Dan Steeves
Bought this Zippo from Drop this year. I have both the old fashioned wick and the new fashioned butane inserts. Because why? Who knows. Or, “a man should own a lighter, even if he doesn’t smoke?” Can’t figure out how to refill either where they last as long as they ought to. Always more to learn….
Raid on COVID Whistleblower in Florida Shows the Need to Reform Overbroad Computer Crime Laws and the Risks of Over-Reliance on IP Addresses I tried to read it but had to stop. Too upsetting.
This is really quite interesting. I love my Mac. LOVE it. When I imagine my life on Linux, I hide under the desk.
I like that Apple is making it harder to profit from stolen Apple hardware.
I do not like that Apple is making it harder to use the hardware in your physical possession as you see fit.
In the words of The King: “Is, a puzzlement.”
This report does not prove that net neutrality regulations were a waste of time, or that getting rid of them is somehow beneficial. It only shows is that people bought faster internet service when they needed it. Other sources show that the reason for gutting net neutrality in the United States was bunk, and this action produced predictable anticompetitive effects.
Birchpunk “Russian Cyberpunk Farm
Awfully damn entertaining.
While I am happy to see the backside of the Trump presidency… I can’t help thinking of the country in comparison to business experience: “Boss, the good news is more employees completed the work satisfaction survey than ever. The bad news is half of them think we’re in great shape and you’re on the right track, and the other half think things suck and are only getting worse due to your leadership.” Good luck fixing that…
I am building a guitar amplifier
This weekend I started a new project. I am going to do a stealth refit my inexpensive solid state guitar amp with a hand-built Fender 5F1 Champ circuit.
My primary sources of information so far are
The goal is to keep the front of the amp looking stock with input, volume, on/off all working. So if you happen to have a knowledgeable audience they’re gonna be like “What is that!?” when it starts making great tweed tone.
Stay tuned…
Mask Theater
Regarding Fishcher et al “Low-cost measurement of facemask efficacy for filtering expelled droplets during speech“
Since shortly after lockdown, I have been using a doubled-over neck gaiter by Buff like these as a face mask. I find it far more comfortable than any ear-loop masks I’ve tried, and subjectively I think it fits more snug than many masks I observe in public.
With this bias in mind, I was disheartened today by an email from my son’s high school stating
The study revealed that knitted masks, bandanas, and neck gaiters (e.g., buffs) do not provide effective protection and are not acceptable mask alternatives. Based on this recommendation, knitted masks, bandanas, and neck gaiters/buffs are not acceptable facial coverings for use at [school].
This jump to mask discrimination at a time when as a society we are struggling with mask compliance in general, and on scant evidence, seems premature. The paper is primarily about a novel inexpensive testing method. There is no description of how each mask is worn, its fit, or pictures as worn. Indeed there is little description of the materials. The Buff pictured is called a “fleece,” clearly a mis-characterization, although understandable since at Duke in Durham, NC, you don’t need to know what an actual fleece is.
I anticipate having to give up my preferred mask type in many situations, for one less effective and comfortable, due to the publicity of this initial paper. Even if I use several layers of the perfect filter material inside my Buff, it will be rejected on appearance alone.
Mask theater, coming to the indoors near you, just like TSA security theater at the airport.
I wish someone in Formula 1 journalism would fully explain the PR / economic / and political reasons that Ferrari don’t fire Binotto and Vettel right now. Maybe Binotto inherited the engine debacle from his predecessors? But shouldn’t Binotto be responsible for Vettel’s lack of give-a-shit, I mean pace? And Vettel is clearly like ¯_(ツ)_/¯ I just work here.
Why haven’t Ferrari fired Binotto and Vettel? Maybe Binotto deserves a year to get the team back to form. But Vettel is obviously just phoning it in after being given notice. #Formula1
Ergodox Thoughts
After first week of almost full-time use.
Layout
- Currently configure.ergodox-ez.com/ergodox-e…
- Need dash more accessible when typing command line options
- Need underscore more accessible when typing code / filenames / etc.
- Practice pipe with symbols layer
- Still not happy with shift modifier arrow editing chords
- Are dash and equals good enough in current index finger positions?
- Get better / consistent at using auto shift
- Is there a way to put Hyper and Meh on the regular keyboard to make more shortcuts available when not using Ergodox?
- Do something with Alfred clipboard shortcut and up/down arrows to select in it. Note: learn to use the search feature more often.
Placement
- Mouse between or outside halves?
- Want a solution for tenting. Buy from Ergodox or build?
