the hardware just isn't that good. but it's distinctly more lumbering.

douglasvb,
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@MLE_online have they installed a bunch of background IT management software on it?

The stuff my organization installs on MacBooks really slows them down.

John, to random
@John@socks.masto.host avatar

Jeff Geerling did an interesting project with the raspberry pi 5, to be a set-top box(*), but his parts cost came to $110 which is dangerously close to that of an N100 mini PC. So unless you really want to stay inside the raspberry pi ecosystem, I don't recommend.

    • archaic naming. We can't balance things on top of tv sets anymore.
douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr @John it's interesting to me how raspberry pi hasn't gotten any cheaper with the newer models (and is getting more expensive it seems) while the computer market gets cheaper and is now almost intersecting on price.

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr @John the only thing I've got a Pi doing these days is being an APRS receiver. And the Pi 4b I've got is fantastically overpowered for the job.

But it's very small and takes up very little room where I was able to land the coax cables from the antennas on the roof so it's an okay fit for now.

Mini computers are in my future though for other projects... I've got a bunch of IP security cameras with microphones that I plan to use with the Cornell bird lab's software 🐦🎶🎙️

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@eheisman @ai6yr @John there's raspberry pi software that'll do one IP cam audio feed. And I think there's maybe a Windows version somewhere. It shouldn't be too hard to be lazy and run a bunch of instances in Docker to support multiple cameras.

I need to figure out though how to combine the output of a bunch of cameras and push the detections up to a publicly accessible website.

It would be cool if I could feed the Cornell lab as well but I haven't seen any implementations to do that yet.

douglasvb, to random
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

Hmm I need to find good gifts for my 👸 and both of our 🐈🐈 who all have birthdays coming up soon.

I'm thinking something other than jewelry because that's my standard go-to.

Probably it should be ocean-themed.

The challenge is I'm rarely out of the house on my own unless I'm going to work so I can't just pop up the road 30 minutes to where a bunch of artists are to do shopping without giving away the surprise.

douglasvb,
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@Lizette603_23 haha well she's the daughter of a dentist so she would see through that ruse.

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@Lizette603_23 I've managed to magically make gifts appear for almost 15 years. So I need to get that magic back for this birthday 😅

I ordered some sea gnomes from Etsy but they probably won't be here in time.

I might be able to actually take a lunch break today or drag a co-worker with me during a meeting today to go shopping in town. We shall see.

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@Lizette603_23 hahaha I love it!

MLE_online, to random
@MLE_online@social.afront.org avatar

A contraption is coming into existence

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@MLE_online temperature controller?

douglasvb, to RaspberryPi
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

sigh I really need to come up with a reliable and inexpensive way to power cycle some equipment remotely.

My is up and running but the two software defined radios aren't responding even after rebooting the computer. The computer was involuntarily power cycled twice yesterday when the power went out and when the backup generator transferred the house back to the grid after grid power was restored.

Or maybe the SDRs need to be reseated in their USB ports? 🤔

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

I had looked into various ways of remotely power cycling the last time I had issues and lots of folks had good ideas but I never identified exactly what I should use.

At least this Raspberry Pi doesn't cook SD cards when it gets involuntarily power cycled.

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr

what year is it

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr I think that I need to physically remove and reinsert the USB sticks for the software defined radios.

This happened once before in a similar circumstance a few years back and that's what it took to remedy the problem.

But the Raspberry Pi is four hours away from me and I'm not sure I want to ask my dad to do that for me.

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@kc2ihx @ai6yr that might work! I wonder if it would cause issues with these SWRs or with the USB data 🤔

I bet there's an industrial control module that has this problem solved already 🤔🤔

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr @kc2ihx ooo maybe I can do this remotely!

Let's see what I can break via SSH today 🤣🤣

douglasvb,
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@kc2ihx @ai6yr Oh that's interesting! Do you know the manufacturer of that switch dongle?

douglasvb,
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@ai6yr @kc2ihx

This is the package I'm using: https://github.com/mvp/uhubctl

I sent this command first (I have a RaspberryPi 4B): uhubctl -l 1-1 -a 0

Then I sent this: uhubctl -l 1-1 -a 1

Then I rebooted.

AND NOW THE SWR ADS-B RECEIVERS ARE WORKING AGAIN!!!!

😄

(I need to pin this comment for later...)

eheisman, to random
@eheisman@vis.social avatar

spouse complains about the alarm clock and our coffee maker slowly drifting apart.

me: "I once read this article in a early 2000s Mac magazine about how this thing called Bluetooth was going to synchronize all these things"

spouse: "it exists, it's called a smart home, and we choose not to have one"

me: "... yeah, but it was, like, without the targeted advertising"

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr @eheisman

Grid time is all good until it isn't.

https://medium.com/@bramus/grid-time-or-why-are-clocks-in-europe-lagging-behind-by-5-minutes-dbc2dd028bfa

And GPS time is all good until it isn't

https://www.militaryaerospace.com/communications/article/14306054/new-ruggedized-timing-technology-addresses-the-challenges-of-gps-synchronized-defense-equipment

https://www.spirent.com/blogs/defcon-25

And the atomic clock signal is all good until it isn't

https://blog.meinbergglobal.com/2016/06/28/messing-radio-time-signal/

And NTP servers are great until they're not

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTP_server_misuse_and_abuse

In conclusion: https://youtu.be/yl-Ms_ek-kE

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr @eheisman I'm curious what vulnerabilities that atomic clock module you posted has. I bet there are some interesting ones.

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr @eheisman

That's why none of my appliances are smart 😅

And I'm uncomfortable around my parents dishwasher which is connected to their Wi-Fi.

In my house, our most accurate clock is our two cats. They have atomic precision for when it's food time.

ai6yr, to Spotify
@ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org avatar

"Spotify is going to break every Car Thing gadget it ever sold" https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/23/24163383/spotify-car-thing-discontinued-december-2024 #ewaste #spotify

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr I wonder if they even own the hardware design. It's entirely possible they had a contract company do the work and don't have full rights.

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr maybe they fired the team that worked on the software and they're going to shut down the servers rather than bother to do anything that costs money.

ai6yr, to gardening
@ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org avatar

Interesting, saw someone selling rooted grape cuttings at the farmer's market at $30 each. (I have so many in pots in my backyard which I cannot give away, LOL).

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr @kc2ihx @bud_t prices in Boulder are absurd in general.

There's variability in Farmers market prices around us that directly correlates to who goes to which market. The richest area has the highest prices of course. The farmers market has a seven day rotation where it goes to a different area every day of the week before starting over again at the beginning. That means if I want the best prices, I have to drive there. Otherwise I pay more to be able to walk.

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr @kc2ihx @bud_t when we lived in Metro Denver, my dentist was in Boulder right off of Pearl Street. The vibe there is really great most of the time but so expensive.

It was also really interesting watching this one group of "homeless" kids begging and being generally annoying. Occasionally I'd see them decamp and head to chauffeured black Escalades that would come pick them up. The best I could figure was they were trust fund kids pretending to be homeless for the experience.

douglasvb,
@douglasvb@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr @kc2ihx @bud_t there of course were real homeless and down on their luck people in the area who really did need help.

But that one group of trust fund kids ... It was so interesting watching them.

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