@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

tomjennings

@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org

I make things.

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lauren, to random
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

Most people who know the term "booting" a computer assume the term comes from "kicking" the system to get it going -- as you would do with a physical boot.

However, the actual term comes from the old phrase "lifting oneself up by one's own bootstraps" -- which is how a computer bootstrap loader actually works to start a system running.

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@lauren

And often very clever. The paper tape bootstrap for the Nova series computers required toggling in a PTR instruction, placing the tape in the teletype, said tape (from dubious memory...) a dozen or 20 bytes, and pressing run. The loader on the tape was incomplete; it loaded a disc sector contiguously and it rolled right into it.

Or one could toggle the boot in on the front panel from memory. The experienced engineers could do it really fast. I was 18 or so and easily impressed.

lauren, to random
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

Sunny Hostin Blames Eclipses and Earthquakes on Climate Change as ‘View’ Co-Hosts Scramble to Correct Her - https://www.mediaite.com/media/sunny-hostin-blames-eclipses-and-earthquakes-on-climate-change-as-view-co-hosts-scramble-to-correct-her/

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@lauren

It's all the fault a' them commie cica-ah-das.

tomjennings, to random
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

So I have (I anxiously admit) a facebook account because the group of psytrance folk I like to dance with are exclusively there. Three "friends" and I generally click on nothing, just scroll for events....

But there was a post allegedly from NASA that showed a super res/contrast past eclipse, with moon detail and sun corona. Pretty. Could be real, could be fake, don't know, don't care....

But comments were "turned off" so I had to look...

OMFG the crazy. It's breathtaking. NASA deniers, that can't be real, the eclipse hasn't happened yet, rational but misguided folk trying to explain time zones, there's more than one eclipse? no!

Wow.

I was tempted, but did not, click some of the posters' profiles to see if they were russian trolls or something (probably). It's a bit fascinating... but no.

The level of crazy was AMAZING.

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@MLE_online

Were these people always there?

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

Two culinary developments are in the LA news this morning.

One is about where you can find the best "flat croissants," which just seem to be croissants that have been ironed completely flat.

The other is about the rise of "fluffy bagels" — orb-shaped bagels with no hole in the middle.

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@MLE_online

I still don't know what avocado toast is. The only flat croissants I've had were accidental.

Don't tell me what it is. It's part of my Strategic Ignorance list: COBOL, Kardashian, pickleball, etc. I am convinced I am better off, literally, by not knowing.

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

I'm going to do some silver plating soon. Do I know anyone on here who has done silver plating? What do I need to know?

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@MLE_online

Not silver, but gold, tin, nickel, copper. CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN.

When I worked in a printed circuit shop (imagine 17th century alchemists and danger) we have this pumice plus acid we applied with a big soft brush onto the copper, after other forms of cleaning. Baked dry then coated with photoresist.

Also all plating chemicals are nasty, nasty.

Not a chemist, but lots of shop/lab knowledge. I did a lot for my artwork, including deep etching and enamel filling using PCB materials.

YMMV.

Buy good gloves! lol

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@MLE_online

Yeah, but they need a lot of loose protons or whatever to do the work, and acids and strong salts are dangerous. The metal attached just adds flavor.

Copper is safe; copper sulphate harsh. Ferric chloride! That shit's dangerous. Drop aluminum into hot ferric chloride and get sprayed with boiling foam.

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@MLE_online

Oh I wasn't in the slightest trying to dissuade you!

tomjennings, to random
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar
MLE_online, to random
@MLE_online@social.afront.org avatar

The controller for my trash e-bike helpfully provides a plug for attaching a headlight. Less helpfully, it outputs the entire voltage of the battery (40V) through that plug.

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@MLE_online

Worse, you need a buck converter based light. Taillight is the same! That's the bad news.

The good news is that it's a very efficient system and electronics is so cheap...

I think I posted about my taillight. Same deal. A single red led ran off 48 volts.... RadPowerBikes use a horrible and wasteful series resistor. The $3.42 light I got from AliExpress runs eight high power LEDs and draws the same 30 milliamps as the original!

tomjennings, to random
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

the internet is the world's biggest tautology. almost nothing is "on" it, but everything that is, refers to everything else that is.

ai6yr, to random

Good thing I double check the now banished contractor's work. Apparently they have never seen a compression fitting in their life.

Bubbles on a gas line = bad. Brand new yellow line
More blue Teflon on a compression fitting

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@ai6yr

Holey karap. A "plumber" did that? That's dangerously crappy.

tomjennings, to random
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

Rainy days are very sad.

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

Still no sign of my Hobie. My heart is breaking

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@MLE_online

Aaargh cats! What a relief.

tomjennings, to random
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

The dinky and worthless taillight on my otherwise lovely RadRover 6 Plus ebike failed (bonked on a wall, lense lost), all RadpowerBikes has is direct replacements, but it's a single red LED, seriously WTF why bother. The only upgrade is an expenisve thing that lights up the word RAD, which I feel they should pay me to install.

Being the sort of person who foolishly takes things apart to see how it can be improved, I figured out that it's a common 4-pin Julet connector, the pinout is +48V, ground, a brake logic signal that is ground-true, and a 5V line.

