Experiment #2: Siren
So I impulse-shopped again on eBay, which is always a dangerous thing. This time not so much. For just $6 plus shipping, I picked up an Elenco EP-130 “Electronic Playground & Learning Center.” Of course I would have rather had the 500-in-one kit, but that one goes for over $200, so I just can’t justify it.
I’ve always been somewhat ashamed of my lack of intimate electronics knowledge. I know a little about a lot of things, and a lot about a few things. I’ve just never given actual electronic components the proper level of devotion and practical learning time.
So I started today. Experiment #1: Woodpecker. Two resistors, three capacitors, a transistor and a transformer make the speaker emit chirping sounds. Whoopee. Changing the capacitors, resistors or voltage changes aspects of the chirping sounds.
So I am currently in possession of a Raspberry Pi 2, along with the official Raspberry Pi 7″ touchscreen by Element14.
Today I had the fun experience of getting the pi and the screen working together, connecting the Edimax nano wifi adapter, and then installing mochad, which resulted in the successful integration of the Pi with the X10 home automation accessories I have installed over the years in various locations throughout the house.
I just realized that over 50% of the people who read my posts have no clue what I’m talking about.
I may have finally resolved the issue which caused some blog posts to show up completely garbled in some browsers, most likely safari and chrome. I think a lingering plugin which had been deactivated was still trying to gzip-compress already-compressed data.
If I had unlimited time and resources, I might consider pursuing an education in the history of food. If you think about something like the history of architecture and building, it’s pretty easy to draw a line from the cavemen to the present. “Trees are hard and withstand weather, let’s use them to our advantage.” We haven’t come too far, in reality, from that basic principle, in building. But I’d really like to understand the history of how different foods were discovered and used. Shellfish. Plants. Fish roe. Eggs. Plant extracts. Spices. Yeast. It almost seems more of a form of alchemy than anything else. I think a more or less complete timeline on when and how different food basics, enhancers and processes were introduced into society, and how we got from there to here, would be an utterly fascinating document. Can anyone recommend such a volume?
Johnny Cash rocked the whole world with his American Recordings series of albums. He proved that he has his finger on the pulse of the nation as well as its roots.
Another murder ballad that came from a true story, this one relates the story of Delia Green, who was murdered by her lover on Christmas Eve 1900.
Some of us may have encountered these words in various places during our literary explorations. The younger folks have probably come across it in bad fan fiction. Most of us know what they mean, or at least what they’re intended to mean in context. Let’s explore them.
We have a well-stocked pantry at my office. At any time I can choose between literally dozens of choices. Today I was trying to decide between junk food and maybe something a little bit healthier. I picked up two items that couldn’t be farther apart. Or so I thought.
Evil crack Doritos vs sweet bunny rabbit Garden Veggie Straws. Easy choice, right? Clearly the Doritos taste so much better than the Veggie Straws that the Veggie Straws MUST be much healthier, right? RIGHT?
O Joy O Joy, my favorite things come together — Amanda Fucking Palmer and Neil Gaiman performing a murder ballad together.