- Return Ergodox wrist rests or keep? Had a neat idea for my own beanbag & wool design…
Switches
- Wait for drop.com Everglide Jade Green order before I do anything else.
Keycaps
- Want something more colorful for modifiers and the handful of marked caps that I’m using in the wrong position now. Not urgent.
Several weeks later, finally getting close enough to happy with Ergodox-EZ to use it 90% of the time this week for work and personal. Command line and editing code continue to be the hangups. configure.ergodox-ez.com/ergodox-e…
Guitar Wiring
920D Custom S5W Upgraded Replacement 5 Way Wiring for S Style Guitar
Installed in my 1987 Japanese Squier Strat. Initial impressions are fabulous. No scratchy sounds when changing 5-way switch positions. Better tone in every position!
A few issues & resolutions:
- My guitar routing/drilling only has a big enough hole for wires to jack, not the full plug. I chose to drill this out to fit, rather than cut and re-solder the included jack to feed the wires. Probably could have done this either way with good result. The new connector is definitely better than the original jack.
- The new volume & tone pots need a bigger hole in pick guard than originals. Used a 3/8” drill bit to open them up, and an x-acto knife to clean up the edges. Perfect fit after.
- Volume and tone knobs fit on the new pots! But the 5-way switch knob did not. Used my Dremel to grind the new 5-way switch’s stem down to a width that fit the original plastic nub.
Matias Mini Tactile Pro Switch Replacement
The space bar stopped working on my keyboard. I ordered a new switch from Matias and replaced it myself. This is an easy project for anyone with a little soldering experience. You can probably do it if you have no soldering experience, but you’ll need to research the soldering skills a bit more elsewhere.
Switches
I ordered new switches through Matias customer support. They charged me $1 per switch plus a small shipping charge, which seems fair.
Tools
- Phillips screwdriver, #2 or close
- Spudger or knife
- Soldering iron
- Ideally some soldering wick or a solder sucker
- Keycap puller (I use one that also fits caps on Ergodox EZ Cherry MX Brown)
Open the case
Remove two screws on the bottom of the case.
The case will open by hinging at the front, in front of the space bar. Working gently with the spudger or knife, open the back of the case (behind the function keys) by gently prying near and pressing on the two tabs. Then there are two more tabs, one on each side.
The case will sort of “hinge” open. After opening the board will lift out freely.
Prepare to solder
Remove the two side USB ports and the circuit board with the main mini-USB connection. I don’t know, but I imagine it is a good idea not to solder with the chips on that attached.
Mark the switches you need to remove on the back of the board with a pen or marker so you know which ones to remove. Remove the caps from the switches to be removed if you haven’t already.
Remove switch
If you have a stand to put the board in and some soldering wick or a solder sucker, you can probably just remove the solder on the two pins and watch the switch drop out. If you’re missing those tools like me, you can hold the switch from the front and wiggle it out side to side as you alternately heat the solder on each pin.
Add new switches
Again if there’s no solder now this is probably pretty easy for you. I had to wiggle the switch in side to side while alternately heating the leftover solder. Once the switch was in place I added a bit more solder to each pin to ensure a good connection.
Test, clean, and re-assemble the board
At this point, press in the layered PCB with the main connection, and test the board to make sure new switches and soldered connections are good. This is a good time to clean everything. Wipe it down, use some compressed air or a vacuum brush attachment, and take some damp cotton swabs to the nooks and crannies you can’t normally get to.
To reassmeble, press on the USB ports and the layered board with the main connection. Lay the board into the bottom of the case. Match the tabs on the top cover in front of the space bar with those on the base, then hinge it back over the switches. Gently press to close all of the snap-in tabs. Insert the two screws from the bottom of the board.
In closing
Hopefully this will help or encourage someone to repair another Matias board. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
Here’s a photo of today’s desk setup. Replaced the enjoyable Matias Mini Tactile Pro and excellent LogiTech MX Master 2S with an aging pair of Apple wireless keyboard & trackpad. And they are also enjoyable and excellent. Especially this keyboard vs. the awful MBP… Anyway just sharing for funzies. Hope that I can fix the space bar on the Matias soon and go back to the primary setup.
1daysooner is collecting volunteers for human challenge trials for COVID-19 vaccine testing. I’m with Tyler Cowen on this: using volunteers is fine.
The plan is to have no plan by Jay Rosen
After struggling for a bit, then giving up, then struggling a bit again, I have discovered a simple way to get some Alfred workflows working around quarantine in Catalina. When a new/updated workflow fails, cancel the warning then run this.
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ~/Library/Application\ Support/Alfred/Alfred.alfredpreferences/workflows