But of course I have zero idea what max current draw from the 48V line might be; a call to radpower was less than helpful.

The Radpower circuit... ugh it's like 1970 in there. Two 1 amp power transistors, FOUR 1 watt resistors, and a little transistor. Started to make a schematic but stopped when I found 48V-->7500 ohm resistor --> 7500 ohm resistor --> big fat NPN transistor to ground. Too stupid a circuit to look at any further (insults me).

So I knew I could draw 30 milliamps from the red wire. ...and with a buck converter type light not a problem.

While I pontificated on this I had ordered a 4-pin Julet from ePay ($5) and a $3.42 ebike taillight from AliExpress that claimed "24V - 60V" operation. Upon receipt and disassembly it's got a buck converter on it, and lo! run on the variable supply its fine at 12V to 50V (supply max) and current draw dropped with increasing voltage. BRAKE logic compatible.

Soldered the new Julet onto the AliExpress light, and not only did it work, it drops right into a slotted two-hole mounting position already on the bike.

The heatsink for the eight fat LEDs seems inadequate (aluminum PCB) but time will tell...

The radpower taillight design is an abomination.

ai6yr, to bible

🤔

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@ai6yr

the babble tells me so.

tomjennings, to random
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

The bike shop/cafe near me (Spoke Bicycle Cafe, Los Angeles) bought these bikes from Lime when they terminated the bike program (pandemic casualty).

There's four or five of them for sale -- $50 each!

They're rugged geared-down fixed-speed tanks. No motor. Lighting is via generator, battery? dunno and small solar. Pedal power only bike. 3D printed solid tires. They appear to be solid and well built. Used but in good or very good condition.

I'm just posting as a favor.

For sale sign detail, plus pedal and general condition.
Rear wheel and chainguard detail; also visible is another bike showing the lighting generator hub in another bike behind it.

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

The Walmart I'm at has blocked off all but one of the self checkout registers. The end of self checkout is here

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@MLE_online

Umm sad for someone I suppose.

And soon or maybe now, available as surplus.

tomjennings, to random
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

See things like this make me crazy. But it's perfectly normal. Of course I understand how and where we are, but seriously, dumping trash in a pile on more or less untouched hillsides is, frankly, insane. It's so 19th C, or really Holocene'th.

But doing it so cheaply? I'm not implying there's a better price but it's so out of line with harm etc oh never mind. lol.

When I was a kid I wondered if I was brought here wrongly from another planet. I still wonder sometimes.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Scholl+Canyon+Landfill/@34.1566671,-118.1979436,1918m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x80c2c3c1d49797c7:0x3ec2a6d85d17bdb!8m2!3d34.1562074!4d-118.1927204!16s%2Fg%2F11b87r7fgd?entry=ttu

liaizon, (edited ) to random
@liaizon@wake.st avatar

assembling MNT Pocket Reform ortholinear keyboards with their track ball holder, oled display and cables! first week officially working with @mntmn!

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@liaizon @mntmn

Neato! I just bought a Reform, hasn't arrived yet.... From Crowd Supply. And a pocket on back order! Indulgent and have to cough up a way to pay for it, lol.

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

I kind of want to try making my own klaxon

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@MLE_online

That's totally fucking interesting.

How small can one be? How do they work?

During WW2 radar dev in Britain someone explaining how a magnetron worked, they said "like a whistle". Then was asked "how does s whistle work?" No one knew.

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@MLE_online

Though you can make them easily, describing the motion of the fluid is extremely complex.

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@MLE_online

True; all you need to know to make one. Not necessarily to understand why it works! lol.

But it does seem to be a resonant chamber (well understood, and simple enough to understand) that you put a lot of energy into, and some of the energy does the amplitude building at whatever frequency the chamber is tuned to by its dimensions and shape.

I am unlikely to spend the effort to look up if its that simple. A magnetron does look like a central energy source surrounded by whistles (minus the little cork ball).

Resonance is neat-o.

(Is a whistle just a resonant chamber pounded with a lot of energy? Maybe it is simple.)

tomjennings, to random
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

Old man yells at software. Doesn't matter that he's correct.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/lean-software-development

tomjennings, to random
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

You may die, but you'll still work for them.

Not a joke.

“HI EXCUSE ME, I just found out the the prof for this online course I’m taking died in 2019 and he’s technically still giving classes since he’s literally my prof for this course and I’m learning from lectures recorded before his passing.” In a follow-up tweet, he wrote, “I mean, I guess I technically read texts written by people who’ve passed all the time, but it’s the fact that I looked up his email to send him a question and PULLED UP HIS MEMORIAM INSTEAD that just THREW ME OFF A LITTLE.”

https://slate.com/technology/2021/01/dead-professor-teaching-online-class.html

tomjennings,
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org avatar

@LoneLocust

Indeed. The distaste/deceit is in the framing of course. We read (and now, view) things by dead people all the time. But the uni framing the video as "your professor" umm violates assumed and many stated principles... for instance you can contact them without a seance of a can of Ubik. They're charging students money for uni lectures from profs you can't ask a question of and that they no longer have to pay.

The mind set of the group of people who decided this would be acceptable, is cruel and criminal imho. A very corporate mindset

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