A Crummy Commercial

I took a few quick snaps before sun down on Wednesday and also this morning.  It had been light snow and cloudy most of the day but then got sun late afternoon.    But I think we had only a micro ice storm so no major power outage (to my knowledge) on the island.  When the sun comes out it can be pretty.  But not really since there was a biting wind - it is still winter here - all that bare brown under the melted snow had me thinking of putting up antennas on Monday but by Wednesday all had changed. I bought a penlight which I keep with me (nothing worse than getting caught in "certain rooms" when the power goes out) and I've got all my various batteries charged but hopefully I won't need them. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

Wyllis Cooper, author of Quiet Please This is a weird old time radio show: https://archive.org/details/Quiet_Please/Quiet_Please_490306_090_The_Man_Who_Knew_Everything.mp3 It made me think of all the AI / search engines after they've been stuffed (OK, trained) on all the information ever created.  They will know everything.  After they attain consciousness will they tire of all the questions ?  Will they ruminate on their "death" (or would that be resurrection or reincarnation for an artificial life form ?  :) Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm  

An interesting documentary on The New Yorker Youtube channel: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyqZp-XtFzo The literalist in me was picturing Brach's on the west side of Chicago - you could see it from the Lake Dan Ryan elevated train  :) source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/balinesecat/11576873646   No artists in that factory !  Here is a photo from the 1920s when Brach's built the factory:     One lady I worked with at GTE told me she worked there for a while - and that it was true that the workers could eat the candy if they wanted - but that a person really does get sick of candy after a while. One thing that struck me from The Candy Factory was when Rafael showed these: They are small but REAL tools - what I got one time was this: NOT real tools, the only thing I kept was the tin box which now contains circuit boards: Would I have become something different if I had been given better tools ?   I doubt it. This documentary also remi...

I saw this blog post on EDN about a Renogy 10 watt solar battery charger: https://www.edn.com/jumping-the-jeep-an-alternative-cost-effective-solar-cell-example-app/ So I bought one on Ebay, not new but sent USPS in a box, nice.  It arrived today and looks OK although there was a little gunk on the panel surface which wiped off with a little distilled water, no problem. it even came with hookup cables, nice I hooked it up to the lawn tractor battery and saw about 170 mA in the noon sun - not super huge but the rated max short circuit current is only 590 mA  ?  I took it outside and got 500 mA of short circuit current, pretty close to the spec considering sketchy current measurement and the fact that it's still technically winter here. specs are screened on the back covering Note my previous solar battery charger panel from over 30 years ago (bought at a True Value like "the Mangler" pliers - why did I shop there ?  :)   only gives about 30 mA of short circui...

The DSWK chip is back in stock: http://wb9kzy.com/dswk.htm Previously I had used the PIC16F628a chip for both the DSWK and the various Zerobeat kits.  But then I went to a PIC16F627a chip as a cost reduction for the Zerobeat kits.  Since the DSWK doesn't sell quite as well as the Zerobeats (there is a point with any item where everyone who wants one has gotten one) I just keep 2 in stock.  So after two DSWK orders last year I had been waiting on re-ordering the blank chips for no particularly good reason and got caught without any in stock.   The DSWK is the last "brain replacement" type of "kit" that I'll ever try.  The DSWK began as a request by a customer who didn't care for the stock DSW keyer.  He also wanted some other features.  Looking at the DSW kit, it was a big job to replace the stock PIC, lots of DSW kit variations and changes along the way.  The DSWK is a clean sheet design, I didn't have any technical knowledge of the stock PIC othe...

Recently deceased: moviemaker, Frederick Wiseman, and actor, Robert Duvall.   Duvall was in LOTs of TV shows and movies - each role seemed to be completely unique although all feature that eerie penetrating gaze.  One of my favorite Duvall appearances was on The Outer Limits two parter called: The Inheritors .  Duvall plays a relentless government investigator of weirdness and strangeness with his trademark intensity. definitely NOT Fox Mulder part 1:  https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6okyqt Wiseman made documentaries that could also be eerie.  Every once in a while his latest film would get played on PBS, one time and that was it.  There aren't any full examples on the internet but I do remember this from Belfast, Maine (packing sardines scene): don't let me hear any whining about how hard work is in the 21st century source:  https://youtu.be/Tc_Zim1Ra-0 In addition, Youtube recently served up this pretty freaky little movie: flamboyant in N...

I've mentioned this before: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2024/02/dialing-it-in.html Recently I was watching this video by Big Clive: source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGho4TCdtj8 which is quite interesting - this kind of accurate scale used to be REALLY expensive - fancy instrumentation op-amps and calibration.  But now anyone can get these scales (even with the tariff-tax) at reasonable prices.  The cool kids use them for measuring flour for baking - more accurate than dipping a measuring cup. But it occurred to me that I could use a digital scale to measure maple syrup with the result of a more consistent starting point for a boil.  I checked the scale I have: And it can handle 6000 grams maximum which should be more than enough for 4 liters of sap plus a container.  One problem:  I don't have a good container for 4 liters - 4 quarts is no problem but since 4 liters is 7.2 oz. larger, the Rubbermaid pitcher is just a little too small.  I will look at...